Pratap Pawar was elected presdient of the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce in Pune recently. The outgoing president R J Rathi handed over charge of office to the new president at a ceremony last week.

Pawar, an engineer from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, specialised in marketing and finance for techno-commercial projects. He started his own company, Ajay Metachem in 1968, which now has a wide sales network in India and abroad. He was awarded the Parkhe Award for Excellence in 1978.

Pawar is also the managing director of Sakal, a leading Marathi daily. He is on the executive committee of the Indian Newspapaer Society. He is also associated with a number of socio-economic institutions like Students Welfare Association, Pune, Pune School and Home for the Blind, etc.

HL Bajaj promoted to NTPC Director

H L Bajaj, executive director (western region) has been appointed as the director (commercial) of National Thermal PowerCorporation (NTPC). He was earlier looking after the company's activities in the Western region. A post graduate in power systems, Bajaj has been a fellow of the Institution of Engineers (India) and the Institution of Electrical Engineers, UK. During 1997-98 he was the regional director of the Asia Pacific region of the Institution of Electrial and Electronic Engineers, US.

N K Nayar re-elected IVCCI president

N K Nayar, Managing Director, Concast (India) Ltd, Mumbai, has been re-elected president of the Indo-Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IVCCI) for 1998-99. M Lall, Sr Vice-President, Indusind bank Ltd, Mumbai, has been re-elected Vice-President of the Indo-Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

Earlier, N K Nayarl; Suresh Kotak, chairman, Kotak & Co. Pvt Ltd; M Lall, Mohan Nihalani, president, All-India Importers & Exporters' Association; and Anil Mehta, General manager (Exports), Rallis India Ltd, were elected on the Managing Committee of the Chamber for the year1998-99.

Representatives of the following five following promoter companies will continue to be on the managing committee:

Atul Bhagwati: Trumac Engineering Co. Ltd

Manfred Bruweleit: Schlafhorst Engineering (India) Ltd

Ranjan Bhatnagar: Matcon Export Enterprises Ltd

J S Vora: Stovec Indistries Ltd

N E Modi: ATE Enterprises Ltd