IIM Lucknow students organize workshop for career guidance for underprivileged students

Disha is an initiative of Bhavishya, IIM Lucknow’s Social Initiatives Committee towards providing career guidance to the underprivileged pre-university students. The objective of this initiative is to identify bright students having little opportunity and exposure to the outside world, counsel them about the various career paths available to them and prepare them for the same. To meet this objective, Bhavishya has partnered with Jaipuria Institute of Management (JIM), Lucknow to provide career guidance and personality development to students of Prakash Bal Vidya Mandir (PBVM), Lucknow.

Disha has a vision ‘A smile on every face’. An attempt to realize this was the workshop designed for PBVM students of standard 11 and 12 on October 23, 2009 at Jaipuria Institute of Management to help them out with their careers in this critical juncture of their lives.The first step towards this was the computer awareness program especially ‘Googling’ on the internet, as this will help them get details of the career of their choice intricate. Also the basics of writing CV in Microsoft Word and marksheet in Microsoft Excel were introduced.

Secondly, various career paths that is, Engineering, Medicine, Accountancy and other opportunities was discussed in detail which included the deadline dates of each forms, making them aware of the various options providing them deeper insights on getting through the competition.

Finally, the program ended with motivational insights for the budding future representatives of emerging India. It also included creativity activities like ‘Newspaper Dressing’ and Quizzes.

The best part of the workshop was the enthusiasm shown by each and every individual involved in the same. JIM students, Administration of JIM, Students of IIM and above all, students of PBVM School showed tremendous interest and made the workshop a complete success.

The success of the workshop gave us the deeper insights and motivation altogether to further take up the noble cause to greater heights. It has strengthened our commitment to make a difference in the society at large.

Pragyaan-The business quiz of Shailesh J Mehta School of Management

There were around 100 teams which participated in the preliminary round of the Pragyaan Business Quiz in the Annual Business Festival of Shailesh J Mehta School of Management, IIT Mumbai held on October 31, 2009 . Teams were represented from both the corporate such as IBM, Sun, Deutsche Bank, TCS and others as well as colleges like IIMs, SP Jain, NITIE, NMIMS etc.

Avinash Mudaliar, CEO of 3XUS, was the quiz master for the day. Without much delay, the prelims consisting of 31 questions started one after one, on the big screen.

The top six teams progressed to the final round after the result to the prelims round were declared.

The finals were an extensive affair with as many as six rounds in total. The level of the questions made it clear that this event meant business’. There were some innovative rounds like the ABC type of questions (where one had to deduce an entire set of personalities/entities from a case).

Rajiv Rai (from Deutsche Bank) and Nitesh Agarwal (from Sun Microsystems) were crowned the winner.

Western Classical Music Concert at IIM K

October 30, 2009 saw the students and faculty members of IIM Kozhikode being treated to a Western Classical Music performance at the campus organized by the IIMK Chapter of the SpicMacay. Norwegian artists Caroline Dahl (Flute), Ida Bryhn (Viola), Anders Nilsson (Violin) and Fredrik Sjolin (Cello) regaled the audiences with their rendition of Musical geniuses like Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Vivaldi. The theme of the evening was ‘European Music through the Ages’ where the artists illustrated the morphing of Western Classical music by the events of each century.

Starting off with an 800 year old Italian composition, the artists not only played the music with great passion and skill but also gave the audience a glimpse into the background of the great composers. They also gave an insight into the instruments they were playing with individual renditions on the stringed instruments. The Baroque period was the start of the Golden Age of music. Starting with a ‘fugue’ by Bach in Germany played by Bryhn, Nilsson and Sjolin, Caroline moved over to Poland, playing a composition called ‘Nightingale’ by the blind composer Jacob Van Eyck.

The Classical era was heralded by the arrival of Beethoven. Bryhn, Nilsson and Sjolin played ‘Forte’ or the strong music used by Beethoven in his compositions, with the notes being much sharper and less fluid. Sjolin illustrated dissonance, which was once a composer’s nightmare, and how it went on to be used in creating popular compositions. One such piece, made of two compositions, was played by Nilsson and Sjolin. Moving on to the Modern Era, Nilsson played a composition by Penderecki, where the music had been molded by the changing political divisions after the World Wars. A befitting finish by going back to the Baroque Era with a composition by Vivaldi ensured that the audiences were left spellbound by the evening’s performance.

Jaipuria Institute of Management, Noida organized management quiz titled ‘Enlightened Manager’

Jaipuria Institute of Management got first and JAYPEE B-School got second position; more than 11 B-schools of Delhi and NCR participated in Enlightened Manager 2009

Jaipuria Institute of Management, Noida,conducted a quiz show-Enlightened Manager for B-School students. The event was open only to students from management background that is,BBA and MBA, and was conducted at its Noida campus. The event started on October 28, 2009 and concluded on October 30, 2009

Sanjay Gaur, Vice President of HSIL, Rajeev Ahuja, Founder of Anthem Academy and Arvind Singh, Principal of Raj Kumar Goel Institute of Technology, Ghaziabad were the judges of the event.

B-School students from Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad and Faridabad participated in this event. The main objective behind this quiz was to encourage students to look beyond text-books and establish the connection between what they learn at school and the application of these concepts.

The quiz was conducted in four phases including Pre- round, Quarter final, Semi Final, and Grand Finale. Every participating team comprised of four students and the college sent a maximum of two teams. All finalists had to appear in MCQ Round (based on business and current affairs), Direct Questions from Opposition round, Punch Line round, Audio Visual Round, and Buzzer Round.

All the finalists were awarded with merit certificates and all students were given participation certificates.

MDI Gurgaon hosts Padamshree Guru Kalamandalam Gopi

Management Development Institute, Gurgaon hosted a Kathakali demonstration by the legendary Kathakali dancer, Padamshree Guru Kalamandalam Gopi under SPIC MACAY on 29th October, 2009. Guru Ji and his troupe flew down from Kerala for a lecture-cum-demonstration of the dance form. It was an ideal exhibition of India’s rich cultural heritage through one of its most majestic art forms.

The MDI chapter of SPIC MACAY had recently been revived with a western classical instrumental performance in September. The performance held on Thursday evening followed closely, as within a span of two months, the campus had the privilege of hosting two programs.

The evening began on an auspicious note, with the lighting of the lamp by the director of the institute, Prof B S Sahay, and other senior faculty members. Shri P Apukuttan , then, took over the mike and proceeded to explain the nuances of the art form, ably supported by the accompanying artists.

The first part of the program was aimed at showcasing to the audience how a pupil begins his long and arduous journey to attaining mastery in the art form. The very first step, the pranayam, is taught to the pupil for over three months. Once he masters the first stage, he moves on to learning the Kathakali alphabet. Kathakali, being a dance-drama, uses this primary alphabet to tell the stories. After Shri Apukuttan had given an elaborate explanation of the alphabet, a copy of the hand formations was handed over to the MDI community by the artists.

Guru ji, then, took to the stage explaining the nine mudras which form the basic building blocks of the art. The evening looked magnanimous as learning transcended from the legend himself.

Lastly, the audience was treated to a live Kathakali performance wherein the artists brought alive the characters from Mahabharata on the stage. The program ended with an interactive session of the artists with the audience. It was wonderful to note the depth to which the audience was willing to understand the art form. In his message to the students of MDI, Guru Kalamandalam Gopi urged the student community to preserve the culture of the nation.

VGSOM, IIT KGP Hosts Awdhesh Krishna, MD, Nomura

The students of VGSOM, IIT Kharagpur were honoured to have the Managing Director of Nomura, India, Awdhesh Krishna on its campus for a guest lecture on October 23, 2009. Keeping up with the challenging times that lie ahead, he chose to speak on the topic ‘Positioning yourself for the future’. Interspersed with interesting examples, witty comments and inspiring one-liners, the lecture was truly refreshing and motivating. He was accompanied by Sanjeev Duggal who is currently the Vice-President of Recruitment at Nomura.

Krishna pointed out five traits that an individual or an organization must imbibe in order to emerge as a winner in the coming years. An organization has got to be innovative beyond imagination and realize the potential of rapidly developing countries. Secondly, global integration through partnering with industries across borders resulting in cross-fertilization of ideas would give an organization an edge over others. Thirdly, he encouraged the students to be disruptive by nature and never settle for the second best. To make his point clear he said, “Nobody ‘wins’ a Silver medal, he loses the Gold”. Speaking on Corporate Social Responsibility measures taken up by organizations, he emphasized the need to be genuine and not just generous. Lastly, he emphasized that one has got to be hungry for change if one aims to be a cut above the rest and has to anticipate turbulence and plan bold responses, thereby developing core competence in change management.

‘Retail Week’ organized in VGSOM

Corporate and Media Interaction Group of VGSOM, IIT Kharagpur organized a Retail week from October 22 to 29, 2009. This included Guest lecturers from two highly knowledgeable personalities from the Retail sector and was supplemented by lectures from faculty.

The event started with a Guest Lecture by Samresh Shah, Sales and Business Development, Capegemini India. Shah had addressed the issue of ‘Succeeding in a Volatile market’. He discussed in length about the trends that are expected in the coming years, the growth prospects involved and the future of the Retail industry in India.

This was followed by enthusiastic participation from the students who participated in various learning activities which included presentations on hot topics like ‘The future of Retail Market in India’ and The emergence of Youth as the prominent target for Retail Industry and a case study presentation. To cap it off a Retail Quiz was organized by the Quiz Committee of VGSOM.

The week culminated with an interaction session with Anshul Asawa, East India Head, HUL. Asawa talked about the changing orientation of retail Marketers with the focus shifting on Shoppers. He also talked about numerous techniques involved in retailing like Identification of Key Value Items and different strategies involved in Retailing and communication with the customers.

IIM Bangalore Alumni Association confers its Distinguished Alumni Awards 2009

IIM Bangalore Alumni Association presented the highly honored annual Distinguished Alumni Awards to its former students who have exceptionally excelled in their careers and have made significant contributions to the society on October 28, 2009 at the IIM B Campus. The winners of the awards for the year 2009 are M.S Zahed, Ramesh Venkateswaran and N Ravi. Each of them have the distinction of being outstanding in their education at IIMB and have achieved great heights of success in variety of arenas.

Zahed is an alumnus from the 1976 batch who retired as CMD from HMT and is now advisor to American Cancer Society, TCS, SBI and founded a technology company in Bangalore, Zeemantech. Venkateswaran is the Director of SDM Institute for Management Development and gold medalist of the 1980 batch. He has served as the Headmaster of Lawrence School, Ooty, and was a board member of Patni Computers. N Ravi, currently the Secretary East with the Ministry of External Affairs in India is an IFS and a PGDM from the 1982 batch at IIM B. He has served as the Indian Ambassador to Vietnam and represented the country in various international forums.

Since its inaugural presentation in 2007, the Distinguished Alumni Awards are regarded with much prestige and pride. The winners to this hall of fame are chosen through a process of nominations by the alumni members and a committee selection of final winners by a team of senior faculty at IIM B.