India's Young Hottest Executive

When Madhu Kannan, now running India's oldest stock exchange, turned up at the Bombay Stock Exchange at 6.30 a.m. on his first day at work, the guard posted at Phiroze Jeejeebhoy Towers, where the bourse is housed, stopped him. He did not know that BSE had recruited the youngest CEO in its history, and thought that Kannan, 36, was pulling a fast one (Kannan's predecessor was 45).
"It was tough getting in. It was easier to get the job," chuckles Kannan, who is just one among several top executives finding their youth an advantage— and a burden at times—as they race into the CEO's room in record time. Others: Rajesh Kamat at entertainment TV channel Colors, Varun Bajpai at SBI Macquarie Infrastructure Management, Tarun Katial at Reliance Media World, Gagan Banga at Indiabulls Financial Services, Akshay Gupta at Peerless MF and Sameer Kamdar at ASK Investment Managers.
Here are some useful words from India's hottest young executives:
R Balakrishnan - Chairman & Chief Creative Officer/ Lowe
"I believe that focus, ability etc. are all hygiene factors. It is finally a lot of luck involved in success...I still don't have an idea how and why the right idea comes, so it is about having the patience and resilience to hang in there till you get lucky."
Prasoon Joshi - Executive Chairman/ McCann Worldgroup India
"Achievers never take themselves too seriously, they take their job and the moment seriously and are constantly practising their craft. They are constant learners and are stupid enough sometimes to not know that things can't work-and they do!"
Santrupt Misra - CEO of Carbon Black, & Director, HR/Aditya Birla Group
"Have a keen interest in things that may not have any relevance to your immediate business. Gain knowledge about different aspects of business; put oneself behind people and harness the power that various people have in the organisation."
Madhabi Puri-Buch - MD & CEO/ICICI Securities
"Seek out difficult assignments. This is where you can add maximum value. Have the stomach to do them differently. More of the same never solved a problem. Create systems and a strong second line so that there is no hesitation to let you move on."
Kamesh Goyal - CEO, India, Middle East & North Africa/Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance
"In my view, the qualities that are required in a person for the top job are a sense of ownership, an ability to learn beyond the area of responsibility and also have an ability to take risks. Good leaders are usually equipped with these traits."
Rajesh Kamat - CEO, Colors; Group COO, Viacom 18
"What compensates for lack of grey hair is the point to prove and passion to prove. You can always find people who want to aspire to get to the next level"
Madhu Kannan - MD & CEO, BSE
"There is absolutely no replacement for high quality relevant experience, right attitude and the willingness to adapt to the changing environment. These are bigger drivers than age"
Tarun Katial - CEO, Reliance Media World
"The work life cycle one would cover in 3-5 years, is now completed in one year"
Rishi Khiani - CEO, Times Internet
"Companies in the forefront of innovation globally (the large Internet companies or the media companies) are the ones with a younger CEO"
Varun Bajpai - Senior Managing Director, Macquarie Capital; also CEO at SBI Macquarie Infrastructure Management
"What matters is the maturity of an individual, the professionalism one operates with and also the competence one brings to the table"

Infosys denies reports of tax & duty evasion

NEW DELHI: The country's second largest software exporter Infosys on Monday said it has made a total advance tax payment of Rs 1,180 crore for the fiscal 2009-10. "We are among the top tax payers in the software and BPO industry. For fiscal year 2010, our total advance tax payment is Rs 1,180 crore," the company CEO Krish Gopalakrishnan said. Infosys also refuted reports of evasion of taxes and duties, saying it did not claim any tax or duty benefit till its SEZ unit in Chandigarh got approved by the Ministry of Commerce on June 16, 2006 and signing of the customs bond on July 10, 2006. "Therefore there is no question of evasion of taxes and duties (direct and indirect)," it said. "No land has been sold to us by the Chandigarh administration on free hold basis. Infosys signed the land lease agreement as per the provisions of SEZ Rules on April 3, 2009," the company said. The firm has not carried out a series of complex buying and lease deals with the Chandigarh administration to buttress the legality of its SEZ status," Infosys said in a statement. Stating that the land was vacant at the time of filing the application by the Chandigarh administration, the subsequent construction activities have been fully disclosed and the government has also confirmed the same in its inspection report and this fact has been considered by the government before the issuance of the SEZ notification. The SEZ being developed by Infosys has come under the scanner of the revenue department for allegedly breaking some norms. SEZ rules require that land should be vacant for getting approval. The revenue department in the Finance Ministry claimed that it had found some structures on SEZ land even before the approval was given. Infosys added that it continues to invest in its facility in Chandigarh. The cumulative investment by the company in this facility as on December 31, 2009 is Rs 286.85 crore. "Since the start of operations of our Chandigarh Development Centre on September 4, 2006 till December 31, 2009, we have had exports of over Rs 750.40 crore. Exports for the last 12 months ended December 31, 2009 was Rs 374.64 crore. As of December 31, 2009 we had 2,676 employees at our Chandigarh Development Center. The only activity taken up in this development center is for export purposes, itadded

ASHOK VERMA
PGDM II SEM

Scholarships

Are you thinking of pursuing higher studies? Then you may probably be thinking of financial backing as well. You need not always depend on loans to go in for higher studies. Apart from educational loans, monetary aid is available to students as Scholarships and Endowments. Scholarships enable deserving students to pursue higher education in their sphere of study or go for specialization by providing them necessary monetary assistance as course fee and book grant without having to repay loans. Today scholarships and stipend are available to school students, college students, research fellows etc. The scholarships may be funded by Individual Trusts, Government Institutions, Institutions of Higher Learning like Universities, by Corporate Houses or by Missionaries and Charitable Trusts. The students have to fulfill the eligibility criteria as laid down by the respective organizations or institutions offering scholarships to be in receipt of these scholarships. The eligibility criteria set by institutions may be ones regarding the minimum and maximum age limit of applicants, the academic ability (scholarships are usually given to meritorious students who have performed exceptionally well in academics), exceptional interest in a particular field, research work carried out in that field etc. Scholarships are available in Arts, Humanities, Science, Engineering, Medicine, Law, Sports, Fine Arts
and a number of other fields. While some of the scholarships enable students to pursue studies in India, International Scholarships enable students to pursue higher studies abroad. Some of these scholarships are quite prestigious and being a recipient of it gives adds weightage to one's resume.

Signs of resolution over impasse on women's bill

NEW DELHI: The standoff over the Women's Reservation Bill in Lok Sabha ended on Thursday with the government announcing that the proposed legislation would be brought in the House only after consultations with all sections. The breakthrough came after SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, RJD leader Lalu Prasad and JD(U) president Sharad Yadav, the three strong opponents of the bill, met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee. Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and DMK leader T R Baalu also attended the meeting. During the meeting, "some sort of assurance was sought on the progress of the Constitution Amendment Bill (Women's Reservation Bill) before bringing it to the Lok Sabha. Government will complete the process of consultations with all concerned," Pranab Mukherjee said in a statement in the Lok Sabha after his discussions. "I think, this assurance would assuage the feelings of all members and the business would be conducted smoothly," he said, when the House re-assembled after two adjournments on the issue. The standoff over the bill prevented normal functioning of the Lok Sabha for the last four days as those opposed to it have been disrupting the House. "I would like to inform members that it has been agreed to conduct smooth business of the House for the remaining period," Mukherjee said. "I would request colleagues to help the Chair to conduct normal business," he said. The statement by the Leader of the House came at 2pm after two adjournments following uproar over the bill. Normalcy was restored soon after and discussion on General Budget, which had got delayed because of acrimony, was taken up. Earlier, after his meeting with Mukherjee, Sharad Yadav said the government had assured those opposing the bill that all sections of the House will be consulted before bringing the measure in the Lok Sabha.



ASHOK VERMA
PGDM IIsem