A SUPERSTAR CEO, BUT WITHOUT ALL THE ANSWERS

I didn’t quite expect an evening with Indra Nooyi to be a series of empowering revelations. In the Grand Ballroom of the ICC in Darling Harbour, Sydney, the former PepsiCo CEO was like a rock star executive/brilliant geek dropping truth bombs and sage wisdom on an audience that lapped up every word she uttered. There was advice for everyone – the CEOs/aspiring CEOs (“The single biggest skill we have as leaders is the ability to zoom in and zoom out” ), the men (“When women are working mothers, they’re doing 2 full-time jobs…you have to remember that!” ) and the women (“Women shouldn’t define themselves by the labels assigned to them – too emotional or too aggressive – but by the content of their work. I’ve been called ‘Dragon Lady’, but I didn’t care. Because I knew I was the best person for the job” ).

For me personally, as a recent migrant to Australia, in my 30s and with a background in tech and corporate culture, what stood out wasn’t what Nooyi said, but how she said it. Having previously worked at LinkedIn, I’ve had the privilege of meeting and hearing a few (male) CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. I’m not saying Indra Nooyi was more impressive than them… I’m saying Indra Nooyi was far more impressive than them!

There was no corporate jargon, no staged jokes, no dramatic pauses - with Nooyi, it was just a steady stream of articulate responses (“Unconscious bias strips people of their confidence and in doing that, their competence” ) and incredibly engaging personal anecdotes (like the time as CFO when she took on PepsiCo’s IT department by ploughing through 3 fat binders of information and challenging them to explain things to her in “chickie duckie” terms because there was a billion dollar project at stake).

Leaders though, even the superstar ones, aren’t perfect. And between a lack of time and a lack of will, they don’t always have all the answers. I wish Nooyi had elaborated more on her relationship with her mum. I wish she’d talked about what it was like to reconcile her role as CEO of PepsiCo with the harmful effects of aerated drinks and their contribution to obesity worldwide. But most importantly, as a millennial citizen of the world, I wish that Amazon’s newest board-member had expanded on Amazon’s ruthless work culture and the damaging impact its much-lauded same day/ next day deliveries have on our already-fragile environment.

Nooyi talked about Amazon giving us the “gift of time” and helping women shop easily online (contrary to the popular trope, women also use Amazon to build their online businesses…but I digress).

In the end, with someone as impressive and inspiring as Indra Nooyi, is it wrong to ask for even more?

Sneha Khale

Mumbai paralysed by record rainfall

At least 39 persons were killed across Maharashtra as relentless rain created mayhem and left Mumbai paralysed with the country's commercial capital being pounded by record rainfall in late June-early July.

Offering no respite, heavy showers are expected to continue, the weather office said.

Battered with over 375 mm rain, the highest July rainfall within a 24-hour period since July 1974, Mumbai has received around 35 percent of its average annual total rainfall.

As a precautionary measure, the state government declared a public holiday in the city and the city administration ordered all schools and colleges to be shut while the Education Department postponed all scheduled examinations.

Many parts of Mumbai city and its suburbs, as well as towns in adjoining Raigad, Thane and Palghar districts, turned into huge tracts of muddy water, witnessing people struggling to safety in waist-deep water. Small vehicles were submerged, and several tempos, trucks and heavy vehicles stranded on the roads adding to traffic snarls.

Local train services, the financial capital’s lifeline, virtually coming to a standstill.

The Central Railway also had to stop its services as tracks were underwater in many places, especially Sion, Chunabhatti, Kurla, Bhandup and many commuters waded through the flood waters to reach their destinations.

After nearly 15 hours, services resumed but trudged along with delays and cancellations.

Long-distance trains from different parts of India, expected to reach Mumbai, have also been stranded at various locations en route, details of which were awaited.

At least 150 BEST buses in Mumbai were also submerged and stranded at various locations.

Domestic and international flight operations were hit at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport due to heavy rains coupled with a SpiceJet aircraft with 167 passengers overshooting the runway and getting stuck in soft mud.

With the stuck plane blocking the main runway, at least 55 incoming flights including 26 international were diverted, 13 goarounds, 18 incoming flights including four international cancelled and 24 departures including four international cancelled, said a spokesperson for Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL).

A 150-metre long ramp was being built to push the stranded aircraft and clear the runway, but it took another 48 hours before the alternative (shorter) runway became operational.

As parts of Mumbai experienced a lull in rains for a few hours, thousands of harried people rushed out of their homes to buy stocks of vegetables, fruits, groceries, milk from local markets, despite the higher rates being charged.

The Indian Navy's team of divers from INS Tanaji deployed rubber boats, life-jackets, lifebuoys to rescued over 1,000 people stranded in rising waters at Krantinagar slums in Kurla in north-east Mumbai.

The rain also caused a spate of fatalities. The compound wall of a water reservoir at Pimpripada in Malad collapsed on a dozen hutments, leaving 21 killed and another 78 injured.

The National Disaster Response Force, the Mumbai Fire Brigade and other agencies launched a massive rescue effort to remove dig out several others feared trapped in the rubble.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced compensation of Rs 500,000 for each of the deceased, even as agitated Congress and Nationalist Congress Party leaders blamed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena for the mess and demanded action against those responsible for the loss of human lives.

"In the past 12 hours, the city has received an unprecedented 300 to 400 mm rains, the highest in the past decade. The existing drainage systems are unable to cope with such a heavy downpour, coupled with a high tide this afternoon," Fadnavis told media persons.

Two persons - Irfan S. Khan, 38, and Gulshad Sheikh, 37, who were trapped inside a SUV in the flooded Malad subway were later found dead.

Gabri Singh, 45, the security guard of a private building, was killed in a wall crash in Mulund, and 22-year old Gopal V. Jha was electrocuted at Nehru Nagar in Vile Parle.

In adjoining Thane district, three persons were killed when the boundary wall of National Urdu School crashed in Kalyan town and several more were injured, and two persons were washed away in flood waters in an overflowing river in Jawahar.

Also, a 15-feet high compound wall of the Bharatiya Vidyapeeth College in Pune crashed on some hutments beside it, killing at least six persons. NDRF teams were at the site to extricate those still feared trapped in the debris.

In Nashik, two persons were killed by drowning in a water tank and one woman killed when she was struck by lightning in Buldhana.

Another two persons were killed and 25 were reported missing after a small dam burst near Alore-Shirgaon village. As the water gushed out of the Tivare Dam in a flood-like situation, at least seven villages downstream were inundated and a dozen homes washed away. The dam was built in 2000 and people in the area claim they had informed the district authorities of its leakage two years back but no repairs were carried out.

Kerala diaspora likely to get voting rights

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan informed the Kerala Assembly in early July that his government will initiate discussions on how best the Kerala diaspora could participate in the upcoming local bodies elections.

Vijayan said this after the Deputy Leader of Opposition M.K. Muneer asserted that it's high time that the Kerala diaspora, who has been the backbone of the Kerala economy for several decades, should get their right to exercise their franchise.

Munner said, "The situation today on diaspora voting rights has been cleared by the Lok Sabha and even the judiciary. Today in Canada and the US, their diaspora have the privilege of taking part in elections, even while they are out of the country. So I request the Kerala government to see how best we can allow our diaspora to take part in elections, when the local bodies polls take place next year. We can look into options like proxy or even postal votes for them."

According to the latest figures, there are 2.1 million migrants from Kerala across the world, of which a good majority will be able to exercise their franchise if given opportunity.

Vijayan said, "For this to become a reality, several things have to fall in place, as it requires coordination with various departments. With favourable responses from appropriate bodies, we will definitely begin discussions on this with the various stake holders on how to go about it."

JGU ranked among top 150 global 'young' universities

The OP Jindal Global University (JGU) has featured as the only private university from India in a global list of top 150 'young' universities released recently.

The QS Young University Ranking 2020 has been compiled for all universities across the world that are less than 50 years old.

The JGU is the only university in the list which focuses exclusively on social sciences, arts and humanities.

Established in 2009, it is also the youngest of the 150 universities established after 1969 that have been ranked.

"As a young, private, not-for-profit and philanthropic university, JGU has the ability to quickly adapt to a modern-changing environment through their strategic initiatives and it has used this advantage to its fullest benefit," said Naveen Jindal, Founding Chancellor of the JGU.

Located in Sonepat in Haryana, the university has more than 4,000 students. It runs 17 different programmes for undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral students.

Speaking on the occasion of the release of the list, Prof. (Dr.) C. Rajkumar, Founding Vice-Chancellor of JGU said, "This is a significant achievement for a university which is less than 10 years old. We have stayed away from pure and natural sciences, engineering and medicine, which makes this achievement even more special and significant."

The JGU is recognised by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and has been accredited by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) with the "A" grade.

Two other universities from India that have made it to the list are the Indian Institute of Technology (Guwahati) that was established in 1994 and Anna University that was established in 1978.

“Operation Daredevil” atop Nanda Devi: ITBP

Retrieving bodies of climbers from Nanda Devi was among the toughest operations carried out by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) A.P.S. Nimbadia said recently that “Operation Daredevil” was launched to bring back the bodies of seven climbers. This involved first carrying the bodies to 21,000 feet, and then sliding them down to 19,000 feet in harsh climate and hostile terrain.

"It took our climbers three hours to lift the bodies to 21,000 feet and slide it to the other side," he said. "The bodies had started decomposing and we were running out of time. Our climbers had to dig snow and bury the bodies to slow down the decomposition process. Our effort was also to bring the bodies back with dignity," he said.

Boats sit docked on Asia’s biggest lake Upper Lake (Bhopal Taal or Bhojtal) in Bhopal, 3 June 2019, after it shrunk in the drought that is devastating much of India.

The leader of the operations team Ratan Singh Sonal said: "The terrain was very difficult and there was soft snow and a wrong step would have meant danger to life."

Sonal, who belongs to Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand, said that unlike Mount Everest, Nanda Devi is very difficult. In the case of the latter, one has to open the route and fix it.

The search operation involved 12 expert mountaineers of the force.

With the help of the Pithoragarh district administration, the ITBP began search operations from June 14 by establishing base camps in the direction of the incident site.

The ITBP team managed to recover seven bodies, out of the eight missing mountaineers, near an unnamed peak near Nanda Devi East on June 23.

Over 95K pilgrims undertake Amarnath Yatra in 7 days

95,923 Hindu pilgrims have completed the Amarnath pilgrimage (Yatra) in in the first week of July, it has been reported.

The 45-day long season will end on August 15, coinciding with the Shravan Purnima festival.

Situated at 3,888 metres above the sealevel in Kashmir's Himalayas, the Amarnath cave shrine houses an ice stalagmite structure that symbolises mythical powers of Lord Shiva, according to the devotees.

The ice stalagmite structure waxes and wanes with the phases of the moon.

Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik said the annual Hindu pilgrimage has been possible with the support and assistance of the local Muslims.

Malik also asked people to bear with the curbs imposed on civilian traffic on the national highway for two hours daily as it concerns the safety and the security of the pilgrims.

"You know what happened on the national highway on February 14 this year," Malik said while he referred to the terror strike on the CRPF convoy in Pulwama district in which 40 troopers were killed. Meanwhile, All India Radio (AIR) is starting an FM radio station in the Baltal base camp to flash weather forecasts, traffic information and devotional content for the information of the pilgrims.

20 years later, brother

pays tribute to Kargil hero atop recaptured Himalayan peak

Twenty years after the Kargil War, martyr Capt Vikram Batra's twin brother has paid tribute to him at the 16,000-foot Himalayan peak from where his brother had led the assault to drive out its Pakistani occupiers.

Capt Batra's daring assault enabled the Indian Army to recapture the crucial peak named Point 4875 in the limited war over the icy heights of Kargil in Jammu and Kashmir in May-July 1999.

"All that I can say is one needs to visit these shrines captured by all our brave Indian soldiers who make it so easy for us to live peacefully," Vishal Batra, a Chandigarh-based banker, tweeted after climbing the hilltop christened 'Batra Top' close to the Line of Control.

"Can't express it in words as one needs to feel what the Indian Army does. Visiting the peak was like (visiting) a shrine."

Various events, including expeditions by units, were organised to mark the day at highaltitude locations like Tololing, Tiger Hill and Point 4875.

Vishal Batra was dropped by helicopter to Point 4875.

Kargil hero Capt Batra was posthumously awarded the ParamVir Chakra, India's highest war-time gallantry award. He used the words "Yeh dil maange more" as a battle slogan, which captured the nation's imagination.

Palampur in Himachal Pradesh is the hometown of Captain Batra.

In late July 1999, India retook control of all the positions that had been occupied by the Pakistan Army and mujahideen irregulars.

India lost 527 soldiers and Pakistan lost upwards of 700 men in the over two-monthlong conflict.

Jaipur named Unesco World Heritage Site, second Indian city in list

'Pink City' Jaipur this month made an official entry in the list of the UNESCO World Heritage sites and leaders across the political spectrum welcomed the signal honour to the historical city.

The UNESCO shared announcement on Twitter. "Just inscribed as @UNESCO #WorldHeritage Site: Jaipur City in Rajasthan, #India. Bravo," the UN body posted.

The decision was taken at the 43rd session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, which took place in Azerbaijan from 20 June to 10 July.

In 2018, then Tourism and Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma formally announced that Jaipur's name was being proposed for World Heritage City. The Archaeological Survey of India had in 2015 submitted a proposal to UNESCO for the status.

Since then, the city has been in the tentative list while Ahmedabad proved luckier as it bagged the tag of becoming the first World Heritage City from India.

In addition to Jaipur, the Committee examined 36 nominations for inscription on UNESCO's World Heritage List during the session.

Welcoming the announcement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: "Jaipur is a city associated with culture and valour. Elegant and energetic, Jaipur's hospitality draws people from all over. Glad that this city has been inscribed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO."

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot expressed his happiness at the development, terming it a proud moment for the state and a development which will boost tourism.

"It is a matter of great pride that our #PinkCity, #Jaipur has been declared as a #WorldHeritage site by @UNESCO. It will add to the glory of the capital city of #Rajasthan", he said in a tweet.

He added, "#Jaipur listed on the world map as #WorldHeritage site is not only a matter of prestige but it will give a boost to tourism. The local economy will benefit along with improving infrastructure."

Jaipur princess Diya Kumari termed it as a proud moment for the entire state.

"Maharaj Jai Singh II, the founder of the city, was one of my ancestors. He invited the best craftsmen and architects from all over the country to ensure they built the most beautiful and well-planned city in the world. They considered astronomy, planetary movement and Vastu Shastra in their plans to ensure that the city gets the best location and the people are happy, prosperous and safe."

The announcement will ensure the city retains and maintains its originality and beauty: once the UNESCO tags a city as a heritage city, it ensures that its originality is retained. “Hence many unwanted structures and encroachments and buildings coming up in the walled city shall have no place in this premises," Diya Kumari, who is also a MP from the state, told IANS.

Jaipur was founded in 1727 CE under

Sawai Jai Singh II.

The city was proposed to be nominated for its value of being an exemplary development in town planning and architecture that demonstrates an amalgamation and important exchange of ideas in the late medieval period, UNESCO said.

"In town planning, it shows an interchange of ancient Hindu, Mughal and contemporary Western ideas that resulted in the form of the city."

Jaipur City is also an exceptional example of a late medieval trade town in South Asia and defined new concepts for a thriving trade and commercial hub. In addition, the city is associated with living traditions in the form of crafts that have national and international recognition, it added.

Indian-American teen wins $100K quiz show prize

An Indian-American youth has won the 2019 Teen Jeopardy contest taking the $100,000 prize in America's most-watched individual quiz show.

Avi Gupta's victory televised in late June marks a near-clean sweep of popular student contests in the past year by Indian-Americans. He is from Portland, Oregon, and completed high school recently, although he was still a high schooler when the programme was pre-recorded several weeks ago.

He beat out three other Indian-American teens in the contest, which featured a total of 15 students.

During the show, he told the host, Alex Trebek, that people questioned the value of accumulating a trove of trivia when they could be googled. But he said that building a wide range of knowledge was important because arguments and ideas can be built only on facts.

The 2018 College Jeopardy, which also carried a prize of $100,000, was won by Dhruv Gaur.

The 2019 National Geography Bee, which tests knowledge of geography, was won by Nihar Janga.

In the 2019 National Spelling Bee last month seven of the eight co-winners were of Indian descent. For 10 years now, only Indianorigin Americans have been winners.

Indian-Americans have made their mark in science contests also. Sixteen of the 30 finalists in America’s top contest this year, the Regeneron National Science Talent Search, were of Indian descent.