Telecommunication firms Vodafone and Telefonica have agreed to share network infrastructure in four European countries UK, Germany, Spain and Ireland. However both will keep their own radio equipment and vendors. They have signed a massive network sharing deal to work together across Europe which is the biggest agreement of the UK’s mobile phone industry since the introduction of wireless broadband services.Vodafone had previously had network-sharing agreements with France Telecom’s Orange in Britain and Spain. But now they have agreed to this deal to meet the surge in demand for mobile broadband as a costs saving measure. This would lead to cheaper calls and efficient internet services for customers. Apart from this Vodafone group in UK has taken several cost cutting measures like freezing the salaries and avoiding bonuses. This deal covers about 64 million Telefonica customers and about 77 million Vodafone customers.This collaboration is expected to save “hundreds of million pounds” by delivering significant business benefits.

Peter J. Barris

Mr. Barris specializes in information technology companies and works at the firm’s Reston office. Barris serves on the board of directors for the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association, Innerworkings, Inc., the National Venture Capital Association and Venture Philanthropy Partners. He was a Director at UUNET Technologies, Broadview Networks, AMISYS, CareerBuilder, Mobius Management Systems, SALIX Technologies, and Tripod. He is also a Member of the Board of Trustees of Northwestern University, the Board of Overseers of the Tuck School at Dartmouth College and the Board of Advisors of the Tuck’s Center for Private Equity and Entrepreneurship at Dartmouth College.

Peter  Barris’ journey:

• He joined G.E (General Electric) in the year 1977 and held various management positions including Vice President and General Manager at GE Information Services upto 1985.
• Later he joined as Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Systems Software Division at UCCEL Corp, the name that the University Computing Company was changed to. UCC Corp is a data processing service bureau.
• Later he joined LEGENT as President and COO and served in those positions upto the year 1992.
• Finally in 1992 he joined in NEA as General Partner and became Managing General Partner in 1999.

A White House official said on Monday that the Treasury Department would use a planned injection of $ 30,000 million to appeal to American International Group Inc. (AIG) to repay the $ 165 million which they squandered to the executive branch responsible to bring the company to the brink of bankruptcy.

The infusion of capital announced on March 2, will not be completed until AIG and Treasury Department agree to a repayment plan, said the source. The subsidies granted by the financial services group “were considered unacceptable, considering that AIG is surviving thanks to taxpayers’ money,” he added.

The U.S. president, Barack Obama, in an attempt to contain a political storm, directed the Secretary of the Treasury, Timothy Geithner, to “exhaust all legal channels” to block the delivery of the $ 165 million in bonuses.

“This is a corporation that is mired in financial trouble due to the irresponsibility and greed,” Obama said before announcing a plan to save small businesses through a new set of loan options.

“Under these circumstances, it is difficult to understand how brokers from AIG deserve some kind of bonus, not to speak of U.S. $ 165 million in additional payments. How do you justify this atrocity to taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat .. . This is not a question of dollars and cents. It questions our fundamental values, “he said.

It is not clear what legal options the government may appeal to stop the payment of bonuses.

Andrew Cuomo sent a summons to the insurer on Monday afternoon after the company did not disclose the names of those who had received bonuses.

On Monday morning Cuomo had requested the names of the recipients of the subsidies, their jobs and their performance evaluations in 2008, besides the names of those involved in designing the retention plan.

In a letter, Cuomo gave the company until 4.00 pm to respond to your request for information. His office has been investigating AIG bonuses since the end of last year. “Coverup of the details of these payments breeds more cynicism and mistrust in our already shaken financial system,” he wrote in the letter.

Cuomo said it is considering whether any of the persons who received payments was involved in the events that brought the insurance company to the verge of collapse and if the contracts could be void due to fraud or other reasons and whether the payments could be considered fraudulent transfers under state law.

A challenge for Obama

The announcement of the bonuses of AIG has become a critical test for Obama. If indignation seizes the electorate, it may become impossible to obtain additional funding to Congress which the government may need for another rescue.

For weeks, Obama has tried to project himself as a champion of ordinary Americans, not Wall Street, even as he is trying to explain everybody why they might need additional funds for banks in trouble. Monday was supposed to be devoted to the presentation of a plan to assist small businesses.

But that message is being buried under the furor generated by AIG bonuses. Rather than reduce that discomfort, Obama has decided to show solidarity. “Throughout the country there are people who work hard and meet their responsibilities every day, without benefit of government bailouts or subsidies of millions of dollars. And all we ask is that everyone from the average citizen to Wall Street and the government, to play under the same rules, “said the president.

Bentley a British manufacturer of Automobiles known for its elegance and special appeal of their Luxurious Cars released Bentley Arnage Final Series.Bentley commemorated the end of Arnage production by celebrating 10 years of Arnage with the Arnage Final Series.There would be just 150 cars under the new final series. The Arnage Final Series features the Arnage T’s 500 horsepower twin-turbo engine, dark-tinted radiator grille, 20″ wheels, body-color trim, upgraded interior, and “Final Series” badging inside and out. Arnage Final Series is available in the full Bentley range of 42 exterior colours, 25 interior hides, and three veneers, including the comprehensive line-up of Mulliner options and its bespoke colour-matching service.It has come up with several new feature enhancements like New audio head unit, New rear cup  holders, iPod Interface, Mini USB and a 3.5mm AUX jack and Watt amplifier.It is available in six classic colour and trim combinations like Titan Grey, Royal Ebony, Windsor Blue, Meteor, Burnt Oak and Black Velvet.

Eric Hippeau is the Managing partner at Softbank Capital, a New York and Boston based, technology oriented venture capital firm, since 2000. Prior to joining Softbank Capital he served as the Chairman and the CEO of Ziff-Davis, Inc. This is an integrated media and marketing services company serving the technology community. Mr. Eric pursued his graduation from Lycee Francais de Londres and attended the Sorbonne University in Paris. At the age of 20, he dropped out of Sorbonne and took a newspaper job in Brazil, where his father managed United Press International. After gaining experience from this he started a local magazine called Data News. Eventually he proved his worth and potential as a successful entrepreneur. He was among the most influential people in the computer industry. Later he launched ZDTV, a 24-hour cable channel devoted to computers and the Internet

Mr. Eric Hippeau:

• Mr. Hippeau held a number of positions with IDG, including vice president of computer publications in Latin America and publisher of (International Data Group) IDG’s InfoWorld magazine.
• Later he joined Ziff-Davis in 1989 as Publisher of PC Magazine and held several senior executive positions before becoming Chairman and CEO.He served as CEO in Ziff-Davis from 1993 to 2000 until the company was sold.
• Being a Yahoo board member since 1996, he also served as a director of Starwood Hotels and Resorts WorldWide, Inc., Huffington Post,etc.,
• He was the President of SoftBank International Ventures, where he established SoftBank’s international private equity funds and expanded them into Europe, Latin America and Asia.
• In the year 2000 he joined softbank capital and currently he is the managing partner of Softbank Capital Partners and one among the four General Partners(Ronald D. Fisher, Eric Hippeau, Steven J.Murray, Micheal S. Perlis).

Mr. Ronald D. Fisher is the Managing Partner and the Founder at SoftBank Capital, from the year 1995. SoftBank Capital is an independent venture capitalist firm. Mr. Fisher is the Vice-Chairman of SOFTBANK Holdings, Inc., and he oversees the firm’s U.S. operations and its other activities in Asia. Mr. Fisher received an M.B.A. from Columbia University in New York and Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Witwatersand in South Africa.

Mr. Ronald D. Fisher:

• He served as a President, COO and CEO at Interactive Systems Corporation, a UNIX software company, during the period between 1984 and 1989.
• He also served at various senior executive positions at Visicorp, TRW, and ICL (USA).
• In the year 1990 he joined as a CEO at Phoenix Technologies.Ltdand served there upto 1995.
• He joined SOFTBANK Corp. in 1995 and has been a Director of the company since October 2000.
• He is also a Member of the Board of Directors at SoftBank Corp., Japan.
• Mr. Fisher has been the Chairman of the Board at Vie Financial Group Inc.and he also served as a Director, Member of Compensation and Nominating Committees.
• Mr. Fisher is a director of E*TRADE Group, Inc. and is also on the investment committee for the SB Asia Infrastructure Fund

• Kevin pursued his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University
• Later he earned an MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago.

About SolarReserve:

SolarReserve is a collaboration between United Technologies Corporation (UTC), a Dow 30 conglomerate, and US Renewables Group, a private equity firm focused exclusively on renewable energy. By investing $140,000,000 it stood in third place in terms of Largest Venture Capital Investments in the U.S. in 2008. SolarReserve inc.,develops utility-scale renewable energy solar power plants.

Journey of Kevin Smith:

• Kevin Smith was the General Manager and Vice President of Indeck Energy.
• Mr. Kevin was Chief Operating Officer of London-based Rolls-Royce Power Ventures,  founded and was the President of the Insight Energy,Inc.,
• Later he served as Senior Vice President of Development at Invenergy LLC in 2004 and played a vital role in it’s success and made it largest privately owned renewable energy businesses in the world.

 If there is one thing that has not been drastically affected by this economic downturn, it is the Multiplexes.Sure the hunch has troubled every industry even the cinema industry but the fact that the number of movie buffs are not demotivated to watch movies in India, is a very good sign.    When did this Multiplex culture start? well it all began when Ajay Bijli started “PVR Anupam” at Saket, New Delhi, capital city of India in 1997.And today PVR is the India‘s one of the largest chains of  multiplexes with 101 screens in 25 Multiplexes (as of 2007).PVR genesis:

 Priya Village Road show Cinemas, simply known as PVR, started as a joint venture between Priya Exhibitors Private Limited and Village Road show Limited. If you thought you heard the name ‘village road show ltd’ before ,you are right it’s the same Australian media giant that produced THE MATRIX trilogy, Ocean’s Eleven and many Hollywood biggies. Its into Theme parks, multiplexes for many decades.   

        Ajay Bijli was initially into his dad’s transport business and then had a thought about improvising the movie viewing. Purchased an old theatre and upgraded that with good seats and sound systems and that’s how it all began. PVR is the biggest player in DELHI and National capital region. It has the country’s biggest Multiplex with 11 screens in Bangalore.

PVR future:  PVR is now planning to invest about 400 crores, that’s 4 billion INR, to increase the number of screens to 250 by 2010.PVR has also launched other brands like PVR Premiere targetted for the metros, and PVR Talkies for Tier II and Tier III cities. Soon it’s going to launch a big multiplex with bowling alleys, ice skating and gaming zones.    Ajay Bijli is also into movie production and distribution. Films include Taare Zaamen Par,Bheja fry,jaane tu.Being the Chairman and managing director of PVR, Ajay has a long-term vision to make PVR India’s most favorite Retail Entertainment Company.

The main concern at this point is to let the business in Satyam continue without any further distractions, retain the customers and the employees.

However, there are a lot of legal ramifications that the new company has to deal with if Satyam gets handed over because there are many lawsuits that are pending on the IT giant from India.

The Satyam scandal has brought about massive disrepute to the corporates in India with many other IT giants trying to claim that Satyam was just an isolated case of financial mismanagement and that they were very transparent with their finances.

For the sake of the employees and the already established brand name of “Satyam”, lets hope that things turn out to be positive for the Indian IT behemoth.

              Lawrence Joseph “Larry” Ellison is the co-founder and CEO of Oracle Corporation, an American software company established in the year 1977. Larry Ellison was born in the year 1944, Bronx New York City. He pursued his studies in the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he was named the science student of the year. A testimony for his strong aptitude for maths and science.He finished his final term in University of Chicago due to family problems. By the time he was 20 he moved to northern California. Here Ellison drifted from job to job for 8 years, working as a technician for Fireman’s Fund and Wells Fargo bank. Also as a programmer at Ampex, he contributed in building the first IBM-compatible mainframe system.

Origin of Oracle:
                     In the year 1977, Ellison and two of his Ampex colleagues, Robert Miner and Ed Oates, started their own company, Software Development Laboratories(SDL). Later in 1979, it was renamed Relational Software Inc and finally it was renamed Oracle. Prior to this Ellison was inspired by the paper written by Edgar F.(“Ted”) Codd on relational database systems named “A Relational Model of Data for Large Shared Data Banks. Ellison and his partners won a two-year contract to construct a relational database management system (RDBMS) for the CIA with project’s code name: ORACLE. Starting with eight employees and with revenue less than $1 million, Oracle proved to be successful and became a million dollar company hired by IBM for its mainframe systems.

First Loss:
                     In 1986 Oracle went public, raising millions of dollars with its initial public offering. But in 1990, Oracle laid off about 400 employees because of a mismatch between cash and revenues and this resulted in 80 percent drop in Oracle’s market capitalization which pushed Oracle to the edge of bankruptcy. After adopting several new strategies he used his own ideas into product development. In 1992 he launched a new version of the database program Oracle 7, which became a big hit in the database management software. This ensured that it regained its previous status.Oracle made 76% net profits in a single quarter in 2000, and spent more than $25 billion in acquisitions starting from 2004 and acquired PeopleSoft for $10.3billion. Finally in 2007 they acquired business intelligence software provider Hyperion Solutions.

Other shades of Larry Ellison:
                  Ellison is the second largest financier of BMW Oracle Racing. He is now pursuing ownership of a potential future NFL franchise in Los Angeles.

Achievements and Accolades:

• Mr. Ellison received Entrepreneur of the Year from the Harvard School of Business.
• In 2006, Forbes ranked Ellison as the richest Californian.
• In 2008, Ellison is listed on Forbes list of billionaires as the #14 richest person in the
  world.

  Ferdinando “Nani” Beccalli-Falco, a native of Italy is the President and CEO of GE International. Beccalli-Falco pursued his master’s degree in chemical engineering from the ‘Politecnico di Torino’(Polytechnic of Torino) in Italy and after that he completed graduate work in Business Administration at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. He became the key factor in organizing GE’s strategies efficiently outside the U.S especially in South East Asia. Nani Beccali was also appointed as the Genpact Board of Directors.
 
The Journey of  Ferdinando “Nani” Beccalli-Falco:

• In the year 1975 Mr. Beccalli-Falco started his career in GE in United States.
• In the year 1977 he joined GE Plastics Europe, in the Strategic Planning group at the company’s headquarters which is located in Bergen op Zoom, The Netherlands.
• Later In 1981, he moved to GE Plastics global headquartersin Pittsfield, where he held several management positions in the Specialty Plastics, NORYL® resin, LEXAN® resin and Marketing divisions.
• In 1987, he returned to Bergen op Zoom as the Director of Marketing.
• In the year 1990, he served as  Managing Director of the Structured Products Business.
• From the year 1993 to 1996 he acted as the president of GE Plastics Japan Ltd and later in 1997 he moved to GE Plastics Americas as vice-president and general manager.
• He continued in that position upto May 2001 as he joined GE Capital Services in that year and finally in the year 2005 he became President and CEO of GE International.
• Currently Ferdinando “Nani” Beccalli-Falco is playing a vital role in company’s success being responsible for GE Capital’s Equipment Management Businesses, Fleet Services, Rail Services, TIP/Modular Space and Penske Truck Leasing.

There was a one hour interview on CNBC with *Warren Buffet*, the second
richest man who has donated $31 billion to charity Here are some very
interesting aspects of his life:

1. He bought his first share ! at age 11 and he now regrets that he started
too late!

2. He bought a small farm at age 14 with savings from delivering newspapers.

3. He still lives in the same small 3-bedroom house in mid-town Omaha, that
he bought after he got married 50 years ago. He says that he has everything
he needs in that house. His house does not have a wall or a fence.

4. He drives his own car everywhere and does not have a driver or security
people around him.

5. He never travels by private jet, although he owns the world’s largest
private jet company.

6. His company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns 63 companies. He writes only one
letter each year to the CEOs of these companies, giving them goals for the
year. He never holds meetings or calls them on a regular basis. He has given
his CEO’s only two rules. Rule number 1: do not lose any of your share holder’s
money. Rule number 2: Do not forget rule number 1.

7. He does not socialize with the high society crowd. His past time after he
gets home is to make himself some pop corn and watch Television.

8. Bill Gates, the world’s richest man met him for the first time only 5
years ago. Bill Gates did not think he had anything in common with Warren
Buffet. So he had scheduled his meeting only for half hour. But when Gates
met him, the meeting lasted for ten hours and Bill Gates became a devotee of
Warren Buffet.

9. Warren Buffet does not carry a cell phone, nor has a computer on his
desk.

His advice to young people : “Stay away from credit cards and invest in
yourself and Remember:
A. Money doesn’t create man but it is the man who created money.
B. Live your life as simple as you are.
c. Don’t go on brand name.
d. Don’t waste your money on unnecessary things; just spend on them who
really in need rather.

Journey of SYED OMAR ISHRAK :

• Prior to joining GE Omar S. Ishrak served as Senior Vice President, Worldwide Marketing and Product Development, for the $200 million Elbit Ultrasound Group and served at various product development and in transducer and systems engineering positions at Philips Ultrasound.
• In the year 1995, Omar was appointed as the General Manager of Global Ultrasound at GE Medical Systems.
• Later in the year 1999, he was promoted to Vice President.
• After that  in January 2005 he was appointed president and CEO of GE Healthcare’s Clinical Systems division being responsible for GE’s ultrasound, monitoring solutions, bone densitometry, cardiology, maternal-infant care and life support solutions businesses as mentioned in the GE official website.
• Currently Omar is a member of the Blood Center of Wisconsin and a leading member of the organization’s research committee and Health Leadership Council of the Save the Children Foundation.

Journey of Jeff Immelt:

• In the year 1982 he entered GE and donned many leading roles such as in GE’s Plastics, Appliance, and Medical businesses which is now known as GE Medical Healthcare.

• Later in the year 1997 he joined the GE Capital Board.

• In 2000 he was selected by GE’s Board of Directors as Chairman and CEO.

• In June 2004 he received an honorary Doctor of Laws from Dartmouth College from which he gained his B.A.

• Later in between 2006 and 2008 he received five honorary doctorates from five colleges namely  Northeastern University, Pepperdine University, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Notre Dame and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

• Currently he is also on the board of the New York Federal Reserve Bank.

 Joint Venture between Nilpeter and Proteck Machine : 

        By introducing the latest auxiliaries like rotary screen, cold foil and hot foil stamping which increases supporting capacity, Nilpeter is entering a joint venture with its sales and service partner Proteck Machinery. Currently Proteck offers sales and technical support services for Nilpeter in India. Nilpeter is a strongly established firm in US and Danish manufacturing units. Their objective is to manufacture flexo servo presses in India which resembles the Nilpeter FB-line machine’s design.The joint venture manufacturing announcement follows the first Indian installation of a Nilpeter FB3300 Servo press at Adjanta Packaging Daman Plant.             

Joint Venture between Vornado and Reliance Industries Limited : 

      Vornado and Reliance Industries will commit up to $250 million each to the venture inorder to penetrate deeper into the retail shopping market in key cities in India. Paramus based Vornado Realty Trust has got lot of confidence in Reliance marketing strategy as currently Reliance operates over 700 retail stores in multiple formats in India.

 Joint Venture between Virgin Group and Tata Tele Services :

      Virgin has partnered with Tata Telecom services in India keeping its rates for out going calls in line with those of competitors.The new mobile operator is the “first nation-wide youth focused mobile service” and the “first CDMA service where all customers will be on RUIM (SIM)-based phones.”. 

Joint Venture between Tyson Foods and Godrej Agrovet :

      Tyson Foods, Inc in an effort in the direction of extending their company’s international presence has purchased 51% ownership of Godrej Foods, Ltd., based in Mumbai. This joint venture between Godrej Agrovet and Tyson will be called Godrej Tyson Foods.Their objective is to expand the capacity of the poultry plants which are already in operation.

Joint Venture between Marks & Spencer and Reliance Retail of India :

      In a view of establishing the British food to clothes retailer as a major retailer brand, above mentioned firms have entered a joint venture and formed M&S Reliance India. Each partner would initially invest up to 29 million pounds in this Venture.

 Joint Venture between Malvern Instruments and Aimil in India: 

     Malvern Instruments which is a leading materials characterization company and Aimil which is Malvern’s long-term distribution partner in India have entered a joint venture that resulted in the establishment of Malvern Aimil Instruments which started its operation on May 1, 2008. Malvern Instruments provides a wide  range of complementary materials characterization tools that deliver inter-related measurements reflecting the complexities of particulates and disperse systems, nanomaterials and macromolecules.

Joint Venture between Volvo and India’s Eicher :

      AB Volvo, Swedish truck maker has invested about $312 million which resulted in a joint venture with Indian Vehicle manufacturer Eicher Motors named VE Commercial Vehicles Ltd.This venture involves entire truck and bus operations of both Volvo and Eicher.For the first fiscal year ended March 31, they have earned a profit of $22.9 million .

 Joint Venture between Germany’s ERGO Insurance Group and India’s HERO Group :

      These both firms have come together to form a joint venture which is an Indian life insurance company named HERO ERGO Life Insurance Company Ltd. ERGO International AG will take a 26% share in HERO ERGO Life Insurance Company Ltd, which is the maximum permissible limit under the existing guidelines for the insurance sector in India.   

Karsanbhai Khodidas Patel, the founder of  Rs. 2500 crore (US$ 500 million) “NIRMA”  group, is from an agricultural family from Mehsana in north Gujarat. After completing his B.Sc. in Chemistry, he worked as Lab Assistant from the age of 21years in New Cotton Mills, Ahmedabad belonging to the Lalbhai group and then in the Geology and Mining Department of the Government of Gujarat. During the time during which domestic detergent market was controlled by MNCs, Dr. Karsanbhai Khodidas Patel started a small-scale enterprise by introducing a quality detergent powder Nirma, (named after his daughter Nirupama) and it became a hugely successful brand. He started door-to-door selling of Nirma at a cheap price of Rs. 3 per kg. The next available cheapest brand in the market at that time was Rs.13 per kg.

                   Quality & Quantity are the key factors that made Nirma revolutionize the whole detergent powder segment. Since production was labor intensive, and the detergent was phosphate free (hence environment friendly), Nirma became a leading employer. After this success Nirma extended its roots to toilet soaps like Nirma bath and Nirma beauty soap, and Super Nirma detergent. Hence Nirma built up a 30% market share in the premium detergent segment and also achieved a 20% share in premium soaps market. His Ventures into shampoo and toothpaste were not as successful, compared to this the  edible salt Shudh is doing well.

             In 1995 he started “Nirma Institute of technology” an engineering college in Ahmedabad. Aimed at training and incubating entrepreneurs he launched “Nirma labs” education project in 2004.

Achievements and Accolades:

•  Dr.Karsanbhai Patel received  “Udyog Ratna” by the federation of association of small-scale industries of India.
•  Florida Atlantic university, USA honoured him with doctorate of human letters.
• The Gujarat Chamber of Commerce felicitated him as an ‘Outstanding Industrialist of the Eighties’.
• Appointed twice as the chairman of the development council for oils, soaps & detergents by Indian Govt.
  

         Naresh Goyal had to walk for a few miles everyday to school as his parents could not afford a bicycle for him, and started his career as a cashier at his maternal uncle’s company at a starting salary of Rs 300 a month.It is his hard work that made him so rich and in the year 2006 net worth of the Jet Airways is over Rs 8100 crore for which he was listed as sixth richest Indian as per the Business Standard Billionaire Club.

           Naresh Goyal completed his graduation in Commerce in 1967 and joined the travel business with the GSA for Lebanese International Airlines. From 1967 to 1974 he learnt the intricacies of the travel business through his association with several foreign airlines.Later in May 1974, Naresh Goyal founded Jetair (Private) Limited to look after Sales and Marketing operations of foreign airlines in India.In 1991, when the Indian economy was being opened up, Naresh Goyal took advantage of Open Skies Policy of the Government of India and set up Jet Airways for the operation of scheduled air services on domestic sectors in India. Jet Airways started commercial operations on May 05, 1993.

Education & Career:Goyal holds a Bachelors of Commerce degree and after completing his education in 1967, joined the travel business as a general sales agent for Lebanese International Airlines.

• In 1969, he was appointed the public relation manager of Iraqi Airways .
• From 1971 to 1974 was the regional manager for ALIA, Royal Jordanian Airlines.
• He gained experience in fields like ticketing, reservations and sales while working with the Indian offices of Middle Eastern Airline.
• Later, he was appointed regional manager of Phillipine Airlines where he handled the commercial operations of the airline in India.
• Finally, in 1992, he took the big step of setting up his airline – Jet Airways.

Achievements & Accolades:

Journey Of Dr Kallam Anji Reddy:

• Dr. K. Anji Reddy completed his B.Sc in Pharmaceuticals and Fine chemicals from Bombay University .
• Later in 1969, he completed his PhD in Chemical Engineering from National Chemical Laboratory, Pune.
• After that Dr. K. Anji Reddy served in PSU Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited from 1969 to 1975.
• Between 1976 to 1980 he acted as the founder-Managing Director of Uniloids Ltd.
• Later in between 1980 to 1984 he was the founder-Managing Director of Standard Organics Limited.

                In 1993, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories  became the first company to take up drug discovery research in India and in April 2001 it became the first non-Japanese Asian pharmaceutical company to list on NYSE. By the end of fiscal year 2005, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories was India’s second largest pharmaceutical company and the youngest among its peer group. 
                 Dr. Reddy is a serving member of the Prime Minister’s Council on Trade & Industry, Government of India, and has been nominated to the Board of National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER). He is the founder-Chairman of Dr. Reddy’s Foundation for Human & Social Development, a social arm of Dr. Reddy’s, which acts as a catalyst of change to achieve sustainable development.

Awards & Honours:

1. Awarded with Padma Shri in 2001.
2. Sir PC Ray award conferred twice, in 1984 and 1992.
3. Federation of Asian Pharmaceutical Associations (FAPA)’s FAPA-Ishidate Award for Pharmaceutical Research in 1998.
4. Business India voted him Businessman of the Year in 2001 which is a leading business magazine.
5. CHEMTECH Foundation bestowed on him the Achiever of the Year award in the year 2000 and the ‘Hall of Fame’ award in 2005, for his Entrepreneurship, Leadership and thrust on Innovation

The Hotel Industry plays a prominent part within the Travel and Tourism Industry. Indian tourism sector is on an upswing as the Indian Economic growth is considerably good. Hotel Industry comes under services sector, which is experiencing a rapid development rate, which in turn is supporting the growth in Indian economy and is leading to employment generation. All the above factors have led to a significant growth in the inbound Tourism Industry, both international and domestic, in India.

The number of foreign tourists coming to India is increasing with every passing year so far. According to the World Tourism Organization (WTO), this is expected to increase by 6.5% CAGR to 6 million by 2010 and to 10 million by 2020. All this is because of the effects of Globalization and increased International investment interests in India as a business destination. At the same time Domestic Leisure tourism is growing rapidly and is driven by the growing middle class and their access to financing or holiday packages and lower air fares propelled by low cost carriers and availability of package tours funded by easy loans or installments

The Hotel Industry in India can be broadly classified as Premium segment hotels (5 star hotels and accounts for around 30% of total rooms available in the country), Heritage hotels (which reflects the traditional life style and are developed out of old places, castles and forts).

Do they require more investments?

For this answer is yes. In order to increase the facilities to attract both domestic and foreign travelers by providing luxury residences, wild life lodges, health spas etc, which includes personalized services, concierge and door associates etc. Hotel management requires the attention of customers towards them. If once a customer experiences the hospitality and reception then he shall never think of staying in other one. That is why Hotel management is trying hard to achieve consistency in guest experience. Customer feed back plays a vital role, which makes the management to know the customer satisfaction level and standards of hospitality offered by them. This can be achieved through higher end technologies and customer relationship management   (CRM) software and processes.

Pramod established Genpact in 1997 which is now acknowledged as a global leader in Business Services and Technology Solutions. Genpact became a publicly traded company and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in August, 2007 under the symbol “G”. With $493 million in revenues, Genpact is already India’s largest third-party BPO firm. Pramod has valuable experience of 25 years in this field as he worked with GE and RCA. During that period in US he served as CFO for GE Capital’s Corporate Finance Group in India. Because of his great efforts, Genpact manages to serve its customers from over 30 operations centers spread across the US, Mexico, Europe, Philippines, China and India, employing 32,000 associates across a wide range of business processes, technologies and industries. Prominently it take calls  and manages the processes for two of the top-10 U.S. banks, two of the top-five Australian banks, and three of the top-10 automakers in the world.

Pramod Bhasin is also the founding member of the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals and a member of its Strategic Advisory Board. Now Genpact has been globally recognized as a leading BPO provider by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals, International Quality & Productivity Center, American Society for Training & Development.,etc.