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Shekhar Kapur known for films such as ''Mr India'', ''Bandit Queen'', and ''Elizabeth'', has been appointed festival director for the International Film Festival of India.

Kapur will lead the 55th and 56th editions of the Goa-based festival, which is conducted yearly, according to a statement from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.

"With the approval of the Competent Authority, it has been decided to appoint Shri Shekhar Kapur as the Festival Director for the 55th and 56th editions of the International Film Festival of India, Goa," the notification stated.

Kapur, 78, is an iconic name in Indian cinema and one of the first directors to make a name for himself in Hollywood with his films "Elizabeth" and "Elizabeth: The Golden Age."

He has directed films such as ''Masoom'', ''Mr India'', and ''Bandit Queen'' in India.

He most recently directed the British comedy ''What's Love Got to Do with It? Kapur was the chairperson of the International Competition Jury at the 54th IFFI.

He also chaired the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune from 2020 to 2023.

Shekhar Kapur appointed festival director for International Film Festival of India

Swiggy's quick commerce vertical, Swiggy Instamart has appointed Himavant Srikrishna Kurnala as Senior Vice President (SVP) and Head of Product. 

Before this Kurnala was Chief Product Officer for JioMart where he oversaw Product, Program, Design, Analytics, and Marketplace trust functions.

Kurnala has also worked with companies like Amazon and Microsoft in his more than 20-year-long career.

Separately, Mayank Rajvaidya has joined as the Vice President (VP) of Fruits & Vegetables at Swiggy Instamart. Rajvaidya previously led Amazon’s Consumables Private Brands in India, where he expanded Amazon Pantry to over 300 cities.

Additionally, Manu Sasidharan joined Swiggy Instamart as Associate Vice President (AVP) of the FMCG Category. He has over 12 years of experience, predominantly in the e-commerce sector. Previously with Flipkart and Clertrip, Sasidharan was responsible for business development, setting up businesses, PnL management, and customer demand management.

The online food delivery platform has also appointed Kumar Rahul as AVP of development for Lynk. Rahul previously worked at Google, Disney+Hotstar, and Flipkart.

Swiggy announces three appointments for Swiggy Instamart

Everstone Group on Wednesday appointed Sujoy Bose as Chief Executive Officer-Investment Management. According to the investment group, Bose will spearhead capital formation, deal sourcing, fund governance, and ESG and impact initiatives. Bose's responsibilities also include managing capital-raising efforts, strengthening relationships with Limited Partners (LPs), and enhancing the firm’s deal flow across various sectors. 

"I am delighted to join the Everstone Group, one of the few home-grown and resilient multi-asset class fund managers in Emerging Markets, at a moment when it is on the verge of a significant growth phase.  There are several aspects of Everstone’s investment approach that I find exciting, including, its focus on India".


"I look forward to contributing my global experience to make a meaningful impact and help take Everstone to the next level," Bose added.

Sameer Sain from Everstone Group said, "We are delighted to welcome Sujoy to the Everstone family. Sujoy brings a long and proven track record of leadership and success, both in India and globally".

Bose will play a role in shaping Everstone's strategic direction and investment decisions as part of the Investment Committees and Executive Committee, the investment group said.

Bose has three decades of experience in fund management, infrastructure investment, and strategic leadership. Before joining Everstone Group, he led India's National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) as Managing Director and CEO. Prior to NIIF, Sujoy Bose spent 23 years at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), where he held pivotal roles such as Global Co-Head of Infrastructure and Natural Resources and Chief Investment Officer of IFC Asset Management.

Everstone Group appoints Sujay Bose as CEO-Investment Management

Bajaj Electricals Ltd today announced the resignation of its Managing Director and CEO, Anuj Poddar, who shall be moving on to pursue an external opportunity. The Board has accepted his resignation while recognising and acknowledging Poddar's contributions in formulating the transformation and growth journey of the Company over the past five and a half years. His last date with the company is 30th September, 2024.

Poddar led the organisation through a tumultuous phase and has been the architect of its overhaul and turnaround, the company said. He also brought in a consumer-first approach, while driving a long-term growth strategy, it said, adding that the company achieved several significant milestones, notably becoming net-debt-free in March’22 (a first for the company), relaunching its flagship brand ‘BAJAJ’, establishing the ‘House of Brands’ architecture, expanding the portfolio with a new, premium brand (Nex), signing a long-term licensing agreement for the ‘Morphy Richards’ brand, reorganising the Lighting Solutions business, launching a slew of products to premiumise
the portfolio, rolling out a new ERP system, and attracting strong talent to the organisation.

Before joining Bajaj Electricals, Poddar was a member of the Leadership Team at Viacom18 Media Private Limited and one of its key founding team members. During his over 13 years with the company he played an integral role in the growth of the company including its foray into mass entertainment with Colors, its expansion into international territories, the acquisition and launch of its motion pictures business as well as its foray into the regional language networks business. He also led strategy for MTV Networks Asia, based out of Singapore. 

Prior to Viacom 18 Media, Poddar spent nearly a decade with Arthur Andersen and KPMG and was involved in a range of consulting, mergers & acquisitions and assurance services to a range of clients across financial services, consumer, IT & ITES and other sectors.

Bajaj Electricals Limited is a Indian Consumer Appliances and Lighting Solutions company headquartered in Mumbai with a turnover of Rs 4,641 crores (FY 24-25). It is a part of the $100 bn multinational conglomerate Bajaj Group founded by Shri Jamnalal Bajaj. The Company was established in 1938. 

Bajaj Electricals MD and CEO Anuj Poddar resigns

Founder of the stationery brand Camlin, Subash Dandekar, died at 86. Dandekar was serving as the chairman emeritus of the Kokuyo Camlin. He was ill for the past few days and took his last breath at Hinduja Hospital.

According to PTI news agency, citing family sources, Dandekar was cremated in central Mumbai on Monday, and a condolence meeting will be held on Thursday.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis paid his tribute to Subhash Dandekar and said that the state has lost a "grandfather figure" who has brought fame to the industries in Maharashtra.

“Subhash Dandekar not only built the Camlin industry but added colour to the lives of thousands of youths by providing employment. He gave great priority to the preservation of values,” he said.

“While growing the industry, they preserved value and people. He always insisted that labour should get dignity,” Fadnavis added.

Dandekar received several awards for his contribution to art, entrepreneurship, and social awareness. He was the recipient of the Game Changers of Maharashtra award Lifetime Achievement Award.

Dandekar is survived by his son Ashish and daughter Anagha.

Camlin founder Subash Dandekar dies at 86

Consumer appliances and lighting solutions company, Bajaj Electricals Ltd has appointed Vishal Chadha as chief operating officer of its Consumer Products Division. Chadha will join the Bajaj Group company on August 1. 

Chadha brings with him 28 years of experience across organizations like Britannia, Nokia, Snapdeal and Kohler, with functional experience in sales, category management and marketing,

An IIM-Lucknow alumnus, Chadha has been in General Management roles since 2016, first at Snapdeal where he was the Chief Business Officer, followed by a brief stint at Reliance Brands before joining Kohler as Managing Director - India and South Asia where he ran the entire India business. He has experience across FMCG, consumer devices, and e-commerce.

<a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/brand-makers/bajaj-consumer-care-appoints-sanath-r-pulikkal-as-cmo-34515.htm">Read more: Bajaj Consumer Care appoints Sanath R. Pulikkal as CMO</a>

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Bajaj Electricals appoints Vishal Chadha as COO - Consumer Products Division

Meta has rolled back some restrictions that it had applied to former US President Donald Trump's accounts on Instagram and Facebook. The social media juggernaut had indefinitely suspended Trump's accounts following his praise of people who stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. In January 2023, Meta ended the suspension of Trump’s accounts with new guardrails to deter repeat offenses. 

Former President Trump, as the nominee of the Republican Party, will no longer be subject to the heightened suspension penalties, Meta said in an updated blog post on July 12, 2024. 

The big tech firm said, "Today we are making a change to the updated protocol we announced in January 2023. To ensure people can hear from political candidates on our platforms, we will review accounts subject to this protocol on a periodic basis to determine whether heightened suspension penalties for Community Standards violations remain appropriate. We will make this determination by weighing our responsibility, as outlined by the Oversight Board, to “allow political expression” against our responsibility “to avoid serious risks to other human rights.”

It added in the blog post, "With the party conventions taking place shortly, including the Republican convention next week, the candidates for President of the United States will soon be formally nominated. In assessing our responsibility to allow political expression, we believe that the American people should be able to hear from the nominees for President on the same basis. As a result, former President Trump, as the nominee of the Republican Party, will no longer be subject to the heightened suspension penalties. In reaching this conclusion, we also considered that these penalties were a response to extreme and extraordinary circumstances, and have not had to be deployed. All US Presidential candidates remain subject to the same Community Standards as all Facebook and Instagram users, including those policies designed to prevent hate speech and incitement to violence." 

Meta rolls back restrictions applied on Donald Trump's Instagram and Facebook accounts

Billionaire Elon Musk has donated to a super political action committee working to elect Donald Trump to the White House, a Bloomberg report stated, claiming that the move is "a major gambit by the world’s richest person to make his imprint on the US political landscape." 

The report doesn't state the exact size of the contribution to the low-profile Super PAC called America PAC, except to say that it is sizeable. 

The Tesla boss and owner of X (formerly known as Twitter) has yet to publicly endorse a candidate in the 2024 US Presidential race. "...but his decision to open his pocketbook presents an opportunity for him to become a financial juggernaut for Republicans," the Bloomberg report stated.  

A political action committee (PAC) in the US is a tax-exempt 527 organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. 

Super PACs (independent expenditure only political committees) are committees that may receive unlimited contributions from individuals, corporations, labor unions and other PACs for the purpose of financing independent expenditures and other independent political activity.

In May this year, Musk tweeted in support of Trump hours after he became the first US president to be convicted of a crime when a New York jury found him guilty of falsifying documents to cover up a payment to silence a porn star ahead of the 2016 election.

“Indeed, great damage was done today to the public’s faith in the American legal system. If a former President can be criminally convicted over such a trivial matter – motivated by politics, rather than justice – then anyone is at risk of a similar fate,” Musk posted on X. 

Billionaire Elon Musk opens his wallet for Donald Trump's campaign in US prez race

Nikon India is planning to leverage the festive season in the country to enhance its revenue growth. The camera and imaging equipment maker expects a revenue growth of 10-12 percent compared to last year. India’s festive season generates around 35 percent of revenue for Nikon India due to high demand. Despite the growth, Nikon India has no plans to set up manufacturing units in India and will continue importing cameras and imaging equipment.

Nikon India recently expanded its mirrorless camera range with the launch of the latest Z6III full-frame mirrorless camera in India. Currently, mirrorless lenses and mirrorless bodies constitute 80 percent of Nikon India’s product sales. Against the backdrop of this launch, Sajjan Kumar, Managing Director of Nikon India, spoke to Storyboard18 and said, “We as a brand are looking at almost 10-12 percent growth in terms of absolute value. In our country, mainly winter weddings are the biggest seasonal period which starts just after Diwali. There is also festive demand by August which starts onwards from Onam.”

Nikon India generates around 35 percent of its revenue during festive seasons. Kumar said, “We see a lot of demand during Ganesh Chaturthi and Durga Puja as well. We see an upward tick during wildlife seasons and we are expecting that this coming wedding period will be really good."

Today multiple companies have set up manufacturing units in India while Nikon India continues to import camera and imaging equipment. When asked if Nikon India has any plans to set up manufacturing plants in India, Kumar said, “No, not at this stage. Currently, our absolute numbers or customer base is too small for this industry to set up a manufacturing unit."

He further said, “Looking at the demand in our country and our population I think this number is small. Yes, that offers a lot of opportunity but that I think we need to see. But currently we don't have any plans (to set up a manufacturing unit).”

According to a Mordor Intelligence report, the global digital camera market size is estimated at USD 5.39 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach USD 6.83 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 4.85 percent during the forecast period (2024-2029). The Asia-Pacific region is expected to witness the fastest growth due to the current photography trend in Asia-Pacific which fuels the desire for digital cameras. Photography has grown more user-friendly and economical, supporting the region's demand for digital cameras.

India ranks number 4 in terms of revenue contribution to Nikon Corporation. Talking about the market share, Sajjan Kumar said, “Currently we have a 30 percent market share in India and we are expecting a growth of 2 percent. Nikon India achieved Rs 973 crore revenue last year and this year we are looking to clock around Rs 1050 crore.”

Elaborating on the global revenue contribution, Kumar said, “Globally, only in the imaging segment of Nikon, India is number 4. Our contribution should be around 4-5 percent to the global revenue contribution to Nikon Corporation. The major countries which contribute to Nikon are the US, China, Germany, and India. At times we are very close to the numbers with Germany.”

Nikon India entered the healthcare segment which contributes around 5 percent of its revenue. Kumar said, “We are looking at almost 20 percent growth in the healthcare segment in this fiscal year and we have just entered this category a year and a half back. We are seeing the focus and spending from the government towards healthcare as a segment. The conducive environment and efforts by the government are offering us more opportunities as a brand as we operate in a niche segment of just the biological range of microscopes when it comes to healthcare in India, catering to research institutes, educational institutes, or even IVF labs. For our healthcare division, we are investing in teams to meet the consumer's requirements and expectations from us in sales and service.”

With a footprint of 1500 stores across retail, Large Format Retailers, and experience zones, Nikon India says that their intent is to make their products widely available. Kumar said, “Nowadays, when a customer is buying a camera or lenses, they are either a serious hobbyist or a professional. For offline, in our 140 Experience Zones, we offer varied services to our customers. We do 700 plus workshops across 250 plus cities.”

Our advertising and marketing strategies are a mix of online and offline. We have understood that now, a good mix of online and offline activities will help. We are not into outdoor or TV in a big way. He added.

Nikon India sticks to imports amid growth, aims to cross Rs 1000 crore revenue mark

HCLTech, global technology company, announced that Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Chairperson, HCLTech has been conferred the "Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur" (Knight of the Legion of Honour) by France. The award recognises her contributions to the business world, constant endeavor to promote economic ties between France and India, as well as her unwavering commitment to social and environmental causes.


Instituted in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte, Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur is the highest civilian award given by the French Republic for outstanding service to France, regardless of the nationality of the recipients. The President of the French Republic is the Grand Master of the Order of the Legion of Honour. 

The award was conferred on the HCLTech Chairperson by H.E. Mr Thierry Mathou, Ambassador of France to India, on behalf of the President of the French Republic, during a special ceremony at the Residence of France in Delhi.


Malhotra said, “It is my privilege to receive this honor and it underscores the strategic relationship between India and France. HCLTech has a longstanding presence in France, which is a strategic market for us. We are committed to scaling our operations in the country and supporting the digital transformation of French businesses through our differentiated portfolio of services.”


Thierry Mathou, Ambassador of France to India, said: “I am delighted to confer the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur on Ms Roshni Nadar Malhotra whose exceptional leadership qualities have helped her carve her own niche in both the corporate and the philanthropic worlds. Under her forward-thinking mindset focused on emerging technologies as AI and cybersecurity, HCL has remained at the cutting-edge of the industry, and has been recognized as an active promoter of business relations between France and India. The French Republic acknowledges today not only Ms Nadar Malhotra’s professional achievements but also her impact on society and her commitment to strengthening bilateral relations between our two countries.”


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