| In this issue... |
| The Sanmar group’s Chairman Emeritus K S Narayanan
turned 80 on January 30, 1999. It was a time for family, friends,
business and other associates from various walks of life to recount
the attributes that have made KSN a unique icon in the lives of those
he has touched. Many of these admirers paid the patriarch tributes
which came straight from the heart. |
| A strong code of ethics, high integrity and an unflappable
temperament have marked his passage from his early days of entrepreneurship
in British times, through the challenges of enterprise-building during
four decades and more of permit-licence raj in independent India,
to his gradual withdrawal from the centre stage of corporate life
in the post-liberalisation years. |
| His largely self-acquired business acumen, his extraordinary
people skills, his ever-smiling optimism through good times and bad,
and his uncommon concern for those around him and for the underprivileged
of the world, have made him at once charismatic and accessible to
everyone who has ever come into contact with him. K S Narayanan wears
his years and his eminence lightly. Larger than life his achievements
may be, but as a human being, he remains simple and unaffected, untouched
by hubris. |
| It is this image of a very human being with a cheerful
sense of humour and a spring in his step that endures through the
several tributes paid to him on completing eighty eventful years.
We present some of these. It has been a time of anniversaries and
celebrations at Sanmar. The first decade of operations at Cuddalore,
which have spawned two world class joint ventures with international
giants Bayer A G and Elf Atochem, was celebrated in January ’99
with much gaiety and participation from the top brass of the joint
venture partners, the ambassadors of France and Germany and high ranking
local dignitaries as well as employees and their families. We have
tried to capture the festive mood of the occasion in pictures. |
| We have also attempted to showcase the recent achievements
and milestones of Sanmar PTI Filters, ASCO India and Dragoco India
in the following pages. |
| The US Investor Summit: ‘The Dynamic South’
hosted by the Indo-US Joint Business Council under the chairmanship
of N Sankar, was a significant step towards fostering cooperation
and competition among the southern states in attracting US investments
in vital areas in this part of the country. We present a pictorial
account of the summit. |
| S Ramesh of Chemplast Sanmar has done the group
proud by performing consistently for India as an opening batsman in
Test and one-day international cricket within a short while of being
selected. He has gone to England as a member of the Indian team to
take part in World Cup 1999. We wish him and the Indian team a successful
campaign this summer. Ramesh and the late T K Ramanathan, tennis coach
extraordinary, are featured in our sports section. |
| The Sanmar group’s ongoing strategic initiatives
were the subject of detailed appraisal by India’s leading business
magazine, Business India, in March 1999. A reprint of this perceptive
analysis of the group’s priorities and core beliefs is distributed
with this issue of Matrix. |
| All in all, this issue is packed with news and features,
put together with much enthusiasm by our team. We hope you derive
pleasure reading it. |
