News makers

The low profile and austere Wipro chairman Azim Premji has become the richest Indian in the world. In a survey conducted by  by the Forbes magazine, . Premji is estimated to have a personal wealth of $2.8 billion.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India has debarred R.C. Mathur, former executive director of the Bombay Stock Exchange, from holding any post in capital market-related public institutions for a three-year period and declared him ineligible to become an office-bearer of any stock exchange.Mathur, who resigned from the BSE on 12 April, has been indicted for his failure to check price rigging in BPL, Videocon and Sterlite shares in May 1998. He has also been charged for not keeping the regulator informed of the measures taken to solve the crisis.

Former chief justice of India, P.N. Bhagwati, has been elected vice chairman of the UN Human Rights Committee for a second consecutive term. The 17-member committee has vice chairmen. These 17 eminent people serve the committee in their personal capacities because of their recognised competence in the field of human rights.

The Bombay Management Association has presented the Management Man of the Year award to Keki Dadiseth, chairman of Hindustan Lever Ltd, for his distinguished services in the field of management.

Former managing director of Larsen & Toubro, S.D. Kulkarni received the Outstanding Contribution National Award instituted by the FIE Foundation. The award is in recognition of Kulkarni's contribution to Indian industry and to the success of L&T in a turbulent industrial scenario.

David Packard, former chairman of the Hewlett Packard board, organised a retrospective on Satyajit Ray at the Stanford Theatre in the United States from 8 May. A die-hard Ray fan, Packard exhibited 11 of the late master's films. The project was organised with the help of the Ray Film and Study Centre of the University of California, Santa Cruz, USA.

The billionaire Hinduja brothers, Srichand and Gopichand, of the wealthiest Asian family in Britain, have been granted British citizenship. The brothers have lived in the UK since the early 1980s. The group has offices in London, Mumbai and Geneva, and a worldwide staff of 25,000. Their family fortune is estimated to be $2 billion.

Deepak Parekh, chairman of the Housing Development Finance Corporation, was presented the award for "enhancing business community image" instituted by the Indian Merchants' Chamber, Mumbai. Nani Palkhivala, eminent constitutional expert and S.P. Godrej, patriarch of the Godrej group, were also felicitated by IMC for their contributions in the fields of law and business.