CII SR Education Quarterly Newsletter Oct-Dec 2014 by CII Education

CII SOUTHERN REGION

CONFEDERATION OF INDIAN INDUSTRY

EDUCATION QUARTERLY VOLUME:2 ISSUE: 3 OCT -DEC 2014

BRIDGING INDUSTRY AND THE ACADEMIA

CII SUCCESFULLY DELIVERED 8 SESSIONS ON INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS IN QEEE-PHASE1 IN THIS ISSUE Ÿ CII SR Education Initiatives Ÿ QEEE-CII-IndustryBridge- Phase-1 Report Ÿ CII EEF TEQIP-II Webinars Ÿ CII- Industry Institute Connect Initiative Ÿ Panel Discussion on Higher Education

Ÿ EEF Roadshow in Mangalore Ÿ Innovation in Education- Case of Agastya Ÿ Announcement of Singapore Visit Ÿ PM's Doctoral Fellowship Ÿ Education Infographic Ÿ Book on Education

CII- SR EDUCATION INITIATIVES

Education Excellence Forum There is a need for holistic intervention by the industry to address the issue of industry orientation of pedagogy, faculty development and also student learning To address this: CII initiated Education Excellence Forum (EEF) in 2012. Finding a way to engage and benefit the membership, CII proposed this forum with various initiatives towards industry- institute interface across the region like Faculty development programme, facilitation of Curriculum Development, industry visits, CEO sessions and student development programmes. HAVING SUCCESSFULLY PIONEERED THE CONCEPT IN TAMILNADU, CII WILL SOON BE ACTIVATING THE FORUM IN ALL THE SOUTHERN STATES.

Nurturing Industry Oriented Higher Education Apart from the above mentioned services, CII would be very happy to work close with the individual member colleges and provide individual facilitation in the following areas: Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Arranging faculty industry visits with orientation sessions Faculty development programmes in industry applications Assisting institution in bringing industryorientation in curriculum and academic practice

Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Faculty orientation programmes in industry consulting and research Developing innovation cells in the college & Sensitation Workshops Employability and career guidance sessions Special virtual classes on specific topics

CII-SR EDUCATION INITIATIVES & ACTIVITIES IN THE RECENT PAST QEEE - CII - INDUSTRYBRIDGE PHASE-1

he Committee for Reforms in Technical Education under the chairmanship of Professor Ashok Jhunjhunwala, IIT Madras, has been constituted by the Ministry of Human Resources and Development (MHRD) with a mandate to bring about comprehensive reforms in technical education. This committee has extensively studied the technical education system prevailing at present and identified problem areas in several colleges. One of the important concern areas is that the quality of technical education imparted in many colleges is not at par with the premier institutes. This in turn is because the colleges lack the pedagogical resources in the form of highly qualified teachers, well developed content and good lab infrastructure, that students in the premier institutes take for granted. To address this specific issue, the committee has come up with a program wherein real time and synchronous technology is used to allow for an integration of superior external scholastic inputs into current pedagogical practices QEEE - CII-IndustryBridge sessions were launched for providing practical and application oriented Engineering inputs by the experts from different sectors of the industry. CII worked closely with the QEEE team in IIT, Madras to get the right resource persons from the industry and delivered the application oriented sessions.

CII-SR EDUCATION INITIATIVES & ACTIVITIES IN THE RECENT PAST QEEE - CII - INDUSTRYBRIDGE PHASE-1

INDUSTRY LEADERS WHO READILY SUPPORTED THE INITIATIVE Mr B Santhanam, President- Flat Glass, South Asia, Malaysia, Egypt & Managing Director , Saint-Gobain Glass India Ltd Mr B Thiagarajan, Executive Director & President, Blue Star Limited Mr V Narasimhan, Executive Director, Brakes India Ltd Mr H R Srinivasan, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, TAKE Solutions Mr N K Ranganath, Managing Director, Grundfos Pumps India Pvt Ltd Mr C K Ranganathan, Chairman & Managing Director, Cavinkare Pvt. Ltd. Mr Balasubramanian Narayanan, Operations Head, Alstom Mr Sekaran Letchumanan, Vice President - Operations, Flextronics Technologies (India) Pvt Ltd

CII-SR EDUCATION INITIATIVES & ACTIVITIES IN THE RECENT PAST QEEE - CII - INDUSTRYBRIDGE PHASE-1

EXPERTS WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THE SESSIONS 1. Dr. Anand Tanikella, Director, Saint-Gobain Research India 2. Mr. Srinivas Ananthanarayanan, Head of Human Resources, Saint-Gobain Research India 3. Mr. S Kalyaan, Senior General Manager – Corporate Training & Development, Blue Star Limited 4. Mr. C Anto Kumar, Dy. General Manager – Human Resources, (SR) , Blue Star Limited 5. Mr. R. Vasu, Vice President, Brakes India Limited 6. Mr. S. Srinivasaraghavan, Divisional Manager ( Material Science), Brakes India Limited 7. Mr. S. Sudhakar, Divisional Manager (E,R&D), Brakes India Limited 8. Mr. N. Lakshminarasimhan, Divisional Manager (HRD), Brakes India Limited 9. Mr. Govind Srinivasan, V.P. – Delivery Head, Technology Practice, TAKE Solutions 10. Dr. N. Chandrasekaran, Vice President- Corporate Affairs, TAKE Solutions 11. Mr. Sanjeev Sirsi, Segment Head - Water Utility, Grundfos Pumps India Pvt. Ltd 12. Ms. Usha Subramaniam, Chief People Officer, Grundfos Pumps India Pvt. Ltd 13. Mr. K R Venkatraman, VP - International Business & Snacks, Cavinkare 14. Mr. S Ramachandran, VP- HR, Cavinkare 15. Mr. Ganesh Netha, GM- Quality, Cavinkare 16. Mr. Madhu Sudan P, Head R&D-HVM, Alstom India Limited 17. Dr. Santosh Kumar A, Head R&D-CHT, Alstom India Limited 18. Mr. Amit Bhandari, Country Recruitment Head, Alstom India Limited 19. Mr. Girish Ramakrishnan, Senior Manager- Manufacturing & Design Solutions, Flextronics 20. Mr. T L Praveen Kumar, Manager - Quality & Business Process Reengineering, Flextronics 21. Mr. M S Suyambu, Senior Manager- GBS Engineering & Quality, Flextronics

CII-SR EDUCATION INITIATIVES & ACTIVITIES IN THE RECENT PAST QEEE - CII - INDUSTRYBRIDGE PHASE-1

CII-SR EDUCATION INITIATIVES & ACTIVITIES IN THE RECENT PAST CII-EEF TEQIP-II WEBINARS

WEBINAR 1: Career Paths inInformation Security By Mr K Anjaneya Sastry, Information Security Assurance Manager, Wipro WEBINAR 2: Journey from College to Corporate: How to equip oneself? By Mr. Vikas Gupta, Director – Talent , Deloitte U.S. India offices

CII-SR EDUCATION INITIATIVES & ACTIVITIES IN THE RECENT PAST CII- INDUSTRY INSTITUTE CONNECT

CII has always been in the forefront in promoting Industry Institute Interaction for many years. Industries have always felt that the graduates passing out of colleges are not being adequately trained as per industry standards. To address this need Industry â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Institute Connect has been launched as a pilot project in Coimbatore to experiment a practical internship model.

CII-SR EDUCATION INITIATIVES & ACTIVITIES IN THE RECENT PAST CII - INDUSTRY INSTITUTE CONNECT The objective of Industry – Institute Connect is to assist the institutions to approach the industries and get their students an opportunity to undergo hands on training in their premises. This would enable the students with practical experience of working in the shop floor and also mould them up towards an industry’s working styles. This will also inculcate an attitudinal change in the students and make them more employable. This initiative is being launched on a pilot basis in Coimbatore with two autonomous engineering colleges coming forward to have their students to undergo the training in the industries. (Bannari Amman Institute of Technology & Sri Krishna College of Engineering & Technology). The autonomous engineering institutions have the flexibility of sending their students to industries for hands on training internships during the course of the study. A total of 250 students from the two institutions are being given this opportunity. Around 16 companies have generously permitted the students from these institutions to undergo the training for a period of two to three months. The following streams have been chosen: Mechanical Electrical & Electronics

Mechatronics Instrumentation

Once the pilot is completed successfully the initiative would be rolled out to other interested institutions across South India.

LIST OF PARTICIPATING INSTITUTIONS 1. BANNARI AMMAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 2. SRI KRISHNA COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY

LIST OF COMPANIES SUPPORTING THE INITIATIVE 1. Ammarun Foundries 2. Aquasab Engineering 3. Autoprint Machinery Mfrs P Ltd 4. Bimetal Bearings Ltd 5. Chansuba Pumps P Ltd 6. CRI Pumps P Ltd 7. Deccan Industries 8. Effica Automation 9. ITC Ltd – PSPD Unit 10. LG Balakrishnan & Bros 11. Lakshmi Electrical Control Systems Ltd

12. Lakshmi Electrical Drives Ltd 13. Mahendra Pumps (P) Ltd 14. Micro Instruments 15. PSG Foundry 16. Ranba Castings 17. Roots Group Of Companies 18. Salzer Electronics 19. Sandfits Foundries (P) Ltd 20. Shanthi Gears Ltd. 21. Sharp Industries 22. V R foundries

CII-SR EDUCATION INITIATIVES & ACTIVITIES IN THE RECENT PAST LAUNCH OF CII- IIC The initiative was launched by Mr C R Swaminathan, Chairman, CII-SR Education Subcommittee (2014-15) at Coimbatore on October 31, 2014.

Mr. F.L. Suresh, Chief Human Resource Officer, CRI Pumps and Dr. A.M. Natarajan, Chief Executive, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology exchanging Letter of Expression of Cooperation in the presence of Mr. C.R. Swaminathan, Chairman, CII SR Education Sub-Committee, Mr. B. Venkat Subramaniam, Co-Chairman, CII SR Education Sub-Committee and Mr.R. Sathyanarayanan, Head- Education Initiatives, CII-SR

CII-SR EDUCATION INITIATIVES & ACTIVITIES IN THE RECENT PAST NEED FOR PARADIGM SHIFT TOWARDS REVITALIZING HIGHER EDUCATION PANEL DISCUSSION ON EDUCATION DURING THE FOURTH MEETING OF THE CII SOUTHERN REGIONAL COUNCIL 1 November 2014: 0900 Hrs: Hotel Le Meridian, Coimbatore

Opening Remarks by Mr. Navas Meeran, Chairman, CII Southern Region

he foundation of the society is based on education since it brings economic and social prosperity. Gaining education enhances an individual to live a respectful life in the society. Education provides skills and competencies for economic well-being. Education also acts as an integrative force in society, imparting values that foster social cohesion and national identity. Recognizing the importance of education in national development, the Twelfth Plan has placed an unprecedented focus on the expansion of education, on significantly improving the quality of education imparted and on ensuring that educational opportunities are available to all segments of the society. The advancement of a society both economically and socially is by gaining education which consequently enables them to run a modern society. In our country, it is critical to make the higher education much more job-relevant through skills training. This equips young people with skills relevant for the labour market and the opportunity for social mobility. It provides people already in employment with skills to negotiate rapidly evolving career requirements. It prepares all to be responsible citizens who value a democratic and pluralistic society. Thus, the nation creates an intellectual repository of human capital to meet the country’s needs and shapes its future. Indeed, higher education is the principal site at which our national goals, developmental priorities and civic values can be examined and refined. It is estimated that developed economies and even China will face a shortage of about 40 million highly skilled workers by 2020, while, based on current projections of higher education, India is likely to see some surplus of graduates in 2020. Thus, India could capture a higher share of global knowledge based work. Skill development is critical for achieving faster, sustainable and inclusive growth on the one hand and for providing decent employment opportunities to the growing young population on the other. The demographic window of opportunity available to India would make India the skill capital of world. However the employability by level of education in India (by UPSS) indicates that illiterates have the lowest rate of unemployment and the rate of unemployment tends to rise with every level of education. The young population is an asset only if it is educated, skilled and finds productive employment. If this happens then our dream of realizing India’s potential to grow at 10 per cent or more per annum for a substantial period of time can become a reality. Boston Consultancy Group’s study in 2007 had clearly indicated that by 2020 while India will have surplus of 56 million working people, the rest of the world will encounter a shortage of 47 million working people. However, skilling this large and growing young population from an exceedingly small base would be a big challenge for India. With this background, the Chairman invited the panel to discuss about South India evolving as the education and skill development hub.

CII-SR EDUCATION INITIATIVES & ACTIVITIES IN THE RECENT PAST NEED FOR PARADIGM SHIFT TOWARDS REVITALIZING HIGHER EDUCATION The panel was chaired by Mr. C R Swaminathan, Chairman, CII SR Education Subcommittee and he set the context for discussion by giving a brief overview on the current education scenario in India. He invited the panel to further lead the discussions along the following points. Ÿ Quality Improvement Programmes for employable education Ÿ Leveraging ICT in Higher Education Ÿ Focus on Teachers and Teaching Ÿ Increased Industry – Academia Collaboration

Ÿ A culture of creativity and critical thinking need to be promoted in the education system Ÿ Application orientation need to be emphasized in the curriculum Ÿ Improving faculty quality is paramount. Continuous Faculty development needs to be done with regular

training programmes Ÿ Vocational education should be revamped and re-positioned. It also requires a major image overhaul in terms of creating positive perception Ÿ Industry internships with set objectives and mentorship need to be promoted Ÿ School education needs lot of corrections to enable good inputs to higher education system Ÿ Explore additional skill acquisition for the students Ÿ Industry need to be proactive in its support towards quality education Ÿ Cross-disciplinary learning and sharing of best practices is needed at academic management level Ÿ Understanding the millennial generation is very much essential when we plan for the future

FORTHCOMING INITIATIVES CII WILLBE SOON ACTIVATING EDUCATION EXCELLENCE FORUM IN ANDHRA AND KERALA

CII has strengthened and well-structured this successful industry-academia intervention exclusively made available for CII member colleges and Universities. The year-long activities shall include: Ÿ Webinars on special industry topics Ÿ Industry-oriented FDP on specific topics for faculty Ÿ CxO Sessions focusing on specific sectors Ÿ Career Guidance Session for the students Ÿ Session On Innovation to drive the eco-system Ÿ MyCII – Course Integration Guidance Ÿ Faculty Industry Visit with learning sessions Ÿ Faculty Forum Interaction

VIRTUAL SESSIONS

Interested member institutions from the southern states can contact us for further information. Education Initiatives Team Confederation of Indian Industry 98/1 Velachery Main Road, Guindy, Chennai 600 032. Ph: 044-42444508 Email: madhu.vasanthy@cii.in

CII-SR EDUCATION INITIATIVES & ACTIVITIES IN THE RECENT PAST ROAD SHOW FOR CII-EEF IN MANGALORE

INNOVATION IN EDUCATION- CASE OF AGASTYA

Will poverty let India seed rural innovators?

fter spending seven months testing six prodigious oxygen producers, Bhargavi and Jyothsna planted VitexNegundo in their village near Kuppam, Andhra Pradesh. Little did the Class VIII students know that they were soon to become winners at the Intel-IRIS National Fair 2011, winning an award to travel to Pittsburgh, USA to see theIntel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). Ask these government-school kids more about their love and curiosity for science, in all excitement, they start sharing about their experiences at Agastya International Foundation and how they have been attending Agastya's sessions since Class V. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There are multitude of labs and the new things that I learn. Teachers are not strict here. We use our hands actively instead of simply looking at our textbooks,â&#x20AC;? says Bhargavi who enjoys the optics experiments on the campus. Jyothsna on the other hand, recalls her experience at the discovery lab, the most. Bhargavi has taught her mother how to add with her fingers, so that she can run their hotel when her husband is away, while Jyothsna learning about crop rotation in the ecology sessions at Agastya, has since convinced her father, a farmer, to adopt that practice.

INNOVATION IN EDUCATION AGASTYA INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION “Rote-based, didactic and uninspiring education in India has deprived over 250 million disadvantaged children of the tools to overcome poverty. Teacher training is divorced from the realities of the school classroom. Seeing little value in education, rural parents prefer to send their children to work in farms, thus perpetuating a cycle of poverty,” says (RamjiRaghavan, Founder, Agastya International Foundation) Research shows that hands-on learning accelerates brain activity and cognitive growth. David Sousa in his book 'How the Brain Learns' refers to the learning pyramid, which states that students retain 5 % of a lecture, 10 % of what they read, 50% of a discussion, 75 % of what is personally experienced and 90% of what one teaches to others. Operating one of the largest experiential education programs in the world, Agastya International Foundation focuses on offering disadvantaged children, the access to dynamic, hands-on education that makes learning fun, awakens curiosity, encourages questioning, enhances understanding, fosters creative-thinking, problem-solving and communication skills. With that in mind, Agastya has equipped over 10,000 Young Instructor Leaders (YIL), all hailing from low-income rural homes, through its peer-to-peer learning programs to make a difference in schools and communities. “I want to design low-cost pesticides and fertilizers that will help farmers increase their yield, while also preserving the nutritional content and productive capacity of the soil,”saysGeetha, a Class X student of ZPHS, Rallabuduguru and daughter of a vegetable farmer. Geetha recently developed organic, free-of-cost manure from the plant wastes from her father's farm which her father now uses on his crops. “Agastya's labs, and approaches to teaching, have inspired me to want to become an ecologist when I grow up. Agastya has all the implements and resources required to conduct experiments, and such trials help me remember everything that I learn,” she adds. Combining the juices of Lucas, Pungamia, and Neem leaves along with pepper powder, she has also developed a natural pesticide that her father now uses on his crops. He has pronounced it to be“much better than chemical pesticides.” Bhargavi, Jyothsna and Geetha are only a few out of the 5 million students that Agastya International Foundation has reached out in India in the last 15 years. Started in April 1999, Agastya's172-acre Creativity Lab campus in Andhra Pradesh houses science, art and astronomy centre's for students to experience science and develop the required skills, confidence, creative-thinking and problemsolving abilities. Backed by the R. Jhunjhunwala Foundation, L & T, SBI, World Bank, Ingersoll Rand, GE, Cisco, Synopsis, Deshpande Foundation, Agilent, BPCL and others, the organization currently has 100+ Mobile Labs which take hands-on science education and digital literacy to the village doorstep. 40+ Science Centers cater as science resource hubs for surrounding schools and communities while 140 + Operation Vasantha Centers, a community-run program, are in operation in different parts of rural India to provide remedial classes for students and drop-outs. 110 Lab-in-a-Box sets have been set up to nurture a high impact and participatory learning experience for students and teachers.

INNOVATION IN EDUCATION AGASTYA INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION

Science Centre Mobile Science Lab â&#x20AC;&#x153;While the 3 R's (Reading, Writing and Arithmetic) have long been the stepping stones of learning, in the 21st century, the 3 A's (Aah! Aha! and Ha-Ha!) have become essential to transform learningand release the brakes on creativity,â&#x20AC;? says RamjiRaghavan, Founder, Agastya International Foundation. He further explains that while Aah is about creating the element of surprise, Aha is about recognition and creative insight. Ha-Ha is about making learning fun and humorous. Agastya conducts hands-on teacher training workshops on its campus creativity lab, to carry forward the 3A's in the school classroom. However, often parents are not very supportive of the children's ideas. Poornima, a YIL from Class VIII began working on waste segregation and composting after her sessions at Agastya. She even tried composting waste at home, but her parents were not supportive. Though hurt, Poornima refused to be discouraged. With support from her school teacher, she managed to convince her village Panchayat members on the cost-effectiveness and advantages of natural manure. Her village now segregates and composts the wet waste, and use the resulting manure on their farms, instead of harmful commercial fertilisers. There seems to be a need to simultaneously create awareness among parents as well as increased opportunities for students to innovate and execute their ideas. Measures are being taken to scale Agastya's experiential learning methods. Students touched by Agastya also seem to have plans, only over 5 million plans waiting to see the light of the day. Agastya was nominated to the list of 100 Global Innovators in April, 2013 by Rockefeller Foundation. Agastya's innovative "TechLaBike" Project won the Google Impact Award for use of Technology to positively impact India and the world. Agastya has signed up a partnership with Government of Karnataka and is building an ecosystem with an apex campus in Raichur and Hubli supported by a hub of 31 mini and 4 core Science Centres, 31 Mobile Science labs, 61 Lab-in-Box and 36 Labon-Bike. In partnership with the Haryana Government, 7 Mobile Science Labs, 21 Lab-on-Bike and 5 Lab-in-Box are in operation. Agastya also conducts a teacher training Program on 'Hands on Science Education'for Maharashtra Government teachers with support from Infosys Foundation. Members of CII like L&T, Bosch, SBI and others have supported Agastya. CII Karnataka has helped by inviting Agastya to speak on creativity and innovation Lab in a Box at several CII forums.

FORTHCOMING INITIATIVES - INTERNATIONAL MISSION

BULLETIN BOARD - GRANTS & OPPORTUNITIES

EDUCATION INFOGRAPHIC

BOOK ON EDUCATION This book describes an approach to engineering education that integrates a comprehensive set of personal, interpersonal, and professional engineering skills with engineering disciplinary knowledge in order to prepare innovative and entrepreneurial engineers. The education of engineers is set in the context of engineering practice, that is, Conceiving, Designing, Implementing, and Operating (CDIO) through the entire lifecycle of engineering processes, products, and systems. The book is both a description of the development and implementation of the CDIO model and a guide to engineering programs worldwide that seek to improve the education of young engineers. Ÿ Provides an overview of the CDIO approach, then chapters organized according to the CDIO Standards Ÿ Includes in each chapter objectives, discussion questions, case studies and clear diagrams to support key concepts and processes Ÿ Avoids the jargon of education specialists and clearly explains education terms in the context of their initial presentation EDWARD F. CRAWLEY is the founding President of the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) in Moscow. Prior to this, he led the Gordon – MIT Engineering Leadership Program, the Cambridge-MIT Institute, and the MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. JOHAN MALMQVIST is Professor of Product Development at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden, one of the four founding universities of the CDIO Initiative. SÖREN ÖSTLUND is Professor of Packing Technology at KTH - Royal Institute of Technology, one of the four founding universities of the CDIO Initiative. DORIS R. BRODEUR is an Assessment and Evaluation Specialist, recently retired from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who has been involved in the CDIO Initiative since its inception. KRISTINA EDSTRÖM is Associate Professor in Engineering Education Development at KTH - Royal Institute of Technology, one of the four founding universities of the CDIO Initiative.

(Source: www.springer.com)

With strong membership from the academia, CII southern region has initiated a dedicated education practice to serve as a bridge between industry and the academia. For more information about our initiatives and projects, please contact: R. Sathyanarayanan Head- Education Initiatives Confederation Of Indian Industry Southern Region Headquarters Prof C K Prahalad Centre 98/1, Velachery Main Road, Guindy, Chennai 600 032. Ph: +91-44-42444555 Email: r.sathya@cii.in

DISCLAIMER All rights reserved. The data and news used here are from various published and electronically available sources. We have taken care to verify and crosscheck the accuracy of these reports and data. However, despite due diligence, the source may contain occasional errors. In such instances, CII is not responsible for such errors. Published by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Southern Region Headquarters, Prof C K Prahalad Centre, 98/1, Velachery Main Road, Guindy, Chennai 600 032. Ph: +91-44-42444555 Web: www.cii.in for private/ membership circulation . For sponsorship / advertisement and any further queries please write to us at ciisr.education@cii.in

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) works to create and sustain an environment conducive to the development of India, partnering industry, Government, and civil society, through advisory and consultative processes. CII is a non-government, not-for-profit, industry-led and industry-managed organization, playing a proactive role in India's development process. Founded in 1895, India's premier business association has over 7200 members, from the private as well as public sectors, including SMEs and MNCs, and an indirect membership of over 100,000 enterprises from around 242 national and regional sectoral industry bodies. CII charts change by working closely with Government on policy issues, interfacing with thought leaders, and enhancing efficiency, competitiveness and business opportunities for industry through a range of specialized services and strategic global linkages. It also provides a platform for consensus-building and networking on key issues. Extending its agenda beyond business, CII assists industry to identify and execute corporate citizenship programmes. Partnerships with civil society organizations carry forward corporate initiatives for integrated and inclusive development across diverse domains including affirmative action, healthcare, education, livelihood, diversity management, skill development, empowerment of women, and water, to name a few. The CII theme of 'Accelerating Growth, Creating Employment' for 2014-15 aims to strengthen a growth process that meets the aspirations of today's India. During the year, CII will specially focus on economic growth, education, skill development, manufacturing, investments, ease of doing business, export competitiveness, legal and regulatory architecture, labour law reforms and entrepreneurship as growth enablers. With 64 offices, including 9 Centres of Excellence, in India, and 7 overseas offices in Australia, China, Egypt, France, Singapore, UK, and USA, as well as institutional partnerships with 312 counterpart organizations in 106 countries, CII serves as a reference point for Indian industry and the international business community. Confederation of Indian Industry The Mantosh Sondhi Centre 23, Institutional Area, Lodi Road, New Delhi â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 110 003 (India) T: 91 11 45771000 / 24629994-7 F: 91 11 24626149 E: info@cii.in W: www.cii.in Follow us on :