Atanu Chakraborty to steer HDFC Bank
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved Atanu Chakraborty, the former Economic Affairs Secretary to be appointed as the part-time chairman of HDFC Bank. His three-year tenure is effective from May 5, 2021 and once appointed, HDFC Bank will be the second private sector lender, following ICICI Bank to have a former bureaucrat helming its affairs. A meeting of the HDFC board of directors will be convened in due course to consider Chakraborty’s appointment as the part-time Chairman as well as an additional independent director of the bank. A seasoned bureaucrat, he last served as the Economic Affairs Secretary until his superannuation in April 2020. He has dedicated 30 years of his service to the Government of India and was a member of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in the Gujarat cadre. Serving primarily in areas of finance and economic policy, infrastructure, petroleum and natural gas, he has been associated with the Union Government. He heralded various posts such as Secretary to Government of India in the Ministry of Finance (Dept. of Economic Affairs) during 2019-20. A 1985 batch IAS officer of the Gujarat cadre, he retired as the Secretary of Department of Economic Affairs in April 2020. Prior to that, he was Secretary of Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), departments that come under the finance ministry.
Rekha MenonRekha Menon appointed as Chairperson, Nasscom
The National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) has appointed Rekha M. Menon as the Chairperson and Senior Managing Director at Accenture - India, as its Chairperson for 2021-22. Menon steps down from her role as Nasscom vice chairperson, succeeding U. B. Pravin Rao, Chief Operating Officer at Infosys, as she takes on the baton to become the first woman Chairperson for Nasscom in the 30- year history of the IT industry’s apex body. Nasscom’s new executive council will play a strategic role in enabling India’s tech sector to put leadership on the global map through focused initiatives and programmes. The list of executive council has 40% representation by women leaders.
K. MadhavanWalt Disney India appoints Madhavan as President
The Walt Disney Company has appointed K. Madhavan as the new president for both its India arm and Star India. Madhavan steps into the shoes of Uday Shankar, who put in his papers in October 2019. He is expected to drive the growth strategy of the company in India, with the responsibility for its sister-platforms like the Disney, Star and Hotstar businesses and operations. Inducted in 2019, Madhavan has served as country manager of Star and Disney India, overseeing the company’s television and studios business in India. He joined Star India in 2009 as its Southern Head. Madhavan’s vision for regional language networks led the company to set benchmarks in quality programming. He currently serves as the president of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) and as the chairman of the National Committee of Media & Entertainment CII (Confederation of Indian Industry). Prior to his media career, K Madhavan was in the banking and corporate finance sector. In his past stint as the MD and CEO of Asianet, he drove the company’s growth as the undisputed leader in Malayalam with more than 50% market share.
Vanita GuptaVanita Gupta gets top US judiciary appointment
Vanita Gupta has been appointed as associate attorney general, a historic nomination, making her the first non-white origin individual to occupy the third highest position at the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ). Proposed on April 21, the appointment has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Daughter of Indian immigrants, Vanita is also the first civil rights lawyer to serve at one of the top 3 positions at the DoJ. Senate Majority Leader, Senator Chuck Schumer, who played a key role in her confirmation, said Vanita will be the first-ever woman of colour and civil rights attorney to serve this role. Hailing from the neighbourhoods of Philadelphia, Vanita has had an illustrious career, she is armed with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University and Juris Doctor from New York University. All of 28 years, she began her career at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and successfully reversed the wrongful drug convictions of 38 Black Americans in Tulia, Texas. As part of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), she wrestled to end mass incarceration by securing a landmark settlement against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on behalf of immigrant children that led to the end of family detention at the facility.
Richard VermaMastercard promotes Richard Verma
Mastercard has promoted Richard Verma, former U.S. Ambassador to India, as General Counsel and Head of Global Public Policy. Verma will lead the American multinational financial services corporation’s core legal and regulatory functions, as well as its global and regional public policy teams. Verma will also onboard Mastercard’s management committee as he moves up from his previous role of Executive Vice President (EVP) for Global Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs. He joined Mastercard in October 2020, bringing in more than 25 years of international experience across senior levels of law, diplomacy, and the military into the business domain. Verma, 52, served as U.S. Ambassador to India from 2014 to 2017 and was the first and only Indian American to occupy his post.
Bhavya MisraLenovo ropes in former PepsiCo HR Director
Bhavya Misra takes charge as Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) for technology major Lenovo’s India business. Lenovo has roped in Bhavya from PepsiCo, where she was the HR Business Partner for Commercial, Finance and IT (Africa, the Middle East and South Asia). She also worked with Bharti Walmart in the talent management portfolio. To be based out of Bengaluru, she will be responsible for leading all HR processes and policies for Lenovo’s India business. She is expected to lead Lenovo India’s people strategy in transforming the company’s journey from a global devices company to a technology leader, inclusive of its global devices and solutions, services and software. She brings in over 13 years of experience, working across a wide range of HR and talent functions like business partnering, organisation restructuring, talent acquisition, manufacturing and plant management as well as diversity and inclusion strategies. She has a repertoire of work, with a wider scope of business models like Cobo, Franchise, retail, working across India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Dipika BhasinCarat India ropes in PHD’s Dipika Bhasin
Media agency Carat India, has appointed Dipika Bhasin as Executive Vice President (EVP). Reporting to Anita Kotwani, CEO, Carat India, Dipika will lead the agency’s north and east offices while focusing on developing and managing Carat’s senior client relationship. As she relinquishes her role of Senior Vice President (SVP) at PHD Worldwide, she also brings in 20 years of expertise to Carat honed by in working across diverse teams, functions and industries. As SVP at PHD, she was responsible for media management where she tuned up digital media operations and their effectiveness for marketers in the entire media mix space. She has played an important role in leveraging prominent clients and brands such as Snapdeal, SAP, Adidas, Nissan, LG, Vivo, Royal Enfield, HP, SC Johnson, Perfetti and Maruti Udyog. She has also worked with Aircel and on consumer durable brands, in the FMCG, e-commerce and automobile sectors.
Puneet DasTata Consumer Products promotes Puneet Das
Tata Consumer Products (TCP) has promoted Puneet Das as President, packaged beverages for India and South Asia. He takes over from Sushant Dash who has moved on to join Tata Starbucks. Puneet was senior vice president (SVP), marketing for the India beverages business prior to his new role with TCP. His association with TCP dates back to 2017, having played a key role in strengthening the core Tata Tea brand and its sub-brands. His contribution to creating a hyper-local brand positioning for Tata Tea’s diverse brand portfolio has been noteworthy. He also formulated the marketing strategy for Tata Coffee Grand. Das brings in about 20 years of expertise working in the FMCG sector across India, Africa, and other international markets. Prior to joining TCP, he has held senior marketing roles with Marico, PepsiCo, GSK Consumer and associated with star brands - 7Up, Boost, Horlicks, among others.
Anil RanderL&T ropes in Tech Mahindra’s Rander as CFO
Larsen & Toubro Infotech (LTI) has appointed Anil Rander as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and will be based out of the company’s Mumbai headquarters. He has stepped down as Senior Vice President (SVP), Tech Mahindra, where he was responsible for finance and legal functions, and as global head of finance for business process services (BPS), at the Pune-headquartered IT firm. He brings in over 27 years of expertise across companies like Hutchison Max Telecom, Alpic Finance and AF Ferguson & Co. His experience ranges across business and financial strategy formulation, fiscal management, risk management, corporate accounting, internal audit and financial controls, investor relations and pricing. A qualified chartered account, cost accountant and a company secretary, he has won multiple industry accolades in his career span.
Chithra ThomasTesla ropes in Reliance’s Chithra Thomas
Tesla, the US-headquartered electric vehicle (EV) giant has hired Chithra Thomas as its human resources (HR) lead for India. In a bid to speed up its India operations while also formalising and structuring its leadership team, the US-headquartered electric vehicle (EV) giant has hired Chithra Thomas. To onboard herself into Tesla, Chithra has relinquished her most recent role as vice president and head of HR at Reliance Retails’ e-commerce initiative Ajio.com. With over six years of work experience with Reliance Retail, she was the vice president and head of HR for the company’s e-commerce platform Ajio.com. A graduate of Loyola Institute of Business Administration, Chennai, she joins the list of senior leaders at Tesla in India.
Zeenah VilcassimBacardi India promotes Zeenah Vilcassim
Zeenah Vilcassim has been promoted as Marketing Director at Bacardi India. She currently heads consumer and customer marketing across the entire Bacardi portfolio of brands and reports to Sanjit Randhawa, Managing Director, Bacardi India. Zeenah will play a key role in driving synergies across marketing, commercial and finance teams for ensuring that brand campaigns are effective, impactful, while also delivering on business goals. She brings in over a decade of leadership experience in strategy and consulting to her role. In a previous role, she was also the Global Director for DEWAR’S Scotch whisky, India. She holds a master’s degree in Econometrics and Quantitative Economics from The University of Edinburgh and began her career as an Economist. She then moved to a Management Consultant role in global banking with Ernst and Young. She has also had a stint with Mindshare as Senior Content Strategist and where she led the entire UK operations as Managing Director at Protein.
Alok SahuHCL Infosystems appoints veteran Sahu as CFO
The board of HCL Infosystems has named Alok Sahu as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to replace Kapil Kapur who has resigned from the company. Sahu who has been associated with HCL since 1995, will succeed Kapur with effect from June 1, 2021, as per the regulatory filing. A chartered accountant and a finance professional, he brings in over 25 years of experience in spearheading financial and accounting functions.
Paroma ChatterjeeEx-Flipkart Exec joins Indian arm of British Fintech
Revolut, the $5.5 billion British Fintech firm has appointed Paroma Chatterjee as its India chief executive officer (CEO) as part of a massive expansion drive. Revolut, one of Europe’s largest startups will hire 300 staff for its Indian subsidiary and slated to invest multi-million pounds as part of its global expansion plans. Paroma has been roped in from LendingKart where she was formerly its Chief Business Officer. In previous roles, she also held key positions at Flipkart and Airtel Money. An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management-Lucknow, Chatterjee was honoured and named as one of the top 25 women leaders in the financial technology sector in Asia, last year by the Financial Technology report. Revolut deals with money transfer and exchange, stock trading, wealth management, loans, & peer-to-peer payments.
Dinesh AggarwalPanasonic’s Aggarwal to head new Spatial Solutions division
Panasonic India has promoted Dinesh Aggarwal, Joint Managing Director (MD) to lead its new Spatial Solutions division and shoulder the additional responsibilities for the newly launched unit. In his new role, Aggarwal will directly report to Manish Sharma, President and CEO, Panasonic India and South Asia. The consumer electronics major has launched a new Spatial Solutions division for smart home solutions, as part of its innovative smart home business. As part of its strategic expansion plans, Spatial Solutions will focus on residential, commercial, and public infrastructure segments while offering the company’s solution architecture to white label manufacturers. It will be a combination of Panasonic’s expertise in Consumer Appliances and Life Solutions in promoting Smart Home Living Solutions concept including Miraie - the IoT (internet of things) and AI - enabled Panasonic’s ‘Connected Living’ platform.