National: Nita Ambani and Mukesh Ambani along with their family members, Reliance leadership and thousands of employees paid tribute to late Ratan Tata at the Reliance Industries Annual Diwali dinner on Tuesday. During the occasion, Nita Ambani called him a 'Great Son of India', a visionary industrialist and philanthropist who always strove for Society's greater good.

"Four days ago, we lost a great son of India. The passing of the Mr Ratan Tata filled us all with immense grief. He was a dear friend of my father-in-law, of Mukesh and our family. He was also a mentor to Akash. He was a visionary industrialist and philanthropist who always strove for society's greater good," she said.

They all also observed a minute of silence in honour of Ratan Tata. Ratan Tata, born on December 28, 1937, in Mumbai, was the Chairman of Ratan Tata Trust and Dorabji Tata Trust, two of the largest private-sector-promoted philanthropic trusts in India. He was the Chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group, from 1991 until his retirement in 2012. Then he was appointed Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons.

He was honoured with the country's second-highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan, in 2008. Following his death, the Tata Trusts, in an official statement, confirmed the appointment of Noel Naval Tata as its new chairman last week.

According to the statement from Tata Trusts, the Trustees of various trusts that comprise the Tata Trusts met at a joint meeting held in Mumbai today.They condoled the demise of Ratan Tata, Chairman, of Tata Trusts, and recalled his yeoman services not only to the Tata Group but also to nation-building.