Nandan Nilekani, Co-founder of Infosys

Two Indians, Nandan Nilekani, co-founder of Infosys, one of India’s largest IT companies and A R Rahman, the Oscar-winning music director of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, have been named in the Time 100 list of the World's Most Influential People. The new list to be published in the May 11 annual Time 100 issue has bWeen picked by the prestigious American magazine's editors. The 2009 Time 100 list of 'the World's Most Influential People' has recognised political leaders, celebrities and academicians amongst a host of world-shapers. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Amazon.Com founder Jeff Bezos and media celebrity Oprah Winfrey also feature in the list. "In our annual TIME 100 issue, we do the impossible: name the people who most affect our world," said the editors.

A R Rahman, The Music Director

Vikas Swarup, the author of the novel Q&A on which the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire was based, comments “As the new India, fueled by its robust democracy and favorable demographics, seeks to make the transition from a developing nation to a developed one, it will need the vision and talent of people like Nandan Nilekani” in an article accompanying the list. While Padma Lakshmi, the host of ‘Bravo's Top Chef’ says on the performer whose works reeks of divinity, “He enjoys the godlike devotion of India's youth, but everyone from the street child who sweeps train platforms to the middle-aged doctor in Mumbai's posh Malabar Hill hums his tunes. He has shaped modern India's music for more than a decade. Now the "Mozart of Madras" has the world's foot tapping along with him”.

BMW India, the fully-owned subsidiary of the world’s largest premium car maker BMW Group, will launch its two-seater Roadster Z4 sports car in India in the second half of 2009 and will add 10 dealers in tier-II cities such as Coimbatore, Jaipur, Lucknow and Ludhiana, as its India sales have exceeded expectations, said a top company executive.

“We grew 15% in the first quarter of 2009 and surpassed Mercedes Benz in the sales tally,” said BMW India president Peter Kronschnabl. Mercedes Benz has been the leader in India’s luxury car market for more than decade, but BMW surpassed it by selling 992 cars in the first quarter this year. The luxury car maker will now launch three new cars in India to keep pace with the growth momentum. The Roadster Z4 with a folding hard-top can run up to 250 kmph.

It will be launched in the price band of Rs 50-60 lakh in the second half of this year. The petrol and diesel variants of the newly-launched BMW 7Series, which is priced at Rs 81 lakh and Rs 77 lakh, respectively, will hit the market in June.“We are looking at incremental sales from untapped cities. Already, Ludhiana and Coimbatore are giving us sizable sales and we expect similar numbers from other tier-II cities,” said Mr Kronschnabl. BMW India will also double its presence in Delhi, its biggest market, by adding two showrooms in Gurgaon and West Delhi to take the total number of dealers to 24 by the end-year. The company has also roped in HDFC Bank — the largest private player in the auto loan market — as a preferred financier. It already has a tie-up with ICICI Bank for car finance.

Its premium car rivals Mercedes Benz launched the new M-Class SUV and the C-Class, while the third largest player, Audi, had launched the new A4, A6 and Q7 in India this year. With sales growth of 22% in FY09 to 6,671 units, luxury cars remained the fastest growing segment.

Source: The Economic Times