August spo 2017

www.spoindia.org Vol. II

| Issue 10

| August 2017

| Rs. 50

The Sustainability strategy at Godrej makes its business accountable to the society | 24pg

Sustainaibility is a business imperative for United Breweries | 26pg

www.spoindia.org August 2017 | 1

2 | August 2017 www.spoindia.org

LEAD STORY | 34 Editor-in-Chief: Deepak Kumar Sahu Executive Editor: Dr. Vijay Anand Assistant Editor: Samrita Baruah Copy Editor: C. M. Dutta Art Director: Rakesh Kumar Network Administrator: Ashok Kumar Singh Manager-IT: Subhash Mohanta Manager-SEO: Bidyadhar Behera BUSINESS: Vice President: Prasanna Rout General Manager: Ashok Ranjan Dash Marketing Manager: Dipendra Kumar

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Kolkata: Bureau office Marketing Officer: Kiran Kumar 67 Sarada Park, Garia, Kolkata - 700 084 Mobile: 09903088480 Printed by Deepak Kumar Sahu and Published by Deepak Kumar Sahu on behalf of Deepak Kumar Sahu and Printed at Pushpak Press Pvt. Ltd. Shed No. 203 - 204, DSIDC Complex, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-I, New Delhi-110 020 and Published at A-84A/3 Rose Apartment, Paryavaran complex, Ignou Road, New Delhi - 110 030 Editor - Deepak Kumar Sahu

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News- 6-14 SPOI CORPORATE 16 Innovation is the sustainability formula for Syska 18 Canon Involve – an endeavour to create a selfsustaining community 22 LG pledges to wipe out food wastage with its ‘’hunger Free India’’ campaign SPO FOUNDATION 21 NASSCOM Foundation and HGS Launch CoE for Persons with Disabilities in Noida SPECIAL STORY 30 Aravali Power Company Jhajjar signs MoU with ALIMCO SKILL INDIA 28 AMH SSC striving to bridge the skill gap in the apparel industry OPEN YOUR EYES 23 RERA: On Road to Reformed

TECH TREND 32 Cybersecurity is a Global challenge SPOI ANALYSIS 20 Partnerships for Rural Development FACE TO FACE 15 HGS paving the way for a healthier society 24

The Sustainability strategy at Godrej makes its business accountable to the society

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Sustainability is a business imperative for United Breweries

AWARDS & RECOGNISATION 31 Technology can be a big game changer for empowering the elderly – HelpAge India CASE STUDY 36 Oasis in the Thar Desert: A Case Study of Nadi Restoration www.spoindia.org August 2017 | 3

Right to Privacy is now a fundamental right...

Commitment of government to continue SPOINDIA welcomes the Apex Court’s decision on upholding Right to Privacy as a fundamental right. It is a historic judgment passed that declares privacy as a fundamental right under Article 21. It states privacy to be ‘protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty. This verdict comes two days after the court gave another landmark judgment, striking down the Islamic divorce practice of instant triple talaq as unconstitutional.

The nine-judge bench unanimously ruled that privacy to be a fundamental right under the Indian Constitution. This judgement is a blow to Aadhaar as the Centre now has to convince SC that forcing citizens to give a sample of their fingerprints and their iris scan does not violate privacy.

As the world moves towards digitization, citizens must have rights against misuse of information. Most importantly Telecom companies will now have to await fresh instructions from the telecom department (DoT) on possible changes in continuing with Aadhaar-based digital verification for issuing new mobile connections or re-verifying existing customers in the aftermath of the Supreme Court declaring privacy as a citizen’s fundamental right.

Also the world’s most valuable companies have built their enterprise around the collection and use of data. Going forward, the full potential of this right will only be realised by data protection laws that will govern how private companies collect and use data.

On completion of three years of the Jan Dhan Yojana scheme, the Modi Government congratulated crores of beneficiaries, who were benefitted from this initiative, particularly the poor from this historic financial inclusion initiative. The vision underlying it was to support the poor to overcome their economic deprivation but they would also become an integral part of the social mainstream.

So far the achievements have been remarkable with JAM and it is nothing short of a social revolution because it has brought together financial inclusion (PMJDY), biometric identification (Aadhaar) and mobile telecommunications.

There is a vision to link 1 billion unique Aadhaar numbers to 1 billion bank accounts and 1 billion mobile phones. Once that is done, all of India can become part of the financial and digital mainstream. Today, about 52.4 crore unique Aadhaar numbers are linked to 73.62 crore accounts in India.

Having said that, the government can now make direct transfer under various government anti-poverty and support schemes such as PAHAL, MNREGA, old age pensions, student scholarships etc. to 35 crore beneficiaries annually, at more than Rs. 6,000 crore per month totalling of Rs. 74,000 crore. The government also has a strong commitment for the finances to be improved because of the reduced subsidy burden; at the same time, the government will also be legitimized and strengthened because it can transfer resources to citizens faster and more reliably and with less leakage.

We just need to wait and watch the vision of our PM to bring social revolution in the country and not keeping any Indian outside the mainstream. Initiatives like PMJDY and the JAM revolution is expected to link all Indians into one common financial, economic, and digital space.

Deepak Kumar Sahu Publisher & Editor-in-Chief, SPO India www.spoindia.org 4 | August 2017 www.spoindia.org

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NEWS/e-Governance

NHAI to sell FASTags through CSCs

Kerala proposes to have 2000 WiFi hotspots for public installed

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will now sell FASTags through Common Services Centre (CSC) near toll plazas.

FASTags are used for Electronic Toll Collection (ETC). Selling of FASTags through CSC has been done in consultation with RBI and NPCI. They can also be purchased online from issuer banks websites /NHAI website /IHMCL website and will be delivered by courier at the door step of the purchaser.

CSC has already sold 20 crore Aadhaar Cards in addition to achieving many milestones of Digital India in short duration due to their vast network.

Hybrid ETC work which involves installation and integration of RFID readers in all the Toll Plaza lanes is already under progress and is likely to be completed by 31st October, 2017.

Out of all Hybrid Lanes, at least one shall be exclusively dedicated for FASTag vehicles where no other mode of Toll Payment shall be accepted. This exclusive one lane for FASTag vehicles will be operational with effect from 1 September, 2017.

In an ambitious effort to make Kerala digital-friendly and to provide free internet access, the government is planning to set up wi-fi hotspots in 2,000 public places.

The hotspots, coming up in selected locations across the state, would digitally connect government offices, bus stops, parks, tourist destinations, courts and public 'seva kendras' by providing free internet to public.

C h i e f Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the public can avail various e-governance and m - g ove r n a n c e services without interruption through these public hotspots. The CM said in his Facebook post that steps to identify service providers for the programme has already begun.

"The programme will be implemented by dividing the state into three zones. It is expected that the programme can be launched within seven months if the tender procedures are completed," he said.

Rajasthan government plans to offer free e-mail for citizens

Police verification for passport to go online within a year

The Rajasthan government is planning to offer e-mail service to its citizens for official communication. The proposed facility is meant for beneficiaries of the Bhamashah scheme under which the state provides various benefits and subsidies to people.

According to the source, the bid has been finalised.

People will be able to register for e-mail ID on the Rajasthan.in website where they will have to link their Bhamashah or Aadhaar identity. "...whenever a resident gets his or her Bhamashah Card, an electronic kitty consisting of his or her Bhamashah enrolment details (eCard), eVault... and a free e-mail account shall be automatically provisioned by a system and notifications of the same shall be sent to the resident on his or her registered mobile number and/or e-mail," a bid document floated by the government said.

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Delays in issue of passports due to lack of timely police verification are set to go with the government planning to replace physical verification of the applicant's antecedents with online verification using a link to the newly-created national database on crimes of criminals. The national database was rolled out as part of the home ministry's Crime and Criminal Tracking Networks and Systems (CCTNS) initiative.

T h e m u c h d e l ay e d CCTNS project, first approved in 2009, finally got off the ground with Union home minister Rajnath Singh launching the Digital Police portal that e-integrates the country's 15,398 police stations and allows citizens to report crime and request antecedents verification online. The TOI was the first to report the impending rollout of CCTNS on Saturday.

NEWS/Urban Development

National Green Tribunal slaps hefty fines on waste generators

The National Green Tribunal has cracked the whip on major waste generators in the city, including 5-star hotels and banquet halls, slapping fines of as high as Rs 7 lakh each on some of them for not complying with the solid waste management rules.

A bench headed by NGT Chair person, J u s t i c e Swatanter Kumar imposed hefty fines on these defaulting bodies for failing to properly manage and treat sewage.

The NGT also directed them to install sewage treatment plants (STPs) and anti-pollution devices within two weeks and asked them to ensure that STPs function properly on a regular basis. The green panel had earlier issued notices to major waste generators in the city including 5-star hotels, malls, hospitals, educational institutions with hostels and housing societies which have not complied with Solid Waste Management Rules 2016.

Shimla to get eco-tourism boost with its Smart City budget

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said promoting smart public transport, developing footpaths for pedestrians, eco-tourism and better management of natural springs will be the top priorities for restoring the glory of the state capital under the Smart Cities Mission.

Complimenting the residents of Shimla for the city being included in the smart cities list of the central government, he said the Smart City tag would help in its planned development.

The state had submitted its proposal with the Union Ministry of Urban Development already.

The Chief Minister said the Smart City project would help improve water supply infrastructure, sewerage, storm water drainage system, urban transport, e-governance, capacity building and institutional strengthening. State Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma said the state had submitted a Smart City proposal for Rs 2,906 crore for Shimla.

Government all set to announce VMC to provide houses to contest to boost ‘Housing for All’ sanitation workers

After the success of the Smart City Challenge, the Union government is ready to introduce a similar technology competition to give fillip to the Housing for All programme. The competition – to be called Housing Challenge — would be conducted by states to choose the best and most cost-effective technology for each affordable housing project.

National Buildings C o n s t r u c t i o n Corporation, under the ministry of housing and urban affairs (MHUA) has been tasked with providing a working model to the states.

NBCC would handhold the state governments in the initial Housing Challenges. According to sources, the ministry has identified 25 cities where the model can be rolled out on a pilot basis.

The ministry has decided that each competition would be unique. NBCC would frame a “problem statement” for the Housing Challenge. The problem statement would clearly state the problem, or the task at hand.

The Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) would be providing homes to its sanitation workers in housing schemes meant for the economic weaker sections (EWS). The civic body has asked the workers to apply for such houses.

VMC commissioner Vinod Rao said that the sanitation workers will be given preference in allotment of the houses if they applied for them. "We are providing housing to the needy across the city and want that even 'safai sevaks' should get their own houses," said Rao. The civic body has decided to give the houses to workers whose family income is below Rs three lakh per annum. While most permanent sanitation workers have incomes higher than this ceiling, several workers who are on fixed emoluments or daily wages have wages below this ceiling. www.spoindia.org August 2017 | 7

CSR/CORPORATE

Supertron opens Computer Empowerment Centre for underprivileged children

Google digitally empowers rural women in 100,000 villages

Extending help to the needy is the basic nature of V. K. Bhandari, Chairman of Supertron Electronics Pvt Ltd (SEPL) and hence it is not a surprise, when he made a point to set to improve the lives of underprivileged, much before CSR has become a buzzword in the corporate world.

With the introduction of the new CSR activities, Bhandari has realized that today Computer literacy is must and important for all. “Computer empowerment centre” is the new initiative and opening chain of similar centre for underprivileged children. The centre has the facility of teaching computer for class room studies with audio visuals for knowledge centric coaching through LCD projector screen.

Supertron Foundation has opened another “Computer empowerment centre” for the underprivileged and slum children on 15th August, India’s 70th Independence Day in PARIVARIKEE.

Google India has announced reaching a milestone of 100,000 villages with its Internet Saathi program, a digital its digital literacy initiative aimed at empowering women in rural India.

Launched as a pilot in Rajasthan in July 2015 along with Tata Trusts, Google announced the ambitious plans to scale the program, to cover 300,000 villages across India in December 2015. While on its second year anniversary, Google also announced the expansion of the program in two new states – Haryana and Bihar. In Haryana, the program has already started to roll out and will be covering 1,000 villages and in Bihar the program has kicked off from Ramnagar, Bagaha, Lauria, Manjha and Chakai villages and we will be covering 7,000+ villages expanding it further later in the year.

The program has continued to gain momentum and is today live in ten states in India. The program has 25,000 fully trained Internet Saathis who are working everyday across these villages to help women and children learn about the Internet. In total, over 10 million women have gained from the program so far and have become familiar with the benefits of using the internet in their daily lives.

Vodafone announces Onam exclusive offer aimed at helping the underprivileged

Paytm urges customers to contribute towards welfare of Indian soldiers

Vodafone India has announced its association with Kerala Social Security Mission (KSSM), to conduct ‘Vodafone Ona Virrunu’, an initiative aimed at making Onam inclusive and special for all residents of Kerala. As a part of this initiative, Vodafone will serve the traditional Onam Sadhya during the Onam season, for the underprivileged sections of society. This activity is slated to be implemented across 70 locations in Kerala between 26thAugust 2017 and 4th September 2017.

Extending his Onam greetings to the residents of Kerala, Ajit Chaturvedi, Business Head – Kerala, Vodafone India, said, “Onam is the largest festival in Kerala that people of all communities celebrate in unison. The traditional Onam Sadhya is an essential ingredient of the festivities surrounding Onam. ‘Vodafone Ona Virrunu’ is an endeavour to ensure that the underprivileged sections of this state are not deprived of a sumptuous Onam Sadhya. While Vodafone customers will enjoy full value on their Unlimited Talk time and Data Recharges, they will also be supporting the ‘Vodafone Ona Virrunu’ initiative."

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The Indian Army forms the backbone of our nation. It is the ever-dependable body that stands shoulder-to-shoulder, ready to save lives at times of distress including terrorism, insurgency and natural disasters. They are the ones who are protecting us today.

However, their devotion often comes at a cost. Several brave armymen are severely injured in the line of duty every year but continue to contribute to society, bringing the qualities of discipline, honesty and integrity with them.

Commemorating the 70th year of Independence, Paytm is saluting this spirit of valour and fortitude of the Indian Army, by inviting contributions to Indian soldiers disabled in the line of duty.

Customers can scan the QR code from Paytm’s Independence Day special advertisement or banners published across all major national and regional dailies as well as social media to contribute for the welfare of our soldiers. The company will also contribute its earning on Independence Day to these brave army-men and their families.

CSR/CORPORATE

Apollo Tyres to plant ONE LAKH trees under company’s environment initiative

Oracle funded Safe Water Network launches 200th Safe Water Station

To save the environment of southern India, employees of Apollo Tyres, Chennai facility, started the planting of 100,000 trees in Vilanallur village, close to Vandhavasi in the Tiruvannamalai district of southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu under the company’s Environment initiative. The employees, in association with the project partner, TIST, and the farmers planted 1000 trees. The balance trees would be planted by the project partner and farmers over the course of next few months.

Since 2014, Apollo Tyres has planted 2,50,000 trees and has encouraged the farmers to manage their land effectively by planting trees and practice food crops simultaneously. As per the agreement with TIST India, the company will monitor these trees for the next 10 years, to get over 25,000 tonnes of carbon credit.

The company believes that developing agro forestry and encouraging farmers to use their land effectively are critical for the solution of deforestation, a factor responsible for about 20% of global warming and climate change, which are two big threats to business, livelihood and survival.

Safe Water Network has launched their 200th SAFE WATER STATION in the city. This iJal water station is also the first station funded

by Oracle. This joint initiative with Oracle will support 4 Safe Water Stations to provide safe drinking water access to approximately 15,000 people over a period of one year in an area that suffers acute groundwater contamination from fluoride and total dissolved solids (TDS).

Rajendra Tripathi, Senior Manager, Oracle Corporate Citizen-ship – India said, “63.4 million people in rural India lack access to clean water, and available surface water has high levels of microbial and chemical contamination.

Acute ground water contamination causes debilitating health problems like fluorosis – mottling of teeth, pain in bones and joints, crippling skeletal deformity, and stunting in children. These efforts will help improve health and reduce the risk of cholera, diarrhoea, fluorosis and other water-borne diseases in Bhandara district, Maharashtra, where residents depend on ground water for drinking and cooking.”

Mahan Aluminium organizes Motherhood Awareness Camp

IndiGo extends support to Assam flood victims

Mahan Aluminium in association with Mahila & Bal Vikash Department, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh has organized a ‘Matrutva Chetna Sivir’ (Motherhood Awareness Camp) for pregnant and lactating mothers at Daga village near Bargawan under Singrauli District where production facilities are located.

The major focus of this program was also to promote breast feeding for infants and propagating the benefits of mother’s milk for the babies. Dr. Ramesh Nirula, Chief Medical Consultant, Mahan Hospital, said that breast milk contains antibodies that help babies to fight off viruses and bacteria. Breastfeeding lowers baby’s risk of having asthma or allergies.

Plus, babies who are breastfed exclusively for the first 6 months, without any formula, have fewer ear infections, respiratory illnesses, and bouts of diarrhea.

To help the flood survivals in Assam, IndiGo Airlines under its CSR initiative, IndiGoReach has collaborated with ‘Save the Children’ and ‘Oxfam India’ to extend support to flood affected people, under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

As part of the relief efforts, humanitarian assistance in the form of shelter and provisions like cotton blankets, tarpaulins, water purification tablets, hygiene kits, and play kits is being provided to 500 families.

To help flood surviving families 5402 kg of relief material has been airlifted to Guwahati from where it is being sent for distribution to families in 35 villages of Sonitpur and Dhemaji.

This relief material is expected to reach more than 50,000 people who are currently taking shelter and living in over 200 relief camps across the state.

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NEWS/Technology

SaveCow Launches MicroChip to stop cow smuggling

SaveCow has launched a GPS chip & Mobile App that connects Cows, Government, farmers and Police. Launched and co-designed at IIT Delhi Students, this microchip which is onetime installed on the cow, will stop cattle smuggling in India. This ultra-microchip device, once tagged on to a cow, will raise an alarm on a local policeman’s phones and alert police vans when the cow is moved away from its frequency zone.

This will put an end to the cattle thefts and the endless killings.

An event was organized by Animal Welfare Trust at the India Habitat Centre on 31st July 2017 which was attended by spiritual leaders, businessmen, politicians, and farmers.

Vishal Singh, Activist of the cow protection movement said that there have been lot of killings of farmers, police & BSF personals by cow smugglers throughout India.

Accenture DRISHTI – an AI powered solution for visually impaired people

Accenture has developed a new artificial intelligence (AI)– powered solution to help the visually impaired improve the way they experience the world around them and enhance their productivity in the workplace.

The solution, called ‘Drishti’, was developed as part of Accenture’s focus on Tech4Good, which aims to apply technology to improve the way the world lives and works by solving complex social challenges.

Drishti, which means “vision” in Sanskrit, provides smart phone-based assistance using AI technologies such as image recognition, natural language processing and natural language generation capabilities to describe the environment of a visually impaired person. It was developed and tested with 10 blind professionals through collaboration with the National Association for the Blind in India.

10 | August 2017 www.spoindia.org

Liv.ai launches Speech Recognition technology to give voice to a Billion people

A start-up based in Bangalore, Liv.ai has launched Speech recognition technology in 9 Indian languages to enable businesses to reach out to people who communicate in their regional language instead of English. As an alternative to typing, people can now use their voice to text chat on apps like Facebook and WhatsApp speaking in their own language.

Liv.ai has a simple vision to empower people to interact with their devices, businesses and government using their natural voice. Businesses can use it to create digital assistants in regional languages, transcribe audio/video files; setup voices based IVR and do intelligent speech analytics. Liv. ai APIs can be integrated to applications across devices including mobile phones, tablets, PCs, TVs, Speakers, Set-top Boxes and even Cars.

The Weather Company to tackle infectious diseases with Analytics

The Weather Company, an IBM Business is now enabling xtLytics to try and help reduce the prevalence of infectious diseases worldwide. xtLytics has created a Solution Excellence Center at their facility in Noida, India which now combines The Weather Company data with xtLytics analytic capabilities to better understand how weather conditions affect the spread of disease. The xtLytics center will also help patients make better lifestyle decisions and help train data scientists on weather analytics, life sciences services, and ways to develop solutions for the healthcare ecosystem.

History has shown that infectious disease outbreaks often follow severe weather events. 1 In India, the onset of waterborne and vector-borne diseases during the monsoon — such as malaria, cholera, chikungunya and dengue — is quite common.

Furthermore, certain weather conditions can play key roles in the spread of disease; rainfall, temperature and humidity can aid in the development of the primary mosquito that carries diseases such as dengue and Zika. Therefore the life sciences industry, vaccine companies and associations that specialize in infectious disease control can potentially benefit from such an alliance.

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www.spoindia.org August 2017 | 11

CSR/PSU

MDL Organizes Free Artificial Limbs Distribution Camp

NLC carries out cleaning activity of Manimuktah River

Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) Shipbuilders under the administrative control of Ministry of Defence (DDP) has organized a free artificial limbs distribution camp on 18 Aug 2017 at MGM Institute of Medical Sciences, Kalamboli for persons with disabilities (Divyang).

This camp was organized by MDL in collaboration with M/s Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation ( A L I M C O ) as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives.

A total of 413 divyangs, different types of artificial limbs including motorized tricycle, wheel chairs, hearing aids and MSIED kits, were given during the camp. The entire expenditure for artificial limbs was borne by MDL. MDL is India's prime shipyard. It manufactures warships and submarines for the Indian Navy and offshore platforms and associated support vessels for offshore oil drilling. It also builds tankers, cargo bulk carriers, passenger ships and ferries.

NLC India Limited has organized a massive cleaning activity at Manimuktah River, Virudhachalam under its CSR initiative.

Dr. Sarat Kumar Acharya, CMD - NLCIL formally flagged off the massive cleaning activity of the river as part of the Swachh Bharat initiative in the presence of Shri A. Arunmozhithevan, Member of Parliament, Cuddalore and Shri Kalaiselvan V T, MLA, Virudhachalam.

NLCIL engaged 16 machineries including 6 hydraulic Excavators, Tippers etc. to clean the river bed and uproot Julifloura trees and other vegetations.

The company has allocated Rs. 10 lakhs under its CSR initiatives. As many as 2500 Volunteers from NLCIL, voluntary organizations from Neyveli, Virudhachalm participated in this massive clean drive.

Shri Rakesh Kumar, Director, Finance; Shri V. Thangapandian, Director, Power; Shri S. Thirunaukkarasu, ED/CP and Shri R. Mohan CGM, CSR, Edu participated at the event.

NTPC to secure a third of its coal requirements from own mines by 2030

GAIL commences construction work in the KKMBPL Project

State-owned power generator NTPC Ltd plans to secure around a third of its coal requirement through its own captive coal blocks by 2030, the company said in its annual report. NTPC has been allotted 10 coal blocks with a peak production capacity of more than 100 Million Tons Per Annum (MTPA). With these, the company envisages being one of the largest captive coal mining companies in India. “ T h e previous fiscal saw the flag off of your company’s first coal rake, from its mining operations at Pakri Barwadih. This coal is being used at Barh Thermal Station of NTPC, in Bihar. This is an important step in the direction of secured fuel supplies for your Company. The medium term target for mining will be able to cater to more than 10 percent of its present coal requirements,” says Gurdeep Singh, Chairman & Managing Director, said to the company’s shareholders in the report.

12 | August 2017 www.spoindia.org

GAIL started its foray into the state of Kerala with Kochi – Koottanad – Mangaluru-Bengaluru Pipeline with a total project cost of Rs 3,263 crores. Despite the initial hurdle, the Kerala stretch of the project will gain impetus with commencement of 100 % construction work. This pipeline will form part of the National Gas Grid and it will go a long way in fulfilling the vision of the Government of India towards building a gas based economy.

The construction activities are under full swing and the momentum will gather new speed with GAIL awarding Contracts for Pipeline Laying works of the remaining section of 111 km stretch falling in Malappuram, Kannur and Kasargod districts at a cost of approximately Rs 160 crore. As a part of Phase-II of the project, the pipeline section from Kochi-Koottanad (in Kerala) to Mangaluru (in Karnataka) section of 438 km is being executed. With today’s award of contracts, the entire stretch of 438 Km Kochi – Koottanad – Mangaluru Pipeline will be in the Construction Phase.

CSR/PSU

Govt.’s Electric Mobility Mission in progress, to procure more e-autos and e-rickshaws

NHB-AFD announces energy efficient residential housing programme

Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL), a joint venture company of public sector undertakings (NTPC Ltd, POWERGRID, PFC Ltd and REC Ltd) under the Ministry of Power, Govt. of India will procure 10,000 high performance and quality e-Rickshaws and e-Autos (without batteries) from the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), and lease out to the Aggregators. EESL has invited global tender in this regard. August 14, 2017 was the last date for submission of the expression of interest (EOI). On August 21, 2017 EOI responses will be opening.

EESL is supporting the new Electric Mobility Mission of India to scale-up Electric Vehicles (EVs) in country through bulk aggregating demands of EVs, procuring best quality products and services at lowest prices from the OEMs and leasing vehicles to the Aggregators (or the EV Operators). . EESL has already successfully implemented the flagship programmes of Govt. of India namely UJALA and Street Light National Programme.

National Housing Bank (NHB) and Agence Française de Développement (AFD), France have entered into a collaboration for a project namely “Financing energy efficient residential housing and related infrastructure under Sustainable Use of Natural Resources and Energy Facility (SUNREF) Housing”.

Under this project, AFD has sanctioned a financial assistance of Euro 112 million comprising of two component namely, Euro 100 million as loan from AFD and Euro 12 million as grant from the European Union under the Asian Investment Facility. The grant fund will be used to reduce costs for accession to the green housing market by allowing the NHB to reduce the cost of the financial resources to be provided to Primary Lending Institutions and by supporting the cost of a green label certification for housing projects.

DRDO Bengaluru welcomes Kalam Sandesh Vahini

WAPCOS signs MoU for 20172018 with Ministry of Water Resources

The Kalam Sandesh Vahnini (KSV), a national mission spreading the inspiring life and message of People’s President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam was in Bengaluru on 26 August 2017.

The KSV, a 40-seater custom-made bus, was flagged off by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi from Rameswaram on 26 July 2017, during Dr Kalam’s 2nd death anniversary events.

The KSV is scheduled to reach Rashtrapathi Bhawan on 15 October 2017, on the 86th birth anniversary day of the former President. It is a joint mission of Chinmaya Varsity and House of Kalam.

The programmes of KSV in Bengaluru were being coordinated by Inspired Indian Foundation (IIF), a movement for unsung heroes. KSV would have passed through 16 states covering close to 10,000 km before reaching Delhi on 15 Oct. In Bengaluru, the bus was given a formal reception at Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), C V. Raman Nagar, on behalf of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

Dr. Amarjit Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, Government of

India and Shri R. K. Gupta, Chairman-cum-Managing Director, WAPCOS have signed an MOU for the year 2017-2018, in the presence of Shri Akhil Kumar, Joint Secretary (Admn. & GW); Shri Sanjay Kundu, Joint Secretary (PP); Shri Jagmohan Gupta, Joint Secretary (FA) and Senior Officers from Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation and WAPCOS. The Company has set targets in terms of Turnover, New Business and Profitability for achieving higher growth during the current year 2017-2018. WAPCOS has forayed and forged ahead to secure new business with many countriesacross the globe. www.spoindia.org August 2017 | 13

CSR/NGO

Infosys Foundation and Infosys Muthoot M George Foundation Bhubaneswar partner with CIPET felicitates 10th standard toppers to provide Technical Training across Mumbai

Akanksha, the CSR arm of Infosys Bhubaneswar Development Center (DC), in collaboration with the Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology (CIPET), a Government of

Muthoot M George Foundation, the CSR wing of Muthoot Finance has felicitated 10th class topper students of 150 government-run schools in Mumbai.

India Institute, have recently conducted a free residential operator training program for 240 students at the CIPET campus II in Bhubaneswar.

These students, from economically challenged backgrounds in Odisha were provided six months of technical skills development training, leading to 89% placements in companies across Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, UP and Haryana among other states.

Muthoot M George Excellence Awards 2017 was held in Mumbai in the presence of Ramratanam, CEO, Muthoot Home Finance, Babu John Malayil, DGM, Corporate Communications, Muthoot Finance Ltd and Jacob Koshy, President Bombay YMCA.

“Let’s make Mumbai Disability Free” campaign announced by Mumbai Mayor

Cricketer Gautam Gambhir starts ‘Free Community Kitchen’ to feed poor people

The Mayor of Mumbai took a massive step forward, to mark India’s 70th Independence Day, by distributing mobility equipment to 50 people, in his house. These types of equipment will offer ‘accessibility’, a major concern when it comes to persons with disabilities.

This was a part of Ratna Nidhi Charitable Trust’s initiative in association with Rotary Club of Bombay Worli, whereby the ‘Make Mumbai Disability Free’ was launched at the Mayor’s bungalow. State Bank of India and Kewal Kiran Clothing Limited (killer jeans) are among the other partners.

Rajiv Mehta, Trustee, Ratna Nidhi Charitable Trust said, “The Mayor’s initiative, Make Mumbai Disability Free works at multiple levels. The first is that we must continue to make equipment available to our persons with disabilities. Second is we should work towards Mumbai city being more accessible.”

14 | August 2017 www.spoindia.org

Gautam Gambhir Foundation is involved in various philanthropic activities and has been involved in many philanthropic activities. Adding to it, a free community kitchen is one more endeavour by the ace cricketer.

The cricketer’s foundation has started a free community kitchen in West Delhi to serve food to the needy people.

The cricketer himself supervised the 1st Day operations of the free community kitchen in the West Patel Nagar area.

Giving a message to his fans by tweeting, Gambhir said that “launching the daily free kitchen is nothing short of winning a cricket World Cup of an IPL”. Gambhir has won the IPL twice with Kolkata Knight Riders.

Gambhir also had a pledged to bear the full expenses of the children of 25 CRPF personnel killed in an ambush by Maoists in Sukma area Chhattisgarh in April, this year.

FACE TO FACE

HGS paving the way for a healthier society HGS has partnered with the Jaldhaara Foundation to open water health centers across Bangalore to provide safe & clean drinking water to residents in the city. Under this initiative, HGS & Jaldhaara Foundation will launch three centers across the city where each center is likely to impact about 35,000 - 45,000 residents within the radius of 2-3 kms. Reflecting on this initiative, Smita Gaikwad, SVP, CSR - Hinduja Global Solutions tells SPOI of what inspired them to be a part of such an initiative -

“As a socially responsible corporate, HGS believes in enabling significant impact in the communities we serve – through initiatives in education, healthcare and skill development.

The setting up of three WaterHealth centers in Bengaluru is part of the same agenda.

We believe that access to clean water will help pave the path for a healthier society and their economic development.”

Where did the inspiration of coming up with such an initiative with Jaldhaara Foundation came from?

The motto at Hinduja Global Solutions (HGS) clearly says to give back to the society in whatever shape or format. We are a very employee centric society with more than 45,000 employees globally. We wanted to do something for the society that contributes to the area where we work in. So in Bengaluru we have 6000 employees working in the Hosur belt and we motivate everyone to work in the areas of education, healthcare, youth skill development and now we brought in community development to the program. So we work with the communities around us and that has now converted very beautifully into creating communities of HGS in the localities. The next logical step for us was to see what best we can do for the community and what came up was the necessity for providing for clean drinking water and addressing hygiene issues. So we got in touch with Jaldhaara Foundation for setting up water units across Bengaluru in conjunction with Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to provide clean and safe drinking water to the marginalised community. Since we are already working in these segments, this initiative fit in very beautifully into our program.

When did this program start and what progress have you seen so far?

Through this tie-up, HGS is to set up three WaterHealth

centers in the city by the month of August. So our first water unit is supposed to provide water to 35,000 families from that area. The other 2 areas that will come up will collectively cater to 90,000 – 100,000 people within a radius of 5-10 kms. The first center was launched on July 6, 2017 at Venkateshwara Temple, Kudlu Gae, Bengaluru.

Using a six stage purification process, each water health center can convert about 1500 liters of raw water into 1000 liters of consumable water in an hour. In a day the center will produce about 8000 liters of water in a day and about 1,000 liters in an hour which will be optimized according to needs of the community.

What will be the roadmap in taking this initiative to other areas in Bengaluru?

Right now we want to see how these units fare and with 3 units coming up, there is going to be enough for us in terms of creating awareness sessions and motivating our employees to participate along with Jaldhaara around these water centres. We want more and more people to use our services and remain free from water-borne diseases and lead a healthy life. Maybe next year we will think of expanding our water units to more areas.

Any challenges that you have faced so far?

We have not faced any challenges simply because water is a very sensitive issue in a city like Bengaluru, whether that is Cauvery or the underground water. The local corporations are very keen that the local constituencies get good water. In fact the permission came much faster for Jaldhaara to open these 3 units.

The local MLAs push for such an initiative as they do get brownie points at the end of the day. l www.spoindia.org August 2017 | 15

SPOI corporate

Innovation is the sustainability formula for Syska A sustainable organization is not the one that simply endures. Instead, it is viewed as one that directs and leads others clearly on a journey of change towards the aim of sustainability. In this context, Rajesh Uttamchandani, Director – Syska LED tells SPOI of how Syska evolved itself as a socially responsible and sustainable organization by developing best practices and smart innovations in its technologies -

What would be your thoughts and vision on Sustainability in India?

This is an important break for India to take lead in shaping the global sustainability program. Supported by a solid electoral mandate, the new Indian government has been aggressively digging for clean technology and energy efficiency in its effort to pursue a low-carbon growth model. At several meetings, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has shared his vision for “sustainable economic growth without compromising on environmental safety.”

In few months of coming to power, the government introduced a multi-sector debate on reviving the sacred River Ganges, which is arguably one of India’s most contaminated river. The recently presented federal budget also gives high precedence to new and renewable energy. The Government has proposed to set up mega solar power projects in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Jammu and Kashmir with a fund of over Rs. 500 crores. The government has also announced a scheme for solar power driven agricultural pump sets and water pumping stations, for which they earmarked a sum of Rs. 400 crores in the fiscal plan. In addition, implementation of the Green Energy Corridor Project is expected to be accelerated in this financial year to enhance renewable energy across the nation.

As we are principally into LED lights, we have seen multifold jump in the usage of LED in last few years. The LED market in India is still evolving as it has huge scope of application. LEDs are well-known for their efficiency, which translates to energy savings for the consumers. LEDs support sustainability is in their influence on building practices and lifestyles. We have many choices when it comes to designing, 16 | August 2017 www.spoindia.org

constructing, or retrofitting buildings today.

LEDs are consistently at the top of the list of “green”, “sustainable”, and “energyefficient” building options. Even if LEDs aren’t everyone’s choice in lighting, the fact that they can even get the conversation going about sustainable options, is a right step in the right direction.

What has been your biggest success in sustainability?

business models and opening doors for change locally and across continents.

Eventually, it will reach a point of creating value without undermining the capacity for humans and other life to flourish on Earth indefinitely.

Describe how you go about infusing the value of sustainability into your company?

Sustainable development is the goal

incorporate sustainability issues into their core strategies.

What are the main sustainability challenges for you and the industry as a whole?

Policy, rate structures and utilities all makes a difference but motivation for change is something which cannot be ignored. We need to start a national dialogue on responsible consumption. In

Syska contributing to Sustainability

• Smart innovation in Technology - Syska being one of India’s leading players in the LED Lighting is known for its smart innovation. Advanced technology, energy efficiency and durability puts SYSKA LED lights years ahead, giving it a clear edge in the market. Syska plans to expand its product portfolio in the coming years and remain at the top of the competition by launching several innovative technology paired with reliability. Syska also introduced a number of new technologies in the country and also invested heavily in its R&D and production facilities that enabled Syska to constantly rope in new developments all-round the year.

• Spreading awareness among consumers - Syska is also making consumer aware about cost-effectiveness and eco-friendliness of LED lights, eventually helping in green living and energy saving. SYSKA works in sectors with the maximum potential for energy efficiency and carbon abatement.

These efforts are in sync with the country's National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE), which seeks to establish policies and regulations to strengthen energy efficiency for industries, buildings and appliances.

Public Policy, Climate Change, Collaborating for Sustainability, Respecting Aboriginal Rights, Measuring & Reporting Sustainability Activities, Sustaining Sustainability Programs, Educating Consumers for Sustainability, Creating Long-term Orientation etc. are few challenges.

Our biggest success in sustainability is innovation. We continuously strive to innovate new products as per market gap thus keeping us aggressively active among our competitors.

What are the best practices you follow to achieve sustainability?

To achieve sustainability there is an increasingly understood list of core ingredients: leadership, listening, engagement, collaboration, innovation, systems thinking, long-term view, strategy, influence, procurement, value chain, review, skills. We are collaborating, innovating and engaging with stakeholders across the value chain. We keep challenging our

many businesses and governments are working towards. Innovating and resolving the sustainability challenge, rather than balancing and trading off impacts between environmental, social or economic conditions, is essential. Sustainability and environment professionals are central to this agenda.

To make sustainability a central business issue, more chief executives and finance bosses need to connect the dots between "environmental trends" and business risks – and then act on their findings. The company leaders must recognize that business risks and opportunities presented by sustainability trends are too big to be addressed by a single business function, or even inside the company gates. Responding effectively in ways that protect their businesses requires collaboration with stakeholders, including customers, suppliers, communities, and local and national government policymakers. Business-friendly tools are emerging that can help managers

daily life we make sure that we engage value chain members and stakeholders in saving energy in various forms. We try to make more informed choices about using new technology, chemicals or activities, which enable us to examine alternative methods and processes. We ask our leaders with responsibility for driving sustainability within their department to identify the key barriers to sustainable change.

How will you measure your progress towards sustainability?

Measuring the sustainability in absolute numbers is difficult. It’s a continuous process which needs to be followed every day. It’s a process which needs 100% whole heartedly support from every stake holders of an organisation.

We have just started the journey in this direction. We are confident that in times to come, we will do a good job on sustainability front. l www.spoindia.org August 2017 | 17

SPOI corporate

Canon Involve – an endeavour to create a self-sustaining community C

orporate Social Responsibility is an integral part of Canon India’s DNA. It believes that each individual and organisation must carry the sentiment of community development as their responsibility.

“Our philosophy of ‘Kyosei’ – living and working together for the common good, comes foremost in our way of working and day to day operation.

However, our definition of the word is much broader and encompasses “all people, regardless of race, religion or culture, harmoniously living and working together for the common good.” Moving forward with the philosophy of ‘Kyosei’, we strive to make a positive impact on the society and the environment in which we operate,” says Kazutada Kobayashi, President & CEO - Canon India.

Canon’s view of CSR reflects in its endeavour of creating self-sustaining communities. “We would like all the people connected with us – our Employees, Customers and Partners to take pride in their association with Canon.We consider the CSR mandate an encouraging move by the authorities, which provides a strong direction to several organisations, aiming to contribute towards community development,” he says.

The senior leadership also plays a key role in motivating the employees to participate in ‘Canon Involve’ and contribute towards the cause. Along with this, it has a representative selected in each region to support its CSR team.

'Adopt a Village' – Canon’s flagship initiative

Canon commenced its flagship initiative ‘Adopt a Village’ in 2012, where it undertakes the task of overall development of the village for five years. Canon has adopted four villages across all parts of the country, including Sol Gohalia village near Kolkata in West Bengal, Ferozepur Namak village in Haryana, Maharaja Katte village 18 | August 2017 www.spoindia.org

“I feel privileged and delighted to share that all our four adopted villages across the country are undergoing a positive transformation and the progress being witnessed by these villages is an award for us at Canon India.”

Kazutada Kobayashi President & CEO Canon India

near Bengaluru and Karanjoti village near Maharashtra. The project involves engagement with children to enhance their education as well as providing eye care facilities and supporting the environment in the village, leading to the overall empowerment of communities.

One of the most important parameters Canon follows while selecting a village is its proximity to its office location. “We believe, social endeavours require the right sentiments for leaving a long lasting impact on the community. This criteria ensures constant engagement between our employees and the adopted villages. We call this engagement, ‘Canon Involve’, where Canonites get involved in the development of the community. I regularly encourage the staff to continue this noble endeavour. Our employees educate the students on the importance of health, hygiene and other important aspects of learning which would contribute to their growth. Fun activities like cricket, football tournaments are organized for ensuring overall development of the children,” explains Kobayashi.

Another important parameter is

association with like-minded and ethically strong organisations. Taking its experience with ‘Adopt a Village’ forward, Canon associated with SOS Children’s village across the country to support the education and overall development of children in these villages under an exclusive initiative.

As part of this initiative, its employees have adopted children to take responsibility of their wellbeing. As part of ‘Support a Life’ initiative, Canon employees had adopted 187 children across SOS Children’s Village in the country to contribute to their wellbeing.

The villages have undergone noteworthy developments under Canon’s tutelage. To mention a few, capacity building in the schools has led to students returning to the village school, taking the drop out ratio to negligible.

“A Resource center with a non-formal education teacher to impart computer literacy, art and craft skills has been operational in all our villages. Parents are highly motivated by the school’s revamped infrastructure and facilities. Several citizens of the villages have been able to utilize the services of the Vision Center and now

with vocational training centers started last year, the village youth is heading towards an empowered future,” cites out Kobayashi.

These entire initiatives move parallel to Canon’s CSR philosophy of 4E, comprises of Education, Eye Care, Environment and Empowerment.

In the area of education, Canon aims at improving enrolment of children in the school and delivers quality education within the age group of 6-14yrs. With infrastructure development including establishment of activity resource centre equipped with education aids and a library for children, the company is working towards building a learned and selfsustainable village.

Being the leaders in imaging technology, Canon feels privileged as its products contribute in the noble endeavour of ‘Eye Care’. “We have established sustainable eye care facilities called ‘Vision Centres’ across our adopted villages. The Vision centres support screening of patients, provide spectacles and refer to the base hospital for surgeries,” says Kobayashi.

Canon’s commitment towards environmental conservation continues with numerous tree plantation drives in the adopted villages. As an initiative to promote a green Earth, it has set up solar panels in some of the schools in the adopted villages, thereby, solving the problem of electricity in the classrooms.

Enabling self-sustainable communities, Canon has initiated vocational trainings to support skill development among the villagers and empower them for a brighter tomorrow. For this endeavour, Canon is organising new laptops and e-learning system along with trained faculty, to

Success story of Canon Canon has recently completed three years of its intervention at Maharaja Katte village, Bangalore. Listed below are some of the experiences from the villageShekarappa C Mulli Mani, School Principal says donation of 3 rooms - one library, one computer center and one resource center has made a huge difference in the education of the children. The school environment has changed and children feel more excited to come to the school. Not only children, but the entire education office is appreciative of the work done by Canon.

Jyothi believes that one reason for her good performance in studies is due to the co-curricular and fun activities that Canon India keeps organising

Ruchitha says that the teaching materials and books provided by Canon have helped her in her studies.

imparting basic computer training among the village youth.

Canon India also has a dedicated Quality Environment Health & Safety (QEHS) team that keeps working on environment initiatives throughout the year. “Every year, we closely monitor the progress of our initiatives throughout the product lifecycle, making steady strides toward energy conservation, resource conservation, elimination of hazardous substances, and biodiversity conservation.

Our employees are also mindful of environment preservation. Regular tree plantation and cleanliness drives are

Ganesh is happy because his school is always clean now. 2 new class rooms add to his happiness.

organised to support the commitment towards a greener and healthier environment. Under ‘Canon Involve’, our employees also educate children in our villages on the benefits of energy conservation and commitment towards nature. In my view, with the right values being instilled in the children from an early age, they will grow up to be responsible citizens,” points out Kobayashi.

CSR in India…

Canon is deeply involved in meaningful, welfare driven initiatives that impact lives and make people future ready. Its association with its adopted villages have given the Canon family a way to express its dedication towards the upbringing of children of the country.

“In my experience so far in India and with the CSR activities undertaken by us at Canon India, I have realized Indian communities are very close knit.

The thought of helping one another and contributing to the common good is a part of being for most people. Hence, designing and implementing our CSR programmes here gives us further support with the level of enthusiasm we receive from our employees to participate in the same,” sums up Kobayashi. l www.spoindia.org August 2017 | 19

SPOI ANALYSIS

Partnerships for Rural Development R

ural India constitutes around sixty seven percent of Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s total population. This rural population lives in the villages that require necessary attention for addressing crucial issues such as, poverty alleviation, better livelihood opportunities, and provision of adequate village infrastructure facilities. Although several policies and programmes for rural development have been introduced and implemented by the government since independence, yet struggle continues for improving the lives of rural people and provision of basic facilities like education and health, livelihoods, sanitation, safe drinking water etc. Recognizing the fact, that, the government alone cannot address the mammoth challenges, partnerships with various actors of development â&#x20AC;&#x201C; nongovernment organizations (NGOs) / civil society, corporates for CSR action, etc. are imminent.

and environmental change across rural India. The Foundation envisions every person across rural India empowered to lead a more secure, prosperous and dignified life.

With support from donors and partners, SMSF has worked along with the communities in rural India to address the pressing challenges of water security, food security, and social justice. The core programs of the Foundation encompassing water management, agriculture development and good rural governance are spread in various villages of the five states of Haryana, Rajasthan, Bihar, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

NGOs working with rural communities possess a good potential in playing a catalytic and changeagent role in rural development process of the country, backed by their experience of local engagement working at grassroots levels and ability to connect meaningfully with rural people. Corporate engagement in rural development process can be strengthened by reaching out to the civil society organizations/NGOs, for implementing the CSR interventions and programs, which can be effective and sustainable in the long run. NGOCorporate CSR partnerships in this sense can be much value-added for accomplishing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs).

The Foundation works with varied multi-stakeholders â&#x20AC;&#x201C; government, international organizations and corporates through their support to specific thematic projects and programs. Partnerships have enabled the Foundation in expanding the outreach and strengthening impact of its work in various parts of rural India.

Specifically with corporates working on CSR projects, the Foundation has done rural interventions in several villages in areas of integrated water management, rainwater harvesting, safe drinking water, better sanitation and water for schools, improving agriculture productivity and livelihoods of small and marginal farmers, upgrading school infrastructure, community- led development for empowering rural citizens and village institutions, life skills and internet literacy, awareness programs through community radio, etc., to mention a few.

Contributing to the UNSDGs and working together with rural communities, S M Sehgal Foundation (SMSF), Gurugram, a public, charitable trust registered in India since 1999, has been aiming to strengthen community-led development initiatives to achieve positive social, economic,

The Foundation welcomes the corporates and PSUs from various industry sectors, organizations/ institutions and individual donors/ supporters, to join hands with us in becoming a partner in progress of rural India, as together we can empower the rural communities. l

20 | August 2017 www.spoindia.org

Aparna Mahajan, Director, Partnerships and External Relations - S M Sehgal Foundation Aparna Mahajan, Director, Partnerships and External Relations, S M Sehgal Foundation, has several years experience of working in industry, development sector and with United Nations. She has worked on diverse areas in social and rural development, with a focus on CSR, building partnerships and collaborations with multi-stakeholders. She has Master's degree in Business Administration (MBA), and World Bank Institute, USA, certificate in corporate social responsibility and sustainable competitiveness.

SPO FOUNDATION

NASSCOM Foundation and HGS Launch CoE for Persons with Disabilities in Noida Aimed to make Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) skilled for job roles and make them industry ready, NASSCOM Foundation in collaboration with Hinduja Global Solutions (HGS) has launched a training center. The center will train a minimum of 100 PwDs in the NCR region over the next 12 months, with a target of placing at least 50% of them in companies already sensitized to accommodate them.

The trainees will be skilled in a variety of job roles suitable for IT/BPM, Hospitality and Retail industries,along with soft skills, interview skills, communication skills, English language training etc.

Efforts have been made to ensure that the center is accessible not just in terms of physical accessibility but also through technology and follows the principles of Universal design of learning. Training will be conducted using the best accessible technology and training methodologies.

HGS is supporting this cause as part of their CSR agenda. Having vast experience in conducting training programs for PwDs and others from marginalized backgrounds, Centum Foundation will be the training partner for this initiative. NASSCOM Foundation will be the overall owner of the initiative ensuring the maximum impact.

NASSCOM Foundation’s Disability Initiative encourages inclusion in the IT/ BPM industry by sensitizing the sector about accessibility (barrier-free workplace and assistive technology) and employment.

Disability Initiative helps companies inculcate inclusive best practices from all four aspects of disability – Physical Accessibility, Web Accessibility, Assistive technologies, and Employability.

Also, NASSCOM Foundation enables PwDs to get trained on employable skills to be able to have better job opportunities.

It also looks forward to directly interact with employers and help them interact with PwDs in a more efficient way.

The Foundation also recently launched an assistive technology marketplace that will engage PWDs, experts, developers, IT industry and the Government in promoting and implementing web accessibility and creating effective indigenous solutions that are Assistive Technologies (AT). l “We celebrated our 70th independence day yesterday and still have not been able to justify ‘right to information or equality’ for persons with disabilities. NASSCOM Foundation is trying to do its bit to cater to PwDs and for the India Accessibility Campaign.”

“One of HGS' seven core Values, Global Mindset is all about thinking global and respecting cultural diversity. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment and encourage hiring of PwDs to empower them. This will also bring in divergent perspectives and experiences into the workplace.

Our association with NASSCOM Foundation demonstrates our support to the very talented PwD community, who we believe can achieve amazing things if given the right opportunities and training.”

Shrikant Sinha CEO NASSCOM Foundation

Partha De Sarkar CEO - HGS www.spoindia.org August 2017 | 21

SPOI CORPORATE

LG pledges to wipe out food wastage with its ‘’hunger Free India’’ campaign

Kim Ki Wan, MD - LG Electronics India ‘’This campaign has been specially designed for spreading mass awareness for a cause that LG feels deeply about. It is yet another gesture from us to showcase our deep care for the Indian society.

We want to bring a positive change in the behaviours of people, their eating habits and encourage them to be a more responsible society collectively.’’

L

G Electronics India is celebrating the 70th Independent Year of the country, with the launch of the initiative #HungerFreeIndia. The campaign is dedicated to help eradicate Food Wastage in India and thus inviting the whole nation to come forward and take pledge to avoid food wastage and help eradicate hunger.

LG has yet again proven that it is a brand which cares. It has always taken a lead in initiating unique means of connecting with consumers and giving back to the society in which it operates. This time it has gone a notch ahead with the introduction of a noble campaign ‘’Hunger Free India’’. The campaign is a renewed extension of the previously launched ‘’Mute the Growl’’ campaign which was launched to create awareness amongst individuals, businesses 22 | August 2017 www.spoindia.org

and organizations towards fighting the issues of hunger and food wastage in India. The campaign aims to change the basic thought of how food generally is disposed off without a second thought, while we live in a world where 50% of food across the world never reaches the hunger-stricken.

The campaign was launched on the special occasion of India's 70th Independence which also coincides with LG's 70th anniversary globally and 20th anniversary in India. This will be a PanIndia campaign wherein Indians will be pledging their support for this pressing cause while also giving them better opportunities for an enhanced engagement

in bringing this change.

The ‘’Hunger Free India ‘’campaign encourages appreciation for food, saving it from getting wasted and inculcating empathy for those who do not have enough to eat. The campaign aims to harness the potential of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube which have a mass user appeal, to encourage people to eat only as much as they need to prevent food wastage. The campaign is sure to reach millions of Indian consumers who will be advocates and change leaders for moving closer to the dream of a Hunger Free India. The campaign further strengthens LG’s core essence of ‘Life’s Good’ in the truest sense. l Amit Gujral, Chief Marketing Officer, LG Electronics India “We have further pushed our previous campaign and given it rejuvenation to become larger and more extensive through this campaign. We will create various touch points wherein people will have a greater opportunity to contribute their bit towards preventing food wastage. Together we can bring the change, one which is much desired and continue to live the brand promise Life's Good!!”

OPEN YOUR EYES

RERA: On Road to Reformed & Regulated Realty A

s the three - month window given to states for notifying RERA (Real Estate Regulation & Development Act) expires in July, especially in view of ongoing under-construction projects, the stage is set for the transformation of the real estate & housing sector as a matured, professional, organised and transparent sector, much to the advantage of all the stakeholders.

In a landmark move, the central government, in the form of RERA, gave the real estate sector its first regulator w.e.f from May 1, 2016. The Union Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation, however, gave time to states till May 1, 2017, to formulate & notify rules for the functioning of the regulator.

RERA is aimed at establishing a real estate regulatory authority for regulating and promotion of the real estate sector, ensuring efficient and transparent transactions and establishing an adjudicating mechanism for speedy dispute redressal, thereby protecting the interests of consumers. It seeks to address vital issues of fair transactions, timely delivery and quality construction.

The regulation has come as a big relief in the backdrop of lakhs of aggrieved home buyers across India protesting against long delays in delivering their homes in which they have invested their hard earned money. Earlier, home buyers would fall prey to unscrupulous builders, luring them to invest in unapproved projects, promising high returns. But now under RERA, buyersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; interests are protected as only registered developers can launch projects. Moreover, developers cannot launch and advertise their projects and seek customers' bookings, without getting all the required permissions from the authorities. They are also barred from arbitrarily charging the booking amount as under the new regulation, booking amount has been fixed at 10 percent of the property cost.

RERA has also made it mandatory for

developers/project promoters to make all necessary disclosures about projects including permissions secured from authorities, date of launch, promised date of delivery, project specifications, amenities/facilities etc. And all this information is to be loaded on the project website by the builder.

Here, it is also significant to mention that regarding safety of investment, RERA has made a stringent provision for developers to put 70 percent of the money collected from buyers (including land cost) in escrow account, to ensure that this money is not diverted elsewhere and is actually used for the project for which it is collected. Today, if large number of underconstruction residential projects are stuck , it is for the reason that developers had over leveraged, diverted money to other projects and even invested it in creating land banks. And now they are left with no money to complete these projects.

RERA will serve as a major deterrent against malpractices by developers as it has put heavy cost (in terms of penalty and imprisonment) to cheating by developers.

Under the new regulation, if the project promoter fails to deliver home as per agreed deadline, they are bound to return the entire money invested by the buyers along with

pre- agreed interest rate mentioned in the contract. But if the buyer does not want to give up home, the builder will have to pay interest on each delay month to the buyer till the final delivery of the dwelling unit.

RERA will put an end to this malpractice.

Besides, delayed delivery, developers will be punished for other violations, including poor quality of construction. Aggrieved buyers can get redressal within 6 months through fast track court under RERA. Real estate stakeholders look at RERA as a far- reaching reform for the sector as a whole. There is however a challenging task ahead- how to revive stalled housing projects and ensure that buyers waiting for years finally get their home. Industry experts believe that introduction of single window clearance mechanism will give more teeth to RERA, to achieve its desired results.

Notwithstanding these teething troubles, both consumers and developers need to look at RERA optimistically. Because as the regulatory mechanism sets in, there will be a smoother transition towards new administration, creating accountability and transparency and promoting deliverydriven project execution.

By Vinod Behl, a Delhi based senior journalist www.spoindia.org August 2017 | 23

FACE TO FACE

The Sustainability strategy at Godrej makes its business accountable to the society Godrej Industries has its CSR initiatives designed in line with the Government’s social development programmes and the priority needs of the communities. Over the years, it has also aligned CSR & sustainability efforts with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal and national priorities to deliver high-impact programmes that are easy to scale. Dr Vikas Goswami speaks to SPOI on how it designs its initiatives to achieve its CSR objectives -

According to you, what are the top priorities in your organization for taking initiatives through CSR for the inclusive growth of your organization?

At Godrej Industries, we recognise CSR not only as policy but the way we do our business and connect with our community. On any given day, 1.1 billion people use our products globally.

Sustainability is an integral part of our business and value chain that helps us provide high quality, affordable goods for the masses.

In 2011, we took a closer look at our operations and impact, and engaged multiple stakeholders to understand opportunities, prioritise our initiatives and renew our focus. This led to the formulation of our sustainability strategy, ‘Good & Green’ which is one of our four key imperatives for our business vision.

The sustainability strategy makes our businesses more accountable to the community while we continue to drive our shareholder value. It helps us improve the lives of those at the base of the pyramid, preserve the environment, improve efficiency of our operations and innovate. As part of Good & Green, the Godrej Group aspires to create a more employable Indian workforce, a greener India and innovate for good and green products.

Our team members also form an integral part of our initiatives. Through Brighter Giving, a structured volunteering platform, our team members offer their time and skills to help address a nonprofit organisation’s needs.

24 | August 2017 www.spoindia.org

Vikas Goswami Head Sustainability - Good ​​ and Green​,​Godrej One​ , ​Godrej Industries Limited and Associate Companies

What are best practices you are following for designing a robust CSR framework?

As per the Ministry of Corporate Affairs’ guidelines, we have formed a board committee to overlook CSR initiatives at Godrej. We have also constituted a CSR committee that recommends, helps strategize and guides the CSR projects on ground. We have a company level CSR policy that is the guiding framework of our initiatives.

We run our programmes in partnership with non-profits who have the relevant expertise and are aligned to our goal.

We carry out thorough due diligence both online and offline and then get our partners on board. They implement the project on ground and we have a robust MIS system in place that tracks the project

performance.

Education is a key driver for ending poverty and boosting shared prosperity. Is there any mandate to support the education sector in the society?

As part of our sustainability strategy, we are largely focussed to create a more employable Indian workforce, a greener India and innovate for good and green products. Having said that, we agree education support is key for driving growth in the communities; our community development initiatives do exactly that.

Through community development, we carried out a detailed community needs assessment at our plant locations in areas of education, water, sanitation and health support. We have covered communities

around 30 of our manufacturing plants and in line with the assessments and have streamlined our activities and implemented high impact community development projects that primarily look to build education quality of the local schools.

What is the potential for companies to collaborate and achieve the CSR objective?

No one entity can achieve effective results in social development. Corporates need to work in collaboration with non-profits, government, and the communities to share accountability and achieve greater impact. All stakeholders should be a part of the process.

For example for our integrated watershed management programme, we are working in partnership with NABARD to help restore the ecological balance of the region and mitigate the risk of climate change for the local farmers in droughtprone regions of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Telengana. We are conserving and developing close to 10,000 hectares of land and aiming to help restore over 10 million kL of water with the help of local farmer communities. They are equally invested in the project and provide labour support and undertake sustainable farming practices. Together, we are able to mitigate the risks of climate change and drought-like events.

Could you share some of the recent initiatives of how it is shaping the path for CSR within the company?

At Godrej, our sustainability strategy is focused on inclusive growth. Most of our initiatives are aimed to have a shared impact value that is beneficial for the communities and our business.

An example is our Elimination of Vector Borne Endemic Diseases (EMBED) initiative. We initiated the EMBED project with the aim to reduce morbidity and mortality due to Malaria and Dengue in regions reporting high Annual Parasitic Index (API). We collaborate with non-profits and governments, and aim to reduce mortality due to malaria in

Livelihood initiatives at Godrej â&#x20AC;&#x201C; case study

Enhancing livelihoods - Godrej addresses a critical need of enhancing livelihoods of low-income group youth. It collaborates with non-profit organizations to design and run a number of employability training programmes for young people from low-income communities. It improves the earning potential of its trainees, by building their skills, providing post-training support and empoGodrejring them. As of June 2017, Godrej has trained over 2, 68,000 youth in skills that enhance their earning potential.

Some of its programmes are in beauty and hair care, animal husbandry and construction and facilities management.

Challenges - During the course of the last five years of programme monitoring and evaluation, Godrej has made certain observations about vocational training programmes and their efficacy. These have also been borne out by an independent third party impact assessment that Godrej are carrying out. Many skills needed to get by in todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s world do not involve academic knowledge; instead, they involve the ability to handle the events that occur on a day-to-day basis at home, at work, and in the community.

Specific competencies (i.e. knowledge, skills, and their application) of local and cultural relevance are needed to perform everyday activities across a variety of settings.

Way forward - To help its trainees become not just skilled but also employable, Godrej introduced life skills module as part of its training curriculum. The life skills module covers financial literacy, health and work readiness, interpersonal skills, community involvement and more. Its approach is learner-focused and is aimed at not only developing knowledge but also the psycho-social skills needed to use the knowledge. Godrej is also providing posttraining support to its trainees by opening them up to placement opportunities and negotiating their entry in the industry. high API regions through our intensive behavior change programme, community mobilization and increased access to preventive services and increased usage of household insecticide products. In the first phase, we are working in Madhya Pradesh, a state with one of the highest malaria burdens in India. We have collaborated with non-profit organizations and the state government to run intensive behavior change programmes. We are working with the vulnerable and marginalized groups living in tribal, hilly, and hard-to reach areas. The programme currently addresses 36% of the malaria burden of the state.

Our Community Development programme also works with communities around our manufacturing plants to address the priority needs of the community and deepen our engagement with them. For this, we carried out a detailed community needs assessment at our plant locations.

We have covered communities around 30 of our manufacturing plants and in line with the assessments, we have streamlined our activities and implemented high impact community development projects that build education quality, provide clean water access and improve health and sanitation. l www.spoindia.org August 2017 | 25

FACE TO FACE

Sustainability is a business imperative for United Breweries Shekhar Ramamurthy - Managing Director, United Breweries Limited in a chat with SPOI shares the sustainability agenda of the company and about the company policy that believes in taking an active responsibility in empowering local communities and safeguarding the environment According to you, what are the top priorities in your organisation for taking initiatives through CSR for the inclusive growth of your organisation?

We believe that a companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability to operate efficiently depends heavily on the circumstances of the locations, where it manufactures. We operate from a large number of locations all across the country that is characterized by non-uniformity in level of awareness, socio-economic development, education, poverty, practices and rituals. While India is a very large country with multitude of social issues and concerns, UBL has decided to focus on the communities residing in the vicinity of its breweries as a starting point for its CSR interventions.

Sustainability is a business imperative for us and therefore, not optional. We have always adhered to sustainable practices in our everyday operations and helped our associates too to conduct their businesses in a sustainable manner.

Through our values-based practices, we seek to sustain and enhance the long-term competitive advantage of the Company and work towards achieving our social, environmental and economic goals.

How have you designed the CSR programs in your organisation?

United Breweries firmly believes in sustainable development, which is interpreted as growing our business in a socially and environmentally responsible way, while meeting the legitimate interests of our stakeholders. We also believe in taking an active role and responsibility in empowering local communities to achieve their ambitions. The company and its employees are committed to 26 | August 2017 www.spoindia.org

Shekhar Ramamurthy MD, United Breweries Limited the community it works with and the environment it extracts its resources from. The needs of the community and the environment keep changing over time and therefore our CSR and Sustainability policy is dynamic to be able to include the aspects which would help in paving the way for long term sustainable development. We ensure that our CSR initiatives that integrate social and environmental considerations apply to all our operations is incorporated in our governance, management, business strategy and day to day decisions and actions.

We invest in holistic welfare measures for our co-communities that includes water, primary education, primary health and environmental sustainability. All our initiatives are implemented after a thorough needs assessment, which is done in consultation with the community.

Education is a key driver for ending

poverty and boosting shared prosperity.

Is there any mandate to support in the education sector in the society?

While each of our manufacturing units has adopted a neighbouring government school and works with it on a regular basis to fulfil varied requirements, we also have large interventions on education in Rajasthan and Karnataka. The education initiatives, particularly the larger ones in Rajasthan and Karnataka are aimed at long term impact at not just students and teachers but the overall education system in government schools. Improvement of infrastructure and teachers training in 10 schools of Rajasthan in the first year of implementation itself has shown better enrolment rates, less absenteeism, both amongst teachers and students and improvement in teacher attitudes. The science center initiative in 7 schools of Karnataka, true to its objective, has been able to kindle interest towards scientific experiments among young children, who were struggling to deal with science through text book education. 11000 children have benefitted from our education interventions.

As you leverage strategic partnerships for implementing the projects how do you identify the credible partners?

Non-profit organisations operating in the region/state where the company decides to undertake CSR interventions are identified through internet research and references. The identified NGOs are then visited for verification of the on-ground implementation of the programmes along with the review of relevant documents of the organisation.

The previous funding partners of the concerned non-profit are also consulted to understand the capacities

and competence of the organisation as an implementation partner. Once the partner has been identified, the needsassessment is carried out.

What is the potential for companies to collaborate and achieve the CSR objective?

Since most manufacturing units are located in common industrial areas, they map common geographical areas for CSR implementation. Due to poor/ no consultation amongst corporates interested in similar geographical areas, the implementation of programmes could be hap-hazard and there could be possibilities of duplication. Interestingly, sometimes there is also a sense of competition amongst the corporates when they are trying to reach out with projects with similar goals. Our country’s social development needs are huge and it would be unfortunate if the limited resources available with the corporates cannot be utilised optimally. The corporates need to be willing and open to collaborate on CSR to have a much larger impact.

Could you share some of the recent initiatives of how it is shaping the path for CSR within the company?

As a result of increased communication and emphasis on the importance of giving back to the community, the engagements with local community has increased manifold. Important days like the World Environment Day, World Water Day, World Earth Day are not just celebrated within the brewery premises but outside with the community and with the community being an equal and important participant. The management trainees who we regard as the future of this company and those who would pave the path for further growth and success undergo a month long induction to understand the CSR initiatives of the company. Through the stint, they are sensitised about the real world problems and those that the communities living so close to our own premises face on a day to day basis. The emphasis is on building a community of professionals, an organisation of individuals who see pride in being factors of development of their fellow underprivileged citizens.

The induction involves not just living the

Best Practices for CSR at United Breweries • Partnership with reputed regional non-profit partners- UBL believes that a regional partner understands local issues much better, has better community organization strength, therefore leading to better community connect. The right partnerships have been critical to successful implementation of its CSR programmes.

• Robust implementation process- UBL’s implementation model starts with identification of an ideal NGO partner, which undertakes needs assessment survey in the villages it intends to work in. It tries to gauge the needs of the villages through participatory rural appraisal exercises like social mapping, focus group discussions, meeting with village leaders, transect walks through the villages etc. This is followed by the preparation of project proposal and budget. Then the implementation is initiated and very closely monitored to ensure achievement of project objectives.

• Flexibility in implementation model- The key strength of UBL’s programme is that it has been extremely flexible with its implementation model, which is completely dependent on the needs-assessment findings. The attempt is to understand specific needs of a particular village and address it to the extent possible.

• Replicability- UBL thinks of replicability of the project at the stage of project planning. It has 21 manufacturing units spread across the country and its vision is to make a difference in the lives of each of its co-communities. Once UBL is able to implement a project at one location successfully, it is easily replicable with required modification based on the next locations’ need.

• Sustainable by design- UBL believes in planning the sustainability of the project at the design stage. Neither the company nor the NGO can continue to work with the community forever. The community and local government involvement ensures the sustenance of the project. UBL always takes a publicprivate community partnership approach in its interventions. experience but also brainstorming about how this process of development can be improved.

Can you elaborate on your flagship initiatives?

What were the challenges that you face and how did you overcome them?

The Safe Drinking water programme is extremely large and challenging with respect to the geographical area and population size intended to be covered. We have covered 35 villages under this programme so far around six of our manufacturing units in four states namely Karnataka, Telengana, Maharashtra and Haryana. We have made safe drinking water available to 65000 individuals through the initiative and 35000 more would be reached out in the next 3-4 months. Most families in these communities were directly consuming raw water from the available sources, without processing for drinking purposes and were prone to many waterborne diseases. This programme has provided safe drinking water to them,

which will have a very long term impact on their health and wellness. The plan is to extend the programme to a pan- India level going state by state. In the next 3-4 years, 140 villages across India would be covered by this programme, which would benefit 600,000- 10, 00,000 people.

Initially, like most community development interventions, our project was also received with a lot of scepticism at the community end, because there is an inherent distrust between business and community. Both tend to believe that to fulfil one's interests, others' would have to be compromised. Our community organisation skills and regular communication helped us overcome this challenge. And now since communities have seen our commitment, they are extremely supportive of us. This has contributed to a new and improved perception of businesses in general.

Since our manufacturing units are in industrial areas, the communities insist on inviting representatives from other companies in the vicinity to showcase UBL’s CSR. l www.spoindia.org August 2017 | 27

SKILL INDIA

AMH SSC striving to bridge the skill gap in the apparel industry C

SR used to be a voluntary subject till the Companies Act was changed in 2013. Post amendment of this Act, the subject has now become mandatory for companies with specific turnover and profit.

However, Apparel, Made-Ups and Home Furnishing Sector Skill Council (AMH SSC) started making different strategies when the National Skill Policy 2015 was announced, as the said Policy issued advisory to Corporates to spend at least 25% of 2% of the amount earmarked for CSR activities on Skilling sector. It further advised the Corporates to spend the CSR spent on Skilling either through National Skill Development Fund (NSDF) or through respective Sector Skill Councils. Since the announcement of this advisory in the National Skill Policy 2015, it is reaching out to Corporates and PSUs to spend their CSR spent through AMH SSC. “I think the corporate sector is a bit confused today as to which are the projects which technically come under the ambit of CSR and which are the credible agencies through which the CSR projects can be implemented. The subject of CSR was voluntary till recently but now onwards it’s mandatory and all in the corporate sector and in PSUs are cautious while handling this subject,” reiterates Dr. Roopak Vasishtha, CEO & DG – AMHSSC. “The need of the hour today is that the CSR spent must be spent in such a way that the amount is spent on real social causes and also lawfully,” continues Dr Roopak.

“Spending through Sector Skill Councils, I feel, are the best way to spend CSR funds, as the process is supervised by credible organization and the ambitious project of the Govt of India, namely ‘Skill India’ also would get a boost.”

AMH SSC has been launched jointly by the Ministry of Textiles, National Skill Development Corporation and the Apparel Export Promotion Council with the primary mandate of enhancing and 28 | August 2017 www.spoindia.org

“From my experience of Apparel sector, I am quite confident that with the huge infrastructure which AMH SSC has now developed, we shall soon be able to bridge the huge skill gap in the sector. It’s an irony that while scores of youth are looking for jobs, the industry is thriving for skilled manpower.

We, at AMH SSC, are trying to connect the demand with supply.” to build a capacity in skill development.

It now works under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Govt of India and NSDC. One of the salient features of the AMH SSC is designing of training programmes, based on industry demands of different segments and to ensure that all successful trainees are certified through accredited agency. AMH SSC has been authorized by NSDC for evolving assessing proficiencies of skills of trainees for the Apparel, Made-

ups and Home furnishing sectors for their respective subject areas.

“AMH SSC, which was started in Dec, 2013 is now fully grown up and has developed 45 Qualification Packs for the Apparel, Made-Ups and Home Furnishing sector. 3000 Training Partners and 30 Assessing agencies are affiliated to us. We also have 50 Master trainers, which include NIFT, as well. AMH SSC has assessed and certified 1.52 lac persons in both fresh trainings, as well as under Recognition

of Prior Learning (RPL) schemes. In the current financial year we are handling appx 3 lac trainings under the fresh, as well as the RPL segments,” cites Dr Roopak.

In a nutshell, AMH SSC has a huge infrastructure to cater to the demand of the Apparel industry for skilled manpower.

“We are now constantly being approached by PSUs and Corporates and many other Central and State owned Corporations for handling the training and assessment of their respective schemes. Way forward, we feel that with the flagship scheme of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, namely PMKVY, respective schemes of State Missions and Corporations and with the active participation of Corporates and PSUs through their CSR programmes, we shall easily be able to complete 2 million trainings and certification of Indian youth so that equal number of skilled manpower is available for the Apparel industry by 2022,” says Dr Roopak.

Skilling for a sustainable society…

There is a silent skilling revolution currently underway in the country, whereby, the Govt of India has initiated various kinds of Skilling trainings under all sectors so that while on the one hand

the unemployed youth gets employment, on the other hand the industry gets skilled manpower. The best part is that all these trainings are being conducted absolutely free of cost to the end user. The Govt is spending thousands of crores under ‘Skill India’ initiative which will revolutionize availability of skilled manpower for our industry.

All trainings under AMH SSC are being

imparted absolutely free of cost. Various Corporations like National Backward Classes and Financial Development Corporation (NBCFDC) closely works with AMH SSC and provides training and employment or Loans to members of Backward communities.

In an initiative, which had never been taken earlier in the country, AMH SSC, along with NBCFDC trained and certified 40 girls from Nomadic Tribes in Gurgaon in Hand Embroidery course and provided them opportunities to work with a leading Export House in Gurgaon.

“This is the differentiating factor with the Sector Skill Councils. They have developed standards in each sector, based on what the industry demands today.

All the skilling protocols, Study contents, Study material and other teaching aids have been developed after constant brain storming sessions with the industry. Accordingly, the candidates who receive training on the Skilling protocols set by SSCs find it very easy to adapt to the industrial environment immediately on joining organisations, as the teaching aids used to train them are absolutely in synch with the what the industry today uses,” explains Dr Roopak. l

Success story of AMH SSC In Feb, 2017 AMH SSC had participated in a Skill Exhibition in Kanpur which was inaugurated by the Hon’ble Prime Minister.

In each stall, the CEO of the concerned Sector Skill Council was supposed to be at the front, supported by two trainees of respective sectors. The trainees were supposed to showcase the latest technology being used in Skill trainings in that sector.

AMH SSC had requested one of its Training Partners at Lucknow to send two trainees who had just passed out to be present at the stall.

They sent two female students who had just passed out of the Sewing Machine Operators’ course from their centre at Lucknow.

After the Hon’ble PM left, Dr Roopak asked both of them whether they had got any job after passing out of the institute from where they had been trained under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY). To this both smiled for a while and proudly informed that after the course, both had opened Boutiques at Lucknow and that each of them had employed around 5-6 employees in their respective units. www.spoindia.org August 2017 | 29

SPECIAL STORY

Aravali Power Company Jhajjar signs MoU with ALIMCO

Aravali Power Company Jhajjar and Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO) signed an MoU on 21st of July at Jhajjar for Rs. 2 Crores for Distribution of Aids and Assistive Devices to Persons with Disabilities at Jhajjar & Rewari Districts of Haryana under the CSR initiative of APCPL in the presence of N. N. Mishra, CEO – APCPL and D.R. Sarin, CMD – ALIMCO. Aravali Power Company is a Joint venture company with 50% share of NTPC, 25% of Haryana Power Generation Company Ltd (HPGCL, Haryana State company) and 25% of Indraprastha Power Generation Company Ltd. APCPL has constructed a coal based power plant near Village Jharli, District- Jhajjar (Haryana) named Indira Gandhi Super Thermal Power Project (IGSTPP). Presently under Stage-I, power plant of 3x 500MW (1500 mw) capacity is constructed, whose all 3 units are commissioned.

As per the MoU, Distribution camps will be organized at Jhajjar and Rewari Districts for an estimated cost of Rs 2 Crores. In the Distribution Camps artificial limbs, aids & appliances such as Tricycle, Wheel Chairs, BTE Hearing Aids, Crutch Axilla Adjustable, Braille Cane, MSIED Kit, Braille Kit etc. to Persons with Disabilities will be distributed.

30 | August 2017 www.spoindia.org

ALIMCO is a “Not For Profit” Central Public Sector Undertaking working under the administrative control of Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Govt. of India and has been manufacturing various types of aids & appliances on mass scale to meet the requirements of the Persons with Disabilities (PwDs), across the country. It is registered under section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013.

For past 40 years, ALIMCO has been relentlessly manufacturing various types of aids and appliances on mass scale to meet the requirements of PwDs including orthopedically, visual and hearing impaired etc. Since its inception, ALIMCO has been serving on an average around two lakhs of disabled population every year and has supplied 42 lakhs of aids & appliances (approx.).

It is an ISO 9001:2008 certified organization and major categories of its products having ISI marking.

AWARDS & RECOGNISATION

Technology can be a big game changer for empowering the elderly – HelpAge India When the first draft of Act 135 was released, there was no provision for old age. it was HelpAge India that lobbied with the then Minister of Corporate Affairs, Sachin Pilot to include the elderly cause in the second draft.

The recipient of the SPOI CSR Person of the Year Award, Mathew Cherian, CEO - HelpAge India tells SPOI of how the organization has played the role of a catalyst for advocating the rights of the elderly -

Can you throw some light on the current focus areas of HelpAge India?

Our focus areas mainly revolve around health and livelihood for the elderly and old age homes for destitute elders whose children are not looking after them. Another area is policy change and advocacy, where we work with government and legislature to formulate and change policies favouring the elderly.

These are the major thrust areas for us.

HelpAge as part of its service delivery is able to treat about 1.6 million people every year. This is done with the help of our 600 medical personnel that comprises of 145 doctors and rest are paramedics and pharmacists. And this program is largely funded by various companies under CSR, whereas our old age homes are funded primarily by our own sources of funds, which are individuals who are sponsoring. We have a program called ‘Sponsor a Grant’ where people donate money to HelpAge and it in turn sponsors this grants.

The livelihood program was started in the last few years. And this program was started with a basic concept of forming an elder self help group in a village. This group comprises of 20 elder people and they are given some micro finance and they start up social enterprises in their own community. These self help groups

then get federated at the district level that goes up to form a national level federation.

This we call it as Elders for Elders, which is spreading all around the country. This concept proves a point that very often elders are considered as useless and not bankable. 10 years ago, even banks never used to give them loans. But today banks are giving loans to people above 60 years; NABARD is extending credit to them.

At the govt. level, the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) has adopted this concept and has started funding it.

Corporates have never been interested in funding old age homes. But recently RECL and AT&T have both come forward to fund old age homes. Increasingly we are also looking at telemedicine, of how to use digital platform to extend healthcare.

These are some of the new innovations that we are trying out.

How best do you use technology to serve the elderly?

We have our helplines running in many cities, in many as 23 state capitals.

But then sometimes in crisis, people are not able to use their telephone but today with the advent of smartphones we realized that we can have an SOS app.

So we released an SOS app that runs on both android and iOS app. And this happens to be an instant communication.

But increasingly even young people are using it when they come across any older people being harassed or found lying in the street. So this gives us 24x7 coverage and reach. In addition, there is also some information on the app which in combination with Google gives the location of all the nearby medical stores, ambulance providers. So it is a one stop app for older people. So in an emergency if you need an ambulance, you can call for an ambulance or the police or order medicine from the store.

Having said that there is a bit of digital divide among the elderly as they are not tech-savvy. We have another program to teach these modern technologies to them. Since grand children are the most tech savvy people in the entire family, we take their help to teach the older people to use technology like computer, mobile phone.

We are also involved with another technology initiative which is with the govt. of India under the department of science and technology – technology innovation for disabled and elderly. We are giving grants to institutions like IIT, regional engineering colleges to create some innovative applications for the elderly like fall prevention devices, under garments, BP measuring app on cell phone and so on. l www.spoindia.org August 2017 | 31

TECH TREND

Cybersecurity is a Global challenge Cyber crime has become a very burning issue with the speed of continuous innovation and with the world becoming digitalised day by day. There are many challenges involved in forestalling cyber-crimes. Modern techniques and technologies are required to protect the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cyber infrastructures and to ensure digital security. Every country across the globe is struggling with the increased in-security.

A multi-layered approach to your cyber security is the key - from data protection to spam filters, although you can never be 100% protected against these everchanging threats but you can be prepared by educating your teams, implementing a multi-layered security approach and ensuring you are always on the lookout for suspicious activity. These crimes are committed through quick transmission of digital information that can travel thousands of miles in the twinkle of an eye.

As digital technology relentlessly disrupts and sculpts the global landscape, it exposes organisations to opportunities and threats. All evolution comes with challenges and the dark world of cybercrime continues to thrive. This year has been most badly hit by economic crime with deadly virus like WannaCry, Petya and ZCryptor that have all caused financial and reputational damage to organisations across the globe recently. Indeed there is an unprecedented rise of cybercrime.

Cybersecurity is becoming increasingly prominent at major gatherings of senior officials. At the very least, it is now clearly accepted that there is now no difference between the digital and physical world - the guns, bullets, bombs and other weapons of yesteryear are now equally kinetic online threats. They are interconnected and interdependent in ways that we are only just beginning to understand. Furthermore, it is becoming obvious that there is a severe shortage of IT and cybersecurity talent and human resources at all levels of both business and government.

The common forms of cybercrime are considered as Phishing: Bogus emails that may look like they come from a trusted source asking for security information and personal details.

File hijacker: Where criminals hijack files and hold them to ransom also known as Ransomware.

32 | August 2017 www.spoindia.org

Keylogging: Where criminals record what you type on your keyboard and steal passwords and personal information.

Screenshot manager: It allows criminals to take screenshots of your computer screen.

Ad clicker: Criminals will create online adverts that direct a victimâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s computer to click a specific link.

Hacking: Gaining access to a network to cause damage or to steal data.

Distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks: Rendering a network or website unusable with a view to disrupt businesses.

One of the best ways to keep attackers away from your computer is to apply patches and other software fixes when they become available. By regularly updating your computer, you block attackers from being able to take advantage of software flaws (vulnerabilities) that they could otherwise use to break into your system. Secondly, keep in mind that a newly purchased computer may not have the right level of security for you. When you are installing your computer at home, pay attention not just to making your new system function, but also focus on making it work securely.

Lastly, the old saying "there's no such thing as a free lunch" still rings true today.

Supposedly "free" software such as screen savers or smileys, secret investment tricks are sure to make you untold fortunes, and contests that you have surprisingly won without entering are the enticing hooks used by companies to grab your attention and most important is while you may not directly pay for the software, the free software or service you asked for may have been bundled with advertising software ("adware") that tracks your behaviour and displays unwanted advertisements. l

www.spoindia.org August 2017 | 33

LEAD STORY

India & China agree expeditious disengagement – Mission Doklam India and China have agreed to deescalate a monthlong territorial standoff in the Himalayas, ahead of a major economic summit involving both the countries.

Come BRICS Summit and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend it, for which both India and China have agreed to expeditious disengagement of border personnel at face-off site in Doklam. In a statement, the External Affairs Ministry said, "expeditious disengagement of border personnel at the face-off site at Doklam has been agreed to and is ongoing."

China's official Xinhua news agency said that India had withdrawn its personnel and equipment "that had crossed the border back to the Indian side. A Chinese personnel verified this at the scene," Xinhua reported. "China will continue to exercise its sovereign rights and preserve its territorial sovereignty in accordance with historical border agreements."

The leaders of the two largest BRICS economics India and China, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to meet at the BRICS summit along with other leaders from Brazil, Russia and South Africa in the southern Chinese city of Xiamen. It 34 | August 2017 www.spoindia.org

shows the Diplomacy at work. A report says that China has invited the leaders of Thailand, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Egypt and several other nations to the Xiamen conference.

Despite differences both sides can resolve their concerns about each other peacefully and through diplomatic channels. The quick de-escalation of the situation ahead of the summit shows that Modi has withstood Chinese pressure and forced Beijing to back down. New Delhi had always maintained to find a mutually acceptable solution of the Doklam standoff through diplomatic channels. India’s objective was to achieve peace and tranquillity in IndiaChina border areas though diplomacy. The nation had urged that both sides should withdraw troops to engage in a dialogue whereas Beijing insisted on the unilateral

pulling out of India’s soldiers.

The border dispute at Doklam In 1890, an agreement was signed between the then government in Tibet and the British government in India, the maps in which showed this region as a part of Tibet. However, due to its extreme climate, this region remained mostly uninhabited except for wandering nomads and a sprinkling of small villages.

In the period from 1945 to 1955, as new borders were drawn for newly independent post World War II PRC China, Bhutan, India and as Tibet was subsequently reclaimed/occupied by China, this region began to be shown in the maps of each of these countries as their own, with large overlapping parts.

From 1958, Chinese maps started showing large parts of Bhutanese territory as part of China. In 1960, China issued a statement claiming that Bhutan, Sikkim and Ladakh were part of a unified family in Tibet and had always been subject to the "great motherland of China". Alarmed, Bhutan closed off its border with China and shut all trade and diplomatic contacts.

It also established formal defense arrangements with India.

When the Doklam tension started...

The Doklam dispute began in July, when Indian soldiers had crossed the Sikkim border to stop China from constructing a road on the Doklam Plateau in Bhutan. It is a strategic corridor that serves as a vital artery between Delhi and its far north-eastern states. The tension erupted after Bhutan accused China of constructing a road inside its territory in "direct violation" of treaty obligations. Reason being China does not have formal diplomatic relations with Bhutan. But China denied the accusation, contending that Doklam is part of Chinese territory.

India and Bhutan have maintained historically strong relations. Bhutan cooperates closely with India in determining its foreign policy and the Indian Army is involved in the training of its armed forces. Doka La is the Indian name for the region which Bhutan recognises as Dokalam, while China claims it as part of its Donglang region. Of the 3,488-kmlong India-China border from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, a 220-km section falls in Sikkim. The Army's swift response to China's roadbuilding on Doklam near the SikkimTibet-Bhutan trijunction however took China by surprise.

As with the surgical strikes, there was

an element of risk in PM Modi's decision to confront China. The possibility of armed conflict was, however, not ruled out and the Indian leadership went by the military assessment that despite China's better border infrastructure, it would not find India a pushover. The Doklam saga will encourage countries like Vietnam, Mongolia, Singapore and Japan that have been pushing back at China, and cause others like Philippines, who looked as if they might cave in, to reconsider.

Not to forget, Chinese had tried entering Ladakh twice on 15th of August.

But they were beaten badly and forced to retreat. Indian Soldiers wrestled them out of the Indian Territory on both occasions. Perturbed by the beating, Chinese soldiers resorted to stone pelting which was replied at the same time. Many Chinese soldiers were reported to be injured after Indian soldiers unleased a volley of rock on them.

This is a lesson to learn in International Diplomacy. I would rather say, it is a major win for the Modi Government.

Now the Doklam crisis stands resolved as the Chinese agree to retreat, without the Chinese troops firing a single bullet.

The success mantra was to be calm, be composed, work out your options and frustrate the enemy. This is a major loss of face for the Chinese. It is also seen as a proof that China's attempts to bully smaller neighbours into submission can be countered by determined diplomacy and alliances backed by military resolve. l

IN RESPONSE TO QUESTIONS ON THE DOKLAM DISENGAGEMENT UNDERSTANDING 1. We had, earlier in the day, announced that following diplomatic communications, expeditious disengagement of border personnel of India and China at the face-off site at Doklam was ongoing. This process has since been almost completed under verification.

2. India has always maintained that it is only through diplomatic channels that differences on such matters can be addressed . Our principled position is that agreements and understandings reached on boundary issues must be scrupulously respected.

3. Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s policy remains guided by the belief that peace and tranquility in the border areas is an essential pre-requisite for further development of our bilateral relationship . The two countries had also agreed in Astana in early June that differences should not be allowed to become disputes and that India-China relations must remain stable. We look forward to continuing engagement with the Chinese side on this basis . www.spoindia.org August 2017 | 35

CASE STUDY

Oasis in the Thar Desert: A Case Study of Nadi Restoration Overview India has a long history of peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s involvement in rainwater harvesting to meet local needs, especially for drinking purposes and farming. The country has a unique climate with intense monsoon for some weeks followed by a long stretch of dry weather. Provincial rulers and chieftains, together with local craftsmen and villagers ingeniously set up tanks/ ponds that served as traditional rainwater harvesting structures. These tanks/ponds were earthen-bunded reservoirs built to take advantage of the natural depressions in the terrain. Tanks/ponds have been the most important source of irrigation, for recharging ground water, offering sanctuary to birds, for domestic use and a source of drinking water for both people and animals.

Rationale of the project Nadi, a traditional water harvesting structure in western Rajasthan is excavated or embanked to collect precipitation, to mitigate the scarcity of drinking water in the lean period i.e., early spring through the summer months. Rainwater collected in the Nadi from the runoff is available for periods of four months to a year after the rains, depending on the catchment characteristics, the amount of rainfall received and its intensity. This is an ancient practice and the Nadis are the most important water sources of the region used for drinking purposes by human beings as well as livestock.

Bhap Nadi is a traditional water storage

Name of the project:

tank in the village/ Gram Panchayat Bandra in Block / district Barmer of western Rajasthan. It was built in the 1960s by the local villagers for drinking water to survive in the extreme climate of the Thar Desert region. However, in due course of time, this Nadi got silted up and the water storage capacity was reduced to a large extent. This Nadi had practically dried up before the summer of 2015 as there was a drought-like situation during 2014.

Project Area Situation Analysis The local Gram Panchayat representatives and the community approached the team members of the Barmer Unnati project for help. Barmer Unnati is a Local Economic Development

Barmer Unnati Project â&#x20AC;&#x201C; A TechnoServe and CAIRN India Initiative Sector in which the Project is covered: Restoration of a water storage tank project Geography of the Project: Nadi, district - Barmer (Western Rajasthan) Implementation Partner: TechnoServe India 36 | August 2017 www.spoindia.org

project being supported by CAIRN India under its CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) initiatives in Barmer district, Rajasthan, and is being implemented

by TechnoServe India, a development organization, since September 2013. The Barmer Unnati project includes Natural Resources Management (NRM) as one of the significant project activities. In response to the request from the villagers, the technical team fromthe TechnoServe project office at Barmer visited the site along with people from the local community.

During the feasibility study on the existing structure during December 2014, it was found that due to lack of maintenance, the structure had almost silted up, the embankment was ruined and unwanted trees and bushes had sprouted on the banks of the Nadi. The little water retained in the Nadiwas muddy and black in colour and was not even suitable for animals grazing in the vicinity.Yet, people from the nearby villages were still busy filling their tankers to store water for drinking purposes as the summer was fast approaching.In discussions with the community, it was found that about 5000

households from seven Gram Panchayats depend on this particular Nadi for drinking water throughout the year, as well as water for their livestock.

Considering the importance of Bhap Nadi, the Barmer Unnati team decided to take up renovation of this structure under the Barmer Unnati Project during 2015.

Restoration of Bhap Nadi A community meeting was held on December 12, 2014 at the Nadi site which representatives from all nearby villages and members of the Gram Panchayat attended, and a collective action plan was chalked out. Emphasizing community participation and contribution, it was decided that the community would support bank cleaning, bush removal, dressing the embankment after earth filling both

manually and by using machinery, which amounted to around 20 percent of the expenditure and the balance 80 percent funding would be provided by the Barmer Unnati project towards excavation and embankment formation using machines.

A Nadi development and management committee was formed with 25 representatives drawn from all the villages, to monitor and support the renovation work, and subsequently manage the future maintenance of the Nadi.

During February 2015, the renovation work started with the active participation of the community.

In this excavation/ renovation work, one Excavator with five tractors and one tractor leveller was engaged for about 45 days at different stages and time spans and the renovation work was completed

by June 2015, before the onset of the monsoon. In the course of this activity, the project team supported by community participation were able to remove the silt, clay and mud from the storage area and strengthen the embankment completely.

During the last week of June and last week of July, only two spells of rain occurred in Barmer, and the entire runoff from the catchment got collected in the Nadi structure from these two rains. Though there was limited rainfall in the monsoon season of 2015, the Nadi was able to store the rainwater over a pond area of 4 hectares to an average depth of 3 metres and achieved an approximate volume of 120000 cubic metres (1200 lakh litres). l

Mission accomplished According to the villagers, this clean rainwater is sufficient for the drinking needs of about 5000 households and their domestic animals at least for the next two years, even if there is no rainfall over the two years. Currently, the nineteen villages in seven Gram Panchayats in the vicinity of the structure are securewith respect to drinking water. The management committee is looking after the cleanliness and maintenance of the structure by imposing certain rules such as disallowing water to be taken by contractors for construction purpose, and no bathing and washing in the Nadi.

The people around the Nadi structure are elated to get clean rainwater and saving of about Rs.5000 to Rs.10000 per household per year by not having to purchase water from other sources. Bhap Nadi has once again proved its central role in the life of the local community with the assurance of drinking water security in the arid Thar Desert region. www.spoindia.org August 2017 | 37

MOVEMENT Justice Dipak Misra sworn in as 45th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Shri Justice Dipak Misra was sworn in as the 45th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India at a ceremony held on August 28, 2017 in the Durbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan. He made and subscribed to the oath of office before the President.

Justice Mishra enrolled at the Bar on 14 February 1977 and practised at the Orissa High Court and the Service Tribunal. He was appointed as an Additional Judge of the Orissa High Court in 1996 and was later transferred the following year to the Madhya Pradesh High Court, where he was made a Permanent Judge on 19 December 1997. In December 2009, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Patna High Court and served until May 2010, when he was appointed Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court. He served in the latter capacity until his elevation to the Supreme Court on 10 October 2011.

Justice Mishra served a tenure of almost seven years at the Supreme Court and has been appointed the 45th Chief Justice of India from 28 August 2017 till 2 October 2018, the day he retires on turning 65 years in age. Justice Mishra will be serving as the CJI for a term of 13 months and will retire on October 02, 2018.

Justice Mishra led the bench which rejected the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon's appeal to stop his execution. He then received a death threat in writing, an anonymous letter which says "irrespective of the protection you may avail, we will eliminate you." But despite all dangers, he successfully punished Yakub Menon with a death penalty.

A three judge bench led by Justice Mishra has upheld the death sentence awarded to the four convicts of the Nirbhaya rape case on 5th May, 2017.

He was also part of the Bench of the Supreme Court's seven senior-most judges who convicted then Calcutta High Court judge C. S. Karnan, of contempt of court and sentenced him to six months' imprisonment.

Ashish Chauhan re-appointed as MD and CEO â&#x20AC;&#x201C; BSE Ashish Chauhan, who joined BSE as Deputy CEO in 2009, was made MD and CEO for a period of five years with effect from November 2, 2012. With his strong acumen knowledge and potential, BSE seeks another 5-year term for Chauhan as CEO. With this Ashish Kumar Chauhan will serve BSE as its Managing Director and CEO for a further period of five years from November 2, 2017 to November 1, 2022.

This would however be subject to approval from the capital markets regulator Sebi and from the shareholders at the ensuing Annual General Meeting.

After he joined BSE, he started many new initiatives at BSE and brought significant improvements in lot many areas.

Ashish has taken BSE to the cutting edge of technology and is known for introduction of mobile trading, online real-time surveillance systems and for launching several new products across various market segments such as SMEs, currencies, mutual funds and corporate bonds. Under his leadership, the BSE also set up the country's first international exchange, India International Exchange, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Gandhinagar, GIFT City.

Ashish also introduced various technologies in BSE, that includes the reviving Asia's oldest exchange and for making it the fastest exchange in the World with less than 6 microseconds response time.

Ashish is also credited for successful completion of the IPO of BSE which was pending for over 10 years and after it opens the IPO was oversubscribed 51 times with close to 12 lakh applications in January 2017.

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