14 Indians in WEF's Young Global Leaders class of 2014

As many as 14 Indians, including Flipkart's Sachin Bansal and noted film director Farhan Akhtar, have made it to the list of over 200 young global leaders recognised by the World Economic Forum.

Out of the 214 Young Global Leaders who were honoured for leadership and service to society, 109 are women.

This year's YGLs, came from 66 countries across 7 regions and equally represent the public and private sector and belong to professions including academia, arts and culture, civil society, government, media and not-for-profit organisations.

"The YGL Community assembles the world's most outstanding next-generation leaders who have a proven record of extraordinary achievement and helps them further develop in their leadership journey," WEF Managing Director and Head of New Champions David Aikman said.

Click NEXT to take a look at who made it to the list. . .

1. Sachin Bansal
Chief executive of Flipkart

Starting with a modest Rs 10,000-a-month allowance from their parents for almost 18 months Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal (not related to each other) launched an e-commerce website Flipkart retailing books in October 2007.

Today, the near-20 per cent stake they hold in the company is valued at almost Rs 2,000 crore (Rs 20 billion).

The company just came out with a statement say that the company has hit $1 bn in Gross Merchandise Value.

. . .

2. Farhan Akhtar
Film actor-director-lyricist

Born in Mumbai to screenwriters Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani, Akhtar began his career in films by working as an assistant director in Lamhe (1991) and Himalay Putra (1997).

After establishing a production company Excel Entertainment along with Ritesh Sidhwani, made his directorial debut with Dil Chahta Hai (2001) and bagged a National Award.

He made Lakshya in 2004 and set foot on Hollywood by writing the lyrics of of Bride and Prejudice (2004).

He made Don in 2006.

He started his acting career with Rock On!! (2008), for which he won a second National Award.

. . .

3. Pallavi S Aiyar
Author-Journalist

Aiyar is a foreign correspondent and author of the Vodafone-Crossword Award winning book, Smoke and Mirrors: An Experience of China.

After stints in Beijing and Brussels, she now lives in Jakarta, where she reports on Southeast Asia.

Her first novel, Chinese Whiskers, was published in early 2011.

Her new book Punjabi Parmesan: Dispatches from a Europe in Crisis is pubished by Penguin India.

. . .

4. Avani Devda (below)
Tata Starbucks CEO

Devda has been the Chief Executive Officer at Tata Starbucks Limited at Starbucks Corporation since September 2012.

Tata Starbucks Ltd is a 50:50 joint venture company, owned by Starbucks Corporation and Tata Global Beverages, that owns and operates Starbucks outlets in India.

. . .

5. Mohit Joshi
VP and Head, Financial Services and Insurance Unit, Europe Infosys

Joshi’s area of expertise is the intersection of financial services and technology. He has over 16 years of professional experience in the US, India, Mexico and Europe. Based in London, he reports into the Infosys Board.

. . .

6. Roshni Nadar Malhotra
ED and CEO HCL Corporation

As CEO and Executive Director of the HCL Corporation, she is responsible for strategic decisions regarding the overall direction of the Corporation, including the key areas of determining its governance structures, treasury, risk and portfolio management, and for the diversification plans of HCL.

. . .

7. Vishwarupe Narain
Country Head/Texas Pacific Group

Prior to joining TPG Growth in 2007, Narain was an investor with Bessemer Venture Partners in New York.

Previous to that, he was an Engagement Manager in McKinsey's Private Equity Practice in Palo Alto and London.

Narain joined McKinsey from Deloitte Consulting, where he was a Senior Consultant.

. . .

8. Nandini Piramal (below)
ED and Head of HR Piramal Enterprises

She heads the Human Resources division and is responsible for the Over-The-Counter Business of Piramal Enterprises.

She contributes to Piramal Foundation which conducts sustained community activities in health, education, rural employability and youth empowerment.

. . .

9. Rishad Premji
Chief Strategy Officer, IT Business Wipro Ltd

Premji is responsible for Wipro's Global IT Strategy.

Rishad joined Wipro Technologies in 2007 in the Banking and Financial Services Vertical as Business Head for Special Projects where he championed Wipro's entry into the Mortgage area as an end to end provider of Mortgage Solutions in the Origination and Loan Servicing space.

This led to the acquisition of Gallagher Financial Systems (now called Wipro Gallagher Solutions).

. . .

10. Anoop Ratnaker Rao (below)
COO Naandi Foundation

He leads Naandi's Child Rights portfolio spanning slums in cities, rural villages and tribal hamlets in the country.

The initiatives aim at enabling children born into disadvantaged families have access to opportunities that make them productive, responsible citizens of the country.

. . .

11. Chiki Sarkar (below)
CEO Penguin Random House India

Chiki Sarkar was just 29 when she became the head of the newly-formed Random House India in 2006.

There, under her watch, the publishing house launched a bestseller in the form of Rujuta Diwekar’s diet bible Don’t Lose Your Mind, Lose Your Weight, and the highly acclaimed Chinaman by Shehan Karunatilaka.

Illustration courtesy: Business Standard

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12. Parmesh Shahani
Head, Innovation Lab Godrej Industries

He works on innovation within the wider Godrej group.

In addition, he serves as the Editor-at-large for Verve magazine, India, and is also affiliated with MIT's Comparative Media Studies as a Futures of Entertainment Fellow.

His book Gay Bombay: Globalization, Love and (Be)Longing in Contemporary India (New Delhi, London, Los Angeles, Singapore: Sage Publications) was released in April 2008.

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13. Anurag Thakur
President/Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha

Anurag Thakur (Anurag Singh Thakur) is a member of Lok Sabha from Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh in India.

He is son of Prem Kumar Dhumal the former Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh. He was elected to Lok Sabha in May 2008 in a by poll as a candidate of Bharatiya Janata Party.

. . .

14. Ratheesan Yoganathan (below)
Co-Founder and Group Chairman Lebara Group

A British entrepreneur Yoganathan is best known as the co-founder of Lebara Group.

On August 10, 2012, he took on the role of Chairman of the group.

He owns about one third of the company's stock.