Kerala Management Association holds annual convention

The 34th annual convention of the Kerala Management Association started here today at Hotel Le Meridien with a keynote address by TN Ninan, chairman of Business Standard Limited, at the inaugural session.

A special theme address was delivered by VG Mathew, managing director and chief executive officer of South Indian Bank. Harish Bijoor, brand expert and chief executive officer, Harish Bijoor Consults, also addressed the gathering.

Two technical sessions and a special session are slated for Thursday. The first technical session on 'Changing Business Models'  will be addressed by Peter Lasar, managing director, IKA India, and V Pattabhiram, co-founder and partner, Yoganandh & Ram, Chartered Accountants. The second session on 'Emergence of the Global Manager' will be chaired by D Rajiv Krishnan, national head of the people and change consulting practice, Ernst & Young.

Other speakers include Sridhar Ganesh, former director for human resources at the Murugappa Group, and Rajendra Theagarajah, director and CEO - National Development Bank, Sri Lanka. Ullas Kamath, joint MD of Jyothi Laboratories, will speak at the special session.

A panel discussion on 'Branding the New India' will be moderated by Abraham Kuruvilla, partner, EY India. The panelists include Sanjay Vijaykumar, CEO of Mob Me Wireless, Poornima Vardhan, founder of 335 TH, and Akshay Verma, founder and director of Agratam India, Skillhippo.com and Arion Ratings.

HM Nerurkar, president -All India Management Association, will be the chief guest at the valedictory session on Thursday evening. The session will be addressed by AK Balyan, MD and CEO of Petronet LNG, VK Mathews, executive chairman of IBS group of companies, and Fr Johnson Vazhappilly, executive director of Rajagiri Hospital.

The KMA-Rajagiri Excellence Awards and the KMA-Nasscom IT awards will be presented during the session. P Premchand, president of the KMA, will chair the session.