George Zacharias has been appointed as Managing Director, Yahoo! India. He will be reporting to John Marcom, Senior Vice-President, International Operations, effective January 30, 2006.

“We are delighted to have an executive of George’s caliber join Yahoo Yahoo! proves to be very successful when we combine local insight and understanding with our global platforms and capabilities. George will draw on our powerful reserves of technology and creativity to help keep Yahoo! in the forefront of this market.” Marcom said.

Commenting on his new assignment, Zacharias said, “India is a dynamic and fastest-growing market. I look forward to helping Yahoo! as it continues to forge ahead and take significant strides in expanding its operations in India.”

Neville Taraporewalla, Country General Manager of Yahoo!’s Mumbai-based India operations, will report to Zacharias. Taraporewalla currently oversees running of the Yahoo.co.in website. Yahoo India, under Taraporewalla’s leadership reinforced its management team, rolled out new and improved products and developed a strong talent pool. Internet usage in India continues to grow at a rapid pace and Yahoo! looks forward to a growing presence in the market under the new leadership team.

Zacharias moves to Yahoo! from Sify, where he was President and Chief Operating Officer since 2000. Prior to joining Sify, Zacharias had spent 16 years in a variety of sales, marketing and export assignments at Madura Coats in Bangalore. In 1997, he was appointed President of Madura Garments, a leading garment/retail company in India, then a division of Madura Coats. As President of Madura Garments, Zacharias was responsible for $23 million in business, which he grew to $55 million in annual revenues in two and a half years. Zacharias graduated from Nagpur University with a degree in Chemical Engineering in 1980 and from XLRI, Jamshedpur with a PGDBM in 1982.