eMERG SPEAKS | 1

eMERGSpeaks

Volume 1 Issue 1 April 2017

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eMERG – Engineering Manufacturer Entrepreneurs Resource Group – is a not for profit organization. It is the brainchild of seven enterprising business women and was founded in 2006, in Bangalore, India. Over the years, eMERG has grown exponentially and is now an association for women in technology, business, profession, and services. eMERG regularly organizes events, seminars, and trade delegations for individual and enterprise growth.

The focus of eMERG is to invite women to share new ideas via an amazing networking platform where they can grow and accelerate their businesses in a dynamic manner. eMERG achieves its objectives through mentoring, training, policy advocacy, certifications, etc.

To commemorate its decade-long journey, eMERG organized a vision and team building workshop for all its committee and active members last year. A host of plans have also been drawn up to scale up activities and focus on training in basic engineering skills.

We wish the women who participated in the team building workshop all the success.

Uma Reddy,Founder President, eMERG

Women entrepreneurs are the new engines of growth to an economy and women-owned business form an integral component of MSMEs. eMERG was conceptualized to support women at the growth level, thereby creating a platform for them to interact and benefit from various schemes and knowledge forums in their respective states as well as from the Government of India. This year we have added two new chapters and we now have an eMERG network in Mumbai and New Delhi.

In future, the focus of eMERG is to expand our B2B portal, and to set up our training Centre in basic engineering skills. Our key plans on the growth path are to encourage innovation, create jobs, and extend support to women in technology, business, profession, and services.

Being a member of eMERG will ensure ● You are part of an extremely vibrant and dynamic group of women. ● You will learn new skills and gain knowledge that will be beneficial to your

profession or business.● You will get a chance to attend exclusive national and international business

meets and trade fairs.

Our earnest desire is to support the growth of our members by participating in various events to explore new markets and make a quantum leap to manufacture and provide globally competitive, eco friendly, and world-class products as well as services.

We welcome you to the elite group of eMERG - women entrepreneurs and professionals who have an opportunity to learn, grow, and succeed in this competitive world.

Warm Regards, Rajalakshmi RajasekharPresident , eMERG

FOUNDER’S NOTE

PRESIDENT’S NOTE

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more candles, and this world will be a much better place for women.

Q How do you handle feelings of pressure and

stress in your chosen field of civil services?I have to confess that it can get very tough to handle pressure, sometimes especially for someone like me who is sensitive. It really disturbs me when I am not able to solve someone’s problem. Besides, there is always the pressure to perform. People might find me pushy and hyper at times, but I am sure those who have worked with me understand my style of functioning, and they know that my intentions were always to get the work done. Being civil bureaucrats, we are available to the citizens 24x7 in districts. At times, stress is carried back home. Still, I take it as an opportunity given by God to help people who need assistance. I try to connect and help people outside my portfolio too if they seek me out so that they feel they are guided.

She is the lady with the midas touch in the

bureaucratic world. eMERG SPEAKS shares the excerpts of our interview with Smt Ratna Prabha, Additional Chief Secretary, Govt of Karnataka, an inspiring achiever, whose unmistakable spark touches one’s heart immediately.

- Hosamane Savitha, Author, MD of Hasovan Pvt. ltd.

Q What was the best advice you received as a young

IAS officer?We used to get many an advice from our seniors on how to face crises. Some of these words of wisdom have the potential to change your entire life and I can’t forget one such advice. This happened around 1986 when I took charge as special DC Development in Chikamaglur. We launched a pilot project for women called Development of Women and child in Rural Area (DWCRA) from the Government of India. Within a week, a Gram Panchayat Adhyaksha called “Kashyappa” from a village called Giriapur visited my office.

He welcomed me to the district and said “You are young and I want to give you a piece of advice. Every time a women has headed a district, they have done nothing for women. If you really want to do good, do something for women”. I took it very seriously and over the span of my career, in every department that I have worked, I made it a point to do something for women. Today, when I look back I feel a sense of achievement, because deep within my heart I know I have ignited candles which will illuminate 1000s

the present government is concerned about and has taken steps to control the declining girl-child ratio. Although it has taken some years for the ideas to be initiated, it is very satisfying to see that my project ideas are taking shape now with a different name.

Q Who has been your role model for your success?

I have picked up good things and best practices from many people. According to me, it will be injustice to attribute my success to one person, so I cannot name a role model. I have always been open to new ideas. I have always tried to imbibe good qualities no matter if it is being taught by my junior officer or by a great book. I am open to changing myself and my style of functioning. That is how I can deliver as I constantly keep improving myself. Nobody is perfect.

Q What is the biggest risk that you took in your life?

Once, when I was deputy commissioner, there were huge agitated crowds (>2000) gathered and police were unable to tackle this mob. There was no protection too, but I decided to risk it and step amidst the crowd. It was my faith when I felt that they might listen to me as they liked me. It took around 2 to 3 hours to settle the crowd to a semblance of control as they were screaming and very agitated. I am thankful that I could disperse the crowd peacefully. Looking back, that was big risk I took as things could have also gone out of control. However, I trusted my gut feel and it paid off to save the situation.

Q Any unfulfilled dream which you would like

to pursue if you had the time to do?Writing a book and sharing my memoirs and experiences. I feel like writing. I have started writing about my first posting. I will be publishing soon. I like photography too and have clicked few good pictures. I love my work and cannot think of any other profession.

Q How do you overcome challenges in your work?

It gets very emotionally challenging when you set goals and work towards their fulfilment. Then, you are transferred before delivering. But I realized that there always was a lot to accomplish in the new role as well. Our country needs so much to be done. That thought helped me in bouncing back. Some of the project proposals, that were initiated by me in Delhi few years ago, are seeing the light of the day now. I am happy that

CELEBRITY INTERVIEW

Smt. K. Ratna Prabha, Additional Chief Secretary to

Government of Karnataka.

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On 21st February 2017, the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India had notified the ease of compliance to maintain registers under various specified Labour Laws (Ease of Compliance Rules). These rules have come into force with effect from the date of notification in the Official Gazette.

The Ease of Compliance Rules enable an employer to maintain 5 types of combined registers under the following labour laws:

1. Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act 1996

2. Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act 1970

3. Equal Remuneration Act 19764. Inter-State Migrant Workmen

(Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act 1979

5. Mines Act 19526. Minimum Wages Act 19487. Payment of Wages Act 19368. Sales Promotion Employees

(Conditions of Service) Act 1976 9. Working Journalists and

Other Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1955

eMERG OFFICE BEARERS

R.Rajalakshmi President

Uma Reddy Founder President

Rekha Gopal Vice President

Dr Sumitha Nayak Hon Secretary

Sridevi Kalyan Jt Secretary

Vidhya Vinay Treasurer

The five types of combined registers required to be maintained under the Specified Labour Laws, include:

1. Employee Register2. Wage Register3. Register of Loan/Recoveries4. Attendance Register5. Register of Rest Days/Leave account

of employees/Leave with Wages.

Accordingly, pursuant to the Ease of Compliance Rules, the relevant central rules enacted under the Specified Labour Laws have been amended to replace existing forms of registers with the combined registers notified under the Ease of Compliance Rules. Consequently, the various different forms of registers required to be maintained under the Specified Labour Laws have been reduced to the combined registers under the Ease of Compliance Rules.

Karnataka has enacted voluntary ‘Self-Certification Schemes’. Schemes with a view to simplify and bring transparency in labour law compliances. Under certain Schemes, upon registration, the specified establishments shall have the option of filing combined returns under certain labour laws specified in the particular Scheme.

EC members

Ms Uma Reddy Founder President

Ms Rajalakshmi President

Ms Rekha Gopal Vice President

Dr Sumitha Nayak Hon Secretary

Ms Vidhya Vinay Treasurer

Ms Sridevi Kalyan Jt Secretary

MS Pratibha Nakil EC Member

Ms Sharada Nuthakki EC Member

Ms Shilpa Sharad EC Member

Ms Nidhi Tatia EC Member

Ms Geethadevi EC Member

Ms Priya Mohan EC Member

Ms Rathi Shrinivasan EC Member

Ms Neelima Vobugari EC Member

Ms Revati Gore EC Member

Newsletter committee Members

Office bearers 2017

Ms Uma, Ms Rajalakshmi, Dr Sumitha

Dr. Alice Abraham Chair

Ms Pearl Jindal Editor-in-Chief

Editorial team Ms Sheela Jalihal, Ms. Savitha, Hosamani, Dr. Shubha B N, Ms Richa, Ms Monica, Ms Usha shri, Ms Vijaya

Ms Tina Garg Design Head

GST AND LABOUR

LAWSAmendment of Central

Rules under certain Labour Laws

- Uma Reddy

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Homemakers turned Entrepreneurs Nivedita Prasad and Uma Raju, are founders of the Bangalore based Chocolate Philosophy, which offers artisanal chocolates to chocolate lovers on many levels. Their inspiring story of success began a decade ago when they, as two young and passionate homemakers decided to transform their friendship into a powerful business venture. They started out small by catering to friends and family. The overwhelming response led to the creation of Chocolate Philosophy – Distinctive flavours with a dash of philosophy in every box. They are both certified chocolatiers from the Callebaut Chocolate Academy in Belgium.

After working from their home initially, the duo rented a house with equipment from Nivedita’s kitchen. They have since moved into a 900-square-foot workshop/kitchen to sell their products. In the retail section, Chocolate Philosophy first catered to Bangalore International Airport and is now available in three retail outlets, across Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Chennai.

Nivedita Prasad and Uma Raju: Nivedita Prasad is a lawyer by profession and a chocolatier by passion. She took up a lot of different ventures before finding her true passion for chocolate. Her mother was in the confectionery business, she got her sweet tooth from helping her mom in the bakery and learnt the ropes of how to run a business from a very early age.

Uma Raju studied in Mount Carmel in Bangalore and lived in New York for 10 years. She is a die-hard chocoholic and has a keen eye for packaging as well as designing the boxes. After returning to Bangalore, she along with Nivedita started Chocolate Philosophy. Their common passion and interest was great tasting chocolate with excellent packaging.

Their USP : ‘MAKE IN INDIA’ CHOCOLATE BAR

“Artisan chocolate makers like us, are now crafting top-quality products with sustainably sourced Indian cacao and to cut dependency on costlier imports. There is quality cacao in India, with farms in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and beyond growing fine beans, in many cases, organically. Our cocoa is sourced from organic plantations that are located in south east India, at the foothills of the Annamalai Hills in Tamil Nadu, close to the Indira Gandhi Wildlife sanctuary - a biodiversity hotspot.” says Nivedita Prasad.

Speaking with a justified pride about their bit in the Make in India Initiative, Uma says ”We are promoting the ‘Make in India Campaign’ all the way, from sourcing the cacao bean, making the bar, right upto packaging it in an exquisite package made from locally sourced eco-friendly recycled paper and designed specifically by Chocolate Philosophy. We are the change we would like to see, and hopefully you will come along with us in this growth.”

A LITTLE BIT OF CHOCOLATE:

A little bit of philosophy in

every box

SPOTLIGHT SECTION

This section is a feature story focussing

on members of eMERG

This edition features the charming founders of

Chocolate Philosophy and their journey as chocolatiers

and entrepreneurs.

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1. April-SWEEP 2017- 5th and 6th April, 2017, an event conducted by Madhya Pradesh Association of Women Entrepreneurs at Jabalpur. The details are available in the attached brochure.

2. April End,2017 -Half day workshop on Digital Marketing will be conducted by Ms Pavithra, EC Member. The date will be intimated once all details are worked out.

3. June 2017- WEBENC conference and Business Fair at Las Vegas, USA. Further details are available at www.conf.wbenc.org

LIST OF UPCOMING EVENTSDr. Sumitha

PERSONAL BRANDING: REPORT ON eMERG MUMBAI CHAPTER’S EVENT ON MARCH 25th

eMERG Mumbai chapter’s second event on 25th March 2017 was a success beyond our expectations. The event, with the theme ‘Personal Branding’, was organized in partnership with 91springboard, the co-working space and Maharashtra Economic Development Council (MEDC), an ‘Investment Facilitator and Development Catalyst’ for the State of Maharashtra. While 91springboard supported us by offering the venue, MEDC helped us in marketing the event to its members. Ms Vijaya Devi, the chairperson of eMERG Mumbai chapter welcomed the audience and gave an introduction to eMERG, its history, success stories, programs, member benefits, and future programs.

NEWS FROM eMERG CHAPTERS

Ms Ananya, Manager – Research and Training at MEDC, gave an overview of her organization’s programs that are beneficial for SMEs.

Such an event cannot be complete without ample opportunity for networking and informal sharing. The spacious venue facilitated people to introduce themselves and network. The informal feedback that we received assured us that we had indeed designed a wonderful event, chosen the right partners, and offered an excellent platform for women entrepreneurs to come together.

Ms Reena Grover, member of eMERG played a wonderful role of an anchor and also delivered the vote of thanks. Ms Lakshmi Vedanarayanan, stood as a strong force behind all the coordination with MEDC and choice of facilities and speakers by acting quickly and decisively.

For the Mumbai chapter, this event has been a great motivator — mainly for the reasons that even though we are a very small group, we were able to pool in our personal resources to deliver a great event with a lot of drive and enthusiasm.

- Vijaya Devi Consultant & Facilitator, Dreampipe Consulting Chairperson, eMERG , Mumbai Network

The contribution towards the event’s success to a considerable extent was due to the choice of speakers. Ms Nidhi Sharma, who is a personal brand coach delighted the audience with her sharp insights about what personal branding is and why it is important for today’s business women. Ms CS Reeta Shah, a growth coach and an educator, captured the audience’s imagination by offering candid observations and knowledge about the role of mentors in building a personal brand.

To complete the learning on personal branding eMERG members participated in a brief activity that helped the participants to explore some questions that would help them arrive at their own personal brand statements. This activity gave an opportunity for the audience to put to work some of the knowledge they had gathered during the speaker sessions.

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eMERG, DELHI

eMERG with the support of Intel, organized the Workshop on INTEL Procurement Supply Chain on 16th March 2017 at Hotel Eros, Nehru Place, New Delhi. The objective of the workshop was for women entrepreneurs to find out more about -

• Becoming a supplier to INTEL• Connecting with Women Owned

businesses with potential buyers (Intel & Intel Suppliers)

• New Marketing Strategies

The women entrepreneur delegates were welcomed by Mr Gowri Shankar, Sr Purchasing Manager Greater Asia region, Intel. Ms Rajalakshmi R, President, eMERG, appreciated the partnership with Intel in her opening remarks and the opportunity of the eMERG Delhi Network launch. Ms Aarthi Bindra, will be the Chairperson for the eMERG Delhi Network.

The Chief Guest for the day Ms Lucy Zhuang, Regional Director, Greater Asia Region, Intel spoke on supplier diversity with a focus on B2B markets and value creation through diversity and inclusion, which was very relevant to the women business owners. Mr Gautam Mahajan, President, Customer Value Foundation and Inter-Link India delivered the Keynote Address and talked about value creation by purchasing.

This was followed by a panel discussion moderated by Mr Gowri Shankar, Intel and panelists being Ms Ambika Sharma, Founder & Managing Director, Pulp Strategy, Ms Lucy Zhuang, Mr Parul Soni, ED, WE Connect International India, Mr Nagesh Singh, Intel, Mr Gautam Mahajan, and Ms Rajalakshmi R.

This Intel procurement workshop was the third of the series of workshops being conducted, the first in Mumbai, followed by, Bangalore, and Newzz Delhi. eMERG plans to organize the next two workshops in different cities in the near future. eMERG places on record their sincere thanks to Intel team for their partnership and support.

- Ms Aarthi Bindra, is the Chairperson of the eMERG Delhi network, during the Intel Procurement Supply Chain Workshop & launch of eMERG Network Delhi at Hotel EROS, New Delhi on 16th March 2017.

We drive

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eMERG : ENGINEERING MANUFACTURER ENTREPRENEURS RESOURCE GROUP#1 & 2, MES Ring Road,Shardambanagar, Jalahalli, Bangalore 560013.

Landline : 080 4206 1929Mobile : +91 99169 86570Email: emerg7@gmail.com , emerg@emergindia.org