TO THE KENYAN YOUTHS

Anil Ambani exhorts youths to join politicsBANGALORE, DHNS:
Reliance Industries Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Anil D Ambani called upon the educated youth of the country to join politics in order to accelerate the country’s progress.Delivering the 29th annual convocation of the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM-B) here on Saturday, Mr Ambani regretted that 75 per cent of the members of Parliament were more than 50 years of age and 60 per cent were above 60 years. “Educated youth will be an added advantage to Indian politics,” he said.Welcoming the new trend of educated youngsters joining politics in the country, he cited the examples of Sachin Pilot, Omar Abdullah and Jyotiraditya Scindia, who are all management graduates.Mr Ambani observed that 75 per cent of India’s population was under 40 years of age and this provides a tremendous advantage to the country. Mr Ambani was all praise for Bangalore and said the City represented the power of youth. He said through IT and IT enabled services, Bangalore has truly demonstrated the power of youth. He named personalities such as Azim Premji, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Narayan Murthy and Vijay Mallya, who belong to Bangalore.Mr Ambani urged the IIMB to start programmes for ministers as well, and not only restrict it to bureaucrats. He also stressed on the participation of women in the country’s affairs and said it was a matter of concern that only nine per cent of the graduating class were women. Pointing towards the audience, he said it was also a matter of concern that only 27 of the 299 new graduates from the IIM-B were women. Sharing his views about the country’s growth in recent times, Mr Ambani said when he had graduated in 1982, he never imagined the strides the country would make in the coming years. “Each one of you has a contribution to make. With all of us contributing our mite, it should not be difficult for India to become a economic superpower,” he said, attracting applause from the audience.Mr Ambani stressed on attitude and value-system, which he said was essential for one’s progress. He said his biggest learning in his 25 years of corporate life, came from things such as showing respect for elders, constant humility, parental love, care and upbringing and belief in value system.He then urged the audience to spread the phenomenon of LOVE, which according to him stood for Learning (and sharing), Opportunities, Value System and Ethics. Rank holdersPG Diploma in Management: Gold medal for First Rank - Harsh Agarwal, gold medal for second rank - Vijay Ravindra Borkar and Kaushal K Vaidya and Gold medal for best all round performance - Rajiv Srivatsa K R. PG Programme in Public Policy and Management: Gold medal for academic excellence - Hasmukh Adhia. PG Diploma in Software Enterprise Management: Gold medal for first rank - Sundaraman Ramesh. Gold medal for best all round performance - Bhaskar Basu.