McDonald founder Ray Kroc who knew a thing or two about building a global business empire once remarked that “the quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves.” Powerful words, no doubt. In his first completed year of leading the NDA Government at the federal level it would be fair to say that Mr Narendra Modi as Prime Minister has left nary a stone unturned in order to set very high standards at work. He has established a punishing pace for those who work around him, especially his team of advisors, his cabinet colleagues, and, of course, those who report to him at the PMO. Never perhaps in India’s independent history have Government officials started walking in to office at 9 a.m., and seldom in the past has the bureaucracy been coming to work on such regular basis during public and national holidays. Productivity per man hour has shot up, and the PM, like Kroc said, has led from the front.

That apart, Mr Modi’s focus on key areas such as the National Mission for Cleaning of Ganga—a project that will alter the image and economy of India, initiating 100 smart cities, introducing Yoga in school curricula, encouraging India’s foray into space and into the unknown, calling for a Swachh Bharat Abhiyan—another project, if implemented sincerely, that will earn the respect of the world, opening up of bank accounts for vast numbers of India’s rural and semi-urban multitudes, regulating and easing the acquisition of land to fast-track infrastructure growth, robust interaction with world leaders across continents to encourage the Make in India programme, is bound to pay dividends in times to come, take India on a high growth path, and keep the economy buoyant by creating more industries, more entrepreneurs and more employment, especially in the micro, small and medium sectors.

In our cover section, Dr Rami Ranger who has been a recipient of a record 7 Queen’s Award for excellence in enterprise and exports in the U.K. has shared his thoughts on the first year of the Modi Government. So has Consulting Editor Mr Kul Bhushan who is an authority on diaspora affairs. While Dr Ranger has spent over 40 years in the U.K. and expanding his business in over 100 countries, Mr Bhushan spent 40 years in Kenya and trotted the globe, garnering genuine knowledge about the Indian Diaspora.

There is a well-researched article by another veteran, Mr Inder Singh, Chairman on GOPIO International, on America’s tryst with Yoga, at a time when India has managed to receive the world’s undivided attention on the subject on June 21—the newly formed International Yoga Day by the United Nations.

A host of other articles await your attention.

Happy reading.

(sayantanc@gmail.com)