August - 1999 - issue > Cover Feature

What does it take to be successful, and bring about meaningful change in the world and the people around you? In the fast-paced, cutthroat, rough-and-tumble worlds of business and technology, it takes a special combination of drive, determination, smarts and people skills to be a shining star. We've come across quite a few of these individuals in the siliconindia community during our two years of publication and we think it's time we officially recognized some of the best and brightest. siliconindia is pleased to present the first annual set of recipients of the siliconindia Leadership Awards -- ten entrepreneurs, technologists, academicians and managers who represent the drive, determination and success that we so love to write about.

We even surprised ourselves when, in 1997, we set out to publish a business and technology magazine focused specially on South Asian/Indian professionals. We knew there were thousands of these folks working in these fields both here and abroad, but the over-abundance of people, places and enterprises we found to write about plus the enthusiasm and feedback of our readers created overwhelming editorial possibilities. We never seem to want for exciting news to report on the industrial, digital, entrepreneurial, commercial, capital, even legal and political frontiers. But certainly, some of the people we've come to know stand out from the rest. After weeks of deliberation among members of our editorial staff, somehow we narrowed down our expansive list of contenders to the group of awardees you will get to know in the pages ahead. From the corporate to the academic to the start-up arena, we think you'll agree, these people are role models for the new Millennium. They've seen, done, dreamed up, followed through, accomplished and inspired, and we expect them to continue to do so in coming years. In short, they are the "ones to watch." So here they are: the winners of the 1999 siliconindia Leadership Awards.