Meeting with Mr. K. Nagaraj Naidu, Director (Investments), Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India – 15th December 2015

Mr. Ajay Singha, Executive Director, and Ms. Madhvi Kataria, Deputy Executive Director, AmCham, called on Mr. K. Nagaraj Naidu, Director (Investments), Ministry of External Affairs, GOI, on 15th December 2015 in his office.

Mr. Naidu wanted to know specific issues faced by American investors in India. He welcomed issues and suggestions from AmCham on attracting American investment.

AMCHAM Hyderabad Sports 2015 – 13th December 2015

The AmCham Hyderabad Sports 2015 began in September and ended on December 13, 2015. The 12 events included cricket, throwball, volleyball for men and women, football, basketball, badminton, table tennis, tennis, carom, chess, and athletics were conducted during this period every Saturday and Sunday.

Deloitte were the winners in most of the categories. In cricket, Deloitte reclaimed their title this year and Qualcomm were the runners up.

Approximately 23 corporates took part in these 12 events. We started with basketball on September 20th which was held at the C.A. India Technology premises. This was followed by cricket which culminated on December 12th followed by carom on December 13th at L.B. Stadium.

We are grateful for our sponsors – DST Worldwide Services, Qualcomm, D.E. Shaw, S&P Capital IQ, Synchrony Financial and United Technologies Corporation and also our venue sponsors C.A. India Technologies for opening their venue for the basketball games and St. Jude Medical for hosting the chess event.

More than 1,300 people from AmCham member companies participated in AmCham Hyderabad Sports 2015.

AMCHAM’S Annual Christmas Ball – 12th December 2015

AmCham’s Annual Christmas Ball was held on 12th December 2015 in New Delhi. The event was fun filled with music, dance, raffles, games, etc. A large number of AmCham members and officials from the U.S. Embassy and Indian Government, along with their spouses, participated.

The event was supported by AmCham members:

Platinum Partners: American Airlines, Amway, Bank of America, British Airways, Boeing, Coca Cola, Discovery, Metlife, Pepsico

Gold Partners: Azure Power, Corning, Mars, Tupperware

Silver Partners: Bechtel India, Cisco, Herbalife

Pre-Budget Meeting with Dr. Hasmukh Adhia, Revenue Secretary, Ministry of Finance – 10th December 2020

AmCham and the European Business Group (EBG) were invited by the Ministry of Finance on 10th December 2015 to make a presentation on the Pre-Budget Memorandum which had been submitted earlier.

The AmCham team was led by Mr. Indraneel Roy Choudhury, Partner, PwC; and Chairman, AmCham’s Tax, Tariff and Regulatory Affairs Committee, who made the presentation on direct taxes on behalf of both AmCham and EBG. EBG made a presentation on indirect taxes.

Dr. Hasmukh Adhia, Revenue Secretary, was accompanied by:

Mr. Najib Shah, Chairman, CBEC
Ms. Rani Singh Nair, Member (L&C), CBDT
Mr. Alok Shukla, Joint Secretary (TRU-I), CBEC
Mr. Amitabh Kumar, Joint Secretary (TRU-II), CBEC
Ms. Pragya Saksena, Joint Secretary (TPL-I), CBDT
AmCham members said that the environment for business was positive and they would like to invest in India to strengthen its economy.

The Revenue Secretary assured that they were working towards streamlining and simplifying the tax system. With the introduction of GST, many of the issues raised by members relating to excise etc. would be resolved.

AMCHAM December Defense Committee Meeting – 9th December 2015

AmCham Defense Committee members met on 9th December 2015 to brief the team on the discussions the core committee members had with the Secretary, Defense Production, Mr. A.K. Gupta and the Joint Secretary, Mr. Harbans Lal Khera. It was discussed that AmCham would send a letter to Secretary, Defense Production office and while thanking him for the MoD’s positive amendments to offset policy; would also reiterate on the other asks of the AmCham Defense Committee.

AMCHAM 5th Invitational Golf Tournament – 5th December 2015

On 5th of December 2015, a total of 92 golfers participated in the AmCham 5th Invitational Golf Tournament, held at the Prestige Golfshire, Bangalore. Our partners for the event were Bren Corporation, Textron, Sheraton Grand and Towers, Saggezza, and Timken. The day started with breakfast on a bright sunny morning. Our partners the Fairfield by Marriott and the Courtyard by Marriott had kept the tempo on with their on-field refreshments for all our players.

By noon the tired group was received with chilled beer, wine, and snacks and a hot buffet lunch followed by some exciting lucky draws sponsored by Courtyard by Marriott. The day concluded with a grand evening of entertainment at the Sheraton Grand and Towers along with the award ceremony. The format played was individual stroke play (net) on double Peoria System of handicapping in two categories, below 18 handicap, and 18 to 24 handicap. We look forward to a continued and active participation by members next year as well. Golf provides an excellent networking opportunity to play and discuss business in an enjoyable environment.

The results of the 5th AmCham India Invitational Golf tournament are as follows:

Straightest Drive: Nanje Gowda (Distance: On the line)

Closest to the Pin: Alan Whelan (Hole #17 Distance 11 ft.)

Longest Driver: Brian Walsh (Distance: 262 yards)

AmCham Results

Handicap 15 – 24: Winner – Gaurav Singh 73 net

Handicap 15 – 24: 1st Runner Up – Iqbal Sait 73 net (on countback)

Handicap 0 – 14: Winner – NP Thimmaiah 73.4 net

Open Category Results

Handicap 15 – 24: Winner – Puttraj – 70 net

Handicap 15 – 24: 1st Runner Up – Sunnira Ly – 71 net

Handicap 0 – 14: Winner – Srirag Jayaraman – 69.4 net

Handicap 0 – 14: 1st Runner Up – Anuj Zinzuwadia – 70.4 net

Team Results

Winning Team: Naresh Shah, Anil Sama, Nikhil Raj, Shankar Gopal – 290.6 net

Runner-Up Team: Aiyappa Madappa, Gopi S, Varun Berry, Vikram Reddy – 293.2 net