Indian businessman Yusuffali MA appointed vice-chairman of top govt business body in Abu Dhabi
Dubai, Jul 25: Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has appointed prominent Indian businessman Yusuffali MA as the vice-chairman of the apex government body for all businesses operating from the UAE's capital city, making him the only person from India on the 29-member board.
Yusuffali, 65, is the Chairman and Managing Director of Abu Dhabi-based LuLu Group which operates hypermarkets and retail companies in many countries.
Sheikh Mohammed issued a resolution to form a new Board of Directors for the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ADCCI), chaired by Abdullah Mohamed Al Mazrouei and Yusuffali as the Vice-chairman.
The ADCCI is the apex government body of all businesses established in Abu Dhabi. It functions as an effective bridge between the government and the business sector.
Each of the business establishments in Abu Dhabi, one of the wealthiest and most influential economic hubs in the region, has to be licensed by ADCCI.
Yusuffali is the only Indian on the 29-member board, which is primarily made up of Emirati business owners and CEOs.
Yusuffali described his appointment as "a very humbling and proud moment" in his life.
"My sincere gratitude to the visionary leadership of this great country and I will strive to do my best towards justifying the great responsibility entrusted upon me. Apart from working for the growth of Abu Dhabi economy & the larger business community, I will sincerely work towards further boosting the Indo-UAE trade relations," he said.
Sheikh Mohammed recently had honoured Yusuffali with the Abu Dhabi Award 2021 , the highest civilian honour for his almost 5-decade long contributions in the fields of economic development and philanthropy.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
