Page 13 - Seniors Today - January Issue

a multi-system operator. The company 27. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, 67,
revolutionised television broadcasting in Entrepreneur
India with Zee Entertainment. Chandra India’s richest
is the quintessential maverick personality self-made woman,
with his successful entertainment and news she founded the
channels. country’s largest listed
Interestingly, Chandra began as a rice biopharmaceutical
trader, but a lot of what he touched worked firm, Biocon. Amongst
wonders: Essel Packaging, amusement park her innumerable accolades, most recently,
Esselworld, etc. EY named her World Entrepreneur of The
Year 2020 and Forbes has listed her as the
25. Shobhana Bhartia, 64, Media Baron 65th most powerful woman in the world. A
She is the Chairperson frontrunner in scientific breakthroughs and
and editorial director of developments; she believes that a nation’s
HT Media. Rebranding culture is not just embedded in its visual and
the publication into HT performing arts but also in its sciences.
– bright, young media –
was Bhartia’s brainchild. 28. Sunita Narain, 61, Environmentalist
HT is the second most influential English Director General
newspaper in India. HT online digital of the India-based
media spans Hindustan Times, Livemint, research institute – The
Desimartini, HT Campus and Shine. HT Centre For Science
media also has radio stations – Fever FM, and Environment. A
Radio Nasha, and Radio One. powerful voice in her
It also has a podcast – HT Smart, India’s domain, with reports to match, she is both
first podcast with AI voices. a respected and feared environmentalist
and political activist, as well as a major
26. Kamal Haasan, 66, Actor proponent of the green way of sustainable
An actor, filmmaker, development. In matters of sustainability
philanthropist and and the environment you don’t mess with
politician, he has done Narain. Her indepth investigations on
a fair bit of work in consumer goods – from colas to honey are
Hindi cinema but works much respected. And feared.
extensively in Tamil
cinema. 29. Dr Prannoy Roy, 71, Media Baron,
He turned his fan club into a welfare Psephologist
association – Kamal Narpani Iyakkam, A pioneer in Indian TV
that runs donation drives for health and and digital journalism,
education. His welfare association also Roy founded NDTV
publishes a magazine that sheds light on (along with his wife
child abuse, drug abuse and his views on Radhika Roy), one
politics. of the most credible
sources of news in India. His origins as lead

SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #19 | JANUARY 2021 13