recent appointments sep-2023

Wipro appoints Aparna C Iyer as Chief Financial Officer

Wipro Limited announced that it is appointing Aparna C Iyer as Chief Financial Officer, effective immediately. Aparna will report to CEO Thierry Delaporte and will join the Wipro Executive Board. She succeeds Jatin Dalal, who is stepping down as CFO to pursue other career opportunities. Aparna C Iyer joined Wipro in April 2003. Over her 20 years with Wipro, she has held several finance roles. Wipro:

• Founder: M. H. Hasham Premji
• Owner: Azim Premji
• Headquarters: Bengaluru
• Founded: 29 December 1945
• CEO: Thierry Delaporte
• Subsidiaries: Appirio, Topcoder, Capco, Designit

Dhananjay Joshi Appointed Chairman of Telecom Industry Body DIPA

Digital Infrastructure Providers Association (DIPA) has appointed Dhananjay Joshi as its new Chairman and Sandeep Girotra as Vice-Chairman. He currently serves as the Managing Director and CEO of Summit Digitel, and has previously held the position of COO at Bharti Infratel. He will be succeeding Akhil Gupta,Chairman of Bharti Enterprises. Sandeep Girotra, who currently serves as the current CEO of American Tower India takes over from Amit Sharma Vice-Chairman,DIPA & Former EVP at American Tower Corporation(ATC).

Digital Infrastructure Providers Association (DIPA):

The Digital Infrastructure Providers Association (DIPA) is a non-profit industry body that represents the digital infrastructure industry in India. It was founded in 2010 as the Tower and Infrastructure Providers Association (TIPA), but was renamed DIPA in 2020 to reflect the broader scope of its membership.

Indian-origin Nihar Malaviya named permanent CEO of Penguin Random House

Nihar Malaviya, an Indian-origin publishing executive,has been appointed as permanent CEO of New Yorkbased international publishing group Penguin Random House. He had replaced Markus Dohle, who departed after Penguin Random House’s failed bid for Simon & Schuster 2022. Prior to his appointment as interim CEO of Penguin Random House on January 1, 2023,Malaviya served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Penguin Random House US since 2014.

Penguin Random House:

Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, with the merger of Penguin Group and Random House. Penguin Books was originally founded in 1935 and Random House was founded in 1927.

• Founded: July 1, 2013
• Headquarters: New York City, United States
• Chairman: Thomas Rabe

HDFC Bank’s Jagdishan gets 3-year extension

The Reserve Bank of India has approved the reappointment of Sashidhar Jagdishan as HDFC Bank managing director and chief executive officer for three more years till 26 October 2026. Jagdishan joined the bank in 1996 as a manager in the finance function and became business head of finance in 1999. He was later appointed chief financial officer in 2008.

HDFC Bank:

• Founded: 1st July 2023 (via the merger between HDFC-HDFC bank)
• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
• Chairman: Atanu Chakraborty
• CEO: Sashidhar Jagdishan

Liberty General Insurance appoints Parag Ved as CEO

Liberty General Insurance announced the appointment of Parag Ved as its chief executive and a director on the board. Prior to joining Liberty, he was the president of consumer lines at Tata AIG General Insurance. Ved has over two decades of experience in the insurance industry, holding senior leadership roles in organizations including ICICI Lombard General Insurance. Ved takes on the role following the retirement of Roopam Asthana, who was instrumental in establishing Liberty’s business operations.

Liberty General Insurance

• Industry: Insurance
• Founded: 2013
• Headquarters: Mumbai, India
• Parent: Liberty Mutual (48. 7%), DP Jindal Group (26%) & ENAM Securities (25. 32%)

Byju’s elevates Arjun Mohan as India CEO

Edtech major Byju’s elevated Arjun Mohan as the CEO of its India operations. Mohan succeeds Mrinal Mohit,founding partner and the outgoing head of India business at Byju’s, who is embarking on a new journey to pursue personal aspirations. Mohan was a part of the founding team and last served as the Chief Business Officer, before rejoining the company recently.Raveendran, who is the cofounder of the edtech giant,will remain its group CEO, while Mohan will manage its India business.

Byju’s:

• Founded: 2011
• Founders: Byju Raveendran, Divya Gokulnath
• Headquarters: Bangalore, Karnataka, India
• CEO: Byju Raveendran
• Director: Divya Gokulnath

RBI approves the reappointment of Sandeep Bakshi as MD & CEO of ICICI Bank

ICICI Bank Limited has received the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) nod to reappoint Sandeep Bakhshi as Managing Director and CEO. Bakhshi has been reappointed for three years. Sandeep Bakshi has been leading ICICI Bank since October 15, 2018, and before that, he served as a full-time director and Chief Operating Officer (COO). Bakshi has a tenure of 36 years in ICICI Group and has held various important positions.

ICICI Bank:

• Headquarters: Mumbai
• CEO: Sandeep Bakhshi
• Founder: Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India
• Founded: 1994, Vadodara

Indian-origin Tharman Shanmugaratnam wins Singapore’s presidential election

Elected as the ninth president of Singapore, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, a distinguished economist, became the third Indian-origin person to head the prosperous city-state for the next six years. Tharman beat Ng Kok Song, a former chief investment officer with the Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC), and Tan Kin Lian, the former chief of the NTUC Income, a state-owned union-based insurance group by a huge margin. Incumbent President Halimah Yacob’s six-year term will end on September 13. The elected president serves a six-year term. Tharman has served as Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister between 2011 and 2019 and as Senior Minister in the Cabinet between 2019 and 2023.

R Madhavan Appointed as New President of the Film and Television Institute of India

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) appointed actor R Madhavan as the president of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) Society and chairperson of the governing council. The tenure of former president director Shekhar Kapur ended on 3 March, 2023. The FTII Society, headed by the FTII chairperson, has 12 nominees, of whom eight are nominated under the ‘Persons of Eminence’ category while four are FTII alumnus.

Zimbabwean president Mnangagwa re-elected

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa was reelected for a second and final term. This was the second election in Zimbabwe since authoritarian leader Robert Mugabe was deposed by the military in 2017. In that election, in 2018, Mnangagwa won 51% of the total ballots, while Chamisa took 44%.

Zimbabwean:

• Capital: Harare
• Currency: United States Dollar
• President: Emmerson Mnangagwa

Justice Qazi Faez Isa sworn in as 29th Chief Justice of Pakistan

Justice Qazi Faez Isa was sworn in as the 29th Chief Justice of Pakistan. He served as chief justice of the Balochistan High Court from 2009 to 2014 and was elevated to the Supreme Court in 2014.

Pakistan:

• Capital: Islamabad
• President: Arif Alvi
• Prime Minister: Anwar ul Haq Kakar (Caretaker)

Rahul Navin appointed in-charge director of Enforcement Directorate

Enforcement Directorate Special Director Rahul Navin was appointed the agency’s in-charge director as the term of Sanjay Kumar Mishra ended. With his appointment, Navin becomes the most senior officer within the ED. The appointment will be valid till a regular ED Director is appointed.

ED:

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) is a domestic law enforcement agency and economic intelligence agency responsible for enforcing economic laws and fighting economic crime in India.

• Formed: 1 May 1956
• Headquarters: New Delhi, India
• Minister: Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance

Veteran banker Rajnish Kumar appointed as Chairman of Mastercard India

Former State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman Rajnish Kumar has been appointed as chairman of Mastercard India. Kumar will guide Mastercard’s South Asia executive leadership team led by Gautam Aggarwal, Division President for South Asia & Country Corporate Officer, India, in navigating the domestic payments landscape.

Mastercard:

• President: Michael Miebach
• Headquarters: New York, United States
• Established: 1966

China becomes first country to name new Afghan ambassador under Taliban

China became the first country to formally name a new ambassador to Afghanistan since Taliban takeover,after its envoy Zhao Sheng presented credentials at a ceremony in Kabul. The Taliban have not been officially recognised by any foreign government. The Taliban seized power in August 2021 after the withdrawal of US-led NATO forces followed by two decades of war. Since then, Taliban leaders have been put under sanctions and no country has recognised their rule as legitimate. China’s previous ambassador to Afghanistan, Wang Yu, took up the role in 2019 and finished his tenure last month.

China:

• Capital: Beijing
• President: Xi Jinping
• Currency: Renminbi

AIBI appointed Mr. Mahavir Lunawat of Pantomath Capital as Chairman

The Association of Investment Bankers of India (AIBI) appointed Mahavir Lunawat, Managing Director of Pantomath Capital Advisors Pvt Ltd. as its Chairman. The Chairperson of AIBI represents Investment Bankers on the Primary Market Advisory Committee (PMAC) of SEBI and has been active in representing the members’ views, and comments. AIBI also announced the appointment of Arjun Mehra, MD of J. M. Financial, and Prem D’Cunha, SVP & Head – ECM Execution at ICICI Securities as its Vice Chairmen.

Ukraine appoints new Defence Minister

The Ukrainian Parliament has approved a legislation to appoint Rustem Umerov as the country’s new Defence Minister. Umerov, 41, served as the head of the country’s main privatisation fund between September 2022 and September 2023. Umerov is a Crimean Tatar, a Turkic people from the Black Sea Ukrainian peninsula that was annexed by Russia in 2014. Since 2020, Rustem Umerov has been a member of a Ukrainian government task force working on the strategy to end the Russian occupation of Crimea.

Ukraine :

• Capital: Kyiv
• President: Volodymyr Zelenskyy
• Prime Minister: Denys Shmyhal

Vanuatu parliament elects Sato Kilman as prime minister

Vanuatu’s parliament elected Sato Kilman as the nation’s new prime minister after a court upheld a vote of no-confidence in the nation’s former leader and amid China-US rivalry in Pacific Islands. Kilman, a former prime minister and leader of the People’s Progressive Party, was elected prime minister 27/23 in a secret ballot by lawmakers. He has previously served two stints as prime minister, in 2012 and in 2015 for eight months. Vanuatu is an archipelago of 83 islands, of which 16 are inhabited. The largest islands are Espiritu Santo, Malakula, Efate, Erromango, Ambrym, Tanna, Pentecost, Epi, Ambae or Aoba, Gaua, Vanua Lava, Maewo, Malo and Aneityum or Anatom.

Vanuatu:

• Capital: Port Vila
• President: Nikenike Vurobaravu
• Currency: Vatu

Nasscom appoints Cognizant chairman, MD Rajesh Nambiar as new chairperson

Technology industry body National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) announced the appointment of Rajesh Nambiar, Chairman and Managing Director, Cognizant India, as its chairperson. Nasscom members include various industry stakeholders, ranging from startups to multinational firms and from products to services, global capability centers to engineering companies. Nambiar has previously served as the vice-chairperson of Nasscom and will succeed Anant Maheshwari,former president of Microsoft India as its new chairperson.

Nasscom :

• Formation: 1988
• Headquarters: Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India & New Delhi, Delhi, India
• President: Debjani Ghosh

Gabon’s military leader Brice Oligui Nguema sworn in as interim President

Brice Oligui Nguema, the leader of Gabon’s military junta, has been sworn in as the nation’s interim President. This comes after military officers led by Gabonese General Nguema seized power of the Central African nation last week, ousting Gabon President Ali Bongo, minutes after he was named winner of a disputed election. Gabon is the sixth Francophone country to fall under military rule in the last three years as former colonial power France struggles to maintain its influence on the continent.

Gabon:

• Capital: Libreville
• Currency: Central African CFA franc (XAF)

Govt appoints Jaya Verma Sinha as Chairperson, CEO of Railway Board

The Government appointed Jaya Verma Sinha as the Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of the Railway Board. She is the first woman appointed to the post. Ms Sinha, currently posted in the Railway Board as a Member (Operations and Business Development)will succeed Anil Kumar Lahoti. She will assume charge on or after the 1st of September and her tenure will be till the 31st of August next year.

FIDC announces appointment of Umesh Revankar as chairman

The Finance Industry Development Council (FIDC) has appointed Umesh Revankar as its chairman. He currently holds the position of executive vice chairman for Shriram Finance and brings with him decades of experience and expertise in the financial services industry.

Geetika Srivastava to be first woman chargé d’affaires in Indian mission in Pak

Geetika Srivastava is set to become the first woman diplomat to hold the post of chargé d’affaires in the Indian high commission in Islamabad. Geetika Srivastava will replace Suresh Kumar. Srivastava is currently a Joint Secretary in Ministry of External Affairs Indo-Pacific division and was previously Director of the ministry’s Indian Ocean Region division. She served in Indian embassy in China during 2007-09. Meanwhile, Pakistan has appointed Saad Warraich as Charged’ Affaires in New Delhi. Relationship between India and Pakistan was downgraded in 2019.

Nita Ambani steps down, Isha, Akash & Anant to join Reliance board

Nita Ambani stepped down from the Board of Directors of Reliance Industries Limited, Isha, Akash and Anant to become the non-executive directors on the RIL Board. Meanwhile, Nita Ambani will continue to be the chairperson of Reliance Foundation. Nita Ambani will continue to attend all the RIL Board meetings as a permanent invitee to the Board.

Reliance Industries:

• Founded: 1958
• Founder: Dhirubhai Ambani