V.P. Nandakumar elected as Chairperson of Lions Clubs International Multiple District

Mr. V.P. Nandakumar, MD & CEO of Manappuram Finance Ltd., was unanimously elected as the Chairperson of Lions Clubs International’s Multiple District 318.

The elections were held as part of the 8th Annual Multiple District Convention of the Club held at the Bolghatty Palace in Kochi on May 14, 2017.  Multiple District 318 brings together nearly 550 Lions clubs with over 20,000 members belonging to the state of Kerala.

Mr. V.P. Nandakumar currently holds the office of Governor of District 318D which includes Lions Clubs in the districts of Thrissur, Palakkad and Malappuram. In July 2016, Mr. Nandakumar was the recipient of the Lions Ambassador of Good Will award, which is the highest international honour bestowed by the Club.

Lions Clubs International is the largest service organisation in the world that brings together people around the world under the motto of “we serve”. Founded in Chicago in 1917, the Club is now celebrating 100 years of existence.

Mr. Nandakumar is a national Managing Committee member of FICCI and Assocham and the immediate past Chairman of CII’s Kerala State Council.  

Shri Amitabh Kant IAS, CEO of NITI Aayog, delivers the Memorial Lecture

The eighth V.C. Padmanabhan Memorial Awards for Excellence for 2017 were conferred on the distinguished awardees at a function held on June 15th, 2017 at the Lulu International Convention Centre, Thrissur.

Prominent winners for the year included the former Union cabinet minister and member of parliament, Dr. Shashi Tharoor, NITI Aayog CEO Shri. Amitabh Kant IAS, eminent playback singer Padma Shri K.S. Chithra, and the wildlife conservationist, Shri Vava Suresh.

The awards were given away by Prof. P.J. Kurien, Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and it carried a cash prize of Rs.2 lakhs and a plaque. Mr. V.P. Nandakumar, MD & CEO, Manappuram Finance Ltd., welcomed the gathering and delivered the presidential address.

The V.C. Padmanabhan Memorial Awards were instituted in the year 2010 to commemorate the illustrious founder of the Manappuram Group. They are presented every year to eminent personalities who have made significant contributions in the five categories of Arts and Literature, Civil Servant achieving Excellence in Public Administration, Public Representative achieving
Excellence in Good Governance, Business Excellence leading to development of Society at large and Ecology and Environment Conservation.

The following is the list of Awardees for the year 2017:

The awards function was followed by the 15th V.C. Padmanabhan Memorial Annual Lecture delivered by Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO, NIti Aayog, on the topic “Transforming India.” Watch Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It-SE--yvQ8&t=4785s

Shri Kant spoke about the need to step up India’s economic growth rate in order to emerge as a developed country in the shortest time. He pointed out that wealth creation is primarily a function of the private sector and therefore the need of the hour is to make it easy for the private sector to function effectively. However, the Indian experience historically has been that we have made India a complicated, complex and difficult country for the private sector to do business. Accordingly, the focus of the government of India now is to improve the ease of doing business in the country and over the last three years, a lot has been done in this regard. The introduction of GST, the passing of the bankruptcy law, the scrapping of over 11,000 outdated laws, and the practice of ranking states on the basis of ease of doing business are all recent measures to improve the climate for private sector activity in India, he said.

Earlier, Shri Amitabh Kant was introduced by Shri B.N. Raveendra Babu, Executive Director, Manappuram Finance Ltd. Shri Sooraj Nandan, Senior Vice President of the company, delivered the vote of thanks.

Conference of Banks and Financial Institutions lending to Manappuram Finance Limited under the Multiple Banking Arrangement.

Shri. V. P. Nandakumar, MD & CEO, Manappuram Finance Limited inaugurated the first Cellular Safe that was installed at the Valapad Branch, Thrissur. As part of a long term vision to enhance the security of pledged jewellery, the company has decided to install advanced Cellular Safes at all its Branches. Shri.C. Balasubramanian (SVP- Security & Admin), Shri.Vipin. G.S. (VP- Compliance), Smt. Bindhu A.L. (CGM-F&A), Shri. Raju Narayanan (SGM FAW), Shri. Pravin Salian (GM Operation) and Shri Hareeshkumar Mathil (AGM - P&FC/E.S) etc. attended the inaugural function.

\

Smt. Sarojini Padmanabhan Memorial Women’s Club organised an awareness class on professional etiquette. Mr. V. P. Nandakumar, MD & CEO inaugurates the session. Mr. B K Ramakrishna, Corporate Trainer from Hyderabad led the class. The focus was on teaching professional etiquette in a spiritual way with participants made to think and go deep within themselves to discover the energy within. The key message was that the good qualities of an individual define his or her quality of life. Such people spread positive energy all around them, like peace, happiness, love, respect, goodness etc. which then reflects in the family and workplace.

Manappuram Finance Ltd. was the lead sponsor of the “The Inclusive India Economic Forum 2017” held at the Marriott Hotel, Kochi.The event was inaugurated by Shri Alphons Kannanthanam, Union Minister of State for IT, Culture and Tourism. Shri Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of Road Transport, Highways and Shipping, spoke on the topic of how India’s road development is helping India’s economic development.

Prof. Ramesh Chand, Member, NITI Aayog, spoke on the topic, “Reforming Indian agriculture – Vision, Plan and Results.” Shri Elias George IAS, Ex-Managing Director, Kochi Metro Rail Ltd., made a presentation on the topic, “Bootstrapping Kerala as an investment destination.” In the final session of the day, Shri Ranjan Sreedharan, General Manager, Manappuram Finance, spoke about the impact of the digital and cashless economy on the common man’s life.

The 3rd edition of Manappuram Miss Asia beauty pageant saw Honey TianMi from China walking away with the title and a cash prize of Rs.3 lakhs. The event brought together 20 contestants from the Asian and Eurasian regions. Regina Mukhamadieva from Bashkortostan and Akanksha Mishra from India were the first and second runner up respectively. Mary Eve Adeline Torres Escoto of the Philippines was awarded the title of Miss Asia Global.

Mr. V.P. Nandakumar (MD & CEO of Manappuram Finance Ltd.) presented the crown to the winners. The competition comprised 3 rounds, national costume, black theme and white gown. The international panel of judges included Ms. Christine Huang, CEO of Global Charity Queen, Spanish film maker Mr. Jesus Manuel Montane, and Ms. Katherin Wermke, photographer from Germany.