Raj Joins WiChorus

WiChorus is strengthening its presence in India. The provider of intelligent access services network (ASN) gateway for WiMax and 4G core networks has recently appointed Raj Yadav as its senior director, South Asia. His immediate priority is to step up business in South Asia and India is a key market for the company. Before joining WiChorus, Yadav had worked with Aperto Networks as regional sales director, South Asia and was responsible for some of the main WiMax contracts. WiChorus is driving open standards through its participation in the WiMax Forum and its One Open WiMax initiative.

Avaya Appoints Samir as Managing Director

Avaya has announced the expansion of its R&D operations in Pune as part of its initiative to increase its foothold in India. Simultaneously, the company has also announced the appointment of Sam (Samir) Gulve as MD, Avaya India and VP of Avaya's Global Communication Solutions (GCS) division. The company is now expanding its operations in the western part of the country with the goal of tapping the vast talent pool of developers available and subsequently strengthening its technical expertise and offerings in the area of business communications applications.

Rajesh Puri Joins Tata Teleservices
Tata Teleservices Maharashtra has announced the appointment of Rajesh Puri as president, Operations. Rajesh Puri brings with him wide experience in the telecom industry. Before joining Tata Teleservices, Puri served as chief operating officer of the Enterprise Business (East) and International Calling Business, Airtel. Prior to this, he was COO (East Circle), Tata TeleServices.

Cellebrum Appoints Saket Agarwal as CEO
Cellebrum, a value-added services and solutions provider from Spice Group, has appointed Saket Agarwal as chief executive officer (CEO). In this role, Agarwal will be responsible for overseeing the operations of Celleburm and lead it to become a global giant providing innovative services to end-consumers. Prior to leading Cellebrum, Agarwal held various senior-level positions in Spice Group. He was among the senior management members at Spice Communications.

Balakrishnan in New Avatar

Ajit Balakrishnan, founder, chairman, and managing director, Rediff.com, is chairman emeritus of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). In his capacity as chairman emeritus, a life-time appointment, Balakrishnan would head the council of past chairpersons and provide strategic direction to the association as well as the Internet and mobile content and services industry. The governing board of IAMAI has also unanimously elected Sanjeev Bikhchandani as chairman for FY 2008-09. Bikhchandani is founder and CEO of Info Edge India, which went public in 2006.

Ahuja is ISA Chairperson
The India Semiconductor Association (ISA) has announced the appointment of its new executive council for 2008-09. The association has decided to appoint Jaswinder Ahuja, vice president and managing director, Cadence Design Systems, as chairperson, while BV Naidu, MD, SemIndia Systems, will be vice chairman. The other executive council members are Pradip Dutta, Synopsys India; Sham Banerji, Texas Instruments; Vivek Sharma, ST Microelectronics.

Hungama Appoints Rohan Desponded

Hungama has appointed Rohan Deshpande as associate director, wireless technology. At Hungama, he is responsible for creating and executing the technology roadmap. The technological strategy will be devised using his expertise, keeping in mind the requirements of digital entertainment products and services. In addition, he will analyze the variety of technologies available and identify the systems needed to build a complete product offering. Rohan brings with him 8 years of rich experience in the telecom sector.