She
could be close to steeling a stainless success. That shouldn't be surprising since the
lady in question, Sminu Jindal, is the daughter of Prithvi Raj Jindal,
the scion of the Rs 2,500-crore O.P. Jindal Group. What is surprising is that her efforts
are bearing fruit at Swastik Foils, a division of the Rs 474.55-crore Saw Pipes, which
this 24-year-old sophomore at the fore School of Management heads. Independent of her
family's other companies, Sminu--a painter, a poet, and a singer, all rolled into one--and
her team have developed a special variety of stainless steel that could replace the
chrome-plated mild steel used in bicycle rims. Not only is the product
environment-friendly--the use of chrome is discouraged in the US--it is also
cost-effective. Says the young CEO: "I think it is high time the steel industry did
its bit to protect the environment." Noble thoughts from corporate India's woman of
steel…
It's a macro-triumph over micro-economic adjustments. Even as the
London-based Euromoney announced its choice of the 52-year-old P. Chidambaram
as the winner of The 1997 Euromoney Best Finance Minister Award on September 17, 1997--the
eve of the International Monetary Fund-World Bank meet in Hong Kong--he was embattled in a
mid-course fiscal correction back home, unveiling a Rs 6,880-crore revenue mop-up
operation. Although Chidambaram joins the illustrious Manmohan Singh as the country's
second finance minister on whom this award has been conferred--incidentally, Singh was
twice a winner of the coveted title between 1991 and 1996--the gutsy
lawyer-turned-politician has, probably, faced the toughest time during the past few months
as the country's 17th finance minister. Not only did one of his pet reforms--the framing
of the Insurance Regulatory Authority Bill to create a watchdog body for the deregulation
of the insurance sector--get defeated on the floor of Parliament, he has also had to face
flak for his bold economic policies, not only from some of his key political adversaries,
but from Singh himself. Under these circumstances, the award must come as a welcome boost
to the ego of the "misguided reformer." Hats off to you, Sir…
He's been at it for donkey's years.The 72-year-old L.N.
Jhunjhunwala, the chairman emeritus of the Rs 1,147-crore LNJ Bhilwara Group,
participated--along with 36 donkeys--in a march late last month to the prime minister's
residence to protest against the use of English in India. The donkeys carried placards
that read: "English is my father tongue and I am a slave of the English."
Jhunjhunwala, who is an active member of the Bhartiya Bhasha Sammelan, had his pro-Hindi
passion sparked off by an experience on a visit to Japan in 1956. On reaching Tokyo, he
failed to locate the hotel where he was supposed to check in. Simply because "there
was not a single board in English to show me the way," says Jhunjhunwala in chaste
Hindi. Later, he faced a similar situation in Germany. But Jhunjhunwala is finding it
difficult to implement his passion in his own companies. Watch out now for a Bombay Bhasha
Club…
They are, indeed, India Inc.'s first family of charity. It all
began 25 years ago, when K. Vijay Rao's mother set up a small charitable
institution in West Delhi. Today, it's a passion that not only consumes the 50-year-old
CEO of Escotel Mobile Communications--the cellular services joint venture between the Rs
3,363-crore Escorts and the $7.02-billion First Pacific of Hong Kong--but also his wife
Beena, 47, and his son Nikhil, 14. For, the Rao family almost single-handedly funds and
runs the Swami Shivanand Memorial Institute of Fine Arts & Crafts, which employs 100
teachers to impart vocational training, and primary and secondary education to over 3,000
students. While Vijay himself is still the primary fund-raiser for the institute--he
raises almost Rs 1 crore every year--Beena oversees its day-to-day operations. It's
pointless asking Vijay, a former CEO of AT&T's multimedia business in India and South
Asia, about his charitable streak. Says he: "I haven't been able to devote more time
to it." But charity, quite literally, runs in his blood. His grandfather, Kaleswar
Rao--a former speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly--was a well-known social worker.
Then, his father K.L. Rao, who held the portfolio of Union Minister for Irrigation and
Power, in several stints, between 1962 and 1974, furthered the charitable cause. And now,
Vijay has made sure that the honourable legacy of the Raos is more than preserved. For the
Raos, charity truly begins at home…
She
could be close to steeling a stainless success. That shouldn't be surprising since the
lady in question, Sminu Jindal, is the daughter of Prithvi Raj Jindal,
the scion of the Rs 2,500-crore O.P. Jindal Group. What is surprising is that her efforts
are bearing fruit at Swastik Foils, a division of the Rs 474.55-crore Saw Pipes, which
this 24-year-old sophomore at the fore School of Management heads. Independent of her
family's other companies, Sminu--a painter, a poet, and a singer, all rolled into one--and
her team have developed a special variety of stainless steel that could replace the
chrome-plated mild steel used in bicycle rims. Not only is the product
environment-friendly--the use of chrome is discouraged in the US--it is also
cost-effective. Says the young CEO: "I think it is high time the steel industry did
its bit to protect the environment." Noble thoughts from corporate India's woman of
steel… 
It's a macro-triumph over micro-economic adjustments. Even as the
London-based Euromoney announced its choice of the 52-year-old P. Chidambaram
as the winner of The 1997 Euromoney Best Finance Minister Award on September 17, 1997--the
eve of the International Monetary Fund-World Bank meet in Hong Kong--he was embattled in a
mid-course fiscal correction back home, unveiling a Rs 6,880-crore revenue mop-up
operation. Although Chidambaram joins the illustrious Manmohan Singh as the country's
second finance minister on whom this award has been conferred--incidentally, Singh was
twice a winner of the coveted title between 1991 and 1996--the gutsy
lawyer-turned-politician has, probably, faced the toughest time during the past few months
as the country's 17th finance minister. Not only did one of his pet reforms--the framing
of the Insurance Regulatory Authority Bill to create a watchdog body for the deregulation
of the insurance sector--get defeated on the floor of Parliament, he has also had to face
flak for his bold economic policies, not only from some of his key political adversaries,
but from Singh himself. Under these circumstances, the award must come as a welcome boost
to the ego of the "misguided reformer." Hats off to you, Sir… 
He's been at it for donkey's years.The 72-year-old L.N.
Jhunjhunwala, the chairman emeritus of the Rs 1,147-crore LNJ Bhilwara Group,
participated--along with 36 donkeys--in a march late last month to the prime minister's
residence to protest against the use of English in India. The donkeys carried placards
that read: "English is my father tongue and I am a slave of the English."
Jhunjhunwala, who is an active member of the Bhartiya Bhasha Sammelan, had his pro-Hindi
passion sparked off by an experience on a visit to Japan in 1956. On reaching Tokyo, he
failed to locate the hotel where he was supposed to check in. Simply because "there
was not a single board in English to show me the way," says Jhunjhunwala in chaste
Hindi. Later, he faced a similar situation in Germany. But Jhunjhunwala is finding it
difficult to implement his passion in his own companies. Watch out now for a Bombay Bhasha
Club… 
They are, indeed, India Inc.'s first family of charity. It all
began 25 years ago, when K. Vijay Rao's mother set up a small charitable
institution in West Delhi. Today, it's a passion that not only consumes the 50-year-old
CEO of Escotel Mobile Communications--the cellular services joint venture between the Rs
3,363-crore Escorts and the $7.02-billion First Pacific of Hong Kong--but also his wife
Beena, 47, and his son Nikhil, 14. For, the Rao family almost single-handedly funds and
runs the Swami Shivanand Memorial Institute of Fine Arts & Crafts, which employs 100
teachers to impart vocational training, and primary and secondary education to over 3,000
students. While Vijay himself is still the primary fund-raiser for the institute--he
raises almost Rs 1 crore every year--Beena oversees its day-to-day operations. It's
pointless asking Vijay, a former CEO of AT&T's multimedia business in India and South
Asia, about his charitable streak. Says he: "I haven't been able to devote more time
to it." But charity, quite literally, runs in his blood. His grandfather, Kaleswar
Rao--a former speaker of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly--was a well-known social worker.
Then, his father K.L. Rao, who held the portfolio of Union Minister for Irrigation and
Power, in several stints, between 1962 and 1974, furthered the charitable cause. And now,
Vijay has made sure that the honourable legacy of the Raos is more than preserved. For the
Raos, charity truly begins at home… 