Advisory Council formed for Center for Public Policy at IIM Bangalore

The Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM B), one of the leading management schools in the world,

announced the constitution of an Advisory Council of the Center for Public Policy (CPP) on October 15, 2009 for providing long-term guidance to the activities of CPP. “This is an integral part of creating global benchmarks and linkages for IIM B that will strengthen our research programs,” says Prof Pankaj Chandra, Director of IIM B.

The Advisory Council comprises the following members:

1. Professor Larry Schroeder

Professor of Public Administration, The Maxwell School, Syracuse University, New York, USA

2. Professor Pratap Bhanu Mehta

President, Center for Policy Research, New Delhi

3. Professor Samuel Paul

Public Affairs Center, Bangalore

4. Dr Sanjaya Baru

Consulting Editor, Business Standard, New Delhi

5. Professor Taejong Kim

KDI School of Public Policy and Management, Seoul, South Korea

6. Professor Xue Lan

Dean, School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

7. Professor Gopal Naik

Chairperson, Center for Public Policy, IIM Bangalore

Fortune Institute Bags Prestigious B-School Awards

Fortune Institute of International Business, New Delhi, has been honored with the prestigious Dewang Mehta Business Schools Awards 2009 for ‘Business School which encourages Innovations that leads to better Development’ and ‘Business School with Best Industry Interface’ awards. The Director General of the Institute, Dr A.K. Puri has been adjudged ‘Best Teacher in Financial Management’. The awards will be conferred on November 5th 2009 at the Taj Lands End, Mumbai.

The awards as part of the 17th Business School Affair, India’s largest business school award platform. They are in recognition of leadership, development, innovation and industry interface of Business school. The Awards are supported by Sheila Mehta, Director, Onward Foundation for Dewang Mehta awards. The Chairman of the Jury is Dr Prasad Medury- Partner, Amrop International.

Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management hosts Dipak Gupta

Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS), Mumbai hosted Dipak Gupta for an interactive session. Dipak Gupta holds a PGDM from IIM, and currently serves as the Head of retail business and banking operations at Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited (formerly, Kotak Mahindra Finance Limited) and has over 17 years experience in the financial services sector. He was responsible for leading the Group’s initiatives into the banking arena. The guest lecture for the day was to cover the Indian debt and insurance markets.

The session began by Gupta briefly touching upon the current situation in the financial markets. He explained that the markets were in a state of flux and took the students through some of the drastic changes that had taken place in the financial markets; changes which made it seem like a new financial world every three months. Using the Black Swan theory, he brought out the importance of such changes of great magnitude and consequence and their dominant role in history. Such events have a low probability but have a manifold impact. He stressed that many such events were still hidden and the associated risks yet to be ascertained. Excessive leveraging as a culprit for the collapse of banks, the stimulus plans and their possible effect on inflation, the US savings rate and its impact on developing economies were also covered in a free flowing discussion in which the students posed many questions.

Moving on to the Insurance sector, Gupta brought out the intricacies of the various products that constitute the Insurance and Investment universe. He provided insights on the revenue earning capacities of both banks and insurers. The drivers as well as the broader outlook for the sector were discussed during the session.

The Indian debt market was next on the agenda. After outlining its structure and touching upon the various platforms for trading, Gupta took up the various issues involved in trading in the Indian markets. Liquidity issues and risks due to the mismatch of the tenures of swapped liabilities are some of the bugbears for the traders. Through out the world over hedging is resorted to reduce risk, the Indian debt market does not offer very effective hedging products. Most of the offerings are short term which does not afford the participant enough time to take a meaningful view on interest rates. Seeing the interest of the students, Gupta proceeded to outline some of the various strategies involved in investing in debt securities. He also brought out the fact that information imbalance can be a major source of revenue for banks.

Koichi Ikegami of Nomura Holdings visits DoMS IIT Madras

Koichi Ikegami, Managing Director, Senior Communication Officer, NOMURA HOLDINGS addressed students of DoMS IIT Madras on October 15, 2009. Ikegami joined Nomura in April 1979 and worked with various departments for over 25 years. He was appointed as the Managing Director in June 2006. Ikegami told the students that 30 years back when he joined Nomura he had a core belief that one day the Asian era would come. He illustrated how the economic development of UK markets was far ahead than any other market in the world in 1900s. Then from 1930s the US era began, after 1970 the markets of Japan and Germany went bullish and after 1997 the major markets that are expanding are that of Asia especially India and China with fairly good improvements shown by Australia, Africa, Russia and Brazil.

Ikegami made everyone realize that the time has indeed come for the Asian giants to rise. He told that India had a great advantage which it should cash on. He stressed on the fact that the financial business is the key for success of any society. Therefore education and investments are two cores areas where the governments should concentrate for developing a country. Then he shared his views on the social responsibility that every company has towards the society.

IBS Hyderabad students depart for study in Australia and Switzerland as part of International Study program.

IBS Hyderabad students depart for study in Australia and Switzerland as part of International Study program on October 20 , 2009

“IBS Hyderabad will bear all the expenses towards their travel, accommodation and insurance. These scholarships are aimed at exposing students to an international environment and study one semester course of their curriculum at IBS Adelaide, South Australia and at ICFAI University- Neuchatel, Switzerland” said Prof D S Rao, Director, IBS Hyderabad at a press meet held today.

These international scholarships benefits students as they promote tolerance, maturity, Independence and culture. Students develop self awareness and understanding of the world and international relations, leading to a much more global, focused and determined approach on their return to India. Along with distinct International Exposure, these tangible attributes and experiences combine to produce an advantage over peers, a kick-start on a future career and increased knowledge.

Companies that operate in many different countries tend to recruit people with exposure to different cultures and societies. Such employees are better able to understand the characteristics of markets in different countries. They are also more sensitive to cultural nuances, and thus better prepared to operate in a multi-cultural environment- both in relation to markets, as well as organizations. This means that the managers of today, to be successful in their careers, must be familiar with other countries cultures and societies- something which can be best acquired by actually living in other countries, and interacting on a daily basis with the people and organizations in these countries.

Selection of the students for the international scholarships: IBS Hyderabad invited applications from the current junior batch of students with consistent track record of above 70% in their past academics and 90% of attendance in the semester-1 courses. Overwhelming response was received. A panel of faculty members interviewed the students and selection was made.

Apeejay Svran International College organizes Seminar on MBA Executive Management Programme

Apeejay Svran International College (ASIC), Greater Noida, under the aegis of Apeejay Education Society organized a seminar on MBA Executive Management Programme at Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Federation House, Tansen Marg, New Delhi.

The seminar started with the introduction of MBA Executive Management Programme offered by ASIC in collaboration with the School of Business, University of Greenwich. It was then followed by a detailed introduction and presentation on University of Greenwich and its executive MBA program. The program is promoted by UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI).

In the collaboration, ASIC will be primarily responsible for the delivery of the lectures. The University of Greenwich will visit regularly and undertake to deliver a part of the credits locally. Students will have the opportunity to participate in a UK- or India-based consultancy project.

Apeejay aims to provide the best of quality education to young MBAs and empower them with knowledge, skills and confidence to reach their potential.