"A Flawed God" - novel by Arjun Shekhar (90PMIR)

A Flawed God is Arjun Shekhar's (90PMIR) first book published by Hachette, which presents a compelling point-of-view about corporate ownership through a fast, funny story/ spoof.

Arjun Shekhar is one of the founders of Pravah, a not-for-profit organization that seeks to encourage urban youth to become active citizens. He worked as an HR professional for several years before that, and now runs a consulting firm called Vyaktitva which explores the relationship between an organization and its people. He has used his consulting experiences to write A Flawed God, a novel set in the corporate world.

Vineet Nayar named HCL Tech Vice Chairman

Vineet Nayar (85BMD) has been appointed as the Vice Chairman of HCL Technologies. He will continue to be the CEO and whole-time Director of the company.

Commenting on his appointment, Shiv Nadar, Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer, HCL Tech said "Vineet’s dedication to the success of HCL Technologies has catapulted the company to a position of unparalleled market and thought leadership today. He has an exceptional vision for the company moving forward and I am confident that in this new additional role he will continue to take the company to new heights.”

Vineet joined HCL in 1985 after graduating from XLRI Jamshedpur. In 1993, he started his own company, Comnet, where he pioneered many innovative management practices like EFCS (Employee First Customer Second) which is now taught as a case study at Harvard Business School.

AXA Group appoints Priya Ranjan as Human Resource Director

Private sector insurer Bharti Axa's country HR director, Priya Ranjan, has recently been elevated as the Head of their Global Life and Savings Business leading a global force of over one-lakh people based out of Paris.

On the appointment, Glenn Williams, CEO, Bharti AXA Life Insurance said “It is a proud moment for the entire Bharti AXA Life Insurance team in India. The movement is a part of the renewed focus on international mobility for talent by the AXA Group.”

Priya Ranjan has over 15 years of HR experience in diverse fields spanning financial services, information technology and manufacturing. Before joining Bharti AXA Life, Ranjan was with JPMorgan Chase Bank, Singapore as Vice President and Regional HR Manager - Technology & Operations (APAC).

He also has the experience of working with GE Capital as the Vice President and Head - HR for their Credit Card business. He also has an entrepreneurial venture to his credit - for its initiation and scale up of the business.

He holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Personnel Management from XLRI Jamshedpur and is a graduate from St Xaviers, Kolkata.

Fidelity appoints Shriram Ramanathan (2000BMD) as Fixed Income Fund Manager

Fidelity Mutual Fund today announced that it has appointed Shriram Ramanathan (00BMD, XLRI) as the new fund manager for its fixed income funds.

He will be the fund manager for five fixed income / hybrid funds - Fidelity Cash Fund, Fidelity Ultra Short Term Debt Fund, Fidelity Flexi Bond Fund, Fidelity Flexi Gilt Fund and Fidelity Wealth Builder Fund.

Commenting on the appointment, Andrew Wells, Global chief investment officer (CIO) - fixed income, Fidelity International, said, "I am pleased to welcome Shriram to the India fixed income team. With his decade long experience in fixed income investing locally and domestically, he brings expertise that will strengthen the team as we look to grow our fixed income business in India."

Prior to joining Fidelity, Shriram was senior investment manager - global emerging market debt (Asia) at ING Investment Management Asia Pacific in Hong Kong. He started with ING Investment Management as a fixed income fund manager in India. His earlier assignments were with Zurich Asset Management Company in fixed income research and with the treasury department of ICICI Bank. Shriram started his career with Larsen and Toubro.

He is a chartered financial analyst and holds a post graduate diploma in business management from XLRI Jamshedpur and an engineering degree from the university of Mumbai.

Radhika Sood Nayak (94PMIR) - XLer as a Classical Vocalist

TimeOut Mumbai: Veteran vocalist Sushila Rani Patel believes Radhika Sood Nayak is the only singer who can carry on her legacy. “She’s hardworking, and picks up difficult things easily,” said the 90-year-old Jaipur-Atrauli gharana exponent about her student. “Recently, I taught her a tarana in raga Sohini that she grasped within no time. She has that inner drive.” Like Patel, 38-year-old Sood Nayak has been blessed with a powerful voice and she’s not afraid to use it. “My teacher insists that the voice should be projected without any inhibition,” said Sood Nayak. At her recital this fortnight, which has been organised by the Bhavan’s Cultural Centre, she will sing khayals in Bageshri and Bhoop and a thumri in Des

Timken appoints Ajay Das (92BMD) as the new India MD

Bangalore (Financial Express, Sept 23): The Timken Company announced the appointment of Mr. Ajay Das as its new managing director for its business in India, headquartered in Bangalore.

In this new role, Mr. Das will oversee the continued growth of the company’s business in India, including the Timken Engineering Research Institute, the global R&D and engineering facility at Bangalore, operations at Jamshedpur and Chennai, as well as sales, marketing and all supporting functions.

“I am optimistic about returning to India and the significant growth opportunities we have in this region. Timken has created the ‘best in the industry’ engineering, manufacturing, sales and services capabilities to serve a growing customer base in India. We will continue to focus on leveraging those capabilities to improve the performance of our customers’ operations, and to deliver additional value to them,” said Mr. Das.

In 17 years with Timken, Ajay Das has provided leadership across business segments. He was national sales manager of the automotive business in India, and later was the director of manufacturing of the Jamshedpur plant between 2001 and 2005. In 2005, he relocated to Shanghai as director of new business development, and in 2007 he became the general manager of Timken’s wind energy business unit based in Canton, Ohio, United States of America.

Mr. Das received a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur and a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management from XLRI, Jamshedpur.

K Muralidhara (88BMD) joins the Board of Altamount Capital Management

Mumbai (Sept 12): Altamount Capital Management today announced the joining of Murlalidhara Kadaba on the board of Altamount Capital Management.

Kadaba, has twenty years of corporate experience in senior management positions with organizations such as Reliance Retail Ltd, American Express and Citibank. He will oversee Strategy and Business Development at Altamount Capital Management and will support Altamount's Delhi operations.

Till recent Kadaba served as the President and Chief Executive of the Financial Services vertical at Reliance Retail Ltd. Earlier, he worked for American Express as Country Manager for India and Area Countries, where he launched Amex's consumer banking franchise in India and introduced several successful card products including The Platinum Card. Prior to Amex, he was Vice President and Head of Investment Products at Citibank-India.

Kadaba is an alumnus of XLRI, Jamshedpur and a Graduate in Mechanical Engineering from SJCE, Mysore.

Subex appoints Monisha Tambay (96PMIR) as VP (HR)

Bangalore, India (Equity Bulls, Aug 19, 2009): Subex Ltd, a leading global provider of Operations and Business Support Systems (OSS/BSS) announced the appointment of Monisha Tambay as Vice President - Human Resources. She will be responsible for the global Human Resource function of the company.

Monisha Tambay brings more than 13 years of Human Resource (HR) experience in consulting and operations. She has previously worked with Arthur Andersen Hewitt Associates, StorageTek and Genpact (erstwhile GE company).

Commenting on Monisha's appointment, Sudeesh Yezhuvath, COO, Subex Ltd said, "We are pleased to have Monisha on board. Her experience will prove valuable as we continue to enhance our human resource function to support business growth."

Monisha holds a post graduate degree in management from XLRI, Jamshedpur, and is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt from the American Society for Quality.

Asitava Sen (93BMD) to Lead Nielson Consulting inIndia

MRWEB: In Mumbai, Nielsen has launched a specialist Business Consulting Services group, which will combine qualitative consulting with fact-based analytic-driven recommendations. The group will be led by Asitava Sen, who joined Nielsen as Director, Retail Consulting last year.

The new service has been designed to help clients identify and optimize existing and new growth opportunities, and will integrate Nielsen’s current services as well as develop new solutions to address business issues in sales, marketing and innovation.

...Sen, who is now Director, Business Consulting Services, has more than 18 years’ experience in consumer and retail management consulting. He previously led the retail and consumer industry practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers in India, prior to which, he held senior roles at management consultancies Kurt Salmon Associates and AF Ferguson & Co.

Preeti Reddy (82BMD) to head LMRB

Preeti Reddy (82BMD) will replace Tissa de Alwis at the head of the Kantar-owned Lanka Market Research Bureau (LMRB) at the end of July.

Reddy, a native of Bangalore, worked in India as a VP at management consultants Technopak for the last three years, and prior to this was a Senior Vice President at TNS from April 1995 to April 2005. She holds an MBA from XLRI in Jamshedpur and a BA Honours in Economics from Lady Shri Ram College.