Dear Reader:

Here is an interesting titbit to share with you.

The list of the 75 most influential people of the 21st Century includes the following (in order of appearance - it's not a ranking, though), with a mini-profile:

• Ratan Tata: Chairman of India's largest privately held company, 70. Mumbai
• M.I.A.: The first and only major artist in world music, 33. Everywhere
• Bobby Jindal: Governor, 37. Baton Rouge, Louisiana
  Mukesh Ambani: Magnate, government surrogate, 51. Mumbai.
• Ronnie Screwvala: Movie mogul, 46. Mumbai.
• Parag Khanna: Geopolitical analyst, 31. New York.
  Lakshmi Mittal: CEO, ArcelorMittal, the world's largest producer of steel, employer of 310,000 in 60 countries, fourth richest man in the world, 58. London.

• Ten of the 100 richest people in the world are Indian or of Indian origin
• Amount of money sent home by Indians living abroad in 2007:
  North America: $10.8 billion
  Persian Gulf region: $5.9 billion
  Europe: $3.2 billion
  East Asia: $2 billion
  South America: $1.5 billion
  Africa: $500 million

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