Indian bank finally gets a new chief in Ranjana Kumar
Mumbai: It is said that the long search for someone to head the beleaguered Indian Bank has ended with the appointment of Ms. Ranjana Kumar, currently executive director, Canara Bank, as its chief. Ms Kumar will become the first woman chairperson of a public sector bank.

Ms. Kumar, who has been acting chairperson of Canara Bank for sometime, views this new assignment as a challenge.

Besides dealing with the unions on this tricky issue, the new chairperson will have to address the problems facing Indian Bank mutual fund subsidiary Indbank Mutual Fund which is contesting in the courts, payments to the tune of Rs 70 crore to unitholders.

While the bank has been reporting healthy deposit accretion despite losses, the main problem is seen to be in the mountain of bad loans. According to former RBI deputy governor SS Tarapore, the bank will require at least 10 years to overcome its problem of NPAs.
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Goodyear India gets new MD
Mumbai : The Indian operations of the US giant, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, will see a new managing director in Mr. Luis Cenviz, from June 1, 2000. He will take over from Neville Moos, who has reportedly resigned recently to pursue other interests.

Mr. Ceneviz will be responsible for all aspects of Goodyear's business including nationwide sales to both OE and replacement channels and manufacturing facilities in Aurangabad and Ballabgarh. He was formerly Goodyear's managing director in Colombia.
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Race for top MTNL post hots up
New Delhi: With the current chairman and managing director of the basic telephone service provider to Mumbai and Delhi, MTNL, expected to retire on June 30 this year, the race to replace him has hotted up.

According to a report appearing in the Economic Times, the current favourites are Telecom Consultants of India chief, Mr. A. S. Bansal, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India secretary Mr. Narendra Sharma and Hindustan Cables chief Mr. N.K. Aggarwal.

According to the report, other candidates who were interviewed by the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB), included HTL chief Ms. Lakshmi G Menon, MTNL (Delhi) chief general manager Mr. KH Khan, MTNL director (technical) Mr. GD Gaiha and its director (finance) Mr. S Sunderasan.

PESB is expected to send its recommendations to the appointment committee of the cabinet (ACC) by Thursday, which in turn will send the list to union communications minister Ram Vilas Paswan for his approval.

Mr Rajagopalan joined MTNL as CMD about four years back. During his tenure, the company diversified from a basic telecom service provider to internet and mobile services. The company is also planning to enter the field of software development for the telecom sector. The company raised funds through the GDR market during Mr Rajagopalan's tenure. MTNL is in the process of listing its shares on the New York Stock Exchange. The company is currently finalising the documents for conversion of GDRs to ADRs. It will soon file the documents with the US Securities Exchange Commission. The company is also entering the GSM-based cellular mobile services, expected to be commercially operational by September.
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