Category: Leaders, on the World Stage – Business

** Former RBI governor Urjit Patel appointed vice president of AIIB

He has been appointed vice-president of Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Urjit Patel has been appointed vice-president of the Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

Mr. Patel will serve a three-year term as one of the multilateral development bank’s five vice-presidents, and will take the place of former Gujarat Chief Secretary D.J. Pandian who had been, as Vice-President, leading the AIIB’s investment operations and all sovereign and non-sovereign lending in South and Southeast Asia.

** Reliance raises $4 billion in India’s largest-ever foreign currency bonds issue

This is the largest ever foreign currency bond transaction in India, eclipsing ONGC Videsh Ltd’s $2.2 billion USD bonds issue of 2014.

Reliance Industries Ltd, the nation’s most valuable company, on Thursday said it has raised USD 4 billion (around ₹30,000 crore) in debt through the largest ever foreign currency bond issuance by an Indian entity.

The oil-to-telecom conglomerate plans to use the proceeds of the three tranche issues to retire existing borrowings.

**India-based Tamara Leisure Experiences strengthens its German portfolio with 4th hotel acquisition

 Tamara Leisure Experiences headquartered in Bengaluru, India has added to its German portfolio of hospitality outlets with the recent acquisition of Moxy Bremen at Uberseestadt in Bremen.

This newly acquired hotel is a three-star property with 128 rooms and is situated to the west of Bremen, a city with 570,000 residents. Uberseestadt, where the hotel is located, is the former port area of the Walle district and is currently being built up as a modern mixed-use business and residential space.

** American Association of Engineers of India Origin launches Innovation Center

The hub was inaugurated by Bill Foster, Congressman-IL, together with AAEIO President Gladson Varghese, President-Elect Ajit Pant, Vice President Nitin Maheshwari, and other board members.

** Amara Raja investing €10 million in European electric vehicle battery group

The investment is part of the Energy and Mobility strategy Amara Raja is pursuing to foray into new green technologies and solutions through expansion and investment

Amara Raja Batteries is investing €10 million in InoBat Auto, a European Group focused on research and development in the field of batteries for electric vehicles and production of lithium-ion battery cells as well as tailored and customs cells.

** Reliance New Energy Solar to acquire U.K.’s sodium-ion battery tech firm Faradion

Reliance New Energy Solar Ltd. (RNESL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd., said it has signed definitive agreements to acquire 100% shareholding in Faradion Ltd. (Faradion) for an enterprise value of GBP 100 million (around ₹1,000 crore).

In addition, RNESL has also agreed to invest GBP 25 million as growth capital to accelerate commercial roll out.

“Based out of Sheffield and Oxford in U.K. and with its patented sodium-ion battery technology, Faradion is one of the leading global battery technology companies. It has a competitively superior, strategic, wide-reaching and extensive IP portfolio covering several aspects of sodium-ion technology,” RIL said in a statement.

** Narinder Singh Kapany: The relentless innovator behind the science of fibre optics

Known as the ‘Father of Fibre Optics’, Dr Narinder Singh Kapany had over 100 patents under his name.

For someone who was hailed as one of the seven unsung heroes of the 20th century for his Nobel Prize-deserving invention in 1999 by Fortune magazine, Narinder Singh Kapany remains relatively unknown.

The Indian American scientist was a multi-faceted personality—physicist, innovator, entrepreneur, farmer, philanthropist, and an avid art collector.

he also invented Retinal laser coagulation treatment. He became the first Indian Sikh to take a company public in Silicon Valley. 

In 1967, Kapany created the Sikh Foundation that pioneered the display of Sikh Arts at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and established the first permanent Sikh Art Gallery in the United States and Canada

** Chanel appoints Unilever executive Leena Nair as CEO

According to the reports, Ms. Nair, in her new position with the French luxury group Chanel, will be based in London.

Leena Nair, the first female and youngest-ever Chief Human Resources Officer of Anglo-Dutch FMCG major Unilever has stepped down to join French luxury group Chanel as its Global Chief Executive.

She was a member of the Unilever Leadership Executive (ULE), which is responsible for delivering Unilever’s business and financial performance.

** Indian Architect Balkrishna Doshi Wins Royal Gold Medal 2022

Given in recognition of a lifetime’s work, the Royal Gold Medal is approved personally by Queen Elizabeth II and is given to a person or group of people who have had a significant influence on the advancement of architecture.

Buildings he has designed include the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology in Ahmedabad, a number of cultural spaces in Ahmedabad such as the Tagore Memorial Hall, Institute of Indology and Premabhai Hall, and a private residence, Kamala House, in Ahmedabad. Doshi is also responsible for Ahmedabad’s famous underground art gallery Amdavad Ni Gufa, a cave-like structure which has a roof made of interconnected domes, covered with a mosaic of tiles.