Page 8 - Seniorstoday January 2022 Issue
P. 8
He walks his talk. stable, was the most
Premji is perhaps the most giving sought after Covid-19
philanthropist of the Indian industry, vaccine. Not just in
standing tall, but equally humbly besides India, but elsewhere in
great philanthropists like Gates and Buffet. the word as well.
The Azim Premji Foundation has helped The chairman of the
create a better world for millions of people. Poonawalla group,
India’s most revered business tycoons and which includes Serum Institute of India, is
is pretty much the reigning czar of the IT also known as the ‘Vaccine King of India’.
industry with Wipro. Forthright and outspoken, Poonawalla
has been carving his niche in the pharma
5. Ratan Tata, 84, Industrialist industry as a force unbeatable.
2021 has seen Ratan
Tata secure some 7. Rahul Bajaj, 83, Industrialist
significant wins. From As a businessman, he
the Supreme Court took the baton from his
upholding all the ancestry and created a
appeals of Tata Sons company where two-
to winning the once wheelers and Bajaj are
prestigious airline, Air India, back to its used symbiotically. No
founder company. small feat. That said,
Ratan Tata has never taken his heritage he is humble and grateful to the legacy left
for granted. The Tata founders bequeathed to him by his grandfather and dismisses
most of their personal wealth to the many accolades that patronise him.
trusts they created for the greater good of An outspoken industrialist, and now
India and its people. At his core, he is a MP, Rahul Bajaj throws power-packed
philanthropist, always concerned about the punches to counter policies and situations
plight of others. Equally, he has personally he deems unfit for the country’s progress
seen that no stone is unturned to ensure and growth. Though he tendered his
that the Tata code of conduct and standard resignation as non-executive Director
of service is nothing short of exemplary. and Chairman of Bajaj Auto last year,
He says: “I think you really want to be he continues to be the power behind the
doing things that make a difference. If you company’s punch.
cannot make a difference, it’s just water His take is that by his birth he was born
trickling through a tap or leaking through a ‘anti-establishment’. That he created a
drainage system; it’s wasteful.” tidal wave by questioning the freedom
of speech of citizens in recent times is an
6. Cyrus Poonawalla, 81, Industrialist understatement. But that quintessentially
It could’ve been a horrible year given a is Bajaj. He isn’t afraid of speaking the
fire in one of his premises, but the year truth and he stands by forgotten values of
clearly belonged to Poonawalla, his son integrity, honesty, dedication and goodwill.
Adar and their team of accomplished health And he doesn’t mind asking some tough
scientists. Covishield, from the Serum questions either.
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