RAKESH KAPOOR

SHANTANU NARAYEN

AJAY BANGA

INDRA NOOYI

With Satya Nadella set to become Microsoft CEO, more India-trained professionals are taking top positions in the world. A study by Egon Zehnder, a global executive search firm, shows that in 2011, S&P 500 companies had more Indian CEOs than of any other nationality except American. Indians led seven companies and Canadians four. As Time magazine wrote in a 2011 article, India's leading export: CEOs, "Unlike, say, a Swede or a German, an Indian executive is raised in a multiethnic, multifaith, multilingual society, one nearly as diverse as the modern global marketplace." Surely, sky is the limit for Indian CEOs...SHANTANU NARAYEN| Age: 50 years| Designation: CEO, Adobe Systems Inc since 2007; board member, Pfizer| Education: A master's in computer science from Bowling Green State University, an MBA from Hass School of Business, a bachelor's degree from Osmania University| Past work: At Apple; co-founded Pictra Inc| Claim to fame: Appointed member of US President's Advisory Managemen

Meet the global CEOs of Indian origin

Business Standard

N Chandrasekaran

TCS has not only bettered the Indian IT industry's growth rate, but has also left its peers behind and maintained profit margins in challenging times

Hungry for growth

BS Jury

The Jury comprised six of India Inc's leading decision makersThe six-member jury for the Business Standard awards for corporate excellence in 2013 made it look simple. That was only to be expected from a jury comprising six of India Inc's leading decision-makers. What perhaps made the job of selecting the outstanding individuals and institutions simpler was the tone set by the jury's chairman, K V Kamath, at the beginning of the one-and-a-half hours of intense discussions.The ICICI Bank chairman said: "The success of the winners that we select should endure." He wanted his jury colleagues to focus on companies of the future and those that had contributed and would contribute to a "new India".Everyone also agreed with Cyril Shroff, managing partner at law firm Amarchand & Mangaldas, that what should matter more than their performance in the stock market was entrepreneurship and a sustainable business model. McKinsey India Managing Director Noshir Kaka added: "We should look at indiv

Choosing the winners

Implications of spectrum sharing and user charges

Sorting out telecom

Currency comfort

Who killed Mahatma Gandhi? Feed the question into a prompt on the newly created website http://engagedino.com/askrg that invites you to "Ask Rahul Anything" and you'll get a range of anodyne non-answers. One sampler: "What Rahul Gandhi wants to do, is Rahul Gandhi and millions of youngsters in this country want, to change the way the system in this country works. What Rahul Gandhi wants to do is empower the women in this country, wants to unleash the power of these women, I mean we talk about being a superpower." Ask the same question and the next answer could be: "The fundamental question is this, are we going to open up the system? Are we going to close the system?" In fact, key in any question and you'll get a set of stock answers. If they sound familiar that's because they're culled from the Congress vice-president's interview with Times Now in which Gandhi doggedly stuck to pre-selected talking points no matter what Arnab Goswami asked him.

Ask Rahul. Anything.

As the spoof website above suggests, Rahul Gandhi's television debut is being widely panned. All the same, there is no shortage of staunch loyalists who seem to be oblivious to it all. Take Ajay Maken, who is in charge of communications for the party. The day after the interview, Maken used his Twitter handle to forward a link to an article favourable to Gandhi with a covering message that stated: "Those who missed important messages in Rahulji's interview". If nothing else, Congressmen must be commended for their perseverance against the avalanche of criticism.

Messages & messenger

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh was apparently "unaware" that the bungalow designed for him in the upcoming capital Naya Raipur was to be built at an estimated cost of Rs 80 crore. When a local newspaper flashed the story, officials in his office swung into action. First, they asked who had leaked the story. Then they persuaded the chief minister to turn down the bungalow. None of this mollified the Opposition. It asked how a chief minister could have been unaware of the cost of a bungalow that was being built specifically for him and commented that if this were really the case then it verified the perception that the bureaucracy ruled Chhattisgarh.

The cost of austerity

This refers to T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan's column "Arvind Kejriwal's Padosan moment" (Marginal Utility, January 25). By simultaneously donning the double hats of a hyper activist and an administrator, Arvind Kejriwal has set a precedent which could prompt his government's employees to do the same with him. If a chief minister can stage a dharna against the government for not meeting his demands, his staff can also stage a dharna and demand immediate acceptance of their demands. By his own logic Kejriwal should yield to them. The chinks in Kejriwal's armour, in using the "propositional logic" to his advantage, have also surfaced. If his party member Somnath Bharti alleges that some foreigners are guilty, then everyone must accept it as the truth, and the police must arrest the culprits. Going by the same logic, when another party member, Vinod Binny, alleges that the Aam Aadmi Party is not implementing its manifesto, it should also be treated as the truth. By expelling Binny from the par

Letters: Truth and logic

This refers to the report "SBI spared the blushes by LIC" (January 30). It would be appropriate to remember the words of C D Deshmukh, the former finance minister and the architect of nationalisation of life insurance companies, who wrote in his autobiography that if at all he was remembered, it should be for his efforts in nationalising life insurance. If today the Life Insurance Corporation is able to fund the investment needs of the government on such short notice, it's because it always laid emphasis on creating an agency network throughout India. Will the government now ensure that private insurance players also grow to similar heights? It is debatable because they are encouraging insurers who sell their products on the shoulders of banks. No wonder the new insurers do not wish to create an organisation at the grass roots level, and have closed several branches in the past three years. This is an issue that will impact the long-term growth of the life insurance industry.S Subraman

Letters: LIC steps in

This refers to the report "Congress for SC/ST quota in private educational institutions" (January 30). That the Congress is desperate to just stay afloat is clear. The reservation policy has not worked anywhere. Not even in government institutions, then why try to replicate it - that too in private institutions?Proven-failures such as the quota policy in the private sector would only drive away investors and talented people. The social engineering experiment carried out after the Mandal commission recommendations were implemented resulted in no tangible benefit for the beneficiaries. It is true that the environment for private institutions to function is created by the government. But private institutions do not function for the state - or its dubious goals. There is no need for private institutions to toe the line of a party with short-term goals. We expect the Congress to speak the language of merit, achievement and success. Aspirations must be encouraged and hard work must be reward

Letters: The Congress' language

Taimur Baig

Every reason cited for policy tightening was present in December, but the central bank decided to wait and see at that juncture

Room for rate cut in second half of 2014: Taimur Baig

Need for a cap on royalty, higher tax on unlisted MNC arms

The Suzuki problem

Failing on sugar

On the morning of his much-anticipated prime time TV interview, Rahul Gandhi met a select group of journalists for a strictly off-the-record chat. The significant point about this no-notes press meet, however, was that it was hurriedly organised with journalists summoned at the last minute. What was the need for this scramble? Perhaps Gandhi's media managers were aware of the underwhelming nature of his performance on the pre-recorded TV interview. But the meeting did nothing to improve the Congress Party vice-president's chances of a better press once the interview was aired.

For the record

With the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) all over the news these days, senior party leaders are finding it hard to handle press photographers looking to capture their every movement. Struggling to pose for a profile shot, a member of the party's think tank wryly observed, "I always used to wonder why models are paid so much. Now I know why, it's so difficult to strike different poses in front of the camera!"

AAP's 'model' members

The cat-and-mouse game between the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi is touching new lows. Recently, when Delhi Chief Minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal asked Delhi citizens to conduct sting operations against corrupt officials and report it through a helpline, a senior Congress leader who also happens to be in-charge of Delhi, doubted if Kejriwal would reject the findings of these stings in the same manner in which he had rejected the sting operation on some of his party members just ahead of the polls.

Sting in the tale

This refers to the editorial "To hike or not to hike" (January 29). The reason to raise the repo rate 0.25 per cent is not very convincing since the fundamentals of the economy and the forces behind inflation continue to remain more or less the same as obtained in December, though the Consumer Price Index has fallen slightly thanks to the reduction in vegetable prices. It would have been better to maintain the status quo which would have at least satisfied the market. The current Reserve Bank of India governor like his predecessor, seems to be gradually getting convinced that inflation needs to be contained at a comfortable level to ensure gross domestic product growth. Measures such as the withdrawal of old high-denomination notes printed before 2005, are indications that he wants to achieve price stability, before targeting growth. The latest measure, however, cannot be of much use in reducing inflation or enhancing growth.T V Gopalakrishnan  BangaloreLetters can be mailed, faxed or

Letters: Why raise rates?

Apropos T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan's book review "Tamil Nadu's 'non-Brahmin' trinity" (January 6), it must be mentioned that Dravidian parties have done gross injustice to an entire generation in Tamil Nadu. The failure of the people of Tamil Nadu to merge into mainstream India is because of the rigid attitude and mismanagement by these parties over a period of five decades. It was unfortunate that eminent politicians such as the late K Kamaraj could not rein in such erring politicians. A forward-caste citizen could not get any benefits even if his parents' salary was as low as Rs 60 a month, but a backward caste landlord's son would get all the concessions in education, hostel, examination fee, and so on, even if he owns acres of land. It is only caste, not economic criterion, that determines eligibility even today. Even powerful samaritans such as the late M G Ramachandran tried to correct this anomaly, but he too succumbed to political pressures.The Congress never had the temerity to

Letters: Caste out

This refers to the editorial "What Mr Modi didn't say" (January 21). The Gujarat chief minister laid out his idea of India, as well as the vision he has for the country's development. The editorial has pointed out all these aspects but also mentioned that Narendra Modi should have spoken explicitly about the ways to rejuvenate industry and on the issue of private-public partnerships. The strategies pertaining to economic revival and rejuvenation cannot be spelt out in advance, that too in explicit and categorical terms, in case political adversaries take advantage. Just because he did not speak about the action plan, does not mean that he doesn't have a fair idea of how to go about it.When Modi says that he intends to rejuvenate the economy, we need to believe him because he has performed and achieved this in Gujarat. It is enough to test one or two grains of rice, to find out whether it is fully boiled or not.Ramachandra Gowda  BangaloreLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The

Letters: Modi's idea of India

Do you think there should be more number of IIT, IIM and AIIMS' campuses in the country

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