City profiles

Chitra Ramkrishna

The former chief of India’s National Stock Exchange has received a hefty fine, and a ban from working in financial markets, after admitting that while running it she relied on advice from a spiritual yogi based in the Himalayas, said The Daily Beast. Chitra Ramkrishna, who quit her job in 2016, said she thought the guidance “would help me perform my role better”. But an investigation has concluded that she was “merely a puppet” in the unnamed guru’s hands. The hunt is now on to track down the mystery yogi, said Palak Shah on The Hindu BusinessLine. It seems to be someone who “knew the inside working of the exchange closely” and was “very well networked in Delhi’s political and bureaucratic circles”. Rather odd for a Himalayan hermit...

Jo Whitfield

In an apparent first, the CEO of the Co-op’s food business is taking a four-month unpaid “career break” to help her two sons prepare for their exams, said Ashley Armstrong in The Times. The junior Whitfields are sitting GCSEs and A-levels this year and their mother – a Liverpudlian who describes herself as “family first” – wants to see them through “the inevitable pressure and emotional turmoil”. Group CEO Steve Murrells will take responsibility for Co-op’s 2,600 shops when her leave begins in May. The move has drawn a “mixed reaction”, said BBC Business. Some praised Whitfield, who earned £1.4m in 2020, as “a fantastic role model”. Others point out that while such a break is open to all Co-op staff, most couldn’t afford it. “Equality of opportunity as tokenism?” tweeted one critic.