N. Chandrababu Naidu, AP Chief Minister: Though it was painful for me to digest the way the state was bifurcated this year keeping residuary AP without a capital and financially at a loss, it was a delightful year. I am happy as the party returned to power after a gap of 10 years. It was a crisis-ridden year due to bifurcation of the state, but it still provided me with great opportunity to show what I am. On the personal front, I am happy because I am going to be a grandfather in next few months. Next year will be an inspiring one for me. I now have more experience, knowledge and understanding of the affairs of residuary AP. I have had more exposure to the world and to the technology and at the same time I enjoy goodwill.
K. Chandrasekhar Rao, Telangana State CM: 2014 will be remembered in history for the formation of Telangana State. In 2015, we, with the cooperation of people, will take forward developmental and welfare schemes. In 2015, we are looking forward to Telangana Water Grid project. It will ensure protected drinking water to everyone in the state. It will come up in two years if officials put in efforts.
Asaduddin Owaisi, MP: For me the New Year (of Islamic Calendar) starts with the beginning of Muharram, the first month of the Hijri era. Nevertheless, 2014 was eventful. It has given a new hope to me and our party AIMIM – due to our debut in the Maharashtra Assembly polls. We hope to build our party’s base in UP, West Bengal and Bihar in 2015.
Suman Reddy, MD, Pegasystems India: Year 2014’s start was conservative with global economies still recovering from recession. But the last two quarters of the year have have been positive. The new year seems better, but not by much considering we have the Russian crisis and a potential China slowdown.
T. Harish Rao, minister: 2014 was the year of achievement of Telang-ana, victory of TRS in the general elections and formation of the first Telangana government. We launched several innovative welfare and developmental schemes as promised in our election manifesto. 2015 will be a year for execution of many works including the much-delayed Pranahita Chevella Irrigation project. We expect all clearances next year from the Centre along with national status. The new year will be crucial since several schemes, which have been announced and grounded need to be firmed up in tune with the wishes of the people. We now have our own state and everyone should contribute for its development. Everyone will benefit from the fruits of development in Telangana.
Chiranjeevi, actor: Personally, I felt sad about the division of the state. Congress’ defeat was also disappointing. In 2015, I would want the Telugu film industry to unite the Telugus of the two states. It’s heartening to note that Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has publicly announced that his government will do everything for the development of the Telugu film industry. He has also sought my help in this regard.My 150th movie will commence production and will be released in 2015. It will be a complete entertainer. It will provide what all my fans want.
Ramesh Loganathan, MD, Progress Software and president, HYSEA: Hyderabad saw a significant rise in number of people quitting cushy jobs and starting up their firms. And stable politics has also enabled a stable business environment. This stability will continue as there seem to be no red flags in the horizons. The breather the industry got through the weakening of the currency will be used to further secure efficiency and value-enhancing measures. Mobile and Cloud technologies will continue to be centre-stage in 2015. And as enterprises get more comfortable on Cloud, they are looking at newer Cloud-based and Cloud-based application models like aPaaS, where they build and deploy on the Cloud.
