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E D i T O R ’ S N O T E

The world has seen a tremendous amount of change. The cen-tre of business activity and growth has moved away from theNorth American continent. Today India is amongst the leadingeconomies of the world. Where Canada had the United Statesas it major trading partner, it is now looking towards India andChina for its future sustained growth. Over the past few yearswe have seen the increase in the number of trade mission thatCanadian politicians have lead to India. Federal ministers andnow to a greater number, provincial leaders from across Canadahave taken sector specific business leaders to meet their coun-terparts in India striking up activity that will benefit bothcountries. The Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce has con-tributed in this effort by participating in various missions andsolidifying its connections with its counterparts in India. Thestrength and commitment of the India diaspora also helps keepthe Chamber to be the premier “Go To” organization forCanadian businesses, governments and other organizations.

At home, the Chamber continues to serve as the voice of theIndo-Canadian business and professional community, commit-ted to the enhancement of economic prosperity and quality oflife in Canada. Our committees have been busy and eventssuch as the “Second Wednesday Business Networking session”,“Breakfast with the CEO” and “Hard Hats Tour” have becomethe anchors of the event calendar, attracting a growing numberof members and non-members as well. Along with these thereare other seminars of interest put on with the input of mem-bers. Please refer to the “Year in Review” section of this maga-zine for a detailed list. Of course it is not all work, there issome play as well. Our golf and cricket tournaments are alwayswell attended.

The crucial glue of the organization is our members and spon-sors. Your support, encouragement and guidance is alwaysappreciated and moreover, it assists us in responding to yourneeds and relevancies. All this activity is also only possiblewith a very dedicated team of staff and volunteers. They putin a lot of hours and effort into each event. The Chamber isalways looking for fresh ideas and energy. We seek more of youto join our team to further the mandate and vision of theChamber. Come join, become a member, participate in activi-ties and should you prefer, join our committees board. Theannual general meeting is coming up at the end of June 2009.Time commitments vary; different positions require timesranging from a few hours a year to monthly, weekly or evendaily contributions. Join an ongoing committee or volunteer ata function – you choose. Look forward to seeing you involved.

Best Wishes & Regards,

Harjit S. Kalsi

PublisherIndo-Canada Chamber of Commerce

EditorHarjit S. Kalsi

Art Director & Production Co-ordinatorLeena Grotra

Ad Co-ordinatorRakhee Shah

Contributing WritersChiranjeev SinghHarjit S. Kalsi Kant BhargavaKasi RaoKrista BenoitMurray JansNina GuptaSanjay BurmanSeyid Imtiaz

Copy EditorsTrusha LuthraAditi Krishnan

Cover Design ConceptLeena Grotra

Event PhotographerBashir Nasir

Graphic DesignLG Vision Designs Inc.416 801 5226

The Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce publishes theAnnual Magazine every June. Letters to the editor, orrequests for reprints should be sent to the ICCC office.

45 Sheppard Ave. East Suite 900North York ON M2N 5W9416 224 0090 | 416 224 0482 | 1 866 873 ICCC(4222)F | 416 224 0089 | iccc@iccc.org | www.iccc.org

The information contained herein is based on sourcesbelieved to be reliable, but its accuracy is not guaranteed.Reasonable effort has been made to determine the accura-cy of information received. Readers are advised to seekappropriate legal/financial advice prior to relying on anyinformation contained herein.

A D V E R T i S E R S ’ i N D E X

Air CanadaApplinxAylesworth LLP, Barristers & SolicitorsBelle-pakBMOBromed PharmaceuticalsCIBCCommonwealth GamesCorefusionEDCfgf BrandGowlingsICICI BankJet AirwaysKPMGOmniOntario Chamber of Commerce Port of HalifaxRBC Royal BankSchulich School of BusinessScotia Bank GroupSkylink GroupState Bank of India (Canada)TD Financial GroupTimothy's Coffees of the World IncUJA FederationWestern UnionWSIB

i C C C S P O N S O R S

Premium National SponsorRBC Royal Bank

Industry SponsorsOMNI Television EDCKPMGJet Airways

Award SponsorsLifetime / Outstanding Achievement AwardState Bank of India (Canada)

Humanitarian AwardBromed Pharmaceuticals

Entrepreneur AwardScotia Bank Group

Professional Male AwardBMO Bank of Montreal

Professional Female AwardAir Canada

Technology Achievement AwardOntario Chamber of Commerce

Young Achievers AwardTD Bank Financial Group

Corporate Executive AwardRBC Royal Bank

President’s AwardCIBC

Member AwardGowlings

Magazine Sponsor: fgf Brands

Entertainment Sponsor: Aylesworth

Dinner Sponsor: ICICI Bank Canada

Reception Sponsor: Timothy’s Coffee of the World Inc.

VIP Reception: EDC

Wine Reception: Cuisine of India

Website Sponsor: Applinx / Corefusion

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President’s Message

Message from the Prime Minister

Message from the Prime Minister of India

Message from Premier of Ontario

Profile of Chief Guests

Award Recipients

Advisory Board

Board of Directors

Volunteering

Committee Annual Reviews

Council Annual Reviews

India Canada Trade Corridor

Of Interest

The Presidents

Hall of Fame

Year in Review

iNS iDE

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This year has been one filled with economic uncertainty,as the financial markets and fiscal conditions deteriorat-ed, making this year particularly difficult for our mem-bers, sponsors, and partners. Despite these challengingtimes, the ICCC maintained a strong momentum, forti-fying our commitment on our mandate and goals, thefocus of which was; to promote trade between Canadaand India, to increase business networking opportunitiesfor or members, sponsors and partners, and to showcasethe talent of our community from coast to coast. TheChamber has continued to rise above the current eco-nomic conditions in its growth and achievements by pri-oritizing its activities and directing its attention toresults oriented programs. With this came the realizationthat changing times bring into sharp focus the impor-tance of excelling in what we do.

Our strategy has been one of continuity and change aswe have put a concentrated effort towards enabling ourmembers to succeed during difficult times. One area offocus has been to tap into the rich knowledge and expe-rience of successful entrepreneurs and knowledgeablescholars who know both the regional and global econom-ic scene. We have also continued to collaborate on pro-grams with sister organizations such as IITAC and TiEToronto, that build upon existing synergies between allour members, as well as with those of other organiza-tions whose interests may overlap in certain areas.

With Business Councils in Halifax, Quebec, Winnipeg,Calgary, Vancouver, and the new establishment of aBusiness Council in Edmonton, the ICCC remains to bethe only Indo-Canadian organization that is truly nation-al from coast to coast. Meanwhile, these Councils havecontinued to grow and mature in their outlook whilemaintaining an active role in their individual communi-ties. Membership has increased by 10%, and we areproud to say that we have a significant representation ofmembers from all sectors of Corporate Canada. We havealso initiated programs with partner organizations such

as; the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, Indian Instituteof Technology Alumni Canada, TiE Toronto Chapter,Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada and Confederation ofIndian Industries, and are harnessing the support of oursponsors for joint events.

I wish to record my thanks to the entire Chamber, mem-bers of the Board, and various committees for all thecooperation extended by them to me. These last 12months have allowed me to witness some very importantevents within the Chamber such as; an afternoon withPrime Minister Harper, the reception for the newConsul General of India in Toronto, the Roundtable inChennai with Confederation of Indian Industries, aswell as the reception for the new High Commissioner ofIndia to name a few. In addition, I had the privilege ofleading a delegation of select ICCC members for theannual 2009 Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) in Chennai,whose theme was “India as an Emerging Power: TheDiaspora Factor.” During this time, I had the opportuni-ty to speak with the Honorable Vayalar Ravi, theMinister of Overseas Indian Affairs, about the possibilityof a mini PBD to be held in Canada for June 2010, anidea he was greatly receptive to. A roundtable discussionwas also organized in collaboration with theConfederation of Indian Industries on “Canada-IndiaTrade and Economic Exchanges.” The outcome of thesediscussions has helped us to formulate our ongoingvision with regards to the various sectorial relationshipsbetween Canada and India.

In the future we are looking to further develop the rela-tionship between Canada and India, in order to build apartnership for the 21st century. The emphasis beingthe recent decision of the present government to re-establish civilian nuclear co-operation, as well as toincrease the intake of immigrants coming into Canadafrom India. In relation to this, we are urging the govern-ment to consider increasing the funding of CanadianStudies programs in India about politics, business and

P R E S i D E N T ʼ S M E S S AG EAsha Luthra

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culture. Similarly, we are requesting the HighCommission and Consulates of India in Canada, to per-suade the Government of India to allocate substantialfunds for Indian studies programs that focus on interre-lated subjects of politics and business. Within thisframework, the Chamber would consider generating andinvesting funds for youth internship programs, alongwith promoting exchanges of youth and women entre-preneurs. We believe that these measures would raisethe profile of Canada in India and vice versa. Improvingthe cross cultural understanding and international expe-rience that are vital for harnessing the strengths andopportunities that exist within both economies.

The Chamber fully supports the recommendation madein the Report of the Joint CEO Forum, (as prepared bythe Canadian Council of Chief Executives, and theConfederation of Indian Industry) for the two PrimeMinisters to meet annually on bilateral, regional andmultilateral priorities. We also urge officials from bothcountries to work together in strengthening the positionof Canada and India as strategic partners, by building onthe growing convergence of similar interests and valuesthat the people of their nation cherish. We intend towork with the Canada India Parliamentary Association,to reinforce the relationships between Canada and India,particularly in the economic fields through the the flowof information and ideas.

As the first female President of the ICCC, my leadershipwould not have been effective without the support of ourmembers and sponsors. I consider myself fortunate inhaving an excellent team imbued with missionary zeal fortheir work, and I thank sincerely all my colleagues in theICCC Board, members of the Advisory Board and com-munity leaders for their unwavering support. We recordour deep appreciation to the officials in leadership in theprovincial and federal governments. And warmly thankthe High Commissioner for India to Canada and his staff,the Consul-Generals of India in Toronto and Vancouver,and their team for their cooperation. We are determinedto do everything possible to excel in these challengingtimes, and hope to continue to innovate and collaborateat the pan-Canadian level, as well as progress in achiev-ing the stated objectives of the ICCC. Above all, wewould like to pool the intellectual, and entrepreneurialtalent of all of our members in order to excel individuallyand collectively in the changing times.

Best personal regards, Asha LuthraPresident, Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce

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M E S S A G E S T O i C C C

26 May 2009

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Dalton McGuinty is Ontario's 24th Premier. In the provincial election of

2003, he led the Liberal party to a majority government. He and his party

earned a second consecutive majority on October 10, 2007. He has repre-

sented the riding of Ottawa South as its MPP since 1990.

During his first term, Premier McGuinty’s government reduced class sizes

and hospital wait times, improved Ontario’s infrastructure, and attracted

billions in new investment to Ontario.

Now in his second term, Premier McGuinty remains committed to building

an even stronger economy for Ontario families.

New tax reforms will mean more money in the pockets of Ontarians while

making our province an even more attractive place for businesses to invest.

The government has laid out a plan for Ontario that includes training for our

workers; increasing the Ontario child benefit; building more affordable-housing;

and increasing funding for health care, education and post-secondary education.

Dalton McGuintyPremier of Ontario

P R O F i L E O F C H i E FG U E S T S

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P R O F i L E O F C H i E FG U E S T S

Stockwell Day was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in 2000

and was re-elected in 2004, 2006 and 2008. Upon his election in 2000, he was

named Leader of the Official Opposition and remained in this role until

December 2001.

Following that, Mr. Day served as Official Opposition Critic for Foreign Affairs.

Mr. Day has been Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs

and International Trade. In 2006, Mr. Day was appointed Minister of Public

Safety and became a member of the Cabinet Committee on Priorities and

Planning. Upon his re-election in 2008, Mr. Day was appointed Minister of

International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway. He was also

appointed Chair of the Cabinet Committee on Afghanistan.

From 1986 to 2000, Mr. Day represented Red Deer North in the Alberta

Legislature, where he served in the Progressive Conservative Government in a

variety of senior roles including Chief Whip, Government House Leader,

Minister of Labour and Minister of Social Services. From 1997 to 2000 he was

Provincial Treasurer (Minister of Finance) and acting Premier. As the Alberta

Treasurer, Minister Day introduced Canada’s first single rate (flat) tax.

Mr. Day was born in Barrie, Ontario in 1950. He attended the University of

Victoria and has lived in various regions of Canada. He is a member of the

Royal Canadian Legion and the Rotary Club.

He and his wife, Valorie, have three sons.

The HonorableStockwell DayMinister of InternationalTrade and Minister forthe Asia-Pacific Gateway

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Since 1992, the Indo Canada Chamber of Commercehas acknowledged the achievements and

contributions of Indo-Canadians by instituting thefollowing awards:

Entrepreneur’s Award

Professional Male Award

Professional Female Award

Young Achievers Award

Technology Achievement Award

Corporate Executive Award

Humanitarian Award

Lifetime\Outstanding Achievement Award

Humanitarian Award

President’s Award

Member’s Award

The Advisory Board has identified our awardees for2008-2009 and are proud to present the

crème de la crème of our community.

Congratulations to all.....

They Made A Difference

Suresh is one of the most outstanding and respected leaders inthe South Asian community recognized for his leadership,humility, and selfless service to society. He has truly made out-standing contributions that have permanently enriched, broad-ened and increased the respect for the heritage of the Indo-Canadian community.

In his career at Royal Bank, he was one of the first visibleminorities to reach the upper echelons of senior managementand executive leadership positions. As part of the new genera-tion of Canadians, Suresh helped push through the glass ceilingand contributed to bringing Corporate Canada closer to thenew Canadians. He is also the first visible minority to beappointed as a Commissioner of the Ontario SecuritiesCommission, Canada’s leading regulatory agency. He has alsoserved as the Chair of Committees of OSC’s Board of Directors,Suresh has served on numerous business, community, cultural,arts and philanthropic organizations and initiatives.

Suresh spearheaded the Gujarat (India) Earthquake Relief Fund,created to respond to the tremendous need for humanitarianrelief, rehabilitation and reconstruction required for the thou-sands of people affected by the massive earthquake in Kutch,Gujarat, India. His leadership and dedication to this cause wasinstrumental to the remarkable success of this project.

He has also made outstanding contributions to public service,multiculturalism, public advocacy for Indo-Canadian causes,youth, and diversity related initiatives, including championingthe cause of visible minority representation at the executiveand board levels.

Suresh has received numerous awards and honorariums, includ-ing the Queen’s Jubilee Medal, Civic Awards, as well as human-itarian awards, both in Canada and India.

Suresh has a B.Sc. (Hons) from Uganda, an MBA from McGillUniversity, is a Fellow of Institute of Canadian Bankers and hasICD.D accreditation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Suresh and his wife Urmi have two sons Amar and Amit.

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• One of the most outstanding and respected leaders in the SouthAsian community

• Significant contributions to broaden & increase the respect for theIndo-Canadians

• Commissioner of the Ontario Securities Commission

Dr. Papneja arrived in Canada in 1981 with a Bachelor ofDental Surgery from India. After earning his Doctor of DentalSurgery at the University of Toronto, he opened a solo practicein Brampton, Ontario in 1986. Underlying the practice is asimple foundation of strong values anda solid work ethic.

Terry’s primary focus of practice is Implant Surgery, WisdomTeeth and full mouth reconstruction.

One of the ways he gives back to the local communityis by offering guidance counseling for students choosing theircareer options. He also supports the fundraising activities ofthe Trillium Hospital Foundation and other local charities.

But the cause particularly close to Terry's heart is supportingunderprivileged children. He deeply believes that giving edu-cation to needy children is the only way to get them out of thecycle of poverty. For many years, Terry has funded the educa-tion and basic living needs of less privileged children in hishome town in India.

In 1992, he founded a high school in memory of his father,Dr. K. L. Papneja. In addition, Terry personally funded thetuition, food and other needs of 35 children of low-incomefamilies. Some of these children have gone on to find goodjobs, and one has completed his professional Engineeringdegree.

For seven years, Terry has also spearheaded the Canadian chap-ter of a fundraising effort called AIM (All India Movement) forSeva. This program provides education and financial supportfor children living in urban slums across India. The Canadianchapter supports more than 300 children annually and hasfunded the construction of 17 hostel facilities that house some800 children.

• Dr. Terry Papneja and Associates Dental Office has been providingdental services for over 20 years

Lifetime/OutstandingAchievement Award

Suresh Thakrar

HumanitarianAward

Dr. Terry Papneja

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Professional MaleAward

Dr. Vivek Rao

In 2001, at the age of 33, Dr. Rao became the youngest surgicalappointee to the Division of Cardiac Surgery at TorontoGeneral Hospital. In addition, Dr. Rao was the first surgicalrecruit to possess a doctorate degree in cardiovascular researchat the time of his initial appointment. Due to his extensivetraining in transplantation and artificial heart technology,Dr. Rao was rapidly promoted to become the surgical directorof cardiac transplantation in June 2002. In 2005, Dr. Rao wasappointed to the Alfredo and Teresa DeGasperis Chair inHeart Failure Surgery at Toronto General Hospital in recogni-tion of his international reputation as an expert in the treat-ment of endstage heart disease.

Dr. Rao contributed to the establishment of Canada’s firstHeartMate artificial heart program in the fall of 2001. Duringthe first five years of its existence, the Toronto GeneralHospital’s artificial heart program rapidly became recognized asa center of excellence in mechanical circulatory support. Over56 devices have now been implanted in 41 patients with clini-cal outcomes that are unparalleled in North America. Dr. Raonow receives referrals from St. John’s to Vancouver for patientswith endstage heart disease requiring his unique expertise.

Dr. Rao is the principal UHN investigator of the STICH trial,a National Institutes of Health (NIH-US) sponsored studyexamining surgical therapies for heart failure. Of the 73 world-wide sites participating in this trial, UHN has emerged as theleading recruiter of patients and has the strongest clinicalresults.

Dr. Rao has won numerous awards during his surgical training.He was awarded the Paul C. Samson Resident award from theWestern Thoracic Surgical Association for his unique study intoa novel aortic valve substitute. He was awarded the Salter-Siminovitch Award from the Institute of Medical Science atthe University of Toronto as the most outstanding PhD gradu-ate in 1998. The department of Surgery at the University ofToronto also awarded him the 1999 Bernard Langer Award asthe most promising surgical scientist. In 2000, he was awardedthe Canadian Specialty Surgeons Award from the Royal Collegeof Physicians and Surgeons of Canada to recognize his multi-center study evaluating novel techniques for heart preservationduring coronary bypass surgery.

Dr. Rao is the author or co-author on over 150 original publica-tions and has contributed to 5 book chapters on various topicsin cardiac surgery.

Born in Mumbai, Soham was sent by his family to Detroit,where he earned a Masters Degree in Business. During his firstyear he ventured North to Toronto and Montreal and fell inlove with the country. Three days after graduating, he enteredCanada as a Landed immigrant and made it his home.

Soham thinks the world is flat and has spent the last34 years trying to convince Canadians of this belief “the worldis flat”, says Soham speaking about his favourite subject bread.

Committed to baking many different types of flatbread Sohamwith his brother Shreyas Ajmera founded a bakery calledDough Delight in 1974. Their first efforts were whole-wheattortillas, chapattis, corn tortillas, “anything that was flat” bythe time it was sold in 1994 to Canada Bread, Dough Delightwas producing 5 million bagels and 3 million croissants a day;not bad for someone who landed in Canada with little morethan an idea and a few dollars in his pocket.

One of his best commercial successes was figuring out how tocommercialize pizza crust; his baked crusts sold under thePresident’s Choice Splendido brand, under the A&P Platinabrand and under the Safeway brand, and became huge con-sumer successes in their respective markets.

“Every culture enjoys some kind of flatbread,” Soham main-tains. And in his latest bakery venture intends to celebrate thisuniversality one more time.

In 2004, Soham with his two sons co-founded FGF Brandswith long-time friend and marketing specialist Jim White.Together they decided to re-enter the market and offer theconsumers better, tastier bread options. They decided to makean entire collection of authentic, tasty flatbreads and the firsthurdle was to invent a continuous tandoor oven – now part of apatented process. Says Soham proudly –

“Even though we bake 1 million naan a week, every one ofthem is still hand-stretched, all natural, free of preservatives,free of hydrogenated oils and free of trans fats.

• President - fgf Brands Inc.

• Founded Dough Delight in 1974

• Founded fgf brands Inc with his two sons Tejus and Ojus in 2004Awarded “the Best New Food Product” in North America

• Owner/Director of Speciality Rice Co. also with his two sons

EntrepreneurAward

Soham Ajmera

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Dr. Anand earned her medical degree at McMaster in 1992, fol-lowed by a residency in internal medicine completed in 1996.From McMaster she also earned a Master’s degree in clinical epi-demiology in 1996, and a PhD in Health Research Methodologyin 2002. She completed a vascular medicine fellowship atHarvard University’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 2001.In1999 she won the Cardiovascular Society Young InvestigatorAward, and in 2001 she earned the Canadian Society InternalMedicine Young Investigator Award.

Dr. Sonia Anand is leading an international study on diabetesthat is receiving $1.6 million from CIHR.McMaster Universityresearchers have received funding to conduct one of theworld’s largest studies of genetic causes of diabetes in adults.

Dr. Anand contributes to the HRM program through teach-ing in Randomized Clinical Trials, and Non-ExperimentalDesign courses.

Dr. Anand holds the Eli-Lily May Cohen Chair in Women'sHealth Research at McMaster University, and a CanadianInstitutes for Health Research Clinician Scientist Phase 2Award. She is currently the Scientific Director – CVD of theOntario Chronic Disease Cohort. Her teaching focuses on clin-ical trials methodology and the epidemiology of cardiovasculardisease. She is also closely involved with the investigation ofnutrition and health among aboriginal peoples, funded by theCanadian Institutes of Health Research. Among the manyprestigious awards she has received are the Canadian Societyof Clinical Investigation Award, the Heart and StrokeFoundation of Canada Research Fellowship and theCardiovascular Society Young Investigators Award.

Dr. Anand's current research is investigating the causes of car-diovascular disease among ethnic groups, population genetics,and women’s cardiovascular health.

Professional FemaleAward

Dr. Sonia Anand

M. Jamal Deen was born in Georgetown, Guyana. He complet-ed a B.Sc. degree in Physics and Mathematics at theUniversity of Guyana, M.S. and a Ph.D. degrees in ElectricalEngineering and Applied Physics at Case Western ReserveUniversity, Cleveland, U.S.A. His Ph.D. dissertation was onthe design and modeling of a new Raman spectrometer fordynamic temperature measurements and combustion optimiza-tion in rocket and jet engines and was sponsored and used byNASA, Cleveland. He is currently Professor of Electrical andComputer Engineering and Senior Canada Research Chair inInformation Technology, McMaster University.

Dr. Deen has published extensively in microelectronics /nanolectronics and optoelectronics. For his research work, hehas also won 7 best paper awards. His current research inter-ests are in nanoelectronics and optoelectronics and their appli-cations in life and environmental sciences.

Dr. Deen has had an impeccable academic career, starting withwinning the Chancellor’s medal as the second best graduatingstudent and the Irving Adler prize as the best mathematicsstudent, to later a Fulbright-Laspau Scholarship and anAmerican Vacuum Society Scholarship as a graduate student,He was a NSERC Senior Industrial Fellow in 1993. Dr. Deen’srecord of achievements has been recognized by his peersthrough a number of awards and distinctions including beingelected Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Electron DeviceSociety; Thomas D. Callinan Award from the ElectrochemicalSociety, 2002; the Distinguished Researcher Award, Province ofOntario, July 2001; a Humboldt Research Award from theAlexander von Humboldt Foundation, 2006; and the EadieMedal from the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) – the onlyengineering award from the RSC, 2008. Dr. Deen is also Editorof several journals including IEEE Transactions on ElectronDevices and Fluctuations and Noise Letters.

TechnologyAchievement Award

Dr. Jamal Deen

• Associate Professor, Department of Medicine

• Associate Member, Department of Clinical Epidemiology &Biostatistics

• Team Leader, Cardiovascular Research in Gender (CARING)

• Director, Vascular Medicine Clinic, Hamilton Health SciencesCIHR Clinician-Scientist Phase 2 Award 2004-2009

• Currently a professor of Electrical Engineering at McMasterUniversity and Editor of IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices

• Elected as Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, The Institute ofElectrical and Electronic Engineers and is an honorary member ofthe World of Innovation Foundation

• Has won the IBM faculty award and Humboldt Research Awardin 2006

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Mr. Panday’s long and distinguished career in public account-ing and banking industries spreads over 27 years in a variety ofprogressive senior management roles with leading domesticand international financial institutions.

Mr. Panday joined ICICI Bank Limited in 2003, from HSBC,with the mandate to launch ICICI Group’s banking subsidiaryin Canada. As its senior ranking officer and the foundingPresident and CEO, he was a member of the Bank’s first boardof directors from 2003 to 2008. Under his leadership, the Bankobtained its charter as a Schedule II bank in Canada. He ledthe Bank’s entry strategy and establishment of its brand inCanada, recruited the Canadian board, the senior managementand core team, evolving ICICI Bank Canada into a full-servicedirect bank with depositors coast to coast and $ 4 Billion inassets as at March 31, 2008. In April 2008, he became thePresident, Wealth Management, North America Region over-seeing ICICI Group’s wealth management business in Canadaand the United States.

Mr. Panday owes his expert know-how to his mentors at PriceWaterhouse Coopers, BMO and HSBC, where he managedportfolios of commercial and corporate clients in a host ofindustries and restructured insolvent entities in Canada andthe USA. At HSBC he was one of the first to lead businessdevelopment in the South Asian diaspora.

Throughout his career, he has served on prominent not-for-profit boards, including as a past president of the Indo-CanadaChamber of Commerce where he helped transform it into apremier forum and training ground for Indo-Canadians.Currently, he is a Trustee at the Royal Ontario Museum and aGovernor on the board of Roy Thompson Hall and MasseyHall. Most recently, he was invited to the board of InvestToronto, to help attract international investment to Toronto.

Mr. Panday frequently shares his experience and knowledge atCanada’s premier forums, such as the Empire Club of Toronto,the Osgoode Hall Law School, and most eminent businessschools like Schulich, Rotman and Richard Ivey. In January2009, he was invited by the Government of India to speak atthe 7th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas convention in Chennai, India,on how to build bridges to increase trade and investmentbetween India and its diaspora. In 2008, India Abroad chosehim in its PowerList of 35 most influential Indo-Canadians.

Corporate ExecutiveAward

Hari Panday

Suraj is a first year Bachelor of Business Administration stu-dent at York University’s Schulich School of Business.Currently at Schulich, he is the president of the school’s YorkInvestment Club which is involved in managing a mutual fundtype portfolio. In addition, he is actively involved in DECAwhich is a not-profit organization devoted to further enhancingthe business knowledge of high school students in Canada.Not only is he involved as a judge, but he has also placed top 5in numerous categories in the DECA U Nationals this year.Another notable accomplishment is Suraj’s role as anInvestment Consultant for Stockgroup Media Inc. Many of hisfinancial analysis have been top-rated on the company’s web-site and have been quoted in financial articles.

Suraj is also involved in the community through the Free theChildren Initiative. He is currently the chair of the SchulichFree The Children program and has created and implementednew ways to raise money. To date, together with his team hehas raised $28,000. In 2007, Suraj helped to organize theUniversity of Toronto’s Cricket for Cancer event to raisemoney for the Cancer Society. He partnered with the VishnuMandir to contribute to the efforts of raising money as dona-tion for the Tsunami Relief Fund in 2005.

Currently, he is a Commercial Markets intern at the RBCwhile he continues his studies at Schulich School of Business.He is also in the process of completing the Canadian SecuritiesCourse Designation.

• DECA regional and provincial competition judge and placed top 5 inthe DECA U Nationals in 2009. DECA is a not-for-profit organizationthat fosters business education in high school students.

• Featured in The Globe and Mail column “Me and My Money”highlighting successful innovative investors

• Raised $10,000 for medical supplies in Sierra Leone as part ofFree the Children initiatives

Young AchieversAward

Suraj Kumar Gupta

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Dr. Asha Seth works as an obstetrician and gynecologist in herown family practice as well as serving as a primary physicianand consultant at St. Joseph’s Health Centre. She completedmedical school in India and then moved to England to furtherher career and then finally arriving in Canada.

She became the founding president of the North IndianMedical & Dental Association of Canada in 2008. The organiza-tion is dedicated to providing a platform for medical and dentalprofessionals to come together. Dr. Seth also serves as theChairperson for the Fundraising Committee of theSt. Joseph’s Health Centre. She is currently working on raising$30 million for the center’s Women’s Health Initiative througha gala event that will take place next year. Further, she givesback to numerous charities such as Scarborough GeneralHospital, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, Trillium HealthCentre, Covenant House and the Canadian Kidney Foundation.

In addition to her contributions to the medical field, she hasdevoted her time towards philanthropic work to the TsunamiRelief Fund, Gujurat Earthquake Relief Fund and the PakistanRelief Fund. In addition, she lends her support to the Doctorswithout Borders, an international medical humanitarian organi-zation. To emphasize her belief in the importance of educa-tion, Dr. Seth donates $1250 annually to an academicallyoutstanding Ontario student to help further their educationpast high school.

• Serves as a primary physician and consultant at the St. Joseph’sHealth Centre

• Started an Obstetrician and Gynecologist family practice, focusingon preventative and rehabilitative treatments

• Awarded for contributions to the South Asian Women’s Centre forthe Abused Women program

President’s AwardDr. Asha Seth

Pal is a visionary and leader, not only professionally in publicaccounting field, but also as a dedicated community builderand a volunteer. Pal heads the ICCC’s Net working event forMississauga. He is active member for last 14 years.

Pal is currently a Partner in a local accounting firm in Torontoand widely acknowledged to be one of the leading practitionersin his field. He has over 18-years experience specializing in allaspects of Accounting, Auditing, U.S., and Canadian Tax withowner manager clients in high tech, retail, manufacturing, realestate sectors, and professionals. He is widely recognized forhis intimate knowledge in the specific fields including CrossBorder Taxation.

His commitment to work and selflessness have seen him per-form very active role in the community and with ICCC.

After consistent follow up and raising concern over alienatinghuge Toronto’s west end communities, ICCC agreed to launch2nd Wednesday monthly networking event at Mississauga.With astounding success of these meetings, ICCC now con-ducts various events at west end. He is also a member of Golfcommittee of ICCC.

Pal while working hard for the ICCC also finds time, for othercharitable work. He has been a member of the Fund RaisingCommittee for Trillium Hospital and a founding member ofSikh Sub Committee for the Fund Raising initiatives for thebrand new hospital in Brampton, “Brampton Civic Hospital”.He was a Co-Chair for the Fund Raising Gala, “An Evening inPunjab”, in which approximately $80,000 was raised for theHospital. Under the guidance of Sikh Sub–Committee,Brampton Civic Hospital has raised over $4 million with vari-ous community’s initiatives in very short period of time. Heactively participates and supports other community’s events.Pal is also a member of the Halton Peel CA’s Association.

• National Director-B.C. Operations, Indo-Canada Chamberof Commerce

• Full-time entrepreneur of a full service advertising agency calledThe Hype Advertising Agency

• Over 12 years experience in Business, Marketing, Advertising,Customer Service, Charities, Events, Fashion and Public Relations

Member AwardSurinder (Pal)

Ghumman

W:\Admin\Marketing\Advertisements\Indo-Canada Magazine 2009-04-30.doc

Information Technology Solutions

Aylesworth LLP is proud to be a Gala Entertainment Sponsor for the

Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce Annual Awards and Gala Night 2009

B U S I N E S S S U C C E S S I O N A N D

E S T A T E P L A N N I N G

C O R P O R A T E / C O M M E R C I A L

F I N A N C I A L S E R V I C E S

F R A N C H I S I N G A N D L I C E N S I N G

I N T E L L E C T U A L P R O P E R T Y

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( E N V I R O N M E N T A L

M A N A G E M E N T S Y S T E M S )

L I T I G A T I O N

P E R S O N A L I N J U R Y A N D

I N S U R A N C E

R E A L E S T A T E

R E S T R U C T U R I N G A N D

I N S O L V E N C Y

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d of Directors

The Advisory Board of Directors

They Made It Happen2008 - 2009

The Board of Directors

The Advisory Board of Directors

They Made It Happen2008 - 2009

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Gurinder S (Gord) HundalAs the Regional Vice President for the Toronto Northwest market,Gurinder Singh Hundal has responsibility for RBC's Personal,Financial Planning and Small Business clients in the TorontoNorthwest area. Born and raised in Victoria, British Columbia as afirst-generation Canadian, Gord has also lived abroad, spendingtime in both England and Malaysia. After completing hisBachelorʼs Degree in the Sciences from the University of Victoria,Gord went on to earn a Masters of Business Administration beforemoving into the financial world. Gord joined RBC eight years ago asa credit analyst and progressed to the role of Senior RelationshipManager, where he worked with several private and public compa-nies in the knowledge-based and technology industries in BritishColumbia. Subsequently, he moved to Toronto four years ago wherehe worked with the Financing Products team in the CommercialFinancial Services business.

Rizwan JamalAs Senior Vice President of Marketing, Rizwan brings approximate-ly 15 years of telecommunications and marketing experience tohis role. He leads a national team dedicated to providing best-in-class marketing programs for wireless and wireline services,including marketing communications, marketing intelligence,marketing operations, product marketing and related functions.Rizwan joined Clearnet Communications in 1998, prior to theTELUS acquisition, and has held increasingly senior roles withinthe organization. Prior to being appointed Senior Vice President,Rizwan held the position of Vice President of Channel Operationswhere he was responsible for TELUS Mobilityʼs expanding nation-al network of distribution channels, including corporate stores,dealer and retail partners, and direct sales. Rizwan holdsa Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Systems DesignEngineering from the University of Waterloo.

Sandeep M. LalSandeep Lal has served as President of Metro Label a second-generation family run business since 1991. Under Sandeepʼsleadership, Metro Labelʼs has grown significantly by expand-ing its business and diversifying into additional geographic andconsumer markets. Metro Label was recognized in 2006, 2007and 2008 as one of “Canadaʼs 50 Best Managed Companies.”Sandeep is particularly proud of his involvement with the newMetro Label head office completed in August 2005, built toLEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)standards. It reflects the corporate culture of excellence, inno-vation and urgency that he has fostered. Sandeep has a strongsense of community and invests his time and money to supportorganizations that are focused on education, health, youthdevelopment, sports, arts and culture.

Arjun JasujaMr. Arjun Jasuja is CEO and Chairman of Sigma Systems Group,a global leader in the area of Information Technology productsand services for the fortune 500 companies. Sigmaʼs suite ofservice management products is in use at major Cable, Wireline,Wireless and Satellite companies worldwide. Mr. Jasuja was arecipient of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year – FinalistAward for 2001, and of the Indo Canada Chamber of CommerceTechnology Achievement Award for 2002. Mr. Jasuja holds aMasterʼs Degree in Systems Design Engineering from theUniversity of Waterloo, Canada, and a Bachelorʼs degree inElectronics Engineering from the Institute of Technology, Varanasi,India. He has been awarded the Fellowship of Institute ofCanadian Bankers with a Gold Medal.

Ramesh ChotaiMr. Ramesh Chotai is the President of Bromed Pharmaceuticals.Born in Northern Uganda, Ramesh pursued his education inBritain. Completing his training as a Pharmacist in the UK andSwitzerland, he joined ICI Pharmaceuticals in Kampala,Uganda. He came to Canada in 1972 and started as aPharmacist/Manager at an Oshawa Pharmacy, he has built avery successful group of companies that manufacture and dis-tribute medical and health care products around the world.Community builder and a philanthropist, he is President of theHindu Mandir and Cultural Centre. Ramesh is the Vice-Chairmanof The Canadian Museum of Hindu Civilization & Diwali co-chairperson of Trillium Health Centre. He received the ICCCʼs2004 Presidentʼs Award.

A D V i S O R Y B O A R D2 0 0 8 – 2 0 0 9

collaborating to make it happen

Yezdi Pavriis the Managing Partner for Deloitte in Toronto, with overallresponsibility for delivering on the Strategic Priorities of thefirm in the Region. He is a member of the Firm's ManagementCommittee and the Operations Leadership Team. Yezdi servessome of Deloitte's largest Financial Services clients, specializingin Operational and IT Risk Management & Governance and cur-rently sits on the Board of TRIEC and the United Way of GreaterToronto. Yezdi obtained a B. Tech. (Aeronautical Engineering)degree from IIT (Bombay) in 1972 and a M.Sc. (Thermal PowerEngineering) degree from Imperial College (London, U.K.) in1974. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants inEngland and Wales, and a member of the Canadian Institute ofChartered Accountants.

Jim PetersonThe Honorable Jim Peterson (P.C., B.A., LL.B, LL.M, D.C.L) isCounsel to Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP and was Member ofParliament for Willowdale in Toronto, Canada from 1980 to1984 and 1988 to 2007. He also has served for 4 years asChair on the Finance Committee, 5 years as Secretary of Statefor Financial Institutions and 2 years as Minister ofInternational Trade. In addition, he has led trade missions toDelhi, Mumbai and Chennai; headed the Canadian delegationat the Technology Summit in Delhi, concluded the S&TAgreement, opened a Consulate in Chennai and was appointedfull-time EDC representative to India. He has also worked close-ly with Minister Nath on WTO and bilateral issues and hostedMinister Sibalʼs visit to Canada.

Sunil Jagasia – Past PresidentSunil is the founder and CEO of Total Logistics GroupInc. His company provides road, rail, ocean air andinter-modal transportation worldwide. The company isalso engaged in warehousing and logistics solutions forits customers. Sunil has over 20 years experience inboth management and operations in North America,Europe and Asia.

Volunteering

Giving back to make a difference. Many of the things we do from day to dayare just basically to earna living. Volunteering helps us to achieve a better balance to everything as there is a lot to be gained.There are many interesting opportunities available to you to contribute volunteer hours andprofessional expertise. These will provide you with a unique learning experience, as well as theopportunity to further develop leadership skills and connections with a new network of people. There is always a need of fresh ideas, eagerness and energy.

Time commitments vary; different positions require times ranging from a few hours a year,monthly, weekly or even daily contributions. Join an ongoing committee or volunteer at afunction – you choose.

It is truly amazing how much not-for-profit organisations accomplish given their limited staffand resources. One of the prime reasons for this high level of performance is that successfulorganisations consistently develop and maintain a committee system that permits it to leverageits limited resources to achieve the enormous number of the organisations goals. One passionateindividual can make a huge difference.

Strong committees build successful Not-for-Profit organisations. While goodwill and goodintentions keep the dollars rolling in, it is sound governance that enables these organisationsto fulfill their mandate. The establishment of values, vision, mission and goals are key aspectsof governance, and governance involves decisions that have implications for the organisation.In times of change effective board management and accountability are matters of even greaterimportance and urgency.

The Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce is always looking for bright and energetic people tocontribute fresh ideas. Come join, become a member, participate in activities and should you prefer,join our committees, board. The annual general meeting is coming up at the end of June 2009.

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Asha Luthra – PresidentAsha has been in the Travel and Tourism business for the last20 years starting her career with Air India. Today she headsthe Business Travel Network which offers complete travel needsto the Small and medium corporate houses. Asha also headsthe Al Consultancy which provides a full range of services tothe tourism industry and caters to the needs of both privateand public sectors with great emphasis on Medical Tourism.Asha holds a Masters degree in English and Economics fromthe Bombay University.

Kundan Joshi - V.P. Finance & Administrationand Director, Young ProfessionalsKundan Joshi is a Quality Assurance Lead at ConceptInteractive Inc. He is the Founder and Managing Director oftwo start ups, Joshi Inc. and Virtuoso Designs. Joshi Inc. is anIT and Business Consulting company which provides businesssolutions and outsourcing services and Virtuoso Designs is acreative solutions company. He was a part of the YP commit-tee that received the 'ICCC Member of the Year' award fromHon. Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2007. Kundan hascompleted a B.Eng. Degree in Software Engineering from theUniversity of Western Ontario.

Neena Gupta – V.P. Funding Growth &Legal AffairsNeena Gupta's practice is focused on employment and humanrights law. She also has a wide variety of experience in theOntario Human Rights Code, the Pay Equity Act and the OntarioEmployment Standards Act. She is on the board of directors ofthe Ontario Bar Assistance Program, JVS Toronto and is anactive member of the Canadian Bar Association.

Satish Thakkar – Director,Membership & EventsSatish Thakkar is a CA from India and a CGA from Ontario witha solid background in providing end to end finance solutionsand full service business and transaction advisory consultation.He has an extensive experience in both corporate and personalfinancial planning. As the president of Excelsior FinancialGroup, Satish has been able to cultivate strong relationshipswith key players and partners in the financial markets, offeringboth debt and equity solutions. Coupled with the ability tosource and structure transactions with a product mix thatincludes Revolving and Term debt with both Balance Sheetand Cash Flow lending models.

Jim Sahdra – Director, Small & MediumEnterprises Committee (SME)Jim Sahdra is an experienced corporate/commercial and secu-rities lawyer who has advised businesses of all sizes, rangingfrom start-ups to multi-national corporations. He has extensiveknowledge of Ontario corporate and securities legislation andfunctions in a close advisory role to business owners and seniormanagement. Jim obtained his law degree from Queen'sUniversity in Kingston, Ontario and was called to the bar inOntario in 1999. He also holds a Bachelor of Education degreefrom the University of Windsor and a Bachelor of Arts degree(economics) from the University of Toronto. Jim is a long timemember of the ICCC and served as a member of the ICCC's SMECommittee for several years.

Vinay Nagpal – Director, ITVinay is a Senior Development Manager at the IBM SoftwareLaboratory Canada. Vinay has held a number of leadershippositions, and most recently was the president of the IBM SouthAsian Diversity Group. Vinay graduated from the London Schoolof Economics and Political Science with a BSc and MSc inComputer Science. Vinay is an avid sportsman, and has found-ed two fund raising teams for a variety of charities. Mostnotably, Vinay has cycled from Toronto to St.John's NF forCancer Research.

B O A R D O F D i R E C T O R S2 0 0 8 – 2 0 0 9innovating to make it work

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B O A R D O F D i R E C T O R S2 0 0 8 – 2 0 0 9innovating to make it work

Sunil Jagasia – Past PresidentSunil is the founder and CEO of Total Logistics Group Inc.His company provides road, rail, ocean air and inter-modal trans-portation worldwide. The company is also engaged in warehous-ing and logistics solutions for its customers. Sunil has over 20years experience in both management and operations in NorthAmerica, Europe and Asia.

Ms. Rina Gill – National Director, B.C.OperationsRina Gill is a Marketing Specialist with TELUS focus on theSouth Asian Segment Nationally. She has more than 12 yearsof experience in Business, Marketing, Customer Service,Charities, Events and Public Relations. Including positions withBell and Rogers ʼ National Marketing department. Rina hascompleted an Honours BA degree (double major) in MarketingCommunications/Humanities and has a Creative Advertisingdiploma and Fashion Design Certificate. She also gained admit-tance and grant from the prestigious Government of OntarioEntrepreneurs program to start her own Marketing Agency.

Dr. Geetha Ramesh – National Director,Alberta OperationsDr. Geetha Ramesh Is the technical Director with WorleyParsons, where she is the manager for Risk Assessment. Sheholds a Ph.D in environmental science and works on projectsboth nationally and globally. She sits on the board for womenin science and engineering in North America, as well as thementoring board for women in science and engineering inAlberta. She is chair for Immigrant women in Alberta and iscurrently developing mentoring and networking programs forthem. She has been doing community service for a long time,and was the executive member and past president of the IndiaCanada Association (INCA) of Calgary. She is also on the Boardwith the Calgary Economic Development to promote CalgarySister Cities initiatives with Houston. She started an internation-al aid program for poor children in her home city of Chennai.She was the recipient of the ICCC member award for 2007.

Minoo Bhutani – DirectorMinoo Bhutani is the Director of the Career Development Centre,and India Country Advisor at the Schulich School of Business,York University. Prior to joining Schulich in 2001, Minoo worked12 years in Wholesale Banking and Accounting. Heʼs workedfor PricewaterhouseCoopers, TD Securities and Scotia Capital inCanada, and a leading securities firm in India. He has an MBAin International Finance and along with being on the Board ofthe ICCC, is a Board Member and Treasurer of the CanadianAssociation of Career Educators and Employers (CACEE).

Supro Mukherjee – National Director,Quebec OperationsSupro came to Canada as a student, right after graduatingfrom IIT Kharagpur, and obtained his Masters' degrees inChemical Engineering from the University of Waterloo and anMBA from McGill. He has spent most of his career in the paperindustry and has held management positions in marketing,finance and manufacturing at Consolidated-Bathurst, Stone-Consolidated and Abitibi-Consolidated, from where he retired asSr. V.P., Strategic Planning. Supro's extra-curricular interestsinclude fly-fishing, golf & Indian classical music.

Harjit S. Kalsi – DirectorHarjit is Chief Financial Officer and on the Board of Directors ofthe Skylink Group of Companies. His position consists of execu-tive duties related to financial management policies and gener-al business operations, including strategic planning, businessplanning, planning and implementing financial systems, feasi-bility studies and contract negotiations. He obtained a Bachelorof Commerce from the University of Delhi. He has alsoobtained a Diploma in Hospitality Management and FoodServices, a Certificate in Business Administration and has desig-nation as Certified General Accountant.

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Energy Committee– Dr. V.I. Lakshmanan, Chair

The objectives of the Energy Committee are to increasethe dialogue and improve relations between Canada andIndia in matters related to Energy.

The Energy Committee arranged for a special presenta-tion on August 7,2008 by Sam Sampath, who was amember of the Intergovernmental Panel on ClimateChange, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. Dr.Sampath spoke to an audience of more than 50, repre-senting public and private sector, of the climate changechallenges facing the world and potential ways toaddress them. More recently, the Energy Committeemet with M.S. Unnikrishnan of Thermax, during hisvisit to Toronto, to discuss potential opportunities in thesolar energy sector. Mr. Unnikrishnan will be elaboratingon this during a visit later this year to address ICCCmembers.

The Energy Committee of the ICCC is comprised of the fol-lowing: V.I. Lakshmanan – CEO, Process ResearchORTECH Inc., Krish Krishnamoorthy - former Senior VP,SNC Lavalin, Sam Sampath - Senior Fellow, Pratt &Whitney Canada, Ranga Ranganathan - Director,Saskatchewan Research Council, Venkataraman Kannan– Director, Cethar Vessels.

Events Committee– Satish Thakkar: Director of Events

The events committee coordinates the event calendar ofthe Chamber. It assists various committees in hostingtheir functions. This year we had close to Seventy oneevents with a majority of them in the GTA area.

A high profile Luncheon was arranged to meet PrimeMinister Right Hon. Stephen Harper at Hilton GardensInn, Vaughan, Ontario on Sept. 10, 2008. Approx 500chamber members, business and other community lead-ers attended the event and had the opportunity to meetand hear the various initiatives Govt. has been taking inrelation to accreditation of foreign credentials,

immigration and towards the strengthening the tradeties between Canada & India.

ICCC & OCC jointly organized an exclusive discussionon “Trends in World Economy and Foreseeable Realitiesin Canada-India Economic Relations” where Mr. RajivKumar – Director and Chief Executive of the IndianCouncil for Research on International EconomicRelations (ICRIER) addressed members on the subject.ICRIER is an important think tank in India that focuseson International Economic relations. Discussions on pol-icy issues were followed by a question period in whichthe participants expressed their interests to the variousinitiatives Govt. has been taking to improve andstrengthen business and trade between the countries.

Our Annual Holiday Dinner and Dance was held on22nd November, 2008 at the Radisson Plaza Hotel inMississauga, attended by approx. 350 members along withsome dignitaries . It was a fun-filled evening offering greatentertainment, good food and excellent ambiance.

This Year also ICCC participated in the 7th annualPravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention held at theChennai Trade Centre, Chennai from January 7-9, 2009.It is an annual event which is organised by the Ministryof Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) in partnership withthe State Government of Tamil Nadu and theConfederation of Indian Industry (CII) where membersof the Canadian delegation to the PBD along withmembers of CII and other business executives from vari-ous industries in India participated in a Roundtable dis-cussion on “Canada-India Trade and EconomicExchanges” and discussed how to increase the level ofcooperation between India and Canada.

Young Professional Committee and ICats Committeecontinued hosting various monthly Events. All eventslike “Weathering the Storm - Young Entrepreneurs inAction”, “Women in Leadership”, “Imagining India”and “Selling Yourself” were very well attended andgreat success.

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Communications; Alan Kearns, Founder of Career Joy;and Binod Singh, CEO of ILantus. The speakers wereinspiring and the audience left with new thoughts onwhy to proceed in either a career or a new venture.

Our third and one of the most successful event was‘Green-IT’. It was a resounding success. The fivespeakers included leadership from Dell - Paul Cooper;Microsoft – Ryan Dochuck; Toronto Hydro – StephenWalker; Datawitness – Jag Gillan; and Tata Consultancy– Akhilesh Tripathi. The sponsors for the event wereMicrosoft Canada and Data Witness from Vancouver, JagGillan (President & CEO) who delivered an inspira-tional discourse on “On-line witnessing & archiving solu-tions, reducing carbon footprint for greener IT.”

Not wanting to rest on our laurels, we engaged with theco-founder of Infosys and co-founder of NASSCOM topromote and get inspired from his book “Imagining India.”

Mr. Nandan Nilekani presented the vision of emergingIndia, the growth & challenges in the new century. Inconcert with Deloitte & Touche, hosting the event wasa coo for iCATS as the exclusive organization to host Mr.Nandan’s inspiring speech within Indo-Canadian busi-ness community.

Kudos to all the volunteers for a fabulous first year as weplan for greater successes in our second year.

Operating under the auspices of the ICCC, the Indo-Canadian Association of Technology and SoftwareCommittee (iCATS) was formed to provide a platformfor IT Professionals, Entrepreneurs and Investors tocome together and network, support growth and sustain-ability in the ever changing Global IT marketplace. Asprofessionals in the IT industry we are focused on bridg-ing the IT communities between Canada and India bycreating events and capitalizing on opportunities andtrends for all audiences.

Rajiv Bhatnagar is the Chair of this committee with RajJoshi, Rakesh Srivastava, Sharan Khurana, Amit Soodand Prasad Rao as committee members.

This year, the SME Committee launched its innovative"Hard Hats Tour" series in November, 2008. The HardHats Tour series gave ICCC members the unique oppor-tunity to learn from the various successful South Asianentrepreneurs the secrets of their success.

Calgary, Vancouver and Montreal Business Councils alsoorganized various networking events at their respectivecouncils to provide members an opportunity to networkwith other business people, professionals and membersof their trade and business organizations.

As I write this article the Event committee is workingvery hard towards our upcoming Annual Awards and GalaNight and I look forward to seeing you all there.Working as an Event Director has been challenging andrewarding, however it would not have not been possiblewithout the support of all the Committee Membersincluding: Kishore Tailor, Surbhi Guleria, and Rohan Sethi.

Indo-Canadian Association ofTechnology & Software – iCATSCommittee- Rajiv Bhatnagar, Chair

What a year we have had. Our Committee launch eventwas attended with greater numbers than first anticipat-ed. The guest speakers were – Andy Jasuja, CEO &Chairman of Sigma Systems Group; Paddy Rao, VicePresident of Infosys Canada; and Sunil Sharma, Directorat Canada Venture Capital Association. The feedbackfrom the audience about the speakers and the locationwas excellent. We also received great suggestions aboutour mandate and how we should proceed with our pro-gramming. We are always attempting to ensure ourmembers, the ICCC and its greater membership isactive and engaged in our events.

Our second event was based on the theme of “SellingYourself” and included discussions on “Becoming anEntrepreneur”, “Building your Career Brand”, and“Indian IT Professional Brand building in the West”.The guest speakers were – Ashok Kalle, CEO of Pathway

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C O M M i T T E E A N N U A LR E V i E W S

Marketing & CommunicationsCommittee– Surbhi Guleria, Chair

The mandate of the Marketing committee is to increaseICCC's professional & public visibility and to promote& project the mission & vision of the organization in aclear & consistent manner.

ICCC has existed for more than 31 years and over theyears it has evolved to create an image for itself. Themission for the marketing committee this year was toenhance, elevate and re-brand ICCC in a strategic andplanned manner. The focus was on making all the com-munication collateral consistent and coherent with eachother internally and externally, working alongsideICCC's overall goals.

The Marketing & Communications Committee workedclosely with different Councils to create unique yet con-sistent collateral for various events. It was evident thatone of the major areas of focus is events, hence theMarketing Committee focused on working with variouscommittees to come up with original & fresh ideas fornew and recurring events.

The long term vision of the marketing committee is toposition ICCC as an inclusive, innovative, collaborative,leading, highly progressive and a premiere organizationthrough its communication material – online, as well asprint. The goal for the upcoming year include: regulatingthe event invites, news blasts, save the dates card, E-newsletter and Magazine etc., in a template format.

Going-forward, the Marketing & CommunicationsCommittee will work more closely with the ICCCBusiness Councils in all the cities across Canada to assistthem with their marketing needs locally.

Overall, the Marketing & Communications Committeehas contributed towards making ICCC’s presence morevisible in the national arena, as well as elevating thequality and standard of events.

Rina Gill, Director. Other members Reetika Sarin Joshi,Natascha Trivedi, Vishal Misra and Vikash Agarwal.

IT Committee– Jai Maru, Co-Chair

Chaula Anjaria, Co-Chair

There is an increasing demand for technology leaders withbroad business skills. That means the ability to go beyondrunning a technically efficient service operation to produc-ing real business cost reductions while laying an infrastruc-ture for increased revenues and profits.

The Information Technology Committee brings technolo-gy professionals to ICCC that have a broad business andtechnical skill-set, effectively bridging the gap betweenthe two. This provides ICCC members and sponsors withbroad commercial wisdom, and the tools to exploit it.

Members of the IT Committee have been focused onbuilding a technology strategy that will allow ICCC theflexibility to scale deep and wide as the organizationevolves in coming years.

It is abundantly clear that technology in itself does notdrive business value, but rather people do. The coreapproach is to enable people to interact with like-mindedindividuals generating business value from day-one.Technology allows the human-interaction to be done in ameaningful manner while replicating it in a self-sustainingway. It is in such an environment where people can betruly open and multi-disciplined where new opportunitiesare identified.

To that effect, 2008 has been a pivotal year for the ICCC.It not only nominated its first woman president, but alsofully supported the revitalization of its brand in the mar-ketplace by further enhancing the use of technology.

2009 is positioned to be the year where ICCC shifts itsview from transaction to interactivity, bringing increase inorganizational productivity and a means to reach and co-mingle with its members and sponsors.

Vinay Nagpal is the Director of this IT Committee while JaiMaru and Chaula Anjaria are the Co-Chairs. Other membersof this committee include Puleen Patel, Bhadri Madapusi.

Vinay Nagpal is the Director of this IT Committeewhile Jai Maru and Chaula Anjaria are the Co-Chairs.Other members of this committee include Puleen Patel,Bhadri Madapusi.

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Young Professionals Committee– Arti Kakar & Anjali Handa, Co-Chairs

Led by Director Kundan Joshi and Co-Chairs AnjaliHanda and Arti Kakar, the ICCC Young Professionals(YP) had a great 2008-2009 year! In keeping with theirvision, “Explore. Evolve. Excel.” and their commitmentto serve as a forum for interactive discussions, network-ing, and knowledge sharing amongst its members, YPhosted one event per month from September 2008 toApril 2009. Each event was unique in delivering its keymessages and each speaker panel catered to a variety ofaudience members.

The first main event of the year, “Weathering the Storm:Young Entrepreneurs in Action!” was held in September2008, featuring Ravi Sood, President & COO, LawrenceAsset Management, and Mike Branch and Bob Bradley,Co-Owners, Inovex. Here, the speakers discussed theirjourneys through both the recent economic storm, andthe “storm” that brews when young professionals starttheir own ventures. They shared strategies for copingwith the past and planning for the future, as well as keyideas and innovations when starting a business.

YP’s next big event, “Dare to be Different”, featured apanel of young Indo-Canadians who have stepped outsideof the traditional career paths (doctor, lawyer, banker,accountant) and are now following their dreams pursuingcareers that they love. The panel included DJ Jiten,Professional DJ, Founder & CEO Empire Entertainment,Anita Majumdar, Actress, Dancer & Writer, SanjayBurman, Motivational Speaker, Master Hypnotherapistand Film Producer, and Jas Brar, President, EntripyCustom Clothing. The panel was moderated by SyerahVirani, CEO, MyBindi.com. The common message deliv-ered by each panel speaker was to educate audiencemembers on the importance of discovering their true tal-ents and using personal inspiration to pursue their pas-sions, regardless of the odds against them.

Other events of the year included “2009: Setting Goals,Losing Fears & Switching Gears!”, featuring SanjayBurman and “Women in Leadership”, a panel discussionfeaturing successful Indo-Canadian Women; Dr. Sonia

Anand, Associate Professor of Medicine, McMasterUniversity, Nandini Jolly, CEO Cryptomill Inc., andDr. Mitali De, Professor of Business, Wilfrid LaurierUniversity.

YP also hosted a “Breakfast with the CEO” series on abi-monthly basis. This series provided young profession-als with the opportunity to network and meet with suc-cessful CEOs up close and personal. It took place in anintimate setting where members participated in interac-tive discussions and knowledge sharing activities.Breakfast speakers included; Asif Khan, Founder &CEO, FronteirAlt Capital Corporation; Arun Nagarajan,CEO, State Bank of India (Canada); David Singh,Chairman & CEO, Destiny Group of Companies; KishKapoor, CEO, Wellington West Holdings.

YP has successfully launched chapters in various univer-sities in Ontario including Queens, McMaster, York,University of Toronto, Ryerson and Western Ontario, inan effort to extend their outreach and support to theupcoming young professionals, who are the future of YPand ICCC.

And YP is not stopping there! To meet the demand offurther networking opportunities amongst young profes-sionals in the city, YP is partnering with Sanjay Burmanto host the “Setting Goals & Losing Fears Challenge!”This is a series of 8 workshops that started in April andwill continue into November 2009 focused on settingrealistic and attainable goals to get what you want. Theworkshops follow a unique format in which young pro-fessionals partner with their colleagues to build relation-ships that bring them closer to achieving their goals.

As the year comes to an end, YP will be working hardover the summer to prepare for an even bigger and bet-ter 2009-2010 year. Some planning activities will involverecruiting a structured executive committee, building astrong marketing campaign, and brainstorming ideas fortheir monthly events. YP is also on Facebook, Blogger,and LinkedIn..

Kundan Joshi is the Director of the Young ProfessionalsCommittee. Other members of this committee are Surbhi Guleria,Natascha Trivedi, Raji Aujla and Rohit Shanker.

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Trade Committee

- Harjit S. Kalsi

The mandate of the trade committee is to promotetrade and commerce between Canada and India withsupport provided to and received from various levels ofgovernment, thus helping to establish links with busi-ness organizations globally.

Over the years the Chamber has built ties with variousprivate organizations from India, like the Confederationof Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chambersof Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and IndianMerchants Association (IMC); In Canada the Chamberhas built ties with Canada Council of Chief Executives(CCCE), Asia Pacific Foundation, Canada India BusinessCouncil, and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce inCanada. We have also been working with the variousministries within the Governments of Canada and India,culminating in the growth of trade missions led byCanada’s ministers, both provincially and federally. Indiaas well has been showing a greater interest in Canada,we see trade officials from the Government and privategroups visit Canada on a regular basis. All of this canonly lead to favorable results in the future.

Businessmen have known that doing business in othercountries takes time; first you build relationships, busi-ness follows. We saw recognition of this element at thisyear’s Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas (PBD). There is a greateremphasis being placed on the role of the IndianDiaspora around the world. They bring relationships tothe table, leading to a better understanding of the cul-ture of business in India. Lead by Asha Luthra, President

of the Chamber, this topic was front and centre at theroundtable held in Chennai.

During the year the Chamber partnered with the PublicPolicy Forum, for their seminar held in Toronto inDecember. The subject under discussion was – “IndiaRising: Implications for Canadian Business and PublicPolicy, which focused on Canada trade with India.Despite its enormous potential, Canada’s trade withIndia remains modest. Realizing the importance of tradebetween the two countries and understanding the diffi-culties that Canadian business’s faced, participants hadthe opportunity to meet decision makers and other lead-ers from business and government to discuss existingstrategies, how they are unfolding, and what more canbe done in terms of public policy to facilitate partner-ships and increase trade.

Fortune 500 companies have been doing business inIndia for over a decade. Microsoft, IBM, Sunlife areamongst the recognizable names that have lead the way.However, there is an additional sector that gets littleimportance in the publications. That is the Small andMedium Enterprise (SME) sector. There is tremendousamount of potential here. Having the ability to gaugewhat is needed in India, the Indo-Canadian the businesscommunity has setup shop to meet their requirements.These include services at a smaller level, language edit-ing, transcribing, data processing, accounting servicesetc. Others have gone in to setup alternate energy solu-tions and medical services for local communities. Whenone starts to look at these examples, and there are plen-ty more, one realizes that the sky is the limit. Theopportunities are tremendous. Over the coming year(s),the Chamber will highlight this sector for its membersand the Canadian business community at large.

The ICCC recognizes the importance of India as a pre-mier trading partner for businesses in Canada. There istruth to the old cliché – “there is still a lot to be done”.The Chamber has a pivotal role to play in becomingcountry’s premier Canada-India bilateral trade andinvestment facilitator, catalyst, advocate and becomingthe primary resource in the enhancement of trade.

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For the year 2009, SME expects to nurture and developthis program as a monthly series given the resoundingsuccess and incredible positive feedback we havereceived from both participating firms and theattending members.

Harjinder (Jim) Sahdra, ICCC Director responsible for theCommittee, Abhishek Paul, Chair of the Committee

Small & Medium Enterprise (SME)Committee– Harjinder (Jim) Sahdra, Director

The ICCC Small Medium Enterprise (SME) committeewas created in year 2000 to help promote the interestsof the small and medium enterprises within the Indo-Canadian community. Our vision and commitment is toadvance the interests of SMEs and to help maximizetheir full potential in a competitive business environ-ment. Keeping in line with SME’s vision, we have thefollowing key objectives:

To create learning opportunities through various semi-nars, workshops and conferences

To provide a forum for networking with other membersof the business community and to exchange ideas formutual business success

To foster a climate of continuous improvement in anincreasingly competitive environment

In 2009, SME launched an innovative learning seriesreferred to as the “Hard Hats Tour”. This pioneeringseries of on-site workshops is intended to connect amanufacturing or retail firm with our member base.The event is held at the location of the subject firm orits warehouse facility and ICCC members are exposed tothe general working processes and business facilities ofthe subject firm. This enables the members to learnabout workings of an enterprise by obtaining directhands-on and behind-the-scenes approach. It also allowsthe participating firm to gain exposure and receive feed-back from its audience.

SME has held its “Hard Hats Tour” with the follow-ing firms:

IndivaRetail – Purveyors of high-end couture anddesigner wear, Toronto.

Entripy – Custom clothing wear and corporate apparel,Oakville.

Electrovaya – Makers of lithium-ion batteries andMaya® electric car, Misssissauga.

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from the West Coast to the East Coast

Vancouver Business Council– Rina Gill, National Director, B.C Operations

2008-2009 has been a very progressive year for the ICCCVancouver Business Council. The team expanded in June2008 to a total of 14 Directors who represent key areassuch as: Trade, Business Development, Marketing,Finance, SME and the Young Professionals Committee.

Rina Gill Simone Grewal

Jasdev Singh Aujla Dean Atwal

Harj Gill Rita Gill

Mo Dhaliwal Gus Rattan

Nick Noorani Deepak Gill

Saima Naz Nav Panesar

Ashok Bhagnari Monti Virk

In October 2008, ICCC Vancouver and CresfordDevelopment hosted a seminar at the Copper Chimneyrestaurant in downtown Vancouver. In January 2009,ICCC Vancouver launched the Book Smart vs. StreetSmart series and the event received rave reviewsbecause of the strong local panelists that were broughtin to discuss both avenues of achieving success.Recently in April 2009, RBC sponsored a lunch and learnseminar for ICCC Vancouver with speaker Fiona Walshand she discussed the ways in which entrepreneurs cangrow their businesses during tough, economic times.

ICCC Vancouver is planning to showcase a recent suc-cess story (an immigrant from India who is now a self-made millionaire in his late twenties) with an eventplanned for Summer of 2009. Stay tuned for moredetails. Also, as of November 2009, ICCC Vancouver willbe celebrating 2 years of having presence in Vancouver.

ICCC Vancouver is continuously focused on buildingstrong business relationships and has become a strongresource for the community.

SFU Surrey & ICCC Vancouver presented the first everBook Smart vs. Street Smart event on Wed. January 21st,2009. The audience was truly inspired by the engagingpanelists.

Photo of ICCC Directors, Panelists and local MLA:

L – R (back row) Atish Ram, Nick Noorani, Jasdev S. Aujla,Nav Chima, Ken Herar, Pasha Bains

(front row) Saima Naz, Simone Grewal, MLA Sue Hammell,Rina Gill, Sonia Virk, Ashok Bhagnari, Rita Gill

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Calgary Business Council (Alberta)– Geetha Ramesh, National Director,

Alberta Operations

The Alberta Business Council has been very active withvarious initiatives that have driven exposure to the corpo-rate business community that is the centre of unprece-dented growth stimulated by its oil and gas industry.

Networking Event, August 01, 2008Anything related to Oil & Gas sector is close to theCalgary business community and so is the Banking sec-tor. It was therefore natural that ICCC AlbertaBusiness Council organized a Networking event onAugust 01, 2008 at the Kahanoff Center in Calgary.

The event got off to a flying start with David Gaskin,Co-Chairman, welcoming the guests and setting thetone for the evening. Dr. Geetha Ramesh, NationalDirector, ICCC provided the national perspective ICCCOperations and its growth over the year from coast tocoast. Sam Barua, Co-Chairman, highlighted the ICCCactivities in Alberta and the future plans.

Jayant Dubey & David Gaskin Jayant Dubey, Romesh Anand& Ashok Dutta

Geetha Ramesh

The first speaker of the event, Mr. Jayant Dubey,Executive Vice President of the State Bank of India(Canada) from Vancouver made a very interesting pres-entation in the history of Indian Banking and his presen-tation evoked a lot of interest when he touched uponthe banking facilities available to the NRIs and PIOs.

Ashok Dutta, Chief Editor (Americas) & ManagerGlobal EPC, Data Media Systems, Houston is a wellknown Oil & Gas journalist. His presentation on

“Prospects and Challenges of Oil Production in Alberta”was received very well by the audience.

Romesh Anand, Director of Membership offered thevote of thanks. The guests enjoyed the evening withample networking opportunities and the excellent cui-sine arranged for the evening.

Networking EventsFebruary and March saw more networking events. TheAlberta business council wanted more variety in the net-working sessions. Mr. Shane Edwards, Vice presidentSales- Western Canada for Kuehne & Nagel Ltd. spokeon Freight forwarding, the profession, its reach and asso-ciated challenges.

Mr. David gaskin, Co- Chair Alberta Business councilspoke on a very exiting topic, i.e. financial risks onexport business, specially pertaining to logistics.

The venue for the above events was Osler, Hoskin & HarcourtLLP, in Calgary.

Social Night – April 23rd, 2009

The Alberta Business Council of the Indo CanadaChamber of Commerce (ICCC) had organized a fun-filledevening at The Comedy Cave 9206 Macleod Trail, Calgary.

This event was mainly meant to be a fun night and anexcellent occasion to network, relax and enjoy a comedyshow over a beverage and dinner. Ms. Asha Luthra,President of ICCC graced the occasion and addressedthe gathering. The board was introduced by GeethaRamesh National Director, Alberta Business Council.

This was followed by networking and Dinner followedby a wonderful comedy show. The Board of Directors,Members and the Sponsors of ICCC were all present.

Several dignitaries including MLAs from Calgary,Business associates, and the past mayor of Calgary hadattended the event. Omni TV covered the event. Theevent was very successful and was a full house.

The board meets every month for the regular boardmeetings. The board also meets adhoc several times todiscuss the progress or special events.

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from the West Coast to the East Coast

Winnipeg Business Council – Romel Dhalla, Secretary

The Winnipeg Council emerged on the scene last yearand has been busy recruiting members. We first held achapter launch networking event with coordinated withour sponsor, RBC, and followed up with an investmentseminar from Export Development Canada. Our nextevent features the Indian High Commissioner speakingon the topic of Trade & Investment in India, which isbeing jointly held by our Council, the WinnipegChamber of Commerce and the Manitoba Chamber ofCommerce at the prestigious Manitoba Club.

Our distinguished Chairman is Dr. Digvir Jayas,Vice President Research, University of Manitoba, who can becontacted at Digvir_Jayas@umanitoba.ca or (204) 474-9404. Ottawa Business Council

As the capital of Canada and the center of government,the ICCC has always directed its focus on having strongrepresentation in Ottawa. Keeping that in mind, theChamber has been creating a place for itself in the hubof parliament by expanding its relationships with thefederal government. Effectively promoting businesspolices and interests, the Chamber is attempting to fur-ther the social and economic development of bothCanada and India by supplying the exploration of theirfinancial resources. We have had very successful meet-ings and networking opportunities with various Canadiangovernment officials as well as Indian government repre-sentatives, in regards to discussions about India as anemerging economic power. On the 2nd of April, thePresident of the ICCC, Asha Luthra, made a presenta-tion to the Minister of Industry about the trade missionto India that would be occurring in this upcoming fall.Going forward, we are looking to have 2009-2010 be aneven more active and success filled year for the OttawaBusiness Council.

Quebec Business Council– Supro Mukherjea, National Director,

Quebec Operations

During the year gone by, the Quebec Business Council(QBC) has continued to connect with its market drivingtrue business value. The QBC’s DistinguishedSpeakers Series, with the objective to create awarenesson various aspects and sectors in Canada having a busi-ness affiliation with India, included appearances fromMr. Narayan, the former Indian High Commissioner; Dr.Denis Therien, Vice-Principal (Research andInternational Relations) at McGill University; and Dr.Sunny Handa, Partner, Co-head India Practice Group,Blake, Cassels & Graydon. Dr. Handa’s talk “What youneed to know about India's Legal System when doingbusiness there” provided a comprehensive overview ofthe different legal aspects of doing business in India.Complete with various personal anecdotes Dr. Handa’sspeech was extremely well received.

QBC, in collaboration with McGill University’s Programfor International Competitiveness, hosted a networkingcocktail for Indian business executives currently enrolledin the Executive MBA program at the Indian Institute ofManagement (IIM Noida, Delhi). The internationalexchange component of the IIM program includes amonth at the Desautel Faculty of Management atMcGill University.

The roster of over 100 attendees included an equal rep-resentation from the Montreal business and academiccommunity. The Indian executives consisted of 45 indi-viduals representing a wide cross-section of leadingIndian corporations in the private and public sector, andGovernment entities.

Supro Mukherjea, the Quebec Director of the ICCCdelivered the opening address followed by ProfessorWilliam Polushin of McGill University, who describedthe Program for International Competitiveness.

Amit Tandon of Robert Bosch India provided a broadprofile of the IIM executives. Speakers from the IndianInstitute of Management provided an overview of their

business sectors. The speakers included Shilpa Wadhwaof Airtel on telecommunications, Rajesh Tripathi ofInphonic on Information Technology and Pravin Boradeof National Instruments on Entrepreneurship. Speakersfrom QBC outlined their respective industry sectors andtheir business connections with India. The speakersincluded Ms Diane Dube, Vice President of ExportDevelopment Canada, Dr. Harinder Ahluwalia, Founderand CEO of Info-Electronics (meteorology, hydrology),Ronald Denom, President of SNC-Lavalin International(engineering), Arvind Jain, Senior Vice President of Rio-Tinto Alcan (metals/mining) and Sanjiv Nundy, SeniorManager of Lockheed-Martin (aeronautics/aerospace).

The Council continued to collaborate and participatewith other chambers and business organizations. Itattended meetings and discussions with various individ-uals and organizations, among them: the Acting HighCommissioner and the High Commissioner of India toCanada; officials of the Ministry of EconomicDevelopment, Innovation, and Exports, Government ofQuebec; the delegate to the Quebec GovernmentBusiness Development Office in Mumbai, India; theInternational Business office of the City of Montreal;Canadian International Council lecture series; McGillUniversities India Lecture Series; and, the Inter-Chamber networking cocktail.

During the year the executive team of the Quebec Business Councilincluded Supro Mukherjea, Ashwin Mahabaleswara, Shyam Bid,Ravinder Kaur Matharu, and Sanjib Manna.

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Halifax Business Council– Venkatesh Tyagarajan, Chair, Halifax

Business Council

The Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC)Halifax Council had a general membership meeting lastApril 15, 2009 and elected a new set of Board members.The outgoing Halifax Council Chairman VenkateshThyagarajan presided over the meeting and the election.General membership meeting was graced by the pres-ence of Ms. Asha Luthra, ICCC President.

The new ICCC Halifax Council Board areas follows:

Chair – Mr. Tom Joseph Puthiakunnel,tom@unitedtravels.ca

Director of Events and Public Relations –Mr. Abbas Hamza, hamza.abbas@gmail.com

Director of Membership and Finance - Mr. BradleySaunders, bradley.saunders@rbc.com

Director of Business Development - Mr. John Ludovice,jludovice@nsbi.ca

Director of Young Professionals - Mr. Mausam Kalra,kalra@genieknows.com

Past Chair - Mr. Venkatesh Thyagarajan,venkatesh@cabotsolutions.com

The new Halifax Council Board will work towards theachievement of the ICCC Halifax Council objectives,which are :

• To promote the interests of member organiza-tions with respect to India and trade/exportdevelopment and investment attraction toAtlantic Canada

• To provide a platform for networking for busi-nesses and professionals with a vested interestin India

• To provide learning opportunities through semi-nars and fora, and by disseminating trade infor-mation related to India

• To become the first point of contact for inquiriesrelated to doing business in India for AtlanticCanadian firms and vice-versa

Congratulations and good luck to the new Board!

The new ICCC Halifax Council Board. From left to right :Bradley Saunders (Director, Membership & Finance), TomPuthiakunnel (Chair), Asha Luthra (ICCC President),Venkatesh Thyagarajan (Past Chair), John W. Ludovice(Director, Business Development), and Abbas Hamza (Director,Events & Public Relations). Not in photo: Mausam Kalra(Director, Young Professionals).

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from the West Coast to the East Coast

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An important outcome of the rapideconomic growth in corporate Indiaover the past few years, has beenthe high demand for good talent andthe increasing focus on women as aimportant part of the talent “buck-et” in corporate India. Althoughwomen have constituted a largepart of the Indian business sector,it is only recently that priority focushas been given to the real need tounderstand the key challenges thatwomen are facing at the workplaceand the important need to “recruit,retain, and grow women” in theorganization, in order to harnesstheir potential as consumers,investors, employees, and suppliersto business and industry.

This business imperative – com-bined with a social commitment toimprove business and society – hasled companies across India from theprivate sector, public sector, andmnc’s -- like Infosys Technologies,Tata Group, Wipro, Dr. ReddysLabs, Oil and Natural Gas Corp.,JSW Steel, ICICI Bank, and othersto support women networks withinthe organization and engage withcross-industry peer-level women’sforums that can provide mentoringskills for the women. Most of thisis also being driven by the outstand-ing commitment and role-models ofmultinational companies likeKPMG, Deloitte, Citigroup, IBM,Microsoft, Coca Cola, Pepsico,HSBC, Fidelity Investments, GE

International –who have put intoplace substantive diversity programswith a longterm vision for nurturingwomen leaders in the organization.

The “Forum for Women inLeadership” (WILL Forum) waslaunched as an outcome of thisimportant need in corporate Indiafor an independent forum thatbrings together senior women execu-tives from across industry and mnc’s,with a vision for leveraging the vasttalent pool of women and improvingthe workplace for women in leader-ship. Founding Members of theWILL Forum are InfosysTechnologies, KPMG, and TataConsultancy Services, with over 200women who have attended theQuarterly WILL Forum meetings,since its launch in November 2007.

The WILL Forum is providing real-time in-house programs on “ExecutiveEducation for Women”, that willenable them to make a “step-change”in their careers – through its distin-guished WILL Mentoring Council, ledby senior women from Tata Tea,Genpact, ONGC, Deloitte, KPMG,and Murugappa Group. The annual“Creating Women Business Leaders”Program has also been launched thatwill be hosted by Infosys Technologiesat their campus in Mysore.

The most inspiring element of thewomen executives in corporate Indiais their deep desire to make a contri-bution to improving society and thefuture generations – and they are

presently finding their roots as animportant catalyst of social change.The WILL Forum has thus launchedthe “WILL Public Policy Series”which seeks to harness this role ofwomen, with a priority on crisis-management, education, and corpo-rate governance.

Women are also presently leadingthe debate on good governance andethical leadership in India—throughthe Women in CorporateGovernance Roundtables in differentcities, that aims to open a candiddialogue with top-management,CEOs and Board Directors on howto improve the number of women oncorporate boards, where to seek theappropriate qualifications, how“feminization” of boards mayimprove the corporate governancestandards, and whether there needsto be a change in the mind-sets ofCEOs before this change can takeplace successfully.

The time and opportunity hasindeed come for women to set thestandards for excellence in businessin India – and make their mark inHR strategy, business development,ethical leadership, and most of all,with a deep commitment to nurtur-ing the vast range of stakeholders insociety as a contribution to sustain-able social and economic progress.We hope that the results will pioneerthe way forward for women globally,and we invite you all to join us inthis important universal mission.

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Women Excelling in Business – The Indian ExperienceReport By:Poonam Barua

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In November 2003, the then PrimeMinisters of two countries reachedan understanding on building part-nership between two countries inthe twenty first century. The JointReport of Canada-India CEO Forumreleased last September by theCanadian Council of ChiefExecutives and the Confederation ofIndian Industries recommended“the launch of discussions towards aComprehensive EconomicPartnership Agreement”. TheReport also suggested annual meet-ings of Prime ministers of two coun-tries on bilateral, regional and multi-lateral priorities.

When Minister of InternationalTrade Stockwell Day and MinisterKamal Nath met last January a fewweeks after the agreements toreestablish civilian nuclear coopera-tion, they decided that time wasripe to initiate exploratory discus-

sions towards a comprehensive eco-nomic partnership agreement. Thismarks a decisive phase in Canada-India relations in the context of bothpolitical and economic salience ofIndia which is also now the biggestsource of immigrants into India.

The large and growing IndoCanadian connection has been rec-ognized by the Canadian Chamberof Commerce (CCC) as an asset.But CCC has also observed that “forvarious reasons, Canada does notseem to be using its Indo-Canadianconnections as effectively as wecould or should.”

Given the strengths and opportuni-ties in the field of knowledge econo-my in the two countries, an impor-tant component of comprehensivepartnership ought to be the prepara-tion and involvement of youth in thedevelopment of knowledge basedsocieties. Canada and India need to

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Building Partnership in theTwenty First Century - TheDiaspora and Youth FactorReport By:Kant BhargavaFellow, Queens University, Kingston

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develop accelerated cooperation and sustained dialoguein the fields of higher education, skill development andtraining of youth and for fostering entrepreneurshipglobally. This will also boost growth and employment intwo countries in the aftermath of global recession thathas hit badly both of them. Canada and India are naturalpartners in these areas because of the size, profile,vibrancy and active organizations of the Indian Diasporain Canada and the outreach of the upcoming secondgeneration youth.

One of the area of focus for the Indo Canada Chamberof Commerce has been on mentoring, youth programsand powering their networks. Embracing fully its rolewithin the mainstream, it encourages Diaspora networksto act as a bridge to connect Indian entrepreneurs, busi-nessmen, insiders, opinion leaders and policy makerswith their counterparts in Canada. Its participation inthe annual convention of the global India Diaspora con-vened in January by the Ministry of Overseas IndianAffairs and organization of Roundtable discussions withthe Confederation of Indian Industry have contributedto branding of Canada in India. ICCC members haveprovided useful insights for developing cooperation inareas such as environment, energy, education, scienceand technology, innovation with their considerable tradegenerating potential. As reputational intermediaries,they have facilitated two way investments and tradeexchanges in goods and services.

Yet unfinished tasks remain for bridging the appallinginformation gap in two countries about each other andfor sensitizing the business communities of the opportu-nities that exist in the two countries. Greater involve-ment of the youth of two countries in activities of India-Canada Trade Corridor will bring rich dividends in themedium and long term. Young Indo-Canadians have, onthe whole, done well in professional areas. It makes emi-nent sense to focus on the development of their leader-ship qualities. Exchange of visits to India by young Indo-Canadians and of visits to Canada by youth leaders fromIndia should be a priority program of both governments.Also, ICCC and Shastri Indo Canadian Institute maydevelop internship and fellowship programs so that

young Indo-Canadians accompanied by non-diasporayouth can profit from such programs in India. Such pro-grams will prepare Indian Diaspora youth in Canada toengage with India in an effective manner on their returnfrom India to Canada. In turn, Indo-Canadians, theirorganizations and companies, can play host to internsfrom India, which will positively affect India’s under-standing of contemporary Canada.

Politics, business and culture are inter-related fields.Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreementbetween Canada and India is indispensable yet insuffi-cient for the building of the totality of relationshipbetween two countries. Such a relationship is incom-plete without including collaboration between two coun-tries for tackling global issues of common interest suchas climate change, security, health care, building ofdemocracy, management of pluralistic societies, and fed-eralism. Exchanges of visits of young members of theCanada-India Parliamentary Association including thosewho are of Indian origin to India and of visit to Canadaof young parliamentarians from India will contribute tobetter perception and harmonization of the interests oftwo countries in regard to these matters.

In the above context, the overwhelming question for theprivate sectors and governments of two countries is:What kind of investment in youth and second generationIndo-Canadians by way of initiatives and programs arerequired for deepening Canada-India ties.

India is no longer seen as asole “Outsourcing destina-tion” but an internationalentrepreneur that can tapinto global supply chains forresources and talent - and assuch, is quickly emerging tobe the next global economicpowerhouse. This impressivegrowth is also seeing gains onthe social side as povertydecreases and literacy ratesrise. While countries rush tocapture new Indian marketsand become “preferred trad-ing partners”, Canada itseems, is losing market sharein this expanding economy. Itis necessary for Canada toconsider factors for thismediocre partnership like:low Canadian foreign directinvestment, inadequate visi-bility of Indian market infor-mation and trade policies,and lack of awareness of busi-ness opportunities, to betterunderstand the currentIndian economic landscape,discuss opportunities andchallenges for Canadian busi-nesses and how public policycan better aid trade and col-laboration.

In the Government ofCanada’s comprehensiveMarket Plan, the following

sectors have been identifiedas those offering strong mar-ket opportunities well suitedto Canadian capabilities andinterests:

• Agriculture, Foodand Beverages:Opportunities inIndiaʼs agriculturalsector encompass abroad range of sub-sectors including com-modities, food andbeverage processingand genetics.

• Service Industries andCapital Projects: Indiais facing significantshortfalls in infrastruc-ture and services, cre-ating opportunities forCanadian companiesspecializing in trans-portation and environ-mental infrastructuredevelopment. Thereare also opportunitiesfor Canadaʼs highereducation institutes,particularly in studentrecruitment and sci-ence and technologypartnerships.

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Opportunity IndiaReport By:Harjit S. Kalsi

• Information andCommunicationTechnology: India isthe worldʼs fastestgrowing telecom mar-ket and is expected tobe the worldʼs secondlargest by 2010. Indiaalso has a vibrant filmand entertainmentindustry that reliesheavily on specialeffects and animation.

• Oil and Gas Equipmentand Services:Canadaʼs mature oiland gas industry is inan excellent position toexport engineeringservices, recovery tech-nology and practices,and transportationinfrastructure.Opportunities exist innatural gas explorationand development, off-shore oil production,and pipeline technolo-gy and construction.

• Electrical Power,Equipment andServices: To sustain itseconomic growth,India must significantly

expand its electricpower generatingcapacity. As it doesso, there will be signif-icant opportunities forCanadian companies.

• Aerospace andDefense: Significantgrowth in passengertraffic is increasing thecountryʼs demand forplanes and aerospacerelated machinery andservices. Canadianaerospace exports toIndia have grown sub-stantially in recentyears and are expect-ed to reach $200 mil-lion by 2010.

The Government of Canadacontinues to work closelywith Canadian companiesactive in the market toaddress key barriers such asthe country’s restrictiveimport regulation, limits onforeign services providers,inadequate enforcement ofintellectual property rights,etc. New bilateral agreementon science and technologyand foreign investment willhelp open new doors forCanadian companies.

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O F i N T E R E S T

Indo-Canada Chamber ofCommerce presents theAccessibility Outreach ProjectFor Immediate ReleaseMarch 18, 2009TORONTO – The Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce(ICCC) held the first information session under theAccessibility Outreach project on March 18, 2009.Guests and participants included ICCC members, andrepresentatives from South Asian business associationsand social service agencies.

“The Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce undertook aculturally sensitive Accessibility Outreach projectbecause we support the Accessibility for Ontarians withDisabilities Act and the Accessibility Standards forCustomer Service. This information session is a greatopportunity to raise awareness among our members, thebusiness sector and the community at large about thelegislation and the standard, and to provide practicalinformation on how to improve accessible customer serv-ice, which helps businesses increase revenue,” said AshaLuthra, president of ICCC.

Under the Accessibility for Ontarians with DisabilitiesAct, 2005, Ontario is developing mandatory accessibilitystandards that will identify, remove and prevent barriersfor people with disabilities in key areas of daily living.The standards are expected to apply to private and pub-lic sector organizations across Ontario. The goal is tomake Ontario accessible to people with disabilities by2025. Most, if not all businesses and organizations acrossOntario will need to comply with the AccessibilityStandards for Customer Service by 2012.

“Improving accessibility is good for Ontario’s economy –it helps businesses tap into a $25 billion market. It alsohelps us move towards our goal of creating an Ontariowhere people of all abilities are included,” said SmallBusiness and Consumer Services Minister HarinderTakhar on behalf of Community and Social ServicesMinister Madeleine Meilleur.

During the information session, ICCC distributed aninformation kit containing resources that were specifical-ly developed for this project. A special series of informa-tional TV segments were also produced and are sched-uled to air on ATN and OMNI until mid April 2009. Tofurther spread the message, ICCC plans to deliver addi-tional information sessions to other South Asian businessassociations and will post all project resources on theirdedicated accessibility webpage www.iccc.org/AccessONfor public use.

has been massive and is augmenting exponentially; fac-tories operate to achieve economies of scale, internation-al commercial trade requires the contract of internation-al shipping lines, consumer demand inspires geneticallymodified foods. Additionally, globalization has created agreatly interdependent and interrelated internationalscene, as recently demonstrated by the financial crisiswith nations the worldwide experiencing falling stockprices and citizens falling back into Depression-Era-esque mind frames. We are facing not only an environ-mental crisis, but a financial one as well. Oftenemployed as a metaphor for the situation being faced, isthe tale of Faust which essentially narrates that Faustusagrees to surrender his soul to hell if the devil will granthim 24 years in which to live in all voluptuousness. Ithas been suggested that Faust is human kind and thatwe have sacrificed our futures and those of our childrento live today in all voluptuousness. Therefore today, thefoundations of the ideals on which our very systems arebased have become null and void. Everything must berewritten. It is during these times of crisis that opportu-nities are amok and that entrepreneurial spirits brew.There are no limits or boundaries – we need new busi-nesses with new business models. Corporations andnations must recognize that adopting green techniquesis no longer an option, but rather, a requirement neces-sary for survival. Additionally, natural capitalism has illus-trated that sustainable business improves competitive-ness and increases profits.

Joining the green movement is not only beneficial tothe stakeholders, but to stockholders as well. Thetime is now for change.

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O F i N T E R E S T

With developments in the realms of technology and theeconomy spurring over the past one hundred years espe-cially, the lifestyles of many individuals have attainednew heights. However, simultaneously populations theworld over have been growing therefore the number ofpeople living below the poverty line remains staggering.During this period, growth has been considered the goal.How can we become larger? How can we expand? Withgrowth as an aim, all sectors of the industrialized worldwork towards a bigger and better future, a phenomenoncoined as “the cult of more.” The problem the world isfacing now is the obvious truth that growth does notcome at zero cost. In fact, the scope and scale of thenegative ecological impacts of the industrialized world

TiME’SUPReport By:Nina Gupta

All employers in Ontario have health and safety responsibilities in the workplace.

These include:

take all reasonable precautions to protect the health and safety of workers;

provide information, instruction and supervision;

provide and maintain required equipment, materials and protective devices; and

provide first aid equipment and training.

Did you know?

Workers have rights and responsibilities too.

These include:

the right to know about potential hazards in the workplace;

the right to participate in keeping the workplace healthy and safe;

the right to refuse unsafe work; and

wear the protective clothing and safety equipment for the job.

The WSIB offers a wide range of resources for the prevention of work-related injuries and diseases.

For more information

in your language,

call us at 1-800-465-5606

TTY: 1-800-387-0050

Or visit www.wsib.on.ca.

Information is available

in several languages.

O F i N T E R E S T

On October 3rd, 2010, Delhi will welcome the world toIndia at the Opening Ceremonies of the XIXCommonwealth Games. These Games are slated to bethe largest international multi-sport event in India sincethe 1982 Asian Games. There are over 6000 participants,10 million visitors and 71 nations slated to be part ofthis historic sporting event that Canada inaugurated 80years ago when it hosted the first-ever CommonwealthGames in 1930 in Hamilton, Ontario. The entire nationof India is poised to welcome the world and showcaseIndia and all it has to offer to its fellow Commonwealthnations.

The timing of these Games reflects a growing Canada-India relationship and demonstrates India’s readiness tobe a major player in international sport. For Canada, the2010 Commonwealth Games represent the passion,commitment & conviction of Canada’s athletes who aretraining and competing right now in the hopes ofexcelling on the world stage in Delhi next year. For all ofthe participating athletes, coaches and volunteers, theDelhi Games will be the experience of a lifetime!

For the Indo-Canadian business community, an opportu-nity exists rightnow to be a partof the success,excitement andprestige of the2010 Games.Team Canadawill consist of400 athletes andsupport staff thatrequire financialsupport to helpthem live theirdream. Travel,accommodation,

team clothing, and medical operations are only a few ofthe expenses that Canada will incur to send its athletesto represent our country. The costs exceed $5 million.Although, a small army of volunteers, such as coaches,health professionals and administrators, are workingbehind the scenes to help make each athlete’s dream areality, Team Canada is in need of substantial financialresources to buoy the thousands of human resources thathave already been invested in Canada’s athletes.

Supporting Team Canada athletes represents a uniqueopportunity to link Canada and India through sport.George Heller, President of the Commonwealth Games

Foundation of Canada, the team’s fundraising agency,states, ” Sport, in its most noble form, is a great unifier.It finds common ground between people of differentraces and diverse backgrounds …… I am calling uponcorporations, organizations and individuals to contributeto the success of our athletes”.

Let the Games unite our countries! You can be a part ofthis legacy of the Games through your shared connectionwith both India and Canada.

For more information on partnership opportunitiesplease visit www.commonwealthgames.ca or contactKrista Benoit, Director of Corporate Development, at819-595-5298 or Murray Jans, M.A. Jans & Associates at905-877-7474.

Help Team Canada to‘Dream it in Delhi’ at the 2010Commonwealth Games!Report By:Krista Benoit & Murray Jans

58

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direct access to over 40% of the North American population.

Via the Suez Canal, Halifax is 1500 nautical miles closer to India

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Don’t let the title fool you,I’m just trying to soundsophisticated. Having workedwith over 4000 people in thelast year and a half, I’ve cometo a major realization that allargue with at first, but sooncome to the same realization.The fact is we all know whatwe want to do in our lives.The 3 factors that stop usfrom admitting it to ourselvesand others are:

a. Culture barriers

b. Religious barriers

c. Family barriers

Being of Indian descent, Ihave seen all of my cousinsbecome doctors, lawyers,engineers or the dreadedaccountants! The same pres-sure was put on me early on,but after being thrown out ofhigh school for selling it toPepsi, and following my pas-sion to make movies, my par-ents soon relented andbecame supportive.

The three factors I have list-ed above are not really envi-ronmental, but more pres-sures we have put on our-selves. In other words, they

are excuses. The real reasonwe don’t admit to ourselveswhat it is we want to do isbecause we would then putourselves into the position ofhaving to go after it. Man’sbiggest fear isn’t the fear offailure, but the fear of suc-cess! What would happen ifyou did achieve what youwanted out of life and real-ized you accomplished byluck and not because youdeserve it? How would peo-ple see you? These fears arestronger than any other andkeep us from living the lifewe want.

What if I were to tell you thatit was your God given right tolive the life you want?Putting aside all excuses,financial obligations, etc.,how great would your life be?

I eliminate fear by taking theworst case scenario and see-ing how it would affect mylife in the long term.Fortunately, it never does.Once I overcome the fear tosucceed, I then proceed tocoming up with my vision indetail. It is important tomake sure you are in syncwith yourself. If you can’twrite out a full page of what

O F i N T E R E S T

The Cultural Divide and OtherConflicting VisionsReport By:Sanjay Burman M.HT

you want in detail, then youreally aren’t committing to it.

Once my vision is in place, Iimmerse myself with thosewho are doing what I want todo or living the life that Iwant. A great place to net-work is organizations likeICCC. You can meet withlike-minded people who arealso trying to achieve theirgoals, so it becomes a verynurturing environment.

Based on meeting at least 5new people per day, I knowthat in there is at least onementor that can help me honemy strengths towards achiev-ing my vision. It’s not aboutyour weaknesses stoppingyou; it’s about your strengthsfurthering you. Finding amentor that can help you willalso show you what not to doand avoid pitfalls.

Utilize the talks given byICCC and others. It will giveyou more confidence to goafter what you want. After all,by achieving your dreams, yougive someone else the confi-dence to go after theirs!–

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O F F i N T E R E S T

62

As more and more baby boomers reachtheir senior years, Canada is on the vergeof the largest intergenerational wealthtransfer in history. Yet, according to anIpsos-Reid/RBC Investments Wealth Poll,70 per cent of Canadians with $100,000 ormore to invest are without a written planfor the handling of their estates.

If you and your family have been avoid-ing discussions about your wealth andhow you want to pass it on, you’re notalone. But planning ahead is crucial toensuring that your wishes are carried outand your estate’s value is maximized foryour loved ones.

The following is an introduction to someof steps you can take to ensure that thetransfer of your wealth to your familyand other beneficiaries happens as youintended.

Talk with your family

This may be the most difficult and yet themost important aspect of arranging youraffairs. Estate planning is a delicate andemotional topic that you or your familymay be uncomfortable discussing.Nonetheless, it’s a good idea to share yourplans with your family. Ask yourself:

• Are your intentions clearlyunderstood?

• Have all your assets been takeninto account?

• If you own a business, is a suc-cession plan in place?

A Family Approach toWealth SuccessionReport By:Seyid, Imtiaz - RBC

• Are your heirs prepared to assumethe responsibility that comes withthe possession of wealth?

Discuss executor duties

While being named executor of an estateis usually seen as an honour, it also carriesa great deal of responsibility. An execu-tor’s numerous duties include locatingand documenting all assets, reviewingand probating the Will, communicatingwith numerous agencies and financialinstitutions, distributing assets to benefi-ciaries, and filing the estate’s final taxreturns. If you decide to name a familymember as executor, make sure he isaware of -- and comfortable with -- all ofhis responsibilities. You might also con-sider appointing a corporate executor orco-executor to carry out or assist withyour estate settlement.

Provide for family memberswho may need support

You may wish to provide support for cer-tain family members, without givingthem direct control over assets, either fora specified timeframe or indefinitely.Typically, this is done through a testa-mentary trust. There are many instanceswhere such a trust may be appropriate,including providing for minor childrenuntil they reach the age of majority, pro-viding for adult children who need toprotect assets from creditors, or providingfor family members with special needswho may not be capable of managingtheir own financial affairs.

Address second marriage situations

Increasingly, estate settlements are com-plicated by second, or subsequent, mar-riages. In these instances, an individualwill often want to make sure his new

spouse receives a portion of the estate,with the remainder going to the childrenfrom his first marriage.

If this applies to you, you will need tomake special provisions in advance toensure that the children from your firstmarriage receive their inheritances.Otherwise, your estate could go to yournew spouse, who would be free to namenew beneficiaries other than the childrenfrom your first marriage, if desired.

Consider the family business

If you have a business and want to pass iton to family members, there are severalimportant considerations. First, do any ofyour family members have the interestand aptitude to run the business? If anyfamily members are interested, considergetting them involved in the business assoon as possible to help them gain theexperience and knowledge they need torun the business in the future.

You should also plan ahead to protect thevalue of your business from potentialtaxes arising on death. If cash is not readi-ly available when the time comes, yourheirs may be faced with the possibility ofselling the family business simply to coveryour estate’s taxes. By planning ahead,you can potentially reduce these taxes,and also provide funding to cover them.

Look at tax-effective methodsof passing on your wealth

To minimize the taxes owing on yourestate at death, you have a number ofalternatives, including:

• Gifting. Simply give your assetsaway to your heirs prior toyour death. This may, however,trigger a tax liability for you atthe time of making the gift.

63

• Family trusts. Also known as living or inter vivostrusts, family trusts allow you to transfer owner-ship of assets out of your hands and enable yourheirs to benefit from them while you retain con-trol. This also has the potential for creating a taxliability for you at the time of transferring assetsinto the trust.

• Joint Tenancy With Right Of Survivorship. Exceptin the province of Quebec, this form of ownershipallows two or more people to own an assettogether. Upon the death of one of the persons,their ownership passes immediately to the othersand does not form part of the deceased’sestate. When an asset is owned in this waybetween spouses, there are no immediate taximplications. However, there can be immediatetax issues if the owners are not spouses.

• Insurance products. The insurance benefit paid toa beneficiary bypasses probate and is not sub-ject to income tax.

Sometimes, these methods can trigger capital gainstaxes, which should be carefully weighed against thepotential savings from avoiding probate tax. Workingwith the right professional advisor can help you create aneffective overall estate plan, and tailored strategies forensuring that your wealth is passed on as you intended.

RBC Private Bankers create personalized,integrated wealth management solutionsfor high net worth families and their busi-nesses. They provide sophisticated bank-ing, personalized short- and long-termlending solutions and flexible cash man-agement, as well as access to investments,commercial banking, estate planning, andtrust and executor services. For more infor-mation or a complimentary review of yourwealth management needs, please contactthe RBC Private Banker nearest you.

Note: The above information is based on the tax law in effect as ofthe date of this article. The article is for informational purposesonly and should not be construed as offering tax or legal advice.Individuals should consult with a qualified tax and legal advisorbefore taking any action based upon the information contained inthis article.

Gacia de LucaRichmond Hill905-764-4513gacia.deluca@rbc.com

Jennifer L. FergusonMississauga905-897-8245

Elaine SequieraDowntown Toronto416-955-5562elaine.sequeira@rbc.com

The Ontario Chamber of Commerce wishes to congratulate all of tonight’s winners & nominees.

Your success and the vibrancy of the ICCC demonstrate that Ontario truly is a ‘Magnet for the World’.

Together we’re building bridges beyond our borders.

Pradeep SoodChairOntario Chamber of Commerce

Len CrispinoPresident & CEOOntario Chamber of Commerce

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The Ontario Chamber of Commerce wishes to congratulate all of tonight’s winners & nominees.

Your success and the vibrancy of the ICCC demonstrate that Ontario truly is a ‘Magnet for the World’.

Together we’re building bridges beyond our borders.

Pradeep SoodChairOntario Chamber of Commerce

Len CrispinoPresident & CEOOntario Chamber of Commerce

“You don’t have to be bigto take on the world”Start exporting today with a grant covering up to 50%of your eligible costs.

exportaccess.caAn initiative of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce

Tell us your story: dreambigontario.ca

66

HealthyKids International – IndiaReport By:Kasi Rao

The vision of HealthyKidsInternational (HKI) is HealthierChildren. A Better World™. To achievethis vision, HKI is addressing theshortage of pediatric specialists work-ing in countries worldwide, not theleast of which includes India. It is wellknown that India has made transforma-tive commitments in budgetary alloca-tions to its education and healthcareagendas, and will continue to do so inthe coming decades. While India’sglobal economic ascent is tectonic andreal, the challenges in advancing itshuman development priorities areequally compelling and urgent.

To meet these challenges and priori-ties, HKI has developed a Fellowshipprogram designed to address the short-age of trained pediatricians in India.

Some important facts aboutHealthyKids International -India:

• In 2008, five talented pediatri-cians from India commenceda 12-month top-level medicalFellowship. They are Dr. B.P.Karunakara from Bengaluru(critical care), Dr. AshwinMallipatna from Bengaluru(ophthalmology), Dr. TapasSom from Kolkatta (neonatol-ogy), Dr. MadhavanJagadeesan from Chennai(ophthalmology), and Dr.

Manish Parekh from Jodhpur(neurology)

• Upon their return to theirhome institutions, HKI will pro-vide them with 4 years of in-country support, and the par-ticipating doctors will becomepart of the hospitalʼs fellow-ship alumni network

• The program has been devel-oped in consultation with oneof Indiaʼs leading institutions,the Post Graduate Institute ofMedical Education andResearch (PGIMER)

• Through its Ministry ofOverseas Indian Affairs(MOIA), the Government ofIndia has provided outstand-ing material support andgiven HKI profile at the lasttwo Pravasi Bharatiya Divas(2008 in New Delhi and2009 in Chennai). Further,MOIA will also be financiallysupporting this program. Thisis a most noteworthy recogni-tion, and it is a matter ofpride within the communitythat Canada was chosen

• Following suit, the Indo-Canada Chamber ofCommerce (ICCC) has shown

ground-breaking leadershipthrough its support at theupcoming Annual Golf tourna-ment in August 2009

As a result of our healthcare part-nerships across the Indian sub-con-tinent, HealthyKids Internationalrecognizes the importance andvitality of the Indian Diaspora hereat home. The Indian Diaspora inCanada has accomplished muchand HKI is thrilled that it hastaken such an active role in ourFellowship program.

Thank you so very much for yourparticipation in this evening’sevents. HealthyKids Internationalis immensely grateful to Kas iRao, HKI – India’sConsultant and StrategicAdvisor, who has done so muchto promote our efforts in India andthe Indian Diaspora in Canada.

More information is available atwww.healthykidsinternational.com,or contact HKI’s Director ElizaO’Neil at (416) 813 -1215.

O F F i N T E R E S T

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For Bookings - Please Contact:

Rakhee at ICCC (p) 416.224.0090 (e) iccc@iccc.org

Or any of the Committee Members as listed:Rahul Mehta (Chair) (p) 416.456.1064 (e) rahul@golfclearancewarehouse.comAnil Shah (p) 416.843.2645 (e) Anil@ni-met.comHarjit Kalsi (p) 416.922.7000 x2305 (e) hkalsi@skylinkgroup.comAsha Luthra (p) 416.924.6000 (e) asha@biztravelnetwork.comTavinder Malhotra (p) 416.839.5544 (e) tmalhotra@manshafinancial.comAnuj Luthra (p) 416.464.2564 (e) luthra@rogers.comIrfan Ismail (p) 416.347.2308 (e) irfan@golfclientservices.comKasi Rao (p) 647.204.0104 (e) kasiraoconsulting@gmail.comPal Ghumman (p) 416.414.3525 (e) palghumman@kurzco.ca

)'&%)&()"#' &''&(*+%#*#!)(,(!( ,,#$, $!

68

The Ministry of Overseas IndianAffairs of the Government of India hasbeen organizing the Know IndiaProgramme (KIP) in order to associatethe younger generation of the IndianDiaspora closely with India. Seven suchprograms have been organized till now.The Know India Programme providesa unique forum for students and youngprofessionals of Indian origin to sharetheir views, expectations and experienceto bond closely with contemporaryIndia. It is an orientation programmewhich enables the participants to getexposure to the various facets of Indianway of life, culture, spirituality, adven-ture and sports, creativity and compos-ite character of India and interactionwith youth from different parts of theworld.

It is an excellent way and opportunityto introduce our youth to India and letthem experience it for themselves. Formore information please visit the web-site of the High Commission of Indiato Canada.

Read further the views of one par-ticular youth who recently took partin the programme.

I feel very fortunate to have partici-pated in the 10th “Know IndiaProgram“, for this I am thankful tothe Ministry of Overseas IndianAffairs and the Counsel General ofIndia, Toronto, Canada. Although Ihad visited India numerous timeswith my family, yet this three-weekvisit was an exceptional and exhila-rating experience of my life. Thistrip provided me with the opportu-nity to meet with the people and

visit places that I probably wouldnot have otherwise. It enabled me tobefriend with youth (PIO) from allover the world and together weexplored, learned and enjoyed theglory and the beauty that India is. Incontrast, to my pre-conceivedimages of Indian life based on myprevious trips to Northern India(Punjab), I was overwhelmed withthe sheer vastness and rich diversityof the country.

These three weeks, from the verymoment when I landed in Delhi tothe time when I left from Chennai,were filled with curiosity, excite-ment as well as learning and thecredit goes to the authorities thatenvisioned, designed and organizedthis program. I still wonder how theymanaged to include and balance somuch to be visited and experiencedin public and private sector. Thistrip was a true panorama of life thatincluded the captivating beauty offorts and palaces, the spiritual seren-ity of temples, a message of peace atShanti Ghat, symbol of love at TajMahal and stunning architecturalmonuments from Delhi to Chennai.The socio-cultural and economicdiversity of India is beyond imagina-tion. Our hosts, at all our destina-tions, extended a warm welcome.Their floral garlands and showers ofgifts upon us reflected a unique cul-tural expression of their hospitality.

Despite the large population of thecountry, India is a growing and thriv-ing economic power. It enjoys cut-ting edge Information technologies(Infosys - Bangalore), elite advanced

educational institutions (IIM,Indore), modern transportation(Hindustan Aeronautical,Bangalore). We also observed thepresence of multinationals in Indiafor instance McDonald’s, KentuckyFried Chicken, foreign banks, mod-ern shopping malls etc; that speaksvolumes about the free market sys-tem and the rising economy. It wasinteresting to see the crowds of peo-ple from all walks of life, no matterwhere we went yet they exuded arare sense of harmony and content-ment. I left with a profound feelingthat India is inviting and welcomingcountry which offers competitivecareer opportunities especially toPIO’s like myself.

This trip left an indelible and pleas-ant impression on my mind and Iwill cherish this experience, filledwith fond memories, for the rest ofmy life. Once again my gratitude toMinistry of Overseas Indian Affairsand the Counsel General of India,Toronto, Canada, and special thanksto Conan, Prasad and other organiz-ers and coordinators of KIP.

Know India Programme

Report By:Chiranjeev Singh

69

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 6, 2009

MEDIA RELEASE

LATA PADA CONFERRED ORDER OF CANADAAcclaimed dancer/choreographer/teacher recognized for contributions to the development of

South Asian dance and commitment and support of Indo-Canadian community

Toronto, ON – The Board of Directors of SAMPRADAYA Dance Creations is verypleased to announce that Lata Pada, Artistic Director of SAMPRADAYA Dance

Creations, has been appointed as a new member of the Order of Canada. She has the dis-tinction of being the first South Asian artist to receive this award.

Dancer-choreographer Lata Pada is the Founder and Artistic Director of Canada’s leading South Asian dance compa-ny, SAMPRADAYA Dance Creations. Pada is also the founder/director of SAMPRADAYA Dance Academy, a premiere

professional dance training organization. Trained under distinguished gurus in India, Kalaimamani K.Kalyanasundaram and Padma Bhushan Kalanidhi Narayanan, Pada has had an extensive career as a bharatanatyam

soloist with over 1,000 performances in prestigious dance festivals worldwide. Pada has made Canada her home since1964; she holds a M.F.A. in Dance from Toronto’s York University.

Under Pada’s visionary leadership, SAMPRADAYA Dance Creations has established itself as an internationallyacclaimed dance company recognized for innovation and excellence. Pada brings a contemporary worldview to her

award-winning inter-cultural and inter-disciplinary creations, a large number of which have been created in collabora-tion with leading Canadian and international choreographers, composers, designers, playwrights and musicians. She

has received several awards and honours for her contribution to the arts in Canada, including the 2007 LifetimeAchievement Award by the Toronto Sanskriti Sangha, the 2006 Best Teacher Award from the Cleveland Tyagaraja

Aradhana, the 2003 Professional Woman of the Year Award from the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce, the 2000New Pioneers Award and the 1995 Mississauga Arts Award.

A leading Canadian arts advocate, she is frequently invited to present at international dance conferences and sym-posia. As a motivational speaker, Pada regularly talks about her life, creativity and collaboration in the arts.

“Lata Pada’s artistry, choreographic versatility and visionary leadership have enabled her to establish South Asianclassical and contemporary bharatanatyam as a world art form in Canada. In addition to performance, her commit-

ment to the arts in Canada has engaged her in a range of professional and community-based initiatives both national-ly and regionally,” states Board Chair Margaret Manson. “We warmly congratulate Lata on receiving the Order of

Canada, in recognition of her significant contributions to the cultural life of Canadians.”

Pada’s SAMPRADAYA Dance Creations is a dynamic Canadian dance company, internationally recognized for forgingnew paradigms in Canada’s dance milieu. Founded in 1990, it is committed to showcasing bharatanatyam as a world

art form that explores contemporary, innovative and diverse movement styles and themes; and spans a stunningrange of solo and ensemble choreography. The Company’s strengths lies in its diversity, range of performance and

collaboration; and extensive educational community outreach programs. Envisioning the Company to take anexpanded role as a dance development agency led her to foster and advance the formation of the South Asian DanceAlliance in Canada (SADAC) and the production of the 2009 DanceIntense conference in Toronto with SAMPAD,

the Birmingham-based development agency for South Asian Arts.

SAMPRADAYA Dance Creations was awarded the 2007 Mississauga Arts Award for Best Established PerformingGroup. The Company and SAMPRADAYA Dance Academy operate from a 3,500 square foot state-of the-art facility

in Mississauga; a vibrant hub for training, creation and the presentation of South Asian arts.

Following the terrorist bombing of Air India 182 in June 1985, in which she lost her husband and two daughters,Pada has been an active spokesperson for the families of the victims. She has been a strong advocate for an inquiry

into Canada’s worst act of terrorism and has pushed for changes in legislation regarding aviation security, lawenforcement and Canada’s judicial system.

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Executive First® Suites are available on overseas flights between Canada and our international destinations on all Air Canada-operated aircraft, except certain Boeing 767’s. ®Executive First is a registered trademark of Air Canada.

71

P R E S i D E N T S

1977–78 • 1979–80Kishore C. Doshi

1978–79Homi Billimoria

1980–81Mike Flecker

1981–82Bakul Joshi

1982–83Harshad Patel

1983–84Suresh Goswamy

1984–85Vinu Vasani

1985–86Rajeev Jain

1986–87Rasik Morzaria

1987–89Sat P. Chopra

1989–91Benny Lobo

1991–93Ajit Someshwar

1993–94Manoj Pundit

1994–96Hari Panday

1996–98Raj Kothari

photounavailable

photounavailable

photounavailable

photounavailable

1998–00Ravi Seethapathy

2000–01Rakesh Goenka

2001–03Kris Krishnan

2003–05Pradeep Sood

2005–2007Ajit Khanna

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P R E S i D E N T S

2007–2008Sunil Jagasia

2008–09Asha Luthra

H A L L O F F A M ELifetime / Outstanding Achievement Award

1992Shan Chandrasekar

1993Dr. Ranjit Kumar

Chandra

1994Dr. Prasanta Basu

1995Satya Poddar

1996Dr. Sudi Devanesan

1997Nalini Stewart

1998Honʼble Herb Dhaliwal

1999Dr. Bhausaheb Ubale

2000Honʼble Ujjal Dossanjh

2001Dr. Balbir S. Sahni

2002Dr. Naranjan S. Dhalla

2003Dr. C. Sen Gelda

2004Dr. M. N. Srikanta

Swamy

2005Dr. Chandrakant

P. Shah

2006Ben Sennik

2007Dr. Budhendranauth

Doobay

2008Dr. Ashok Vijh &Dr. Ratna Ghosh

2009Suresh Thakrar

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1992Dr. Kappu Desai

1993Nurjehan N. Mawani

1994Sunera Thobani

1995Vim Kochar

1996Keshav Chandaria

1997Bonnie & Fred

Cappucino

1998Anup Singh Jubbal

1999Bahadur Madhani

2000Dr. Cassim Degani

2001Dr. Shiv L. Jindal

2002Hussein Kanji

2007Dr. T.D. Dwivedi

2008Dr. Vivian S. Rambihar

2003Shree Mulay

2004Gary Singh

2005Dr. Abhijit Guha

2006Rahul Singh

H A L L O F F A M EHumanitarian Award

2009

Dr. Terry Papneja

H A L L O F F A M EMale Entrepreneur & Female Entrepreneur

Award

1992Santokh Singh

1992Om Arora

1993Rai Sahi

1994Asa Johal

1995Navin Chandaria

1996Surjit S. Babra

1997K.C. Vasudeva

1997Kiran Kataria

1998Madan Bhayana

1998Deepa Mehta

1999Krishan Singhal

1999Seema Narula

2000Kashmiri Lal Sood

2000Nilufer Mama

2001Steve Gupta

2001Neena Kanwar

2002Bill Malhotra

2002Razia Nathani-Suleman

2003Nirmal Mussady

2003Afsana Amarsy

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2004Bob Dhillon

2004Dr. Dhun Noria

2005Mr. R. K. Bakshi

2005Ms. Rani Advani

2006Gyan Chand Jain

2006Rashmi Rekha

2007Bhim D. Ashdir

2007Manishi Sagar

2008Mr. Vikas Gupta

2008Nina Gupta

H A L L O F F A M EMale Entrepreneur & Female Entrepreneur

Award

2009

Soham Ajmera

H A L L O F F A M ECorporate Executive Award

2006Nadir Mohamed

2007Bharat Masrani

2008Mr. Kishore Kapoor

2009Hari Panday

H A L L O F FA M ETechnology Achievement Award

2002A. Jasuja

2002V. Chanchalani

2003Sunil Kumar Sethi

2004Aditya Jha

2005Mr. Dipak Roy

2006Dr. Sankar Das Gupta

2007Dr. Nishith Goel

2008Dr. Karan Sher Singh

2009Dr. Jamal Deen

1992Satinder Lal

1993Haroon Sidiqqui

1994Sabi Marwah

1995Kunjar Sharma

1996Dr. Salim Yusuf

1997Trichy Sankaran

1998Clarence J. Chandran

1999Dr. Rama Bhatt

2000Dr. Ramachandra

Munikoti

2000Shobha Khetrapal

2001Ramesh Khosla

2001Naseem Somani

2002Professor Vern Krishna

2002Dr. Lalitha Shankar

2003Dr. Salim Daya

2003Lata Pada

2004Virendra K. Jha

2004Suhana Meharchand

2005Dr. Tad Murty

2005Dr. Veena Rawat

H A L L O F F A M EProfessional Male & Professional Female

Award

H A L L O F F A M EProfessional Male & Professional Female

Award

2006Prof Asit K. Biswas

2008Professor Poonam Puri

2006Dr. Mitali De

2007Mr. Raj Anand

2007Sheila Kumari Singh

2008Dr. Gopal Bhatnagar

2009Dr. Vivek Rao

2009Dr. Sonia Anand

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1993Rochan Sankar

1994Akaash Maharaj

1995Manisha Bharti

1996Aashna Patel

1997Sanjay Nath

1998Aziz Hurzook

1999Emmanuel Sandhu

2000Dilnaz Panjwani

2001Anita Gahir

2002Manisha Bawa

2003Shahmeer Ansari

2008Asha Suppiah

2004Rahul Raj

2005Ms. Manjit Minhas

2006Ravi Sood

2007Ankit Kapur

H A L L O F F A M EYoung Achievers Award

2009Suraj Kumar Gupta

H A L L O F F A M EPresident’s Award

1993Paul Fernandes

1994Amar Erry

1996Ajit Jain

1997Rajiv Bhatia

1998Dr. Menaka Thakkar

1999Rohinton Mistry

2000Firoz Rasul

2001Honʼble Maria Minna

2002Honʼble Mobina Jaffer

2007Subha Rajan (Tampi)

2008Gary M. Comerford

2003Dr. Colin DʼCunha

2004Ramesh Chotai

2005Ms. Ratna Omidvar

2006Rajesh Subramaniam

2009Dr. Asha Seth

1992Raymond Christian

1993Gordan Pohani

1994Hira Joshi

1995Reema Duggal

1996Rajiv Bhatnagar

1997Ravi Seethapathy

1998Pradeep Sood

1999Rashmi Brahmbhatt

2000Rakesh Goenka

2001Suresh Thakrar

2002All ICCC Members

2003Sampat Poddar

2004Sudarshan Jagannathan

2005Mr. Anil Shah

2006YP Committee of ICCC

2007Dr. Geetha Ramesh

2008Rina Gill

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H A L L O F F A M EMember Award

2009Surinder (Pal) Ghumman 83

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ICCC ANNUAL AWARDS GALA

The Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) hosted its2008 Annual Gala and Awards Night on June 16, 2008. Gracingthis signature event were Chief Guests the Hon. MonteSolberg, Minister of Human Resources and SocialDevelopment, Government of Canada and Shri Kapil Sibal,Minister of Science and Technology and Minister of EarthSciences, Government of India. Thomas Paul d’Aquino, theChief Executive Officer and President of the CanadianCouncil of Chief Executives (CCCE) was the keynote speaker.

All proponents of stronger trade ties between Canada andIndia, their main message throughout the evening was for thegovernment and industry to work together to increase the vol-ume of trade between the two countries. The Canadian

Council of Chief Executives (CCCE) has also been workingwith Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) of India to furtherthe establishment of free trade between the countries.

This event was held to celebrate the achievements and accom-plishments of the Indo-Canadian community and honourexceptional individuals in 11 award categories;Lifetime/Outstanding Achievement, Dr. Ashok Vijh and Dr. RatnaGhosh, Humanitarian Award, Dr. Vivian S. Rambihar, MaleEntrepreneur, Mr. Vikas Gupta, Female Entrepreneur, Nina Gupta,Professional Male Award, Dr. Gopal Bhatnagar, Professional FemaleAward, Professor Poonam Puri, Technology Award, Dr. Karan SherSingh, Young Achievers Award, Asha Suppiah, Corporate ExecutiveAward, Kishore Kapoor, President’s Award, Gary M. Comerford andMember Award, Rina Gill

Y E A R i N R E V i E WJ U N E 2 0 0 7 – M A Y 2 0 0 8

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INFORMATION & EDUCATIONALSESSIONS

August 2008

Environmental & Energy Challengesfor TransportationEnergy Committee

The Indo-Canada Chamber ofCommerce hosted a special presentationby Dr. Sam Sampath on "Environmentaland Energy Challenges forTransportation". Dr. Sampath’s educa-tional background includes B. Eng. inMechanical Engineering, M. Eng. inPower Engineering and Ph.D. inCombustion. He also is a M.B.A. gradu-ate from McGill University. He has beenworking at Pratt & Whitney Canada forover 35 years, has managed Combustionand Turbine disciplines and has over 30publications and 12 internationalpatents. Sam is also a member of ASME,ICCAIA, and is an advisor to TransportCanada on ICAO emission matters. Dr.Sampath was recently cited for his con-tribution to the award of the 2007 NobelPeace Prize to the IntergovernmentalPanel on Climate Change. The title andabstract of his presentation is givenbelow.

His talk addressed trends in supply anddemand for transportation fuels used inground based and aircraft applications, aswell as the impact of cost and environ-mental factors. Technology advance-ments together with carbon and otheremission footprint changes resultingfrom application of alternative fuels andnew energy sources for transportationwere discussed.

Breakfast Series – “Breakfast withthe CEO”Young Professionals Committee

The ICCC Young Professionals (YP)Committee organized their first event ofthe year on Tuesday, August 26, 2008 atthe offices of CIBC World Markets, tokick off their bi-monthly BreakfastSeries: "Breakfast with the CEO" withguest speaker - Mr. Asif Khan, Founder& CEO, FronteirAlt Capital Corporation.

In order to facilitate the development oftomorrow's leaders, ICCC YP started the

Breakfast with the CEO series to pro-vide Young Professionals with the oppor-tunity to meet successful CEO's up-close and personal. Guests had theopportunity to learn from Mr. Khan as heshared his insights and advice on topicssuch as Leadership Development,Challenges in the Markets, Obstacles forIndo-Canadian Young Professionals, andmuch more.

The event took place in an intimate set-ting where guests had an opportunity toparticipate in discussions and networkwith Mr. Khan, as well as other YoungProfessionals in the GTA.

September 2008

Luncheon for Prime Minister RightHon. Stephen HarperThe Indo-Canada Chamber ofCommerce (ICCC) arranged a high-pro-file Luncheon in honour of Prime

Minister Steven Harper, at the HiltonGardens Inn on Wednesday, September10th 2008. The luncheon was an occa-sion to for all Indo-Canadian businessesthe opportunity to meet with StevenHarper and address their issues.

An audience of about five hundred Indo-Canadians attended to hear about thetrade opportunities in Canada. ICCC hasalways been fortunate to have severalprominent dignitaries from business andpolitical arena to attend this luncheon.The main Luncheon was preceded byMs. Asha Luthra, President, Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce welcom-ing Prime Minister, Stephen Harper and

other invited guests. Prominent amongthe invited guests were Mrs. Harper, MPDeepak Obhrai, the High Commissionerof India to Canada, R. L. Narayan, andMr. Satish Mehta, Consul General ofIndia and ICCC's Sponsors.

Speaking at the Luncheon, PrimeMinister Harper recalled that this wasthe fourth opportunity for him to bepresent at an event sponsored by ICCCincluding his presence at an event host-ed by the ICCC's Business Council inOttawa. In his address that was listenedto with rapt attention by audience mem-bers, Mr. Harper covered a wide range ofthemes - accreditation of foreign creden-tials, immigration, contribution of Indo-Canadians entrepreneurs makingremarkable contribution in Canadianeconomy. On the contribution of Indo-Canadians, the Prime Minister men-tioned that his government is working tomake Canada a more attractive place forNew Entrepreneurs.

Trends in World EconomyForeseeable Realities Canada-IndiaICCC & OCC

Held at the Residence Inn, Marriott, themembers were addressed by Rajiv Kumar– Director and Chief Executive of theIndian Council for Research onInternational Economic Relations(ICRIER). An important think tank inIndia on International Economic rela-tions; and Wendy Dobson - Professor atthe Rotman Business School, Universityof Toronto. Two years ago she publisheda report on Indian business policy issuesfor the C.D. Howe Institute.

Keen discussions on policy issues wasfollowed by a question period in whichthe participants showed interest in thedirection that countries were taking andwhat could and should be done toimprove business and trade ties betweenthe countries.

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"Weathering the Storm - YoungEntrepreneurs in Action"Young Professionals Committee

The Young Professionals’ committee ofthe Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerceorganized the "Weathering the Storm:Young Entrepreneurs in Action!" seminar.The speakers comprised of successfulYoung Entrepreneurs, Ravi Sood, MikeBranch and Bob Bradley.

The first keynote speaker, Ravi Sood isPresident & Chief Operating Officer ofLawrence Asset Management Inc., a glob-al merchant bank and asset managementfirm. Ravi has provided the direction,leadership and strategy for the Company'sinvesting activities since 1998.

The next keynote speakers were MikeBranch and Bob Bradley, the co-ownersof Inovex. Since its inception in 2003,Inovex has grown into a software devel-opment and consulting firm conductingbusiness in the public and private sector,forging strong relationships with govern-ment and large organizations such asSiemens and SC Johnson. Mike and Bobare both Computer Engineering gradu-ates from the University of Toronto.

The three young and successful entre-preneurs gave insights on 'weatheringthe storm'. The speakers discussed howthe current economic storm has impact-ed their business and what they aredoing to prepare for further fluctuationsin the market to succeeded in this econ-omy. They also discussed the 'storm'

associated with starting a new business,entering the corporate world, obstaclesthey had to face, challenges theyencountered and how they overcamethem, and the highs and lows of startinga business. They talked about their reac-tive approach to adverse situations,while attributing their success to perse-verance, patience and surrounding them-selves by the right people.

“Selling Yourself”iCats Committee

Sponsored by the HiTech Institute, ITILand A+ Certification Training, ICCC-iCATS Committee hosted an event on"SELLING YOURSELF". This provideda fantastic opportunity for Indo-CanadianInvestors, Entrepreneurs and ITProfessionals to come together to net-work, support growth and sustainabilityin ever changing global IT marketplace.

Guest Speakers were:Ashok Kalle, CEO, PathwayCommunications (Discussion: "Gettingout of your way into becoming an entre-preneur") Pathway is a Canadian compa-ny offering high-value, integratedInternet solutions to business and resi-dential customers. Established in 1995,Pathway grew from a start-up to one ofCanada 's largest, privately ownedInternet Solutions companies.

Alan Kearns, Founder, Career Joy(Discussion: "Building Your CareerBrand") Alan Kearns, CareerJoy founder,Workopolis career expert,Chapters/Indigo Trusted Advisor andauthor of "Get the Right Job RightNow!" is one of Canada's leading authori-ties on career management issues.

Binod Singh, CEO & Co-Founder,iLANTUS Tech.("IndianEntrepreneurship & IT ProfessionalBrand building in the West")Binod Singh,an acknowledged international businessexpert in Identity Management (Info-Security) has been directing ILANTUSTech to be the world's leading valueadded solution provider with officesworldwide (in Canada, USA & India).

October 2008Breakfast Series - "Breakfast withthe CEO "Young Professionals Committee

On Tuesday, October 28th the ICCC-Young Professionals committee presentedthe second of their bi-monthly series:"Breakfast with the CEO" with guestspeaker Arun Nagarajan CEO, State Bankof India (Canada.) The event took placein an intimate setting which began with anetworking session in which both mem-bers and non-members had the opportu-nity to network with Mr. Nagarajan him-self, along with other young professionalsand students over breakfast.

Shortly thereafter, Mr. Nagarajan beganhis talk in which he shared his experi-ences on his path to becoming a CEO,along with providing words of advice tothose looking to follow in his footsteps.

He began with saying that having a posi-tive attitude is a key to success, one thathas opened doors for him throughout hiscareer. He gave the example of a timewhen he was asked to open a new branchin a rural area, a task which many werereluctant to take. He looked for positivepoints in doing so, and viewed the taskas an opportunity as opposed to a chal-lenge. Soon thereafter, Mr. Nagarajanwas recognized as the National BestRegional Manager by the State Bank ofIndia.

His advice to all - Demonstrate yourleadership abilities at every opportunity- there is no substitute for hard work.

November 2008Dare to be Different! Young Professionals Committee

The seminar, held on the 25th ofNovember, showcased Indo-Canadians,successful in unconventional careers.The Panel included: Jas Brar, President,

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Entripy Custom Clothing; AnitaMajumdar, Actress & Dancer; DJ Jiten;Sanjay Burman, Motivational Speaker &Film Producer and was hosted byMs. Syerah Virani.

The panel discussed topics such as originof their passion, obstacles of making acareer out of your passion, luck factor etc.The discussion was concluded with themoral that truly successful entrepreneursstart businesses to find personal fulfill-ment and satisfaction through their work.

Hard Hats Tour SME Committee

The SME Committee launched its inno-vative "Hard Hats Tour" series inNovember, 2008 at high-end clothingretailer, Indiva, based in Yorkville. TheHard Hats Tour series takes ICCC mem-bers to successful South Asian business-es and provides a unique opportunity formembers to learn from the owners andprincipals of such businesses. The seriesalso presents an opportunity for proudbusiness owners to showcase their busi-ness and give back to the community bysharing the secrets of their success

December 2009Standing together with India –Remembering Mumbai’s victims

In response to the Mumbai terror attackon India on November 26, 2008, theIndo-Canada Chamber of Commercewith support from the Canada-Indiafoundation and the United Jewish

Appeal and Toronto’s Jewish communityorganized the “Mumbai vigil” event onSunday, December 7, 2008 at theInternational Centre. Over 2000

People attended this solemn event andpaid tribute to the victims of the terror-ists attack by lighting candles in theirmemory. The strong message was thatthe entire community irrespective of thefaith and background rallied for Mumbai.

January 2009India Rising: Implications forCanadian Businesses and PublicPolicy

The summary report from the PublicPolicy Forum captures the discussionbetween expert stakeholders who gath-ered to debate the key policy challengesand opportunities that impact upon thedevelopment of Canada’s business rela-tionship with India. Five key messagesemerged from the conference:

• India is a “must partner” forCanada going forward.

• A coordinated national Indiastrategy is imperative.

• There is a pressing need forvisible leadership at thefederal level.

• It is time to debunk mythsand instead understandcommon bonds

• Immigrat ion, agr iculture ,information technology, andinfrastructure are pr ior i tyissues for Canada.

The event was sponsored by DFAIT,Government of Ontario, and Sun LifeFinancial with outreach support partners,the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerceand Canada-India Business Council.

Roundtable - “Canada-India Tradeand Economic Exchanges”ICCC

Held in Chennai, the event was attend-ed by members of the Canadian delega-tion to the PBD, headed by Asha Luthra,President of the ICCC, members of CIIand other business executives from vari-ous industries in India. Also participatingwas Honorable Deepak Oberoi,Parliamentary Secretary to ForeignAffairs; Conservative Party SenatorConsiglio Di Nino, Conservative Party,Ontario; Kant Bhargava, retiredAmbassador, Centre for the Study ofDemocracy, Shastri Institute, ICCC;Kasi V. P. Rao, Senior Fellow, MunkCentre for International Studies, U of T,Consultant and Ravi Seethapathy, Chair,Canadian Advisory Council, Shastri IndoCanadian Institute, Member Board ofGovernors, Ryerson University, ICCC.

Mr. Pradipta Mahapotra Co-Chair madeopening remarks on behalf of CII. CIIand Canadian Council of ChiefExecutives having released in September2008, a comprehensive Report of theForum of CEOs of Canada and India onhow to increase the level of cooperationbetween India and Canada. This Report,inter alia, mentions the great potentialrepresented by the vibrant IndianDiaspora in Canada for contributing toeconomic cooperation between Canadaand India

In his keynote address Senator Di Ninobrought attention to the Canada-IndiaParliamentary Association that has beencreated to advance the cause, to improvethe relations of the two countries thatthose associations represent. He alsounderlined the immense value of thecontribution of NRIs and PIOs to India(remittances, import of new products,direct investments…). He also high-lighted that Canada and India sharedmany values (human rights, democracy,freedom) and that both countries shoulddo their best to improve radically theirpresent poor performance in economy

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(less than 4 billion $ of trade betweenboth countries), considering theirrespective wealth.

7th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD)Convention - Chennai/India ICCC

ICCC participated at the 7th PravasiBharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention heldat the Chennai Trade Centre, Chennaifrom 07-09 January 2009. It is an annualevent organised by the Ministry ofOverseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) in part-nership with the State Government ofTamil Nadu and the Confederation ofIndian Industry (CII)

PBD Convention provides a platform forexchange of views and networking to thePersons of Indian Origin settled all overthe world on matters of common inter-est. The annual convention also helpsthe Government to better understandthe expectations of the Overseas IndianCommunity from the land of their ances-tors and acknowledge the important roleplayed by it in India's efforts to acquireits rightful place in the comity ofnations.

Among the decisions taken by theGovernment of India as a result of widerconsultations held at this Convention,are formulation of the OverseasCitizenship of India, establishment ofOverseas Indian Facilitation Centre,Conceptualization of PIO University, for-mation of Prime Minister's GlobalAdvisory Council of People of IndianOrigin, and the proposed IndiaDevelopment Foundation. A series ofprograms e.g. Know India Programmeand Scholarship Programme for DiasporaChildren were also designed specificallyfor Diaspora youth.

Among other things, the 7th PBDConvention had Plenary Sessions on:

"India as an Emerging Power: TheDiaspora Factor; "Role of Diaspora Youthin 21st Century India", on " Diasporainteraction with the States" that wouldbe addressed by the Chief Ministers par-ticipating, Separate State Sessions,Plenary Session on " Indian Diaspora:Preservation of Diaspora Language andCulture". Concurrent Sessions have beenplanned on the importance of Diasporaas facilitators and bridge builders in a)Trade and Industry, b) DiasporaPhilanthropy, c) Education and DiasporaKnowledge Network, Media andEntertainment, and also on " IncreasedInteraction with Diaspora Women", 'Health for All: Role of Diaspora" . Thehighlights of PBD 2009 include anExhibition on Trade & Industry, livedemonstrations by craftsmen, culturalevenings and post convention tours.

Setting Goals, Losing Fears andSwitching GearsYoung Professionals Committee

On January 27, 2009, the Indo CanadaChamber of Commerce’s YoungProfessional committee in associationwith Burman Books presented amotivational workshop headed bySanjay Burman.

The bi-monthly professional workshop ispart of the committee’s vision to helpupcoming young Indo-Canadian profes-sionals “Explore, Evolve & Excel” intheir entrepreneurial pursuits. Thisevent was one of many successful eventsthat is geared towards creating learningand networking opportunities for YoungProfessionals of Indo-Canadian descent.

The objective of the workshop titled"2009: Setting Goals, Losing Fears,Switching Gears!" was to demonstratetechniques to boost one's confidence in

taking risks and conquering challengesand fears, in the pursuit of success. Heldat the offices of Gowling LafleurHenderson LLP Sanjay Burman spokecandidly on his life experiences, the suc-cesses and failures and provided insighton how one can create opportunities foroneself even amidst the competitivenature of present day society. Among themany points of discussion, one key real-ization that stayed reminiscent in manyminds is the understanding that “experi-ence is achieving what you get when youdon’t get what you want”. Sanjay alsodrew connections with physics andeveryday life. “We all have two sides toourselves, he said an expressive side anda repressive side, to allow opportunityinto your life you have to be open to thisexpression”.

“No is just a short term answer for a longterm solution, perseverance in the rightway is the key to success” are just someof the key take away advice from anevening with Sanjay Burman.

"Green IT Vista" Seminar iCats Committee

ICCC-iCATS Committee organized"Green IT - Vista " on 29th January 2009held at Novotel Hotel, North York. It wasa great opportunity for Indo-CanadianInvestors, Entrepreneurs and ITProfessionals to come together to net-work, support growth and sustainabilityin ever changing global IT marketplace.

Participating speakers were Paul Cooper,Country Manager, Dell Canada; StephenWalker, Manager, IT Infrastructure,Toronto Hydro; Ryan Dochuck, Product

Manager, Microsoft Canada; Jag Gillan,CEO, Datawitness; and AkhileshTripathi, Country Manager, TataConsultancy Services Ltd. They spoke ofseveral green IT initiatives their respec-tive organisations have undertaken inlight of the current global warming’There were discussions of topics thatincluded increasing energy efficienciesand computing solutions to minimizegreenhouse gas emissions .

ONT_TAXS ServiceSME Committee

On January 14, 2009, the SMECommittee hosted a joint seminar withOntario's Ministry of Revenue. YasirNaqvi, Parliamentary Assistant to theMinister of Revenue, discussed theMinistry's ONT-TAXS service and otherinitiatives designed to make it more con-venient for business owners to under-stand and pay taxes. The event was alsoattended by Hon. Peter Fonseca,Ontario's Minister of Labour

February 2009Hard Hats Tour Series "Confessionsof an entrepreneur" SME Committee

On February 5, 2009, the SMECommittee held a "Hard Hats Tour" atEntripy Custom Clothing. Jas Brar,President of Entripy, acted as tour guideand discussed the success behind Entripy,which is one of the fastest growing com-panies in Canada and an emerging leaderin the custom apparel business.

Breakfast Series – “Breakfast withthe CEO” Young Professionals Committee

The ICCC Young Professionals (YP)Committee organized the third of theirbi-monthly Breakfast Series: "Breakfastwith the CEO" with guest speaker - Mr.David Singh, Chairman / CEO, DestinyGroup of Companies on Tuesday, August26, 2008 at the CIBC World Markets.

In order to facilitate the development oftomorrow's leaders, ICCC YP started theBreakfast with the CEO series to pro-vide young professionals with the oppor-tunity to meet successful CEO's up-close and personal. Guest had the oppor-tunity to learn from Mr. Singh as heshared his insights and advice on topicssuch as Leadership Development,Challenges in the Markets, Obstacles forIndo-Canadian Young Professionals, andmuch more.

The event took place in an intimate set-ting where guests hadan opportunity toparticipate in discussions and networkwith Mr. Singh, as well as other YoungProfessionals in the GTA.

March 2009ICCC 2nd Wednesday BusinessNetworking

Events Committee

ICCC's monthly networking events areheld simultaneously in Toronto andMississauga. It provides the members ofthe Chamber the opportunity to net-work, exchange ideas and learn from theexperiences of others. Held at the Host

Restaurants, the events are regularlyattended and have attracted a number ofnon-members as well.

Accessibility Outreach Programme SME Committee

Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerceheld its first Information Session to raiseawareness about the Accessibility forOntarians with Disabilities Act, 2005and to prepare our members, the busi-ness sector and service providers in theSouth Asian community to comply withthe customer service standard, the firststandard developed under the legislationthat is now the law. The HonorableHarinder Takhar, Minister of SmallBusiness and Consumer Services andMPP of Mississauga-Erindale was inattendance. Other guests include mem-bers of board of directors of other busi-ness associations and social service agen-cies from the South Asian community.

"Hard Hats Tour" Series SME Committee

On March 19, 2009 the SME Committeeheld its Hard Hats Tour event atElectrovaya Inc., a world leader in the

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design, development and manufacture oflithium ion battery systems. Attendeesat the event enjoyed an informativepresentation on the global push towardsclean energy and Electrovaya's role inthat process. In addition, attendees weregiven a tour of Electrovaya's expansiveplant and saw first hand how fuel cellsare manufactured.

"Women in Leadership" Young Professionals Committee

The ICCC's Young ProfessionalsCommittee presented the "Women inLeadership" seminar, which featuredthree key-note speakers: Nandini Jolly,Co-Founder & CEO, CryptoMill Inc;previously VP of Global TreasuryServices and Financial RiskManagement, Bank of America;Dr. Sonia Anand, Associate Professor,Department of Medicine, McMasterUniversity; Eli Lilly Canada-May CohenChair in Women’s Health; Director,Vascular Medicine Clinic, HamiltonHealth Sciences; and Dr. Mitali De,Professor, School of Business &Economics, Wilfrid Laurier University;previously served as the Associate Deanof Business: Academic Programs; 2006winner of ICCC Professional Woman ofthe Year award.

April 2009Dinner Reception with the HighCommissioner for India to Canada,Mr. S.M. Gavai

ICCC

On behalf of the Board of Directors ofIndo Canada Chamber of Commerce, itsPresident Asha Luthra hosted a dinnerReception on Tuesday April 14, 2009 towelcome His Excellency ShriShashishekhar Gavai, HighCommissioner for India to Canada on hisfirst visit to Toronto after his recentarrival in Canada. Prior to the Reception,the Members of the Board of Directors

of ICCC had a one to one meeting withHigh Commissioner when he wasapprised of the ongoing and plannedactivities of ICCC.

High Commissioner Gavai observed thathe was pleased that his first engagementin Toronto was his meeting with ICCCBoard members and distinguished invi-tees from the Indian Community,Corporate Sector and eminent politi-cians and officials. He praised the contri-bution of ICCC and of the Indian

Diaspora. He remarked that the HighCommission and Consulate-General inToronto would be happy to interact withICCC in a mutually beneficial manner.

Breakfast Series – “Breakfast withthe CEO”Young Professionals Committee

The ICCC Young Professionals (YP)

Committee organized the fourth of theirbi-monthly Breakfast Series: "Breakfastwith the CEO" with guest speaker -Kishore Kapoor, President, WellingtonWest Holdings Inc on Tuesday, April 28,2009 at the CIBC World Markets.

In order to facilitate the development oftomorrow's leaders, ICCC YP started theBreakfast with the CEO series to pro-vide young professionals with the oppor-tunity to meet successful CEO's up-close and personal. Guest had the oppor-tunity to learn from Mr. Kapoor as heshared his insights and advice on topicssuch as Leadership Development,Challenges in the Markets, Obstacles for

Indo-Canadian Young Professionals, andmuch more.

“Imagining India”iCats Committee

The IT leaders from Indo-CanadaChamber of Commerce’s (ICCC), Indo-Canadian Association of Technology andSoftware (iCATS) Committee, alongwith Penguin Group Canada & Deloitte& Touche LLP, hosted an exclusivebreakfast seminar to meet Mr. NandanNilekani, the author of the book“Imagining India: The Idea of a NationRenewed”. Across the world, Mr.Nandan Nilekani is recognized as one ofIndia’s most successful software entre-preneurs and as the co-founder ofInfosys & NASSCOM, among India’spremier companies in the IT sector. InJanuary 2006, he became one of theyoungest entrepreneurs to join the 20global leaders on the World EconomicForum (WEF) Foundation Board. Mr.Nilekani is listed as one of the 100 mostinfluential people in the world by Timemagazine in 2006 and was named Forbes“Businessman of the Year” for Asia in2007. In 2004, Nilekani was awarded thePadma Bhushan, the third-highestIndian civilian decoration.

During Nandan’s speech, he highlightedthat India is in the middle of a hugetransformational process and argues thatonly a safety net of ideas from genuinelyinclusive democracy to social security,from public health to sustainable energycan transcend political agendas and safe-guard the country’s future. Furthermore,the demographic dividends of the nationare poised to either leverage to makeIndia the leader of next century or couldlead to disaster in case the challengesare not met.

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FUN TIMES AT ICCC

10th Annual Golf Classic - TorontoEmerald Hill Golf Course was the venuefor this year’s golf classic. As usual themembers turned out in full readiness tobeat the challenging course. The pro-ceeds raised from this year’s tournamentwere slated for the building fund. Ourvision for our dream building is a fewsteps closer to its realization thanks toall the kind donations. It was a great dayand a good time was had by all.

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Holiday Dinner Dance - Toronto Events

The ICCC hosted the Annual HolidayDinner and Dance to celebrate yetanother successful year on Saturday,November 22, 2008 at the RadissonPlaza Hotel in Mississauga. The nightstarted off with mingling amongst guestswhile enjoying tasteful hors d’oeuvresand drinks. Guests were then deliveredan exceptional speech by HazelMcCallion, Mississauga Mayor whoembarked on the importance of cultureand community followed by some wordsfrom the President of ICCC, AshaLuthra. The night progressed withentertaining performances including adance and a magician and ended off witha delightful dinner and dancing.

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7th ICCC Annual Cricket FestivalCricket Committee

Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce(ICCC) organized its 7th ANNUALCRICKET TOURNAMENT onSaturday, September 27, 2008 atCreditview Grounds, Brampton. Thisevent is eagerly looked forward to by allcricket enthusiasts in the city, and thisnumber is growing by the year. The day,fun filled event was a success! The tour-nament began bright and early and wasattended by tournament competitorsand their families who cheered them on.During breaks between games, therewere performances and entertainmentincluding a dj which was all set up onthe field. Tents were also set up, wherelunch and dinner were served by theHost. The tournament has grown to fea-ture six teams: ICCC President XI, RBCXI, Scotiabank XI, State Bank of IndiaXI, Jet Airways XI, Deloitte XI. Eachteam competed vigoursly in this “friend-ly” for hours. The champion at the endof the day was the Deloitte XI

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