Events

Thu, 19th February, 2015 @ ITC Windsor, Bengaluru

Global Compact Network India (GCNI) the Indian arm of United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) concluded its 10th National Convention on 14th February 2015 at ITC Windsor in Bengaluru.

The event was inaugurated by Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee, DG & CEO, IICA and Mr. A.K. Pavadia Additional Secretary & Adviser Inter-State Council Secretariat, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India in the presence of Dr. Uddesh Kohli, Senior Adviser, UNGC, New York, Mr. N.K. Nanda, Vice President (Southern Region), GCNI and Director Technical, NMDC Limited and Mr. Pooran Chandra Pandey, Executive Director, Global Compact Network India.

Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee in his inaugural address stated that “Sustainability is not about changing the game or changing the players – rather it is about changing the thinking”. He also stated, “It is not sustainability or CSR rather it is sustainability & CSR – one envelopes the other”. The inaugural session also witnessed the launch of “Sustainability Practices: Perspective and Initiatives of leading Indian and Global Businesses”, which includes sustainability practices of 19 companies. In a unique such project on sustainability practices led by Global Compact Network India, nineteen leading Indian and global businesses and 18 CEOs assess their work through optics of sustainability, sharing their operations, processes and strategies in an emerging business architecture and a new age global economy. Global Compact Awards were also launched at the forum, which would aim at acknowledging companies for demonstrating exemplary work on the Ten Universal Principles.

The inaugural was followed by a high level panel on ‘Sustainable Transformation for India: 2015 & Beyond’ and subsequently by three thematic session on ‘Infrastructure Development: Short term and long term priorities in infrastructure development to support sustainable economic growth’, ‘Institutional Transformation: Transforming public and private institutions to overcome challenges faced in administering ‘good governance’, and ‘Inclusive Society: Policy initiatives and collaborative models required to drive broader development and inclusion of marginalized communities’

The convention witnessed the gathering of over 250 participants, including eminent speakers representing various sectors of the industry and key stakeholders from Government, Academic Institutions and Civil Society Organisations. Some of the eminent panelists included Mr. Richard B Saldanha, Trans Maldivian Airways and Gokaldas Exports, Mr. Alok Misra, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd, Mr. Babu Rangaswamy, Hewlett-Packard, Mr. G.S Krishnan, Novozymes South Asia Pvt Ltd, Prof. J. Philip, XIME Bangalore, Ms. Sucharita Eashwar, Weconnect International, Mr. Tom Thomas, Praxis, Mr. Vishvesh Prabhakar, Accenture, Mr. Govindraj Ethiraj, Boom News, Mr. Rajiv Banga, Mangalore Special Economic Zone India, Dr. Miniya Chatterji, Jindal Steel & Power Limited, Mr. Rajat Kumar Prusty, ACC Limited, Mr. Vinod Pandey, BMW Group India, Mr.   Prasad M. Kumar, GMR Industries Ltd, Dr. Anil SubbaRao Paila, Prin L.N.Welingkar Institute of Management Development & Research., Mr.  S. Balasubramoniam, DNV-GL Business Assurance, Mr. Anirban Roy, SEED, Mr. Ritesh Sinha, DLF Foundation, Brig. Rajiv Williams, Jindal Stainless Limited, Dr. Anand K Joshi, CMR University, Ms. Lopamudra Bhattacharya, Deutsche Bank, Mr. Saharsh David, Sandvik Asia Pvt. Limited and Mr. Sandeep Roy Choudhury, VNV Advisory Services.

Highlighting on the outcome of the session Mr. Pooran Chandra Pandey, Executive Director, GCNI said ‘Sustainable transformation now and then would equal transformational leadership and greater connect on ground with people, so essential in driving growth, development and inclusion’.

The event was supported by some of the esteemed members of GCNI including ONGC Limited, NMDC Limited, BMW Group, Novozymes South Asia Private Limited, GAIL, Oil India Limited, ACC Limited, Essar Foundation, BHEL, Indian Oil, Petronet LNG and DLF Foundation. Accenture was the Knowledge Partner of the 10th National Convention.