5paisa Capital Limited (5paisa.com) has appointed former Google, Uber and Amazon senior executive Mr. Narayan Gangadhar as Chief Executive Officer.

Gangadhar has over two decades of experience, mostly with global tech giants, based out of San Francisco Bay Area in the US.

He was the Head of Engineering at Uber managing over 1,000 innovators, building core engineering platforms, core APIs and cloud solutions to help Uber’s operations in over 500 cities across the world.

Earlier, Gangadhar was a Senior Director at Google helming the cloud engineering and infrastructure domains, where he was responsible for all external facing cluster computing products as well as in charge of backend infrastructure.

He has also worked with Amazon as Director of Engineering, where he built Amazon Relational Database Service. He started his career with Microsoft and worked in various engineering roles. Most recently, Gangadhar was CEO of Angel One.

Commenting on the appointment, R Venkataraman said, “Mr. Gangadhar’s engineering skills and Silicon Valley experience with tech giants will complement the digital transformation priorities at 5paisa.com. We look forward to a great period of growth and innovation at 5paisa.com under Mr. Gangadhar’s leadership. Technology, both on infrastructure trading platform and user interface experience side will play a critical role in brokerage industry going forward.”

On his appointment, Gangadhar said, “5paisa.com was the original disruptor in Indian broking industry and democratized equity investing for millions of Indians by offering a great platform at affordable fees. I am happy to be a part of the legacy and excited about the accelerated digital transformation journey ahead.”

Continuing its vision of building converged 'One Network18', Network18 has announced appointments and enhanced duties in its top leadership. The strategic move aims to establish an integrated broadcast and digital ecosystem, driving growth and innovation across all brands within the network.

As part of this development, Network18 has enhanced roles of key executives to within the organization. Shivakumar has been appointed as the President of News18 Studios. He will be responsible for leading the converged business mode. His role will encompass all business clusters and brands, with a focus on creating a truly pan-India appeal.

Karan Abhishek Singh, CEO of the Hindi News Cluster, will also have an expanded role, taking charge of revenue, ratings, and reputation for the cluster. With a focus on brand growth across channels and platforms, Karan will drive cross-functional collaboration between editorial, product, technology, and other departments.

Smriti Mehra, CEO of the English News Cluster, is a distinguished brand leader for CNBC-TV18, CNN-News18, CNBC-TV18.com, and News18 digital (English). In her expanded role, she will oversee revenue, ratings (audience growth), and the reputation of the portfolio. Smriti will drive brand growth across channels and platforms through cross-functional coordination, bridging editorial, product, technology, and other functions.

Mitul Sangani, CEO of the Regional News Cluster, a proven leader in Network18's digital business, will now be responsible for revenue, ratings, and reputation for all regional television news channels and digital properties. Apart from this, he will also drive Local18, Network18’s fast-growing hyper-local brand.

Abhinay Chauhan, Executive Vice President of Government Sales, will continue to strengthen Network18's relationships with state governments and PSU bodies, while identifying new business opportunities in this vertical.

Ruchir Khanna, COO of Firstpost, has been appointed to develop the product and website with a unique brand proposition, setting it apart from other players in the genre.

Preeti Sahni, COO of Forbes India (Print + Digital), will continue to lead of international sales for the network while extending her responsibilities to lead the Forbes brand across multiple platforms.

Pranav Bakshi has joined Network18 as Head of Partnerships, focusing on creating new opportunities for audience growth and monetization across platforms. He will also work on revenue maximization by leveraging the network's extensive video content repository.

This leadership team will report to Avinash Kaul and Puneet Singhvi, the co-owners of 'One Network18.' Together, they will drive Network18's vision to become a truly integrated media ecosystem, ensuring continued growth, innovation, and audience engagement.

Joydeep Mukherjee has been appointed Chief Marketing Officer at Adda52.com.

He was earlier CMO at myclassroom for nearly 2 years.

Mukherjee was with Airtel for over 9 years.

His expertise lies in brand development and brand positioning.

YRF Talent, the boutique talent management firm, has appointed Akanksha Malhotra as AVP - Talent.

In this new role, Akanksha will be spearheading the films division within YRF Talent, as well as lead strategic relationships between artists and studios, producers and platforms to package projects for its actors.

Prior to YRF Talent, Akanksha has over 13 years of experience in the movie industry.

Prithwish Ganguly, Vice President, Talent & Communications Strategy, says, “We are delighted to have someone like Akanksha Malhotra joining our agency. In the competitive landscape of movie-business today, Akanksha’s experience will bolster us to navigate through the rapidly evolving times of content production & monetisation. Her expertise will be crucial for us to advise our homegrown talents to take informed and strategic career decisions.”

The Board of Directors of Dish TV India Limited has proposed the appointment of Manoj Dobhal, the current Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the company, as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO)-Designate and further advised the Management to seek prior approval, with regard to his appointment, from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) in accordance with the Uplinking Guidelines.

The proposed succession is a result of Anil Dua’s submission to relieve him from his current responsibilities as the Chief Executive Officer of the Company, a position he has held since May 2017.

After a successful 6-year stint, Dua put forward his request to move on to the Board of Directors of the Company. Dua had joined the company in May 2017 at the foundational juncture of the Dish TV and d2h merger and has been instrumental in steering the company through the complex merger and post-merger processes.
Dua would be at the helm for 3 more months to ensure a smooth transition for Dobhal who would be the CEO-Designate till the requisite regulatory approval from MIB, for his appointment as CEO is received.

Speaking on his decision to move on, Dua said, “It was a tough decision for me considering the new and exciting phase that the Company is in, the efforts put in by the whole Company behind a string of new initiatives and a few tasks yet to be taken to their envisioned completion. However, I am confident that my exceptionally determined team will work with the same passion and commitment that they have always displayed and will, along with Manoj, take Dish TV India to new highs of success. Over the next three months, Manoj and I would be working closely to ensure a smooth and seamless leadership transition.”

“I would like to thank the Board for their understanding and accepting my decision to move on. My sincere gratitude to the entire team at Dish TV India Limited and to all our stakeholders for exhibiting trust in me and for standing by the Company and its leadership through thick and thin,” added Dua

Dobhal, in his career spanning 24 years, has worked in various operational and strategic roles at pan India level with brands like Colgate, Dabur, Reliance Communication, Tata Play and IndiaCast Media.

Rajeev Dalmia, Chief Financial Officer, Dish TV India Limited, said, “Mr. Dua’s calm and focused demeanor added strength to his passion for operational performance and brand building. It would not be a hyperbole to say that perhaps one out of our two key brands would not have been as popular had it not been for Mr. Dua. As seen typically, mergers often sound the death knell for one of the two merging brands. Mr. Dua, however, not only ensured equal growth and top of the mind recall for both Dish TV and d2h brands but has also strengthened the Company with a new, strong brand in the form of Watcho. As a CFO, I have always been supported by Mr. Dua’s equally strong commitment towards making the Company debt free and his emphasis on running a tight ship, both of which have helped us in the current extremely competitive operating environment. I wish him the best for his future endeavours.”

Dobhal said, “Dish TV India Limited is at the cusp of transition from a pure linear distribution company to an all-round distributor of television and streaming content with an ocean of opportunity ahead. I look forward to making the organization even more agile and come out with compelling & leading-edge products to cater to today’s integrated technology, media and telecom customers.”

Alike.io, a social travel commerce platform, has announced the appointment of Nathan Johny, as its Vice President of Growth Marketing. 

Nathan brings extensive experience in online and offline marketing and customer acquisition to the Alike team. With a proven track record of driving growth and building successful marketing campaigns, Nathan will lead the growth marketing efforts for Alike, including customer acquisition, engagement, retention, and community management. 

"We are thrilled to welcome Nathan to the Alike leadership team," said Ashish Sidhra, Co-Founder of Alike.io. "As we continue to grow and expand our platform, we recognise the importance of building a strong marketing foundation to support our growth. Nathan's expertise and leadership will be instrumental in helping us achieve our goals while showcasing the benefits of our platform to a wider audience and in building a global footprint." 

Nathan brings over 10 years of marketing and business experience to Alike, with a proven track record of driving growth and revenue through innovative marketing strategies and business partnerships. Prior to joining Alike, Nathan held several senior marketing positions, most recently serving as the AVP of Growth at The HelloWorld, where he was responsible for developing and executing successful marketing strategies that led to significant revenue growth and increased customer engagement. Prior to that, Nathan held various marketing positions at Nestaway, Educaro and Quiklo. 

"I'm excited to join Alike.io and lead the company’s growth strategy," said Nathan. "I'm looking forward to working with the team to develop comprehensive and innovative marketing initiatives to attract, empower, engage & retain travel content creators and customers and help Alike become the go-to destination for social travel bookings." 

Nathan holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Christ University, Bangalore. He is a pet parent, an avid biker & member of the Harley Owners Group - Ace Mc India and a footballer who’s an ardent fan & supporter of Manchester United.

ETS CEO Amit Sevak has named Michelle Froah as Global Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of ETS. 

Froah will lead a global team focused on end-to-end innovation and elevating ETS’s position in the global learning and solution space. Reporting to the CEO, Froah has responsibility for building ETS’s marketing and innovation globally across enterprise functions, product innovation, business marketing and community engagement, the company said.

“Michelle’s impressive track record of launching and building worldwide brands across industries will be a great addition to our team,” said Sevak. “I’m thrilled to have Michelle on board taking on this critical global leadership role at ETS and ensuring the voice of the customer is at the center of all that we do.”

Froah most recently served as Senior Vice President of Global Brand and Marketing at MetLife® and previously led marketing, sales, and operations functions across the globe for Samsung® Electronics America, Kimberly-Clark™, and Procter & Gamble. She is an accomplished C-suite executive whose deep roots in growing brands and driving growth has expanded the global reach of products and brands across industries. 

“This is an exciting time to join ETS and set the direction for product innovation, brand stewardship, and customer and community impact in an increasingly digital world,” said Froah. “The ETS mission requires us to move with urgency and passion for learners worldwide, and I’m delighted to be leading a team with such purpose.”  

Froah serves on The Marketing Society NY Regional Board as Co-Chair, Brand Innovators Advisory Board, ANA CMO Growth Council and Rye Art Center board. She holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Iowa State University and an MBA from the Henry B. Tippe School of Business at the University of Iowa.