40 years ago... and now: Taking traditional Indian medicine to the world

We are talking about the year 1975 - that's nearly 40 years ago when Himalaya moved its base from Mumbai (then Bombay), the commercial capital of India, to a deserted outpost in Bangalore, a city known for its greenery and weather.

This decision, however, changed the course of the company. Today, this plot of land in Bangalore has transformed into Himalaya's 28-acre sprawling campus with an EU-GMP-certified manufacturing facility, an 80,000 square feet R&D and a lush green organic garden. It is also the company's headquarters for its India operations.

The move to Bangalore came with its share of heartache. The founder of Himalaya, Mohammed Manal had started the company in 1930 in Dehradun with a mission to contemporarise Ayurveda through modern scientific research. Although he had no formal scientific training, he possessed a love for nature, boundless curiosity and a firm belief in herbal healthcare. But he was equally convinced that if herbal medicine had to be taken seriously it had to be validated by empirical evidence.

This was a far reaching thought. In the 1930s, people still believed in herbal goodness but the growing influence of Western education meant that critical reasoning was becoming important and traditional ideologies and belief systems were being challenged. From early on, Manal focused on research and scientific data to prove safety and efficacy of Himalaya products, which at the time were a handful of brands.

The big break came in 1955, when the company launched Liv.52, a hepato-protective that soon became its flagship brand. Even today, Liv.52 is the crown jewel in the pharmaceutical portfolio, registering over Rs 250 crore in revenues and being the only herbal medicine in India's top 10 selling drugs.

Himalaya moved to Bombay in the 1950s. All the action was happening there. So when our founder's son, Meraj Manal, told his father that he was thinking of relocating the business to Bangalore, obviously it didn't go down too well. In fact, he self-financed this move by selling his flat in Mumbai to build a manufacturing unit here.

The Bangalore facility gave Himalaya the infrastructure it needed to develop high quality products. It was one of the first herbal manufacturing units in India to be granted a good manufacturing practices (GMP) certificate. The fact that Himalaya now churned out a much higher quantity of tablets and had succeeded in standardising the manufacturing process, translated into greater acceptability from doctors of modern medicine. Most importantly, the facility allowed Himalaya to flex its muscles overseas, something Meraj Manal had always dreamed of for the company.

The year 1975 was both a good and tough period for Himalaya - an inflection point. We moved to Bangalore and then took the decision to enter the US, the world's largest and most competitive market. At the time it seemed more reckless than bold. But now we know that these were watershed moments in our company's history. Today we are present in 91 countries and by 2020, global revenues will account for 50 per cent of our business.

Entering the US market was like baptism by fire for Himalaya. It was also a humbling experience for the team - back then no one knew much about India, let alone a small herbal company called Himalaya. To stay alive in a market like the US, we needed to fight harder and smarter.

Meraj Manal moved to the US and studied the market, paying close attention to quality and safety standards. He pushed the R&D team to develop products that met US regulatory standards. This raised the level of compliance across the board and it helped Himalaya India make a stronger case for its products with doctors here. The mantra of quality, safety and efficacy was even more deeply entrenched in the Himalayan psyche and in due course it gave the company its competitive edge.

In 1994, the US FDA implemented the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), allowing herbal products that conformed to the new rules and regulations to be sold in the US as dietary supplements. Himalaya was ready with a range of therapeutic products branded as the 'Care' range.

In the initial years, Meraj Manal worked out of a small space above his garage, which served as a makeshift office, and personally proofread all the labels. In early 1996, two years after DSHEA came into force, Himalaya launched its range of dietary supplements in America.

After the US came Russia, then West Asia, followed by APAC and Europe. In many markets, Himalaya's therapeutic range is registered as herbal drugs or medicines. Doctors of modern medicine swear by the safety and efficacy of the products, not just in India, where the company reaches out to more than 400,000 doctors, but even in countries like Singapore, Malaysia and Russia, where Ayurveda is not a familiar system of medicine.

The US also served as a crucial training ground for future product development. The idea to expand the product range beyond pharmaceuticals and explore personal care developed during this time. Himalaya scientists began to formulate personal care products, which were eventually launched in 1999 under the brand name Ayurvedic Concepts, that later went onto become Himalaya Herbals. Presently, personal care contributes 38 per cent to the revenues in India. Despite being a relatively new entrant in the personal care space, Himalaya is one of the top players in the face cleansing and lip care segment, with a fast growing presence in hair care as well. It enjoys over 20 per cent share in facewash segment, making it the largest brand in the country.

It's amazing how the pieces fall into place. Today we are a head to heel herbal wellness brand with over 250 products and a global presence. Every second, ten Himalaya products are bought by consumers around the world. While there have been many big, glorious moments in our journey, 1975 will remain a very special year for us.

It was in the seventies that Himalaya Drug Company began to explore markets beyond India and focused on research and scientific data to establish the safety and efficacy of its herbal products

Transboundary cooperation to develop Himalayan region

Increased transboundary cooperation was needed to transform mountain forestry in Hindu Kush Himalayan region, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, who addressed the inaugural session of the five-day symposium on ‘Transforming Mountain Forestry’ said, on Sunday.



The symposium, which began on Sunday, aims at creating conducive transboundary conditions, politically and institutionally, to protect the forest ecosystems in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region.



Mr Javadekar, who addressed the gathering through his video-recorded message, said, “The symposium gives an opportunity to share the best practices. It is important for the stakeholders in the entire Hindu Kush region to promote sustainable and inclusive forest management that brings together practice, policy, and science. There are also transboundary issues (that need to be addressed).”



The symposium, which is being jointly organised by the Dehradun-based Forest Research Institute and the Kathmandu Valley-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), is the first to focus on the mountain forestry in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region.



Director General of ICIMOD David Molden also stressed on the need for transboundary cooperation regarding forest issues and called for collective efforts to make Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD-plus) a reality.



The objective of the symposium is: ‘To outline options for sustainable forest management practices and policies that address the changing conditions in the Hindu Kush Himalayas while identifying transboundary opportunities that meet climatic and contemporary challenges, thus simultaneously addressing conservation and inclusive development.’



Over 200 regional and global experts from countries including United States of America, Germany, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Nepal, and Italy with participants including cross sector policy makers, scientists, practitioners, donors, market actors, legal experts, forestry professionals and representatives from the business and civil society will be present at the five-day symposium.

Indian-American Frank Islam presented with Martin Luther King Award

Frank Islam, an eminent Indian-American entrepreneur and philanthropist has been presented with the prestigious Martin Luther King Jr Award.

He was given the award for his contribution to the legacy of the great leader through his efforts in international service and civil engagement.

About Frank Islam

• He was born in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh to a peasant father. He had moved to US when he was only 15 years old.
• He is an entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist.
• In 1993, he had bought a struggling IT company in Maryland. Later in 2007, he sold it to spent rest of his life in philanthropy, both in India and the US.
• Currently, he heads the FI Invest Group a firm that he established after selling his IT Company.
• He is also board member of several think tanks, academic and cultural organisations including pretigious Kennedy Centre for Performing Arts, the Brookings Institute and US Institute of Peace.
• Books: He has written two well-regarded books on the American condition. They are Working the Pivot Points: To Make America Work Again (2013). Renewing the American Dream: A Citizen’s Guide for Restoring Our Competitive Advantage (2010).

Martin Luther King Jr Award

• It is an annual award started in 1991.
• It honors the legacy of noble peace recipient civil right leader Martin Luther King Jr and the legendary Dorothy I Height and their impacts both at home and abroad. 

World Future Energy Summit begins in Abu Dhabi

The World Future Energy Summit 2015 has begun in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

It is eight edition of the summit and will be four day event.

It will provide platform to delegates including world leaders, international policy makers, industry leaders, investors, experts, academia, intellectuals and journalists from all over the world including India.

Delegates will discuss the future of renewable energy and how to overcome the challenges in tapping potential of it.

Key highlights of World Future Energy Summit

• It will provide a platform for commercial solutions to clean and green energy.
• It will include exhibition of first-of-its-kind, fully integrated hybrid product that captures both solar and wind energy to provide more consistent power generation.
• Summit will also display a mobile solar power plant on a trailer with a 4.8 kWp capacity and battery storage of up to 20 kWh and a new turbine that converts energy from sea waves.
• It will also display parabolic sun-dish concentrators combined with a specialized steam generator suitable for enhanced oil recovery, power generation, water desalination operations and power generations are on display
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• .South African cricketer AB de Villiers has hit the fastest century and half-century in one-day internationals (ODI).
  He achieved the feat in second match as part of the 5-match ODI series against West Indies. Overall in this match, AB de Villiers made 149 off 44 balls.
  • Fastest century: He made the century in just 31 balls and broke earlier record of New Zealand’s Corey Anderson who had hit the century in 36 balls in 2013-14.
  • Fastest half-century: He also made fastest half-century, off 16 balls breaking Sri Lankan cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya’s previous record who had made half-century in 17 balls.
  • Most sixes in an innings: His innings included 16 sixes. It equalled the previous record set by India’s Rohit Sharma against Australia in Bangalore in 2013/14.

parliament and policymaking’

President addresses students and faculty of CUS, IITS, NITS etc on ‘parliament and policymaking’ from Rashtrapati Bhavan

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee delivered through Video Conferencing a New Year Message on the topic ‘Parliament and Policymaking’ to Central Universities, IITs, NITs and other Institutions using the National Knowledge Network from Rashtrapati Bhavan  today (January 19, 2015). The President also responded to questions on (1) the remedy to check disruptions in Parliament, (2) way out when ruling party does not have numbers in Rajya Sabha, (3) the Ordinance route to enact legislation and (4) making the budget making process participative.  A webcast of the address and the Q & A session is available on http://webcast.gov.in/president/ Addressing the students and faculty, the President said the year 2014 was an eventful year for India’s polity. After three decades, Indian electorate decided to give a single party the majority to form a stable government. The outcome of the elections to the 16th Lok Sabha provides political stability and gives a mandate to the elected government to fulfill its commitment to the people by using its majority in formulating policies and making laws to implement those policies. The President said in a democracy, the Parliament has three vital functions – representation, law-making and oversight. The Parliament stands for the will and aspirations of the people. It is the platform where through debate and deliberations, this ‘will’ and ‘aspirations’ have to be prioritized and translated into laws, policies and concrete programmes of action. When that does not happen, an important element in the functioning of a democracy gets compromised to the disadvantage of the people. The President said law-making or legislation is the exclusive domain of the Parliament and the legislative assemblies in our Parliamentary democracy. In law-making, the easy part is the act of passing a Bill. The harder part is the negotiations for reconciling the interests of different groups for the legislation. A legislature is effective only if it is able to address the differences amongst stakeholders and succeeds in building a consensus for the law to be enacted and enforced. When the Parliament fails in discharging its law-making role or enacts law without discussion, it breaches the trust reposed in it by the people. This is neither good for the democracy nor for the policies anchored in those laws. The President said policies have to address concerns of different stakeholders in a society in the larger national interest. Policymaking in India’s context is guided by its Constitution. The Parliament having aided policy formulation also ensures that policy and programmes that it has helped define through legislation is implemented in the envisaged manner. It exercises oversight, to ensure that programmes are carried out by the Executive legally, effectively and for the purposes they are intended. Parliamentary oversight extends also to two other important functions. Parliament enjoys exclusive power of total control on money and finance. Every taxation and every receipt and expenditure to and from the Consolidated Fund of India is subject to the approval of the Lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha. The other important supervisory power of the Parliament over the Executive is that the highest Executive authority i.e. the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers function as long as they enjoy the confidence of the popularly-elected House and can be removed by a simple majority of the House through a motion of no-confidence. The President said the Parliament’s role in policy articulation, its implementation and oversight is critical. It is, therefore, incumbent on the Members of the Parliament to discuss and undertake adequate scrutiny of all business transacted in the House. Unfortunately, the time devoted by the Members in Parliament has been gradually declining. The first three Lok Sabhas had 677, 581 and 578 sittings, respectively. Compared to that, the 13th, 14th and 15th Lok Sabhas had 356, 332 and 357 sittings, respectively. We all should hope that the 16th Lok Sabha reverses this trend. The President said there is a growing tendency to resort to disruption as a means of Parliamentary intervention. Dissent is a recognized democratic expression, but disruption leads to loss of time and resources, and paralyzes policy formulation. The cardinal principle of Parliamentary Democracy is that the majority has the mandate to rule while opposition has the right to oppose, expose, and if the numbers permit, to depose. But, under no circumstances should there be disruption of the proceedings. A noisy minority cannot be allowed to gag a patient majority. The President said to meet certain exigencies and under compelling circumstances, the framers of the Constitution deemed it necessary to confer limited legislative power upon the Executive by way of promulgation of Ordinances when the legislature is not in session and circumstances justified immediate legislation. The framers also deemed it necessary to impose certain restrictions on this extraordinary legislative power by constitutionally mandating replacement of such Ordinances within a timeframe by the legislators. Article 123 (2) provides that an ordinance must be replaced by a law not later than six weeks from the re-assembly of the two Houses. Article 85 further provides that six months shall not intervene between the last sitting of one session and the first sitting of the next session. The President said India’s diversity and the magnitude of its problems require that the Parliament becomes a more effective platform to build consensus on public policies and a bulwark of our democratic ideals. The proceedings in Parliament must be conducted in a spirit of cooperation, harmony and purpose. The content and quality of debates should be of a high order. Maintenance of discipline and decorum in the House and observance of etiquette and decency are necessary. The President cautioned the Parliament to not yield its space for legislating and policymaking to mass mobilization and street-protests, for that may not always provide considered solutions to our problems. To retain the trust and faith of the people, the Parliament must enact laws to put in place policies that address the concerns and aspirations of the people.

Ashok Srinivasan is winner of The Hindu Prize 2014

The panel judges described his 'Book of Common Signs' as a "collection of stories full of quiet surprises."

Ashok Srinivasan won The Hindu Prize 2014 at the Lit for Life 2015 for his debut collection of 13 short stories, Book of Common Signs, here on Saturday, the second day of the literary festival organised by the newspaper here.

The award was presented by the former Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court Justice Leila Seth, who, in the context of a resolution passed at the festival supporting author Perumal Murugan, said she hoped that freedom of expression would be alive forever in this country.

Mr. Srinivasan, in his acceptance speech, said “short stories, unlike poetry, are the things that are lost not only in translation but also don’t sell.”

The judging panel included K. Satchidanandan, Arunava Sinha, Githa Hariharan, Tabish Khair and Professor Malashri Lal. Read more about the panel here.

This is what the panel had to say about Book of Common Signs when the shortlist was announced.

"This collection of stories is full of quiet surprises. The stories are carefully structured, yet playful and quirky in a cerebral way. They cover a great deal of ground with equal facility – from hutments and streets to middle class homes. Whether it is the emotional power of intimacy, the multiple lives of a single mind, or the terrors of difference and separation, real people live them out. Throughout there is a simmering tension between the real and the imagined. The language is suggestive, framing and saying just the right amount and withholding when necessary; metaphors, images and insights are embedded neatly in the narrative. Despite the occasional waywardness, which comes as a pleasant shock, these sophisticated stories are executed with great restraint."

Irritating behaviours at workplace

Talent, skill, education, experience - all are important. But since team spirit is also a skill, treating other people with courtesy and respect is a key ingredient in long-term professional success. Yet so many people seem to get simple acts of kindness really wrong :

They thoughtlessly waste other peoples' time
When you are late to an appointment or meeting, what you are really saying is that your time is more important. When you wait until the grocery clerk finishes ringing you up to search for your debit card, you are really saying you can't care less if others have to wait. Every time you take three minutes to fill your oversize water bottle while a line stacks up behind you, you are really saying you live in your own little world and your world is the only world that matters.

Small, irritating things, but basically no big deal? Nope. People who don't notice the small ways they inconvenience others tend to be oblivious when they do it in major ways. How you treat people when it doesn't really matter - especially when you're a leader - says a lot about you. Behave as if the people around you have more urgent needs than yours and you will never go wrong and you will definitely be liked.

They ignore people outside their 'level'
There's an older guy at the gym that weighs over 300 pounds and understandably struggles on the aerobic and weight equipment. Yet nobody talks to him. Or even seems to notice him. It's like he is invisible. Why? He doesn't fit in. Occasionally we all do it. When we visit a company we talk to the people we're supposed to talk to. When we attend a civic event we talk to the people we're supposed to talk to. Or breeze right by the technicians and talk to the guy who booked us to speak. Here's an easy rule of thumb: nod whenever you make eye contact. Or smile. Just act like people exist

They ask for way too much
A man you don't know asks you for a favour. You politely decline. He asks again. You decline again. Then he whips out the need card: "But it's really important to me. You have to. I really need [it]."

Maybe we do, in fact, really need [it]. But our needs are our problems. The world doesn't owe us anything. We aren't entitled to advice or mentoring or success. The only thing we are entitled to is what we earn. People tend to help people who first help themselves. People tend to help people who are willing to help others. And people befriend those who help others because, well, we all want more of those people in our lives.

They ignore people in genuine need
At the same time, some people aren't in a position to help themselves. They need a hand. Though I don't necessarily believe in karma, I do believe good things always come back to you in the form of feeling good about yourself. And that's reason enough to help people who find themselves on the downside of advantage.

The dignity of duty

Before he agreed to meet me, Sanjiv Chaturvedi asked me to send him a few samples of this column. His intention was to figure out whether his meeting with a journalist was strictly under the framework of service rules. He never has, nor does he ever want to, flout any government rule.

Clad in a grey shirt and jet-black trousers, Chaturvedi - a man seen as one of the reasons behind the unceremonious transfer of Harsh Vardhan from the Union health ministry to the low-profile science and technology ministry - arrived bang on time at the Zaffran restaurant in Connaught Place in New Delhi.

Chaturvedi, chief vigilance officer (CVO) of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) till a few months ago, left it to me to choose a restaurant: as long as I picked a place that served decent north Indian vegetarian food.

Zaffran appeared elegant and soothing to the eye, and we quickly settled down. Before Chaturvedi ordered a portion of tomato soup - which he asked the attendant to split between the two of us - he regaled me with stories of his hunts for good food, from Chandigarh to the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat to the Sundarbans in West Bengal. I realised food was one thing that kept Chaturvedi going. He loves Bengali sweets; especially rosogulla made with gur (jaggery), but prefers South Indian meals because they are light.

Born in Lucknow and an engineer from NIT Allahabad, he really missed doodh jalebi, samosa and kachori at breakfast when he took up his first posting in Haryana in 2002.

Within a short time, I learn a great deal about my loquacious guest, a 39-year-old with a disarming smile. He loves to sleep, is a movie buff and has the characteristic accent of Uttar Pradesh, in which forest becomes "farest" and majority becomes "maijarity".

For me, the word that meant the most was Haryana and I lunged at it. I was looking for an entry to talk about his troublesome career, which had begun in Kurukshetra, where the greatest mythological battle between right and wrong was fought.

Chaturvedi had no idea that the next 10 years in Haryana, where the scope for an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer was limited to a few sanctuaries, were going to be the toughest years of his life. His blunt objections to illegal forest activities and rampant corruption resulted in his suspension within seven months of his joining. The suspension was followed by 12 transfers, many "false" FIRs, vigilance inquiries and a chargesheet under a major violation that could have led to his permanent dismissal from the service.

In these inquiries, Chaturvedi came out as clean as a whistle, but not before he went through harassment, faced threats to life and suffered irreparable personal ties.

Today, he wants to skirt these issues.

"Sahilji, our forefathers, especially Patel (Vallabhbhai Patel) were foresighted. Patel was a true administrator and ensured that civil servants were well-protected through ways and means of the Constitution while discharging their duties," Chaturvedi points out, in between enjoying his portion of the soup.

It is true that the Constitution explicitly protects bureaucrats from politicians. For instance, the administrative control of the all-India services - Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS), IFS, and so on - rests with the Union government. These officers are deputed in states as agents of the central government, which is the ultimate deciding authority regarding their promotions, disciplinary actions and postings. Though the Union government is mandated to consult states, it is not bound by their advice. Chaturvedi read up on all those constitutional provisions and laws governing civil servants during his suspension period - and, unlike other harassed officers, he decided to take on the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led Congress government in Haryana.

"Because of Patel's vision, I was saved," quips Chaturvedi.

The President of India, through four environment ministers - Namo Narain Meena, Jairam Ramesh, Jayanthi Natarajan and Veerappa Moily - all from the Congress, quashed decisions taken against Chaturvedi by the Hooda government. If the first was related to his suspension, the second and the third were about chargesheets filed against him. The fourth action was even worse, as his performance rating in the annual confidential report was changed from "outstanding to zero." But the central government restored it to exceptional - leaving its own chief minister red-faced.

These developments were unprecedented in many ways. Chaturvedi was the first officer ever to get a Presidential reference - a record four times. Secondly, the central government usually doesn't oppose a state government in bureaucratic matters, especially when the latter is run by the same political party.

"Many harassed officials don't approach the Centre for respite primarily for two reasons. Either they are corrupt or have something to hide. Many sit quietly, knowing that at the end of the day, they still have to work with the same set of politicians," Chaturvedi explains.

Perhaps this could have been one of the reasons behind a long stand-off between Durga Shakti Nagpal, an IAS officer who was suspended over her actions against the sand mafia in Noida, and the Uttar Pradesh government. The Centre did not come to Nagpal's rescue on the ground that she didn't approach it with a formal request to intervene in her matter. Today, Chaturvedi teaches the same rules and regulations to probationary officers at the IAS academy in Mussoorie.

By now, we are through with the dahi ke kebab and vegetarian galouti kebab we had ordered for starters. We savoured the first dish with green chutney and made faces at the second. We were the first ones to arrive at the second-floor restaurant that gives a clear view of the old façade of Connaught Place. The place filled up faster than we had anticipated. Now surrounded by people talking nineteen to a dozen, we ordered our lunch.

Chaturvedi asks the attendant to suggest dishes: he quickly suggested dal makhni and makki khumb masala for him and Hyderabadi biryani for me.

I jokingly ask him where, besides food, he draws his energy from to fight the system; his answer is as simple as the man appeared himself: "I am not fighting the system. I am just doing my duty." To me it appeared, unlike most civil servants, that he lacked ambition. He doesn't play golf, live a luxurious life, or travel abroad. All he wants is to sleep comfortably on Sundays, after a late-night movie on Saturdays, at his small apartment on the AIIMS campus. "The government really takes care of us even after retirement. One can actually live a respectable and comfortable life with the remuneration," he says, while enjoying daal and tandoori roti using one hand. He doesn't stop short of complimenting the attendant for the daal, which I had to share with him to make my undercooked meat and rice more palatable. The mushrooms didn't impress either of us.

I ask him about his work at AIIMS. "I was CVO for the last two years and right now I am without a post." Harsh Vardhan removed him; many attribute this action to letters from a party colleague who is now, ironically, Union minister for health, but the health ministry issued a statement in September last year saying this "had nothing to do with his (Chaturvedi's) re-profiling". There was also a lobby that was unhappy with Chaturvedi's unearthing scam after scam at India's elite medical institute. In his short stint at AIIMS, he has made many enemies, including senior IAS and IPS officers. He jokingly calls them "friends". When he was posted to New Delhi from Haryana, at least seven central ministers refused to take him in their respective ministries, given his history.

It is also odd that when the Haryana government opposed him, people in the central government came to his rescue. Now that the central government is not giving him his due, leaders of the Haryana unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party are throwing their weight behind him. Currently, he is using his time to settle the false cases filed against him in Haryana and waiting for the central government decision to change his cadre from Haryana to Uttarakhand.

"Sarkar jab bhi moka degi, seva karenge" (whenever the government gives me a chance, I will do my duty).