FICCI during its recent Annual General Meeting elected Rashesh Shah as its president for 2017-18, while Sandip Somany was elected FICCI’s senior Vice President and Sangita Reddy its Vice President. “Rashesh Shah has spent over 25 years in the corporate and financial markets sector and is one of the leading spokespersons for the industry,” FICCI said in a statement about Shah who is also the Chairman & CEO of Edelweiss Group. Somany is the Vice Chairman and Managing Director of HSIL Limited, a building materials company.
Kunal Sen has the tag of being an influential leader by the World HRD Congress in the year 2017, and Ferry Futurestep India has roped him as its Managing Director. Kunal will be responsible for the growth, profitability and overall management of the Futurestep business in India. He will work out of the Bengaluru office of the company. Kunal has two decades of experience, and is better known as a leader in the corporate world with diverse experience in both B2C and B2B. He has a strong operational background, is a proven leader and has the ability to scale up businesses profitably. He has worked in several companies at senior positions. He worked at TeamLease Skill University (TLSU) as senior Vice President. He was responsible for deriving the growth and profitability agenda for a large (200+) team. Kunal has also worked at StoveKraft between 2013–14, as Director sales and marketing. There, he made the strategy for the expansion and growth of various products all over India. An MBA from XLRI and an alumnus of IIT Bombay, Kunal’s vast experience includes his stint with Dell, Idea Cellular, Colgate Palmolive, Agro Tech Foods, Heinz and Asian Paints, in senior positions in sales and marketing.
Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar was gearing for his maiden innings delivering a speech in Rajya Sabha, but unluckily for him and many others he was bowled out—as the Congress raised a massive ruckus over PM Narendra Modi’s comments about Pakistan and former PM Manmohan Singh. Sachin did stand up smiling, but all hell broke loose. He did wait for a few minutes. He was to deliver his speech on the topic ‘Right to play and the future of sports in India’. The chairman of the house Venkaiah Naidu tried several times to quieten the opposition MPs, telling them their protests were not going on the record and asking them to show respect to the Bharat Ratna awardee, but in vain. Naidu, finally, had to stop the live telecast of Rajya Sabha before adjourning the Upper House for the day, and in the process calling off Sachin’s debut speech.
Rahul Varma who joined Accenture in 1994 as team member of the HR team, has now been re-designated as the Senior Managing Director – Talent. His role is focused on the mission of discovering, inspiring and nurturing exceptional people in Accenture. He now leads a team of experts in recruiting, on-boarding, learning, performance, employee experience and research and innovation, serving Accenture’s global workforce of over 4,35,000 people. Varma is a Delhi University graduate in arts and economics and has a Master’s in personnel management and human resources from the Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune, and has been with Accenture for two decades. Accenture grew from being a niche management consulting firm, employing about 200 people, into a multi-business organisation (consulting, technology and outsourcing) with over 37,000 people, in what is acknowledged as one of the world’s biggest corporate organic growth stories. In 2008, he moved to Singapore as the Senior Director- HR strategy and enablement. He is also the founder of Accenture’s HR Academy Network across India, the Philippines, China, South Africa and a grouping of nine European countries.
The much liked celebrity in sports, Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli is not just one who is talked about in the game as the most valuable player going around in world cricket, he’s also India’s most valuable brand with a celebrity value of $143 million. Kohli has sidelined Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, as the country’s most valuable celebrity brand from 2014, according to a report by corporate advisers Duff & Phelps. Kohli, along with Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh, has led the ascent of millennials to the top of the rankings. Former Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni slipped from 9th place last year to 13th this year. This year saw PV Sindhu make an entry at 15, the first time a female sportsperson has made it to the top 15. “For the first time since 2014, Shah Rukh Khan has slipped from the top ranking and has been replaced by none other than Virat Kohli. Kohli is now the first choice of brands to engage and attract consumers, fuelled by his extraordinary on field performances and off-field charisma,” said Varun Gupta, Duff & Phelps MD and regional leader, India, Japan and Southeast Asia. Talking about the recent trend, Abhishek Ganguly, Managing Director of Puma India, which Kohli endorses, said, “Virat has transformed the way fitness is looked at in Indian cricket. He has emphasised the role of an athlete and reshaped cricket in the millennial culture. He is a youth icon with effortless style.” Kohli signed an eight-year deal with the brand early this year, making him the first Indian sportsperson to sign a `100-crore endorsement deal with a single brand. The report also observes that companies are signing endorsement deals to draw in millennials. For instance, this year Coca Cola chose to not renew its contract for Thums Up with Salman Khan for the first time since 2012. It, instead, signed Ranveer Singh. Similarly, Honda roped in upcoming actress Tapsee Pannu as its brand ambassador for scooters for young riders. Juhi Chawla was replaced by Parineeti Chopra in the Kurkure ad, while Lays Chips’ previous ambassador Saif Ali Khan was replaced by Ranbir Kapoor.
Nitin Dossa, the Executive Chairman of the Mumbai-headquartered Western India Automobile Association has been unanimously elected as President. He will hold this position for a period of two years. Dossa is also the Chairman on the WIAA-Castrol Institute of Motoring. He is also involved with other sports associations. He is the first Indian to be unanimously elected Vice President of the Paris-based Alliance Internationale de Tourisme (AIT), a world body of mobility. Dossa also holds the position of president of the Vintage & Classic Car Club of India.
In a bid to connect people and provide growth advisory consulting and digital transformation linkages between large firms in India and the US with innovative startups and growth companies focused on digital solutions, the 5F World, the Consulting and Startup company founded by Dr Ganesh Natarajan in 2016 and the Chesapeake Group, a New York based boutique investment and merchant bank founded by Douglas Land announced an Indo US Joint Venture. In a press release issued by Kalzoom stated that, the Joint Venture, Kalzoom Advisors Pvt. Ltd. will have offices in New York, Bengaluru and Pune and will work in twelve defined areas of digital solutions – UX/UI, Artificial Intelligence, IOT, Block Chain, Social & Mobile, Mixed Reality, 3D Printing, Digital Platforms & Design Thinking, Big Data & Analytics, Cloud Computing, RPA and Cyber Security. A digital platform, Zoom 12, has been launched to enable emerging companies to connect with funding sources, service providers, mentors and potential clients in India and the USA. Speaking on the venture, Natarajan said, “We have been delighted with the pre-launch response to the platform and have already evaluated and signed up 60 companies, for two of whom Kalzoom is providing growth advisory services that will enable them to grow at thirty per cent per annum in defined digital spaces. With a new wave of growth emerging in the IT sector we are confident that we can provide a great service and create major impact.” Douglas Land said “Over the last 20 years, Chesapeake has served many large and medium technology customers and also helped young companies to grow and command superior value when they raise capital or get acquired by larger firms. We are confident our Grow- Buy-Sell approach will be a true enabler to Indian and American companies.” Commenting on the move, Ipsita Nayak, Business Head of Kalzoom Advisors said, “Leveraging on 5F World and Chesapeake’s distinctive competencies and our connects with corporate clients, angel groups and venture capital firms, we look forward to building robust partnerships and creating a high growth business which will add tremendous value to our clients and the digital marketplace.”
A fifth-generation businesswoman and the heiress of the 150-yearold family business legacy, Manasi Kirloskar wowed the House of Lords as a distinguished guest and speaker at the 17th annual London Global Convention of IOD (Institute of Directors, India) recently. Well versed with statistics, the Pune-based businesswoman, Manasi said, “As far as trade between our two nations is concerned, at present the UK ranks 15th in the list of India’s top trading partners. The UK is India’s 6th largest export market and is 22nd amongst the countries exporting to India. The India-UK bilateral trade in goods and services in 2015 amounted to £16.33 billion with India enjoying a surplus in both merchandise and services trade. As I pondered through the trade data, the thing that strikes me the most is the huge potential that remains untapped. More disturbingly, with the exception of 2017, trade between India and the UK has been declining over the last few years. So the two countries face the immediate challenge of finding ways of exploring newer areas that can provide sustained momentum to growth in trade so as to realise the available potential that exists. This will also automatically reverse the declining trend in trade between the two countries seen in the recent past.” This is not a new venture by Manasi as she has addressed many during her short stint in the corporate world. She has also spoken on multiple occasions about her social non-profit venture, ‘Caring with Colour’, which aims at changing the education paradigm in schools by making learning a more focused and enjoyable experience, especially for under-privileged children. The first pilot project of the venture will begin this month in Bengaluru. The 27-year-old Manasi signed off on a positive note saying, “I would like to say that whilst the strong intent of both governments will definitely be a deciding factor in the future of economic relations between our nations, it will be the sincerity of intent and the strength of the people-to-people relations that will shape the determination of the governments.”
There has been a good turn-around with a shorter and better recruitment process, hiring of retired professionals and paid foreign trips for non-gazetted staff at Indian Railways. Indian Railways (IR) is setting new benchmarks as an employer. Winds of change are sweeping over some of the PSUs known for their not-so-fancy employment practices. They are now re-looking at how they hire and engage talent. Be it the changing times or the current circumstances, the track that Indian Railways has just set on is sure to make it a sought-after employer. Following its decision to shorten its hiring duration to six months, by going online, Railways is now likely to hire retired employees in the Mumbai division of both Central Railway and Western Railway by next year, to compensate talent shortage. That being a wise move, could prove to be a win-win for both the employee and the employer. While the corporates have already been taking advantage of the years of experience and expertise that retired or senior professionals bring to the table, the Railways would be the first PSU to implement this. Although, it is an ad-hoc measure to fill in the vacancies in the technical and operations departments until new recruits are appointed for the same, it would still benefit both the retired professionals and the system immensely. Currently, there are over 10,000 vacancies in the division in different grades and cadres. The retired staff will be eligible to work till 65 years of age. The divisional railway managers of both Central Railway and Western Railway are empowered to re-engage staff who are competent and suitable to fill the vacant positions. While the CR has already floated a tender to hire as many as 672 employees, WR is likely to frame a draft policy and invite applications by next week.
Pranay Jivrajka, founding partner at Ola has been appointed as the interim CEO of Foodpanda after Saurabh Kochhar, former CEO of Foodpanda India left the company. The ride-hailing player Ola is making an entry into the food delivery space again, this time by acquiring Foodpanda India from Germany based Delivery Hero Group. While the companies did not disclose the details of the deal size, sources have pegged the stock-based acquisition at under $50 million. The move will also see Ola invest another $200 million, as it takes on rival UberEats and incumbents like Zomato and Swiggy. According to analysts, Ola has acquired the third largest player in the food delivery business in India and is focussed on broadening its range of services, including the food delivery segment, after Ola Cafe failed to take off in 2015. “Foodpanda has come to be a very efficient and profit-focused business over the last couple of years. Our commitment to invest $200 million in Foodpanda India will help the business be focused on growth. With Delivery Hero’s global leadership and Ola’s platform capabilities with unique local insights, this partnership is born out of strength,” said Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO of Ola in a statement. According to analysts and employees at the company, Ola faced stiff resistance from users within three to four months of Ola Cafe being rolled out in 2015. With a drop in orders, users returned to the likes of Swiggy, Zomato or Foodpanda. “Ola cab drivers would pick up the food from the partner restaurants and deliver orders that came up when they were driving around the locality. This made a significant dent on the revenue that came from the regular cab rides,” said an employee.
In a bid to expand their presence in India, Kia Motors India has roped in Kookhyun Shim as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. He will also oversee the construction of the company’s first manufacturing facility in India. Kia will be investing US$ 1.1 billion for its future development in the Indian market. Prior to this, Shim served as head of Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia Plant Coordination Group, and before that he was head coordinator of Kia production in Slovakia. In April 2017 Kia Motors signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Andhra Pradesh State Government to build a new manufacturing facility in Anantapur district. Commenting on the move, Han-Woo Park, President at Kia Motors Corporation said, “We are delighted to announce the appointment of Kookhyun Shim as MD and CEO for India. We recognise India as a major market with huge potential for our world-class cars. We are confident that Shim’s leadership will provide the direction we need to grow our presence in what is one of the world’s biggest new car markets.” Kookhyun said, “The Indian economy is at an inflection point, and I am excited to work in an emerging market that’s forecasted to become the third largest globally by 2021. ”
by Joe Williams
