National Conference on
“Competition Regime – Benefiting the Consumer”
October 20, 2010, Gulmohar, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, India
Programme
09:30 – 10:00 Registration & Tea
10:00 – 11:15 Opening Session
10:00 – 10:15 Welcome Address by Shri Dhanendra Kumar, Chairman, CCI
10:15 – 10:30 Keynote Address by Prof. K V Thomas, Hon’ble Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution
10:30 – 10:45 Inaugural Address by Shri Salman Khurshid, Hon’ble Minister of Corporate Affairs
10:45 – 11:05 Presidential Address by Chief Guest Dr. M.Veerappa Moily, Hon’ble Minister of Law
11:05 – 11:15 Vote of Thanks by Shri Pradeep S Mehta, Secretary General, CUTS
11:15 – 11:45 Tea break
11:45 – 13:15 Session I: Competition Law and the Consumer
Theme
- Benefits of competition for consumer
- International and domestic examples where competition has yielded better outcomes for consumers
- Overview of Competition Act, 2002
Chair : T K Viswanathan, Secretary General, Lok Sabha
Presenter: Pradeep S Mehta, Secretary General, CUTS
Panellists: Shantanu Dixit, Prayas, Pune
TCA Srinivasa-Raghavan, Associate Editor, Business Line, New Delhi
Sriram Khanna, Managing Trustee, VOICE, New Delhi
13:15 – 14:15 Lunch break
14:15 – 15:45 Session II: Anticompetitive practices and the Consumer
Theme:
- Anti-competitive practices in selected sectors
- Redressal mechanism
Chair:
R. Bandyopadhyay, Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs
Presenter:Bibek Debroy, Professor, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi
Panellists:Y.G Muralidharan, Managing Trustee, CREAT, Bangalore
S Chakravarthy, former Member, MRTP Commission
Pushpa Girimaji, Columnist, New Delhi
15:45 – 16:00 Tea/coffee
16:00 – 17:30 Session III: Consumer – Key stakeholder in the Competition Regime
- Effective enforcement and consumer empowerment
- Consumer awareness and advocacy
Chair: Pradeep S Mehta, Secretary General, CUTS
Presenter: Navneet Sharma, Director, CIRC, New Delhi;
Panellists:
R Desikan, President, CAI, Chennai
Ramaben Mavani, former Chairperson, CCC, Rajkot
Raghav Narsalay, formerly with MGP, Mumbai
17:30 – 18:30 Way forward and Valedictory Session
1730-17:35 Welcome Address by Dhanendra Kumar, Chairman, CCI
17:35-17:45 Way Forward by Pradeep S Mehta, Secretary General, CUTS
17:45-17:55 Special Address by Hon’ble Justice. Ashok Bhan, Chairman National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission
17:55-18:05 Presidential Address by Hon’ble Justice Arijit Pasayat, Chairman, Competition Appellate Tribunal
18:05-18:25 Valedictory Address by Hon’ble Justice Altmas Kabir , Judge Supreme Court of India
18:25-18:30 Vote of thanks by Rakesh Kacker, Additional Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs.
