Ambani couple, Premji among Time's 100 most influential people in philanthropy
New York, May 20 (PTI): Billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani and Nita Ambani, former Wipro chairman Azim Premji and Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath have been named Tuesday by Time magazine in its inaugural list of the 100 most influential people in philanthropy.
The TIME100 Most Influential People in Philanthropy 2025 list “tells the stories of how generous donors and leaders of foundations and non-profits are directing funding into the communities that need it most,” according to the publication.
The list includes Mukesh and Nita Ambani who, Time said, gifted Rs 407 crore (about USD 48 million) in 2024, “placing them among the country’s biggest donors.”
Noting that Mukesh and Nita Ambani are “empowering millions”, the Time profile said the billionaire philanthropist couple’s “charitable initiatives are as varied and wide-ranging as the business empire that earned them an estimated USD 110 billion fortune.”
It listed the initiatives taken by Mukesh and Nita Ambani and added that Nita Ambani, founder and chair of the Reliance Foundation and a businesswoman in her own right, leads a number of the foundation’s programmes.
On tech magnate Premji, Time said that today, he is better known as one of India’s most generous philanthropists, directing his wealth to systematically improving India’s public education system.
Premji was the first Indian to sign the Giving Pledge and in 2013 endowed the foundation he launched nearly 25 years ago with over USD 29 billion in shares from his company, Wipro.
In addition to disbursing traditional grants—USD 109 million went to 940 organisations focused on education, health, and other areas in 2023-2024—the foundation works directly with teachers and rural child care workers via 59 field offices and 263 teacher learning centres throughout India, on educational programmes that have so far helped over 8 million children, Time said.
In August, the foundation also committed around USD 175 million to expand school meal coverage for more than 5 million children—all collectively reflecting Premji’s philosophy, influenced by Mahatma Gandhi, to regard “holding one's wealth in trusteeship, to be used for the betterment of society.”
The list also includes co-founder of Zerodha Nikhil Kamath, who in 2023 at age 36 became the youngest Indian to sign the Giving Pledge. “By then, he had already donated millions to environmental and educational projects—and started his own offshoot initiative, the Young India Philanthropic Pledge (YIPP), which asks Indians under age 45 with fortunes over USD 100 million to commit to giving away at least 25 per cent of their wealth,” Time said.
“It’s a remarkable development for a high school dropout who started working for a Bangalore call centre as a teenager, and using his free time to trade stocks. In 2010, Kamath and his older brother Nithin founded Zerodha, now one of India’s most successful discount brokerages, and within 13 years both had become billionaires,” it added.
“Kamath still likes to invest but he’s increasingly focused on giving his money away. He and Nithin together have committed more than USD 100 million to their Rainmatter Foundation, which focuses on solutions to climate change.”
YIPP has raised USD 8 million to fund projects such as upgrading 300 schools with better computers, career counseling, and other services. Kamath says he wants to improve conventional schools because education “is the only democratising element that can close the inequality gap.”
The list also includes legendary footballer David Beckham, billionaire philanthropist Warren Buffet, American philanthropist Melinda French Gates and Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
