Category Archives: Business & Economy

India’s First ‘ National Media Centre ‘ inaugrated in New Delhi . August 2013 .

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi jointly inaugrated the Information & Broadcasting Ministry’s new ‘ National Media Centre ‘ on Saturday – August 24th, 2013.

Set up at a cost of Rs. 60 crore, the National Media Centre is located on Raisina Road in New Delhi.

More Info……Coming Up…

First Indian to be appointed Global CEO of Worldwide Italian Confectionery Giant . August 2013 .

Sameer Suneja has been promoted to the top job as global CEO of the 2,245 million Italian sugar confectionery making – Perfetti Group. He will take over the role on October 01st, thus making him the first ever Indian Global head and perhaps the first non-Italian global CEO of the privately held firm.

Perfetti Van Melle Spa (PVM)is the world’s 3rd largest confectionery group after Kraft-Cadbury and Mars-Wrigley. Perfetti makes Alpenliebe and Mentos candies, Chlormint toffee, Center Fresh, Hanny Dent and Big Babool gum.

Sameer Suneja will report to the Board of Directors of the Netherlands based holding of the Group.

His promotion comes barely a year after he was promoted as Executive Vice President (EVP), Innovation & Business Development based in the Netherlands reporting to the global CEO of Perfetti, Ubalto Traldi. Suneja’s mandate included exchanging successful experiences in marketing and commercial fields across the group.

Previous to moving to the global role based out of Netherlands, Suneja was the Managing Director, Perfetti Van Melle India for 4 years. In India Suneja also launched Alpenliebe candy, now the country’s single-largest confectionery. He has been with PVM India, a subsidiary of the global conglomerate for over 16 years. He joined Perfetti as brand manager in 1997 when it was only 3 years old in India.

Sameer Suneja, 41 years, an IIM-Bangalore alumnus 1994 batch, started his career at Colgate-Palmolive toothpaste maker as management trainee. He then moved on and became product manager handling Colgate toothbrush portfolio. Subsequently he joined Pepsico’s snacks arm Frito Lay as brand manager, handling both the chips and traditional snacks categories before joining Perfetti Van Melle India as brand manager in its early days in the country in 1997.

Note: There are other individuals who have made it to the top heading Global multi-nationals. You may use the ‘Search’ feature to access the information.

First Woman Managing Director & CFO for India’s Largest Bank – SBI . August 2013 .

India’s Prime Minister’s Office has paved the way for the first woman head at a Public Bank. Arundhati Bhattarcharya has been appointed as the Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer of the Country’s largest bank – The State Bank of India (SBI). August 02nd, 2013.

Arundhati Bhattarcharya breaks the glass ceiling and will be the first woman Mangaging Director of the Country’s largest bank – State Bank of India (SBI). She has been promoted from her previous position of Managing Director and Chief Executive Offier of SBI Capital Markets, the merchant banking arm. She replaces Diwakar Gupta who retired just a few days ago.

Prior to her role at SBI Capital Markets, Bhattacharya was also the Corporate Development Officer. She has been instrumental in setting up various initiatives of SBI General Insurance, SBI Macquarie Infrastructure Fund and SBI SG Global Securities Services. She has over 3 decades of experience at SBI and has undertaken various assignments spanning credit, forex, treasury and retail operations.

The SBI has 4 Managing Directors, 5 Deputy Managing Directors and 18 Chief General Managers apart from the Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri. The other 3 Managing Directors are A. Krishna Kumar, Hemant G. Contractor and S. Visvanathan.

Note: There are other women who made it to the top in the domestic Banking and Financial Services industry . You may use the ‘Search’ feature to access the information.

British Mission in India, gets its First Indian-Origin Diplomat. July 2013 .

In a first Kumar Iyer, a Diplomat of Indian-origin is appointed as the British Deputy High Commissioner for Western Region. He will have responsibility of all aspects of diplomatic engagement in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Goa.

He will also simultaneously be Director General India for UK Trade & Investment (UKTI),for the whole of India – a new top-level post that has been created to reflect the increasing importance of the UK-India business ties.

He will be take up both positions based in Mumbai at the British Mission on August 05th, 2013.

Kumar Iyer has a MPhil in Economics from Cambridge University, where he was a Bank of England scholar. He was an undergraduate tutor in Microeconomics. He was also a Kennedy Scholar and Teaching Fellow in International Capital Markets at Harvard University.

He joined the British Government in 2008 as Deputy Director, Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit. In 2010 he moved to the Treasury, first as Deputy Director, Strategy Plannig & Budget and then as Head of Financial Sector Intervention. Prior to that he was at the Boston Consulting Group where he worked mainly in the Financial Services Practice.

Kumar Iyer was born in London to parents of Indian origin. He spent his formative years in India, including time in Mumbai. He is married to Kathryn, a barrister practicing criminal law and they have 2 children a son and a daughter. He is a keen cricketer and chess player.

U.S. based Food Chain ‘ Pollo Tropical ‘ opens First Restaurant in India . June 2013 .

The Miami – U.S. based Carribean-Inspired ‘ Pollo Tropical ‘ fast-casual restaurant chain formally opened its first restaurant outlet in the Capital located in DLF Place Shopping Plaza, one of the most prestigious shopping and dining centres in New Delhi.

The Pollo Tropical restaurant in New Delhi is the first restaurant of the Company, outside the Americas and marks the brand’s first opening outside the Western Hemisphere.

Their entry into India is associated with the Delhi based Paramount Group headed by their C.E.O.& Executive Director, Manjit Singh Saini. Paramount Group’s associate company Paramount Cuisines Pvt. Ltd is the master franchisee for Pollo Tropical in India.

Paramount Cuisines has plans to open at least ten Carribean themed Pollo Tropical restaurants in the NCR, Punjab, Chandigarh and Haryana in the next 4 years.

Hyatt in India Appoints its First Female GM at Hyatt Regency Kolkata . July 2013 .

Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, Southwest Asia has appointed its first Female General Manager – Ms. Britta Leick-Milde who has taken charge recently of the Hyatt Regency Kolkata.

Reinforcing its commitment to diversity and inclusion, Ms.Britta Leick-Milde’s appointment reflects the unique and personal ways that Hyatt celebrates the strength of its co-workers.

Britta’s hospitality career began 20 years ago at the Sheraton Frankfurt Hotel in her native Germany. Subsequently she worked with the Hilton and Kempinski groups. Britta joined the Hyatt family in 2007 as Director of Rooms, Park Hyatt Dubai and was subsequently promoted as ‘ Executive Assistant Manager – Rooms’.

An enthusiastic Indophile she served as Hotel Manager, Grand Hyatt Mumbai for nearly a year before taking up her new assignment as General Manager of Hyatt Regency Kolkata.

www.kolkata.regency.hyatt.com  // www.hyatt.com