Former Chairman and Managing Director of Tata Steel, Russi Mody, 96, passed away in Kolkata on Friday.
On Mody's death, Tata on Friday said, "Russi Mody was an institution at Tata Steel. Under his leadership, the company grew significantly and he instituted many human resource initiatives.
Mody held important positions in Tata group and led Tata Steel till he retired in the early 1990s.
Russi Mody could cut across hierarchy to communicate what he wanted.
'Ratan had the quality that JRD and Russi Mody had -- they could walk with kings and never lose the common touch.'
Ratan was extremely ethical in his dealings, which he brought to bear on the business house which he helmed, remembers Sailesh Kottary.
Ratan Tata has made sure his successor won't have to battle cliques within the group - unlike his own experience after he took over.
Mody, 92, held important positions in Tata group and led Tata Steel till he retired in the early 1990s.
Tata group has been a constant in India's sporting landscape and the conglomerate's involvement only grew under Ratan Tata.
Ratan Tata: A Life, the much awaited biography, reveals that after a year of 'parallel running', Tata began having second thoughts about Cyrus Mistry's 'suitability'. 'Mistry targeted Ratan, the man who had elevated him from virtual oblivion into the mainstream of the Tatas...'
The perils of thinking of human resources as 'soft'.
Has liberalisation squeezed the personality out of India Inc's leaders?
Amid suggestions aplenty, including from a former Tata Group veteran to choose someone from within the Tata family to head the conglomerate, incumbent chairman Ratan Tata on Friday said only the best would succeed him.
An exclusive excerpt from The Tatas: How A Family Built A Business And A Nation.
Mistry is not the first Tata bigwig to be ousted and Tata is not the only big name which saw a doyen or two leave
'I think some of us, like Mukesh Ambani, myself and those of us who head industrial units, ought to really focus on what we can really do to make the world a safer place, maybe 50 or 100 years from now.' 'For instance, how can we deal with climate change and global warming, right now?' 'The effects of it may not be felt now; in fact, we may pay a price for it today, but it will help the generations to follow.'
Naresh Kumar, who famously mentored a young Leander Paes as India's Davis Cup captain, has passed away.
'I think Ratan felt he had to do everything that he could to retain control of the company started by his forefathers, because that was the first priority and nothing else mattered compared to that.'
Dr Raghuram Rajan's departure holds lessons for all, be it sections of the media, politicians or the people themselves. We need to learn how to value and retain talent. At the same time the talented must realise that talent alone does not ensure the top job, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
Chuni Goswami was in a league of his own -- peerless -- and lived a life that will always be celebrated for being one of India's greatest.
Don't bet everything you have, Lemon Tree's Patu Keswani tells Pavan Lall.
About time the Tata companies that are owned by the public are freed from the clutches of Tata Sons, says Sudhir Bisht.
Tata Sons, holding company for the Tata group, is working on building a centralised rural business platform that could be leveraged for the entire group's benefit, instead of each company looking at it separately.
'I reached Bhopal the day after the gas tragedy; the smell was still in the air. It was a professional hazard but I was not scared.'
'At this point, neither the army or the IAF has that immediate, punitive deterrent power against Pakistan.' 'Forget a three-week war; on the LoC, where the action is, Pakistan has until now fielded better infantry weapons, body armour, sniper rifles, and matching artillery' points out Shekhar Gupta.
'May it be the guardian which calls for breaking down narrow walls of the mind.' 'May it continue to invite everyone to celebrate the possibilities of humanity's one-ness.' Claude Arpi salutes 50 years of Auroville, a Grand Experiment in Living.
'There is too much news about film stars. There is too much fawning over wealth and power. There is a grey area between seriousness and triviality in news reporting now.' 'Mumbai is still a magnet. All the politicians have property in Mumbai. Politicians are the biggest racketeers here.' Olga Tellis, the legendary reporter who completed 50 years in journalism, tells A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com about her life and experiences.
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