O.P. Jindal killed in chopper crash
New Delhi: Om Prakash Jindal, Chairman of the Jindal Group, died on Thursday in a helicopter crash. While the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has ordered an enquiry into the accident, industry circles are bemoaning the loss of an enterprising industrialist.

The 74-year old industrialist controlled 20 factories worth around Rs12,000 crore under the Jindal banner. Born on August 7, 1930 in village Nalwa of district Hisar in Haryana, his father was a farmer. His industrial career began with a small bucket manufacturing unit in Hisar and in 1964, he commissioned a pipe unit christened Jindal India Ltd, currently known as Jindal Industries Ltd. In 1969 he laid the foundation of a large factory under the name Jindal Strips Ltd.

Jindal was known for his philanthropic activities, founding the N.C. Jindal Charitable Trust, named after his father, under whose auspices a 500-bed hospital, a girls' residential school and several other activities were run. He was also the nominated Chairman of the Maharaja Agarsen Medical Education & Scientific Research Society and a custodian trustee of the Agroha Vikas Trust.

He was also Minister of Power, Printing & Stationery in the Haryana Government. In 1991, he had become a Member of the Haryana Legislative Assembly and was soon after elected as Member of Parliament in the 11th Lok Sabha.

The captains of Indian industry have condoled Jindal's demise. Sunil Kant Munjal, President, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), said that he was a man of great acumen, and in his death, India has lost a great industrialist, who had built up a reputation for ingenuity of products and product integrity.

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) President, Onkar S. Kanwar, called him a true Indian entrepreneur who had channelised all his energies into building a professional organisation. ``In business or politics, he was much ahead of his times... little wonder then that he was placed among the 12 Indians in the Forbes 2005 list of billionaires," he said.

The President of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), Mahendra K. Sanghi, also expressed deep shock and sorrow over his demise.
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Sashi Kumar appointed Coal India chief
New Delhi: Sashi Kumar, Director (Marketing) of Coal India Ltd (CIL), has been appointed as the regular Chairman of the company. He will be assuming charge from Friday, Coal Ministry officials have said.

Kumar has been holding additional charge as the acting Chairman of CIL.

The decision to appoint a full-time Chairman for the public sector coal company comes almost twenty-one months after the erstwhile Chairman, N.K. Sharma, was suspended under charges of corruption.
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Ramadorai appointed Nasscom Chairman
Mumbai: S. Ramadorai, CEO, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, has been appointed Chairman of the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) for the year 2005-06. He succeeds Jerry Rao who was the Nasscom chairman in 2004-05, said a press release.

B. Ramalinga Raju, Chairman, Satyam Computer Services Ltd, has been appointed Vice-Chairman of Nasscom for the current year.

"Mr Ramadorai, apart from being the CEO of India's largest IT company, is a greatly respected veteran of the industry, and will bring enormous sagacity and maturity to Nasscom. We are also extremely pleased to have Mr B. Ramalinga Raju take the position of Vice Chairman, Nasscom for 2005-06," said Kiran Karnik, President, Nasscom.

"My endeavour will be to emphasise the vital role the industry plays, both within the country's fast-growing economy and externally, through investments in other markets, like the US, the UK, and Europe," said Ramadorai.
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D. Swarup to head pension authority
New Delhi: D. Swarup will take over as the Chairman of the interim Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) with effect from today. Swarup was the Expenditure Secretary in the Ministry of Finance.

As the head of the interim pension regulatory body, Swarup will have to steer through the proposed pension sector reforms. The reforms have been stuck due to opposition from the Left parties towards the proposed shift from the present defined benefit pension system to a defined contribution system.
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National Mineral Award for six ONGC geoscientists
New Delhi: Six geologists of ONGC have bagged the National Mineral Award 2003 for their contributions in fundamental and applied geosciences as well as in the field of hydrocarbon exploration and production. The National Mineral Award is the highest honour in geosciences given by the Government.

According to an ONGC release, each award carries a prize of Rs one lakh, a certificate, a citation and a trophy. In the case of team awards, the team members share the award equally subject to a minimum of Rs40,000 each.

The recipients of the awards (including the team awards) were: J.L. Narshimhan (individual), P.B. Pandey (individual), Shyamal Bhattacharya (individual), Dr Ashesh Siawal (team), A.K. Kaul (team), and Sanjay Baveja (team).
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Dimri is Indian Geophysical Union President
Hyderabad: Dr V. P. Dimri, Director, National Geophysical Research Institute , has been elected President of the Indian Geophysical Union for the period 2005-07.

He will succeed Dr E. Desa, former Director, National Institute of Oceanography, Goa.
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