Enrique Iglesias

At the dawn of the new millennium, Enrique Iglesias was the best-selling Latin recording artist in the world. The son of multi-million-selling singer Julio Iglesias, Enrique was born in Madrid, Spain, where he lived with his mother, his brother Julio, and his sister Chabeli. In 1982, his mother sent them to live in Miami with their father. While there, Enrique was exposed to three different cultures and musical influences: Hispanic, European, and American.

Iglesias' own career started when he was still attending Gulliver Private School, a very prestigious school in Miami. He made his singing debut in a production of Hello, Dolly, after which he began practicing his singing without his parents knowing. After a year studying business at the University of Miami, he decided to follow his passion for music. In 1995, he sang in person for his soon-to-be manager, who at Iglesias' insistence of not wanting to use his family name, first shopped his demos as an unknown Central American singer named Enrique Martinez. It wasn't until he earned a record deal with Fonovisa that Enrique told his father and mother of his aspirations. Then he flew to Toronto, where no one knew him and he could concentrate just on music, to record for five months.

That first album, Enrique Iglesias (1995), sold more than a million copies in three months (it earned him his first gold record in Portugal in a mere seven days) and to date has sold more than six million worldwide. The second album, Vivir (1997), enjoyed global sales of more than five million discs and launched his first world tour, backed by sidemen for Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, and Billy Joel. In a mere three years, Iglesias had sold more than 17 million Spanish-language albums, more than anyone else during that period. (The U.S. was his biggest market.) He also won the 1996 Grammy for Best Latin Performer, 1996's Billboard Artist of the Year, Billboard's Album of the Year for Vivir, two American Music Awards, a World Music Award, eight Premio Lo Nuestro awards, two ACE Performer of the Year awards, and ASCAP prizes for Best Composer of 1996 and 1997, in addition to countless accolades around the world.

With 1998's Cosas del Amor, Iglesias moved to more mature content; his earlier material had been written when he was 17 years old. Then came Enrique, his first Interscope album and first in English. It achieved gold or platinum status in 32 countries and brought his global album sales to a total of more than 23 million. In 2001 he released the follow-up, Escape. Iglesias alternated Spanish- and English-language albums during the next two years, first offering the ballad collection Quizás in 2002, then the mainstream English record 7 in 2003. Four years later the single "Do You Know (The Ping Pong Song)" announced the coming of his 2007 album Insomniac. ~ Ed Nimmervoll, All Music Guide

Adam Gilchrist

Adam Gilchrist is one of the greatest wicketkeepers to represent Australia in international cricket. Gilchrist played as opening batsman for the Australian cricket team. Across the globe, millions of fans liked him not only for his achievements in the game of cricket, but also for his style of batting and wicketkeeping. Let's know more about his life and achievements in the following Adam Gilchrist biography.


Early Life
Adam Craig Gilchrist was born on November 14, 1971, in Bellingen, New South Wales, Australia. He did his schooling from Deniliquin Public School and Kadina High School. From an early age, his parents Stan and June Gilchrist always encouraged him to play cricket. During his school days, he actively played cricket and wanted to be a fast bowler. However, he was fascinated by the wicketkeeping gloves and went on to become one of the finest wicketkeepers in international cricket. Gilchrist is married to his school sweetheart Melinda and they have two sons Harrison and Archie, and a daughter Anne Jean.

International Career
Adam Gilchrist replaced an injured Ian Healy as wicketkeeper in the Australian team and played his first One Day International (ODI) in the year 1996 against South Africa in Faridabad, India. In that match, he took his first catch in international cricket when he dismissed Hansie Cronje for a duck. Gilly's position became firm in the home cricket squad because the Australian selectors decided to keep different teams for One-day and Test cricket. In the year 1998, during the New Zealand tour, he achieved his highest average of 50 by any Australian batsman. In the same year, he made his test debut against Pakistan at Gabba in Brisbane. Here, not only did he play an excellent knock, but the hosts also won the Test and One-day series. Adam Gilchrist is the first batsman to have scored 100 sixes in Test cricket. In 1999, he was one of the key players leading to Australia winning the World Cup. In the year 2001 Ashes series, Adam Gilchrist performed excellently, that led to the Australian team winning the series by 4-1.

Career Achievements
Adam Gilchrist is also known an one of the finest all-rounders in the game of cricket. Many describe Gilchrist as the greatest wicketkeeper and One Day player. He is admired for his leadership qualities as well as the spirit in which he played the game. He scored 8585 runs in 257 matches in One Day International cricket, at an average rate of 35.26. Gilly made 172 runs, his highest, in the ODI against Zimbabwe. In his international cricket career, he scored 17 test and 15 ODI centuries. He has also made 50 half-centuries. Gilly has 375 catches and 45 stumpings to his credit as a wicketkeeper.

Gilchrist is the only wicketkeeper to have captained the Australian team for One Day and Test matches to-date, and has also led his side to many victories. He has an excellent strike rate, both in One Day as well as Test cricket. He made the second fastest century in the Australia vs England test match played in Perth in 2006.

Adam Gilchrist was named one of the the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 2002. He was also declared Australia's ODI Player of the Year in 2003 and 2004. In 2003, Gilly was awarded with the Allan Border Medal for excellent performances in Test and One-day cricket. In 2004, Gilchrist was named in the Richie Benaud's Greatest XI. He was also voted as the 9th Greatest All Rounder of the Century in the year 2007.

Retirement from International Cricket
Adam Gilchrist retired from International cricket in March 2008, after breaking the world record for the highest dismissals by a wicketkeeper. Presently, Gilly is leading Deccan Chargers in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 competition being played in India, as Team Captain. In 2009, after taking over the captaincy of Deccan Chargers from VVS Laxman, he led the team to win the IPL trophy in South Africa.

Gilchrist believes in charity, and he is the ambassador of World Vision in India. Through this charity, he sponsors a young, fatherless boy, named Mangesh, living in an urban slum in Chennai, India. In the present season of the Indian Premiere League (IPL), Adam Gilchrist aims to hit 25 sixes, so 25 physically challenged children will receive modified push bikes through the Amway's Freedom Wheels program.

Adam Gilchrist is one of the well-admired cricketers of his generation. After reading the Adam Gilchrist biography, cricket fans will agree that the manner and the spirit in which he played the game of cricket was brilliant!

Harland David Sanders-KFC

Harland David Sanders, better known as Colonel Sanders (September 9, 1890 – December 16, 1980) was an American entrepreneur who founded Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). His image is omnipresent in the chain's advertising and packaging, and his name is sometimes used as a synonym for the KFC product or restaurant itself.
Sanders was born to a Presbyterian family in Henryville, Indiana. His father, Wilbur David Sanders, died when Harland was five years old, and—since his mother worked—he was required to cook for his family. He dropped out of school in seventh grade. When his mother remarried he ran away from home because his stepfather beat him. During his early years, Sanders worked many jobs, including steamboat pilot, insurance salesman, railroad fireman, farmer, and enlisted in the Army as a private when he was only 16 years old (by lying about his age), spending his entire service commitment in Cuba.
Harland Sanders at age 20
The restaurant in Corbin, Kentucky where Colonel Sanders developed Kentucky Fried Chicken

At the age of 40, Sanders cooked chicken dishes and other meals for people who stopped at his service station in Corbin, Kentucky. Since he did not have a restaurant, he served customers in his living quarters in the service station. His local popularity grew, and Sanders moved to a motel and restaurant that seated 142 people and worked as the chef. Over the next nine years, he developed his method of cooking chicken. Furthermore, he made use of a pressure fryer that allowed the chicken to be cooked much faster than by pan frying.

He was given the honorary title "Kentucky Colonel" in 1935 by Governor Ruby Laffoon. He was re-commissioned in 1950 by Governor Lawrence Wetherby. Although he had been a Kentucky Colonel for nearly two decades, it wasn’t until after 1950 that Sanders began to look the part, growing his trademark mustache and goatee and donning his white suit and string tie[2].

After the construction of Interstate 75 reduced his restaurant's customer traffic, Sanders took to franchising Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants, starting at age 65, using $105 from his first Social Security check to fund visits to potential franchisees.[2]

Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy's Old Fashioned Burgers was offered a chance to turn around a failing Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant. He helped save the restaurant and revolutionized the fast food industry, by simplifying the menu. At the time, there was an excessive number of items on the menu (possibly more than one hundred). Working with Sanders, Thomas stripped the menu down to just the basic fried chicken and salads.[3]
Colonel Sanders is the official face of KFC, and appears on the logo as well as numerous advertisements and promotions of the fast food chain.

Sanders sold the Kentucky Fried Chicken corporation in 1964 for $2 million to a partnership of Kentucky businessmen headed by John Y. Brown, Jr. The deal did not include the Canadian operations. Sanders moved to Ontario and continued to collect franchise fees. Sanders continued on with Kentucky Fried Chicken as its spokesperson and collected appearance fees for his visits to franchises in the United States and Canada. In 1973, he sued Heublein Inc. (the KFC parent company at the time) over alleged misuse of his image in promoting products he had not helped develop. In 1975, Heublein Inc. unsuccessfully sued Sanders for libel after he publicly referred to their gravy as "sludge" with a "wallpaper taste".[4]
Death and legacy
Gravesite of Sanders

Sanders died in Louisville, Kentucky, of pneumonia on December 16, 1980.[5][6] He had been diagnosed with acute leukemia the previous June.[7] His body lay in state in the rotunda of the Kentucky State Capitol; after a funeral service at the Southern Baptist Seminary Chapel attended by more than 1,000 people, he was buried in his characteristic white suit and black western string tie in Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville.

He had a son, Harland, Jr., who died at a young age, and two daughters, Margaret Sanders and Mildred Ruggles.[7]
Colonel Sanders statue in front of KFC in Japan

Since his death, Sanders has been portrayed by voice actors in Kentucky Fried Chicken commercials on the radio, and an animated version of him has been used for television commercials (voiced by actor Randy Quaid). Sanders also appeared, portrayed by drummer Brooks Wackerman, as part of Tenacious D's backing band for their last world tour.

In 1965 Sanders moved to Mississauga, Ontario to oversee his Canadian franchises. Sanders later used his shares to create the Colonel Harland Sanders Trust and Colonel Harland Sanders Charitable Organization, which used the proceeds to aid charities and fund scholarships. His trusts continue to donate money to groups like the Trillium Health Care Centre; a wing of their building specializes in women's and children's care and has been named after him.[8] The foundation granted over $1,000,000 in 2007, according to its 2007 tax return. The foundation is based in Sidney, British Columbia.[9]

Sanders was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 2000.

Justin Timberlake

Date of Birth
31 January 1981, Memphis, Tennessee, USA

Birth Name
Justin Randall Timberlake

Nickname
JT

Height
5' 11¾" (1.82 m)

Mini Biography

Justin Randall Timberlake was born to Lynn Harless and Randy Timberlake on January 31, 1981, in Memphis, Tennessee. At the age of 11, he appeared on the show "Star Search" (1983), and even though he didn't win, it didn't dampen his ambitions. He also appeared on "MMC" (1989), where his costars included Britney Spears, Ryan Gosling, Keri Russell, Christina Aguilera and future band-mate J.C. Chasez. At age 14, Justin became a member of the boy band *NSYNC. In 1998, the group released their self-titled debut album. They became a big hit with fans and made a place for themselves in the music world with a succession of big-selling albums. In the beginning of 2002, Justin spent time working on and writing songs for his debut solo album. During this time, he broke up with his longtime girlfriend, Britney Spears. The release of the solo album, titled "Justified", came in November of 2002. Songs from his solo album include: "Like I Love You", "Cry Me A River" and "Rock Your Body".
IMDb Mini Biography By: Stephanie Koston

Trade Mark

His dancing skills.

Shaved head

Trivia

Performed with *NSYNC on the "Celine Dion All The Way" TV special [24 November 1999]

When he is not able to fall asleep, he sings himself to sleep.

Performed at the Christmas Tree Lighting at Rockefeller Center with 'NSYNC. [1 December 1999]

Chosen as one of Teen People Magazine's "21 Hottest Stars Under 21". [1999]

He was born at 6:30 in the evening.

He and fellow *NSYNC member J.C. Chasez were both member of "MMC" (1989) in the early-mid 1990s.

Co-wrote "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays" with 'JC Chasez' from *NSYNC's Christmas album, "Home For Christmas".

Mother is Lynn Harless, manager of the all-girl group Innosense.

Boyfriend of his former "The New Mickey Mouse Club" (1977) co-star Britney Spears from 1998 to 2002.

A 15-year-old *NSYNC fan filed a lawsuit against Timberlake, claiming that he verbally assaulted her. Justin allegedly snubbed fans in a St. Louis hotel after which the plaintiff shouted that she thought J.C. Chasez was cuter. When she admitted to a guard that she was the one who made the comment, the guard made her go upstairs with Justin. After that, Timberlake allegedly pushed her against a wall and shouted insults at her. [November 2000]

Collects sneakers.

His mom thought of the name *NSYNC, using the last letter of each original member's first name: justiN, chriS (Chris Kirkpatrick), joeY (Joey Fatone), jasoN (Jason Watkins sang bass prior to Lance Bass joining the group), and j.C. (J.C. Chasez).

*NSYNC's third album, "Celebrity", was released. [24 July 2001]

*NSYNC was started when Justin was just 14 years old.

His favorite ice cream is Baskin-Robbins Daquiri Ice.

He founded The Justin Timberlake Foundation through the Giving Back Fund. The foundation's goals are similar to the Save the Music Foundation.

He collects sports jerseys.

He owns half a dozen Harley Davidsons, a Mercedes M Class and two Mercedes Benz.

Sang at the Grand Ole Opry when he was ten years old.

Cites his greatest fears as dying unloved, snakes, sharks, spiders and falling unconscious at a concert from the stuffed animals fans throw on stage.

He and girlfriend Britney Spears broke up. [March 2002]

Named as the most eligible bachelor in America. [July 2002]

Debut solo single "Like I Love You" reached #2 in the UK singles chart. [October 2002]

Used first and middle names (Justin Randall) for his appearances on "Star Search" (1983).

Has two half-brothers, Jonathan and Stephen.

Single "Cry Me a River" debuted at #2 in the UK singles chart (Feb. 2003).

Solo album, "Justified", reached no. 1 in the UK album chart (Feb 2003).

Performed a duet with Kylie Minogue at the 2003 Brit Awards.

As of May 2003, his solo album "Justified" has gone double platinum.

Hosted the 2003 MTV Movie awards with actor Seann William Scott.

His third solo single, "Rock Your Body", debuted at #2 in the UK singles chart. [May 2003]

Won (his first) Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album for "Justified" [8 February 2004].

Won a Grammy for Best pop Male for "Cry Me A River" [Febuary 8, 2004].

As of February 2004, his debut solo album "Justified" has gone triple platinum.

Is a fan of Björk.

While touring in London, he met Coldplay lead singer and songwriter Chris Martin and struck up a close friendship. At the 2003 VMA awards he introduced the band's performance while calling them "the greatest band in the world.".

Toured with 'FeFe Dobson' in the UK. [December 2003]

Was a member of the National Beta Club.

His ex-girlfriend's (Britney Spears) ex-husband Kevin Federline was a former background dancer for *NSYNC at the 2002 Grammy Awards and in Justin's 2002 VMA performance.

He and best friend Trace Ayala created a clothing line, "William Rast". Clothes became available for purchase from Kitson and Bloomingdales in November 2005. The name William Rast comes from Justin's grandfather, William Bomar, and Trace's grandfather, whose surname is Rast.

Is set to star in West End play "Resurrection Blues" in London starting February 2006. Kevin Spacey is producing.

His father Randall, a choir director at a Baptist church, is married to Lisa.

He had a younger half-sister, Laura Katherine, who died minutes after birth. She was the first child of his father, Randy Timberlake, and stepmother Lisa. It is sometimes falsely reported that she was his twin. He mentions her sometimes in the liner notes of *NSYNC albums. Has two younger half-brothers, Jonathan Perry Timberlake (born September 12, 1993) and Stephen Robert Timberlake (born August 14, 1998). Both are sons of his father and stepmother.

In his exclusive "20/20" (1978) interview, he told Barbara Walters that the "best burgers in the world" can be found at The General Store in Shelby Forest, Tennessee.

Loves skiing and snowboarding.

Mother and stepfather are Lynn Bomar and Paul Harless, respectively.

Broke his left foot in December 2002 during dance rehearsals.

Broke his thumb on stage in early 1997, when he slipped on a puddle of water that was a result of the audience being sprayed down due to extreme temperatures during the outdoor concert.

Was among the 130 guests at Christina Aguilera's wedding to Jordan Bratman.

Best friend is Trace Ayala, his personal assistant.

Is a fan of Kylie Minogue and Dannii Minogue.

Received his first UK #1 with his song "SexyBack" from new album "FutureSex/LoveSounds" in September 2006.

Winner of two MTV Europe Music Awards in 2006 for "Best Male Artist" and "Best Pop". He also hosted the show in Copenhagen, Danmark (2 November 2006).

Ranked in Golf Digest's "Top 100 in Music" (December 2006 issue) as tied for 15th place with Jason Scheff of Chicago and Darius Rucker of Hootie and the Blowfish, with a 6 handicap.

Collaborated with Duran Duran in 2006 for a song on the band's album. In November of that year, lead singer Simon Le Bon told The Associated Press the band had "collaborated in a writing and production manner on one of those tracks with Justin Timberlake.".

Broke up with Cameron Diaz. They had been together since 2003. Said to be dating Scarlett Johansson [January 11, 2007].

Paternal grandson of Charles L. Timberlake (who had remote Dutch American ancestry) and wife Bobbye Joice.

Voted #2 in Elle (France) Magazine's "15 Sexiest Men" poll (June 2007).

Is a noted fan of country music.

Winner of four MTV Video Music Awards in 2007 for "Male Artist of the Year", "Quadruple Threat of the Year", "Best Director" and "Best Choreography in a Video".

Supports the English football team Manchester United FC "The Red Devils".

Girlfriend Jessica Biel accompanied him on his European Tour in 2007.

In 2007, Forbes Magazine estimated his earnings for the year at $20 million.

Was ranked #28 on Entertainment Weekly's '30 Under 30' the actors list. (2008).

An avid fan of IndyCar racing.

Had the unwanted pleasure of being Ashton Kutcher's first victim on the TV show "Punk'd" (2003).

Wrote the hit song "Rehab" for Rihanna and also sings on it.

Owns a soul food restaurant called "Southern Hospitality" in Manhattan (Second Avenue at 79th Street).

Jason Seek was his former music teacher in 1994.

Attended E.E. Jeter Elementary School in Millington, Tennessee.

Personal Quotes

[interview in Rolling Stone magazine about Britney Spears] I may not ever get over her. I really do still love that girl.

England is the first country that I've had a #1 album in, so it is now officially my home away from home.

[on the Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction" incident] I am sorry if anyone was offended by the wardrobe malfunction during the halftime performance.

I kiss people with my soul. I don't kiss them with my mouth.

[in 2002, about fame] All you can do as an artist is do what you think is an extension of you. You put down on paper . . . who you are. That's what being an artist is all about. And when it gets done, you don't look back at it and say, "Oh, I could have done that better".

[about girls] A lot of girls have cheated on me in the past, so it's hard for me to trust. But once I fall, I fall hard.

[about music] I think music will always be a big part of my life. I can't go five minutes without singing, sometimes unconsciously. And people stare at me, and I'm wondering why they're staring, and then I'm realizing that I'm belting out a tune.

[about the music industry] I can give you my personal opinion: Love the music, hate the business. It's a screwball business and there are a lot of players who will straight-up lie to you.

[about love] True love, to me, is when she's the first thought that goes through your head when you wake up and the last thought that goes through your head before you go to sleep.

I'm a perfectionist. I can't help it, I get really upset with myself if I fail in the least.

[on who he would date] Pretty is cool, but it's not really about looks for me. It's more about personality. I like a girl with a good sense of humor, who's humble and sensitive.

I don't feel guilty about success. You can't feel guilty about aspiring to be good at something.

Everyone wants to know about my spirituality, and it's like, Tthat's mine!"

When I'm not on stage, I'm kind of shy. If you see me and I don't say much, don't think I'm not taking in what you have to say. I'm just not a big talker.

[about *NSYNC] I don't regret anything that I've done with this group. I think that when people find something that they love to do they make sacrifices to do it.

Where Are They Now

(May 2003) On tour with Christina Aguilera for their 2003 "Justified-Stripped Tour".

(December 2003) Currently touring in the UK with "Justified".

(March 2004) In Canada busy at work filming his movie with Kevin Spacey, Morgan Freeman, Piper Perabo and Rap star/actor LL Cool J.

(February 2007) On tour with Tim Mosley (aka Timbaland) for his FutureSex/LoveShow 2007 Tour.

(April 2008) Collaborated with 'Townsend Bell' to redesign the paint scheme for his IndyCar. Timberlake eventually selected a flat camouflage green for the car which was a big hit at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in preparation for the Indianapolis 500.

Eva Longoria Parker

Date of Birth
15 March 1975, Corpus Christi, Texas, USA

Birth Name
Eva Jacqueline Longoria

Height
5' 2" (1.57 m)


The youngest of four sisters who grew up on a ranch near Corpus Christi, Texas, Longoria attended Texas A&M University-Kingsville, where she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology. After graduating from college, she entered a talent contest that brought her to Los Angeles, where she was spotted and subsequently signed by a theatrical agent. After landing roles on "The Bold and the Beautiful" (1987), "General Hospital" (1963) and co-starring on "Beverly Hills, 90210" (1990), she auditioned for and won the role of "Isabella" on the popular series, "The Young and the Restless" (1973). After Y&R, Eva Longoria became well known worldwide thanks to "Desperate Housewives" (2004) where she plays adulteress "Gabrielle Solis". She also has a contract with L'Oreal and has been named one of the most beautiful people.

Viswanathan Anand

Viswanathan Anand, (Tamil: விசுவநாதன் ஆனந்த்) (born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess Grandmaster and the current World Chess Champion.

Anand held the FIDE World Chess Championship from 2000 to 2002, at a time when the world title was split. He became the undisputed World Champion in 2007 and defended his title against Vladimir Kramnik in 2008. With this win, he became the first player in chess history to have won the World Championship in three different formats: Knockout, Tournament, and Match. He will next defend his title in the World Chess Championship 2010 against Veselin Topalov, the winner of a challenger match against Gata Kamsky in February 2009.[

Anand is one of five players in history to break the 2800 mark on the FIDE rating list, and in April 2007 at the age of 37, he became the oldest person to become world number-one for the first time. He was at the top of the world rankings five out of six times, from April 2007 to July 2008, holding the number-one ranking for a total of 15 months. In October 2008, he dropped out of the world top three ranking for the first time since July 1996.

In 2007 he was awarded India's second highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan. He is also the first recipient of Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 1991–92, India's highest sporting honour.

Azim Hashim Premji-founder of Wipro

Azim Hashim Premji, founder of Wipro Limited, India’s biggest and most competitive IT company based in Bangalore, was born on July 24th 1945 in Bombay. Premji was forced to leave his studies in computer science from Stanford University, California, USA at the age of 21 to take over the family business of vegetable oils when his father M.H. Premji, suddenly passed away in 1966. He has since after a gap of over thirty years completed his degree in Electrical Engineering.
The Amalner-based vanaspathi manufacturing company, the Western India Vegetable Product later became Wipro Products Ltd, Wipro Technologies and Wipro Corporation. Under Premji’s leadership Wipro embarked on an ambitious phase of expansion and diversification. The Company began manufacturing light bulbs with General Electric and other consumer products including soaps, baby care products, shampoos, powder etc. In 1975, Wipro Fluid Power business unit manufacturing hydraulic cylinders and truck tippers was started. But Premji’s ambitions did not stop there. In the 1980s Wipro entered the IT field, taking advantage of the expulsion of IBM from the Indian market in 1975. Thus, Wipro became involved in manufacturing computer hardware, software development and related items, under a special license from Sentinel. As a result, the $1.5 million company in hydrogenated cooking fats grew within a few years to a $662 million diversified, integrated corporation in services, medical systems, technology products and consumer items with offices worldwide.
The company’s IT division became the world’s first to win SEI CMM level 5 and PCMM Level 5 (People Capability Maturity Model) certification, the latest in quality standards. A large percentage of the company’s revenues are generated by the IT division. Wipro works with leading global companies, such as Alcatel, Nokia, Cisco and Nortel and has a joint venture in Medical Systems with General Electric company.
Premji’s story of success and prominence clearly shows how determination and perseverance, when coupled with knowledge, clear vision and proper planning, enable one to reach the peak of success and leadership. A straight forward person, he doesn’t believe in resorting to bribery or corruption to get things done and associates quality with integrity. He is an absolute workaholic and according to him work is the only way to success and survival in a competitive environment. A tough employer, he expects his employees to be competent and will not tolerate lies or deception from anyone.
Azim Hashim Premji finds himself in the Forbes Billionaire List 2000, placed in 41st position with a wealth of $ 6.4 billion. Over the years, Azim Premji has been privileged with many honors and accolades. He was chosen as the Business India’s ‘Businessman of the Year 2000’, He was named by Fortune (August 2003) as one of the 25 most powerful business leaders outside the US, Forbes (March 2003) listed him as one of ten people globally, Business Week featured (October 2003) him on their cover with the sobriquet ‘India’s tech king’. The Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee and the Manipal Academy of Higher Education have both conferred honorary doctorates on him. He is also a member of the Prime Minister’s Advisory Committee for Information Technology in India.
In the year 2001, Premji established Azim Premji Foundation, a not-for-profit organization with a vision of influencing the lives of millions of children in India by facilitating the universalisation of elementary education. The foundation works closely with the state governments of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh etc and the programs cover over 5000 rural schools. Premji contributes the financial resources for the foundation.
Personally, Premji is known for his humility and helping mentality. Easily one of the richest men in the world, he always travels in economy class. One of his favorite recreational activity is hiking. He leads a quiet life with his wife Yasmin Premji who had worked for ‘Inside Outside’ (editorial) in Mumbai and his two sons in a simple, but elegant villa in Bangalore. The elder son, Rishad, works in the USA for GE and the younger one, Tariq, has co-founded a dotcom and works from Bangalore. Mr. Premji who holds 78% stakes in the company does not believe in naming one of his sons as his successor just for the norms.

Chester Bennington

Date of birth : 20 March 1976

Place of birth : Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Birth name : Chester Charles Bennington

Nickname : Chaz

Height : 5' 10

• One of the lead singers to the band Linkin Park
• First Band: Grey Daze in 1993
• Siblings: Two half sisters and one half brother, Brian
• Hair: Brown.
• Zodiac (star sign): Pisces
  
• His wife, Samantha, gave birth to a boy, Draven Sebastian Bennington. [April 19, 2002]
• [May 2003] Chester was admitted to an L.A. hospital after suffering an attack of severe back and abdominal pains.
• Recently had the laser eye surgery procedure done (March 2004)
• Before Grey Daze, when Chester was 15 he played in a band called "Sean Dowdell and Friends" in which he was the lead singer. Currently the only existing evidence of this band is a 3 song tape that includes the following songs: "Painted Pictures" "Kill The Flies" and "God's Afraid".
• Before Linkin Park, when Chester was 16 he played in a band called 'Grey Daze' which recorded two albums, 'No Sun Today' and 'Wake Me' until later breaking-up.
• Chester has designed some clothing for a company called Replicant, owned by Korn's Head and Orgy's Ryan Shuck
• Chester's siblings are children from one of his step-parent's previous marraige. Chester's biological parents got divorced when he was 11.
• His son's name is Draven Sebastian Bennington (born April 19, 2002).  

Born in Phoenix, Arizona into less-than-ideal circumstances, Chester Bennington's life followed a steady decline into confusion and misery throughout his childhood. At age 11 he made the jarring discovery that his parents and siblings were not in fact his blood relatives; this difficult reality was to be compounded over the next seven years by peer ridicule, sexual abuse and the untimely deaths of several of his friends. Like many who have had to deal with such issues, he turned to drugs and alchohol as a means of coping, becoming addicted to cocaine by the age of 18. An escape from this doomed course was finally made in 1996, when, with the help of a supportive partner (whom he married that same year), Bennington managed to overcome his chemical dependencies and began to turn his longtime musical ambitions into a working concern. Over the next two years his first band, Grey Daze, established a sizable local following around the Phoenix area, but eventually Bennington made the decision to move on to other projects.

In 1997 Bennington was informed by his brother that the group Xero were in need of a singer; introductions were made, and by the following year the two parties had joined forces under the new name of Hybrid Theory. After releasing a 6-song EP, Hybrid Theory became Linkin Park, under which name they quickly became a popular favorite in L.A. venues such as The Whiskey on Sunset Boulevard. Major label interest did not come quite as easily, and the band's material was rejected several times before a Zomba Music representative arranged a deal with corporate monstrosity Warner Brothers in the final months of the decade. After a year of work, the band's debut Hybrid Theory was released to considerable success in the fall of 2000. The album put the band at the forefront of the rapidly expanding genre of commercially-oriented rap/metal hybrids (an area established by acts such as Limp Bizkit and Cypress Hill in the mid 90s), and wasted little time climbing high in the mainstream and 'alternative' (another increasingly popular corporate music category) charts. Later in the year the band would earn a Grammy award in the Hard Rock Performance category for their single Crawling.

After the arrival of his first child in 2002, Bennington took a short hiatus from Linkin Park in order to spend time with his wife and son. During this lull in activity the remix album Reanimation was issued, featuring mixes by members of Korn, Staind, The Roots and Jurassic 5, with contributions from rappers such as Motion Man and Pharoahe Monch. A second full-length surfaced in 2003, Meteora remaining firmly in the spirit of the first album, and surpasing its commercial success by achieving the #1 position on the mainstream charts. All five of the release's singles (Faint, Somewhere I Belong, Breaking The Habit, Lying From You and Numb) would top the 'Modern Rock' charts in their turn. At the end of the year the live album Live In Texas was released, documenting the band's 2003 tour with the Summer Sanitarium festival. The band-sponsored 'mash-up' EP Collision Course, combining Linkin Park songs with vocals lifted from Jay-Z tracks, followed in 2004. 

maradona

Full name	Diego Armando Maradona
Date of birth	30 October 1960 (1960-10-30) (age 49)
Place of birth	Lanús, Argentina
Height	1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Playing position	Attacking Midfielder/Second Striker

Diego Armando Maradona is arguably the greatest footballer that has ever put on a pair of boots. He is born in the slums of Villa Fiorito near Buenos Aires as the fifth of eight children. Maradona enters professional football at the astonishing age of 15. By the time he turns 16, Diego is called in the senior national squad of Argentina. Regardless of his talent, Diego is considered too young by coach Cesar Menotti, who rejects him from his selection for the 1978 World Cup. Bitterly disappointed, Maradona watches the tournament from home as his country wins gold. In the following four years, Diego dominates his country's domestic league and is eventually added to the Argentine squad for Spain 1982.
Argentina advances from the first stage of the tournament by losing to Belgium, but beating Hungary and Salvador. Maradona manages to leave his mark with two beautiful, yet not critical goals. In the the second stage of the tournament, Maradona is manhandled by his Italian marker Claudio Gentile. Diego's frustration gets him sent off. Argentina fails to advance and Diego is again suppressed from unleashing his full potential. Although unsuccessful, the brilliance of the Argentine footballer does not go unnoticed and after the World Cup, he is picked up by European powerhouse Barcelona. By 1984, Maradona had established himself in Barca and is picked up by the Italian club Napoli.
At the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, Maradona makes his return on the World stage in a spectacular fashion. After leading his team to a quarter final against England, Diego steals the attention of millions with both his controversial character and technical brilliance. The fuss around the Argentina-England encounter is further elevated by the Falkland Islands conflict, which at that time had turned both countries against each other. Diego opens the game 1-0 by striking the ball with his hand over the English goalkeeper Shilton. Unnoticed by the referees, the mishap is ruled a goal. Five minutes later, Maradona single handedly takes the ball through the entire English defense with a slalom from midfield right down to the goal line. After the match, when confronted with the video footage of the illegal goal, Maradona replies simply "Even if there was a hand, it must have been the hand of God." Maradona silenced his critics by deciding the following semi and final matches. By scoring two goals in the first and with an assist in the second, Maradona practically earns the World Cup for his nation.
Maradona's influence on his teammates was carried over to his club side Napoli, as they reached unprecedented heights, winning their very first and second Scudetto (1997 and 1990) and the UEFA Cup in 1988/99.
At Italy 1990, all eyes are on Argentina and its brightest star Diego Maradona. Diego comes close to replicating his success from four years ago. With Maradona's ability, Argentina defeats Brazil, Yugoslavia and Italy on its way to the final. Most memorable is the semi-final match between Argentina and Italy played at Diego's club home Naples. To the torment of Maradona, the fans at his own club stadium boo him during the match. Nevertheless, Argentina eliminates Italy after a penalty shootout. The final of the 1990 World Cup, leaves Diego helpless as Argentina are defeated 0-1 by West Germany with a goal from a questionable penalty.
After the loss against West Germany, Maradona's career plummets. In March of 1991, he tested positive for doping and is banned from football for 15 months. Maradona refuses to return back to Napoli after the World Cup incident and transferrs to Sevilla for a year. He eventually goes back to Argentina with Newell's Old Boys.
The 1994 World Cup confirms that Diego's career in international football is over. He is suspended again after failing yet another doping test. Hurt by his absence, Argentina is eventually eliminated by Romania in the second stage.
Shortly after, Diego takes on a new career path as a coach. He fails miserably again, unable to remain at a single club for more than four months. By 1995, Maradona is forced to return to the game as a player. He goes back to his former club Boca Juniors, and remains there until his last match on 25th of October 1997. Five days later, during his 37th birthday, Maradona announces his retirement from football. Up until 2001, Diego remains away from the playing pitch, periodically entering rehab for cocaine abuse. Diego plays his farewell match on the 10th of November 2001 against a select team comprised by some of the greatest footballers in the game including Ferrara, Suker, Stoichkov, Cantona, Higuita, and Romario. One year earlier, Maradona is voted Best Football Player of the Century by a global Internet poll. Controversy is stirred yet again, by his nearly unanimous victory. FIFA, who find Maradona's personal image as the 'King of Football' unacceptable, decide to give the same award to Pelé as the Best Footballer for the first half of the century.

Tim Burton

Tim Burton is one of the last people you'd imagine would become one of the most acclaimed directors in the world. He is an introverted, unassuming person. His career got underway at the most famous animation studio in Hollywood, he landed his first directing gig because of a bootleg tape of a short film that was never released, and (for a while, at least) he had a movie in the top-ten grossers of all time.

Timothy William Burton was born August 25, 1958 in Burbank, California. Burbank may not ring as many bells as Hollywood, but it is the home to many film and television studios -- NBC, Warner Brothers, Disney, and others. Burbank was quintessential 1950s American suburbia, a world in which the shy, artistic Tim was not quite in step with the shiny happy people surrounding him. He was not particularly good in school, and was not a bookworm. Instead, he found his pleasure in painting, drawing, and movies. He loved monster movies: Godzilla, the Hammer horror films from Great Britain, the work of Ray Harryhausen. One of his heroes was actor Vincent Price.

After high school in 1976, Burton attended the California Institute of the Arts. Cal Arts had been founded by Disney as a "breeding ground" for new animators, though they did offer other courses of study. Burton entered the Disney animation program in his second year, thinking it would be a good way to make a living. In 1979, he was drafted to join the Disney animation ranks.

Burton did not enjoy being an animator, not one little bit. Imagine, if you will, what it's like to be an animator. Films are projected at 24 frames per second. For a 90-minute film, that's over 129,000 individual frames. Characters are drawn separately and then put together, and placed over painted backgrounds. The work requires talented artists, but they cannot deviate from the structured manner of drawing the characters. Burton had been brought in to work on The Fox And The Hound. It bored him silly.

The studio recognized that Burton's talent was not being utilized. They made him a conceptual artist, the people who design the characters that appear in the films. He did early work on The Black Cauldron, the adaptation of the second volume of Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain (a seven-volume fantasy series). If you're familiar with Burton's artwork, you can imagine that his concept drawings were nothing like your standard Disney fare. It didn't go over too well, and it was not used. However, he was set loose on his own projects. These included a poem and artwork that years later would become The Nightmare Before Christmas, the animated short Vincent, and the live-action short Frankenweenie.

The latter two received little or no outside exposure, but Burton did get to work with his idol, Vincent Price, for the first time and they remained friends until Price's death in 1993. Frankenweenie was awarded a PG rating, which precluded its release with their G-rated animated features. It only saw theatrical release overseas, and a short release on VHS. However, it would be the film that landed him his first feature directing job.

Horror writer Stephen King (you have heard of him, right?) had seen Frankenweenie, and strongly recommended it to Bonni Lee, an executive at Warner Brothers. Lee then showed the film to Paul Reubens. Reubens was the man behind Pee-wee Herman, and was in the process of bringing his alter ego to the big screen. He knew right away that Tim Burton was the perfect choice for the job, and indeed they were a perfect match. As they say, the rest is history.

Following the surprise success of Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Burton didn't make another film for almost three years. It wasn't until he was offered the anarchic screenplay for Beetlejuice that he finally found another project suited to his unique vision. The film was an even bigger hit, and led to Warner Bros. offering Burton the job directing an eagerly awaited comic book adaptation that had been years in the planning.

Batman was less a movie, more of an event. It sparked controversy with the casting of Michael Keaton as the Dark Knight, and generated a merchandising blitz that is now standard for blockbusters. However, despite all the hype and studio interference, Burton still managed to put his own stamp on the film and it remains one of the most influential Hollywood movies of the last few decades. It's box office gross of over $250 million is also one of the highest in the studio's history.



Rather than jump into making another blockbuster, Burton used his new clout to get an extremely personal project greenlit by 20th Century Fox. Edward Scissorhands was the first time Burton had full creative control over a feature film, having written the story and also produced the movie. The film was a hit with moviegoers and critics, and marked the beginning of Burton being taken seriously as an artist.

He followed it up in 1992 with the sequel Batman Returns. It was not as big a hit as the first film, and suffered a backlash from parents who considered it too dark and twisted for younger Bat fans. Although the film was an artistic triumph, the perceived disappointment led to Joel Schumacher taking over the franchise (although Burton did have a producer credit on Batman Forever). The same year Burton also found time to play a small cameo role in Cameron Crowe's grunge film, Singles, and an even smaller cameo as a corpse in his buddy Danny DeVito's film, Hoffa.

After finally seeing his dream project realised with the feature length stop-motion film The Nightmare Before Christmas, Burton returned to smaller filmmaking with his next project, Ed Wood. An affectionate tribute to the supposed worst filmmaker of all time, it was not a hit at the box office, but won Burton the best reviews of his career, as well as two Oscars. It was followed by an indirect homage to Wood's films, Mars Attacks! The film was a disappointment at the box office, and scorned by many critics, but has gained a cult status over the years. Burton made something of a comeback three years later with his first real horror film, Sleepy Hollow.



As for Burton's personal life, he married German artist Lena Gieseke in 1989 (while in the middle of production on Batman). They separated shortly after filming of Batman Returns. He began dating Lisa Marie shortly after. She appeared in four of his films: Ed Wood, Mars Attacks!, Sleepy Hollow and Planet of the Apes.

Between Mars Attacks! and Sleepy Hollow, Tim Burton spent over a year working on a new Superman film. A preliminary script draft was written by independent filmmaker and comic geek extraordinaire Kevin Smith. Nicolas Cage was attached to the project to play the Man Of Steel. However, Burton was not particularly happy with the script, and a spiraling budget caused Warner Brothers to pull the plug on the project.

His next project was a reworking of the classic sci-fi film Planet Of The Apes. The film was rushed into production after a long gestation period, and may have suffered as a result. The film was visually stunning, and featured several strong performances by the actors in Rick Baker's astonishing ape makeup, but it was regarded as a disappointment by many.

At the same time Burton's personal life was in a state of upheaval. Both of his parents died within a short space of time, and his relationship with Lisa Marie ended. Shortly after the release of Planet of the Apes, Burton began dating one of the stars of the film, Helena Bonham Carter. Their son, Billy, was born in October, 2003.

Burton's next project couldn't have been more different, even though it shared the same producer (Richard D. Zanuck). Big Fish was an adaptation of the novel by Daniel Wallace. Perhaps the theme of a man trying to reconnect with his dying father resulted in this being Burton's most personal and emotional film in years, and it earned respectable reviews and box office.

In 2005, Burton directed back to back movies for the first time. His first project was another movie based on a novel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Johnny Depp played the lead role of Willy Wonka, and the film was one of the most successful blockbusters of 2005. It was followed two months later by the release of the stop motion animated film, Corpse Bride. Both films generally received good reviews, and Corpse Bride was even nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Feature (it lost to Wallace and Gromit).

As for his next project, Burton was set to direct Believe It or Not (starring Jim Carrey) about the life of Robert Ripley.However, that project was delayed and will now be directed, apparently, by Spike Jonze (though Burton will still produce). Burton's next directorial project turned out to be the long-rumored musical Sweeney Todd. It was released in the U.S. in December, 2007 to rave reviews. Burton has three directing jobs on the horizon - Alice in Wonderland, Frankenweenie and The Spook's Apprentice, which means his fans have no shortage of films to look forward to.

Mike Jackson and Arran McDermott 2006



Tim's Biography can also be read on the following languages, click on the link to get to the translation:
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Tim Burton's Filmography

Contact Information:
One of the questions we receive most frequently is an address where Tim Burton can be contacted. The following are the only addresses we have. We're not sure if they're up to date, so you may or may not receive a reply.

HIS AGENT:
Tim Burton
c/o Mike Simpson, William Morris Agency
One William Morris Plaza
Beverly Hills, CA 90212

HIS PRODUCTION COMPANY:
Tim Burton Productions
7175 Willoughby Avenue
West Hollywood, CA 90046