| According to him, providing disclosures to stakeholders is a basic requirement of corporate governance. "Framing of rules and regulations alone cannot lead to better corporate governance," he emphasises. |
| Efforts to ensure transparent corporate governance will safeguard investors' interests and raise the competitiveness of Indian companies in the global market, he says. |
| However, companies must be prudent while determining the kind of information they want to disclose - information that will risk the competitiveness of a company shouldn't be conveyed to its shareholders. |
| How does he view the current Indian corporate scenario vis-à-vis the growing exuberance in economic growth? "The service sector is optimistic with regard to its current and expected performance," he says. |
| The manufacturing sector, on the other hand, has some catching up to do with the increase in capacity utilisation and newer investment plans. Ficci, too, has a role in spurring industrial growth, Modi agrees. He likes to see the industry body as an effective tool in generating employment and eradicating poverty. |
| A B.Sc in textile engineering, Modi is also the chairman of YKM Holdings which has its roots in the House of Modis which has interests in varied fields ranging from telecommunications to industrial chemicals. |
| He serves as chairman on the board of directors of Modi Telecommunications - a radio paging service provider - and chairs Great Eastern Energy Corp (GEEC) and Indiapurchase.com Infoware. |
| Modi, 56, enjoys sparing his time for various social causes. When he manages to find time for himself, golf and cricket are what he would love to play or watch. Equally engrossing are thriller novels, he hastens to add. |
| Kiran Majumdar-Shaw, Chairman and Managing Director of Biocon, is fiercely patriotic. That probably explains why this post-graduate in malting and brewing from Melbourne University, Australia was not part of the brain drain and instead chose to stay on in India and create India's largest biotechnology company. |
| Although she wears a neck brace because of spondylosis, her enthusiasm about her pet subject- biotechnology is palpable, quite understandable, given that the initial public offer (IPO) of Biocon is slated to hit the markets next week. |
| When asked about why wait so long for coming out with an IPO, given that Biocon has been in existence since 1978, Shaw has a ready answer. She claims to have a penchant for perfectionism, and now that the company size merits a public issue, she felt that this is the perfect time to make the offering. |
| 'Biocon was born in a garage' is how she describes the initial days as there was little by way of funding coming their way. And its only through perseverance and hard work that Shaw has made Biocon what it is today. |
| That perhaps explains the workaholic streak in her, given that she spends most of her time at the office or reading up on the latest scientific developments. |
| However, what gets her goat is the way people have a preconceived notion of biotechnology without really trying to analyse its benefits. "They compare biotechnology to playing God and messing with nature," she says. |
| What they don't understand is that biotechnology can be very humane and eliminate unnecessary cruelty like killing animals for extracting animal insulin," she adds. |
| Co-author of several patents in biotechnology, Shaw is not new to recognitions coming her way. She is a recipient of the Padmashri for her pioneering efforts in biotechnology. |
| Besides, she had been the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2002 in the healthcare and lifesciences category. In her spare time, Shaw likes to tee off with a game of golf and makes it a point to grab some rest and relaxation in the swimming pool at home on Sundays. |
| She is also a fan of contemporary art and her collection includes the likes of M F Hussain and Anjolie Ela Menon. |
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