Forbes magazine has just named Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo’s chief executive-designate as the 4th most powerful woman in the world in a list of 100. Considering that the list includes the likes of Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton (# 18), Melinda Gates of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (# 12), this is one formidable achievement. Number one on the list is German Chancellor Angela Merkel. U.S. First Lady Laura Bush is 43rd, Queen Elizabeth II is 46th and Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is at 47th in the new list.

Last year Nooyi was 28th in the list that also included the likes of America’s First Lady Laura Bush (# 46), the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Khaleda Zia (#29), Cherie Blair, wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair (# 62), Queen Elizabeth II (#75), Christiane Amanpour, Chief International Correspondent, CNN (# 72).

Nooyi will be the fifth CEO of PepsiCo. That will also make her the first Indian woman to head a Fortune 100 company. What can you say to that, except that perhaps even Indra Nooyi never thought that she’d one day make it so high, and so big since the time she started getting advertisements for her college magazine at the Madras Christian College, Chennai. After the appointment came a moment of emotion, “I’m humbled by the opportunity to lead PepsiCo. Being a woman, an immigrant and a person of colour made it thrice difficult.” We’ve put her on cover to celebrate the success of an NRI, and of a woman.

Software’s humble giant N R Narayan Murthy decided to call it a day in August after he turned 60. Seldom do we find Indian businessmen letting go of their empires (Murthy remains non-executive chairman and mentor), rarer still at an age when they have many years to lead. But Murthy was always been a cut above the rest, and led a life that bordered on frugality. He’s had his fill, now he wishes to move on. Briefly, we’ve chronicled his rise and glory.

Trinidad and Tobago completed 44 years as an independent nation on August 31. While we published a separate souvenir on the occasion, we decided to carry a few pages in INDIA EMPIRE on the country, nearly half whose population is made up of descendants of indentured labourers taken away from India in the earlier half of the 19th century. Today, many of them are leading T and T’s march of progress towards a developed nation status.

A reverse brain drain may well have started. We feature a story on how more and more American students are landing in India to take up internships and jobs in the country. And some NRI parents have decided that the best place for their wards to pursue higher education is not the U.S., but India.

* Souvenir Partner for Trinidad and Tobago Independence Day, August 31, 2006 * Media Partner India Festival, Brazil, September-October 2006 * Media Partner Musical Awards, New York, November 2006