The year was 2013. The Sugar Technologists’ Association of India had organised a three-day international conference at Indira Gandhi Pratishthan in Lucknow. Some 120 exhibitors and 1,400 delegates from around the world attended.
Anil Shukla, the then secretary general of the body, received a call around midnight saying that the chief minister, who was to inaugurate the meet, would not be able to make it. Shukla still remembers the embarrassment and panic that ensued. The morning after, the government sent in a replacement—the minister who held the portfolio for home guards. He delivered a generic welcome and best-of-luck speech. “What kind of impression would that have created?” Shukla still wonders.
This is 2023. Shukla now runs a startup called Officers’ Cricket Academy in Windsor, Canada. He had heard a list of positives about the state over the past few years. So when the state’s Global Investors Summit (GIS) was announced, he did not wait for a government invitation but registered on his own to attend.
Much has changed in the Lucknow he visited this February, after a three-year gap. “There is a sense of security among women. Police personnel are cordial. Ministers and bureaucrats are enablers—easy to approach and speak to,” Shukla said.
Denne historien er fra March 05, 2023-utgaven av THE WEEK India.
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Denne historien er fra March 05, 2023-utgaven av THE WEEK India.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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William Dalrymple goes further back
Indian readers have long known William Dalrymple as the chronicler nonpareil of India in the early years of the British raj. His latest book, The Golden Road, is a striking departure, since it takes him to a period from about the third century BC to the 12th-13th centuries CE.
The bleat from the street
What with all the apps delivering straight to one’s doorstep, the supermarkets, the food halls and even the occasional (super-expensive) pop-up thela (cart) offering the woke from field-to-fork option, the good old veggie-market/mandi has fallen off my regular beat.
Courage and conviction
Justice A.M. Ahmadi's biography by his granddaughter brings out behind-the-scenes tension in the Supreme Court as it dealt with the Babri Masjid demolition case
EPIC ENTERPRISE
Gowri Ramnarayan's translation of Ponniyin Selvan brings a fresh perspective to her grandfather's magnum opus
Upgrade your jeans
If you don’t live in the top four-five northern states of India, winter means little else than a pair of jeans. I live in Mumbai, where only mad people wear jeans throughout the year. High temperatures and extreme levels of humidity ensure we go to work in mulmul salwars, cotton pants, or, if you are lucky like me, wear shorts every day.
Garden by the sea
When Kozhikode beach became a fertile ground for ideas with Manorama Hortus
RECRUITERS SPEAK
Industry requirements and selection criteria of management graduates
MORAL COMPASS
The need to infuse ethics into India's MBA landscape
B-SCHOOLS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT INDIAN ECONOMY IS GOING TO WITNESS A TREMENDOUS GROWTH
INTERVIEW - Prof DEBASHIS CHATTERJEE, director, Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode
COURSE CORRECTION
India's best b-schools are navigating tumultuous times. Hurdles include lower salaries offered to their graduates and students misusing AI
