NEWSMAKERS OF THE WEEK
CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIA RANJAN GOGOI HAD BEEN PART OF A REBEL PRESS CONFERENCE EIGHT MONTHS AGO. HE HAD THEN SAID THAT DEMOCRACY WAS IN DANGER FROM THE JUDICIAL FRONT. HIS ADMINISTRATIVE PERFORMANCE DURING HIS TERM WILL BE KEENLY WATCHED.
RANJAN GOGOI
Justice Ranjan Gogoi was sworn in as the 46th Chief Justice of India on Wednesday. He did some plain-speaking over urgent mentioning of cases in the Supreme Court for hearing, saying they will be disallowed till certain parameters are fixed unless someone is set to be “hanged or evicted”. Gogoi, 63, becomes the first person from the Northeast to reach the top position of the judiciary and will have a tenure of a little over 13 months.
CHANDA KOCHHAR
Facing enquiry over charges of nepotism and conflict of interest, ICICI Bank managing director and CEO Chanda Kochhar on Thursday quit the bank, six months before her current tenure was to end. Ms Kochhar, 57, has also resigned from all subsidiaries of the bank including ICICI securities where she had sought reappointment as chairperson. There are allegations of involvement of Ms Kochhar and her family members in a loan provided to Videocon group.
MENG HONGWEI
Interpol’s president Meng Hongwei, who was reported missing, has been detained in China for questioning as part of an investigation against him, a media report said on Saturday. It was not immediately clear why he is being investigated or exactly where he is being held. Mr Meng was elected president of Interpol, which helps global police forces co-operate on investigations, in November 2016. He is also China’s deputy minister of public security.
GITA GOPINATH
India-born Gita Gopinath has been appointed as the IMF’s Chief Economist. She is the first woman to be appointed as head of IMF’s research department, which publishes — World Economic Outlook. She is also the second Indian after former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan to hold the position. In 2014, Gopinath was named one of the top 25 economists under 45 by the IMF. She is the third woman and the first Indian after Nobel laureate Amartya Sen to become a tenured professor at Harvard’s Department of Economics.
SERENA WILLIAMS
Tennis superstar Serena Williams posed topless in a video while singing I Touch Myself to raise awareness for breast cancer. “This breast cancer awareness month I’ve recorded a version of The Divinyls global hit I Touch Myself to remind women to self-check regularly,” she wrote on the post. “Yes, this put me out of my comfort zone, but I wanted to do it because it’s an issue that affects all women of all colours, all around the world.”