Innholdsfortegnelse for August 30, 2021 i India Today

On August 15, 2022, India celebrates 75 eventful years of being the world’s largest democracy. There is much to be grateful for. At Independence, we were an impoverished, underdeveloped nation, where just over 18 per cent of the people could read or write, the average citizen could hope to live up to the age of 32, and everything, from food to healthcare centres, doctors, institutions and industries, was in short supply. This, when our population was 350 million compared to 1.3 billion currently. At the end of 74 years, we have made impressive strides in our journey towards gross national wellbeing. Over three-fourths of our people are now educated. Average life expectancy has more than doubled. We are self-sufficient in food production and have belied fears of becoming an economic…

At no point during the ’71 war did the headlights of our diplomacy turn red. She did so by radiating selfassurance When Indira Gandhi was first elected prime minister in 1966, Opposition leaders dubbed her a “gungi gudiya” (dumb doll). Within years, she would evolve to become one of India’s most powerful leaders and a world figure. Her place in history is assured for a number of reasons. Topping them is the fact that she changed the geography of the Indian subcontinent in 1971 by winning the war to liberate Bangladesh. She ensured that at no time during the Bangladesh crisis did the headlights of our diplomacy turn red. She did so by radiating self-assurance and avoiding deterministic rigidity. In an adroit move, she signed the Indo-Soviet peace treaty in…

Anna visualised that the future of India is linked to the rise of the states Perarignar Anna was, and is, looked up to by millions as an elder brother who led Tamils to a new political dawn. That his name—Anna—reflects the deep fraternal bonding adds to the charm of this political colossus who bestrode the Dravidian landscape like no other. On the day India became independent in 1947, Thanthai Periyar, the leader of the Dravidar Kazhagam, had announced that he would not celebrate independence for it did not signify the liberation of society from the ills of caste. In contrast, Anna reasoned that India’s Independence Day signified political freedom and that we must continue to fight for social liberation and invoke the federal spirit. Despite the vocal demand for a…

What is Mamata like? The bravest, the most decent and the most real person I’ve ever known A president doesn’t have to be brilliant,” US journalist Peggy Noonan wrote 25 years ago. “He doesn’t have to be clever. You can hire clever. But you can’t buy courage and decency, and you can’t rent a strong moral sense. A president must bring those things with him.” Ever since I joined the Trinamool over 11 years , perhaps the question I get asked the most by family, friends and curious strangers is “what is Mamatadi really like?” When the BJP a few months ago used their muscle to try and bully Bengal into submission, she, and she alone, had the courage to reassure the state that she would protect its people and…

The first path-breaking achievement for which Azim Premji will be remembered is the transformation of a vegetable oil company into a consumer goods behemoth. He is also celebrated for the creation of India’s largest computer company and India’s second largest software company—albeit a ranking which has been difficult to sustain. The innovations of Wipro’s computer business included the launch of the world’s first Multibus II computer, based on the Intel 286 chip, as well as the launch of the Wipro Supergenius personal computer which became India’s largest selling PC. Premji’s software foray charted a path for Indian IT companies to enter the engineering software sector. Though it was a late entrant into the software sector as a whole, Wipro led the verticalisation of the industry and the entry of Indian…

Many Indians will attest to how fundamentally India’s healthcare has improved in recent years. Indians once travelled abroad for treatment; today, patients from across the globe travel to India. Today, it is much easier for hospitals to be established than it was a few decades ago, and it is also much easier for citizens to claim tax exemptions on health insurance premiums. Many of these changes can be traced back to the efforts of one man—Dr Prathap Chandra Reddy. Forty years ago, there were many roadblocks to quality healthcare in India—regulatory, legal, geographic and economic. For example, medical equipment was taxed on par with luxury goods, with an import duty of 375 per cent. In this backdrop, it was a real crusade for Dr Reddy to find ways to surmount…

Chandrasekhar’s followers were no match for his analytical techniques In the mid-1930s, a student from India completed longstanding work on ‘white dwarfs’—very faint stars that have density equal to at least a million times that of water. What’s the physics behind such stars? Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (Chandra) got his PhD for this work from Cambridge, where he was a Trinity College fellow. Because of its perceived importance, UK’s Royal Astronomical Society invited Chandra to make a presentation. He expected a pat on the back from the distinguished gathering, but the opposite happened. Arthur Stanley Eddington, also a Trinity fellow, subjected his theory to severe criticism. Chandra’s finding was that a white dwarf star cannot have mass more than 1.4 times the mass of the Sun. So, after spending all its nuclear…

I first met Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw in 1964. He was a lieutenant general then; I was a captain and the Indian Army’s first Sena Medal recipient. At the investiture ceremony, I asked him for advice. “Anyone in any profession must do what he loves best…and love what he does,” he told me. He also said something that has remained with me—“Do not be afraid.” That was Field Marshal Manekshaw, a military leader who lived by his principles irrespective of what people thought. In the 1960s, he had once refused to criticise the army chief when the defence minister asked him to. On taking over as the 4 Corps commander (it had suffered a shock defeat in the 1962 war with China), he made it clear that…

I have known Sachin for 35 years now and have no hesitation in saying that he is one of the greatest ever to have played our sport. When I first saw him, the thing that struck me was that he just did not want to stop batting. His passion was infectious. From our very first meeting started a bond that exists even today. As captain, he was my go-to guy; in my debut Test in 1996, it was Sachin who repaired my bat at Tea when it needed to be taped up. Blessed with incredible talent, Sachin’s dedication and devotion to the game are what made him the player he eventually became. It was a pleasure playing alongside him and captaining him. With Sachin, it is a very personal bond.…

Kapil Dev Nikhanj came into Indian cricket like a breath of fresh air whose fragrance is still lasting. His sheer enjoyment of playing cricket was so infectious that soon hundreds of thousands of young, budding cricketers wanted to play like him. India has had fast bowlers before but nobody who could curve the new ball like Kapil did. He got wickets all over the world, including on the batting-friendly pitches in India; for around three years and eight series, no opening pair got a century partnership against us. Not just as an opening bowler but also with the bat, he changed the course of many a match and won it for India. Who can forget that innings of 175 not out against Zimbabwe in the 1983 World Cup? For me,…

India has been one of the most prominent exporting countries in textile and apparel. But its rank in apparel export registered a steady fall ever since 2008 as it faced several disadvantages such as restrictive land and labour market of the country, high power cost, difficulty in accessing credit for taking up projects resulting in operation of low and suboptimal technology. The Ministry of Textiles has mounted all-out efforts to overcome these challenges and help India regain its historical position in textile and apparel market. It is targeting at exports worth more than USD 44 billion out of the country's total exports' target of 400 billion. The target does not seem a far cry in view of the fact that now there is a good demand for Indian textile products…

Rajeev and I became friends soon after he returned from America. I had several doubts when he told me he was looking to get into the wine business: Would people drink wines made in India? Could one even make decent wine here? At the time, people barely drank wine, and if they did, the wine was often of poor quality. I remember how professional Rajeev was about production—he started by bringing on board a good winemaker—but what impressed me even more was how he marketed his wine in a fashion that was both fun and international. His exposure and personality helped him connect with young people very quickly. Suddenly, wine was relevant and cool. Seeing how interested people had become, we even started a wine club at Olive. I give…

While describing two extraordinary pathbreakers who changed the world, US civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr observed, “Man has thought twice in our century, once with Albert Einstein and then with Mahatma Gandhi. Einstein’s thought transformed the understanding of the physical world, Gandhi’s thought transformed the understanding of the political world.” Einstein himself would say of Gandhi, “In our time of utter moral decadence, Gandhi was the only true statesman to stand for a higher human relationship in our political sphere. Generations to come will scarcely believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked the earth.” What made Gandhi one of the most influential personalities of the era? Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner, in his book Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership, puts Gandhi in…

Brief and biting in speech, in action firm, Patel became India’s welder From an easy chair six feet away, Sardar Patel seemed to be mocking me. I was 14. When I looked closely, there was affection in his eyes. Four decades later, I would write his biography. Born to impoverished peasant proprietors in central Gujarat, this neglected middle son relied on himself. Working as a vakil in Godhra and Borsad, he lost his wife Jhaverba early but used his savings to study law in London. Returning as a barrister, he dazzled Ahmedabad with earnings and bridge-table skills, but in 1918 chose to throw himself at Gandhi’s side for India’s freedom. In 1928, after he had led a successful satyagraha against a hike in land tax, Bardoli’s peasants bequeathed on him…

JP led a democratic awakening in which he reminded Indians about the power of their franchise Jayaprakash Narayan, popularly known as JP, whom we, the products of the JP movement, respectfully called Lok Nayak, did politics for the powerless, not for power. He epitomised detachment from power. A shining political career awaited him in free India. He was a confirmed socialist and wanted to ensure that India developed on that model. That brought him closer to Jawaharlal Nehru after Independence. Nehru, it was widely perceived, wanted JP to play a crucial role in his government, possibly also as the deputy prime minister after the sad demise of Sardar Patel. But JP chose to go to the villages and work among the poor. In the 1969 presidential election, when Indira Gandhi…

Rajiv was a man in a hurry who wanted to push limits. He brought with him fresh, new thinking Rajiv Gandhi’s contribution to India lies in the seeds he sowed in the mid-’80s to take India into the 21st century. He brought the energy of young, fresh new thinking. I had the opportunity to work closely with him on many important initiatives. I know he was committed to using technology to benefit people at the bottom of the economic pyramid. He encouraged indigenous development, institution-building, civil society, democratisation, decentralisation, privatisation, deregulation, entrepreneurship, creativity, openness and accountability. He was always time-conscious and would tell me, “I wish people recognised they take 30 minutes to convey things that could take 30 seconds.” He provided the political will needed to build telecom and…

His work speaks louder than his words. For his 5th term, all he asked his people was: ‘Are you happy?’ They voted him I share a long personal rapport with Shri Naveen Patnaik. He is a politician with a difference. His vision for the upliftment of the downtrodden, his orientation for development with justice and his respect for cultural tradition has always been appreciated by everyone. When he entered politics, he came with the identity of being respected “Biju babu’s” son. In the last 24 years, he has carved out a legacy for himself. People generally change with power and time. But he has not. Naveen Babu whom I saw as a 50-year-old is the same one even today. He has total commitment for his state and country. People keep…

Both in her political and personal journey, Soniaji has faced tough choices. Each time, she has risen to the challenge Coming from a different country and culture, it could not have been easy for a young girl to marry into a historic family that led the country towards Independence. Yet Soniaji effortlessly embraced, embodied and enriched the culture of the country she married into. After Indiraji died in her arms on October 31, 1984, and Rajivji on May 21, 1991, Soniaji was completely shattered and refused to join politics despite Congressmen’s insistence. It was only after a leadership crisis in the party that she agreed to assume its mantle. It was a tough decision but the realisation that the Congress was indispensable for a healthy democracy forced her to accept…

Dhirubhai Ambani personified the concept of ‘BILL’—to build an institution and leave a legacy When the history of independent India is written, one person—Dhirubhaiji—will figure prominently. In this, seven characteristics are striking. First, he operated his businesses at a time when the economy was being micromanaged by the government. But this environment did not hold him back—he was a pioneer, a first-generation entrepreneur. Second, he was, in true entrepreneurial spirit, ready to take risks, setting an example for others. Third, he did not allow hurdles to stop him from building an industrial empire. His strategic approach was to find solutions—he was in the solutions business. Fourth, he was a problem-solver with enormous energy and drive. He built an outstanding team of professionals to implement his dream. Success followed. Fifth, he…

In 1986, Keshub Mahindra’s daughter Leena wed Sanjay Labroo. I attended the wedding as Sanjay’s guest. All ceremonies were held in Keshub’s house. There was no five-star hotel entertainment, the guest list was small, there was no ostentation, and everything was done simply and elegantly. I realised that Keshub Mahindra was very different from most other ultra-rich people, and had an excellent value system. This value system led to his building one of India’s largest and most successful diversified industrial empires. He was the leader of Mahindra & Mahindra for almost 50 years and the growth and success of the company is essentially because of the culture he introduced. Keshub insisted on high standards of ethics everywhere. He set a personal example and ensured that no company asset was ever…

If there is anyone who exemplifies the qualities of courage, risk-taking, determination and innovation, it is R.C. Bhargava. His risk-taking ability came to the fore when he quit the IAS (Indian Administrative Service) to lead a fledgling company, Maruti. This was a courageous move, as he swapped job security to build a company, with all the challenges involved, especially in an India before reforms. He navigated these challenges astutely, emerging as a titan of Indian manufacturing. The company he built is one of the giants of Indian industry and among the most trusted brands in India. He did not just build a company; he built an institution. He has the rare ability of having both a big picture view and a keen eye for detail. In India’s setup, the ability…

A media headline paying tribute to Mr Y.C. Deveshwar called him ‘The Man Who Saw Tomorrow’. One such example of prescience, for which he was globally feted on many occasions, was his foreseeing the need to make sustainability the bedrock of corporate strategy. He often said that business cannot succeed in societies that fail, and if future generations were to be secure, trans-formative economic models were required to tackle social inequalities, environmental devastation and the threat of climate change. It is with this belief that ITC fashioned business models that created economic, environmental and social capital as a unified strategy, making it an exemplar in triple bottom line performance. Underlying this was his patriotic fervour, which led to a commitment to shape ITC into an Indian enterprise serving national priorities.…

Sunil is one of the smartest first-generation entrepreneurs and a pioneer of the telecom industry Growing up in Ludhiana during the 1960s as close family friends, Sunil and I have known each other from being boys to growing into men. We have decades of history together. Starting off as a manufacturer of bicycle parts while still in his teens, Sunil has been associated with us as a business partner, supplying components for our family’s cycle business in Ludhiana. He shared a very close bond with my father Dr Brijmohan Lall, who always treated him like a son. One of the smartest first-generation entrepreneurs I have had the pleasure of knowing, Sunil has been the pioneer of the Indian telecom industry. When mobile telephony came to India in the mid-1990s, it…

C.V. Raman shaped institutions in significant ways by his presence and contribution Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, one of Indian’s greatest scientists, is best known for his pathbreaking discovery, along with student K.S. Krishnan, of the Raman Effect. For this, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1930. Usually when light scatters, through a process called Rayleigh scattering, it changes direction but not its energy. This happens, for example, when light scatters from dust in the atmosphere, leading to the sky being blue. Raman and Krishnan found a new method of scattering in which light changes both its direction and energy; a change in energy means light also changes its wavelength. The Raman Effect has proved extremely important in science. It’s an important tool that allows one to characterise and identify different…

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar was a luminary—a clairvoyant, noted chemist, outstanding academician and astute science administrator. Most Indians revere him as the moving spirit behind establishing the chain of national laboratories in India, even before the country’s independence, and then steering them as the first director general of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Less known is the key role he played as the first chairman of the University Grants Commission as also the secretary for a ministry involved in ‘natural resources’, apart from his contribution towards starting India’s atomic energy programme. Bhatnagar advocated skill development and gradual Indianisation through institution-building, but he also accepted foreigners in leadership positions. He taught us many lessons, but for me the biggest were that science must make economic sense, and also that…

If I have to name one individual who has influenced me the most, it is Dr Raja Ramanna. I am basically a mechanical engineer, so discipline-wise there was not much in common between me and the eminent physicist. Even so, Dr Ramanna always seemed to care about me right since my young days at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). Many of my colleagues from that time felt the same way about him. Whether in the early shaping of research and human resources development at the Department of Atomic Energy, preparing for India’s nuclear science programme or realising ‘Smiling Buddha’ (India’s first nuclear test) in 1974, he was a true path-breaker. Even for the nuclear power programme, it was he who raised the bar to 10,000 MWe. One day, he…

I was born the year Salim Ali’s superbly illustrated The Book of Indian Birds was published. My father was an avid birdwatcher and I learnt identifying birds from pictures before I could read. At 14, I was puzzled by the green bee-eater’s missing pin feather. I wrote to Salim Ali and was thrilled when he replied promptly. I met him, was charmed by his knowledge and enthusiasm, and decided to follow in his footsteps. He was 46 years older but treated me as a friend and staunchly supported me. I accompanied him on many field trips over the next 25 years. It was a treat to watch birds with him, and I had the privilege of co-authoring a scientific paper with him on communal roosting. He was a superb expositor…

Sundarji was a ‘Thinking General’ who changed the army’s mindset I first met General Krishnaswamy Sundarji in Ambala. I was a major and he was conducting a sand model discussion in the 1 Armoured Division. When he asked for comments, I said the plan being discussed wouldn’t work and offered my reasons. His response: “In tactics, there’s nothing right or wrong. The real answers will come only in battle.” Many officers thought my intervention meant the end of my military career. But to my surprise, I got a call a fortnight later from Sundarji’s office asking me to join as his personal staff in the 33 Corps, where he had moved on promotion. Later, I was his military assistant when he became chief of the army staff. Cast in a…

‘Sunny G’ has always impressed with his inimitable style, playing ethics and in-depth understanding of the game I was not even born when a debutant Sunil Manohar Gavaskar (SMG) took the cricketing world by storm in 1971. He scored 774 runs in his debut series and each one of us growing up in that decade had heard about his exploits. As a young boy, I knew I had someone to look up to and be like. We have interacted on various occasions but one instance very early on in my career stands out. As a 14-year-old, I was not recognised as the best junior cricketer at that level in spite of a credible and consistent performance. Having sensed my disappointment, SMG wrote me a letter of encouragement stating how many…

“ We are fortunate that the time and the country have given us the responsibility of making this semisesquicentennial celebration a grand success. In a way, efforts will be done to make this celebration of 75 years of freedom, the semisesquicentennial celebration (Amrit Mahotsav) of independence, a festival that touches the hearts of all Indians, a festival of every Indian!”- Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India The pride of a nation remains alive only when it continues to pass on the legacy of self-respect and sacrifice to the next generation as well. It truly marches on the path of development only when it identifies with the pride of its past experiences and heritage. In this respect, India has vast reserves and rich history to be proud of. Taking this…

Sanjeev Kumar Chadha, Managing Director, National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED), is an upbeat man as he recounts the turnaround story of the organisation, which was once on the verge of closure in 2015-16 but now has a cash surplus of 700 crore. He spoke on a range of issues in an exclusive interview. Excerpts... Could you take us to the journey of NAFED in recent times? In 2015-16, we had a debt of around Rs 1700 crore and asked for the bailout package from the government but it was not materialising. We stared working really hard after -2016-17; the government too extended its full support to us. Now we have created a cash surplus of 700 crore. Our total turnover was around Rs 570 crore in…

A verification drive will be launched to stop the illegal and unauthorised land purchase in hills. Steps will be ken to conserve and secure the culture and social milieu of of hills. ‘Him prahari’ scheme will be launched with the help of ex servicemen and youth of Uttarakhand to stop the migration from state High level committee will be formed deal with the concerns regarding land law. It will also pay attention to the conservation of the nd of the state along with subjects related to employment and investment. Emotions and concern of the public will be taken into consideration regarding the decision about devaasthanam board. The decision about the Devasthanam Board will be taken after discussion with all stakeholders while ensuring the interest of priests and purohit. For Population…

National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) is a leader in fashion education, integrating knowledge, academic freedom, and creative thinking. NIFT, set up in 1986 under the aegis of Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, is an autonomous statutory body governed by the NIFT Act 2006. Currently, NIFT is ranked at 9th position in fashion institutes around the world. Most revered fashion designers and top industry professionals in fashion world proudly call NIFT their alma mater. To meet the new requirements of the ever-changing fashion industry NIFT-Industry-Academia interfaces throughout the course provide a cutting-edge learning experience to the students. The academic strategy of NIFT embraces a global approach. NIFT has strategic agreements and partnerships with about 26 leading international fashion institutes & organisations that share the same academic direction, integrating NIFT…

DEPENDENCE ON IMPORTS While India is the largest consumer of silk and the second largest producer of silk, for years the country has depended on imports, mainly from China, to meet its domestic demand for international quality silk yarn. The estimated demand of international quality Bivoltine raw silk in the country is about 10,000 Metric Tonnes (MT) mainly for the power looms, export market and for the warp in handlooms. UNDERSTANDING THE SHORTCOMINGS Initially, the production of Bivoltine silk was confined only to the temperate regions. Despite continuous efforts to increase Bivoltine silk production in the country over the years, the challenges continued to be the non-availability of Bivoltine silkworm breeds conducive to tropical conditions, poor agronomical practices for mulberry cultivation, traditional technologies followed for egg production, disinfection methods, inadequate…

Bikki’s employees both admire and fear him—but that’s him, a demanding employer Once upon a time, Oberoi was just a Punjabi name, like Khanna, Arora, Batra or Puri. Enter the big-little Bikki Oberoi, Napoleon and Onassis all rolled into one legend of admirable enterprise and style. I first met Bikki and his wife Goodie, just out of college. They were making the scene at the Oberoi Farm in Brijbasan. I had made my maiden trip abroad and returned to see that the charmed circle of Bikki was all busy being somebody else—surely not Indian. In the 1980s, my Nizamuddin apartment appeared in the British House & Garden along with Bikki’s farm and Rashtrapati Bhavan. Bikki was intrigued. Although he never came home, he visited a Haryana haveli which had been…

It’s a shame that some regard Bhagwan only as a ‘sex guru’... what he was asking for was the world to give up its taboos When Bhagwan was in front of me, nothing else existed. I saw only his eyes, his hands, his face. I had never seen such grace before, and my eyes can still only see that in him. I think it’s a shame that some only regard him as a ‘sex guru’. He was a man who understood sex and sexuality, yes, but what he was asking for was the world to give up its taboos. Bhagwan was a provoker. He wanted us to come out of our belief system and look at something different. He used to say that people would only come out and look…

Today’s readers of Midnight’s Children may be unaware of the novel’s revelatory arrival in 1981. I was a student at Wilson College, Bombay, the city in which the book was mostly set. The Wilson campus, designed in the style that may accurately be called Indian Gothic, stood at the very edge of the Arabian Sea. In the early 1980s, Indian students enrolled in economics and commerce courses. The English-speaking scions of the urban middle class shared an ambition with regional language students from small towns and villages: to win the jobs that would make them part of the new India. I was the only student in the English literature course and I would be the only student for the three years it took to complete the degree. Midnight’s Children was…

There are some musicians who are born once in a century. Pt. Kumar Gandharva was one such pathbreaker. Kumarji was a child prodigy, trained by the well-known Guru B.R. Deodhar, and broke the tradition of gharana music to develop his own individual style and idiom. Having recovered from Tuberculosis at a young age, he sprung back with even more energy and new musical thoughts. He was a rebel of sorts who experimented with folk and bhajans. His innovativeness and unorthodox interpretation of ragas invited criticism, but that didn’t stop him from creating new ragas in Hindustani Classical music. Unlike other musicians, he could mesmerise you in just 15 minutes with his compositions. Kumarji’s voice was unique, captivating and redefined the approach to the traditional presentation of a raga. His art…

My mother, Sitara Devi, was very close to Abbaji, and he would often come to our house. If you spent some time with him, you’d come away feeling you were in the presence of a saint. He was always smiling, always generous with knowledge and wisdom. I’d say he first influenced me as a human being. I took some tabla lessons with him, but he realised very quickly that my heart was in the drum set. I remember him telling me, “You don’t need to play the tabla if you like to play the drums.” He explained to me some rhythmic concepts that are universal. He opened my mind up to possibility. Abbaji, I saw, never created boundaries between gharanas either. For him, all tributaries led to a single river—music.…

Gandhi remains the model politician, a man who put his belief in altruism above personal considerations and consistently maintained respect for all spiritual traditions For me, Mahatma Gandhi symbolises ‘Ahimsa’, or non-violence, as well as ‘Karuna’, or compassion. One of my main commitments today is to promote these two principles, and I believe that India is the only country with the potential to combine its ancient knowledge with modern education. Gandhiji exemplified both Ahimsa and Karuna, and I think of him as my teacher. On my first visit to India in 1956, I made a pilgrimage to Rajghat, on the banks of the Yamuna river, where Mahatma Gandhi was cremated. As I stood there in prayer, I experienced great sadness at not being able to meet him in person, but…

The powerful written framework that he laid down has paved the way for socioreligious reform As India celebrates the diamond jubilee of its independence next year, how do we judge Bhimrao Ambedkar, who, as the chairman of the drafting committee, inscribed a Constitution that has helped ‘We the people of India’ survive as a democracy? This would not have been possible but for the Constitution’s path-breaking ideological framework that addressed the country’s graded, unequal caste/ class structures with a view to reframe socio-spiritual and graded economic inequalities and opportunities. Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel would not have foreseen the impending dangers that could break the democratic Constitution with the existing caste-untouchable and multi-religious social fabric of our society as it existed till 1947. It was Ambedkar who…

While others debated whether to follow the West or the Left, he advocated that India follow its own path Deendayal Upadhyaya became a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh pracharak as soon as he finished his education. But, on the request of Syama Prasad Mookerjee, he was asked to move to the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) where he became general secretary in 1952 and president in 1967. Tragically, he was killed shortly after. His life was simple, character spotless and conscience sensitive. Upadhyaya believed that the purpose of politics is to strengthen the fundamental philosophy and principles of the nation. When political stalwarts were contemplating whether the country should imitate the West or move towards communism, he said neither of them were suitable. He advocated that India should grow in keeping with its…

I may not have worked closely with Sheikh Abdullah Sahib, but I would put him on the same pedestal as the other icons I’ve interacted with, such as Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayanji, Vajpayeeji, Chandra Shekharji, Devi Lalji and Annadurai Sahib. When history records the events, ideas and personalities that shaped India’s post-Independence destiny, Sheikh Sahib’s name will be up there as a visionary committed to a secular, democratic India. If J&K is an integral part of India today, his contribution to it can hardly be overstated. Such was his charisma and aura that Sheikh Sahib immediately cast a spell on all around him. His courage and outspoken advocacy of secular ideals has been carried forward by his son, Farooq Sahib, whom he had once deputed to mediate in an issue between…

The emergence of V.P. Singh as an independent political entity was one of the climactic events in India’s ongoing political drama. It marked the end of Congress as the country’s dominant political power. No wonder, L.K. Advani had remarked: “If there wasn’t a V.P. Singh, we’d have to create one!” With good reason too. The Congress emerged in 1984 with a daunting 414 Lok Sabha seats and a near plurality with 49.1 per cent. The party with the second-largest vote share was the BJP with 7.7 per cent and a mere two MPs. The next largest party in Parliament was N.T. Rama Rao’s TDP with 30 seats and just 4.3 per cent of the popular vote. I first met V.P. Singh at his house after a call by his brother…

In the 75 years since Independence, there were many leaders who led us diligently on the chosen path. There were also a few leaders who showed us a different path and a journey into unfamiliar territory. Dr Manmohan Singh belonged to the latter category. Dr Singh had to first reinvent himself. He left behind the school of thought that had advocated socialism, the state and public sector occupying the commanding heights of the economy, licences and permits, and trickle-down growth. He asked the people to accept an open economy, liberalisation, free trade, abolition of licences and permits, and globalisation. Many of these concepts were unfamiliar to most people and anathema to the diehard socialists. Yet, Dr Singh persevered. If Dr Singh’s bold adventure had failed, he would have been consigned…

Pragmatism, clear thinking and a commitment to philanthropy are hallmarks of Ratan’s leadership Over the many decades that I have known Ratan, and more recently, over the past five years that I have been on the Board of Tata Sons, I have been privy to his inimitable quiet leadership style as he has led the Group to achieve its iconic status. With Ratan driving various path-breaking and innovative initiatives, the Group’s revenues increased by over 40 times during his tenure. Ratan has continued to strengthen the Group’s culture, built on the strong foundation of core Tata values. Deeply entrenched in its people, its business decisions and in its daily functioning, these values have stood the Group in good stead. They were key to how Tata Sons resolved the dispute with…

The son of a small-town school teacher from Karnataka, Murthy is today a globally-recognised doyen of India’s phenomenally successful IT industry. He ignited entrepreneurial dreams in millions by demonstrating that intellectual capital can help a middle-class Indian create a billion-dollar enterprise. Under Murthy, Infosys has been a path-breaker. He conceived and implemented the business model responsible for the growth of Infosys and Indian IT at large. Infosys was the first Indian IT company to list on a US stock exchange, and is a leader in setting corporate governance benchmarks. While it created wealth, it was a pioneer in distributing it too, through employee stock options that have made over 30,000 of its employees millionaires. A great believer in the virtues of integrity, honesty and transparency, Murthy has mentored many to…

A nation is built by its leaders. I had the opportunity to observe one of the best, K.M. Birla, over many years. His willingness to go where others dare not makes him a pathbreaker. He took the Aditya Birla Group from $2 billion to over $45 billion in revenue, and the group’s businesses have been key to the evolution of the Indian economy over the past several decades . Mr Birla stands out as an exceptional business builder. In 2007, an opportunity arose to bid for the downstream assets of Canadian firm Novelis. He saw it as an opportunity to expand the group’s global footprint. That decision changed the group’s profile and put Hindalco, the group’s non-ferrous metals subsidiary, on a verticalisation trajectory. One thing you cannot learn about pathbreakers…

Societies develop because of the extraordinary achievements of extraordinary people. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw is one such person. Nearly 40 years ago, she started on her dream—to build a world-class biotech firm in India. She succeeded, becoming a role model for all entrepreneurs. Her focus on quality research and good governance and her perseverance set her apart. Kiran is also committed to improving the lives of her fellow citizens—this is visible in her philanthropic contributions and her championing of social causes. She also speaks her mind—in a constructive way—on matters of policy and social concerns. She bonds easily with both everyday citizens and political leaders, with people seeing in her a very honest, upright person devoted to the betterment of society. Globally too, she has been recognised for her outstanding achievements.…

Arthur Koestler talks of two kinds of leaders, ‘The Yogi’ and ‘The Commissar’. The Yogi is the ‘contemplative thinker’ and Commissar the ‘man of action’. Dr Homi Jehangir Bhabha was a unique mix of both. It was also a fortunate circumstance that Bhabha and prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru shared an exceptional bond—Bhabha addressed Nehru as ‘Bhai’. Bhabha was a renowned theoretical high energy physicist at Cambridge before joining the faculty of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), and had done pioneering work on electron-positron scattering—known as ‘Bhabha Scattering’—and cosmic ray showers. With help from the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, Bhabha set up the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in 1945, planning to make it the fountainhead of the nuclear establishment, now named after him as the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre.…

He has inspired generations of athletes. His excellence has no parallel Milkha Singh remains a legend in the history of Indian sports with his run timings and has inspired not only me but generations of athletes. His excellence has no parallel. I first heard about him on joining the Kannur Sports Division school where my coach, O.M. Nambiar, would talk about Milkha to encourage us to improve our performance. I first met Milkha Singh while representing India at the world junior invitation athletic meet in Seoul in 1982 and won the gold in 200m and bronze in 100m. Since then, he began monitoring my performance with interest. But I didn’t have a great interaction with him back then due to the language barrier. He called me ‘PT’, and when feeling…

The first name that comes to mind when I talk about athletics in India is P.T. Usha. She has been inspirational for millions of girls wanting to opt for sports as a career. In my formative years, I looked up to her and aspired to become like her. I’m on that journey, and if I can inspire even half the girls of our country to strive for higher goals, like P.T. Usha did, I would feel highly blessed. P.T. Usha won many international medals and awards in her career. Though she narrowly missed out on an Olympic medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, finishing fourth in the women’s 400m hurdles and being denied of a bronze by one-hundredth of a second, that moment gave India hope. She is a…

I have seen Abhinav Bindra grow up as his father was my junior in school in Patiala. He was a reticent child and, in many senses, a quintessential air-rifle shooter. Abhinav won India its first individual Olympic gold at Beijing in 2008. He was completely focused on the task at hand and trained under a German coach. He had a private range provided by his father. But what makes him stand out is that he built himself up mentally to be a champion. Abhinav had participated in two Olympics before the Beijing Games. His mental toughness and training made sure the previous Olympic outings acted as learning experiences. In shooting, temperament is key to being a winner. Abhinav’s other accomplishment is the ‘democratisation’ of shooting as a sport. Shotgun shooters…

Established on 2nd October 1958 with the primary aim to organise, promote and develop marketing, processing and storage of agricultural, horticultural and forest produce, National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) is the apex federation of marketing cooperatives in the country providing remunerative prices to farmers for their produce and preventing their exploitation at the hands of private trade and middlemen. The federation has its presence in all states of India through a network of branches/ sub offices/member cooperatives, besides other infrastructure like pre cooling/cold storage units, general warehouses, grading packing units, onion storages, bio fertilizer plants, consumer marketing division and more. One of the largest procurement as well as marketing agencies for agricultural products in India, NAFED plays a major role in stabilising food prices in the…

This is a scheme to bring smiles on the faces of children, who lost their parents in the covid period in Uttarakhand. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has launched Mukhya Mantri Vatsalya Yojana to support these children, a scheme which is first of its kind. The scheme will g ive financial protection to 2,347 such children in the state. Children covered under the scheme will get an allowance of Rs 3,000 per month up to the age of 21. The state government will also take care of their education and reserve five percent of government jobs for them under the scheme. The government will also provide free food to these kids. In the first phase, 1,062 children got financial support under the scheme, the chief minister said. The void created…

Handloom Export Promotion Council known as HEPC under the aegis of Development Commissioner for Handlooms, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India was constituted in the year 1965 to promote export of handloom products from India. Presently HEPC has about 1500 member exporters spread across the country. The main objective of HEPC is to support Handloom exporters, mainly assisting and providing required support and guidance to the exporters for trade promotion and international marketing. HEPC has its head office at Chennai and regional office at New Delhi. HEPC has opened a liaison office at Karur, Panipat and help desk for North East at Guwahati to extend handholding support to NER and has started functioning from the campus of IIHT/ WSC Guwahati. The major handloom export centres are Karur, Panipat, Varanasi, Kannur,…

Vittal Mallya made his fortune by creating a diversified business conglomerate largely anchored by his beer and spirits businesses. I had the privilege of knowing him from my childhood, as my late father was MD of United Breweries (UB) even before Mallya acquired the business. He expanded his empire with companies like Kissan, Berger Paints, Hindustan Polymers and Mangalore Fertilisers. He was also the largest shareholder in Cad-bury India, Hoechst Pharma, Bayer India and Singer. His business was valued at over Rs 500 crore by 1980, which made him one of India’s four leading business barons, alongside Dhirubhai Ambani, Ratan Tata and Aditya Birla. Vittal Mallya was a shrewd strategist, able to turn sick companies into profitable enterprises. At the time of his untimely death in 1983, his empire encompassed…

I never forgot the world R.K. Narayan depicted in Swami and Friends... eventually, it made me want to author a novel depicting my world I was studying in Class VIII at that time. My English textbook included R.K. Narayan’s Engine Trouble. I remember us laughing out loud when our teacher explained the story. It was then that I developed a great fascination towards R.K. Narayan. He egged me on to search for short stories. A few years later, I saw our public library was throwing away unwanted books. I dug into the mound of old books and found a translated copy of Swami and Friends. Penned in 1935, this was R.K. Narayan’s first novel. I never forgot the children’s world that the novel depicted, nor did I stop comparing their…

Be it classical, light music or cinema, Ustad Bismillah Khan was at ease with any genre of music and equally appreciated all On August 15, 1947, as India took its first steps as an independent nation, the sweet notes from Ustad Bismillah Khan’s shehnai filled the Red Fort as the country celebrated its freedom. The shehnai maestro had chosen to stay in India instead of making his way to Pakistan. Ustad Bismillah Khan was a pathbreaking musician who not only brought the shehnai to the forefront, but also embodied the philosophy of oneness. He was a practising devout Muslim, who gave equal respect to other religions and beliefs. A man known for his high morals, simplicity and strength of character, Khan won over the world with sheer charm and magical…

I first met M.S. Subbulakshmi some 30 years ago. I was performing to a packed house in Madras, and I had no idea she was sitting in the front row. Even though she was nearly 80 and would find it hard to walk, I remember her coming to my green room with her husband. She hugged me as soon as she saw me. Subbulakshmiji didn’t speak much English but she kept using the words “wonder” and “wonderful” to describe my performance. I had tears in my eyes. It felt like I was meeting my mother. Subbulakshmiji and I would sometimes meet in Puttaparthi. We were both devotees of Sathya Sai Baba. Only because I once said I liked her laddoos and barfis, she would bring me a tiffin of them…

Growing up in Bombay, I would attend concerts of all the great Carnatic maestros in the city, but there was one, in particular, I remember vividly. Balamurali Sir must have sung for three hours that day, and even though I was only a child then and I had no idea of what he was really doing, I felt I was on a high for all that time. He did the most difficult things with an absolute effortlessness. His voice was perfectly rounded, grounded in every octave. He made you appreciate his music and also his silences. Even though ours was not technically a guru-shishya relationship, I revered him as a guru and he looked at me with a sense of vatsalyam, a parental affection. Sir never let compulsions of ‘image’—…