Hyderabad: 27 April 2014: Bifurcation of the state has a positive side. It is a good opportunity and good time to be an entrepreneur as the Government of India has announced a lot of concessions to both the states such as Central Excise waiver for five years, etc. said Dr. Jayesh Ranjan, IAS, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) addressing group of women professionals and entrepreneurs at Hyderabad. He was the Chief Guest at the Change of Guard ceremony of FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO), Hyderabad Chapter and Young FICCI Ladies Organisation (YFLO), Hyderabad Chapters. He highlighted business opportunities for women and urged them to come forward and utilize the opportunity provided by the bifurcation of the state.

Speaking further, Dr. Jayesh Ranjan said as far as women entrepreneurs are concerned there is a sense of under-delivery. So much can be done, he opined. In 40 years of existence, APIIC had developed 29,400 industrial plots throughout the state out of which only 1380 plots were allotted to women, which is abysmally low. He said that APIIC has three industrial parks in Andhra Pradesh with plots allotted exclusively to women only viz. Gajularamaram, Medchal and one near Vijayawada. This will be multiplied throughout the state and the industrial parks exclusively for women will be increased. Dr. Jayesh Ranjan urged FLO to provide supports such as identifying the women entrepreneurs, training them, preparing their project reports and APIIC will allot the land. He urged women to come forward and utilize the opportunity.

Outgoing Chairperson of FLO Hyderabad Chapter Ms. Jyotsna Angara gave Annual Report and a Presentation outlined the activities of her tenure at the Change of Guard ceremony on Saturday evening. She informed that the recent report ‘Blue Print on Women’s Safety’ which they are soon going to submit to the Government had received good traction. NALSAR has come forward to conduct workshops on women’s laws and issues in partnership with FLO, she informed. She announced that APIIC is to soon sign a MoU for FLO Hyderabad Women Entrepreneurs’ Park and it is in the final stages of clearance.

The new teams for FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO), Hyderabad Chapter and Young FICCI Ladies Organisation (YFLO), Hyderabad Chapters took charge here at Hyderabad at a Change of Guard ceremony.

Ms. Monika Agarwal took over from Ms. Jyotsna Angara as Chairperson, FLO Hyderabad Chapter. Ms. Monika Agarwal is a MBA from IIM, Indore. Always aspiring to be an entrepreneur, Monika setup Jaydurga Furnishings in 2005. Earlier, she had worked Associate Vice President at Kotak Mahindra. Ms. Shakuntala Divi took over as Chairperson, YFLO Hyderabad Chapter from Ms. Ashita Nawalgaria. A post graduate in physical therapy from university of Utah, Shakuntala Divi currently manages new ventures, acquiring distress assets and handling the current projects. She is President Asset Management at Divi’s Properties. Ms. Monika Agarwal in her acceptance speech said that she will work towards women empowerment through capacity building initiatives besides other programmes.

The new team members for FLO Hyderabad include Monika Agarwal as Chairperson, Rekha Lahoti as Senior Vice-Chairperson, Mansi Malik as Secretary, Ch. Sumalatha as Joint Secretary and Usha Rani Manne as Treasurer. The new team for YFLO Hyderabad is Shakuntala Divi, Samia Alam khan as Vice Chairperson, Nidhi Swaroop as Secretary and Ritu Shah as Treasurer. These new office bearers will be in office for one year.

The Change of Guard ceremony was followed by a Talk on Power of Design Strategy by Ms. Geetika Kambli, CEO, Future Factory. Ms. Geetika Kambli who leads design research & strategy initiatives at Future Factory said that Design Strategy has changed world over but India is far behind. Design is thought of as aesthetic correction. Indians focus more on aesthetics whereas companies world over focus on Aesthetics, Performance, Brand preference / experience and Innovation. Companies world over are using design to spearhead new product development and integrate design into business strategy, she said. She gave an example of Philips that does a lot of work in terms of healthcare design world. She said that they don’t talk about interiors anymore, the talk about patient experience and about reducing patient anxiety and make them feel less like there are in trouble, she said. She also gave various examples where design strategy was applied by their company.