Category Archives: World Opinion

Sania seals historic Wimbledon crown with Hingis

Amazing Feats, Leaders, Sports, World Opinion
Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza pose with their trophies after winning their Women’s Doubles Final match / Reuters
Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza pose with their trophies after winning their Women’s Doubles Final match / Reuters

Sania had come close to winning a women’s doubles Major in 2011 when she reached the French Open final with Elena Vesnina but ended up runners-up.

India’s tennis queen Sania Mirza today created history by becoming the first female player from the country to win a women’s doubles Grand Slam trophy as she clinched the Wimbledon title with Swiss partner Martina Hingis.

More than a decade after turning Pro, 28-year-old Sania laid hands on her first women’s doubles Major title when she and Hingis battled past second seed Russian team of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 5-7 7-6(4) 7-5 in a thrilling final.

In an interesting coincidence it was at these very historic courts that Sania had won women’s doubles junior Wimbledon championship with Russian partner Alisa Kleybanova in 2003.

Sania had come close to winning a women’s doubles Major in 2011 when she reached the French Open final with Elena Vesnina but ended up runners-up.

Already having a long list of firsts, Sania had become India’s first woman player to win a Grand Slam when she won the Australian Open with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi in 2009.

She later added French Open (2012 with Bhupathi) and US Open (2014 with Bruno Soares) to her mixed doubles collection.

It was a remarkable turn around for the top seeds as they were trailing 2-5 in the deciding set but made a stunning comeback to reel off five straight games to clinch the issue.

Vesnina was all fired up and her smashing volleys at the net put Sania and Hingis in a lot of trouble. The Russian was left distraught as she played out of her skin.

It was third time in recent times that Sania and Hingis played the two Russians in finals — Indian Wells and Miami — and asserted their supremacy again.

Sania was broken in the very first game of the match when Vesnina hit a volley winner from the net but the top seeds immediately broke Vesnina to avoid falling behind. It was a remarkable lob from Hingis that gave them two break chances and they converted the second.

Sania and Hingis put tremendous pressure on the their rivals but the two Russians responded well and it was 5-5.

Hingis was broken in the 11th game at love after a terrific rally of powerful ground strokes from left-handed Makarova. Vesnina pounced on one return from the Swiss and hammered the volley winner close to the body of Sania.

Makarova served for the set and it was Vesnina’s smart play at the net that sealed them the opening set.

It was the first set that Sania and Hingis had dropped in this tournament.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sport / by PTI / London – July 12th, 2015

Sania Mirza enters maiden Wimbledon final

Amazing Feats, Leaders, Sports, World Opinion

SaniaMPOs10jul2015

Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza entered her maiden final at the prestigious Wimbledon with Swiss partner Martina Hingis by earning a straight sets victory in the women’s doubles semifinals at the All England Club here on Friday.
The top seeds needed only 56 minutes to overcome American fifth seeds Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears 6-1, 6-2 in their semifinal match on No.1 Court to enter the summit clash.
This is Sania’s first final here across all formats in seniors though she had won the girls’ doubles title here 12 years ago with Russian Alisa Kleybanova. Martina, on the other hand, has two doubles (1996, 1998) and one singles title (1997) to her credit that she won at the lone grass court Major.

Though the World No.1 Indian has three mixed doubles Grand Slam titles, she is yet to win the top prize in women’s doubles. The only time she reached a Major final in the category was at the 2011 French Open.

The top seeds totally dominated both the sets.
In the first one, they broke their opponents twice out of four opportunities which was more than enough to seal the set in their favour. Though they gave three breakpoint chances to Raquel and Abigail, they managed to save all three. Also, they dominated by taking 30 of the 46 points played in the set.

The fifth seeds were already rattled by now which led to double fault thrice at crucial moments in the second set. Sania and Martina got two chances to break Raquel and Abigail and utilised both perfectly to clinch the set and match. They were so clinical that they did not even give a breakpoint opportunity to their opponents.

The world’s two highest ranked players will next take on the winners of the match between Russian second seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina and Hungarian-French fourth seeds Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic.

Earlier in the day, another Indian Sumit Nagal, partnering Vietnam’s Nam Hoang Ly, earned a straight sets victory to enter the boys’s doubles semifinals.

The eighth seeds needed only 53 minutes to defeat Japanese combination of Yusuke Takahashi and Jumpei Yamasaki 6-2, 6-3 on Court 6. Nagal and Ly will next take on Serbian-Norwegian pair of Miomir Kecmanovic and Casper Ruud for a place in the final.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Sports / IANS – Wimbledon,  July 10th, 2015

Premji gives half of his stake in Wipro for charity

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Leaders, World Opinion
In Wipro's annual report for the year ended March 2015, Premji said he has now allocated the equivalent of 39% of the company's shares to a trust focussed on philanthropic initiatives, mainly primary education.
In Wipro’s annual report for the year ended March 2015, Premji said he has now allocated the equivalent of 39% of the company’s shares to a trust focussed on philanthropic initiatives, mainly primary education.

Bengaluru :

Wipro’s billionaire chairman Azim Premji, the first Indian to sign the Giving Pledge, has set aside more than half of his wealth for charity by allocating an additional 18% stake in the company to fund philanthropy.

Premji, who will turn 70 this month, controls a 73.39% stake in India’s third-largest software company, which is worth about Rs 99,500 crore ($15.7 billion). In Wipro’s annual report for the year ended March 2015, Premji said he has now allocated the equivalent of 39% of the company’s shares to a trust focussed on philanthropic initiatives, mainly primary education. The additional 18% stake forms the latest tranche of shares Premji has allocated for charity.

The Giving Pledge is an effort to invite the world’s wealthiest individuals and families to commit half of their wealth to philanthropic causes and charitable organisations. In his pledge in 2013, Premji said he believes that those who are privileged to have wealth should contribute significantly to try and create a better world for the millions who are far less privileged. “Over the past 15 years, I have tried to put this belief into action through my personal philanthropic work. Over these years, I have irrevocably transferred a significant part of the shareholding in WiproBSE -0.03 %, amounting to 39% of the shares of Wipro, to a trust (of which ownership of 21.14% was transferred and for the balance, the trust is entitled to the beneficial interest of dividends and sale proceeds),” Premji wrote in a letter to shareholders.

People close to Premji said he has been quietly and steadily been transferring wealth to fund philanthropy.

“Apart from the Tata Trust, nothing comes close to the commitment made by him on this front,” said a person who knows him well. “And now, he has two engines to carry on philanthropy—theAzim Premji Foundation, and the newly formed Philanthropic Initiatives formed to making grants to NGOs.”

Last year, Premji hired Amnesty India head G Anantha Padmanabhan to build an organization that will offer grants to external agencies.

“The new initiative of making grants to NGOs has just started under what we call Philanthropic Initiatives. We are continuing to look at various areas, e.g., nutrition, water — the only area that we have decided on is support to NGOs working with the most vulnerable people — eg, street children, urban homeless, teenage girls from disadvantaged communities, women at risk of violence,” said Anurag Behar, CEO of Azim Premji Foundation and vice-chancellor of Azim Premji University.

“The Foundation’s work continues to expand and deepen in helping improve public (government) school education across seven states, which have about 350,000 schools. The university that we run also continues to expand. This year, we have launched a Master’s in public policy and governance and also our undergraduate programme,” Behar added.

Philanthropy has been on the rise among the rich in India as Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, the world’s richest person, and business magnate Warren Buffet urged the wealthy to give their fortunes to charitable causes.

According to the Hurun Research Institute, at least 50 individuals donated over Rs 10 crore to philanthropic causes in 2014.

Premji, Anil Agarwal, Shiv Nadar and Ratan Tata were the most generous givers in India, according to the Hurun India Philanthropy List 2014.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Business> India Business / by Pankaj Mishra,  ET Bureau / July 08th, 2015

AMU Alumnus Wins Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientists

Education, Science & Technology, World Opinion
Alumnus of the Aligarh Muslim University, Syed Ali Jafar wins Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientists
Alumnus of the Aligarh Muslim University, Syed Ali Jafar wins Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientists

Aligarh, UP:

AMU Alumnus Wins Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientists on 4th July, 2015. An alumnus of the Aligarh Muslim University, Syed Ali Jafar, a computer scientist at the University of California Irvine (UCI), USA, who has changed the world’s understanding of the capacity of wireless networks, has won the 2015 Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientists in physical sciences and engineering. One of the three winners chosen from amongst 300 candidates from highly ranked American universities and research institutions, Jafar will receive a $250,000 unrestricted cash prize and a medal in September at New York’s Museum of Natural History.

“I am incredibly honored and humbled to be recognized on the national stage – from such an amazing cohort of extremely accomplished finalists – by such an illustrious jury of the nation’s most distinguished scientists,” Jafar said. “I am deeply indebted to my brilliant students and collaborators, who are my true miracle workers. It is my hope that this recognition will lead to broader exposure to and appreciation of both the beauty of information theory and the tremendous impact it has on our lives. It’s also a ‘shot in the arm’ for me to continue taking on challenging problems in our research group.”

A professor of electrical engineering & computer science, Jafar explores the fundamental performance limits of wireless communication networks. Determining network capacity – the maximum data rates that can be reliably supported – is the holy grail of network information theory, according to Jafar and others. And with the rapid growth of wireless communication networks, the quest has taken on unprecedented urgency. Jafar’s research group has gained worldwide recognition for its numerous seminal contributions to this topic, including its groundbreaking work on interference alignment in wireless networks. This research found that data rates are not limited by the number of devices sharing the radio frequency spectrum, a discovery that changed the thinking about how wireless networks should be designed.

“Syed Jafar revolutionized our understanding of the capacity limits of wireless networks. He demonstrated that each user in a wireless network can access half the spectrum without interference from other users, regardless of how many are sharing the spectrum,” said one of the judges, Paul Horn, senior vice provost for research at New York University. “This is a truly remarkable result that has a tremendous impact on both information theory and the design of wireless networks.”

Jafar became interested in science in high school. “Einstein’s E=mc2 captured my imagination,” he said. The equation made him wonder about how something so profound could be so simple and beautiful – and it became his lifelong dream to pursue beauty through science. As a graduate student studying information theory at the California Institute of Technology, Jafar found similar elegance in the formula describing the capacity of an information channel. He realized that much about the capacity of communication networks was still unknown and made it his life’s work to solve the mystery.

The Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists program, established by the Blavatnik Family Foundation with the guidance of the New York Academy of Sciences, recognizes America’s most innovative and promising young faculty scientists and engineers. The organization’s judges include Nobel laureates, National Academy of Sciences members and National Medal of Science recipients. They select three laureates annually, one each in life sciences, chemistry, and physical sciences & engineering.

Jafar earned a B.Tech. at the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, an M.S. at Caltech and a Ph.D. at Stanford University, all in electrical engineering. He’s a fellow of the Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers, and he recently received the UCI Academic Senate’s Distinguished Mid-Career Faculty Award for Research. Jafar was also recognized as a Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researcher and included by ScienceWatch among the World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds in 2014.

Syed Jafar grew up in Aligarh, a city that is home to the Aligarh Muslim University. His father, late Prof. Syed Jafar Raza Zaidi and mother, Dr. Shabnam Zaidi, were both university professors, in the departments of Hindi and English at the AMU, respectively. Syed Jafar finished his secondary school examination at AMU’s STS High School (Minto Circle) in 1991, and the senior secondary exam in 1993. As the University topper in AMU’s senior secondary exam he received the University Gold Medal.

The University of California, Irvine is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary. UCI is the youngest member of the prestigious Association of American Universities. The campus has produced three Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UCI has more than 30,000 students and offers 192 degree programs.

source: http://www.educationanalysis.in / Education News & Analysis / Home> Events / Aligarh, U.P. / July 06th, 2015

Naziya Syed is Student of the Year at ICAEW

Education, World Opinion
NaziyaSyedMPOs08jul2015
Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) has selected Naziya Syed of Bangalore for Student of the year 2013-2014 Award along with four other students across the globe who appeared for the exam and overall academic performance. Naziya completed her Certificate, Professional and Advanced Level , in the year 2012- 2013 respectively from ICAEW

The award was given at Chartered Accountant Hall’s at the headquarters of ICAEW in London on 17 November 2014.

Naziya, aged 21, is a qualified Chartered Accountant Article (Intern) at Ernst and Young.

When asked what special did she do that she was awarded student of year she said “Dream big and commit yourself to your dreams, and believe that your hardwork will return you great rewards.”

She is thankful to her teachers and family for their support and guidance. Naziya did her 10+2 from RV College (Bangalore) and schooling from Shantiniketan Educational Institute (Bangalore) in the year 2009.

She said her future plans are to pursue MBA and Insha Allah lead a firm one day.

source: http://www.milligazette.com / The Milli Gazette / Home> Online News > Special Reports / Online pub. Jan 20th, 2015  / Print: 1-15 Jan 2015

Filling Gaps in History

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, World Opinion

Hyderabad  :

“Konjem konjem Telugu vastundi and thoda bahut Hindi bol leta hun,” says Benjamin E Cohen with a boyish grin. An associate professor in history at the University of Utah, Benjamin was on one of his yearly visits to the city. Also a research scholar, he was here to launch his second book, ‘In the Club’.

PIC: A RAdhakrishna
PIC: A RAdhakrishna

“People at the book launch said that my books and writings are ‘history, with a twist’. I like that. That is how my work is,” he says, with a wink.

Though it may seem quite natural for a history scholar to explore the history of clubs in a diverse country like India, the idea of dedicating a book that helps understand club culture is unconventional.

Benjamin explains, “I knew there were many old clubs across India and South Asia. I investigated whether or not any scholar had taken up their history – their whole history and not just one individual club. It turns out that there was a gap. I was interested in filling that gap.” He also shares his experience, “when you ask people if they know about the Secunderabad Club, they say yes. But if you ask them to elaborate, nobody will.”

The book takes a look at clubs in India, their role in building an associational life and a civil society in colonial India.

“It also talks about their role when India was transitioning from colonial rule to independence,” he elaborates.

His first book, ‘Kingship and Colonialism in India’s Deccan: 1850-1948’ was a fresh perspective on the relationship between the rulers and the ruled. Using archival material and not hearsay and rumour, Benjamin reconstructed the societal equations without any blinkers.

Benjamin is grateful to his friends and colleagues especially here in the city who have helped him draft the book. His biggest strength is his fluency to read, write and converse in Telugu, Hindi and Urdu. “I studied my languages first as a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Then I had the opportunity to live and work in Hyderabad during my graduation. I took private lessons with both Telugu and Urdu teachers. I tried to keep up with the languages back in the states,” he shares and adds that his interest in the area began when he was a child. As the son of a political scientist who also specialised in South Asian studies, he first came to India in 1977.

“I lived in Vizag, Delhi and Mussourie. We spent a year in Hyderabad. My whole life, I have either come to India or grew up in a home that was steeped in either Indian or South Asian culture,” he recalls. He worked in Chicago for three years after that.

“I was tired of that life,” he admits, “What I really wanted to do was find out more about India and South Asia,” he shares. Ask him what he likes about India and he counter questions, “How can I begin to answer that question?” and adds, “India is both a very old civilisation also a very young democracy. I find that combination fascinating. India has more excitement in one block than America has in 10.”

That is why he enjoys coming to India and is glad to contribute to its rich and diverse history. He also has two interesting projects lined up.

“I am finishing a book on Nawab Mehdi Hasan Fateh Nawaz Jung who was a minister  in Hyderabad from 1883 to 93. He came here from Lucknow to work in the Nizam’s government. He had a British wife and they ran into some trouble. It was a scandal and was on the front pages of all the newspapers,” he tells us.

Another is a long history of water in Telangana from the Kakatiya rule. “I am very excited about these projects,” he exclaims.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Rajitha S / June 19th, 2015

Jafreen gears up for Hamburg volleys

Amazing Feats, Sports, World Opinion
Deaflympics tennis player Shaik Jafreen on her first visit to Sania Mirza Tennis Academy to take free training as a special gesture from Saina in Hyderabad. FILE PHOTO: V.V. SUBRAHMANYAM / The Hindu
Deaflympics tennis player Shaik Jafreen on her first visit to Sania Mirza Tennis Academy to take free training as a special gesture from Saina in Hyderabad. FILE PHOTO: V.V. SUBRAHMANYAM / The Hindu

The 16-year-old is one of only two players representing India at the second Open Youth Deaf Tennis Cup to be held in the German city from May 28.

Communication, the lack of it, is a major handicap. But Shaik Jafreen is determined to let her tennis racket do all the talking. The 16-year-old is one of only two players from India to be selected to represent India in the second Open Youth Deaf Tennis Cup to be held in Hamburg (Germany) from May 28.

This Kurnool-born girl is expectedly keen to make optimum advantage of this “huge” opportunity, in which she is being sponsored by the GVK Foundation.

Two-time Grand Slam winner Sania Mirza had also come forward to ensure that Jafreen enjoys free training at her world-class SMTA in Murtuzaguda, thus ensuring that she hones her skills under the watchful eyes of some of the big players and coaches.

Watching pros helps

The experience of watching 10-time Grand Slam winner Cara Black, working with WTA Tour consultant Christian Fillol and Hyderabad’s very own Mirza, Jafreen feels she is learning a lot.

“Just watching these reputed personalities lifts your confidence level. The training methods might vary, but there is so much to learn, and I am lucky that I am training at SMTA,” says the young talented player, who missed out on the 2012 London Paralympics due to a communication mismanagement by the officials concerned. However, she has the satisfaction of representing India in the 2013 Deaf Olympics.

The 2012 National Deaf Champion in singles and doubles hopes that the Hamburg trip later this month should see a turn-around in her career prospects. “My ultimate goal is to win a gold in the 2017 Deaf Olympics in Turkey,” she signs offbefore joining her training session.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by V. V. Subrahmanyam / Hyderabad – May 19th, 2014

Lucknow Shias mediate between Saudi Arabia and Israel

Community Involvement / Social Issues, Leaders, World Opinion

New Delhi :

In May, Lucknow played host to an unusual meeting — a high level track-2 interaction between Israel and Saudi Arabia attended by prominent Shia intellectuals in India.

The Raja of Mahmudabad, well-known Shia intellectual in Lucknow and erstwhile royalty and his sons were part of a meeting between an Israeli think tank, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and a Saudi delegation from the Middle East Center for Strategic and Legal Studies, in Jeddah.

Interestingly, the Israeli team was led by Dore Gold, who has just been named Israel’s new foreign secretary. The Saudi delegation was led by Maj Gen(retd) Dr Anwar Majed Eshki, according to Shimon Shapira, one of the members of the Israeli delegation who wrote a blog on the meeting, calling it “extraordinary”.

“Our hosts were the leaders of the Shiite community in Lucknow, the Raja of Mahmudabad Amir Khan, his son Ali Khan, intellectuals, and teachers of the local madrassa. It was an extraordinary meeting of Jews from Jerusalem, Saudi Sunnis from Mecca and Medina, and Indian Shiites from Lucknow,” Shapira wrote, describing the meeting as a “delicate dialogue with restrained tension.”

However, Ali Khan Mahmudabad who was at the meeting denied that they had “hosted” the meeting. In his own blog on Huffington Post, Ali Khan said it was organized by a New Delhi think tank, and it was not until they actually met that he realized it was a meeting between Israelis and Saudis. “Initially, those of us invited to this half-day discussion were not informed of the composition of the delegations except that the visitors were interested in finding out more about the ‘syncretic culture’ of the region. Amongst those invited from Lucknow were a university professor, a representative of a prominent cleric, some businessmen, my father, brother and I. When we gathered, it quickly transpired that the visitors were high-ranking ex-military officials.”

Even more interesting, this meeting was reportedly one of five bilateral meetings held by Israeli and Saudi representatives, which a diplomat confirmed to TOI was with the full blessing of the governments. The other meetings were reported to have been held in Italy and Czech Republic, covering almost an entire year. The last one was literally “out of the closet” when Gold and Eshki did a joint event at a US think tank, Council for Foreign Relations, where both countries said they believed Iran should be stopped.

Saudis and Israelis have made common cause against Iran. There was no official recognition of the Israel-Saudi meeting in Lucknow, but the government would certainly have been aware of it. India and Israel will be getting into a counter-terrorism and political dialogue at the official level next week.

In his blog Ali Khan observes, “With the potential of a nuclear agreement between Iran and the United States in June 2015, it was becoming increasingly clear that the delegation was visiting India in order to find out about public opinion amongst Shias for Iran and perhaps gauge what reaction there maybe amongst Indian Shias if something happened vis-a-vis Iran.”

Israel and Saudis have been at daggers drawn for decades, with Saudi Arabia leading the regional political and diplomatic boycott of the Jewish state. But in recent years, the evolution of Iran as a regional power, complete with nuclear capability has affected both nations equally, which is about to intensify after a deal is struck between Iran and the world. There have been off-radar outreach between Riyadh and Jerusalem, as both sides make common cause in their opposition to Iran. Wikileaks, exposing 5 lakh Saudi documents reveals that students from the Arab nation actually visited the Israeli embassy in Washington DC and received a “diplomatic briefing” and got photographed with Israeli diplomats.

Summarizing the meeting, Shapira quotes the Raja as saying “all religious extremism in Islam in this era began with the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire and the creation of the Saudi Arabian kingdom. He contended that the Saudis supported Islamic movements that became extremist and violent over the years.” To which Shapira says Dr Eshki, the chief Saudi guest, respectfully countered that as a devoted Muslim, he saw great importance in bridging the Islamic sects.

Later Shapira also goes on to describe one morning when the Sunnis and Shias put aside their religious differences to pray together.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> India / by Indrani Bagchi, TNN / July 03rd, 2015

Yet another first for Sania Mirza

Amazing Feats, Sports, World Opinion
Three-time Grand Slam winner, Sania Mirza.
Three-time Grand Slam winner, Sania Mirza.

First woman tennis player from India to be top-seeded in Wimbledon

Twenty-eight-year-old Sania Mirza has become the first woman tennis player from India to be top-seeded in the ongoing Wimbledon or for that matter, any Grand Slam championship.

“It’s a great honour to be the top-seed in what is considered to be the ‘home of tennis’,” said Sania from London, before leaving for practice on Friday, ahead of the next match.

“It’s a proud moment and is an official acknowledgement of Sania’s sustained, consistent performances at the highest level,” said her father, Imran Mirza.

Ms. Mirza, incidentally, is playing her 15th year at Wimbledon. She won her first major title there in 2003 at the first junior Grand Slam, in the girls’ doubles category. Sania’s best at Wimbledon in women’s doubles has been the semi-final appearance with partner, Vesnina. It also means she is now a member of the ‘Last-four Club’ in Wimbledon and enjoys certain privileges for a lifetime, including use of a special locker etc.

“No matter how many times you’ve been here, it is still really exciting. I have several beautiful memories associated with the ‘BIG W’,” said Mr. Mirza. His daughter’s performances at Wimbledon have been memorable, including the three-setter in singles, which she lost to the then reigning US Open champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova, playing for the first time on the famed Centre Court, besides beating Japan’s Akiko Morigami.

The only Indians top-seeded in a Grand Slam earlier were Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi in the 1999 French Open edition men’s doubles. Ms. Sania Mirza, a three-time Grand Slam winner, is determined to complete a career Grand Slam, having won the mixed doubles titles in the Australian, French and the US Opens earlier.

Becomes the first woman tennis player from India to be top-seeded in the ongoing Wimbledon

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by V.V. Subrahmanyam / Hyderabad – July 03rd, 2015

Kalyan group owner wealthiest jeweller in India

Business & Economy, Leaders, World Opinion

Kalyan Jewellers’ chairman and managing director T S Kalayanaraman, is the wealthiest jeweller in India with a personal fortune of USD 1.3 billion, says Wealth-X report.

KalyanRamanKERALA01jul2015

Kalayanaraman opened his first jewellery shop in Thrissur City in 1993 with only USD 100,000 capital, and his business has now expanded to 32 showrooms across South India. His personal fortune is worth USD 1.3 billion.

Nirav Modi was ranked second on the Wealth-X list of India’s wealthiest jewellers with an estimated net worth of USD 1.1 billion.

“Born into a family of Indian diamantaires, Modi left the family business in 1999 and launched his own company, Firestar Diamonds. In 2007, Firestar Diamonds acquired New York-based Sandberg & Sikorski,” it said.

The third on the list is M P Ahammed, with a personal fortune of USD 1 billion. Ahammed had opened the first Malabar Gold & Diamond showroom with only USD 70,000.

Others on the list include, Bhima Jewellers’ B Govindan with a personal wealth of USD 620 million, Kiran Gems’ Vallabhbhai S Patel (USD 590 million), Laxmi Diamond’s Vasant Gajera (USD 580 million), Dharmanandan Diamonds’ Laljibhai Patel (USD 480 million), Kiran Gems’ Babubhai Lakhani (USD 470 million), Kiran Gems’ Mavji Bhai Patel (USD 410 million) and Rajesh Exports’ Rajesh Mehta (USD 310 million).

Wealth-X provides insight into the ultra wealthy with the world’s largest collection of curated research on ultra high net worth individuals.

“The gems and jewellery industry is among India’s fastest growing sectors fuelled by UHNWs affinity for jewellery and the fact that they view it as an important store of value. For India’s ultra wealthy jewellers, all that glitters is gold!,” Sahil Mehta, director, Indian subcontinent at Wealth–X said.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> National / PTI / Singapore – July 01st, 2015