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| E. SREEDHARAN: More flag-offs
in the offing |
At
71, when most people of his age are well into their retirement,
E. Sreedharan is going full steam ahead-literally. On March
31, the Delhi Metro Chairman will submit a detailed project report
to the Karnataka government for a metro system in Bangalore. Then
towards the end of May, he will produce a similar report for Hyderabad,
and Mumbai is also in the queue for a supplementary metro system
for Mumbai. That means Sreedharan-a career railway engineer, who
implemented the Konkan Railway project-won't be retiring anytime
soon. ''I am not happy at all about that,'' complains Sreedharan,
who's received a three-year extension at Delhi Metro until November
2005. In this case, though, unhappy Sreedharan is equal to happy
metro commuters.
Déjà Vu
What is it about tyres and Ajay Kapila? In
April 2001, when he quit LG Electronics, rumours were that he was
joining Ceat. Now that he is leaving Kinetic Engineering as its
Senior VP (Sales and Marketing), the 39-year-old Kapila is rumoured
to be joining JK Industries. Kapila wouldn't tell, except to say
that he makes the shift mid-April. But this time will it be tyres
for sure? It seems so.
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| V. KURIEN: Sticking to his guns |
Milk War II
Is the dairy industry's angry old man turning
a pacifist? hardly. Contrary to reports that GCMMF's (or Amul's)
octogenarian Chairman Verghese Kurien is making peace with
his protégé-turned-bete noire Amrita Patel, Chairperson of NDDB
(read: Mother Dairy), the fight over milk cooperative joint ventures
may have just turned fiercer. In a letter to the Union Agriculture
Minister Ajit Singh, the Amul man has reportedly proposed three
different JV models-but none of it envisages a clear majority stake
for Mother Dairy, as Patel has been seeking. Wonder what Kurien,
who refused to comment, would call this milk ''revolution''. One
wag's suggestion: Operation Blood.
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| GRAHAM BURKE: Hello, Goodbye |
Wrong Call
For a man reputed to have quintupled Pakistan-based
Mobilink GSM's revenues in just two years, Graham Burke's
India stint as CEO of Idea Cellular proved rather unspectacular
and short-lived. The Canadian joined Idea in November last year
as CEO and on March 15, 2003, put in his papers. Why? ''Out of his
own accord,'' says Idea CFO and CEO-designate Vikram Mehmi. The
real story, though, may be slightly different. Burke was seen as
impatient in dealing with his senior executives and his short-temper
soon became a cause for concern. (See BT, March 16, 2003). Too much
of Pakistan in him?
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| G.N. BAJPAI: Much ado about nothing |
Haste Makes...
What Dalal Street needs is a pro-active watchdog.
But one that's overzealous and erring? Last October, within a space
of 10 days, SEBI started investigating Grasim and Gujarat Ambuja
for suspected violations of takeover rules when they acquired stakes
in L&G and acc, respectively. Five months on, SEBI has finished
its probe and guess what the verdict is? Not guilty. Now Grasim,
which has lost more than 130 days because of the probe, can go ahead
with its open offer for L&T. (And Gujarat Ambuja doesn't have to
make one for acc because of the clean chit.) What was it that Shakespeare
said about discretion?
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| ASHA BHOSLE: Discordant note |
Wrong Chord
If Bollywood's top playback singer Asha
Bhosle has it her way, then her album Kabhi To Nazar Milao
(recorded with Pakistani singer Adnan Sami) could turn out to
be its producer Magnasound's swansong. Bhosle has alleged that the
music company has not paid her dues of more than Rs 1 crore from
the album produced in 2000. And to recover her royalty, the singer
wants Shashi Gopal's troubled Magnasound to be liquidated. Neither
side would comment since the case is sub judice, but there's speculation
that a provisional liquidator may be appointed. Hell hath no fury...
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| B. RAMALINGA RAJU: Do-gooders don't quit |
Cyber Samaritan
His company's stock is down a third since January
last year, but that hasn't blunted B. Ramalinga Raju's appetite
for philanthropy. Even today, every Sunday morning, the Chairman
of Satyam Computers spends a few hours monitoring the work and progress
of the family-run Byrraju Foundation, set up in 2001 in the memory
of his father. Now Raju is scouting for top-notch professionals
to run the foundation, which offers everything from sanitation to
education to its 115 adopted villages. ''Social work is no different
from running corporations because both involve people, application
of knowledge, and making things happen,'' says Raju of his recruitment
effort. In these difficult times, all the more.
-contributed by R. Sridharan, Roshni
Jayakar, Shailesh Dobhal, Swati Prasad,
E. Kumar Sharma, Moinak Mitra and Dipayan Baishya
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