The Executive Council of the Institute of Directors (IOD) conferred the “Distinguished Fellowship” for the year 2014 on Mr Atul Temurnikar, Chairman and Co-founder of Global Schools Foundation on 20th December at The Ashok Hotel in New Delhi.

The award was presented to him by the chief guest, Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Hon’ble Minister of State for Culture, Tourism and Ministry of Civil Aviation (India), Government of India; Justice (Dr.) Arijit Pasayat, former judge of the Supreme Court; and Lt. Gen J.S. Ahluwalia, President of ‘Institute of Directors’ and of the ‘World Environment Foundation’ (WEF), during IOD’s National Convention on Corporate Governance and Sustainability. Also present for the award ceremony were Mr Nikhil Sahni, Senior President and Country Head of Government Relationship Management & Strategic Government Advisory at Yes Bank Limited, and Ms Meenakshi Lekhi, Member of Parliament and a Supreme Court lawyer who was the Guest of Honour for the evening.

Mr Atul Temurnikar addressing the audience at IOD@aps@s National Convention

"It’s a great honour to receive the prestigious ‘Distinguished Fellow of IOD’ award this year. Being in the field of education for over 12 years, we believe that value-based education plays a fundamental role in shaping individuals and developing societies. Our journey with corporate governance started in 2006 and I’m truly grateful to IOD for bestowing this recognition - for identifying efforts of our teachers, staff and management at GIIS; for giving us the opportunity to live up to the responsibilities that this award confers on each individual present here”, said Mr Temurnikar.

Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Hon’ble Union Minister of State of Culture and Tourism (IC) & Minister of State for Civil Aviation complimented IOD for the holding the convention in order to establish the role of corporates in the sphere of corporate governance. He said, “Outcome of such deliberations will be fruitful as it will be utilized for the benefit of humanity. The world is looking towards us, and there is a lot of potential in our country. We talk of our rich Indian heritage in India and it is the right time to take the leap towards positive outcome.”

Commenting on the importance of corporate governance, Justice (Dr.) Arijit Pasayat, Co-Chairman, IOD & former Judge, Supreme Court of India added, “Corporate governance should be looked upon as a long-term investment by companies. The planning needs to be all encompassing and process oriented so that it is self-sustainable.”

“Corporate governance is a responsibility that the corporate India needs to take seriously.  It could be a simple thing like organizing a cleanliness drive in the city.  Introducing concepts of waste management at a grass-root level and eventually streamlining the processes accordingly”, said Ms Lekhi.

Conferred upon eminent people for their outstanding contribution to public causes and society, the award recognizes individuals for their expertise and experience in matters related to public affairs and rendering support to promote institute’s ideologies.

The advisory council of IOD is currently headed by Hon’ble Justice M N Venkatchalliah, former Chief Justice of India. The first Distinguished Fellowship award was presented to Bharat Ratna Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, former President of India. Other prominent personalities to have received the award include:

• Mr. Naresh Goyal, Chairman, Jet Airways; 
• Shri Atul Singh, CEO, Coca-Cola India;
• Shri Jagdish Khattar IAS, former Managing  Director, Maruti Udyog;
• Shri R Seetharaman, Group CEO, Doha Bank, Qatar;
• Rt. Hon. Baroness Verma, Minister in UK Government and Chief Whip Spokesperson for International Development, House of Lords, UK;
• General Ved Prakash Malik, former Chief of Army Staff;
• Dr V K Agnihotri, IAS, Secretary General, Rajya Sabha;
• Shri Atul Chaturvedi IAS, Chairman PESB;
• Shri K. M. Chandrasekhar IAS (Retd), former Cabinet Secretary;
• Shri T. K. Viswanathan, former Law Secretary and Secretary General, Lok Sabha;
• Shri N Gopalaswami IAS (Retd), former Chief Election Commissioner  of India;
• Shri Ashok Lavasa IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests, Govt. of India

Link to Roll of Honour: http://www.iodonline.com/about-iod/distinguished-fellows.html

Institute of Directors was established in 1990 as an independent, ‘not for profit’ apex association of corporate directors to spearhead India’s Quality revolution and build ‘Brand India’ by focusing on Directors’ networking, training and development. IOD is associated with more than 30,000 senior executives representing prominent organisations from both, the Private, Public and Governments worldwide.