‘Forbes 30 Under 30’ Asia 2018: Meet 5 Indians Who Made the Cut
A total of 65 young Indian minds feature on the Forbes magazine’s latest issue of its Asia ranking.
Forbes, the American Business bi-weekly magazine is back with its annual list of young achievers. In its third year, the 2018 Asia list has featured 300 young innovators and disruptors across 10 different categories including arts, consumer technology, retail & e-commerce and social entrepreneurs, just to name a few.
According to Forbes, these 300 names have been selected from a pool of 2,000 online nominations, picked up by an inner team of reporters and vetted by an A-list judging panel who are highly respected in their fields. The median age of the Indians who made it to the list is just 27 years.
While 65 Indians have made it to the list, we take a look at the notable 5 young achievers who have featured on the ‘Forbes 30 Under 30’ Asia list.
Ace Shuttler PV Sindhu
Ace shuttler PV Sindhu became a national hero when she clinched India's first medal of the Rio Olympics, a silver in women's singles.
The Olympics silver medallist PV Sindhu jumped three places to achieve a career-best world number two ranking in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings last year. The shuttler from Hyderabad became only the second Indian woman after Saina Nehwal to break into the top-five of the world rankings by earning 75,759 points.
The 22-year-old clinched titles at Syed Modi GPG, India Open, Korea Open, besides finishing second at the World championship, Hong Kong Open and Dubai Super Series Finals.
Bollywood Actor-Producer Anushka Sharma
Bollywood actor-producer Anushka Sharma, one of the highest paid actresses in the Indian film industry features in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2018 list. Anushka, 29, started out her career as a model in 2007, making her acting debut in 2008 with ‘Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’. She ventured into production in 2015 with ‘NH10’. Her production house, Clean Slate Films, has also backed ‘Phillauri’ and ‘Pari’.
Acid Attack Activist Ria Sharma
25-year-old Ria Sharma, founder of Make Love Not Scars, heads an organisation that works towards the rehabilitation of acid attack survivors, including providing survivors with financial, legal and educational help.
A fashion student at Leeds College of Arts, United Kingdom, Ria returned to India in the third year of her graduate programme to make a documentary on acid attack survivors. Their stories inspired her to come to acid attack survivors rescue. Till date, she has helped more than 75 acid attack survivors through her rehabilitation centre.
In 2017, Sharma won a United Nation’s Goalkeepers Global Goals Award and the CNBC India Business Leader Award, and Brand of the Year for the campaign #EndAcidSale created in collaboration with Ogilvy and Mather, Forbes stated.
Indian Polo Team Captain Padmanabh Singh
19-year-old titular King of Jaipur and accomplished polo player Maharaja Padmanabh Singh is an avid sportsman who took up the game of polo for a cause. Currently studying at New York University, Singh is the youngest ever member of a World Cup polo team, and was the youngest ever winner of the Indian Open Polo Cup.
According to Forbes, “His prowess on the polo field, however, has earned him newfound fame as a sports figure as he captained the first Indian polo team in England in 20 years.”
Delhi-Based Entrepreneur Bala Sarda
In two years, 26-year-old Delhi boy Bala Sarda has brewed a success story with an online tea brand Vahdam Teas, YourStory reported. Operating on a direct-to-consumer business, Sarda’s model aims to support domestic farmers by cutting middlemen, emphasising freshness as they process, blend, pack and ship teas directly to the consumer within 24-72 hours of production, according to Forbes.
In the two and a half years since operations began, Sarda has raised $2 million in funding and has shipped tea to some 150,000 customers in 80 countries. Vahdam Teas work with about 100 tea plantations and small growers across all seven tea-growing regions in India.
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