Category Archives: Leaders

First Indian to be appointed Global CEO of Worldwide Italian Confectionery Giant . August 2013 .

Sameer Suneja has been promoted to the top job as global CEO of the 2,245 million Italian sugar confectionery making – Perfetti Group. He will take over the role on October 01st, thus making him the first ever Indian Global head and perhaps the first non-Italian global CEO of the privately held firm.

Perfetti Van Melle Spa (PVM)is the world’s 3rd largest confectionery group after Kraft-Cadbury and Mars-Wrigley. Perfetti makes Alpenliebe and Mentos candies, Chlormint toffee, Center Fresh, Hanny Dent and Big Babool gum.

Sameer Suneja will report to the Board of Directors of the Netherlands based holding of the Group.

His promotion comes barely a year after he was promoted as Executive Vice President (EVP), Innovation & Business Development based in the Netherlands reporting to the global CEO of Perfetti, Ubalto Traldi. Suneja’s mandate included exchanging successful experiences in marketing and commercial fields across the group.

Previous to moving to the global role based out of Netherlands, Suneja was the Managing Director, Perfetti Van Melle India for 4 years. In India Suneja also launched Alpenliebe candy, now the country’s single-largest confectionery. He has been with PVM India, a subsidiary of the global conglomerate for over 16 years. He joined Perfetti as brand manager in 1997 when it was only 3 years old in India.

Sameer Suneja, 41 years, an IIM-Bangalore alumnus 1994 batch, started his career at Colgate-Palmolive toothpaste maker as management trainee. He then moved on and became product manager handling Colgate toothbrush portfolio. Subsequently he joined Pepsico’s snacks arm Frito Lay as brand manager, handling both the chips and traditional snacks categories before joining Perfetti Van Melle India as brand manager in its early days in the country in 1997.

Note: There are other individuals who have made it to the top heading Global multi-nationals. You may use the ‘Search’ feature to access the information.

Indian Army’s First Woman ADC to General Officer Commanding-in-Chief . June 2013 .

Lieutenant Ganeve Lalji , a young officer is set to create history by becoming the first to be appointed as a key aide, the first woman Aide-de-Camps (ADC) to the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief.

Lieutenant Lalji will be the ADC to Lt. General Rajan Bakshi, taking over the Central Army Command at Lucknow, from Lt. General Anil Chait on July 01st, 2013.

Lieutenant Lalji, a young military intelligence officer commissioned in September 2011 from the Officers’ Training Academy, St.Thomas Mount in Chennai. She is also a keen adventure enthusiast and has undergone mountaineering and skiing courses at Western Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Manali.

She is a third-generation Army Officer after her father and grandfather.

Anmol Rajan appointed ‘ The Independent ‘s Editor and becomes first non-white Editorial head of a UK national newspaper . June 2013 .

In a bold move Evgeny Lebedev the Russian owner of The Independent named, Anmol Rajan, a  29-year old Indian-origin journalist,as the newest editor of  The Independent newspaper on June 17th, 2013. He was the editor of The Independent Voics section. Rajan takes over from Chris Blackhurst who became Group Content Director.

Anmol Rajan one of the youngest ever at 29, makes Fleet Street history by becoming first non-white newspaper editorial head of a UK national newspaper creating ripples in London’s all-white Oxbridge media elite. And also the first- ethnic minority editor, a first-British Asian editor of a British national newspaper.

Rajan was born in Calcutta (Kolkata)on July 04th, 1983 , before moving to London as a three year old. He grew up in Tooting, South London and went on to read English literature at Downing College, Cambridge University and edited the prestigious student magazine ‘Varsity’. He spent his gap year working at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

After graduating, Rajan worked briefly for the ‘Evening Standard’ and ‘Channel 5’ before moving to ‘The Independent’ in August 2007 where he rose through the ranks from being a news reporter , columnist, comment editor and editor of Independent Voices. He is also a devoted foodie, writing a restaurant column for The Independent on Sunday and appeared as a judge on BBC1’s Masterchef in April. Rajan was the secondary presenter on ‘The Wright Stuff’ the daytime talk show on the Five Network during its 2006-07 season. A former columnist of ‘The Salisbury Review’.

Anmol Rajan is also a volunteer youth worker with Prospex, a charity based in Islington.

Books: Anmol Rajan is a keen cricket fan and has even written a well regarded book ‘Twirlymen: Unlikely History of Cricket’s Greatest Spin Bowlers’ published by Random House in 2011.

India’s first and only woman ‘Chief Election Commissioner of India'(CEC) . 1990 .

V. S. Rama Devi was India’s first and only woman Chief Election Commissioner till date (ie. April 18, 2013) for a brief periond November 26, 1990 to December 11, 1990. She was succeeded by T. N. Seshan.

She did her M.A and then obtained her LLM. Subsequently enrolled as an Advocate in the High Court of Andhra Pradesh. Then joined the Central Government Service as an officer belonging to the Group A service.

V.S. Rama Devi held several important assignments in her career. She was Governor of Himachal Pradesh (July 26, 1997 to December 01, 1999). Next she served as the First Woman Governor of Karnataka (December 02, 1999 to August 02, 2002).

Other key assignments of the talented Telugu bureaucrat were Honorary Advisor to the National Commission for Women(NCW), Member, Secretary – National Law Commission and Secretary General, Rajya Sabha (July 01, 1993 to July 25, 1997).

Rama Devi co-authored the book ‘Rajya Sabha at Work’.

V. S. Rama Devi was born in Chebrolu of West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh. Born January 15, 1934 – Tuesday , April 17, 2013 – age 79 years, Bangalore.

First Indian Secretary General of Asian Wrestling body (AAWC) . April 2013 .

Raj Singh became the first Indian to be elected Secretary General of ” Asian Associated Wrestling Council ” (AAWC) by vote of the general assembly on Tuesday, April 16th, 2013.

Raj Singh the current Secretary General of the ” Wrestling Federation of India ” (WFI)secured 20 votes and will hold the office for the term of 4 years. Chang Kew Kim was elected President for the 2nd term, as President AAWC after he got 23 votes.

The 24 representatives of their respective Asian countries cast their vote at the General Assembly, held in New Delhi.

First Prime Minister of Independent India. 1947.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was appointed as the firt Prime Minister of Independent India by the Governor General in 1947. He served as Prime Minister till May 27th, 1964 when he died in office making him the longest serving Prime Minister of the country, a period of 17 years.

He is considered to be the architect of the modern Indian nation state. Nehru was elected as Congress President in 1936, 1937 and 1946. He was a graduate of Cambridge University and the Inner Temple, where he trained to be a barrister.

Nehru was also a writer, scholar, historian and patriach of India’s most influential political family. He was the father of Indira Gandhi and the maternal grandfather of Rajiv Gandhi, who were later to serve as the third and sixth Prime Ministers of India.

Born, Allahabad November 14th,1889 – May 27th,1964, New Delhi.