Recently, when Goldman Sachs' president and coo Lloyd Blankfein was in India, he said he would be surprised if the Wall Street giant "did not make investments in India within a year from now". Now we know why he spoke with such confidence. As it now turns out, Goldman was already working on at least one big investment-talking to former Unilever honcho, Keki Dadiseth, to be its international adviser for India. His appointment was formally announced end of January first week. Dadiseth, 60, couldn't be reached for comment, but a statement from Goldman, quoting Chairman & CEO, Henry M. Paulson, said that "(Dadiseth's) advice will be of great value as we grow our presence in this rapidly developing region of the world." For Dadiseth, who joined Unilever's India subsidiary, Hindustan Lever, more than 30 years ago as a manager in the internal audit department and rose to be its Chairman, this will be the beginning of a new innings.

Commie Caper

What should have been a fairly simple issue to settle has turned into a political circus of sorts. Ever since Communist Party of India's (CPI) Brinda Karat accused TV's most popular yoga guru, Ram Kishan Yadav aka Swami Ramdev, of mixing animal and human bones in the "ayurvedic" drugs manufactured at his pharmacy, Divya Yog Pharmacy, the controversy has taken amusing twists and turns. First, Karat, 57, brandished test reports that allegedly proved her case. Then, railway minister Laloo Prasad Yadav and UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav rose to Ramdev's defence-never mind that no independent lab test had been done-making Karat look isolated on the issue. But why did the lady pick on Ramdev? Apparently, last year, the pharmacy sacked some workers who were affiliated to CITU.

Proud Scientist

Chintamani Nagesa Ramachandra Rao has won more awards and been felicitated more times than he perhaps cares to remember. But five decades after beginning his career in research, Rao, 71, says he is "truly overwhelmed" at being bestowed India's first National Science Prize. "We should be the providers of knowledge at the highest level, and not just providers of it services, school teachers and nurses," says the solid state and structural chemistry don and the Linus Pauling Research Professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore. His personal ambition is to deliver important breakthroughs in the area of material science.

Take It Easy, Mr Murthy

This magazine has been a great admirer of Infosys co-founder, N.R. Narayana Murthy. Not only did he create hundreds of salaried millionaires, but more importantly he's been a tireless ambassador for Indian it. But now we have a word of advice for him: Yes, Mr Murthy, it's frustrating having to deal with myriad problems every day (choked roads, crumbling civic facilities, etc.) and then be accused of ineptitude by people who've done precious little despite having been given the popular mandate. So, don't say that you'll move it industry out of India if things don't improve. Be a little more patient, work the system to your advantage. You have a great legacy, and a great responsibility.

It's A Break, Alright

When executives get overworked, they hit the pause button and head for a resort. T.G. "Tiger" Ramesh-the man behind tech start-ups like Bangalore Labs and Quintant-is headed for one too, except that it will be a full-time job for him. Ramesh, 39, has teamed up with iGate CEO and former Infosys sales whiz Phaneesh Murthy, and brewery tycoon H.B. Jairaj, to set up Cicada Resorts, an eco-tourism initiative. "Tourism will be among the top three industries over the next three years and within that market, eco-tourism will be the fastest-growing segment," he explains. Ramesh, who will lean on Jairaj's hospitality expertise and Murthy's marketing skills to build Cicada as a premier eco-tourism destination, denies this is a step towards semi-retirement. We agree. Whoever said businesses can't be managed from a hammock?

India's New Voice On Capitol

He is part of Virginia governor-elect Tim Kaine's transition team and the man who lobbies for the cause of Indians and India on Capitol Hill, America's seat of political power. And when Sanjay Puri isn't busy lobbying, he runs a mid-sized tech company called Optimos. Three years ago, Puri, 43, and a few other friends, set up US India Political Action Committee (USINPAC) to deal with issues of hate crime, immigration and US foreign policy towards India. Since then, he's managed to make USINPAC a force to reckon with in Washington. "We were contributing economically, but not politically and we wanted our voice to be heard," says Puri, who was recently in India. With 40,000 members today, Puri says USINPAC has only just started to get its voice heard.

-Contributed by Krishna Gopalan, Rahul Sachitanand, Ashish Gupta, Venkatesha Babu
and Amanpreet Singh