1st BCI Continuity & Resilience Awards, 2009
September 30, 2009 was a red-letter day for Business Continuity in India. The
1st BCI Continuity & Resilience Awards were held in Mumbai at the symbolic and
iconic Taj Mahal Palace & Tower.
Mr. Nitin Khanapurkar, Senior Director, Deloitte set the context for the evening by giving an overview of the awards and shedding light on the attitudes towards BCM in India. He pointed out that while Business Continuity awareness was growing, there was still a lot to be done. He pointed out that there was still an attitude of ”Ram Bharose” (meaning: leaving things in the hands of God). He emphasized that Deloitte associated with BCI to institute these Awards in order to bring the 3 R’s towards BCM i.e. “Respect”, “Recognition” & “Reward”. He called on the Indian business community to embrace BCM as it was important to ensure business continuity in face of any disaster. He stated that it was high time we became “Aap Bharose” (meaning: dependent on self) rather than being “Ram Bharose”.
The ceremony was thereafter inaugurated by guests of honour by lighting the traditional Indian lamp led by the Chief Guest was Mr. Jim Brady – CEO, Deloitte & Touche, AERS India. The other guests of honour present during the occasion were:
Mr. Lyndon Bird- Technical & International Director of The Business Continuity Institute ('BCI'), Ms. Lorraine Darke - Executive Director, The BCI, Mr. Reinhard Von Der Becke -Chairman, Lux International AG and Chairman, Forbes Lux Group, Mr. Suresh Goklaney - Vice Chairman & Managing Director of Eureka Forbes Limited, Mr. Atul Hemani - Co-founder and Managing Director of Omnitech InfoSolutions Limited, Mr. Abhay Gupte – Senior Director, Deloitte and Nitin Khanapurkar – Senior Director, Deloitte.
Mr. Lyndon Bird- Technical & International Director of The Business Continuity Institute ('BCI'), who was on the panel of judges, gave a judges perspective on the Awards. He stated that it had indeed been a difficult task coming up with winners.
Mr. Atul Hemani - Co-founder and Managing Director of Omnitech InfoSolutions Limited, who were the key official sponsors of the event, spoke on the role that the Awards would play in developing BCM further in India.
With that the stage was set for the Awards distribution ceremony.
The winner in the Data Centre Recovery Strategy of the Year was Indian Oil Corporation Limited.
Mr. Jim Brady presented the Awards to Mr. S. Ramasamy from Indian Oil Corporation Limited.
The winner in the Most Effective Recovery of the Year category was JWT India.
Mr. Reinhard Von Der Becke presented the Awards to Mr. Sunil Mehta from JWT India.
The winner in the Specialist Continuity Recovery Company of the Year was Omnitech InfoSolutions Ltd.
Mr. Lyndon Bird presented the Awards to Mr. Avinash Pitale from Omnitech InfoSolutions Ltd.
The winner in the Continuity & Recovery Initiative of the Year in Public Interest
was Ziqitza HealthCare Ltd.
Mr. Suresh Goklaney presented the Awards to Ms.Sweta Mangal from Ziqitza HealthCare Ltd.
The winner in the Industry Personality of the Year was Mr. Vijay Kumar Magan.
Mr. Vijay Mukhi presented the Awards to Mr. Vijay Kumar Magan from BSI Management System India Pvt Ltd.
The winner in the Business Continuity Manager of the Year was Mr. Daman Dev Sood.
Ms. Lorraine Darke presented the Awards to Mr. Daman Dev Sood from Steria.
For a complete list of nominees, please click here.
However the biggest applause for the evening was reserved for the Special Recognition Awards.
Special Recognition Awards were given to:
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Ziqitza HealthCare – 1298 for their role in providing ambulance services during 26/11 and their efforts in creating First Responders by conducting First Aid training. Mr. Atul Hemani presented the award to Ms. Shweta Mangal of Ziqitza HealthCare.
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Ratna Nidhi Charitable Trust for the work it had done during various disasters be it 26/11, the Bihar floods and even disasters across the world like the floods in Myanmar. The Award was presented by Mr. Abhay Gupte to the well know philanthropist Mr. Mahendrabhai Mehta.
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The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower for courage and attitude towards service during 26/11. During 26/11, its staff showed courage and resilience in face of terrorism. It reopened within a month of the 26/11 attack. The Awards was presented by Mr. Nitin Khanapurkar to Mr. Kang, Managing Director, The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower to a standing ovation.
Finally in a surprise announcement, a special award was presented to Mr. Vishnu Zende, the announcer at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, whose courage and presence of mind saved hundreds of lived on 26/11. Mr. Zende received a standing ovation from the audience.
The ceremony ended with a vote of thanks by Mr. Abhay Gupte and the guests of honour were given special mementos.
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