Asian Power Couples Hot 100 - 2013 | Page 22

Asian Power Couples Seema Malhotra MP & Sushil Saluja Seema Malhotra MP Seema Malhotra has been the Member of Parliament for Feltham and Heston since 2011. She was promoted in July 2012 to be a PPS to Yvette Cooper (Equalities and Home Affairs) and also chairs the Parliamentary Labour Party Business Group. Seema is a former management consultant who worked for Accenture and PriceWaterhouseCoopers. She founded the Fabian Women’s Network and was a previous National Chair of the Young Fabians. While Labour was in government before 2010 she worked as an adviser for Liam Byrne and Ian Austin when they were regional ministers for the West Midlands and was the special adviser to Harriet Harman during her tenure as Leader of the Labour Party. Seema studied politics and philosophy at Warwick University and has a Masters degree in business and information technology from Aston University. She is married to Sushil Saluja. Sushil Saluja is Accenture’s Senior Managing Director - Financial Services, Asia Pacific. He is responsible for setting the group’s overall vision and strategy and guiding the development of client relationships. Sushil joined Accenture in 1998 and has spent his entire career in the financial services sector dedicated to long-term assignments at a number of blue chip clients, including launching two start-ups. He serves on the board for TheCityUK, an industry body representing and promoting financial services in London and the UK. Sushil studied engineering at Cambridge University. Sameer & Sheetal Malik Sameer and Sheetal Malik are the co-owners of Zan Zi Bar, a pub turned quality Punjabi-style restaurant in Edgware. Born in Delhi, Sheetal studied psychology and then taught children with special needs before joining Sameer at their newly launched restaurant dealing with front-ofhouse clientele and marketing. Zayn Malik & Perrie Edwards Zayn Jawadd Malik is a member of an English-Irish pop boy band based in London called One Direction. Born in Bradford, England, he is of English and Pakistani descent. In 2010, when he was 17 years old, Zayn auditioned in Manchester for the seventh series of TV show ‘The X Factor’ and was chosen to become a member of a group called One Direction. Even though One Direction finished third overall, they signed a record contract with Sony Music subsidiary Syco Music and were propelled to international success by the power of social media. One Direction’s two albums Up All Night and Take Me Home, released in 2011 and 2012 respectively, broke several records and topped the charts of most major markets. Malik is engaged to singer Perrie Edwards, of the band Little Mix. Perrie Edwards is from South Shields, Tyne and Wear. She, along with three others make up Little Mix, a British girl group formed in 2011 exclusively for the eighth series of The X Factor, where they became the first group entry to win in the programme’s eight-year history. Following their victory, they signed with Simon Cowell’s record label Syco Records and to date have sold over two million records worldwide. 22