Distinguished Alumni Awards 2018
M V Rajamannar – PGP 1985 (Chief Marketing & Communications Officer and President, Healthcare, Master Card), S Vaidyanathan – PGP 1992 (Co-founder, Ganga Trust) and PC Musthafa – PGSEM 2007 (Founder, ID Fresh Food) were DAA awardees for 2018.
M V Rajamannar (PGP 1985), Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, and President, Healthcare Business, Mastercard, receiving the award.
S Vaidyanathan (PGP 1992), Co-founder, The Ganga Trust, receiving the award.
P C Musthafa (PGSEM 2007), Co-founder, iD Fresh Food, receiving the award.
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watch the talks delivered by the awardees.
Profiles of DAA awardees:
M V Rajamannar, PGP 1985, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer and President, Healthcare, Master Card
Raja Rajamannar is Chief Marketing & Communications Officer of Mastercard and President of its Healthcare business. He is responsible for building the Mastercard brand, driving business and advancing sustainable competitive edge for the company.
Rajamannar joined Mastercard in 2013, bringing with him more than 25 years of extensive experience. Earlier, Rajamannar held a number of leadership roles during 15 years with Citigroup including Global Chief Marketing Officer, Chairman and CEO, Diners Club North America.
Rajamannar has been globally recognized for the innovative thinking and leadership in business transformation that he has brought to executive roles across industries. He has been named one of the “World’s Most Influential CMOs” by Forbes magazine twice, ranking #9 on the publication’s list in 2017. He has also been included in the Top 25 of iMedia’s Top Digital Innovators in the world and has been featured numerous times in the Billboard Power 100, an annual ranking of executive excellence and influence in the music industry. AdWeek has named him as one of the “Top 50 Most Tech Savvy CMOs in the World” and one of the “Top 50 CMOs Leading Charge to Transformation”. Recently he was also named one of the “World’s Most innovative CMOs” by Business Insider. In addition, Rajamannar has been a featured speaker several times at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He also holds a patent in the consumer packaged goods space.
 “We were truly impressed with his ability to travel significantly in his chosen profession, reach far and wide and win the appreciation of several industry professionals and peers evidenced by a number of awards and recognitions he has received during his career. He signals the value of being committed to profession and working diligently to reach great heights. He also signals that such tireless efforts are invariably recognized and celebrated by everyone.” – Faculty DAA Committee
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S Vaidyanathan, PGP 1992,Co-founder, Ganga Trust
S Vaidyanathan is the co-founder of The Ganga Trust. 100 Lives, a project of The Ganga Trust, will ensure Quality Rehabilitation and enable independent living for 100 persons with spinal cord injury, a life-altering condition imposing multiple disabilities. Enhancing the quality of lives of persons with spinal cord injury is the vision of The Ganga Trust, which has its roots in the spinal cord injury sustained by Vaidyanathan, while he was a student at IIM Bangalore in 1990. Timely access to Quality rehabilitation enabled him complete his PGP, pursue a corporate career, and dedicate his life to the cause from 2013.
He is a Peer Counsellor at the Mary Verghese Institute of Rehabilitation, a part of Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore. He is also a Governing Board member of The Spinal Foundation.
 “We were greatly impressed by his ability to rise from the ashes like a phoenix bird, convert the adversary into a great opportunity. Through this he provides an inspiring message to the students that nothing can come in the way of carrying on with what one aspires to do in life.” – Faculty DAA Committee
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PC Mustafa, PGSEM 2007, Founder, ID Fresh Food
Musthafa is the CEO & Co-founder of iD Fresh Food. Musthafa was a school dropout who later did his Engineering in Computer Science from NIT Calicut & PGSEM from IIM-Bangalore. He co-founded iD Fresh Food in 2006 with his cousins and currently employs 1500+ youngsters from rural India. Inspired by traditional Indian values iD promotes authentic Indian foods which are fresh, 100% natural and preservative-free.
Musthafa has been applauded with many prestigious awards like India Today – Make in India award, JCI National Award, Vocational Excellence Award and Entrepreneur India Award among others. He is part of Indian Philanthropy Initiative & also works very closely with DIAV for the welfare of Army Martyr’s kins. He is also part of Prime Minister’s “Champions of Change” team with a vision to build a new India by 2022. His idea of traffic system automation is part of “new India synopsis.” His business has been listed has case study in Harvard.
“He stands out clearly and is eminently qualified for the award. He has demonstrated the true potential of a distinguished alumni by excelling in professional pursuits, value creation through entrepreneurship and empathy for weaker sections of the society. His case brings out the infinite possibilities that every one of us have not withstanding the demographic background from which we come.” – Faculty DAA Committee