MAM
Adfest 2016: 37 directors aspire to be ‘Fabulous Four’
MUMBAI: Thirty seven aspiring directors from eight cities are in the running to become Adfest 2016’s ‘Fabulous Four.’
‘Fabulous Four’ is a visionary mentoring program run annually by Adfest, which is designed to nurture up-and-coming directors.
Every year, Adfest invites new directors and assistant directors to submit a five-minute short film script inspired by the theme of the festival, which is slated as ‘Creative Intelligence’ for this year.
A total of 37 scripts were submitted from Brisbane, Dhaka, Fukuoka, Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai, Shanghai, Sydney and Tokyo this year, which is up from 33 last year.
All 37 scripts will be judged by the Film Craft and New Director jury, which is led by jury president Sihabutr Xoomsai, Thailand’s award-winning director at Triton Film in Bangkok.
MAM
Beacon Group appoints Dr Rajesh Patel as Group CEO
36-year healthcare veteran to lead Beacon Diagnostics, Vector Biotek, Biogeny.
MUMBAI: A new chief, a fresh diagnosis and a sharper prescription for growth. Beacon Group has appointed Dr Rajesh Patel as its Group Chief Executive Officer, effective April 1, 2026, signalling a decisive push to scale its presence in the diagnostics and IVD space. Patel steps into the role with 36 years of experience across the healthcare and diagnostics industry, bringing a career shaped by leadership roles spanning sales, marketing, business development and operational strategy. His mandate is both expansive and precise: to steer the group’s overall strategic direction while tightening coordination across its three core entities Beacon Diagnostics, Vector Biotek and Biogeny Diagnostics.
In practical terms, that means driving cross-company synergies, accelerating market expansion and strengthening organisational capability areas increasingly critical as diagnostic players compete for scale in a fragmented yet rapidly evolving healthcare ecosystem. The group is positioning itself to capture unmet demand across chain laboratories, key accounts and standalone labs, segments that remain underserved despite growing diagnostic needs.
The appointment comes at a time when the In Vitro Diagnostics (IVD) sector in India is entering a more competitive and innovation-led phase, with companies focusing not just on product pipelines but also on service delivery, integration and customer-centric models. Beacon’s leadership appears to be betting that Patel’s execution-focused approach can help translate ambition into operational momentum.
Welcoming the appointment, Chairman Dr D K Joshi described Patel’s induction as a strategic move aligned with the group’s long-term vision, emphasising the role of leadership depth in navigating the next phase of growth.
For Beacon Group, the message is clear, in a sector where precision matters, leadership is the new differentiator—and this appointment is intended to set the tone for what comes next.
