Tag: NDTV

FY-16: NDTV revenue flat

BENGALURU: New Delhi Television Limited (NDTV) reported flat (down 1 per cent) consolidated Total Income from Operations (TIO, revenue) for the year ended 31 March 2016 (FY-16, current year) as compared to the previous year. The company reported TIO of Rs 565.76 crore in the current year as compared to Rs 571.28 crore in FY-15.

Note: The unit of currency in this report is the Indian rupee – Rs (also conventionally represented by INR). The Indian numbering system or the Vedic numbering system has been used to denote money values. The basic conversion to the international norm would be:

(a) 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10,000,000 = 10 million = 1 crore.

(b) 10,000 lakh = 100 crore = 1 arab = 1 billion.

NDTV’s reported 3.8 percent year-on year (y-o-y) growth in TIO for the quarter ended 31 March 2016 (Q4-16, current quarter) at Rs 169.74 crore as compared to Rs 163.45 crore and 14.4 percent quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) growth as compared to Rs 148.41 crore for Q3-2016.

The company reported a higher loss for FY-16 at Rs 54.82 crore as compared to a loss of Rs 44.03 crore in FY-15. Loss in Q4-16 was however lower at Rs 0.77 crore as compared to a loss of Rs 17.21 crore in Q4-15 and a loss of Rs 12.54 crore in the immediate trailing quarter.

NDTV reported an operating loss (EBIDTA) in FY-16 at Rs 22.45 crore as compared to an operating profit of Rs 32.93 crore (5.8 percent margin) in the previous year. EBIDTA in Q4-16 was Rs 8.25 crore (4.9 percent margin), 61.6 percent lower than the EBIDTA of Rs 21.50 crore (13.2 percent margin). The company reported an operating loss in Q3-16 at Rs 4.45 crore.

Segment numbers

NDTV’s Television Media and related operations (Television) segment reported almost flat (0.8 percent higher) revenue of Rs 559.13 crore as compared to Rs 554.63 crore in FY-15. The segment reported 7.7 percent y-o-y growth in revenue for Q1-16 at Rs 169.27 crore as compared to Rs 157.09 crore and a 14.4 percent q-o-q growth as compared to Rs 147.96 crore in Q3-16.

Television segment reported an operating loss of 11.26 crore in FY-16 as compared to an operating profit of Rs 31.92 crore in FY-15. The segment reported an operating profit of 13.14 crore in Q4-16, 49 percent lower than Rs 25.78 crore in Q4-15. Television segments had reported an operating loss of Rs 3.44 crore in Q3-16.

NDTV’s Retail/eCommerce (eCommerce) segment reported 17.5 percent decline in revenue at Rs 16.14 crore in FY-16 as compared to Rs 19.57 crore in the previous fiscal. eCommerce segment’s revenue in Q4-16 declined 62.2 percent y-o-y to Rs 2.57 crore as compared to Rs 6.80 crore and declined 33.2 percent q-o-q from Rs 3.85 crore. The segment’s reported a higher operating loss in FY-16 at Rs 36.10 crore as compared to an operating loss of Rs 23.67 crore in FY-15. The segment’s operating loss in Q4-16 at Rs 10.30 crore was higher than the operating loss of Rs 9.99 crore in Q1-15 and higher than the operating loss of Rs 6.50 crore in Q4-15.

Let us look at the other numbers reported by NDTV

Total Expenditure (TE) in FY-16 increased 8.1 percent to Rs 624.47 crore (110.4 percent of TIO) as compared to Rs 577.89 crore (101.2 percent of TIO) in FY-15. TE in the current quarter increased 12.2 percent y-o-y to Rs 169.87 crore (100.1 percent of IO) as compared to Rs 151.34 crore (92.6 percent of TIO) and grew 6.2 percent q-o-q from Rs 159.89 crore (107.7 percent of TIO) in Q3-2016.

NDTV’s consolidated Production Expense (PE) increased 1.2 percent in FY-16 to Rs 121.72 crore (21.5 percent of TIO) as compared to Rs 120.25 crore (21 percent of TIO) in FY-15. PE increased 22.3 percent y-o-y to Rs 41.09 crore (24.2 percent of TIO) from Rs 33.32 crore (20.4 percent of TIO) and grew 33.1 percent q-o-q from Rs 30.42 crore (20.5 percent of TIO).

The company’s Marketing, distribution and promotional expense (Marketing expense) in the current year increased 20.7 percent to Rs 128.63 (22.7 percent of TIO) as compared to Rs 106.57 crore (18.7 percent of TIO) in FY-15. Marketing expense in the current quarter increased 30.4 percent y-o-y to Rs Rs 32.52 crore (19.2 percent of TIO) as compared to Rs 24.93 crore (15.3 percent of TIO) but was 10.9 percent lower q-o-q from Rs 36.50 crore (24.6 percent of TIO).

NDTV’s Employee Benefit Expense (EBE) in FY-16 increased 9.7 percent to Rs 201.36 crore (35.6 percent of TIO) from Rs 183.55 crore (32.1 percent of TIO) in FY-15. EBE in Q4-16 increased 17.2 percent y-o-y to Rs 52.25 crore ( 30.8 percent of TIO) from Rs 44.57 crore ( 27.3 percent of TIO) and increased 3.2 percent q-o-q from Rs 50.72 crore (34.2 percent of TIO).

Operating and administration expenses (Admin expenses) in FY-16 increased 8.8 percent to Rs 132.76 crore (23.5 percent of TIO) from Rs 121.98 crore (21.4 percent of TIO) in FY-15. Admin expense in Q4-16 increased 13.9 percent y-o-y to Rs 36.72 crore (21.6 percent of TIO) from Rs 32.25 crore (19.7 percent of TIO) and grew 6.1 percent q-o-q from Rs 34.60 crore (23.3 percent of TIO).

Finance Costs in the current year declined 3.4 percent to Rs 20.76 crore (3.7 percent of TIO) from Rs 21.48 crore (3.8 percent of TIO). Finance cost in the current quarter declined 12.2 percent y-o-y to Rs 4.66 crore (2.7 percent of TIO) from Rs 5.31 crore (3.2 percent of TIO) and declined 11.9 percent q-o-q from Rs 5.49 crore (3.6 percent of TIO).

Company speak

The NDTV board has decided to consider re-structuring / de-merger and separate listing of NDTV Convergence (ndtv.com) to unlock shareholder value. Ndtv.com is one of India’s most successful Internet businesses with a global reach and more than 65 million (6.5 crore) unique visitors a month. NDTV Convergence has been consistently profitable.

NDVT’s eCommerce business

Gadgets360.com – achieved a Gross Merchandize Value (GMV) of Rs 27 crores while maintaining a positive contribution margin per unit as well as total gross margin. The portal is now bigger than next 5 Indian tech sites combined.

CarAndBike.com – was the exclusive launch partner for 4 cars in the span of the last 6 months of 2015-16. The fledgling startup has already on-boarded 8 OEM’s for direct sale of cars and bikes covering 40 percent of the new car market pan India. The site includes innovative features such as the consumer-to-consumer auction engine for used cars as well as regional language content and a complete host of allied services pertaining to loans and insurance.

BandBaajaa.com – launched on 6th October 2015, which aims to be a one-stop shop for wedding planning, ideas, inspiration, shopping and execution has already partnered with 2,100 vendors across 15 cities in 14 categories like venues, photographers, makeup-artists, etc.

Mojarto.com – launched as an online platform aggregating artists, galleries, artisans and designers from across the sub-continent into a marketplace.

May 5, 2016
Mumbai Press club awards Ninan , NDTV editor Ravish Kumar

NEW DELHI: Veteran business journalist T N Ninan has been honoured with the Red Ink Life Time Achievement Award of the Mumbai Press Club. The ‘Red Ink Journalist of the Year’ Award was given to NDTV India’s senior executive editor Ravish Kumar for his consistent and good reporting on politics and issues that concern the common man.

The awards presented by Maharashtra governor C Vidyasagar Rao and Union Energy minister Piyush Goyal recognizes Ninan’s extensive contribution to business journalism through editorial leadership which he provided to a host of publications. Vinod Mehta, Kuldeep Nayar, N Ram, Mrinal Pande and Prannoy Roy were in the past honoured with the Life Time Achievement Award.

‘The Wire’, a news and public affairs website founded by Siddharth Varadarajan and Siddharth Bhatia, was adjudged the ‘Red Ink Start-up of the Year’.

The Mumbai Press Club also honoured posthumously Jagendra Singh of Shahjahanpur, UP with the ‘RedInk Veer Patrakar Puraskar. Jagendra Singh was allegedly killed for his exposes on illegal sand mining and other misdemeanours of a local politician in June 2015.

The Red Ink Awards for Excellence in journalism were given away in 10 categories for meritorious work in TV, print and digital formats. The categories were politics, crime, health and wellness, business, environment, human rights, photography, science and innovation, entertainment and lifestyle and sports.

The theme of the Red Ink Awards 2016 was ‘To Rise Above It All’ . A panel discussion held on the occasion reflected upon many challenges being faced by journalism in a period of increasing violence, vested interests and hashtag writings. The panel moderated by Shobha De comprised veteran journalist Meenaz Merchant, co-founder of Wire news portal, Siddharth Varadarajan, Moneylife Foundation’s Sucheta Dalal and NDTV editor Ravish Kumar.

April 28, 2016
Mumbai Press club awards Ninan , NDTV editor Ravish Kumar

NEW DELHI: Veteran business journalist T N Ninan has been honoured with the Red Ink Life Time Achievement Award of the Mumbai Press Club. The ‘Red Ink Journalist of the Year’ Award was given to NDTV India’s senior executive editor Ravish Kumar for his consistent and good reporting on politics and issues that concern the common man.

The awards presented by Maharashtra governor C Vidyasagar Rao and Union Energy minister Piyush Goyal recognizes Ninan’s extensive contribution to business journalism through editorial leadership which he provided to a host of publications. Vinod Mehta, Kuldeep Nayar, N Ram, Mrinal Pande and Prannoy Roy were in the past honoured with the Life Time Achievement Award.

‘The Wire’, a news and public affairs website founded by Siddharth Varadarajan and Siddharth Bhatia, was adjudged the ‘Red Ink Start-up of the Year’.

The Mumbai Press Club also honoured posthumously Jagendra Singh of Shahjahanpur, UP with the ‘RedInk Veer Patrakar Puraskar. Jagendra Singh was allegedly killed for his exposes on illegal sand mining and other misdemeanours of a local politician in June 2015.

The Red Ink Awards for Excellence in journalism were given away in 10 categories for meritorious work in TV, print and digital formats. The categories were politics, crime, health and wellness, business, environment, human rights, photography, science and innovation, entertainment and lifestyle and sports.

The theme of the Red Ink Awards 2016 was ‘To Rise Above It All’ . A panel discussion held on the occasion reflected upon many challenges being faced by journalism in a period of increasing violence, vested interests and hashtag writings. The panel moderated by Shobha De comprised veteran journalist Meenaz Merchant, co-founder of Wire news portal, Siddharth Varadarajan, Moneylife Foundation’s Sucheta Dalal and NDTV editor Ravish Kumar.

April 28, 2016
FICCI FRAMES: Broadcasting stalwarts feel it is possible to survive the digital wave

MUMBAI: Is the past too old to be relevant in the future, and will it actually ‘perish’ if ‘change’ does not take place?

These questions were discussed by panelists at a session to discuss the formula to Survive the digital wave: Change or perish.

On the dias were The India Today Group Chairman and Editor-in-chief Aroon Purie, Discvery Asia Pacific Managing Director and President Arthur Bastings Viacom 18 group CEO Sudhhanshu Vats, Disney India MD Siddharth Roy Kapur, NDTV Group Director and CEO Vikram Chandra, and Hungama CEO Neeraj Roy, and the session was moderated by Pranjal Sharma with questions also coming from the delegates.

“The fundamental is still the same, produce quality and you will have consumers and that’s the way forward as far as I am concerned,” asserted Purie.

Bastings said staying with the mood of the occurrences is a must. “We cannot only have a channel. We need to have, whatever is there in the ecosystem. Once you have everything you can decide your core business and the rest depending on the performances you can plan your investments,” he added.

During the course of the discussion, the AVOD model was questioned numerous times. Offering content for free is habit forming which might hurt the ecosystem and what is happening to TV now can happen to OTT too a few years later.

Vats, whose Viacom’s digital AVOD offering VOOT was launched recently, said: “The consumer is paying. He may not be paying me but is paying for the data. As the payment mechanism develops, bundling can happen. So to say that the consumer is not paying is actually not a correct conclusion.”

Kapur had a somewhat different point of view as compared to Vats. ‘Waiting for later’ was is not a saleable proposition for him. “We launched 500 channels and did not make consumer pay anything for it. We believe if we form a habit that consumers will later come, pay and watch, does that mean that we open a series of screens and let people walk in for free. I do not think so.”

“Yes, people are watching movies on mobile phones but that does not mean theatre screens are going away” he added

Chandra said there was room for profits and opportunities, “It is possible to monetize and it is possible to make profits. But you cannot put archival content, you need to create content exclusively for that very platform and only then will you taste success. The mindset that I will put archival content on digital is a slightly wrong mindset that the broadcasters have been following.”

March 30, 2016
FICCI FRAMES: Broadcasting stalwarts feel it is possible to survive the digital wave

MUMBAI: Is the past too old to be relevant in the future, and will it actually ‘perish’ if ‘change’ does not take place?

These questions were discussed by panelists at a session to discuss the formula to Survive the digital wave: Change or perish.

On the dias were The India Today Group Chairman and Editor-in-chief Aroon Purie, Discvery Asia Pacific Managing Director and President Arthur Bastings Viacom 18 group CEO Sudhhanshu Vats, Disney India MD Siddharth Roy Kapur, NDTV Group Director and CEO Vikram Chandra, and Hungama CEO Neeraj Roy, and the session was moderated by Pranjal Sharma with questions also coming from the delegates.

“The fundamental is still the same, produce quality and you will have consumers and that’s the way forward as far as I am concerned,” asserted Purie.

Bastings said staying with the mood of the occurrences is a must. “We cannot only have a channel. We need to have, whatever is there in the ecosystem. Once you have everything you can decide your core business and the rest depending on the performances you can plan your investments,” he added.

During the course of the discussion, the AVOD model was questioned numerous times. Offering content for free is habit forming which might hurt the ecosystem and what is happening to TV now can happen to OTT too a few years later.

Vats, whose Viacom’s digital AVOD offering VOOT was launched recently, said: “The consumer is paying. He may not be paying me but is paying for the data. As the payment mechanism develops, bundling can happen. So to say that the consumer is not paying is actually not a correct conclusion.”

Kapur had a somewhat different point of view as compared to Vats. ‘Waiting for later’ was is not a saleable proposition for him. “We launched 500 channels and did not make consumer pay anything for it. We believe if we form a habit that consumers will later come, pay and watch, does that mean that we open a series of screens and let people walk in for free. I do not think so.”

“Yes, people are watching movies on mobile phones but that does not mean theatre screens are going away” he added

Chandra said there was room for profits and opportunities, “It is possible to monetize and it is possible to make profits. But you cannot put archival content, you need to create content exclusively for that very platform and only then will you taste success. The mindset that I will put archival content on digital is a slightly wrong mindset that the broadcasters have been following.”

March 30, 2016
NDTV launches its wedding platform Bandbaajaa.com

MUMBAI: After the successful launch of Gadget 360 and Carandbike.com, NDTV is all set to transform the wedding market with the launch of Bandbaajaa.com – a 360 degree solution for weddings.

With marquee designers such as Neeta Lulla, Anju Modi, Kisneel, Prama, Kylee & Neha Mehta and a listing of over 1500 best vendors and lifestyle professionals, coupled with over 5000 Products,Bandbaajaa.com is a one stop solution for weddings.

Excited with the launch, Bandbaajaa.com managing director Smeeta Chakrabarti said, “Weddings are a recession proof business, the current generation of young Indians will find everything they need to plan a perfect wedding with minimum fuss. The idea has been very well received by the market. It’s a hugely exciting space to be in.”

The website will not only assist the customers in creating a personalised checklist of all the tasks for a wedding but help ideate, manage the budget as well as find the right vendors as per preferred location at a click of a button. From assistance on venues, photography, DJ & Entertainers, wedding décor, makeup artists, invitation cards, caterers etc. to shopping for the perfect wedding trousseau, the website will provide an end-to-end solution to the customers.

Bandbaajaa.com CEO Sachin Singhal said, “We have curated a selective list of elite vendors. Our focus is to help the customers with the perfect mix of right products, best vendors and amazing ideas in order to make their journey to the big day hassle free and memorable. We have got a fabulous response so far, exceeding our own expectations.”

Bandbaajaa.com has already raised a funding worth valuation of $20 million from CerraCap Ventures. With this launch, NDTV establishes itself more firmly in the digital and ecommerce space.

March 30, 2016
NDTV launches its wedding platform Bandbaajaa.com

MUMBAI: After the successful launch of Gadget 360 and Carandbike.com, NDTV is all set to transform the wedding market with the launch of Bandbaajaa.com – a 360 degree solution for weddings.

With marquee designers such as Neeta Lulla, Anju Modi, Kisneel, Prama, Kylee & Neha Mehta and a listing of over 1500 best vendors and lifestyle professionals, coupled with over 5000 Products,Bandbaajaa.com is a one stop solution for weddings.

Excited with the launch, Bandbaajaa.com managing director Smeeta Chakrabarti said, “Weddings are a recession proof business, the current generation of young Indians will find everything they need to plan a perfect wedding with minimum fuss. The idea has been very well received by the market. It’s a hugely exciting space to be in.”

The website will not only assist the customers in creating a personalised checklist of all the tasks for a wedding but help ideate, manage the budget as well as find the right vendors as per preferred location at a click of a button. From assistance on venues, photography, DJ & Entertainers, wedding décor, makeup artists, invitation cards, caterers etc. to shopping for the perfect wedding trousseau, the website will provide an end-to-end solution to the customers.

Bandbaajaa.com CEO Sachin Singhal said, “We have curated a selective list of elite vendors. Our focus is to help the customers with the perfect mix of right products, best vendors and amazing ideas in order to make their journey to the big day hassle free and memorable. We have got a fabulous response so far, exceeding our own expectations.”

Bandbaajaa.com has already raised a funding worth valuation of $20 million from CerraCap Ventures. With this launch, NDTV establishes itself more firmly in the digital and ecommerce space.

March 30, 2016
DD Freedish confirms MPEG-4 next month, NDTV says no decision on going FTA on any of its channels

New Delhi: Even as two pay channels – Aajtak and Big Magic – have come on Doordarshan Freedish as free-to-air channel, possibilities have opened up for more channels coming on the platform even as it prepares to complete its migratiom to MPEG-4 next month. A Prasar Bharati source confirmed that the switch-over to MPEG-4 will be in two phases and the aim was to take the total capacity to 112.

Claiming that the Broadcast Audience Ratings Council (BARC) ratings had shown the importance of Freedish in reaching out to rural India, the source said that Aajtak and Big Magic which are pay channels are being run as FTA and have been accommodated in the current MPEG-2.

Meanwhile, NDTV denied any decision on turning FTA and coming on Freedish next month. An NDTV source said that any such decision, if taken, would be communicated through the media. A senior official who did not want to be named also confirmed that no decision had been taken yet on any of the NDTV bouquet channels going free to air, since this kind of decision could only be taken at the management and board levels.

Doordarshan sources also said that as all the 64 slots under MPEG-2 had been filled, there was no question of any other channel coming on. In any case, he said any channel which decided to come on the platform had to bid in the auctions that are held from time to time. All the slots under MPEG-2 were filled, the next auction date had not been finalized, the sources confirmed.

Freedish is adopting the conditional access system designed by the Bangalore-based ByDesign India Pvt Ltd.

The ByDesign model is totally indigenous and built for DVB-C setup. This CAS solution will enable broadcasters and network operators to control access to their services by viewers, and thereby enabling them to extend their business models to subscription based schemes.

This will mean that the Freedish will become encrypted but will remain free to air. In addition to helping increase the number of channels on the platform, this will enable Freedish to gauge the exact number of households relying on Freedish as encrypted set top boxes will only be available with authorized dealers.

The ByDesign CAS is provided by making access possible to content, depending on subscriber credentials, which are generated by this CAS and sent through the broadcast system to receivers in the field.

March 10, 2016
DD Freedish confirms MPEG-4 next month, NDTV says no decision on going FTA on any of its channels

New Delhi: Even as two pay channels – Aajtak and Big Magic – have come on Doordarshan Freedish as free-to-air channel, possibilities have opened up for more channels coming on the platform even as it prepares to complete its migratiom to MPEG-4 next month. A Prasar Bharati source confirmed that the switch-over to MPEG-4 will be in two phases and the aim was to take the total capacity to 112.

Claiming that the Broadcast Audience Ratings Council (BARC) ratings had shown the importance of Freedish in reaching out to rural India, the source said that Aajtak and Big Magic which are pay channels are being run as FTA and have been accommodated in the current MPEG-2.

Meanwhile, NDTV denied any decision on turning FTA and coming on Freedish next month. An NDTV source said that any such decision, if taken, would be communicated through the media. A senior official who did not want to be named also confirmed that no decision had been taken yet on any of the NDTV bouquet channels going free to air, since this kind of decision could only be taken at the management and board levels.

Doordarshan sources also said that as all the 64 slots under MPEG-2 had been filled, there was no question of any other channel coming on. In any case, he said any channel which decided to come on the platform had to bid in the auctions that are held from time to time. All the slots under MPEG-2 were filled, the next auction date had not been finalized, the sources confirmed.

Freedish is adopting the conditional access system designed by the Bangalore-based ByDesign India Pvt Ltd.

The ByDesign model is totally indigenous and built for DVB-C setup. This CAS solution will enable broadcasters and network operators to control access to their services by viewers, and thereby enabling them to extend their business models to subscription based schemes.

This will mean that the Freedish will become encrypted but will remain free to air. In addition to helping increase the number of channels on the platform, this will enable Freedish to gauge the exact number of households relying on Freedish as encrypted set top boxes will only be available with authorized dealers.

The ByDesign CAS is provided by making access possible to content, depending on subscriber credentials, which are generated by this CAS and sent through the broadcast system to receivers in the field.

March 10, 2016
NDTV and L’Oréal Paris host ‘Women of Worth’ Conclave

MUMBAI: With the aim of making the ‘Women of Worth’ initiative bigger and showcasing its commitment towards the cause, L’Oréal Paris in partnership with NDTV hosted ‘Women of Worth’ conclave on the occasion of International Women’s Day.

Distinguished personalities and influencers from across the country were invited to participate in the discussion that tried to touch upon key women related issues that are plaguing modern India and the role played by the women in our lives in today’s age and time.

Divided into four sessions, the panel discussion brought to the forefront some hard hitting points on women’s issues like gender equality, pay parity, safety for women in India and the position of women in the corporate world. The afternoon was opened by Dr. Prannoy Roy, Executive Co-Chairperson, NDTV Group.

Welcoming the panelists, Jean-Christophe Letellier, Managing Director, L’Oréal India,said, “L’Oréal believes that true beauty is about transforming people’s lives. That’s why ‘Women of Worth’ as a platform is extremely close to our heart. We believe it’s our duty to inspire and encourage more women to develop initiatives that will create new opportunities to change our lives, and of course also change the course of how the world sees them. Through initiatives like Women of Worth, we’d like to celebrate brilliant examples of beauty in diversity and talent that does not take into account the gender or ethnicity of the person”

Session 1: We, The Unequal

Panellists: Priya Dutt (politician) Anjum Chopra (Former Indian Cricket Team Captain) Naina Lal Kidwai(Chairperson, Max Financial), Manashi Guha(VP-Marketing, L’Oréal India), Suhel Seth (Managing Partner, Counselage India) and Harshavardhan Neotia, (President FICCI &Chairaman, AmbujaNeotia Group)

·         The session highlighted how modern women have to fight inequalities across industries – and women in general command lesser remuneration than men, quality of work notwithstanding

·         Panellists unanimously agreed that women need to market themselves better, stand up for each other a lot more, and that we also need to create a more robust social infrastructure in this country for women

·         Suhel Seth, “There are three issues that we need to discuss. We men don’t respect women as much as we should; We treat women as objects of benevolence or patronage, which is abominable; Our laws don’t support women as much as they should. We cannot have gender quotas, we must have gender respect.”

Session 2: Financial Empowerment of Women in India

Panellists:Anjolie Ela Menon (Artist), Dr.Syeda S Hameed (Former member of the Planning Commission), Preeti Malhotra (Chairperson, ASSOCHAM), Jayant Krishna (CEO, National Skill Development Corporation) and Vineet Nayar (Founder, Sampark, Foundation & Former CEO, HCL, Technologies)

· Emphasis on how more corporates need to support the aspirations of women to establish successful careers across industries

· Preeti Malhotra said, “You need to get women into decision making positions. Only then will gender parity increase and you will see more women-friendly policies.”

Session 3: Looking Back, Looking forward

Panellists: Arati Devi (Sarpanch, Dhunkapada, Odisha), Justice Leila Seth, Raghu Rai (photographer), Nidhi Dubey (Country Director, Girl Rising) and Farooq Abdullah (Politician)

· Focused on young girls and boys having their own growth space and the need to provide holistic education at the grass root level

· Mr. Abdullah said, “While women have their education degrees, the government and the corporates need to do more to channelize their future.”

· Justice Seth said, “While there are changes in law and society, the mindset of people is slow to change and this is the biggest challenge we face.”

Session 4: The Way We See Women

Panellists: Shabana Azmi(Actress),Vrinda Grover (Lawyer, Researcher, Human Rights & Women’s Rights Activist),Shiv Vishwanathan(Social Scientist) and KalpanaVishwanath(Co-founder Safetipin, Former Chief of Jagori) and Kalilkesh Singh Deo (Politician)

· Key points were raised regarding the prejudice that exists in India towards how a girl is viewed in society and is expected to behave

· Commenting on the way women in Bollywood are positioned, Shabana Azmi said, “Filmmakers and artists have to exercise self-regulation in how we project women, objectifying and commodifying women is wrong.”

Speaking at the conclave, Vikram Chandra, CEO NDTV Group said, “On International Women’s Day, we must take a pledge to promote and protect the right of every woman in the world. NDTV as a media house has always supported women’s empowerment. We are proud to be associated with the Women of Worth campaign that has stood for this cause globally and has applauded women who have made a significant impact on society. The conclave was an excellent gathering of like-minded people to share their thoughts and solutions for a promising future for women around the world.”

Praising the enthusiastic participation from the panelists, Mr. Satyaki Ghosh, Director, Consumer Products Division, L’Oréal India concluded the event saying,“It was wonderful to see such passionate flow of opinions regarding the various issues discussed today. I would like to laud all the panellists present here who took time out from their schedule to participate in this initiative. Women have the same aspirations, abilities and qualities that men do and therefore they should have equal opportunities to develop their faculties. It is time we come out with more initiatives like ‘Women of Worth’ that recognize individual identity of women and make the women of our country feel that they are absolutely ‘worth it!’

The L’Oréal Paris ‘Women of Worth’awards recognize the achievements of women who possess a strong personality, are sensitive to needs of the society and a pillar of support and strength in all walks of life. The nominees have been shortlisted after an extensive research process while identifying each one’s key contribution in their respective fields. These unique awards felicitate ‘Women of Worth’, while celebrating the many facets of their inspirational journey.

Through a public voting system in conjunction with jury inputs, the campaign will end in March 20th, 2016. A transparent and well-structured voting system for the public will be set up to ensure that the most deserving nominees win. A glittering ceremony, where the nominees will be awarded the ‘Women of Worth’ titles, will be held in Mumbai on 28thMarch 2016.

March 9, 2016