Training program for police personnel
NIIT Uniqua - Centre for Process Excellence, a joint venture of NIIT-Genpact, today launched a specialised technical and soft skill training program for Uttar Pradesh Police. The training program was unveiled by Asim Arun, Deputy Inspector General, Agra. Also present on the occasion were Ankit Khanna, Uniqua coordinator, Agra, Chockalingam Murugan, Head, NIIT Uniqua, Sukhvir Singh, Radio-Wireless Control Room Incharge, Bhanu Pratap, Inspector- Hariparvat Police Station, Rohit Mishra, CO-Poilce Station and Umesh Chand, Team Leader Constable, Aligarh Control Room. The objective of the training program is to offer technical and soft skill training to police personnel that will help them efficiently handle calls made to the emergency no. 100. The training capsule will include training on call opening, call handling, taking down required information, providing a complaint number to the caller, giving emergency assistance through basic advice on phone, and alert the local PCR van at the time of emergency etc. NIIT Uniqua will train 25 Agra Police personnel over the next 30 days. These people will also be trained on soft skills and etiquette to communicate politely and gently with the citizens and change the public perception about the police force.

The source of inspiration
It seemed like a move inspired by Anna Hazare, when Varun Arya (IIT Delhi & IIM Ahmedabad), Director of the Jodhpur-based Aravali Management Institute announced a hunger strike against alleged corruption and red-tapism in the government. According to Arya, he had been asked to pay a bribe to get approval for a piece of land to establish a college in the city. Speaking at a press conference, Arya said, “I want to establish a world-class educational institute in Kaaprada area for the benefit of local youth but my project got stuck due to widespread corruption and red-tapism in the state machinery.” He will go on a hunger strike at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar if his demand for a fair treatment is not met by the government.

The big fight
Claiming it to be the only fight worth fighting for, Bharathidasan Institute of Management, Trichy (BIM Trichy) organised The Big Fight, a showcase of the pure might of the spoken word in its encouragement of the unrestrained clash of ideologies, the unabated flood of thought and a tribute to the unspoken edge of your minds.

Victorious!
Team Infiniti from University College of Engineering, Punjabi University, Patiala and Team Drushti from V E S Institute of Technology, Mumbai emerged as the winners at the India finals of Imagine Cup 2011, the world’s premier student technology competition. The teams will now represent India at the world finals in New York, USA, in July, this year. The teams were felicitated by Norman Judah, chief technology officer of Worldwide Services at Microsoft, P. Anandan, Managing Director, Microsoft Research India and Ashwin Karuhatty, World Wide Director, Technical Student Audience, Microsoft Corporation at one of the biggest student’s event that witnessed attendance of over 1500 students, faculty, academicians as well as parents of participating students.

Team Infiniti came up with a unique solution of changing the way disabled persons would interact with the web and eliminate their problems pertaining to internet accessibility while Team Drushti devised a solution that provides visually impaired users a natural way to interact with a computing device and thus, facilitate ease of access.

Microsoft Imagine Cup, now in its ninth year, saw more than 90,000 Indian students from colleges across the country, register for the competition. Out of these, after a series of shortlists, the top six teams from the ‘Software Design’ category and top seven teams from the ‘Embedded Development’ category remained to compete for the first prize and for the honor of representing the country at the global finals in July this year. These teams showcased their innovative projects before an eminent panel of judges with a mix of academicians and industry representatives. Team Infiniti and Team Drushti were chosen as the best in Software Design and Embedded Development category respectively.

Anna University creates Waves
The recently conducted Waves 2011 was a true multi-disciplinary concoction with events ranging from Robonoids to Contraption, from Papero Uno to Alcatraz, and with a plethora of quizzes, puzzles and management events to add spice. With tons of prizes are to be won, the total prize money at the event was over Rs.2,00,000 lakh. Organised every year, the National Level Technical Symposium fosters innovation and thought where the best brains in the country showcase their talent. The robotics workshop at Waves 2011 gave good exposure to the participants on the art of building autonomous robots out of discrete electronic components. The objective here was to train students and make them familiar with the latest technologies used to build a basic autonomous robot (line tracer), taking the first step into the ever expanding and fun-filled field of robotics.

The Fresh Brew
On March 26, 2011 Oxford Bookstore, Mumbai hosted a book reading session of ‘The Fresh Brew’ co-authored by Amit Haralalka, an MBA from IIM, Lucknow and Amitabh Thakur, an IPS Officer. The occasion was marked by the presence of Anand Lunia, co-founder of Brain Visa, Tarun Tripathi, Marketing Head of Yash Raj Films and a stand-up comedian, and Kashyap Dalal, co-founder of inkfruit.com. The Foreword for the book has been written by Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, former President of India. The book has been dedicated to Satyendra Nath Dube, the IIT Kanpur alumnus who became a martyr while working in National Highway Authority and Manjunath Shanmugam, the IIM Lucknow graduate, who again sacrificed his life for the sake of principles while working in Indian Oil. The authors have decided to donate a portion of the proceeds of the book to constitute an award named ‘Fresh Brew Award for Social Entrepreneurship’. The book is a collection of the authors’ experiences and intends to bring out the subtle dilemmas that they negotiated with, both personal and professional.

Go Green
The modern business environment has shown greater awareness and proactive involvement towards the larger concern of sustainability and climate change. Through the development of numerous global practices, linkages to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives and collaborative efforts across the modern business environment, there is a highly dynamic and exciting area developing having immense future potential. Exploring this area, IIT Kanpur presented Finatics’11 with the theme ‘Environmental Finance and Regulations’ for all the MBA professionals who want to pursue their career in the related areas. This financial conclave hosted lectures from various industry experts on various facets of environmental finance like accounting, triple bottom line, financial strategies regarding various environmental projects, valuations and risk assessment of projects on ecosystem, regulatory compliance and CDM projects. The conclave also hosted case studies related to environment. The lectures series comprised of guest lectures form various industry stalwarts from leading consulting, accounting firms as well top business houses.

Innovation Clinic
WeSchool (Welingkar) recently celebrated the spirit of innovation by hosting Innovation clinic where in-depth stories of innovation were shared, and many innovative minds collaborated to solve real-life issues. Welingkar’s Business Design students won the 1st place at the 'All India Welingkar-Infosys Innovation awards 2011' held at WeSchool, Bangalore campus. The competition called for immense creativity and skills to carry the required task. The entire exercise focused on generating ideas, and collating and prototyping them. There were 15 teams shortlisted from all over India. Some of them were from top B-schools like National Institute of Design, IIM Raipur, etc.

Star News National B-School Awards 2011
Innovation is a crucial element in every B-School Leadership and Development and B-Schools that continuously innovate differentiate themselves easily from the rest. DNA and Stars of the Industry Group presented Innovative B-School Awards this year at hotel Taj Lands End, Mumbai. Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) was conferred with two awards, Innovation in Building Academic & Industry Interface and Industry Related Curriculum in International Business. The awards were well researched, chosen by an independent jury and a panel of professionals. Dr Vijaya Katti, Chairperson Research, IIFT was nominated to represent the institute at the award function and accept the awards on behalf of IIFT. National Institute of Technology (NIT Rourkela) was also presented with two awards, Outstanding Engineering Institute (East) and Best Government Engineering College.

IIM-L Convocation
The Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow (IIM-L) recently held the convocation for its 25th of Post Graduate Programme in Management. A total of 572 students were awarded their diplomas by Dr Devi Singh, Director, IIM-L and Dr J J Irani, Chairman, Board of Governors (BoG) IIM-L. Kapil Sibal, Honourable Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Communications & Technology delivered the Convocation Address through a video link. As graduates these students will swell the ranks of about 4000+ IIM-L alumni whose continuing support has helped the institute in building and maintaining its current reputation. Dr Devi Singh said, “At IIM Lucknow we adopt a holistic approach to Management Education. Each graduating student is trained to be a manager of today and a leader of tomorrow, someone who governs with essence of conscientiousness, and has a dynamic approach to any kind of situation at any level of organisation.”

Innovations and Organisations
The concept of sustainable development has received growing recognition the world over but it still remains a new idea for many business executives and enterprises. Sustainability does not refer to maintaining environmental balance and renewal only.

It encapsulates three facets of life, the environment, the society and the economy. If sustainable development is to achieve its potential, it must be integrated into the planning and management systems of business enterprises. With this aim, University School of Management Studies (USMS) organised an international conference on Strategies and Innovations for Sustainable Development in Organisations for the benefit of decision makers from the Industry, academicians and researchers, students and other related professionals. The conference was divided into two parts, ‘Invited Talks’ and ‘Paper Presentations’. The tracks were divided into technical sessions and each session was chaired by persons of eminence in their respective fields.

Jagrit - A leadership contest
Sharing Analysis of Regional Economies, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee (ShARE - IITR) under the aegis of the Yunus Centre & Cognizance 2011, organised Jagrit –The Social Business Leadership Hunt (February 12 to March 12), the first event of its kind in the country, a search for the most socially conscious and aware student of India. IIT Roorkee in Collaboration with the Yunus Centre and Cognizance 2011 held a competition for Indian students, challenging them to formulate ideas for social businesses that would tackle real social problems in India. The winner of the competition received a grand prize of an all expense paid trip to Dhaka, Bangladesh for one week in April. The purpose of the trip would be to know about the social businesses of the grameen (village) families there.

Education Technology
In this era of technology, understanding and leveraging the right ‘Education Technology’ is fast becoming an important imperative for progressive academic institutions. To usher in this revolution, MBAUniverse.com organised the first of its kind annual conference on the theme of ‘Leveraging Education Technology in MBA Education’ in March, in New Delhi. Education Technology pioneer, Rajendra S. Pawar, Chairman and Co-Founder, NIIT Group, delivered the Keynote Address at the conference. The Conference brought together around 200 top MBA Educators and leading education technology companies from India and abroad. From the academic world, speakers and invitees included Chancellors, Vice Chancellors, Directors and senior management educators from leading institutes like IIMs, MDI, IMT Group, BIMTECH and many more. The objective behind the conference was to help create awareness and understanding of key education technology initiatives, and to share the important lessons from early adopters of technology. Conference sponsors and partners included Pearson Education, TCS, Harvard Business Publishing, CAPSIM, Pearson Vue, MeritTrac, Educomp Raffles Higher Education. Knowledge organisations like CRISIL, MINT newspaper and Higher Education Forum also supported this conference.

Convocation time
The sun was about to set and darkness had begun its descent earthwards, but the Indus World School of Business’ campus wore a festive look. The Class of 2011 walked in, a serene ceremonial procession to take the last bow at their alma mater and to be awarded with their graduation degrees. One of the outstanding entrepreneurs of India in recent times, Sanjeev Bhikhchandani, Founder, Naukri was the guest of honour on the occasion. Satya Narayanan R, Chairman of Board of Governors (BoG), IWSB and Founder Chairman of Career Launcher group, in his address shared his journey and said that ‘being humble while chasing your dreams is the key to success’. Gautam Puri, Vice-chairman, BoG, concluded the formal session with his vote of thanks.

NIIT University completes one year of innovation in education
Established with a vision to bring about innovation in higher education and learning in emerging areas of the knowledge society, the not-for-profit NIIT University, today hosted the Second Annual Lecture by Dr Karan Singh, Chairperson NIIT University and Hon’ble Member of Parliament at the NIIT University campus at Neemrana. Dr Gurcharan Das, Acclaimed Author, Playwright and Former CEO, Procter & Gamble India addressed the audience on The Importance of Being Humane. Mr Rajendra S Pawar, Founder NIIT University and Chairman NIIT Limited, Dr Rajeev Shorey, President, NIIT University and other eminent guests were present on the occasion.

Since its inception in 2009, NIIT University is dedicated towards delivering education that would help build multifaceted careers in the growing areas of the knowledge society. Developed as an institute of excellence, NIIT University provides exceptional education based on four Core Principles that make learning industry-linked, technology-based, research-driven and seamless.

Dr Karan Singh, Chairperson NIIT University and Hon’ble Member of Parliament congratulated Mr. Pawar and his team on successful completion of one year in their journey towards excellence in education. Dr. Singh stressed upon the holistic approach to knowledge and said that modern education system should be inter-disciplinary in approach whereby students will not only be exposed to the latest technology, but also get a glimpse of our rich, pluralistic, multi-faceted spiritual and intellectual heritage. He hailed NIIT University for adopting and implementing seamless, industry-linked, research-driven, technology-based education as its core principles. Dr Singh went on to add that “NU gives a glimpse of what future educational institutions can be”.

While talking to the audience Dr Gurcharan Das, acclaimed Author, Playwright and former CEO of Proctar & Gamble India stressed on the role of education in shaping individual personalities. In a speech that has references from his latest book The Difficulty of Being Good, Dr Das said that true progress can be achieved only when we successfully marry our age-old moral and ethical structures with the modern education system. Indian society today is plagued by corruption, moral and ethical failures at all levels. The need of the hour is to nurture individuals who can become responsible leaders in our modern society.

Mr Rajendra S Pawar, Founder, NIIT University and Chairman, NIIT Limited said, “In years to come India will be known for its innovation and research, hence the need of the hour is to look at the future requirements of the knowledge society and establish a new model of higher education. In this century of the mind, the country will gain pre-eminence owing to holistic and seamless education which is relevant to the society. NIIT University is a step in that direction. I am proud of the fact that in the short span of one year we have laid the foundation of an institute that we hope will nurture thought leaders of the future.”

Dr. Rajeev Shorey, President, NIIT University and leading researcher & academician, said, “It’s an honour to be associated with NIIT University during its formative years. It is heartening to see NU gain acceptance as a New Model of Higher Education, in such a short period. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Singh and Mr. Pawar for their vision and guidance. I am grateful to the industry leaders for their whole-hearted support. My heartfelt thanks to the eminent faculty, the students and all those involved in establishing NIIT University as an institute of excellence.”

Nestled in the foothills of the Aravali in Neemrana, Rajasthan, the picturesque 100-acre fully residential green campus of NIIT University is equipped with state-of-the-art technology-enabled methodology that's backed by a strong research-focused curriculum for facilitating a continuous process of learning and development. The University offers BTech Programs in Computer Science and Engineering, Information and Communication Technology, Biotechnology and Electronic and Communication Engineering; MTech Programs in Bioinformatics, Educational Technology, Embedded Systems and Pervasive Systems; and PhD programs in all the above disciplines.

The University also offers an MBA Program based on the core principle of Industry-linkage, to help provide career-focused education to all its students. NU MBA is a comprehensive management program aligned to the needs of the industry, wherein every MBA student is guided and mentored by an eminent CEO and coached by an industry professional.

Over the last one year, several eminent personalities from Academia and the Industry across the world have visited NU and shared their knowledge and practical experiences with students through lectures organized at the campus. While Dr. K. K. Ramakrishnan, Fellow AT&T Research, USA; Dr. Shivakumar Kalyanaraman, IBM Research, India; Dr. G Venkatesh, CTO, SASKEN Technologies, India and Dr. P. Anandan, Director, Microsoft Research, India showcased the research-driven & industry-linked postulates of NU, the views of other eminent speakers like- Dr. P. S. Goel, President, Indian National Academy of Engineering; Prof. P. V. Indiresan, Former Director, IIT Madras; Prof. Dinesh Singh, Vice-Chancellor, Delhi University; Prof. A. H. Kalro, Former Director, IIM-Kozhikode; Prof. Sakti Srivastava, Stanford University, USA and Prof. Sajal Das, University of Texas at Arlington, USA, Jean-Pierre Lehmann, IMD, Switzerland; Sue Robson, Newcastle University, UK helped broaden the horizon of vision of the students.

In 2010, the University also hosted the British High Commissioner Sir Richard Stagg and the Mongolian Ambassador, H. E. Voroshilov Enkhbold along with several delegations from China, UK and Africa.

Blackberrys and IIM Kozhikode selected the first ever “Young Guns”
The search for the smart, confident and creative young professional from all over the country was finally concluded, through intended rounds of competition, today at IIM Kozhikode. Mr. Rahul Anand of IIM Ahmedabad was selected as the Blackberrys astute first ever “Young Guns”.

Blackberrys and IIM Kozhikode “Young Guns” was an initiative to pick the passionate and determined young professional and to identify him / her as a leader of tomorrow, with an ever-prepared attitude to rise above in all situations. Rahul Anand was one of the participants from all over India to pass all the competitive levels and come out with flying colours.

Rahul is a person who is fond of doing imaginative things in the most systematic of ways; his virtues as a responsible team player has contributed to his success as a young gun. He has been a member of the placement committee and the National- Service-Scheme at BIT-Mesra and is currently a member of the alumni-cell and the cultural-committee at IIM-A. Having represented his state Jharkhand in zonal and national youth camps, Rahul has also led diverse teams and volunteered for social causes. His managerial and oratory skills inspired him towards an MBA and his desire to make visible changes in the lives of people drove him to marketing. A member of the marketing club and creative cell of the marketing research fair at IIM-A, Rahul has a strong penchant towards marketing.

Blackberrys Young Guns was recognition of smart confident and creative young leaders of tomorrow. The two day event was held on November 19th & 20th 2010 at IIM- Kozhikode, which tested the creative as well as practical skills, abilities and knowledge of the participants from various management institutes from all over India, through a multitude of tasks. The relevant initiative by Blackberrys and IIM was to contribute to the Indian business fraternity, by identifying the budding managers who would be the go getters and the future opinion leaders with a competence to bring about a dynamic tomorrow.

The three rounds were based on an online test on communication plan, practical insights of business through a case study and a debate round for final selection. The young guns explain the force, zeal and passion for business, which was looked for in the candidates.

The high inspiration of today’s generation, which is smart, creative, confident and ever-prepared to rise in all circumstances, was duly identified in the search for the ‘Young Guns’.

Personality Development Workshop
WSB Greater Noida organised the first-ever EDP "National Training Workshop on Personality Development" on 20th and 21st October, 2010. The chief guest Dr. Janardan Jha (Director, Center for Innovation and New Concepts at Amity University, Noida) inaugurated the workshop in the presence of IWSB Chairman, Satya Narayanan R. The sessions were conducted by R. Sreenivasan, Arindam Lahri, Dr. C. V. Ramanan (Director, ISTD Delhi) and Dr. Jaideep Sharma (Associate Professor, IGNOU). 60+ participants from across India attended the workshop including people from Indian Railways, corporates and other academic institutions. The entire event was organised by Dr. Rajesh Kumar (Librarian, IWSB) and the students at IWSB.

MDI gets new Officiating Director
Management Development Institute (MDI) has appointed Prof. Vinod K. Gupta as the officiating director of the institute w.e.f 11 Oct 2010. Prof. Gupta’s name was chosen by the board members of MDI after accepting Prof. B S Sahay’s resignation from the position. Prof. Sahay served as director of the institute for 16 months. Prof V. K. Gupta is a well known professor of Human Resource and Management (HRM) and has been associated with MDI for the last 20 years. Prior to joining academia, Gupta completed his engineering in Aeronautics and joined DRDO as a scientist and also did his Masters in Engineering while in service. He worked on large projects in the organisation and was also involved in Recruitment, Training and Planning. After obtaining his management degree, he shifted to Defence Institute of Work Study, Mussorie and 23 years later¸ he resigned to join MDI Gurgaon as a faculty.

Salsa and Hip-Hop
The institute which is always bustling with activities introduced a new kind of activity to its students. The Cultural Committee of IIM Shillong organised a 10 day long Salsa and Contemporary (Hip-Hop) Dance workshop for the students of the institute which saw enthusiastic participation from the batches. From 4th to 15th Oct the participants were tutored by Briz Singh of Briz Dance Academy, Guwahati. The sessions were an hour and a half long and were conducted in the evening after classes. Briz who has been in this profession for over 7 years now, has been trained by many International and National Choreographers like Chyhen, Ronnie, Christy Blyther, Sandip Soparkar and Tarique Khan for Jazz, Pilates and Salsa. He has conducted dance workshops in almost every important city of the North East and has choreographed the Opening ceremony of Senior National Badminton Championship. His style of teaching was very innovative one as he would practically demonstrate the steps and he even made the learning process more fun by giving a chance to the participants to improvise.

TAPMI - Admissions 2011-13
T. A. Pai Management Institute, Manipal has announced admissions to the 2011-13 batch of its PGDM and PGDM (Healthcare) programmes. The application process has been made simpler this year with the introduction of online applications. This year the Admissions handbook will contain a Coded Payment Voucher instead of the hard copy of the Application form. Candidates can scratch and obtain the Payment Voucher code which is to be keyed in to the Application form accessed online. Admission brochures are also being sold through Axis bank & Coaching centers like TIME, Career Launcher, IMS, Career Forum, Erudite etc. The same application form can be used to apply for both PGDM and PGDM (Healthcare) programmes.n

Indus World Art Gallerys
Career Launcher group has taken an unusual initiative to stimulate the minds of the students of every school and college. Indus World Art Gallery will aim at promoting hidden talents that CLites and their family possess. The artistic talent from an aspiring and eager artist from the CL-Indus family will be showcased in the corridors of the school or college. The first Indus Art World Gallery was launched at recently concluded Srijan in Greater Noida campus.

All-in-ones
Pearson Education, India’s leading publisher in higher education and school segment has joined hands with Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) and together they have launched a bundled package which offers the GMAT test takers to avail a discount of up to USD $100 by purchasing Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE Academic) and GMAT together. This special promotion is aimed at students who need to improve their English proficiency in addition to the GMAT score when applying for admission to graduate business and management programs. This bundle pack will be available till December 2011 and can be purchased from www.pearsonpte.com/gmat.

MDI- Maruti Suzuki join hands
In a major development, Management Development Institute (MDI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Maruti Suzuki India Limited according to which they will be actively involved in mutually benefitting activities in multiple areas of research, training, academic programs and conferences. The MoU was signed between Dr. B.S. Sahay, Director MDI and S.Y.Siddiqui, Managing Executive Officer, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. During the meet, Mr. Siddiqui commended the efforts of MDI to bring the industry and the academia closer. The MoU has been signed for five years, to be reviewed for further extension. The partnership can create wonders for both the parties involved as Maruti Suzuki India Limited is India's largest passenger car company, accounting for over 50 per cent of the domestic car market and MDI is ranked among the top five B-Schools in India.

In for Corporate wars
The placement process for MDI’s 12th batch of Armed Forces Programme started from July 19, 2010. The batch consisted of 44 officers preparing themselves for the corporate world. Pramod Behl, Major General who recently took over as the director general, Resettlement inaugurated the placement brochure and the website for the batch. C P Shrimali, Professor and Dean, Continuing Education, MDI, said, “We are really proud of these officers, who take up the challenge of re-tooling and preparing themselves for their second careers with total dedication and enthusiasm.”

Outbound to Padampuri – Knowing Thyself
This outbound tour was something beyond my imagination, totally unimaginable. I had never been to such an energetic and enthusiastic tour till now in my life. It made me realise my actual potential; it helped me assess my caliber as well as shortcomings. This was actually my first experience about knowing myself – the things I can do, no matter how many constrains cross my way.

The day progressed with a lot of adventure sports that we participated in. The most interesting part of the outbound was that we did not know the trip’s schedule, so the trip was full of surprises except the cultural night.

Overall, the trip was enthralling and exciting. I had pushed myself beyond my limits to complete the tasks allocated, which I previously considered to be impossible. This trip helped me to find out the actual potential that lay hidden inside me. ‘Learning by doing’ is the lesson I learnt from this outbound. To sum up, the journey awakened my soul, allowing me to shed off the curtains of laziness. I have promised myself that I will do whatever it takes to work and improve upon my inadequacies.

—Megha Garg, Student, IWSB

Post-Turbulent Times
On 12 June 2010, the National HRD network (NHRD) conducted a webinar (web seminar) on ‘Managing Human Capital post turbulent times’. In this virtual session S. V. Nathan, Director, U.S. India Talent, Deloitte shared his viewpoints on the subject and addressed questions put up by the participants.

The discussion rotated around the following questions:
• What should HR do to manage employee expectations?
• What are the new needs for tackling post recession challenges?
• How does HR pay a pivotal role in managing organizations new growth paradigm?

On the same day, NHRD also conducted a workshop on ‘Talent Management-Competitive Advantage-Realized’ in Hyderabad. This one-day workshop’s objective was to study the concepts and processes of managing talent. It aimed at teaching the evaluation of the effectiveness of talent management in an organisational setting by identifying and retaining good talent.

Jaipuria’s first convocation
Jaipuria Institute of Management Studies, Ghaziabad, held its very first convocation for the PGDM batch of 2008-10 on 7 June 2010. The farewell, Yaadein was organised prior to the convocation on 15 May 2010. To mark the occasion, Mr R.V. Kanoria, chairman and managing director, Kanoria Chemicals and Industries Ltd, had been invited as the chief guest. Mr T.N. Chaturvedi, the former comptroller and auditor general, graced the event as the guest of honour. Mr Rajaram Jaipuria, Chairman, Board of Governors, bestowed the diplomas to students.

TANCET 2010
The Tamil Nadu Common Entrance Test – 2010 was conducted by Anna University on 29 and 30 May 2010. The results are out now putting an end to the waiting period for MBA aspirants and other Post Graduate courses is finally over. The results can be checked online at http://result.annauniv.edu/result.html.

Orientation 2010 at IIM-C
Freshers’ Welcome and Orientation Programme 2010 for the 47th PGDM and 17th PGDCM batch of students was organised by IIM Calcutta.

Sangeeta Talwar, alumnus of IIM-C, was the chief guest at the event. Currently, she is the president – South Asia for the Tata Tea Group and executive director of Tata Tea Limited and also a member of the Board of Governors of IIM-C. She inspired the freshmen by sharing her experiences as an IIM student and gave an insight on the business environment that they were about to step into. The daylong orientation programme involved interaction with the IIM faculty, the coordinators and the Dean. There were meetings arranged with the chairpersons of Career Development and Placement and Student Affairs Committee. A session on the learning through the case studies was also a part of the orientation.

Evangelism
IIT Kanpur recently launched the ‘Young Engineers Professional Summer Training Program 2010’, (YEPTP'10). The programmes announced by Young Engineers in association with Microsoft student partners, Trust Port Data Security, Techpedia are to be conducted at the K. L. University and IIT Kanpur. It has offered long-term as well as short-term courses that would benefit the students by provisioning Yeindia professional certification and an option to work on Yeindia projects. The programmes are based on creating leaders, innovators and thinkers of tomorrow and not just technocrats.

SMS shining
School of management Sciences, Varanasi, has proved its worth once again by bagging awards at the fourth World HRD Congress in the following categories:
1. Innovation in Building Academic & Industry Interface
2. Outstanding Business Leadership Award (North)

It is worth noting that these awards are given to the top Indian management institutes only. Mr. Sharad Singh, CEO, SMS Group of Institutions and Dr. Sudhir Sharan, Director, SMS, Lucknow received the award on behalf of SMS. Apart from the feat it achieved, SMS has been rated as an A+ institution for the past nine years by Business India magazine.

The connections
The imminent IIM-Rohtak is planning to tie up with US-based Indiana University's Kelley School of Business.

IIM Lucknow (IIM-L), mentor to IIM-R, has announced the commencement of the first semester classes from July this year.

"The Kelley School is partnering with IIM Rohtak (IIM-R) and its dean has already visited the site. This would be a strategic partnership for student and faculty exchange, joint curriculum designing and research. It would be a partnership on the same lines as IIM Ahmedabad (IIM-A) has with Harvard University," said Deepender Hooda, MP from Rohtak, and son of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
Courtesy: Business Standard

Degree from Kharagpur
Vinod Gupta School of Management (IIT Kharagpur) has planed on starting two MBA programs. These courses have been cut out keeping in mind the working executives. The programs will initialize at the Kolkata and Bhubhaneswar campuses, where Kolkata campus will focus on general management while Bhubhaneswar campus will focus on the IT and ITES sectors. The student strength would be restricted to a meager 15-30.

It is now being expected thatthese new courses will be more conducive than their one-two year counterpart programs.

IIM get-together
IIM-K organised its Annual Alumni-Freshers meet, Sangam which brought together an intellectual crowd of around 3600 including 3000 alumni, 300 present and 300 future students. This occasion is IIM-K Alumni Committee’s annual flagship event, which is a vibrant mix of an idea-sharing culture including dance and music. Sangam is celebrated every year to cultivate and exchange new ideas,
developing relationships and links that will not only benefit IIM-K but also help the society. n

First Convocation at IWSB
The Indus World School of Business touched a major milestone in March by awarding diplomas to its first batch of 40 students at their successful completion of their Post-Graduate Program in Management for the 2008-2010 batch. The Convocation was held at the new campus of the college at Greater Noida.

Mr. Sunil Kant Munjal, Chairman, Hero Corporate Service Ltd and Member of the Hero Honda Board was the Chief Guest. He graced the occasion by delivering the first Convocation Address. Chairman of the Board of Governors, Mr. Satya Narayanan R led the Convocation procession.

Addressing the students, Mr Munjal talked about the need for entrepreneurial leaders in the country and how IWSB can be of immense help in filling this gap.

Chairman of the IWSB Academic Council, Professor Ishwar Dayal, one of the pioneers of management education in India talked about the key assumptions underlining academic program of IWSB. He also enumerated five key areas of IWSB Post Graduate Management Programme, which includes thrust on research, developing entrepreneurial ambitions through mentorship, Spirit of enquiry, encouraging critique, inventiveness, and interdependence.

To foster the spirit of encouraging entrepreneurship, IWSB has undertaken various initiatives. The Institute has a Business Incubation Centre with a seed fund of US$ 1 million. A nation-wide business plan contest ‘Srijan’ has already been conducted twice to identify business ideas that are currently being incubated at IWSB.

Additionally, the Rural Immersion Program is an integral part of the PGP at IWSB. It provides an exposure to the rural environment with an aim to sensitize students about the challenges faced by local people in leading their lives, their developmental issues, their culture, system, institutions, and local governance.

Speaking on this occasion Mr. Satya Narayanan R. Chairman, Career Launcher and Member IWSB Board of Governors said, “It is a very proud moment for us. While the first batch is ready to contribute to the corporate world and fuel the spirit of entrepreneurship; most of our students have already been recruited by top companies and young entrepreneurial organisations in various sectors during the campus placements”.

About IWSB
IWSB offers a Post Graduate Program in Business to graduates. The college inherits its rich entrepreneurial and academic pedigree from the Career Launcher Group, one of the largest edu-corporates in the country.

ISB’s faculty initiative
The Indian School of Business (ISB) recently organised a workshop for faculty members from leading Business Schools in India. This was the first event as part of a unique initiative by the ISB to introduce cutting edge practices in management education across B-schools in India. The workshop was in the area of marketing analytics, and had over fifty faculty registrants from across 25 leading B-Schools in the country.

Speaking on the need to enhance the quality of management education in India, Ajit Rangnekar, dean, ISB, said, “India will need many more high quality management graduates to sustain its high growth, and also to make it inclusive. To do this, what we need is collaboration, not competition, so that Indian management education wins, and as a consequence, all of us do. We are making this investment with the conviction that it will produce positive returns for Indian management education, and ultimately, raise the standards of all Indian B-schools.”

Professor Gary Lilien, from Pennsylvania State University, USA, who led the workshop on Marketing Analytics said, “I am delighted that the ISB, through this initiative, both encouraged and hosted this workshop. I expect this initiative to pay great dividends for Indian business education as a whole.

The participants in the workshop comprised marketing faculty members from several Indian Business schools including IIMs, SPJIMR, BITS Pilani, IRMA, IIFT, IMT Ghaziabad, among others. The workshops will vary in scope, and address different aspects of management education, from classroom content to delivery. Workshops planned include those in case teaching and simulations, as well as those in the functional topics, such as the recent one on marketing analytics.

Admissions announced
Asia-Pacific Institute of Management, New Delhi, announced admission to its Two Year Full-Time PGDM programmes and Three Year Part-Time Executive PGDM programmes. The last date for submitting applications is 31st March, 2010, and the course commences on June 2010.

The Post Graduate Diploma in Management programme takes a holistic approach, helping to shape complete managers, who can balance the needs of various stakeholders – customers, owners, and society at large. The programmes offer a unique opportunity to fresh graduates and experienced persons who want to enter the challenging area of management where professional growth is limited only by their aptitude, ambition and application. It is also highly suitable for entrepreneurs already in business – as it empowers them to optimize, expand and diversify their operations. Asia-pacific offers four PGDM programmes – PGDM with Dual Specialization, PGDM with specialization in Marketing, PGDM with specialization in International Business, and PGDM with specialization in Banking & Financial Services.

The eligibility criteria for Full-Time PGDM programme is a Bachelor’s degree with minimum 50% aggregate marks under 10+2+3 system or equivalent in any discipline recognized by Association of Indian Universities or AICTE. Students appearing for final year of degree examination in 2010 can also apply. Asia-Pacific uses CAT/MAT scores for short-listing candidates. The selection criteria will be based on academic record, communication skill assessment, group discussion and a personal interview.

Panel discussion in IIFT
Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) organised ‘Resonate,’ a panel discussion for exchange of knowledge and ideas among industry stalwarts from the telecom sector on the topic “Indian Telecom Sector: Opportunities and Challenges of the Future”. Industry experts like Sanjoy Sarma, director-sales, Alcatel Lucent and RN Padukone, principal general manager, Corporate Planning & Monitoring Cell at BSNL, along with Vimal Waklu, director technical, Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL) and Aashish Talwar, telecom leader, GE India, addressed the eager group of students of IIFT.

Anit Roy, co-ordinator of Systemix, the Business Technology Club of IIFT, said, “The Indian telecom sector has been booming with the highest growth rates in the world, unmatched by any country of comparable scale. The objective of this panel discussion was to provide an interactive platform for business leaders to share their vision of telecom companies to face the challenges and stay competitive in today’s dynamic business environment.” The panelists discussed on various issues related to the telecom industry providing students an opportunity to learn emerging business needs, new growth strategies and technological innovations in the sector. Sanjoy Sarma said, “With respect to the telecom industry, we are no longer a developing country, we are developed. Together with our IT strength and the amount of skilled people who understand applications, we are at the moment of reckoning for developing applications for networks.”

According to Vimal Waklu, “Apart from the rapid increase in subscribers and the mind boggling array of tariff plans directed at every segment of the massive consumer base, the telecom industry has provided communication independence to every Indian, especially in rural India, by providing means to keep in touch at affordable rates. Tariff strategies of one or half paise per second have created a paradigm shift in the business.” Even RN Padukone vouched for the same, as he believed that, “The next two to three years are going to be defining years for telecom in India.”

New dean of ISB
The executive board of the Indian School of Business (ISB) confirmed the appointment of Ajit Rangnekar as the Dean of the ISB for a term of five years, with immediate effect. Several candidates were reviewed for the position of the dean ever since it fell vacant in January 2009. The executive board, based on the recommendations of the Dean Search committee, and extensive discussions with the faculty, students, alumni, partner schools, and other key stakeholders, found Ajit Rangnekar to be the best suited for the job.

Making the announcement on behalf of the Board, Rajat Gupta, chairman, ISB, said: “We could not have asked for a better outcome. Ever since Ajit joined the ISB nearly seven years ago, he has become indispensable to the school. He has played a crucial role in the school’s growth over the years, and embodies the ISB’s vision and values in everything he does. We are excited and privileged that he has accepted this responsibility, and extend to him our full support in strengthening the ISB’s position as a top ranked global B School.”

The former Dean of the Kellogg School of Management, and a member of the search committee for the selection of the ISB Dean, Professor Dipak Jain said, “The ISB, in the present stage of its evolution, has the opportunity of becoming a pivotal school in the emerging region. In Ajit Rangnekar, we have found someone with a keen understanding of the business of B School education, rich experience in the Asian region, and above all, a zealous conviction in making business schools relevant to the communities that they operate in.”

Speaking on his appointment, Ajit Rangnekar, dean, ISB, said, “I have always been passionate about the ISB and its vision, and am proud to have been a part of its growth over the years. It is indeed an honour to be entrusted with the responsibility of leading the school in the next phase of its growth. In the coming years, we will continue to strengthen our faculty pool, enhance our research capabilities, and focus extensively on making ISB the best in the world on issues of fast emerging economies. In this journey, I am grateful to have the continued support of the entire ISB community.”

Rangnekar has a background spanning over 30 years in consulting and industry, across different countries in Asia. Prior to being formally appointed the Dean, he was the Deputy Dean of the school from March 2003 to January 2009. Before joining the ISB, he was the country head, first for Price Waterhouse Consulting and then for PwC Consulting, in Hong Kong and the Philippines. He was head of the Telecom and Entertainment Industry Consulting practice for PwC in East Asia (China to Indonesia). Rangnekar completed his undergraduate degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, and Post Graduation in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

ISB's launches PG programme
The Indian School of Business (ISB) announced the launch of PGPMAX - a postgraduate programme in management for senior executives. It will be offered part time over a period of 15 months and is specifically designed for senior industry executives with an average work experience of 15 years. The programme is intended for senior executives who have excelled in functional domains such as finance, marketing, sales, operations, healthcare, information technology, customer service and are now aspiring to move into general management positions. The part time model of the programme supports these senior executives to pursue a postgraduate programme in management equivalent in rigour and content to an EMBA without having to leave their jobs. They will participate in classroom sessions of six days every six weeks, over the 15-month duration. During the immersion, participants will attend classes at Kellogg School of Management and The Wharton School, visit companies abroad and meet international industry leaders. Executives aspiring to apply to the PGPMAX need to possess a bachelor’s degree and minimum of 10 years of full time work experience.

IIM-l's 'Treatise'
IIM Lucknow’s Manfest 2010 in association with the British Council, has launched ‘Treatise: The International Thought Challenge’. Treatise is an international debate challenge which is conducted online which allows participating teams to contest from their homes. International participants from Stanford and University of Michigan have also been part of the event. Business Standard is the associate title partner for the event which carries a prize money of Rs 75,000. Treatise will be set on the Manfest 2010 theme – ‘India: Expect, Explore, Experience’. This is the fourth edition of Treatise and is expected to be a huge success, going by past records. Manfest 2010 also launched ‘Prerna – The Social Entrepreneurship Awards’. It is a CSR initiative aimed at recognising social entrepreneurs who have successfully led transformational social change. Other than that Manfest 2010 will feature Hell Raiser, the rock fest, Professional night, a Lucknow city run to raise AIDS awareness, online games, informals and much more.

IIM Marketing Digest
IIM Lucknow’s Manfest 2010 in association with the British Council, has launched ‘Treatise: The International Thought Challenge’. Treatise is an international debate challenge which is conducted online which allows participating teams to contest from their homes. International participants from Stanford and University of Michigan have also been part of the event. Business Standard is the associate title partner for the event which carries a prize money of Rs 75,000. Treatise will be set on the Manfest 2010 theme – ‘India: Expect, Explore, Experience’. This is the fourth edition of Treatise and is expected to be a huge success, going by past records. Manfest 2010 also launched ‘Prerna – The Social Entrepreneurship Awards’. It is a CSR initiative aimed at recognising social entrepreneurs who have successfully led transformational social change. Other than that Manfest 2010 will feature Hell Raiser, the rock fest, Professional night, a Lucknow city run to raise AIDS awareness, online games, informals and much more.