Alyque Padamsee, the adman who has built over 100 brands, is also a bestselling author, actor and a great orator. He has 70 major English theatre productions to his name. Famous for his portrayal of Mohammad Ali Jinnah in Richard Attenborough’s film Gandhi, Padamsee has won many awards and is regarded as a genius. He is the only Indian to be voted into the International Clio Hall of F
Dr Lakshminarayana Subramaniam is a well-known violinist trained in Carnatic as well as western classical music. His career in music started in 1973 and ever since he has amassed over 200 recordings to his credit. He has worked with renowned musicians Yehudi Menuhin, Stéphane Grappelli, Ruggiero Ricci, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Herbie Hancock, George Harrison and
Soon after the downfall of the USSR, American political scientist Francis Fukuyama theorised in his book ‘The End of History and the Last Man’ (1992) that the age of communism was over and the western capitalism was now going to be the permanent feature. Four years after this proclamation of the ‘victory’ of capitalism, however, the tiny Himalayan nation of Nepal was
Founded in 2009, the AGI aims to address the concerns and interests of the Indian geospatial industry. In conversation with Ridhima Kumar, AGI’s executive director Bharti Sinha talks about the changing attitudes of the government towards the industry and its willingness to encourage the use of geospatial technology in India.
Established in 1996 as a joint venture between Esri Inc of USA and NIIT Technologies of India, Esri India is the country’s leading GIS software and solutions provider. In an interview with Ridhima Kumar, Esri India’s president, Agendra Kumar gives a brief overview of the GIS industry in India, its challenges and the future prospects.
Victoria Tauli-Corpuz is the third UN special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples and has held the position since 2014. Tauli-Corpuz was also the chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues from 2005 to 2010. Her work for more than three decades has been focused on movement building among indigenous peoples and also among women, and she has work
Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garcés is the elected chairperson-rapporteur of the Open-Ended Intergovernmental Working Group (OEIGWG) on Transnational Corporations and other Business Enterprises with Respect to Human Rights. She is a top Ecuadorian politician and diplomat who is currently the ambassador of her nation to the UN Office at Geneva. Earlier, Garc&eacut
Bhaskar Chatterjee, director general and CEO of IICA (a think tank of ministry of corporate affairs), is a retired IAS officer. His current role is the logical followup to the last post he held, as secretary of the department of public enterprises (DPE). He spoke to Sweta Ranjan about his role in drafting the new Companies Act, which introduced the
Jeet Thayil, an Indian poet, novelist, librettist and musician, is well known for his first novel, Narcopolis that won the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature and was also shortlisted for Man Booker Prize and Hindu Literary Prize. He has worked as a journalist in Mumbai, New York and Bengaluru. Nowadays he focuses more on music and says no real musician likes to s
The national commission for women (NCW) aims to be more proactive. It is seeking more powers. However, the demands for punitive powers to arrest and imposition of penalty have been opposed by the law ministry. The chairperson of NCW Lalitha Kumarangamalam shares her views with Sweta Ranjan on these and other issues.
Nungshi and Tashi Malik have become the world’s first female twins to successfully climb the famed `Seven Summits` (highest peaks in all continents). They have achieved the success climbing Mt Kilimanjaro (Africa), Mt Everest (Asia), Mt Elbrus (Europe), Mt Aconcagua (South America), Mt Carstensz Pyramid (Oceania), Mt McKinley (North America) and Mt Vinson
British journalist and health worker Shereen El Feki dared to rush where most fear to tread. But she’s nobody’s fool. She researched on sex in the Arab world. The result: her first book, Sex and the Citadel: Intimate Life in a Changing Arab World, has been nominated for the Guardian First Book Award and The Orwell Prize. She has served as vice-chair of the UN&rs
A 1978 batch IAS officer, Alok Ranjan is driving the development agenda of the Uttar Pradesh government in the run-up to 2017 assembly election. In an interview with Pratap Vikram Singh, Ranjan talks about administrative reforms in the state. How far have you succeeded in tackling the power crisis? We ar
Bittu Sahgal, environment activist and writer, is known for speaking about impacts of climate change. He was a member of the National Board for Wildlife of the ministry of environment and forests. Sahgal is also the founding editor of Sanctuary Asia, a wildlife and ecology magazine. He believes that though natural wealth has many claimants, in reality it belongs to
There are few actors in India who have personified historical figures. For a generation born after 1948, Mahatma Gandhi’s imagery fits into the role played by great actor Ben Kingsley who perfectly slipped into the character of the great soul. But Kingsley has an Indian parallel in Paresh Rawal who played the role of India’s first home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in the biopic
The road ahead has many possibilities and Niti Aayog has to define many. In an interaction with Shubhendu Parth, Aayog’s member Bibek Debroy speaks about economy and issues before the new organisation: What is your assessment of the current economy? I think there is a question you have asked and there is a q
DR Dogra had spent long years with Credit Analysis and Research Limited (CARE), one of the leading credit rating agencies, before becoming its CEO and MD in August 2009. In an interview with Sweta Ranjan, he gives the rating agency’s perspective on financial inclusion. Excerpts: What is your perception about the Jan-Dhan yojana? One of the m
Usha Ananthasubramanian is the first head of India’s first bank meant for women. Set up in November 2013, Bharatiya Mahila Bank, is the youngest and smallest of the public sector banks, but is attracting attention thanks to its unique mandate. Ananthasubramanian spoke with Sweta Ranjan about the crucial aspect of gender in financial inclusion
Indira Iyer, a senior fellow at the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER), has been studying financial inclusion. In her paper, ‘Financial inclusion in India: Why distinguishing between access and use has become even more important’, she suggests that in India “by the very definition of financial inclusion, the focus of the rhetor
Arun Tiwari, who joined the Union Bank of India as its CMD on December 26, 2013, began his career as a probationary officer in Bank of Baroda in 1979. He has worked in almost all key segments of banking in various capacities – across the country as well as abroad. In an interview with Sweta Ranjan, Tiwari talks about how his bank views the latest push for
