Elon Musk (CEO & CTO of SpaceX and CEO & Chief Product Architect of Tesla Motors)

Elon Musk (CEO & CTO of SpaceX and CEO & Chief Product Architect of Tesla Motors)

Elon Musk is an engineer and entrepreneur who builds and operates companies to solve environmental, social and economic challenges. He co-founded PayPal and currently drives strategy, development and design at two companies he created, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and Tesla Motors, and oversees a third company, SolarCity, which he co-founded. He led SpaceX’s efforts to be the first private company to successfully launch and dock a spacecraft with the international space station

SpaceX

Musk is CEO and Chief Designer of SpaceX, the company he founded in 2002 to build the world’s most advanced rockets and spacecraft with the ultimate goal of extending human life to other planets. He designed Falcon 1, the first privately developed liquid fuel rocket to reach Earth orbit, as well as the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft. SpaceX made history when its Dragon spacecraft became the first commercial vehicle in history to successfully attach to the International Space Station on May 25^th, 2012. In 2008, NASA awarded SpaceX a $1.6 billion contract for 12 cargo flights to and from the International Space Station, effectively replacing the Space Shuttle. In 2010, SpaceX became the first commercial company to successfully recover a spacecraft from Earth orbit; a feat previously only achieved by a few nations. In 2011, the company started work preparing the spacecraft to carry astronauts under a NASA award. The first manned flights are expected in 2015.

Tesla Motors

As CEO and head of product design at Tesla Motors, Musk oversees strategy for the all-electric American car company he co-founded to design, engineer and manufacture affordable electric vehicles for mainstream consumers. He currently guides development of the Model S, the world’s first premium electric sedan, and Model X, an SUV/minivan. Previously, he spearheaded design of the original Tesla Roadster, the first battery electric sports car. Musk developed the business and sales strategy to deliver Tesla vehicles to consumers worldwide and forged partnerships with Daimler and Toyota, through which Tesla Motors sells electric powertrain systems to those companies.

SolarCity

As chairman of SolarCity, Musk provides strategic direction for the company he conceived to help combat global warming and minimize air pollution. SolarCity is a national leader in clean energy services.

PayPal

Musk’s early innovation and success in Internet technology paved the way for him to focus on his lifelong passion for science, engineering and space. In March 1999, he co-founded X.com, which pioneered online point-of-sale functionality for purchases and quickly became one of the Web’s leading financial institutions. In 2000, X.com bought Confinity, and formed PayPal, and successfully made it the leading global payment transfer provider. He served as PayPal’s chairman and chief product officer, and was its largest shareholder until eBay purchased PayPal in 2002 for $1.5 billion. Prior to PayPal, Musk co-founded Zip2, an Internet software company that he sold to Compaq in 1999 for over $300 million.

Musk’s achievements in business and technology have been widely recognized. Time Magazine included him on its 2010 TIME 100 list of 100 people who most affected the world. Esquire Magazine named him one its 75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century, and Forbes Magazine named him one of America’s 20 Most Powerful CEOs 40 and Under. Based on his work at SpaceX, Tesla Motors and Solar City, Research and Development Magazine named Musk its Innovator of the Year and Inc. Magazine named him its Entrepreneur of the Year.

His focus on space exploration and his contributions to the field are also renowned. The world governing body for aerospace records, Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, presented Musk with its Gold Space Medal for designing the first privately developed rocket to reach orbit. The Kitty Hawk Foundation recognized Musk as a Living Legend in Aviation for creating the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft, and Aviation Week named him its 2008 Laureate for his significant global achievements in the space industry. Musk has received the Heinlein Prize for his contributions to the commercialization of space; the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics award for the greatest contribution to the field of space transportation; and the National Space Society Von Braun Trophy for the most significant achievement in space.

Musk created and is chairman of the Musk Foundation, which focuses on aerospace, clean energy, science education and pediatric health. The Foundation has donated solar power projects to Soma, Japan – a city devastated by both earthquake and tsunami – and to a hurricane response center in coastal Alabama operated by victims of Hurricane Katrina and the Gulf Oil Spill. Facilitated by SolarCity, these projects bring much-needed low-cost, clean power to both regions as recovery efforts continue.

Musk is a trustee of the X Prize Foundation, which promotes renewable energy technologies, and sits on the boards of The Space Foundation, The National Academies Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board and The Planetary Society. He is also a member of the Stanford University Engineering Advisory Council.

He holds a physics degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a business degree from Wharton.

FOR MORE :-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk

http://www.forbes.com/profile/elon-musk/

http://www.spacex.com/about/leadership

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Vinod Dham (CEO of Silicon Spice)

"Father of The Pentium processor"

Vinod Dham is popularly known as the father of the Pentium processor. Born in 1950 in Pune, he had his initial schooling in Pune. He did his Bachelors in Electrical Engineering from Delhi College of Engineering in 1971. Thereafter he had a brief stint with Continental Devices, a Delhi based semiconductor company. 

In 1975, Vinod Dham went to the US and did his Masters in Electrical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati. After completing his Masters in 1977, Vinod Dham joined the National Cash Register (NCR) at Dayton, Ohio. Vinod was a team member of the NCR's memory design group. He received many patents for his work at NCR. 

While making a presentation at the IEEE conference in Monterrey, California on re-programmable memory, Vinod Dham received an offer from the Intel to work with them. In January 1990, Vinod was in-charge of developing the 586 or Pentium processor. He worked relentlessly on the project and the Pentium processor was a big hit in the market. Vinod Dham rose up the corporate ladder and reached the position of the Vice President of the Intel's Microprocessor Products Group. He quit Intel in 1995.

Thereafter, Vinod joined NexGen, a start-up firm as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President.. When Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) acquired NexGen in 1996, Vinod Dham looked after the development of AMD's famous K6 Processor, world's fastest personal computer microprocessor. Later on he quit AMD. 


Vinod Dham   is an inventor, entrepreneur and venture capitalist. He is a mentor, advisor and investor; and sits on the boards of many companies including promising startups funded through his India based fund – Indo US Venture Partners,  where he is the founding Managing Director.

Presently, Vinod Dham is the chairman, president and chief executive officer of Silicon Spice, a communications technology development firm

Vinod has made great contribution to the development of highly successful Pentium Processors from Intel. At the age of 25, he left his family in New Delhi to get a graduate degree in the U.S., arriving with just $8 in his pocket and today he is the richest investor in siliconvalley.The best thing that happened to me was joining Intel and the best thing that happened to me was leaving Intel,” says Dham in one of his vapid sound bites that make him so popular with journalists.An inventor, entrepreneur and venture capitalist, he is popularly known as the Father of the Pentium chip, for his contribution to the development of highly successful Pentium Processors from Intel. He is a mentor, advisor and investor; and sits on the boards of many companies including promising startups funded through his India based fund – Indo US Venture Partners, where he is the founding Managing Director.Dham was the only student in his class who had worked longest in semi conductors. In 1995, at the age of 45, after spending 16 years at Intel and reaching the top management of the company, Dham had a “mid-¬life crisis” and was itching to do something different. He believed if you live in Silicon Valley and have not experienced life as an entrepreneur in a world of startups, you have missed out on a very exciting learning experience

Celebrated With:

1993: Top 25 executives in the US computer industry.
1999: Top 100 most influential Asian Americans of the decade.
2000: he was appointed to serve on the President’s advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders by President Clinton.
He was profiled by India Abroad in 7 June’ among 50 Most Influential Indian Americans.
Dham was awarded the NRI Achievement Award at the NRI Global Summit in Oct 2009 by the NRI institute, a New Delhi-based nonprofit..


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinod_Dham.
http://www.iammadeinindia.com/?p=1361
http://venturebeat.com/2008/07/03/interview-with-vinod-dham-father-of-the-pentium-on-a-life-in-technology-and-venture-investing/

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Uday Kotak (Executive Vice-Chairman and MD of the Kotak Bank)

Uday Kotak (Executive Vice-Chairman and MD of the Kotak Bank)

Uday Kotak (born 15 March 1959) is an Indian businessman. He is the vice-chairman and managing director of Kotak Mahindra Bank. He owns a 50% stake in Kotak Mahindra Bank, which he founded and runs. Forbes estimated his wealth to be $4.1 billion in 2012.In 2006 he ended a 14 year partnership with Goldman Sachs by acquiring its 25% stake in two subsidiaries for $72 million.

Mr. Kotak is an alumnus of Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies.
In 1985, when he was still in his early twenties, Mr Kotak thought of setting up a bank when private Indian banks were not even seen in the game. First Kotak Capital Management Finance Ltd (which later became Kotak Mahindra Finance Ltd), and then with Kotak Mahindra Finance Ltd, Kotak became the first non-banking finance company in India's corporate history to be converted into a bank. Over the years, Kotak Mahindra Group grew into several areas like stock broking and investment banking to car finance, life insurance and mutual funds.
Among the many awards to Mr Kotak's credit are the CNBC TV18 Innovator of the Year Award in 2006 and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2003. He was featured as one of the Global Leaders for Tomorrow at the World Economic Forum's annual meet at Davos in 1996. He was also featured among the Top Financial Leaders for the 21st Century by Euromoney magazine. He was named as CNBC TV18 India Business Leader of the Year 2008 and as the most valued CEO by businessworld in 2010.

for more:-
http://aboutus.kotak.com/kotak-mahindra-group/senior-management.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uday_Kotak

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Arundhati Bhattacharya (first woman to be the Chairperson of SBI)

Arundhati Bhattacharya (first woman to be the Chairperson of SBI)

Arundhati Bhattacharya born in a Bengali Hindu Kulin Brahmin family in the city of Kolkata ,is the first woman to be the Chairperson of State Bank of India. Before being the Chairperson, she held the posts of managing director and chief financial officer at SBI. Arundhati became the 24th Chairperson of the bank by succeeding Pratip Chaudhuri who retired 30 Sep. Among her contenders for the position included SBI MDs : Hemant Contractor, A Krishna Kumar and S Viswanathan. Her longer service favoured the decision in her favour.

Achievements :-

She is the first woman to ever lead a Fortune 500 company in India.

Considering only banking industry, she is the only woman banker in the world on that list.
SBI is the largest bank in India with 15000+ branches and almost 22% of the country's total deposits, therefore with this promotion, she becomes one of the most powerful women in India.

Only a few powerful women have made it to the top at Indian banks and the latest entrant to this elite list is SBI’s Arundhati Bhattacharya. Bhattacharya has been appointed the first woman chairperson of the 207-year-old State Bank of India which is India’s largest commercial bank. On Monday, the  government  cleared the elevation of Bhattacharya for the top job.  She was among four contenders for the top job. The others were SBI MDs – Hemant Contractor, A Krishna Kumar and S Viswanathan. But longer residual service clinched the decision in her favour. Bhattacharya  succeeds Pratip Chaudhuri who retired on 30 September. She will join the  likes of Chanda Kochhar, MD and CEO of ICICI Bank; Shikha Sharma, MD and CEO, Axis Bank; Naina Lal Kidwai, country head, HSBC; Kaku Nakhate, president and country head (India), Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Vijayalakshmi Iyer, CMD, Bank of India; Archana Bhargava, CMD, United Bank of India and Shubhalakshmi Panse, CMD of Allahabad Bank. During her first interaction with the media, the new chief of the country’s largest bank has said that the war on non-performing assets has intensified and that non-performing managements have no reason to continue being in office. The SBI chief also affirmed that home loan rates were not going to be reduced going forward. The bank is also comfortable with lending to customers for purchasing automobiles which will in turn boost auto sales. Meanwhile, the retail segment is performing well and lending to corporates will be done selectively, she added. Bhattacharya also said this year’s festive season discounts will not be much different from the last, though interest discounts on home loans were highly unlikely. Bhattacharya is not very upbeat about improvement in the bank’s subsequent quarterly performances.  A lot more can be done to improve productivity, she added.  The process for the merger of other associate banks with the SBI is likely to start this year but will not be completed by FY14.

Here is all you need to know about Arundhati Bhattacharya :-

1. Fifty-seven year old Bhattacharya is the bank’s 24th chairperson and has a two-and-a-half-year term at the top. She joined SBI as a direct recruit officer in 1977 and in the course of her extensive service, has served in metros as well as urban and rural areas, criss-crossing the length and breadth of the country.
 Earlier, she was managing director and chief financial officer of SBI. In her earlier roles, she was deputy managing director and corporate development officer of SBI. According to SBI, she was also involved in setting up several new companies and initiatives of the bank, including SBI General Insurance, SBI Macquarie Infrastructure Fund and SBI SG Global Securities Services, as well as the launch of IT platforms such as mobile banking. As corporate development officer and deputy managing director, she has handled large corporate credit as well as initiatives like financial inclusion and financing of self-help groups.

2. During her 36 years at SBI, she also had a stint in the Bank’s New York office where she was in charge of monitoring branch performance, overseeing external audit and correspondent relations. 

3. According to the Times of India, Bhattacharya is the first woman to ever lead a Fortune 500 company in India, and the only woman banker on that list of giants anywhere in the world. 

4. This is the first time that an SBI chief will get a three-year tenure —  the first time that any SBI chairperson is getting such a fixed term— irrespective of when the person will retire. However, she is taking charge at a time when the bank is battling rising bad loans as borrowers find it difficult to meet repayment obligations in a slowing economy. Her biggest challenge will be to improve the bank’s worsening asset quality. The bank’s non-performing assets were 5.5 percent of all assets in the June quarter. Net profit in the first quarter fell 13.6 percent to Rs 3,241 crore against Rs 3,751 crore in the same quarter last year. In an interview with Times of India, Bhattacharya had  listed capital efficiency, improvement in productivity, investor relations and overall liquidity management as her priorities. 

5. “She has a collaborative leadership style, which will help her in dealing with trade unions, which the former chairman faced problems with,” an SBI official was quoted as saying about Bhattacharya by the Business Standard.  Still, some SBI officials  told Mint that  Bhattacharya lacks the experience of working at the corporate office as she has “spent most of her career outside headquarters”. Whether she will be able to  restore the confidence of investors who have dragged down SBI’s share price in recent weeks remains to be seen. As of now, we should just welcome Arundhati Bhattacharya who joins the expanding list of women who are now leading financial institutions in the country

Read more at: 

http://www.firstpost.com/business/all-you-need-to-know-about-arundhati-bhattacharya-sbis-first-woman-chairperson-1152593.html?utm_source=ref_article

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arundhati_Bhattacharya
http://www.livemint.com/Industry/p1HLn9qat7FScclZKok97M/Arundhati-Bhattacharya-takes-over-as-SBI-chief.html

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-11-14/news/44075256_1_arundhati-bhattacharya-fresh-slippages-profit-growth

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Evan Williams(Co-founder of twitter)

Evan Williams(Co-founder of twitter)

Evan Williams (born March 31, 1972) is an American entrepreneur who has co-founded several Internet companies, including Pyra Labs (creators of Blogger) and Twitter. where he was previously CEO. He also co-founded The Obvious Corporation and is working on a yet another publishing platform, called Medium.

He was born and raised on a farm in central Nebraska. He lives in San Francisco with his wife and two sons. He likes long walks in the city, tofu, and burgundy.

Early life and education :-

Williams grew up on a farm in Clarks, Nebraska, where he assisted with crop irrigation in summers. He attended the University of Nebraska for a year and a half, eventually leaving to pursue his career.

Early career:-

After leaving school, Williams worked at various technology jobs and start-up firms in Key West, Dallas, Austin, Texas and again on his family farm in Nebraska. In 1996 Williams moved to Sebastopol, California in Sonoma County to work for the technology publishing company O'Reilly Media. He started at O'Reilly in a marketing position but eventually became an independent contractor writing computer code, which led to freelance opportunities with companies including Intel and Hewlett-Packard.

Pyra Labs and Blogger:-

Evan Williams and Meg Hourihan co-founded Pyra Labs to make project management software. A note-taking feature spun off as Blogger, one of the first web applications for creating and managing weblogs.  Williams invented the term "blogger" and was instrumental in the popularization of the term "blog". Pyra survived the departure of Hourihan and other employees, and was eventually acquired by Google on February 13, 2003. 

In 2003, Williams was named to the MIT Technology Review TR100 as one of the top 100 innovators in the world under the age of 35.  In 2004, he was named one of PC Magazine's "People of the Year", along with Hourihan and Paul Bausch for their work on Blogger.

Twitter:-

Among Obvious Corp.'s projects was Twitter, a popular, free social networking and micro-blogging service. Twitter itself was spun out into a new company in April 2007, with Williams as co-founder, board member, and investor.  In October 2008, Williams became CEO of Twitter, displacing Jack Dorsey who became chairman of the board. 

By February 2009, Compete.com ranked Twitter the third most-used social network based on their count of 6 million unique monthly visitors and 55 million monthly visits.  As of 14 April 2010, Twitter has 105,779,710 registered users. It gets 300,000 new users a day and receives 180 million unique visitors a month. 75% of its traffic comes from outside of Twitter.com. On 4 October 2010, Williams stepped down from the CEO position, explaining "I’ll be completely focused on product strategy", and appointed Dick Costolo as his replacement. 

Following the announcement of Twitter's initial public offering (IPO) in 2013, the company was valued at between US14 billion and US$20 billion. One media report anticipated that Williams, with a 30 to 35 percent stake in the company, would see his personal wealth grow from US$2 billion to US$8 billion in the wake of Twitter's stock flotation.

http://www.crunchbase.com/person/evan-williams
http://techcrunch.com/2013/09/14/twitter-co-founder-evan-williams-lays-out-his-vision-for-medium/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evan_Williams_(entrepreneur)

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Sulajja Firodia Motwani

Ms. Sulajja Firodia Motwani
( Co-chair, FICCI Young Leaders and
Managing Director, Kinetic Motor Company )

She is a fitness person, who is very conscious about her health. She is very particular about carrying out one or the other activity for keeping fit and active. She has always been enthusiastic about sports, especially badminton. She has played badminton on the national level. She is also very fond of pursuing adventurous sports like skiing & scuba diving. She tries to spend as much time as possible with her five year old son Sidhant. Read on to know the complete life history of Sulajja Firodia Motwani.

Prior to joining Kinetic Company, Sulajja worked for a period of four years with a well known investment analytics company, BARRA International, based in California. She has been an active participant in setting the operations of the company in India. Throughout her studies, she has been a rank holder. She has always cleared exams with merit. Her name appeared in the toppers list in the SSC examinations and HSC examinations. She graduated from the Pune University. Thereafter, she went to the United States for pursuing further studies. She is an MBA degree holder from the reputed Carnegie Mellon University at Pittsburgh.

She is an epitome of boldness and courage. With her strong determination and courage, she has been able to establish a niche for the firm in the business world. The Company has witnessed tremendous expansion during her tenure. From being a mere moped manufacturer, today, it has set its foothold in the industry as a manufacturer offering a complete range of two wheelers right from mopeds, scooters to motorcycles. 

This major transformation can be attributed to the new competitive business strategy that the Company has adopted, which is driven by the market and customers. Kinetic Company has been constantly coming up with new models to cater to all segments of the society. Sulajja has been instrumental in designing and implementing the marketing strategies of the Company. In the recent times, Kinetic has collaborated with the well known Italian company, Italjet Moto. This acquisition has given full rights to the Kinetic Company to launch seven new scooter models in the country. 

Kinetic is also working in partnership with Hyosung Motors of South Korea. This major collaboration has led to the launching of the most popular Kinetic Aquila and Comet. These motorcycles are very much in demand. Sulajja has played an active role in plotting the course of action for the Kinetic Company. For her great job, she has received many accolades. She has been called upon to deliver speech in a number of public forums. 

"India Today", a well known magazine honored her by presenting her with the title of business "Face of the Millennium". It ranked her among the top twenty five business entrepreneurs of the country. She was presented with the Society Young Achiever's Award for Business in the year 2002. The same year, she was chosen as the "Global Leader of Tomorrow" by the World Economic Forum. In the year 2003, the Institute of Marketing and Management bestowed her with the award for excellent performance as the woman CEO. She also received the Young Super Achiever Award from the leading magazine "Business Today" in 2003.


 Sulajja Firodia Motwani, Indian Business WomanSullaja Firodia Motwani is an epitome of boldness and courage. The Company has witnessed tremendous expansion during her term. From being a mere moped manufacturer it has set its foothold in the industry as a manufacturer offering a complete range of two wheelers right from mopeds, scooters to motorcycles. 

Early Life of :-

Sulajja Firodia Motwani was born on August 26, 1970. She completed her graduation in Commerce from Pune University in 1990. She is an MBA holder from the reputed Carnegie Mellon University at Pittsburgh. Throughout her studies, she has been a rank holder. Her name appeared in the toppers list in the SSC examinations and HSC examinations. 

Career :-

Before joining Kinetic Company, she worked for a period of four years with an investment analytics company, BARRA International, based in California. She played a major role in setting the operations of the Kinetic Company in India. Sulajja played a major role in designing and implementing new strategies for the company. She is also performing the role of the Director of Kinetic Motor Company Limited and Kinetic Marketing Services Limited. She is the in charge of the Company`s overall business developmental activities. 

Kinetic has collaborated with the well known Italian company, Italjet Moto. This acquisition has given full rights to the Kinetic Company to launch seven new scooter models in the country. Kinetic is also working in partnership with Hyosung Motors of South Korea. This major collaboration has led to the launching of the most popular Kinetic Aquila and Comet.

Awards received by Sulajja Firodia Motwani :-

India Today magazine honoured her by presenting her with the title of business "Face of the Millennium". It ranked her among the top twenty five business entrepreneurs of the country. She was also presented with the Society Young Achiever`s Award for Business in the year 2002. In 2003, the Institute of Marketing and Management bestowed her with the award for excellent performance as the woman CEO. She also received the Young Super Achiever Award from the leading magazine "Business Today" in the same year. 

Personal Life    :-

Sulajja Firodia Motwani is married to Manish Motwani. She has a 10-year-old son Siddhant. She is a fitness freak, who is very conscious about her health. She has been enthusiastic about sports especially badminton. She is also fond of pursuing adventurous sports like skiing and scuba diving. 

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Stephen covey (Author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People)

Stephen covey (Author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People)

Stephen Richards Covey (October 24, 1932 – July 16, 2012) was an American educator, author, businessman, and keynote speaker. His most popular book was The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. His other books include First Things First, Principle-Centered Leadership, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families, The 8th Habit, and The Leader In Me — How Schools and Parents Around the World Are Inspiring Greatness, One Child at a Time. He was a professor at the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University at the time of his death.

Habit 1: Be Proactive
Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind
Habit 3: Put First Things First
Habit 4: Think Win-Win
Habit 5: Seek First to Understand
Habit 6: Synergize
Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw  

Over his lifetime, Stephen inspired millions with the power of universal principles. As he traveled the globe many times over, his message was a simple one: for true success and meaning in life, we must be principle-centered in all areas of life. A teacher at heart, he often taught: "there are three constants in life: change, choice and principles." 

From the oval office, the board room, community halls and to the school house and family room, Stephen taught the mindset, skillset and toolset found in the 7 habits of Highly effective people, his seminal work. His legacy is woven in the 7 habits, and, just as these habits are universal and timeless, so is Stephen r. Covey, who is admired around the world for his simple, yet powerful, universal, timeless teachings. 

Recognized as one of Time magazine’s 25 most influential Americans, Stephen R. Covey was one of the world’s foremost leadership authorities, organizational experts, and thought leaders. 

Covey was the author of acclaimed books, including the international best seller, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, which has sold more than 25 million copies in 40 languages throughout the world. Other best sellers authored by Covey include First Things First, Principle-Centered Leadership, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families, and The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness. 

Recently released books authored by Covey include Everyday Greatness: Inspiration for a Meaningful Life (2006), The Leader in Me: How Schools and Parents Around the World Are Inspiring Greatness, One Child at a Time (2008), Predictable Results in Unpredictable Times (2009), Great Work, Great Career (2009), and The 3rd Alternative: Solving Life’s Most Difficult Problems (2011). 

Millions of people and thousands of clients throughout the world have personally experienced Covey's approach and commitment to teaching universal principles. His approach has been enormously empowering and it transcends differences of every kind--political, philosophical, religious, socio-economic, generational, gender, lifestyle, etc. 

Over the years, clients from around the world—including from India, Japan, Korea, Africa, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, and beyond—have commented to Stephen Covey that The 7 Habits intimately relate to their culture, country, organization, and family. He responded, "You recognize these principles because they are common to every society that prospers and endures." These universal, timeless principles have stood the test of time with millions of people around the world and will continue to do so in the future. 

Stephen Covey passed away on July 16, 2012, with his loving wife, children and their spouses, grandchildren and great-grandchildren present. His legacy to the world is Principle-Centered Leadership and his many contributions will live on through the principles he loved, taught and espoused. 

Milestones:
In 2002, Forbes named The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People one of the top 10 most influential management books ever.
A survey by Chief Executive magazine recognized The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People as one of the two most influential books of the 20th century.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People audiobook on tape is the best-selling nonfiction audio in history, selling more than a million and a half copies.
Authored Principle-Centered Leadership and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families, with sales exceeding more than one million copies each.
Authored First Things First, with sales exceed more than two million copies
Authored The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families, which was released in October 1997, and is the #1 best-selling hardcover book on family.
Authored The 8th Habit, with sales exceeding nearly a million copies.
The 8th Habit was named Best Business Book of 2005 by Soundview Executive Summaries.
Covey received The National Fatherhood Award from the National Fatherhood Initiative.
Covey was named Speaker of the Year in 1999.
Covey received The Sikh’s 1998 International Man of Peace Award.
Covey received The National Entrepreneur of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award for Entrepreneurial Leadership.
Covey received the International Man of Peace Award.
Covey received the International Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
Covey participated on the Board of Directors for the Points of Light Foundation.
Covey was co-founder and vice chairman of FranklinCovey.
Covey was awarded twelve honorary doctorate degrees.
In February 2010, Stephen Covey joined the Utah State University Jon M. Huntsman School of Business faculty as a tenured, full professor and the first incumbent of the Jon M. Huntsman Presidential Chair in Leadership. 

Stephen R. Covey held a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, an M.B.A. in Business Administration from Harvard University and a doctorate from Brigham Young University. He received 12 honorary doctorates. He made teaching principle-centered living and principle-centered leadership his life’s work.  

https://www.stephencovey.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Covey

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Mallika Srinivasan ( Chairman and CEO of TAFE)

 Mallika Srinivasan ( Chairman and CEO of TAFE)

Mallika Srinivasan  is a thoug

ht leader and a strategist, recognized for entrepreneurship, commitment to excellence and contribution to Indian agriculture machinery business and academia. She is presently the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of TAFE - Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited, a US $1.6 billion tractor major incorporated in 1960 at Chennai, India. TAFE is today, the third largest tractor manufacturer in the world and the second largest in India, by volumes, with presence in over 82 countries, including developed countries in Europe and the Americas.
She is additionally, on the Board of AGCO Corporation - USA, Tata Steel Limited and Tata Global Beverages Limited. She is a member of the Governing Board at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad and the Bharathidasan Institute of Management, Trichy.
Economic Times Businesswoman of the year 2006, she is a well known entrepreneur of India. She has always strived hard to reach for skies, but has deeply rooted her foot into the ground. She is a strong headed woman, who is leading the activities of a Company that is involved in macho business such as tractor manufacturing. She has been able to rise and stand out above all others and make a name for herself in the competitive business world of today. Well, we are talking about Mallika Srinivasan, director of the Rs 2500 crore Amalgamations Group Tafe. Mallika Srinivasan is one of the most successful women CEOs in India. In this article, we will present you with the biography of Mallika Srinivasan, so read on… 

Life History :-

Born on November 19, 1959 as the eldest daughter of industrialist A Sivasailam, she is the pride of her parents. She was always brilliant in academics. She did her in MA (econometrics) from Madras University. Thereafter, she went abroad to pursue further studies. She did her MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Married to Venu Srinivasan, the CMD of TVS Motor, she is living happily with their two children.

In the year 1986, she planned to join the family business. She was made the General Manager of Tafe (Tractors and Farm Equipment) Company. When she took over the responsibility of furthering the economic wealth and business, the turnover of the Company was Rs 85 cr. Under the expert guidance of her father and the whole hearted support of the team, she brought about a major transformation. She converted Tafe into a hi technology-oriented company, thereby becoming the initial choice of the farmers. There was a period, when the Company had to face a tough time, however; even then, the Company invested a huge amount of over Rs 70 crore in the designing and development of product. 

At present, the Company is earning a business over Rs 1,200 cr. It has been a long journey for the Company, which has witnessed many ups and downs. But, it was the strong determination of this courageous woman that slowly and steadily made the firm climb the ladders of success. Today, the Company has not only found a niche for itself as the leading tractor manufacturer, but also expanded its area of operations. It has also entered into others businesses like engineering plastics, panel instruments, automotive batteries gears, hydraulic pumps, and farm implements.

The company has had a long alliance with Massey Ferguson, which is now a part of Agco. The company is looking forward to exporting fully constructed tractors to Agco. Presently, Agro has a stake of 24% in the company and the rest lies with Simpson & Co. Presently, Mallika Srinivasan is serving as the president of premier industrial bodies like Tractor Manufacturers Association and the Madras Management Association. She is the first lady to have assumed the role of a president of the Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry. She is also a prominent member of the governing board of the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.

Awards and accolades :-

The accolades and awards she has received in the recent years are testimonial to her professionalism. In 2011, she was voted Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst and Young; awarded the Woman Leader of the Year award by Forbes India; recognized by Forbes Asia as one of the Top 50 Asian Power Businesswomen, ranked second among India’s Most Powerful Women in Business by Fortune India and named among the six Most Powerful Women of India Inc. by Business Today, while the Asian Business Leadership Forum (ABLF) honored her with the prestigious ABLF Woman of Power Award. NDTV Profit, India’s leading Business television channel, accorded her the special honor of Business Thought Leader of the Year 2012 Award, at the NDTV Profit Business Leadership Awards.

http://forbesindia.com/article/leaderhip-awards-2012/tafe-mallika-srinivasan-the-tractor-queen/33883/0
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mallika_Srinivasan  
http://www.tafecafe.org/taxonomy/term/447

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John H Hammergren (President, and CEO of McKesson Corporation)

John H Hammergren (President, and CEO of McKesson Corporation)

John H. Hammergren is Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of McKesson Corporation. He was elected President and CEO in 2001 and Chairman in 2002.

Under Mr. Hammergren’s leadership, McKesson has become the leading provider of healthcare services and information technology solutions that help organizations across the healthcare industry improve their business performance and deliver better care to patients. 

During his tenure, the company has increased its revenues to $122.5 billion, expanded into new markets, advanced to number 14 on the Fortune 500 and provided shareholders with a 13% compound annual return on investment.

Mr. Hammergren is currently a member of the Business Council, the Business Roundtable and the Healthcare Leadership Council. 

Mr. Hammergren's career at McKesson has included posts as President of Supply Management and Executive Vice President for the pharmaceutical, medical-surgical, pharmacy automation and pharmacy outsourcing businesses of the company. He joined McKesson in January 1996 to lead McKesson Health Systems, a division focused on the pharmaceutical supply management needs of healthcare institutions.

Mr. Hammergren earned a BA in business administration from the University of Minnesota and an MBA from Xavier University in Cincinnati.

Highest Paid CEO 

In December 2011 it was revealed that Hammergren was highest paid CEO in the US with total remuneration in excess of $145m[4] (mostly in stock options ). In 2010 he was paid $51.8m. 

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2012/12/ceo-compensation-12_John-H-Hammergren_ESV7.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hammergren

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Nandan Nilekani (Ex Infosys CEO)

Nandan Nilekani (Ex CEO of Infosys )

Nandan Nilekani is an Indian entrepreneur and the Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). 

Achievement: CEO and Managing Director of the Infosys; 

Nandan Nilekani is the CEO and managing director of the Infosys. Along with Narayan Murthy, he was one of the co-founders of Infosys. He has served as a director on the company's board since its inception in 1981. Before assuming the post of CEO in March 2002, Nandan Nilekani held the post of Managing Director, President and Chief Operating Officer. 

Nandan Nilekani was born in Bangalore. His father Mohan Nilekani was a manager in Minerva Mills. Nandan Nilekani had his initial schooling in Bangalore. Due to his father's transferable job Nandan moved to his uncle's place at Dharwad at the age of 12. This taught Nandan Nilekani to be independent. In 1973, at the age of 18, Nandan Nilekani got admission in IIT Mumbai. The stint at IIT Mumbai transformed Nandan Nilekani from a small town boy to a confident mature man. The lessons he learnt here-meritocracy; the ability to work as part of a team; hard work; and the importance of giving back to the society-have stood him in good stead.

After graduating in electrical engineering from IIT Mumbai in 1978, Nandan Nilekani joined Patni Computers. Here he worked under Narayan Murthy. Three years later in 1981, Nandan Nilekani along with Narayan Murthy and five other co-founders founded Infosys. While Narayan Murthy stayed in India, Nandan Nilekani shifted to the US to take care of Infosys' interests there. He was the company's marketing face.

In 1980s and 90s Nandan Nilekani and his team worked hard to build Infosys. Today Infosys' success story has become a legend in India's corporate history. Today, Infosys has an employee strength of 58,000, annual revenue of $2 billion and $21 billion capitalization.

Nandan Nilekani is recipient of several honors and awards. In January 2006, Nandan became one of the youngest entrepreneurs to join 20 global leaders on the prestigious World Economic Forum (WEF) Foundation Board. He figures among one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine, 2006. In 2005 he was awarded the prestigious Joseph Schumpeter prize for innovative services in field of economy, economic sciences and politics. In 2006, Nandan Nilekani was conferred the Padma Bhushan, one of the highest civilian honors of India.

Honours and awards:-


He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Law degree by the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto on 31 May 2011. 
He received NDTV Indian of the Year's Transformational Idea of the Year Award in 2011 
He was named Corporate Citizen of the Year at the Asia Business Leaders Award (2004) organized by CNBC. 
Joseph Schumpeter Prize for innovative services in economy, economic sciences and politics – 2005. 
In 2009, Time magazine placed Nilekani in the Time 100 list of 'World's Most Influential People'  
Was presented the 'Legend in Leadership Award' by the Yale University in November 2009. He is the first Indian to receive the top honour.[ 
In January 2006, Mr. Nilekani became on the youngest entrepreneurs to join 20 global leaders on the World Economic Forum Foundation Board. 
Nilekani was awarded one of India's highest civilian honours, the Padma Bhushan, in 2006. 
Also in 2006, he was named Businessman of the Year by Forbes Asia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nandan_Nilekani
http://www.forbes.com/sites/naazneenkarmali/2013/09/17/is-indian-billionaire-nandan-nilekani-preparing-to-plunge-into-politics/

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Karsanbhai Patel (Chairman Nirma )

Dr. Karsanbhai Patel (Chairman Nirma )

Karsanbhai Khodidas Patel (b. 1945, Ruppur, Mehsana, Gujarat) is an Indian industrialist, founder of the Rs. 2500 crore (USD 500 mn) Nirma group with major interests in detergents, soaps and cosmetics. In 2005 Forbes listed his net worth as USD $640 million. He has interests in education, and founded a leading pharmacy college (Nirma Institute of Pharmacy), leading engineering college, (Nirma Institute of Technology). He is sometimes referred to as K. K. Patel.
Achievement: Man behind the hugely successful brand, Nirma.
Karsanbhai Patel is the man behind the hugely successful brand, Nirma. His' is a legendary rags to riches journey during which he shattered established business theories and rewrote new ones.

Karsanbhai Khodidas Patel (K.K. Patel) came from a humble farmer family from Mehsana, Gujarat. He worked as Lab Assistant in the Geology and Mining Department of the Government of Gujarat. In 1969, at the age of 25, Karsan Bhai Patel started a small-scale enterprise. He offered a quality detergent powder, using indigenous technology, at a third of the prevailing price, without compromising on the product. Karsanbhai named the detergent powder Nirma after daughter Nirupama. 

At that time domestic detergent market was limited only to premium segment and was dominated by MNCs. Karsanbhai Patel started door-to-door selling of Nirma and priced it at Rs. 3 per kg. The next available cheapest brand in the market at that time was Rs.13 per kg. Nirma revolutionized the whole detergent powder segment and in a short span of time created an entirely new market segment in the domestic detergent sector market. It gave the bigger established brands a run for their money and soon occupied the top market share. To add to all this, Nirma was made of an innovative formulation, which global detergent giants were later on compelled to emulate, it was phosphate free and hence environment friendly, and the process of manufacturing was labour intensive, which offered large scale employment.

Karsanbhai notched up one success after another. After establishing its leadership in economy-priced detergents, Nirma foray into the premium brand segment, in cakes and detergents was equally successful. It built up a 30% market share in the premium detergent segment and achieved a greater than 20% share in the premium soaps market. 

Karsanbhai Patel has won many accolades on his way to success. The Federation of Association of Small Scale Industries of India, New Delhi, awarded him with the 'Udyog Ratna'. The Gujarat Chamber of Commerce felicitated him as an 'Outstanding Industrialist of the Eighties'. The Govt. of India twice appointed him Chairman of the Development Council for Oils, Soaps & Detergents.
Awards:-

In 2001, Karsanbhai was awarded an honorary doctorate by Florida Atlantic University, recognizing his exceptional entrepreneurial and philanthropic accomplishments.

In 1990, the Federation of Association of Small Scale Industries of India (FASII), New Delhi, awarded him the 'Udyog Ratna' award. The Gujarat Chamber of Commerce felicitated him as an 'Outstanding Industrialist of the Eighties'. He has served twice as Chairman of the Development Council for Oils, Soaps and Detergents.

Patel has been conferred with Padma Shri Award for the year 2010.The award will be formally conferred by the President of India Mrs Pratibha Patil.

It was also announced on June 7th, 2013 that he bought 40 crores six-seater chopper. After Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani and Zydus group promoter Pankaj Patel, Karshanbhai is the third Ahmadabad-based industrialist to buy a chopper.

Though Karsanbhai Patel does not have a professional degree in marketing, yet he proved that a professional marketer does not need a formal degree in marketing to be successful !

Dr. Karsanbhai Khodidas Patel is the founder of the present Rs. 3550 crore Nirma group with main activities in detergents, soaps, cosmetics, and salt. If marketing is to find the gaps and fill them, Karsanbhai Patel just hit the bull’s-eye.

Karsanbhai Khodidas was born in 1945, in Ruppur village in north Gujarat in a family of farmers. He graduated in Chemistry at the age of 21. Initially, he worked as a lab technician and later served the state Government. In 1969 at the age of 24, Karsanbhai started manufacturing phosphate free detergent powder, Nirma (named after his daughter Nirupama) in his backyard. He dedicated after office hours for manufacturing Nirma and sold on his bicycle while going to his work place, which was 17km from his home. The handmade detergent packets were sold at Rs. 3 per kg, which was one-third of then least priced popular detergents.

At that time domestic detergent market was limited only to premium segment and was dominated by MNCs. Karsanbhai Patel started door-to-door selling of Nirma and priced it at Rs. 3 per kg. The next available cheapest brand in the market at that time was Rs.13 per kg. Nirma revolutionized the whole detergent powder segment and in a short span of time created an entirely new market segment in the domestic detergent sector market. It gave the bigger established brands a run for their money and soon occupied the top market share. To add to all this, Nirma was made of an innovative formulation, which global detergent giants were later on compelled to emulate, it was phosphate free and hence environment friendly, and the process of manufacturing was labour intensive, which offered large scale employment.

The various products produced by the Brand are Detergents, Toilet soaps, Packaged Food, Industrial Products and fertilizers. 
Nirma, is now being recognized as the:
9th among top FMCG brands in India, (A&M- Mode- 2002)
Selected as the super brand of the country for 2003-04
Most popular brands in the Detergent Powders- Economy category (FMCG awards 2003)
Karsanbhai stayed focused on cost reduction strategies to cement the slot for Nirma in the market. Consequently, Nirma adopted backward integration strategy while introducing latest technology to its production facilities to offer a better product at a reasonable price.

As far as corporate social responsibility (CSR) is concerned, Nirma has made some good efforts by starting Nirma Education & Research Foundation (NERF) in the year 1994 for the purpose of running various educational institutes. Nirma has also set up Nirma labs, which prepares aspiring entrepreneurs to effectively face the different business challenges. Nirma also runs Nirma Memorial Trust, Nirma Foundation and Chanasma Ruppur Gram Vikas Trust as a part of their effort as a socially responsible corporate citizen. It also owns Nirma University. 

The University emphasizes on the all round development of its students. It aims not only at producing good professionals, but, also good and worthy citizens of great country, aiding in its overall progress and development.

The objects of the university are to develop the knowledge of science & technology for it advancement of mankind in general and to provide for arrangement for national and global participation in the field of higher & professional education including technical education dental, medical, paramedical, physiotherapy, pharmacy, commerce, management, education and humanities. 

It aims at establishing close linkages with the industry to make teaching, research and training at the university relevant to the needs of the economy, at national and global level and to develop training facilities and make arrangements for training in higher education including professional education and allied fields.

The Nirma university is a confederation of Institutes and faculties. The University functions with a relatively small administration, and with central bodies consisting of offices and academic personnel of the University and the University’s governance structure is essentially democratic.

The key to success of a university has been its people and the various activities of the university are governed by different bodies of people constituted for specific purposes of facilitating academic excellence at the university. The academic and general management of the university are taken care of by these bodies

Nirma Education and Research Foundation (established in 1994), presently includes following  top grade – 
Institute of Technology (1995)
Institute of Management (1996)
Institute of Diploma Studies (1997)
Institute of Pharmacy (2003)
Institute of Science (2004) 
Institute of Law (2007).   
All of the above institutions have emerged as of excellence offering various programmes ranging from undergraduate to doctoral levels in technology, engineering, business, pharmacy and sciences.

The company that was started in 1969 with just one man who used to deliver his product from one house to the other, today employs around 14 thousand people and has a turnover of more than $ 500 million. In 2004 Nirma’s annual sales were as high as 800000 tonnes. According to Forbes in 2005 Karsanbhai Patel’s net worth was $ 640 million.

Karsanbhai Patel has won many accolades on his way to success. In 1990, The Federation of Association of Small Scale Industries of India, New Delhi, awarded him with the ‘Udyog Ratna’. The Gujarat Chamber of Commerce felicitated him as an 'Outstanding Industrialist of the Eighties'. The Govt. of India twice appointed him Chairman of the Development Council for Oils, Soaps & Detergents. Karsanbhai was awarded an “Honorary Doctorate” by Florida Atlantic University, recognizing his exceptional entrepreneurial and philanthropic accomplishments.

Challenging established multinationals needs extreme courage and to win in the long run needs marketing foresight. Karsanbhai Khodidas Patel, once a government servant with the knowledge and experience as a chemist offered a good product and was aggressive in marketing strategy. He made the multinationals to follow Nirma and introduce substitutes such as Wheel. In this respect, the Nirma case can be compared to those of Ford, Apple, Sony, and Honda, all one-of-a-kind entrepreneurs who built their empire on gut feeling rather than following the classical patterns taught in business schools. This is a genuine road from rags-to-riches one would like to follow. 

The story of Nirma has become a classic marketing case study.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karsanbhai_Patel
www.mbarendezvous.com/successstory.php?id=46
http://www.iloveindia.com/indian-heroes/karsanbhai-patel.html
http://forbesindia.com/article/india-rich-list-10/where-is-nirmas-karsanbhai-patel/18332/1
http://udaipurnow.in/karsanbhai-patel-and-the-success-of-nirma/

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Lakshmi Niwas Mittal (Chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal)

Lakshmi Niwas Mittal (Chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal)

Born on: 15th Jun 50
Born in: India
Marital status: Married

Occupation: ArcelorMittal
Born on 15th June, 1950, Lakshmi Mittal is the protagonist of a typical rags-to-richest story. From a youth, who spent his life sleeping on thin mattresses, he has turned into the owner and CEO of world’s largest steel production company ArcelorMittal. With a personnel fortune of US 20.7 billion, he stands sixth on the list of world's richest persons .

He is also the second richest man in Europe and the richest man in United Kingdom for the fifth time in a row. 

Mittal is a graduate of Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management, which happens to be the first business school of India. He started his career from working for his father’s steel business, which was known by the name of Nippon Denro Ispat. However owing to differences with his father, mother and brothers, he set out to establish his own LNM group and has been the sole person responsible behind the astounding growth of his business in and around the world.

Today his company has a production capacity of 42.1 million tons of steel, and one of every 5 cars use steel produced by his company. For all his fortune, he knows how to spend or rather invest it. He has bought for himself many houses and real estate properties, the most famous which is his current residence at 18-19 Kensington Palace Gardens, which he purchased for US $ 128 million, making it the most expensive home at the time. It is named Taj Mittal, since it has interiors decorated by the marble taken from the same quarry that supplied to the Taj Mahal. He married off his daughter Vanisha Mittal to an investment banker Amit Bhatia, in what is undoubtedly the most expensive wedding ever recorded in history. He spent over US $ 78 million in the extravaganza that lasted for a week. His philanthropic efforts include setting up the Mittal Champions Trust with US $ 9 million, to help the best of athletes in India win more Olympic medals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakshmi_Mittal

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Shobhana Bhartia (Chairperson and Editorial Director of the Hindustan Times Group)

Shobhana Bhartia (Chairperson and Editorial Director of the Hindustan Times Group)

Shobhana Bhartia (born 1957) is the Chairperson and Editorial Director of the Hindustan Times Group, one of India's newspaper and media houses, which she inherited from her father. She has also recently taken charge as the Pro Chancellor of Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (founded by her grandfather) and is the current chairperson of Endeavor India. Closely associated with the ruling Congress party, Shobhana served as a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper chamber of the Indian parliament from 2006 to 2012. Her name is sometimes written Shobhana Bharatiya or Bhartiya, but the preferred spelling is Bhartia.
Shobhana was one of the first Padma Shri award nominees in 2005. The award was given for journalism. The following year, in February 2006, Shobhana was nominated to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of parliament, on a recommendation by the ruling United Progressive Alliance headed by Sonia Gandhi The nomination, reserved for eminent people from the fields of literature, science, art and social service, was challenged in the Supreme Court of India  on the grounds that she was a "media baron" and not a journalist, and that she was politically affiliated with the Indian National Congress. However, the court dismissed the appeal at the admission stage itself, saying that the scope of "social service" was broad enough to include her. She has been quite active in the Rajya Sabha, asking frequent questions and also introducing "The Child Marriage (Abolition) and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill, 2006"

Mrs. Shobhana Bhartia, who has been associated with the company since its inception, has taken over as the Chairperson on September 18, 2008. She has spearheaded the company's long-term vision and strategy. Mrs. Bhartia is in charge of formulating and directing the editorial policies of the company and has more than 25 years of experience in the newspaper industry.
Mrs. Bhartia is a graduate from Calcutta University and is a recipient of the Padma Shri Award by the Government of India in 2005. Mrs. Bhartia has received several other awards, including the Outstanding Business Woman of the Year (2001) by PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry, the Global Leader for Tomorrow (1996) by the World Economic Forum, Davos and the National Press India Award (1992). She has been on the board of Indian Airlines Limited and on the North Regional Board of the Reserve Bank of India. Mrs. Bhartia has been a Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) since 2006.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shobhana_Bhartia

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Pablo Picasso

           Pablo Picasso ( Name itself says everything... )

                                            ... HAPPY BIRTH DAY SIR.....

Pablo Ruiz y Picasso, known as Pablo Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer who spent most of his adult life in France. As one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century, he is known for co-founding the Cubist movement, the invention of constructed sculpture,  the co-invention of collage, and for the wide variety of styles that he helped develop and explore. Among his most famous works are the proto-Cubist Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907), and Guernica (1937), a portrayal of the German bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War.

Picasso, Henri Matisse and Marcel Duchamp are regarded as the three artists who most defined the revolutionary developments in the plastic arts in the opening decades of the 20th century, responsible for significant developments in painting, sculpture, printmaking and ceramics.

                 Picasso demonstrated extraordinary artistic talent in his early years, painting in a realistic manner through his childhood and adolescence. During the first decade of the 20th century, his style changed as he experimented with different theories, techniques, and ideas. His revolutionary artistic accomplishments brought him universal renown and immense fortune, making him one of the best-known figures in 20th-century art.........

Picasso was a Spanish painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. He is one of the most recognized figures in 20th-century art. He is best known for co-founding the Cubist movement and for the wide variety of styles embodied in his work. Among most famous Pablo Picasso paintings are the proto-Cubist Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907) and Guernica (1937), his portrayal of the German bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War.

Picasso demonstrated uncanny artistic talent in his early years, painting in a realistic manner through his childhood and adolescence; during the first decade of the twentieth century his style changed as he experimented with different theories, techniques, and ideas. Picasso creativity manifested itself in numerous mediums, including oil paintings, sculpture, drawing, and architecture. His revolutionary artistic accomplishments brought him universal renown and immense fortunes throughout his life, making him the best-known figure in twentieth century art.

To say that Pablo Picasso dominated Western art in the 20th century is, by now, the merest commonplace. Before his 50th birthday, the little Spaniard from Malaga had become the very prototype of the modern artist as public figure. No painter before him had had a mass audience in his own lifetime. The total public for Titian in the 16th century or Velazquez in the 17th was probably no more than a few thousand people - though that included most of the crowned heads, nobility and intelligentsia of Europe. Picasso's audience - meaning people who had heard of him and seen his work, at least in reproduction - was in the tens, possibly hundreds, of millions. He and his work were the subjects of unending analysis, gossip, dislike, adoration and rumor.

 

He was a superstitious, sarcastic man, sometimes rotten to his children, often beastly to his women. He had contempt for women artists. His famous remark about women being "goddesses or doormats" has rendered him odious to feminists, but women tended to walk into both roles open-eyed and eagerly, for his charm was legendary. Whole cultural industries derived from his much mythologized virility. He was the Minotaur in a canvas-and-paper labyrinth of his own construction.

He was also politically lucky. Though to Nazis his work was the epitome of "degenerate art," his fame protected him during the German occupation of Paris, where he lived; and after the war, when artists and writers were thought disgraced by the slightest affiliation with Nazism or fascism, Picasso gave enthusiastic endorsement to Joseph Stalin, a mass murderer on a scale far beyond Hitler's, and scarcely received a word of criticism for it, even in cold war America.

No painter or sculptor, not even Michelangelo, had been as famous as this in his own lifetime. And it is quite possible that none ever will be again, now that the mandate to set forth social meaning, to articulate myth and generate widely memorable images has been so largely transferred from Picasso paintings and sculpture to other media: photography, movies, television. Though Marcel Duchamp, that cunning old fox of conceptual irony, has certainly had more influence on nominally vanguard art over the past 30 years than Picasso, the Spaniard was the last great beneficiary of the belief that the language of paintings and sculpture really mattered to people other than their devotees. And he was the first artist to enjoy the obsessive attention of mass media. He stood at the intersection of these two worlds. If that had not been so, his restless changes of style, his constant pushing of the envelope, would not have created such controversy - and thus such celebrity.

In today's art world, a place without living culture heroes, you can't even imagine such a protean monster arising. His output was vast. This is not a virtue in itself - only a few paintings by Vermeer survive, and fewer still by the brothers Van Eyck, but they are as firmly lodged in history as Picasso ever was or will be. Still, Picasso paintings and sculptures filled the world, and he left permanent marks on every discipline he entered. His work expanded fractally, one image breeding new clusters of others, right up to his death.

Moreover, he was the artist with whom virtually every other artist had to reckon, and there was scarcely a 20th century movement that he didn't inspire, contribute to or - in the case of Cubism, which, in one of art history's great collaborations, he co-invented with Georges Braque - beget. The exception, since Picasso never painted an abstract picture in his life, was abstract art; but even there his handprints lay everywhere - one obvious example being his effect on the early work of American Abstract Expressionist painters, Arshile Gorky, Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, among others.

Much of the story of modern sculpture is bound up with welding and assembling images from sheet metal, rather than modeling in clay, casting in bronze or carving in wood; and this tradition of the open constructed form rather than solid mass arose from one small guitar that Picasso snipped and joined out of tin in 1912. If collage - the gluing of previously unrelated things and images on a flat surface - became a basic mode of modern art, that too was due to Picasso's Cubist collaboration with Braque. He was never a member of the Surrealist group, but in the 1920s and '30s he produced some of the scariest distortions of the human body and the most violently irrational, erotic images of Eros and Thanatos ever committed to canvas. He was not a realist painter/reporter, still less anyone's official muralist, and yet Guernica remains the most powerful political image in modern art, rivaled only by some of the Mexican work of Diego Rivera.

Picasso was regarded as a boy genius, but if he had died before 1906, his 25th year, his mark on 20th century art would have been slight. The so-called Blue and Rose periods, with their wistful etiolated figures of beggars and circus folk, are not, despite their great popularity, much more than pendants to late 19th century Symbolism. It was the experience of modernity that created his modernism, and that happened in Paris. There, mass production and reproduction had come to the forefront of ordinary life: newspapers, printed labels, the overlay of posters on walls - the dizzily intense public life of signs, simultaneous, high-speed and layered. This was the cityscape of Cubism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Picasso

http://www.pablopicasso.org

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