Confederation of Indian Industry
The Confederati on of Indian Industry (CII) works to create and sustain an environment conducive to the growth of industry in India, partnering industry and government alike through advisory and consultative processes.
CII is a non-government, not-for-profit, industry led and industry managed organisation, playing a proactive role in India’s development process. Founded over 114 years ago, it is India’s premier business association, with a direct membership of over 8,500+ organisations from the private as well as public sectors, including SMEs and MNCs, and an indirect membership of over 90,000 companies from around 396 national and regional sectoral associations.
CII catalyses change by working closely with government on policy issues, enhancing efficiency, competitiveness and expanding business opportunities for industry through a range of specialised services and global linkages. It also provides a platform for sectoral consensus building and networking. Major emphasis is laid on projecting a positive image of business, assisting industry to identify and execute corporate citizenship programmes. Partnerships with over 120 NGOs across the country carry forward our initiatives in integrated and inclusive development, which include health, education, livelihood, diversity management, skill development and water, to name a few.
Complementing this vision, CII’s theme for 2009-10 is ‘India@75: Economy, Infrastructure and Governance.’ Within the overarching agenda to facilitate India’s transformation into an economically vital, technologically innovative, socially and ethically vibrant global leader by year 2022, CII’s focus this year is on revival of the Economy, fast tracking Infrastructure and improved Governance.
With 64 offices in India, 9 overseas in Australia, Austria, China, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore, UK, and USA, and institutional partnerships with 213 counterpart organisations in 88 countries, CII serves as a reference point for Indian industry and the international business community.
Links
www.cii.in
Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy
The Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy are a UK charity who champion and reward life-changing ideas, from solar lighting in rural Bangladesh, to smokeless stoves in Eritrea, to low-carbon buildings in the UK. They believe passionately in supporting people who are changing the face of energy to cut CO2, protect the environment and improve people’s lives.
Since they were founded in 2001 over one hundred projects in the developing world and the UK have received an award. Collectively, Ashden Award winners are giving millions of people worldwide access to sustainable energy and improved lives.
The annual Awards scheme rewards local sustainable energy programmes that have been proven to deliver significant social, economic and environmental benefits to their communities. Speakers at the Ashden Awards ceremony include: HRH The Prince of Wales (Patron of the Awards), Former US Vice President Al Gore, Sir David Attenborough, Professor Sir David King, Wangari Maathai, Lord May of Oxford and Dr RK Pachauri.
In ten years the Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy has become not just an internationally recognised Awards scheme but an organisation which is engaged in providing technical and business planning support, brokering carbon finance, facilitating investment and acting as an advocate on sustainable energy issues.
They have built up a considerable bank of information about successful sustainable energy work across the world which is freely available in their online Knowledge Centre with detailed information about all the winners, the technologies they use and the way they have achieved success. This is accompanied by a substantial body of photographs and film also available on YouTube and Flickr.
Links
www.ashdenawards.org