With the appointment of Mahendra Kumar Sharma, former vice-chairman of Hindustan Unilever Ltd, as an independent director of Wipro, it is clear that the tech giant wants to strengthen its corporate governance practices.

BS People: M K Sharma

Business Standard

A year ago, everybody complimented Manoj Tirodkar for his restlessness to grow and create value. Today, the same lot will turn around and say that is his millstone. At a dinner banquet last year at the Taj Mahal rooftop &ndash; after successfully concluding a merger between Aircel&rsquo;s towers and group company GTL Infrastructure &ndash; Tirodkar was hailed as sagacious, humble and hands-on by a motley bunch of suave bankers, analysts and media persons.

Newsmaker: Manoj Tirodkar

Ronnie Screwvala is an unconvincing media moghul. The founder and CEO of the Rs 664 crore UTV Group is erudite and completely nonchalant about discussing any issue whether it is regulation or media owners&rsquo; lack of vision.

Tea with BS: Ronnie Screwvala

In 2009-10, Prasar Bharati&rsquo;s revenues were estimated at Rs 1,050 crore. Its total operating expenses were Rs 2,200 crore. In the private sector, the CEO would have been sacked for this kind of performance and the company would have gone under.

Newsmaker: B S Lalli

Pramod and Vinod Mittal, the younger sons of Mohan Lal Mittal, have for years lived in the shadow of their illustrious elder brother, Lakshmi Mittal. It seems things will remain that way, going by the loss of their crown jewel, Ispat Industries.

Newsmaker: Pramod and Vinod Mittal

One of Pratip Chaudhuri&rsquo;s obsessions is to remain low profile &mdash; work quietly behind the scenes, as far away from the arc lights as possible. But the 56-year-old post-graduate in management will suddenly find himself at centre stage if his appointment as State Bank of India&rsquo;s (SBI&rsquo;s) next chairman is cleared by the appointments committee of the Cabinet.

Newsmaker: Pratip Chaudhuri

After stepping down as the managing director of United Spirits (USL), Vijay Rekhi is no less a busy man. With a 15-year stint as MD full of accomplishments, Rekhi is only out of operational activities of USL and will stay associated with the company as a mentor and advisor to determine its future course of action.

BS People: Vijay Rekhi

S D Shibulal, CEO and MD-designate of Infosys Technologies, is being seen as the harbinger of change at the country&rsquo;s second-largest IT software export company.

Newsmaker: S D Shibulal

Adani group recently became India&rsquo;s first port company to acquire a port outside the country &ndash; the Abbott Point Port in Australia.

BS People: Gautam Adani

His departure had been kept under wraps till the very end. The Rs 5,982-crore Tata Global Beverages (TBG) chose to reveal that its 52-year-old CEO Peter Unsworth had put in his papers on the day it announced its full-year results for 2010-11. Clearly, the attempt was to minimise the impact the news could have on the stock price. But the TGB stock did take a beating.

BS People: Peter Unsworth

On January 11 this year, the IndiGo flight from Delhi to Goa landed in a way that violated all flying manuals. The rulebook says the larger rear wheels should touch the tarmac first, and then the small ones in front. Otherwise, the stress on the nose wheels can damage the aircraft and endanger the lives of passengers.

Newsmaker: E K Bharat Bhushan

He is Mr Dependable at British consumer goods maker, Reckitt Benckiser, and the candidate the company&rsquo;s board turned to in its hour of distress. Faced with the task of finding a suitable replacement for Bart Becht, the outgoing chief executive, Reckitt&rsquo;s board chose 52-year-old Rakesh Kapoor to succeed him last week. Until then, Kapoor had been the head of Reckitt&rsquo;s global category development, based out of the the company&rsquo;s Slough headquarters.

Newsmaker: Rakesh Kapoor

IT major TCS today said Rajesh Gopinathan will succeed S Mahalingam as the company's Chief Financial Officer

Gopinathan is new CFO of TCS

Media shy and a bit of a recluse, Basant Kumar Birlaâ€™s younger daughter, Manjushree Khaitan, suddenly found the spotlight on her when Kesoram Industries appointed her as the executive vice-chairman this week. While it appeared sudden, the signs of it coming had become obvious at least two years ago.In 2009, at the annual general meeting (AGM), it was a shareholder who first suggested Khaitan be made vice-chairman. It didnâ€™t happen, but the 2010 AGM was clearly her show.She addressed shareholders for the first time and also outlined a vision for the company, the most aggressive road map in recent times. Kesoram would go beyond Rs 10,000 crore, she had said, while emphasising the need for a strategically long-term view. And she is working towards it.Kesoramâ€™s annual revenue at the end of March 2012 was around Rs 6,000 crore, but it posted a significant amount of loss, too, at Rs 380 crore. FY13 is expected to be better, but will still end in loss

Newsmaker: Manjushree Khaitan

Prithvi Raj Singh Oberoi, the patriarch of the Oberoi Group, has handed over the overall management responsibility of EIH (formerly East India Hotels) to close aide Shib Sanker Mukherji and has himself decided to become an advisor and guide while retaining the chairmanship of the company.

Oberoi to give up 'active role' in East India Hotels

Infosys on Wednesday made a fresh round of management reshuffle handing over its Global Head of HR, Nandita Gurjar a new role in the company and appointing a new CEO &amp; MD for its business process outsourcing business.

Infosys announces major managemnet reshuffle

Anil Ahuja, Managing Partner and head of Asia, 3i, one of the leading Asia-focused private equity major, has quit the firm.

Anil Ahuja quits 3i

Last week, Chandra Shekhar Verma did something rather uncharacteristic for a state-owned company chieftain, especially one reputed to be a stickler for rules. The Steel Authority of India (SAIL) Chairman &mdash; its youngest ever &mdash; openly criticised the government. The lodestone of his ire: a decision by a group of ministers to make mandatory the sharing with the local populace 26 per cent of the profits from mines.

Newsmaker: Chandra Shekhar Verma

So-called &lsquo;silent&rsquo; periods of listed companies usually end without even a whimper. But in the case of SKS Microfinance, the country&rsquo;s largest micro-finance institution (MFI), it ended with a bang. Exactly a week after emerging from its 40-day post-listing silent period, the SKS board sat down on Sunday, October 3 to discuss the fate of CEO Suresh Gurumani.

Newsmaker: Suresh gurumani

The elevation of Dheeraj Hinduja, 39, as the new chairman marks a new beginning for Ashok Leyland, India's second-oldest and second-largest truck maker.&nbsp;As the third generation Hinduja takes charge, R J Shahaney, who had been with the company for more than three decades, of which he was the chairman for 13, exits. Ashok Leyland has been the runner-up in the Indian truck and bus market for far too long with little sign of closing in on Tata.

BS People: Dheeraj Hinduja

Scoring India Inc&rsquo;s first goal from Pune in the English Premier League (EPL) isn&rsquo;t something you hear every day. But Anuradha Desai, chairperson of the Rs 3,850-crore Venkateshwara Hatcheries (VH) Group, prefers to keep a low profile.

Newsmaker: Anuradha Desai

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