AZIM H. PREMJI: Being the richest, this software sultan has the most to lose

For a man who is averse to talking about his considerable personal wealth, Wipro Chairman Azim H. Premji manages to have his discussed in the financial dailies fairly often. Thus, when the stockmarket tanked in April after Infosys' and Wipro's less-than-flattering results, it was the man's personal wealth (through an 85 per cent stake in Wipro) that the papers discussed. For the record, he lost about Rs 7,176 crore in a week. Earlier, during Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy's trip to India-Wipro is a Sun partner-the CEO of the company's Indian arm made a reference to Premji featuring above McNealy in the list of the richest men in the world during a small function in Bangalore celebrating the partnership. Clearly when you are as rich as that (Oops!), there's just no respite.

AJIT SING: Old crusader, new cause

Happily Indignant

Despite his corporate background (he once was a box-seller with IBM in the US), Union Agriculture Minister Ajit Singh is a farmer at heart. On April 21, Singh filed a public interest litigation against the powerful Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) for not paying sugarcane farmers in UP the state-fixed price, but instead offering a lower price based on mill efficiency. ''It'll lead to chaos,'' warns Singh. On second thoughts, is the zeal because the Minister's constituency is Baghpat, UP?

CYRUS GUZDER: No confusion

Principled Stand

All's fair in business and war? Not for Cyrus Guzder, CMD of Airfreight. The 58-year-old was offered the Vice Presidentship of CII's Western Region, but Guzder turned it down. Reason: He couldn't stomach the fact that the apex chamber had actually apologised to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi over scathing remarks made by Rahul Bajaj and Jamshyd Godrej on the state's law and order situation post-Godhra. ''I felt out of line with the CII approach,'' says Guzder simply. Bravo.

R. RAMARAJ: Netting profits

Silver Lining

After threatening to turn profitable for two long years, Sify's
R. Ramaraj may finally be delivering. For the quarter ended March 31, 2003, the internet and e-commerce company, which was once valued more than 60 times its current marketcap of $133 million on NASDAQ, reported a marginal cash profit. Says Ramaraj, its CEO & MD: ''This is a validation of Sify's (new) business model.'' The next question for Ramaraj: When is the profit turning net?

HARPAL DUGGAL: Sweat off his nose

Trading Blame

Harpal Duggal's resignation as the CEO and Managing Partner of Optimus has turned into a murky fight between him and Arun Jain, the main promoter of the BPO company. While sources close to Jain say that Duggal (and colleague Suren Khirwadkar) was forced to resign due to poor performance, friends of the former StanChart honcho say he quit because Jain wouldn't give them the promised sweat equity. That leaves both scouting: Jain for a replacement CEO and Duggal for another job.

B.C. KHANDURI: Snuffing road rage

The Negotiator

He may have helped put together one of the most ambitious road projects in the country, but Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways B.C. Khanduri isn't any more popular among truckers for that. Recently, when the minister met truckers to put an end to their agitation, the talks ended in a deadlock. But he was in no mood to give up. ''I have spoken to various ministries, besides my doors are always open,'' he told BT, pointing out that some of the truckers' demands were non-negotiable. With some operators breaking away from the striking association, Khanduri's job may already be done.

-contributed by Ashish Gupta, Swati Prasad and Nitya Varadarajan