Sanjay has been with the Group for more than ten years and was involved in major deals including the purchase of St John’s Wood Care Home during the pandemic. (Photo credit: Arora Group)
Vivek Mishra works as an Assistant Editor with Eastern Eye and has over 13 years of experience in journalism. His areas of interest include politics, international affairs, current events, and sports. With a background in newsroom operations and editorial planning, he has reported and edited stories on major national and global developments.
ARORA Group has appointed Sanjay Arora as its new Chief Executive Officer.
Sanjay has been with the Group for more than ten years and was involved in major deals including the purchase of St John’s Wood Care Home during the pandemic, the acquisition of two large shopping centres, the creation of a property team and the delivery of Buckinghamshire Golf Club.
Surinder Arora, Founder and Executive Chairman of the Group, said: “Watching Sanjay’s journey from his earliest days in the business has been one of my proudest privileges. His ability to blend innovation with a deep respect for our values means the Group is in safe hands. The stage now belongs to the next generation, one that honours our roots while reaching boldly toward new horizons. We step into the future with a modern leadership that understands both the numbers and the narrative of an evolving world.”
Sanjay Arora said: “It is a privilege to take on the role of CEO at such an exciting time in the Group’s journey. I look forward to working with our talented teams across the business to continue building on our legacy, delivering exceptional experiences, and pursuing new opportunities for sustainable growth.”
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s decision to sharply increase H-1B visa application costs is expected to accelerate American companies’ move to shift more high-value work to India. Economists and industry experts say this will further boost the growth of global capability centres (GCCs), which manage operations ranging from finance to research and development.
India hosts about 1,700 GCCs, more than half of the global total. These centres, which began with a focus on tech support, have expanded into innovation-driven work, including car dashboard design and drug discovery.
Analysts say growing use of artificial intelligence and tightening visa rules are leading US companies to reassess labour strategies, with India-based GCCs emerging as key hubs combining global expertise with local leadership.
“GCCs are uniquely positioned for this moment. They serve as a ready in-house engine,” said Rohan Lobo, partner and GCC industry leader at Deloitte India. He said he was aware of several US firms currently reassessing workforce plans. “Plans are already underway,” he added, citing increased activity in financial services and technology, especially among firms connected to US federal contracts.
Lobo said he expected GCCs to “take on more strategic, innovation-led mandates” going forward.
Earlier this month, Trump raised the cost of new H-1B visa applications to $100,000, up from the earlier range of $2,000 to $5,000. The increase adds pressure on US companies that rely on skilled foreign workers to fill critical roles.
On Monday, US senators reintroduced a bill seeking tighter rules on H-1B and L-1 visa programmes, aimed at closing what they described as loopholes and misuse by major employers.
Industry experts say that if visa restrictions remain in place, US firms are likely to shift advanced work in artificial intelligence, product development, cybersecurity and analytics to their GCCs in India, while retaining more strategic functions in-house rather than outsourcing.
Lalit Ahuja, founder and CEO of ANSR, which has helped companies such as FedEx, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Target and Lowe’s set up GCCs, said, “There is a sense of urgency.”
Reassessing India strategies
Ramkumar Ramamoorthy, former managing director of Cognizant India, said the trend could even lead to “extreme offshoring” in some cases. He pointed out that the Covid-19 pandemic had already shown that critical technology work could be done remotely.
US government data shows that Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet (Google’s parent), JPMorgan Chase and Walmart were among the biggest sponsors of H-1B visas. All of them have significant operations in India but declined to comment, given the political sensitivity of the issue.
“Either more roles will move to India, or corporations will near-shore them to Mexico or Colombia. Canada could also take advantage,” said the India head of a retail GCC.
Even before the latest visa fee hike and plans for a new selection process favouring higher-paid roles, India was projected to host the GCCs of more than 2,200 companies by 2030, with the market size nearing $100 billion. “This whole ‘gold rush’ will only get accelerated,” Ahuja said.
Implications for India
Some remain cautious, noting the risks of new legislation. If the proposed HIRE Act is passed, US companies could face a 25 per cent tax on outsourcing work overseas, a move that could disrupt India’s services exports.
“For now, we are observing and studying, and being ready for outcomes,” said the India head of a US drugmaker’s GCC.
Trade tensions between the two countries have extended into services, with visa curbs and the HIRE Act proposal threatening India’s cost advantage and cross-border service flows.
India’s $283 billion IT industry, which contributes nearly 8 per cent of GDP, may come under pressure. However, rising demand for GCC services could offset part of the impact.
“Lost revenues from H-1B visa reliant businesses could be somewhat supplanted by higher services exports through GCCs, as US-based firms look to bypass immigration restrictions to outsource talent,” Nomura analysts said in a research note last week.
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He will also receive an on-target yearly bonus of 150 per cent and a long-term incentive grant equal to 7.25 times his salary.
BRITISH drugmaker GSK on Monday named Luke Miels as its CEO designate. He will take over from Emma Walmsley, who steps down after nine years leading the company.
Miels will formally assume the role on January 1. He will be responsible for steering GSK towards its target of generating more than 40 billion pounds ($53.78 billion) in annual sales by 2031.
Remuneration
Miels’ annual base salary will start at 1.38 million pounds, lower than Walmsley’s 2025 salary of 1.43 million pounds, according to GSK’s annual report.
He will also receive an on-target yearly bonus of 150 per cent and a long-term incentive grant equal to 7.25 times his salary.
Who is Miels?
Miels, 50, joined GSK in 2017 as chief commercial officer. He has overseen the company’s global medicines and vaccines portfolio, which generates annual sales of over 20 billion pounds across more than 100 countries.
He is an Australian national, holding a biology degree from Flinders University and an MBA from Macquarie University. He began his career as a sales representative at AstraZeneca before moving into senior roles at Sanofi and Roche.
Career path
AstraZeneca 1995 – 2000: Sales and marketing roles
Sanofi-Aventis 2004 – 2006: Vice President, Sales Metabolism, New Jersey, USA 2004: Integration Officer, North America, Sanofi/Aventis merger 2003 – 2004: General Manager & Managing Director, Aventis Thailand 2002 – 2003: General Manager & Managing Director (Acting) 2000 – 2001: Head, Strategic Planning and Portfolio Management
Roche Pharmaceuticals 2009 – 2014: Regional Head, Asia Pacific (Shanghai, then Singapore) 2006 – 2009: VP/Head of Metabolism & Anemia Global Marketing, Switzerland
AstraZeneca May 2014 – August 2017: Executive Vice President, European business Earlier: Executive Vice President, Global Product and Portfolio Strategy, Global Medical Affairs, and Corporate Affairs
GSK September 2017 – Present: Chief Commercial Officer
(With inputs from Reuters)
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Many of the apps appeared legitimate when installed directly from the Google Play Store
More than 38 million downloads across 228 countries and territories
Cybersecurity firm HUMAN uncovered large-scale fraud campaign dubbed SlopAds
Apps disguised on Google Play Store and fake ad pages
US, India and Brazil hardest hit by fraudulent traffic
Google continues crackdown following recent security breaches
38 million downloads linked to fraudulent apps
Google has removed 224 Android apps after investigators uncovered a vast advertising fraud scheme. The operation, named SlopAds, involved apps that had been downloaded more than 38 million times across 228 countries and territories.
The discovery was made by the Satori Threat Intelligence and Research Team at cybersecurity company HUMAN, which confirmed that the apps were designed to manipulate online advertising systems by generating fake ad views and clicks.
How the scam worked
Many of the apps appeared legitimate when installed directly from the Google Play Store. Others were distributed via ads that led to fake download pages. Once installed, the apps carried out hidden instructions.
According to HUMAN’s report, the apps used steganography to conceal malicious code within images and then created hidden web views to open scam-controlled sites. These sites generated fraudulent ad impressions and clicks, tricking advertisers into paying for traffic that never existed.
Global impact of SlopAds
At its peak, the campaign accounted for 2.3 billion ad bid requests each day. The United States was the worst affected, with 30 per cent of fraudulent traffic, followed by India at 10 per cent and Brazil at 7 per cent.
Investigators also found hundreds of promotional domains and servers linked to the scheme, suggesting that those behind it intended to expand the operation even further.
Google under pressure
This crackdown comes during a challenging period for Google’s security teams. Earlier this month, the company confirmed a major data breach affecting Gmail users and issued a critical update to patch an Android vulnerability that allowed hackers to seize control of devices.
With services spanning 219 countries and territories, Google’s global reach makes it an attractive target for fraudsters seeking to exploit its platforms and users.
THE punitive 50 per cent tariffs plus annual $100,000 (£74,100) H-1B visa charges for IT workers from India imposed by US president Donald Trump offer an opportunity for the country to find new markets, an influential minister from India said at a business summit in London last week.
Nara Lokesh is minister for information technology in Andhra Pradesh and the son of the south Indian state’s chief minister, Nara Chandrababu Naidu, whose Telugu Desam Party helped give Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a governing majority in the Indian parliament.
Lokesh conceded the tariffs imposed by Trump had confronted India with a “crisis” and added, “I believe the crisis is an opportunity”.
Trump last week ordered a new annual $100,000 fee for H-1B skilled worker visas, widely sought after by Indian professionals in the US tech industry.
The US awards 85,000 H-1B visas per year on a lottery system, with India accounting for around three-quarters of the recipients.
Lokesh, 42, who pursued higher education in the US, said: “It’s an opportunity for India to shine beyond a singular market. That’s been our approach as far as the Free Trade Agreement (with the UK) and the tariff landscape are concerned. We can do better. In the long term, we have to diversify. New markets are opening up.” It is predicted that 2047, a century after India became independent, the per capita income in Andhra (with a population of 53 million) will shoot up to $42,000 (£31,109).
Lokesh, who comes across as a man in a hurry, invited investors from the UK, especially from the diaspora: “We are a start-up state. We are hungry, we have the passion. We are not in the business of signing MOUs. We deliver on speed of doing business.” In 15 months since the current state government had taken office, he said, “we landed close to $120 billion (£88.8bn) investment”.
The 42-year-old got his bachelor’s degree from the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, his MBA from Stanford and worked for the World Bank for two years.
He made the comments at an investor road show jointly organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Indian High Commission in London last Tuesday (16).
Shehla Hasan, the CII’s chief representative in the UK, told the gathering at the Institute of Directors, “Nara Lokesh has been instrumental in driving technology initiatives that foster inclusive growth, boost digital infrastructure and position Andhra Pradesh as a hub for cutting edge technological development.”
Lokesh – he was in conversation with Harshul Asnani, president, Europe, of Tech Mahindra – said: “I’ll give you a few examples – one is how we got ArcelorMittal (jointly with Nippon Steel) to build one of India’s largest steel plants in the south of Visakhapatnam.
John Renard, president EMEA, Cyient; Sujit Ghosh; Nara Lokesh; Harshul Asnani; Nidhi Mani Tripathi, minister (economic), High Commission of India to the UK; and Shehla Hasan at the London event
“It all started with one zoom call with Aditya Mittal (Lakshmi Mittal’s son and CEO of ArcelorMittal). He said he had three specific asks from the state, and all I said was, ‘Give me 12 hours, I need to confirm it with my chief minister.’ We got it confirmed. This conversation started in June last year. We are going to break ground in November for the steel plant. We got it done.”
What Lokesh says is important because Andhra is recognised as being one of India’s most progressive states and his father has a reputation for getting things done.
As chief minister, previously, of undivided Andhra Pradesh, Naidu was recognised for transforming the state’s infrastructure and attracting global IT firms to open offices in Hyderabad – putting it in direct competition with Bengaluru, regarded as the Silicon Valley of India.
Under Lokesh – who also holds the portfolio for electronics and communications, real time governance and human resources development – Andhra is taking its road show to other investment centres such as Singapore and Dubai.
Andhra Pradesh was formed in 1953 (by separating the Telugu speaking areas from the old Madras presidency), and in 2014, 10 districts of Andhra Pradesh were combined to establish the new state of Telangana.
If more Indian states follow the example of Andhra and diversify investment away from the US, Trump’s tariffs may quickly prove to be an act of great self-harm.
India and the US will most probably repair their relationship, but young Indian politicians such as Lokesh show how there is now a greater determination not to become over-dependent on America.
Hasan invited potential investors to attend the CII’s partnership summit with the Andhra government on November 14-15 in Vishakhapatnam.
She also released a CII report, Indian Roots British Soil: Charting Indian Industry’s Footprint in the United Kingdom.
India’s outgoing deputy high commissioner, Sujit Ghosh, made it clear that what was good for Andhra was also good for India and for Britain: “India, one of the world’s top producers of science, tech, engineering and mathematics talent, generates approximately 2.5 million graduates annually, far ahead of most developing countries and, of course, almost all developed countries. AI skill penetration is among the highest in India and second only to United States.
“In India’s journey, a very important part has been played and will continue to be played by Andhra Pradesh, one of the major centres of economic growth and innovation in India. Andhra was one of the first states to opt for large scale economic reforms and digital growth.”
Abhishikth Kishore
The Andhra government, led by Chandra Babu Naidu, “has set for itself an ambitious target to achieve 15 per cent growth rate, up from the present 10.50 per cent by 2047. “This is a state which clearly means business. Andhra Pradesh has registered a strong economic growth in the first quarter of 2025-26, surpassing the national average and reinforcing its position as one of India’s fastest growing states. Major areas of interest for Andhra Pradesh are advanced manufacturing, financial services, including FinTech, education, pharma, healthcare and tech – and data centres and clean energy.”
Lokesh left it to one of his senior civil servants, Abhishikth Kishore, a member of the Indian Administrative Service, to provide a more detailed picture of Andhra Pradesh’s ambitious investment plans.
He said that in 2047, when India “is looking at a $32 trillion (£23tr) economy, our state wants to be a $2.4tr (£1.4tr) economy, and the per capita income we are targeting is $42,000 (£31000)”.
Kishore is the state’s commissioner of industries and also managing director of the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation.
He described how the state attracts investors by getting rid of red tape.
“We started talking to LG Electronics in June last year,” he said. “This year we have done the groundbreaking. It is not easy to deal with South Koreans. Even my wife doesn’t call me as often as their site manager. This is an ultra-mega investment upwards of $600m (£444m). Andhra Pradesh already produces 50 per cent of air conditioners for the entire country. Once this plant is operational, Andhra Pradesh will be producing 70 per cent of all air conditioners, both industrial and home appliances.”
The state had three industrial corridors – Chennai- Visakhapatnam, ChennaiBengaluru and Bengaluru-Hyderabad – plus three economic corridors centred on Visakhapatnam, Tirupati and Amaravati (where a greenfield capital was under construction). There would be a green hydrogen hub.
It will also establish the world’s first quantum valley, where quantum computers would be able to perform complex calculations far beyond the capabilities of even the most powerful traditional supercomputers.
The state, with the third largest coastline in India, had six operating ports and four greenfield ports under construction. It was setting up a 300-acre drone city in Kurnool, only three hours from Hyderabad. There would be 175 Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) parks – one for every assembly constituency.
“The icing on the cake is all our 700 government services are on WhatsApp, be it a land application or a fire clearance for a factory,” said Kishore.
Lokesh makes sure things get done by keeping tabs on projects.
The minister concurred: “As Abhishikth has just shared, I think I am on close to 12-13 WhatsApp groups.”
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Dhingra was one of two members of the nine-member MPC who voted this month to cut the Bank of England’s benchmark Bank Rate by 0.25 percentage points.
BANK OF ENGLAND Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Swati Dhingra said Britain’s high inflation is expected to ease and the central bank should move faster in reducing borrowing costs.
“The effects of the shocks driving the UK’s current high inflation relative to Europe will fade, and thus, we should not be overly cautious about cutting interest rates,” Dhingra wrote in a column for The Times on Friday.
Dhingra was one of two members of the nine-member MPC who voted this month to cut the Bank of England’s benchmark Bank Rate by 0.25 percentage points. The other seven members opted to keep rates unchanged at 4 per cent.
“The difference in inflation between the UK and our continental neighbours can be largely explained by administered prices and global commodity shocks. These should pass,” she said.
“We can afford to cut rates further and not put additional strain on economic growth without threatening the inflation target,” she added.
Britain recorded the highest inflation rate among the Group of Seven economies at 3.8 per cent in August. The Bank of England expects inflation to peak at 4 per cent in September before returning to its 2 per cent target in spring 2027.
At the same time, there are signs of weakness in Britain’s labour market as employers slow hiring.
Dhingra has regularly supported rate cuts, in contrast with many MPC members. Fellow member Megan Greene said on Wednesday that inflation risks may prove stronger than the Bank has forecast, warranting caution on rate cuts.
Governor Andrew Bailey also said that borrowing costs are likely to fall but the timing and scale would depend on inflation.