• Chicken Tikka: The True British Dish
• Indian Whizkids Take on the World
• India Making its Mark as Medical Tourist Hub
• Award for 2 Tata Steel Staff
• Indiatimes is India's Site No. 1
• Tarun Das Bags Singapore National Daw Award
• Indian Indelible Ink for Afghan Elections
• Indian Pros Acquire Global Loose Morals
• UN Award for Jaipur - Based NGO

• Bharat Desai's Syntel is Richest Small Business in US
• The 7 Secrets Behind IITians' Global Success
• Gandhi in South Africa List
• Indian Restaurant Owner Wins Award
• ICICI Bank Best Bank in India: Euromoney
• 'India has More Millionaires than China'
• Biotechnology: The Revolution Begins
• India Home to No. 1 Online Poker Site

Bharat Desai's Syntel, a Nasdaq-listed computer and data services company, has been named the richest small business company in the US by Fortune magazine. Desai's total ownership value in the company has been estimated at $550 million. With its headquarters in Troy, Michigan, Syntel was co-founded by Desai with a savings of $2,000 in 1980 along with Neerja Sethi, now its vice-president. Bharat Desai, its chief executive and chairperson, has a master's in business administration from the University of Michigan. The company provides customised outsourcing solutions in IT and related services and has over 4,000 employees in 23 locations including Chennai, Mumbai and Pune. A 40-acre campus to house some 9,000 software engineers in 12 buildings over the next few years was launched recently at Pune, Maharashtra. The company was an early bird in outsourcing development work from India when it established its global development centre in Mumbai in 1992. It crossed $50 million in revenues in 1994, $100 million in 1997 - when it launched its initial public offer and was listed on Nasdaq - and $179 million in 2003.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times, September 29, 2004

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Rajat Gupta: Former Managing Director of McKinsey & Co
Arun Sarin: Chief Executive of Vodafone Group PLC
Victor Menezes: Senior Vice Chairman of Citigroup Inc.
Kanwal Rekhi: Venture Capitalist and Founder of Excelan Inc.
Rono Dutta: Chief Executive of Air Sahara
Rakesh Gangwal: Former Chief Executive of US Airways
Vinod Khosla: Partner in Kleiner Perkins Caulfield

Guess what do these stalwarts have in common? They are all products of the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology which is gradually becoming a synonym for skill, talent, knowledge and expertise. The IITs are churning out top-notch engineers with a regularity that thrills corporations around the world. These government-sponsored institutes are considered the best in India, and their alumni can be found in the top executive positions in companies across the globe. According to the recent estimates, 25,000 IIT graduates are currently employed in the US, out of which, some of them have also turned entrepreneurs, who have seen their net worth grow almost overnight to mind boggling millions or even billions of dollars. Such is the success record of the IITians worldwide. Each year the six IITs have more names making to the who's who list in the US business community than any other Indian institution, and most American universities as well. Ashutosh Roy, Gunjan Sinha, Suhas S Patil, Arjun Malhotra, Vinod Gupta are some of the IITians who have hit it big as entrepreneurs abroad. However, many more can be added to the unending list. "Brand IIT is, by now, so well established that in the future too, the IIT graduates will continue to be successful," says Nandan Nilekani, CEO, Infosys, while speaking to The Wall Street Journal. Nilekani graduated from IIT Bombay in 1978. "IITians", the name itself evokes some prototypes. They have the required skill, experience, imagination and enthusiasm to make it to the top. "Being from an IIT background has contributed to a great extent", says Rahul Pandey, an IIT Roorkee product, who is currently employed with HPCL. The training at IIT is very vigorous, and so is the selection process. "The JEE is the toughest undergraduate entrance exam of its kind in the world, and it acts as a guillotine at the IITs' entrance," says Sandipan Deb, author of "The IITians" while speaking to The Wall Street Journal . Finally, the experience of staying on campus is also crucial in building interpersonal skills and in providing students with leadership qualities. Even as IIT and other engineering schools enjoy global attention, students hold a different point of view. Few students prefer to pursue US degree as the course curriculum is wider and not limited to just engineering.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, September 29, 2004

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Chicken tikka masala has already been hailed as 'Britain's true national dish' and now Indian food is also taking the takeaway route in the curry conscious country. In fact, the demand for Indian takeaway fast foods is growing so fast that it could even be giving the top end restaurants a run for money in the coming years. The demand in the takeaway sector is increasing tremendously. People are entertaining at home a lot and the cost of eating out is much higher than last year. People are demanding restaurant quality food in their homes, and are willing to pay premium rates for the same. With so many young people working in the inner city area with little time to spare or the initiative to cook, the concept of Indian fast food is catching on. It could, at some point of time, even outgrow the restaurant business in levels of revenue. Another big player in the segment is Tiffinbites, a company with an annual turnover of 4 million pounds, within a short span of two years. Says Jamal Hirani, CEO and founder Tiffinbites: "The Indian food market in the UK is well established with over 10,000 Indian restaurants and take-aways. The use of a traditional tiffin box has meant that Indian food is finally packaged in an innovative way that also has a lot of history attached to it. Over 50% of our customers are Indians and this has helped greatly to validate our authenticity to the non-Indian consumer." While the sector is still largely unbranded and unstructured, there are various players who are ready to get into the niche market.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, September 28, 2004

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Mahatma Gandhi has been chosen as one of the 'top ten South Africans' along with former president Nelson Mandela by the country's national broadcaster for his campaign against apartheid.

Courtesy: The Pioneer, September 28, 2004

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Forty-eight children, each brilliant in his own right, are in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, representing India in the Fifth World Social Intellectual and Progressive (SIP) Abacus competition. This is the first time that an Indian squad comprising of school children aged between six and 12 is representing the country at the international event that started on September 26. "Till last year we were not ready for an international competition, but we had some national competitions. So, we finished the national competition in July. This is for the first time we are taking part in international competition. So this is going to be a new experience for all the children and the surprising thing is that children are coming even from small towns not just from Chennai," said Dinesh Victor, the director of the SIP Academy. The competition involves eight rounds in which the children do the calculations through `Abacus', a Greek instrument with beads that also helps to improve concentration besides mathematical calculations. After some practice, the children learn to calculate at the speed of thought and thus don't need the instrument any more. The participating kids say that they have worked hard to make a mark on the international stage, but not by putting their regular studies on the line. "My ranks have improved and our instructor has told us to do the maths fast and also to concentrate on the studies," nine-year-old Keshav, one of the kids representing India at the international stage, told reporters. Parents are no less enthusiastic about their wards mastery over numbers. "He will do very fast, actually multiplication and division he will do even before you can do it within seconds," said Padma, the mother of one of the selected students.

Courtesy: The Times of India, September 28, 2004

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The Indian healthcare industry is growing at a rate of 30 percent a year. Recognising the country's wealth in both traditional and modern facilities, the government is promoting India as a medical tourist hub. Eleven-year-old Sheehan from Oman was told by doctors there that she was a step away from paralysis of her lower limbs. The cyst on her knee, they said, would soon prevent her from walking as it was due to an incurable disease. Sheehan's family decided to seek treatment abroad and their search led them to India. At the Madras Institute of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, her near-complete cure has brought relief to her family. At any time, about one-third of the patients at the Institute are non-Indians. India's healthcare system, it appears, has found favour with foreign patients looking for medical care, whether urgent or elective. Surgery in India can cost as little as one-tenth that in the US, UK or Europe. But the lower charges, medical professionals here are quick to stress, does not mean compromised care. The private sector already sees medical tourism as an industry with tremendous potential for growth. And by next year, the Indian medical industry will be ready to move into outsourcing to relieve overburdened medical institutions in Western countries, which are facing severe staff shortages. As many as 40,000 new jobs are expected to be created. The attractions include Ayurveda -- the centuries old Indian science of natural therapy -- yoga, massages and meditation.

Courtesy: Channel News Asia International, September 27, 2004

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Tata Steel employees, Mr Prashant Kumar and Mr Shiva Prakash Rao, of the company's Procurement division has been declared the winners of this year's Maple Leaf Award. The International Federation of Purchasing and Materials Management (IFPMM) has announced this award for the paper titled "Value Creation through Strategic Sourcing" presented by them. The team from Tata Steel has made its way to the worldwide finals by clearing regional and national competition. The team will be invited to participate in the annual convention of IFPMM in China in 2005. The Maple Leaf Award is an international award organised through an annual competition amongst authors who have written actual and future oriented papers concerning the materials management profession and its development.

Courtesy: The Hindu Business Line, September 24, 2004

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Surfers have once again proved that Indiatimes.com is their destination of choice when it comes to any online activity, be it news, ecommerce, chatting or dating. Indiatimes.com now gets the highest number of pageviews among all Indian sites across all website categories, much ahead of rediff.com, hindustantimes.com, msn.co.in, yahoo.co.in, ndtv.com and sify.com. The ratings have been compiled by Ranking.com, a US-based market research firm, which conducts research upon a statistically, geographically and demographically significant number of Internet surfers by measuring the unique visitors, page views and link popularity of a website. By recording surfers' website visits, Ranking.com calculates the ranking for the top 900,000 most-visited websites. Indiatimes.com is ranked 138 internationally, and records almost 1 billion pageviews per month. Interestingly, it is placed way above international stalwarts like msn.co.in, yahoo.co.in. "The Times Group has always believed in occupying the top position in every endeavour. Indiatimes being the top Indian website is yet another affirmation of our conviction to be the best in the industry," says Vineet Jain, Managing Director, Times Group. Indiatimes has always been the preferred online destination when it comes to anything and everything about India. This ranking just vindicates our claim that we are the No. 1 site in India," says Mahendra Swarup, CEO of Times Internet Limited.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, September 24, 2004

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A young Asian entrepreneur of Indian origin, who started an Indian restaurant in Britain has scooped the prestigious Asian Business Award. The Punjabi Music Dance Academy also received the award. Restaurateur Rajpal Atwal collected the best business start-up prize, after setting up the India Gates restaurant at Bilston, Wolverhampton. He was a complete novice in the hospitality trade but built it into a successful concern and is now looking to expand.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, September 20, 2004

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The Singapore Government has chosen Tarun Das, chief mentor of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), for the prestigious Singapore National Day Award for 2004. The public service medal -- one of Singapore's most prestigious award -- is given to outstanding international personalities in recognition of their support and contribution to the country's economy, a CII statement said here. The medal will be handed over to Das by Singapore President S R Nathan in November this year. "Das has been chosen for this unique honour for his contribution to strengthening economic ties between India and Singapore," it said.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, September 17, 2004

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ICICI Bank has won the 'Best Bank in India - 2004' award instituted by Euromoney magazine. The award is a benchmark for high-quality products and services across all areas of commercial and investment banking, ICICI Bank said in a release here on Tuesday. ICICI Bank's results for fiscal 2003 speak for themselves. The second largest bank is the best managed bank in India, the release added.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, September 15, 2004

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Indian indelible ink will be used during the coming elections in Afghanistan. A consignment of 50,000 indelible ink marker pens was handed over by India's Ambassador to Afghanistan, Vivek Katju, to the Chairman of the Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB), Zakim Shah, in Kabul today. "As the world's largest democracy with a proud record of conducting free and fair elections, India will be happy to share its experience and extend all cooperation to the JEMB as it proceeds with the important task of ascertaining the will of the Afghan people in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of Afghanistan," a press release issued by the External Affairs Ministry quoted Mr. Katju as saying in Kabul.

Courtesy: The Hindu, September 15, 2004

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India was ahead of China in producing millionaires as the Communist giant witnessed a rise of only 12 per cent in the number of wealthy persons in the year 2003 compared to its neighbour's 22 per cent. China had about 2,36,000 wealthy people in 2003, a rise of 12 per cent over the previous year, while the number of millionaires in India rose by 22 per cent in the same period, a report compiled by the Merrylin group said. The wealth is calculated on assets, excluding housing, and the total assets of the Chinese average US $ 4.1 million, Shenzen Economic Daily reported yesterday, quoting a report in the Guangzhou-based 21st Business Herald.

Courtesy: The Indian Express, September 15, 2004

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Rajahmundry to Seattle with a stopover in Bangalore. This is not a flight schedule. Instead, it maps the career itinerary of software engineer Anand Chakravarthy. Hailing from a small town in Andhra Pradesh and having studied in the local government school, the tech pro has come a long way. From a nondescript, calm and laidback small town to a professional career with global exposure, the eldest of 3 siblings epitomises the new age tech professional, thanks to a career that transcends all geographical barriers, tech professionals from the country's back and beyond are now going places. With globalization bridging distances and the country becoming more than just a dot on the world map, Indian tech professionals are on the move. And as the transition from local to national and global level takes place, there is a process of change that takes place at different level.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, September 15, 2004

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The Jaipur-based Centre for Development Communication has been selected by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) for the 2004 Scroll of Honour award in recognition of its contribution to the improvement in the living conditions of slum dwellers in the Rajasthan capital. The CDC has been engaged in the municipal solid waste management since 1997, supplementing the Municipal Corporation's efforts in the face of growing urbanisation. The non-Government organisation runs a daily door-to-door waste collection programme involving rag-pickers and labourers. The service introduced on a modest scale in Jaipur with 2,000 houses has been growing continuously and the CDC is now working in six cities across the country, catering to nearly 20-lakh households. Rag-pickers who spent their life rummaging through debris with bare hands at foul-smelling and unhygienic places have been absorbed into the venture on a large scale.

Courtesy: The Hindu, September 14, 2004

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The Indian biotechnology industry is gaining momentum. With revenues of over $700 million (Rs. 3,265 crores) in 2003-04, the fledgling industry, despite all hurdles, is well on its way to cross the psychological barrier of $1 billion in the current year. It is poised to leverage its scientific skills and technical expertise to make a global impact from a strong innovation led platform. There are 40 National Research Laboratories in the country employing 15,000 scientists. There are more than 300 college level educational and training institutes offering degrees and diplomas in biotechnology, bio-informatics and the biological sciences, producing nearly five lakh students annually. There are over 100 medical colleges churning out 17,000 medical practitioners a year. Given this skilled resource pool, India is in a good position to create a sustainable biotechnology business. The sector is gradually building critical mass both in terms of infrastructure and markets. There have been many significant developments in this sector over the last few years. The year 2004 is proving to be a watershed year for Indian biotechnology: it witnessed the sector's first IPO being oversubscribed over 30 times indicating overwhelming investor interest in this new segment. The year will see three mega biotech events: BioAsia, Bangalore Bio and CII's India Biotech, apart from summits addressing global partnering, drug discovery, biogenerics, genomics and other biotech areas. Other important statistics include: the vaccine producers from India (Serum Institute, Bharat Biotech, Shantha Biotechnics, Panacea Biotech, Wockhardt, Bharat Immunologicals and a few others) command a global leadership position which has been well recognised by international organisations such as the World Health Organisation, The Gates Foundation and others. Biogenerics is another area where Indian companies are rapidly gaining a global vantage position. Given this impressive backdrop, biotechnology is certainly the next big frontier for the Indian economy. The current market size is estimated at Rs. 6,500 crores ($1.5 billion) encompassing agri, pharma and industrial biotechnology. India's efforts to attain a leadership position in biotechnology look achievable given the human biodiversity that exists here. This offers unique human gene pools as powerful as those of Iceland, for exclusive genomic and pharmaco-genomic studies. Indian companies have a golden opportunity to unravel high value IPR by way of disease-linked genes and the diagnostic and therapeutic products emanating thereof. For example, thalessemia is a genetic disease prevalent in many inbred Indian societies. Given the proper approach, India can convert the disadvantage of a diseased population into a strong research advantage, which can translate into therapies and cures for thousands in India and others across the globe. India's plant and microbial biodiversities also provide a treasure trove for drug discovery. Many of the international pharma majors have collaborative HTS (high-throughput screening) programmes with universities worldwide and are now entering into similar prospecting partnerships with several Indian companies. Added to this is India's inherent knowledge base of ayurvedic and unani medicine, which offer a unique mining opportunity for new drug molecules. India's vast and diverse disease and patient population also provides an enormous clinical development opportunity. The cost of drug development is largely attributed to the cost of conducting clinical trials. Indian CROs (Clinical Research Organisations) have an opportunity to access the $10 billion global market for clinical trials. The presence of a large talent pool of medical and para-medical professionals is conducive to building a strong clinical development infrastructure. International CROs have already recognised this opportunity and have set up operations in anticipation of policy changes that will enable clinical trials to be carried out in India on equivalent lines of those conducted elsewhere. There thus exists an exciting opportunity for biotech companies in the U.S. and Europe to forward integrate their drug development programmes at lower cost and shorter time lines in India which would provide them with a lower cost validation option over trials conducted in the more expensive research environs of the west. The biotechnology sector is already showcasing India's potential to attaining leadership in vaccine production, genetically modified crops and clinical development.

Courtesy: The Hindu, September 06, 2004

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Here's some good news for the geeky minds. If you thought software development in India is limited only to writing intelligent programs here's an update. India, which has made its mark as an IT hub, is also making strides in the gaming arena, especially poker. PartyPoker.com is a major example of the country's entrepreneurial skills. The site is at the helm of the growing popularity of online poker. First some facts... Empire Poker together with Partypoker, based in India, has the world's largest online poker room. There are around 35,000 players online playing recently and the number is growing every day, according to home.iprimus.com.au. The daily average of real money players is around 20,000. This is obviously due to the sites marketing campaign that has been extensive. Sources in the online poker industry have indicated that this site is expected to grow to 100,000 online players during the next year or so. For a bigger picture, the average number of tournament contestants playing poker for real money online has jumped from about 1,500 per hour to more than 14,000, according to PokerPulse.com, a Vancouver company that tracks people and money at 19 leading sites around the world. The average number of paying players in non-tournament games jumped from 2,500 to more than 11,000, since 2003.

Courtesy: The Economic Times, September 06, 2004

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