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Tag: Anand Mahindra

  • Kabaddi gets a new life with ‘Pro Kabaddi League’

    Kabaddi gets a new life with ‘Pro Kabaddi League’

    MUMBAI: After various leagues around cricket, hockey, badminton, football and tennis, it was time for Kabbadi to make a foray. Not missing the opportunity to bring back the rustic Indian sport to the limelight, Mashal Sports and the International Kabaddi Federation (IKF) launched the Pro Kabaddi League at the National Sports Club of India today.

     

    The sport has progressed from being a loved Indian game to the international platform. The League aims to extend its reach further to the international arena by bringing Indian and international players along with acclaimed Indian personalities and sports authorities on the same platform.

     

    The official website www.prokabaddi.com will be a repository of information on all things related to Pro Kabaddi as well as Kabaddi in general while Star Sports will be the official broadcast partner for the League, the matches of which will be held on a ‘home and away’ format with daily, LIVE, prime-time coverage.

     

    Star India COO Sanjay Gupta said: “Our association with Kabaddi is in line with our stated objective of transforming the sports landscape and enabling the growth of a multi-sport culture in India. Pro Kabaddi will build an ecosystem that can potentially take this game to the next level. We plan to offer an immersive and engaging experience for the Kabaddi viewers.”

     

    Mashal Sports co-promoter Anand Mahindra, who will play a key role in taking Kabaddi to another level, tweeted: “Had asked you about supporting indigenous sport, specifically Kabaddi. Well proud to be a co-promoter of #ProKabaddi league we launched today.”

     

    During the launch of the league, he also stated: “A vibrant, professional sports league can bring about a transformational change for the sport and its players. Pro Kabaddi is our attempt at bringing this change to our very own, extremely popular sport of Kabaddi. The modern, international, competitive form of the quintessentially Indian sport is already extremely popular across the world and with good television coverage and passionate team owners; Kabaddi’s massive following has the potential to make it the next big thing in sport.”

    Mashal Sports MD and well known commentator, compere and quizmaster Charu Sharma, who is the force behind conceptualising and organising the league recalled how he was pleasantly shocked to see the power, passion and reach of Kabaddi while commentating during the 2006 Doha Asian Games. “I just knew, instinctively then, and more surely now, that modern, international Kabaddi has all the ingredients required to make it a major, visible force in the world of sport. I am truly grateful to the many visionaries who have made Pro Kabaddi possible,” he remarked.

     

    World Sport Group (WSG) is the official commercial and event partners of the Pro Kabaddi League that has seen significant franchisee interest. Already pledging their support as team owners are leading entrepreneurs such as Ronnie Screwvala, Rajesh Shah (Mukand Group) and Kishore Biyani. Advanced discussions are on with other corporate giants such as the GMR Group and Murugappa Group. Even Shah Rukh Khan is known to be interested in it.

     

    The league has been organised in association with International Kabaddi Federation, Asian Kabaddi Federation and Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India.

     

    All Pro Kabaddi League matches will be played on a specially developed mat in state of the art indoor stadiums across eight cities. Top Kabaddi players from across India and the globe will participate in a show of intense competition and sporting camaraderie. A 10-minute exhibition match between top players in an ‘arena-within-an-arena’ at the NSCI Indoor Stadium, Mumbai spectacularly showcased the fresh, exciting and international face of Kabaddi. 

     

    Ogilvy & Mather executive chairman and creative director South Asia Piyush Panday said: “Kabaddi is the ultimate combination of power, agility and tactics. It is one of India’s unique treasures and I am glad that we are able to present it an international stage in such an exciting format.”

     

    The matches will be preceded by a player auction, where each of the teams will get equal opportunity to build their squads. Almost 100 players will be auctioned, out of which 72 players will be Indian and the rest will be international players from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Canada, England, Indonesia, Italy, Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkmenistan, United States of America, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.

     

    The League is set to take the sport to a new level of prominence and ensure that stars such as Navneet Gautam, Rakesh Kumar, Ajay Thakur and Rajaguru are bound to become the new sporting heroes.

     

    Matches will be played as per the current international rules and regulations of the IKF. The Federation is also seriously considering making some small but significant changes to the game, to enhance its appeal on television. 

     

    Pro Kabaddi League, will have robust marketing strategies. Each franchisee will not only have their team colours and star players but also create their own fan following with innovative media outreach strategies. Sports enthusiasts, in India and across the world, can keep track of the matches, scores, and players as well as participate in the game through social media platforms such as the league’s website www.prokabaddi.com, Twitter handle @prokabaddi and Facebook page Pro Kabaddi.

  • Anand Mahindra is Forbes India Entrepreneur for the Year 2013

    Anand Mahindra is Forbes India Entrepreneur for the Year 2013

    MUMBAI: Forbes India has been a champion of entrepreneurial capitalism, in line with the Forbes DNA defined almost a century ago in the US.

     

    It shares the vision that over the next 10 years, India will have a never-before chance to create an entrepreneurial renaissance. It believes in the spirit of fair play. It believes that entrepreneurs need to follow the rules. And this is recognised through Forbes India Leadership Awards wherein outstanding leaders are appreciated every year.

     

    This year, the entrepreneur of the year went to Mahindra & Mahindra chairman and managing director Anand Mahindra, who was chosen for the high honour for growing his group more than 10-fold in 10 years in several continents.

     

    The long-list of nominees for each category was prepared by June and was judged by jury headed by ICICI Bank non-executive chairman KV Kamath. McKinsey & Co India chairman Adil Zainulbhai, Blackstone Advisors India chairman Akhil Gupta, Indian School of Business Dean Ajit Rangnekar, AZB Partners senior partner Zia Modi, and founder and group editor of Network18 Raghav Bahl brought in years of experience to the jury.

     

    KPMG was the knowledge partners for the event, which helped with the number crunching essential for the process.

     

    The following are the Forbes India winners for 2013:

     

    1)Start Up for the Year

     

    Phanindra Sama  – redBus

     

    2)Nextgen Entrepreneur for the Year

     

    Tarang Jain – Varroc Engineering

     

    3)Entrepreneur with Social Impact

     

    Ranjan Sharma – IKSL

     

    4)Conscious Capitalist Company for the year

     

    HUL

     

    5)Best CEO – Multinational Company

     

    Francisco D’souza – Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp

     

    6)Best CEO – Public Sector

     

    Rakesh Tandon – IRCTC

     

    7)Best CEO – Private Sector

     

    Chanda Kochhar – ICICI Bank

     

    8)Woman Leader for the Year

     

    Chitra Ramkrishna – NSE

     

    9) Lifetime Achievement Award for the Year

     

    Brijmohan Lall Munjal – Hero MotoCorp

     

    10)Entrepreneur for the Year

    Anand Mahindra  – Mahindra & Mahindra
     

  • An epic wait for Epic

    An epic wait for Epic

    MUMBAI: What do &Pictures, Star World Premier HD and Romedy Now have in common? The three channels have had a smooth run-up to their recent launch.

    However, starting a new channel isn’t an easy task. One has to get approvals from various ministries which can be labeled as the biggest hurdle (at least in some cases), apart from want of money and resources, in premiering a new channel.

    A classic case of such a channel which is yet to see the light of day despite everything being ready is Mahesh Samat’s Epic Television, a venture invested in by Mukesh Ambani and Anand Mahindra.  

    Epic, which will air content based on the country’s history, folklore, and mythology, albeit in a contemporary format, was slated for a mid-August launch. However, it’s end-September and there’s still no sign of the channel going live.

    Apparently, production of the shows is already on floors and various agencies too have been decided, but there’s no clarity even about when the channel will go on test signals. This, despite the hope that Epic would cash in on rising demand for specialty channels, given the increasing speed of digitisation.

    So what’s keeping it from going on air? Among the series of approvals to be procured before a new channel can be launched: first comes the foreign ministry, next the home ministry, and most importantly, the I&B ministry. Only when all of them have looked into the nitty-gritties and given their clearance can the newbie go live. Again, clearances may take as little as three months, or as long as three years. In the meanwhile, if a file gets stuck with a ministry for more than six months, it has to go for re-approval.

    While we may keep wondering as to which phase of this bureaucratic process, the Epic file is stuck in, according to sources, the channel isn’t alone in its predicament. Nearly 45 to 50 files are stuck with various ministries owing to a variety of issues.

    With elections round the corner, one wonders whether these would stand a fighting chance versus the many issues the ruling party may want to deal with first, even if just to guard their turf.

    So, we will have to continue playing the waiting game…

  • Anand Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra Group, amongst ‘5 Non-Tech CEOs Using Social Media To Drive Business Results’

    Anand Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra Group, amongst ‘5 Non-Tech CEOs Using Social Media To Drive Business Results’

    August 21, 2013, Mumbai: Hootsuite, the leading social media dashboard to manage and measure social networks, has included Anand Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra Group, in its list of ‘5 Non-Tech CEOs Using Social Media to Drive Business Results’ (http://blog.hootsuite.com/ceos-using-social-media/).

    Hootsuite had the following to say about Mr. Mahindra’s Twitter handle (@anandmahindra), which has over 8,00,000 followers:

    “With over 844,000 Twitter followers, Anand Mahindra is undoubtedly influential in the social space. Mahindra’s Twitter feed is an engaging mix of business and pleasure, and of broadcasting and engagement. Yes, he posts about his company, but he also posts inspirational quotes, he posts about cinema, and he even posts about American politics. He shares his thoughts and passions, and retweets and shares the messages of those who engage with him on those topics. Mahindra is a great example for executives to follow as he is one of the rare CEOs that publicly shows his true colors. Followers love him for it.

    So how does Mahindra’s social media activity help drive business results? Mahindra is an Indian company that isn’t necessarily a household name in North America or even Western Europe. With each post, Mahindra is working to change that. He puts out content that is valuable or entertaining to people anywhere in the globe, and in doing so he has attracted a global audience. Those loyal followers are exposed to the Mahindra brand and business along with all the rest of the content, helping to boost the company’s international presence. Being personable helps Mahindra himself, as well as his business, have global appeal.”

    The Top 5 executives on the list include:
    1. Richard Branson, Founder and Chairman, Virgin Group 
    2. James Caan, CEO & Founder, Hamilton Bradshaw, a private equity firm in the UK
    3. Anand Mahindra, Chairman and Managing Director, Mahindra Group
    4. Doug Conant, Chairman of the Avon board of directors, former CEO of Campbell’s Soup
    5. Peter Aceto, CEO of ING Direct

  • Epic TV to experiment with long and short duration content

    Epic TV to experiment with long and short duration content

    MUMBAI: Here’s more dope on Epic TV, the new historical, folklore and mythological channel that is being wet-nursed by former Walt Disney India head Mahesh Samat and funded by Anand Mahindra personally.

     

    As revealed yesterday, the channel is expected to launch in August sometime. Currently, the company has applied to the I&B ministry for a broadcast license, which it hopes to have in its pocket in a couple of months. It is also negotiating for transponder space – one on the Insat series and the other with a south east Asia based vendor.

     

    Additionally, Samat says that the channel has plans to do narratives and programming of varying duration. “We are focusing on programming based on long form fiction narrative of an hour’s duration, non-fiction shows and short form fiction. Long form will have two-three hour episodic shows in a day. These will focus on new situations, supernatural content, drama and crime. Whereas narrative non-fiction will consist of one to two hours programming in a day, underlining narrative documentaries including contemporary, recreational and reenactment styles. And the last short form content will be seen as short vignettes, explaining interesting facts, and short ‘behind-the scenes’ videos.”

     

    Samat says all the shows will be shot in HD and with high production values. “We will be looking at monetising the content even across digital platforms, eking out revenues from wherever we can,” he reveals.

     

    Apart from Ravina Kohli and Aparna Pandey other professionals who have come on board include Niharika Kotwal as head production and Manish Thukral as chief financial officer.

  • Mahindra dons new identity

    MUMBAI: Mahindra Group, one of the country‘s leading business houses, has unveiled its fresh visual identity which will be reflected across all its businesses globally.

    The idea of introducing a new identity came because the company felt that the evolution of the brand over the years should be reflected in its visuals.

    Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra said, “The Mahindra Group has grown exponentially over the past decade, with businesses covering a wide range of industries. Hence, we felt the need to refresh our visual identity to better reflect a Mahindra that has evolved over the years and is ready to take on future challenges.”

    Mahindra feels that continuity and change have both been integral parts of Mahindra‘s growth story. “Continuity has given us strength, stability and roots, while our desire for change has driven our growth and enabled us to thrive. Our new word mark clearly reflects both these attributes and is in sync with our Group aspiration which is to become one of the top 50 most admired global brands within a decade,” he added.

    Mahindra Group president group strategy and chief brand officer and member of the group executive board S.P Shukla said that the new word mark and other elements of our refreshed visual identity have been adopted after extensive research and feedback.

    The new word mark aims to reflect the ‘core‘ of Mahindra. The company has ensured that it would have universal appeal across consumer and business segments in urban and rural areas, as well as overseas. “We have tried to create a modern futuristic feel, while retaining the dependability, reliability and warmth associated with the Mahindra brand,” Shukla added.