The Story of Dr.Verghese Kurien

It was on 13^th May 1949, a young engineer who had just completed his Masters Degree in Dairy Engineering arrived at Anand to serve the bond period against the government scholarship for his education. His name was Mr. Verghese Kurien, later to be known to the whole world as Dr. Verghese Kurien. At the start of it all, he served there just to complete his required period and was ready to leave Amul after that but he was persuaded to stay back at Amul by Mr. Tribhuvandas Patel – the founder of KDCMPUL. He along with Mr. Patel started developing co-operatives in the Kheda district. The role of co-operatives was to procure the milk from the farmers and to pay the farmers their appropriate amount according to the quality of milk. Further detailed operation cycle of the co-operatives is explained in the following section. Mr. Kurien however wanted to give KDCMPUL a unique name which could be easily pronounced by all and which could also help in growth of the union. Suggestions were asked from various employees and farmers for an appropriate name. Soon, a quality control supervisor recommended the name “Amulya” which is derived from a Sanskrit word meaning priceless and implies unmatchable excellence. The name was modified to “Amul” to make the union also a part of this name and hence brand AMUL- Anand Milk Union Limited, came into existence.

Verghese married Molly and they had one daughter Nirmala Kurien and a grandson, Siddharth.He was an atheist.Verghese Kurien died on 9 September 2012 after a brief spell of illness in Nadiad, near Anand in Gujarat, India. He was 90. His wife Molly died on 14 December 2012 in Mumbai after a brief illness.

The Story of Tony Fernandes

Tony Fernandes was born in Kuala Lumpur to an Indian father (a physician, originally from Goa) and Portuguese-Eurasian mother, Ena Dorothy Fernandes of Malacca, Malaysia. At a young age, he used to follow his mother, a businesswoman, to Tupperware dealer parties and conventions. He was educated at Epsom College from 1977 to 1983 and graduated from the London School of Economics in 1987. He worked very briefly with Virgin Atlantic as an auditor, subsequently becoming the financial controller for Richard Branson's Virgin Records in London from 1987 to 1989.

Tony was admitted as Associate Member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) in 1991 and became Fellow Member in 1996. He is currently a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).

Upon his return to Malaysia, he became the youngest managing director of Warner Music (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd. As well as being an accountant, Fernandes is an amateur guitarist and also has achieved grade 8 piano which is where his musical inclination lies.

He subsequently became the South East Asian regional vice-president for Warner Music Group from 1992-2001. When Time Warner Inc announced its merger with America Online Inc., Fernandes left to pursue his dream of starting a budget no-frills airline. However, his application for a license from the Malaysian government was rejected.

It was through Datuk Pahamin A. Rejab, the former secretary-general of the Malaysian Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry that Fernandes came to meet with then Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad in October 2001.

Instead of starting from scratch, Mahathir advised Fernandes to buy an existing airline instead. AirAsia, the heavily-indebted subsidiary of the Malaysian government-owned conglomerate, DRB-Hicom, was quickly losing money. Fernandes mortgaged his home and used his personal savings to acquire the company, comprising two ageing Boeing 737-300 jets (9M-AAA and 9M-AAB) and US$11 million (RM40 million) worth of debts, for one ringgit (about 26 US cents), and transformed it into an industry player. One year after his takeover, AirAsia had broken even and cleared all its debts. Its initial public offering (IPO) in November 2004 was oversubscribed by 130 per cent.

Fernandes says his timing was in fact perfect: after 11 September 2001, aircraft leasing costs fell 40%. Also, airline lay-offs meant experienced staff were readily available. He believed Malaysian travellers would embrace a cut-rate air service that would save them time and money, especially in a tight economy. That was why he copied one of the world's most successful no-frills carriers, Ireland's Ryanair (which is in turn modelled after Southwest Airlines in the United States). Fernandes estimates about 50 per cent of the travellers on Asia’s budget airlines are first-time flyers. Before AirAsia, he estimated that only six per cent of Malaysians had ever travelled in a plane.