Former HUL hand, Siddharth Banerjee has joined Facebook as Director - Global Sales Organization. Prior to this, he was associated with Vodafone as EVP Marketing. In his new role, he will be responsible for partnering with businesses in order to achieve strong business outcomes by leading verticals, agency relationships and solution teams for Facebook India. He is currently part of the leadership team of Facebook India. Banerjee has over 19 years of experience in marketing and sales and joined Vodafone in 2015 after working for 12 years with Hindustan Unilever. Prior to joining HUL in 2003, he worked with General Mills and Reckitt Benckiser as Regional Sales Manager for two years.
With organizations introducing various initiatives and programmes to up skill their workforces, the Welspun Group has come up with the second edition of its group leadership programme (GLP), which focuses on producing the next level of leaders. The programme nurtures top leadership from the Group, across all businesses and focuses on building new leadership capabilities for tomorrow and using them effectively to ensure a positive business impact. “We have ensured that at every point there are knowledge nuggets embedded in the programme through peer-to-peer learning and by using e-learning modules. These will ensure that participants continuously refresh their knowledge of the topics, unlike the one-time instructor-led session of the previous batch of GLP 1.0,” says Bidisha Banerjee, Chief Learning Officer, Welspun Group. Rajesh Padmanabhan, Director and Group CHRO, Welspun Group also adds his views to the newly-launched leadership learning programme “GLP 2.0 is a signature programme to empower our leaders and take them on a custom-built learning journey. This readies them to deal with situations more steadily and with tenacity. They evolve and mature progressively and allow their learning to cascade into their respective teams, making it a winning group".
Filmmaker Sanjay Tripathy is working on the script of a biopic on Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy, according to media reports. Tripathy approached Murthy for the film eight months ago, an executive associated with the project told Mint. “...after much deliberation, Murthy approved the project,” the source said, adding that Murthy’s only request was that the facts should not be distorted. A 30-page script has been sent to Murthy and once it is finalized, location scouting and casting will begin, the publication said. It is not clear which phase of Murthy’s life will be covered by the biopic. Murthy set up Infosys in Pune at the age of 35 along with six other software professionals. He served as the company’s CEO from 1981 to 2002.
Pallav Singh, one of the founding members of Softbank-backed Ola, has resigned from the company. Pallav had taken on the role of interim COO of the homegrown ride hailing firm since May 2018, when Vishal Kaul had moved on from the company. A junior of Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati at IIT-Bombay, Singh was the fourth employee hired by the Ola co-founders. He along with Pranay Jivrajka, another IIT-Bombay graduate, was among the first set of employees who came on board the taxi-hailing platform when it started. Singh and Jivrajka, who is currently heading Foodpanda as its CEO, have both held several posts at the company over the years. Through 2017-2018, Ola witnessed a constant churn with high-profile exits, including Chief People Officer Susheel Balakrishnan, Senior Vice President for Growth, Saikiran Krishnamurthy, and Corporate President for New Initiatives, Joy Bandekar.
Pity the poor billionaire whose world order is crumbling faster than an Amazon delivery ever since his divorce from his wife of 25 years was announced. With tabloids going wild on the couple’s massive fortune of $137 billion and on Bezos’ reported racy texts to his girlfriend, the news of world’s richest person and Amazon.com Inc founder and Chief Executive, Jeff Bezos, seeking a divorce from his wife MacKenzie Bezos has shocked one and all. The reason behind the split is Jeff’s secret affair with Lauren Sanchez – former Good Day L.A. co-host and the wife of Hollywood’s talent agent Patrick Whitesell. The divorce came as a surprise given that Bezos had on several occasions contributed his success to his wife’s support. But now Jeff Bezos perhaps feels a new and unsettling emotion as he stands to watch his soon-to-be ex-wife Mackenzie Bezos walk away with as much as $96 billion. The divorce may earn MacKenzie her own title as the richest woman in the world. The divorce is expected to result in one of the most notable settlements in history, and likely the biggest, since Bezos runs one of the world’s most valuable companies. And will Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos’ divorce have an impact on Amazon’s ownership and create new challenges for the company? Yes, as nearly all of Bezo’s wealth comes from his 16 per cent ownership in Amazon, a company valued at about $800 billion. Bezos personally owns ‘The Washington Post’, which he purchased for $250 million in 2013. The couple’s properties include two homes in Beverly Hills; two homes in Medina, Washington; the largest home in Washington, DC; and a Texas ranch, according to ‘The Wall Street Journal’. At this early point, it’s hard to say what may change for Amazon’s ownership. Since there’s no prenuptial agreement, the world’s biggest individual fortune may be split in half and Bezos may lose direct control of half his Amazon stake. That could result in MacKenzie pushing for changes at the company or requesting a seat on Amazon’s board.
World Travel & Tourism Council, India Initiative (WTTCII) announced that it has appointed DLF CEO, Rajeev Talwar as its Chairman and Spicejet CMD, Ajay Singh as Vice Chairman. A council statement said: “Rajeev Talwar, CEO, DLF has been appointed as Chairman of WTTCII for the year 2019.” Talwar is also the Chairman of NAREDCO and President of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Soon after his appointment, Talwar made three major demands to boost tourism in India. “Firstly, Airline Turbine Fuel must be included under GST. Secondly, 28 per cent GST on hotel rooms is hurting – GST should be pegged at five per cent for rooms of transaction values of up to Rs.5,000 and 12 per cent for transaction values of Rs.5,001-15,000 along with ITC,” Talwar said. Thirdly, there should be a tourism board to handle the marketing of ‘Incredible India’, he said. “A tourism board with inclusion of public and private stakeholders will make brand India successful.” Ajay Singh said, “Our travel and tourism industry has enormous potential but it faces numerous challenges, of which the most critical is lack of appropriate infrastructure.” He said the launch of several branding and marketing initiatives by the government such as Incredible India 2.0 and e-Tourist Visa on Arrival for 163 countries have provided a focused impetus to growth.
Hyderabad-based co-working space startup, iKeva, announced that it has raised an undisclosed amount from Meenakshi Group to set up 15 new centers in the next 12 months and strengthen its robust back end processes and technology. Monika Misra, Co-founder and General Manager, iKeva, said the fresh infusion of funds would help them speed up business expansion this year, and foray into new fast-growing cities. The five-year-old co-working space provider runs eight centers across five major metro cities - Bengaluru, Chennai, Gurugram, Hyderabad and Mumbai. Two new centers are set to open in Hyderabad in the next three months, according to a statement by the company. According to CBRE, the co-working / shared office industry in India has shown a yearly growth of 23 per cent since 2013 and by 2025, 40 per cent of the overall workforce is predicted to work from co-working spaces. iKeva’s revenues recorded an increase of 40 per cent in the last fiscal and the target is to double this growth. “As a strategic investor, iKeva’s business model and the sustained growth achieved over the years, combined with a focus to tap into lucrative millennial-driven sharing economy hold great promise,” said Mahesh Katragadda, Director of Meenakshi Group. iKeva’s co-working spaces range from 10,000 - 15,000 sq. ft., and offer a bevy of services and amenities including flexible fully furnished workspaces, high-speed internet, professional team, reprographics and high end IT. The seat prices start from Rs.4,000 under flexible plans and start from Rs.8,500 for a dedicated desk space.
Bajaj Auto released its new identity as “The World’s Favorite Indian” to announce its transition from a domestic scooter maker to a global motorcycle powerhouse in 17 years. Head honchos at Bajaj revealed that the brand has been making its presence felt worldwide; even dominating the motorcycle market in some countries. Forty per cent of the company’s revenue is coming from international markets. It has earned $13 billion of forex in the last 10 years and hit a milestone of two million units of international sales in 2018. With 15 million motorcycles sold in over 70 countries, Bajaj Auto says that they have set a benchmark for the ‘Make in India’ vision of the government. Commenting on the occasion, Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director said, “Our international performance is validation of our strategy of focus and differentiation. Our unwavering commitment towards building the best motorcycles in the world through design, technology, quality and customer satisfaction have made us a truly global brand. Bajaj brand is not only The World’s Favorite Indian, but also perhaps the most illustrious ambassador for Make in India initiative of the Indian government.” He further added, “In only 17 years since the launch of Pulsar, we have become the third-largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world, ahead of several Japanese and European brands that have been around for much longer. In any market around the world, when people think of motorcycles, they should think of Bajaj. That would help us achieve our vision of being a Global Motorcycle Specialist.” The new brand identity would be communicated through a marketing campaign featuring TV, outdoor, print and digital media. The retail showrooms of Bajaj Auto motorcycles and commercial vehicles will also undergo a transformation with new signage and branding in line with the message of The World’s Favorite Indian.
With the completion of the acquisition of a 51 per cent stake, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) became the majority shareholder of IDBI Bank, according to a regulatory filing by the state-run lender. IDBI Bank, in a statement issued, said LIC completed the acquisition of a 51 per cent controlling stake in the lender. As such, the bank’s board approved the reclassification of LIC as promoters of IDBI Bank. The deal is “envisaged as a win-win situation for both IDBI Bank and LIC with an opportunity to create enormous value for shareholders, customers and employees of both entities through mutual synergies,” the statement added. Following the completion of the acquisition, the national insurer will have five representatives on the bank’s board, while the government will have two. Further, to ensure continuity at the top, LIC will persist with the bank’s present top management till such time as the latter’s board approves the appointment of a new MD and CEO and DMDs on the board after following the due process. In terms of LIC’s letter dated January 18, 2019, the board of IDBI Bank approved the continuation of office of Rakesh Sharma, K. P. Nair and G. M. Yadwadkar as Directors and as MD and CEO and DMDs respectively of IDBI Bank till such time as the board approves appointment of a new MD and CEO and DMDs on the board of IDBI Bank after following the due process. Further, IDBI Bank’s board also approved the appointment of Rajesh Kandwal, Director and CEO of LICHFL Care Homes Ltd, as an Additional Director and LIC’s Nominee Director on the board of the Bank. The immediate challenge for LIC will be to ensure that the debt-ridden bank, which reported eighth consecutive quarterly losses, has adequate capital.
Online tutoring start up Byju’s announced it has acquired US-based Osmo, the award-winning playful learning system for creating healthy screen time experiences for $120 million. This is the Bengaluru-based startup’s first-ever purchase of a US company. Osmo brings physical toys into the digital world through augmented reality and its proprietary reflective artificial intelligence, thereby fusing physical play with digital engagement. In other words, it allows any object like pen and paper, blocks or toys to interact with an iPad, iPhone or Amazon Fire camera. Tangible Play Inc. - the business behind the Osmo brand was founded in 2013 by Pramod Sharma and Jerome Scholler. Byju’s said in a statement that it intends to tap Osmo’s physical-to-digital technology and content to expand and enhance its current offering. “With this acquisition, we are expanding into a new age demographic and entering the world of younger kids (age group 3-8). Our partnership with Osmo will help kids acquire a love for learning at an early age by introducing ‘play-based learning’. Overall, the partnership aims at fostering a love for learning through cutting-edge tech and a new approach to edutainment-based learning,” said the company’s founder and CEO Byju Raveendran. Pramod Sharma, Osmo’s CEO and co-founder and his core team will continue to remain at Osmo’s helm. “Osmo was started for parents looking for a way to combine physical, hands-on play with the power of digital platforms to foster a love of learning,” said Sharma. “Finding a visionary education company like Byju’s opened an exciting opportunity to work together to carry forward our mission across all primary school grade levels on a global scale. We are excited about what we can accomplish together,” he added.
Ogilvy has announced the elevation of Amarinder Butalia to the position of Managing Partner, Ogilvy Delhi NCR. Amarinder has over 22 years of experience in the business and has been with Ogilvy for the last six years, in Mumbai and Gurugram, donning many hats. She has led multiple business relationships across Cadbury, Star, Sprite, KFC, GSK, BMW. Her brands have won multiple Effies both in India and the Asia Pacific. Kapil Arora, President, Ogilvy North said, “Amarinder is a true blue Ogilvy brand custodian and client partner. Over the years, she has displayed time and again, her ability to embrace change, shepherd great work and nurture long-term client relationships. Her new role is a key component of Ogilvy Gurugram’s Next Chapter strategy and I’m confident that we have a leader in Amarinder who will help consistently deliver on our credo to Make Brands Matter.” On her elevation, Amarinder said, “I am excited about the new role and look forward to help grow the Ogilvy Gurugram offering for a brave new world, with creativity at its heart. I am also keen to foster a workplace culture that is open, transparent, diverse and inclusive – values that have always been at the heart of Ogilvy".
by Orchie Bandopadhyay
