DIASPORA CONNECT - Nri Achievers - Nri Achievers

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March 2014 ` 50

voluMe 2 issue 6

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Feedback

Give maximum on nRi achieveRsThough I still do not know why, something draws me to your magazine, of which I am a regular reader. The way you started the magazine and the way I started reading this magazine I was thinking that you and your team are in-novative in a way, but now I am finding it a bit monotonous. I would suggest you to kindly give maximum articles and information on NRI Achievers because the name of your magazine is NRI Achievers. So, it should speak about the same ...

Kuljeet Singh Jalandhari, Toronto, Canada

L et t e r s M at t e r

PBD issue was amazinGI recently moved to Delhi and picked up a hard-copy of NRI ACHIEVERS at my local store. Earlier, I have been a reader of your e-zine. Reading it cover to cover for the last few months, I’ve found it to be one of the most informative, entertaining and delightful periodical I have come across. When it needs to make me updated, it does so. When it needs to inform me, it does. When it needs to tell me things I would like to know, it does that too. Your last PBD issue was amazing. The Business Buzz is intelligent and In-formative but It is missing since last a few issues, I don't know way. While I’m not into movies or the local theatre, I enjoy reading the entertain-ment pages with so much current chitchat. Please do not ever change your format. The staff at the magazine has to be so proud of what they are doing for the readers, and I commend each and every one of you for your dedication and honesty in what you print each month.

Nithi Ramchandran, Delhi

i like GlamouRI wanted to share my views on one of the most important sections of your magazine as it tells us about the NRIs who have achieved great heights of success by doing different things, and are raising the tricolour flag of India all around the world. Though very much a na-tionalist sort of a person by heart, I am a little mischie-vous and like glamour. So requesting you to take care of feelings of people like me by adding more articles on glamour, sex, fashion and entertainment. Here's to hoping we will see more of these soon. Thanks ...

Akhlaq Ali, Hydrabad, Andhra Pradesh

lookinG foRwaRD?Dear Editor, I am sure several readers like me regularly subscribe your monthly editions of NRI ACHIEVERS and looking forward for news on the worlds of entertainment, business and investment. However, it looks that time and again you have different priorities whatsoever the reasons.

Abhi Chaturvedi, Mmbai

Best maGazine in the woRlD!

“I wish to show my apprecia-tion for the efforts of the NRI Achievers team into putting in printing this magazine, and making it so beautiful. I was delighted with the con-tent and also very impressed with the quality of the re-search work done by you and your team. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to read an excellent magazine that is read by many influen-tial people” Good Luck ...

Advika Sangtani, Karachi, Pakistan

TIMES NOW aNNOuNcES aWard fOr GlObal INdIaNS

With their grit and perseverance, Non Resident Indians have achieved tremendous success in various fields in the countries they have chosen to adapt as their homes. Many NRIs are accomplished politicians, scientists, sportsmen, businessmen, professionals and academicians in various countries.

To recognize the successful Indians globally and to celebrate their achievements, TIMES NOW, India’s No. 1 English News channel from Times Group, India’s largest media conglomerate and with a presence in over 75 countries has announced its new international initiative awarding the successful NRIs around the world. This award will be open to any Non Resident Indian (NRI), Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) and Per-son of Indian origin (PIO) who has resided in USA, Canada, Singapore, UK, Middle East including Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait for a minimum of 2 years and will have a five tier evaluation process managed by Ernst & Young.

The First Edition of the NRI of the Year awards will be held at a glittering ceremony in Mumbai in March 2014. The various episodes of the Awards including winner profiles will be broadcast on Times Now in its global feeds in over 75 countries.

The Awards will be given in 6 different categories – Entrepreneur, Professional, Student, Arts/ Entertainment, Philanthropy and Social Good and contribution to India. The nominations are open on www.nrioftheyear.com and close on 5th February 2014.

The start of the nomination process has been announced with a highly intensive multi-media marketing campaign including print, radio, online, social and on-ground across various countries.

The Nominations process is supported by various organizations around the world including Federation of Indian Associations (FIA), New York & Tri- State, Singapore India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI), Singapore India Business Association(SIMDA), British Asian Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) and TiE, Singapore among other Indian regional language associations.

About tIMES NoWTIMES NOW, India’s No. 1 English News channel from Times Television Network is a part of India’s largest media conglomerate, The Times Group, the publishers of the World's Largest English Daily Newspaper, the Times of India. TIMES NOW delivers breaking news, analysis and debates with a credibile and unbiased ap-proach in bringing news and reportage to the viewers. Sharp, incisive and direct, it is the nation’s voice in news. It’s distinctive style and fearless approach makes it different from the others. TIMES NOW is available widely on leading DTH, Cable, IPTV and mobile platforms globally.

In the USA, TIMES NOW is available on DISH Network DTH and Dishworld IPTV in multiple packs (Hindi Mega Pack, Hindi Premium Pack, English News Pack, World News Pack, and also in the Indian Lan-guage Packs - Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Kannada, Urdu on Dishworld) . (EPG #709 )

In Singapore, TIMES NOW is available on MioTV in the basic pack and a part of the Desi Pack. (EPG #676 )

In the Middle East, TIMES NOW is available on EtisalatEvisionElife packages (EPG # 607), Qatar Tel-ecom Mosaic TV (EPG #139), Du IPTV and OSN Pehla Network Asian Variety and Prime (EPG #442 ).

In the UK, TIMES NOW is available LIVE on www.timesofindia.com/timesnow.tv

Edvertorial


march 20148

INSIDE

Silver Screen

AmitAbh bAchchAn

“i Am LEARninG

ActinG EVEn nOW”

Travelogue DhARAmShALA: DOORStEP OF DAZZLinG DhAULADhAR

HeriTage FEStiVAL OF cOLOURS WAtER, SticKS & SWORDS

STATEMENT ABOUT OWNERSHIP AND OTHER PARTICULARS OF NRI ACHIEVERS, DELHI, AS

REQUIRED UNDER RULE 8 OF THE REGISTRATION OF NEWSPAPERS (CENTRAL) RULES, 1956

FORM IV (SEE RULE 8)1. Place of Publication A-208, Weaver’s Colony, Ashok Vihar, Phase IV, Delhi 1100522. Periodicity of Its Publication Monthly3. Printer’s Name Rajeev Gupta Whether Citizen of India Yes Address 53, Nimri Colony, Phase I, Delhi 1100524. Publisher’s Name Rajeev Gupta Whether Citizen of India Yes Address 53, Nimri Colony, Phase I, Delhi 1100525. Editor Name Rajeev Gupta Whether Citizen of India Yes Address 53, Nimri Colony, Phase I, Delhi 1100526. Name & Address of Rajeev Gupta Individuals who 53, Nimri Colony, own the Phase I newspaper AND Delhi-110052 Shareholders holding more than One Percent of the total capital.I, Rajeev Gupta, hereby declare that the particulars given above are true to the best of my knowledge and belief. Sd/- Rajeev GuptaDate: March 1, 2014 Publisher

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AJAY SINGH(Former high commissioner, Fiji)RAJEEV GUPTAB.K. AGGARWAL CH. SUNIL OHLYANSUSHIL TAYALCHAKRAVARTHI SUCHINDRANJYOTHI VENKATESH (MUMBAI)SANJAY KUMAR (EUROPE)VINOD GOEL (NEW YORK, USA)AJAY AGGARWAL (U K)AJAY SOODRAJEEV TYAGI DR. RAJA VOHRARAJNI DUBEYSHYAMALBHARAT SINGALRAJKUMAR YADAVMOHAN MEHRASHIKHA CHOPRAR SHAKTIVEL (CHALLENGE)AR. VIVEK KHURANAMONIKAS.P. PANDEYSUCHI DINESHRAKESH RAHULSLM MEDIA SOLUTIONS PVT. [email protected] SOOD

EDITOR: RAJEEV GUPTAPRINTED, PUBLISHED & OWNED BYRAJEEV GUPTA, PUBLISHED FROMA-208, WEAVERS COLONY, ASHOK

VIHAR PHASE-IV, DELHI-110 052 AND PRINTED AT ROLLERACT PRESS SERVICES, C-163, GF NARAINA INDUSTRIAL AREA,

PH-I NEW DELHI-110 028

VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THE ARTICLES ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHORS, & NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS THOSE OF NRI ACHIEVERS OR ITS EDITORS.ALL DISPUTES ARE SUBJECT TOEXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION OFCOMPETENT COURT & FORUM IN DELHI.@ ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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PHIR BHI... MERA BHARAT MAHAAN

Editorial


march 2014 9

[email protected]

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Delhi once again has been a happening place over the last month, what with the city government abdicating, and the po-litical class spouting vitriol all over the

media channels and products in their attempt to get their election stands across. Campaigns and mega-rallies are the norm, with the standards of public debate touching a new nadir, even as accusations, counter-accusations, and choice insults are traded over the public domain. And whistlestop tours be-ing undertaken by both NaMo and RaGa to woo the populace for the mandate, each according to his own devices and manner and methods.

Away from all the frenetic activity on that front, we at NRI Achievers chose to take some time off to once again refocus on our agenda. Diaspora reach has been our focus right from day one, and so it re-

mains even now. However, while we adopted a content mix that would attempt to satisfy as many a palate as possible, it did sometimes result in some slips between cups and lips, as some readers did strive to point out to us via their feedback. So this time round, we have tried to specially reiterate that original focus, and are featuring a set of achievers who are all of Indian origin, irrespective of where they are in the world, in our cover story and special feature. And then we have tried to wrap our various keystone themes all around this main feature.

The elevation of Satya Nadella to the post of Microsoft's CEO has set in motion an interesting debate on Brain Drain and Brain Gain in many quarters. So much so that even a politician like Narendra Modi referrred to such in one of his election rallies, exhorting India to create precisely such opportunities here and build such mega-corporations right here within the domestic economy. All said and done, in one sense the priorities of the old diaspora who journeyed from our shores in the yesteryears almost a couple of centuries ago as indentured labour and choose to stay on in their host countries, and the priorities of today's new disapora, the ubuquitous NRI migrating in hordes to seek their El Dorados abroad, irrespective of whether they be white-collar MBAs and Engineers, or blue collar skilled/semi-skilled Artisan-Craftsmen, Turners, Fitters, Mechanics, Carpenters or Masons, the priorities still remain the same ... a yearning for a better life and a quest for better op-portunities.

We have attempted here to chart some life trajectories of diaspora achievers, from both the old and the new waves of migration, in a special feature we bring out beginning this edition, starting with an interaction with a fifth generation disapora, the High Commissioner of the Republic of Fiji to India. While it is true that all those we have featured are in a way the creme de la creme, and not the average NRI, PIO or OCI who remains largely unheard of and unsung about, be rest assured that this is but a beginning we make here, with all the intentions to further build this as a platform up to assimilate precisely that large segment of overseas Indians.

So it is our sincere request that you make the effort to connect with us and share your life experiences, your aspirations, your problems and your prospects with us. If you are reticent to write about yourselves, you could perforce share the stories, trails and tribulations of others who inspire you, and what they have achieved. Our editorial desk is henceforth open to you, just communicate and we would love to hear from you, about you and about your role models and your communities. Good day!



News & Views

Indians top the list of temporary work (skilled) visa receivers in Australia during the first six months of the current financial year, according to latest official data avail-able from Down Under. The data released by the Immigration Department shows that Indians represented over 23 percent of total 'subclass 457 visa' granted by it during July-December 2013. "The top three citizenship countries for primary visa grants in the 2013-14 programme year to 31 December 2013 were India at 23.4 per-cent, followed by the UK at 18.6 per cent, and Ireland at 7.9 per cent," it said.

INDIANS TOP LIST OF TEMPORARY WORK VISA RECEIVERS IN AUSTRALIA

Prominent NRI lawyer Vijay Goel has been felicitated on his appointment as the Chairman of Asian Business Association at the London Chamber of Commerce, at a reception organised recently at Lon-don, by G P Hinduja, Co-Chairman of the Hinduja Group of Companies, and Baroness Verma, Britain's Minister of Climate Change and Energy. The cere-mony was attended by Britain's Minister for India Gregory Barker, Lord Gulam Noon, Lord Loomba, Keith Vaz, Chairman of the Home Affairs Committee, and Valerie Vaz, MP. G P Hinduja spoke about the vast potential for increasing trade between the UK and India, and how the appointment of Goel would help in realising that potential.

NRI LAWYER VIJAY GOEL FELICITATED IN UK

INDIAN EMBASSY IN UAE WARNS OF ONLINE VISA SCAM

A majority of Indian students have admitted to feeling highly unwelcome in the United Kingdom. A study of the attitudes of 3,100 international students by the National Union of Students (NUS, a UK confederation of students unions), has revealed that almost 50% feels that the UK government was either not welcoming or not welcoming at all towards overseas students. The UK earns £ 7.9 Billion a year from international stu-dents. By 2024, one in every three outbound higher education students across the globe is expected to be from India and China. The study shows that the non-welcoming attitude and perception was most strongest for Ph.D stu-dents. Almost 62% of Indian students doing their Ph.D in the UK felt unwanted, besides 64.5% from Japan, and 63% from Nigeria. Students from India, Pakistan and Nigeria have also admitted advising their friends not to study in the UK. Asked what bothered them the most, 40% cited moves to get landlords to check on their legal status, while 74% said that the introduction of a National Health Service levy would make it practically impos-sible to them to study in the UK. England is already witnessing a sharp tumble in the number of Indian students visiting its universities for higher education. Latest data shows that between 2010-11 and 2011-12, over 10,000 fewer Indian students travelled to English shores for pursuing a PG degree. In percentage points, there was a nearly a 25% fall in the number of Indian students in PG courses. While 39,090 Indian students enrolled into British universities in 2010-11 for a PG degree, the number fell to 29,900 in 2011-12. Even after this steep drop, Indian and Chinese students still make up almost 35% of all non-EU domicile students in the UK.

INDIAN STUDENTS FEEL UNWELCOME IN BRITAIN

NET WORTH OF INDIA'S BILLIONAIRES CAN ELIMINATE ABSOLUTE POVERTY

The net worth of India’s billionaire community has soared 12-fold during the past 15 years, which is more than enough to eliminate absolute poverty twice over in the country, where income ineq-uity is also on the rise, according to the IMF (International Mon-etary Fund). “Seven out of ten people in the world today live in countries where inequity has increased over the past three decades,” IMF managing director Christine Lagarde avers, while delivering the Richard Dimbleby Lecture in London. “We are all keenly aware that income inequity has been rising in most countries,” Lagarde says in her speech, a copy of which was made available by the IMF. “The richest 85 people in the world own the same amount of wealth as the bottom half of the world’s population,” Lagarde added.

¥×ðçÚU·¤è ÚUæcÅþÂçÌ ÕæÚUæ·¤ ¥ôÕæ×æ mæÚUæ Èý¤æ´â ·Ô¤ ÚUæcÅþÂçÌ Èý¤æ´Sßæ ¥ôÜæ´Î ·Ô¤ â�×æÙ ×ð´ ¥æØôçÁÌ çÇÙÚU ·Ô¤ ç»Ùð ¿éÙð ×ðã×æÙô´ ×ð´ ÖæÚUÌèØ ×êÜ ·¤è Îô ¥×ðçÚU·¤è ×çãÜæ°´ àæðÈ¤æÜè Îé‚»Ü ¥õÚU ¥çÁÌæ ÚUæÁè Öè àææç×Ü Íè´. ÎôÙô´ ×çãÜæ°´ ¥ôÕæ×æ ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÅUæòÂ È¤´Ç ÚUðÁâü (È¤´Ç §·¤_è ·¤ÚUÙð ßæÜô´) ×ð´ àææç×Ü ãñ´. àæðÈ¤æÜè ¥õÚU ¥çÁÌæ/àæðÈ¤æÜè Çð×ôR¤ðçÅU·¤ ÙðàæÙÜ ·¤ç×ÅUè ·¤è ÙðàæÙÜ È¤æ§Ùð´â ·¤ç×ÅUè ·¤è ×ð´ÕÚU ¥õÚU çßç×‹â ÜèÇÚUçàæÂ È¤ôÚU× ·¤è ·¤ô-¿ðØÚUÂâü‹â ãñ´. ßð ßæ§ÅU ãæ©â ·¤æ´©çâÜ È¤æòÚU çßç×Ù °´Ç »Ëâü ·¤è ×ð´ÕÚU Öè ãñ´. ßãè´, ¥çÁÌæ ÂýðçÁÇð´ÅU÷â ·¤ç×àæÙ ¥æòÙ ßæ§ÅUãæ©â ÈÔ¤ÜôçàæÂ ·¤è ×ð´ÕÚU ãñ´Ð -Öæáæ, ßæòçàæ´»ÅUÙ

¥ôÕæ×æ ·Ô¤ çÇÙÚU ×ð´ §´Çô-¥×ðçÚU·¤Ù ×çãÜæ°´ The Indian Embassy in the UAE has unearthed an apparent online visa scam and

has warned foreigners against falling victim to fraudsters operating a fake website claiming to facilitate Indian visas for them. In a statement issued today, the mission said, "some unscrupulous elements had created a website similar to the Online Visa Application website of the Government of India and are deceiving people to pay a service fee". The scam has come to light close on the heels of news that the Indian government has decided to extend visa-on-arrival and electronic travel authorisation to citizens of 180 countries, including the UAE -- a move that is expected to signifi-cantly increase the number of tourists and other travellers to India. According to the official statement, the mission had also been informed that a few applicants had turned up at different BLS International Centres, the visa service providers of In-dian missions in the UAE.



News & Views

NRI Achievers Desk

India and the US may still be embroiled in a legal tangle over diplomat Devyani Khobragade, but at least it seems the family will soon be reunited. According to an Indian official in New York, Kho-bragade’s husband Aakash Singh Rathore, an American citizen, is soon likely to be taking up a teaching assignment at Del-

hi's Jawaharlal Nehru University. Khobragade’s two daugh-ters, both American citizens, will also be joining them. Wash-ington has so far refused to entertain India’s demand that charges against Khobragade of visa fraud and underpaying her nanny be dropped, which are an impediment against her entry into the US with her current non-immune status.

Professor Nirupa Padia has become the first non-white wom-an to head the School of Accountancy, adding to her ground-breaking achievements in recent years. This young PIO is an Associate Professor in Auditing, and has now come full circle having being appointed as the Head of the School of Ac-countancy at the University of Witwatersrand (Wits) - her Alma Mater where she first completed her B. Com degree in 1985. At that time, with three yough children to be cared for, she opted for a lull in her academic career. Ten years onward, Ms Padia resumed studies, this time going in for a Bachelor's in Accountancy. She then did her articles at Price Waterhouse Coopers, qualifying as a Chartered Accountant. This ener-getic and inspiring lady then went back to Wits, not as a student but as a lecturer.

Attorney Nandita Berry has been appointed as the Secretary of State for Texas by Gov-ernor Rick Perry, making her the first Indi-an-American to occupy this top position in the Southern State. Berry will now serve as the state's Chief Electoral Officer, the gov-ernor's liaison on border and Mexican af-fairs, and Texas' Chief Protocol Officer on state and international matters. "Nandita Berry personifies what is possible through hard work and dedication in the State of Tex-as," said Perry in a statement. "Arriving from India at the age of 21 with nothing but US $ 200 to her name, she has worked dili-gently to earn her law degree and has since become one of the most accomplished attorneys in the state," he continued.

Indian-American professor Rakesh Khurana has been appointed Dean of the prestigious Harvard College, becoming the latest addition to a long list of Indi-an-origin academicians assuming lead-ership roles at renowned global universi-ties. Khurana, 46, is currently the 'Mar-vin Bower' Professor of Leadership De-

velopment at the Harvard Business School (HBS), Professor of Sociology at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), and Co-master of Cabot House at Harvard. He succeeds Evelynn Hammonds, Professor of History of Science and of African and African American Studies at Harvard, and will assume his new role on July 1 this year.

Bharat Suresh Joshi, a Briton of Indian origin, has replaced Mike Nithavriana-kis as the British Deputy High Commis-sioner in Chennai. Born in 1969 at Croydon, UK, Joshi is the first person of Indian origin to helm the British mis-sion in Chennai, an indication of the growing influence and spread of the Di-aspora in the UK. Joshi joined the Foreign and Common-wealth Office in 1995 and has had diplomatic postings in Gambia, Dhaka, Qatar and Cameroon. He would focus on enhancing the trade and investment partnership between the UK and Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry in specific, his office said.

Prof. Prabhu Guptara, Chairperson of GOPIO's Academic Council, has been appointed the Chairman of the 'Relation-al Thinking Network,' which comprises Relational Analytics and Relational Research. The focus is on learning to think relationally as the first step towards building a more rela-tional world, by learning to see public policy and personal issues through a relational lens, changing goals, values and practices of organizations, and developing an analytical framework appropriate to relationships. This means learning to see life from the perspective of relationships, as opposed to seeing it from the viewpoint of materialism or individual-ism, changing the priorities and goals of organisations and of nations. and a framework for analysis using directness, continuity, multiplexity, parity and commonality.

DEVYANI’S HUSBAND TO TAKE UP TEACHING ASSIGNMENT IN DELHI

NIRUPA PADIA TO LEAD A UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF ACCOUNTANCY IN SA

NANDITA PERRY NEW TEXAS SECRETARY OF STATE

PROFESSOR RAKESH KHURANA NAMED DEAN OF HARVARD COLLEGE

BHARAT SURESH JOSHI IS NEW BRITISH DEPUTY HIGH COMMISSIONER IN CHENNAI

PRABHU GUPTARA NAMED CHAIRMAN OF RELATIONAL THINKING NETWORK



In the Mauritian holiday calendar, one important day is the 12th of March – the day on which the Is-land claimed it's independence from

Britain. On that day in 1968, Mauritius emerged as a new sovereign nation, as is stated in the pledge to the national flag, “in peace, justice and liberty.” On the same day in 1992, Mauritius also became a republic, doubling the impor-tance of this date on the Mauritian cal-ender. This 'Mauritius Day' is common-ly associated with parades, political speeches and ceremonies, in addition to various other public and private events celebrating the history of Mauritius. Many politicians make it a point to ap-pear at a public events to praise the na-tion’s heritage and pay homage to free-dom fighters on this day. Cultural pro-grams and flag-hoisting ceremonies abound.

Caremonies begin usually in the evening, most of the time at the race course ground at ‘Champ de Mars’. It is normally a very colourful affair with wide variety of artists from different cul-tures performing, singing, and dancing, not to mention the parading. Then the national anthem is played, as the multi-hued Mauritian flag gets hoisted cere-moniously, followed by a 21-gun salute. And then it is time for aerial displays. Aircraft including India-made Dhruv and Chetak helicopters fly past at a low

'In peace, justIce and lIberty'

height. This is a nation without an army or an air force, far removed from the theatres of armed conflict - but Mauri-tians do have the skill to embnark on basic displays of aerial skills that would leave people in many a militarily strong nation quite amazed. Being innocent and pristine can mean many things, af-ter all.

As dark envelopes the venue, it will be time for light and sound, and the cul-tural show, usually a highlight of the evening. Giant screens sould narrate the story of a people who braved great hard-

ships when they set foot on the island - and who, by dint of their labour and perseverance, have built a country that ranks high among middle income na-tions today - with a per capita income several times that of India. There is something deeply hearten-ing about this story; it is the tale of a people who suf-fered slavery, indentured labour and colonial rule, and fought for independ-ence, overcoming the odds that came in the way of a life of fulfilment and dig-nity. The boys and girls in bright costumes, belonging to all races: black, brown

and white, reflect the pride that is to be expected out of such hero-ism. And it is invariably the Sega danc-es that bring this yearly celebration to its close.

While the island bedazzles is with its beauty, discovering the affinity of its people for India is a moving experience indeed. Close to 70 percent of Mauri-tius' 1.2 million people have Indian roots. Roots in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Ma-harashtra. Mauritians feel an 'umbilical' connect with India, though this feeling is sadly on the wane today among the younger generation. In fact, according to Prime Minister Navinchandra Ram-goolam, 12th of March was chosen as Mauritius' Independence Day, as this was "the day Mahatma Gandhi chose to start his Dandi March in 1930."

But once the confetti blows away, what does Mauritius retain out of this sig-nificant day ? While we at NRI Achiev-ers grasp this opportunity to wish our Mauritian brothers and sisters a great day, we also urge each Mauritian to pon-der more on this, and make Mauritius more of the Idyll it is today.

NRI AchIeveRs Desk

MaurItIus republIc day

Date Country OccasionMARCH 1 BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA NATIONAL DAY

MARCH 3 BULGARIA NATIONAL DAY

MARCH 5 AFRO-ASIAN RURAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION National DayMARCH 6 GHANA National DayMARCH 12 MAURITIUS REPUBLIC DAYMARCH 17 IRELAND St. PATRICKS' DAY

MARCH 20 TUNISIA INDEPENDENCE DAY

MARCH 21 NAMIBIA INDEPENDENCE DAY

MARCH 22 LEAGUE OF ARAB STATES ANNIVERSARY DAY

MARCH 23 PAKISTAN NATIONAL DAY

MARCH 25 GREECE INDEPENDENCE DAY

MARCH 26 BANGLADESH NATIONAL DAY


http://www.nriachievers.in 15march 2014

Legal Matters

NEW PUNJAB LAWSA MILESTONE ACHIEVEDThe Punjab Compulsory Registration of Marriages Act 2012 & The Punjab Prevention of Human Smuggling Act 2012, are two bills which had both been enacted by the State Legislative Assembly on 21 December 2012, and upon notification had come into force in 2013. Both these new laws seek to be milestones in equitable justice, and make Punjab the first State in the country to enact a human trafficking legislation to provide for the regulation of the travel trade, under the garb and guise of which some unscrupulous elements have been indulgine in illicit and/or fraudulent activities. Likewise, even though compulsory registration of marriages is now provided for in most Indian States, Punjab's first on this front has been the momentous step taken to make marriages of non-resident Indians and even foreign nationals also compulsory in the State of Punjab. Both these initiatives, products of a long exercise in jurisprudential practice, will go a long way in resolving knotty issues that plagued the system earlier, due to lack of legal frameworks in curbing new generation problems arising from a migratory horde of 30 million NRIs living in 180 nations worldwide. NRI Achievers brings you a report.

THE PUNJAB COMPULSORY REGISTRA-TION OF MARRIAGES ACT, 2012: The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, leaves it open for individual state governments to enact com-pulsory provisions for the registration of mar-riages. The Supreme Court in 2006, in Seema vs. Ashwani Kumar, issued a mandate to all States to make registration of marriages com-pulsory by enacting legislations. In Punjab, it was this directive that led to the enactment of The Punjab Compulsory Registration of Marriages Act 2012, which provides for com-pulsory registration of marriages solemnized under any law governing the parties irrespec-tive of their religion, caste, creed or national-ity. Any marriage solemnized in Punjab is now compulsorily registerable and even mar-riages solemnized outside the State of Punjab may be registered at a place where the parties have their temporary residence in Punjab. However, if the marriage is already registered elsewhere, it need not be registered again in the State of Punjab. Definition Of NRIs Under The New Law: The most prominent feature of the new mar-riage law is the definition of a “Non Resident Indian,” or “NRI,” to mean a person of Indian origin who is either permanently or tempo-rarily settled outside India for employment, business, vocation, or any other purpose in-dicating a uncertain or determined period of overseas stay. Likewise, a “Foreign National” has been defined to mean any person who is not a citizen of India and shall include “Per-sons of Indian Origin” (PIOs) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs) who are defined un-der the Citizenship Act, 1955, and mean for-eign nationals of Indian Origin who have earlier been Indian Citizens or qualify for Indian citizenship.Nri Marriages In The Loop: The law in the making provides that every marriage between

parties who are Indian nationals or NRIs or Foreign Nationals solemnized or performed in the State of Punjab, irrespective of religion, caste, creed or nationality, shall also be regis-tered in the State of Punjab. The most sig-nificant feature is that for every NRI or For-eign National, it would be mandatory to disclose in writing his/her passport number, country of issue and period of its validity, besides permanent residential/official address of overseas abode with social security number or any such permanent identification proof issued by the host foreign country. All this information will be entered in the marriage certificate and the marriage register. Marriage would mean and include marriages solem-nized or performed under Hindu Laws, Anand Marriage Act, Muslim Personal Law, or under Indian Christian Marriage Act, be-sides any other custom or personal law relat-ing to marriages governing the parties. Registration Regime Devised: The new law with enabling Rules has notified Chief, Dis-trict, and Additional Registrars of Marriages, or other Officers to be 'Registrars of Marriag-es' for free and easy accessibility in cities, towns and tehsils. The new law notifies DC's, DRO's, Tehsildars and Naib Tehsildars for easy accessibility in cities, towns and tehsils. The Registrars so designated, shall upon scrutiny verify that the marriage between the parties has been performed in accordance with the personal law of the parties to confirm their marital status and identities. A memorandum of marriage signed by the parties and their priest will be presented to the concerned Reg-istrar within three months of marriage in the jurisdiction where the marriage was solem-nised, or where parties have temporary resi-dence if they were married outside Punjab. Refusal to register shall be appealable, and the Registrar may also suo moto or on notice call

parties and register any marriage performed in his jurisdiction. Any erroneous or fraudu-lent entry in a marriage register may be cor-rected or cancelled after giving due opportu-nity of hearing to the persons concerned. Non- Registration Not To Invalidate Mar-riages: The new law states that no marriage shall be deemed to be invalid solely by the reason or the fact that it was not registered. This shortcoming is attributed to codified personal marriage laws in India, by which performance of essential ceremonies and not registration validates a marriage between par-ties. Hence, a State enactment cannot undo a law made by Parliament prescribing only cer-emonies for recognition of a valid marriage.

Consequently, resorting to compulsory registration may have to evolve more into an accepted societal norm and practice, for the law to gain currency and recognition. Ailing that fact, it remains that Punjab has taken the lead to register NRI Marriages, which will help in curbing the social malaise of matri-monial frauds and ameliorate the plight of the so-called “Nowhere Holiday Wives.” Punjab would do equally well if it were to constitute Family Courts in every district in Punjab un-der the existing Family Courts Act 1984, to provide speedy justice to abandoned spouses and deserted children as well. Prevention is better than cure is the adage, but redressal of issues arising out of a broken or limping mat-rimonial relationship also need to be reme-died simultaneously.

ANIL MALHOTRA

The writer is a Chandigarh based practicing lawyer and is reachable at [email protected]. He is a LL.M from SOAS, Univer-sity of London and a Fellow of the IAML. Be-

sides, he is an Executive Member from India of the Family Law Committee of ILA



Special Feature

YOGESH J KARAN

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Cover Story

YOGESH J KARAN THE FIJIAN IN INDIA

His Excellency Yogesh J Karan, High Commissioner of the Republic of Fiji to India, belongs to the fifth generation of Indian-origin families and home-makers who migrated to the Fiji Islands, whose forefathers went to Fiji as contract indentured labourers during British times. Fiji thus is home to a mixed culture, with people from all over India ... from Bihar to Uttar Pradesh and the Nepal border to Kerala, all living together as if they are part of one extended family. The Indo-Fijian community has done extremely well for itself, integrated itself well with Fijian society, and has contributed in no small measure to the development of the nation. So much so that many of the current generation have risen to the zenith of endeavour in politics and government, industry and business, art and culture et al., like the High Commissioner himself who is besides India represent-ing Srilanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Afganistan & Maldives also. NRI Achievers had a brief tete-a-tete with the HC recently, and we bring you some excerpts from that conversation here.

“India is an important country for us, not merely due to the fact that a large proportion of Fijians have their roots here, but as an impor-tant trade, business and econom-

ic partner. While all along bilateral relationships between Fiji and India have been excellent, the balance of trade have always so far been in India's favour, with Fiji being a nett importer of Indian goods. We have recently taken the initiative to make this relationship more of a two way street by launching an Indo Fiji Trade Promotion Body here in India, which is like any other bilateral trade council between two countries. The mem-bership is open to anyone, a public servant, pri-vate individuals and institutions, any well-wisher could become a member, a patron of the body.

“The council will have people from all major sectors of both sides involved, and will serve as a permanent linkage between ministries, industries, service sector and foreign trade institutions of both countries. More importantly, the business to business link will be strengthened. This has be-come important for us now that we have started looking beyond our traditional trade boundaries, and find a lot of potential in India's huge market where we can be immensely competitive and gain from it. That is another reason we are welcoming the Indian private sector to participate proac-tively in this. We do have an active Fiji India Busi-ness Council in Fiji at Suva, so now both councils can interlink and interact fruitfully.

“To start with, we have offered to facilitate the council's functioning, the charter and constitution

is almost ready, and the council could operate from our premises in Delhi to start with, where we will offer secretarial support, etc. This will be like a hub. After Delhi, we will also have branch offices for the council in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chen-nai, Bangalore and also in Ahmedabad, as each of these are major centres of economic activity in India. We are aware that it is a bit late in the day for this sort of an initiative, it should have hap-pened much earlier, but better late than never is the adage, and so when I came here and assumed charge as the Charge d'Affairs, I had this on my agenda all along. It took time, as there were a lot of legalities involved, clearances were needed from the elected governments of Fiji and India, the nomenclature and use of the names of the countries, etc., and I am happy that we are now seeing the light of day and the council will now be in place sooner than later.

“From the point of view of prospects and com-pulsions, Fiji is as of now very heavily dependent on imports for much of manufactured goods, and we are desirous of transitioning our economy into more of a manufacturing economy, at least in some sectors to start with. In order to facilitate this, several policy frameworks have been put in place and several measures have been taken to incentivise this. There are tax free zones in and around Suva, and zero import duty for capital goods like plant and machinery, and agricultural tech. We firmly believe that India can be a proac-tive partner in helping us achieve our priorities and goals, and a positive step in that direction are the several MoUs have been signed in the recent

DIASPORA CONNECT



Special Feature



past between the two countries, worth men-tion here is the MoU on the avoidance of dou-ble taxation.

“While on the subject of building an indus-trial base and manufacturing infrastructure in the country, I often get asked how this is not in conflict of interest with Fuji's key at-traction to inbound tourists, income from whom forms a large part of the island nations revenue. So I would like to reiterate that we are very very mindful of our environment and ecology, the long and beautiful beaches, the golden sands, the crystal clear waters, pristine and unspoiled forest regions etc., there isn't any way in which we are going to undertake activities that will be detrimental to our natu-ral wealth. Legislatively, we do have some of the best, very good laws on environmental protection. And anyone who would like to set up and manufacture goods in Fiji will per-force need to abide by these laws, which are very effective indeed. I am not saying that this is a hindrance, but there are well defined av-enues for dialogue between investors and the Fijian government, that could address these nitty-gritty and arrive at a solution.

“Inbound tourism is one of the mainstays of our economy, and the sector contributes to making up a considerable percentage of our national income. And most of the tour-ists who come to Fiji, which is in the 700,000 region, are what I would say high-end travel-lers. India for us is a huge market from the

tourism perspective, especially due to the fact that Indians are some of the highest spenders in the world when they travel. So even if we get a fraction of the business from India, it would mean a quantum leap for our tourism sector.

“While we do have a tourism office in Mumbai, I would say that Fiji as a destination has not yet been promoted much or marketed well in India. India is simply so huge that we need to first build up an infrastructure to pro-mote and market Fiji here in India. But now that we have the beginnings of a trade promo-tion council here connected to the other end of the linkage at Suva, I am sure that we will see some of the potential being tapped in the near future.

“One aspect that the business community in India is interested about knowing is our attitute and perception towards China. Fiji as a nation is a friendly entity, and we have not given any special preference to any country. We largely follow our foreign policy impera-tives, our geo-political posture and position-ing, and have cordial good relations with all countries. China has been kind enough to offer Fiji several good package deals and has helped us when we were going through a dif-ficult phase, but there is no special prefer-ences, or MFN status, between Fiji and China. India though, enjoys a very special place in-deed in the hearts and minds of all Fijians, for reasons that I do not have to repeat ... half our

population is of Indian origin. Dealing with India is easier as well, due to that bonding, that umbilical that links both countries, as well as linguistic affinities and a common her-itage via the United Kingdom.

“On the matter of human capital, there are many thousands of Indian citizens who live and work out of Fiji, as expatriates in the fields of management, information technol-ogy, as consultants, and yes, as academicians. In the teaching profession, we have more Indian academics at our schools and institu-tions of higher learning than any other na-tionality. And they get pay packets, perqui-sites and a standard of life that is on par with the best in the world. But of late over the past two decades or so, we have seen a taper-ing off, maybe a trend manifested due to the sort of major strides that your Indian econ-omy is making, which has expanded the op-portunities in the home economy itself. Yet, for Indians travelling to Fiji, it would not be very difficult at all whether they come as tourists or they come for work, as we speak the languages you speak, Hindi and English being common, we eat similar food, and are a very friendly people.”

Rajeev Gupta

The author is a veteran journalist with more than 20 years of experience. Had been

associated with many Electronic Channels before starting NRI Achievers magazine

Fiji’s High Commissioner to India Yogesh J Karan, presenting his credentials as Fiji’s Non-

Resident Ambassador to Nepal to the President of Nepal, Dr Ram Baran Yadav, in Kathmandu.

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Special Feature

[email protected] giant Microsoft (MSFT) recently named 22-year company veteran Satya Nadella as its next CEO, which ended a protracted search for a new leader after current CEO Steve Ballmer had announced his intention to retire in August. It also put a lot of speculation to rest about other contenders for the Microsoft top-job conclusively. Nadella's naming to the post makes him the third CEO since the Redmond-Washington, company was founded in 1975. John Thompson, lead independent director, would succeed Gates as chairman, with Gates retaining a seat on the board and assuming a new role as technology adviser.

“satya’s asked me to step in, substantially increasing the time that I spend at the company,” says

Gates. “I’ll have over a third of my time available to meet with product groups. It’ll be fun to define this next round of products, working together.” Talking about Satya, he says: "There is no better person to lead Microsoft than Satya Nadella. He is a proven leader with hard-core engineering skills, business vision, and the ability to bring people together. His vision for how technology will be used and experienced around the world is exactly what Microsoft needs as the company enters its next chapter of ex-panded product innovation and growth."

The appointment of Nadella came after a search committee led by Thompson gave itself a year to find a new CEO, but took longer. Ford Motors CEO Alan Mu-lally, and Sundar Pichai currently helm-ing Android and Chrome for Google were other leading contenders. Now that the succession outlook is clear, inves-tors and analysts are postulating how effective Nadella would be in reignit-ing the company's mobile ambi-tions, and satisfying Wall Street's hunger for cash. Microsoft faces a steady erosion of its PC-centric Windows and Office franchises and needs to put up a chal-lenge Apple and Google in this new dawn of mobile computing.

“While we view Mr. Nadella as a ‘safe pick’ with Microsoft con-tinuing down the right lane of the highway with its new CEO

in hand, the fear among investors is that other tech vendors from social, enter-prise, mobile, and the tablet segments continue to easily speed past the firm down the left lane of innovation and growth,” FBR analyst Daniel Ives said. Most agree Nadella's background makes him a safe custodian to take the company forward, but there is doubt over his abil-ity to make Microsoft a hit with consum-ers. In choosing Nadella, "Microsoft has turned to a highly accomplished execu-tive in the mould of Gates, who report-edly held out for a candidate with suffi-cient technical gravitas to inspire - and if need be, change - Microsoft's engineer-driven corporate culture," wrote CNet, a technology site. "At the still relatively young age of 46, Nadella oversaw one of Microsoft's fastest-growing divisions - the Cloud & Enterprise Group - which ac-counted for US$ 20.3 billion in revenue and US $8.2 billion in operating income during the company's last fiscal," it noted.

Cover Story



... Microsoft was the best company in the world. I saw then how clearly we empower people to do magical things with our creations and ultimately make the world a better place. It is an incredible honor for me to lead and serve this great company of ours. Steve and Bill have taken it from an idea to one of the greatest and most universally admired companies in the world ... As I step in as CEO, I’ve asked Bill to devote additional time to the company, focused on technology and products. I’m also looking forward to working with John Thompson as our new Chairman of the Board. While we have seen great success, we are hungry to do more. Our industry does not respect tradition — it only respects innovation ...

... Who am I? I am 46. I’ve been married for 22 years and have 3 kids. And like anyone else, a lot of what I do and how I think has been shaped by my family and my overall life experi-ences. Many who know me say I am also defined by my curios-ity and thirst for learning. I buy more books than I can finish. I sign up for more online courses than I can complete. I funda-

mentally believe that if you are not learning new things, you stop doing great and useful things. So family, curiosity and hun-ger for knowledge all define me ...

... Why am I here? I am here for the same reason I think most people join Microsoft — to change the world through technol-ogy that empowers people to do amazing things. And why are we here? Because we are the only ones who can harness the power of software and deliver it through devices and services that truly empower every individual and every organization. We are the only company with history and continued focus in building platforms and ecosystems that create broad opportu-nity ...

... So what do we do next? Many companies aspire to change the world. But very few have all the elements required: talent, resources, and perseverance. Microsoft has proven that it has all three in abundance. And as the new CEO, I can’t ask for a better foundation. Let’s build on this foundation together ...

— SATYA NADELLA

Nadella, who grew up in Hyderabad, went to Hyderabad Public School in Be-gumpet before getting a Bachelor's De-gree of Engineering in Electronics and Communications from Manipal College of Karnataka. He earned a Masters in Computer Science after moving to the US from the University of Wisconsin-Mil-waukee, and a Masters in Business Ad-ministration from the University of Chi-cago. Nadella called the appointment “humbling” in an email to company’s em-ployees, excerpted here:

Satya, a reluctant tweeter who last tweeted way back in 2010, came on twit-ter after his elevation as the new CEO, “First commitment as CEO, I won't wait four years between tweets !" Nadella has tweeted a mere 27 times since 2009 and yet has 108,000 followers on twitter.

While his tweets are mostly Ms-shop-talk, two old tweets of his do give

us a glimpse of the person: “Great evening to be

watching some good old fashioned test cricket!” The second tweet is deja vu: “I may break my continuous work-day record!” If worka-holism and cricket-mania are stereotypi-cal Indian traits, Nadella certainly does seem to have both of them.

Though Indians form but a minus-

cule percentage of the US population, it is fact that many top-honchos of major global corporations are Americans of In-dian origin, and Satya Nadella is just the newest kid on the block who's joined this elite club, which includes compatriots like Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo, Ajit Jain of Berk-shire Hathaway, Ajay Banga of Master-card, Shantanu Narayen of Adobe, Anshu Jain of Deutsche Bank, Dinesh Paliwal of Harmon International and Ivan Menezes of Diageo, to mention a handful. So what really makes these people tick? What are the core qualities that have made these Indians such a successful climbers in the rough and tumble of the international corporate pyramid?

Be it the placid environs of backwater small towns or the monstrous anonymity of the big cities and metros, one aspect of Indian life is that they have all been driv-en to excel in a dog-eat-dog job mart. That apart, family values in India have also meant that life inexorably revolves around education as the only path toward emancipation, and parental expectations have certainly and surely contributed to the focused nature of Indian achievers. High expectations also probably pro-pelled a person like Nooyi to excel in every task she undertook, and to keep learning. She is the architect of the 'Per-formance with Purpose' mantra at Pep-siCo, which clocks over US$ 65 billion in nett revenue today. She once told aspir-ing Indian-American executives, “I’m not being arrogant but I know who I am and I will tell you this – I am where I am be-

cause I’m Indian.” By talking about her Indian roots with pride, she encourages her young audiences to claim their herit-age and see it as a plus point in the cor-porate world.

Vivek Wadhwa, noted academic and Fellow at Stanford University, is not sur-prised at the proliferation of Indian CEOs in the US and elsewhere: "It is simply a numbers game - if you have enough peo-ple in companies working hard, the cream will rise to the top, and you're talking now about the creme de la creme. These CEOs have the best Indian qualities and values without the Indian social problems." The best of both worlds?

“Indians are succeeding in America in almost everything. It's an across the board phenomenon,” observes Arvind Panagariya, Economist and Professor at the Columbia University. Panagariya at-tributes the success of Indians to a number of causes, including the hoary educational traditions in India, coupled with the openness and superlative Amer-ican experience that helps them to build further on that foundation. Having lived in joint families in a crowded country, Indians also know how to accommodate and adjust.

Even as these CEOs strive to make their employer global corporations the best they can aspire to be, they tend to remain Indian at heart and in sentiment, lending more credence to the adage that 'you could take an Indian out of India, but you cannot possibly take India out of the Indian.' '

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Nooyi was born on 28th October 1955 in Madras (today called Chennai), Tamil Nadu, India. She completed her schooling from the Holy Angels Anglo Indian Higher

Secondary School, and went on to do a Bachelor's degree in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics from the Madras Christian College in 1974, and a PG Diploma in Management (so-called MBA) from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta in 1976. She started her careeer as a product manager with John-son & Johnson, and later moved on to textile firm Mettur Beard-sell in India. She got herself into the Yale School of Management in 1978, to earn a Master's Degree in Public and Private Manage-ment. While at Yale, she completed her summer internship with Booz Allen Hamilton. Graduating in 1980, Nooyi joined the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), and then held strategy posi-tions at Motorola and Asea Brown Boveri.

Nooyi joined PepsiCo in 1994 and was named president and CFO in 2001. Nooyi has directed the company's global strat-egy for more than a decade now, and has led PepsiCo's restruc-turing, including the 1997 divestiture of its restaurants into Tricon, now known as 'Yum! Brands'. Nooyi also took the lead in the acquisition of Tropicana in 1998, and the merger with Quaker Oats Company, which also brought Gatorade to Pep-siCo. In 2006 she became the fifth CEO in PepsiCo's 44-year history. According to BusinessWeek, since she started as CFO in 2000, the company's annual revenues have risen 72%, while net profit has more than doubled, to US $ 5.6 billion in 2006. Nooyi was named on Wall Street Journal's list of '50 Women

to Watch' in 2007 and 2008, and was listed among Time's '100 Most Influential People in The World' in 2007 and 2008. Forbes named her the 3rd most powerful woman in 2008. Fortune ranked her the most powerful woman in business in 2009 and 2010. On the 7th of October 2010, Forbes magazine ranked her the 6th most powerful woman in the world.

While CEO of PepsiCo in 2011, Nooyi earned a total com-pensation of US $ 17 million, which included a base salary of US $ 1.6 million, a cash bonus of US $ 2.5 million, pension value and a deferred US $ 3 million.

In January 2008, Nooyi was elected Chairwoman of the US-India Business Council (USIBC). Nooyi leads USIBC's Board of Directors, an assembly of more than 60 senior executives representing a cross-section of American industry. She has been named 2009 CEO of the Year by Global Supply Chain Leaders Group. In 2009, Nooyi was considered one of "The TopGun CEOs" by Brendan Wood International, an advisory agency. After five years on top, PepsiCo's Indian American chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi has only recently been pushed to the second spot as most powerful woman in US business by Kraft's CEO, Irene Rosenfeld.

Nooyi is married to Raj K. Nooyi. They have two daughters and reside inGreenwich, Connecticut. One of her daughters is currently attending the School of Management at Yale, Nooyi's alma mater. Forbes ranked her at the 3rd spot among 'World's Powerful Moms' list. Her elder sister Chandrika Krishna-murthy Tandon is a well-known singer.

Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi is an Indian-American business executive and the current Chairperson and CEO of PepsiCo, the second largest food and beverage business in the world by net revenue. According to Forbes, she is consistently ranked among the World's 100 Most Pow-erful Women. In 2013, she has been ranked 10th in the list of Forbes World's 100 most powerful women.

iNDra Nooyi

ajit Jain bagan his career working for IBM in India from 1973 to 1976, and then moved on to the United States,

where he earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1978. He joined McKin-sey & Co., but returned to India in the early

aJit JaiNAjit Jain, born in India's coastal state of Orissa on the 23rd of July 1951, is an Indian origin employee of Berkshire Hathaway, who cur-rently heads several reinsurance businesses. A 1972 alumni of IIT Kharagpur, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in engineering.

1980s. After a month long courtship, he married Tinku Jain, a girl chosen by his parents. Then he went back to the United States to work for McK-insey. According to Robert P. Miles' book 'The Warren Buffett CEO: Secrets from the Berkshire Hathaway Managers,' Jain said he would not have returned to America, but his wife wanted to move there. In 1985 he left McKinsey to work on insur-ance operations for Buffett. At that time, he said he knew little about the insurance business. To-day, Jain is the President of Berkshire Hathway Insurance group. He is leading Berkshire's Indian insurance market venture.

“Ajit’s mind is an idea factory that is always looking for more lines of business he can add to his current assortment,” Buffet said about Jain in the 2013 annual report of Berkshire Hathaway released recently.

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“i went to New York 22 years ago, and in retrospect, I should say that I do like America very much.

As an Indian, I would say that India is our motherland (Matru Bhoomi), and Amer-ica for me is my Karam Bhoomi. Ameri-ca is a very welcoming country, a cultural melting pot that embraces and welcomes people from all over the world. They help people and other countries too, they initi-ate and take steps forward to help in many ways. We as the Indian community resi-dent in the Americas have also imbibed this American spirit, and in our own way promote Indian culture here, and we sup-port and help other people, share their joys and sorrows. I have positive things to say about both my countries in this matter, but I feel America is more systematic and pow-erful compared to India on this front. I however regret to say that Indian politi-cians though they are well aware that India is lacking control in several major areas, they do little, do not take initiatives or any serious steps to fix problems. If they will adopt at least some of the good things from America, India can be the best county of the world. But on another note, I can say that running such a big country as India is indeed not an easy task.

“To tell you aomething about myself and about my family, I have three sons all of whom are settled in New York. They are with me and working in same field of Telecom. My one daughter is settled in India and that is one major reason for my frequent visits to India. This time round, I came here to attend the PBD, but I was unable to participate due to personal rea-sons. The PBD is a very good platform to connect people of Indian origin from all over the world, and to extend their net-working with india. I would say the In-dian government should now take the necessary steps to scale up the PBD to large scales and actively encourage people to participate. NRIs and PIOs have a very strong emotional bond with their Matru Bhoomi and feel attached to India. They will want to come here again and again. In fact there are lots of them who have never come to India after they left this country many years ago. But it is an understate-ment to say that they are still emotionally connected to India. Government should target those millions of Overseas Indians and make a honest attempt to link with them and connect them with India.”

KL sarDaNaNew York based businessman K.L. Sardana is a philanthropist and social activist who has been helping needy people both in the US and in India, morally and financially. A Long Island resident for over two decades, Sardana is owner of The Red Cherry Corporation, one of the largest prepaid telecom companies in New York. NRI Achievers talked to him to learn about his worldview...

Photo: Ajay Sood

In Focus


http://www.nriachievers.in 25december 2013

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Born in Jaipur, Rajasthan, on the 7th of january 1963, Jain studied economics at the University of Delhi's Shri Ram College of Commerce, earning a bachelor's degree with

honors in 1983. He also holds an MBA in Finance from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. After having finished university, he started as an analyst in derivatives research at Kidder, Peabody & Co. (now part of UBS), where he worked from 1985 to 1988. After three years, he joined Merrill Lynch

in New York, where he founded and led the securities industry’s first dedicated hedge fund coverage group. In 1995, Jain joined Deutsche Bank’s nascent markets business, to set up and run a specialist unit focusing on hedge funds and institutional de-rivative coverage.

Since 2002, he has been in the Deutsche Bank Group Execu-tive Committee (GEC) and was formerly head of Global Mar-kets and joint head of the Corporate and Investment Bank from 2004. His previous roles included head of fixed income sales and trading, global head of derivatives and emerging markets, as well as the global head of institutional client coverage.

In April 2010, Deutsche Bank reported first quarter net rev-enues of €9 billion of which the Corporate and Investment Bank contributed net revenues of €6.6 billion, up from €4.9 billion in the first quarter 2009. Jain has been the subject of considerable speculation in the media that he could succeed Josef Ackermann as the Chief Executive of Deutsche Bank. He earned almost €12 million in 2010 and is, therefore, the best earner at Deutsche Bank. In comparison, CEO Josef Ackermann earned €8.8 mil-lion in 2010.

In addition to his Deutsche Bank commitments, Jain is a non-

ANSHU JAINAnshuman Jain is an Indian business executive. He took over as the Co-CEO of Deutsche Bank on June 1, 2012 to succeed Management Board Chairman Josef Ackermann. Jain is also a member of the Bank’s Man-agement Board and, as head of the Corporate and Investment Bank since July 2010, was globally respon-sible for Deutsche Bank’s corporate finance, sales and trading, and the transaction banking business.

Banga was born into a Sikh family in Khadki, outside Pune, Maharash-tra, where his father, an army of-

ficer, was posted. The family's origin is from Jalandhar in Punjab. His father is retired Lieutenant-General Harbhajan Singh Banga, who is a decorated general officer of Indian Army. He is also the younger brother of another well known CEO, M S Banga. Banga grew up and schooled across India, successively in Se-cunderabad, Jalandhar, Delhi, Hyderabad and in Shimla, where he finished his schooling.

Banga went on to graduate with a Bach-elor of Arts (Honours) degree in Econom-ics from St. Stephen's College, Delhi Uni-versity, and subsequently also acquired a MBA from the Indian Institute of Manage-ment, Ahmedabad.

Beginning his business career with Nestlé in 1981, Banga spent the next 13

years working in simple jobs spanning sales, marketing, and general manage-ment. He later joinedPepsiCo and was involved in the launch of its internation-al fast food franchises in India as the economy liberalized. Prior to joining MasterCard, Banga spent 13 years at Citigroup from 1996 as part of the bank's senior management in the United States and Europe, Middle East, and Africa re-gions, before becoming the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Citi's in-ternational global consumer group in 2005. He was also responsible for Citi's brand and marketing work across the en-tire company. Most recently, he was Chief Executive Officer of Citi Asia Pacific, re-sponsible for all of the company’s busi-ness lines in the region, including insti-tutional banking, alternative investments, wealth management, consumer banking and credit cards. He was also a member

of Citi's senior leadership and executive committees.

His other commitments include his serving on the board of Kraft Foods Inc. In addition, he is also on the board of trus-tees of the Asia Society, is a Chairman of the US-India Business Council, is a mem-ber of the Council on Foreign Relations, The Financial Services Roundtable and The Economic Club of New York. He is also a fellow of the Foreign Policy Asso-ciation. Banga was the vice chairman of the board of trustees of the New York Hall of Science and a board member of the Na-tional Urban League as well. He was for-merly a business sponsor of Citi's African heritage network – NYC.

Banga has a keen interest in social de-velopment issues, and over the period from 2005 to mid-2009, he spearheaded Citi's strategy in the microfinance sector across the world.

AJAYPAL SINGH BANGAAjaypal Singh Banga is the current President and CEO of MasterCard. Mas-terCard announced on April 12, 2010 that Ajay Banga, previously MasterCard’s President and COO, had been named by the Board of Directors to serve as the company’s CEO, effective July 1, 2010. The company also announced that Ban-ga would become a member of MasterCard’s Board of Directors, effective im-mediately. Banga, 50, succeeded Robert W. Selander, who had been Master-Card’s Chief Executive Officer since March 1997.

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executive director of Sasol, South Africa’s leading oil and gas company. He served as a member of the Indian Prime Minister’s Working Group on Inward Investment in India and more re-cently helped to lead Deutsche Bank’s team advising the UK Treasury on financial stability, with a broad mandate across all

elements of the bank rescue package and other financial issues. Jain was also a member of the Financial Services Global Com-petitiveness Group, tasked by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in July 2008 with a year-long assessment of the UK’s long-term approach to international financial services.

Anshu received the Risk Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010, as well as the annual Business Leader Award from NASSCOM. He is a 2005 recipient of the American In-dian Foundation’s Achievement Award for philanthropy and ongoing involvement in development. He won the Euromoney Magazine Capital Markets Achievement Award in 2003. As of July 25, 2011, he was appointed as CO-CEO of Deutsche Bank. In March 2013, it was reported that Jain requested a pay cut of almost €2 million (US $ 2.60 million).

Anshuman Jain lives in London with his wife and two chil-dren, and is an active supporter of a range of wildlife and en-vironmental conservation charities. He is a strict vegetarian. He displays an avid interest in photography, cricket and golf. He speaks fluent English and Hindi, and a little German. In November 2012 he purchased a two bedroom apartment in New York for US $ 7.2 million.

Kapoor joined RB in 1987, when it was known as Reckitt & Colman, prior to its merger with Benckiser. He served the company in various roles including: Regional Sales

Manager, North India; General Manager, Indian Southern Re-gion; and Regional Marketing Director, South Asia. In 1999, he was appointed Global Category Director, Pest Control. Fol-lowing the merger, he assumed the role of Senior Vice Presi-dent, Home Care. He was appointed SVP, Regional Director, Northern Europe in 2001 and in July 2006, was promoted to EVP, Category Development, with re-sponsibility for global category management, research and devel-opment, media, market research and strategic alliances. Kapoor took over as CEO on 1st September 2011 from Bart Becht, who had been in the post since the company was created in 1999 through the merger of Benckiser with Reckitt & Colman. Kapoor went to Modern School in New Delhi, after which he went on to do his BE (Hons) in Chemical Engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani. Later on, he schooled in Management via a MBA from XLRI- Xavier School of Man-agement, Jamshedpur, India. Kapoor lives in London, England, with his wife and two children. He is an accomplished bridge player and a keen football and cricket fan.

RAKESH KAPOORRakesh Kapoor (born 4th August 1958) is the Chief Ex-ecutive of Reckitt Benckiser plc, a FTSE-listed UK mul-tinational consumer goods company, major producer of health, hygiene and home products.

Shantanu Narayen grew up in Hyderabad, India, the second son of a mother who taught American literature and a fa-ther who ran a plastics company. He went to Hyderabad

Public School in Hyderabad. Narayen holds a Bachelor of Science in electronics engineeringfrom Osmania University, a Master of Business Administration from the University of California, Ber-keley, and a Masters in computer science from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. On May 7, 2011, Narayen received an honorary Doctor of Applied Science degree from his alma mater, Bowling Green State University.

Narayen started his career at Apple. After Apple, he served as director of desktop and collaboration products for Silicon Graph-ics, then co-founded Pictra Inc., a company that pioneered the concept of digital photo sharing over the Internet. Narayen joined Adobe in 1998 as a senior Vice-President of worldwide product research, and was later promoted to executive vice pres-ident of worldwide products, then appointed to his current post in January 2005 at the age of 41. He also serves on the board of Dell Inc., and the advisory board of the Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley. Shantanu Narayen is paid an annual salary of US $ 875,000 for his role as chief executive. In 2009, Mr. Narayen was considered one of "The TopGun CEOs" by Brendan Wood International, an advisory agency.

SHANTANU NARAYEN

CEO of Adobe Systems. Prior to this post, he held the role as the President and Chief Operating Officer since 2005. He is also the President of the board of the Adobe Foundation.

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APURVA SHAHApurva Shah is a digital artist par excellence, who brings a wealth of expertise in 3D visual effects and animation to his role of effects supervisor at Pixar Animation Studios. Apurva had joined Pixar in 2001 to lead a team of effects animators in creating a variety of shot sequences for the film 'Finding Nemo.' He was effects supervisor on Disney Pixar’s 2007 release 'Ratatouille,' which won him the VES award for best supporting effects, and an academy award for 'Best Animated Film to boot.' He was also involved early on with the technical looks development for 'Toy Story 3.' He is currently working on a series of short films, 'CarsToons,' based on the endearing characters from the feature film 'Cars.' Prior to Pixar, Apurva had held a slew of key positions in the animation and effects industries.

VIVIAN BALAKRISHNANVivian Balakrishnan, FRCS (born 25 January 1961), is Singapore's Minister for Environment & Water Resources, and a member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP). He has previously held appointments in the Singapore Cabinet as the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, and as the Second Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, as well as Trade and Industry. He is a MP (Member of Parliament) representing the Holland-Bukit Timah Group Representation Constituency.

Balakrishnan studied medicine at the National University of Singapore on a President's Scholarship. He later pur-

sued postgraduate education in ophthalmol-ogy and was admitted as a fellow of the Roy-al College of Surgeons at Edinburgh. He started off with his political career much later, when his team was elected uncontested

during his first and second candidacy for the Parliament at Holland-Bukit Panjang GRC and Holland-Bukit Timah GRC respectively. In the 2011 general election held on 7 May, his team won against the Singapore Demo-cratic Party. He is married to Joy Balakrishnan, and they have a daughter and three sons.

Balakrishnan was born in 1961 to a Telugu

father, and a Chinese mother with ancestry from Fuqing, Fujian. He had his primary and secondary education at the Anglo-Chinese School, before going on to National Junior College. After graduating from junior college in 1980, he was awarded a President's Schol-arship to study medicine at the National Uni-versity of Singapore (NUS).

At PDI/DreamWorks, Apurva was a sequence supervisor on the academy award winning 'Shrek,'

was effects lead on the studio’s first ani-mated feature, 'Antz,' and created visual effects shots on the live action films 'Bat-man Forever', 'The Arrival,' and 'Broken Arrow.' He is as active in the world of teaching digital effects as he is at putting them into practice. A faculty member at the Art Institute and the Academy of Art College in San Francisco and Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida, he takes classes on Visual Effects and Motion Capture. He is also very ac-tive in the CG community and has served on the Siggraph sketches jury in 2005-08. He has presented at several conferences and Universities both in the US and in-ternationally. He also has several patent

applications pending for animation tech-nology developed at Pixar. Apurva earned a MS in Computer Science from Texas A&M University, and holds a Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Mumbai.

Here's his story, in his own words:“Actually when I was in India, my main

interest was in computers and program-ming. This was in the late 80s when PCs were just starting to become prevalent. I spent a lot of time (although I should probably have been at school) studying with Vijay Mukhi, who was an excellent and motivating teacher. Finally, after I completed my BE from Somaiya, I came to the US to pursue a Masters in Computer Science at Texas A&M University. That’s when things took a different turn. The Ar-chitecture School at A&M had an excellent

animation programme, so I signed up for a class there. In the class we were required to produce an animated short of our own. The creative excitement of doing that and the ability to combine my technical and creative skills was an awesome feeling. It was like love at first sight.

“After I completed my Masters, I knew that to really get deeper into animation I needed to round out my artistic side. I got an excellent opportunity to do just that by working and studying at the Ringling School of Art & Design in Florida. After about a year at Ringling, I was able to get a job in California, with PDI in their R&D depart-ment. PDI, which was later acquired by Dreamworks, was one of the oldest studios in Computer Animation and I got a very broad and diverse experience there in eve-rything from commercials to film visual

Cover Story



effects. More importantly, this was also where I met my mentor, Richard Chuang, who taught me so much of what I know about animation and visual effects.

“When PDI started working on the feature animated film 'Antz,' I naturally got involved with the effects on that project. From there I went on to serve as a Sequence Supervisor on 'Shrek.' While working on that project we had no idea that it would eventually go on to become one of the most successful ani-mated films. After seven years at PDI, I decided to start my own studio focused on broadband/internet animation. This was in the late 90s and my timing couldn’t have been worse. So after a year I decided to join Pixar, which is also in northern California. That was an excel-lent move for me, since Pixar has an amazing team of filmmakers and artists, and gives employees educational oppor-tunities to advance themselves in these areas. The studio’s goal is to make every technical director and artist working on the projects think like a filmmaker. At Pixar I have worked on visual effects for 'Finding Nemo' and 'Ratatouille.' Cur-rently, I am supervising several short films based on the original characters from 'Cars.' This is also the first time after being at Pixar for seven years that I have had an opportunity to work with John Lasseter. As with all of my previ-ous projects it’s been an amazing learn-ing experience indeed!

Born to a Malaysian Punjabi father, Chainchal Singh, and a Chinese-Japanese mother, Gurmit was

brought up a Sikh, but converted to Chris-tianity in 1985. Gurmit Singh studied in Outram Secondary School during his sec-ondary school years. He is married to Melissa, a Cantonese Chinese. He has a fifteen-year-old daughter, Gabrielle (Gab-bi Wenyi Ayane Virk); and a seven-year-old son, Elliot. His son has enrolled into SST in 2013. Gurmit is an alumnus of the National Police Cadet Corps, Singapore and held the rank of Cadet Inspector. He

GURMIT OTTAwAN SINGHGurmit Ottawan Singh, born on the 24th of March, 1965, is a popular Singa-porean actor, host and comedy performer. He is best known for his role in Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd, and is one of the leading artistes in MediaCorp.

Pichai joined Google in 2004, where he led the product management and innovation efforts for a suite

of Google's client software products, in-cluding Google Chrome and Chrome OS, as well as being largely responsible for Google Drive. He went on to oversee the development of different apps like Gmail and Google Maps. On 19 Novem-ber 2009, Pichai gave a demonstration of Chrome OS. On 20 May 2010, he an-nounced the open-sourcing of the new video codec VP8 by Google, and intro-duced the new video format WebM.

On 13 March 2013, Pichai added An-droid to the Google products he over-sees. Android was formerly managed by Andy Rubin. Pichai was believed to be one of the contenders for the CEO posi-tion of Microsoft in 2014. Before joining Google, Pichai had worked at Applied Materials and McKinsey & Company Pichai has more than 15 years of experi-ence developing high-tech consumer and enterprise products. He serves as a

SUNDAR PICHAIPichai Sundararajan, better known as Sundar Pichai, is a senior vice president at Google, where he oversees Android, Chrome and Google Apps. He received his Bachelors in Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and was awarded an Institute Silver Medal. He also holds an MS from Stanford Uni-versity and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was named a Siebel Scholar and a Palmer Scholar.

drives a Grigio Telesto Lamborghini Gal-lardo. Making his debut in the variety show 'Live On 5,' he went on to become the host and lead actor of the comedy 'Gurmit's World.' The second season of 'Gurmit's World,' in which the actor por-trayed his 'relatives' in a series of skits (un-like the first season where he played a wide assortment of mostly non-recurring char-acters), featured the first appearance of a character named Phua Chu Kang. The Singlish-based spin-off sitcom 'Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd' in 1996, made Gurmit a popular icon in the recent years, not just in Singapore, but also in neighbouring countries, especially culturally similar Ma-laysia. This factor led him to be the host in the 'Singapore Idol' variety show.

In the past few years,Gurmit has also won the 'Top 10 Most Popular Male Ar-tistes' at the Star Awards.

Member of the Board of Advisors at Ruba, Inc., and has been a Director of Jive Software since April 2011. Pichai is married and has a daughter.

Special Feature



In a relatively short time, Krishnan has gone from working in the United States with tech major Cisco to becoming the

India head of social networking site Linke-dIn. During this time, he did his MBA from INSEAD, worked with Yahoo! and was an early member of travel portal makemytrip.

The big change in his career came when

HARI V. KRISHNANHari V Krishnan likes life on the edge. He learned to ski while studying engi-neering in the United States, and is a trained scuba diver as well as a semi-pro tennis player. He gets the same adrenalin rush looking for opportuni-ties and chasing deals.

he attended a lecture at INSEAD by Jake Co-hen, who said China was an opportunity today and India, tomorrow. "This was an op-portunity to come home, but also to work in the most exciting market in the world," says Krishnan. While the Internet was to become his specialisation, joining LinkedIn was his defining moment. As its first hire in the Asia

Pacific, he has grown the business to include recruiters, advertising agencies and users.

Krishnan looks to his parents for inspira-tion. His father was an engineer and his mother is a professional painter. "I invariably illustrate on white boards during meetings and find myself analysing every move we make to the finest detail," he says. The techie has also learnt to take regular breaks these days. "I used to work myself to the ground."

For now LinkedIn is his passion. "My high point was at a recent CEO forum," he says, "where a top manager told me he used the Internet only to check his e-mail and update his LinkedIn account. I knew I was on the right track."

Sikka, the son of an officer in the Indian Railways, grew up in Baroda (present day Vadodara). He com-

pleted his boards from Rosary High School, and then studied computer en-gineering at MS University, Baroda. He moved to the US after this to pursue fur-ther studies at Syracuse University, and later was accepted for the doctoral pro-gram at Stanford University. His disserta-tion was entitled 'Integrating Specialized Procedures into Proof Systems,' and his thesis advisor was Michael Genesereth. He completed his Ph.D. in 1996.

After a brief stint at Xerox's research labs, Sikka founded iBrain, which com-peted at the time with Business Objects. iBrain was then acquired by PatternRX, Inc. His second startup, Bodha.com, fo-cused on developing technology for non-invasive, service-based integration of enterprise applications and informa-tion. Sikka joined Peregrine Systems as their area Vice-President for Platform Technologies, responsible for applica-tion development and integration tech-nologies and architecture, following their acquisition of Bodha.com.

VISHAL SIKKA Vishal Sikka is a member of the Executive Board of SAP AG, and the Global Manag-ing Board heading all SAP products and innovation. Sikka has global responsibil-ity for development and de-livery of all products across SAP’s product portfolio in-cluding Applications, Analyt-ics, Cloud, Database Technol-ogy and Mobile. Sikka is also responsible for leading the design and end-user experi-ence for SAP, and is responsi-ble for driving all innovation globally.

Sikka joined SAP in 2002, to head up the advanced technology group respon-sible for strategic innovative projects. Later he was promoted to Senior Vice President of Architecture & Chief Soft-ware Architect, responsible for the road map and the direction for the architec-ture of SAP's products and infrastruc-ture. In April 2007, Sikka was named SAP's first-ever CTO reporting to then CEO Henning Kagermann. At the time, SAP spokesman Frank Hartmann stated that SAP felt it needed a CTO to oversee some broad changes that were under way at the company, including its re-newed focus on the mid-market, the introduction of new on-demand prod-ucts, and the continued rollout of NetWeaver and its SOA strategy. In the wake of Léo Apotheker's resignation from the executive board in 2010, Sikka was named to a newly reconstituted board, along with new co-CEOs Bill McDermott and Jim Hageman Snabe. His current contract expires in 2017.

In 2008, Sikka joined the executive board of the CTO Forum, an influential industry non-profit community. The same year, he articulated his vision of 'Timeless Software' – software that does not cause disruption to the user as tech-nology landscapes evolve – and pro-posed that this be a key pillar of SAP's future development efforts.

chakravarthi suchindran

The writer is a technocrat who dabbles in journalism print & broadcast,

photography & creative visual arts.



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Metaphysical Musings

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SALARY CREDIT TO NRE A/C NOT TAXABLE

KALYAN JEWELLERS EXPANSION IN INDIA, UAE

Indian employees working overseas often face litigation over taxation of their overseas salary income, if such salary is received in India.

This is because a non-resident can be subjected to tax in India on that portion of the income which is received in India. The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) which adjudicates such tax matters, has in a recent decision held that merely because the salary was credited by a Singapore-based employer company to their employee's NRE bank account in Mumbai, it will not trigger a tax incidence in India.

With a VIEW TO EXPAND ITS BASE IN India and abroad, Kalyan Jewellers, the single largest directly-owned jewellery retail chain in the country, is targeting a turnover of INR 15,000 Crore

by the end of FY 2014-15. The future growth of the company will be driven by the launch of about 40 outlets over the next two years. At present, the company has 58 outlets in India and abroad. “For 2013-14, our turnover is INR 9,400 Crore against the turnover of INR 8,400 Crore during the previous fiscal, which reflects the significant growth we achieved with the addition of just nine showrooms in that period,” said TS Kalyanaraman, Chairman of Kalyan Jewellers. The company is now planning to expand in states including Delhi NCR, West Bengal, Orissa, Mumbai and Ahmedabad. It is also ex-panding in the Gulf region, with a goal to set up outlets in the Emirates of Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain. “We have already entered Dubai and we plan to expand in other regions of the UAE, as the market there is huge and there is lot of scope for growth,” said Kalyanaraman.

UDAY KOTAK NAMED EY’S ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR 2013

Uday Kotak, Executive VC and MD of Kotak Mahindra Bank, who had created the leading

financial conglomerate in two decades, has been named the EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2013. He will now go on to represent India at the EY world Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Monte Carlo in June. The EY Lifetime Achievement Award has been conferred upon Cipla’s Chairman Yusuf K Hamied. Eight other successful Indian entrepre-neurs, including Ajay Bijli of PVR Ltd, Vineet Nayyar of Tech Mahindra, and VSS Mani of Just Dial have received awards in various categories. The winners for the 15th edition of busi-ness awards were chosen by an eight-member jury led by Kumar Man-galam Birla, Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group.

HINDUJAs LOOK TO MAURITIUS

HARYANA RESERVES 10% RESIDENTIAL SPOTS FOR NRIs

The Hindujas, of the multi-billion-dollar

Hinduja Group, well-known for making trucks and running a bank in India, are also spreading their wings, and venturing into real estate. The Group’s six-year-old real estate arm Hinduja Reality Ven-tures seems to have got

a shot in the arm with Mauritius-based Rabna Holdings joining hands with them as an equity partner a few months ago. The relaxation in FDI (foreign direct in-vestment) norms — allowing 100% FDI in the sector — seems to have helped. A company insider says Rab-na has parted with a hefty premium to pick-up around five percent stake in the reality venture. “The amount is somewhere between INR 150 to 160 Crores". Ashok Hinduja, the youngest son of founder Parmanand Hin-duja, is treading carefully, as many seasoned players have so far ended up burning their fingers in the real estate business. Today, the Hindujas have a land-bank of over 2,500 acres in Bangalore, Hyderabad and few other cities.

Business Buzz

NRI Achievers Desk

Speaking at the recently concluded PBD 2014, the Haryana Chief Minister had an-

nounced that his state has reserved 10% of industrial plots for Non Resident Indians (NRIs), and has set up a Foreign Investment and Non-resident Indian (NRI) Cell to help the overseas Indian in setting up business ven-tures and assist in other investment related matters. The state government of Haryana is offering these incentives to the overseas In-dian, as Haryana emerges as a land of oppor-

tunity and enterprise with its modern indus-trial infrastructure. The state has put in place a single window clearance system to stream-line taxation and attract investment from NRIs. The state's economy has not ched up an impressive average growth rate of 9.1% during the 11th Plan, which is considerably higher than the nation al average of 7.9%. This im-pressive growth mirrors Haryana's enviable status in terms of it's per capita income and investment as well. The state's multipronged

approach towards progress has created sev-eral avenues of investment that have collec-tively catalysed its inclusive growth story. One of the major focus areas of the state has been education. The Rajiv Gandhi Education City is attracting attention of global universities and colleges, as is the Global Centre for Nu-clear Partnership and a National Cancer In-stitute that is coming up in Jhajjar.



Heritage

coloursWATER, STICKS & SWORDS

FESTIVAL OF

From Akitu to Sham el-Nessim and from May Day to Easter, the en-tire world celebrates spring. From the point of view of Science, this season is purportedly one of the

most important seasons as the axis of Earth is increased relative to Sun, which causes the lengthing periods of daylight and the days themselves get warmer. Snow begins to melt and water streams start flowing throughout the lands. The light and warmth provide a perfect environment for plants to flourish and this period gains its own agri-cultural importance. With this, the prid-ominantly agrarian countries and regions of the world mark this season’s beginning as the most important event of their calen-dars. Most cultures celebrate it as their New Year, and with time, it has come about that many folklores, legends and mythical stories got associated with it.

People living in Indian Subcontinent have their own myriad versions of this Spring Festival. Some call it 'Phagwah',

http://www.nriachievers.in

some 'Dolajatra', some 'Basantotsav', some 'Shigmo', and a majority of the population in the northern parts of the subcontinent celebrate it as “Holi.” For the followers of the Hindu way of life, the auspicious festi-val of Holi is celebrated on the day when “Holika,” sister of “Hiranyakashipu,” died. According to Hindu mythology, King Hiranyakashipu was Lord Vishnu’s gate-keeper, but due to a curse he was reborn as an Asura (a Demon), in Moolsthan (said to be present day Multan). He declared himself as a god, and ordered his subjects to worship only him. However, his own son “Prahlad” becomes devoted to Lord Vishnu and disobeys his father’s commandments.

Angry from this act, Hiranyakashyap or-ders his sister “Holika” to take Prahlad in her lap and sit on a bonfire. Holika had a cloak, which would prevent her from fire. However, as the bonfire started, the air blew off the cloak and covered Prahlad. As a result, Holika was burnt alive and Prahl-ad was saved. Since then, the night when Holika died is celebrated as Holika Dehan (Burning of Holika) and the next day is celebrated as “Holi”, the festival of colours. Another symbolic myth connects this fes-tival with the death of demon Pootna, who came to poison infant Lord Krishna.

But in Barsana (near Mathura), the tales goes like this: Lord Krishna visited his be-

HOLIKA WAS buRnT ALIVE AnD PRAHLAD WAS SAVED. SInCE THEn, THE nIgHT WHEn HOLIKA DIED IS CELEbRATED AS HOLIKA DEHAn (buRnIng OF HOLIKA) AnD THE nExT DAy IS CELEbRATED AS “HOLI”, THE FESTIVAL OF COLOuRS.

Phot

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Did You Know?

http://www.nriachievers.in

loved Radha’s village and playfully teased her friends. At this, the women of Barsana chased him away with sticks. Since then, groups from Krishna’s village (Nandgaon) visit Barsana during Holi and get chased away, and sometimes beaten with sticks by the people of Barsana. It is popular by the name of “Lath-Maar Holi” (Literally: Stick-Hitting-Holi). Another interesting form of Holi is celebrated in the hill re-gions of Kumaun Garhwal. Here, instead of colours and water, people sit across and sing the songs of Holi. It therefore got its name “Baithaki Holi” (Sitting-Holi). Soon, another form of Kumaoni Holi evolved, called “Khadhi Holi” (Standing-Holi), where these songs were sung standing. Some parts also celebrate “Mahila Holi” (Women’s Holi), where only ladies par-ticipate and sing songs. Even a Goan ver-sion called “Shigmo” exists, which concen-trates more on Singing and Dancing.

In Punjab, a very different form of cel-ebrating Holi is observed. During the times of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth spiritual master of Sikhs, the punjabis were struggling with the Mughal Armies for their survival. While they were celebrating all festivals, the important festival, which also marks the New Year, was to be given some special importance. Hence, the war cry (Halla) gave the name ‘Holla Mohalla’, where mohalla means ‘to gather/assemble’. Guru Gobind Singh jee used this occasion of Holi to do mock war drills at the fort of Holgarh. This became a gazetted festival

during the British Raj and is celebrated till date at the city of Anandpur, where Sikhs who practice the Sikh form of Martial Arts called ‘Gatka,’ gather every year and ex-hibit their talent and skills with weapons and horses.

While a majority of Indians celebrate Holi with colours and water, and some say it with flowers and even laddoos, many others have their own way of celebrating. Some simply sing, some dance, and some take out their weapons to demonstrate war drills and martial talent. All this happens to mark the beginning of the Spring season. This diversity in Indian culture makes it so special and unique.

vikramjit singh rooprai

The writer is a self-made IT entrepreneur, who is also a passionate heritage & history buff



Special Supplement

Dr. Anoop Kumar Gupta is a Doctor of Medicine (MD), and one of the India's well known specialists in IVF (In-Vitro Fertilisation). Trained in the US during the 1980s in Medicine, and having later served and gained experience in a Paediatric Hospital in Sydney, Australia, he is now the Medical Director and Infertility Specialist at a clinic of his own founding, which he has been running in Delhi since 1994. Known as the Delhi IVF & Fertility Centre, this super-speciality clinic offers services leading to the solution of various problems of conception faced by couples both from India as well as from abroad. NRI Achievers took out time to visit Dr. Gupta at his clinic and learn more about his work.

THE ART WAY ?DESIGNER BABIES...

On an average day, Dr. Gupta's Delhi IVF literally is a beehive of activity, with the lobby chock-a-block with prospective

parent couples, and families of people undergoing treatment at the clinic. Un-derstandable as the centre caters to a va-riety of patients with ailments related to infertility, and specialises in providing a comprehensive bouquet of services to patients, ranging from Intra Uterine In-semination (IUI), Intracycloplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI), In-Vitro Fertili-sation (IVF) and Assisted Laser Hatching, Egg Donation, Embryo Donation and Embryo Freezing. The centre also pro-vides Male Infertility and even natural infertility treatments coupled with emo-tional and moral support under the same roof. Not to mention practical surrogacy options available to infertile couples.

Delhi IVF has flourished over the years, with Dr. Gupta and team notching up an impressive list of achievents that are replete with several firsts. To list a few of them here, they include: First healthy test tube baby delivered in the year 1994. First ICSI (Single Sperm) IVF baby deliv-ered in 1997. First IVF baby via Blastocyst Culture de-livered in 1999. First IVF baby via MESA (Microsurgical Epididymal Sperm Aspiration). First IVF baby through zona-free Blasto-cyst transfer delivered.

First IVF triplets of 46-year-old mother delivered. 4000+ ART babies delivered through various Assisted Reproductive Technology procedures during the past 14 yrs.

Delhi IVF maintains that the clinic is fully ART compliant, and conducts all pro-cedures as per standards and norms speci-fied under the yet-to-become-law Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Bill. The ART bill was first drafted and proposed in 2010 in response to create a governing framework for the thriving (but somewhat grey) domain of infertility treatment in In-dia, but has so far not managed to make it through Parliament to become an Act and get notified. Dr. Gupta and his team have also so far successfully conducted 700 plus egg donation procedures, and managed more than 230 surrogacy cases, with each and every one of them resulting in successful births and the full medical recovery of the egg-donor/surrogate mother. We spoke to Dr. Gupta on the topic of IVF, artificial in-semination, test tube babies, infertility treat-ments, and surrogacy, as also about the ob-jections that are oft advanced against such methods, both from the ethical and religious points of view. Here are some excerpts:What is IVF and how does it work? And how much has it become acceptable in today's so-ciety?

“In Vitro Fertilisation, or IVF, is the proc-ess for extracting of the egg cells, which are fertilised by the sperm outside the human body, in a fluid medium. This method of

impregnating a female of the species is of a great importance as it is used in the case when other alternative methods of ART (As-sisted Reproductive Technology) have failed. This technology has been of a great benefit for couples who have not been able to con-ceive due either to problems in sperm qual-ity of the male partner or due to problems in the fallopian tubes of the female partner. Of course there have been several ethical and religious objections against this artificial method of pregnancy, but one cannot deny the positivity this method has brought into the lives of people, who could never go through parenthood because of one reason or the other.”If we are to go by the speed at which IVF cen-tres are proliferating across the country, one could well be led to believe that the human ability to procreate naturally is on a decline. What is your view?

“Yes, IVF Clinics India are indeed gaining popularity all over the country. Celebrated choreographer Farah Khan is a very recent case in the IVF records, who delivered her triplets at the age of 41. And then there are many other hollywood moms-over-40 as well. I would say that this sort of is clearly conveying the message that our world is to-



Special Supplement

day gradually learning to accept this boon to the human life. 'Creating' a baby is no less than a wonder!”

“With regard to your question whether declining fertility is a sign of the times, In-fertility is surely a problem that is manifest-ing itself among large populations. Millions are indeed infertile today, which means they are unable to conceive even if they have had unprotected sex regularly for six months to a year depending on the age, and have not been able to carry a pregnancy to its full term. There may be several reasons for this increasing incidence of infertility among young couples, and hormonal imbalance is one of them. Way of life is another factor, and the blame for infertility could well come from an erratic lifestyle, hectic schedules, performance anxiety and stress taking a toll on fertil-ity. How expensive or inexpen-sive is this treatment? And what does the process gener-ally involve?

“This treatment takes a whole series of steps to be

completed, but I would say that it is well worth the wait. The IVF Clinic has to first of all make sure that the mother-to-be is able to take home a healthy baby, while prevent-ing multiple pregnancy. The steps followed to complete the procedure are follows: Hormonal stimulation Supervising the maturity of eggs Egg collection Semen specimen collection Fertilisation and cleavage Embryo shift Luteal patronage Blood tests

“Only when the couple has gone through

all these steps is the treatment is considered complete. Speaking of costs, it would prob-ably depend on the facility opted for. With-in the last few years, there has been a rise in the number of IVF clinics India and IVF hospitals, but there have yet not been enough for the willing couples to locate as easily. AceProbe Labs, Max Super Speciality Hos-pital, Moolchand Health Care, and many more from Delhi have established their name in this field. Similarly Malpani Infertility Clinic, Origin Fertility Centre and Southern Cross Nursing Home and others, are notable in other parts. Costs would vary from one establishment to another. Without putting a firm figure to it, I would say total cost should range between three to five lakh In-dian rupees if it is a textbook case and there are no complications.”IVF coupled with the ease with which one can find a surrogate mother, seems to have also made India the destination for socalled 'med-ical-tourist' couples who want to have a test tube baby. Comments?

“True. Firstly it is because IVF treatment in India is quite affordable, and may be availed by any couple irrespecective of the reason they are unable to conceive a child. This is the key reason why so many foreign couples flock to India with the hope of being able to hold their own baby in their hands. One can get up to 60% cost savings by opting for IVF clinics in India. Patients also have the freedom to pay in parts in India.Your clinic has gone from success to success and today your facility is one of the sought after facilities in this part of the world. Has all this meant a positive or negative impact on your family life?

“On that count I should say that I have been fortunate indeed, as me and my wife are in allied disciplines, she is a scientist and an embyologist. So her support has been there all along, and now it is she who singlehandedly manages our hospital with the meticulousness that is so characteristic of her. Another blessing has been that my children too have chosen to opt for the medical profession. My daughter Aastha is today a budding Obstetrician and Gyne-cologist. She is already working here, and contributing her mite to the effort here, and my son Manan is currently doing his MBBS at the Maulana Azad Medical Col-lege. So thankfully all is well on the home front as well.”

NRI AchIeveRs Desk



Vastu

On a serious note, money does play an active and important role in our lives. From establishing a business

from scratch, to investing in share markets and for plethora of other motives, money is the sole requirement our lives revolve around. This is the reason that many an empty pocket hurts a lot more and auto-matically closes the doors to various suc-cessful ventures people would have undertaken but were unable to due to lack of money in their hands.

Vaastu principles are ac-curate and revolve around the presence of energies. Vaastu can predict fairly ac-curately the reasons behind money scarcity within a house, firm or an organiza-tion. There are instances when suddenly financial condition goes bad despite the fact that it was excellent once. It is not a matter of superstition, but rather quite a scientific analysis banking on facts and fig-ures! Your business might be performing awesomely well, and you yourselves are noticing the incoming money. But when other overhead expenses are cal-culated, nothing is left in your hands. Well, the reason behind this phenomenon might be the fact that rays within your home are not able to circulate in a proper way. It is a proven fact that the proper placement of energies can help you in attracting money even from an unexpected project!

Vaastu Shahstra can help impeccably in this delivering you a handsome money flow all year round. All you are required to do is to change things around and set in

HEAVY CONSTRUCTION IN NORTH EAST STOPS FINANCIAL GROWTHIt goes without gainsaying that 'money' seems to be what governs our lives today. Handing a kid a ten rupee note might well inspire the child to study harder, and handing a thousand rupee note to the wifey may probably be a good incentive for her to dish up a more delectable dinner for you! Well, jokes apart, money, or the lack of it, does seem to matter more and more in our lives, so let us look at this important aspect from the point of vaastu in our column this month.

place certain alternatives so that the en-ergy within the premises turns positive and favourable for money inflow.

HERE IS WHAT YOU CAN dOØ Lord Kuber resides in the North. So North should be powerful, and any fault within this area would directly impact the flow of money.

Ø East is known as the direction of the Sun, which is the ultimate source of energy. Closing this zone or blocking it via con-struction of any structure will lead in loss of physical energy. If any family member is not warm enough and lacks energy from within to work, money won’t come either. Ø North-East is a very sensitive zone. This is the direction responsible for most of the troubles. Any disturbance, noise or ir-regularity in your plot in the North-East direction would lead you into big money trouble, losses and goodwill deficit.Ø North-East should not have sources of

negative energies like washrooms and store-rooms. This will interfere with mon-ey flow and would ultimately lead to loss-es.Ø North-East is the head of ‘vaastu pu-rush.’ Dosha in this direction is detrimen-tal to good financial health. Any Multi-level construction in this direction would also restricting growth.

Ø If the North-East di-rection of your house or premises is prone to any such weakness, it is highly recommended that you make use of Feng Shui to attempt making that area a little more active.

Vaastu Dosha can be of various types. You might be working very hard and giving your best to your venture, but your client is not getting impressed. This is also a type of Vaastu Dosha that will need a consul-tation with a vaastu vid-wan well in time to avoid any other harmful

effects. And as we said earlier, money is an important part of our life, and if by cer-tain changes and amendments to our life-style we are able to maintain an appreciable flow of it, nothing is like it, no?

Get your directions and doshas rectified today!

Naresh siNgal

Apart from vastu, he is also a well-known exponent of Feng Shui and Pyramidology. You

can contact him at: [email protected]



Real Estate & Property

HOME BUYERS SENTIMENT UP

These are the findings of a national level Survey, the “Realty Plus - 99acres.com Consumer Confi-dence Index” study, which presents

a unique insight into the mind of home buyers. This first of its kind of online-survey that tried to differentiate between the buying behaviour of end-users and investors, confirmed the marked trend of investor/speculator-driven market giving way to end-user driven market. The sur-vey reflects buoyancy in the overall confi-dence-level of the home buyers. End-users with renewed confidence are now showing strong intent to purchase homes. The sur-vey findings have revealed that an over-whelming 75 percent of prospective home buyers have shown their definite intent to purchase a home in the near future. There is a marked increase in their confidence level, with 39 percent being bullish about home buying, and 46 percent displaying reasonable confidence.

Prospective home buyers, especially fence-sitters, are now shedding their ap-prehension to invest, as they realise that in view of uncontrollable inflation, home loan rates may not decline soon. They have also realised that with the new land acqui-sition policy in place and with increasing material and labour cost, property prices will only go up in the coming months. Close to one-fourth of the respondents are of the view that post elections, once the economy revives in the second half of 2014, prices will also rise. And as such, it is not wise to keep on waiting for property prices and home loan rates to soften. Rath-er, it is beneficial to invest now when pric-es are comparatively depressed or stable.

In view of the exceptionally large number of project delays and delivery defaults ad-

versely impacting the confidence level and buying sentiment, those intending to buy homes are extremely cautious about build-er's track record and his financial strength. The survey established that in order to en-sure safety of their investment, a majority (51 percent) of respondents opted for 'ready-to-move' and 'nearing-completion' property compared to under- construction and newly launched property.

The survey highlights that compared to end-users, more investors are playing the wait and watch game, thereby reflecting their low risk appetite. This is further re-inforced by the survey finding that it is not HNIs but retail investors who are active, and that they are opting for affordable and mid-income properties. But then the overall optimism of investors is reflected in survey findings with 61 percent re-spondents saying that they are inclined towards investing in residential property in 6~12 months while 50 percent say it is the right time to invest as prices are likely to go up in future.

As an investment option, real estate con-tinues to be the best bet even today. The

survey establishes that 47 percent respond-ents rate real estate as the best investment asset class. Compared to this, only about 19 percent have reposed faith in equity, 17 per-cent in gold, and 14 percent in mutual funds. About one-fourth of investors think that since it is a volatile period, it is wise to play it safe by investing in deposits. Historical annual returns from real estate have been in the range of 15-20 percent. While one-fourth of the investors are bullish about 20 percent plus ROI, 43 percent expect the Re-turn On Investment to be in the range of 15-20 percent. According to the survey find-ings, one third of the respondents settle for less than 12 percent ROI implying that retail investors dominate the current market while HNI investors and speculators have taken a back seat as they have been finding it diffi-cult to exit the market and they do not see any positive change in the short-term.

The author is a senior media professional, with long-standing experience in the real estate

sector. He is Editor, Realty Plus - a leading real estate monthly. He may be reached at

[email protected]

Last year, the confidence level of home buyers took a severe beating amidst high property prices, rising home loan rates and large-scale delivery defaults. With low home sales and high unsold inventory, property buyers (both end-users and investors) took a back seat. The new year how-ever holds hope as buyers are back with improved sentiment and higher confidence level, shedding their reluctance to invest in residential real estate. writes Vinod BEHL.



MuMbai bureau

Cineppets

KATRINA KAIF NEW FACE OF L’ORÉAL PARISL'Oréal Paris launched its new haircare range, that has been crafted for Indians by the L’Oréal’s Research & Innovation Labs in India. Katrina Kaif is their new brand ambas-sador for this range. Manasi Guha, GM, L'Oréal Paris says, “Katrina beautifully em-bodies the qualities that represent our brand, and is one of the most successful ac-tresses in the Indian film industry today who has created an impact like no other.

JOHN ABRAHAM TO PRODUCE AND STAR IN BIOPIC ON THE GREAT GAMA

John Abraham, known for making content-rich, critically ac-claimed films, is now gearing up to produce a biopic on the In-dian wrestler the Great Gama, in which he will play the title role.

Gama, born 1880 in the Punjab, remained un-vanquished for his entire career spanning more than 50 years, and was awarded the Indian ver-sion of the World Heavyweight Championship on 15 October 1910. Produced by JA Enter-tainment and Rising Sun Films, the biopic on Gama will be directed by Parmeet Sethi. Con-sidering that John will be playing one of the world’s greatest wrestlers, it is understandable

that the famous Abraham physique will be on display for his fans in the film. Says Parmeet Sethi, “Gama is the only wrestler to have the distinction of being undefeated in his career span of 50 years and his story is yet not told to the world …

MADHURI SINGS FOR THE FIRST TIME WITH HER MOTHER, FOR GULAAB GANG

In Gulaab Gang, fans of Madhuri Dixit will not only see her famed acting histri-onics, but also hear her singing for the very first time! Yes, all you Dixit aficiona-dos out there, Madhuri has sung a song in the film for the very first time in her career, and to add icing to the cake, she is joined by her illustrious mother as well in the song! Madhuri Dixit’s mother, Snehlata Dixit, is a trained classical sing-er, and has also rendered a line for the song, making it a most special moment for the actress. It is a Kajri (folk song), titled ‘Rangi Sari Gulabi Chunariya’ which starts in Madhuri’s mother’s voice and then Madhuri takes over from her. The music is by the director Soumik Sen himself.

Star cast Vidya balan, Farhan

akhtar, ekta Kapoor, Saket

Chaudhary (director) meets the

media people

'SHADI KE SIDE EFECTS' RELEASED



Silver Screen

AmitAbh bAchchAn

“i Am LEARninG AMITABH BACHCHAN says that he does not like to be called the King of Bollywood, during a tete-a-tete with Jyothi Venkatesh of NRI Achievers, along the sidelines of the launch of the theat-rical trailer of his forthcoming film “Bhoothnath Returns,” a film jointly produced by Bhushan Kumar, Kishan Kumar and Renu Ravi Chopra under the banner of T-Series & BR Studios, at PVR Juhu in Mumbai recently ... Here are some excerpts from the conversation they had:

What is your role in Bhoothnath Re-turns?

I revise my role of a friendly ghost, along with Boman who plays a politi-cian, and the film’s child artist Parth Bhalerao who plays the role of Akhrot. The national award winning actress Usha Jadhav plays Akhrot’s mother in the film. “Bhootnath Returns” is an attempt by Renu and Ravi Chopra to take forward with Bhushan Kumar of T Series such a popular character as

Bhoothnath with kids. This part is for all age groups and will get funnier with all of us playing really very hi-larious characters. I am thankful to the producers to have approached me for the sequel again.

Can you elaborate on your role?“Bhoothnath Returns” is an enter-

taining tale of good against evil, weak against powerful, and past against fu-ture. This small kid Parth is the only

ActinG EVEn nOW”



Silver Screen

one who can see me in the film. In this film, he is the hero and I am the zero. I am being sent back to earth from Heaven after being taunted and se-verely admonished that I am a useless ghost if I cannot even scare a small kid, and what transpires afterwards forms the crux of the story. The film

has been directed by Nitesh Tiwari, who had earlier directed “Chillar Par-ty” along with Vikas Bahl, whose next film “Queen” is all set for release shortly.

Your association with BR Films started long back!

Yes. My association with BR Films did start long back, even before I was

signed on to play the lead in “Zameer” along with Sairaji and Shammiji. BR Films is a massive Institution thanks to people like BR ji, Yashji and Kook-ie (Ravi Chopra). During the two days I was here in Bombay when I had come to the Filmfare Madhuri Talent Contest, I went to a party by BR Cho-

prasaab at his house at Napean Sea Road. It was a great honour for me to be there at his party. Though I was rejected by the Filmfare Madhuri guys after the preliminary stage, every time I was in Bombay, I used to make it a point to go and meet BR Chopra.

How do you react when you are hailed as the King of Bollywood?

I do not believe in the tag of Bolly-wood King and do not like to be foist-ed with it. If you want to learn acting, you have to be a good observer. I have been almost for 45 years in this indus-try, but I have still not learnt acting. I would say that even now I am learning acting every day by observing others on the sets. I remember as we used to feel that if we wear red clothes over our cape-chaddhi, we can also be su-permen in real life.

What do you think about the new generation of actors today?

Frankly speaking, when we started our careers, none of us ever used to do such a good job as actors in our first films. I am amazed and impressed at the way the young actors are doing their jobs these days. The child star Parth with whom I am acting in “Bhootnath Returns” has done an amazing job in the Marathi film “Killa,” which was showcased at the recent Ber-lin International Film Festival.

Jyothi VenkateshThe writer is a well-known & established film critic.

'bhOOthnAth REtuRns' is An EntERtAininG tALE Of GOOd AGAinst EViL, WEAk AGAinst pOWERfuL, And pAst AGAinst futuRE. this smALL kid pARth is thE OnLy OnE WhO cAn sEE mE in thE fiLm. in this fiLm, hE is thE hERO And i Am thE zERO



Travelogue

DHARAMSHALA DOORSTEP OF DAZZLING DHAULADHAR

Alps to Aravallis, Cairngorms to Karakoram, Hindu Kush to Hima-layas - I have gone around taking in the beauty of some of the most

majestic mountain ranges. But the dazzling view of Dhauladhar from Dharamshala re-ally took my breath away.

En route Dharamshala, Kiratpur Sahib onwards, we were driving in the shadows of the Dhauladhar ranges. All along, we feast-ed on many moods of Dhauladhar, but nothing came close to what we witnessed once we reached Dharamshala.

Actually, our booking was not in Dhar-

amshala, but at Blossoms Village Resort in Sidhpur, a small village just short of Dhar-amshala. Despite the nightlong drive, one look at the gorgeous view, and our journey's fatigue simply vanished. It was, as if we could just stretch our arm and touch the glistening, snow-covered mountains.

Upon reflecting, I realised that during my other travels through the mountains, and trips to sundry hill stations, it was always about 'view-points', 'sunset-points', or just 'aimless-wanderings-for-the-best-view'. What set the Dharamshala experience apart is - from most parts of this small hamlet, the Inside St. James



Travelogue

Photos & Text: Ajay Sood

A monk shoots another

Waterfall at Bhagsunath

River Beas flowing through Kangra Valley

The bridge, as you enter Dharamshala

Dhauladhar, en route Dharamshala



view is stunning and you don't have to go around looking for 'view-points'.

The town is small, with a population of around 25,000. But the activities here are spread over a stretch of around 20kms. In the popu-lated clusters, the streets are narrow and chock-full of hawkers and vendors. Locals have excit-ing tales of peak-season to share, when a short drive of about 2kms may take anything between 45 minutes to an hour and a half. Though we were glad we were there in the so-called off-season (peak winters), I am sure that with thou-sands of tourists pouring in during the peak-season, even this slow progress through civiliza-tion would be fun, since for most part, the area offers vast open stretches of natural beauty.

From the Tibetan Monastery to the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (Norbulingka In-stitute), from the War Memorial to the spank-ing-new HPCA Cricket Stadium, from the

Bhagsunath Falls to Naddi viewpoint, from Tea Gardens to crowded Kotwali Bazaar, we saw it all. What stood out everywhere was the imposing backdrop provided by the Dhauladhars.

Another thing that stood out was an omnipres-ent Tibetan influence, thanks to the town being the supreme seat of in-exile Dalai Lama - be it the little Tibetan eateries in the crowded market place, the dolls with Tibetan features in the Dolls Mu-seum in Norbulingka Institute, or Tibetan monks roaming the narrow alleyways of McLeodGunj, Bhagsunath, Dharamshala, or Naddi.

A visit to Dharamshala is highly recommended if the majesty of mountains is your call. I guaran-tee that you'll come back mesmerised.

The writer is an accomplished and avid travel photographer, relishing equally the challenges

in capturing cityscapes and landscapes, heritage and architecture, wildlife and citylife,

street and people.

A 3-eyed Tibetan doll in

Norbulingka Dolls Museum

Beautiful main building of

Norbulingka Institute

Hues of Dhauladhar

at sunset

A monk turning the prayer wheels

Travelogue

Postal regd No. dN/297/2013-2015date of Publication: 5th of every Monthdate of Posting: 8th & 9th of every Month

rNI No. delBIl/2012/45826

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