Lord Khalid Hameed Asian Of The Year 2007

Leading Non-Resident Indian doctor, Lord Khalid Hameed, has been adjudged Asian of the Year 2007 for his outstanding work in various walks of life including his contribution to health service.

Sixty-six-year-old Lucknow-born Dr Hameed is currently chairman of the Alpha Hospital Group and also Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of the London International Hospital, which is a new Centre of Excellence being created for cancer, heart and the brain.

The Award was presented to Lord Hameed at the Asian Who's Who 2007 function organized by its Editor, J S Sachar at the Hilton Hotel in London last night. Cherie Blair, wife of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair was also present on the occasion.

Lord Hameed, who arrived here from India in 1968, has worked for three teaching hospitals in London. Following this he developed a successful practice in Central London and was appointed Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of the Cromwell Hospital, London before he took over as Chairman of the Alpha Hospital Group.

Thanking the selection panel for bestowing him the honour, Dr Hameed said the London International Hospital, now under construction would be operational in 12 months.

He is also chairman of the Commonwealth Youth Exchange Council and is a trustee of many charities. He is involved in interfaith work and dialogue for which he undertakes public speaking.

In 2005 he was awarded the Sternberg Award for his work in interfaith matters. He was also chosen for the Ambassador of Peace Award in 2007 by the International Federation for World Peace.

He has national honours from five countries, including the UK which awarded him the CBE. He was appointed High Sheriff of Greater London for 2006-2007 by the Queen, an office which is 1,000 years old. He was elevated to Life peerage as a Member of the House of Lords this year.

Islamic Educationist Honoured By Queen Elizabeth

The principal of Minaret College at Melbourne, Australia, Mohamed Hassan, has been recognised in the Queen Elizabeth's Birthday honours for dedicating more than 30 years service to education.

He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) on Monday for services to education and the Islamic community, particularly as the founder of the school which is attended by scores of overseas students including Malaysians.

"I feel great to have received this honour ," Hassan told the "Leader" newspaper.

"I feel that there has been recognition. I've been involved in the education sector since the 1970s."

After arriving in Australia from Britain where he did a masters degree at Leeds University, he was appointed a research fellow at the University of New South Wales in Sydney before lecturing at the Bendigo College of Advanced Education in Victoria and then at the Footscray College of TAFE in electronic engineering in Melbourne.

"During my work at Footscray, I finished my diploma of education then concentrated on founding Minaret College in 1992," he said

Hassan said the college provided an educational and spiritual programme for its students, who come from several parts of the world.

Hassan is also a board member of several Islamic education groups, including the Australian Council of Islamic Education for Schools, the Islamic Society of Eastern Melbourne region and King Khalid College.

Originally from Egypt, he is a former member of the Australia Federation of Islamic Councils. (Bernama)

***** I hope our very own religious teachers and educationists will be inspired by this honour and aspire to excel in the field of their choice. That will be infinitely much better than engaging in rhetoric and encouraging impressionable kids to hate and despise as some religious teachers have been alleged to be doing.
Image - Source

Indian Woman New Chairman Of The Board Of PepsiCo.

The Chennai girl hit headlines on Monday yet again when PepsiCo’s board of directors announced that it has elected Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi, 51, chairman of the board, effective May 2 when current executive chairman Steven S Reinemund, 58, retires.

Ms Nooyi is currently chief executive officer of the more than $32-billion global convenient food and beverage company, a role she assumed on October 1, 2006. She becomes the fifth chairman and chief executive officer in PepsiCo’s 42-year history, following Mr Reinemund (2001-2006), Roger A Enrico (1996-2001), Wayne D Calloway (1986-1996) and Donald M Kendall (1971-1986).

Herman W Lay served as PepsiCo’s first chairman (1965-1971), while Kendall served as chief executive officer. “I’m incredibly honoured by the board’s confidence and extraordinarily fortunate to follow in the footsteps of Steve Reinemund and all my illustrious predecessors,” said Ms Nooyi.

She joined PepsiCo in 1994 and directed worldwide strategy for over a decade. She was the primary architect of PepsiCo’s restructuring and transformation, including the merger with Quaker Oats and the acquisition of Tropicana, which added some of the world’s strongest health & wellness brands to PepsiCo’s portfolio.

She also led the divestiture of PepsiCo’s restaurants. Prior to being elected CEO last year, Mrs Nooyi served as president and chief financial officer. She was elected to PepsiCo’s board of directors in 2001. “PepsiCo is in extraordinarily gifted and capable hands,” said Reinemund.

“Indra’s record of transformational leadership is second to none. She and her team will take this great company to an unprecedented level of success and I look forward to continuing to cheer their continued achievements,” he added.

Perhaps the best description of Ms Nooyi came from the charismatic Roger Enrico who famously called Indra ‘a dog with the bone’. Back in ’01, Nooyi had got singer Don McLean at her residence to sing the hit song American Pie for Enrico — that’s his most memorable moment as far as Nooyi goes.

And what does Mr Enrico mean by a dog with the bone? “Oh, I said it in a positive way. What I meant was Indra is very tenacious. If she gets an idea, she goes after it. There’s no stopping her,” Mr Enrico had told ET last August when Ms Nooyi was elevated as the CEO of PepsiCo Inc. (Indiatimes)

****** Not bad I say for an Asian woman to have made it so high up the corporate ladder, especially when the glass ceiling for women and Asians is very much there. It speaks volumes of this lady's grit, determination and talent which should be emulated by others including Malaysians. No wonder Forbes magazine listed her as the fourth most powerful woman in the world in 2006.
Image - Source

Technology-Savvy Indian President Abdul Kalam

Image - Rashtrapati Bhavan, Residence of The President of India.

At a time when there seems to be great disenchantment towards their leaders among the citizens of countries worldwide, it was indeed refreshing to learn of a leader, albeit a figurehead, who must make his citizens feel very proud. The Bernama article on him follows.

Rarely a nation's president tells the audience or the media not to take down notes while giving a speech. But this is exactly what the Indian president did.

"The speech will be on my website later, don't worry. Type http://presidentofindia.nic.in/for my speech. Next 15 minutes we can just discuss."

Dr A.P.J Abdul Kalam's (actual name Dr Avul Pakir Jainuladbeen Abdul Kalam) speech appeared on his personal website just minutes after he addressed the audience at the inaugural Asia-Pacific Ministers Conference on Housing and Human Settlements in the Indian capital last week.

"He is very particular about his website and within 10 minutes, his speech will be on the web," the president's press secretary S.M. Khan (wants to be known as S.M Khan) told Bernama.

The missile scientist-turned-president receives about 300 e-mails daily from people from all walks of life and he tries to answer them personally, especially if they involve scientific research, academia or political issues.

Being a renowned scientist, Kalam's intellect is often challenged by all segments of Indian society since he makes himself more accessible to the public, often breaking away from strict protocol and security measures surrounding a president.

"He receives anything under the sun, from students, scientists to social activists and sixty per cent of the e-mails are from students because he is fond of children and always inspires them," said Khan.

The easy-going benevolent president has a profound charisma, built over the years as a devoted scientist and now as president of a nation with more than a billion people, which makes it hard for his admirers to resist him.

In schools, students queue to hear his inspiring speeches, while academicians wait to hear Kalam share his insights from space technology to sustainable rural development, both the president's favourite subjects.

The president's website receives about 250,000 hits a day, making it one of the most sought after Internet sites in the country.

The 75-year-old bachelor-president who hails from a temple town of Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, South India, was inaugurated in July 2002 as India's 11th president.

He lives a spartan life despite all the publicity and praises heaped upon him, eating and adopting a simplistic lifestyle even in his luxurious mansion.

"He is a simple man, he just lives on a vegetarian diet. Mostly he likes curd, milk, rice, pickles and pappads and he only uses two rooms in the family wing of the president's house," Khan said.

The sprawling Rashtrapati Bhavan, built in the early 1900's, has 340 rooms and is located in the Indian capital close to parliament. When he was appointed president, Kalam even refused to move into the huge mansion.

In the official residence, the president lives a quiet life and no family members or relatives reside with him. Only six months ago for the first time after becoming president, he invited all his family members and relatives, altogether 54, to stay with him for five days. "The bill came to about three lakhs (RM30,000) and he foot the bill himself. It was like a family reunion," recalled Khan.

Daily, Kalam devotes about 12 to 14 hours to his presidential work and his main focus is to see India transform into an industrialised nation, according to Khan who has been his press secretary for the past four years.

"His one vision now is to see India developed by (the year) 2020," he added.

Kalam, also a skillful technocrat, was involved in formulating India's Technology Vision when he worked as a scientist then and was instrumental in developing India's missile programme.

He further shot to fame when India conducted its nuclear test in 1998 that proved the country's scientific and technological prowess, and eventually paved the way for the nation to join the world's exclusive nuclear club.

Besides his talent for scientific research, Kalam enjoys literary works and has published four books and numerous poems. (By P. Vijian)

Image - neilmadhvani