Sunil Mittal, Anil Agarwal in 'Forbes' philanthropy heroes list

Indian telecom czar Sunil Mittal and NRI businessman Anil Agarwal are among the four Indians featuring in the list of '48 Heroes of Philanthropy' compiled by business publication Forbes.

The other two Indians are Shiv Nadar, the chairman of HCL Technologies, and Rohini Nilekani, who supports many NGO activities. She is the wife of Infosys Technologies'
co-founder Nandan Nilekani.

"Many opened up their checkbooks to help the victims of the Sichuan earthquake and the Myanmar cyclone in May. Many more donated to health, education, cultural and other causes," Forbes said in an accompanying report.

"The global financial crisis is hammering fortunes all over Asia, but the past year was still a good one for philanthropy as tycoons and more modest donors tried to maintain their charity commitments.

The list features 44 individuals, four each from India, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, The Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand, besides another four from Australia and New Zealand.

Founder of Japanese ceramic components maker Kazuo Inamori, Singapore's Chew Hua Seng, who is the founder of Raffles Education and chairman of South Korean chemical firm Choi Sin-Won are also part of the list.