India is fast developing into a modern economy and the country will become a superpower in information technology, pharmaceuticals and auto industry, Sir Rob Young, former British high commissioner to India, has said. Speaking at a reception hosted in his honour by Lord Navnit Dholakia and Raj Loomba, chairman trustee of the Loomba Trust, at the House of Lords on Thursday evening, Sir Rob spoke about India's rich cultural diversity, heritage and ancient values and said: "India is now developing fast into a modern economy and it is happening." Referring to its phenomenal development in the fields of information technology, pharmaceuticals and automotive industry, he said, "India will become a superpower in these areas. Question is not will it, but when." At the same time, he said the country still faced many challenges, primarily in the social arena. Lord Dholakia, a trustee of the Loomba Trust, said the trust was currently educating 1,100 children of poor widows in ten states -- Delhi, Orissa, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Arunachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Courtesy: www.economictimes.com, April 30, 2004

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While most of the fashion industry has its eyes turned towards the European and American market, there is positive response from closer home. Though trade with Pakistan is yet to achieve its full potential, designer-cum-buyer from across the border, Faiza Samee, is here in the Capital to attend the Lakme India Fashion Week and is looking forward for more synergy between the fashion industries of both countries. And as the fashion week entered its second day today, Faiza has already spoken to a few Indian designers who she thinks would sell in the Pakistani market. According to her, Pakistan would be a big market for India designers. Interestingly, for the moment Faiza is only planning to import from India.

Courtesy: The Hindu, April 29, 2004

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The famous Yale University in the United States has decided to expand its South Asia programme. This was informed by T N Srinivasan, Professor of Economics, and Prof Gustav Ranis, Director of the Yale International Centre, at a reception for scholars and diplomats held at the Cosmos Club in the US capital. Ranis said that Yale University, founded by a former Governor of Madras, now has exchange programmes with several universities and soon a similar programme will be announced during a visit by Yale's President Richard Levin to New Delhi. Yale already has a Hindi programe. The latest language programme is Tamil. Speakers at the function included Prof Vinod Rustgi of Georgetown University , an alumnus of Yale, and several students from South Asia . The South Asian subcontinent, the vision statement points out, "is one of the greatest laboratories for civilizational histories, language, literature and archives, which span a documented period of almost five thousand years". Today, speakers pointed out, South Asia is becoming increasingly important in the political, cultural, economic and other fields.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, April 28, 2004

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In "The National Security Strategy of the United States of America" released in September 2002, President Bush has said: "The United States has undertaken a transformation in its bilateral relationship with India based on a conviction that U.S. interests require a strong relationship with India. We are the two largest democracies, committed to political freedom protected by representative government. India is moving toward greater economic freedom as well. We have a common interest in the free flow of commerce, including through the vital sea lanes of the Indian Ocean. Finally, we share an interest in fighting terrorism and in creating a strategically stable Asia".

Courtesy: www.usindiafriendship.net, April 27, 2004

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The Indian-American community is the fastest growing community as a whole in the United States, according to an IACPA (India Abroad Center for Political Awareness) press release analyzing the US Census 2000 Results for the Indian-American population. Among all the listed ethnic groups as per a sample study for 2000 carried out by the US Census Bureau and published in "Asian-Nation: The Landscape of Asian America," Indian Americans (called "Asian Indians") outperform all other racial/ethnic groups in most measures of socioeconomic achievement; have the highest educational rates (an astounding 64.4% have college degrees while 12.5% have an advanced degree including a law, medical, or doctorate degree); have the highest median family income; the highest rate of being Married with Spouse Present; and the highest rate of working in a High-Skill Occupation, generally characterized as executive, professional, technical, or upper management.

Courtesy: www.usindiafriendship.net, April 27, 2004

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Apollo Hospital 's emergence as a global health care provider in many ways tracks India's economic trajectory over the past three decades, the Wall Street Journal has said. The company had capitalised on the high cost of health care administration in US and demands of patients elsewhere, for "fast, inexpensive treatment" with the most modern equipment, the Wall Street Journal said in the article "India's new coup in outsourcing: Inpatient care". It cited the experience of Terry Salo, a former commercial fisherman, who faced a wait of a year or more for free care from Canada 's National Health Services. The pain became intolerable and he paid $4,500, one fourth of the cost for treatment in Europe or US, for surgery at Apollo. Salo is one of 60,000 foreign patients treated at Apollo Hospitals over the past three years. Since its start as a single hospital, in 1983, Apollo has grown to 37 hospitals and one of Asia 's largest private hospital chains.

Courtesy: The Times of India, April 27, 2004

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Now that Vijay Mallya has retrieved and repatriated the Sword of Tipu Sultan, perhaps it might spur other rich individuals to make a similar bid for other Indian treasures scattered - or salted away - across the world. There are some pretty useful baubles out there, particularly in the diamonds category. As a matter of fact, about half the top ten largest stones are of Indian origin. For starters there is the Kohinoor, which, if not the largest (The Great Mogul was much bigger) is certainly the most famous of Indian diamonds. It is said to have weighted 186 carats when it was first discovered in the 14th century. By the time it passed through many hands and was spirited away by the Brits it had been cut down to 108 carats. It's now part of the British crown jewels. Then there is the Regent, which weighed more than 410 carats when discovered by a slave near Golconda in the 18th century. The Blue Hope is the smaller among the 'large' diamonds but has few peers for sheer mystique. The 44-carat stone is believed to carry a curse. Many of its owners have died in misery. Louis XIV once owned it. Then there is the Sancy Diamond, a 55-carat pale yellow stone that fluoresces yellow and pink. It was found in India, passed through French and English kings, was bought by a Bombay merchant in the 19th century. Incidentally, one of the reasons why many of the largest stones in history are of Indian origin, a scholar at the Smithsonian Museum told me, was that India pretty much held the monopoly on diamond mining till Brazil stumbled across its cache. Then diamonds began to be discovered in Africa in larger quantities even as the Indian discoveries petered out. There are plenty of other Indian gee-gaws, not to speak of the Peacock Throne, a kursi royale inlaid with a mere 26,733 precious stones, that was carted away from Delhi by Nadir Shah and deposited in Iran. There is also the Cartier necklace, which was recently on display in New York. Commissioned by the Maharaja of Patiala in 1928, it was laid with 2,930 diamonds and weighed almost a thousand carats. Clearly, we need a few more Vijay Mallyas and a lot more than Rs 1.5 crore.

Courtesy: The Times of India, April 26, 2004

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English is being spiced up with sprinkling of some more words from Hindi. In the latest edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, there is already a host of Hindi words, including Angrez (English person) and badmash (naughty) while many more are being entered into the Collins Bank of English, which screens words for entry. The Hindi words likely to find a place in the English Dictionary are: Achha (OK, or is that so?), Aloo (Indian potato), Arre (used to express surprise), Chaddi (underwear), Desi (local, indigenous), filmi (related to Bollywood), Very filmi (Drama queen or king), Gora (white person), Jungli (uncultured) and Yaar (friendly form of address). "If new words are used enough, they will end up in the dictionary, and once they are there they become English words, too. With our increasingly multi-cultural society, in 50 years English will have adopted a mass of words from all the different cultures living on this island." And those who complain about the loss of the purity of the language are simply misguided, according to experts. "English is a mongrel language, and always has been," said Bufferfield. Many Asian words have already been naturalized into English. Bungalow, cheetahs, ganja have all been shipped over from the sub-continent. And every time Jamie Oliver kisses his fingers and cries pukka he is speaking Hindi. "The words are entering local vocabularies. Masala is replacing spice, mooli means white radish, and the word balti is actually Hindi for the type of pan that the dish is cooked in." Accepting the words into the dictionary will also help British viewers to understand what is being said when actors in Anglo-Indian comedies use Hindi and Urdu phrases, the report said.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, April 26, 2004

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Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok on Friday conferred the honorary degree of doctor of technology on Tata group chairman Ratan Tata for his and the group's contribution to industrial development and the Indian society. The citation for degree was conferred on Tata at the institute's annual graduation ceremony in the Thai capital, a Tata group release said on Friday. Quoting the citation, the release said: "From a relatively unwieldy conglomerate, Tata has now changed the complexion of the group to make it more nimble-footed and cohesive."

Courtesy: The Hindustan Times, April 26, 2004

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NRI Satish K Tripathi, an internationally accomplished computer scientist, has been selected as Provost of the University of Buffalo in New York. Tripathi, currently dean of the Bourns College of Engineering at the University of California, will take office as UB's chief academic officer on July 1. Tripathi said he is "delighted to be selected as UB's provost. This is an opportunity to join a very good institution that is a member of the Association of American Universities." Tripathi, graduated from Banaras Hindu University in 1968, has a doctorate in computer science from the University of Toronto in 1979 and holds three master's degrees -- one in computer science from the University of Toronto (1976) and two in statistics from the University of Alberta (1974) and Banaras Hindu University (1970). Tripathi has also been involved in substantial funded research. He has published more than 200 scholarly papers, supervised 25 doctoral students and served on program committees of numerous international conferences.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, April 24, 2004

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Diplomats from across the globe based in the capital, with a ringside view of the world's largest democratic exercise unfolding, say they are impressed. They all applaud the Indian -- be they from Western countries where elections are a part of life, from the Middle East where popular democracy is mostly an alien concept, or from Africa or in India's neighbourhood that face various challenges to the democratic system. "We look at the Indian elections with tremendous interest. The use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) across the country is particularly impressive," said David Kennedy, spokesman for the US embassy. There is no parallel in the world for the Indian elections because of the sheer numbers -- 675 million voters -- involved, he admitted. "This is the biggest exercise in democracy in the world. The Election Commission has to be applauded," Kennedy said. Another Western diplomat, who has seen previous elections in India too, said the polls were more orderly now. "People admire the process of election whatever they might think of the politicians. After all, how many countries have as many voters? The next probably is Russia with 150 million. India has more than four times that number," he noted. Most countries of the African continent, where winds of democracy have been blowing, are watching the Indian election process with interest. "We are celebrating 10 years of democracy and we have to thank India for performing midwifery to our democracy," admitted South African High Commissioner ME Nkoana-Mashabane.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times, April 24, 2004

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Two educational institutions that train people in India and Latin America to be environmental stewards will share the 2004 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement. India's Barefoot College and the Red Latinoamericana de Botanica, a consortium active in six Latin American countries, will split the USD 200,000 prize, awarded annually by University of Southern California (USC) to individuals or groups associated with significant environmental accomplishments, university officials said yesterday. The prize, which includes a gold medal, was created in 1973. Barefoot College works to enhance the quality of life for the rural poor of India by providing education in animal husbandry, alternative power generation and health care, according to USC.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times, April 21, 2004

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With over 200 of the 'Fortune 500' companies recruiting from Indian campuses regularly, the government now plans to establish India as a brand in the higher education sector and grab the attention of global education community. The education sector over the years has become sizable and is a growing business across the globe. "Education these days contributes to a great extent to any country's foreign exchange earnings. Estimates show that almost 1.8 million students are studying outside their home country worldwide and important factors considered by students looking for international education options are cost, proximity and overlap with their cultural values. "Under these circumstances, India offers a friendly environment, cultural diversity and best value for money option to students from SARRC, Middle East and South East Asia", Motwani adds. Educationalists here say with its vast and developed network of 300 universities of higher learning and over 15,000 colleges in the field of engineering, IT, Bio-Technology, Management, Medicine, Agriculture, pharmacy and other numerous options in almost all fields, India has an edge over other developing countries. According to statistics while India has a potential to afford about 50,000 foreign students in next couple of years, presently only about 10,000 are studying in India.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, April 20, 2004

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Two Bhopal women, Rashida Bee and Champa Devi Shukla, who have defied social norms, poverty and sickness in a quest to hold Dow Chemical Company accountable for the 1984 Union Carbide disaster that killed more than 20,000 people in India, are being honoured on Monday as environmental champions.

Courtesy: The Asian Age, April 20, 2004

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NRI steel industrialist Lakshmi Mittal has emerged as the UK's fifth richest person in 2004 with assets worth 3.5 billion pounds - an increase of 2.19 billion pounds in one year. The Hinduja brothers -Srichand and Gopichand, Chairman and President of the Hinduja group respectively - come 11th with assets worth 2.1 billion pounds as against 1.836 billion pounds in the previous year, the Sunday Times rich list 2004 declared today. The assets of Lord Swraj Paul and family have been assessed at 100 million pounds and he is listed as 384th among the 1,000 richest people in the country. Roman Abramovich, 37, the Russian tycoon who bought Chelsea Football Club last summer and now has homes in London's Belgravia and West Sussex, tops the list with a fortune calculated at 7.5 billion pounds.

Courtesy: The Indian Express, April 19, 2004

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India is now planning to take a leaf out of the American book to popularise India as a higher education destination. Educational Consultants India Limited, EDCIL, an education PSU, is now going to aggressively market institutions like the 17 National Institutes of Technology, Jamia Milia Islamia, Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad, Atal Bihari Indian Institute of Information Technology & Management, Gwalior, National Institute of Foundry and Forge Technology, Ranchi, North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology, Itanagar to students in Asia and Africa.

Average cost of Bachelors' course (tuition fees and living costs) in $

India has hardly on the radar of foreign students--at present there are only 10,000 full time foreign students in India. Contrast that to the odd Indian students who went to the US alone to pursue higher studies. But EDCIL is hardly daunted by the numbers. Mr AK Motwani, director (technical) says that one reason why foreign students haven't looked at India is because "we have not aggressively promoted India as a destination.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, April 17, 2004

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The Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) is headed for Cannes. And, it is putting up the India Pavilion at the cream of film festivals again. The pavilion will come up at the Croisette, a building behind the Palais de Festivals, which is the hub of fest. This premier event is unfolding from May 12-22. By a rough reckoning, one needs to cough up anywhere around half a crore to pick up 100 sq m of space at the Croisette. This time, seven Indian movie outfits are participating at the India Pavilion. The names include Bollywood distributor CA Films, Narender Hirawat & Co., London-based Indian producer and distributor Inspired Movies, the Hinduja-owned In Network Entertainment, the Government of Goa, Sun Stone Entertainment and Mid-Day Multimedia.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, April 16, 2004

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The campaign by some Indian hospitals to woo patients in Britain has got a boost with a patient returning here satisfied to declare, "They (doctors in a Goa hospital) really put the NHS to shame." Alex Cooperwhite, 56, was suffering extreme pain due to an invertebral disc prolapse. He repeatedly sought advice but nothing seemed to help him. Coopwerwhite scoured the internet and found details of a private hospital in Goa, which claimed to specialise in the treatment of spinal problems. He flew to Goa last December and was admitted to the Apollo NSUI hospital. Unlike in the NHS, where patents have to queue up for months, Cooperwhite was operated upon immediately. He was told "right away" that the pain could definitely be cured. He returned less than a month after getting operated on Boxing Day.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times, April 15, 2004

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I flew into Dubai a few days ago and have been spending the week in the United Arab Emirates, my second trip to this country in three months. It gladdened my heart to see two Indians making it to the front pages of the local newspapers in Dubai on the strength of positive news. One of them was Lakshmi Narain Mittal, the London-based steel baron, who has just bought in London what is being billed as the "world's most expensive house". Located in London's posh Kensington district, the palatial house has garage space for 20 cars - that's enough to tell you how large the house and its grounds are. Mittal reportedly bought the villa for a cool 70 million pounds, a figure likely to be accepted by the Guinness Book of World Records as the highest price ever paid for a private residential property worldwide. Some 20 odd years ago, I was in London when shipping magnate, Ravi Tikkoo created news by buying a villa in Hampstead for over a million pounds after taking only two minutes to inspect the property. Tikkoo was quoted as having said: "I can't afford to spend more than two minutes on a decision involving only a million pounds!"

Indian Philanthropy Reaches Dubai

The other Indian industrialist featured in local news in this part of the world was Mr B.K. Birla, still going strong as an octogenarian. Birla and his wife Sarala were in Doha, the capital city of Qatar, this week to formally inaugurate a school funded by one of their family philanthropies. Called Birla Public School, it marks the overseas expansion of the family's investment in education. Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman al Thani of Qatar, who is the school's patron, has hailed the establishment of this new school as "another feather in the cap of the Birla Group". This is very true. As I've remarked in this column before, the Birla family is one that takes its educational philanthropies very seriously indeed. For this, it deserves high praise.

Courtesy: The Asian Age, April 15, 2004

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As a report in The Wall Street Journal argues, it's also for the sheer quality of the talent available in India. Indeed, there's a palpable shift towards Indiashoring for better brainpower as well as lower cost. One theatre where this is evident is the chip business . Initially, while chip designing was done in the US, labour-intensive assembly operations were shifted to Asian countries. But now, many of these companies are nurturing designers in India and elsewhere in Asia. Locally-owned chip-design companies are also springing up. Among them is Naveed Sherwani, a former Intel executive, who has set up a chip design centre in India for his Silicon Valley start-up, Open Silicon. Sure, made-in-India designs are simple ones and are not yet threatening the US semiconductor industry seriously. The number of chip design pros in India is estimated at between 3,000 and 5,000 - compared to between 40,000 and 50,000 in the US. As studies show, about India produces about 129,000 engineering graduates a year, second only to China's 195,000 and way ahead of Japan (103,400), Russia (82,400), US (61,000) and South Korea (45,100). And with the numbers is coming quality: the widely-held notion that American engineers are real engineers, while Indians are code-monkeys at best, may be under threat now. Indian grey cells - and not just their modest wallet expectations - have sure got the world's headhunters interested.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, April 14, 2004

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Yash P. Gupta, who boosted enrollment and led a building campaign as dean of the University of Washington Business School, is leaving to take a similar post at the University of Southern California. Gupta, hired away from Colorado in 1999, told business faculty members on March 30 he had accepted an offer to become dean of the Marshall School of Business at the school in Los Angeles in July. "It will be tough to leave," Gupta said. "I feel very sentimental about it." In Los Angeles, the USC made an official announcement of the appointment of Gupta, 51. His appointment is effective July 1. "Yash's appointment follows an extensive search for the very best individual to lead the USC Marshall School in the 21st century," Lloyd Armstrong Jr., provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, said in a statement. "He brings with him both an impressive track record of taking business schools to their next levels and a vision of what it takes to educate business leaders of the future."

Courtesy: The Economic Times, April 12, 2004

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Eminent scientist and Director-General of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, R.A. Mashelkar, said that if India plays its cards well, it could become the world's Number One knowledge production centre by the year 2025. Speaking at the 55th convocation of Aligarh Muslim University here, Dr. Mashelkar said a silent revolution was taking place in India which could ensure that the country becomes a global research, design, and development centre. More than 100 companies around the world have set up their research and development centres in India during the last five years, he said. Dr. Mashelkar also observed that during the last three years over 25,000 professionals have come back from the US. Of these 90 per cent were IT professionals. Many of them have opted to work in their companies in India rather than in the US.

Courtesy: The Hindu, April 10, 2004

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In a move to take the leading global business consulting outfits head-on, Infosys has set up a separate consulting company called Infosys Consulting Inc. The new firm, incorporated in Texas, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Infosys. It has four founding members and an initial investment of $20 million. For the consulting entity, Infosys has managed to rope in senior consultants with a wealth of experience. Stephen Pratt, managing director and CEO of Infosys Consulting, comes with 12 years of experience with Deloitte Consulting. Other three founders and managing directors of the firm are: Paul Cole, former leader of global operations at CapGemini Ernst&Young (CGE&Y); Raj Joshi, former CEO of Deloitte Offshore; and Romil Bahl, former leader of EDS's 5,000-person consulting practice. With the setting up of the consulting firm, Infosys expects twin benefits. For one, it could become a serious player in consulting, attracting the huge premiums this business commands. On the other, it will create local jobs in the US, and help counter the anti-outsourcing tirade. Infosys has long realised the importance of having a strong consulting practice, and had set one up in house five years ago. Its earnings from consulting business in the last three quarters of the current fiscal have been around 4-4.5 per cent of the overall revenues. At Infosys Consulting, top consulting talent is being combined with the world's best global delivery model, he added. While Infosys has a record for innovative business moves, the fundamental reason behind the creation of the consulting firm appears to be the cultural mismatch between consultants and software professionals. Most consultants view software engineers as nerds. So, having a distinct consulting identity helps. Also the 'pizza culture' consultants do not gel well with the conservative Infosys image. Nilekani said Infosys's focus is on creating local jobs. He alluded to the Expert acquisition in Australia and Infosys's forays into China and Canada as examples for creating local presence.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, April 09, 2004

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The first Jammu-Udhampur train will be formally inaugurated on April 13, more than 20 years after Indira Gandhi laid the foundation for the project. The winding 54.85 km track tells a story of human determination, of toil against the elements, of how the mountains were tamed and rivers parted. It needs just a ride through the first tunnel for one to understand why the Jammu-Udhampur Rail Link Project took so long to complete. This is a project that has broken many records. It has the longest tunnel, the highest compacted embankment and the highest railway bridge in the country. At the end of each of the 20 tunnels, covering 10.28 km, and the 158 bridges spanning 5.16 km, there are engineers, labourers and Northern Railway officers who narrate their own story about one of the country's biggest technical marvels. One of the highlights of the rail link is a 2.5 km-long tunnel. This engineering marvel snatches the title of the country's longest tunnel from the Jawahar Tunnel which connects Jammu with Kashmir by road. The link has also given the country its highest fully compacted embankment which stands at a height of 42 metres and the highest railway bridge at 77 metres in the Gambhir area.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times, April 04, 2004

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In a major economic initiative with the two neighbours with which India has a difficult relationship, the Confederation of Indian Industry has decided to open offices in Karachi and Dhaka. These will be the first CII offices in South Asia after the one in Kathmandu was shut down some years ago. The decision is part of the new thinking in the foreign policy establishment to use economics to drive political ties with other countries, particularly the ones with which India has long-standing tensions. CII officials are currently in Pakistan and Bangladesh to discuss logistics. Top industrial houses like Godrej, Triveni and Hero will be represented in the delegation. In addition, Dr Naresh Trehan of Escorts will represent the health sector, Bollywood producer Subhash Ghai the films and entertainment field and Hari Bharatiya of Jubilant the life sciences sector. The CII has also organised a joint seminar with the Pakistani newspaper group Jang. The thrust of the initiative is to concentrate on imports from Pakistan and Bangladesh, rather than exports. Although eventually it is hoped that two-way trade will flourish, for the moment the CII will focus on what India can buy from these countries.

Courtesy: The Asian Age, April 1, 2004

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The Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), located amidst the sand dunes of Rajasthan, has got itself a technology makeover. A fully wired campus and a state of the art VLSI lab, courtesy an ex-students network, places BITS among the top 20 wired organisations in the country. BITS now wants to leverage on this infrastructure to grow academic-industry cooperation and seed entrepreneurship. Neuron has wired up all areas of the campus. More than 25 km of cables, 4000 voice grad 10/100 access points, 220 networking switches and 150Km of CAT 5 structured cabling. Neuron's architecture, say members of BITS alumni association, was designed in two nine-hour sessions. Digging in the desert heat of 45+ degrees celsius to lay underground cables and specially fabricating racks that can protect networking equipment from dust and heat were the challenges. BITS is also banking on the state of the art distributed VLSI lab called OLAB to generate intellectual property (IP) in the semiconductor arena. OLAB connects all BITS campuses -- Pilani, Goa and Dubai and its extension centre in Bangalore. OLAB makes BITS much better equipped to foster relationships with industry. Any technology that a startup company develops can be created much faster in a University as multiple departments, offering diverse range of expertise can pool knowledge.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, April 1, 2004

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Five physicians of Indian origin have been recognised for their leadership qualities at a training programme conducted by the American Medical Association (AMA). Rajendra Gupta of New Jersey, Marella Hanumadass of Chicago, Nick Shroff and Nalin Tolia of Texas, and P K Vedanthan of Colorado were among the 10 physicians selected by the AMA for the award at a Leadership Training Programme in Washington DC in March. The AMA, the largest organisation representing doctors in the US, has a membership of 240,000 of which 40,000 are international medical graduates (IMGs). "At the instance of the AMA-IMG section, this year for the first time, 10 outstanding IMGs were selected for a similar recognition. Five out of them are physicians of Indian origin," Jayasankar said. "Each of them is a leader in the truest sense of the word and has done so much for so many. I know they will mentor the many whose lives they will touch," he asserted.

Courtesy: The Times Of India, April 1, 2004

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Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur has finally hit the millionaires' league, with a fortune of £4 million. Kapur, the man behind the Oscar-winning Elizabeth and the West End musical Bombay Dreams, made a grand entry to the exclusive club of the Asian Rich List released here on Wednesday morning. The official record of 300 wealthiest Asians in the UK, which is topped by London-based steel tycoon Lakshmi N. Mittal with a wealth of £3.5 billion, has been compiled by Dr Philip Beresford, author of the Sunday Times Rich List. He has calculated the combined wealth of these 300 millionaires, which includes the likes of author Salman Rushdie, at £14.3 billion, an overall increase of £6 billion from last year. The Hinduja brothers are this year's runners-up but have actually improved their fortunes despite looming court cases and continuing controversy. "It has without doubt been a good year for G.P. and S.P. Hinduja, with an overall increase in their net worth of £1.3 billion," says the author. The biggest new entry - Anil Agarwal - comes storming in to the rich list at number four. Mr Agarwal restructured his operations and created a new holding company, Vedanta Resources, early last year. He has now taken up residence in London's posh Mayfair area and is worth nearly £540 million. "The determination and hard work of these business men and women shows that no amount of racism, terror or political turmoil can deter them from the path they have clearly forged for themselves. Their commitment to providing better futures for their families, community and ultimately the UK's economy, over the past 30 odd years has paid off," said Dr Avtar Lit, chairman of Sunrise Radio and sponsor of the list.

Courtesy: The Asian Age, April 01, 2004