Great-Indian-Personality

Vinod Khosla Venture Capitalist, One of the co-founders of Sun Microsystems Vinod Khosla, a native Indian and the world's No.2 ranked Venture Capitalist, is considered as one of the most influential personalities in Silicon valley. He is a partner in the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Aged 50, he was among the first venture capitalist to understand that internet technology and fiber optics could make communications so fast, cheap and easy and spot the potential of companies that sell gear for high-speed optical networks. He was born in 1955 in a military family in New Delhi, India. He earned a B.Tech degree from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi. After that he attempted to start his own company in India, a dream since the age of 15. Being frustrated by the experience, he gave up his mission. Then he went to United States and completed M.S degree in Biomedical Sciences at Carnegie Mellon and also earned an M B A degree from Stanford

Vinod Dham Born: 1950 Achievement: Known as the father of the Pentium processor.  Vinod Dham is popularly known as the father of the Pentium processor. Born in 1950 in Pune, he had his initial schooling in Pune. He did his Bachelors in Electrical Engineering from Delhi College of Engineering in 1971. Thereafter he had a brief stint with Continental Devices, a Delhi based semiconductor company. In 1975, Vinod Dham went to the US and did his Masters in Electrical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati. After completing his Masters in 1977, Vinod Dham joined the National Cash Register (NCR) at Dayton, Ohio. Vinod was a team member of the NCR's memory design group. He received many patents for his work at NCR. While making a presentation at the IEEE conference in Monterrey, California on re- programmable memory, Vinod Dham received an offer from the Intel to work with them. In January 1990, Vinod was in-charge of developing the 586 or Pentium processor. He worked relen

Vikram Seth Poet, Novelist Vikram Seth was born in Calcutta in 1952. He earned degrees in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University. He has published 6 books of poetry and 3 novels since 1980. His novel "A suitable boy" won the W.H.Smith prize in 1993. The latest novel written by Vikram Seth is 'An Equal music' and it is about the troubled love life of a violinist. Vikram Seth received one of Britain top honours for his services to literature. The award of the commander of the order3 of the British Empire was announced earlier in the year by Queen Elizabeth II and given to Seth on 14 February 2001. Vikram Seth creates a living, breathing world that enchants and grips the reader in all his novels.

Vikram .A. Sarabhai 2nd chairman of Indian Atomic Energy Commission and Indian Space Research Organisation Vikram.A.Sarabhai, was the main personality behind the launching of India's first satellite, Aryabhata in 1975. He was born in Ahmedabad, Gujarat in a family of industrialists. He was also responsible for the Equatorial Rocket Building Station at Thumba. Sarabhai set up the Ahmedabad Textile Industries Research Association, a laboratory for research in Physics and the Indian Institute of Management. Sarabhai was the second chairman of India's Atomic Energy Commission and the Indian Space Research Organisation. Sarabhai's study of cosmic rays under the eminent scientist Dr. C.V. Raman, revealed that cosmic rays are a stream of energy particles reaching the earth from the outer space, being influenced on their way by the sun, the atmosphere and magnetism. This study helps in observing terrestrial magnetism and the atmosphere, the nature of the sun and outer space.

Tata J.R.D Industrialist, 4th Chairman of TATA Industries Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata, was born on July 29, 1904 in Paris. He was the second child of Mr Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata. He spent much of his childhood in France since his mother was French. In 1922, Tata returned to India to join the family business. He inherited most of his grandfather Jamshedji's industrial empire but first became a pioneer in aviation. He had a great personality with a charm and style of his own. After his father's death in 1926, Tata became the director of the Board of Tata Sons Ltd. Eventually in 1938, he became the chairman of the company. Under his leadership Tata Sons expanded into one of the largest industrial empire in the country- from ironworks and steelworks into chemicals, hotels, engineering and lot of other industries. In 1945, Tata Steel promoted the Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company (TELCO) with an objective to produce locomotives for the Indian Railways. Today Telco

Sunil Bharti Mittal Chairman and Managing Director of Bharti Group Sunil Bharti Mittal, founder, Chairman and Managing Director of Bharti Group can be labelled as the most ambitious telecom entrepreneur in India. Sunil a former student of Harvard Business School, graduated from Punjab University. The son of a parliamentarian, Sunil did not want to follow his father's footsteps. He had shown an interest in business even from his teenage days. So after graduation, Sunil got together with his friend and formed a small bicycle business with borrowed capital in the1970s. But by 1979, he realized that this business would remain small. So he moved out of Ludhiana, spent a few years in Mumbai and in 1981, was running an import and distribution operation out of New Delhi and Mumbai. By 1982, Mittal had started a full-fledged business selling portable generators imported from Japan and that gave him the chance to involve himself in activities like marketing and

Sulajja Firodia Motwani Joint Managing Director of Kinetic Engineering Ltd, she is the in charge of the Company's overall business developmental activities. She is also very well performing the role of the Director of Kinetic Motor Company Limited and Kinetic Marketing Services Limited. Well, we are talking about Sulajja Firodia Motwani. In this article, we will provide you with the biography of Sulajja Firodia Motwani, who has made an incredible contribution in making the firm reach heights of success. She is a fitness person, who is very conscious about her health. She is very particular about carrying out one or the other activity for keeping fit and active. She has always been enthusiastic about sports, especially badminton. She has played badminton on the national level. She is also very fond of pursuing adventurous sports like skiing & scuba diving. She tries to spend as much time as possible with her five year old son Sidhant. Read on to know the complete li

Subroto Roy Achievement: Chairman of the Sahara Group Subroto Roy, is the head of the $10bn (£5.5bn) Sahara Group. Sahara Group has interests in banking, aviation, media and housing. Subroto Roy began his journey in 1978, when he founded Sahara in 1978 with three workers in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh as a small deposits para-banking business. Today, the group has diversified into a giant business conglomerate with interests in housing, entertainment, media and aviation. Sahara Group presently runs a private airline, entertainment and news television channels, a newspaper, and claims to own some 33,000 acres of real estate across India. It also sponsors the Indian cricket and hockey teams and intends to move into life insurance, housing finance, consumer products, sportswear, and healthcare. Sahara Group has come up with one of the most prestigious real estate projects in India, namely Amby Valley Project. The project boasts some of the biggest name in Indian enterta

Shiv Nadar Achevement: Chief Executive Officer of Hindustan Computers Limited (HCL), India's largest infotech conglomerate Shiv Nadar is the Chief Executive Officer of Hindustan Computers Limited (HCL), India's largest infotech conglomerate. He figures in the Forbes list of Indian billionaires. Originally hailing from Moolaipozhi Village,Trichendur,Tutocorin District, Tamil Nadu, Shiv Nadar moved to Delhi in 1968. He worked as an engineer with DCM Ltd. But the entrepreneur in Shiv Nadar wanted to set up his own business. Therefore, he along with six of his colleagues launched a firm making office products like copiers. In late 1970s, when IBM quit India, Shiv Nadar's HCL stepped in to fill the vacuum. In 1982, HCL came out with its first computer. Today, HCL derives 80% of its revenue from computers and office equipment. HCL has also been spreading its global reach. Its Singapore subsidiary, Far East Computers, achieved a breakthrough in imaging technology, which, amo

Shashi Tharoor Writer and UN Diplomat Shri Shashi Tharoor, is a well-known Indian English writer, scholar and international civil servant. He was born in London on May 1956 to father, a newspaper executive and mother a housewife, with their roots in Palakkad, a town in Kerala, India. Tharoor mostly grew up in India did his schooling and under graduation in cities such as Bombay, Calcutta and Delhi. He completed his honors degree in History from the prestigious St. Stephen's College in Delhi and won a scholarship to Tufts University in Boston. As a student he took part in debates, quiz contests and also tried his hand in theatre. In the mid 1970's, he went to the United States and acquired two master's degrees and a Ph.D. in Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University, all by the age of twenty-two. Tharoor joined the United Nations in May 1978 in the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva and has been wit

Sachin Tendulkar Cricketer The pride of Indian cricket Sachin Tendulkar, was the first batsman to score 10,000 runs in one-day cricket, in a five-day match series against Australia on the 31st of March 2001. He has scored a world record, 28 hundreds and 50 half-centuries in his 10,000 runs. A perennial crowd-favorite, he is the only Indian cricketer to receive the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India's highest sporting honour for his performance in 1997-1998 Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar was born on April 24, 1973, in Mumbai. Young Sachin wanted to be a fast bowler. He even undertook trials at the MRF pace foundation, Chennai, but his short stature proved to be a hindrance for bowling. Meeting Mr. R. Achrekar, his Cricket Coach and changing his school to Shardashram Vidya Mandir in Dadar marked a turning point in Sachin's cricket career. Sachin at the age of 16, made his International debut in ODI’s India v Pakistan at Gujranwala and Tests debut India v Pakistan at Karachi around 19

Sabeer Bhatia Computer Wizard Sabeer Bhatia, the pioneer in the field of first web based e-mail - The Hotmail, was born in Chandigarh in the year 1969. He grew up in Bangalore and had his early education at Bishops Cotton's School in Pune, then St. Joseph's College in Bangalore. For a short-time he was a student at the Birla Institute of Technology (BITS), Pilani and in 1988 he went to US on a Cal Tech Transfer scholarship to get a bachelor's degree at the California Institute of Technology. He earned a master's degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University. After graduation, Sabeer briefly worked for Apple Computers as a hardware engineer and Firepower Systems Inc. While working there he was amazed at the fact that he could access any software on the internet via a web browser. His success graph took off exponentially when he, along with his colleague Jack Smith, set up Hotmail on 4th July 1996. Today, Hotmail remains the world's largest e-mail pr

Raunaq Singh Born: 1922 Achievement: Founder of Raunaq Group; Elected as a member of the Executive Board of the International Chamber of Commerce, Paris Raunaq Singh was one of the earliest entrepreneurs of independent India who made it big. He was the founder of Raunaq group. The Raunaq Group's major companies include Apollo Tyres Ltd, Bharat Gears Ltd, Bharat Steel Tubes Ltd, Raunaq International Ltd, Menarini Raunaq Pharma Ltd, and Raunaq Automotive Components Ltd. Raunaq Singh was born in 1922. After initial struggle he went on to become a powerful figure in corporate India. At one point of time in his life he could afford only one paisa a day for meals and when he retired his group was employing 9000 people on his payroll. Raunaq Singh was a great advocate of economic liberalization and globalization of the Indian business. He worked tirelessly to put the Indian industry on the global map. He held several key leadership positions in Industry & Trade Associations. Th

Ratan Tata Born: December 28, 1937 Achievement: Honored with Padma Bhushan, one of the highest civilian awards in 2000. Ratan Tata is presently the Chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group. Ratan Naval Tata is also the Chairman of the major Tata companies such as Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Power, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Tea, Tata Chemicals, Indian Hotels and Tata Teleservices. He has taken Tata Group to new heights and under his leadership Group's revenues have grown manifold. Ratan Tata was born on December 28, 1937, in Bombay. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in architecture from Cornell University in 1962. Ratan Tata had a short stint with Jones and Emmons in Los Angeles, California, before returning to India in late 1962. He joined the Tata Group and was assigned to various companies before being appointed director-in-charge of The National Radio & Electronics Company (NELCO) in 1971. Ratan Tata was appointed Chairman of Tata I

Ramoji Rao Cherukuri Ramoji Rao, better known as Ramoji Rao (b. 16 November 1936) is an Indian businessman and entrepreneur in the media business. He is head of the Ramoji Group which owns, among others, the world's largest film production facility called Ramoji film city. Film city is situated near Hayathnagar; about 25 kms from Hyderabad on the Hyderabad-Vijayawada Highway. Rao was born in Gudivada, Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh, into an agricultural family. Some of the companies owned by the Ramoji group include Margadarsi Chit Fund, Eenadu newspaper, ETV, Priya Foods, Ushakiron Movies and as mentioned above, the Ramoji Film City near Hyderabad. In one of the largest investment deals in the media sector, global private equity firm Blackstone Capital Blackstone Group has acquired around a 26 per cent stake in Ushodaya Enterprises Ltd (UEL), the holding company that runs Andhra Pradesh's Eenadu group, for $275 million. It also gets a seat on its board. Akhil Gupta, c

Ramalinga Raju Of Satyam Industries Born: September 16, 1954 Achievement: Founder and Chairman of Satyam Computer Services Ltd; Chosen as Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Services in 1999 Ramalinga Raju is one of the pioneers of the Information Technology industry in India. He is the founder and Chairman of Satyam Computer Services Ltd. Ramalinga Raju was born on September 16, 1954 in a family of farmers. He did his B. Com from Andhra Loyola College at Vijayawada and subsequently did his MBA from Ohio University, USA. Ramalinga Raju had a stint at Harvard too. He attended the Owner / President course at Harvard. After returning to India in 1977, Ramalinga Raju moved away from the traditional agriculture business and set up a spinning and weaving mill named Sri Satyam. . Thereafter he shifted to the real estate business and started a construction company called Satyam Constructions. In 1987, Ramalinga Raju founded Satyam Computer Ser

Raj Reddy Professor Computer Scientist Professor Raj Reddy, one of the prominent scientists in computer science in the US, is presently serving as the Director of the West Coast campus of Carnegie Mellon University, USA. Professor Reddy a native Indian, earned a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Guindy Engineering college of the University of Madras, India, in 1958 and a Master's degree in technology from the University of New South Wales, Australia, in 1960. He received a doctor's degree in Computer science from Stanford University in 1966 and the same year began his academic career as an Assistant Professor in the same University. Since 1969 for over three decades, the professor has been a member of the Carnegie Mellon University faculty. He served as the Founding Director of the Robotics Institute at the University from 1979 to 1991. For the next ten years, he served as the Dean and professor of Computer Science and Robotics, at the School of Computer

Rahul Bajaj Achievement: Chairman of the Bajaj Group Rahul Bajaj is the Chairman of the Bajaj Group, which ranks among the top 10 business houses in India. The Bajaj Group has diversified interests ranging from automobiles, home appliances, lighting, iron and steel, insurance, travel and finance. Rahul Bajaj is one of India's most distinguished business leaders and internationally respected for his business acumen and entrepreneurial spirit. Rahul Bajaj is an alumnus of Harvard, St. Stephen's and Cathedral. He took over the reins of Bajaj Group in 1965. Under his stewardship, the turnover of the Bajaj Auto the flagship company has risen from Rs.72 million to Rs.46.16 billion. Rahul Bajaj created one of India's best companies in the difficult days of the licence-permit raj. He established factories at Akurdi and Waluj. In 1980s Bajaj Auto was top scooter producer in India and its Chetak brand had a 10-year waiting period. The initiation of liberalization in India pose

Rahman A.R. Music Director A.R.Rahman, (Allah Rakha Rahman) the musical maestro of Indian Cinema was born on 6th January,1966 in Madras, to a musically affluent family. This genius with his exceptional talent, has reached heights of success that people his age can only dream of. Even then this small man remains humble and credits all his inspiration and success to Allah. Born as Dileep Kumar to parents R.K.Sekhar, a music composer and mother Kasturi (alias Kareema Begum), he came to be known as A.R Rahman later when the family converted to Islam. Dileep started learning piano at the tender age of four. As his father passed away early, the pressure of supporting the family fell on young Dileep Kumar. Dileep joined Illaiyaraja's troupe as a keyboard player at the age of 11 and had to drop out of school. He also played on the orchestra of M.S.Vishwanathan and Ramesh Naidu and accompanied Zakir Hussain and Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan on world tours. All this experience enabled him to

Pratap Reddy Dr. Achievement: Founder of the Apollo Hospital Group Dr. Pratap Reddy is the founder of the Apollo Hospital Group, India's first corporate hospital group. He revolutionized the whole health care scenario of India and inspired others to follow the suit. Today, India has over 750 corporate hospitals all over the country. Dr. Pratap Reddy came to India after serving as the Chief Resident of the Worcenter City Hospital in the US to start his practice in Madras with a modest earning of Rs 100/- per day. The idea to establish Apollo Group of Hospitals came when Dr. Reddy lost a patient who couldn't make it to Texas for an open heart surgery. This inspired Dr. Pratap Reddy to create world-class medical infrastructure in India and make it more accessible and affordable to common people. Dr. Reddy's efforts bore fruit when he succeeded in setting up the first center of the Apollo Hospitals Group in Chennai in 1983. Dr, Pratap Reddy soon followed this with India &

Oberoi M.S. Born: August 15, 1898 Achievement: Founder of the Oberoi Group of Hotels; Honored with Padma Bhushan in 2001. M.S. Oberoi can be aptly termed as the father of the Indian hotel industry. Rai Bahadur Mohan Singh Oberoi was among the first to recognize the potential of the tourism industry, its ability to contribute to India's economic growth and generate direct and indirect employment. He worked tirelessly to put Indian hotel industry on global tourism map. M.S. Oberoi was born on August 15, 1898, in the erstwhile undivided Punjab, now in Pakistan. He did his early schooling in Rawalpindi and completed his graduation from Lahore. In 1922, to escape the epidemic of Plague, he came to Shimla, and got a job of front desk clerk, at The Cecil Hotel at a salary of Rs 50 per month. M.S. Oberoi was a quick learner and shouldered many additional responsibilities along with the job of desk clerk. M. S. Oberoi's diligence prompted Mr. Clarke to request Mohan Singh Ober

Naresh Goyal Achievement: Founder Chairman of Jet Airways; Recipient of the first BM Munjal Award for Excellence in Learning & Development in the Private Sector category in 2006. Naresh Goyal is the founder Chairman of Jet Airways, India's largest domestic airline. Jet Airways presently operates over 320 flights daily to 48 destinations, of which five are international. Naresh Goel also figures in Forbes list of Indian billionaires. Naresh Goyal completed his graduation in Commerce in 1967 and joined the travel business with the GSA for Lebanese International Airlines. From 1967 to 1974 he learnt the intricacies of the travel business through his association with several foreign airlines. In May 1974, Naresh Goyal founded Jetair (Private) Limited to look after Sales and Marketing operations of foreign airlines in India. Naresh Goyal was involved in developing studies of traffic patterns, route structures, and operational economics and flight scheduling. His rich and va

Narayana Murthy N.R. Chairman of Infosys Technologies NR Narayana Murthy, chairman of Infosys Technologies one of the biggest IT empire in India, was born on August 20, 1946 in Karnataka. Murthy obtained his Bachelor of Electrical Engineering (B.E.) from University of Mysore in 1967 and his Master of Technology (M.Tech.) from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur in 1969. In the early seventies, Narayana Murthy took up employment with SESA in Paris. He worked with a team to design a real time operating system for handling air cargo for Charles de Gaulle airport. He came back to India after 3 years and took up a job with Patni Computer Systems in Pune. In 1981, Murthy founded Infosys Technologies along with six software professionals which later became one of the leading software company. In March 1999, Infosys became the first India- registered company to be listed on an American stock exchange. Personally, Murthy is known for his simplicity and helping mentality. He foun

Nandan Nilekani Achievement: CEO and Managing Director of the Infosys; Conferred the Padma Bhushan in 2006. Nandan Nilekani is the CEO and managing director of the Infosys. Along with Narayan Murthy, he was one of the co-founders of Infosys. He has served as a director on the company's board since its inception in 1981. Before assuming the post of CEO in March 2002, Nandan Nilekani held the post of Managing Director, President and Chief Operating Officer. Nandan Nilekani was born in Bangalore. His father Mohan Nilekani was a manager in Minerva Mills. Nandan Nilekani had his initial schooling in Bangalore. Due to his father's transferable job Nandan moved to his uncle's place at Dharwad at the age of 12. This taught Nandan Nilekani to be independent. In 1973, at the age of 18, Nandan Nilekani got admission in IIT Mumbai. The stint at IIT Mumbai transformed Nandan Nilekani from a small town boy to a confident mature man. The lessons he learnt here-meritocracy; the abil

Naina Lal Kidwai A prominent personality of the corporate world, she is the first woman to guide the functioning of a foreign bank in India. At present, she is working as the Group General Manager and Country Head of HSBC India. Well, we are talking about the corporate diva Naina Lal Kidwai. In this article, we will present you with the biography of Naina Lal Kidwai. She was born in the year 1957. Raised in Mumbai and Delhi, she did her schooling from Simla. Alumna of Delhi University, she is the first Indian woman to have graduated from Harvard Business School. She is among the top business women of India, who have made it to the top with their constant hard work and sincerity. To know the complete life history of Naina Lal Kidwai, read on. She began her career in the year 1982, when she joined the ANZ Grindlays Bank, which is now known as the Standard Chartered Bank. She took up a variety of banking assignments before moving to Morgan Stanley's India ope

Mukesh Ambani Mukesh Ambani (April 19, 1957 Aden, Yemen) is the chairman, managing director and the largest shareholder of Reliance Industries, India's largest private sector company and a Fortune 500 Company. His personal stake in Reliance Industries is 48%. His wealth is US$ 20.1 billion as of March 2007 (Forbes), making him the world's 14th richest person and the second richest person in India. However, his wealth was valued at US$ 40 billion in July taking into account his holding in Reliance Industries and group companies. Mukesh and younger brother Anil are sons of the late founder of Reliance Industries, Dhirubhai Ambani. A brilliant student, Mukesh holds a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from the University of Mumbai Department of Chemical Technology (UDCT), which is now known as University of Mumbai, Institute of Chemical Technology (UICT). He began the MBA program at Stanford Business School, but dropped out after his first year in order assist in father&#

Mira Nair Documentarist, Director Ms Mira Nair was born in 1958 in Bhubaneshwar, Orissa. Her parents are from Punjab. At the age of 13, she attended a boarding school in Shimla, where she became a passionate student of dramatics and acted in school theatre productions. After graduating from New Delhi, she went to United States on a theater scholarship to Harvard. Mira began her career as a documentarist and later turned to commercial films. The film titled 'India Cabaret' brought her the American Film Festival Award for the best documentary of 1985. She won her first film award, the 'Golden Camera' from the Cannes Film Festival for her renowned film 'Salaam Bombay' and this film was nominated for Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 1988. Her movies, 'Mississippi Masala' won rave reviews in Europe and 'Kamasutra - A tale of love' got world wide attention for being provocative. She won the 'Golden Lion' award for her film 'Monsoon Wed