The Government of India, though Niti Ayog has initiated a dedicated scheme for the Aspirational District of the Country for their development on Socio-Economic aspects. In order to promote the scheme the focus of CPSEs and CSR related efforts, Department of Public Enterprises, Ministry of Finance had organised a two days intetective workshop for the CSR Heads of CPSEs at Patna, Bihar on 27-28 Dec 2021.

DPE invited, IICA to participate as a think tank and also to guide the CSR heads about the regulatory aspects of CSR in India and also about the initiative of Ministry of Corporate Affairs on instituting National CSR Awards having a dedicated category for the initiatives carried out by the companies in the Aspirational Districts.

Dr. Niraj Gupta, Head – School of Corporate Governance & Public Policy & also the Nodal Officer – National CSR Awards, represented the institution and guided 50 CSR heads of the participating CPSEs.

Centre for Independent Directors, IICA organized Power Talk with Prof. Dwight N. Hopkins: Effective Reporting and Disclosures on ESG program for the members of Independent Director’s Databank on Friday 22nd December, 2021.

The main objective of this event was to highlight the various important aspects of ESG Reporting and disclosures.

The Program commenced on 22nd December, 2021 at 04:00 PM with the theme address of Dr. Niraj Gupta, Head, School of Corporate Governance and Public Policy & Nodal Officer, Centre for Independent Director, IICA. He briefed the participants about Prof. Dwight N. Hopkins.

Principal speaker:

Prof. Dwight N. Hopkins is the founder and director of the Environmental, Social, and Governance Research Initiative Center at the University of Chicago. He is the Alexander Campbell Professor at the University of Chicago, where he teaches classes on social entrepreneurship, values based wealth, and global comparative cultures. Prof. Hopkins is a senior advisor at Arcis Capital Partners, a New York City private equity firm targeting digital technology, health technology, and clean technology. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Global Corporate Social Responsibility Foundation and as a Director at the ACME Society. Prof. Hopkins founded and managed a 14-country network focused on youth/student education and women’s advocacy.

Prof. Hopkins expressed his views on importance of ESG reporting and disclosures in the effective corporate governance and aligning corporate strategy with sustainable development path. He also took attention toward long-term survival of companies having ESG factors in their business value chain and core strategy. He further focused on trends in corporate America for achieving sustainable business modal.

There were lots of questions from participants and Prof. Hopkins gave answers to all these queries with the satisfaction of the participants.

Program concluded with the valedictory address of remarks of Dr. Niraj Gupta, Head, School of Corporate Governance and Public Policy & Nodal Officer, Centre for Independent Director, IICA. Centre for Independent Directors coordinated the event and ensured successful delivery of the program.

The State Capacity Initiative at the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER), the Forum of Indian Regulators (FOIR) and the Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) on 15th September released talk series titled: ‘Know Your Regulator’. The talk series revolves around people entrusted with the task of regulating Indian markets and various parts and aspects of the economy. These are the chairpersons and members of India’s regulatory agencies.

In the fourth episode of the series on 15th December, 2021, Mr. P.K. Pujari, Chairperson Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) spoke to Dr. Abha Yadav, Associate Professor, Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs and Director of the Forum of Indian Regulators (FOIR) Centre at IICA, Ms. Arkaja Singh, Fellow, Centre for Policy Research (CPR), Dr. Ashwini K Swain, Fellow, Centre for Policy Research (CPR); and Ms. Amrita Pillai, Consultant, NCAER on various aspects of electricity regulation and CERC.

Centre for Independent Directors, IICA organized Power Talk with Shri Mr. Paul Dubal: Emotional Intelligence in the Boardroom program for the members of Independent Director’s Databank on Friday 10th December, 2021.

The main objective of this event was to highlight the various important aspects of boardroom behaviour.

The Program commenced on 10th December, 2021 at 04:00 PM with the theme address of Dr. Niraj Gupta, Head, School of Corporate Governance and Public Policy & Nodal Officer, Centre for Independent Director, IICA. He briefed the participants about Mr. Paul Dubal.

Principal speaker:

Mr. Paul has 25 years of corporate secretarial, corporate governance and regulatory experience both in house and as a professional services consultant in the United Kingdom, Canada, Caribbean, and the Middle East. He has worked for KPMG LLP and PwC in leadership roles and served in senior in-house roles for several listed financial services companies. A certified life coach, group coach and emotional intelligence (EQ) practitioner, Mr. Paul has recently founded Perfect Balance Consulting, providing governance solutions to small/mid-Cap organizations, group training across a variety of business solutions, and one-to-one executive coaching to mid-senior level professionals with a focus on leadership and EQ.

Mr. Paul expressed his views on behavioral aspects of directors as a board member. He suggested for updating with trends and providing guidance and oversight to the board. He also took attention towards right attitude required for aligning your views with the board which is important for achieving company’s objective.

There were lots of questions from participants and Mr. Paul gave answers to all these queries with the satisfaction of the participants.

Program concluded with the valedictory address of remarks of Dr. Niraj Gupta, Head, School of Corporate Governance and Public Policy & Nodal Officer, Centre for Independent Director, IICA. Centre for Independent Directors coordinated the event and ensured successful delivery of the program.

Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (Ministry of Corporate Affairs), Manufacturers Association of Faridabad (MFA) & Indian European Chamber of Small & Medium Enterprises (IECSME) organised – MSME National Summit with Tagline - “Sankalp for Gearing up Udhyamita Vikas for stronger India & 5 Trillion Economy” evolving around the Theme - “Let us Join Hands, Rejuvenate & Realign our Vibes and commitment for building Saksham and Samarth Vishwaguru Bharat to lead the global fraternity” on 10th December, 2021 at Auditorium, SDIET, Faridabad, (Haryana), Time : 10:00 am to 5.30 pm.The summit witnessed active participation of delegates from leading chambers of commerce and industry as well as participants of specialised Consultancy Organizations located across the country.

Given the backdrop and the recent momentum seen in various aspects of Indian MSME Sector, this summit assumed critical importance as it has given a platform for exchanging ideas and also an opportunity to get the perspectives on focus areas of MSME Sector, its importance for the Indian Economy and what may be the road ahead for India. The summit also focuses on preparation of a clearly defined roadmap on the important issues of the MSME development agenda in India.

As an outcome of the deliberation during Theme Discussion: - “Let us Join Hands, Rejuvenate & Realign our Vibes and commitment for building Saksham and Samarth Vishwaguru Bharat to lead the global fraternity”, the deliberation focused on preparation of clearly defined roadmap for “Creating CEOs for Rural India” with “Conceptualizing Vision Path from Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav of 75th Independence Day to 100th Independence Day 2047” to become Vishwa Guru Bharat.

The MSME National Summit was directed by Mr. Rajesh Batra, Head – Centre for MSME/IP&CC, IICA. The summit was concluded on the same day i.e. on 10th December, 2021 at 5.30 pm followed by vote of thanks by Mr. Rajesh Batra, Head – Centre for MSME/IP&CC, IICA.