Handling Cyber Attacks in These Turbulent Times

American Chamber of Commerce in India
Apex Chamber of U.S. Industry in India

Handling Cyber Attacks in These Turbulent Times – 29th July 2022

AMCHAM’s Karnataka Chapter, as part of the monthly CEO Breakfast Series in association with KPMG, organized a session on ‘Handling Cyber Attacks in These Turbulent Times’ at the Hyatt Centric MG Road in Bengaluru on July 29th. The session featured a fireside chat with Mr. Jacxine Fernandez, Vice President Information Security, Bengaluru International Airport Limited and Mr. Raghavendra B.V., Partner and Head Cyber Transformation India, KPMG. The session focussed on helping leaders understand the increased sophistication of cyber attacks, how long organizations can sustain if significant functions are down due to an attack, if current resilience plans are fit for a cyber attack and the role of management in a such attacks. They also discussed how regular real-world simulation exercises help and the dilemma of whether to pay the ransom during a ransomware attack. The session was well attended with representation from Kewaunee, 3M, Timken, Dell, Altair, Grant Thornton, Moog, Inteva Products and more.

 

 

Membership

By joining AMCHAM India, you become part of an active and dynamic Apex Chamber of U.S. Industry in India with a membership base of more than 400 American companies in India. AMCHAM is an important voice for policy advocacy, a critical source for business intelligence, a vibrant platform for networking and expanding your business.

National Executive Board Meeting

The second meeting of AMCHAM’s National Executive Board for 2022-2023 was held on July 26th virtually. Mr. Atul Dhawan, Chairman, AMCHAM and Chairperson / Partner, Deloitte South Asia chaired the meeting. Mr. Deepak Bagla, Managing Director & CEO, Invest India, Government of India, addressed the board on ‘Accelerating the U.S.-India Economic Partnership.’ The board was briefed on AMCHAM’s signature initiatives, the annual Door Knock to Washington DC and NextGen Leadership Program. Ms. Neeru Ahuja, Chairperson – Tax, Tariff and Regulatory Affairs Committee, AMCHAM presented ‘Tax Briefing on Recent Developments.’

 

Membership

By joining AMCHAM India, you become part of an active and dynamic Apex Chamber of U.S. Industry in India with a membership base of more than 400 American companies in India. AMCHAM is an important voice for policy advocacy, a critical source for business intelligence, a vibrant platform for networking and expanding your business.

Women’s Empowerment Through Employment Generation – Tamil Nadu Chapter

AMCHAM’s Tamil Nadu Chapter held a breakfast meeting on July 22nd in Chennai on creating a conducive ecosystem to encourage women’s empowerment through employment generation. The meeting started with celebrating the appointment of India’s Honorable President Draupadi Murmu, a great step in demonstrating women’s empowerment. Mr. Rajan Aiyer, Chairman – Tamil Nadu Chapter, AMCHAM welcomed participants and gave an overview of how American companies were employing more women on the shop floor who were engaged in assembly, packing, financials and in service companies doing all kinds of jobs that men do. Experience shows that in manufacturing companies, women were often more productive and the same was noticed in service companies.

The first presentation was made by Mr. Jerry Kapoor of Modine who shared some good practices of how the company has created gender neutral roles with significant number of female plant operators, who benefited from career development programs for women employees which provided them job progression to higher levels. His presentation had scenes of women employees who expressed how they were feeling empowered and that they were now able to build their homes, share in family responsibilities by educating their younger siblings and getting them married. They were thankful that Modine provided the means for them to accomplish this.

The next presentation was made by Ms. Minakshi, Joint Director, Department of Employment and Training, Government of Tamil Nadu on how the department equips women to become self reliant through job skills training and employment. She also mentioned that they now have a Private Companies Portal where private companies can upload their requirements of candidates for various positions. The presentation mentioned many of the career and job fairs that were conducted across the state.

The next presentation was made by Mr. Amitrajit Ghosh, Director, Dow Global Engineering Center where he explained how in Dow they have programs such as Campus2Corporate Internship Programs and Project PUTHRI (daughter) wherein female students from financially weaker sections are trained and sponsored in engineering education and given full time employment. They also have Project Catalyst which aims to bring back women engineering talent after a career break. The point was clear that for women to thrive in industry the ecosystem as a whole has to support these initiatives.

The last presentation was made by Mr. Gaurav Daga, Vice President and Ms. Mathivathani RP, Associate Vice President of Guidance Tamil Nadu who took participants through the work done by WorkLabs Cell through academia industry collaborations which engages students and freshers through plant visits, internships and apprenticeship programs. They also explained the consultation with 65 industries across fintech, logistics, electronics, auto, wind, general manufacturing, construction and chemical sectors in Tamil Nadu.

AMCHAM suggested that the government of Tamil Nadu could help by providing support by providing accommodation through women hostels, transport to and from the workplace after shifts for women employees in prominent industrial zones so women employees from remote areas can take advantage of these facilities. The Guidance personnel said they provide hostel facilities to women employees of Foxconn and that this could be expanded to include women employees of American companies as well. For India’s growth to further accelerate, everyone has the collective responsibility to do whatever it takes to help create opportunities for women to join the workforce in large numbers. The meeting concluded with a vote of thanks by Mr. Rajan Aiyer.

 

Membership

By joining AMCHAM India, you become part of an active and dynamic Apex Chamber of U.S. Industry in India with a membership base of more than 400 American companies in India. AMCHAM is an important voice for policy advocacy, a critical source for business intelligence, a vibrant platform for networking and expanding your business.

Manufacturing Committee Meeting

AMCHAM’s Manufacturing Committee held a meeting on July 21st over Webex. Mr. Sanjay Koul, Chairman – Manufacturing Committee, AMCHAM and Chairman & Managing Director, Timken India recognized India’s improvement in ease of doing business, progression of infrastructure and digitalization. He touched upon supply chain disruptions over the last 2 years and noted the government’s shift as regulator to a facilitator of business. Mr. Mukul Varshney, Co-Chairman – Manufacturing Committee, AMCHAM and R1-Director – Corporate Affairs, Media and Communications India, Africa, SE Asia, Middle East, Asia Pacific, Region 1 – John Deere spoke about the electronic resource and e-waste policies. He mentioned that smart connected factories use electronic components to enhance their manufacturing capabilities, however there is a need to clarify classifications for electronic component usage.

Committee members shared inputs and concerns around the implementation of the wage code, impact of rising commodity costs, changing SEZ rules, Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme, semiconductor ecosystem, plastic waste management, anti-dumping, AEO status, HSN codes, difficulty for investors to find the right land in India and supporting start-ups, among other topics. It was decided to prepare a more detailed whitepaper on the challenges and successes of PLI scheme to share with the government and for the committee to learn more about the end products members manufacture. AMCHAM reiterated the commitment to take up company specific challenges that members face.

 

Membership

By joining AMCHAM India, you become part of an active and dynamic Apex Chamber of U.S. Industry in India with a membership base of more than 400 American companies in India. AMCHAM is an important voice for policy advocacy, a critical source for business intelligence, a vibrant platform for networking and expanding your business.

Eastern Region Executive Committee Meeting

AMCHAM’s Eastern Region Executive Committee held its 2nd meeting for 2022-23 on July 20th. Mr. Atanu Mukherjee, Chairman – Eastern Region, AMCHAM welcomed members and updated them on the AMCHAM’s Annual Door Knock to Washington DC which was held on June 12th – 17th. The committee discussed forthcoming events and how to increase membership for the Eastern Region.

Membership

By joining AMCHAM India, you become part of an active and dynamic Apex Chamber of U.S. Industry in India with a membership base of more than 400 American companies in India. AMCHAM is an important voice for policy advocacy, a critical source for business intelligence, a vibrant platform for networking and expanding your business.

Eastern Region Interactive Session with Dr. Amrita Ganguly, Director, Deloitte India on Environment, Social and Governance

American Chamber of Commerce in India
Apex Chamber of U.S. Industry in India

American Chamber of Commerce in India
Apex Chamber of U.S. Industry in India

Eastern Region Interactive Session with Dr. Amrita Ganguly, Executive Director, Deloitte India on Environment, Social and Governance – 20 July 2022

On July 20th, AMCHAM’s Eastern Region organized an interactive session at the Hyatt Regency on environment, social and government (ESG) with guest speaker Dr. Amrita Ganguly, Executive Director, Deloitte India. Ms. Amada Kidwai, Regional Director – Eastern Region, AMCHAM introduced the speakers and Mr. Atanu Mukherjee, Chairman – Eastern Region, AMCHAM gave a welcome address. Dr. Ganguly spoke about sustainability, gave an overview of ESG and highlighted several aspects of the ever-evolving ESG landscape. Covering recent climate change events around the world, she touched upon how the present ESG landscape has been shaped by drivers like government legislations, investors, activists, academia and consumer preferences. She focused on ESG as more then something companies do; it is everything they do, and how they do it. The low carbon transition of the global economy is being led by innovation, green investments, decarbonization targets, and adoption of a longer term economic and equitable value proposition for companies. She highlighted how ESG issues were first mentioned in the 2006 United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) report, requiring for the first time that ESG criteria be incorporated in the financial evaluations of companies. She also spoke about how ESG helps to outperform smart investors who believe responsible companies create greater value for shareholders. Over 50% of the world’s largest institutional investors are already including extra‐financial criteria related to governance, business ethics, environmental risk, community relations or cultural diversity. Mr. Joydeep Datta Gupta, Eastern Region Executive Committee Member, AMCHAM gave the concluding remarks.

Membership

By joining AMCHAM India, you become part of an active and dynamic Apex Chamber of U.S. Industry in India with a membership base of more than 400 American companies in India. AMCHAM is an important voice for policy advocacy, a critical source for business intelligence, a vibrant platform for networking and expanding your business.