MAM
Narendra Ambwani is the new chairman of ASCI
MUMBAI: At the board meeting of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), Agro Tech Foods director Narendra Ambwani, was unanimously elected chairman of the board.
As a member of the board of governors for seven years, he has provided active support to self-regulation in the advertising movement.
Benoy Roy Chawdhuri, was elected vice-chairman while Shashidhar Sinha was appointed the honorary treasurer.
The other members of the new board of governors are: Hemant Bakshi, Arvind Sharma, Dilip Cherian, SK Palekar, Jayant Singh, Subhash Kamath, Srinivasan Swamy, Rajan Anandan, Shantanu Khosla, Abanti Sankarnarayanan, I Venkat, Arunabh DasSharma and Partha Rakshit.
During the year 2013-14, the Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) met 41 times and considered complaints against 1937 advertisements. Of these, complaints against 1520 advertisements were upheld, while 414 were not upheld and 3 were considered non-issues. In more than 90 per cent of the cases, where a complaint against the advertisement was upheld, the advertisements have been voluntarily withdrawn or modified as per the CCC’s decisions.
The outgoing chairman of ASCI Rakshit said, “Last year has been a very eventful and successful year for us. ASCI’s effective action towards reducing the complaint processing turnaround time to just 12 days has led ASCI to win the prestigious EASA Gold Award for Best Practices. There has also been more than 90 per cent compliance towards the advertisements wherein a complaint against an advertisement was ‘upheld’. These advertisements were either withdrawn or have been appropriately modified. In a noteworthy achievement, ASCI issued guidelines on skin lightening and fairness products which ensured that these advertisements do not depict people with dark skin as somehow inferior to those who are fairer. Also recently, government took notice of ASCI’s efforts to curb Teleshopping ads that violate ASCI code and ensured a strict compliance of the advertising code in the Cable Television Networks Act (CTN).”
Ambwani said, “There has been tremendous change in ASCI’s approach towards advertising content and adherence to the ASCI’s guidelines by the advertisers. Earlier, we acted primarily on complaint received from the public or the industry body. In the coming year, we hope to promote ASCI’s guidelines more vigorously among advertisers and creative agencies, so that new ads meet ASCI’s standards at the creative stage itself. We also hope to collaborate strongly with the regulators and consumer groups to ensure fairness and responsibility in advertising”
Brands
FSS names Anand Krishnamurthi head of global digital delivery
Tech veteran to drive AI-first, cloud-led transformation in payments globally
CHENNAI: Financial Software and Systems (FSS), an AI-first payment infrastructure company, has appointed Anand Krishnamurthi as head of global digital delivery.
In his new role, Anand Krishnamurthi will lead FSS’s global digital delivery capabilities, focusing on AI-first and cloud-led transformation while ensuring predictable, high-quality outcomes for customers worldwide. He will be based in Chennai and report to V. Balasubramanian, CEO of FSS.
Bringing 28 years of experience in technology and digital transformation across banking, capital markets, financial services, and insurance, Anand has held senior leadership positions at Cognizant and NuSummit. He is recognised for scaling multi-geography delivery teams, leading mission-critical platforms, and embedding AI-driven automation in complex, regulated environments.
“What drew me to FSS is its deep payments expertise, strong product DNA, and the scale at which its platforms power real-world financial ecosystems,” said Anand Krishnamurthi. “I aim to strengthen delivery predictability, execution rigor, and engineering quality, building empowered teams that deliver measurable customer outcomes. FSS has a unique opportunity to create real-time, AI-infused payments infrastructure that is resilient, secure, and globally scalable.”
V. Balasubramanian added, “Anand’s track record in leading multi-geography delivery programs and AI-first operating models makes him the ideal leader for FSS as we accelerate our AI-driven digital payments business. His leadership will help us raise the bar for outcomes globally.”
This appointment is part of FSS’s broader push to build an AI-powered, cloud-native delivery organisation capable of meeting the evolving needs of banks, fintechs, and financial institutions worldwide.
