UP TILL 15 OCTOBER

WOMB FOR RENT, ANALYZING IVF SURROGACY

IN DISCUSSION WITH ELSAMARIE D’SILVA

Indian Sub-Continent, GCC & South East Asia Edition

Up Till October 15, 2015

100 ASIA’S

MOST POWERFUL WOMEN HIGHLIGHTING THE TRANSFORMATIVE IMPACT OF WOMEN IN SOCIETY

India INR 100.00 | Australia A$ 5.00 | United States $ 5.00 | United Kingdom GBP4.00 | Singapore S$ 6.00 | UAE AED 10.00 | Hong Kong HK$ 5.00 | Malaysia RM 10.00 | Thailand B 115.00 | Sri Lanka Rs 300.00 | Qatar QAR 15 | S Arabia SAR 15 | Oman OMR 1.5 | Indonesia IDR 50,000 | Pakistan PKR 425 | Bangladesh BDT 310 | Bahrain BHD 1.5 | Kuwait KWD 1.2 | Philippines PHP 180

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Indian Sub-Continent, GCC & South East Asia Edition

Contents

Up Till October 15, 2015 Volume 2 ISSUE 5

98

THE NEW HEART-THROB OF THE NATION

MOVIE REVIEW

08 IN DISCUSSION WITH ELSAMARIE D’SILVA Managing Director & CoFounder, Safecity

AGENT OF CHNAGE

10 SPECIAL INTERVIEW

14 HEALTH STORY

WOMB FOR RENT

100 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN OF ASIA

RANI MUKERJI

SPECIAL INTERVIEW

EKTA KAPOOR

20

TRAVEL & TOURISM

EXPLORATORY INTERVIEW WITH REETI TRIVEDI

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ANALYZING IVF SURROGACY

COVER DESIGN: ANIRUDDHA SHEE

EDITORIAL

CHAIRMAN: Abhijit Ghosh EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Abhimanyu Ghosh GROUP CEO: Vivek Dutta CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER: Saimik Sen PRESIDENT : Kaustuv Chatterjee NON EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN: Professor Malcolm McDonald GROUP EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Tathagata Bhattacharya PUBLISHING DIRECTOR: Kingshuk Gupta PUBLISHER: Avik Dutta VICE-PRESIDENT – BUSINESS: Sunita Rawat GENERAL MANAGER - Abhay Kaushik CORRESPONDENTS CUM COPY-EDITORS: Pratiksha Kapoor, Arpan Jennifer Vimal CONTRIBUTING EDITOR: Monojit Lahiri CORPORATE AFFAIRS: Tamanna Khurana, BUSINESS HEAD (EAST): Prabuddha Pal RESEARCH Director – Strategy: Shivalee Kaushik Amit Gupta, Viraj Ketan Dhorda, Ravi Kant, Foram Dhorda, Pallavi Kadge DESIGN Debasish Debnath, Aniruddha Shee, Rohina Choudhary, Varun Pal Singh, Kalpita Jaani WEB TEAM Kapil Rawat, Ravi Pal MARKETING & CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS Pankaj Bhatt, Siddhesh Pathre, Utkarsh Kumar, Baijayanta Basu, Alok Saxsena, Pushpreet Hethi, Shrutika Dalvi OPERATIONS Yukta Khati, Ashutosh Mishra, Shiv Prasad, Ballal.C.Goray DISTRIBUTION Hemant Sangle, Ravi Mishra Printed and Published by Avik Dutta on behalf of WCR Media Pvt. Ltd

Printed at Ms.Shree Sai Shivani Printers, B-198, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase l, New Delhi - 110020 Published from A-97, II Floor, DDA Shed Complex, Okhla Industrial Area Phase ll, New Delhi - 110020

www.wcrc.co, www.wcrcleaders.com, www.mostadmiredasia.com https://twitter.com/WCRCLeadersasia https://www.facebook.com/wcrcleaders https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxOW4e8A98eBkxHknnnYE6w https://www.linkedin.com/company/wcrc--world-consulting-and -research-corporation?trk=tyah https://www.facebook.com/wcrcworld http://www.wcrcworld.blogspot.in/ http://wcrcworld.tumblr.com/

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Up Till October 15, 2015

Testimonials Ms. Priti Patel MP, British Member of Parliament & Honourable Jury Member AMP said “Bands from the UAE have been growing in popularity internationally. In a highly competitive business environment, building successful brands require robust strategy, skill, expertise and determination that deserve to be appreciated and revered. It has been an honour to be a part of such an extraordinary jury in the first edition of Asia’s Most Promising, the biggest multi-platform global project on brands and leaders that bring to light the Asian SuperPowers of tomorrow.”

Dharini Mishra Gobal Head of Brand, Suzlon Group “We are very proud for this recognition that an esteemed organization like WCRC has bestowed upon us with their partners KPMG. At Suzlon we strive to bring about social, economic and ecological sustainable development and our brand promise of powering a greener tomorrow underlines that philosophy. We are thankful to organizations like WCRC who help take our brand and therefore this message to a larger audience.”

Dharini Mishra Neha Sangwan Marketing Director Fast Trax Food Pvt. Ltd. “A platform which recognizes the emerging brands like us, is not only motivating but also encourages us to excel.”

Prof. Malcolm McDonald, Executive Chairman of the Jury Chairman, Malcolm McDonald International Ltd. said ‘‘My time working with such professional people in their efforts to identify Asia’s great brands of the future has been awe-inspiring for me. At the age of 75, I thought I had done and achieved most things in my professional life. How wrong I was ! This ranks at the very top of my professional career and is an experience I shall never forget.”

Dr. B R Shetty, Founder & CEO, NMC Healthcare, MD & CEO, UAE Exchange said “It is our pleasure to be part of a constellation of some of the most prestigious brands in Asia. We see this is a great opportunity to be encouraged to work harder while being recognised for our efforts and awarded for our actions. We would like to thank the esteemed panel of judges for nominating us as one of the most promising brands in Asia. We look forward to participating at such a distinguished event aimed at bringing together visionary brands and leaders across Asia on a single platform.”

OUR UPCOMING SPECIAL FEATURES

Kanchan Naikawad, Founder Indus Health Plus I thank you for recognizing me and my work in the healthcare sector at the WE Awards ceremony held recently.

Thanks for the Award!!

I am equally overwhelmed seeing myself featured exclusively in your magazine. It was indeed a pleasure going through the same. I am happy to see the way our journey towards the making of Indus and the growth story till now has been put down in words. Your magazine cover page was designed just apt to the message for the women of today. The layout and the articles covered are surely a source of motivation for many women who are looking for one chance to make it big someday.

I wish to applaud your editorial team to bring forward my thoughts beautifully for the readers.

Philip H. Lundberg, Senior VP – Campus Director, Modi Academy Group On 9 January 2014, I participated in the Asian Education Excellence Summit 2014, hosted by the World Consulting & Research Corporation. I was rewarded for the time I invested in the Summit. The panel discussions were timely and the participants expert on the issues of the day, albeit with different backgrounds and experiences. I had many opportunities to meet and exchange ideas with colleagues, as there was ample time allocated for networking. The venue was fitting for the type of event and the number of participants. In whole, the Summit was organized and managed professionally. I am glad that I participated.

Anita Malhotra, Principal, Lotus Valley International School,Gurgaon It was a great pleasure attending the “Asian Education Excellence Summit 2014” and the launch of WCRC Leaders Asia magazine’s special edition – Asia’s 100 Best and Fastest Growing Private Education Institutes.

Being a part of the above said Summit was a great experience. In fact it was a great initiative and platform for all the speakers to put for their ideas and views on the growing Education Industry.

Keep up the good work.

Abhay Gupta, Founder Promoter & CEO, Luxury Connect LLP Asia’s 100 Best & Fastest Growing Private Education Institutes’ award ceremony conceptualised, organized and executed by WCRC was wonderfully managed and delivered. A unique and eye opening concept, the awards seemed fair and just. I wish them all the very best in their future endeavours.

Dr. B R Shetty, Mr. Neelesh Bhatnagar, CEO, Emax said “Asia’s Most Promising is a unique platform where some of the best of minds in the business will converge and discuss brands that have enormous potential to be the super powers of tomorrow. We are happy to be associated with the esteemed Asia’s Most Promising, which will also give us an opportunity to reach out to a wider audience.”

OUR UPCOMING EVENT

“The Global Indian Excellence Summit 2015” The most successful summit for the Indians globally. In its second edition and held and London, UK, the GIES brings Indians from differents walks of life from across the globe to share their vision and passion to make India the strongest super-power globally.

IS IT THE GENETICS OF A WOMAN OR THE MINDSET OF THE MAN? Abhimanyu Ghosh Editor-in -Chief Dear readers,

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t is high time that we should really judge women by what they do and not by what they wear. Its not always just about the pretty face and the culinary skills that she exhibits; or the way she raises the child and also at times the doormat in the house. She does mostly these things quite flawlessly. The fact also is women are doing exceptionally well and then there’s another fact: that women are not. They are struggling and suffering to stay afloat. Who do we blame it for? Is it the genetics of a woman or the mindset of the man?

The rights provided to women are a serious indicator to understand the global well being. And we are yet too far from it. Global Women’s treaty was ratified few decades ago by majority of world’s nation. Despite many successes in the endeavor of empowering women, various issues still persist, ranging from economic to political, social to cultural. It’s purely the mindset that sets everything on the back foot. Women often work far more than men, yet are paid less. Gender discrimination affects women throughout their lives even in the most developed nations.

Of my years of experience in the corporate and business world and experience with working over 5000 people and organizations of various degrees to principles, ideologies to culture, I have experienced women to be far more effective than men in many ways. This is in spite of various limitations that women in India have. Primarily dominated by family and social driven restrictions.

Global researches suggest that though 25-35 percent of organizations’ employ women at lower levels, only 3-4% of worlds top organizations’ have women as their CEO’s.

I fail to understand this ratio. And I really blame the mindset. One of the most popular beliefs inside organizations of preferring men over women for the top jobs is

the uncertainty attached with a woman. Its often believed that women are dominated by their family opinion and hence they can quit anytime. So can men. There is no certainty in anything. Its an organizations’ duty to empower women. And the fact is why shouldn’t they?

The truth is Women definitely have the requisites of being a better leader. And time and again they have proved it when given the right chance and opportunity.

According to global studies women exhibit better communications, better teamwork, higher integrity and honesty, better community development, greater relationship developments and most importantly far greater work ethics. I guess that is enough of a proof that women are ideally suited for most roles in anyone’s life.

This issue is a salutation to all the women who break the stereotype and have proved time and again that they are leaders who did everything because they wished to.

Its as simple, when there’s a will, there is a way. It’s also a message to all other aspiring women that if you want to be successful, you will have to do it. For men and women alike there will be boundaries and limitations. But when will takes over, everything gets possible.

At WCRC we believe in this cause very strongly and an issue was equally important. Last years issue in WCRC Leaders Asia on Women Empowerment across Asia made the featured women deliver better and I believe this year shall add more value.

Up Till October 15, 2015

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ROUND-UP

CONTINENT IN FOCUS

IN

ASIA SCOOPS Hyundai Motor India plans launch of 2-3 new models every year till 2020

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yundai Motor India plans to launch 2-3 new models every year till 2020 as a part of its efforts to further consolidate its position in the country.

The auto major, which is the second largest car maker in India, eyes 1 per cent growth in its market share each year during the period.

Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation mobile app to activate UAN

Asia’s biggest vaccine maker to seek fast-track nod for dengue drug in India

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ne can now activate your universal account number (UAN) on phone through an app launched by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO). Once it gets activated, it will assist in accessing account from the comfort of mobile phone.

The UAN is a 12-digit

portable number allotted to each member that gives them control of their EPF account and minimizes the role of the employer in matters related to a member’s account. Experts say universal number is a big step towards shifting the EPF services to an online platform and making it more user-friendly.

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sia’s largest vaccine maker, Serum Institute of India, plans to file for fast-track approval to launch a dengue treatment in India. Serum bought exclusive rights from U.S. biotech Visterra to sell its innovative monoclonal antibody, as a treatment for dengue in the Indian subcontinent in a deal worth up to $39 million. Serum, owned

by Cyrus Poonawalla, has sought the Indian government’s approval to import the antibody and conduct clinical trials in India, its Chief Executive Adar Poonawalla said in an interview.

RBI Deputy Governor called corporate leverage levels a ‘major concern’

BHEL to foray into defence manufacturing sector ublic sector power equipment maker BHEL is stepping up its foray into the defence manufacturing sector, which has been thrown open as part of the ‘Make in India’ campaign and is looking for hi-tech original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for partnership.

The ‘ Make in India’ initiative in the defence sector is opening up large opportunities in naval, field guns and submarine segments and BHEL is actively pursuing these opportunities by partnering with global OEMs,” Bhel chairman and managing director B. Prasada Rao said at the 51st annual general meeting.

BRIEF

Asian Paints setting up world’s largest plant in Karnataka

Up Till October 15, 2015

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hemicals major Asian Paints is setting up the world’s largest plant in Karnataka. The Mumbai-based paints company operates in 17 countries, with 23 plants and markets its products in 65 countries the world over. Laying the foundation for the plant, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told the company to provide more locals, especially its land losers by imparting required skills and training.”The fact that Asian Paints chose to set up its greenfield plant in our state testifies that we are most-industry friendly in the country,” he said.

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eserve Bank of India Deputy Governor S.S. Mundra called levels of debt in the domestic corporate sector “a major concern”, while admonishing banks to clean up their bad loans more quickly. Mundra said leverage levels had risen very substantially in the last few years in the corporate world, calling it a concern that was also felt globally, at an event in Mumbai for chief financial officers.

The RBI deputy governor also called on banks to move more quickly to recognize bad loans.

India, US, ink MoU on energy security and climate change

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Apple plans steps to prevent future App Store attacks

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China factory activities weakens further

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ctivity in Chinas’ factory sector unexpectedly shrank to a 6-1/2 year low, raising fears of a sharper slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy that could spell more turmoil for financial markets.

ndia and the United States have signed a significant MoU on energy security, climate change and clean energy which Secretary of State John Kerry said reflects the commitment of the two countries to make the Paris summit later this year a success.

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First flights between Denmark and Iran to start in 2016

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he first flights between Denmark and Iran will begin in March 2016, operated by Iranian airline Mahan Air, ending an eight-year suspension of direct flights between the capitals of the two.

Microsoft begins worldwide release of Office 2016

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icrosoft Corp said it has begun the worldwide roll-out of Office 2016, the latest addition to its cloud-based subscription service Office 365.

Microsoft said Office 2016 brings new versions of desktop apps for Windows including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook and Access and allows people to collaborate and work together.

Who owns copyright for ‘Happy Birthday’ song?

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federal judge in the United States has ruled ‘Happy Birthday’ song in public domain. The music publishing company that has been collecting royalties on the song Happy Birthday To You for years does not hold a valid copyright on the lyrics to the tune that is one of the mostly widely sung in the world.

BRIEF

pple would make it easier for Chinese app developers to download its tools for building mobile apps in a bid to prevent further attacks on its App Store.

In the wake of the first major breach on its outlet for distributing iPhone and iPad software, Apple will offer domestic downloads within China of its software for developing apps. The App Store had suffered its first large-scale breach. Unknown hackers infected legitimate programs by persuading app developers to download a tainted copy of the tool-kit.

Chinese app developers have told Reuters they resorted to downloading the tainted software kit for developers from unofficial, third-party sources because of slow speeds downloading from Apple’s official servers.

Unique method to curb credit card frauds

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n a move to stem credit card frauds worldwide, a team of US researchers has developed an inexpensive, secure method to prevent mass credit card fraud using existing magnetic card readers called SafePay. It works by transforming disposable CC information to electrical current and driving a magnetic card chip to simulate the behaviour of a physical magnetic card. The key challenge today is that existing magnetic card readers use

plain text to store confidential information which makes them vulnerable to an untrusted card reader or skimming device. “Because SafePay is backward compatible with existing magnetic card readers, it will greatly relieve the burden of merchants in replacing card readers and, at the same time, protect cardholders from mass data breaches” explained Yinzhi Cao, assistant professor at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Up Till October 15, 2015

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AGENT OF CHANGE

ELSAMARIE D'SILVA

IN

DISCUSSI N withElsaMarie D’Silva, MANAGING DIRECTOR & COFOUNDER, SAFECITY

PERSPECTIVE BEHIND SAFECITY Safecity was started immediately after the horrific rape of Nirbhaya in Delhi in Dec 2012. We found that though sexual violence was quite widespread, women and girls didn’t really talk about it for several reasons - fear of bringing shame to themselves and their families, fear of dealing with the police and the lengthy judicial process

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Up Till October 15, 2015

for justice. The official statistics do not reflect the true nature and size of the problem and this under reporting makes the issue in many ways “invisible”. We wanted to bring it out into the open and give women/girls an opportunity to anonymously share their experiences. In doing so they would know, they were not alone and take the first step towards seeking help.

The aim is to use this crowd sourced data to find ways to make public spaces safer and equally accessible to all, especially women and children by identifying location based trends and implementing neighbourhood solutions.

We hope that individuals, communities and other NGO’s would use this data to make more informed choices about personal safety and use it for community based solutions.

HOW FAR CAN APPS PROMOTE WOMEN SAFETY Our web application serves to collect and disseminate information based on personal experiences of sexual violence in public spaces. This evidence based data set is a new one that is being created and hopefully will

give people an idea of what kind of harassment they are likely to expect in a particular neighbourhood. For e.g. our data for Delhi shows that in Connaught Place the dominant issue is touching and groping, but in Rohini it is chain snatching. The solutions for both are going to be different. Also if one were to use the metro line, instead of alighting at the Nehru Place metro station which is crowded and prone to sexual harassment like touching/ groping, it might be a better idea to alight at Kailash Colony which is relatively incident free.

Therefore transparency in accessing data in my opinion is the first step towards being situationally aware regarding your own safety.

Apart from that you can use the data to hold institutions accountable. For eg. in Lal Kuan, Delhi, our data identified a hotspot where women were getting assaulted because of lack of access to toilets. But there were community toilets except they were under lock and key as someone didn’t want to clean and maintain them. However armed with the data and pressure from the media, the authorities could hardly ignore the issue and now they have opened up the toilets and maintain and clean them. In this manner, we have done safety sprawls in Mumbai and Delhi where we have pressured municipal authorities to fix street lighting. In Mumbai, we presented data to the police along with another NGO and citizen group and the police changed their beat patrol timings. In Kathmandu with a partner NGO they were able to prove that women needed better transportation options as they were being assaulted in crowded buses. They were able to obtain women only bus licences.

Data is powerful and cannot be ignored and it can be used successfully to hold institutional bodies accountable.

WHO ALL ARE YOUR BUSINESS PARTNERS IN THIS VENTURE We were three women who cofounded Safecity though I have been full time on this effort. Our two other cofounders have full time jobs and provide support from outside. Our director, Supreet Singh and is very involved in our work.

Apart from that we work with several other NGOs, the police in Mumbai, Delhi and Goa, Mumbai University NSS division, student groups, volunteers and corporates.

WHERE DO YOU SEE SAFECITY 5 YEARS FROM NOW? I would love to see us redundant, as our aim is to make public spaces safer for all. I would like to see this achieved. But realistically speaking, i would like

more citizens to be actively involved in neighbourhood community action and more women reporting sexual violence without fear to their own safety. I would also like the police to be more sensitive, proactive and involved in women’s safety.

HOW MUCH IS SOCIAL MEDIA SENSITIVE TOWARDS WOMEN SAFETY? HOW FAR IT HAS CONTRIBUTED TO THE SAME. Social media can be leveraged to create awareness and advocacy. We use it a lot on Facebook and twitter.

However there are a lot of trolls who are very insensitive towards people often insulting and shaming them. But I like to look at the brighter side of it where social media gives us the platform to reach thousands of people we would not otherwise have been able to. editor@wcrcleaders.com

Up Till October 15, 2015

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SPECIAL FEATURE

RANI MUKHJI

RANI MUKERJI In an exploratory interview with Rani Mukerji, a name synonymous to versatility and eloquence, Saimik Sen seeks to contrive the spectrum of impeccable performances and the rhetoric charm with which Ms. Mukeji has enthralled the industry, stupefying a magic wand!

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Over 50 movies and years of working in the industry, your contribution reflects versatility and volubility. Titled as ‘Queen of Bollywood’, In your own perception- How did Rani Mukerji emerge as one of the most powerful Indian women?

I have always believed that as an artist or an actor we are a product of the hard work all the technicians do behind us, whether Director, writers, editors, music directors or all the people who make us look larger than life and pretty on screen. There is so much of contribution of the entire technical department in making a star look so good on screen that our contribution will be as much as bringing a directors vision on screen and giving blood and flesh to a piece of paper.

Also I would say powerful woman is probably what no actor decides or can predict to become. It is the people, who actually watch your work, adore and admire you. They put faith in your work.The faith is that they keep coming again and again buying your movie tickets. They are the ones who make you powerful.

From a person who never dreamt of being an actress to becoming one and living it since last 20 years, the journey has been tremendous for me and my fans. Also I feel that once you make a relation with your audience, it needs to keep going.

A diverse range of films such as Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Veer-Zaara, Black, Hey Ram, Mardaani in which you have made an impact with assured performances. How challenging has your journey been from Raja Ki Ayegi Baraat to date?

My journey was challenging but it was strange.

Like how a bride in an arranged marriage gradually falls in love with her husband, I think that is what happened to me. I gradually fell in love with my work.

So whether it was RajakiAyegi Barat, where for me the only solace was that my mother asked me to give it a shot. I never had any pressure. I just treated it as another day at school, where I have to do my work diligently and the director should be happy with my work. I treated my films merely as a jobfor initial 3 years, the love came much later. It was when I read those lakhs of fan letters that I used to receive. Going through those letters made me realize that this is quite a serious business and I can’t treat it as a job. It has to be beyond that, and that’s when

I think I fell in love with my craft and once I fell in love, there was no looking back. I changed according to my characters so that my fans can see a versatile me. So, whether Mardaani, or Black or Yuva, I made it a point that I put in more than my hundred percent.

What is your greatest achievement till date?

I think achievement would be just to be able to choose at this point of my career.

As an actor you go through different stages in your career. First when there is no choice, then the time comes when it is how much more noticed and better you want to be, striving to be the best, and then there comes a point where you no more have to run behind anything, whether fame or money or roles.

You can sit back and choose! There is no pressure on you regarding anything.

Just that one film, I can be happy doing, or a role that is going to make my fans proud and love me even further.

In an Industry whelmed and dominated with male actors, being a female actor impinged you at any point of time?

Male actors have only affected me in a very positive way right from the start of my career. I was fortunate enough to start with Aamir, Shahrukh and Salman. I saw three different superstars, their dedication and hard work and this was something I imbibed from them. I made it my conduct to actually understand that even after years of being so successful, they are yet so hardworking, conscious and I think that’s the reason even after 25 years of work they are going strong and there is nobody who can actually touch them. These are the lessons you learn at the onset of your career and then you realize everybody struggles to get that one film right, because one Friday can change a lot of things. I feel the hunger in an actor should never die.

Journey of every film and character is different.

How difficult is it to get into that skin and then revive and prepare for another. Which genre are you most comfortable with?

We have such talented technicians and they contribute so much to an actor. When they come with a film, they come to you with a lot of research and information about the character and how they see you in it. I would say that they already do half of your job, and then it is upon us to take that next half Up Till October 15, 2015

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SPECIAL FEATURE

RANI MUKHJI

further. For me, it is about how I grasp that knowledge and whether I can add more to the character.

I have always told my directors that if I am not equally or more passionate than you, I don’t deserve to be in your film because then there is no point doing a favor on any one. As an actor I feel that it is very important to gage different characters and ask for help when needed. Also there are times you have to gauge half baked knowledge and see what more can be done. It is a collaborative effort of a lot of people under one roof.

What is your perception of an empowered woman? How far can entertainment industry contribute for the same?

An Empowered woman in industry would be successful directors, producers, women technicians or actors.

The industry and work is not gender specific. You could be a woman and you could be directing any film!

There are so many women directors who have changed the myth that a particular film can’t be made by a female director.

I think that is empowerment.

The time when I joined films, there surrounded a myth that good family girls don’t get into movies. But today we see a complete change, where families are encouraging their children to study cinema. Cinema is no longer looked upon as stigma, and I think that in it is a huge shift in the society and that is empowerment!

Movies for you are more about – reiterating people from monotonous routine through light entertainment or a medium to educate and communicate masses with strong messages.

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AL GRID

PERSON

What things fascinate you the most when you travel?

Different cultures, food and the landscapes.

Which of your work is closest to your heart Can’t choose one Every movie has a different sentiment and attachment value.

Which character you would wish to play Biopic- you have to completely transform and make the audiences believe you are that character. I would love to play Indira Gandhi, Rani LaxmiBai of Jhansi or a role related to Subhash Chandra Bose’s army.

What are your hobbies?

I love to dance and enjoy cooking.

Best and the worst thing about your job.

The best thing is that you get to be loved by so many people.

Till date I get very emotional with the kind of love I receive from my fans. All they want is that I do well, and that is an incredible feeling you get to experience as an actor.

The worst thing is that I am continuously made to believe that I need to be seen more.

I think it is a mix of both for me.

You can’t imagine cinema only for educating!

You want to go see a movie which is thrilling, where you can have your popcorns, sip on your colas with ice-creams and you want to enjoy a good laugh or may be breath taking actions.

At the same time there are certain films that actually make you think and make you want to do something for the society. It draws your attention towards a particular cause, which probably in our daily busy life is never thought of.

So there are some films you that make you think and there are some films you just want to take your children or friends to and have a great time. I have been fortunate to be a part of both these kinds of cinema.

Be your own fortune teller!

How do you see yourself 5 years down the line?

I definitely see myself with my kids. I see myself doing great work and challenging myself even further as an actor and a proffering great movieexperience to my fans!

Whom do you owe your success to?

When I say success –“it’s that huge body of work that I have done” I owe it to my fans, my Directors, Producers, technicians, Co-stars and all those who made contributed till now. It is all because of my mother’s perseverance and her efforts that I could do this and definitely destiny.

MessageLove the job for the craft and for no other reason. editor@wcrcleaders.com

Up Till October 15, 2015

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HEALTHCARE

HEALTHCARE TRENDS

WOMB FOR

RENT ANALYZING IVF SURROGACY Surrogacy flung the door wide open for the commercialization of one woman’s womb, gratifying another woman the umbilical cheer- by Pratiksha Kapoor

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Up U pT Till ililll October Octtob ber 15, 15 2015 2015

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s you may anticipate, In Vitro Fertilization and Uterine Embryo Transfer is a physically and emotionally demanding. Its also a very expensive procedure. Apart from these complexities, the use of artificial insemination and the recent development of vitro fertilization have eliminated the necessity for sexual intercourse in order to establish pregnancy.

With a perceptibly restrictive global market for international adoption and in the view of a mass global expansion of surrogacy programs, it is almost certain in nations such as India, which have access to contemporary technology and skilled individuals who can provide surrogacy programs at lower cost, to serve the demand in wealthier nations the market tends to flourish With infertility rates on the rise and a growing acceptance of samesex couples, thousands of people annually are opting for surrogacy as a way of having genetic children through a process of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and embryo transfer.

Surrogacy rubric circumscribes traditional and gestational surrogacy at large. In traditional surrogacy, the surrogate mother’s egg is used, making her the genetic mother. In gestational surrogacy, the egg is provided by the intended mother or a donor.

The egg is fertilised through in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and then placed inside the surrogate mother.

AN INTROSPECTIVE LOOK AT FEW COUNTRIES AND THEIR FERTILITY MARKETS INDIA In 1994, Chennai, the first

POPULAR COUNTRIES AND SURROGACY ARRANGEMENTS Experts say that countries popular with parents for surrogacy arrangements are the US, India, Thailand, Ukraine and Russia. Mexico, Nepal, Poland and Georgia are also among the countries that might possibly provide for surrogacy arrangements. Costs may vary significantly on several paradigms From country to country The number of IVF cycles needed Whether health insurance is required An estimated approximate average costs in different countries as per Families Through Surrogacy (International NGO) US

Ukraine

$100,000 (£60,000)

$49,950

India

$47,350 Thailand

$52,000

gestational surrogacy in India took place, though it relatively gained pace since 2001 and expanded the spectrum of medical tourism. India is rapidly setting a lucrative market spot for fertility tourists due to a number of crowning factors making headway for a booming commercial surrogacy market. India is one amongst the meager lot of countries with commercialized surrogacy including Georgia, Russia, Thailand and Ukraine and a few U.S. states.

Indian government’s prearranged and concerted efforts have by and large played a vital role to promote medical tourism, with a growth at the rate of 30% per year for

Georgia

$49,950 Mexico

$45,000

surrogacy tourism.

Exerting influence on market and enticing the consumers, India provides for the low-cost technology, skilled doctors, and a plentiful supply of surrogates, attracting nationals from Britain, the United States, Australia and Japan, to name a few. The couples in search of fertility treatment travel not only from Western countries, but also from neighboring countries of Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand, and Singapore. The number of websites advertising and marketing heavily geared foreigners. Virtually every state in India irrespective of rural Up Till October 15, 2015

15

HEALTHCARE

HEALTHCARE TRENDS

nd pe gacy a

or urban areas have IVF and nd other fertility clinics.

Thriving the healthcare re sector and boosting the economy, my, the surrogacy business till 2012 012 was more than $400 million lion a year, with over 3,000 fertility ility clinics across India enunciating iating medical development with h affluence and productivity.

Though the market has boomed rapidly since years, considering evolving legislative paradigms India might expose a massively restricted surrogacy market, and will shut the door to singles and gay couples.

GERMANY, SPAIN, FRANCE, NETHERLANDS Surrogacy is banned completely, meaning infertile couples are 16

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ople

l surro a i c rism r e ility tou t r e Comm to India f n g lation o sts flockin try free of regu nals and low co t nations. n io os 1. A cou dical profess ed in m n n a b e y c 2. Top m rcial surroga e m 3. Com

unable to turn to surrogacy as an option. But France does not put a ban on couples bringing in children from surrogacy contracts abroad.

HONK KONG Commercial surrogacy is criminal under the Human Reproductive Technology Ordinance 2000. The law is phrased in a manner that no one can pay a surrogate, no surrogate can receive money, and no one can arrange a commercial

surrogacy (the same applies to the supply of gametes), no matter within or outside Hong Kong.

Normally only the gametes of the intended parents can be used.

THAILAND The law bans foreign couples from seeking surrogacy services and stipulates that surrogate mothers must be Thai and over 25.The important part is if the couple seeking surrogacy services is Thai or the couple is mixed-race, they can find a Thai woman to be their surrogate providing she is over 25.

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17

HEALTHCARE

HEALTHCARE TRENDS

CHINA Despite the government crackdown, the surrogacy services and agencies are flourishing in China and doing profitable business. According to Chinese newspaper, Global Times, the surrogacy market in Beijing is still flourishing. Although most agencies had stopped surrogacy services due to government crackdown but many are still open and rendering services to people.

EMPOWERING WOMEN, CHANGING LIVES Outsourcing your needs to a third party miles away dimes a dozen and yet you opportune a fortune.

The industry sees it as a propitious situation: where childless couples see their pipe dream becoming an undisputed reality with a genetic child and the strapped surrogate urrogate mother gets a plentiful sum um to no more succumb her needs..

COMMODIFYING AND EXPLOITING Over a period of time, social ocial activists have raised their concerns oncerns terming surrogacy as a business ness that not only reinforces the gender stereotype of commodifying a woman, but also leads to the exploitation of surrogates who often have no knowledge of their rights and the complexities involved in the process. In several countries where surrogacy is illegal or banned by the government, the market is going totally unregulated

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e sts hav i v i t c a l cy , socia e m i urroga r t s f o g n d i o peri term nde Over a eir concerns forces the ge n th in raised ness that re- fying a woma si di as a bu pe of commo ty stereo

resulti resulting in violation of human rights either of the surrogate mother or the couple who are paying for the health facilities.

There have also been reports of women being trafficked into the industry. Also there is no fixed amount paid to surrogates and

many surrogates do not get the full amount promised, while others get nothing if they miscarry.

Is banning of fertility tourism a solution to the problem? Will it be possible to ban and regulate all informal measures or do we need more accountable laws to regulate the same. editor@wcrcleaders.com

INSIGHTFUL INTERVIEW WITH

DR.FIRUZA PARIKH

The woman behind South East Asia’s first ICSI baby, 1994, the one to set up the first PGD laboratory in India 1999 and the pioneer of Cumulus Aided Transfer (CAT) for the first time in the world, author of over 100 books with a number of eminent awards, Dr Firuza Parikh has woven dreams of several couples and has been a major hand in revolutionizing healthcare.

This is my 25th year as the Director of the IVF centre at Jaslok Hospital.

My training in the field of ART started in 1986 when I began my fellowship at Yale University in USA. I consider myself fortunate to be able to help childless couples. Power for me is a translation of my medical knowledge put to use to help people.

How challenging has your journey been?

The biggest challenge has been to change the mindset of people. The onus of being infertile falls heavily on the woman. This has steadily diminished over the years with couples being more amenable to treatment. The other challenge has been to demystify infertility and its treatment.

Greatest achievement till date?

My biggest achievement is not a single event but the 7850 babies that have been created by my team. We have pioneered techniques like ICSI (Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection) in India. We have devised the technique of Cumulus Aided Transfer (CAT) which improves the chances of pregnancy for the first time in the world.

Best and the worst thing about your job?

The ability to create life is a God given opportunity and is the

greatest source of satisfaction. Every baby’s birth fills me with the same excitement as the first time. The thing that saddens me is that not everyone can conceive with IVF What are your views on people’s say-It is commercializing women womb and commodifying a child.

All medical treatments have a commercial angle to them. In surrogacy, couples who are infertile seek the help of another couple that is fertile and pay them a consideration for bearing their child.

Surrogates are married women who have previously borne children. They deserve to be compensated. I do not see a problem there unless it leads to exploitation which is a possibility in any transaction of this nature. Hence we have laws and guidelines for surrogacy.

How do you think IVF is empowering women?

In our program, women take charge of their own treatment. Earlier they were blamed for being infertile regardless of whether the husband was responsible for the infertility.

Besides infertility was a stigma.

Through my book, ‘The Complete Guide To becoming Pregnant’ which is a national bestseller I hope that I have contributed towards de-stigmatizing infertility.

I believe that True empowerment

(Director, Department of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics, Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre, EditorIn-Chief, Fertility and Sterility Indian Edition)

makes a woman self sufficient and independent in her thinking!

Whom do you owe your success to?

My husband Rajesh who is India’s first Neuropsychiatrist, has been my constant supporter and also my critique. He balances my life with his logic and integrity. He is the major stakeholder in my success. My father was a man who believed in education and always believed that I would be a doctor. He inculcated in me the ability to work hard. My IVF team of 40 is responsible for our professional success. But the biggest contributors have been my patients for their belief and faith in me.

A message from youWork hard towards developing your skills. Be close to your friends and family. Induce independence in your team. Always be a team player. Be kind to all and show your gratitude to everyone. Stay humble.

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SPECIAL FEATURE

EKTA KAPOOR

She is the biggest name of Indian television. Ekta Kapoor is an eternal success story women live by. She has redefined an industry with her dedication, passion and will-power thats an inspiration for many. Saimik Sen, CEO, WCRC LEADERS ASIA in a conversation with EKTA KAPOOR

EKTA KAPOOR More than 100 different television programs across 5 languages and as many as 21 films till 2014. In your own perception- How did Ekta Kapoor emerge as one of the most powerful Indian women?

I don’t know how you can define power, but for me it is not the 100 shows that matter, but the fact that 60 percent of India’s cable audience was watching those shows. So you land up realizing that not only are you entertaining growing middle class, you are influencing the minds of the social fabric of the country. India with huge population and having it’s the hugest say with its ethnic audience all over the world; it was an interesting journey for me also from 2000 when ‘Kyunki’ went on air.

It was those 5 shows that probably spoke more than any other did to the ethnic as well as similar sensibility audiences.

To actually realize you have created characters, and thought processes, fashions and probably changed 20

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not only styling, but thinking and behavioral patterns in almost the growing generations of cable watching homes. I think that’s unimaginable power and humbling at the same time.

What is your greatest achievement till date?

We have a lot of complaints and accusations from pluralists like television is regressive, pulls you down to basic sensibility but actually its traditional not regressive. Boston Research Company did its independent research and found that Indian television during the years from 2003-2007 was highly watched, women started emulating their popular characters on TV and had voice in family discussions which used to be a man’s domain. It kind of established a norm. And I think that more than any TRP or any other professional achievement could be the biggest achievement. Also there were reports that after the tragic Gujarat earthquake, people were watching a lot of television at that

time to get over the immense pain that they went through. TV was a source of entertainment but also an escape that helped them. And today also I think TV and Films are voices to communicate. Now with Balaji Motion Pictures and different section of audience altogether, it’s interesting to communicate with so many people at one time.

What is one thing you would wish to change about the entertainment industry?

I think we are way bigger risk takers than any other manufacturing, real estate or any other company but the weightage of cultivated talent as compared to any other industry is relatively low. We don’t have enough acting schools, or talent management, or skill growth schools. We are not accepted in colleges as a separate study which should be because it can definitely be another arm of profession. I think when that happens, films will have a lot more talent, and dependency only on a certain amount of people will be much lesser.

You have given television a stature that no one else before you could give. What were the challenges you faced.

Television got a naturalized stature; I was just a part of its formation.

Television gave me stature!

I think people don’t realize the power of this medium that goes to people’s home every day and to be a part of that was just great. But there was a time when everybody was taking films and I took television.

That was the time I had no option and I had to do something with my life, so I took it and I loved it so much.

I never can say that television was re established by me. I guess it’s my love for the medium and medium’s love for me that has

AL GRID

PERSON

What things fascinate you the most when you travel?

I think people You meet them at a point and before that point of intersection; you have had totally different journeys. However beautiful the architecture, weather, landscapes be, its still about the people there What is a Sunday to you?

Sometimes as bad as a Monday!!!

But right now it is about time with friends and family.

Best and the worst thing about your job Best thing about my job is communication and the worst thing about my job is miscommunication!

established us both.

‘Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki’ and ‘Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi’ were the initial two serials that brought a revolution on Indian television. For the very first time, Indian daily soaps were woven around women characters rather than men. Was that idea to specifically empower women?

See we have always believed that exactly opposite happens on TV to that of films. So it’s actually a funny take, but in movies men are the heroes and women are the glamour dolls, and for television women are the heroes and men are the glamour dolls. So women are there handling the issues, and men are there looking good. It was a medium for women and by women. It was for those 70 percent of women, who are homemakers and they were not

getting what they wanted to watch.

“It is she who rules the remote or rules the TV. It is her domain”.

You are credited with singlehandedly changing the way India spends its evenings. Who or what has been your guiding force throughout?

My mother, always!

I have had a lot of support from my dad for investing in my company but my mom almost gave her life to us. After being a star wife, to producer and handling the economy of the business so well. I think my guiding force was her because I would see what she liked watching, I would see her responses. She was demography, very traditional yet forward thinking. She became ‘Tulsi and Parvati’ for me.

One thing you have to let go of as a Producer.

Egos!

You have to be overall aware of the jobs your profession is creating, of the repercussions of having an ego in a profession like yours. Your creativity is constantly in question because everyone else is in the opinion after you put in the money.

In the end you have to decide what is bigger your ego or your product.

A message from you to all the rising women entrepreneurs Sometimes your disadvantages become your advantages.

So, you have to find the possibilities in the lack of opportunities!

You can just put yourself out there because sometimes you win, sometimes you learn. You never lose! editor@wcrcleaders.com Up Till October 15, 2015

21

COVER STORY ASIA'S 100 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN

100 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN OF ASIA HIGHLIGHTING THE TRANSFORMATIVE IMPACT OF WOMEN IN SOCIETY

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E

pitome of reasons and untrammeled by general rules, the story of The 100 Most Powerful Women of Asia seeks out an exploratory glance at the generation of women doyens, pacesetters, innovators, creators, and entrepreneurs who have boldly transformed a wide range of disciplines and driven a new dimension for women at large, inspiring and unleashing their potential and talent. Acknowledging the contributions of 100 most empowered women across Asia in their respective fields.

Asia with its own pool of such bold and fearless women who have made a mark for themselves both within their own country as well as overseas projects- there lies no dearth of women who are confident, believe in themselves and have enormous fire in to take on the best.

Plausibility of laws, the unattainable hindsight, philosophical ideals, harmonized and balanced of rule, potential conflictions these women have been the nocturnal guardians with their relentless zeal, incessant quench for success and willingness to walk

the extra mile surpassing all the myths about women’s inborn limitations.

Eliminating all the negativities that obstructed the growth of an individual, creating a meritocratic society where every individual performs task apt to one’s own nature, today in a struggle to intertwine a disfranchised society highlighting the transformative impact women have made in society, being able to fully exercise their human rights on several paradigms demonstrating that women are not just passive actors. Globally, positive strides across reverent domains have earmarked their volubility and platonic premise re establishing the fact that men and women are identical in natural endowments and faculties.

The 100 Most Powerful Women of Asia delves into the extraordinary entrepreneurs and visionaries covering education, enterprising women, entertainment and special projects.

The 2015 power women list features heads of state, monarchs, first lady who run nations with over hundreds million citizens. The corporate CEOs controlling the annual revenues, women with their own companies or foundations, few billionaires, entertainment wizards , sports fanatics.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY- 100 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN RESEARCH & PROCESS CONTROL

ibrands 360 conducted an in-depth secondary research over a period of three months to list the 100 most powerful women.

The study was initiated by generating a list of 300 women in the field of business, fashion, lifestyle, sports, music, art, entertainment, media, science, politics and technology to name a few.

A detailed secondary study was conducted through various sources like news articles available in print and electronic format, social media activities (facebook, twitter etc), media presence, honours, awards and accolades received in the past in domestic and international markets and popularity in their field of operation. The detailed secondary research was handed over to the editorial team of ibrands 360. This initial list of the most powerful women was further scrutinized based on the parameters set by an expert panel of ibrands 360. The parameters taken under consideration were position and responsibility held, overall influence, past work, extent of reach in their field of operation and news and television appearances.

The final list was generated based on the decision of the editorial team of ibrands 360 on the above mentioned parameters.

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COVER STORY ASIA'S 100 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN

THE 100 MOST PO NAME

COUNTRY

PROFILE/ DESIGNATION

NAME

COUNTRY

PROFILE/ DESIGNATION

Abida Parveen

Pakistan

Singer

Jasvinder Sanghera

India/UK

Aishwarya

India

Actress

Social Activist and Founder

Anu Aga

India

Chairperson

Jenny Lee

Singapore

Managing Partner

Anushka Sharma

India

Actress & Producer

Jhumpa Lahiri

India/US

Author

Arundhati Bhattacharya

Kangana Ranaut

India

Actress

India

Chairperson

Kareena Kapoor

India

Actress

Aung San Suu Kyi

Burma

politician

Indonesia

Chanda Kochhar

India

Managing Director and CEO

Karen Agustiawan

Former CEO&President Director

Chandrika Kumaratunga

Former Prime Minister

Khawla Al Khuraya

Saudi Arabia Cancer specilist

Sri Lanka

Kim Yuna

South Korea

Chen Lihua

China

Chairwoman

Former Figure Skater

Cher Wang

Taiwan

Chairwoman and Co- Founder

Kiran Bedi

India

Social Activist/ Retired IPS Officer

Chitra Ramkrishna

India

Managing Director and CEO

Chua Sock Koong

Singapore

Deepika Padukone

Kiran mazumdar shaw India

chairperson

Kwon Boa

South Korea

Singer & Actress

CEO

Kwon Seon-joo

South Korea

CEO

India

Actress

Lara Balsara

India

Executive director

Dong Mingzhu

China

Chairperson and President

Laura Cha

Hong Kong

NonExecutive Deputy Chairman

Ekta Kapoor

India

Joint Managing Director

Lea Salonga

Phillipines

Singer&Actress

Elvy Sukaesih

Indonesia

Singer

Li Dang

China

President

Eva Chen

Japan

Cofounder and CEO

Lola KarimovaTillyaeva

Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan's representative in UNESCO

Firuza Parikh

India

IVF Surgeon

Lubna S. Olayan

Saudi Arabia CEO

Gurinder Chadha

India/UK

Film Director

Lucy Peng

China

Hala gorani

Syria

Television journalist/anchor

Chief People Officer and CEO

Mai Kieu Lien

Vietnam

Chairman and CEO

HAYAT SINDI

Saudi Arabia Medical scientist

Malala Yousafzai

Pakistan

Social Activist

Hetty Koes Endang

Indonesia

Singer

Malalai Joya

Afghanistan

Social Activist

Ho Ching

Singapore

Chief Executive Officer

Mallika Srinivasan

India

Chairman and CEO

Hyun Jeong-eun

South Korea

Chairperson

Manzila Pola Uddin

Bangladesh/ UK

Parliamentarian.

Indra Nooyi

India/US

CEO

Mar Mar Aye

Burma

Singer

24

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WERFUL WOMEN NAME

COUNTRY

PROFILE/ DESIGNATION

NAME

COUNTRY

PROFILE/ DESIGNATION

Margaret Chan

Hong Kong

Director General

Sheikh Hasina

Bangladesh

Prime Minister

Mary Kom

India

Boxing Champion

Meera Sanyal

India

Former CEO and Chairperson

Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi

Saudi Arabia

Minister of International Cooperation and Development

Mira nair

India/US

Director

Shikha Sharma

India

Mishal Husain

Pakistan/UK

Journalist-BBC

Managing Director and CEO

Mona Al Munajjed

Saudi Arabia

Sociologist

Shirin Ebadi

Iran

Social Activist

Nadia Chauhan

India

CMO & MD

Shobhana Bhartia

India

Chairperson

Siti Nurhaliza

Malaysia

Singer

Naina Lal Kidwai

India

Country Head, India, and Director

Solina Chau

Hong Kong

Founder

Nguyen thi nga

Vietnam

Chairperson

Nisaba Godrej

India

Executive Director

Nishi Vasudeva

India

Chairperson and Managing Director

Nita Ambani

India

Olivia Lum

Sri Mulyani Indrawati Indonesia

Managing Director

Sun Yafang

China

Chairwoman

Sunita Williams

India/US

Astronaut

Taslima Nasrin

Bangladesh

Author

chairperson

Tata Young

Thailand

Singer&Actress

Singapore

Group President and CEO

Vandana Shiva

India

Environmental Activist

Park Geun-hye

South Korea

president

Vinita Bali

India

Former Managing Director

Peng Liyuan

China

First Lady

Priyanka chopra

India

Actress

Wang Fengying

China

CEO and Executive Director

Queen Rania Al Abdullah

Jordan

Monarch

Wei Sun Christianson China

Co-CEO, Asia Pacific, and CEO

Rainie Yang

Taiwan

Actress & Singer

Wu Yajun

China

CO-Founder

Rani Mukherjee

India

Actress

Yang Huiyan

China

Chairperson

Rekha M Menon

India

Chairperson

Yao Chen

China

Actress, Philanthropist

Romi Haan

South Korea

Founder and CEO

Roshni Nadar

India

CEO

Yingluck Shinawatra

Thailand

Former Prime Minister

Saina Nehwal

India

Badminton Player

Zaha hadid

Iraq/UK

Architect

Zainab Salbi

Iraq

Social Activist

BritishPakistani

Lawyer, Politician and Parlementarian

Zhang Xin

China

CEO

Zia Mody

India

Founder and Senior Partner

Zoya Akhtar

India

Director

Sayeeda Warsi Shami Chakrabarti

India/UK

Social Activist

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COVER STORY ASIA'S 100 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN

ABIDA PARVEEN Citizenship/Residence Pakistan

Abida Parveen is a Pakistani singer of Sindhi descent and one of the foremost exponents of Sufi music.

She brought Sufi Music to a new level and gave it a new identity marking the beginning of this journey at Sultana Siddiqui’s Awazo Andaz in 1980. Her rendition of Heer Waris Shah and Kabir are also held high among the music enthusiasts. She’s considered one of the finest vocalists of the preset age.

She has represented Pakistan before masses and has performed for huge audiences worldwide.

An Indian businesswoman and social worker, who led Thermax Ltd., 32.46 billion (US$490 million) energy and environment engineering business, as its chairperson.

Her calm determination has helped her family and company Thermax India tide over trying times. Thermax, with its presence in 14 countries, has emerged as a leading manufacturer of engineering products and systems for industries. Being open to challenges and taking them on confidently is second nature to Aga Anu Aga had been figured among the eight richest Indian women and in 2007 was part of 40 Richest Indians by net worth according to Forbes magazine.

In 2010 she was awarded the Padma Shri for Social Work by the Government of India.

She is currently Chairperson of Teach for India.

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ANU AGA Citizenship/Residence India

AISHWARYA RAI BACHHAN Citizenship/Residence Mumbai, India

Aishwarya Rai known as Aishwarya Rai Bachchan after her marriage, cited in the media as one of the “most beautiful woman in the world� is an Indian actress and the winner of the Miss World pageant of 1994. Through her successful Bollywood career, she has established herself as one the most prominent, societal, popular and high-profile celebrity, not only in India but worldwide. Ms. Rai has received several awards, including two Filmfare Awards from ten nominations. She was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2009 and the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the Government of France in 2012.

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COVER STORY ASIA'S 100 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN

ANUSHKA SHARMA Citizenship/Residence Indian

An Indian film actress and producer with an established career in Bollywood, is the recipient of a Filmfare Award from four nominations. With around seven films in six years, she is considered one of the topmost actresses.

Punctuality, Realism, Natural, Honesty, and Forthright attitude, are still less of words to describe her reel life and real life enigma. From her stunning performances to name a few Band Baaja Baaraat (2010) and Jab Tak Hai Jaan (2012) to all-time kooky cinema like Badmaash Company (2010) and Patiala House (2011 , Anushka Sharma’s work reflects elation and zest.

ARUNDHATI BHATTACHARYA Citizenship/Residence India

AUNG SAN SUU KYI Citizenship/Residence Burma

The first woman chairperson ever in the history of the State Bank of India (SBI), Arundhati Bhattacharya, joined the bank in 1977 as a probationary officer (PO), not knowing that 37 years hence, she will become the first woman to ever lead a Fortune 500 company in India. During her long career with SBI, spanning for more than three decades, Arundhati has held several key positions and has also served at the bank’s New York office.

She has contributed to the establishment of new business verticals within the bank, such as General Insurance, private equity fund, mobile application platform and pension funds.

Burmese opposition politician Aung San Suu Kyi is known worldwide for her leadership and commitment to human rights in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma and was presented with a US Congressional gold medal. In 1991, Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace.

She has also received the Rafto prize (1990), the International Simón Bolívar Prize (1992) and the Jawaharlal Nehru Award (1993), among other accolades.

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COVER STORY ASIA'S 100 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN

CHANDRIKA KUMARATUNGA Citizenship/Residence Sri Lanka

In 1994, Chandrika Kumaratunga made history when she was elected Executive President, becoming Sri Lanka’s first and only female Executive President to date.

In 1978, she married prominent film actor and politician Vikaya Kumaratunga.

Shortly after the assassination of her husband by extremists in 1988, Chandrika entered politics. In 1993, she was elected Chief Minister of the Western Province in a landslide victory. Then in August 1994, she followed in the footsteps of her parents and was elected Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. Chandrika and her government strove to re-establish democracy and respect for human rights, speaking out against extremism, and seeking a diplomatic solution to the country’s prolonged ethnic conflict. She left politics in the year 2005.

CHEN LIHUA

CHANDA KOCHHAR Citizenship/Residence India

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Citizenship/Residence China

In 1984, Chanda Kochhar joined ICICI Bank Limited as a management trainee. At present the managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of ICICI Bank, Kochhar has been a major reason why it has today become India’s second largest bank and the largest bank in the country’s private sector.

Her competence has led her to become a member of the Board of Trade, the Prime Minister’s Council on Trade and Industry, the high-level committee on financing infrastructure, US-India CEO Forum and UK-India CEO Forum. Recently in 2011, she was conferred with the Padma Bhushan, India’s third highest civilian honour.

Up Till October 15, 2015

Chen Lihua is the founder and chairman of Fu Wah International Group, one of Beijing’s largest commercial property developers. Along with her business commitments, Chen has also invested to build a state-level private museum, the China Rosewood Museum.

CHER WANG Citizenship/Residence Taiwan

Cher Wang is a Taiwanese entrepreneur and philanthropist born in Taipei, Taiwan. She is the co-founder and chairperson of Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC. And is one of the most powerful women in technology.

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COVER STORY ASIA'S 100 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN

CHITRA RAMAKRISHNA Citizenship/Residence India

On April 1, 2013, Chitra Ramkrishna became the third person, and most importantly the first woman, director and chief executive officer of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), India’s largest stock exchange.

She was one of five people handpicked to start the National Stock Exchange (NSE). As the MD and CEO, Ms. Ramkrishna has not only maintained the rich legacy of this great institution, but her tireless endeavour has ensured it has scaled new heights. Ramkrishna, is a true patron of Mahatma Gandhi’s ideologies and wants to make stock markets accessible to India’s middle classes using the exchange-traded baskets of securities known as ETFs. She was awarded with Forbes Women Leader of the year (2013)

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COVER STORY ASIA'S 100 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN

Chua’s journey with SingTel began in 1989 as a treasurer. Her competence and constant efforts to push the organisation forward made her the CFO of SingTel within a decade of her joining the organisation. Soon after this, she was recognised for her commendable work with managing the organisation’s treasury, risks, capital and taxation. Her expertise enabled her to manage a diverse portfolio ranging from corporate development to corporate communications and investor relations.

People applauded her for her broad understanding of all areas of the business and noted her significant role in SingTel’s major acquisitions, divestments and partnerships

CHUA SOCK KOONG Citizenship/Residence China

DEEPIKA PADUKONE Citizenship/Residence India

Deepika is an Indian film actress and model. One of the most popular Indian celebrities, she has fabricated her fans with her prominent skills and her magnetic glamour. The 2012 box office hit Cocktail marked a turning point in Padukone’s career, earning her critical acclaim and Best Actress nominations at several award ceremonies. She went on to star in the films like Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013), Chennai Express(2013), and Happy New Year (2014), all of which rank among the highest-grossing Bollywood films. She is a prominent celebrity endorser for brands and products, and is vocal about issues such as feminism and depression. Her upcoming film Bajirao Mastani, where she is playing the role of Matani is the most awaited fim of 2015.

EKTA KAPOOR Citizenship/Residence India

DONG MINGZHU Citizenship/Residence China

Widowed at 30, Dong went to South China to find work, and initiated as a saleswoman at Gree Electric. Her balance of hard work and her diligence paid off as she was elected director of the sales department in 1994.

She became president in 2001, and since then Gree Electric has become the world’s largest specialized air conditioner company.

Under her current leadership, Gree Electric is developing new technology, helping Chinese manufacturing evolve from “made in China” to “created in China.”In 2013, she was named one a Forbes Asia “Woman in the Mix” for business. The New York Times declared her “one of the toughest businesswomen in China. She has published two books, including an autobiography titled “Regretless Pursuit “ which was a bestseller in China . The book was also made into a television series on China Central Television.

Ekta Kapoor is an Indian TV and film producer. She is the Joint Managing Director and Creative Director of Balaji Telefilms. Known as the Queen of Soap Operas in India, Ekta is remembered best for giving television entertainment the most cataclysmic turn ever. Her serials were aired on Sony, Star Plus and Zee. 2010 and 2011 was pivotal for her career in Bollywood. She delivered the biggest and the most important films like ‘Love, Sex aur Dhoka’, ‘Once Upon a Time in Mumbai’, ‘The Dirty Picture’, ‘Ragini MMS’ and the sequel of her earlier hit ‘Kya Kool Hai Hum’ named ‘Kya Super Kool Hai Hum’. Ekta is an example of a woman for young creative heads and entrepreneurs. She single handedly has earned her stature in the industry, be it television or cinema. And keeping all criticisms about her work aside, she has given television a stature that no one else before her could.

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ELVY SUKAESIH Citizenship/Residence Indonesia

Elvy Sukaesih is one of the most popular singers in Java, Indonesia, and has been dubbed the Queen of Dangdut. She has always attributed her success to her ability to relate to women sufferings. Her skills fully capture the emotions of the song and communicate those feelings to the listeners. Her songs express emotional excess, embodying the pain of women.

Sukaesih has a significant fanbase in other Asian countries such as Japan. She has been a prolific recording artist since the late 1960s.

EVA CHEN Citizenship/Residence Taiwan/Japan

Eva Chen is a Taiwanese businessperson and the co-founder and CEO of Trend Micro, the world’s third-largest security firm. Since its inception in 1988, Eva Chen has spearheaded Trend Micro’s emergence as one of the world’s most innovative Internet content security companies. Eva Chen owns 1.689 million shares of the company.

After serving as executive vice president and chief technology officer, Chen took the position of CEO from Steve Chang in 2005. In 2010, CRN Magazine named her as one of the “Top 100 Most Influential Executives in the Industry”. She was fifth on the 2012 Forbes list of “Asia’s 50 Power Businesswomen”

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FIRUZA PARIKH Citizenship/Residence India

Director at Department of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics, Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre, EditorIn-Chief, Fertility and Sterility Indian Edition, Dr. Parikh is the woman behind South East Asia’s first ICSI baby, 1994. She has been an unprecedented contributor to medicine and the one to set up the first PGD laboratory in India 1999 and the pioneer of Cumulus Aided Transfer (CAT) for the first time in the world, author of over 100 books with a number of eminent awards, Dr Firuza Parikh has woven dreams of several couples and has been a major hand in revolutionizing healthcare.

GURINDER CHADHA Citizenship/Residence India/UK

An english film director of Sikh Indian origin. Her films talks of the lives of Indians living in England. A platonic theme among her work showcases the trials of Indian women living in England reconciling and converging traditional and modern cultures.

Her films address many social and emotional issues, especially ones faced by immigrants caught between two worlds.

Much of her work also consists of adaptations from book to film, but with a different flare.

She is best known for the hit films Bhaji on the Beach (1993), Bend It Like Beckham (2002), Bride and Prejudice (2004) and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging(2008). Her most recent project is the comedy film It’s a Wonderful Afterlife released on 21 April 2010.

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HALA GORANI

Hala Gorani is an anchor and correspondent for CNN International and is based in London.

Hala anchors The World Right Now, with Hala Gorani, a show that brings viewers into the heart of CNN’s International newsgathering operation and immerses them in the latest stories of the day. In addition to her anchoring duties, Gorani often goes into the field to report on major breaking news stories. Gorani holds proficiency in several languages, including English, French and Arabic. Gorani was mainly raised in Paris, France. She is one of CNN’s most experienced international journalists and has reported from every country in the Middle East including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian territories.

Citizenship/Residence Syria/ US

HAYAT SINDI Citizenship/Residence Saudi Arabian

Hayat Sindi is a profound Saudi Arabian medical scientist and one of the first female members of the Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia. She was the first woman from the Arabian Gulf to earn a PhD in Biotechnology. A co-founder of Diagnostics For All, a not-for-profit that aims to save lives and improve health in the developing world through low-cost, innovative, practical diagnostic devices she advocates “thinking outside the box, if one’s situation is tough, in favor of their ambitions” . As the founder and president of i2institute, she propounds to create an ecosystem of entrepreneurship and social innovation for scientists, technologists and engineers in the Middle East and beyond.

Dr Hayat Sindi was appointed UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador on 1 October 2012.

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HO CHING Citizenship/Residence Singapore

Ho Ching is married to the current honourable prime minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong who is the son of Singapore’s first P.M. Lee Kuan Yew. She is also the chief executive officer of Temasek Holding, Singapore.

She has been with the company for more than a decade now; initially she joined as the executive director and was appointed to CEO in 2004.

HETTY KOES ENDANG Citizenship/Residence Indonesia

Hetty Koes Endang is an Indonesian kroncong singer. She holds proficiency in more than one genre of music- Pop Festival, Pop Mellow, Pop Kreatif, alto Indonesian Traditional Song, Sundanese, Keroncong, even Dangdut, and Soft Rock. Winning many festivals in the 1970’s, she is the singer who produced hundreds of albums, and it is a legend in Indonesia. Her amazingly powerful and sharp highnotes makes her one of the most sought after singers of Indonesia.

Her 1977 duet with Ajie Bandi, “Damai Tapi Gersang” (“Peaceful Yet Arid”) was selected by Rolling Stone Indonesia in 2009 as one of the best Indonesian songs of all time.

HYUN JEONG-EUN Citizenship/Residence South Korea

While studying in Connecticut, she worked as a receptionist from midnight to sunrise and struggled to put together $50 to buy herself a western suit for her first job interview.

She presently runs the fourth largest food and beverage company in the world, PepsiCo, as their first female chief executive officer. She was named the third most powerful woman in business by Fortune.

Seven years running, she’s been on Forbes’ list of 100 Most Powerful Women. It may be polarizing, but it has to provoke a real reaction.

Jeong-Eun Hyun serves as the chairperson of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Hyundai Group. As Hyundai Group Chairwoman, Hyun leads a complex empire of affiliated, family-controlled companies including Hyundai Merchant Marine and Hyundai Elevator (but not Hyundai Motor). Over the past year, she maneuvered to maintain control of her affiliates which drew her into conflict with Schindler Elevator, a partnering shareholder and continued her long-running efforts to bring peace to the Korean peninsula through tourism and economic collaboration.

INDRA NOOYI Citizenship/Residence US

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Jasvinder, a survivor of a forced marriage and an outspoken campaigner, is an author and the Founder and Chief Executive of Karma Nirvana, a UK-based nationwide helpline initiated with a view to create a support network for women who experienced language and cultural barriers or are impacted by forced marriages and honor-based violence. Jasvinder has used the authority of her life experience to inform legislative change in the UK and has been credited for her role in bringing about the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act of 2007. She is also the author of the two bestselling books Shame and Daughters of Shame, as well as the recently-published Shame Travels. Few of her accolades being The Woman of the Year Award 2007, Pride of Britain Award 2009, Global Punjabi Society Award 2012, Cosmopolitan Wonder Woman Award 2010, Inspirational Woman of the Year Award 2008, Asian Woman Achievement Award 2007, Ambassador for Peace Award 2008 and many others.

JASVINDER SANGHERA Citizenship/Residence India/UK

Jenny Lee is the highest-ranked woman on the 2015 Midas List. Her current portfolio includes Yodo1, Chukong Technologies and China Talent Group. Jenny Lee is one of the most respected investors in the Chinese tech scene, one of her greatest investments was her 2010 backing of social platform YY, which went public in the U.S. in 2012. A former jet and drone engineer, she led a $10 million round into Chinese unmanned aerial vehicle maker, Ehang. Lee has spent the last 14 years in the China investment scene, previously working at JAFCO Asia before joining GGV in 2005 and helping to open its Shanghai office.

JENNY LEE Citizenship/Residence Shanghai, China

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JHUMPA LAHIRI Citizenship/Residence Brooklyn, Newyork

One of the most sought after novelist with Bengali parentage, author Jhumpa Lahiri published her debut in 1999, Interpreter of Maladies, winning the Pulitzer Prize. She followed up in 2003 with her first novel, The Namesake, and returned to short stories with the No. 1 New York Times bestseller Unaccustomed Earth. Lahiri’s 2013 novel, The Lowland, was partially inspired by realworld political events. She is one of the recipients of the White House’s annual National Medal of Arts and National Humanities.

KANGANA RANAUT Citizenship/Residence India

“Women empowerment does not mean you create complex among men. Then it will take 20 more years to empower men. It is all about evolving as a soul, as a human being.�

Kangana Ranaut as an actress is an exemplar to exceptional talent, a precursor of Bollywood her journey is truly remarkable. Kangana stepped into B-town, without any godfathers or mentors. From her memorable performances to being remembered for her bold statements, this fearless actress has done it all. Queen, being the juncture of her success story, she enthralled the box office and audiences with Tanu Weds Manu Returns.

Kangana has made a mark in the entertainment business with her impeccable talent and is all set to roll the industry further. She has been quite vocal about women concerns and truly reflects the essence of a protagonist.

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KAREENA KAPOOR Citizenship/Residence Mumbai , Maharashtra , India

Kareena kapoor, one of the highest paid actresses in Bollywood. Her charm, eloquence and the magnetic aura makes her one of the most soughtafter actresses in the industry. She debuted in 2000 , with the movie REFUGEE . She received her first commercial success with ‘Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai’ and later appeared in ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham’. Her portrayal of a sex worker in ‘Chameli’ won her rave reviews as did ‘Dev’and ‘Omkara’. Her movie ‘Jab We Met’ won her several appreciations and intrigued her fans. Her off-screen life, has always been the subject of media coverage.

COVER STORY ASIA'S 100 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN

KAREN AGUSTIAWAN Citizenship/Residence Indonesia

Indonesia’s Karen Agustiawan is one such woman. She is presently the Chief Executive Officer and President of PT Pertamina (Persero).

Agustiawan took over the reins of Pertamina in 2009 and made history by becoming the corporation’s youngest and first female CEO and President.

Agustiawan received a lot of vitroils on being promoted, questioning her ability but she has since proven critics wrong time and time again. In 2011, Forbes named her first on its list of “Asia’s 50 Power Businesswomen”.

Dr.Khawla Al-Kuraya is a renowned consultant and the principal clinical scientist at the King Faisal Hospital and Research Center who has prudently meted out the compelling researches. She has contributed as the director to the Department of Human Cancer Genomic Research, as well as director for the Research Center for Children’s Cancer. One of the Board of Advisers of the National Geographic Al Arabiya Magazine, she has fabricated many internationally peer reviewed journals celebrated in global summits as well as local conferences.

In January 2010, King Abdullah conferred the prestigious “First Rank King Abdulaziz Medal” on Dr. Khawla Al-Kuraya in recognition of her achievements in science that have made her a prominent international figure in cancer research”.

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KIM YUNA Citizenship/Residence South Korea

A South Korean former figure skater.

She began figure skating when she was 5 years old and was soon mesmerized by its charm. Her nickname had been “Queen” or “Queen Yuna” admired for the artistic beauty, charisma, and splendor that may never be surpassed in all her performances. She has broken world record scores 11 times under the ISU Judging System since 2007, eight of which being records she herself set.

Yuna Kim is contributing to society through many charitable activities. In January 2010, she became an inspiration by donating 100milion won to help relief efforts in Haiti. Throughout her entire career, she had never finished a competition lower than third place, a feat that no one has been able to accomplish, cementing her status as one of the greatest figure skaters of all time.

KHAWLA AL KHURAYA Citizenship/Residence Saudi Arabian

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KIRAN BEDI Citizenship/Residence India

India’s First Woman to Join Officer Ranks of The Indian Police Service!

Kiran Bedi is an Indian politician, social activist, former tennis player and a retired police officer. Bedi joined the Indian Police Service (IPS) in 1972, and initiated several measures in crime prevention and criminal reforms.

Introduced comprehensive measure in community policing, such as police beat system, joint night patrolling for crime prevention etc.

She introduced several reforms at Tihar Jail, which gained worldwide acclaim and won her the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1994.

In 2003, Bedi became the first woman to be appointed the United Nations civilian police adviser. She resigned in 2007, to focus on social activism and writing. She has written several books, and runs the India Vision Foundation.

KIRAN MAZUMDAR SHAW Citizenship/Residence India

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, a pioneering biotech entrepreneur, is the Chairperson and Managing Director of Biocon, Asia’s leading biopharmaceuticals enterprise. Named among TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world, she is recognized as a global thought leader for Biotechnology. The Economic Times placed her at India Inc.’s top 10 most powerful women CEOs for the year 2012. She has received many honorary doctorates in recognition of her pre-eminent contributions to the field of biotechnology. Mazumdar-Shaw vanguarded Biocon’s evolution from an industrial enzymes manufacturing company to a wholesome integrated bio-pharmaceutical company with reverent yet stabilized business products and a research focus on diabetes, oncology and autoimmune diseases.

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KWON BOA Citizenship/Residence South Korea

A South Korean singer and actress active in South Korea, Japan, and the United States.

She is referred to as the Queen of Korean Pop. She is certainly influenced by hip hop and R&B singers such as Nelly and Janet Jackson, many of BoA’s songs fall into those genres. With her Japanese album Listen to My Heart, Korean pop star was the first to break through in Japan following the fall of barriers since the end of World War II. BoA’s multilingual skills (she speaks Japanese and English along with native Korean and has recorded songs in Mandarin Chinese) have contributed to her commercial success throughout East Asia. She is the only non-Japanese Asian to have two million-selling albums in Japan!

KWON SEON-JOO Citizenship/Residence South Korea

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Ms. Seon-Joo Kwon has been the Chief Executive Officer of Industrial Bank of Korea since December 2013. Three years ago when she was promoted as vice-chairwoman, she received attention for being the only female vice-chairwoman among all commercial banks.

During the past 25 years of playing an active part in the field of business sales, she served in various high positions including the head of risk management unit, the head of Consumer Reaction Center and the head of credit card business unit.

LARA BALSARA

Citizenship/Residence India

Lara Balsara, joined father Sam Balsara’s Madison Communication at the age of 26. Lara did her BA from St Xaviers College in Mumbai and went to the UK to pursue her masters in marketing from Bristol University. She came back and joined Madison as a trainee in 2003. She diversified the business further and was responsible for the success of Madison Teamworks and Entertainment, Madison Retail Paradigm and Madison RKD retail/iq. She shouldered the responsibility along with her father, helping Madison grow and widen and deepen its tentacles. With a cold, objective and linear view Lara has been a major reason behind Madison’s recent success stories.

Laura Cha is the Independent nonexecutive Director HSBC , Chairman of the Philanthropic & Community Investment Oversight Committee.

With her extensive regulatory and policymaking experience in the finance and securities sector in Hong Kong and mainland China, she was appointed to the Board on 1 March 2011. She was formerly Vice Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, being the first person outside mainland China to join the Central Government of the People’s Republic of China at vice-ministerial rank. The Hong Kong Government has awarded her Gold and Silver Bauhinia Stars for public service.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin– Madiso n and a Juris Doctor degree from the Santa Clara University School of Law. She was a member of the Committee of 100, a Chinese American political and cultural organisation.

LAURA CHA Citizenship/Residence Hong Kong

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LEA SALONGA Citizenship/Residence Philippines

A Filipina singer and actress who starred in the lead role of Kim in the musical Miss Saigon, for which she won the Olivier, Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics and Theatre World awards. With almost three million followers on Twitter, Lea is one of the most popular Filipino celebrities on social media. She is known for being opinionated on social media, often commenting on national and showbiz issues.

She has reverent firsts to her name- first Filipino artist to sign to an international record label, first Philippinebased artist to have received a major album release and distribution deal in the United States, and one of the best-selling Filipino artists of all time, having sold over five million copies of her albums worldwide.

LI DANG Citizenship/Residence China

Li Dang holds the post of the President at China General Technology, one of China’s most powerful industrial conglomerates. China General Technology operates in equipment manufacturing, trade and engineering contracting, pharmaceutical, technical and consultancy, construction, and real estate activities worldwide.

LOLA KARIMOVATILLYAEVA Citizenship/Residence Uzbekistan

Currently as an Uzbekistan’s envoy to UNESCO, Lola KarimovaTillyaeva is focusing on promoting the centuries-old cultural and historical heritage of Uzbekistan, the goal primarily aimed at advancing a better understanding between civilizations and respect for their values. She runs two major charitable organizations in Uzbekistan and is renowned for her key role in promoting education and sports as well as championing the rights of orphaned children and children with disabilities in Uzbekistan. She has always adhered firmly to her belief that education, culture and sports are key factors in promoting peace and tolerance, and function as a bridge between civilizations, helping to overcome ignorance and stereotypes.

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CEO of Olayan Financing Company, Lubna Olayan is one of Saudi Arabia’s most exceptionally influential businesswomen. She was listed as one of the top 100 most influential people of 2005 by Time magazine, and has continued to be on the Forbes list of most powerful women till 2011 and has returned to the list in 2014. In 2004, In a country with many restrictions on women, Olayan was a keynote speaker at the Jeddah Economic Forum in 2004, which highlighted her as the first woman to speak at a mixed conference in Saudi Arabia. As of 2014, she is listed as the 86th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes. Her persistence, passion and power to be able to stand up for what she believed in and made a difference.

LUCY PENG Citizenship/Residence Hangzhou , China

LUBNA S. OLAYAN Citizenship/Residence Saudi Arabia

Lucy Peng is arguably Alibaba’s most powerful woman executive. Peng was a cofounder of Alibaba and continues to serve as its chief people officer. In march 2013, she was appointed as the CEO of Ant Financial Services. It entails Alipay, China’s version of PayPal and the engine powering the entire Alibaba e-commerce world; Alipay Wallet, a mobile payment service provider, among others. It recently added MYbank, commercial banking for small clients. An IPO for Ant Financial is in the cards.

MAI KIEU Mai Kieu Lien,a graduate engineer in milk LIEN processing technology returned to Vietnam in 1976 when 22 years old and started working for milk and coffee company Southern, forerunner of Vinamilk. Citizenship/Residence France/ Vietnam She has contributed to the modernization of old cooperatives of this state.

After privatization in 2003, she played a key role in transforming Vinamilk into one of Vietnam’s most profitable brands and a respected name across Asia.

Under her management, Vietnam has launched products to occupy both domestic and international market leads to great achievement.

In 2012 she was included in the Forbes list of 50 women entrepreneurs have the most power in Asia.

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MALALA YOUSAFZAI Citizenship/Residence Pakistan

Malala Yousafzai, the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate, the Pakistani schoolgirl who stood up to the Taliban and defended her right to an education nabbed the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize.

She is known mainly for human rights advocacy for education and for women in her native Swat Valley in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of northwest Pakistan, where the local Taliban had at times banned girls from attending school.

Yousafzai’s advocacy has since grown into an international movement.

“I don’t fear death, I fear remaining silent in the face of injustice” A young Afghan woman who set up a secret underground school for girls under the Taliban and – when they were toppled – cast off the burka, ran for parliament, and took on the religious fundamentalists.

Malalai Joya is an activist, writer, and a former politician from Afghanistan. She served as a Parliamentarian in the National Assembly of Afghanistan from 2005 until early 2007, after being dismissed for publicly denouncing the presence of warlords and war criminals in the Afghan Parliament. She has been awarded on several paradigms, November 4, 2010, As part of the Forbes The World’s Most Powerful People package, The World’s Seven Most Powerful Feminists, Foreign Policy Magazine listed Malalai Joya in its annual list of the Top 100 Global Thinkers, The Guardian listed her among “Top 100 women: activists and campaigners” to name a few. Title of Joya’s autobiography “Raising My Voice”, was published in the US/Canada under the title of “A Woman Among Warlords” 56

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MALALAI JOYA Citizenship/Residence Afghanistan

Mallika Srinivasan, TAFE’s Chairman and CEO, leads a traditional manufacturing business which today has flourished tremendously boosting the economic domain. In her two decades as a leader at Tafe, she has practically altered the company through innovative products and processes, multiplying revenue by a factor of 30. She is a thought leader, identified for entrepreneurship, commitment to excellence and contribution to Indian agriculture machinery business and academia.

In January 2014, the Government of India conferred her with the prestigious ‘Padma Shri’ award for her contribution to Trade and Industry. In a span of 25 years, she has established TAFE as a quality mass manufacturer of tractors, a lean and resilient organization that can effectively weather the cyclicality of the tractor business

MANZILA POLA UDDIN Citizenship/Residence British-Bangladeshi

MALLIKA SRINIVASAN Citizenship/Residence India

Mar Mar Aye is a prolific Burmese singer, born to Musician Parents.

Music was in her blood. She started singing at an early age. 80% of the songs were sung

by Mar Mar Aye by the 1980’s. She has been politically active. During the Saffron Revolution, she released a song entitled “Heartache Till the End of the World”. In 2012, she returned from exile to Myanmar, at the authorization of President Thein Sein. Look Deeply Into My Heart , recounts the aftermath of her divorce in 1970.

MAR MAR AYE Citizenship/Residence Burma

Manzila Pola Uddin is a British community activist of Bangladeshi descent, being the first Muslim and the second Asian woman to sit in the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

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MARGARET CHAN Citizenship/Residence China Geneva , Switzerland

Margaret is the DirectorGeneral of the World Health Organization (WHO). Chan is an imperative leader of the global health organization responsible for eradicating communicable diseases, including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and other vaccine-preventable diseases. She was elected by the Executive Board of WHO on 8 November 2006, and was endorsed in a special meeting of the World Health Assembly on the following day. Chan has previously served as Director of Health in the Hong Kong Government (1994–2003), representative of the WHO Director-General for Pandemic Influenza and WHO Assistant Director-General for Communicable Diseases (2003–2006). As of 2014, she is ranked as the 30th most powerful woman in the world according to Forbes.

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MARY KOM Citizenship/Residence India

MC Mary Kom, Magnificent Mary or simply Mary Kom, is an Indian boxer belonging to Kom tribal community of north-eastern state of Manipur. She is a five-time World Boxing champion, and the only woman boxer to have won a medal in each one of the six world championships. Her accolades being • Padma Bhushan (Sports), 2013 • Arjuna Awardstrong> (Boxing), 2003 • Padma Shreestrong> (Sports), 2006 • Contender for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, 2007 • People of the Year- Limca Book of Records, 2007

Meera Sanyal is the former CEO & chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland in India. She is also a non-executive Director on the board of Pradan an Indian NGO that works to empower women through entrepreneurship and on the International Board of Right to Play. She is one of India’s most highly respected bankers who stepped down from her role as CEO and Chairperson of RBS India in Dec 2013, to enter public service. She joined the Aam Aadmi Party and is a member of the National Committee on Economic Policy. She is also on the Board of Jaihind College and the Indian Liberal Group. In banking industry for 30 years, she projects a keen interest in Public Policy & Governance, Financial Inclusion and Women’s Empowerment.

MEERA SANYAL Citizenship/Residence India

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An Indian director known for her documentaries and feature films dealing with controversial subject matter, based out of New York. Her production company, Mirabai Films, specializes in films that act as “native informers” on Indian society. A series of gritty and realistic documentaries that examined India’s traditions and culture, country’s patriarchal society and other issues are well addressed with. It was in the late 1980s Nair turned her attention to feature films. Among her best known films are Mississippi Masala, The Namesake, the Golden Lion-winning Monsoon Wedding and Salaam Bombay! In 2012, Mira Nair was felicitated with Padma Bhushan by Govt. of India. With a tidy sum of umpteen accolades Mira Nair stand to be a purist in direction.

MIRA NAIR Citizenship/Residence Geneva , Switzerland

MISHAL HUSAIN Citizenship/Residence UK

Mishal Husain was born in England to Pakistani parents in 1973, and grew up in the Middle East and the U.K. Her interest in journalism was piqued in 1991 while interning at a local English-language Pakistani daily, where she quickly rose to the level of reporter, covering stories in such countries as Pakistan, Russia, Uzbekistan and Georgia.

Miss Husain currently hosts the PBS program “Wide Angle” with James Rubin, and continues her work with the BBC.

MONA AL MUNAJJED Citizenship/Residence Saudi Arabia

In a country where women have hardly any recognition, Dr Mona Al Munajjed is not only Saudi Arabia’s foremost sociologist – she’s a high-profile women’s activist as well. She has spent fifteen years working and advising various UN international agencies.

Much of her work involved helping local NGOs in Saudi Arabia, particularly by providing technical assistance and advisory services to women’s welfare associations.

Al Munajjed is also a published author. Her books include Saudi Women Speak; 24 Remarkable Women Tell Their Success Stories (2006) and Women in Saudi Arabia Today (1997).

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NADIA CHAUHAN Citizenship/Residence India

Ms.Nadia Chauhan was formally inducted into Parle in 2003 and currently holds the position of joint managing director and chief marketing officer. As joint managing director she faces the challenge of setting the vision for the company, providing and managing the infrastructure and resources to help achieve that vision. When most girls her age were out playing, twenty-six-year-old Nadia Chauhan attended business meetings with her father. Since 2009, Nadia’s biggest risk turned out to be her wildest success.

Parle has diversified into new beverage brands such as LMN, Appy and Grappo Fizz, all new products in their category. This focus on innovation is what makes Parle Agro a success story.

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NAINA LAL KIDWAI

The first Indian woman to graduate from Harvard Business School and also the first woman to guide the functioning of a foreign bank in India, Naina Lal Kidwai is an Indian banker, Chartered Accountant and business executive. She is currently the Group General Manager and Country Head of HSBC India. She is also a former President of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

Her interests include microfinance and livelihood creation for rural women and environment. Naina, also supports the world’s largest youth driven organization - AIESEC as a National Advisory Board Member to AIESEC India. Mrs. Kidwai has repeatedly ranked in the Fortune global list of Top Women in Business, 12th in the Wall Street Journal 2006 Global Listing of Women to Watch and listed by Time Magazine as one of their 15 Global Influentials 2002.

NGUYEN THI NGA Citizenship/Residence Vietnam

Citizenship/residence India

She is one of Vietnam’s richest women, with her deep zest in banking, real estate, resorts and retail, she has been chairman of SeABank since 2007 , successfully turns it from a provincial bank to a prominent nationwide commercial joint stock bank with 155 outlets and more than 2,100 staff, total assets of approx. USD 4.7 billion and charter capital of nearly USD 300 million, providing full range of banking services to both retail and corporate customers. She founded and controls BRG, a holding company with 3 golf courses in Vietnam, most notably Kings’ Island Golf Resort and Doson Seaside Golf Resort. She owns 2 hotels in Hanoi that are managed by Hilton Hotels Worldwide, and then there’s Intimex, a trading and retail company more than 30%-owned by her family. All told her businesses raked in revenue of more than $435 million last year.

NISABA ADI GODREJ Citizenship/Residence India

Nisaba Adi Godrej, also known as Nisa is the Executive Director of Godrej Consumer Products. She is currently on the boards of GCPL, Godrej Agrovet and Teach for India. Nisa has been the President of Human Capital & Innovation for Godrej Industries Ltd. since April 1, 2010. She served as an Executive Vice President of Business Development at Godrej Industries Ltd, led Godrej Industries wide portfolio strategy initiative and has been instrumental in setting up a strategy cell for Godrej. She is passionate about girl’s education, the human mind, and designs and trekking.

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COVER STORY ASIA'S 100 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN

NISHI VASUDEVA Citizenship/Residence India

Nishi Vasudeva is an Indian business executive. She took charge as Chairman & Managing Director of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd. effective March 01, 2014. She is the first woman to be appointed as Chairman & Managing Director of a Navratna PSU. Ms. Vasudeva is a PGDBM from India’s premier business school, Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta. She has a wide experience spanning over 36 years in diverse functions including Corporate Strategy & Planning Department, Information Systems and LPG Strategic Business Unit.

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NITA AMBANI Citizenship/Residence India

Nita Ambani, wife of the richest man in India Mr. Mukesh Ambani is an Indian businesswoman and the chairperson of the Dhirubhai Ambani International School.

She is actively involved in various philanthropic activities in the fields of education, human resources and disaster relief and has made outstanding contribution in building brand India.

Nita Ambani also is the co-owner of the Mumbai Indians cricket team and is actively involved in Project Drishti, a social initiative taken by Reliance Industries (RIL) and National Association for the Blind. She is the recipient of the Samaj Seva Vishwa Bhushan at the Bharat Nari Shakti award and conferred Honorary Doctorate(Degree of Doctor or Letters) By Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi Viswa Mahavidyalaya SCSVMV, University of Kanchipuram.

OLIVIA LUM Citizenship/Residence Singapore

Ms Lum is the Executive Chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer. She heads the Board’s Investment Committee and is a member of the Nominating Committee. She is the driving force behind Hyflux’s growth and business expansion, and is responsible for policy and strategy formulation as well as corporate direction.A former Nominated Member of the Singapore Parliament, Ms Lum is currently a member of the Singapore-Tianjin Economic & Trade Council, the Singapore-Jiangsu Cooperation Council, the Singapore-Zhejiang Economic & Trade Council, the Singapore-Oman Business Council and the Singapore Business Federation Council. She also sits on the boards of International Enterprise Singapore, Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd and Singapore Mediation Centre. Ms Lum has received many accolades for her entrepreneurial achievements including the Nikkei Asia Prize for Regional Growth 2006, the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2011 and the Financial Times ArcelorMittal Boldness in Business Award 2011 for Entrepreneurship.

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COVER STORY ASIA'S 100 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN

PARK GEUN-HYE Citizenship/Residence South Korea

Park Geun-hye was sworn in as South Korea’s first female president in 2013. She is the daughter of former South Korean President Park Chung-hee. The administrative vision of President Park Geun-hye is “A new era of hope.” Her four confirmed administrative priorities are achieving “economic revival,” “happiness for the people,” “cultural renaissance,” and laying the “foundation for peaceful unification.”

She also is the first female head of state in the modern history of North-eastern Asia and is the first South Korean president to have been born a South Korean citizen.

PENG LIYUAN Citizenship/Residence Beijing, China

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Peng Liyuan “Chinese First Lady” is a renowned Chinese contemporary folk singer and performing artist. She is President of the People’s Liberation Army Academy of Art and the wife of current Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

In 2014, she was listed as the 57th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes. Peng gained popularity as a soprano singer from her regular appearances on the annual CCTV New Year’s Gala, a widely viewed mainland Chinese television program that airs during the Chinese New Year. She has won many honors in singing competitions nationwide. Peng was a civilian member of China’s People’s Liberation Army and held the civilian rank equivalent to major general before she was appointed the Art Academy’s dean, upon which she was given the formal rank. She was the first in China to obtain a Master’s degree in traditional ethnic music.

An Indian film actress and singer, and the winner of theMiss World pageant of 2000 and Miss World Continental Queen of Beauty—Asia & Oceania, becoming the fifth Indian to win the competition. Through her film career, Chopra has become one of Bollywood’s highest-paid actresses and one of the most popular and high-profile celebrities in India.

Ms. Chopra is noted for her philanthropic activities, and was appointed as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Child Rights in 2010. She promotes various causes such as environment, girls education, women empowerment and women’s rights, and is particularly vocal about women’s issues, including safety, and gender equality.

PRIYANKA CHOPRA Citizenship/Residence India

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QUEEN RANIA AL ABDULLAH Citizenship/Residence Jordan

Queen Rania Al Abdullah is the Queen consort of Jordan. She is also known as Rania al-Abdullah.

Who believes that “Education is a Titan and the power of education lies not in the pages of textbooks, or the recital of facts and figures. It resides in the mind of a child who is taught how to think. How to navigate the world, avoid whirlpools, climb mountains”. Queen Rania spends much of her time listening to and talking with the people of Jordan, to learn from them the best way to improve their livelihoods and Jordan’s prospects.

She is also an avid user of social media and she maintains pages on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. She has two daughters and two sons and has been given various decorations by governments.

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RAINIE YANG Citizenship/Residence Taiwan

She started acting when she was 14-years-old, appearing in movies and commercials in Hong Kong Rainie Yang is known for several of her works including Ambiguous Love, Ideal Lover and Allergy; her highly popular television series, including Hi My Sweetheart, Devil Beside You and Drunken To Love You.Open, candid and genuine — that’s the sort of person Yang appears to be.

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RANI MUKERJI Citizenship/Residence India

Over 50 movies and almost 2 decades of working in the industry, Rani Mukerji’s contribution reflects versatility and volubility. Once titled as ‘Queen of Bollywood’ Rani has always maintained her natural inclination towards powerful roles and women-centric films.

It was in 2002 that Rani entered what was the golden period of her film career. She has been in the superleague portraying from one of the greatest leading ladies on the Bolly big screen of all time, to the classical Indian heroine protecting her family, from the pretty dolled up heroine to the power woman of substance. Rani Mukerji is a name synonymous to versatility and eloquence. Now married to noted producer-director Aditya Chopra, the lady promises to continue doing more meaningful work in cinema with many more hearts to conquer.

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REKHA M MENON Citizenship/Residence India

Ms. Rekha M. Menon, the Executive Director and Chief Operation Officer at Accenture India Pvt. Ltd has been a major reason in steering company’s growth in India and enunciating its presence throughout. Prior to joining the company she headed Talisma Corp. in India, which she helped start. She was also a part of the India start-ups and executive management teams of Levis Strauss, Akzo Nobel and Cargill Inc. Ms. Menon has more than 20 years of industry experience and has an impeccable record of setting up and managing corporate functions and business operations in IT. Rekha replaces Avinash Vashista who was both chairman and managing director of Accenture India, since 2011 on August 21st 2015 as the Chairperson Accenture India.

ROMI HAAN Citizenship/Residence South Korea

Romi Haan, the inventor of a steam floor cleaner for Asian homes believed so strongly in her home appliance company that she was willing to lose everything to get it off the ground. She mortgaged her own home in 1999 to manufacture and market it. Today she is the founder and CEO of Haan Corp., a multi-national company that produces a wide array of household and beauty products.

Challenging culture where for generations before her, women did not launch businesses on their own, this successful businesswoman continues to garner attention around the world.

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ROSHNI NADAR Citizenship/Residence India

Roshni Nadar is the Executive Director and the CEO of HCL Corporation. She is the only child of HCL’s founder, Shiv Nadar and is a trained classical musician, and enjoys traveling and yoga. Honored

by NDTV as young philanthropist of the Year 2014, Roshni is a Trustee of the Shiv Nadar Foundation, which among its transformational educational initiatives has established the SSN Institutions in Chennai. She is the driving force behind the VidyaGyan schools in Uttar Pradesh, a radical initiative to induct and transform meritorious rural children from economically challenged backgrounds and create leaders of tomorrow.

Known as the ‘Cinderella’ of Indian badminton, Saina Nehwal is not just the first Indian to win a medal in Badminton at the Olympics but also the first to win the World Junior Badminton Championship and a Super Series tournament by clinching the Indonesia Open in 2009. She attained her career’s best rank of second in 2010 as per the ranking released by the Badminton World Federation. Played around 280 singles matches, Saina has won more than 200. Her success can heavily be attributed to the rigorous training sessions she has had.

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SAYEEDA WARSI A lawyer, a businesswoman, a campaigner and a cabinet minister, Sayeeda Warsi has had many portrayals, but she is best known for being the first Muslim to serve in a British cabinet and the foremost Muslim politician in the Western world.

She is known to be a racial justice campaigner for many years, instrumental in the launch of Operation Black Vote. She served in the David Cameron’s Cabinet, first as the Minister without portfolio between 2010 till 2012, then as the Senior Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Office and as the Minister of State for Faith and Communities, until her resignation.

A fierce political campaigner, who resigned from Government citing the Government’s “morally indefensible” policy on Gaza.

Citizenship/Residence British Pakistani

SAINA NEHWAL Citizenship/Residence India

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COVER STORY ASIA'S 100 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN

SHAMI CHAKRABARTI Citizenship/Residence UK

Since September 2003, she is the director of Liberty, the British civil liberties advocacy organisation. Since becoming Liberty’s Director she has written, spoken and broadcast widely on the importance of the post-WW2 human rights framework as an essential component of democratic society. She has served as Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University, a governor of the British Film Institute, and was a member of the Council and Court of Governors of the London School of Economics until April 2013. Assessed as one of the 100 most powerful women in the United Kingdom in 2013 by Woman’s Hour on BBC Radio and in 2014 she was included in The Sunday Times’ “100 Makers of the 21st Century” list.

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SHEIKH HASINA Citizenship/Residence Bangladesh

Bangladesh, often buffeted by political unrest and natural disasters, has had some success stories to tell. This South Asian nation of 160 million people has reduced poverty levels, increased food grain production and has seen a significant increase in the number of children attending schools.

According to World Bank, the percentage of people living on less than $2 a day has declined from about 49 in 2000 to about 32 in 2012. A

SHEIKHA LUBNA AL QASIMI Citizenship/Residence UAE

remarkable turnaround has take place in the electricity sector in this power-starved nation. Much of the credit should go to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government. Hasina, thus, has had a polarising effect on the people.

While some laud her for her anti-Islamist steps, others find folly in her treatment of a celebrated economist. Hasina would like to believe that her side of the divide is larger than the other.

In 2004, Qasimi became the first woman in the country’s history to assume a cabinet position when she was appointed as Minister of Foreign Trade. With the responsibility of boosting the UAE’s role as a major donor and key player in global human development, Qasimi excelled as Minister of International Cooperation and Development since 2013. She has been honored by several countries for her role in enhancing their relations with the UAE and enriching UAE into a prodigious amount of philanthropy.

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COVER STORY ASIA'S 100 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN

With a passion to build businesses complemented by exemplary entrepreneurial skills, Shikha Sharma, Managing Director & CEO of Axis Bank, has emerged as one of the most powerful women of India. Sharma has had to work hard to reach where she is today. Her strategic thinking, great execution skills and enterprising leadership style helped her accomplish her goals. Her performance did not go unnoticed and in 2009, she was appointed as the Managing Director & CEO of Axis Bank.

Her work ethics, ability to take up challenging tasks and executing them in the most transparent manner garnered great admiration from her colleagues.

2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, was the first female judge in Iran. She is the first Iranian and first Muslim woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize award for her for her significant and pioneering efforts human rights advocacy, in particular for the rights of Iranian women, children and political prisoners. But she has lived in exile since 2009.

During the time that Shirin Ebadi was waiting for her attorney’s license to be approved, she taught human rights training courses at Tehran University with a particular focus on women and children.

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SHIKHA SHARMA Citizenship/Residence India

SHIRIN EBADI Citizenship/Residence Iraq

SHOBHANA BHARTIA Citizenship/Residence India

Mrs. Shobhana Bhartia is the Chairperson and Editorial Director of HT Media, one of India’s most preeminent publicly listed media companies. She is also currently serving, as the Pro-Chancellor of the Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences. Shobhana Bhartia also served as a member of the Committees in Parliament on Energy, Women Empowerment, and Human Resource Development.

Conferred with numerous awards and recognition for her commitment and excellence towards building and shaping an all encompassing global economy, including Global Leader of Tomorrow from the World Economic Forum, Davos 1996, and Entrepreneur of the Year, 2005, from Ernst and Young, she was decorated with the Padma Shri, Government of India’s National Award for outstanding contribution in a particular field, in the year 2006.

SITI NURHALIZA Citizenship/Residence Malaysia

Siti Nurhaliza is a Malaysian singer, songwriter, record producer, television presenter and businesswoman. Her family was tight on finance and she helped her mother selling “kuih” all around the village. Since her debut, she has won a number of international singing competitions. She had been crowned as Voice of Asia in 2002 after winning the Grand Prix Champion title at the Voice of Asia singing competition which was held in Almaty, Kazakhstan. To date, she has garnered more than 200 local awards as well as international awards. Siti Nurhaliza cannot be only called a singer.

She is a social icon of the Malaysian society.

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COVER STORY ASIA'S 100 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN

SOLINA CHAU Citizenship/Residence Hong Kong

Solina Chau is a businesswoman in Hong Kong, a business partner in the Cheung Kong Group, and director of the Li Ka Shing Foundation. Horizons Ventures, also run by Ms Chau, which aside from its remaining Facebook stake, now has more than $350m at work in more than 50 different start-ups.

She is also a major stockholder in Tom.com, a publication and advertising company in the People’s Republic of China. As of 2014, she is listed as the 82nd most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.

SRI MULYANI INDRAWATI Citizenship/Residence Indonesia

She is an Indonesian economist. Ms. Indrawati joined the World Bank in June 2010 and most senior woman ever tasked with ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity. Previously she served as Indonesia’s minister of finance in addition to being the coordinating minister of economic affairs. Sri Mulyani is known as a tough reformist and is largely credited with strengthening Indonesia’s economy, increasing investments and steering Southeast Asia’s largest economy through the 2007–10 financial crisis. In 2014, she was ranked as the 38th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine.

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SUN YAFANG Citizenship/Residence China

As the chairperson of the telecom giant Huawei since 1999, Sun Yafang has got her name registered in the list of the most powerful women executives. But she had a humble beginning when she joined Xin Fei TV Manufactory as a technician in 1982. She meticulously went on scripting success stories one after another. Later, she moved on to Huawei in 1989 and became the chairwoman of the corporation in 1999.

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COVER STORY ASIA'S 100 MOST POWERFUL WOMEN

SUNITA WILLIAMS Citizenship/Residence Euclid, Ohio, United States

NASA astronaut Sunita Williams is only the second woman to command the International Space Station. An American astronaut and United States Navy officer of Indian-Slovenian descent, she holds the records for total spacewalks by a woman (seven) and most spacewalk time for a woman. She has been honored Padma Bhushan (India, 2008, for Science and Engineering).

Williams has spent a total of 322 days in space on two missions; she ranks sixth on the all-time U.S. endurance list, and second all-time for a female. With 50 hours 40 minutes, she also holds the record total cumulative spacewalk time by a female Up Till October 15, 2015 82 astronaut.

TASLIMA NASRIN Citizenship/Residence Bangladesh

Taslima Nasrin is a Bangladeshi author and former physician.

From a literary profile as a poet in the late 1980s, she rose to global fame by the end of the 20th century owing to her essays and novels with feminist views and criticism of religion. She advocates secular humanism, freedom of thought, gender equality, and human rights by publishing, lecturing, and campaigning.

Meanwhile, she has received numerous awards in western countries that have publicized her struggle for women’s rights and freedom of expression. In 2000, she again received the Ananda award for her memoir, Amar Meyebela (My Girlhood). A symbol of one who fights for free speech, Taslima Nasrin has defended human rights in many countries and the renowned universities all over the world. Her dream of the secularization of the Islamic countries and secular instead of religious education is becoming more and more accepted and honored by the people who value freedom.

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Amita Marie Young, better known under her stage name Tata Young, is a Thai singer, model, actress and dancer. At the age of 11, she won at her first national talent contest, the Nissan Awards Thailand Junior Singing Contest. After signing with Sony Music in 2001, Tata released her first English language album, “I Believe”, which shot to the top of the charts in almost every country in Asia. She remains one of the most popular performers in Thailand, and is a perennial “favorite” pick by magazines and music-video channels.

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TATA YOUNG Citizenship/Residence Thailand

Dr. Shiva has contributed in fundamental ways to changing the practice and paradigms of environmental issues. Dr. Shiva combines sharp intellectual enquiry with courageous activism, and her work spans teaching at universities worldwide to working with peasants in rural India. Time Magazine identified Dr. Shiva as an environmental ‘hero’ in 2003, and Asia Week has called her one of the five most powerful communicators in Asia. In November 2010, Forbes Magazine identified Dr. Shiva as one of the Seven Most Powerful Women on the Globe.

She served as Chief Executive Officer of Britannia Industries Limited from January 3, 2005 to March 31, 2014. She has worked over 16 years overseas in a variety of marketing, sales and general management positions with eminent multinationals.

With a rich and diverse experience in packaged foods and beverages gained from working with Cadbury Schweppes and The Coca-Cola Company in several continents in a variety of marketing, sales and general management positions. She blends a high quality of Indian and International perspective having lived and worked in the UK, Nigeria, South Africa, USA and Chile. Since 1994. Ms. Bali has been a Non Executive Non Independent Director of Titan Company Limited since October 18, 2006, Syngenta AG since April 2012, Smith & Nephew plc since December 1, 2014. She served as Independent & Non-Executive Director of Piramal Glass Ltd. since July 26, 2007 until September 8, 2014.

Director of The Bombay Dyeing and Manufacturing Company Limited from April 30, 2009 to October 1, 2014, an Independent Director of Mphasis Ltd. She is a member of the Global Diversity and Advisory Council of Novartis International.

VANDANA SHIVA Citizenship/Residence India

VINITA BALI Citizenship/Residence India

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WANG FENGYING Citizenship/Residence China

Wang Feng Ying is the CEO of the GREAT WALL MOTOR COMPANY, a car and truck 9manufacturer.

Ms. Wang has 13 years of experience in sales and marketing management. She joined the Great Wall Group in 1991 and serves as General Manager of both Great Wall Automobile Sales Network Company Limited and Great Wall Bus Sales Company. Only two other major Chineselisted companies have female CEOs.

WU YAJUN Citizenship/Residence China

WEI SUN CHRISTIANSON Citizenship/Residence China

Wei Sun Christianson is the Chief Executive Officer of Morgan Stanley China and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Morgan Stanley Asia Pacific. She is responsible for the oversight and global coordination for all of its business activities in China. She previously served as an Associate Director of the Corporate Finance Department at the Hong Kong Securities and Finance Commission (SFC) where she was instrumental in developing the regulatory framework for the public listing of Mainland Chinese securities in Hong Kong. She also worked as an attorney of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.

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Journalist turned property entrepreneur Wu Yajun cofounded Longfor, a real estate developer.

Longfor, which trades in Hong Kong, has developed residential and commercial projects in various cities of China since its inception. Wu Yajun is the company chairman.

YANG HUIYAN Citizenship/Residence China

Yang Huiyan is one of China’s richest women and one of its youngest billionaires. Yang is vice chairman of Country Garden and a member of the board’s governance committee and is the majority shareholder of the same.

YAO CHEN Citizenship/Residence China

China’s Angelina Jolie, Yao Chen is an activist actress with a platform. Yao has used her stunning social media following - to campaign against unspoken issues including China’s smog problem, food contamination and government censorship. The star of rom-coms and action flicks, Yao’s powerful voice goes far beyond her popular presence. In 2013, she was named a UN Refugee Agency Goodwill Ambassador, the first from China, to help highlight refugee issues for the Chinese-speaking world.

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YINGLUCK SHINAWATRA Citizenship/Residence Thailand

Yingluck Shinawatra is a Thai businesswoman and politician.

She became Thailand’s first female and youngest prime minister when she led the Pheu Thai party to victory in the July 2011 general election. She has maintained peace between the country’s color-coded political enemies, with a base of farmers and the working class. She opened the world’s biggest wildlife summit in March with a pledge to outlaw Thailand’s domestic ivory trade. She remained in the post for nearly three years, until the Constitutional Court forced her to step down in early May 2014 after finding her guilty of abusing her power.

ZAHA HADID Citizenship/Residence Iraqi-British

Zaha Hadid is the leading light of contemporary iconic architecture. Her buildings practically express, “I’m a Hadid”. A bona fidecreator, Hadid is without a doubt the world’s most famous woman in the architect realm. Zaha Hadid Architects create landmark projects for all types of operative segments.

Her buildings are about assertive statements of a particular view, that the world may indeed look different. She is currently professor at the University of Applied Arts Vienna in Austria. Zaha Hadid is the 2004 Pritzker Prize laureate and winner of the Stirling Prize in 2010 and 2011.

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ZAINAB SALBI Citizenship/Residence Iraq

Zainab Salbi is an author, women’s rights activist, humanitarian, social entrepreneur, and media commentator who is the founder and former CEO (1993-2011) of Washingtonbased Women for Women International. Currently she serves as Editor-at-Large at Women in the World Media.

Salbi’s mission had always been to build programs that combine access to knowledge with access to resources to lead to lasting change in women’s lives.

At the age of 23, she founded Women for Women International, a grassroots humanitarian and development organization dedicated to serving women survivors of wars rebuild their lives. Under her enthused contribution the organization fervently grew from helping 30 women upon its inception to more than 400,000 women in 8 conflict areas leading to a distribution of more than $100 million dollars in aid and loans. Salbi was nominated as one of the 21st century heroes in 2010 by President Clinton.

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ZHANG XIN It is Zhang Xin who has shaped and built China’s modern urban landscape. She’s worth $800 million more than Oprah Winfrey, the world’s best known self-made female billionaire. Not only does Zhang’s riches story mirror her, but the extensive real estate developments in the capital and the country’s much of buildings under SOHO CHINA banner. She is co-founder and CEO of SOHO China, the largest commercial real estate developer in Beijing.

As of 2014, she is listed as the 62nd most powerful woman in the world by Forbes. As one of China’s most celebrated female entrepreneurs. Zhang Xin and her husband Pan Shiyi founded the SOHO China Foundation in 2005 to engage in education focused initiatives to alleviate poverty.

ZIA MODY Citizenship/Residence India

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Citizenship/Residence Beijing , China

Zia Mody is a gifted legal notable trusted by most corporate houses whether Tatas, Birlas, Mittals, Ambanis and so on, who would not call down curtains without soliciting her advice.

She is known as the indisputable leader in corporate law in India.

Her firm AZB & Partners is rated first among the top law firms for mergers and acquisitions.

Daughter of Soli Sorabjee, famous Indian jurist and former AttorneyGeneral of India, She is the recipient of the Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence as the Businesswoman of the Year, 2010, named one of India’s 100 Most Powerful CEOs by The Economic Times in 2004 and 2006 and several other honorary titles.

ZOYA AKHTAR Citizenship/Residence India

She is a writer and director, known for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011), Talaash (2012) and Luck by Chance (2009) and Dil Dadhakne Do(2015). She has given movies a stature that talks of universal applicability with drama and emotions, over and above it reflects an annotative cinema. Zoya’s directorial presence on Indian Screen talks volumes about cinematography, details and emotions. editor@wcrcleaders.com

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SPECIAL FEATURE

ZOYA AKHTAR

She is the new breed of super-director of the film world followed by billions globally.

She re-defines the way films are. Her movies become a CULT. What makes Zoya Akhtar the new leader of Indian Film Industry. ZOYA AKHTAR in conversation with Saimik Sen, CEO, WCRC Leaders Asia

ZOYA AKHTAR

“Zoya” and “Direction”. Is it something you have always aimed for?

I have always liked films. But I think when I was a teenager, this is when I realized that this is what I want to do.

In your opinion which is the most significant aspect of direction?

I think having a perspective on the story is the most important thing In an Industry whelmed with male directors, does being a women director impinges you at any point of time?

My entire experience is being a female. I don’t really think about it. No one will tell, we are nicer to you or not because you are a women. I don’t know how they are with other people. I just do my work. The crew takes you seriously if you know your job.

What is one thing you would wish to change about the entertainment industry?

I wish the entertainment industry was more united on a lot of levels and wish the government take us a bit more seriously. Because we are an industry and we pay a lot of tax. I wish we were taken care of, whether it comes to piracy, infrastructures, or laws for shooting, or not putting no smoking on our films. If the industry really came together, they could change it.

Be your own fortune teller!

How would you be 5 years down the line I have no idea! and that’s the fun of it.

You have given movies a stature that talks of universal applicability with drama and emotions, over and above it reflects an annotative cinema.

Do you direct with this perspective?

I think the message organically comes out with the kind of story that it is. I enjoy the genre of comedy and drama. But I have to make films that mean something.

A student of NYU, a casting director, an assistant director and now Direction. How have all these paradigms contributed to your evolvement?

I feel different things give you different experiences. Casting gave me the experience of working with actors and it was great for me to learn how to direct actors. NYU was amazing as we learned everything, from lighting to writing to music.

We learnt everything about filmmaking. So, it was a very holistic experience. Besides that, the whole experience of living in New York made me learn a lot.

Also I will say that my biggest film school is watching films!

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ZOYA AKHTAR

Whatever that little story is, it should be about something and it should say something.

So whether it is a small or a big issue, it’s important for me that my stories mean something.

Would you be willing to direct a movie raising women concerns or rather reflecting them empowered?

Dil Dhadakne Do had that and the point is that it doesn’t have to be only one woman in the movie. Also, I think through whatever movies I make the concern is there. My female characters are extremely strong for a reason. It is my wall view, it is how I feel about women and it will come into any story I tell. I am a film maker, my value system will come out in my work because I am well aware of that, but at the same time I want to make films on stories I am excited to tell and within that story you give your truths out!

Also if a story excites me I will do an entirely woman centric movie. I am not going to do it because I am a woman and I should. I will do it if something moves me to say it.

Zoya Akhtar’s directorial presence on Indian Screen talks volumes about cinematography, details and emotions.

That’s the fun of making movies!

It’s collaborative art. You have a lot of people who are amazing at what they do and they are all there to get a vision out of you and make that happen. That’s the joy of making films. It’s got art, music, sound, lighting, dramatics, and dance.

Everything! In one art form. If 94

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AL GRID

PERSON

What things fascinate you the most when you travel?

It depends on where I go. I like history, so if I go to places that are slightly old civilizations, I like to see their art and architecture, museums. I will see what kind of handicrafts they make there. And I love food! If I go to a new place I will eat everything and try everything.

What are your hobbies?

I like to read and travel. Also I like music and watching films.

Best and the worst thing about your job The best thing about my job is telling stories. I am a story teller!

Also, I don’t feel like its work. Though it is a lot of hardwork, but it’s creating, so it’s very fulfilling.

And the worst thing about my job is that others don’t see it as a job. People don’t let you do your job. If you are shooting on the street, people will just get in there. They don’t realize that it’s a lot of work and a lot of money. People don’t treat it as a hard earned profession.

my films are detailed, credit goes to these people.

One thing you have to let go off as a Director.

Impatience!

Because that can make you take wrong decisions. You have got to be patient with your crew, your actors, be patient for the light waiting for the sun and everything else. You have to be patient. You just have to get it right and have to let go off that chalta hai quality.

How is it being a celebrity child? Has it been helpful or pressuring in terms to match up your family’s fame and work?

We are very different as individuals. We grew up with other kids from films, but we had a really broad based child hood.

It wasn’t always about movies.

We were exposed to a lot of things and we travelled a lot.

Right now, I am very happy that all my family members are doing really good work.

Also I have three writers.

Every time I write a script I get a feedback from three of the best minds in the business.

A message from you I think India is on a very strange pace and it has become intolerant of things that are none of their business.

And those things that they should care as a society, they aren’t bothered about it.

I find it appalling. I think we need to focus on priorities and figure out what is important.

And what we need to change.

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TRAVEL & TOURISM

WANDERLUST

EXPLORATORY INTERVIEW

with Reeti Trivedi I have travelled extensively in Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh, I have always sought a new experience every time. From staying with the shepherds on a secluded mountain top to being hosted by a member of Kashmiri royalty in his family owned heritage hotel, from living out of tents or experiencing the humble charm of a home stay, I have accumulated a wealth of memories and friends. So, travel helped me make friends, discover a hidden side of the world and a hidden side of myself as well.

I could step out of my comfort zone and push myself.

A

sserting her right to entertainmentenriched solo traveling, Reeti Trivedi Pandharipande, a lecturer of English and Mass Communication, a journalist and an eminent contributor to New Delhi-based Outlook Traveler Guide shares her experiences and passion for travel. Reeti has been an avid traveler, mountains being her true calling. She believes “Travel is as much about the people you meet as it is about the sights you see”.

1

What fascinates you the most when u travel?

Discovering something new about the world and myself and of course meeting people. Although

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2

Being a woman, are there any precautionary steps that you take before planning your trip?

I love to take solo trips. I have travelled to London for a month, stayed, worked and travelled in Himachal for 40 days, done a project in rural Orissa, and

explored forests around my city.

Here are a few ways in which you can minimize the risk: • Keep your wits about yourself and trust your instincts.

• Before travelling to a new place ask around among your friends and acquaintances if they have visited it and/ or have any local contacts or references.

• A continued enquiry about the weather, places to stay, see, eat, etc, is essential before you go.

• Try connect to locals there, sometimes a local recommendation can reveal a hidden gem.

• Try and understand the culture and local customs of the place you plan to travel.

While travelling, be in your most comfortable outfit.

• While the jewellery-laden look is a strict no-no, something discreet such as a delicate gold ring or small earrings can serve as your last insurance in

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case of an emergency.

If travelling by bus, always prefer picking a state owned/ public bus. It’s actually safer.

More and more buses now have a wi-fi in place, try to look for those.

3

How has travel empowered women?

Any education empowers. And I believe travel is the best kind of education. I am only glad that women can finally be out there and learn. By travelling you not only learn about the world around you but also yourself.

Your limitations suddenly dawn upon you and you also learn how to push those limits. These limits come in many forms like food, toilets, your own bed and getting along with all kinds of people.

Overcoming all these things means empowerment to me.

Although travel empowers you from within it also humbles you in many ways. Life in the cities, in our comfort zones has made all of us very self absorbed. But when you are out there struggling with

your limitations, you realise you are just a grain of sand.

4

How do you manage Physical health difficulties while travelling.

I was travelling in Spiti when I got infection under my molar cap. We were in Tabo where there was only a primary health centre, and thankfully, a doctor too. But, you never know what might happen to you at the oddest place. Carry a first-aid kit as a precautionary major. Another thing that travelling women cannot escape is periods. My suggestion: A menstrual cup, which is a relatively new female hygiene product can come in quite handy during long travels.

5

Which mode of transport do you prefer travelling by and why?

Nothing preferred as such, whatever mode of transportation takes me where I want to go.

Anything and everything, from walking to flying! You just have to be aware and informed.

How do you plan your trip?

I do not always like to have a very fixed itinerary and I also like to experience places that are off the regular tourist map. However, in the planning stage, I do consult some travel websites such as lonely planet and TripAdvisor as they have lots of advice and recommendations and often have peer reviews that are very helpful.

Then there are two Manalibased firms and a Leh-based firm that are my choice. They are Indian Himalayan Excursion in Manali, Himalayan Caravan, Manali and Adventure Infinite Treks and Tours, Leh. The Leh firm is also the logistics partner of La Ultra - The High, the famous high altitude marathon in Ladakh.

All the above mentioned firms collaborate with each other. All of them are experienced trekkers, climbers and skiers and have a lot of experience, excellent equipment and dedicated support staff. Most importantly, their companies are environmentally-conscious. They have utmost respect for the terrain they trek in and make every effort to maintain its pristine nature. editor@wcrcleaders.com

Concluding

I do not know where I am going to travel next. But the top most on my bucket list is the Everest base camp. I hope I do it next year. Also, now that I have a daughter, I try to include her in my travel plans. She has already trekked with me in Himachal at the age of 20 months and still misses her travel down south. I hope she grows up to be as crazy about travel as I am.

Up Till October 15, 2015

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MOVIE REVIEW

BAJRANGI BHAIJAN

Director: Kabir Khan Star cast: Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Harshaali Malhotra Produced by: Salman Khan, Rockline Venkatesh Released Date: July 17, 2015 Music: Pritam

Bajrangi Bhaijan

THE NEW HEART-THROB OF THE NATION Harshaali wins heart, Bajrangi Bhaijaan breaks all records.

‘B

anjrangi Bhaijan’, the most awaited Salman Khan movie and the maiden venture of his production house ‘Salman Khan Films’ released on the festival of Eid, in more than 50 countries with over 5000 screens across globe, set the Box office ablaze. The film broke all the past records with its enormous collections at the Box Office with over 180 cr. in its first week of release.

Interestingly, even after eight weeks, the film continues to entertain the viewers.

People have loved the movie so much so that they are watching it again and again.

“Bajrangi Bhaijaan”, which earned Rs 320 crore in its box office run, shattered the sixth week record of Aamir Khan’s “PK”, according to Box Office India. With over 360 cr. gross domestic collection the success of the film’s domestic run has

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been repeated in the international circuit as well with over 200 cr. gross overseas collection across countries like Australia, New Zealand, U.K., Germany etc. Global collections stand at a whooping 626 cr.

The latest reports confirmed the release of ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ in Japan very soon.

Though there are no confirmations yet, it is also said that the makers of the film are also planning about its release in China.

China and Japan being two countries providing a huge platform for bollywood Cinema and with ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ a larger than life film, crossing all the borders with its success there are major possibilities that the film might break all past established bollywood records.

Bajrangi Bhaijan is quintessentially ‘masala’ bollywood delight. Salman is quite a genius. The right usage of situations, emotions and cinematography apart, casting is brilliant. Kabir Khan needs to be applauded for finding a true genius in Harshaali. Its difficult to match up Salman Khan for the biggest superstar in the same movie. His aura overpowers everything else. Harshaali stands apart.

Are we really seeing a super-heroine of tomorrow. Till then Bajrangi Bhaijaan has weaved its magic across nations

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