Naukri's HR headlines:

Modicare Appoints Expatriate As COO
Mr K.K Modi has appointed Mr Richard Johnson as the Chief Operating Officer of Modicare, his direct marketing company. Mr Samir Modi moves up from the managing director’s position to Executive Chairman as the post of MD has been abolished. Mr Samir Modi is now out of the day-to-day management of Modicare, while Mr Johnson has been hired to provide insights into the finer points of direct marketing.
Source: 09-10-03 The Economic Times: Delhi Times Compiled by www.naukri.com

Dr Paul To Head Virtusa Centre
Dr Santanu Paul has been appointed the General Manager Operations at Virtusa Corporation, a US-based provider of software engineering services. He would be heading their Advanced Technology Centre (ATC) in Hyderabad. He replaces Mr Harsha Kumar, who returns to the US to head a US-based business unit after guiding the company’s operations for three years. Before joining Virtusa’s Indian operations, Dr Santanu Paul was in the US for approximately 13 years and had only recently joined the global leadership team at the local headquarters of Virtusa.
Source: 09-10-03 Hindu Business Line: Delhi Edition Compiled by www.naukri.com

Sify CFO Set To Join Global Corp
Mr T. R. Santhanakrishnan (TRS) Sify CFO is quitting. He has already put in his papers. He will be relieved after a 4-year stint with the company on October 18th 2003. TRS has confirmed the news and said that he had taken the decision around 10 months ago on this (quitting). “ I was just waiting for the right time. Now Sify with a cash-in-hand of $30 million is in a comfortable position financially. The operating costs per quarter has also been cut down to a low of around $2 million,” he said. He is expected to join an MNC as their global CFO.
Source: 09-10-03 The Economic Times: Delhi Times Compiled by www.naukri.com


Star TV’s Mr Katial Quits
After being transferred to Star TV’s Hong Kong headquarters Mr Tarun Katial has reportedly put in his papers. Mr Deepak Sehgal, Creative director, has been promoted as programming head with the designation of executive vice-president (content & communication). Mr Katial had been shifted to Hong Kong to assist the huge portfolio of Mr Steve Askew, who is heading Star’s overall programming and operations.
Source: 09-10-03 The Economic Times: Delhi Edition Compiled by www.naukri.com

Essar’s Gas Expansion Plans Hinge With Mr Virani
Mr F.B. Virani has joined Essar group as an advisor for gas-related business. He was formerly with Enron India’s subsidiary Metgas. Mr Virani would be assisting the Essar group with its proposed expansion plans in the field of coal bed methane (CBM) and purchasing natural gas. “Essar itself is a big consumer of gas, its 550-mw gas based captive power plant at Hazira, consumes around 2 million tonnes of natural gas,”
Source: 09-10-03 The Economic Times: Delhi Edition Compiled by www.naukri.com

US CEO Compensations Open to Scrutiny
Information on how US business executives are compensated has become much easier; also rival companies can now know what kind of packages are being offered by their immediate competition. This could be a boon for investors seeking to trade on the information. As per the new disclosure requirements introduced after the MCI, Enron Corp and other accounting scandals which broke out in 2001-2002, Corporate entities must disclose stock transactions and awards of stock and options within two days of such transactions taking place. They have to do it through electronic filings accessible to all through company and other websites. Before August 2002, the insiders- who consist of executives, directors and big shareholders- could delay disclosing the information for up to 41 days and they could also avoid announcing some transactions until after the end of the financial year.
Source: 09-10-03 The Economic Times: Delhi Edition Compiled by www.naukri.com

5-Year Extension For NDDB Chief
Ms Amrita Patel the chairperson of NDDB has been given an extension of 5 years at her position. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has given its approval to this effect. The 5-year term would commence from mid-November 2003.
Source: 09-10-03 The Financial Express: Delhi Edition Compiled by www.naukri.com

Mr Siddiqui Appointed Head Human Resources at Maruti Udyog Ltd
Maruti Udyog Ltd has appointed Mr Saqulain Siddiqui as Head of Human Resources/ Chief General Manager HR. Mr Siddiqui was formerly Director Human Resources (India Operations) with New Holland Tractors for 7 years. Mr Siddiqui has a track record of 24 years in top Indian and multinational companies like Escorts, DCM Toyota, DCM Daewoo and DCM Benetton. He has also been associated with the CII, AIMA and other professional bodies in the HR area.
Source: 09-10-03 Industry Sources Compiled by www.naukri.com

Landmarks
Appointed: Mr Sandeep Basu, President and CEO, BPL Mobile.
Mr C. Ramullu, Director (finance), HPCL.
Mr Sameer Hiremath, executive director, Hikal Ltd.
Mr Anoop Kaul, GM (commercial), SBI, Bengal circle.
Mr K. R. Srikantan, Managing Director, State Bank of Bikaner & Jaipur.
Resigned: Mr Cyrus Bagwada, Managing Director, Essel Propack.
Mr C.V. Krishnan, Chief Executive Officer (metals), Sterlite industries.
Mr J. S. Chatterjee, joint Managing Director, Jenson & Nicholson.
Mr Alak Saha, joint Managing Director and CFO, Nicco Corporation.
Source: 09-10-03 Business India (Sep 29- Oct12) Compiled by www.naukri.com

Mr Mashelkar Wins Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award
Well known scientist-manager, Mr R. A. Mashelkar has won the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for excellence in Public Administration and Management Services for the year 2002.
Source: 09-10-03 Business India (Sep29 - Oct12) Compiled by www.naukri.com

Mr Nair Appointed As Head - Isro
Speculations over who would head Isro - India's reputed space programme, after the retirement of Mr K. Kasturirangan, have come to an end with Mr. G. Madhavan Nair taking the seat. Known as an efficient low key team leader, Mr Nair would be a rocket engineer to take over Isro after a long gap of 15 years.
Source: 09-10-03 Business India (Sep29 - Oct12) Compiled by www.naukri.com

Nabard And Other Banks Still Seeking Heads
The National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) is making relentless effort to appoint a head which has remained without a head for the last few months. Ms Ranjana Kumar, Chairperson and Managing Director, Indian Bank, may take charges if the government clears the file. However, Nabard has promoted Amaresh Kumar, Secretary and Chief General Manager as Executive Director. Similarly, the Kolkata based Allahabad Bank too is looking for a chairman cum managing director (CMD), for the last six months after Mr B Samal retired on March 31.
Source: 08-10-03 Business Standard: Delhi Edition Compiled by www.naukri.com

iFlex CMD Bags Award
Mr Rajesh Hukku, Chairman and Managing Director of iFlex Solution has been awarded by Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Government of India, with the “Dewang Mehta Award for Innovation in Information Technology” for this year. The award which has been instituted by the ministry in the memory of late Dewang Mehta, founder and former president of NASSCOM, has been conferred on Mr Hukku for launching Flexcube, which is helping to cater to the needs of modern financial institutions in the best manner possible.
Source: 08-10-03 Business Standard: Delhi Edition Compiled by www.naukri.com

Overwhelming Response To DD Job Ad
37 applications have been so far received in response to the advertisement put out for the post of Doordarshan director general, which is lying vacant for the last three months. The advertisement which had been posted by Prasar Bharti has received response mostly from government servants, though there are some applications from the private sector as well. This overwhelming response mostly from people holding joint secretary level ranks has put Prasar Bharti in a fix as these officials need to get permission from their respective cadres before making a move.
Source: 08-10-03 Business Standard: Delhi Edition Compiled by www.naukri.com

Indian Women In Fortune List
Ms Vidya Chhabria, Chairperson, Jumbo Group and Ms Naina Lal Kidwai, Vice-Chairperson and Managing Director, HSBC Securities and Capital Markets (India) Pvt Ltd, are the two Indians picked by the Fortune magazine in its list of the world’s top 50 corporate women. Ms Chhabria has been ranked 38th and is up by six notches as compared to the 44th position last year, while Ms Kidwai moved up to 47th rank from last year’s 50th position. The international power 50 considers women who have an operating role in businesses outside the US but it includes women based in the US who run overseas divisions.
Source: 07-10-03 Business Standard: Delhi Edition Compiled by www.naukri.com

Chrysler Plans To Prune 4,500 Jobs
The world’s fifth largest carmaker, Daimler Chrysler AG’s Chrysler unit is likely to cut 4,500 jobs as part of their aim to boost US sales and lower costs after losing $1.1 billion in the second quarter. The company plans to reduce the number of jobs in order to compensate the loss, which it suffered by spending more than expected on rebates and low interest loans to sell Dodge, Chrysler and Jeep-brand cars and trucks. As part of a new four year treaty with the United Auto Workers that Chrysler workers agreed on, the company plans to either sell or close about nine plants, while workers retain healthcare coverage without paying premiums.
Source: 07-10-03 Hindu Business Line: Delhi Edition Compiled by www.naukri.com

LIC Rules The Group Insurance Business
More than 95% of the group insurance business has been retained by the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), amid strong competition which LIC continues to get from private insurance players. The 12 private insurance companies have captured only 4.74% of the group premium business which comes to Rs 626.36 crore as per the Insurance Regulatory Authority. LIC, in actual terms, has retained 93.42% of the 3,100 odd policies sold.
Source: 07-10-03 Business Standard: Delhi Edition Compiled by www.naukri.com

Jindal Vijayanagar Steel Gets New CEO
Jindal Vijayanagar Steel Ltd has appointed Dr B.N. Singh as Joint Managing Director and CEO. Dr Singh will succeed Mr J.K. Tandon who will be relocated to corporate office of Jindal South West at Mumbai. Dr Singh has worked with the LNM Group at their Algeria plant as Director General for more than a year, before joining Jindal. He was also employed with Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd, Vizag and has also worked with SAIL for over a decade in varied assignments. To round-off his experience in the steel sector, he worked with with TISCO for 17 years prior to joining SAIL.
Source: 07-10-03 Hindu Business Line: Delhi Edition Compiled by www.naukri.com

IOC Staff Likely To Go On An Indefinite Strike
Employees of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd may go on an indefinite strike. The employees have threatened to go on a strike to protest the Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment’s proposal to sell a part of the company’s business. The workers will begin with a one-day token strike followed by an indefinite strike.
Source: 07-10-03 Hindu Business Line: Delhi Edition Compiled by www.naukri.com

Singapore Airlines Board appoints Pei-Yuan Chia
Mr Pei-Yuan Chia who is a former Vice-Chairman and Director of Citicorp and Citibank, has joined the Singapore Airlines (SAL) board with effect from October 1, 2003.
Source: 07-10-03 The Financial Express: Delhi Edition Compiled by www.naukri.com

Mr Verma Fights For Right To Strike
Union Labour Minister, Mr Sahib Singh Verma is against the Supreme Court verdict banning strikes by the government employees. According to Mr Verma, the last resort of the government employees would be to strike, when their plea is not listened to by the authorities or if he has exhausted all channels of grievance redressal. The government workers should not be denied of their right to strike, which has been provided by the Industrial Dispute Act, 1947.
Source: 07-10-03 Business Standard: Delhi Edition Compiled by www.naukri.com

Mr Premkumar Joins Food Corporation
Mr R M Premkumar has been elected as Chairman of the Food Corporation of India (FCI). A 1968 batch IAS, Mr Premkumar was secretary in the national commission on scheduled castes and scheduled tribes earlier.
Source: 07-10-03 Business Standard: Delhi Edition Compiled by www.naukri.com

Indian Hotels Hiring More And More Expatriates
Indian Hotels Company is now looking at inducting foreigners to run the business.The last few months have seen quite a few foreign national taking charge of Indian hotels. Mr Raymond Bickson, a US national has recently replaced Mr R K Krishna Kumar as Managing Director at the Taj Group. Taj has also filled some other top corporate positions with expatriates along with hiring executive chefs with foreign nationality at two of its premium hotels.
Source: 07-10-03 Business Standard: Delhi Edition Compiled by www.naukri.com

McCann-Erickson WorldGroup Gets New CFO
Mr Ramesh Rajan has been appointed as the new Chief Financial Officer of McCann-Erickson WorldGroup, part of the Interpublic Group of Cos. He will replace Mr Arthur D’ Angelo and will report to Interpublic’s Chief Operating Officer, Mr Chris Coughlin, as well as WorldGroup Chairman-CEO Mr John Dooner.
Source: 06-10-03 exchange4media.com Compiled by www.naukri.com

Nurses Now Must Qualify Eligibility Criteria To Get US Visa
Nurses who aspire to work in US, would now have to prove their eligibility to apply for US visa. They will now need to produce a certificate, even if they are applying for a non-immigrant visa. According to a memo issued by Mr William Yates, the associate director of operations for citizenship and immigration, "professionals" seeking a non-immigrant visa can no longer enjoy the waiver. The aspirants now have to demonstrate that they have VisaScreen at the time that the adjustment application is filed , that is from non-resident to resident status, even if she is not seeking a green card. This will make obtaining visas for nurses much tougher and longer. At the same time the U S continues to face a shortage of nurses.
Source: 06-10-03 The Economic Times: Delhi Edition Compiled by www.naukri.com

New Area Director For Singapore Tourism Board
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has recently made Mr Romen Bose the new Area Director for Northern and Western India operations. Mr Bose who has worked with Channel News Asia as a Broadcast Journalist, was working as a Communications Strategist with the United Nations before joining STB.
Source: 06-10-03 Hindu Business Line: Delhi Edition Compiled by www.naukri.com

IDBI Bank Loses Its Acting CEO Too
Amid continuing uncertainty in the IDBI Bank, the senior-most Executive and the acting CEO of the bank, Mr Ajay Bimbhet, puts in his papers. His resignation comes as a blow to the bank which has seen Ms Verma retiring from the chairmanship in March followed by the resignation of the Managing Director, Mr Gunit Chadha in August and also two directors Mr M.C. Shah and Mr Shekhar Bajaj stepping down from the board. Mr Bimbhet is said to have joined Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, where he will be handling the retail business.
Source: 06-10-03 The Economic Times: Delhi Edition Compiled by www.naukri.com

Number Of Workers On US Payrolls Grows
After eight months of decline at a stretch in the job market, the US employers for the first time in September added jobs. The financial market which was braced for 30,000 job losses, by Wall Street economists’ forecast, saw the rise in the number of jobs. Last month, the number of workers on US payrolls outside the farm sector increased by 57,000. Although the growth was not big enough to bring down the unemployment rate, it was encouraging enough, as it happened after eight months of decline.
Source: 05-10-03 The Economic Times: Delhi Edition Compiled by www.naukri.com

Fast Moving Indian Services Industry Offers Age-old Compensation Packages
On one hand the services industry in India is moving at a fast pace and on the other its compensation packages still remain archaic. The hospitality industry, till date, sticks to the hierarchy of a traditional organisation in terms of financial returns. The hospitality industry pays the highest to its general manager, followed by the resident manager. This was revealed in the seventh annual report of HVS International, a hospitality consulting group, based on a study of hotels in India.
Source: 05-10-03 The Economic Times: Delhi Edition Compiled by www.naukri.com

SIMA Appoints New Chairman And V-C
Mr Sandeep Jajodia, Vice-Chairman and Executive Chairman of Monnet Ispat Limited, has been elected as Chairman of SPONGE Iron Manufacturer’s Association (SIMA) while Mr P R Dhariwal, Executive Director, Essar, takes over as Vice-Chairman, SIMA. Mr Jajodia brings with him a 15 years experience in international trading and project execution, while Mr Dhariwal has 28 long years of experience in various industries behind him.
Source: 05-10-03 The Financial Express: Delhi Times Compiled by www.naukri.com

Mr Sankar Becomes Director At Tesco
In addition to his existing position as managing director of Tesco India Sourcing, Mr G Sankar will also take over as director for its new IT-focussed high-tech centre. Tesco which is a UK-based discount retail chain has recently promoted Mr Sankar, who started his career with Madura Coats Ltd in 1987.
Source: 05-10-03 The Financial Express: Delhi Edition Compiled by www.naukri.com

Top Moves
Mr Richard Fleming appointed Business Manager, Kodak C&PI Group, South Asia.
Mr Vivek Sharma appointed Business Head for Morphy Richards.
Mr S. Srinivasan assumes charge as Chief Vigilance Officer, Kudremukh Iron Ore Ltd.

Source: 04-10-03 Hindu Business Line: Delhi Edition Compiled by www.naukri.com

Former Volkswagon Chief Likely To Become Fiat Executive
The Fiat Group will very soon make an announcement regarding the appointment of Mr Herbert Demel as Chief Executive Officer of Fiat Auto. Mr Demel who is the former Head of Volkswagon Brazil, will replace Mr Giancarlo Boschetti who will retire in November 2004. Mr Martin Leach formerly with Ford Europe who was in the picture is no longer being considered since Fiat refused to release him from a two-year non-compete clause.
Source: 04-10-03 The Economic Times: Delhi Edition Compiled by www.naukri.com

Hyderabad Facility Of Surgical Info To Expand Soon
The Atlanta-based technology solutions provider for hospitals, Surgical Information Systems Inc (SIS) is all set to expand its India development-cum-support centre in Hyderabad. The company is slightly behind its schedule of expansion, as it requires highly specialised skills for their projects. However, the company with an investment of about $4 million by the end of this financial year plans to more than double its numbers.
Source: 04-10-03 Hindu Business Line: Delhi Edition Compiled by www.naukri.com

Employee Retention – A Challenge For Captive BPOs
The captive business process outsourcing (BPO) industry in India is going through a struggle to retain its employees. Most of the captive BPOs are experiencing an annual attrition of 45 percent while third party BPO service providers have managed to maintain their attrition rates at around 20 pct. Poor salary structure and limited growth opportunities are said to be the major reason behind the high attrition rate in captive BPOs, particularly the ones which focus on niche business areas such as banking, finance and insurance.
Source: 04-10-03 The Economic Times: Delhi Edition Compiled by www.naukri.com

Singapore Company Dismisses PWC, KPMG
South east Asia’s largest logistics group, the Singapore-based conglomerate SembCorp Logistics, has sacked six senior officials, including its managing director and chief financial officer after the company uncovered a $12-million accounting irregularity at its Chennai-based subsidiary SembLog India. An investigation has also shown the involvement of the company’s accountants Pricewaterhouse & Co (India) and auditors KPMG Consulting in the scam. SembLog has, therefore, terminated the services of PWC and KPMG and is now planning to take legal action against them.
Source: 03-10-03 The Economic Times: Delhi Edition Compiled by www.naukri.com

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