Brief profiles of the new directors

New Delhi: Following are brief profiles of six new directors appointed by India to oversee fraud-hit Satyam Computer Services Ltd after the outsourcer’s board was dissolved following the country’s largest corporate scandal.

Deepak Parekh

Veteran banker and chairman of India’s top mortgage lender, Housing Development Finance Corp, he has been a trouble shooter for the government.

In 2003, Parekh headed a government panel that drafted a plan to revive Unit Trust of India, the country’s oldest and the biggest asset-management company at it time, after its largest investment plan crumbled and roiled stock markets.

A chartered accountant, he is a non-executive chairman of several companies including the Indian arms of Siemens and Lafarge, and is on the boards of Hindustan Unilever, Indian Hotels Co and Mahindra & Mahindra.

Parekh is a member of numerous federal government committees that focus on taxation, banking, infrastructure and capital markets. He earlier worked with Grindlays Bank and Chase Manhattan Bank.

C Achutan

A former member of markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, he is a legal expert who is credited with firmly handling a securities scam involving stock broker Ketan Parekh in 2001.

Achutan, who retired as the presiding officer of the Securities Appellate Tribunal in 2003, is a director of the National Stock Exchange, India’s biggest bourse.

Kiran Karnik

A former head of the National Association of Software and Service Companies, an industry lobby group, Karnik has worked with outsourcers and the government to formulate policies for the sector.

He worked for more than 20 years at the Indian Space Research Organisation, and had done consulting assignments for the World Health Organisation, the World Bank, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, Ford Foundation and for Unesco in Afghanistan.

Tarun Das

The chief mentor of Confederation of Indian Industry, a lobby group, Das is a key link between the government and top business groups.

A recipient of India’s highest civilian award, Padma Bhushan, he has served on the board of several top Indian companies. He is non-executive chairman of Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd and member of the international advisory board of the Coca Cola Company Ltd.

T N MANOHARAN

A former president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Manoharan brings to the table extensive experience in the intricacies of Indian corporate finance and accounts.

“With my exposure to the financial sector, I hope to contribute to Satyam,” Manoharan was quoted as saying by the Times of India newspaper after his appointment.

S Balakrishnan

A senior official of Life Insurance Corp of India, a large shareholder in Satyam, Balakrishnan represents institutional investors on the board.

His experience ranges from finance and risk management to investment banking and secondary market operations.