UTI AMC board on Saturday appointed Imtaiyazur Rahman as the Chief Executive Officer. He has been the acting CEO of the company for nearly two years.
The post was vacant since Leo Puri completed his five-year term as CEO of UTI AMC. Group President and Chief Finance Officer Rahman was appointed as acting Chief Executive Officer after Puri’s term ended in August 2018.
Rahman joined the UTI Group in 1998 and is with UTI since 2003. Working with earlier Chairmen M Damodaran and UK Sinha, he was involved in the transformation of the organisation after the restructuring of the erstwhile Unit Trust of India.
He was CFO of the company and has headed diverse functions, including international business.
“This appointment brings stability in the top management of the company especially since it is planning to launch its IPO shortly and addresses the concerns of SEBI on the CEO position which was vacant for quite some time,” UTI AMC said in a press release dated June 13.
source: http://www.moneycontrol.com / Money Control / Home> News> Business / by Money Control News / June 13th, 2020
Ruha Shadab is a doctor and a graduate from the Harvard Kennedy School where she was on a full-tuition scholarship. Shadab has worked as a doctor in low-income neighborhoods in Delhi and later moved on to work on systemic issues of healthcare, as a part of the Government of India.
LedBy, India’s first incubator for Indian Muslim Women helps them by providing leadership workshops, 360 degree advisory framework, and executive coaching.
Dr Ruha Shadab (30) is the founder of LedBy Foundation, India’s first and only leadership incubator focused on empowering Indian Muslim Women by providing leadership experiences to undergraduates and postgraduates. Launched in 2019, LedBy was incubated at Harvard University and was pre-seed funded by them as well.
Dr Ruha has been quite an achiever all her life – she pursued her medical degree, worked as a physician for a few years, then decided to join public health and worked at the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), worked with NITI Aayog and then made her way to Harvard with a full-tuition scholarship to pursue a master’s degree in public policy. At Harvard, Dr Ruha realised the need to do something for Indian Muslim women given the specific challenges that they faced, and also found the medium to address the problem.
From a religious majority to a religious minority
To understand why Dr Ruha felt the need to start an initiative for Indian Muslim women, it is imperative to understand her early influences.
While Dr Ruha is originally from India, she was born and raised in Saudi Arabia and she spent the first decade of her life there before moving to Delhi/NCR.
Narrating an incident that left a deep impact on her, which eventually led her to start this initiative, she says, “Twenty years ago, it was on Diwali that my family and I moved back to India. While driving from the airport to our home I saw every house on the way lit up and children on the streets bursting fire crackers. This suddenly took me back to the Diwali’s in Saudi and I realised how my friends there, the minority, never celebrated it in this way.” After a few years, she saw Eid in a similar light as Diwali.
She says, “In Saudi, as part of a monolithic society, one does not even think of what the minority is feeling. And then I moved to India where so many things just hit me so hard.” That is when she understood what being a Muslim woman, especially in a multicultural society like India, felt like.
It was not like there were not enough Muslim women, but they were hard to find in the mainstream.
“It was tiring, after a point of time to be the only Muslim woman in school, college, workplace. There was no one who shared a similar background as me whom I could look up to and aspire to be and that is what I wanted to change,” she says. During Dr Ruha’s stint as a clinical physician, she says, “At the hospital I worked at, I would see so many young Muslim girls with large families. Without saying it was right or wrong, what I saw was that there was an issue that needed to be addressed.”
Dr Ruha believes that there is a lot of talent in them [Indian Muslim women] but what they lack is 3 A’s: agency, access, and avenues. LedBy is looking to change that. If you have the privilege of knowing, you do not have the luxury of not doing,” says Dr Ruha.
LedBy works closely with high potential college-going Muslim women in India and provides them with three things – leadership workshops, 360* advisory framework, and executive coaching. “For all these three things we have very skilled women, across regions and religions, on-board to help the younger women realise and achieve their potential,” says Dr Ruha.
“We have been able to get coaches, mentors, and facilitators from across the globe. Being a virtual program helps breaks barriers,” she says. It is a summer program of four months in which 24 women are selected on merit. To be eligible to apply for this programme, you must identify yourself as an Indian Muslim woman, no more than two years away from completing a full-time undergraduate degree (that means, is in 3rd or 4th years of a 4-year program; 2nd or 3rd year of a 3-year program) or are in a full-time postgraduate program of one or two years duration, and physically reside in India.
For the 24 women who were part of the first cohort – what stood out were the connections that they made and the validation that their ideas and dreams received from others at the programme. While for Ammara Gul Qaisar, a student at Lady Shri Ram College, the programme “represents the power of human connections”, for Sahreen Shamim the programme allowed her a chance to delve into her dreams and find ways of realising them.
With an office based in Noida, Dr Ruha says that everything that they do is virtual and in a sense COVID-19 only helped in pushing it towards being online.
Beary Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) felicitated COVID-19 warriors on Wednesday, February 3 at Hotel Ocean Pearl, Mangaluru.
The felicitation program commenced with prayer offered by Ashraf Kinara Kudroli.
Chancellor of Nitte University, N Vinay Hegde said, “When society was facing turbulent times, extending a helping hand to those in need is commendable. I have never witnessed such unprecedented times in the last 81 years of my life. People have been philanthropists on several occasions, but being one during the pandemic is a different thing altogether.”
Chairman Sri Devi Education Trust Sadananda Shetty said, “I congratulate the Beary Chamber of Commerce and Industry for felicitating COVID warriors who worked hard, faced all the difficulties, and risked their lives during the pandemic.”
President Beary Chamber of Commerce and Industry, S M Rasheed said, “The year 2020 was a tough year for all of us, as one of our active founder members lost his life due to coronavirus.”
As many as 11 COVID warriors were felicitated in the event namely: Abdul Rehman Goodinabali, Ziyauddin Ahmed, Abdul Rauf Putthige, Dr Farhan Fazal, Dr Tajuddin K, KM Asif, Abubakar Siddique, Mohammed Ilyas Bajpe, Ashraf Kinara Kudroli, Abdul Azeez and Mohammed Ashraf Kandak.
President Beary Chamber of Commerce and Industry S M Rasheed welcomed the gathering, treasurer Mansoor Ahmed proposed the vote of thanks and Abdul Razzaq compered the event.
source: http://www.daijiworld.com / DaijiWorld.com / Home> Top Stories / February 03rd, 2021
Zunaira Khan, 14, who runs her own tech company, dreams of expanding it and turning into an investor.
Hyderabad :
Zunaira Khan, a 14-year-old from Hyderabad is anything but your average teenager. She is a tech-savvy genius. A tech entrepreneur and software developer she got her first client at the tender age of nine. At the age of 11, she started teaching BTech students. Zunaira started her own website ‘ZM Infocom’ — a software development and consultancy firm — when she was just 12.
The wonder kid has developed business, mobile, and web applications for clients such as Licious, Fooditnow, Daily Ninja to name a few. The tech girl started learning at the age of seven and developing software from the age of eight. “My mother is a professional software developer. At the age of six, my sister and I after school, we used to be in her office.
When I was seven, I asked her to teach me coding and, she taught me everything,” says the spunky teen who lives in Nacharam industrial area with her family. Zunaira has also been conferred with the title of ‘Digital Ambassador’ of Delhi Public School. She says, “I feel good when I get these recognitions and the biggest award I get is the satisfaction in my parents’ eyes.”
How does she manage school and work? Zunaira’s hobbies are reading books and singing songs, and she says, “At the beginning, it was a bit difficult, but my principal and teachers are supportive. So after school, I give five to six hours to my company, then I study.” What is her advice to those chasing their dreams? She replies: “The secret of my success is that you need to believe in yourself.
You need to find your interest. You need to share everything with your parents because they are the ones who will show you the way. Start small, but think big and that big should be the goal.” What does the future hold for her? “Right now we are a service-based company, but I want to also make it product-based. I wish to provide maximum employment and I want to make this company reach the highest level… I also see myself as a big investor.”
Zunaira will be seen in the upcoming episode of Byju’s Young Genius show on Network 18 with actor Rajkummar Rao which will be telecast on February 6 where they talk about their first paychecks. The shooting for the show was in Mumbai and the starry-eyed girlscomments, “It was a big honour for me to meet Rajkumar Rao.”
— Tamanna S Mehdi tamanna@newindianexpress.com @tamannamehdi
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Tamanna S. Mehdi / Express News Service / February 04th, 2021
Indian-origin Sabih Khan has been named as the Senior Vice President of Operations at Apple, the global tech giant announced. Khan, whose family hails from Rampur in Uttar Pradesh has been with Apple since 1995 working in various senior executive roles.
In his new role, Khan would be in charge of Apple’s global supply chain, ensuring product quality and overseeing planning, procurement, manufacturing, logistics and product fulfilment functions, Apple said in a statement.
“Sabih leads our Ops team with heart. He and his entire worldwide team are committed to delivering unmatched experiences to our customers, treating workers everywhere with dignity and respect, and protecting the environment for future generations,” said Tim Cook, Apple CEO.
Before joining Apple’s procurement group in 1995, Sabih Khan worked as an applications development engineer and key account technical leader at GE Plastics. He earned a bachelor’s degrees in Economics and Mechanical Engineering from Tufts University and a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Khan’s promotion follows the departure of Apple’s legendary chief design officer Jonathan Ive, who quit the company to form his own design company, LoveFrom.
KKhan will report to Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer
“I’ve been privileged to work with Sabih for more than 20 years, and you won’t find a more talented operations executive anywhere on the planet,” said Williams. “He is a world-class leader and collaborator, and I have no doubt that he will be the best leader of the Ops team in Apple’s history.”
source: http://www.thecognate.com / The Cognate / Home> Business / by Shaik Zakeer Hussain / June 29th, 2019
Chairman and Managing Director of UAE-based Lulu Group International is an employer of more than 30,000 Indians abroad.
Thiruvananthapuram :
M.A. Yusuffali, Chairman and Managing Director of UAE-based Lulu Group International has been nominated as expert member of the Governing Council of India Centre for Migration (ICM) by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
ICM is a committee that undertakes research and studies on migration of Indian workers for overseas employment and supports informed policy making in MEA.
Among other objectives, ICM is tasked with equipping the country’s human resources in the field of employment to international standards, providing guidance for promoting employment in foreign countries, highlighting India as a country with a highly qualified and skilled workforce, and preparing welfare schemes for the Indian working community abroad.
The committee, chaired by the Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, also includes the Secretary, Ministry of Finance, the Secretary, Ministry of Labour and the Secretary, Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises.
Yusuffali, while thanking Indian government and the prime minister for this important nomination, said that he will use his experience of almost 5 decades in the Middle East both as an NRI businessman and as an employer of more than 30,000 Indians to further enrich the diaspora.
“My efforts will be more towards preparing the new generation as a global professional fit for today’s fast-evolving business environment, especially considering the challenging times we are going through,” UAE-based Indian businessman said. — IANS
source: http://www.clarionindia.net / Clarion India / Home> Editor’s Pick / by IANS / January 19th, 2021
Meerut- based Unani drugs manufacturing company ‘Drugs Laboratories’ is the one and only among the Unani pharmaceuticals companies which was recently accorded the prestigious ‘Ayush Premium Mark’ by the Ministry of AYUSH. Now it would able to export Unani medicine abroad legally.
Considering the state of Unani pharmaceuticals industry in the country, it is not a mean achievement for the DL, especially if one compares it with well-known Hamdard company which even did not get such certificate despite having much more popular and older than the DL.
Talking to Muslim Mirror, Dr. Sirajuddin Ahmad, chairman of Drugs Laboratories said “Ayush Premium Mark’ assures that the product quality and GMP requirement is of international standard”. Terming it a big achievement, Dr Ahmad said DL has become the first Unani and top Ayurvedic Company in India to get this prestigious certificate.
India has emerged as the world leader in Unani medicine but it has not been able to export Unani medicine to the world and Ayush Premium Mark has opened new horizons and possibilities for the promotion of Unani system, he said.
Ayush Premium Mark’ recognition is given by the Quality Council of India in collaboration with Ministry of Ayush government of India. ‘Ayush Premium Mark’ is mandatory for export of Ayush products and supply of medicine in government institutes.
The certificate recognises that the products of a particular company are based on GMP requirements that are based on WHO guidelines and followed worldwide.
Dr. Ahmad said ‘Drugs Laboratories’ is the first Unani Company to modernize Unani products according to market needs which has 64patented drugs.
Currently company has more than 50 patented products and 64 classical Unani products. Apart from this Ayurvedic product are also manufactured.
We have developed 12 highly-effective drugs for instant relief ranging from cough to fever and even now allopathic doctors also prescribed these drugs to patients, he said.
Drugs Laboratories” with a fervour to keep Unani and Ayurvedic flag high and to serve the mankind, initiated extensive research in the field of Herbal with modern techniques in quality control and production.
We are also working how to make Unani medicine more popular across the communities and the country as it is a very effective medicine which has no risk of any side-effect, he said who’s father Padma Shree Hakim Saifuddin Ahmad was a very prominent Unani Physician. Hakim Saifuddin was also served as a Unani Physician to three Indian Presidents and was also appointed as the first Unani advisor to the government of India.
Talking about his family association with Unani medicine, Dr. Sirajuddin said this profession has been running in our veins for more than seventh generation as he has inherited this from his father Hakim Saifuddin Ahmad. His both sons have also been assisting their father in this venture.
We did not keep the family prescriptions secret but made it public for the benefit of the humanity, he added. Highlighting the company’s future plans, he said we are doing scientific research on a number of drugs including how to get rid of the dialysis which has become a mandatory for a kidney patient and many more things.
source: http://www.muslimmirror.com / Muslim Mirror / Home> Indian Muslim / by Abdul Bari Masoud / March 26th, 2019
It’s well furnished inside and leaves one wondering in awe, says a visitor
With the minimum temperature plummeting to minus 18 degree Celsius in north Kashmir’s tourist hotspot Gulmarg, a spherical 22-feet-wide and 15-feet-high igloo restaurant has become a major attraction among the tourists, more for selfies than food served inside.
“We threw the igloo restaurant open to the public two days ago. It’s the country’s biggest igloo ever made. It took 15 days to construct it with the help of 20 workers,” Waseem Shah, managing director of the Kolahoi Resorts, told The Hindu.
The all-snow covered restaurant has eight tables, serving lunch and dinner inside it, and can accommodate 18 people simultaneously. The novel idea has been picked from the cold places of Europe.
“I have travelled to Switzerland, Norway and Finland and saw similar snow sculptures. We too have snow in abundance and can experiment on such projects,” Mr. Shah said.
He said the cafe shall make it to the Limca book of records as Asia’s biggest igloo. “So far tourists come more for selfies than food. But I am happy they are leaving with cherishable memories,” he said.
Sonia Kapoor, a tourist from Delhi, said the restaurant is a must for a selfie. “The sight of igloo is amazing. The fact that it’s well furnished inside, leaves one wondering in awe,” Ms. Kapoor said.
The idea has come as a shot in the arm of tourism, which was struggling in Kashmir, first due to the abrogation of special status in 2019 and then by the pandemic.
Director, Tourism, Kashmir, G.N. Itoo said Kashmir is fast emerging as “an all season destination”.
“Kashmir is offering visitors not only mesmerising beauty of its natural landscape, its perennial rivers and lakes, gardens and meadows, mountains and valleys, forests and wildlife but also diversity of tourism products with its adventure potential, cuisine, heritage, pilgrimage circuits and plenty of leisure tourism,” Mr. Itoo said.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Other States / by Peerzada Ashiq / Srinagar, January 28th, 2021
Expatriate businessman C P Salih had a happy reunion recently after 60 years — with a gleaming Studebaker car that had left his home in 1960.
Salih’s father Chandanaparambil C P Mohammad had bought this American car from Delhi. It is estimated that the car, manufactured in 1947, arrived in India in 1949.
It was in this car that the wedding party of the mother-in-law of prominent businessman Galfar Mohamed Ali had travelled to the wedding.
C P Mohammad sold the car in the 1960s. After changing several hands, it finally reached Delhi again. What’s more, it had the same old number — DBG 8213. Mohammad had written in his diary that he had bought the car for Rs 2,400. The car was tracked in Delhi with the help of the old number.
Salih purchased the car and brought it to his Valappad home to give it to his son Anhar Salih as a wedding gift. The car was originally red in colour. It has now turned blue. The top was lost due to age. But the engine is still the old one.
C P Salih with his family.
On seeing its return, many elders shared their memories of having seen the car in the past. All this was recorded and kept by Salih’s family. Many were not even allowed to touch the car. But C P Mohammad took everyone in the area in the car.
While the old car has been found, one puzzle related to it remains. CP Mohammad had written in his diary that an Ezhuthachan in Thrissur had helped him buy the car. Salih has not yet been able to find out who that was.
source: http://www.onmanorama.com / OnManorama / Home> News> Business / by OnManorama Correspondent / January 17th, 2021
How Azim Premji expanded his business from vegetable oils to info-tech and put his money where his heart is
The story of a person can be inspiring. The authors have chosen their subject well, for, everyone knows of Azim Premji, but few truly know what makes the man.
A book about such a person, if well-written, may possibly inspire the reader into action. In this case, soon after you read the book, it’s difficult not to look up the Azim Premji Foundation website, to see if it had any volunteering opportunities, even if you have done nothing like it before!
In chronicling any life, it is easy to get mired down with mind-numbing detail that comes your way if you are sifting through 50-odd years’ worth of the protagonist’s hits and misses. The authors have done well to stick to the most interesting parts of Premji’s life. Two things stand out across events and across time: his integrity and a penchant for frugality.
Zest for austerity
His insistence on paying for personal calls made on his office phone is legendary. His friends know of his love for cars but also about his unwillingness to spend fanciful amounts on one.
He once wanted to buy a Fiat that was registered in Wipro’s name. He got the finance department involved in the discussion as he wanted to play by the rules and pay for the purchase. But with depreciation, the car’s value was zero to the company. The transaction did not go through.
At one point, his friends were agog with excitement at his purchase of a Mercedes, but it was… hold your breath… a second-hand one!
At another time, when his team was preparing to welcome clients on a visit to headquarters, and took Premji over the arrangements that included meals from a five-star hotel, he quipped, “If our cafeteria is good enough for our employees, it should be good enough for clients too!”
It’s probably the same zest for austerity that had him pleased while on a U.S. visit, when two of his senior-most executives bought lunch for the three of them at a Burger King outlet for less than $7.50! And, this was a man who didn’t bat an eyelid when an employee of the vegetable oils business lost ₹25 lakh in a year in a trading position.
A long journey
The book chronicles the journey of Wipro from the time the Premjis put down roots in Mumbai. It throws light on the man’s spirit of entrepreneurship, as the company cautiously experimented with opportunities — expanding from vegetable oils to engineering products, computer hardware, tech services and consumer care and lighting. It also does not shy away from some of Wipro’s missteps such as the investment in financial services, a business which withered away despite the group’s entry into the space after much thought and preparation.
His management style
While doing justice to the man’s talent for perseverance, the authors have touched upon his management style that many say cramped some CEOs under his chairmanship. His taking over as CEO in 2005 after the abrupt exit of Vivek Paul, said to have been primed for the post, or his decision to have a joint CEO structure soon after, at a time when competitors were blazing ahead, had raised eyebrows in the world of IT services at the time.
The reader may get the sense that the authors occasionally sound deferential when talking about the man or his family. But, it’s difficult not to be overawed by someone who has never sold a single share in his company but who chose to give away $21 billion worth of wealth to his foundation, leaving his two sons with shares valued at about ₹65 crore. How can one give away so much wealth and still, on the morning the news about the latest transfer to the foundation breaks, irritably ask an employee — who speaks of congratulatory messages overwhelming social media — “What’s all the fuss about?” ?
This book is a must-read for anyone who can read English.
Azim Premji: The Man Beyond the Billions; Sundeep Khanna, Varun Sood, HarperCollins, ₹699.
bharatkumar.k@thehindu.co.in
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Books> Reviews> Profile / by K Bharat Kumar / January 16th, 2021
