Facebook appoints Hotstar's Ajit Mohan as Managing Director, VP India
New Delhi, Sep 24: Facebook on Monday announced it has appointed Ajit Mohan, former CEO of video streaming platform Hotstar, as Managing Director and Vice-President, Facebook India.
Set to join Facebook from early next year, Mohan will be responsible for driving Facebook's overall strategy and continued investment in India, reporting directly to the Menlo Park-based headquarter and not Asia Pacific.
"Ajit's depth of experience will help us to continue to have a positive impact in India across communities, organisations, businesses and with policy makers," said David Fischer, Vice-President of Business and Marketing Partnerships, Facebook Inc.
Ajit will lead a senior leadership team in the country to intensify the company's efforts to help people in India connect with the people and things they care about the most.
"I am delighted to take on the mantle of shaping Facebook's charter in India. It is a unique opportunity to shape the agenda of a company that has brought the world closer together in one of the most exciting markets in the world," said Mohan.
"I look forward to championing India in Facebook and working with stakeholders across the spectrum to help build deep and meaningful communities across the country," he added.
An alumnus of McKinsey and Company's New York office where he worked with media companies around the globe, Mohan launched and built Hotstar into India's leading premium video streaming platform.
He is a graduate of the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
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Dhyan Chand lifetime award to be replaced by Arjuna lifetime
New Delhi, Oct 24: The sports ministry on Thursday announced the discontinuation of the Dhyan Chand Award for lifetime achievement from this year onwards and the introduction of the Arjuna Award Lifetime in its place in a bid to "rationalise" the various sporting honours of the country.
Instituted in 2002, the Dhyan Chand Lifetime Award, named after hockey wizard Major Dhyan Chand, is given to individuals in disciplines that are part of the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games, among others.
In 2023, the award was given to former shuttler Manjusha Kanwar, ex-hockey exponent Vineet Kumar and kabaddi player Kavitha Selvaraj.
"The various schemes for sports awards have been rationalised wherein Arjuna Award (Lifetime) has been introduced in place of Dhyan Chand Award. To recognise the efforts of coaches at grassroots/development level, they are now eligible for the Dronacharya Award," said a ministry statement.
"The Arjuna Award (Lifetime) has been introduced and will be given for life time contribution to sports development.
"Further, to recognize the Khelo India scheme, the Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy will be given to the University for Overall Top Performance in Khelo India University Games," it added.
The last date for applying for the national sports awards for 2024 is November 14.
