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B-school roundup: IIM Kozhikode organises Calicut Mini Marathon 2010

Shivangi Narayan


IIM Kozhikode organises Calicut Mini Marathon 2010

The Calicut Mini Marathon, jointly organized by the Social Service Group of IIM Kozhikode, Calicut Management Association and PT Usha School of Athletics, took place on Sunday, January 31, 2010 at the Calicut Beach. The theme of this year’s marathon was ‘Be the Change’. The aim of the marathon was to bring awareness to the youth of the city about the various issues plaguing today’s society and thus sound a clarion call for them to bring in change by being the change themselves. Some of the visiting dignitaries included K V Thomas, Minister of State for Agriculture, M K Raghavan, MP, Dr. PB Salim, the Collector of Calicut District, PT Usha, athlete, Professor Debashis Chatterjee, Director of IIM Kozhikode, Jayaram, actor, Mammukhoya, actor among several other noted personalities.

The marathon brought together over 8500 people in and around Calicut, of who about 6500 participated in the 10 km and 3 km versions. The 10 km race saw runners aged from 6 to 60, with about 950 men and 125 women vying for the top honours. The milling crowds at the registration desks on the Calicut beach bore testimony to the enthusiasm exhibited by the city’s youth and the young at heart. The men’s mini marathon was flagged off by Jayaram,Raghavan, KV Thomas, Professor Chatterjee and Dr PB Salim from the start line near the Calicut Government Hospital at 8 in the morning. Following it, the women’s mini marathon was flagged off by Usha.

Along with the 10 km Mini Marathon, a 3 km Celebrity Walk was also organized where the dignitaries walked shoulder to shoulder with students and members from various organizations in the city. The aim of this walk was to exhibit the solidarity of the different groups with the issues closest to their hearts. Students from NIT Calicut, Government Homeo College, Sri Guruvayurappan College, JDT Islam College of Nursing, Devagiri College of Arts and other colleges walked the route carrying banners and placards designed to draw attention to various issues like world peace and saving the environment.

The Men’s 10 km mini marathon was won by Sandeep Kumar of Railways. Elam Singh from the army (Uttarkhand) and M Borappa came in second and third respectively. The women’s mini marathon was won by Preeja Sreedharan of Railways with Kiran Tiwari of Railways and M Sudha came second and third respectively. The winners took home a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh while the runners up got Rs 50,000 and the second runners up, Rs 25,000. The prizes were distributed by Dr Salim to the winners in men’s category and by Usha to the women. The prize money was awarded by Raju Menon of Ipix Solutions. The other runners in the top 20 were also awarded Rs 2,000 each for their efforts. The Calicut Change Trophy for the college with the most enthusiastic participation in terms of enthusiasm and strength went to NIT Calicut. The trophy was awarded by Professor Debashis Chatterjee. He also presented a copy of Beloved City Guardians, a compilation of the social issues voiced by the city’s residents, to Collector Dr PB Salim and the ACP, Rajendran.

With the prize distribution ceremony drawing to a close, the Collector gave the vote of thanks to everyone involved in the first edition of the marathon. He lauded the efforts of the students of IIM, the city administration department and the police department without whose help, the event could not have gone well without a glitch. With the event being a huge success, both in terms of the turnout and the enthusiasm displayed in the 10 km and 3 km runs, the Collector hoped to make the marathon an annual affair. The title sponsor for this year’s event was Ipix Solutions Private Ltd., a subsidiary of the Morrison Menon group in Dubai. An amount of Rs 25,000, collected from the marathon, was donated to Pain and Pallative Care Institute by Mr Debhashis Chatterjee, Director of IIMK.

Ocumen 2010 organised by IIM Lucknow

Ocumen 2010 was organised successfully by IIM Lucknow’s Team ‘Oculus’ on January 31, 2010 in the institute premises. This event saw the enthusiastic participation of 19 different schools coming down to the IIM Lucknow campus from seven different cities of India.

The event is a unique initiative of the students of IIM Lucknow where they provide an introductory snapshot of management to next generation of students through a variety of games and competitions, at the same time providing them with a unique opportunity to experience life at a B-school. It was well-appreciated by the students and teachers. As Lopamudra Sen of Cathedral and John Connon School, Mumbai puts it, “This is indeed a commendable effort on the part of IIM Students. It’ll help the students experience the life in a business school and try their level best to be a part of a prestigious institute like IIML in the future.”

The events spanned across the different verticals of management: Operations, Marketing, Finance and Consulting and were extremely exciting. It engrossed the teachers in several panel discussions and team building games.

OCUMEN 2010 had some remarkable improvements planned over the previous years. The games cover all the gamut of functional areas such as finance, marketing, HR, strategy, and operations. The games had been especially designed to be exciting, fun, easy to understand and at the same time, educative enough to sow the seeds of management in the students’ minds.

Highlights of the events scheduled for this edition were:

A Finance game that aims to make young minds conversant with the risks and returns, interest rates and investments. SIGFI, the special interest group in finance at IIM Lucknow, aims to imbibe in the students a rudimentary knowledge of the financial function in organizations and has designed a special game for OCUMEN 2009 to serve this purpose.

A Marketing Game: PRiSM, the special interest group in marketing in IIML, is an integral part of Ocumen 2009. Marketing is one of the core managerial functions and we hope to use this event as a useful platform for information sharing across educational institutes.

An Operations Game: The Operations Interest Group (OIG) will be conducting a simulation game for school children aiming to introduce them to the basic concepts of operations management.

A HR Game: This game highlights the importance of teamwork for creation of a successful enterprise. The participants would be expected to use the individual skill sets in a manner conducive of creation of synergies, and ultimate achievement of their common goals.

The Strategy Game: This event would expose the students to various strategic situations, in which they decide the course of their organization by indulging in strategic decisions, which shape the future of their organizations, and the ultimate winners.

Vision India 2025: As a novel initiative in this edition of Ocumen, the objective of the event is to create among the youth, a sense of belongingness for the country and a feeling that each one us is an INDIAN not just on some special occasions but all the time. This game is designed to simulate the cabinet discussion environment within the classroom. The objectives of the game are

To make the students think about ‘The Future India they dream of’

To help them practically experience a sense of democracy

To create in them a sense of team spirit

To help them discuss in a logical and structured manner

To make them feel empowered as ‘change agents’

Kapil Sibal, Honorable Union Minister, HRD Ministry visits IIM Kozhikode

As part of the Leadership Series, Union Cabinet Minisiter of Human Resource Development, Kapil Sibal visited the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode campus on January 25, 2010 and addressed the faculty and the students of the institute. The Director of the institute Dr Debashish Chatterjee introduced the honorable Minister and appreciated the initiatives the Minister has undertaken in the field of education in the country. He also expressed his gratitude to the Minister for delaying his departure from Kozhikode to visit the institute and interact with the student community.

The session began with the Minister emphasizing on how the students, after graduating, will have to strive hard to carve a space for themselves in the society and how the lessons they learnt in the B-school would be re-learnt in real-life situations. “Journey of life is to rediscover self; he who does that is the best manager”, said the Minister in a motivational address to the future leaders. While painting a picture of his own experiences, he narrated his journey from an ordinary government school to being a University teacher, declining IAS career in favour of law and his further successful move to politics.

The Minister also detailed the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model for education, which is focused more on the rural areas, as part of the reforms initiated by his Ministry. The model involves private entities setting up the educational infrastructure in the country, while the government will repay the investment over a period of time. He envisioned his plans of subsidizing the education to the disadvantaged sections of the society, while the cost is transferred to those who can pay. He also emphasized that only the services industry cannot absorb all the talent and we need to give impetus to the manufacturing sector so as to utilize the growing labour force.

Speaking on educational reforms, the Minister talked about plans to set up an accreditation agency to form entry barriers to the education sector. This, he said, will maintain quality standards and force existing institutions to improve. Answering to a question to whether the education system could be standardized throughout the country, he replied that education cannot be standardized but learning can be and hence, the testing parameters should be uniform.

This interaction was part of The Leadership Series, organized by the Industry Interaction Cell (IIC) of IIM Kozhikode. IIC strives to have a healthy student-industry interaction by bringing industry stalwarts and distinguished leaders to the institute.

Siddharth Roy Kapur, CEO, UTV Motion Pictures interacts with students of JBIMS

In an attempt towards continuous student development, Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS), Mumbai hosted Siddharth Roy Kapur, CEO, UTV Motion Pictures on campus on January 20, 2010.

In the discussion, the queries by the students on various aspects related to the media ranged from the role of management professionals in movie making to revenue generating opportunities in the field of media; from the changing audience culture and taste to ways of curbing the piracy issues hampering the industry. Responding to the queries, Kapur spoke about how the whole business of film making has shifted from the traditional times when about 90 percent of the revenues were recovered from the regular theatre ticket collections to recent times when even for a mega hit film like ‘3 Idiots’, the theatrical collection would be only 60 percent of its total revenue with many other revenue generating opportunities opening up. Various marketing activities such as In-film advertisements, satellite and TV rights apart from the music rights add significantly to the revenue generated by the company. Right from the idea generation, to audience research, to budgeting, to marketing of the film, to final Video launch is professionally run in the major media houses while maintaining room for creativity.

Talking about the issues concerning the balance between the creative and commercial aspects of a movie, he said that both the departments have to work in tandem and cannot do without each other. While it is extremely essential to have good content and creativity in the film, the other professional aspects such as marketing and PR play an equally important role in the success of the film. Discussing the changing face of the movie business, he explained the increasing role of insurance in the film making process, especially since these are the emerging roles in the business that we as managers can contribute heavily to. Responding to one of the queries by students, he explained how the whole distribution network of a movie works. He insisted that there is great potential for cross country movies in India as well as animation movies.

Sharing about his tenure at Star Media, where he was a part of the strategic planning team instrumental in changing the face of Star in 2000 along with the launch of Kaun Banega Crorepati, Kapur took the students through the process and the idea behind those decisions in Star Media. His tenures at various marketing roles at Star, to his growth at UTV left the students in awe and wanting to learn more. Taking up the issue of piracy, he discussed the loss that the industry goes through and the ways they are trying to conquer the problem.

Finally, recalling his days at JBIMS, he advised the students to listen to their heart and carve out a career path for themselves based on what they like. Having given up a lucrative job with a top FMCG himself, he insisted that media was his choice by heart and that students will be better off if they work in the domain that they like and not get influenced by the aura surrounding the companies at such a top B-School.

A plethora of business leaders speak at IIM Lucknow’s Manfest 2010

IIM Lucknow’s annual business conclave Manfest 2010 concluded after three days of intense competition between the best brains of India. This edition of Manfest revolved around the theme- India-Expect, Explore, Experience. The festival was held from January 22 to January 24, 2010

IIM Lucknow has hosted some of the most insightful and engaging panel discussions during previous editions of Manfest- The Annual International Business Conclave. This year Manfest set the stage for ‘Full Throttle: The Automobile Conclave’, with an underlying theme: ‘Moving into top gear: getting India on the road ahead’

Dr Wilfried Aulbur, CEO Mercedes Benz India, D P Singh, VP S&M; Goodyear India, Rajeev Kapoor, President and CEO Fiat India, Dilip Chenoy, Director-General SIAM and Dilip Chhabria, Founder DC Design glittered at IIM Lucknow.

In recent times, the global automobile industry have seen large conglomerates crashing while the Indian sector has seen an opposing trend with acquisitions and innovations galore. The growth opportunities in this sector are seamless and every day presents a newer challenge to the industry with extremely dynamic requirements and demands.

The sizeable audience gathered at the conclave was a mix of b-school students from across the globe, industry stalwarts, IIM Lucknow alumni among others. It was an enriching two hours of discussions which touched upon several relevant issues in the automobile industry in India.

“There is a right to drive/hire/rent a car in Europe. It would be great if we have such a concept in India”, said Dr Wilfried Aulbur. Dilip Chenoy shared his views on the correlation between the auto industry and global warming. “Research in fuel efficiency is highly important. This is a step which the entire automobile industry has to take in unison.”

Manfest also hosted Anjuman- The Corporate Luncheon. The guest list included the likes of S. Ramadorai, Vice Chairman Tata Consultancy Services, Dr Wilfred Albur, CEO Mercedes Benz, A. Vaidheesh, CEO J&J; Medical India, Ashok Swaroop, MD J&J; Medical India, Pankaj Saluja, partner Bain and Co., Dilip Chhabria, the legendary automobile designer and Rajiv Kapoor, CEO FIAT India.

The discussion started with key note address of Wilfred Albur who contended that sustainable mobility is a key aspect of future growth. The next panelist was Ramodarai who focused on the importance of both India and China in shaping the global economy.

The key note discussions were followed by a Q&A; session with enthusiastic students eager to quiz the grand masters on their addresses. The coordinators of the Industry Interaction Committee of IIM Lucknow who organized the event summed up the conclave as a huge success that will continue to be an indispensable feature in the school’s calendar in the years to come.

After two days of action, conclaves, music, quizzes, the campus headed for a thrilling finale. Kickstarting the day was ‘Red Mile’- The Lucknow marathon about HIV awareness. The main intention behind this run was to create awareness among people about AIDS and its prevention. In keeping with this line of thought, the students of IIM Lucknow put their best foot forward in setting up this 6 km long marathon which traced a route from the FUN Republic Mall in Gomti Nagar, crossed the RBI, the Taj, the UP Badminton Academy and back to FUN Republic.

The flagship event ‘The NEXT CEO’ reached a thrilling climax. Nine budding CEOs from the top B-schools like IIMA, IIMB, XLRI, SPJIMR, MDI and IITB fought hard to win this battle of brains. Various scenarios testing their physical and mental abilities, teamwork, leadership and ingenuity were unleashed on participants and the last man standing from IIM Bangalore, Abhilash S, will take it all – a cash prize of Rs 1, 00,000 and a PPI with Citibank.

The grand finale of another flagship event- Call for Arms was one of the highlights of the day. The event saw an intense competition and battle amongst eight finalists from India’s best b-schools. If yesterday saw the teams battling on individual subject rounds related to an M&A;, today the teams battled it out for a B-plan. It was also a day of entrepreneurial streaks as the finals of ‘Nirvaan- The B-Plan competition’ unfolded.

The evening saw a parliamentary style debate ‘Contrapunto’. Eight teams qualified after an eliminatory extempore. The topics for the debate revolved around the Manfest theme India: Expect, Explore, Experience. Performing live on campus was Kailash Kher and his band ‘Kailasa’. Dishing out his popular numbers like ‘Teri Deewani’, ‘Allah ke Bande’, hundreds of music lovers thronged the grounds and enjoyed the musical maestro at his best.