India is winning the world , softly
India is being feted as a soft superpower. DT explores what makes India the next big thing on the world stage. Be it Indian tycoons taking over international giants or foreign universities lauding our politicians or Hollywood superstars shooting in the country... India seems to be the flavour everywhere. It is being feted as an emerging economy with a pool of superlative talent at its disposal and as the next big thing on the world stage. But it is the country’s achievements in the arena of education, art, culture, entertainment etc. that has given it the status of a ‘soft superpower’. Global recognition : Indian writer Kiran Desai is the youngest woman ever to win the Booker Prize. Amitabh Bachchan has been honoured by the French government with the country's prestigious Legion d'Honneur award. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was honoured with a Doctorate of Law by the Cambridge University. Yoga exponent Baba Ramdev has been invited by the United Nations to deliver a lecture on poverty alleviation. Forbes has ranked India-born Indra Nooyi as the fourth-most powerful woman in the world while Congress chief Sonia Gandhi is at 13th position. ICICI Bank deputy managing director Chanda Kochhar, HSBC India’s CEO Naina Lal Kidwai and Biocon head Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw , have been named among the world's 50 most powerful businesswomen by Fortune magazine. India cricket team captain Rahul Dravid has been nominated in four categories, including Cricketer of the Year, for the annual International Cricket Council (ICC) awards. And there’s more... More than 30 Indian writers attended the Frankfurt Book Fair this October to woo world publishers. India was guest of honour at the October 4-8 fair. PIO Praveen Kumar has taken over as president of the British Medical Association. Karan Johar was a judge at the Miss World pageant that took place in September 2006. Deepa Mehta’s Water, based on the plight of Benaras widows, is Canada’s official Oscar entry this year. Manavjit Singh Sandhu was ranked 1st in the world shooting championship in July 2006.
