Category: Leaders, on the World Stage – Business

** IIT Bombay: Breeding geniuses by the lakeside

Compared to the first girl — Tejaswini Saraf (1966 batch) — who turned heads at IIT-B, being the lone female student among 300 boys, today the situation is different with 20-25 per cent female students on the campus.

As the President of the IIT-B Alumni Association (IITBAA), Deepak Patil, says, at IITs, the mind is trained not only academically, but also to think deeply, rationally, to handle any problem, to go to the root and evolve a logical solution.

IITBAA Chairman Girish Nayak says IIT education makes the student sharper and analytical, trains them overall to solve any kind of problems, grapple any challenges in life without getting surprised or overwhelmed, and this is something that stays with them forever.

A few of the many notables who have passed out of IIT-B over the past six decades are: BSE MD & CEO Ashish Chauhan, Syntel founder Bharat Desai, Infosys Co-founder Nandan Nilekani, Twitter Inc. CEO Parag Agrawal, Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves, ex-BMC Commissioner Jairaj Phatak, ex-Union minister Jairam Ramesh, late Goa CM Manohar Parrikar, mathematician Ravindran Kannan, ex-Dean of Harvard Business School Nitin Nohria, economist Ajit Ranade, and ex-President of Bell Labs Arun Netravali, among others.

** Gita Gopinath to take on new role at IMF as First Deputy Managing Director

Indian-American Gita Gopinath, the chief economist of International Monetary Fund, is being promoted as IMF’s First Deputy Managing Director, the fund announced Thursday.

She would replace Geoffrey Okamoto who plans to leave the Fund early next year. Gopinath, who was scheduled to return to her academic position at Harvard University in January 2022, has served as the IMF’s chief economist for three years.

** Proud of Parag Agrawal and hope to produce more such achievers: IIT-B

New Twitter CEO a hardworking genius who topped his department, says professor

The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, alma mater of new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Twitter Parag Agrawal, on Tuesday said the institute is not only proud of him for achieving the success but it also hopes to produce more such achievers in near future. The professors remember Mr. Agrawal as a hardworking genius who topped his department.

USA

** An Economist at Home and Abroad: A personal Journey’ review: A ringside view of India’s path to tax reforms and liberalisation

Shankar Acharya, former chief economic adviser, gently looks back at his time in the government, without revealing any secrets

When economist Shankar Acharya returned to India in 1982, after studying and working abroad for 23 years, he had a job waiting for him in the newly set up National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) in Delhi. He was to head a study commissioned by the Finance Ministry on the dimensions of India’s black money problem. He and his team submitted the report in early 1985 and it made quite a splash. Among other things it was sceptical about demonetisation and voluntary disclosure schemes to deal with the problem. Anecdotes like this are strewn all over An Economist at Home and Abroad.

** Wipro’s Azim Premji donated Rs 27 crore per day in FY21, retains top giver rank

Wipro’s Azim Premji donated Rs 9,713 crore or Rs 27 crore a day to retain his top rank among Indian philanthropists in FY21.

** IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath to leave job and return to Harvard University

She had joined the IMF as the Chief Economist in January 2019

IMF’s Chief Economist Gita Gopinath will leave her job in January next year and return to the prestigious Harvard University, according to the global financial institution.

The 49-year-old prominent Indian-American economist had joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the Chief Economist in January 2019.

She was the John Zwaanstra Professor of International Studies and Economics at Harvard University when she joined the Washington-based global lender.

Mysuru-born Gopinath is the first-ever woman Chief Economist of the IMF.

** Total COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in India crosses 100-crore milestone

According to official sources, around 75% of India’s all eligible adult population has been administered at least the first dose

The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country surpassed the 100-crore milestone on October 21.

In a tweet, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya congratulated the country on achieving the feat, and said it was the result of the able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

** Telugu man appointed Chief Operating Officer of U.S. Trade and Development Agency

Former diplomat and prominent Telugu in the United States, Vinai Thummalapally, has been appointed as the Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA).

The appointment was made by U.S. President Joe Biden. Mr. Thumalapally was the first Indian-American to serve as a U.S. Ambassador when he was appointed as the Ambassador to Belize. He also served as the Executive Director of SelectUSA, a U.S. Department of Commerce initiative that facilitates job-creating business investment into the country, from 2013 to 2017.