7 Indians Among Top 40 Philanthropists In Forbes Asia List

thynkfeed team

“Power has only one duty – to secure the social welfare of the People.” – Benjamin Disraeli

A lot of people on Earth believe in the ideology of giving it back to the society. That is the philosophy of their life. Whatever they have learned and earned, they give it back to the society through various social initiatives. It could be job creation, donating wealth, investing in education. Noted personalities like Bill Gates, Ratan Tata, Azim Premji are famous for their philanthropic initiatives around the world.

This year Forbes Asia’s Philanthropy Issue announces region’s most noteworthy givers. And, it is extremely great news for us that out of these 40 philanthropists 7 are from India. The list features individuals who made news with their donations in the past year, but it also recognizes people who have compiled a long record of supporting worthy causes.

Without any further delay, let’s have a look at those great individuals and their social initiatives. The list is not in increasing or decreasing order.

1. Sunny Varkey, Founder, Gems Education
Earlier this year, he pledged at least half of his estimated fortune of $2.25 billion to charity as part of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet-led Giving Pledge initiative. He currently runs 130 schools with 150,000 students in Dubai, UAE, China, India etc. Now his Varkey Foundation aims to change the lives of 10 million poor children with an ambitious program to train 250,000 teachers in the developing world.

sunny varkey.jpg
Image Source

 

2. Senapathy Gopalakrishnan, Co-Founder, Infosys
 Kris has contributed Rs. 225 Crore (40 Million USD) to the Pure Sciences to develop a Centre for Brain Research at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. It is the single largest donation for the institute ever.

308.8
Image Source

 

3. Nandan Nilekani, Co-Founder, Infosys

308.3
Image Source

 

4. SD Shibulal, Co-Founder, Infosys
 He committed $11 Million to 2 philanthropies he runs along with his wife: the Sarojini Damodaran Foundation and the Advaith Foundation.These institutions address problems relating to pension schemes for the elderly, education and financial aid for cardiac surgeries.

308.4
Image Source

 

5. Mohandas Pai, HR Head, Infosys
 He helped start the Akshaya Patra Foundation in Bangalore in 2000, which addresses malnutrition and chronic hunger among Indian schoolchildren. It provides free lunches to 1.4 million schoolchildren in 11 Indian states and plans to increase that to 5 million by 2020.

308.5
Image Source

 

6. NR Narayana Murthy is represented on the list by his son Rohan
 They donated $5.2 million to Harvard University Press for the promotion of ancient Indian literary classics.

308.6
Image Source

 

7. Suresh and Mahesh Ramakrishnan, Founders, Whitcomb & Shaftesbury
 They have trained 4,000 people over the past 10 years, spending nearly $3 million. From 2005 to 2007 it was fishermen hurt by the tsunami. Then they started programs for destitute and abused women from the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.The idea was to give a fresh lease of life to these women and provide new livelihoods.

308.7
Image Source

Surprisingly, 5 out these 7 people are Founders and Heads of Infosys. Maybe because of their high social, ethical and moral values. You can check the entire list here.

News Source – Forbes

Featured Image Forbes

Comments

comments

Related Post

thynkfeed team
It was a dramatic win over Sri Lanka. Sharma took 3-32 in 19 overs, with an economy rate of 1.68, paving the way for

thynkfeed team
Disclaimer: If Something happens to you while laughing, please do not hold us responsible.  Kamaal R Khan (KRK) uploaded this pic on the
You can start editing here -- including this comment!

Leave a Reply