The unicorns-in-the-making hail from diverse sectors such as software, logistics and fintech, thereby widening the pool beyond online commerce and advertising models.

Snapdeal has taken the lead in rolling out the carpet for new recruits - 53 per cent of the total job postings came from the e-commerce marketplace run by Jasper Infotech.

Ambani retains the richest Indian title for the sixth year running and this year he has climbed to top 15 in the Hurun global rich list for the first time. His wealth is 50 per cent more than GDP of Yemen, the country of his birth.

BetterPlace is changing the lives of people outside the system by building their credentials

Till about a year ago, they looked invincible and unstoppable. Flipkart, Ola, Snapdeal, Quikr, Zomato... and a few others, had become the fabled Indian unicorns - start-ups boasting of valuation of over $1 billion.

They were all part of the fabled $1 billion plus valuation club. Now they have run into trouble.

Reliance Foundation Chairperson Nita Ambani has been named the most powerful businesswoman in Asia by Forbes, leading a list of 50 women leaders from the region that includes eight from India.

Linkstreet is also targeting the corporate learning space. \"As companies go global, their training needs will be spread across geographies and this will create opportunities for us,\" says Vikram Ramakrishnan.

The company would use the funds primarily for marketing and expansion of production capacity.

Greater job satisfaction and opportunities to take on big responsibilities early make start-ups a good option, more so for those who do not want to work in the hierarchical structures that big cos often have. Still, the risks in working with a new venture cannot be taken lightly. Many start-ups fold up in three to five years.

Data science and analytics are as old as the 1940s. From just numbers, data analysts now deal with social media, pictures and videos. They are the next big thing on the global jobs radar and Indian companies are grooming many of them.

Most large tier IT companies have now identified analytics as the next big growth area.  According to the McKinsey Global Institute, the US will face a shortage of 190,000 people with deep analytical skills by 2018 -  a $20 billion outsourcing opportunity.

Backing spunky entrepreneurs is once again Sequoia Capital India's mantra.

Analytics firm Mu Sigma, which dissects large amounts of data helping firms make sense of it, has gone from zero to $70 million revenues in six years and now employs 1,500; it expects to clock $110 million in 2012 with 2,100 employees.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, seen with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi, has sealed a $15 billion currency swap line with India, expected to support the falling rupee.

Key to the photographs, with each potential champ's take on what the future holds

8 Indian women who made it to Forbes' Asia Power Businesswomen 2016 list