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40
magis
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may 2014
Awards and
accolades
T
HE road
less traveled is a phrase that few
like to explore. The uncertainty of the unseen and
the ambiguity of the unknown may amuse some,
but bewilder many. However, Xlers who are driven by the passion
to bring about a change are known to deviate from conventional
paths to explore new routes. In this issue, we bring you some of
our alumni who have won accolades for their exceptional and
influential ways of making a difference.
Women Of Influence 2014
:
Suparna Vashisht, XL’ 89
, Direc-
tor, Sustainable Silicon Valley, was
chosen for the Women of Influence
2014 award. She helped develop a
sustainability implementation road
map to guide companies in deploy-
ing sustainable practices across their
enterprise and to assist them
in integrating sustainable principles
into their strategic plans. She initiated
and managed the first partner sustain-
ability review of 10 companies,
which can be a valuable tool
for other companies looking for
guidance on advancing their
own sustainability efforts.
The award, sponsored by
Nashville
Business Journal
, is given to recog-
nise the strength of influential
business women.
HT Woman 2014
:
Ministhy Nair, XL’ 98
,
received the HT Woman 2014 award. She is
an IAS officer of 2003 batch and is currently
posted as District Magistrate in Barabanki,
Uttar Pradesh. Nair believes in being the
change rather than waiting for one. She has
given a direction to the lives of women serv-
ing a term in Barabanki District Jail by turn-
ing it into an industrial unit. The inmates are
now stitching uniforms, manufacturing buns
for hospital supplies and doing knot work for
scarfs to be self-sufficient. Another experi-
ment unique to Barabanki is the making of
Teaching Learning Material by primary
schools for
aangawadi
children. The project
aims to make free educational material avail-
able to the poorest children in
anganwadi
at zero cost by tapping into the creativity of
teachers and students. Apart from being a
successful bureaucrat, she is also a prolific
writer and has authored eight books so far.
Bihar Innovation Forum
: Green
Leaf Energy started by
Kumar Ankit,
XL’ 2011
, was awarded the first prize
in Bihar Innovation Forum – II. An-
kit’s dream to make a difference in the
poverty-stricken areas of the state got a
shot in the arm at XLRI.
GLE focuses on the creation of sus-
tainable assets through plantation of
Pongamia for bio-diesel as well as hor-
ticulture plantation. The company was
started with a vision to mitigate labour
migration out of Bihar, which is a result
of poverty and unproductive wastelands.
As the company that pioneers utilisation
of MNREGA for plantation, GLE has
now expanded its operations to eight dis-
tricts of Bihar and is showcased as one
of the best sustainable model projects
by the Rural Development Department,
Government of Bihar.
Game Changers
We’ll catch the big news about
you: Award nomination, when
you take your company public
or if you are the first XLer in
space. But we can only know
about your less publicised
news if you tell us. We are not
too particular, we want to hear
i
Please write to us at
class notes
