Bayer
Eco-Minds 2009 to be held in New Zealand
Two students selected from India
to represent the country at the Bayer Eco-Minds forum 2009
Mumbai, 8. May 2009 – The
Bayer Group in India has selected two students to represent
India at the third Eco-Minds Youth forum for sustainable development,
scheduled to be held in New Zealand from May 25 – 30,
2009.
The two students – Aniruddha Sharma and Sruthi Chandrasekaran
– were selected after a nation-wide essay competition.
Short-listed candidates were then interviewed. Both Aniruddha
and Sruthi are from the Indian Institutes of Technology, Karagpur
and Chennai respectively.
Aniruddha Sharma is a 4th year student studying
Masters in Statistics & Informatics at the Indian Institute
of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur. He is an active member of
"Clean Techies around the World", a group of entrepreneurs,
researchers and professionals developing and using new technologies
to save the planet. Aniruddha is interested in studying the
impact of the power and industry sectors on global warming.
He was invited to San Francisco as a guest to present on “new
carbon mitigation technology” at the Cleantech Forum
2009.
Aniruddha is also a co-founder and Vice President of a seed
stage company that aims to provide self-developed clean coal
technology to power plants and industrial setups for carbon
capture.
He is currently developing a first of its kind research facility
called 'Carbon Lab' and strongly believes that science and
technology holds the key to commercially develop sustainable
energy sources in the near future.
Sruthi Chandrasekhar is currently in the
third year of a five-year Integrated Masters in Economics
from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Chennai. She
was part of the team that visited the Landesgartenschau, the
regional garden show, Leverkusen / Germany in 2004, as an
initiative of the World School Forum where participants discussed
the importance of globalisation, its effect on the environment
and the need to strike a balance.
Sruthi was chosen as a Climate Champion (2009) by the British
Council and TERI (The Energy & Resources Institute) for
her business model to make paper bags commercially and economically
viable, thereby reducing the use of plastic. She has been
selected to attend the Colloquium on Free Market Environmentalism
(2009) organised by PERC (Property & Environment Research
Centre) in Montana, USA.
Sruthi is passionate about the environment and cautious about
protecting the earth's resources. She is committed to bringing
about a collective change that is positive through the personal
involvement of people around the globe.
The Bayer Eco-Minds program is an initiative resulting from
a unique partnership between the United Nations Environmental
Program (UNEP) and Bayer. The program aims to foster awareness
and knowledge of environmental issues amongst youth in the
Asia Pacific region, by providing opportunities for cross
cultural and interdisciplinary activities and knowledge sharing
on sustainable development. Eco-Minds focuses on Sustainable
Development in a unique way by bringing together young scientists,
engineers, social scientists, economists, and management experts
from different countries to participate in a solution-oriented
group work.
The programme encourages the youth to think of creative and
practical uses of science and technology in an interdisciplinary
way in order to address the challenge of Sustainable Development.
While the primary focus of Eco-Minds is on scientific and
technical innovations, the initiative also includes consideration
of socio-economic and cultural factors at all stages.
Participants this year, will be able to learn more about sustainable
energy systems, including New Zealand’s hydro and geothermal
supply systems. They will also look at some of the challenges
around energy supply, such as climate change, and what practical
solutions can be put in place to overcome such challenges.
Bayer: Science For A Better Life
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the
fields of health care, nutrition and high-tech materials.
The company’s products and services are designed to
benefit people and improve their quality of life. At the same
time Bayer creates value through innovation, growth and high
earning power. The Group is committed to the principles of
sustainable development and to its role as a socially and
ethically responsible corporate citizen. Economy, ecology
and social responsibility are corporate policy objectives
of equal rank. In fiscal 2008, Bayer employed 108,600 people
and had sales of €32.9 billion. Capital expenditures
amounted to €2.0 billion, R&D expenses to €2.7
billion.
For more information, go to www.bayer.com.
Contact:
Mandira Viegas
Corporate Communications
Bayer Group in India
E-Mail : mandira.viegas.mv@bayer-ag.de
IND–BAG–2009-0117
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements based
on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group management.
Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors
could lead to material differences between the actual future
results, financial situation, development or performance of
the company and the estimates given here. These factors include
those discussed in our public reports filed with the Frankfurt
Stock Exchange and with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
(including our Form 20-F).The company assumes no liability
whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to
conform them to future events or developments.
