2 NOVEMBER 2015: Brijmohan lall Munjal passes away

Ø  Vice-President Hamid Ansari said here on Sunday that key agreements in maritime security cooperation, bilateral trade and cultural exchange would be soon signed with Indonesia, the “single-most important and biggest country in ASEAN, and a key strategic partner.” Mr. Ansari underlined the three crucial MoUs under consideration in Jakarta. One was a collaboration between the AYUSH Ministry and Bali’s Uddiyana University in the field of Ayurveda. Another pertained to a cultural exchange programme. Notes would be exchanged on the Extradition Treaty signed in 2011. The firming up of the pact assumes greater significance in the light of the recent nabbing of international gangster Chhota Rajan in Bali. Speaking to the media aboard the Vice-President’s Aircraft, Mr. Ansari stressed that Indonesia and Brunei had been “extremely supportive of Indian efforts in ASEAN”. The invitation by his Indonesian counterpart Jusuf Kalla was the latest iteration of the strong relationship that had been cultivated by successive leaderships of the historical neighbours. Mr. Ansari lamented that “by accident rather than design,” this happened to be the first Indian high-level bilateral visit to the Kingdom of Brunei, which was a key source of crude oil and home to around 10,000 Indian expatriates. The last visit by an Indian dignitary was in October 2013, when then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Bandar Seri Begawan to attend the 11th ASEAN-India Summit. Mr. Ansari is scheduled to visit Bandar Seri Begawan on November 4 and meet Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and the crown-prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah.

Ø  Hero MotoCorp patriarch and doyen of the Indian two-wheeler industry, Brijmohan Lall Munjal, died on Sunday evening after a brief illness. He was 92. Munjal had retired from active role and become chairman-emeritus of the over $4-billion group earlier this year and remained on the board of the company as non-executive member. Hero Group, which officially came into existence in 1956, had started its activities in the early 1940s as a bicycle-maker run by the four brothers. Munjal was born in 1923 at Kamalia in present-day Pakistan. After India’s Independence, the Munjal brothers started a small business of manufacturing bicycle components in Ludhiana and went on to build one of the largest business groups in the country. Munjal led the Hero Group to a number of firsts. Hero MotoCorp is the world’s largest two-wheeler company now for the 14th year in a row. Another group firm, Hero Cycles, has been the largest manufacturer of bicycles since 1986. He led the Hero group to form a joint venture with Japan’s Honda in 1984, the joint venture — Hero Honda, went on to become the world’s single-largest motorcycle maker. The partnership ended in 2011.