NEWSMAKERS OF 2019

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  • Friday, 06 March 2020 11:08

ACTIVISTS, POLITICIANS, CHANGEMAKERS, ENTERTAINERS... WE PRESENT HERE THE NAMES THAT DOMINATED THE HEADLINES AND CREATED HISTORY TO BECOME THE FORERUNNERS OF CHANGE.

Sundar Pichai

He joined Google in 2004 and became the CEO in 2015, the year Google’s founders announced the creation of Alphabet. As luck would have it, this year he went up higher to become the CEO of both companies. He was also appointed as the CEO of Alphabet, the parent company of Google. On December 4, 2019, a letter was released that stated that Sundar will be the CEO of both Google and Alphabet. The letter read, "Today, in 2019, if the company (Google) was a person, it would be a young adult of 21 and it would be time to leave the roost. While it has been a tremendous privilege to be deeply involved in the day-to-day management of the company for so long, we believe it's time to assume the role of proud parents-offering advice and love, but not daily nagging!"

K Sivan

In recognition of his stellar contribution in promotion of science and technology, Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman K Sivan was awarded the Dr A P J Abdul Kalam Award by the Tamil Nadu government. After leading the successful launch of Chandrayaan-2 mission, Kailasavadivoo Sivan, was awarded 8 gm gold medal and Rs five lakh in cash and a citation. A native of Kanyakumari District of Tamil Nadu, the citation hailed him as "Rocket Man" and traced his humble origins to his splendid rise in career which includes a stint as director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre and Liquid Propulsion Centre. Sivan's leadership led to the "historical achievement of most successful GSLV flight with indigenous cryogenic stage." Under his tutelage, ISRO successfully launched Chandrayan 2, the second mission to the moon on July 22 and he was the chief architect of SITARA, a 6D trajectory simulation software, the citation read. He worked on the design and development of launch vehicles for ISRO and has immensely contributed towards end to end mission planning, design, and mission integration and analysis, the government said. The 62-year-old space scientist was a first graduate in his family, who got a Bachelor's degree in engineering from the Madras Institute of Technology in 1980.

Uddhav Thackeray

Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday took oath as the 18th chief minister of Maharashtra. Thackeray, 59, became the third Sena leader after Manohar Joshi and Narayan Rane to occupy the top post. Thackeray took over as chief minister over a month after results of the Maharashtra Assembly elections were declared on October 24.

Thackeray, 59, an affable, mild- mannered politician, stood his ground and refused to budge on the issue of splitting the chief ministership, a stand that eventually led to the collapse of the three-decade old saffron alliance. Thackeray has taken plunge into governance and he will be one of the most closely watched politicians in the country in these media-driven times.

Abhijit Banerjee

Indian-American economist Abhijit Banerjee has won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics, along with Esther Duflo of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Michael Kremer of Harvard University “for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.” The three were recognised for their ability to divide the issue of tackling global poverty into smaller subjects, said the committee. “The research conducted by this year’s laureates has considerably improved our ability to fight global poverty,” The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said. Abhijit Banerjee was born in Parbhani, 1961, to a family of academics. He attended the Presidency College, Kolkata in economics in 1981. Later, the 58-year-old economist later got his PhD in 1988 from Harvard University. His early education life included study at the University of Calcutta and Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University. Abhijit was a joint supervisor of Esther's PhD in economics at MIT in 1999. He was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2004. He received the Infosys Prize 2009 in the social sciences category of economics. In 2014, Banerjee received the Bernhard-Harms-Prize from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and delivered the Export-Import Bank Of India's 34th Commencement Day Annual Lecture on Redesigning Social Policy.

P V Sindhu

2019 have been a rollercoaster ride for India’s top-ranked women’s singles shuttler PV Sindhu. The 24-year-old’s campaign will be remembered for the historic BWF World Championships gold medal in August. As a player who profits more from her power rather than her precision, PV Sindhu has been the most effective when she’s had the right amount of rest and recuperation, which hasn’t always been the case due to the scheduling of tournaments.

“I think it has been a tough year for her as I would say, in difficult condition she is not been able to adapt. The World Championship result was phenomenal, but the other results could have been better, she has lost quite a few close matches and hasn’t been able to close on a few matches but overall, I think it’s been a tough year for her,” Sindhu’s coach P Gopichand said in an interview to Olympic Channel regarding her performance.

Sourav Ganguly

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly formally took charge as the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). After 33 months of Committee of Administrators (CoA) being in charge, the 47-year old Ganguly was elected the president unopposed. At the General Body meeting, chaired by the members of the CoA, Ganguly was officially handed over the charge by BCCI Electoral officer, N Gopalswami. Ganguly is the 39th president of the BCCI. "I am happy that a cricketer has taken charge. I am sure he will take BCCI to a new height," CoA member, Diana Edulji said. While Ganguly will be the chief, Jay Shah is the secretary and Arun Singh Dhumal is the treasurer. For now, Ganguly has a 10-month term before he goes for the mandatory cooling off. After a stint in the Cricket Association of Bengal, leaving him with just 10 months to play his first innings in Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI), Ganguly plunged into the politics of the sport as the “unanimous” face of the cricket administrators. Within the BCCI, Ganguly has made it very clear who is the boss. The professional management of the Board led by its CEO which became all powerful in the absence of a constitutional check in the last three years is now no more at the forefront. The Lodha reforms vested a lot more powers in the CEO's kitty — the Board is looking to switch the balance of power back in the favour of the president and secretary. Ganguly leads a team of new and young faces, but one undeniably underlined with shades of nepotism. Jay Shah was elected BCCI secretary: he was the joint secretary of the Gujarat Cricket Association prior to this. Arun Singh Dhumal was elected Treasurer―he has been running the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association affairs after his brother and Union Minister for state for Finance Anurag Thakur stepped aside. Mahim Verma, from Cricket Association of Uttarakhand was elected vice-president while Jayesh George of Kerala Cricket Ass