Newsweek's list of most powerful people features Sonia, Shah Rukh
Source: IBEF
Congress President Sonia Gandhi and actor Shah Rukh Khan have been ranked among the 50 most-powerful people in the world by Newsweek, the US-based news magazine, in its January 2009 issue.
Gandhi occupies the 17th spot in the list. According to the magazine, even though the Indian political scene is riven by factions, Congress remains the strongest national force and rules unchallenged, and “In the world's largest democracy, she is the queen.” Actor Shah Rukh Khan, who occupies the 41st spot in the list, has been described as the ‘King of Bollywood’. Lauding his contribution to cinema, the magazine notes that “It's not just that his (Shah Rukh Khan's) romantic flicks make millions, it's where those millions come from. Khan is huge in the Muslim world, even in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where the mullahs ban his films.”
Topping the list is President-elect Barack Obama, who scripted history by becoming the first black-American to be voted to the White House. He is followed by Chinese President Hu Jintao, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, German Chancellor Angela Markel and powerful Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Pakistan army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani is placed 20th on the list of the global “power elite”. |
AR Rahman has put India on the global entertainment map
Source: Business Standard |
 He has just won the Golden Globe in the best original score category for Slumdog Millionaire. And, in spite of his calm demeanour, finds it hard to digest that he actually won the award. The truth is that the Golden Globe has for the first time come to India. It is the second most prestigious award in filmdom after the Oscars. The award clearly establishes that Rahman, 42, has been accepted globally. The musician, who began playing instruments when he was as young as four, has been contributing to his brand of music to listeners and audiences abroad. He has done musicals for Broadway productions including Bombay Dreams and Lord of the Rings, has composed music for Nokia and scored hit singles like Pray For Me, Brother for the UN and One Love, a tribute to the Taj Mahal. Rahman has experimented not just with his music, but also the manner in which it should be heard.
Rahman (born AS Dileep Kumar in Chennai) started composing for South Indian films at a young age after his father died. His school days also saw him part of a rock band called Roots. From there, he began to compose music independently and was initially criticised for creating and mixing sounds on his computer through different music software. That others followed to make music through software is a different matter altogether. His new effort, KM Music Conservatory, a school which promises to unearth new talent in the field of music, has been a success story already and Rahman has, predictably, been excited about it. For someone who didn’t have any formal education in music (“I started out because somewhere I had to,” he says), Rahman’s been at the helm of creating careers. From Delhi-based singer Neeti Mohan, to Naresh Iyer and Tanvi Shah, Rahman’s always used voices that he says, “have tried to understand my music”. Slumdog Millionaire’s musical score, on the face of it, isn’t anything different from what Rahman has attempted earlier. Alka Yagnik’s Ringa Ringa can sheepishly remind you of the old song Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai from Khalnayak. There’s Jai Ho, which is an excellent rendition by the immensely talented Sukhwinder Singh. Rehman himself has done a wonderful rendition of a song titled O Saaya.
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Forbes names India-origin Francisco D'Souza as one of the youngest CEOs
Francisco D'Souza, the India- origin chief executive officer (CEO) of software firm Cognizant Technology Solutions has been named as one of the youngest CEOs in the US by business publication, Forbes in its list of '21 Youngest CEOs at the Nation's Biggest Companies'.
The list features individuals not older than 40 years and who run American public companies which are worth at least $US 500 million. “D'Souza has been an officer at Cognizant for 11 years now, chief executive since 2007, and chief operating officer since 2003, when he was a mere 33," the magazine said. Apart from 39-year-old D'Souza, the list included R Adam Norwitt, chief of Amphenol, which is into electronic connectors business and Nicholas J DeIuliis, CNX Gas' chief executive."They are the youngest people running the biggest companies in America. As they have gotten this far already, keep an eye on them in the future," Forbes said in an accompanying report. |
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World Hindi Day celebrated
10th January is observed as World Hindi Day. It was on this day in 1975 that the first World Hindi Conference was held in Nagpur under the auspices of Rashtra Bhasha Prachar Samiti, Wardha.
A function is being organized by Ministry of External Affairs at Foreign Service Institute, New Delhi on 10th January 2009. Shri Anand Sharma, Minister of State for External Affairs will be the Chief Guest on this occasion.
A Hindi Essay Competition was organized for foreign students studying Hindi at Agra and Delhi centres of Kendriya Hindi Sansthan, Delhi University and Jawahar Lal Nehru University. Cash prizes and Hindi books will be given to the winners of the Essay Competition in this function. Four foreign students will address the audience in Hindi.
A Kavi Sammelan is also being organized in association with the Indian Council of Cultural Relations. Eminent poets such as Dr. Rama Singh, Dr. Savita Aseem, Shri Surender Sharma, Shri Vinay Vishwas, Dr. Sherjung Garg and Dr. Uday Pratap Singh will participate in the programme.
A large number of Indian Missions / Posts abroad such as Kandy (Sri Lanka), New York (USA), Warsaw (Poland), Osaka-Kobe (Japan), Paramaribo (Suriname), Port of Spain (Trinidad & Tobago), Zagreb (Croatia), Kingston (Jamaica), Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Ashgabat (Turkmenistan), Tel Aviv (Israel), Gaborone (Botswana), Hanoi (Vietnam), Ottawa (Canada), and London (UK) are also celebrating World Hindi Day, in some cases jointly with local universities, where Hindi is being taught.
On the occasion of World Hindi Day, the Ministry of External Affairs rededicates itself to the promotion and propagation of Hindi through its Missions abroad by taking new initiatives and harnessing the opportunities available worldwide. |
Washington Post appoints prominent Indian journalist as managing editor
Source: IBEF
Raju Narisetti, a prominent Indian journalist, has been appointed as the managing editor of the leading US daily, Washington Post.
Narisetti, along with Elizabeth Spayd, the editor of washingtonpost.com, will jointly oversee news gathering, editing and day-to-day production of the newspaper, Washington Post announced in a press release on 13 January 2009.
The 42 year-old Narisetti was until recently the editor of Mint, a business paper published by HT Media Ltd. He had also held the prominent position of deputy managing editor of Wall Street Journal.
In his new role, he will look after the newspaper’s weekend magazines, as well as video, design and photography sections. Along with Spayd, Narisetti will help in the integration of the newspaper’s print and online newsrooms, and share responsibility for both print and online content. |
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