The Backroom Boyis an unsung hero behind every budget. If lucky, he
gets some press. But usually, he is left unsung. Yes, you guessed right;
we are talking about the economic adviser to the finance minister.
RAGHURAM RAJAN, who currently holds the title, is, like his predecessor,
Kaushik Basu, an acclaimed economist. Coming to the job straight from
Chicago’s Booth School of Business, Rajan worked with a team of mostly
young economists to sketch the contours of the budget and the Economic
Survey.
Data Dividend
It’s
too early to call him India’s Data King. But make no mistake, the
38-year-old DHIRAJ RAJARAM has all the makings of one. Recently, his
data analytics firm Mu Sigma made headlines for a $45-million deal with
MasterCard which amount to a whopping valuation of $1 billion. Rajaram
holds 50 per cent in the eight-year-old firm which has offices in the
US, UK, Australia and India.
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Premier Move
British
Prime Minister DAVID CAMERON may have got some good press, thanks to
his comments on Jallianwala Bagh. But his critics want to know if he can
combine good business with politics, given that his first visit in 2010
did not deter India from opting for French fighter jets, ignoring the
part-British Typhoons.
Conscious Capitalist
It
was a gesture that found mention in the finance minister’s budget
speech. Setting an example for the super rich in this part of the world,
the third richest person in India and founder of IT major Wipro, AZIM
PREMJI, donated $2.3 billion to the Azim Premji Foundation, just days
after joining the ‘Giving Pledge’ fund promoted by Bill Gates and Warren
Buffett.
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Crisis Manager
Budget
expert jack lew has replaced timothy geithner as the treasury
secretary in the US. Geithner’s tenure (2009-13) witnessed the fallout
of one of the worst financial crises in the US. What awaits Lew?
On Cloud Nine
Sugata
Mitra believes in the power of learning. But he feels the way we teach
children is obsolete. So he built a new system, Minimally Invasive
Education, where PCs and cloud technology help poor kids learn. He wants
to build a school in the cloud where children can come together and
learn from each other. His computer-based ‘Hole in the Wall’ education
project has fetched him this year’s $1-million TED Prize. His new
venture, The Granny Cloud, has retired teachers in England Skyping
lessons to children in India.
Stiff Penalty
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No Escape
Many
say it was a decision least expected of arguably the most famous
working mom in the US. But Yahoo CEO MARISSA MAYER stands by her
decision to ban ‘telecommuting’ at the IT giant, a move that seems to
have irked many of her women employees who balance work and family.
Mayer backers say the move reflects the CEO’s belief in people-to-people
interactions.
(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 25-03-2013)
(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 25-03-2013)
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