MxMIndia

Tag: HT Media

  • Diptakirti Chaudhuri will move on to a new role in the Digital domain and Parveen Gupta will move to the position of Head, Marketing for HT Delhi

    Meanwhile @HT: Diptakirti Chaudhuri head strategy & new biz-digital, Parveen Gupta to head mktg in Delhi

    By A Correspondent

     

    Hindustan Times has announced that Mr Diptakirti Chaudhuri will move on from his current role as Head- Marketing, HT Delhi to a new role in the Digital domain as Head, Strategy and New Businesses, Digital Business. In this new role, he would be a part of the Leadership Team of Digital Business, and be responsible for working on new category evaluation and entry. In this role, Mr Chaudhri will directly report to Amit Garg, Business Head-Digital. Mr Chaudhri is a Mechanical Engineering Graduate from the Jadavpur University and an MBA from XLRI.

     

    Mr Parveen Gupta will move to the position of Head, Marketing for HT Delhi. In his earlier roles, Mr Gupta was a critical driver in the relaunch of both HT and HT City. He will be responsible for the entire consumer & product agenda for the brand with. He will report to Rajesh Ramakrisnan, Marketing Head, Hindustan Times. Mr Gupta is a Production Engineering Graduate from Punjab Engineering College and holds an MA and MPhil in Sociology from JNU as well as an MBA from the ISB.

  • The Mint Luxury Conference is the largest event of its kind in this sector. Industry experts, designers, marketers and owners of prestigious international luxury brands will come together for multiple sessions spread across 2 days of the conference

    5th Mint Luxury Conf to explore future of lux industry

    By A Correspondent

     

    The 5th edition of Mint Luxury Conference will take place in Mumbai on March 23 and 24. The theme for the conference is “Luxury inIndia: At the Tipping Point”

     

    Over the last few years,India’s luxury industry has witnessed significant transformation. The ever-growing Indian market has drawn a lot of attention from across the globe in recent years.Indiahas been a production outsourcing destination for a long time, but now due to a steadily growing economy and globalized businesses environment,Indiahas rapidly transformed into a large market for luxury goods.

     

    In view of the growing importance of the country in the global luxury industry, Mint, from the house of HT Media, has initiated a conference to bring together stakeholders to a common platform.

     

    The Mint Luxury Conference is the largest event of its kind in this sector. Industry experts, designers, marketers and owners of prestigious international luxury brands will come together for multiple sessions spread across 2 days of the conference.

     

    This year marks the fifth anniversary of the Mint Luxury Conference. Among the speakers this year are legendary designers Diane von Furstenberg and Christian Louboutin; Indian design star Manish Malhotra; expert in luxury retail, Michael Ward – MD Harrods; Michael Perschke, Head of Audi India and Anoop Prakash, MD of Harley-Davidson India. The sessions range from the intricacies of design and creativity to the minutiae of the luxury market inIndia. A much anticipated session is the very topical “The Impact of 100% FDI on Luxury” which will see Ajay Dua, former Secretary, DIPP, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Peter Beckingham, Deputy British High Commissioner to India, and Armando Branchini, Executive Director, Fondazione Altagamma, butting heads on the issue of FDI.

     

  • Hindustan embarked on a grassroots campaign to unearth 100 "quiet reformers" who are working tirelessly for the betterment of society and life in the state

    From Zero, Bihar reaches 100: Hindustan shares a dream to take it beyond

    By A Correspondent

     

    Bihar has long been known as the land which gave the world “zero”, Gautama Buddha’s message of peace, the foundation of structured education with Nalanda and the seat of culture. It led the creation of modern thought. The recognition of Bihar’s contribution to society and the modern world led Hindustan to create a programme on the occasion of completion of 100 years of Bihar’s formation on March 22.

     

    With a stable and progressive government at the helm for the second time, citizens are nursing a dream of a modern and developed state. Unknown to most, at several places the seeds of change have been sown and have taken root as well. For the pools of transformation to become an ocean of development in Bihar, it is critical for the good work to be shared with the citizens of the state. With that objective in mind, Hindustan embarked on a grassroots campaign to unearth 100 “quiet reformers” who are working tirelessly for the betterment of society and life in the state. The zeal of these “gems of Bihar” deserves to be lauded and should not be a quiet endeavour.

     

    Over the last 25 years in Bihar, Hindustan has been a partner and a witness to the state’s transformation story. Hindustan kicked off a campaign in December 2011 with the mission to first locate 100 individuals and then reveal their stories to the citizens of the state. These real stories of hope and inspiration have a tremendous role in communicating the importance of “naya zariya”, initiative and responsibility of citizens to make their own future brighter. A multi-pronged strategy was used which involved communication through the newspaper and an appeal to readers to nominate deserving initiatives that they knew of in one of 8 categories:

     

    1. Education

    2. Agriculture

    3. Women Empowerment

    4. Employment Generation

    5. Communal Harmony

    6. Entrepreneurship

    7. Self-reliance

    8. Social Upliftment

     

    The news network was also used to reach out and identify transformation initiatives. January 1, saw the formal launch of “Bihar…100 ke aage” which featured the first of a daily series of articles to highlight people who were creating positive social impact. Readers were introduced to citizens who did not wait for help from any external source to make a change in their immediate surroundings. For the first time, these initiatives were brought into public knowledge.

     

    Along with these stories, a campaign was launched that appealed to readers to nominate deserving individuals. Hindustan created an out-reach programme by contacting opinion makers and other socially aware individuals for their collaboration in this effort. Schools and colleges were also activated through painting and essay competitions. Organisations like the Bihar Chamber of Commerce and Bihar Industries Association were also co-opted into the campaign. “Samvaads” were held to help spread the message and to get more leading citizens to join the movement. Close to 500 nominations were received. Of these, 100 deserving nominations were scrutinized closely by an eminent panel of judges which comprised Justice S Jha, Justice R Prasad and VS Dubey (retd. IAS, ex-Principal Secretary, Jharkhand) to identify initiatives with the maximum social impact in their respective categories.

     

    The Hindustan Samagaam on March 19, 2012 will bring these 100 individuals together. The Chief Minister of Bihar will honour selected individuals at this event.

     

    At the same event, eminent panelists like the Chief Minister of Bihar, Mr Nitish Kumar, Mrs Shobhana Bhartia (Chairperson, HT Media), Mr NK Singh (MP, Rajya Sabha), Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal (MD & Group Chairman, Bharti Enterprises) and Dr Rukmini Banerji (Director, Pratham) will participate in a dialogue on insights for growth and development in Bihar.

     

    Hindustan Media Ventures Limited (HMVL) is the publisher of the leading Hindi newspaper – Hindustan, Hindi magazines Nandan & Kadambini and the news website livehindustan.com. The Company has presence in the states of UP, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand & Delhi and its publications have a combined Total Readership of 3.81 crore readers.

     

    The company is a subsidiary of the HT Media Group – a diversified media group with interests in Radio, print & online media.

     

  • HT Media Limited has 'upped the ante on design and content' with the new avatar of Brunch Weekly. Brunch is the popular weekly lifestyle and entertainment magazine from Hindustan Times launched in 2003.

    HT revamps Sunday supplement Brunch

    By A Correspondent

     

    HT Media Limited (HTML) unveiled the new avatar of Brunch Weekly on February 19. Brunch is the popular weekly lifestyle and entertainment magazine from Hindustan Times launched in 2003. It is currently circulated complimentary with HT and select editions of Mint on Sunday, and is the largest read English lifestyle magazine in India with a circulation of 13.1 lakh and growing.

     

    Poonam Saxena, Editor of Brunch Weekly, commented on the launch: “Brunch has an unmatched reach and a large bank of extremely loyal readers who have enjoyed the magazine over the last eight years. It was time to give our readers something new, something unexpected and something fresh. Readers will be delighted with what they find on their doorstep every Sunday morning. It is the same magazine we all fell in love with all those years ago, but with an exciting new look and feel, and more entertaining and interactive content. Brunch just made Sundays better!”

     

    The brand promises its readers “The Good Life” week after week with gripping content that covers various lifestyle and entertainment-related genres. The revamped Brunch includes several new features including weekly contests and feature series, celebrity columns, and stories with web codes that can be scanned for exclusive supplemental content. The lineup of Brunch columnists includes Vir Sanghvi, Rajiv Makhni, Seema Goswami, Shikha Sharma and Sanjoy Narayan.

     

    Rajan Bhalla, Head – Corporate Marketing & Magazines, added, “We decided to give Brunch a makeover for the benefit of our readers. More than three million people across the country read Brunch because we give them an exemplary reading experience. Brunch is a Sunday ritual for them; something they eagerly look forward to. We wanted to give our readers a clutter-free, sharp, witty, entertaining, and interactive start to their Sundays. All the favourites are still there, we have simply upped the ante on the design and content. The new, arresting masthead and crisp and clear pages give Brunch a contemporary edge. We are certain readers will love Brunch’s new style.”

     

  • Bharat Kapadia's Bru Gold innovation for HUL showed how creative ideas in print can be a hit, and underscored the need for more.

    Y’day’s Big Story: Print wins with ‘hat ke’ ideas

     

     

    Bharat Kapadia

    By Akash Raha

     

    The readers of The Sunday Times of India of February 19 woke up to a special surprise as they were served coffee with their newspapers. Well, not literally. The Mumbai, New Delhi and Bengaluru editions had a unique dimension – they broke the olfactory barrier. Each copy filled the air with the rich aroma of coffee, spreading the message for Hindustan Unilever’s flagship coffee product, Bru Gold. Veteran mediaperson Bharat Kapadia’s firm, ideas@bharatkapadia.com, unveiled its first big idea for its clients Hindustan Unilever and The Times of India group.

     

    “The objective was to drive home the richness of fine coffee and I knew that we could conquer this final frontier in a newspaper,” Mr Kapadia said. “The aroma of food products can create a sense of craving and can be very effective way to lead the reader to consume it.”

     

    In a world where it’s critical to stand out in a crowd, an idea when executed effectively can be a winner and this can be a unique consumer experience with every new fragrance. Mr Kapadia should know. Having spearheaded several ideas with the publications he has led over the years, ideas@bharatkapadia.com is a specialized ideas consulting firm in media and marketing. The fragrant newspaper concept has been tried out earlier editorially by Dainik Bhaskar and possibly some others too, but it’s the first time by a national advertiser across multiple editions.

     

    What experts feel on innovation

    The Times of India has been in the forefront with innovations. It’s been said and discussed in various forums that the only way the print industry can maintain its vitality is by constantly innovating and thereby evolving. That innovation is a driving factor for success is a no-brainer, yet is our print industry doing enough to innovate and create more value for the advertisers? Earlier, MxM India got in touch with leading advertising practitioners to know more about current trends and innovations that are happening in the industry.

     

    Pratap Bose

    When asked if the print industry is innovating enough of late, Pratap Bose, COO, Mudra Group said, “When it comes to print, there is very little innovation that you see. Whatever innovation you see, once it is done it is repeated time and time over again. Various forms of jackets – half, straight, up, down … Nothing fresh is coming out in print these days. The one category that continues to be beaten down is print. Barring one or two innovations from The Times of India group, which are of course very good, there is not much in terms of innovations that is happening.”

     

    When asked to compare print with other media, Mr Bose said, “Well, I consider all media as media, whether it is above the line or below the line. But essentially what you are seeing in the innovation space is largely happening in digital, out of home and promotions. To an extent video as well, if you want to include mainline media. Cinema is again, very few… So really, good innovation is not happening on either print or TV.”

     

    An issue of deliberation also is that whatever little innovation that we see in the market, is it happening in all print forms, across all linguistic barriers alike? Are print innovations happening in both English and language publications alike, or is the innovation limited to top English publications… only those who get top-end advertising moolah?

     

    Answering the question, Nandini Dias, COO, Lodestar UM said, “Print innovations often needs the publishing house to be able to carry out the difference. The leading publishing houses like the Bennett Coleman or HT Media manage to pull off innovations easily. For example the Cannes Gold that we won for Garnier this year was aided by The Times of India. The Times of India managed to print the day’s issue on recycled paper; for people who understand printing, they will appreciate the sheer thickness of the paper, the kind of paper needed the production team to alter their normal process , experiment and get it right before the 100% recycled paper issue got printed. So innovation happens with publications with a modern sophisticated printing and production unit. It has nothing to do with the language of the publication.”

     

    Divya Radhakrishnan

    Divya Radhakrishnan, Manging director – Helios Media Pvt Ltd, said, “There are lots of innovations happening in vernacular press as well. In fact groups like Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhaskar have pioneered many an innovative concepts. The extent of innovation blends into ground activation and other media owned by the same group. A good example of that is Jagran activations.

     

    But while we talk about all the advertising riches innovation can drive, we cannot help but talk about the content aspect too. Often, innovations in print are condoned because they hamper its readability. Some innovations distracts an diverts the attention of a reader, thereby hampering with the content. However, Ms Dias said that it is not always so. Such a case only happens when an innovation makes reading content difficult. “For example the half gate fold is often disliked by a lot of readers as it makes holding the paper difficult or sometimes fonts in a colour, which make reading tough. Other than that innovations are done to enhance the product values and to bring it alive to the readers.”

     

    Yet, innovation remains a key factor for the print players for sustenance in the long run. Moreover, the ability to carry off good and meaningful innovation certainly brings more to the table and helps grab the advertisers’ attention.”

     

    Ms Radhakrishnan said, “Innovations for the sake of innovation is a no-go. The key objective for the innovation is to stand out of clutter and deliver the message appropriately. Given the time-spent on print media being on the decline, it’s very important that the message is delivered in a single-shot and therefore needs to be placed innovatively to grab reader attention. Another often repeated mistake is repeating the same idea often which by definition kills the concept of innovation. For example, jackets.”

     

    Nandini Dias

    Speaking on how important it is for print publications to innovate to be successful, Ms Dias said “It’s important to be able to carry out innovative options. As advertisers often come up with solutions which do not conform, publications which can help communicate their ‘hat ke’ thoughts will benefit.”

     

    As Steve Jobs once said, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” For print players, it is imperative to constantly dream up winning ideas. So, we are likely to see more ‘hat ke’ and out-of-the-box innovations like the one created for Hindustan Unilever.

     

  • Mint's publisher Vivek Khanna on the success and future plans of the pint-sized business paper.

    Ready for the digital revolution: Vivek Khanna

    By Akash Raha

     

    Vivek Khanna, Publisher and Business Head of Mint, HT Media Limited

    Vivek Khanna joined HT Media in 2008 after working for more than 16 years, of which 11 were spent with Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL) where he led strategic and marketing initiatives – segmentation, positioning, advertising, and new product development. In his last assignment he was Director Marketing with Aviva, responsible for the company’s product and marketing strategy. He is a post-graduate in management from IIM-Ahmedabad and an economics graduate from the University of Delhi. In conversation with MxMIndia, Mr Khanna talks about Mint’s brand of accessible business news, new markets, and the digital wave, among other things. Excerpts:

     

    Q: Since its inception five years ago Mint has become a success story of its own. What has the journey been like, and what are some of the learnings that you would like to share?

    When we started off five years ago we identified a clear need gap amongst readers, which none of the existing business papers were satisfying. And that is how the entire positioning of Mint got developed, looking at the need gap and then asking how we could address it. We worked towards developing a product that would address the need gap; plus we said that we would get the best minds in the business – and we got editors and journalists from around the world and created a totally differentiated and unique product. I think the single biggest learning that we have is that as long as we are able to sustain this quality that we have been known for, we will continue to grow and do well. The journey so far has been very good, basically because of the fact that we have a product that is totally unique and well differentiated, and has been able to sustain and maintain itself from day one.

     

    Q: There are many reasons attributed to Mint’s success – the Berliner format, the content, and good marketing. What do you think is the main reason Mint has worked with both readers and advertisers?

    What clicks is with the readers first is the product. It is the quality of the product over the last five years that has helped us grow significantly since our launch. The advertisers are paying for the fact that we reach out to a certain number of very high-profile target audiences across the country. That’s really the key thing. Our product is something that this target audience likes, and therefore they are reading it on the regular basis. No one will keep picking up a product each day if it’s not good… Hence the fundamental thing behind our success is really our content.

     

    Q: Mint started off with emphasis on making business news easier for the masses. Is this still the ethos now and for the future?

    The Mint proposition is ‘clarity in business news’. We didn’t say we will be for the elite or for the masses. We just said that we will provide clarity to business news and that is what we continue to do – by analyzing and discussing a particular topic at length and presenting it in a manner that is easy to read as well as supported with facts, and therefore we have a certain credibility in the market. That focus has been there since the beginning, and it should continue.

     

    Q: What is the nature of Mint’s tie-up with The Wall Street Journal – content sharing or more?

    I can’t discuss what constitutes our tie-up with WSJ, as it is confidential information.

     

    Q: Following the Hindi and Gujarati editions of The Economic Times, do you see Mint also coming out with regional avatars?

    Well, as we speak, I have heard about some of these regional avatars getting pulled out from the marketplace. We will get to know over the next couple of days if that news is true or not. As far as we are concerned we have a certain growth path which is planned, we will continue to go on as per that planned growth plan. I can tell you that in the very near future, in the next 3-6 months, we don’t have a plan for any language business daily.

     

    Q: Regional media in India is still growing. How does the proposition of Mint in a Hindi or regional language avatar look to you?

    There is a increasing trend in smaller towns and among readers of Hindi and regional language. As the economy of some of these smaller towns continues to grow there is the tendency and the desire for people to be abreast with what is happening in the business environment. So if we feel that we have a certain role to play and we can provide those readers with news that will help them, then we will certainly evaluate it. But like I said, as of now there are no such plans.

     

    Q: Going forward how do you see the audience and revenue breakup for your digital editions? Specifically the web, tablets and smart phones?

    It is almost impossible to say that… You have different experiences in different markets. We have some western economies where people have moved predominantly towards digital and have dropped significantly. On the other hand we have a market like Singapore which has an 86 percent internet penetration, and 70 percent of the people there own a smart phone, and still there is no drop in circulation of leading products like The Straits Times. So we are talking about very different markets and very different experiences. I think in India the printed form still has some way to go. However, digital is going to emerge over a period of time. Now whether it is going to be five, 10 or 15 years is very difficult to say. What we have to do is, be prepared when it comes. Therefore, we have launched some apps and some more are going to come. So there is a whole plan to be ready for the so-called digital revolution in newspaper, when it comes.

     

    Q: What are the plans to break into newer markets?

    We are in fact evaluating a few markets. When we feel that the time is right for us to enter, we will do so. We still have some way to go in a few of the existing markets… So the focus remains in growing in the existing markets as well as looking at the right time to enter in some of the newer markets.

     

    Q: What are some of the marketing initiatives that the paper has planned and in which cities?

    We have two big initiatives coming up which are around the budget and around our luxury conference (in March), which is an annual event.

     

    Q: Since you are a listed company, will you be give us some numbers as to how Mint has been doing over the years?

    I can’t disclose that information.

     

    Q: What are some of the upcoming trends that you observe in the print industry?

    What is happening is that there is a clear trend, in terms of increase in readership, in some of the language publications that we have been seeing. Clearly, as the literacy level is rising, people’s urge to learn more and read more too is increasing. In times to come, this phenomenon will grow further with penetration of technology and spread of education in India. The other trend that we can observe is the proliferation and spread of digital media.

     

  • Tibrewal is set to join as Business Head, South & West and Ramakrishnan has joined as the Head of Marketing

    Pankaj Tibrewal and Rajesh Ramakrishnan join HT

    By A Correspondent

     

    Mr Pankaj Tibrewal is set to take over from Mr Salil Sadanandan as Business Head, South & West, HT Media Group. Mr Sadanandan joined HT Media in May 2008, and led from the front. Today the Mumbai edition, in a highly competitive market, is a strong and clear No 2 in readership as well as in advertising volumes.

     

    Rajiv Verma, Group CEO, HT Media Group, said: “It’s never easy to let go of such passionate leaders but it’s only fair that a leader who has contributed so much to our enterprise must be enabled with this opportunity.”

     

    Mr Tibrewal comes to HT Media from the Future Group where he was the COO and Business Head for Pantaloons. At Pantaloons, Mr Tibrewal established global best practices in retail and implemented a new customer-first strategy, and, under his leadership, Pantaloons achieved an annual growth of 30-35%. Prior to the Future Group, Mr Tibrewal worked with McKinsey and Company in their Chicago office. Previous to this, he was an entrepreneur.

     

    Mr Tibrewal holds an MBA from Kellogg School of Management at the Northwestern University and an MS in manufacturing systems from the University of Texas at Austin. Mr Tibrewal’s wife, Pallavi, also an MBA from Kellogg, works for Disney, heading heir accessories & footwear licensing.

     

    Mr Tibrewal will be reporting to the Rajiv Verma in his new endeavour.

     

    Mr Rajesh Ramakrishnan has also joined Hindustan Times as the Head of Marketing. Mr Ramakrishnan will initially be responsible for the marketing of the Hindustan Times brand in the North and the East.

     

    Mr Ramakrishnan is an alumnus of BITS Pilani and XLRI Jamshedpur, and has over 17 years of experience in Sales and Marketing across companies like Reckitt Benckiser, Marico and Pepsico. He has worked on a diverse set of brands including Cherry Blossom, Kurkure and Quaker. His last assignment was Head, Global Marketing with Apollo Tyres.

     

    Commenting on his joining, Shantanu Bhanja, VP Marketing, HT Media, said: “Mr Ramakrishnan combines a strong sense of result-orientation with an ability to bring the best out of people. He will bring exceptional Marketing depth to our biggest Brand and key markets”

     

    Apart from being a marketeer, Mr Ramakrishnan is also a passionate photographer whose work has been exhibited, as also published in several magazines and newspapers. He also conceptualized and shot two calendars over the last two years, with prominent celebrities, in support of NGOs.

     

    Mr Ramakrishnan’s wife Nirupama Subramanian is a Corporate Trainer and also the author of the best selling novel Keep the Change.

     

    Mr Ramakrishnan will report to Shantanu Bhanja, and consequent to this, Diptakirti Chaudhuri, Marketing Head, HT Delhi.

     

     

  • Fortune India’s first ranking of India’s 50 Most Powerful Women in Business includes Balaji Telefilms’ Ekta Kapoor and HT Media’s Shobhana Bhartia.

    Fortune India releases ranking of 50 Most Powerful Women in Business

    By Akash Raha

    For the first time Fortune India ranked India’s 50 Most Powerful Women in Business in its November issue. Shobhana Bhartia, Chairperson and Editorial Director, HT Media Ltd. is one of the media personalities to make it to the top ten at number seven spot.

    Chanda Kochhar of ICICI Bank is in the first place, whereas Shikha Sharma of Axis Bank and Mallika Srinivasan of TAFE have taken the second and third place in the ranking.

    Kirthiga Reddy, India Head, Facebook; Lynn De Souza, Chairman and CEO, Lintas Media Group and Radhika Roy, Managing Director and Executive Co-Chairperson, NDTV Group are at number 21st, 39th and 45th spot respectively.

    Dibyendra Nath Mukerjea, Editor, Fortune India said, “Indian women span generations and today we find them in every field. Acquisitions, garnering profits, successful new ventures, pioneering concepts, snagging mega deals…all important factors, no doubt, when defining power. We looked at the changes they brought in, and the way they transformed businesses. In the process, we made some surprising discoveries. But then, surprise was what we expected when we put together Fortune India’s first ranking of the most powerful women in India Inc.”

    Other women who figure amongst the Top 10 as per the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business by Fortune India, include – Aruna Jayanthi, CEO, Capgemini India; Zia Mody, Co-founder, AZB Partners; Vinita Bali, Managing Director, Britannia Industries; Shobhana Bhartia, Chairperson and Editorial Director, HT Media; Chitra Ramakrishna, Joint Managing Director, NSE; Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman & Managing Director, Biocon and Frenny Bawa, ex-MD, RIM India.

     

    Pavan Varshnei, President of Fortune India, said, “Fortune India’s Most Powerful Women in Business list is the most comprehensive ranking of influential women in Indian business.”

     

    The issue also carries a feature on the compensation package of the 10 highest paid Indian business women. The story gives a graphical comparison of the salaries of the highest paid women in India vis-à-vis their counterparts in US and the highest paid men in India.

     

    Fortune India’s 50 Most Powerful Women in Business

     

    Chanda Kochhar, MD and CEO, ICICI Bank

    Shikha Sharma, MD and CEO, Axis Bank

    Mallika Srinivasan, Chairperson, TAFE

    Aruna Jayanthi, CEO, Capgemini India

    Zia Mody, Co-founder, AZB Partners

    Vinita Bali, Managing Director, Britannia Industries

    Shobhana Bhartia, Chairperson and Editorial Director, HT Media

    Chitra Ramakrishna, Joint Managing Director, National Stock Exchange

    Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman and Managing Director, Biocon

    Frenny Bawa, ex-Managing Director, RIM India

    Meenakshi Saraogi, Joint MD, Balrampur Chini Mills

    Naina Lal Kidwai, Group General Manager and Country Head, HSBC India

    Preetha Reddy, Managing Director, Apollo Hospital Enterprises

    Amrita Patel, Chairman, National Dairy Development Board

    Harshbeena Sahney Zaveri, MD and President, NRB Bearings

    Kalpana Morparia, CEO, J.P. Morgan India

    Mira Kulkarni, MD, Mountain Valley Springs India

    Sujata Keshavan, Co-founder, Ray+Keshavan Brand Union

    Roopa Kudva, Managing Director and CEO, CRISIL

    Renuka Ramnath, Founder, Managing Director and CEO, Multiples Alternate Asset Management

    Kirthiga Reddy, India Head, Facebook

    Priya Paul, President, Park Hotels Group

    Jasmeet Kaur Srivastava & Gitanjali Ghate, Managing Directors, The Third Eye

    as above –

    Rama Bijapurkar, Marketing Consultant

    Kaku Nakhate, President & Country Head India, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

    Rekha Menon, Executive Director, Accenture

    Neelam Dhawan, Managing Director, Hewlett-Packard India

    Sangeeta Pendurkar, Managing Director, Kellogg India

    Vedika Bhandarkar, Vice Chairperson, Credit Suisse

    Ekta Kapoor, Joint Managing Director, Balaji Telefilms

    Vishakha Mulye, Managing Director & CEO, ICICI Venture

    Reshma Shetty, Managing Director, Matrix India Entertainment Consultants

    Sminu Jindal, Managing Director, Jindal SAW

    Renu Sud Karnad, Managing Director, HDFC

    Ritu Kumar, Ritu Kumar Design

    Anuradha J. Desai, Non-executive chairperson, Venky’s, and chairperson, V. H. Group of companies

    Vandana Luthra, Founder and mentor, VLCC Health Care

    Lynn De Souza, Chairman and CEO, Lintas Media Group

    Bala Deshpande, Country Head and senior MD, New Enterprise Associates India

    Suvalaxmi Chakraborty, CEO, State Bank of Mauritius (India)

    Farah Khan, Co-founder, Three’s Company

    Meher Pudumjee, Chairperson, Thermax

    Ashu Suyash, Managing Director and Country Head, India, Fidelity International

    Radhika Roy, Managing Director and Executive Co-Chairperson, NDTV Group

    Rajshree Pathy, Chairman and Managing Director, Rajshree Sugars and Chemicals

    Swati Piramal, Director, Piramal Healthcare; Vice Chairperson, Piramal Life Sciences

    Manisha Girotra, Chairperson and Managing Director, UBS

    Meera Sanyal, Country Executive & Chairperson, RBS India

    Anita Arjundas, Managing Director, Mahindra Lifespaces

  • HT Media’s Shine.com has partnered with The Indian Air force (IAF) to help their retired and retiring personnel find a second career in the corporate world.

    Placement fair by IAF with HT Media’s Shine.com

    By A Correspondent

    HT Media’s Shine.com partnered with the Indian Air force (IAF) to help their retired and retiring personnel find a second career in the corporate world.  On the October 15 weekend, the IAF inaugurated a two-day placement fair in New Delhi in collaboration with Shine.com.

    Mr Rajiv Verma, CEO, Hindustan Times Media Limited said, “The contribution of the IAF is invaluable and the officers’ skills are unmatched. We will provide our expertise in getting them to the corporates. We have 40,000 potential jobs at our portal Shine.com and we are willing to help the former officers to get the jobs they deserve.”

    The fair, held for ex-warriors of the IAF saw a huge turnout both from recruiters as well as those seeking jobs. Many IAF personnel retire at around the age of 40, with a productive span of nearly 15-20 years ahead of them.  Because of their long, technology-intensive training and discipline, post retirement, ex-Servicemen and women are invaluable to the corporate sector.

    “The Air Force is a technology-intensive service and the officers who retire from IAF are skilled, hardworking and have a wide range of skill sets. Since they get early retirement, it is our duty to help them in the transition from a job with the force to that in other sectors,” said Air Marshal Anil Chopra.

    The fair was inaugurated by Defence Minister MrAK Antony. “IAF offers a disciplined, well-trained and elite pool to which the industry should give priority during recruitment,” Mr Antony said during the inauguration. This is the sixth such placement fair being held for retired personnel.

    The association will stretch from assistance in resume building all the way to leveraging Shine.com’s database of employers in order to match the diverse skill sets of ex-IAF personnel with the perfect career option.

  • S Keerthivasan, head of HT Media's Fever FM and music division has moved on, making way for Harshad Jain or Airtel DTH.

    Yesterday’s story: Keerthivasan tunes out of Fever, Harshad Jain is new biz head

    By Ritu Midha

    S. KeerthivasanMr S Keerthivasan, CEO, HT Music and Entertainment Ltd, has decided to call it a day. Mr Keerthivasan, who is currently pursuing higher education at the Kelloggs Business School, plans to explore new opportunities once he completes his course.
    The responsibility of Business Head, Radio would be now handled by Mr Harshad Jain, who is expected to join the organisation shortly. He moves from Airtel DTH at Bharti Airtel Ltd. Prior to which he has also spent productive time at Pepsico and Worldspace India.
    Praising Mr Keerthivasan for his achievement at HT Media, an internal communique by Mr Rajiv Verma , CEO, HT Media, states, “Under his leadership and sharp focus, the radio business has done very well. In five short years,  Fever has become one of HT Media’s most successful businesses with annual revenues poised to cross the Rs 100 cr mark, exiting on a growth of almost 70% last year. “ He adds, “While he will certainly be missed, I am sure he will be very successful and be of great value to any team he joins. I wish him the best of luck in all of his future endeavours.

    Mr Keerthivasan joined HT Media in 2004. He has over 15 years of experience. In HT Media, he spanned various large leadership roles including Head – Business Excellence, where he was instrumental in creating a blueprint for future development of the division. Mr Keerthivasan has also been CFO of HTML. He has previously worked in companies like Whirlpool, Xerox and A F Ferguson and is a Chartered and Cost Accountant by qualification.

    Picture: From the HT Media website (http://www.htmedia.in)