American Express Banking Corp on Monday announced the appointment of Sanjay Khanna as the chief executive officer and country manager for India. Khanna heads the country executive team and is responsible for driving growth across the organization’s consumer and commercial businesses. In his new role, he will also spearhead several strategic and business development initiatives for the company while steering smooth collaboration across its diverse businesses in India, American Express said in statement. His position, it added, will be key to advancing and strengthening the company’s strategic focus in India.

Rob McClean, executive vice-president, international card services, American Express said, “With over 30 years of experience in the industry, Sanjay has exceptional credentials of delivering strong results coupled with a natural knack for leading from the front. We are confident that his commitment to excel in everything he does, his strong values and work ethics will further the brand’s leadership in the Indian market.”

Khanna said that India is undoubtedly one of the fastest-growing economies of the world, characterized by its ever-expanding consumer base, evolving lifestyle and spending needs.

“As a premium payment solution brand, American Express has a definitive competitive edge in providing high-quality service. My role will be to further enhance the quality and service culture through premium products, service, and solutions to meet the ever-growing needs of the affluent population in India,” said Khanna.

In his previous roles Khanna has held many leadership positions in the company including head of global financial operations, India centre lead for finance and chairman of the American Express India Pvt Ltd (AEIPL) legal entity board.

Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had a productive telephonic conversation with the US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement on Wednesday.

They discussed the growing convergence of strategic interests and enhanced defence and security cooperation.

Both Ministers also discussed ways to strengthen technological and industrial collaboration and also explore cooperation in emerging and critical technologies.

According to the ministry, Secretary Austin expressed support for India’s defence modernisation programme and looked forward to further strengthening India-US defence industrial and technology collaboration.

Taking to Twitter, Rajnath Singh wrote, “I conveyed India’s concern at the recent US decision to provide sustenance package for Pakistan’s F-16 fleet. Look forward to continuing dialogue with Secretary Austin to further consolidating India-US partnership.”

Rajnath Singh and Secretary Austin also discussed regional issues and affirmed their shared desire for maintaining peace and stability in the region and beyond.

The defence minister conveyed India’s concerns over the US decision to provide sustenance package for Pakistan’s F-16 fleet.

The two Ministers reiterated that both sides would continue their productive engagements with the objective of deepening India-US Strategic Partnership.

Defence Rajnath Singh conveyed that he looked forward to welcoming Secretary Austin in India for the next Ministerial 2+2 Dialogue in 2023, the ministry said.

The United States commerce department is leading an education trade mission to Mumbai, Bengaluru and New Delhi to identify and promote opportunities for collaboration between Indian and American institutes of higher education.

The delegation, which will be in India during September 12-16, includes 21 American higher education institutions (HEIs) from 15 states. Three education technology and service providers are part of the delegation to bring their world-class capabilities to India, the US embassy said in a statement on Monday.

Education is one of the key pillars of India-US cooperation, and US missions in India have issued 82,000 student visas so far in 2022, higher than in any previous year. Indian students received more US student visas than any other country.

“The announcement of India’s National Education Policy in 2020 outlined an aggressive plan to revamp and expand India’s higher education system, including expansion of research, experiential learning, and internationalisation of curricula. US HEIs bring a wealth of experience and best practices in these areas to support India in achieving its education goals,” the statement said.

Referring to the education trade mission, US chargé d’affaires Patricia Lacina said, “This trade mission will explore new partnerships in education and will further strengthen the strong and growing higher education ties between the US and India.”

The visit will provide members of the delegation opportunities to hold specialised meetings with Indian institutions of higher learning, student recruiting agents and other stakeholders to hear directly from Indian educators and students.

There will be in-person student fairs in Mumbai on September 12 and in New Delhi on September 15.

The delegation will meet state and central government leaders, education regulators and business executives to hear their perspectives on how US educational institutions can partner with Indian organisations to boost India’s economy.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was the chief guest at the tenth convocation of the Indian Institute of Information Technology Design and Manufacturing, Kancheepuram (IIITDM Kancheepuram).

Speaking on the occasion, Sitharaman underlined that India’s higher education has contributed to the best of company executives globally and around 25 percent of all start-ups in Silicon Valley are managed by “people of Indian origin”.

By giving all young persons equal opportunity, irrespective of gender and class, the entire 65% of the young working population would be able to contribute to India’s growth. India’s working age population is much more than China’s, she said, adding: “This underscores the importance of training, skilling, and keeping that momentum.”

“I want to underline the fact it is this India’s higher education which has contributed to the best of company executives. Globally, 58 top-notch company CEOs are Indian in origin and India-education and they are in 11 such multinational companies, whose collective revenue is over 1 trillion and 4 trillion in turnover,” a statement quoted Sitharaman as saying.

Further, speaking about India’s startup success, she encouraged the students to become entrepreneurs.

India now has 100 unicorns and their market value is USD 250 billion they have collectively raised USD 63 billion from the market, the minister said.

“Even as some of you would want to seek jobs, I am those of you who want to become entrepreneurs and create jobs for others, it is not a worrisome world. There may be health risks but it is possible for you all to become entrepreneurs,” read the statement quoting the minister.

The Minister also laid the foundation stone of the institute’s auditorium and inaugurated the center of AI, IoT, and Robotics.

A total of 380 students graduated during the ceremony.

Established in 2007, the institute has been at the forefront of offering programs in tune with the needs of the industry. Some of the unique programs the Institute offers include B. Tech in Computer Science and Engineering with specialization in Artificial Intelligence and M. Tech in CSE with specialization in Data Science and AI.

Of the total graduates, six were PhDs, 53 M.Techs, 110 Dual Degrees, and 211 B.Tech degree, recipients.

Presenting the annual report of the Institute, Professor DVLN Somayajulu, Director, IIITDM Kancheepuram, said the students have attained 97 percent of placements with a highest CTC of ₹32 lakh per annum and average CTC of ₹10.06 lakh.

“Our chief recruiters have been Amazon, AMD, Ericsson, Google, L&T, MathWorks, Microchip, Samsung, Zoom India, etc,” Somayajalu said.

The institute had received ₹4.36 crore as sponsored research grant and had filed 22 patents this year. S. Sadagopan, Chairman of the Board of Governors, said.

After the two long years of the pandemic, the Indian Institute of Information Technology Design and Manufacturing, Kancheepuram hosted an in-person convocation.