National and International Appointments

Venu Srinivasan, Honorary Consul General of the Republic of Korea, Chennai and Chairman, TVS Motor Company was honoured by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak with the distinguished civilian honour 'Order of Diplomatic Service Merit' in recognition of his contribution in promoting Korea-India bilateral relations. 

Karen Christiana Figueres Olsen of Costa Rice was appointed Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on 17 May 2010, succeeding Yvo de Boer. The UNFCCC is an international environmental treaty produced at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 to 14 June 1992. The objective of the treaty is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous interference with the climate system.

Ratan Kumar Sinha took over as Director of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Trombay, on May 19, 2010 from Srikumar Banerjee, also Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. Sinha is closely associated with the design and development of the country's first thorium-based Advanced Heavy Water Reactor.

The former Vice-President (August 2002-July 2007) and three-time former Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat passed away on May 22, 2010 at the age of 86. He headed the first non-Congress government in Rajasthan in 1977. In July 2007, Shekhawat fought the Presidential election as an independent candidate backed by National Democratic Alliance but lost to the United Progressive Alliance-Left backed candidate Pratibha Patil.

Tata Group Chairman Ratan N. Tata received the 2010 GIF Chanchlani Global Indian Award on May 22, 2010 for his outstanding global leadership, vision and professional excellence. The award, carrying $225000 (Rs. 1 crore) cash prize and a citation, was presented at the Annual Award Gala of the Canada India Foundation held in Vancouver.

Xiaogang Zhang served as the Chairman of the World Steel Association in 2011.

E. Sreedharan, known as the 'Metro Man' of India, received the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award in 2008.

Shashank Manohar served as the President of the BCCI from 2008 to 2011.

Gurbachan Jagat served as the Governor of Manipur from 2007 to 2013, covering the year 2011.

Raghuram Rajan chaired the Committee on Financial Sector Reforms in 2008-2009, which submitted its report in 2009. He was a prominent economist who later became RBI Governor.

R. Radhakrishna served as the Chairman of the National Statistical Commission in 2010.

Raghuvansh Prasad Singh was an Indian politician who served as the Union Minister for Rural Development and held a Ph.D. in Mathematics. The other listed ministers did not hold a Ph.D. in that specific field.

Sonia Gandhi has served as the President of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) for several terms, including re-elections.