RANJANA VAISH AGARWAL

Ranjana has graduated in Economics (Hons.) from LSR in 1977 and trained as a Chartered Accountant with PWC to start her practice back in 1985. Her firm Vaish & Associates provides a wide range of services including audit, tax, business valuations, succession planning, ESG, etc. She has been partnering in Deloitte Haskins & Sells until 2000.

Ranjana sits on a number of boards and chairs key committees of listed companies. She was the national president of the women's wing of FICCI and currently co-chairs the ‘FICCI FLO Greater 50's Directors program. As Co-Chair of the Corporate Affairs committee of the PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry, her focus is ESG reporting. Ranjana is a life trustee in the Vaish Associates Public Welfare Trust which works in the field of education and health care. She is the recipient of the Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini award for professional excellence. She lives in New Delhi and has 2 daughters.

AANYA WIG

We are so excited and proud to share that one of our young ELSAs (and the youngest on the EC), Aanya Wig from the LSR batch of 2021, has been named by LinkedIn as one of India’s Top Voices in Social Impact. The list highlights the most impactful voices across social development, for-profit, and nonprofit sectors who have used their position and experience to bring positive change in society and benefit millions. Aanya is the founder of Girl Up Rise, a UN Foundation initiative started by students of LSR to impact gender spaces. Way to go Aanya!

APOORVA BAPNA

ELSA Apoorva Bapna delivered an insightful podcast during Pride Month that elucidates and discusses the role corporates can play in building inclusive workspaces. Titled “Nurturing Corporate Allies for Pride Month”, Apoorva–Chief Culture Officer at WPP–spoke through a lens of ‘how corporates are approaching diversity and inclusion and how Pride Month acts as an impetus'. https://youtu.be/cz5-fPuP0CY

Hosted by Danish Khan on TOSB Conversations, the platform also had counseling therapist Deepak Kashyap offering a voice for the community.

We need more of such voices and these ideas!

BHARTI SINHA

For those aspiring to take on pioneering roles, Jeeves Who Spoke to Flowers offers an insight into the personal journey of Bharti Sinha LSR ’80. When few women opted for roles demanding high commitments towards travel and time, Bharti defied convention. Travelling 20 days a month, she steadily climbed the corporate ladder to top positions in management. With her keen eye for the ridiculous, she observed the spectrum of human nature – a fertile ground for a quick mind and a restless pen. This book shows you that your workplace also has an amusement park lurking beneath the surface if only you are willing to scratch it. Buy your copy here: https://amzn.to/3AZFhFT

RINTU THOMAS

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which organises the Oscars annually, has announced its list of invitees for the year 2022. The Academy extended an invite to 397 distinguished artists and executives to join its organisation in 2022. Of the 397 artists, ELSA Rintu Thomas has been invited to join from India along with other distinguished artists like Kajol, Suriya, Reema Kagti and Sushmit Gosh. Hats off for another feather in her cap. Awesome!

More :https://www.news9live.com/entertainment/kajolsuriya- sushmit-ghosh-rintu-thomas-thank-academy-formembership- invitation-179654

GITA GOPINATH

Super achiever Gita Gopinath (also an ELSA) became the first woman and second Indian to feature on the ‘wall of former chief economists of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The first Indian to achieve the honour was Raghuram Rajan who was Chief Economist and Director of Research of IMF between 2003 and 2006.

Gopinath was appointed as IMF Chief Economist in October 2018 and was later promoted as the IMF’s First Deputy Managing Director in December last year. Very inspirational! GITA GOPINATH

Special Committee - Rules Overview

We have started work on reviewing the Rules of the Association with the following objectives:

• Align terminology with that of the Societies Registration Act.
• Fix contradictory/ unclear/out-dated terminology
• Rationalize rules in order to minimize potential causes for conflict or confusion

The Committee that is working on this comprises of

• Kalpana Mudaliar (Mumbai)
• Shafigeh Lal ( Bangalore)
• Smita Premchander (Bangalore)
• Snimer Kaur Sahni ( Delhi)
• Suchitra Chitale ( Delhi)
• Suki Iyer ( Bangalore)

Once the changes in the Rules are approved, the ByeLaws will be changed to align with the Rules.

ELSA MEMORABILIA ITEMS

Coasters, T-shirts, mugs and more - The clearance sale is on! We are giving away ELSA memorabilia items at a flat 50% discount on the prices indicated here.

To order, count the total of the items you wish to purchase, apply the discount and pay directly to the following bank account:
Bank Name: HDFC Bank Account Name: ELSA – Lady Shri Ram College Alumni
Association Account No.: 50100058697541 IFSC code: HDFC0000483 Branch: New Delhi - East Of Kailash Address: E-216, East Of Kailash, New Delhi - 110065
Send a screenshot of the transaction details, and your name and address to admin@lsralumna.org with the list of items you've opted for.

ELSA HEALTH INSURANCE!

Health disasters do not knock prior to breaking in! Staying prepared and well-covered with quality health insurance is important for us and our family members. ELSA has brought a mindfully curated Group Health Insurance Benefit for its members and their families, underwritten by Oriental Health Insurance.

From age-calibrated and competitive premiums to no or minimal waiting period and no medical checkup required, the group health insurance policy minimized the usual obstacles an insurance buyer faces. Many of our ELSAs found it useful too and several others requested an extension of the purchase window- which we are so happy to have managed! The Insurance window was open till Sunday, June 26th.

Over the course of the last few weeks, so many of you have shared your stories on health issues and insurance coverage. We are thrilled to have been able to help. For those who have missed out on the opportunity to secure health insurance for themselves or family members, do email ec@lsralumna.org

YOUNGEST MEMBER OF THE EC MEETS NAAC ACCREDITATION TEAM AT LSR

Aanya Wig, a History Honours graduate from the batch of 2021, and a member of the ELSA EC , was invited by the Principal Dr. Suman Sharma to interact with the NAAC Accreditation team as a young achiever alumnus. She engaged with the accreditation team regarding her initiative “COVID Fighters India”, detailing her efforts towards the initiative that saved so many lives during the pandemic. She also highlighted the ways in which LSR has been a great platform and support system for her accomplishment. NAAC has also published a booklet that features Aanya’s work. Aanya is a women empowerment enthusiast and her work in the social development sector at such a young age is just awesome!

ELSA CONNECT WITH SHOMA CHAUDHURY

(AN ELSA BANGALORE INITIATIVE)

Saturday, 25th June at 4 pm

ELSA Bangalore hosted Shoma Chaudhury in June's ELSA Connect session. Shoma is from the 1992 batch of English (Hons.), is an award-winning journalist, editor and political commentator. As managing editor and one of the founders of Tehelka, the investigative news magazine, she created a large body of work in defense of an open, plural and equitable society.

Shoma is also a reputed curator and moderator. In her capacity as co-founder and director of THiNK (designed to be a cutting-edge conference of ideas from across the globe), she has hosted conversations with leaders in politics, economics, business, science, civil society, media and the arts. She has interviewed, among others, Robert De Niro, Frank Gehry, Gary Kasparov and the former chiefs of the CIA, Mossad and the Taliban together on the same platform. In 2016, Shoma co-founded and was director of Algebra, The Arts & Ideas Club, a unique forum for critical conversation, constructed to challenge perspectives by presenting mainstream public figures in a new light or highlighting counter-narratives with grassroots social transformers and dispossessed voices including sewage workers, farmers, tribals and activists.

Among her many awards is the prestigious Sabbiadoro Ernest Hemingway Award for Political Journalism, the Ramnath Goenka award and the Chameli Devi Jain Award for best woman media person.

In 2011, Newsweek magazine picked her as one of 150 power women "who shake the world”. Tina Brown, former editor of Newsweek and The New Yorker described Shoma as “….. a powerful instrument of challenge and persuasion in India’s public life and the best convener of conversations in the world.” Shoma lives in Delhi and has two sons.

Curated by Yumna Hari Singh

ELSA PODCAST

We were delighted to finally launch The ELSA Podcast Series- a medium to share the many stories, successes, experiences, and insights of our ELSAs from across the globe, and in the process enrich our own lives.

For this launch session, our guest was Anuradha Lal, Singapore-based ELSA who has created an amazing platform called Digilah that curates, showcases and amplifies thought leadership ideas in the digital world! Taking her through her journey was Ardra Kumar, a current LSR student with a deep interest in entrepreneurship - amongst other things.

Do give it a listen here: https://spoti.fi/3ydWoka

Watch for future podcasts…

THE ENVIRONMENT AND US

The dawn of 1st July 2022 brought an end to 21 single-use plastic items in India, most of which are commonly used in our households. Plastic stick earbuds, the stems of colourful round balloons, thermocol, plastic straws and cutlery, packaging films used for boxes of sweets or invitation cards and many such single-use plastics (SUP)s are now banned in India. The notification reasons that single-use plastics comprise a major segment of the plastic produced worldwide and are also rapidly discarded after it has served its purpose, resulting in more waste generation and landfills. Further, the collection of the small-sized and thin SUPs for recycling is tougher.

Two years since the first announcement of restricting the use of plastic in India, the Government at the Centre has enacted the law, which also mandates that the plastic or PVC materials used in India have to be more than 100 microns in thickness. Similarly, the permitted thickness of non-woven plastic, those mimicking the appearance of fabric, stands at 60 GSM or greater. In the subsequent phases, the ban will be extended to several other plastic items in circulation. The centre aims to completely phase-out single-use plastics by the end of 2022.

Among all the environmental concerns triggered by SUPs globally, which include increasing landfills, drainage issues, and contamination of groundwater by microplastics, the impact of plastic waste on the ocean and marine life is disturbing. Here’s a brief compilation for you to glance through:

• Every year, 8 million tons of plastic enter the ocean
• Only 10 rivers globally act as conveyor belts to dump bulks of plastic into the oceans, surprisingly, eight of them originate in Asia. China’s Yangtze is the biggest source, contributing 1.5 million metric tonnes each year.
• Microplastics invade deeper oceanic habitats and are extremely hazardous to marine life. They give an illusion of plankton and get eaten up by several organisms, aquatic and otherwise, that form the base of the food chain.
• While some marine animals suffer severe illnesses or, worse, die because of devouring sheets or straws made of plastics, several of them get entangled in the plastic matter, lose reproductive vitality, injure liver functions and the list of harm goes on!
• Microplastics have been found in more than 100 aquatic species, including fish, shrimp, and mussels.
• Reports estimate that more than 5 trillion individual pieces of plastic are floating in the ocean. If the global production of single-use plastics continues at current rates, by 2050 the amount of plastic in the sea could outweigh all the fish.
• 90% of seabirds and 52% of all turtles on the planet have consumed plastic.

Sadly, this is not even an exhaustive list!

Apart from marine life, the life on land and in the air is also no longer untouched by the notoriety of plastic waste. Over 700 species and endangered creatures are vulnerable to its fatal repercussions. Plastics have been made into the digestive tracts of land-based animals, including elephants, hyenas, zebras, tigers, camels, and cattle that are served on our dinner plates! Microplastics invade drinking water stored in plastic bottles. Thus, not just the environment, but microplastics are also pervading the human bloodstream.
Are any of you playing an active role in reducing carbon footprint/ contributing to a circular economy? Please do share your stories - mail us at ec@lsralumna.org

Share your Stories
Please share your stories with us...our community gets closer as we get to know each other better and share in the joys and successes of our alum...!

Volunteering
We need help - and lots of it. We need social media practitioners, nutritionists, mental health professionals, financial planning ones, language support experts ( Hindi to English). If you have the interest and the time, and can run a program for us, or lead or be part of a team, please do email us at ec@lsralumna.org A big thank you to all who have written to us for volunteering their time, we will engage with you soon!

Social Media
And please visit ELSA handles and share your stories, insights, achievements, blog/sub-stack writing...we'd love to hear more and amplify the lives of our vibrant community! Join now/Follow:

LinkedIn - bit.ly/LSRAlumni_LinkedIn

Twitter - twitter.com/LSR_Alumni

Instagram - instagram.com/lsr.alumna

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/LSR.alumnae

(P.S. Please note that only Chapters are allowed to use the ELSA name and logo in their SM and communication and such use by individuals or personal groups {unless they are amplifying an official message} is not permitted as per the Association ByeLaws)