Media Release
Bengaluru, Mar 8: Universal Harmony Inter Religious Dialogue, Bengaluru, in association with the commission for SCCs, Ecumenism and Inter Religious Dialogue, Karnataka, an established organization since many years, on the eve of the International Women’s Day will honour 11 women achievers. The event will be held at NBCLC (National Biblical Catechetical and Liturgical Centre) on March 10.
Universal Harmony International Women’s day celebration will be presided over by Fr Dr Bernard Moras, archbishop of Bengaluru, and Fr Dr Antony Kariyil, bishop of Mandya. Fr Sagaya John, director of NBCLC, Fr George Vincent Lobo, regional secretary, Commission for Inter Religious dialogue, Suja George, social activist, Soumya R Reddy, social worker, Lavanya Ganesh Reddy, BBMP corporator ward No 49 (Lingarajapuram), Hanna Bhuvaneshwari, BBMP, corporator Ward No 59 (Jeevanahalli) and Mamatha Sridhar Reddy, social worker will be the guests honour.
As many as 11 women achievers in 11 different fields will be conferred with Universal Harmony International Women’s Day Award on the day. The award consists of a citation, a plaque and a shawl.
List of Awardees
Dr Amitha Reena Gomes, Young Scientist in Veterinary Science (Government Services)
Dr Amitha Reena Gomes, wife of Allan Pradeep D’Souza is a person with great attraction towards animals right from her childhood. She completed her studies up to class XII from Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Balehonnur topping the school. As per her passion, she received a degree in Bachelor of Veterinary Science & Animal Husbandry and Masters in Veterinary Science with a specialization in Veterinary Microbiology from UAS, Bengaluru with two gold medals. Later she joined a premier Institute called Institute of Animal Health and Veterinary Biologicals (IAH&VB), Hebbal, Bengaluru as Scientist in 2006. Since then she is into research & production of vaccines for livestock, poultry and pets thereby taking care of health of animals and improving the economic status of farmers whose income generates from Animal Husbandry activities. In the year 2016 she completed her Ph. D in Veterinary Microbiology with a gold medal from Karnataka Veterinary Animal and Fisheries Sciences University. She received Promising Young Scientist Award from Indian Association of Veterinary Microbiologists, Immunologists and Specialists in Infectious Diseases and also Best oral presentation Award from Indian Association of Women Veterinarians. She constantly delivers Expert talks on Bengaluru Doordarshan and All India Radio on Animal diseases and its management which helps the farmers. She has published more than 25 research papers in leading national and international journals on animal diseases and healthcare. She is a resource person for many training programs on animal healthcare.
Brinda Adige, Human Rights Activist and Development Consultant (Social Services)
Brinda Adige, happy wife of Narayan Adige, currently connected with Global Concerns India & Basis India went through her studies in Chandigarh, Pune and finally in Bengaluru – Mount Carmel College degree followed by a 5th rank in University with a Masters in Central College, and recipient of the prestigious “2010 Ford Motor Company Fellowship for Community Leaders” at the Columbia University School of International & Public Affairs, Manhatan, New York, USA.
Over the years conferred with many honours, awards and decorations from school and college days like 1984 UNESCO Education to Reality field program to Champaran, 1989 NCC Trekking to Rohang Pass, 1998 Bengaluru Rotary Club Award - Bengaluru Police Commissioner’s Best Initiative for Child Protection (Makkala Sahaya Vani) Bengaluru City Police & Vera Institute for Justice, New York in 2000; 2005 Muslim Mahila Organisation Award; and Scottish Parliament; declared by DNA newspaper as one of the 50 Most influential Persons of Bengaluru, and in 2015 by the All India Human Rights Organisation and 2016 by CBCI, New Delhi Office of SC/BC Working with women’s and children’s rights and especially against violence to them as well as Education and Training, combating Human Trafficing - rescue, prosecution
and prevention. Facilating training workshops for Police personnel, new judges, panchayats and development officers, legal aid cells, labour and family welfare and NGO officers through the Karnataka State Police and Human Rights Commission.
Ivy Lenet Saldhana, G M & Head - Human Resources, Tata Power, SED (Corporate Leadership)
Ivy Lenet Saldhana has over twenty years of experience in people management and strategic human resource consulting. She has consistently associated with senior leadership in creating an enlightened culture built on core values while executing various people programs in alignment with business needs, thus resulting in happier and more effective employees, satisfied customers and better company performance.
Ivy Lenet Saldhana has earned several Industry honors, '40 Most Talented HR Leaders in India', Women Super Achiever Award, 50 Most innovative Tech Leaders in India by Times Ascent and recently she is recognized as Women Icon of the Year by Femina during World HRD Congress. Previous to Tata Power, she has been working as a Human Resources Director and Organizational Consultant in various organizations such as Actuant Corporation, ArvinMeritor, Tech Mahindra, ITC Limited & International Leisure Consultants. Along with her corporate responsibilities she dedicates her time towards providing support to the society by way of providing counseling and training to the needy children. She is a member of NHRD, CII, World HRD Congress, IMA, and various professional bodies. Currently she is serving as the Board Member in Kanara Entrepreneurs in the capacity of Director Mentoring.
Seema Shekhawat, Educational Consultant Co -founder & Director EDUPeople (Education)
Seema Shekhawat, is a passionate educationist with a dream to revolutionise the Education Industry. She has worked with multiple educations based MNCs before starting her own – “EDUPeople” registered PLC. She is providing empowerment and employment to the women looking for jobs in educational institutions. She trains the Teacher’s and equips them for employment and on the other side she has formulated assessment programs to understand the teacher quality selection before even sending them for employment in Institutes, making 'Quality Teacher and Quality Teaching' to schools and colleges across India for a better quality student of tomorrow – the future of our country.
Kavana Jain, Managing Director - Ina Films (Entrepreneur - Media & Corporate Films)
Kavana Jain, founder and Managing Director - Ina Films – a film and video conceptualization and production Company. Kavana has over 16 years experience in the media industry and worked with several leading media houses including, ZEE, RED FM, SIXTH Sense media, etc. She is helping even to shape corporate marketing and communications strategy.
She is currently working on a project on Jain temples of India, profiling more than 800 Jain Basadis across India. More details : http://www.jaintemplesofindia.com
Karen J Lobo, proprietor – Sweet Whisk (Professional Pastry/ Dessert chef)
Karen Lobo is the owner and pastry chef of Sweet Whisk, Bengaluru. Graduating from Jyoti Nivas College, Bengaluru then went on to work with Reuters as a Senior Market Analyst, and finally found her calling to be a Pastry Chef at 29. Post giving birth to her lovely daughter Aaleya Ann Dutta , finding it difficult to juggle between baby & work, yet with the aim of making pastry arts a mainstream career choice, she set up a Bakehouse, from her home. She is a passionate baker; in spite of her hectic schedule and sleepless nights for the last 5 years, it’s her work that brings in a lot of joy and happiness into many people’s special occasion - a big achievement for a woman in her profession. Each day is like Whisking up a Sweet Dream.
She is a Self taught Baker with absolutely no formal Education is Pastry Arts, yet, managed to make her dream big , beyond her own expectations. She says it’s the thirst , will power and definitely her support system (Her husband - Mr Suvradeep Dutta) that are the reason for who she is today. She also goes to say “Where There is a Will There is a Way” and for me, I just did not want to be a full time mum. I wanted to be something for myself and get recognized , be an example to my kid and inspire a lot of other women . All of us have something special in us. We are all gifted and all one needs to do is, “Be Strong and Bring it out. Take the first step and the rest will follow”.
Janet S K Yegneswaran, President - Rajanet Yegneswaran Charitable Trust (Environmentalist)
Janet S K Yegneswaran, born in Mercara, Coorg but brought up in Bengaluru. After studies she worked in Corporates like HMT, MCF & L&T. Married in 1980; then a housewife and gardening, Winning prizes from Lal Bagh she was enthused to make this a professional career – became a landscape artist – creating gardens for industrial and residences all over Bengaluru. In fact she left her imprint on the garden – design, execution and maintenance for Kanteerava Stadium and the Department of Youth Services and Sports for the National Games in 1997; Maini Industrial Group; BBMP Parks. She started an NGO after the demise of her husband – R S Yegneswaran in 2003 and achieved planting some 66,126 trees in schools, colleges, Orphanages, Layouts and gated communites, Government & Corporate offices, on lands belonging to
Army, Police, Railways and on lake bed areas – all free of charge. She involves citizens to water and maintain trees of their area; and even protect them with bamboo guards. Fruit trees have been given to farmers in interior villages covering a radius of 100 km from Bengaluru; to augument their income.
Within Bengaluru, even a single tree request is met – but criteria is that the tree planting should be followed by maintenance. This is done through the year. Awarded the TIMES FOUNDATION’s EARTH NGO Award 2011 ; “Citizen at its best” Award by Radio City; conducted Cyclathons in Chennapatna (Oct 14,2017), and Bengaluru ( Sept 10, 2017) many mega health camps and free distribution of medicines throughout Bengaluru; besides Kannada & English dictionaries to 8th Std Government Higher Secondary schools along with saplings; providing 60 bicycles to needy farmers in remote villages in 2017 as well as to the city’s poor hawkers, tea sellers, maids, cobblers, watchmen, school children etc being the 200th year of Bicycle intervention.
Akshayee Shetty, Founder & Director – Sense Kaleidoscopes (Health and Special Needs Autsim Expert)
Akahayee Shetty, an Autism Expert today, a graphic designer from CKP in the yesteryears who then pursued a scholarship program in M.Phil in Art, Architecture & Design in Education from Glasgow School of Art and University of Glasgow to learn more about working with children and young adults with Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome. She today runs an organization called Sense Kaleidoscopes - A Unit of Ayathi Trust which ensures financial and livelihood independence for people with Autism and Aspergers Syndrome by tailoring customized Academic and Creative arts centric programs. They aim to provide customized training and skill development to youngsters with Autism from as early as 7 years of age. The individuals who seek our assistance come from different backgrounds and are of widely differing ages and abilities.
Any aspirant who displays a talent for the arts, together with a certain minimum level of comprehension which will ensure that the vocational training is successful, is given admission. There is no upward limit on the age of students. The vision is to build an academy with a pedagogical e-learning centre that will first provide the remedial aid needed to build the necessary cognitive and comprehension skills in conjunction with services provided by the progressive vocational multi-disciplinary arts organization which offers creative arts training in varied areas to build a strong framework for education and vocation. Furthermore, we also envision providing artist's studio spaces which will further facilitate the working practice for the artists by offering the support of a curating/marketing team that will help them sustain a working career through their life.
Dr Sangeetha Purushothaman, Founder Director – Best Practices Foundation (Researcher on Best Practices in Development)
Dr Sangeetha Purushothaman, founder director of Best Practices Foundation has headed close to 75 projects in the field of development across India and globally. Through the Huairou Commission (HC), a network of grassroots organizations in over 50 countries; she became part of the United Nations Best Practices Programme Steering Committee, a prestigious award programme that provided visibility to 100s of best practices globally.
This experience led her to start Best Practices Foundation in India in 1999 resulting in, close to two decades of research experience on best practices in multiple fields like Health and HIV prevention for the Ministry of Health, Education and empowerment for the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Sanitation – Livelihoods, Anti-corruption and gender for UNDP and Governance. Best practices research has added value by providing visibility and capturing impact of work of NGOs and government with the very poor; especially women.
Sumathy Anantharam, Empowering Women Entreprenuership Development (Social Entrepreneur)
Sumathy Anantharam, born and brought up in Chennai and shifted her base to Bengaluru after marriage. Born in a middle class family, with no business background. Started the company in 1989 with a small capital of Rs.10,000 which was raised by getting money from well wishers. Her hardwork and sincerity has enabled her to be raised her to this level. She feels that support from her husband Anantharam and family is vital for this success.
Immediately after graduation she embarked on her career as Service Engineer in a Mumbai based IT Hardware Company. She always believes that passion is more important than post. As one of the Director of Webcom Information Technology Pvt Ltd., handling purchase and finance of the company, she was actively involved in sales strategy planning to reach company goals. Webcom was awarded the PREMIER 100 Company in INDIA consecutively for three years by CHANNEL WORLD magazine of IDG group. They are in TOP 100 list of CRN and DQ Channel. Smt .Sumathy completed her Women Entrepreneur program from ISB powered by Goldman Sachs. Featured several times in DQ channel, CRN and various IT magazines. Recently featured as TOP 10 DIGITAL DURGAS of INDIA, in the male dominated IT Hardware business.
Her passion is to serve elders and empower women. She is starting a retirement home under the banner MANASUM with high class living with a motive of happy and pride living for the seniors. She is planning to multiply as many centres as possible throughout the world. During this process the Company will adopt nearby villages and give vocational training for the women folks and provide employment opportunities in their project so that the entire village will be elevated in their standard of living. This couple has a GOAL of creating a Retirement home where 100 destitute people and 100 orphans.
Sofia Abdul Hameed, Founder - Rabita Welfare Group Trust (Upliftment of Destitute Girls/Women)
Sofia Abdul Hameed in social work/upliftment for destitute women and girls since 1993, when she formed a Charitable Trust under the name of Rabita Welfare Group (regd) Trust in Bengaluru from the year 1993. She has been active in rescuing destitute girls/women from the downtrodden Rabita Welfare Group has worked with the child
helpline team and rescued many girls and sheltered them at the Boarding Home called RIFAA which is one of the projects under the banner of the Rabita Welfare Group Trust.
The first batch of girls who were rescued were given a safe shelter and care at our Boarding Home. They were provided with basic education and home science training. They are now married and settled with their families in and around Bengaluru. The Trust is constantly in touch with them and their families.
The current batches of girls have completed formal schooling and now currently pursuing their Bachelor’s Degrees in various fields. Some of them have also taken training in special education. They have completed their diploma in handling hearing impaired children from Bal Vidyalaya, Chennai. Some of them are currently training in Braille. Rabita Welfare Group Trust also has a free food and drinking water project called Soup Here Ajr There meaning a Bowl of Food here will get one a reward in the hereafter with the Almighty. These food packets and water bottles are distributed by the Trust weekly in different parts of Bengaluru especially in government hospitals, homes, slums, poor hawkers. Her achievements have got her the Godfrey Philips Bravery Award in the year 2007 at Hyderabad.