C-suite movements

Key recent C-suite movements to watch

by | Dec 11, 2020 | C-Track

Here is a quick update on the key recent C-suite movements in the areas of information security and information technology in India.
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Here is a quick update on some key recent C-suite movements in the information technology and information security technology areas in India.

11 December 2020 Update

Jagdip Kumar roped in by Lohia Group as CIO

Jagdip Kumar, General Manager, IT, left Cosmo Films to join Lohia Group as CIO. In this new position, Kumar will lead the digital transformation efforts of the Lohia Group.

Lohia Group is a diversified manufacturing company that produces various products such as flexible packaging, threads, plastic components for automobiles and machines.

Kumar has over 19 years of experience and has earlier worked with AMW, VE Commercial Vehicles, and Welspun.

Puneesh Lamba joins Shahi Exports as Group CIO

Puneesh Lamba, Group CIO of CK Birla Group, has moved to Shahi Exports as their Group Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Lamba will directly report to the Board of Directors of Shahi Exports.

Shahi Export is India’s biggest apparel manufacturer and exporter and has several manufacturing units across nine Indian states and over 100,000 workforce. In the new role at Shahi Exports, Lamba will spearhead its digital transformation and cloud-based tech-innovation initiatives.

Lamba is a seasoned IT professional with a strong experience of over 27 years. He has previously associated with firms such as BILT, Punj Loyd, GE Capital in leadership roles.

Kapil Madan is Spark Minda Group’s new CISO

Spark Minda Group has appointed Kapil Madaan as its new Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). The company has a strong presence in the global automotive sector, catering to a passenger vehicle, commercial vehicle, two-wheelers, and off-road vehicle manufacturing.

Madan has previously worked with Max Healthcare as a cybersecurity leader.

Rohit Kilam moves to CMS Info Systems as CTO

Rohit Kilam has joined CMS Info Systems Ltd as Chief Technology Officer (CTO). CMS Info Systems is India’s top Cash Management and Payment Solutions company. In his new role, Rohit will lead to several process transformations and tech-innovations at CMS Info-Systems.

Rohit has earlier worked in a gamut of challenging assignments in Digital Transformations, IT Strategy, IT Performance Management, Building Digital products, Operating Models, M&A IT Integration, Outsourcing Governance, Tech Product development, and ERP implementations.

He has earlier worked with companies such as Adani Enterprises, Masan Group, and IBM in leadership roles

20 September 2020 Update

Shuvankar Pramanick, CIO, Columbia Asia Hospitals

Shuvankar Pramanick has been appointed as the new CIO of Columbia Asia Hospitals Pvt. Ltd, a group of multi-specialty hospitals that operates in cities like Bangalore, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon, Mysore, Kolkata, Patiala, and Pune.

Bringing 20+ years of experience, Pramanick will focus on building new tech innovations in the healthcare sector while leading the IT team of the group. Pramanick has previously held senior IT leadership positions Paras Healthcare, Fortis Healthcare, and Asian Institute of Medical Sciences.

Marc Concannon, CTO, Cubic Telecom 

Marc Concannon has joined as CTO of Software IoT (Internet of Things) and connectivity management company, Cubic Telecom. In this new role, he will focus on Cubic’s software product roadmap and growth strategy. With over 20 years of experience, Concannon has previously served as the CTO at ClavisInsight, LogEntries, and Edge by Ascential.

Kamal Hathi, CTO, DocuSign

DocuSign has roped in former Microsoft veteran Kamal Hathi as their new CTO. With over 25 years of experience leading technology and product teams at startups and global multinationals alike, Hathi will oversee the development and execution of DocuSign’s technology roadmap, and support product expansion.

San Francisco based DocuSign help organizations manage and automate electronic agreements.

 

24 July 2020 Update

Munish Mittal, Group Head–IT & CIO leaves HDFC Bank

Munish Mittal, Group Head-Information Technology & Chief Information Officer at HDFC Bank has exited HDFC Bank. He had joined the private lender in 1996 as IT Manager. During his 24 years tenure at HDFC, he spearheaded various roles, including managing the IT strategy of the bank and its associated companies, HDFC Securities, and HDB Financial Services. Mittal has not disclosed his future plans yet.

A Shiju Rawther roped in by Poonawalla Finance for CIO role

A Shiju Rawther has been appointed as the CIO of Poonawalla Finance. In his new role, Rawther will lead IT functions and strategies, and be responsible for designing the digital roadmap of the organization. He will also spearhead the company’s analytics function. Rawther has moved from IIFL Finance where he was the Executive Vice President–Technology. He has over two decades of experience in driving digital transformation, innovation, and analytics in various multinationals.

Dr. Jai Menon joins the Advisory board of IndiQus Technologies

Dr. Jai Menon, the former Group CTO of HT Media, has joined the advisory board of IndiQus Technologies, a leading telecom cloud monetization platform provider. Dr. Menon is a global technology leader with over three decades of global experience across the US, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. He is largely known for his various technology leadership roles at Bharti Airtel. In his new role at IndiQus, Dr. Menon will play an active strategic role in IndiQus’s product evolution and the company’s expansion plans.

Gaurav Kataria joins Sai Life Science as Chief Digital and Information Officer (CDIO)

Gaurav Kataria has joined Sai Life Sciences as Chief Digital and Information Officer (CDIO). He was previously working as Vice President of Digital Strategy and Solutions (Aerospace & Defense) at Cyient. In his new role, Kataria will be driving the digital and IT strategy for Sai Life Sciences, a full-service Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO). Sai Life Science works with innovator pharma and biotech companies globally to accelerate the discovery, development, and manufacture of complex small molecules.

Amit Waghmare takes up CIO role at DB Corp

Amit Waghmare has joined DB Corp as the Chief Information Officer (CIO). Amit has moved on from Page Industries where he was heading IT for more than two years. DB Corp, formerly known as Dainik Bhaskar, is a leading media organization headquartered in Bhopal. Waghmare has over 17 years of work experience in the IT sector with a demonstrated history of working in the Media, Power, Textile, Pharma, Real Estate, Luggage, Apparel, and fashion industry.

09 June 2020 Update

Unique Kumar joins CK Birla Group as Group CISO
Unique Kumar has been appointed as Group CISO of CK Birla Group, a diversified $2.4 billion conglomerate with over 25,000 employees and 41 manufacturing facilities.

Kumar joins the CK Birla group from Max Healthcare, where he was heading Digital Innovation and Cybersecurity. He has also held leadership positions with Aviva Life Insurance, Aptara, and Idea Cellular.

Manish Shetty moves to Diageo India as CIO
Manish Shetty is Diageo India’s new CIO. Shetty was earlier working as Director–IT at Tata Consumer Products. Prior to that, he was CIO at Sanofi and before that Director–IT at Tata Global Beverages. Shetty has also held leadership and managerial positions at companies like Birlasoft, Radian, KPMG US, American Express, and Larsen & Toubro Information Technology.

Diageo plc is a British multinational alcoholic beverages company, with its headquarters in London, England and offices in six continents.

Sun Life names Laura Money as new global EVP and CIO
Sun Life Financial Inc has announced the appointment of Laura Money as Executive Vice-President and Chief Information Officer effective 29 June 2020. Laura will report to Kevin Strain, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice-President, Sun Life. She succeeds Mark Saunders, EVP, and Chief Information Officer, who announced his plans to retire at the end of April next year.

Sun Life is a leading international financial services organization providing insurance, wealth, and asset management solutions to individual and corporate clients. Sun Life has operations in a number of markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Bermuda.

31 May 2020 Update

Jayanta Bhowmik joins Kesoram Industries as group CIO
Kesoram Industries is a part of the BK Birla Group Of Companies. The company is engaged in the manufacturing of cement, tyres, tubes, rayon, paper, heavy chemicals, and spun pipes. Bhowmik has moved from Usha Martin, where he served as a Senior Vice President of IT and Group CIO. In his earlier stints, he had held senior leadership positions at Appejay Surrendra Group, Tega Industries, HCL Technologies, and ABP.

Ranjit Satyanath, Head of Technology Operations at Croma, quits
Satyanath had joined Chroma in August 2014, and successfully led the IT strategy and digital initiatives at Croma, one of India’s largest consumer electronics and appliances retailer.

Manish Mimani quits Aviva Life Insurance to become an entrepreneur 
Manish Mimani, CIO for Aviva Life Insurance, has moved on to pursue an entrepreneurship path. Mimani has launched a new cybersecurity firm, Protectt.ai Labs, with an aim to build next-generation mobile security and real-time fraud management solutions.

14 May 2020 Update

Anis Pankhania joins Capgemini as Senior Director – Security Operations and Compliance.
Pankhania is based in Pune and joins Capgemini from Vodafone Idea, where he was heading Security Compliance and Data Privacy. In his new role, Pankhania will lead a team of specialized IT security and risk professionals. Pankhania has earlier worked in senior IT security roles in companies such as Aircel, IBM, and Airtel.

Mihir Joshi joins HDFC Pension Management and HDFC International Life and Re as CISO
In his new role, Joshi will be managing the operations and administration of various IT security devices, solutions, technologies, and processes deployed to enhance the security posture for HDFC Life, HDFC Pension, and HDFC LifeRe. Immediately prior to this, he was with Ares Management Corporation where he set up the Cybersecurity practice from scratch.

BNP Paribas appoints Mannan Godil as Director & India Head, Information Security & Business Continuity Management
Mannan Godil has joined BNP Paribas as Director & India Head, Information Security & Business Continuity Management. He has been roped in from Edelweiss Financial Services where he was working as Senior Vice President, Head – Information Security / CISO. Previously, he had also served in companies, such as eClerx Services, Zener Electronics, Stream Tracmail, and S.S. Nirban Enterprises.

Rajesh Hemrajani is the new CISO at Paytm Payments Bank
Rajesh Hemrajani has been appointed as CISO at Paytm Payments Bank. Prior to this, he was CISO at IDFC First Bank. Previously, he has held several leadership and roles at companies like RBS, Nomura Securities, Emirates Airlines, and Dubal.

Manish Bhatia joins Lendingkart as President – Technology, Analytics & Capabilities
Manish Bhatia has been roped in by Lendingkart as President – Technology, Analytics & Capabilities. In his previous role, he was the CTO at Amazon Pay India. He was also the Co-founder and CTO at Buymaxo, and previously served in organizations like Education Finance Partners, FedEx Office, and JP Morgan Chase.

If you think we’ve missed out featuring any other key recent C-suite movements/appointments in the above list, please feel free to drop a line to us at betterworld@bmnxt.com

MORE FROM BETTER WORLD

MNRE refutes doubts on meeting 2022 RE targets

MNRE refutes doubts on meeting 2022 RE targets

Reports have appeared in a section of media, citing a CRISIL report, that India may fall short of its declared renewable energy target of 1,75,000 MW by the year 2022. The Ministry of New & Renewable Energy has refuted such claims. Full text of Ministry’s rebuttal is as below –

“In some of the recent media reports apprehensions have been raised whether India would be able to achieve 1,75,000 MW renewable power installed capacity target by the year 2022. All these have cited the CRISIL report of September 2019.

However, the doubts are ill-founded and not reflective of the status on the ground and plans ahead. By the end of September 2019, India has installed more than 82,580 MW of renewable energy capacity with around 31,150 MW of capacity under various stages of installation. Thus, by the first quarter of 2021, India would have installed more than 1,13,000 MW of renewable power capacity. This would constitute nearly 65 per cent of the targeted capacity. Besides this, around 39,000 MW of renewable power capacity is at various stages of bidding which would be installed by September 2021, taking the percentage of installed capacity to over 87 percentage of the targeted capacity. With only 23,000 MW of renewable power capacity left to bid, India is confident that the target of installing 1,75,000 MW of renewable power capacity will not only be met but exceeded.

The Ministry has worked systematically to resolve various issues that arise from time to time, putting in place facilitative and ease of doing business policies and programs for achieving the goal. Renewable power industry, developers, investors and other stakeholders have lauded Ministry’s efforts nontransparent bidding and facilitation for procurement of power at competitive rates. These initiatives have resulted in significant downward trend in solar and wind power tariffs. The wind power tariffs has fallen from Rs 4.18 per unit in 2016 to Rs 2.43 per unit during last year and even today it remains below Rs 2.75 per unit. Similarly, the solar tariffs have fallen from Rs 4.43 per unit (with VGF) to Rs 2.44per unit. The Government of India’s endeavor remain that renewable power is procured at a rate which is acceptable to distribution companies.

Since March 2014, India’s renewable power capacity has increased from 34000 MW to 82,580 MW recording 138 percent growth. Globally, India stands 5th in solar power, 4th in wind power, and 4th in total renewable power installed capacity. If large hydro included, India stands 3rd in renewable power capacity globally. India’s renewable energy program is much beyond production of electricity and covers a basket of applications including use of solar thermal energy for cooling, heating, drying and other industrial applications. Renewable energy has emerged as a true multi-benefit system, combining ecological necessities with domestic priorities, economic and job creation opportunities.

The journey for expanding the share of renewables in the energy mix has not been without continuous challenges. When the State Government of Andhra Pradesh announced intention to revisit already signed Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), the Ministry very quickly clarified that no PPAs can be revisited unless there is a clause to do so in such agreement or a case of malafide of corruption is proved beyond doubt.

The Ministry in consultation with the respective Governments is addressing the issues of allocation of land in Gujarat and revision of land facilitation charges in Rajasthan. Plan for erecting 66,500MW of additional transmission system to ensure evacuation and injection of 1,75,000 MW of power into the main grid is under implementation. The additional transmission would come by October 2021 in phases depending on location-based requirements. Also, the Ministry is in the process of developing Ultra Mega Renewable Energy Parks to overcome the problem of land allocation. These parks will have dedicated transmission. First such park is being planned in Dholera, Gujarat by SECI. These apart, the Ministry has strengthened PPA clauses for strengthening investors’ confidence. For mitigating off-takers risk and ensuring timely payments to developers, the Ministry has made letter of credit must for purchase of power by distribution companies.

The Ministry has launched three new schemes. The first is the Central Public Sector Undertaking (CPSU) Scheme Phase-ll for setting up 12,000 MW grid-connected SPV Power Projects, by the Government Producers with Viability Gap Funding (VGF) support of Rs 8,580 crore for self-use or use by Government or Government entities, both Central and State Governments. The Scheme mandates use of both SPVcells and modules manufactured domestically as per specifications and testing requirements.

The second is PM-KUSUM (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evem Utthan Mahabhiyan) scheme to be implemented over next four years for de-dieselization of the farm sector and increasing farmers’ energy independence and income. Under the scheme, India has plans to provide 1.75 million stand-alone solar agriculture pumps and carry out solarization of 1 million grid connected agriculture pumps by the year 2022. Under the same scheme, Government is also encouraging farmers to set up small solar plants of the size of 500 KW to 2 MW on barren lands for their additional income. Three components combined, the scheme aims to add a solar capacity of 25,750 MW by 2022. The total central financial support provided under the scheme would be Rs 34,422 crore. The third is Roof Top Solar Phase-II program SRISTI (Sustainable Rooftop Implementation for Solar Transfiguration of India) scheme for accelerated deployment of solar roof top systems in the country. Under this scheme Central Financial Assistance for 4000 MW of small roof top capacity and incentives to Distribution Companies for 18,000 MW capacity by 2022 have been provided. These schemes will also act as catalyst for adding solar cell and module manufacturing capacity in India. Further, the Tariff Policy is being revised to ensure timely adoption of tariffs.

The CRISIL report being referred to by the media is neither factually correct nor takes into account initiatives taken by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to facilitate accelerated development and deployment of renewable energy in the country. This report lacks in credibility in all respects as CRISIL did not even bother to consult this Ministry for its views.  The Ministry says it is not only confident of meeting 1,75,000 MW target but exceeding it by 2022.

Tata Motors launches 213-km range Tigor EV

Tata Motors launches 213-km range Tigor EV

Following the introduction of Tigor EV for Government and fleet consumers, Tata Motors today announced the launch of its extended range Tigor EV Electric Sedan, with a range of 213 km, certified by ARAI. It will be available in 3 variants – XE+, XM+ and XT+ – for both fleet and personal segment customers. The new Tigor EV will be available across 30 cities, at a starting price of Rs. 9.44 lakh, ex-showroom Delhi (after deducting Govt. subsidies). This vehicle qualifies for a FAME II incentive for eligible commercial customers.

The new extended version offers an enhanced driving range, low cost of ownership, connectivity, comfort of a sedan and zero emissions.Speaking on the launch of this new variant, Ashesh Dhar, Head – Sales, Marketing and Customer Service, Electric Vehicle Business, Tata Motors Ltd. said, “Tigor EV Extended Range model aptly addresses the requirements of longer range applications and also provides higher revenue earning potential for our commercial customers. This new version builds on the success of the award winning Tigor EV, which is already deployed with several fleets and Government customers. This launch reinforces our commitment towards sustainable mobility solutions in India.”The new Tigor EV will have two driving modes – ‘Drive’ and ‘Sport’. It will also come with features like:

Exterior Interior
Signature EV decals Classic black & grey interior
Premium front grille Immersive sound experience by Harman™
Stylish alloys Single speed transmission
Shark-fin antenna & LED high mounted stop lamp Height adjustable seat
Three elegant colours:
Pearlescent white, Egyptian blue and Roman silver		 Superior seat fabric

The Battery

  • With a 21.5 kWh battery pack, the new model offers a significantly longer range
  • Battery cooling system is designed to ensure consistent performance even in extreme ambient temperature conditions
  • The car has 2 charging ports – fast charging as well as slow AC charging

Additionally, the vehicle will be equipped with dual airbags (XE+ variant with Driver Airbag only) and an anti-lock braking system as standard safety features. The vehicle also comes with an inbuilt warranty of 3 years or 1.25 lakh kms, whichever is earlier.

 

Boost for EVs: 1 charging unit per 3 sq. km in cities

Boost for EVs: 1 charging unit per 3 sq. km in cities

In a major decision to give a boost to electric vehicles in country, the government has approved amendments in Electric Vehicle Charging Guidelines and Specifications. These Revised Guidelines and Specifications for charging infrastructure shall supersede the earlier guidelines and standards issued by the Ministry of Power on 14 Dec 2018.

Speaking about the decision, Power Minister RK Singh said that revised guidelines are more consumer friendly as they incorporate a number of suggestions received from various stakeholders. “We have tried to address the concerns of EV owners in new guidelines,” he said and expressed hope that revised guidelines will encourage faster adoption of EVs in India.

In order to address the range of issues of the electric vehicle owners, a phase-wise installation of an appropriate network of charging infrastructure throughout the country has been envisaged in the guidelines ensuring that at least one charging station should be available in a grid of 3 km x 3 km in the cities and one charging station at every 25 km on both sides of highways/roads.

It has been envisaged that in the first phase (i.e. 1-3 years) all Mega Cities with population of 4 million plus as per census 2011, all existing expressways connected to these mega cities & important highways connected with each of these mega cities may be taken up for coverage, while in the second phase (3-5 years) big cities like state capitals, UT headquarters may be covered for distributed and demonstrative effect.

Further, important highways connected with each of these mega cities may also be taken up for coverage. To address the concerns in inter-city travel and long range and/or heavy duty EVs it has been provided that Fast Charging Station for long range and/or heavy duty EVs like buses/trucks etc., shall be installed at every 100 km, shall be installed one on each side of the highways/road located preferably within/alongside the Public Charging Station (PCS) mentioned above.

The above density/distance requirements shall be used by the concerned state/UT Governments/their Agencies for the land use planning for public charging stations as well as for priority in installation of distribution network including transformers/feeders etc by the DISCOMs. This shall be done in all cases including where no central/state subsidy is provided.

Assuming that most of the charging of EVs would take place at homes or at offices where the decision of using Fast or Slow chargers would rest on the consumers, it has been clarified in the guidelines that private charging at residences/offices shall be permitted and DISCOMs may facilitate the same.

As far as the Public Charging Stations (PCS) are concerned, it has already been clarified by Ministry of Power that setting up of PCS shall be a de-licensed activity and any individual/entity is free to set up public charging stations, which has also been reiterated in the guidelines, subject to the conditions as specified in the Guidelines. Further, the guidelines specifies the type of chargers of different standards (viz. CCS, CHAdeMO, Type-2 AC, Bharat AC 001) thus ensuring that the PCS owners have the freedom to install the chargers as per the market requirement. To keep the PCS technology agnostic, it has been provided that any other fast/slow/moderate charger as per approved DST/BIS standards whenever notified can also be installed at the PCS. Thus, the Guidelines provide an extensive flexibility while ensuring a democratic choice to both EV owners and PCS providers to install the type and number of chargers.

Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), a statutory body under Ministry of Power has been nominated as the Central Nodal Agency. Further a provision for State Nodal Agency for the respective states has been provided for in the Guidelines. The roles of the respective Nodal Agencies have been specified. These Nodal Agencies will act as the key facilitator in installation of Charging Infrastructure for Electric Vehicles throughout the country.

The tariff to be charged, from Public Charging Stations as well as from domestic consumers for domestic charging, by the DISCOMs and the Service Charges to be charged by these PCS from EV users have also been covered in the guidelines. It has been provided that the domestic charging shall be akin to domestic consumption of electricity and shall be charged as such.

However, in case of PCS, it has been provided that tariff for the supply of electricity to PCS shall be determined by the appropriate commission in accordance with the Tariff policy issued under section 3 of Electricity Act 2003, as amended from time to time. As far as the Service Chargers at PCS are concerned, while it has been clarified that charging of EV is a service, to ensure that the incentives (financial or otherwise) provided to PCS owners in installation of charging stations are transferred to the EV owners, it has been provided that the appropriate agency/commission shall fix the ceiling of Service Charges in such cases.

PM receives Gates Foundation award in NY

PM receives Gates Foundation award in NY

Prime Minister Narendra Modi received the ‘Global Goalkeeper’ Award by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, on 24 September 2019. The award ceremony took place on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session in New York.

Prime Minister dedicated the award to those Indians who transformed the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan into a mass movement and made it a part of their daily lives.

“The success of the Swachh Bharat Mission is due to the people of India. They made this their own movement and ensured the desired results were attained,” Prime Minister said after receiving the award.

Terming it as a significant moment personally to receive the award on the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Modi said Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is proof that when 130 crore Indians take a pledge, any challenge can be overcome. He added that India is making remarkable progress in fulfilling Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of a Swachh Bharat.

“In the last five years, a record of more than 11 crore toilets were constructed. This mission has benefitted the poor and women of the country the most,” he noted. In addition to improving sanitation and health, building of 11 crore toilets has also boosted economic activity in villages, PM added.

Speaking about improving global sanitation coverage, Prime Minister said that India was ready to share its expertise and experiences with other nations, so that there can be collective effort towards increasing sanitation coverage.

Prime Minister also mentioned about India’s efforts towards preventive healthcare through mission mode movements like Fit India Movement and Jal Jeevan Mission.

UNCCD meet concludes with Delhi Declaration

UNCCD meet concludes with Delhi Declaration

The 12-day long 14th Conference of Parties (COP14) to United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) came to a close today, with thought-provoking discussions on land management, restoration of degraded land, drought, climate change, renewable energy, women empowerment, gender equality, water scarcity and various other issues. India was the host to UNCCD COP14, which witnessed widespread participation from over 9,000 participants from all across the globe at India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida from 2 to 13 September 2019.

COP14 witnessed 11 high-level, 30 committee and over 170 stakeholder meetings, 145 side-events, and 44 exhibitions.

Speaking at the Press Conference today on the outcomes of COP14, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Prakash Javadekar exuded confidence that all three Rio conventions will work in synergy.

In an unprecedented global campaign to save productive land, country parties have agreed to make the Sustainable Development Goal target of achieving land degradation neutrality by 2030 a national target for action.

Javadekar reiterated India’s commitment to achieving land degradation neutrality by 2030. He also committed to provide an effective leadership to the UNCCD during his two-year tenure of Presidentship.

Countries will address insecurity of land tenure, including gender inequality in land tenure, promote land restoration to reduce land-related carbon emissions and mobilize innovative sources of finance from public and private sources to support the implementation of these decisions at country-level.

The framework used for reporting action will be improved to ensure it captures key issues, such as gender equality, drought response and the influence of consumption and production patterns and flows on land degradation. Through the Delhi Declaration, ministers expressed support for new initiatives or coalitions aiming to improve human health and well-being, the health of ecosystems, and to advance peace and security. The Environment Minister stated, “Delhi Declaration is an ambitious statement of global action by each country on how to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality”.

“To my mind, this was the COP where we put people at the heart of what we do,” said Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary of UNCCD, with Parties adopting a breakthrough decision on land tenure rights and drawing on the unique voices, experiences of youth and women.

COP 14 also adopted a landmark decision to buttress global efforts to better mitigate and manage the risks of drought and to build resilience.

Thiaw also highlighted the contribution of COP 14 to the Climate Action Summit, stressing that land restoration, at scale, is one of the cheapest solutions to address the global crises of climate and biodiversity loss.

Attention was also drawn to the role the private sector would play in land restoration going forward, including through promoting sustainable value chains, as well as the incentives that will draw them in, such as the regulation in support of innovation for sustainable land management and rewarding conservation, restoration and sustainable use of resources.

MP body signs MOU for sustainable tourism

MP body signs MOU for sustainable tourism

Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Ecotourism Society of India (ESOI) to take its commitments to responsible and sustainable tourism to the next level. In accordance, Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, Secretary, Tourism, Govt of Madhya Pradesh, Managing Director, Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board and Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation and Dr. Anjuna Dhir, Director – Programmes, Eco Tourism Society of India (ESOI) signed the MOU as on 11 September 2019.

Last year on 25 & 26 September a two-day conference on Sustainable Tourism Criteria for India (STCI) was jointly organized by the Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India, The Ecotourism Society of India (ESOI) and Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board. In the conference Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board made a commitment to practice sustainable tourism and adopt the Sustainable Tourism Criteria for India (STCI). Through this MOU, it is decided that sustainable tourism and Responsible Tourism will take the forefront and achieve the commitments of the Madhya Pradesh Tourism’s action plan in this area.

Speaking on the occasion, Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, Secretary, Tourism, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh, Managing Director, Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board and Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation said “This MOU will certainly help us developing Madhya Pradesh a world recognized Sustainable Tourism destination and in exchange assist MP Tourism to become STCI Compliant and to be known as one of the pioneer states to adopt sustainable tourism practices in its Hotels”.

The Ecotourism Society of India (ESOI) was established in 2008 at the behest of the Ministry of Tourism (MOT) as a non-profit organization to promote environmentally responsible and sustainable practices in the tourism industry across the country. This national body was formed by a group of eminent professionals from the tourism industry, Government, Parliament and environmentalists & Conservationists.

Madhya Pradesh offers an assortment of attractions to everyone who loves to travel. It is the state with the forest area cover of 77,700 sq. km (approximately one-fourth of the total area) filled with Sal Trees & Bamboos. It has numerous wildlife hotspots with 11 National parks & 24 Wildlife sanctuaries such as Satpura Wildlife Sanctuary and Chambal Ghadiyal Sanctuary. The UNESCO world heritage sites of Khajuraho, Bhimbetka & Sanchi are the iconic sites in Madhya Pradesh. Madhya Pradesh has re-gained the tag of being “Tiger State of the Country” by having maximum tiger count (526) in the state. The roar of Tigers has increased in the dense and beautiful forests of Madhya Pradesh.

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