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Wipro’s Azim Premji most generous Indian, donates INR 220 million daily!

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BY S VENKAT NARAYAN

Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, November 13:

IT major Wipro’s Azim Premji donated INR220 daily, or INR 79.04 billion in a year and emerged as the most generous Indian in 2020.

Premji pipped HCL Technologies’ Shiv Nadar, who had earlier topped the list collated by Hurun Report India and Edelgive Foundation, by a wide margin. Nadar’s donations stood at INR 7.95 billion for FY20 as against INR8.26 billion in the year-ago period. Premji had donated INR 4.26 billion in the previous fiscal.

Richest Indian Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries retained the third spot among the list of givers by donating INR4.58 billion as against INR4.02 billion a year ago, it said.

The raging pandemic had the corporate honchos repurposing their donations to fight the COVID infections, and the top giver on this turned out to be Tata Sons with a INR15-billion commitment, followed by Premji at INR11.25 billion, and Ambani at INR5.10 billion.

A bulk of the corporate commitments seemed to be given to the PM-CARES Fund, with Reliance Industries committing INR5 billion, and Aditya Birla Group donating INR4 billion, the report said. It can be noted that Tatas’ commitment also includes a INR5 crore donation to the fund newly created by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to battle the coronavirus pandemic.

Premji’s generosity pulled the total donations up by 175 per cent to INR120.5 billion in FY20, the list said.

Azim Premji Endowment Fund owns 13.6 per cent of the promoter’s shareholding in Wipro and has the right to receive all money earned from promoter shares, the report said.

The number of individuals who have donated more than INR100 million increased marginally to 78 from the year-ago period’s 72, the report said.

With a donation of INR27 million, Amit Chandra and Archana Chandra of ATE Chandra Foundation are the first and only professional managers to ever enter the list.

The list has three of Infosys’ co-founders with Nandan Nilekani (INR1.59 billion), S Gopalkrishnan (INR500 million) and S D Shibulal (INR32 million).

The list of 109 individuals who have donated over INR50 million has seven women, led by Rohini Nilekani with INR470 million.

Education is the highest beneficiary sector with 90 philanthropists, led by Premji and Nadar, together donating INR93.24 billion, the report said. Healthcare came second with 84 donors and was followed by disaster relief and rehabilitation with 41 donors.

Mumbai, the financial capital, led by donor count at 36, followed by New Delhi at 20 and Bengaluru at 10.

E-commerce firm Flipkart’s co-founder Binny Bansal was the youngest donor at 37 with a commitment of INR53 million and the average age of the donors on the list was 66 years, it said.

 

 



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Committees with accountable district-level officials to be appointed to resolve Human-Elephant Conflict

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President Anura Kumara Disanayake instructed relevant officials to swiftly implement a formal mechanism to resolve the human-elephant conflict, which significantly impacts both the rural economy and people’s lives.

The President issued these directives during a discussion on resolving the human-elephant conflict, held this  (20) afternoon at the Presidential Secretariat.

During the discussion, particular attention was paid to the districts most affected by the human-elephant conflict, including Anuradhapura, Puttalam, Polonnaruwa, Ampara, Hambantota, Monaragala, Kurunegala, Badulla and Trincomalee. The respective District Secretaries presented the specific issues in their districts to the President.

Discussions also covered existing vacancies within the Department of Wildlife, vehicle requirements and the challenges faced in carrying out their duties.

The President emphasised the need to streamline the mechanism for resolving the human-elephant conflict and highlighted the importance of implementing this programme in close collaboration with the public.

Accordingly, the President instructed that committees comprising accountable officials from the relevant districts be appointed within the next month to carry out these activities.

The President also directed that retired officers be recruited on a contract basis to fill current vacancies in the Department of Wildlife. As an immediate measure, he instructed officials to assign Civil Security Department officers to the Department of Wildlife with specific training and to enact relevant legislation for this purpose.

Furthermore, the President instructed that the ongoing joint operations by the Police, other security forces and the Department of Wildlife to resolve the human-elephant conflict be made more systematic and efficient.

The event was attended by Professor Chandana Abeyrathne, Minister of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and Local Government; Ananda Wijepala, Minister of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs; T.B. Sarath, Deputy Minister of Housing; Aruna Jayasekara, Deputy Minister of Defence; Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake, Secretary to the President; Ranjan Marasinghe, Director General of Wildlife; Major General Lasantha Rodrigo, Army Commander; Priyantha Weerasuriya, Acting Inspector General of Police; as well as District Secretaries and other government officials.

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Students from Thambuttegama Central College visit President’s House

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A group of students from Thambuttegama Central College, Anuradhapura, visited the Presidential Secretariat and President’s House this (20) afternoon  during their annual educational tour.

The students had the opportunity to participate in the ‘Vision’ programme, an initiative for schoolchildren jointly organised by the Presidential Secretariat, the Ministry of Education, and the Department of Communication of the Parliament of Sri Lanka.

After touring the Old Parliament building within the Presidential Secretariat, the students were also briefed on parliamentary history.

The college’s teaching staff and students were also informed about the ‘Clean Sri Lanka’ programme, which operates under a concept by President Anura Kumara Disanayake, as well as the role of the executive and the rule of law.

During the visit, the Legal Advisor to the President J.M. Wijebandara symbolically demonstrated the value of environmental protection by presenting a valuable sapling to the school.

The event was attended by Senior Additional Secretary to the President K.N.M. Kumarasinghe, Deputy Director of the Tri-Forces Security Affairs Coordinating Unit Colonel Dhananjaya Senarath, Deputy Principal of Thambuttegama Central College M.G. Asanka Wijesuriya, along with teaching staff and other officials.

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Foreign Direct Investment records 90% Increase in First Quarter of 2025

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The Board of Investment (BOI) of Sri Lanka has successfully increased Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) by US$96 million in the first quarter of 2025, compared with the same period in 2024.

This was disclosed today (20) during a progress review meeting of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka, chaired by President Anura Kumara Disanayake at the Presidential Secretariat.

BOI officials also noted that, relative to the first quarter of 2024, domestic investment rose by US$21 million, while export income increased by US$176 million during the first quarter of 2025. In total, Sri Lanka has attracted US$4,669 million in investment proposals thus far in 2025.

The meeting also focused on the issues and challenges associated with attracting investment to the country and discussed potential strategies to address them.
Addressing the gathering, President Anura Kumara Disanayake stated that the Board of Investment holds a pivotal role in enhancing the national economy and improving the living standards of the rural population.

He stressed that opportunities to attract investment in traditional sectors are becoming increasingly limited and therefore the nation must identify new areas for investment, an endeavour that falls under the BOI’s mandate.

The President further noted that Sri Lanka has attracted only around US$22 billion in investment since 1978. In comparison to other countries in the region, he stated, Sri Lanka must advance rapidly, referencing Vietnam’s achievement of securing US$23 billion in investment in 2022 alone.

He went on to state that the BOI should prioritise the expansion of investment in the services sector and proactively seek new investment opportunities, rather than focusing solely on recapturing missed ones.

The event was attended by senior officials of the Board of Investment, including  Duminda Hulangamuwa, Senior Advisor to the President on Economic Affairs;  Arjuna Herath, Chairman of the Board of Investment; and Ms Renuka Weerakone, Acting Director General of the Board of Investment.

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