New Delhi, Mar 30 (IANS): Director of Manipal Media Network Ltd Sagar Mukhopadhyay has been elected as the Chairman of the Board of Directors at United News of India -- a national news agency.

Mukhopadhyay was elected on Saturday after a resolution under the provisions of the Company Act 2013 was passed to remove the present chairman Vishwas Tripathi, an official statement said.

Served in leadership roles in media organisations like Bennett, Coleman and Co Ltd, The Indian Express Group, Express Publications (Madurai) Ltd, and many others, Mukhopadhyay had joined the board of UNI on March 19, 2019.

In another significant development, the Head of Legal and Secretarial Department of The Manipal Group, Binod Kumar Mandal was included in the UNI Board of Directors. Mandal is a Chartered Accountant, law graduate, Company Secretary, and Associate Member of Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment, London.

After taking over as the chairman, Mukhopadhyay said a growth map for the agency has been identified and will be made public shortly.

Applauding the functioning of UNI empowered committee, under the chairmanship of Pravesh Mishra, Mukhopadhyay said the committee has embarked on a strategic growth mission to take UNI to a leadership position amongst the news agencies in India.

"The growth initiatives implemented in recent months are driven by the collective ambition of its committed employees. There is a clearly identified growth map which will be made public shortly," said Mokhopadhyay, adding that the changes on the Board of Directors are only to facilitate these growth initiatives.

He lauded the role of one of the Directors Sumeet Maheshwari, saying he has been a flag bearer and continues to be on the Board of Directors.