Fire & Security Association of India (FSAI) has planned the first ever trade expo to showcase solutions for passive, active and organisational fire safety and security management. Named Fire & Security India Expo (FSIE) 2017, it will be held concurrently with ACREX 2017 at India Exposition Mart, Greater NOIDA from February 23 to 25, 2017. Nürnberg Messe (NM) will be the event producer. FSAI was established in 2002, and has a current strength of over 1800 members including individuals and corporates. It has 13 chapters across India. Its main objective is to foster a spirit of safe living among all Indians and inculcate a proactive mind set towards safety and security. The launch event of the Expo was held at ITC Maratha, Mumbai on February 13. Quite appropriately, it started with a safety announcement by the head of banquet operations of the hotel. The traditional lighting of the lamp of knowledge was performed by Pankaj Dharkar (President, FSAI), Dr. Sudhir Krishnan (Chair, Expert Committee, Standards for Smart Cities, BIS), Devendra Kumar Shami (Fire Advisor, DGFS, CD&HG, Ministry of Home Aff airs), Santosh Warick (Director, Maharashtra Fire Services), Ashok Menon (Director, Fire and Emergency Services, Goa), Sonia Prashar (MD, NM) and Ashish Rakheja (Chair, Strategic Initiatives, FSAI). The gathering was addressed by Ashish Rakheja. Pankaj Dharkar spoke about the recent achievements of FSAI, which include the opening of the first training laboratory in association with Bharati Vidyapith, Pune. He was followed by Dr. Sudhir Krishnan, Devendra Kumar Shami, Santosh Warick, Ashok Menon and P. S. Rahangdale (Chief Fire officer, Mumbai). A brochure on FSIE 2017 was launched on the occasion. A lucky draw of business cards was held. Sonia Prashar made the concluding
remarks. An interesting auction was held for teams that would participate in a tournament in March; the proceeds of the auction will go to FSAI. Monsher won the auction for the sponsor of the trophy. 

Footnote: The day after the launch of FSIE, a huge fire broke out at a stage being used for a cultural programme that was a part of Make in India Week at Girgaum
Chowpatty, Mumbai. The fact that there were no casualties is partially attributed to the safety announcement made at the beginning of the event, which facilitated orderly
evacuation of the audience.