May 2016

L ET T E R S M AT T E R

GIVE ATTENTION TO NORTH EAST INDIA

I am a regular reader of NRI Achievers magazine and have been following tourism section quite enthusiastically for some time. It’s so pleasant to read and know about the beautiful and attractive places of India. Being a globetrotter I have noticed that you have never covered one of the most beautiful part of India i e NORTH EASTERN INDIA I would like to share my own experience with you Recently I along with my family went to explore the world of North eastern part of India. We visited Assam, Sikkim and Darjeeling and found that it’s full of natural beauty, local hospitality, rich food, regional art and culture and cleanliness there in Sikkim is really eye opening. As we know that Sikkim is declared as the cleanest city of India but still it is not promoted prominently on Indian tourism map I want that you should cover the stories of these places too And help the Indians aware about these unexplored places and they should know that these places are very much part of India.

anks

Ilma Khan, U.P

START H ELPLI N E FOR N RIs

I have been reading your magazine and following each and ever y section of this different kind of a magazine for almost last six months I am a student of PG diploma in mass communication from Delhi and I am quiet passionate in knowing about NRI’s, PIO’s and OCI’s because it’s my dream to go abroad & become an NRI It’s so nice to know about our Indian citizens who are doing their best as Indian Diaspora in foreign countries and raising the name of their home countr y in their respective countries of residence. I would like to say thank you for covering the stories of the NRI’s and letting us know about their success and achievements Although it covers a lot of ver y interesting and informative news stories but I think there is a lot of scope for many other sections like G.K., helpline for NRI’s, business and investment opportunities in India dedicated section on children and youth etc which can be covered as well

D. K. Khatri, New Delhi

April 2016

IMPORTANT DAYS

DAT E C O U N T R Y D AY

May 9 European Union Europe Day

May 15 Paraguay Independence Day

May 17 Norway Constitution Day

May 22 Yemen National Day

May 24 Eritrea National day

May 25 Argentina National Day

May 25 Jordan National Day

May 26 Guyana Independence Day

May 26 Georgia Independence Day

May 28 Azerbaijan Republic Day

May 28 Ethiopia National Day

ERRATA

In the stor y ‘ e Enigmatic Power to Intuit’ we carried In April issue, the name of the protagonist’s grandfather was wrongly cited as ‘Sardar Nihal Singh ’

e correct name is Sardar Pritam Singh We regret the error.

AJAY SINGH

(Former High Commissioner, Fiji)

RAJEEV GUPTA

B K AGGARWAL

DR. KAMAL KUMAR

SUSHIL TAYAL

VARSHA GOEL

CH. SUNIL OHLYAN

CHAKRAVARTHI SUCHINDRAN

VINOD BEHL

RAJ UPPAL (NORTH AMERICA)

SANJAY KUMAR (EUROPE)

AJAY AGGARWAL (U K)

PREMCHAND RAMLOCHUN (MAURITIUS)

RAJIV KUMAR (FRANCE)

RAVI KUMAR (FRANCE)

BALESH DHANKHAR (AUSTRALASIA)

SUMAN KAPOOR (NEW ZEALAND)

LOSHNI NAIDOO (SOUTH AFRICA)

JYOTHI VENKATESH (MUMBAI)

SANDIP THAKUR

BARKHA ARORA

AJEET VERMA

KRITI RASTOGI

AJAY SOOD

RAJEEV TYAGI

SUMIT SINGH

VINOD SHARMA

SURENDER SINGH

CHANDER MOHAN

NITIN AADVANSHI

AARTI BAGARKA

ISMAIL KHAN (NORTH AMERICA)

VIJAY MALIK (EUROPE)

DR HARRY DHANJU (CANADA)

M.S. SHALI (UK)

MANJIT NIJJAR (UK)

MOHAN GUNTI (ASEAN)

RAJKUMAR YADAV

SUNNY VYAS

JOGINDER MALIK

SHIKHA CHOPRA

MUKESH SAINI

SANSKRITIKA COMMUNICATIONS

MUKESH KASHIWALA

AR VIVEK KHURANA

ANJU GUPTA

CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY PV T. LTD.

S.P. PANDEY

SUCHI

DINESH SHARMA, RAHUL RAKESH

DR. RAJA VOHRA

EDITOR: RAJEEV GUPTA PRINTED, PUBLISHED & OWNED BY RAJEEV GUPTA, PUBLISHED FROM A-208, WEAVERS COLONY, ASHOK VIHAR PHASE-IV, DELHI-110052 AND PRENTED AT ROLLERACT PRESS SERVICES C-163, GF NARAINA INDUSTRIAL AREA PH-I, NEW DELHI-110028

VIEWS EXPRESSED IN ARTICLES ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHORS, & NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS THOSE OF NRI ACHIEVERS OR ITS EDITORS

ALL DISPUTES ARE SUBJEST TO EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION OF COMPETENT COURT & FORUM IN DELHI © ALL RIGHT RESERVED

A N AU S P I C I O U S B E G I N N I N G

April has come and gone, and with it the heat of this Indian summer reaches boiling points of sorts, even as polling to legislative assemblies progresses in the Indian states of West Bengal and Assam, while other states Tamilnadu, Kerala, Puducherr y et al , gear up for upcoming elections It is also the time when schools from all across India prepare to close for the canicula (dog-days), ushering in a vacation mood to some, while for those who are on the cusp having just completed school it is entrance exams galore for admission into professional sources like engineering, medicine and the like. As is usually the case on the political front, much stormy weather brews with controversies and scams erupting ever y now and then, the latest one being the Augusta Westland VVIP helicopters scam that threatens to embroil the UPA and the NDA in an entrenched war of sorts All part of the game we guess, taking all this in the stride.

All said and done, that was that, and we now turn to what we have on hand in this issue of NRI Achievers. Our Cover Feature takes a look at both our Diaspora achievers and Indians back home who have made a mark for themselves in their respective domains We also feature some unusual stories of wealth creation by Indiaborn immigrants and NRIs, all in the UK. As initiated last month, we have a lot to offer this month as well under Real Estate, with enhanced coverage that could translate to market intelligence for you. Heritage walks into Parliament Hous e, Ne w Delhi, a unique heritage ensemble that most Delhiites take for granted and brings you some interesting factoids Silver S creen scorches with an inter view of Sunny Leone, and the third part of our 18 installments of Chanakya's distilled wisdom continues in this issue. Other news on milestone happenings are all to be found under News Scan, Business Buzz & PSU Buzz. Metaphysical Musings takes to your spiritual side, while Diaspora News continues to feature you and your communities. With that, we wish you a ver y eventful and enjoyable vacation season ahead, brimming with opportunities for travel to climes more pleasant and cool

editornri@gmail com panchhir@yahoo com w w w facebook com/nriachievers http://themediagurupanchhi blogspot com

C elebrating the arts, well-known stationer y and art brand ‘Kokuyo Camlin’ hosts ‘World Ar t D ay 15t h Apr i l’ in a unique way e ach year. In 2014 Kokuyo Camlin got artists to showcas e t heir cre at ivity on t he Kol kat a Trams a t r u ly b efitt ing and ende ar ing legacy to the city of joy In 2015, they created the World’s Longest Canvas wherein more than 3000 School kids from Mumbai created their vision of ‘Swacch Bharat’ on a 7.6 km long canvas. is year Kokuyo Camlin organised week-long celebrations and invited prominent artists from across the countr y to unleash their creativity by getting them to create their work of art on Cars in Jaipur

Preet Bharara, maverick US attorney who was featured on the Ti me mag a z i ne c ove r as t he Man w ho is “Bust i ng Wa l l Street,” has written to the International C onsor tium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), telling them he is opening a criminal investigation into some aspects exposed in the leaks the org an i z at i on ove rs aw t h rou g h t he me d i a , s ome of w h i ch pointed to worldwide offshore tax avoidance schemes through a Panamanian f irm “ The (US attorney’s) of f ice would appreciate the opportunity to speak with any ICIJ employee or repre s e nt at ive i nvolve d i n t he Panama Pap e rs proj e c t i n ord e r to d is c uss t h is matte r fur ther”Bharara wrote, referring to the do cuments obtained f rom the Panamanian f irm Mossack Fonseca.

Iconic Indian boxer MC Mar y Kom adds another honour to her list of accolades, as one of the eight ambassadors for the upcoming World Championships by the International Boxing Association (AIBA) An elated Mar y Kom, who has five World Championship gold medals to her credit, says she feels honoured by the AIBA’s gesture "It’s a great honour for me as an Indian is title means that I will be representing international boxing and this is an honour which is not given to ever ybody". She is aiming to secure her second successive Olympic appearance through the world event scheduled f rom May 19 to 27 in Astana, Kazakhstan. e Manipuri is a tournament legend and AIBA had dubbed her ‘Magnificent Mar y ’ for her unprecedented gold medal count

M A RY KO M N A M E D A I BA A M BA S S A D O R F O R WO M E N ’ S WO R L D B OX I N G C H A M P I O N S H I P

H Y U N DA I L AU N C H E S

‘ C R E TA’ W ITH AU TO M ATI C TR A N SM I S S I O N

Hyundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL) end of April launched an automatic transmission variant of its popular compact SUV Creta in the petrol fuel option, priced at INR 12 87 lakh ex-showroom Delhi e company already offers automatic transmission in its diesel option priced at INR 14 5 lakh, which has clocked nearly one lakh bookings within eight months of launch. “Introducing the new variant of automatic transmission in Creta showcases Hyundai’s commitment to providing products based on what customers want and building the relationship as a customer-centric company towards ensuring customers delight,” HMIL Senior Vice-President (S&M) R akesh Srivastava said in a statement. Stating that the company has also introduced dual airbags as a standard across all variants, he said, “e new automatic variants and enhanced safety features will be instrumental in achieving our aim to be the most preferred car manufacturer in India ”

Leading smartphone maker Samsung had unveiled the TabPro S 2-in-1 tablet at the CES (Consumer Show) 2016 that took place at Las Vegas, Nevada, USA in januar y "Galaxy TabPro S balances the be sung ’ s Galaxy Tab with the wealth of features on the Windows 10 operating system for the most a tablet experience on the market," says Dongjin Ko, President and Head of Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics. "We’re thrilled to be working with Microso Corp. to deliver a 2-in-1 tablet that truly allows people to enjoy productivity and connections that matter most, thro seamless mobile station designed for all purposes, " he added

CYGNUS RAY-ZR LAUNCHED

Yamaha has announced the launch of the new Cygnus R ay-ZR for the Indian market e gearless scooter, which was unveiled during t he Auto E xp o in Febr uar y t his ye ar, wi l l b e avai lable f rom next month. A company statement says that the Cygnus R ay-ZR was develop e d around t he concept of a “Next-G enerat ion Re a l B oy ’ s Scooter.” What this translates to in real life is the existing Cygnus has been redone with mascular graphics and styling cues e Cygnus R ay-ZR is powered by an air-cooled 4-stroke SOHC 2-valve 113cc “BLUE C ORE” engine, with a continuously variable transmission unit. At 103 kg, it is well within the usual weight limit for a scooter of its class. e engine features high combustion efficienc y allowing for better fuel efficienc y Yamaha claims 66 km to the litre. It also has a number of practical features like a large 21l under-seat storage sp ace, tub eless tyres and a nig ht-f r iend ly inst r ument cluster e Cygnus R ay-ZR is available in two variants with disc brakes priced at 54,500 and the drum brake version costing 52,000 B oth variants are available in two colours.

A

NRI Achie vers Bureaus

S A M S U N G L AU N C H E S W I N D OWS 1 0 P OW E R E D TA B P RO S 2 - I N - 1 TA B L E T

VODAFON E I NVITES BAN KS TO PITCH FOR I N DIA I PO

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e Vodafone Group has set the ball rolling for its long-awaited India IPO by inviting banks including Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to pitch for managing it e listing is expected to raise US$ 2 – 2 5 billion (INR 13,200 – 16,500 crore),making it the biggest IPO since state owned Coal India’s INR 20,000-crore listing in 2010 Vodafone had raised the prospect of a listing in India as early as 2011, when other banks approached by the British heavyweight included Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, UBS Group and Indian banks ICICI Securities and Kotak Investment Banking.

KGI’s securities Ming-Chi Kuo, known to be the best Apple analyst on the planet, is at it again – this time he seems to have dug up more controversial news about the company ’ s plans for iPhones Kuo’s predictions, which claim that Apple is planning an ent ire ma ke over for its smar tphones, were picke d up by 9to5Mac. According to t he rep or t, Apple is exp e c te d to redesig n t he iPhone wit h an a l l-g lass enclosure inste ad of t he range ’ s famed aluminium chassis, which will also be complemented by new cutting-edge cur ved OLED display

MITSU

Jap an ' s Mitsubishi Motors C or p has admitte d to manipu lat ing test dat a to overs t ate t h e f u e l e c on omy of 6 2 5 , 0 0 0 c ars s old in Jap an, kno cking its shares down m ore t h an 1 5 % an d w ipi ng out U S $ 1 . 2 bi l l i on ( I N R 7 , 8 0 0 c rore ) of it s m ar ke t v a lu e. T h e autom a ke r s ai d it

“Nor m of 3 0 % for br and e d te ch produc t ion ma kes litt l e s e n s e G l a d t h i s g ov e r n m e nt re a l i s e s t h i s , ” t w e e t e d A m it a b h Ka nt , t h e C E O of N I T I Ay o g , f o ll ow i n g n e w s t h at t h e g ov e r n m e nt has a l l owe d Appl e to s e t up it s ow n re t ai l store s w it hout hav i ng to c omply w it h t h e 3 0 % m i n i mu m l o c a l s ou rc i ng re qu i re m e nt Kant i s n ot t h e on l y on e re l i e v e d . O t h e r c omp a n i e s h av e f o l l ow e d i n Appl e ’ s fo ot ste p s to apply for t he w aive r. Inte re st i ng ly, t wo of t he m , just l i ke Appl e, are c el l phone ma ke rs C h i ne s e c omp an i e s X i a om i and L e E c o

Ni s s an Motor, w h i ch m ar ke t s t h e Mits u bi s h i - m a d e c ar a s D ay s , fou n d a d i sc re p an c y i n f u e l e f f i c i e n c y te s t d at a . 1 5 7 , 0 0 0 e K s an d 4 6 8 , 0 0 0 D ay s are affe c te d Mit subish i Motors s ai d t he f u el e c onomy l e vels of mo d els ma d e for t he l o c a l m ar ke t we re up to a te nt h l owe r t han st ate d in its test resu lts

stopp e d ma k ing and s el ling its eK mini w a gons for t h e d om e s t i c m ar ke t af te r

BH EL WI NS DSIJ

AWARD 2015

Maharatna company BHEL (Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited), for its sup erlat ive p er for mance in fis ca l 2014-15, has b e en awarded the DSIJ Award 2015 for the 'Most Efficient Maharatna PSU ' e award was received by Atul Sobti, CMD BHEL, from Mahesh Sharma, Hon'ble Minister of State for Tourism & Culture (I/C) and Civil Aviation Significantly, BHEL has been conferred this award for the seventh successive year and has been winning this prestigious award since its inception.

PNB MOBILISES GOLD DEPOSIT UNDER GOLD MONETISATION SCHEME

NTPC, India’s largest power utility has been awarded the ‘Maharatna of the Year in the Manufacturing Categor y ’ by leading Investment Journal ‘DSIJ’ at a function held in New Delhi e award was presented by Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State, (I/C) for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation to K. Biswal, Director (Finance), NTPC. Sudhir Ar ya, ED (Finance), Sangeeta Bhatia, GM (Finance) and Sanjay Padode, Director, DSIJ were present on the occasion.

Us h a A n a nt h a s u br a m a n i a n , M D & C E O, T T D E x e c ut i v e O f f i c e r D r S . S amb as iv a R a o, and ot he r s e n i or of f i c i a ls f rom t he P u nj ab Nat i ona l B an k ( PN B ) a c c e pte d d el ive r y of gol d f rom T TD aut hor it ies under t he G old Monet is at ion S cheme G M S w a s l au n c h e d by t h e P M f or i mp l e m e nt at i on by a l l scheduled commercial banks PNB, one of the few banks part i c ip at i ng i n G M S , has b e e n qu ite a c t ive s i nc e it s l au nch for it s i mpl e me nt at i on .

HPCL PLANS US$ 3.8-BILLION REFINERY INVESTMENT

e Hindust an Petroleum C or p Ltd (HPCL), plans to invest around US$ 3.8 billion (over INR 25,000 crore) to ramp up its refining capacity by twothirds this decade, as the countr y ’ s oil demand s o ars and pressure r is es to meet cleaner fuel standards, said BK Namde o, refiner ies he ad Fuel demand in India t he world’s t hirdbiggest oil consumer is rising at its fastest clip in more than a decade, buoyed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s manufacturing push and as an expanding middle-class buys more cars HPCL aims to raise its capacity to 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude, Namdeo added “We will de-bottleneck the capacity of t he two cr ude dist i l lat ion units at Mumb ai and replace a 46,000-bpd CDU at Vizag with new 180,000-bpd crude units.” Alongside the expansion, HPCL will also revamp its petrol and dies el pro duc t ion units to me et r u les on pro ducing cle aner f uels f rom 2020 e comp any, w hich t radit iona l ly relies on West Asian crude, had for the first time signed a term contract with Nigeria’s national oil company, NNPC, to buy 32,000 bpd of oil in 2016-17

INDIAN-AMERICANS IN THE US DIPLOMATIC CORPS

In the annals of Indian immigrant academic and professional pursuits, ser ving the US government hasn't ranked ver y high since the sixties when Washington opened its doors to them ` Striving to strike roots in America, Indian parents typically wanted their children to get into STEM (Science, Technolog y, Engineering & Math) subjects, oen an offshoot of their own background Of course many Indian-Americans do end-up ser ving the government, handling subjects ranging f rom health (Vivek Mur thy and B obby

OBA M A ROPES-I N M ASTERCARD CEO A

JAY BANGA

President Barack Obama last month appointed MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga, an Indian American, to a key administration post as a member of the Commission on Enhancing National Cyber Security Banga is one of the nine members of the Commission appointed by Obama, “ ese dedicated individuals bring a wealth of experience and talent to this important role, and I look forward to receiving the Commission's recommendations,” he said Banga has been president and CEO of MasterCard since 2010.

Jindal), to agriculture (Iqbal Siddiqui), to commerce (Karan Bhatia and Arun Kumar) to information technolog y (Vivek Kundra and Aneesh Chopra) ` Most return to the private sector at the end of a short stint in government.` However, the US Foreign S er vice was generally considered a tough nut to crack, in part due to exacting security demands that follow the Foreign Ser vice Officers' Test (FSOT), which qualifies one for the 15,000-strong cadre, among the largest in the diplomatic world.

I N DO-US AWARDED PRESTIGIOUS FELLOWSH I P

An Indian-American student at Yale University is among 30 recipients of a prestigious fellowship aimed at suppor ting graduate students who have demonstrated “creativity” and “originality” in their lives ` Durga akral is among the winners of the 2016 'Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans' and will use her award to suppor t work towards an MD/Ph D in genetics at Yale School of Medicine, the university said in a statement akral says her work with communities having access to minimal healthcare resources has shown her the 'dire need for better access to medical care and affordable biomedical devices'.

16-YR-OLD I N DIAN-A MERICAN I NVENTS LOW-COST H EARI NG AI D

A 16-year-old Indian-American boy has created a low-cost hearing aid to help those who cannot afford expensive devices e aid costs US$ 60 Mukund Venkatakrishnan of Kentucky worked on the device for two years and presented it at the Jefferson County Public Schools Idea Fest. e device, which may be used with even the cheapest set of headphones, first tests the person ' s hearing by playing several different sounds at seven different frequencies through headphones and then programs itself to be a hearing aid, amplifying volume based on the test results.

OBA M A NOMI NATES I N DIAN-A MERICAN WOM AN US A MBASSADOR TO CHAD

President Barack Obama of the United States has appointed Geeta Pasi, an IndianAmerican member of the US Foreign Ser vice, as his next ambassador to Chad.`When confirmed, Pasi will be the third Indian-American currently ser ving as an US ambassador aer Rich Verma in India and Atul Keshap in Sri L anka to be appointed by Obama

I N DIAN-ORIGI N DEAN AT CALGARY UN IVERSITY I N CANADA

An Indian-origin veterinar y medicine expert has been appointed the Dean of the prestigious University of Calgar y ' s Faculty of Veterinar y Medicine in Canada.`Baljit Singh will take over the position of Dean on September 1, provost and vice-president (Academic) of the university Dru Marshall said in a statement Singh is a highly accomplished researcher, educator and administrator in the field of veterinar y medicine, with specific expertise in lung biolog y and anatomy, she said.

A KASHMI RI DOGR A WHO WANTS TO BE M AYOR OF LON DON

Ankit Love, a young Dogra musician with roots in J&K, is an unlikely candidate for the high-profile election of the next mayor of London ` Love, 32, is the son of Bhim Singh, a former president of the Jammu & Kashmir National Panthers P a r t y ` B r i m m i n g with enthusiasm, Love told media that even if he were to get 1 or 2% of votes it would be a great beginning for his political party – One Love Party – registered last October

80-YEAR-OLD N RI WALKS FROM KANYAKUM ARI TO DELH I FOR CHARITY

An 80-year-old NRI based in the UK just concluded his 3,000-km walk f rom Kanyakumari to Delhi last month, aimed at spreading awareness about blindness and to raise funds Balwant Singh Grewal was received at India Gate in Delhi by the Minister for Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu, who felicitated him for his accomplishment `Grewal said his walk has generated substantial awareness about blindness “At a gur udwara in Nagpur, about 200 women came for ward to donate their eyes, ” he said.`Naidu termed his initiative as “inspiring and commendable” and said it would inspire many to come for ward to donate eyes `

NRI Achie vers Bureaus

IT'S TIME

I N DIA'S MOST

I N FLU ENTIAL PEOPLE

Universally considered one among the world media's most well-know n icons, Time magazine is held in high esteem by many, and read by countless millions across the globe. e venerable magazine recently released its 2016 list of the 100 most influential people on the planet, an annual choice listing of achievers who have car ved a place for themselves under this sun, draw n from my riad careers and professions. e list, apropos, is peppered with quite a few Indians, who have made their mark on our world of today. e editorial team of NRI Achievers curates that list to bring you some profiles of the Indian crème-de-la-crème, reproduced here just as they were featured in the magazine.

The TIME 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE was first published in the year 1999 in response to a lively debate that was then under way among American academics, politicians and journalists, naming the 100 most influential people of the 20th centur y Five years on, given the high popularity of the event, Time decided to make it an annual feature in 2004 us the “ Time 100,” is today an annual list of t he 100 most influential p eople in t he world, as ass embled by t he objec tive and subjective sensibilities of the American news magazine. ough appearing on the list is oen seen as an honour, Time makes it clear that entrants are recognized solely for changing the world, regardless of the consequences of their actions e final list is exclusively chosen by Time editors with nominations coming from TIME 100 alumni, and the magazine's international writing staff Only the winner of the Reader's Poll, conducted days before the official list is revealed, is chosen by the general public.

Included in the list eleven times, Barack Obama is the one who has been listed most oen. During the initial years, those recognized fell into one of five categories Leaders & Revolutionaries, Builders & Titans, Artists & Entertainers, Scientists & inkers and Heroes & Icons Since then, the categories have been amended to be Pioneers, Titans, Artists, Leaders and Icons

PION EERS

H EALTHCARE H ERO

– DR. RAJ PANJABI

“To spend time with R aj Panjabi is to see up close what happens when someone with uncommon courage and compassion puts himself on the front lines of the world’s most complex challenges. I know. I visited Liberia last spring five days before it was first declared Ebola free, and the heroic work R aj and his organization 'Last Mile Health' did to train 1,300 community health workers was critical in helping the government contain the epidemic e outbreak in West Af rica has been a tragic and cautionar y tale about what can happen if we don’t invest in the human resources to stop epidemics before they begin and why Raj’s mission to put a health care worker within reach of ever yone ever ywhere is so critical I was proud to present Raj with our 2015, Clinton Global Citizen Award for his part in the massive, coordinated response that brought a halt to this terrible disease. We will always face challenges, but we ’ re all better off because there are people like Raj who are visionar y, caring mined enough to meet

– BI L L C L I N TON FOUNDER - CLINTON F OU N DAT ION & 4 2 N D PR E SI DE N T OF T H E U N I T E D

STATES

B orn in Liberia to Indian-origin parents, Rajesh Panjabi watched br utal Civil War cut li sc ythe across his count father disappeared for one point “Within a few weeks, we’d lost ever ything,” he recalls At age 9 or 10, his family had jumped on a rescue helicopter, and embarked on a flight towards a new life Resettled in North Carolina, Raj went to Chapel Hill, became a doctor and joined the faculty of Harvard Medical School a ticket

to a life of fat salaries and high prestige.

But he never forgot where he’d grown up, and hose poor souls he’d le behind As the Civil War nd down a decade ago, Liberia had just 51 doctors countr y of almost 4 million. In the Liberian raindensest in West Africa, that number pretty much stood at zero Panjabi found the right mentor at Har vard, Paul Farmer, whose Partners in Health has famously tackled the state of ird World medical care “ e numbers are pretty daunting,” says Farmer. “One billion people will go to their graves, oen prematurely, without meeting a healthcare worker.”

TV’s N EW ROM ANTIC

– AZIZ ANSARI

“As people who shoot in New York, we know there’s no way to have an on-location show there that’s generic. It always ends up becoming specific. And on Netflix’s 'Master of None,' you see New York through Aziz Ansari’s eyes. E ach episode is its own little experience: the way Aziz talks about his ethnicity and career is so interesting, and the entertainment-industr y world he writes about is hysterical and on point Our shows are really different; Aziz shows people in a slightly more settled phase of life. As Dev, an aspiring actor, Aziz is looking for love in a more openly sentimental way than we usually see on T V It’s inspiring to see him experiment and break the mould e episode “Mornings,” a time lapse of days Aziz’s character spends with his girlf riend, felt different f rom anything on T V; so did “Nashville,” where his foodie character missed a flight because he was buying barbecue sauce. Aziz is obsessed with food too. When we went to Mission Chinese Food with him, we just let him order We knew it would be good and it was amazing ”

IL ANA GL AZER AND ABBI JAC OBSON, CREATORS AND STARS OF T V SERIAL “BROAD CIT Y.”

Aziz Ansari is an American actor of Indian Origin and a comedian widely known in the United States for his roles as Tom Haverford on the NBC series 'Parks and Recreation (2009–2015)' and as Dev Shah on the Netflix series 'Master of None,' which debuted in 2015. Ansari also created, writes, and stars in what

b orn in C olumbia, S outh C arolina, to a Tamil Muslim family from Tamil Nadu, India. His mother Fatima works in a medical office, while his father, Shoukath, is a

gast ro enterolog ist Ans ar i des cr ib e d hims elf as an ag nost ic Ansari b egan his career p erforming stand-up comedy in New York City during the summer of 2000 while attending New York University. In 2007, he created and starred in the MT V sketch comedy show 'Human Giant,' which ran for two seasons is led to acting roles in feature films, including 'Funny People'; 'I Love You, Man'; 'Obser ve and Report'; and '30 Minutes or Less ' Aziz Ansari's first book, “Modern Romance: An Investigation,” was released in June 2015.

the New York Times called "the year ' s best comedy straight out of the gate." Aziz was

CLEARI NG TH E AI R

– SUNITA NARAIN

Sunita Narain’s ideas have shaped some of the key debates of our time. A paper that she co-authored in 1991 remains to this day the foundational char ter of the global climate-justice movement As an activist, Narain is a pioneer. She and the organization that she heads, the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment, have been campaigning to reduce the Indian capital’s dangerous air-pollution levels for almost two decades Despite resistance

been embraced by the courts. Narain has also consistently opposed the kind of elite conser vationism that blames environmental problems on the poor Instead she has advocated policies that recognize India’s forest dwellers and indigenous peoples as essential custodians of their environments. Hers is a voice that urgently needs to be heard in this era of climate change

– A M I TAV G HO SH , AU T HOR & S MO ST R E C E N T OD OF FIRE.” n environmentalist and d a major proponent of of sustainable developbeen with Delhi-based r Science and Environ982, and is currently its al She is also a director ty for Environmental s, and the publisher of To Earth.' At the CSE, orked hard at analysing udying the relationship een environment and elopment, and at creatpublic consciousness out the need for susinable development. ver the years, she has lso developed the mangement and financial upport systems needed r the institution, which s over 100 staff memrs and a dynamic prom profile She plays an ole in a number of reprojects and public

campaigns. Beginning her career by writing and researching for the State of India's Environment reports, she went on to study issues related to forest management. For this project she travelled across india to understand people's management of natural resources.

In t h e e ar ly 1 9 9 0 s s h e got i nvolve d w it h g l o b a l e nv i ron m e nt a l i s s u e s an d c ont i nu e s to wor k on t h e s e a s a res e arche r and an a dvo c ate. He r re s e arch interests are wide-rang ing f rom g lob a l d e m o c r a c y w it h a s p e c i a l fo c u s on cl im ate ch ange, to t h e n e e d for l o c a l democrac y, within which she has worked b ot h on forest-relate d res ource management and water-related issues. Narain rem ai ns an a c t ive p ar t i c ip ant , b ot h nationally and internationally, in civil society She s er ves on t he b oards of var ious organisations and on governmental committe es, and has sp oken at many for ums across the world on issues of her concern and exp er t is e In 2008 Narain delivere d the K R Narayanan Oration on "Why Environment a lism Ne e ds E quity : L e ar ning f rom t he env ironment a lism of t he p o or to bui ld our common f uture".

TITANS

TH E I NTERN ET's CH I EF ENGI N EER – SUNDAR PICHAI

– BI L L N Y E , S C I E NC E E DU C ATOR , AU T HOR OF “U N STOPPA BL E : HA R N E S SI NG S C I E NC E TO CHANGE THE WORLD”

Sundar Pichai has helped change the world

L ast summer he b e came t he CEO of G o og le. You can lo ok him up, er, I me an, you can Google him. He was the head guy on Google Drive. at’s the original term for “the cloud.” H worke d on G o og le C hrome, Gmai l and An phones A great many of us can’t tell which side of a street we ’ re on without checking Google Maps He was born in Chennai, India, to a middle-class family, and discovered an aptitude for numb ers w hen his fami ly got its first telephone, a rot ar y, when he was 12 He is an engineer So is his wife Engineers use science to solve problems and make things Engineering applies a combination of logic and intuition to problem solving It’s a way of thinking that leaves one well suited to run a company. We are all watching for what he produces next.

Pichai Sundararajan, better known as Sundar Pichai, is an Indian origin business executive, currently the CEO of Google Inc B orn on 12 of July 1972 into a Tamil family in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, to Lakshmi and Regunatha Pichai, he spent his childhood in Chennai. His father was a senior electrical engineer in General E le c t r ic. Sundar g re w up in a two-ro om ap ar t ment on 46t h Street, 7th Avenue, in Ashok Nagar, Chennai He completed his Class X at Jawahar Vidyalaya, Ashok Nagar and Class XII from Vana Vani school at IIT, Chennai Pichai earned his degree from IIT Kharagpur in Metallurgical Engineering. He also holds an MS from Stanford in Material Sciences Engineering and a MBA f rom t he Whar ton S cho ol of t he University of Pennsy lvania, w here he was name d a Sieb el S cholar and a Pa lmer ar, respectively Initially, Pichai worked in engineering and product management at Applied Materials and in management consulting at McKinsey & C ompany Pichai joined Google in 2004, where he led the product manage me nt and i n nov at i on e f for t s for a su ite of G o o g l e ' s cl i e nt s of t w are pro du c t s , i nclu d i ng G o o g l e C h rome and hrome OS, as well as being largely responfor G o og le Dr ive He went on to overs ee the development of dif ferent apps such as Gmail and Google Maps On March 13, 2013, Pichai added Android to the list of Google products he oversees. In 2014, he was r umoured to be one of the contenders for the CEO position at Microsoft. Pichai was announced as the next CEO of Google on August 10, 2015 af ter pre viously b eing app ointed Pro duc t Chief by CEO L arr y Page on October 24, 2014 He stepped into the new position upon the completion of the formation of Alphabet Inc., the new holding company for the Google company family.

E-COMMERCE U PSTARTS

– BINNY & SACHIN BANSAL

Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal (not related to each other) started Flipkart in 2007 as an online bookstore For seed money, they pooled their savings: around US$ 10,000 eir data centre was their apartment in Bangalore. So it could have been the height of arrogance when the two Bansals, who had worked together at Amazon, told investors Flipkart could be worth US$ 100 million in a decade It turned out to be modesty : Flipkart now has 75 million users and a US$ 13 billion valuation. Binny and Sachin do have modest lifestyles by billionaire standards, but they’re also nimble tacticians and hard-headed realists, and they dream big India’s vast marketplace nearly four times as populous as the US, more open than China, with a wondrous dearth of entrenched brick-and-mortar superstores is the biggest prize le in the ecommerce universe ey’ll have to fight it out with foreign heavyweights like Amazon and Alibaba, but it’s safe to say that no one is going to u derestimate Binny and Sachin again

–LEV GROSSMAN, SE N IOR W R I T E R

F OR T I M E . H E

C OV E R S C U LT U R E AND TECHNOLO GY

Binny and Sachin Bansal are both Soware engineers and Internet entrepreneurs, who in 2007 co-founded “Flipkart,” one of India's first e-commerce platforms Although they share the same last name, they are not related Incidentally, they both completed their schooling from OP Jindal Modern School in Hisar and co-

incidentally, were both students of computer science engineering at the Indian Institute of Technolog y, Delhi. B efore the tremendous success of Flipkart, Sachin Bansal wanted to become a professional gamer His father has been in business, his mother is a homemaker, and his brother runs a consumer goods company. chin is married to Priya, a dentist, and they have a four-year old kid Binny currently resides in Bangalore. His father is a retired chief manager at a bank and mother is n the government sector has no siblings and is married to a homemaker

Aer completing his degree, Sachin Bansal joined Techspan, where he ser ved for few months before joining Amazon com in 2006, as a Senior Soware Engineer S oon, he got his f riend Binny Bansal into Amazon. Merely some six months later, they both decided to leave

and set up a business themselves Initially, Binny and Sachin Bansal thought of starting a comparison search engine, but realized that the market for E-commerce in India was small Still, aer they le Amazon in 2007, they founded “Flipkart” as an e-commerce company B efore joining Amazon, Binny worked with Sarnoff Corporation for 1.5 years, where he developed a lane sensor device for cars which would warn you and beep automatically if you change lanes without giving a signal

Sachin and Binny launched Flipkar t f rom an apar tment in Bangalore with some 400,000 rupees (US$ 6,500) cash. In 2007, during the early days of Flipkar t, Sachin and Binny used to deliver books across B engaluru on their scooters themselves, and in October 2015, they showed up at the doorsteps of some customers, personally delivering goods in order to gain insights f rom their online buyers Today, they are both not only billionaires, but are considered among the most astute and adept Indian 'start-uppers'.

ARTISTS

A STAR RISI NG H IGH ER PRIYANKA CHOPRA

Before ever meeting Priyanka Chopra, I had heard her name coming out of B olly wood and was impressed: she was beautiful, talented, had made nearly 50 movies, earned multiple awards a massive star. When we connected around the time she star ted 'Quantico,' we immediately hit it off She has drive, ambition, selfrespect, and she knows there’s no substitute for hard work. We always quote the saying “Wear your success like a Tshir t, not like a tuxedo,” and she really does as big a star as she is, as global as she is, as beautiful as she is, there’s this interesting quality of relatability. Now I’m lucky enough to be working with her on 'Baywatch'. It’s an amazing time to watch as she pierces the US market She has an ability to inspire people to do more and achieve more When I look at her success f rom the 50,000-. view and see ever ything that Priyanka has already done, is currently doing and has the desire and the bandwidth to do, I can see that her impact is going to be invaluable

DWAY N E ' T H E RO C K ' JOH N S ON IS AN ACTOR AND PRODU C E R , A N D C O - F OU N DE R OF SEV E N BU C K S

PRODUCTIONS

Priyanka Chopra is an dian actress, singer, producer and philanthropist, and the winner of the Miss World pageant of 2000. One of Bollywood's highest-paid actresses and most popular

and high-profile celebrities, Priyanka has been cited as the world's sexiest Asian, as well as one of the most fashionable celebrities. She has received numerous awards, including a National Film Award and five Filmfare Awards, and was bestowed the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award, in 2016 B orn 18th July 1982 in Jamshedpur to Ashok and Madhu Chopra, both physicians in the Indian Army, Priyanka's childhood was nomadic, with the family relocating to numerous places, including Delhi, Chandigarh, Ambala, Ladakh, Lucknow, Bareilly, and Pune Of all these places, Priyanka harbours fondest memories of Leh, Ladakh: “I think I was in Class IV when we were at Leh, my brother was just born I stayed in Leh for a year and my memories of that place are tremendous

We were all army kids there we weren't living in houses, but in bunkers in the valley, and there was this Stupa right on top of a hill which used to overlook our valley We used to race up to the top of the S " Today, she considers reilly her home town and maintains strong connections there.

Although she initially aspired to study engineering or psychiatr y, Priyanka accepted offers f rom B olly wood t came her way thanks to her pageant wins, and her film debut came with 'e Hero' in 2003 She has since starred in many box-office hits and has earned wide critical praise and ac-

claim for her roles. In 2015, she began starring as Alex Parrish on the AB C drama ‘Quantico,’ becoming the first South Asian woman to headline an American network series. In addition to her acting career, Priyanka is noted for her philanthropic work, and was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Child Rights in 2010 She promotes various causes environment, health and education, women ' s empowerment and women ' s rights, and is par ticularly vocal about gender equality and gender pay inequality ough she is reticent discussing her personal life in public, her off-screen life is the subject of substantial media coverage. As a singer, she has released three singles.

I N DIA’S PRESCI ENT BAN KER

– RAGHURAM GOVINDA RAJAN

Economic seers don’t come along too oen, but Raghuram Rajan, the economist currently ser ving as the governor of the central bank of India, is one of them. While ser ving as the youngest chief economist of the IMF f rom 2003 to 2006, he predicted the sub-prime crisis that would lead to the Great Recession, standing up to critics like former U S Treasur y Secretar y Larr y Summers, who labelled him a 'Luddite.' Since then, more and more of the economic establishment has come to share Rajan’s view that debt-fueled growth is just a saccharine substitute for the real thing As he argued in his book 'Fault Lines,' credit has become a palliative to address the deeper anxieties of downward mobility in the global middle class Debt hasn’t gone away since R ajan issued his warnings In fact, it grew by US$ 57 trillion from 2007 to 2014. But he steered India through the global crisis and fallout, playing a large role in making it one of the emerging-market stars of the moment

R A NA F ORO OHA R , AS SI STA N T M A NAG I NG E DI TOR , T I M E MAGAZINE

Raghuram Govinda Ra is currently ser ves as the 23rd Governor of the Reser ve Bank of India. Prior to this assignment, he was chief economist at the International Monetar y Fund, f rom 2003 to 2007, the younges occupy the position. He was a

professor of finance at the University of Chicago B ooth S chool of Business f rom 1991 to 2013, f rom whence he went on public service leave. At the Federal Reserve annual Jackson Hole conference in 2005, Rajan had warned about the growing risks in the financial system and proposed policies that would reduce such risks Former US Treasur y Secretar y Lawrence Summers called the warnings “misguided” and Rajan himself a "luddite". However, following the 2008 economic crisis, Rajan's views came to be seen as prescient and he was extensively inter viewed for the Oscar-winning documentar y “Inside Job.” In 2003, Rajan received the inaugural Fischer Black Prize, given ever y two years by the American Finance Association to the financial economist younger than 40 who has made the most significant contribution to the theor y and practice of finance. His book, “Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still reaten the World Economy,” won the Financial Times/Goldman Sachs Business B ook of the Year award in 2010

og y, Delhi for a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, graduated in 1985 and was awarded the Director's Gold Medal as the best all-round student In 1987 he earned a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, where too he was a gold medalist Aer IIM-A he did a stint with the Tata Administrative Ser vices as a trainee, but le soon aer to join the doctoral program in management at the MIT Sloan School of Management. In 1991 he received a Ph D for his thesis “Essays on Banking ” Rajan's research interests were in banking, corporate finance, and economic development and especially the role finance plays in it.

ICONS

The Mirzas probably knew what the future held for their daughter Her name, Sania, means brilliant. I first heard about Sania Mirza back in 2005, when she became the first Indian to win a Women’s Tennis Association event In 2008 I saw her play in the third round of the Australian Open against Venus Williams. ough she lost, I believed she had the potential to be a star. When Sania’s singles career was cut shor t by wrist injuries, she, through dedication and willpower, reinvented herself fully as a doubles player She has inspired a generation of Indians to pursue their dreams and to realize that they can also be the best

SACHIN 'MASTER BL ASTER' TENDULKAR , CRICKETEER .

Sania Mirza is an Indian pro tennis player who is currently ranked No. 1 in the women ' s doubles rankings From 2003, till her retirement from singles in 2013, she was ranked by the Women's Tennis Association as India's No. 1 player, both in singles and doubles. roughout her career, Mirza has established herself as the most successful female Indian tennis player ever, and one of the highest-paid and high-profile athletes in the country. In her singles career, Mirza has notable wins over Svetlana Kuznetsova, Vera Zvonareva and Marion Bartoli; as well as former world No 1st Martina Hingis, Dinara Safina, a Victoria Azarenka She is the highest-ranked female player ever from India, peaking at world No 27 in singles in mid2007; however, a major wrist injur y forced her

AN INSPIRATION ON THE COURT

– SANIA MIRZA

give up her singles career and focus on the doubles circuit, where she is currently ranked No 1 She has achieved a number of firsts for her native country, including surpassing US$ 1 million in career earnings (now over US$ 5 million), winning a Prolevel title, and winning six major titles (three each in women ' s doubles and in mixed doubles), as well as qualifying for (and eventually winning) the WTA Finals in 2014 alongside Cara Black, defending the title the following year partnering with rtina Hingis

In addition, she is the third Indian woman in the Open Era to feature and win a round at a Grand Slam tournament (going as far as the last 16) She has also won a tal of 14 medals (including 6

Gold) at three major multi-spor t events, namely the Asian Games, the C ommonwealth Games and the Afro-Asian Games Mirza was named one of the "50 heroes of Asia" by Time in October 2005. In March 2010, e Economic Times named Mirza in the list of the "33 women who made India proud" She was appointed as the UN Women's Goodwill Ambassador for South Asia during the event held to mark the 'International Day To End Violence Against Women' on 25 November 2013

Sania was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra, on the 15th of November 1986, to Imran Mirza - a builder, and his wife Naseema - who worked in a printing business Shor tly aer her bir th, her family moved to Hyderabad where she and younger sister Anam were raised in a religious Shi'a Muslim milieu.

ASTUTE, RICH, INDIAN & FAMOUS

I N DIASPOR A TYCOONS OF TH E U K 2016

Modern United Kingdom's economy has, g iven its hoar y colonial past where the sun proverbially never set on it, metamor phosed into an incredible melting pot of ethnicities, cultures and cor porate mores w ith Asians, and among them Indians, play ing an ever larger role in the business milieu of the kingdom. Where wealth creation and the accumulation of riches is a celebrated activ ity, the UK has it's 'Rich Lists,' which are brought out reg ularly. While the venerable 'Sunday Times' comes out w ith an omnibus UK rich list annually, another media house w ith Asian leanings, the 'Eastern Eye', has also been bring ing out a rich list of UK Asians for the past several years. NRI Achievers, w ith our focus on the Indian Diaspora, dips into both these 'rich lists' to bring you some a feature on UK Asians as a community in general, and people of Indian orig in in par ticular. Read on ...

Taken together, they are worth severa l hundre d bi l lions in p ounds sterling. More than some 300,000 people are employed by them across the globe Almost all of them are self-made, and t he y own s ome of Br it ain's b estknown brands. So who might these people b e? e y are Br it ain's 100 r ichest Asians is increasingly affluent and influential s ec tion of British s o ciety is b eg inning to b e s er iously cour te d by p olit icians as wel l, and dur ing t he p ast decade, we have seen Prime Minister pay visits to mos ques and temples, not to mention ministers and MPs doing t heir bit to wo o t his ne w ly emerg ing p ower centre in the UK's economy is exemplifies the new paradigm in how the stiffin-t he-upp er-lip Br it ish est ablishment looks at emergent communities and their clout in their b oroughs, as in the past it has normally been that media sur veys of t he we a lt hy were typica l ly t re ate d wit h disdain by the same establishment.

Returning to our initial focus, we turn to t he “Asian Rich L ist,” a list compi le d and presented by Asian community newsp ap er 'E aster n Eye,' w hich enumerates “Britain's 101 Wealthiest Asians ” Eastern Eye is a p opular British week ly ne wspaper, first published by 'e Guardian' before b e coming a st anda lone ne wsp ap er. e comp any b ehind E aster n Eye changed several hands since then it was part of the 'Trinity Mirror' group before a management buyout and the creation of t he Et hnic Me dia Group (EMG). In t he ye ar 2009, E aster n Eye was once again s old to t he Asian Me dia & Market ing Group (AMG) AMG, since t hen, has continued with the title's tradition of publishing t he annua l 'Asian Rich L ist' and staging the Asian Business Awards ever y year e paper ' s original founder, Sar war Ahmed, still helms the publication as its editor But enough said about the paper, let us get down to this year ' s rich list, i.e., “Br it ains 101 We a lt hiest Asians 2016,”

and t a ke a lo ok at w ho a l l have made it into the top 10.

e ranking is unofficial. While the UK is home to numerous immigrant millionaires and billionaires from across the globe belonging to various ethnic communities, none other save the Asians have really made such a mark in the kingdom. Other minority ethnic groups like the Af roCaribbean’s and Chinese have not really produced as many millionaires e Asians though, have and are markedly different some 350 of them among Britain's 1.5 million Asians are millionaires. Almost ever y one in six Asians is self-employed, as compared to less than one in eight whites and one in 20 Afro-Caribbean e nature of Asian business is also different: shops, fashion and hi-tech firms rather than trades such as plumbing and building Many Asians came to Britain as penniless immigrants from East Africa in the S eventies, and Asians take their moneymaking seriously, not being too queasy or

embarrassed at their success. S o the list, according to E astern Eye editor Sar war Ahmed, is indeed ' a celebration' of the community's achievements

As was to be expected, those at the topend of the list are the entrenched, relatively well-known industrial families oen featured in media as Britain's wealthiest individuals like for instance the Hinduja brothers Gopichand and Srichand, whose estimated fortune from their world-wide oil, engineering, motors and trading empire is in the range of pounds 13 billion; steel baron L akshmi Mittal, who despite his worldwide businesses taking a beating yet sits pretty with a net worth of £ 7 1 bn ; Sriprakash Lohia (£ 2.94 bn.) of petrochemicals major Indorama C orporation; mining magnate Anil Agar wal (£ 1 bn ); to name a few and so too some unexpected dark horses in this stable of the top ten wealthiest Indians in the UK. But let’s turn to them a mite later.

S h i f t i n g f o c u s t o t h e ' ot h e r ' r i c h l i s t t h at c a m e out a m e re f or t n i g ht or s o l ate r, t he ma x i m t hat for tu ne s are f i ck l e

w as more t han re i n forc e d w he n we l o ok at t he change s w rou g ht on t he r i ch p e op l e l a n d s c ap e T h e Su n d ay Ti m e s i s

Br it ain's largest-s el ling nat iona l ' qua lity' Su nd ay ne w sp ap e r, publ ishe d by Ti me s Ne w s p ap e r s Lt d , a s u b s i d i a r y of Ne w s U K , w h i c h i s i n t u r n ow n e d by Ne w s C or p , w h i c h a l s o pu b l i s h e s T h e Ti me s In T he Su nd ay Ti me s R i ch L ist , an an nu a l su r ve y of t he we a lt h i e st p e opl e i n Br it ai n and Irel and e qu iv a l e nt to t h e U S For b e s 4 0 0 l i s t , w e s e e on e of t h o s e d a r k h or s e s w e m e nt i on e d e ar l i e r, e f fe c t i ng a m e te or i c l e ap i n n e t w or t h t o c apt u re t h e f i r s t p l a c e , j u s t a he a d of t he Hi nduj as e global economic scenario has been unkind to many, with the number of billionaires living in Britain rising at its slowest pace since the financial crisis that saw the fortunes of some of the countr y ’ s richest plummet over the past year. ose who built their wealth on commodities such as oil and steel suffered multi-billion pound falls as rock-bottom prices ate into their personal assets

But there were big rises for property tycoons, which explains the mammoth increase in the net wor th of the latest table-toppers the Reuben brothers Real estate values going on an upwards spiral added a neat 3.4 billion pounds to the kitty of India-born Reuben brothers David and Simon, clinching them the top spot on the Sunday Times Rich List 2016, what with a rising net worth amounting to 13 1 billion pounds, edging out the toppers of the E astern Eye Rich List numero unos the Hinduja brothers with their wealth of 13 billion pounds e downturn apropos hit steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal and family where it hurts as well, bringing down the 2008-value of their fortune from the £27.7 bn. level that had outstripped any in British histor y, by more than two-thirds to a nadir of £ 7 1bn

Dark horses interest us, and it is indeed worthwhile learning more about them. So we pick some of those families who really made it big, big enough to make it to the top 10 in a short while, upsetting many an applecart in the process Here goes

The Reuben brothers David (77) and Simon (74) were born to an Iraqi-Jewish family which harks back to the Byculla area of Mumbai, Maharashtra. eir family is said to have lived in British India in the 1800s e duo moved to London when they were still teenagers, when their parents separated. ey were raised by their mother and grandmother. ey made their fortunes via investments in metals and real estate Initially, David had moved into trading of metals, while Simon forayed into the carpets business. Simon was an importer of carpets before he went

on to buy a manufacturing unit in 1965 and sold it at a profit years later. ese proceeds he invested in real estate David on the other hand was involved in trading of metals before he set up his own metal trading firm TransWorld in 1977.

e duo car ve d out t heir for tune by t a king t he ‘brave’ move of enter ing t he Russian a luminium market and purchased huge chunks of the business there eir business in Russia was mar re d by controversies, with their partnership with Lev Chernoy, alleged to have ties with the Russian Mafia, raising many e yebrows However, it was also reported that there was no evidence to suggest that their dealings had not b e en lega l. In his defence,

David told a publication, "I was the only westerner to succeed in a place that's said to be like a toilet and you always come out of a toilet with a smell " ey had to eventually wrap up their Russian operations as the business climate in the CIS is said to have turned hostile aer Vladimir Putin took over But their real estate and other businesses in the UK stood them in excellent stead, helping them reach where they have today. Back home, the brothers also had a hand in bailing out Sahara chief Subrat a Roy, w here t he y had in ke d an INR 5,500-crore refinancing deal that included three marquee hotels from being sold off on default

Cur rent ly, t he brot hers own many

prominent properties in London, including Millbank Tower, the John Lewis Partnership HQ in Victoria, shops in Sloane Street, London Oxford Airport and London Heliport ey are said to be leading investors in Met ro B an k, w hich was floated last month. Overseas property and met a l business es adde d 300 mi l lion p ound to their wealth Apar t f rom their invest ments in re a l est ate and met a ls, t he brot hers are s aid to b e involve d in philanthropic work. ey have set up the Reuben Foundation to participate in such activities eir website lists work in the are as of chi ldren and e ducat ion and health, along with contributions for several charities and organisations.

B obby and Robin Arora are the owners of B&M European Retail Value S.A. (comprising discount retail chain

people. It is listed on the LSE and is also a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

eir father, on coming to Britain, had started with just a market stall, graduating later on to a wholesale and Import Company. His sons though had a different vision and hankering. e brothers sold this company to acquire B&M in 2004 From a modest start of only 20 stores and a £ 50m turnover, B&M has today grown to an estate of 490+ stores across the UK, with the firm growing at a healthy 20 percent year

on year. “In the last 10 years there has been a cultural shi in the UK towards discount retail and it becoming socially acceptable, and yes, it is indeed being seen as smar t shopping,” says Simon Arora e young entrepreneurs acquired the chain store in December 2004 from Phildrew Investments, at which time the company traded out of 21 stores Today in 2016, B&M, which sells branded goods from food and toiletries to toys and electrical, opened its 500th store.

e business also operates under the JA Woll brand in Germany. B&M has been hugely rewarding for the Arora brothers, who have seen their wealth rise by almost £ 200m in the past 12 months or so to stand at £ 2.1 bn. ey sold £ 204m of shares in the business last July aer a £ 2 7bn float a year earlier eir remaining stake in the B&M business is wor th £ 704m and they have other property assets in the Far East and the UK as well.

4 8

year old Rajesh Satiija, or 'Lucky' as he is known to many, is a chartered engineer who 'lucked' out in Nigeria, so much so that today, he has become a classical business blueprint for Africa A man who made his money capitalising on all the oppor tunities the dark continent had to offer in the 1990s, setting up his Sun & Sand group of companies in 1993, to work in Lagos and Nigeria Satiija figures at number ten on the Britain's 101 wealthiest Asians 2016 rich list, with a net worth in excess of £ 900m.

He landed up in London a mere three or so years ago, attracted by the lifestyle and the o-quoted fact that London's location makes it easier to r un globally spread out concerns. e empire Satiija has succeeded in building up spans across Asia, Af rica, L atin America and Nor th America, having diversified significantly f rom his original mining and industrial manufacturing activities

More recently, R ajesh R am Satiija has moved into large-scale corporate agriculture, real estate and hospitality as well With a sharp focus on agro-business and corporate farming, he speaks of expanding his apple business, and says he is seeking upwards of some 2500 acres of orchards to

make a signature statement … and putting his money where his mouth is, he has been quietly building specialised cold-storage infrastructure just outside Delhi in India, with a view to import and sell some of the world's best apple varieties in India. He avers that his controlled atmosphere coldchain is capable of being rapidly rolled out all across India, which can help Indian agriculture and horticulture become more efficient and cost effective.

B or n in India into a midd le class fam-

ily where his mother was a school teacher and his father a middle-level government s er vant, Sat iij a st i l l c ar r ies a l l t he humbl e n e s s an d i s a d ow n to e ar t h p e rs on His i nte rc ont i ne nt a l c ong l ome r ate c ont i nu e s to w a x e l o qu e nt , g row i ng i nto n e we r ge o g r aph i c a l are a s an d i nto n e w sunrise sectors A p erson and business to ke ep t rack of

NRI

THE PANAMA PAPERS

QU ESTION I NG TH E EXISTENCE OF TAX HAVENS

e term ‘tax haven,’ as well as the practice of using such ‘tax havens,’ is nothing new, it has w idely been in place and practice since the early 1950s. So-called tax havens now span the globe, and in modern times organized broadly in three g roups. First and still by far the largest is made up of UK-based or British Empire-based havens like Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, Cay man Islands, the British Virg in Islands et al, not to mention the recently-independent British Imperial colonies of Hong Kong, Singapore, etc. Second come the European havens more specialized as HQ centres, financial affiliates and private banking. ese w ill include Belg ium, Netherland s, Lux embourg, Ireland, and of cours e Sw itz erland and Liechten stein. e third i s a di sparate g roup Panama, Ur ug uay, Dubai, or ne w haven s f rom the tran sition economies and Af r ica. NRI Achievers brings you an insightful piece on whether the existence of such havens is warranted …

Numerous governments use their sovereign right to enact law in order to help successful sectors within their economies to compete in the world economy or, alternatively, to spur the development of new competitive sectors by offering a package of fiscal subsidies, reductions in taxation and removal of ‘red tape’ to attract or retain mobile monies and attract foreign capital e primar y uses of tax haven could be to:

 Avoid or evade obligation to pay tax. Tax avoidance is legal, but contrar y to the spirit of taxation law, while tax evasion is always illegal

 Hide criminal activities f rom view wherein tax evasion itself could be the criminal activity

 Carr y out money-laundering or crimes generating cash that needs to be laundered

 Circumvent Trade barriers/ sanctions imposed by other countries

 Wanting the activities to be anonymous, even if legal

 Avoid the costly obligation of complying with regulation and to do business by using cheaper options

T h e “Pa n a m a Pap e r s , ” a s e t of 1 1 5 m i l l i on l e a ke d d o c u me nt s c ont ai n i ng a t ot a l of s om e 2 . 6 Te r a By t e s of d at a d et a i l i n g at t or n e y - c l i e nt i n f or m at i on f or more t han 2 1 4 , 0 0 0 of f shore c omp an i e s a s s o c i at e d w it h t h e Pa n a m a n i a n l aw f i r m a n d c or p or at e s e r v i c e prov i d e r, Mo ss a ck Fons e c a , has re su lte d i n d r awi n g pu b l i c i re a n d f l a k t ow a rd s t h e f inanc i a l s y ste ms i n pl a c e, as t he l e a k has op e n e d a v e r it a b l e Pa n d or a ’ s b ox of s om e p o l it i c a l , s t at e or g ov e r n m e nt l e a d e rs , c el ebr it i e s , c r i m i na ls , bus i ne ssme n as wel l as bus i ne ss hous e s g l ob a l ly,

st a s h i ng t h e i r we a lt h by l e g a l or i l l e g a l m e a n s , aw ay f rom pu b l i c s c r ut i ny t h rou g h t h e u s e of c omp a n i e s , t r u s t s , fou nd at i ons and f u nds i nc or p or ate d i n

2 1 t a x h av e n s , f rom Hon g Kon g t o Ne vad a in t he Unite d St ates of Amer ic a.

While the use of of fshore business entities is not illegal in the jurisdictions in w hich t he y are reg istere d and of ten not illegal at all, reporters found that some of the shell cor porations seem to have been used for illegal purposes including fraud, kleptocrac y, tax evasion and evading international sanctions One has to agree with US president Barack Obama’s statement that “ a lot of it is legal, but that’s exa c t ly t he probl e m . It’s not t hat t he y ’ re breaking the laws, it’s that the laws are so poorly designed ”

The investigation has exposed the role of bi g b an k s i n f a c i l it at i ng s e c re c y and tax evasion and avoidance, as well as how companies and individuals blacklisted in t he U S and els e w he re for t he i r l i n k s to te r ror is m , d r u g t r af f i ck i ng and ot he r c r i me s we re abl e to c ondu c t bus i ne ss through of fshore jurisdictions Since its release, the Panama Papers investigation has led to high prof ile resignations such as t hat of t he Pr ime Minister of Iceland and acting Minister of Industr y, Energ y and Tourism; triggered of f icial inquiries i n mu lt ipl e c ou nt r i e s i nclu d i ng Fr anc e, Italy, Nor way, Sweden; and put pressure on worl d l e a d e rs and ot he r p ol it i c i ans , l i ke Br it ai n ’ s Pr i me Mi n iste r D av i d Cameron, to explain their connections to of fshore comp anies on account of go o d governance and disclosure requirements.

T he Panama Pap e rs l e a k has not l e f t India unscathed The current exposé led in Indi a by t he Indi an E xpress, has 500 name s w h i ch i nclu d e many prom i ne nt politicians, business houses & families, a fe w c el eb s and N R Is , a l l of w hom have

denied any wrong-doing and are cooperat i ng w it h t he l aw. S ome of t he m have stated on record that they have made full disclosures to the relevant authorities and not c ont r ave ne d any l aw s Ind i a has i n pl a c e re g u l at i ons re g ard i ng fore i g n e xchange transactions, viz., the Foreign Exchange Management Act, the Prevention of Mone y L au nd e r i ng Ac t , t he Bl a ck Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Ass e t s ) and Imp o s it i on of Ta x Ac t , t he Prevention of Corruption Act and the Inc ome - Ta x Ac t . N R Is , ap ar t f rom t he afore s ai d Ind i an re g u l at i on , wou l d a ls o have to c onte nd w it h l o c a l l aw s of t he countries of their residence

The Indian government has ordered an investigation by a consor tium consisting of fe d e r a l i nve st i g ators , t a x aut hor it i e s and the central bank (RBI) to check compliances wit h t he var ious regu lat ions in pl a c e. T he cha l l e nge b e fore t he i nve st ig at i ng age nc i e s is t hat a l l t he s e c omp anies/tr usts need not necessarily be illegal and pur poses could be multi-fold There cou ld b e b ona-f ide re as ons for for ming such comp anies to avoid t rade b ar r iers, e nsu re e as e of d oi ng bus i ne ss and l owe r i ng c o st of op e r at i ons . Many m i g ht have e ve n t a ke n l o c a l re g u l ator y p e r m iss i ons and c ou l d have ma d e adequate disclosures

I N T E R NAT IONA L F I NA NC E

O n May 9 t h 2 0 1 6 , T he Inte r nat i ona l C ons or t ium of Invest igat ive Jour na lists (ICIJ) is expected to release the Panama Papers database, which will likely be the largest ever release of data on secret of fshore companies and the p eople b ehind them This interactive database will also i nclu d e i n for mat i on ab out more t han 100,000 additional companies that were par t of the 2013 ICIJ Of fshore Leaks invest igat ion. Thoug h t he dat ab as e op ens

up a world that has never been revealed on su ch a mass ive s c a l e, t he qu e st i on arises whether the ver y existence of these of fshore f inance centres is justif ied

The Tax havens involve d cou ld argue t hat t he probl e m l i e s w it h h i g h r ate s of tax elsewhere, which encourage f irms to leg it imately s e ek out lower t ax jur is dictions And if they keep a greater share of prof it s t he y c an re i nve st t he m and h i re more people in the countries where they op e r ate w ho i n tu r n p ay t a xe s , nat i ona l i nsu r anc e c ont r ibut i ons and sales/ser vice tax on the goods and ser vices they consume Further, they offer sec u r it y ag ai nst vol at i l e re g i me s T he existence of these havens has also led to many developed countries reducing their

ow n c or p or ate t a x r ate s w h i l e cl o s i ng many of their tax loopholes.

To conclude, the thin line between tax avoidance and tax evasion is increasingly blurred The investigative agencies across the globe would find it challenging to distinguish between a genuine & legal transa c t i on v is - à - v is an i l l e g a l one. T he p erception in the minds of the public is being reinforced that there is one rule for the big and powerful, and another for the s ma l l e r pl aye rs b e c aus e of t he p ap e r l e a k s . T he e x p o su re c ont ai ne d i n t he Panama Papers of the ways in which the t a x s y ste m c an b e e x pl oite d by c or r upt nations and of f icials will have far-reaching implications in terms of governance, disclosures, cor porate social responsibil-

it y and g l ob a l t a x re g u l at i on . A ne w OECD r ule b o ok for international taxation law might add more scr utiny which wants to reduce what it terms “base eros i on and prof it sh i f t i ng ” t hat i nvolve s mov i ng bus i ne ss i nto ot he r l owe r t a x te r r itor i e s and he nc e s av i ng on t he t a x a f i r m p ay s . Howe ve r t he ef fectiveness of the OECD’s role could its el f b e qu e st i one d, c ons i d e r i ng t hat it s memb ers themselves provide shelters to the tax havens.

S Ravi e author is a practising char tered accountant. He ser ves on the boards of various listed companies including a public sector bank

A

N RI REALTY

NRIs & Property Investment

NRIs have for long been investing in India now, into proper ty in par ticular. Looked at prag matically, this is not merely thanks to purely emotional reasons, but for profit. Now that the Indian scenario is brightening up, w ith an improv ing economy and a whole bouquet of reforms being brought about to ensure free, fair, transparent and easy business transactions in real estate, the NRI today has all the more reason to invest into Indian proper ties, w ith the added advantage of world-class investor protection ...

As t h e In d i an e c on omy g at h e rs ste am and he a d s for c ons i ste nt re c ove r y an d s t abi l it y, c oupl e d w it h a s e r i e s of re for ms u n d e r t a ke n by re for m - or i e nte d, pro g re s s ive Mo d i - l e d NDA government for improving investor s e nt i me nt by w ay of c re at i ng b e tte r i nvestor climate,NRIs are confidently looking at invest ing in India, p ar t ic u larly in t he re a l est ate s e c tor B e c au s e o f t h e p r e v a i l i n g p r o m i s i n g b u s i n e s s e nv i ron m e nt , t h e re l at i on s h ip b e t w e e n I n d i a a n d i t s o v e r s e a s c o mm u n i t y i s o n t h e u p s w i n g T h i s a ss u m e s s i g n i f i c a n c e a s i n t o d a y ' s g l o b a l i s e d w o r l d w h e r e p e o p l e a r e m ob i l e , t h e e c o n o m i c t r a n s f o r m at i o n o f a

c o u n t r y d e p e n d s o n s h a r e d r e s o u r c e s a n d t a l e nt . Fu l l y r e a l i s i n g t h i s , t h e Ind i a n g ov e r n m e nt i s a i d i n g m o b i l i t y o f In d i a n d i a s p o r a by d e c l a r i n g l i f e t i m e v i s a s f o r t h o s e h av i n g P I O c a r d s C o ns i d e r i n g t h at In d i a n d i a s p o r a i s s p r e a d a l l a c r o s s t h e w o r l d , i t i s s i g n i f i c a nt t o l e v e r a g e t h e i r p o t e nt i a l a n d t o e n s u r e t h at t h e y i nv e s t t h e i r w e a l t h a n d t a l e nt i n In d i a , t h e g ov e r n m e nt i s u n d e r t a ki n g re f or m s a i m e d at i mprov i n g i nv e s tm e n t c l i m a t e , m a k i n g i t e a s i e r, t r a n s p a r e nt a n d p r o f i t a b l e t o d o b u s in e s s i n In d i a

To day, t he fo c us of t he gover nment is on c re at i ng p ol i c y e nv i ron m e nt t h at i s pre d i c t abl e, t r ansp are nt and f ai r and is

ai m e d at b o o s t i ng t h e c on f i d e n c e of N R I / fore i g n i nve s tors e s p e c i a l ly w h e n India has t r iple advant age of demo crac y, d e m o g r aphy an d d e m an d More ove r, w it h B R IC n at i ons n ot d oi ng we l l, foreig n investors are lo oking at India, esp ecia l ly w hen it is more op en to business. Indian gover nment w hich is committe d to push India to 50t h p osition for e as e of d oi ng bu s i n e s s , h a s a l re a dy cl e are d changes in C omp anies Ac t to b etter e as e of d oi ng bu s i n e s s . A s e r i e s of p ol i c y measures for catalysing business/ investm e nt s l i ke e x p e d it i ou s an d t i m e ly approval pro cess es, progressive tax regime, rat iona lising lab our laws and more clarity on FDI are a ls o under way.

C ons i d e r i ng t he p ote nt i a l of N R I i nve st me nt s i n prop e r t y, t he gove r n me nt is t a k i ng me asu re s to ma ke it e as i e r for fore i g n e r s t o i nve s t m ore i n re a l e s t at e by doing away w it h unne cess ar y rest r ict i ons on f l ow of N R I & fore i g n c apit a l. N R Is & P IO s c a n i nv e s t i n re s i d e nt i a l a n d c om m e rc i a l prop e r t y, re p at r i at i n g prof it s f rom prop e r t y s a l e and e nj oy i ng t h e t a x w a i v e r on re i nv e s t i n g c apit a l g ai ns i n prop e r t y. N R Is are i nve st i ng i n prop e r t y i n Ind i a not just for pu re e mot i ona l re as ons but for prof it s T he re is a s i g n i f i c a nt s h i f t a m on g h a rd c ore N R I i nv e s t or s , m o s t l y H N Is , prof e s s i on a l s and i ndust r i a l ist s . E arl i e r t he y we re rest r i c t i ng t he ms elve s to U K , U S A du e to s afe t y of t he i r i nve st me nt but now t he y are l o ok i ng at Ind i a as it is , i n a bi g w ay, e m b a r k i n g on i n f r a s t r u c t u re d e v e l opment wit h maj or init iat ives li ke bui lding 1 0 0 s m a r t c it i e s . B a n g a l ore , Mu m b a i , P u n e , G o a , Gu r g a on , A h m e d a b a d , Ko ch i h ave e m e rge d a s h ot i nve s t m e nt re a l e s t at e d e s t i n at i on s f or N R Is w it h g o o d q u a l it y i nv e s t i b l e prop e r t i e s i nclu d i ng l e as abl e prop e r t i e s .

e strengthening of Indian economy

has a lot to do with NRIs growing interest in Indian prop er ty and t he gover nment which is putting renewed emphasis on urbanisation with massive allocation for inf rastr ucture development, has generated lot of interest in property investment, particularly as both residential and commercial office properties with good returns are

quite affordable and NRIs are getting good de a ls. According to a re cent Ass o cham sur vey, Indian property developers are anticipating substantial increase in inquiries from NRI buyers in the coming months

L o o k i n g at t h i s o p p o r t u n i t y, d e vel op e rs and broke rs are re a ch i ng out d i re c t ly t o N R Is by s e tt i ng up ove r s e a s

a n d h o l d i n g p r o p e r t y e x h i b i t i o n s a n d f ai rs , of fe r i ng d e c e nt d i s c ou nt s to N R Is t o i mp r ov e t h e i r l i q u i d i t y N R Is a r e ma k i ng i nve st me nt s , hopi ng to ge ne r ate go o d prof it s a s s u b du e d prop e r t y m ark e t i n In d i a i s i n t h e r e v i v a l m o d e . A w i n - w i n s itu at i on for b ot h prop e r t y d eve l op e rs an d N R I i nve s tors A

MORTGAGE REFORMS H ER ALD GOOD N EWS FOR HOME BUYERS

e recent interest rate cut of 25 bps by the Reser ve Bank of India, in its first monetar y policy rev iew for the new fiscal on the heels of the newly reformed lending rate reg ime for faster transmission of rate cuts, together w ith a host of other mor tgage reforms, w ill benefit home buyers and result in higher credit g row th, thereby prov iding a fillip to the housing sector.

The RBI's move of 25bps rate cut however falls below the expectations of the corporate sector, which was demanding a substantial cut of some 50 bps in order to push up demand and growth However, taking a cue from last year ' s experience, RBI took a conscious decision not to effect a 50 bps cut and create a false sense of satisfaction. Here it is worth mentioning that ever since the central government kicked in this lower interest rate c ycle since Januar y 2015, it has

effected five cuts (including the recent one) with a cumulative rate cut of 150 bps, but not even half of the 125 bps cut undertaken last year has been transmitted.

In this context, RBI Governor R aghuram R ajan has categorically said that the central bank did not want to effect higher rate cuts at a time when there is an overhang of transmission, and instead wanted past cuts passed through first so that further rate cuts happen without overhang.

But then, this recent rate cut that fol-

lows the 2016-17 budget, restricting fiscal deficit to 3 5 percent of GDP to make way for more and che ap er f unds to pr ivate sector, is no routine cut It comes with a sle w of refor ms t hat b o de wel l for t he housing sector. B efore initiating the cut, RBI has on Apr i l 1, int ro duce d a ne w lending reg ime aime d at ensur ing t hat EMIs are in line with RBI's key rates, helping banks quickly pass on RBI's repo rate cut. e RBI brought in the ne w MCLR concept, t a king into considerat ion on ly marg ina l cost of f unds rais e d by b an ks, replacing the earlier system that was inefficient in transmitting the rate cut Under the ne w r ules, banks will need to adjust their lending rates ever y month.

L ack of liquidity has been hampering banks' ability to transmit RBI's rate cuts into lower lending rates To reverse this situation, RBI has lowered the minimum daily cash reser ve ratio (CRR) from 95 to 90 percent, clearly reflecting its accommodating stance in the event of banks facing short-term liquidity mismatch, leading to greater liquidity in the banking system

e new liquidity f ramework will ensure banks have a leeway to manage their liquidity and lower lending rates, especially as they can now borrow for shor t term requirements under LAF (Liquidity Adjustment Facility) by paying lower additional interest, over and above the repo rate. A significant highlight of the newly introduced MCLR system is that it will ensure that not just the current, but even the past rate cuts get transmitted at's precisely why aer the introduction of MCLR regime and even before the announce-

ment of 25 bps rate cut, a couple of big commercial banks cut lending rates by 10 bps. Bankers expect further lowering of lending rates at least by 25 bps in a month or two , though f resh provisioning of NPA, at the time of announcement of fourth quarter results may pose some hurdles.

Considering that future rate cuts by RBI will depend upon a number of factors including consumer price index based inflation, monsoon, liquidity scenario and global economic environment, and considering the central bank's insistence on ensuring transmission of old repo rate cuts before initiating a new cut, it seems unlikely that there will be another repo rate cut by RBI in its next bimonthly policy review in June.

However, the new MCLR based lending reg ime and ne w liquidity f rame work, together with a host of other recent reforms, hold promise for better credit flow e National Housing Bank (NHB), has changed its elig ibi lity cr iter ia for refinance, enabling more housing finance companies to avail refinance from it e government is also consider ing a prop os a l to a l low Employe es Provident Fund (EPFO) to deploy 15 p ercent funds towards housing finance companies to boost credit flow.

e government through the budget has also taken reform measures like increasing the time limit from 3 to 5 years to complete housing projects in order to facilitate home buyers to avail tax reduction of INR. 2 lakh on interest paid on home loan and giving additional yearly rebate of INR 50,000 on home loan interest for affordable homes to first time home buyers is has been done with a view to boost home buying. And with the supply of durable liquidity through all the mortgage reforms, more funds will also get f reed up for credit take-off for individual home loan borrowers and companies, resulting in positive cumulative effect for housing push.

RAHEJAs & GERA TO DEVELOP IT SEZ IN PUNE

Leading international property consultanc y JLL India has announced the successful forging of a partnership deal between K Raheja Corp and Gera to develop and operate a prime 30-acre land parcel in Pune's IT hotbed Kharadi. e land parcel will be developed into an ultra-modern IT SEZ under the 'Gera Commerzone' banner, and will yield 3 5 million s of leasable space

According to Sanjay Bajaj, Managing Director – Pune, JLL India, "is IT Park will go a long way in meeting Pune's massive pent-up demand for Grade A office spaces in the Information Technolog y segment. Against the supply of 4.8 million s. of Grade A office spaces which Pune received in 2015, 4.7 million square feet were absorbed. IT/IteS is the city's biggest contributor to prime office space absorption as well as employment generation Pune has to date arashtra's strongest performers aer Mumbai in terms S-spurred growth e announcement of this major IT s favourably with Maharashtra’s new IT Policy, which des various incentives and exemptions to IT/IteS comes and developers of IT parks Kharadi, one of the most portant IT/ITES locations in Pune, is home to major obal IT and business process outsourcing companies eanwhile R aheja Group has lined up INR 2000 cr of vestment in expanding its commercial real estate porto in Navi Mumbai by adding six million s. of comcial space including its fourth IT park

N BCC BAGS OVER I N R 17500 CR ORDERS

The National Buildings Construction Corporation has secured orders worth INR 17,516 cr in the last financial year. NB CC has secured big ticket orders including INR 2149 cr order from the Indian Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) for redevelopment of the exhibition venue at Pragati Maidan, and INR 5828 cr development project of AIIMS NB CC, under its operation, broadly covers three areas including real estate, EPC contracting and Project Management C onsultanc y (PMC) NB CC has secured a total PMC business of INR 226 96 cr including roads, offices, airports, hospitals, industrial and environmental structures.

OFFICE SPACE DEM AN D SOARS

The office demand in eight top cities of Delhi NCR , Mumbai, B engalur u, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune and Ahmadabad has soared to 11 7 msf in the first quarter of 2016, registering an increase of 19 percent over the same period last year. According to a study by Cushman & Wakefield, B engaluru and Hyderabad accounted for a chunk of the total demand at about 72 percent on the back of strong activity from companies in the IT-ITES sector Bengaluru witnessed demand of 6 1 msf, registering a rise of 47 percent from the year ago quarter. B engaluru & Hyderabad also bucked the trend of sluggish absorption, while Delhi NCR saw a dip in demand by 10 percent to 0.7 msf as occupiers continue to consolidate their real estate footprint in the region. e supply across the select 8 cities saw huge surge of 41 percent to 11.1 msf, majority of which was noted in B engaluru, followed by DElhi NCR and Hyderabad Another significant aspect was that pre-commitments more than doubled at 4 6 msf, compared to same quarter last year, forming 40 percent of the total demand

NO TAKERS FOR DHAR AVI REDEVELOPMENT

ks to h eligiMahanment's develop ravi in Mumbai has r un into rough weather As the slum redevelopment project spread over 240 hectares failed to elicit any response from developers, Dharavi Redevelopment Project Authority (DRPA) had to postpone the date for submission of bids worth INRs 22000 cr. twice, in April As per the redevelopment plan, the entire development area has been divided into five sectors, out of which four sectors will be redeveloped by private developers, while the fih sector is to be developed by the Maharashtra Housing & Area Development Authority (MHADA).

Th e R e a l E s t ate R e g u l at i on & D e ve l opm e nt Ac t ( R E R A ) h a s c om e i nto forc e, w it h it s n ot i f i c at i on on May 1 , 2 0 1 6 . T h i s n ot i f icat ion p aves t he way for t h e i mpl e m e nt at ion of RERA over t he next one ye ar Under RERA, e ach st ate is re quire d to s et up regu lator y aut hor ity in a ye ar B efore t hat states have b een given six months time to f rame sp ecif ic r ules. Thes e r ules will b e bas ed on t he mo del r ules f ramed by Urban D e velopment & Housing Minist r y. For D el hi, t he f raming of r u les and const itut ion of regu lator y aut hor ity wi l l b e done by t he minist r y Once RERA gets implemente d, it wi l l emp ower & prote c t prop e r t y buye rs , e ns u r i ng f ai r d e a l s an d t r ansp arenc y in t rans ac t ions.

REAL ESTATE REGU L ATION ACT NOTI FI ED A

e author is Consulting Editor, Real Estate.

THE 3rd WAY explains a set of common-sense policies that can expand wealth created by capitalism to all working Americans. It makes the case for action to spread wealth and ownership in a style we can all grasp It calls for mobilization of people across the political spectrum to rebuild middle-class America through greater capital ownership by regular citizens e bipartisan co-authors Democrat Upendra Chivukula and Republican Veny Musum explore both Democratic and Republican thoughts on economic democracy, breaking down complex economic arguments into understandable language

e United State has a two-factor economy at is, you can earn income by working or owning assets (capital) that earn income. Louis Kelso, father of employee ownership plans says, “Remember, capital isn't money ; it's measured in money, but it's really producing or earning power Capital is as vital as labour itself And capital is coming in style, which labour is not ” He further says, “ e labour union movement at the present time is built on one-factor economics. Yet it is the only group of people in the whole world who can demand an ESOP, who can demand to participate in the expansion of their employer, and get away with it ”

THE 3rd WAY describes the employee ownership plan and its many proven, powerful advantages backed by over 100 year ’ s data In the book, one can see how the desperately needed, simple changes to corporate tax structure would encourage virtually all

THE THIRD WAY I NCOME I N EQUALITY & ECONOMIC DEMOCR ACY

Upendra J. Chiv ukula, Ne w Jers e y ’ s BPU Commi ssioner and for mer D emocrat D eput y Speaker, and Veny W. Musum, former Senior Vice President, John Paul Mitchell System s, President, Mu sum Real Estate/Equity Strateg ies and Republican Committeeman, have co-authored a book that goes by the title of: “THE 3rd Way :: Economic Reform Or Social Revolution - e S olution To Income Inequalit y … And Building Inclu sive Capitali sm rough Employee O w nership.” We br ing you a br ie f over v ie w of thi s book under this new section.

businesses to embrace employee shared equity resulting in greatly accelerated massive positive change for ever yone individuals, corporations and the entire society.

Dr Joseph Blasi, Rutgers University S chool of Management and Labour Relations said, “America is a capitalist dream machine without enough capitalists With this simple yet profound observation, sum up a fundamental problem with the U.S. economy. eir solution to this flaw is revolutionar y. ”

THE 3rd WAY explains “inclusive capitalism” leading to economic democracy the most fundamental thing individuals and governments must do to shrink income inequality and grow both personal wealth and national prosperity. e authors argue Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) should be the rule rather than the exception, allowing Americans and indeed those worldwide to build meaningful secondar y sources of income and revitalize the middle and even lower classes

ousands of US and foreign companies already address this problem by empowering nearly 15 million employees to acquire substantial capital without touching any of their savings. e book makes the case for expanding the plan to greater number of companies so that more Americans benefit

WHY A JAB WE MET WI LL N EVER HAPPEN AGAI N BETWEEN SHAH I D AN D KAREENA

Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor may never romance again on screen. Or at least that’s what they indicated when we asked them about the possibility of pairing up together for something in the zone of a JAB WE MET PART 2 When asked how happy or unhappy Shahid and Kareena were personally on not sharing screen space together in UDTA PUNJAB, especially since their last pairing in JAB WE MET was hugely appreciated, Shahid quipped, “So you are asking are we happy or unhappy about something that has not happened ” Hearing this Kareena inter vened and joked, “ e DVD of JAB WE MET is available in the market ”

Tiger Shroff, who has been compared with actor Hrithik Roshan for his dancing style and physical attributes, says that the two think alike in certain situations. About comparisons with Hrithik, Tiger avers: “For me it is a compliment and not criticism. I idolise Hrithik sir in the industry. I would like to make my career graph like him. Whenever I meet him, I realise that we think similarly, as he pays attention to every small thing at work and takes tension for every tiny thing I have to learn a lot from him I really respect him for his understanding of cra, action and body language,” he added Tiger also confessed that he drew inspiration from Hrithik’s dance and tried to adapt his style in many of his moves. Considering the fact that Tiger is the son of actor Jackie Shroff, comparisons with his father are also inevitable

Radhika Apte, who will be seen next in the film 'PHOBIA', says emotionally and physically it was the most stressful film she has done so far “It was the most difficult film to do It was emotionally and physically stressful e film is about agarophobia Lot of research went into it,” Radhika said at the trailer launch of 'PHOBIA'. Agarophobia is an anxiety disorder. To a question, she said she is scared of a lot of things, but doesn't suffer from any phobias “I have two friends, one has travelling disorder and the other has agarophobia and I was searching about it for my friend It's a coincidence that I got chance to work in a film on this subject,” she said

I AND HRITHIK ROSHAN THINK ALIKE: TIGER SHROFF

RADHIKA APTE'S PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER PHOBIA IS NERVE-WRACKING

KANGANA R ANAUT, A MITABH BACHCHAN, KABIR KHAN RECEIVE NATIONAL AWARDS IN DELHI

Kangana R anaut and Amitabh Bachchan received National Awards in Delhi for their films Tanu Weds Manu Returns and Piku respectively recently. Big B, who walked away with his fourth National Award, was accompanied by his family including wife Jaya Bachchan, son Abhishek Bachchan, and daughter-in-law Aishwar ya R ai Bachchan. He received the R ajat Kamal

and Rs 50,000 is is the 73-year-old actor's fourth National award He previously won in 1990 (“Agneepath”), 2005 (“Black”) and 2009 (“Paa”). Kangana, 29, currently engaged in a bitter legal fued with actor Hrithik Roshan, won the award for her double role in Anand L Rai's romantic comedy drama “ Tanu Weds Manu Returns” of a troublesome wife Tanu and

Har yanvi sportsperson Datto is was Kangana's third National Award & she also received Rajat Kamal and Rs 50,000 Veteran actor Manoj Kumar also arrived with his son Kunal Goswami to receive the Dadasaheb Phalke Award from President Pranab Mukherjee A

Mumbai Bureau

Sunny Leone, e ver since she des cended on the Bolly wood s cene some time ago, has not only borne the br unt of se veral controversies, but had also had her share of plaudits for her per formances. Here in thi s piece in Silver S creen, the actress talks to our maven in Mumbai, Jyoti Venkatesh, about her exiting role in the upcoming mov ie ONE NIGHT STAND, and avers that she i s not really interested in making her way to Hollywood ...

What is ONE NIGHT STAND all about?

T h e f i l m i s ab out h ow a on e n i g ht s t an d b e t we e n a b oy an d a g i r l af fe c t s t h e i r l ive s a l ot T h e f i l m b a s i c a l ly i s ab out how s o ciety tends to have double st andards in t he s ens e t hat w hen a man indulges in a one night stand, he is called a stud and when a woman does the same, s h e i s du b b e d a s lut It i s a go o d f i l m touching on gender ine qua lity.

Is yours a per formance-oriented role ?

To me acting is about being silly if you have to be silly and being loud if your role needs you to be loud I know some people sp end a lot of time getting into the skin of the role. I guess I am not like that. I do not ne cess ar i ly t a ke home t he charac ter that I play Mentally I listen to what my d i re c tor s ay s and t r y to b e i n s y nc w it h what he or she wants. This f ilm is a more serious space for me.

Silver S creen

What mess age does your film drive home?

e mess age is w hy a woman is cr iticised when she does something but a man isn’t It is not rest r ic te d to just India It happ ens in a l l p ar ts of t he world If the movie sets people thinking and disc ussing ab out t his, I t hin k ha lf our battle will be won, because the film does

not just entertain but also drives home a pertinent message

How would you e valuate your g row th as an actress?

I was quite raw in the beginning and it took me quite some time to come to terms with my acting. You learn as time passes. I do not have a Godfather or a mentor or

someone guiding me. I go by feelings. If I like the script, I am game to do a role Some movies that I did crashed like the Titanic I learn from every film I you do

Which are your for thcoming films?

Aer ONE NIGHT STAND w hich is slated for release on May 13 this year, my next fi lm to b e rele as e d wi l l b e R aj e e v C howd har y ' s BEIMAAN LOVE. Ever y fi lm has to t a ke its own cours e. I am sho ot ing for Sha h Ru k h K han’s fi lm RAEES to o, in w hich I have a sp e cia l dance app e arance oug h on t he first day I was ver y ner vous, I feel ver y proud today. I have worked my butt off to prove myself by working extra hard. A

Jyothi Venkatesh

e writer is a well-known & established film critic

1. §â Î çÙØæ × ° âæ ç· â· æ ƒæÚ ã çÁâ ÂÚ · ô§

· Ü · Ùãè , ßã · õÙ ã Áô Ú ô» ¥õÚ Î ¹ â × Q ã , âÎæ â ¹ ç· â· ô Ú ãÌæ ã ?

In thi s world , w hich can be said to be a blemishless fami ly, w ho is f ree f rom sickness and gr ief , and w ho is forever happy ?

w. ×Ù cØ · · Ü · è ØæçÌ ©â· ¥æ¿Ú ‡æ â ã ô Ì è ã , × Ù c Ø · Õ ô Ü ¿ æ Ü â © â · Î à æ · è ØæçÌ ÕÉ Ìè ã , ×æÙ â×æÙ ©â· Â × · ô ÕÉ æÌæ ã , °ß ©â· àææÚ èÚ · æ »ÆÙ ÖôÁÙ â ÕÉ Ìæ ã

A man ' s descent may be di scerned by hi s conduct, his countr y by his pronunciation of lang uage, hi s f r iend ship by hi s warmth and glow, and hi s capacit y to eat by his body

x . Ü Ç · è · æ Ž Ø æ ã ¥ ‘ À ¹ æ Ù Î æ Ù × · Ú Ù æ ¿æçã°.  ˜æ · ô ¥¿Àè çàæÿææ Î Ùè ¿æçã°, àæ˜æ · ô ¥æÂçžæ ¥õÚ · Cô × ÇæÜÙæ ¿æçã°, °ß çטæô · ô Ï× · × × Ü»æÙæ ¿æçã°.

Marr y your daughter to a good fami ly, engage your son in lear ning , see that your enemy comes to gr ief , and engage your fr iends in d harma y °· Î Á Ù ¥õÚ °· âæ Â × Øã ¥ ÌÚ ã ç· âæ  ÌÖè Çâ »æ ÁÕ ©â· è ÁæÙ · ô ¹ÌÚ æ ãô Ü ç · Ù Î Á Ù Â » -  » Â Ú ã æ ç Ù Â ã ¿ æ Ù · è · ôçàæàæ · Ú »æ.

Di fference of a rascal and a ser pent , the ser pent i s the better of the t wo, for he str i kes only at the t ime he i s destined to ki l l, w hi le the former does so at ever y step.

z . Ú æ Á æ Ü ô » ¥  ٠¥ æ â  æ â ¥ ‘ À · Ü · Üô»ô · ô §âçÜ° Ú ¹Ì ã € Øô ç· ° â Üô» Ù ¥ æ Ú  Ö × , Ù Õ è ¿ × ¥ õ Ú Ù ã è ¥ Ì × â æ Í

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Kings gather around themselves people of good fami lies, for they w i l l never forsake them either at the beg inning , the midd le or the end.

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At the t ime of the pralaya (deluge) the oceans exceed their l imits and seek to change, but a saintly man never changes.

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ÂÚ ô ßæÜ Âàæ · âæ×æÙ ã, Áô ¥ÂÙ ÏæÚ ÎæÚ ß¿Ùô â ßâ ãè ãÎØ · ô ÀÜÙè · Ú Ìæ ã Áâ ¥ÎàØ · æÅ æ àæÚ èÚ × ƒæâ· Ú ÀÜÙè · Ú Ìæ ã. Do not keep the company of a fool for as we can see he is a t wo-legged beast Like an unseen thorn he pierces the hear t w ith his shar p words. } . M  ¥ õ Ú Ø õ ß Ù â ⠐  ó æ Ì Í æ · Ü è Ù ÂçÚ ßæÚ × Á‹× Ü Ù ÂÚ Öè çßlæãèÙ Â L á ÂÜæàæ · È Ü · â×æÙ ã Áô â ‹ÎÚ Ìô ã Ü ç· Ù ¹ àæÕ Ú çãÌ ã .

Though men be endowed w ith beaut y and youth and born in noble fami lies, yet w ithout educat ion they are l i ke the palasa flower, w hich is void of sweet fragrance ~. · ôØÜ · è â ‹ÎÚ Ìæ ©â· »æØÙ × ã . °· S˜æè · è â ‹ÎÚ Ìæ ©â· ¥ÂÙ ÂçÚ ßæÚ ·  çÌ â× ‡æ × ã . °· ÕÎâ Ú Ì ¥æÎ×è · è â ‹ÎÚ Ìæ ©â· ™ææÙ × ã Ì Í æ ° · Ì Â S ß è · è â ‹ Î Ú Ì æ © â · è ÿæ×æàæèÜÌæ × ã

The beaut y of a c uckoo i s in its notes, that of a woman in her unal loyed devotion to her husband , that of an ugly per son in his scholarship, and that of an ascetic in his forgiveness

v ® . · Ü · è Ú ÿ æ æ · ç Ü ° ° · â Î S Ø · æ ÕçÜÎæÙ Î , »æ ß · è Ú ÿææ · çÜ° °· · Ü · æ ÕçÜÎæÙ Î , Î àæ · è Ú ÿææ · çÜ° °· »æ ß · æ Õ ç Ü Î æ Ù Î , ¥ æ ˆ × æ · è Ú ÿ æ æ · ç Ü ° Î à æ · æ ÕçÜÎæÙ Î

Give up a member to save a family, a family to save a v i l lage, a v i l lage to save a countr y, and the countr y to save yourself

vv Áô ©l×àæèÜ ã , ß »Ú èÕ Ùãè ãô â· Ì , Áô ãÚ Î× Ö»ßæÙ · ô ØæÎ · Ú Ì ã ©‹ã Âæ Ùãè À â· Ìæ. Áô ×õÙ Ú ãÌ ã ßô Ûæ»Ç ô × Ùãè ÂÇ Ì .

Áô Áæ» Ì Ú ãÌ ã ßô çÙÖ Ø ãôÌ ã .

There is no pover ty for the industrious, Sin does not attach itself to a person practicing japa ( prayer) those w ho are absor bed in mauna (si lent contemplat ion) have no quarrel w ith others, and they w ho are fearless always remain aler t

v2 ¥ˆØçÏ· â ‹ÎÚ Ìæ · · æÚ ‡æ âèÌæãÚ ‡æ ã ¥æ, ¥ ˆ Ø Ì ƒ æ × Ç · · æ Ú ‡ æ Ú æ ß ‡ æ · æ ¥ Ì ã ¥ æ , ¥ˆØçÏ· ÎæÙ Î Ù · · æÚ ‡æ Ú æÁæ ÕæÜè · ô Õ ÏÙ × Õ ÏÙæ ÂÇ æ. âß ˜æ ¥çÌ · ô ˆØæ»Ùæ ¿æçã°.

The cause for the abduction of Sita was her ex treme beaut y, ex treme ar rogance the cause of R avana ' s end, and excessive generosit y the cause of the shack les of the Kingof Bali. Moral – Shun such ex tremes and ubiquit y

v3 çÁâ ÌÚ ã âæÚ æ ßÙ · ßÜ °· ãè  c ¥ß â » Ï ÖÚ ß ÿæ â ×ã· ÁæÌæ ã ©âè ÌÚ ã °· ãè » ‡æßæÙ Â ˜æ Â Ú · Ü · æ Ùæ× ÕÉæÌæ ã .

A s a w hole the forest becomes fragrant by the ex i stence of a single tree w ith s weetsmelling blossoms in it, so does a family become famous by the bir th of a v ir tuous son.

v 4 . ç Á â  · æ Ú · ß Ü ° · â ¹ æ ã ¥ æ ÁÜÌæ ß ÿæ âÂ ‡æ ßÙ · ô ÁÜæ Î Ìæ ã ©âè  · æÚ ° · ã è ·  ˜ æ â æ Ú · Ü ç · × æ Ù , × Ø æ Î æ ¥ õ Ú Â çÌDæ · ô ÙC · Ú Î Ìæ ã

Just as a single w ithered tree, w hen set aflame causes a w hole forest to burn dow n, so does a rascal son destroy a w hole family.

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 ˜æ ¥‘Àæ ã Áô â× ‡æÚ ƒæÚ · ô âãæÚ æ ¥õÚ àææç Ì ÂÎæÙ · Ú .

W hat is the use of hav ing many sons if they cause grief and vexation? It is better to have only one son from w hom the w hole fami ly can der ive suppor t and peacef ulness.

v6. Âæ¿ âæÜ Ì· Â˜æ · ô ÜæÇ °ß ŒØæÚ â ÂæÜÙ · Ú Ùæ ¿æçã°, ¥»Ü Îâ âæÜ Ì· ©â ÀÇ è · è ×æÚ â ÇÚ æ° . Ü ç· Ù ÁÕ ßã v{ âæÜ · æ ãô Áæ° Ìô ©ââ ç×˜æ · â×æÙ ÃØßãæÚ · Ú Fondle a son until he is five years of age, use the stick for another ten years, but when he has attained his si x teenth year treat him as a fr iend

v7 ßã ÃØçQ â Ú çÿæÌ Ú ã â· Ìæ ã Áô ÖØæßã ¥ æ  Πæ , ç ß Î à æ è ¥ æ · × ‡ æ , Ö Ø · Ú ¥ · æ Ü , Î C ÃØçQ · è â »Ì Á âè ÂçÚ çSÍçÌØæ ©ˆÂóæ ãôÙ ÂÚ Öæ» Áæ°.

He w ho r uns away from a fear f ul calamit y, a foreign invasion, a ter r i ble famine, and the companionship of w icked men is safe.

1 9 . Á ô Ã Ø ç Q ç Ù  Ù ç Ü ç ¹ Ì Õ æ Ì ( Ï × æ , ¥ Í , · æ×, ×ôÿæ) ¥çÁ Ì Ùãè · Ú Ìæ ßã ÕæÚ ÕæÚ Á‹× Ü · Ú ×Ú Ìæ ã

He w ho has not acquired the follow ing : religious merit (dharma), wealth (ar tha), sati sfact ion of desires ( k ama), or l i berat ion (mok sa) is repeated ly born to die

20 ÏÙ · è Î ßè Üÿ×è SßØ ßãæ ¿Üè ¥æÌè ã Á ã æ . . . × ¹ ô · æ ⠐ × æ Ù Ù ã è ã ô Ì æ , ¥ Ù æ Á · æ ¥ ‘ À â Ö ‡ æ Ç æ Ú ‡ æ ç · Ø æ Á æ Ì æ ã , Â Ì è ,  % è × ¥æÂâ × ÜÇ æ§ Õ¹ Ç æ Ùãè ãôÌæ ã .

Lak shmi, the Goddess of wealth, comes of her ow n accord to places w here fool s are not respected, grain is wel l stored up, and the husband and w ife do not quarrel. A

Source : www.hindisahityadar pan.in

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Many of u s of ten take a lot of our he r itag e for g ranted , e sp ec i ally if the y are live building s and en s embles like thos e in Lut yen ' s D elhi the t i e re d w e d ding - c ake li ke Parliament hou s e being no ex ception. Howe ver, stor ies and e vents, t r iv i a and lit tl e know n fac toi d s about thi s extraordinar y her itage architec tural ensemble bang in the middle of Ne w D elhi abound and are l e g i on . In thi s ar t i cl e , Vi kramjit Sing h R o oprai acqu aint s u s w ith y e t anothe r lit tl e know n fac e t of the bui l ding that hou s es the Indian Parliament ...

To day, t his upp er hous e is known as t he R ajya Sabha

PARLIAMENT OF INDIA

TH E CASE OF TH E MISSI

NG TH I RD HOUSE

Almost all of us are indeed aware that our Parliament is bi-cameral and comprises of two houses, the Lok Sabha and the R ajya Sabha e design of the heritage building that is home to these two houses of our Parliament, though, shows the existence of four halls instead of two there are three halls on the sides with a fourth one positioned right at the centre of the circular building, the central hall, which today is used for joint sessions of both the upper and lower houses. Digging deep into this, we find that origi-

nally, the Indian Parliament or Council House as it was then termed as, had not 2 but 3 houses the State Council, the Central Legislative Assembly, and the Chamber of Princes

T h e St ate s C ou n c i l or i g i n a l ly h a d 6 0 members when it was set up in 1919. The Vi c e roy or t h e G ove r n or G e n e r a l of In d i a w a s it s E x O f f i c i o Pre s i d e nt In 1937, the size was increased to 260 memb ers and in 1947, it was diss olve d to b e l ate r t a ke n ove r by C onst itu e nt Ass e mblies of Indi a and Pa k ist an resp e c t ively.

e Central Legislative Assembly, or the lower house, originally had 145 members representing different provinces of India. Out of these, 103 were elected and the rest nominated by the upper house. Out of these 103, 51 came f rom general constituencies (30 by Muslims, 2 by Sikhs, 9 by Europeans, 7 by Landlords and the rest by businessmen). is Assembly was abolished on the 15th of August 1947 and until 1952, as India was on its path to becoming a Republic, the Legislative Assembly was renamed as the 'Lok Sabha' to become functional under the new Constitution of India. Its members are sometimes still known as MLAs (Members of the Legislative Assembly)

en came this third house, the one that was also abolished in 1947 While the C ouncil of States and the Legislative Assembly merged into the C onstituent Assembly and later re-merged as the R ajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha respectively, this one house had no representation le in the new independent system of the Republic of India. erefore, on the 15th of August

1947, even as India was divided and partitioned into the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan this one powerful house was abolished and histor y seems to have forgotten it as well is house was the 'Chamber of Princes,' or the ‘Narendra Mandal’. It was established in 1920 by royal fiat a proclamation by King Emperor George V, so that the princely states of India can have their say in the administration of the dominion and be able top voice their needs to the British crown. is abolition was one of the most important decisions taken, as it did away with the British policy of isolating Indian princely states from each other

When init ia l ly t his Hous e first met on the 8th of Februar y 1921, it had all of 120 memb ers 108 of t hes e repres ente d maj or st ates, and hence members in their own right e remaining 12 were elected to represent 127 smaller states, which le 327 minor states with no repres ent at ion. Als o, maj or st ates li ke B aro da, Gwa lior and Hol kar refused to join in ey met only once a year, with an appointed standing committee meeting more oen. e house had a C hancel lor as he ad of t he hous e. e first chancel lor was Maj or G enera l HH Sir Ganga Sing h Ma haraja of Bi kaner w ho preside d over t he hous e from 1921-1926. His successors were Adhiraj Maj or G enera l HH Sir Bhupinder Singh Maharaja of Patiala (1926-1931), C olonel HH Sir K S R anjitsinhji Maharaja of Nawanagar (1931-1933), Colonel HH Sir K S Dig vijaysinhji Maharaja of Nawanagar (1933-1944), Hajji Maj or G enera l HH Sir Hamidu l la h Khan Nawab of Bhopal (1944-1947)

In 1940, as discussion and debates on Indian Independence was gathering heat and gaining momentum, the Chamber of Princes, feeling this scorching heat, con-

vened in the month of March. On 12th of the month, they resolved that: “ e Chamber of Princes, while welcoming the attainment by India of its due place among the Dominions of the British Commonwealth under the British Crown, records its emphatic and firm view that, in any future constitution for India, the essential guarantees and safeguards for the preser vation of the sovereignty and autonomy of the States and for the protection of their rights and interests arising from treaties, and engagements and sanads or other wise, should be effectively provided and that any unit should not be placed in a position to dominate the others or to inter-

Privy Purse was established, as a compensation. e Priv y Purse was a payment made to the royal families of erstwhile princely states aer they agreed to merge their states/kingdoms with India, losing all rights to rule. In 1947, the states were required to sign the instrument of accession with India and cede defence, communication and foreign relations to India Later, in 1949, most of these states were completely merged. e amount of the privy purse was determined by several factors, including the revenue of state, gun salute enjoyed during British R aj and antiquity of dynasty etc While the smaller states were given a privy purse allowance as low as Rupees 5,000 per annum, states like Hyderabad, Mysore, Travancore, Baroda, Jaipur and Patiala received a privy purse above Rupees 10,00,000 102 privy purses were between 1-2 lakh r upees e Government of India kept reducing the privy purses with ever y succession in the families.

fere with the rights and safeguards guaranteed to them, and that all parties must be ensured their due share and fair play ; And that, in any negotiations for formulating a constitution for India, whether independently of the Government of India Act 1935, or by revision of that Act, representatives of the States and of this Chamber should have a voice proportionate to their importance and historical position ”

Despite this resolution, the chamber was dissolved and never revoked. Instead, the princely states were annexed into the Dominion of India and Dominion of Pakistan one aer another, and the hall dedicated for the Chamber of Princes was later converted into the Parliament Librar y. A

When Prime Minister Indira Gandhi abolished the Privy Purse in 1971, rulers of erstwhile states decided to contest elections, hoping that their subjects would elect them into parliament where they can voice their needs properly However, most of them were le red faced aer shameful defeats with huge margins Popular rulers like Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi could earn only 5% of total votes in 2-way contests. Finally, the Privy Purses came to an end Many a nawabs or Kings did become more active in politics, while others went on to start their businesses

Vikramjit Singh Rooprai e writer is a heritage lover and activist who found it fit to leave a lucrative career in IT to take up the promotion of the heritage and cultures of India