HARMAN International (India) joined hands with renowned nonprofit organisation Habitat for Humanity, for its ‘Women Build’ project leading up to International Women’s Day, according to a statement issued by HARMAN. Over 40 HARMAN India women employees came together in solidarity in an effort that is aimed at the elimination of poverty housing.
One of the objectives of Women’s Day being celebrated all over the world is to provide support for vulnerable women living in urban slums and empowering them with safe, decent and affordable homes. This ‘Women Build’ project initiated by Habitat for Humanity aims to achieve this in one of Bangalore’s peripheral slum resettlement colonies in Hegde Nagar, providing shelter and dignity to vulnerable women along with their families.
Vinita Srivastava – Director HR, HARMAN India said: “HARMAN India is delighted to partner with Habitat for Humanity for their ‘Women Build’ project. There is an overwhelming requirement to pay attention to women’s concerns in our country and this volunteering event addresses the primary issue of housing. I am happy that we are able to come together as strong, capable women of today, to do our bit to re-instill hope in our community”.
“Women Build is a project wherein we create a bridge between those with the means to support with them that are in need. Habitat for Humanity looks beyond shelter to pave the way for the development of a community. We believe in transformation of communities through volunteering and this is one such initiative. When people come together to help each other, it always has an immensely positive effect. HARMAN has supported our efforts in rehabilitating victims of Uttarakhand and now, we have all women coming forward playing their part in construction of homes for the underserved. Our communities are overwhelmed with joy and gratitude to see the commitment of HARMAN to the society”, Nirmala A, Regional Head for partnership development, South India, Habitat for Humanity said.
Habitat for Humanity builds, rehabilitates and repairs simple, decent, affordable homes in sustainable communities with support from homeowner families, volunteers, donors and partner organizations in more than 20 countries across the Asia-Pacific region. For more information visit : habitatindia.in.
HARMAN (harman.com) designs, manufactures, and markets a wide range of infotainment and audio solutions for the automotive, consumer, and professional markets. It is a recognised world leader across its customer segments with premium brands including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon®, and Mark Levinson® and leading-edge connectivity, safety and audio technologies. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of 14,800 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia and reported sales of $ 4.7 billion for the last twelve months ended December 31, 2013.
CSR Talk India
DPW 2014 event for adolescent girl empowerment held in in Mumbai from March 5-7, 2014
Dasra, India’s leading strategic philanthropy foundation, hosted the Dasra Philanthropy Week (DPW) from March 5-7, 2014 in Mumbai. Supported this year by USAID, Omidyar Network, BNP Paribas Wealth Management and Vodafone Foundation, the event brought together more than 600 philanthropists, corporates, foundations, impact investors and policy makers to solve pressing social and developmental issues faced by our country especially around adolescent girl empowerment.
Dasra launched a five-year, $ 14 million initiative in collaboration with USAID and Kiawah Trust, which was announced at the Dasra Philanthropy Week 2013 last year.
Piramal Foundation joins the mission that seeks to achieve systemic change by fostering innovation, improving outcomes and reaching scale to improve the reproductive, maternal,neonatal, child health and empower adolescent girls in rural and urban India.Over the next four years, the Alliance expects to touch the lives of over 1 million girls, mothers and children.
Nandini Piramal, Executive Director, Piramal Enterprises Ltd, while speaking about the partnership, said: “There is a growing realisation that complex and seemingly insurmountable social problems cannot be solved by individual organizations or a single stakeholder group. It requires different parts of the ecosystem such as funders, government, non-profits, corporates and media to work collaboratively to create long-term social change.” She further added, “The Piramal Foundation is focused on developing innovative solutions to address India’s most pressing problems which we see as critical roadblocks towards unlocking India’s economic potential. One of Piramal Foundation’s primary healthcare initiatives (Piramal Swasthya) addresses issues related to maternal healthcare which is the common goal of this alliance”.
Lynne Smitham, Co-Founder of Kiawah Trust pointed out: “Work around adolescent girls in India has typically been isolated and scattered and there has been little or no collaboration among stakeholders. The Dasra Alliance aims to alter this approach and build a collaborative ecosystem in order to foster, drive and deliver knowledge, innovation, funding and achieve impact at scale”.
John Beed, USAID’s mission director for India stated: “Today, I am extremely delighted to announce the expansion of the Alliance with another valuable and well respected partner, the Piramal Foundation. The Piramal family is one of the most respected names in India, both for their business as well as their philanthropy. Given the foundation’s stature and innovative approach to corporate philanthropy, the participation of the Piramal Foundation as a partner in this Alliance leads the way for corporate foundations to engage effectively in ending preventable child and maternal deaths”.
Smarinita Shetty, Director at Dasra held: “Along with USAID, Kiawah Trust and PiramalFoundation, we plan to develop and strengthen engagement with the private sector to drive greater impact for adolescent girlsin India. Given Piramal Foundation’s stature and innovative approach to corporate philanthropy, their addition as a partner in this alliance allows us to showcase the manner in which corporate foundations can engage more effectively and develop solutions at scale”.
Dasra Philanthropy Week, founded in 2010 and in its fifth edition this year, featured a high profile gathering of over 600 leading philanthropists, business and social change leaders. As Dasra’s partner, BNP Paribas Wealth Management hosted a discussion on Next Gen philanthropy by interviewing RoshniNadarMalhotra. For the past seven years BNP Paribas Wealth Management has awarded major philanthropists, the BNP Paribas Prize for Individual Philanthropy. In 2013, Shiv Nadar, founder of the Shiv Nadar Foundation was the recipient of the BNP Paribas Prize.
Stephane Honig, Head of Indian Markets, BNP Paribas Wealth Management said: “For BNP Paribas Wealth Management our engagement with Dasra further demonstrates our commitment towards individual philanthropy. BNP Paribas Wealth Management was amongst the first global private banking institutions to consider helping clients to give back to the society as a part of its core mission. In 2008, a dedicated department was set up to assist our clients in their philanthropic endeavors either through personal advice or through our Fondation de l’Orangerie. BNP Paribas Wealth Management is also strongly committed to support initiatives that raise awareness and increase dialogue. In order to increase the awareness amongst our clients, we launched few key initiatives like the BNP Paribas Prize for Individual Philanthropy and the BNP Paribas Individual Philanthropy Index, in partnership with Forbes Insights. BNP Paribas Wealth Management is the world’s seventh largest private bank, present in some 30 countries, and we consider advising our clients on individual philanthropy as part of our civic engagement to the society”.
The day also placed the spotlight on social change stories, insights from Bain & Company on ecosystem building, presentations on Dasra’s upcoming research; including the launch of Domestic Violence Report – No Private Matter. The report found that Domestic Violence accounts for 50 percent of all reported crimes against women in India. One in every three women is sexually, psychologically and physically violated by her male partner. Another startling fact that the report highlights is that violence in India kills and disables as many women between the ages of 15 and 44 years as cancer.
Flavia Agnes, Advocate and Co-founder of Majlis Legal Centre said: “Remaining silent on domestic violence gives impetus to the crime. Officially, domestic violence accounts for 50 percent of all reported crimes against women. However there is gross under-reporting of these crimes”. Speaking on solutions, she added: “If these victims of violence are aware of their rights and can get easy access to justice, then we will be one step closer to tackling the issue. Trained and sensitive state stakeholders will give confidence to women to fight against violence and live a life with dignity”.
Other launches included the book on impact assessment – ‘Measuring and Improving Social Impact’ by Rice University Research Professor, Marc Epstein and Swigert Endowed Chair at PortlandState University’s School of Business Administration, Kristi Yuthas. The book presents the value of building impact assessment into CSR for greater social impact and is the perfect guide to The Indian Companies Act of 2013.
Conversations with leading local and global philanthropists led to sharing of their perspectives on giving.Bringing the day to a grand finale were video keynote addresses by Jennifer and Peter Buffett from NoVo Foundation, who shared the passion behind their giving journeys, rationale for supporting adolescent girls initiatives and advised on creating lasting change.
Founded in 1999, Dasra is India’s leading strategic philanthropy foundation. It inspires collaborative giving and partnerships amongst philanthropists, funders, corporates and the Government. Simultaneously, it enables high impact non-profit organizations to scale. Over the past 14 years, Dasra has strengthened the growth plans of more than 200 non-profits and social businesses, engaged with and educated over 500 philanthropists on strategic philanthropy, enabled over $ 38 million in funding to social entrepreneurs, and published 22 research reports about education, health and livelihoods. For more information, please visit dasra.org.
Madras Engineering Industries founder EK Parthasarathy dies in Chennai
One of the leading industrialist, EK Parthasarathy, the man who set up his own auto component business, Madras Engineering Industries in Chennai and globally became a major player in the slack adjuster arena, died in Chennai yesterday. The Chairman of MEI was 77. The techocrat has a graduation in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters degree from the University of Cramfield.
Formidable empire
After serving in the UK for almost seven years, Parthasarathy established the auto component manufacturing company, Madras Engineering Industries in Chennai way back 1966. In 1982, MEI started manufacturing manual slack adjusters and parts for air brake systems for light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles. In 2000, the firm commenced exporting automatic slack adjusters to the United Kingdom, Europe, the US, Canada, the Middle East, Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia.
In 2004, MEI became a Tier- I supplier of manual slack adjusters to major OEMs in the domestic market and in 2007, it became the first Indian corporate to indigenously develope and patent self setting automatic slack adjusters. The auto component major started supplies to all the OEMs in India with a market share of over 70 percent.
Plants
MEI Operates from three locations in Chennai. The first plant is based out of Ambattur Industrial Estate, the second facility at Maraimalai Nagar and the third unit in the Mahindra World City SEZ. The company’s R&D Centre is located at IIT-M Res Park. All the plants are accredited with TS 16949 – 2000 and TS 14001 – 2000 by TUV Germany.
R&D
Under his stewardship, MEI started laying more emphasis on the R&D pursuits. Parthasarathy managed to produce automatic slack adjusters in a big way. In fact, thanks to his perseverance, MEI has three global patents on its name in the slack adjuster arena. Through its persistent R&D efforts, MEI also has obtained seven global patents till this day.
CSR endeavours
Parthasarathy has taken several corporate social responsibility initiatives supporting institutions like schools and hospitals, including Sankara Nethralaya. His other CSR endeavours include a wholesome school education, woman’s employment, healthcare, renovation of schools and hospitals, water supply and more at his native village of Thandalam, near Arakonam.
The former President of the Madras Club is survived by his spouse, Radha Parthasarathy, son Sanjay Parthasarathy and two daughters, Priya Sriram and Ramya Narayanan.
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors of MEI as of now stands at EK Parthasarathy, Chairman and Managing Director, Radha Parthasarathy, Director, Sriram Sivaram, Director, Priya Sriram, Director and Sanjay Parthasarathy, Director. The sucessor of late EK Parthasarathy will be chosen soon.
Timeline
1966: Incorporated to manufacture automotive components.
1982: Commercial production of Manual Slack Adjusters for light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles.
2000: Developed Automatic Slack Adjusters for light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles for Global market.
2003: Indigenously designed, developed and manufactured Self Setting Automatic Slack Adjusters (SASA) for Domestic and Global markets and patented.
2007:
* Production of Self Setting Automatic Slack Adjusters for domestic applications.
* Inauguration of third plant at Mahindra World City SEZ for the manufacture of automatic slack adjusters for global Market.
2009: Established state-of-the-art R&D Facility at IITM res Park, Chennai and is recognised by the DSIR, Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India.
Rahul Bajaj receives Rotary Life Time Achievement Award in Leadership Excellence
Leading industrialist, Rahul Bajaj, Chairman of Bajaj Auto Limited is the proud winner of Lifetime Achievement Award, conferred by Rotary International at the Rotary District 3131 Conference 2014. According to the statement issued by Rotary International, the ‘Rotary Life-Time Achievement Award in Leadership Excellence’ is a coveted recognition from Rotary International, which is given to extra-ordinary achievers from across the globe.
(L-R) PDG Rotarian Mukesh Arneja, Rotary International President’s Representative, Padma Vibhushan Dr Ragunath Mashelkar, DG Dr Deepak Shikarpur, District Governor.
Rahul was presented with the award by Padmavibhushan Dr RA Mashelkar in the presence of District Governor, Dr Deepak Shikarpur and Rotary International President Representative, Mukesh Arneja from Delhi. On accepting the honour, Rahul said: ‘It is indeed a great honour to be bestowed with this prestigious award by the Rotary International’. On the occasion, Rahul addressed the Rotarians on ‘The Way Forward for the Indian economy’ and presented many of his insights on the subject.
Rahul was the only person felicitated with the Life-time Achievement Award in the year 2013-14 Conference, in recognition of his distinguished business, philanthropic and academic contributions in India over the years, noted the statement. Rahul is recognised as one of the most successful business leaders of India. He heads the Bajaj Group of companies, which is a leader in a variety of manufactured products and financial services in India and abroad.
CSR efforts
The industrialist has also been instrumental in spear-heading the CSR initiatives of the Bajaj Group which include the Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation, Shiksha Mandal and a number of social organisations including the Bharatiya Yuva Shakti Trust and Ruby Hall Clinic, a large hospital in Pune as their Chairman.
What is more, Rahul has received many prestigious awards and recognitions, notable being the award of ‘Padma Bhushan’ by the Government of India in 2001, Alumni Achievement Award by the Harvard Business School and Life Time Achievement Awards from Economic Times, Ernst & Young and CNBC TV18. In fact, Rahul was appointed Knight in the Order of the Legion of Honour by the President of the French Republic. Rotary International is a world-wide organisation of business and professional leaders that provides humanitarian service, encourages high ethical standards in all vocations, and helps build goodwill and peace in the world. An estimated 1.2 million Rotarians belonging to more than 31,000 Rotary clubs are located in over 167 countries. Rotary International District 3131 is spread over two revenue districts of Maharashtra, Pune and Raigad. There are 100 Rotary Clubs in this region with a membership of more than 4,000 Rotarians.
‘Tangled’, hair donation drive to make wigs for cancer patients inaugurated by RC-WCC and Green Trends Unisex Hair and Style Saloon
‘Tangled’, an awareness campaign and hair donation drive by The Rotaract Club of Women’s Christian College (RC-WCC) along with Green Trends unisex Hair and Style Salon, to make wigs for cancer patients, kicked off today at Women’s Christian College, Chennai on the account of World Cancer day, according to a statement issued by Trends in Vogue.
From (L-R): Actor Shiva, Director Shiva, Rennee Saradha, Dr Ridling Margaret Waller, Principal, Women’s Christian College, Dr Shantha, Chairman of Adyar Cancer Institute, Chennai, Gopalakrishnan, Business Head, Trends in Vogue and Producer Shiva graced the inauguration.
Dr Shanta, Chairman, Adyar Cancer Institute inaugurated the event in the presence of Dr Ridling Margaret Waller, Principal, Women’s Christian College, Chennai, Gopalakrishnan, Business Head, Trends in Vogue Private Ltd and Dr Surendran and his team from Adyar Cancer Institute. The event witnessed a huge gathering of young and willing women donors of Women’s Christian College.
Side effects
Hair loss is one of the most difficult side effects of cancer treatments to deal with, as appearance is closely linked to one’s self esteem. More than the pain undergone, hair loss is the hardest part in having cancer treatment; this may even cause deep depression in some of the patients. The ten day hair donation drive is aimed at supporting cancer patients with customised wigs to hold up their self-esteem and to help them recover at a faster pace. The drive will be hosted at various points in the state including 15 colleges, 15 corporates and at all the branches of Green Trends unisex Hair and Style Salons.
Rennee Saradha, President, RC-WCC, tonsured her hair in support of the donation drive.
Rennee Saradha, a final year student and Club president opined: “We are overwhelmed by the support extended by the College and the students in making this a successful pilot initiative. We would like to reassure self-confidence through this donation drive. We aim at donating 200 hair wigs to Adyar Cancer Institute by March 2014″.
Commenting about the event, Gopalakrishnan, Business Head, Trends in Vogue said: “We are extremely glad to be part of a noble initiative of this kind. Since donating hair is possible by anyone, we invite everyone to participate. To ensure one’s current hair style is not affected we have trained more than 500 of our stylists to cut hair from areas that would not tamper with the hairstyle. A small lock of hair is sufficient from each donor, of course if someone is willing to donate more we are more than happy. Minimum eight inches hair length is required”. For queries and more information about the campaign, donors can walk into the nearest Green Trends unisex Hair and Style Salon or contact 18004202020.
Padma Prema, Chennai region- Hair trainer Green Trends unisex Hair and Style Salon- tonsured her hair to show her support towards the donation drive.
Trends In Vogue, a group Company of CavinKare came into being in July 2002 with a clear-cut focus on providing personal styling and beauty solutions to everyone in the family. The Company is the leader in the organized salon retail chain with its flagship brands Limelite Salon and Spa, Green Trends Salon and Spa.
Backed by a team of professionals ,strong technical team, training academy and CavinKare’s R&D strength Trends in Vogue has launched a wide range of innovative services delighting over 100,000 customers every month through its 150 plus salons across India. The company pioneered the concept of family salons and has many firsts to its credit. Every salon is operated under stringent SOP’s and by using best in class products and delivering services through professionally trained stylists ensures quality service consistently. Trends has established its presence in the market with two brands in its portfolio, Limelite Salon and Spa caters to the premium segment with its best in class infrastructure ,international ambience and best in class service. Green trends Hair & Style salon promises you to look stylish and be with the times, the brand a wide range of beauty and styling services at an affordable price. The brand is popular for its regular grooming services, fashion styling and bridal make up.
CavinKare is a diversified FMCG major with brands in personal care, foods, dairy and beverages. The brand portfolio consists of Shampoos (Chik, Meera, and Nyle), Fairness creams (Fairever), Deodorant and Talc (Spinz), Pickles & Snacks (Ruchi, Chinni’s & Garden), Hair Colours (Indica), Beverages (Maa), Dairy (Cavin’s), and Beauty Salons (Limelite & Green Trends). Most of the brands are clear winners in their respective product categories. A dedicated R&D centre equipped with latest equipment and technologies constantly supports the divisions in their endeavour. Today with a turnover of over 1200 crore, CavinKare has achieved significant milestones and a competitive edge with sound understanding of mass marketing dynamics and has established a firm foothold in the national market. CavinKare’s success is based on it being firmly grounded to its corporate mission- ‘we shall achieve growth by continuously offering unique products and services that would give customers utmost satisfaction and thereby be a role model’.
Mallika Srinivasan honoured with Padma Shri for her efforts in improving the lot of farming community in India
Mallika Srinivasan, the Chairperson of the Chennai-based Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited (TAFE), part of the Amalgamation Group, has been conferred with one of the prestigious awards, Padma Shri by the the Government of India.
A thought leader and strategist, Mallika is known for high calibre entrepreneurship, persistencce on excellence and yeoman service rendered to the Indian agriculture machinery business. She is also being recognised by the academia.
Currently, the Chairperson and CEO of TAFE, Mallika took up the mantle after finishing her studies in the US. TAFE was earlier part of the Eicher group. The $ 1.6 billion tractor firm was set up way back in 1960 by the Eicher group and later on acquired by the Amalgamation Group, founded by Mallika’s father Sivasailam. TAFE is today the third largest tractor maker in the world and second largest in India by volumes. The company is present in excess of 82 countries that includes developed nations in Europe and the Americas. After she took over, TAFE has made giant strides and redefined the agriculture machinery business. Besides heading TAFE, Mallika is also on the Board of AGCO Corporation of the US, Tata Steel Limited and Tata Global Beverages. She is also the governing member of the Governing Board at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad and the Bharathidasan Institute of Management, Trichy.
Career
In a career spanning a quarter century, Mallika transformed TAFE as a quality mass producer of tractors, besides making it a lean and resilient entity that could easily weather the cyclicality of the tractor business. She laid major fillip on product and process development as the mantras. Mallika develped the core engineering prowess and made good use of the design and development into manfuacturing a slew of products for the overseas markets. In tandem with this, she had also strengthened alliance with AGCO for mutual growth, both in terms of compoents and in terms of tractor business. In fact, she led from the front in the acquisition of Eicher’s tractor and engines business through a separate arm and nurtured it sgrowth in terms of operations and profits.
Mallika has credited with ensuring lofty positioning of the Massey Ferguson and Eicher products in the market and inspiring in developing the Eicher product range by increasing the horse powers that suited the exacting standards of the changing market scenario. From a mediocre player, Mallika metamorphosed TAFE into its current status of $ 1.6 billion behemoth. Thecompany ow has wide spectrum of products including tractors, farm machinery, diesel engines, engineering plastics, hydraulic pumps and cylinders, batteries, automobile franchises and plantations.
Under her stewardship, TAFE was not only transformed itself to a profit making venture, but also one of the most financially viable tractor firms globally. She had assummed various positions in industry bodies including CII, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade and more.
CSR
Mallika’s corporate social responsibility efforts are laudable, the latest being TAFE’s cooperation with the Chennai Traffic Police in bringing in awareness against honking by vehicles in Chennai. She has an avowed passion for making sure that development of education and healthcare in the country should be there in place. In fact, she has been instumental in backing entities like Sanakara Nethralaya, renowned eye care organisation, Adyar Cancer Hospital in Chennai and a slew of educational and healtchare facilities in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. What is more, Mallika has been a patron of arts through her support of one of the country’s leading musical tradition of Carnatic music through the Indira Sivasailam Endowment Fund.
Education
Mallika was always a brilliant student. She is a university gold medalist in Econometrics from the University of Madras. Mallika graduated as a member of the Dean’s Honour List and the Alpha Beta Gama Socity from the Wharton School of Business, Univesity of Pennsylvania, the US. She was ranked as one of its top 125 most successful alumni.
Laurels
Mallika has won several recognitions both in her career as well as for her philantropical pursuits. In 2011, Mallika won the Entrepreneur of the Year award from Ernst and Young. Several accolades came calling Mallika such as Woman Leader of the Year Award from Forbes India, another recognition from Forbes Asia as one of the top 50 Asian Power Businesswomen, ranking second among India’s Most Powerful Women in Business by Fortune Asia. She has also been named among the six Most Powerful Women of India Inc by Business Today magazine. The Asian Business Leadership Forum conferred her with ABLF Woman of Power Award. And that is not all, NDTV Profit, one of the leading business television channel conferred her special honour of Business Thought Leader of the Year 2012 Award.
Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India achieves a milestone of acquiring 15 million customers in 13 years
Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India Pvt. Ltd. (HMSI), the fastest growing two-wheeler manufacturer in India today announced the acquisition of 15 million customer milestone in its 13th year of operation in India. According to a company statement, the latest five million customers were added in just 18 months after the declaration of ten million customer milestone in July, 2012.
This extraordinary pace is an outcome of Honda’s foray in the mass motorcycle segment- Dream Yuga and Dream Neo being well accepted in the market. Also, Honda’s consistent market leadership in automatic scooter segment is affirmative of its excellent quality product offerings.
HMSI came into existence on December 14, 1999 and its first production facility at Manesar commenced operations in 2001. Currently operates three manufacturing plants at Manesar (Haryana) and Tapukara (Rajasthan) and Narsapura (Kolar district of Karnataka) with the cumulative production capacity to reach 46 lakh units annually by FY’14 end.
Speaking on this achievement, Keita Muramatsu – President and CEO, HMSI said: “Together we have successfully given Joy of mobility to 15 Million Happy customers. We firmly believe customer experience and customer loyalty is priceless and will work very closely with our customers to enhance the same”.
Expressing sincere gratitude to Honda customers, YS Guleria – Vice President, Sales and Marketing, HMSI said: “Achieving the 15 million customers mark in such a short period is a testimony to growing customer trust on Honda brand. To meet customer demand and reach out to new markets, Honda has intensified its efforts to rapidly expand its network by adding 500 new touch-points and take its growing network to 2500.”
CSR
Honda has also been the Industry First to promote Fun, Safety and Environment in India. As a responsible manufacturer, HMSI has till date trained more than 400,000 individuals including children and women and is successfully operating Traffic Training parks in Delhi and Jaipur. Very recently, Honda announced partnership with POGO and associated with Chhota Bheem for road safety promotion among kids. In another announcement HMSI declared association with South Delhi Municipal Corporation, to educate young minds on road safety.
Steelbird launch ‘I am Eve, I Ride with Pride’ film campaign promoting safe riding among women
Aiming at educating thousands of school and college going girls on safe two wheeler riding, India’s largest selling helmet brands, Steelbird, has kick started a noble campaign ‘I am Ever, I ride with pride’. The campaign is running through various colleges across Delhi NCR in due course of time, according to a company statement.
Short films
The campaign is in the form of short films conveying the message of safe riding is a CSR initiative of Steelbird Helmets, which is very first time conceptualised and being executed keeping in mind the safety and security of female two wheeler riders. The campaign will provide an opportunity to young college girls who are found of acting to showcase their talent to the outside world by participating in the auditions for short film which will be produced by steelbird helmets at various college campuses.
Elaborating in details Shailendra Jain, Sales & Marketing Head of Steelbird Helmets Said: “The campaign will run through two phases one is making the Film and second is screening the Film with campus audience. The core idea behind this activity is to educate a large of section of students about the safe riding and involve them to be the front face of this campaign. Steelbird has joined hands with well known social film maker for the same who will be spearheading the auditions, productions and final editing of these shorts films. The first part of the campaign is a day long audition which will be conducted at various colleges’ campus on time to time and will be open for all the girls. The shortlisted candidates will be called for shooting which will be held at the campus only. Once the film is done is will be screened at the college auditorium. The theme of these short firms would be on women safety and safe riding. Since the campaign is exclusively focused on female riders hence we have already started the campaign from all women colleges told Mr Ulhas. We have done with the auditions in almost 5-6 Colleges. We are getting overwhelming response of the screening in Gargi College, Kamala Nehru and Shaheed Rajguru College. Now we have hit the floors in Indraprastha College of Women and Baharti College”.
While speaking about creating awareness, Jain added: “We have selected various themes and topics which are need of the hour today to educate a common man on the safe riding, wearing quality helmets and various other safety related issues. Once the campaign will be over covering almost 45 colleges in Delhi NCR, Steelbird will hold a short films festival where all these 45 shorts films will be screened to public and best one will be awarded”. To take part in the auditions, girls can watch their college notice board or one can visit at steelbird helmets facebook page or the website, steelbirdhelmets.com.
R2R, CAP organise ‘Exchange for Change: India – Pakistan 2013 – 2015’ in Karachi
Routes2Roots (R2R), an Indian non-profit organisation in collaboration with The Citizens Archive of Pakistan (CAP), working for peace and dialogue between India and Pakistan, has launched Exchange for Change 2013 – 2015 in Karachi. According to a media statement, 5,000 students aged 10 to 14 from schools across Delhi, Dehradun, Mumbai Karachi, Rawalpindi and Lahore are taking part in this programme.
The project aims to help students in both countries realise that a sustained dialogue is the only way forward to encourage them to form their opinions. During the life of this project, a sustained exchange of written, visual and oral histories will take place between the students. Exchange for Change was launched in September 2010 between 2,400 students from ten schools in Delhi, Mumbai, Karachi and Lahore. After its spectacular success, the project was expanded in 2012 to 3,500 students from 17 schools in Delhi, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi. During the 14 month of the project, a persistant exchange of written, visual and oral histories linked school children aged 10-14 years across the six cities.
Exchange for Change is an exciting initiative by Routs 2 Roots and The Citizens Archive of Pakistan that aims at improving relationships between school students in different countries. The programme seeks to help students across borders realise that dialogue is possible and sustainable. Through cross-culture communication we have realised that students can have a clearer understanding of their history, culture and lifestyles. Routs 2 Roots believe that such interaction will in turn lead to a positive change and eliminate cultural misconceptions and inter-generational conflict.
Tina Vachani, Founder of R2R addressing media at the launch of Exchange for Change 2013-15 in Karachi.
Tina Vachani, Founder of Routes 2 Roots said: “EFC is not an ordinary program or just an extra curricular activity for the children, it is the value we see in the connect between India and Pakistan, which we want to grow with in terms of culture, festivities, lifestyle and sustaining togetherness. The leaders of tomorrow, our children from both the countries share the realities for their glorious future”.
Swaleha Alam Shahzada, Executive Director and Governing Board Member of CAP said: “The growth of the project from 2400 students in 2010 to 5000 students in 2013 has created a bridge that can no longer be ignored. These students from across Pakistan and India have taught us a very important lesson – a lesson of tolerance and appreciation of each other. Now it is up to the society to support this bridge and these students in their mission to sustain and strengthen the relationships created through EFC”.
Singer Atif Aslam at the launch of Exchange for Change 2013-15 in Karachi.
Routes2Roots is a registered non-profit charitable organisation, which endeavours to bring together people, cultures and values across the SAARC countries, in particular India and Pakistan. Routes2Roots has organized numerous programs across the country from artists from Pakistan and other SAARC countries and have sent Indian Artists to these countries in a move to enhance people to people understanding and make this region a peaceful place. Routes2Roots has been actively engaged with ICCR, Delhi Tourism, Rajasthan Tourism, J&K Tourism and other government and non-government organizations. Routes2Roots are also a member of World Association of NGO’s New York, the US.
The Citizens Archive of Pakistan (CAP) is a non-profit organisation dedicated to cultural and historic preservation, operating in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. We seek to educate the community, foster an awareness of our nations history and instil pride in Pakistani citizens about their heritage. Our organisation has three main goals; to preserve and provide access to the archive, to build and support educational programmes and to develop educational products based on the testimonies collected. Our vision is to develop CAP as the foremost museum and heritage centre of Pakistani history, photography, culture, literature and historical documentation demonstrating the strength and spirit of Pakistan from the perspective of a citizen.
DHL and Blue Dart Disaster Response Team organises first emergency training in India
DHL, the world’s leading logistics company, along with Blue Dart, South Asia’s premier courier and integrated express package Distribution Company, part of the DHL Group, has conducted a four-day emergency relief simulation course in Bangalore, India with close to 40 volunteers from DHL’s Disaster Response Team (DRT).
According to a statement issued by the company, this training is part of the company’s Corporate Responsibility programme ‘GoHelp’, which covers disaster relief and disaster prevention issues. The DRT will manage the logistics of the inbound relief goods sent via air or sea by the international community and help ensure the quick and constant flow of goods to the people in need.
Carl Schelfhaut, Head of International Relations and Disaster Management Asia Pacific for Deutsche Post DHL, said: “Our DRT trainings regularly take place in disaster-prone regions worldwide, including various exercises like warehouse management, appropriate treatment of sensitive goods like medicine and food, as well as teambuilding and physical tasks to ensure our volunteers are able to support relief efforts in the aftermath of a natural disaster. Our recent deployment in Cebu to manage the logistics of relief goods following the devastation caused by super typhoon ‘Haiyan’ is testament to the effectiveness of our trainings to ensure smooth processes under difficult environmental conditions during a deployment”.
“The newly trained team in India comprises about 40 employees who have volunteered from across the country. This DRT training can now provide effective airport logistics support to humanitarian relief operations in India and are now on call 24 hours a day, ready to quickly create a logistics infrastructure at airports. Given the vast number of incoming relief supplies which arrive at airports following a natural disaster, the expertise of the DHL and Blue Dart employees will play an extremely important role in setting up a functioning logistics operation at the airport,” Schelfhaut added. The team is also trained to pack and dispatch the DHL speedballs, an innovative disaster relief solution designed to deliver aid to inaccessible areas for example in flooded areas. The speedballs contain basic supplies like food, water and hygiene items. These supplies are packed into DHL courier bags, robust enough to be dropped by aircraft and capable of holding up to 25 kg of relief supplies.
As part of the strategic partnership with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), DHL has established a global network DRTs, which support airports in case of a disaster. The DRTs provide logistical support free of charge for the speedy movement of relief supplies, including unloading cargo planes, conducting professional warehousing and inventory management, as well as loading the relief goods for onward transportation. The DRT network consists of over 400 trained DHL volunteers, who can be deployed within 72 hours. DRT teams deploy for up to three weeks at a time, with up to 10 employees making up a single DRT. Since 2005, the DRTs have been deployed more than 20 times worldwide, most recently to the Philippines in the wake of the devastation wrought by super typhoon ‘Haiyan’. DHL has signed MOUs with several countries in disaster-prone regions to provide the services of DRTs, allowing governments to request support directly and accelerating DRT deployments.
As part of its GoHelp programme, DHL also runs a disaster preparedness program called ‘Get Airports Ready for Disaster’ (GARD) with partner United Nations Development Program. GARD trains airport personnel and staff from disaster management agencies for the logistics challenges posed by natural disasters and their aftermath. It was launched in 2009 and piloted successfully in disaster-prone Indonesia. It has since been rolled out in Nepal, Bangladesh, Lebanon, the Philippines and Turkey.
DHL is the global market leader in the logistics industry and ‘The Logistics Company for the world’. DHL commits its expertise in international express, air and ocean freight, road and rail transportation, contract logistics and international mail services to its customers. A global network composed of more than 220 countries and territories and about 285,000 employees’ worldwide offers customers superior service quality and local knowledge to satisfy their supply chain requirements. DHL accepts its social responsibility by supporting environmental protection, disaster management and education. DHL is part of Deutsche Post DHL. The Group generated revenue of more than 55 billion euros in 2012.
The News Hour India by Kenath Jayashankar Menon 