New York: Microsoft's India-born CEO Satya Nadella has been named the company's Chairman, an additional role in which he will lead the work to set the agenda for the board.

Microsoft Corp on Wednesday announced that the board's independent directors unanimously elected Nadella to the role of board chair, and unanimously elected John W Thompson as the lead independent director, a role he held previously from 2012 to 2014.

In this role, Nadella will lead the work to set the agenda for the board, leveraging his deep understanding of the business to elevate the right strategic opportunities and identify key risks and mitigation approaches for the board's review, the company said in a statement.

Nadella, 53, succeeds Thompson, who as the lead independent director, will retain significant authority including providing input on behalf of the independent directors on board agendas, calling meetings of the independent directors, setting agendas for executive sessions, and leading performance evaluations of the CEO, the technology giant said.

In addition to these role changes, the board declared a quarterly dividend of USD 0.56 per share. The dividend is payable September 9, 2021, to shareholders of record on August 19, 2021.

Nadella had succeeded Steve Ballmer to become Microsoft's CEO in 2014.

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Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Sunday said that the government will decide on further action against the now-suspended DGP K Ramachandra Rao based on recommendations following a departmental inquiry into a case concerning videos purportedly showing him behaving obscenely with women in his office.

The minister's comments followed reports that the special probe committee has ruled out Rao's claims that the clips were fake and AI-generated.

"After further departmental inquiry, whatever they recommend, the government will decide based on that. The department has to give a report to the government, and based on the recommendation made, we will take a decision," Parameshwara told reporters here in response to a question.

Since Rao claimed the circulating videos were fake AI creations, they were sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), the minister said in response to a question.

"A team was formed in the department to find the truth. They have submitted a report to the department. The department will have to inform the government about the same, based on which further action will be taken," he added.

The state government had formed a team of four IPS officers, led by R Hitendra, Additional Director-General of Police (Law and Order), to conduct a preliminary inquiry in the case.

The government in January suspended Rao, the 1993-batch IPS officer serving as the DGP, Directorate of Civil Rights Enforcement (DCRE), after viral videos purportedly showing him acting in an obscene manner surfaced.

The videos purportedly show the 59-year-old hugging and kissing women while in office. He was wearing a police uniform in a few videos. Rao had, however, called the videos "fabricated" and vowed to take legal action.

There were even reports that the videos were shot in 2016-17 inside the office of the Inspector General of Police - Belagavi range.