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The deadline for the submission of abstracts for Xerox, Technopak and IBM cases is December 5, 2008 and prize money of INR 1.5 lakh cash is to be won. Battlefield's knowledge partners are Xerox, Technopak, Price Waterhouse Coopers, IBM and Avaya Labs. Megabucks is scheduled from January 8-11, 2009 and registrations for hospitality are open. Registrations are also open for two other Competitions, 'Markstrat: The Market Strategy Contest' and 'Acumen: The Reality Entrepreneurship Challenge' based on Donald Trump's 'The Apprentice'.

Log on to http://students.iitk.ac.in/megabucks for more details.

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The event began with Mr Rajive Kaul introducing Mr. Behuria. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Behuria took to the lectern. Mr Behuria described todayas changing times and said that it is high time that all companies accept this and move on. He said that these changing times are a major threat to all players and that it is time that new benchmarks for the future were set. In addition to this, there are a lot of challenges being faced by the future generation like shrinking of boundaries and a general slowdown in growth. Mr. Behuria said that it would be extremely naA ve to assume that the economic slowdown wouldnat affect India much.

Moving on to the subsequent expected recovery phase, Mr. Behuria said that then, the major problem would be the oil and gas demand supply issues. He said that here in India, we are vulnerable to volatile oil prices and face tough choices to limit inflationary pressures and reduce fiscal burden due to fuel subsidies. However, this also puts us in a better position to absorb external shocks and adjust to oil price fluctuations. Mr. Behuria said that reforms in the energy sector in India could be brought in only by greater education in energy affairs and an increased public understanding of the energy challenges. He said that eventually, our success in solving problems like water and food scarcity will be greatly determined by how we solve, or fail to solve, the issues of energy.

Mr. Behuria also highlighted the imbalance in the energy consumption between rich and poor countries, which posed a major challenge. As nearly every aspect of development requires accessible, reliable and affordable energy, developing countries will be driven by the desire to improve the lives of their citizens. This would eventually lead to a fierce competition for resources. Mr. Behuria concluded by saying that in the context of fast-changing paradigms, issues like climate change and environmental degradation cannot be ignored. The rapid increase in the human footprint isnat helping either. He said that the recent global meltdown in economies has primarily emanated from unbridled greed, lax regulations and excessive dependence on market forces. In such a scenario, economic sustainability rather than profits alone should be key entrepreneurial objectives.

After the conclusion of Mr. Behuriaas speech, the floor was thrown open to questions from the audience which asked queries like the issue of greater autonomy for PSUs in India, integration with ONGC, new generation fuels like bio-diesel and ethanol-blended petrol. The vote of thanks was proposed by Fr. P. T. Joseph.
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The programme was opened by Prof S Peppin, Joint Co-ordinator of XIMB STRC, who gave a brief introduction to the Leadership and Managerial Proficiency Programme (LAMP) which was conducted by XIMB, in collaboration with the UNDP. He also paid homage to four pass-outs of the programme who had since, succumbed to the deadly HIV virus.

Ms Niharika Sahoo from XIMBas STRC then gave the audience a brief introduction to AIDS and the HIV virus. She explained the various modes of transmission of the virus, and also tried to dispel some of the myths regarding the spread of AIDS. She said that in the present scenario, out of 32.2 million HIV infected people in the world, 2.5 million were from India, as of 2006. She also said that around 25% of the infected population was within the 15-29 years age group. Ms Sahoo stressed the need to treat HIV infected people normally. She said that by their own admission, it is the discrimination that kills the patients faster than the virus itself.

Mr Parmeshwaran Swain then delivered the chief guestas address. He reminded the audience of theme for World AIDS Day a lead, empower, deliver, and urged the students to take the theme to heart. He said that although the prevalence of AIDS in the state of Orissa is down to 0.22%, as opposed to the national average of 0.36%, we need to make further efforts in order to curb the spread of this dreaded disease. He pointed out that AIDS is more a social issue than a health issue. He then described the efforts made by OSACS to mainstream AIDS prevention efforts through partnership with UNICEF for prevention of parent to child disease transmission. He also briefed the audience about OSACSa partnership with XIMB for setting up the State Research and Training Centre (STRC).

Ms Anita Anasuya of OSACS then facilitated the screening of a film made by the UNas International Labour Organisation (ILO). She also delivered a short speech through which she tried to convey the message of tolerance towards HIV affected people in the workplace. She also explained how preventing HIV AIDS makes perfect business sense by reducing expenses on labour absenteeism and replacement.

The final speaker of the day was Mr. Prabhu Patel of Shubham, a rehabilitation and counselling centre. He spoke about the evils of addiction and how the number of injecting drug users (IDU) is increasing. He said that around 10% of IDUs were affected with HIV. He also urged the students to spread the message against alcohol and drug abuse and said that just one mistake is enough to make a huge and debilitating difference.

A couple of films on AIDS awareness prepared by the first year students of the rural and business management courses were also screened during the event. The event concluded with a question & answer session and a vote of thanks by Ms Niharika Sahoo.
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Mr Kumar started the session by taking the audience back in history to the 1980s Junk Bond crisis. He talked about the ingenuity of Mr Michael Milken in devising the high yield speculative grade bond market. He drew a parallel between the 1980s crisis and ongoing crisis by underlining the role of credit rating given to the financial instruments.

After drawing the parallel, he then went ahead to point the difference between the aprimea and asub-primea home loan borrowers based on the FICO score, generally known as the credit rating of an individual. He next moved on to explain the concept of asecuritizationa and acollateralized debt obligationsa (CDOs). He provided critical insight into how the repackaged CDO lead to raising the credit rating of the senior tranches above the rating of the underlying sub-prime mortgage. The senior tranches of high-yield CDOs could thus meet the minimum credit rating requirements of institutional investors despite the significant risk in the original underlying asset.

He then guided the audience through the various economic events post 9/11 such as the interest rates cuts and increasing housing prices until eventually the housing asset bubble had burst. The decline in housing prices is what he referred as the tipping point which resulted in rising home loan defaults and ultimately leading to the systemic failure of the entire financial system.

While explaining the US sub-prime crisis, he also put in to context the Indian scenario. He explained how the conservative financial policy by Indian regulators avoided a similar debacle in India. The session concluded with a round of question and answers.
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In the past, holders of the three-year bacheloras degree were told that they could not apply for graduate admission without completing a fourth year of study. Now, some U.S. universities, including Carnegie-Mellon and the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, are prepared to consider applications for graduate admission from candidates who hold three-year degrees.

WES receives number of applications for credential evaluations from students educated in India. As a result, over the past thirty-five years, the organization has acquired extensive expertise in the Indian education system. aThe WES policy on three-year degrees from India permits qualified students to compete for graduate admission in the U.S. At the same time it allows U.S. universities to recruit from an expanded pool of graduates from India and compete with universities in Australia and the UK for the best candidatesa said Mariam Assefa, WES executive director.

For students who have earned their B.A., B.Com or B.Sc., with Division I and II from colleges accredited by NAAC with a grade of aAa or better, WESas assessment may result in an evaluation that equates their degree to the U.S. bacheloras degree. aThis will help students gain full credit for their Indian education and save them an extra year of coursework, which some students undertake to meet the requirement of sixteen-years of education for admission to the U.S. universitiesa, said Dr. Rahul Choudaha, associate director and a specialist in international education.
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The three-year agreement provides students of the two institutes to study at each of the school leading to award of an additional management degree. MDI students doing Post Graduate Program in Management (PGPM) opting for the program will be awarded degree of Master of Science in Management (M.Sc.) or Master of Business Administration from HHL. German students opting for the program will get an additional degree of PGPM from MDI.
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The rally will be in the form a human chain starting from Bhaidas Hall along Bhaktivedanta Swami Marg, Irla, S V Road and will end at Narsee Monjee College of Commerce, thus completing a circle and will be organized between 5.00 and 6.30 PM. At the end of the rally, the participants will join a programme of patriotic songs at Jasoda Rangmandir, being organized by the students of Mithibai College under the banner of 'Kshitij'.
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The Centre already offers an MBA International Business in India including modules in the regulatory environment in India, financial services in India, international trade & institutions, customized production processes & E-logistics and international supply chain management in India. However, through the delivery of a combination of full term and short term executive course programmes that also cater to middle management professionals, the centre will function as a bridge between academia and practical application in the India-UK 'reality' by working closely with other academic institutes in India, Indian industries and business communities to forge strong and mutually beneficial knowledge links with the UK and Europe.

The Centre for Indian Business will also generate research and knowledge relevant to industry and enterprise in India and the UK building on to the Business Schoolas expertise applied research and knowledge management. Its work on Indo-UK business practices will build on the universityas existing research into outsourcing of information technology and business services, the development of the markets in financial services and the management of cultural diversity. The centre also works closely with researchers across the university to address sector-specific priorities especially in IT and IT enabled services, engineering and construction and energy and alternative energy.
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The Centre is being set up in response to the Governmentas aInnovation Nationa White Paper (March 200Judge and is jointly funded by four partners: the Department for Innovation, Universities & Skills, the Economic and Social Research Council; the National Endowment for Science, Technology & the Arts; and the Technology Strategy Board. In addition to their research, members of both institutions are involved in developing business practice and policy advice in the fields of innovation and knowledge exchange at national and international levels a for example, contributing to the UK Innovation and Productivity Grand Challenge and the recent Australian National Innovation Review. The Centre will ensure that new research on innovation in both the public and private sectors has effect on policy and practice. In addition to building research capabilities, the UK Innovation Research Centre will also disseminate its work through a aKnowledge Exchange Huba.

Professor Alan Hughes, director of the UK Innovation Research Centre and director of the Centre for Business Research, explains the context for the initiative: aInnovation is much more broadly defined than it used to be. Itas not just about successfully introducing new products; innovation in services, processes, even in business models and ways of working is increasingly important. We need new research so that both practitioners and policymakers can understand the key issues in all these forms of innovation a particularly when current global economic conditions make it more important than ever to ensure that the UKas innovative capacity is enhanced.a
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aWe all are an educated lot and know the realities and myths associated with donating blood. If we do not set an example, who will? It was really nice to see so many of us actively showing solidarity for the cause. We hope this attempt will help save a few lives and for that we are happy. a, said Suvadip Das, one of the students.

The donors were checked for any specific abnormalities before the blood was taken. Most of the students were deemed as capable of donating; a few were rejected, mostly on account of lower hemoglobin count in the blood stream. Blood donation is a safe process and in normal cases about 350 ml to 500 ml of blood is extracted per person . Donated plasma is replaced after 2-3 days. Red blood cells are replaced by bone marrow into the circulatory system at a slower rate, on average 36 days in healthy adult males. These replacement rates are the basis of how frequently a donor can give blood.

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Another feature of this yearas event is that aAbhiyana is extending its event aStart-up show casea, which is designed for providing a platform to entrepreneurs who have an existing business and want to showcase their plans before Venture Capitalists like Indiaco, Indian Angel Network, Epiphany Ventures and entrepreneurs and get feedback and funding. This is event is expected to receive more than 30 entrepreneurs presenting their case. They have also partnered with the CIIE, Incubation facility at IIM A and the incubation centre in IIT Kanpur to offer mentoring facilities to the winners of the B-Plan event. Following are the events and details:

Events:
a Business plan competition (For Engineering and Management schools )
a Start-up showcase ( For Existing Ventures )
a Talks and Workshops
a Networking Sessions
a Start up Exhibition

Important Dates:
a bPlan Business Proposal submission date, 1st Stage aDec 20, 2008
a bPlan Detailed Business Plan submission date, 2nd Stage a Dec 30, 2008
a Startup Showcase, Business Plan submission date aDec 30, 2008
a bPlan and Startup Showcase Finals, Nirvaan aJan 18, 2009

Accolades:
a Prizes to be won worth INR 75,000
a A special award for Best Business Plan in CleanTech
a Chances of funding up to INR 5 Crore given by team of VC Partners
a Incubation facility with initial sponsorship by Incubation Partners from IIM Ahmedabad, IIT Kanpur, IIT Bombay, JSS Noida and Amity Noida
a Entry to business mentorship program
a One year Free subscription of DARE magazine to all finalists

For further information visit: www.iimlmanfest.com
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Project Smiles
aProject Smilesa aimed at making the smiles more inclusive, was an initiative taken up by the aThe Ordinariesa, a group of XIMB students of first year. Working with girls from aAsha Kirana, who have been deprived of a family of their own, the Ordinaries focussed on establishing a sustainable value addition model for them. The initiative encompassed daily teaching lessons in basic English, Maths and G.K. The students developed a framework for the attainment of books on an annual basis with the local school. The bond that these students shared with the inmates of Asha Kiran was not limited to academic interaction alone, but also saw both the sides enjoying a special day - Children Day with musical chairs, painting competition and other field games.

Project Aayush
Project Aayush was an initiative taken by a group of students of XIMB calling themselves '11s v/s Robbins'. It was a health project undertaken to ameliorate the poor health conditions prevailing in Betenda village, 22 km off Bhubaneswar. Project Aayush concluded on December 01, 2008 on the occasion of World AIDS Day. The day was marked by a sanitation drive undertaken by the student volunteers and involved various activities like cleaning of wells in the village. This was followed by a formal function announcing the conclusion of Project Aayush. The speakers for the event were Dr DV Ramana and Mrs Gunjan Sharma.

Anand Mission Initiative
It was with a mission of repairing a broken down computer of Anand Mission Ashram, home to close to 65 children and their caretakers, that was undertook by the group aDus Bandar Class Ke Andara. This computer, donated long since been ruined by disuse and had to be replaced. But the group decided that putting a smile on the childrenas faces was just as important as repairing their computer. The fun activities directed at the children started with movie screenings, where the latest animated Hindi movies were shown. Childrenas Day on November 14 saw aProject Smilesa, where all the children were brought down to XIMB campus. There were competitions ranging from drawing and singing competitions to lemon and spoon and musical chair competitions and lots of prizes.

Nischintkoili Initiative
aNau Do Gyaraha and aKkoshisha, two groups of students from XIMB, in association with Rotary Club, lent a helping hand to the people of Nischintkoili block. Their aid came in three phases. First, on the September 28, 2008, the students visited Moolbasant village where food, clothing and other relief materials were distributed. Funds were provided by the Rotaract and money was collected from XIMB students through the Social Responsibility Cell. In the second phase, the students visited Demando, Baliapada and Mandan schools in Nischintkoili Block on October 19, 2008. The two groups distributed photocopied text books, school bags and stationary along with the food items here. The team returned a third time to Baliapada school on November 14, 2008. Apart from distributing monkey caps and stationary items for the remaining students, the team also organized a cultural program to commemorate Childrenas Day.
Parivartan Initiative
'Parivartan' a group of ten students decided to take forward an initiative by conducting a series of events in a school for the deaf and dumb students of Orissa named aSriharsha Mission Schoola. They started the initiative under the guidance of Fr Tony Uvary, Dean Administration a XIMB, by contacting hospitals like LV Prasad and IMS SUM and organizing a free eye check up of 200 children in batches. They also volunteered to bear the expenses like surgery, spectacles cost and any further check up that would be suggested by the doctors for these students in order to ensure that the sense of sight of the children was safeguarded. They followed up this campaign with some activities for the youngsters by organizing a lunch in XIMB and conducted events like painting competitions and prize distributions along with Rotaract club of XIMB, headed by Prof Latha Ravindran and the Rotary club of Bhubaneswar, in the presence of Mr Abasa Beuria, former Ambassador of India, and Shri Rabindranath Sahu, National award winner of 'Pattachitra'.
Social initiative in association with the Orissa Association for the Blind
The first year students of 'In10sity ad Infinitum', a student group, worked with the Orissa Association of the Blind to bring awareness and education to the society of the rights and problems faced by the visually disabled. A childrenas day function was held for visually disabled children in the OAB on November 14, 2008, where special games were organised for them. The children were also educated about the importance of childrenas Day and the life and contributions of Jawaharlal Nehru towards the nation. Prizes were distributed to the winners of the games. The students also assisted a visually impaired student in her PhD research on 'Employment Opportunities for the Blind in Orissaa by converting her study material into audio format. The students have converted the entire Government notifications, rules published in the Gazette and schemes related to the visually disabled into audio format so that the visually disabled can obtain information about the various facilities made available to them by the Government. These files, in cassette and CD format, will be distributed throughout Orissa by the OAB .The CDs were presented by Fr. Tony Uvary to the OAB and released to the people of the state by Mr. Mohan Jena, Member of Parliament a Jajpur, at a state-level conference held on December 3, 2008, on the occasion of the World Disability Day. The copies of these CDs will be prepared by the OAB and distributed throughout India.
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The academic programme include conceptual learning and practical hands-on experience. The Institute also plans to offer courses in Newspaper Management, Electronic Media Management and Digital Communication Management from the academic session starting 2010. When enrolled for Newspaper Management, students will learn to produce and manage a newspaper. For Radio and Television Management, they will learn to manage the studios and program production at the campus radio and television stations. The same applies for course in Marketing Communication management where they will learn the media and managerial skills at an advertising agency on the school.

Elaborating on the need for such an institute, Mr.Hari Mohan Gupta, President, Jagran Social Welfare Society and JICM, said, aThere is a severe shortage of qualified and trained professional management in several areas of communication and we intend to bridge the gap. This mandate sets us apart from most other institutes and departments of communication in the country. We will produce managers and decision makers to expand the media and communications industry in our country. JICM will facilitate learning and attain pre-eminence in creating and applying knowledge across various fields of communication. The Institute is positioned as a place dedicated to coaching high quality business leaders of tomorrow, who will occupy commanding positions in areas of communication policy, strategy & actiona.
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There are two distinct reasons for management institutes for focusing on specific sectors for MBA programs. One, to project the institute as a highly specialized institution for advanced study and research in a particular niche area. These institutions subsequently stress on research and consulting and training in the chosen areas and have, over the years, gained some reputation among stakeholders. The other reason is to leverage the opportunities provided by rapid growth in business and employment in certain sectors like hotel, retail, insurance, etc.

Then there is a third category which train 'foot-soldiers' - essentially front and back office sales and non-executive supervisory levels.

The Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad IIM Bangalore were to focus, almost since their inception, along with the regular postgraduate studies in management, on agriculture and public systems respectively. IIM Ahmedabad continued with its thrust on agriculture but IIM Bangalore did not. Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), New Delhi, Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA) and Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM), Bhopal focused on foreign trade (subsequently international business), rural and forestry sectors respectively, but majority of the students at these colleges compete for the same jobs as those at other first grade b-schools do. Most of these institutions were set with government support.

In the past 20 years, a host of private institutions have come into being either with sector specific focus (like Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad for instance) or mostly with additional programs in one or more emerging sectors with high job potential.

B-schools which wish to be known in a particular field of specialization will focus on teaching, training, research and consulting in the chosen area of specialization or specific sector. B-schools which get into different sectors to simply leverage the market opportunities as a me-too school will not cater to the crA me del-a-crA me aspiring for careers in that sector.

There are inherent problems with most sectoral MBA programs:

  • Not all sectoral programs have the same rigour of a standard two year MBA or PGDM in a good university or b-school. Often these programs are of a one a diploma level than full fledged two year programs.
  • Often it is difficult to find good faculty and good students. Most faculty and students wish to keep their options wider and not narrow them as such.
  • At least nine out of ten schools offering sectoral MBA do not invest adequately in building customized teaching aids and materials relevant for that sector. Merely adding a prefix or a suffix to course titles does not make the courses and program relevant for the sector. At the same time, not all students who study in these sectoral programs opt for careers in that specific sector.
  • The industry players in the relevant sectors are eager to bind prospective candidates to the sector early on with promises of assistance in courseware and teaching and preferential treatment in employment. Several employers in the emerging sectors are eager to give a diploma or degree in their relevant sector with co-branding to bring legitimacy and to make the programs attractive.
  • The ongoing global financial meltdown and economic down turn has made the demand for business and job/career prospects in several of the emerging sectors more volatile than was imagined a few months ago. For example, for the 2009 session, while insurance may still be offering robust picture, retail, realty, tourism, information technology, etc present a dismal picture.
  • In a scenario such as this, most b-schools are taking a recourse hinted to by recruiters: "We hire for attitudes and train for skills" and focusing more on outsourced soft skills training and less on specialized on the job or sector specific skills in required depth. If at all, the provision for the latter is sought to be made through often unpaid (or underpaid) practical training in the form of live projects, internships, apprenticeship, etc.

In light of these hard, if not harsh realities, the question for both b-schools and students is whether to go the sectoral way in their pursuit of management education.

Henry Mintzberg, author of the landmark book 'Managers not MBAs' said that management education is mostly being offered to the wrong candidates using the wrong methods (pedagogy). He is of the firm view that prior work experience is must before anyone joins an MBA. More so, perhaps, if one wants to specialize in a specific sector. The debate then is whether functional specialization should precede sectoral specialization.

A second related question concerns the faculty. A former president of the All India Management Association (AIMA) provocatively asked whether one would like to learn tennis from someone who has never played tennis. In many emerging sectors, even the industry is lamenting about the lack of trained and experienced professionals despite salaries not being a constraint for the right guy for the job. This problem is much more acute for faculty in sectoral MBA.

A third problem concerns the courseware. Where are the customized course materials?

The fourth issue is half committed students with one leg in the sector and the other in what is currently perceived to be a agreener pasturea. When IRMA was set up, there was a tussle between the then Chairman of the institute and the Founder Director. The Chairman wanted the students to restrict their career options strictly to the rural sector. The Director would say that he could not force his own children to take up a particular vocation, how could he force his students? You can only take the horse to the pond. What it does there is the horseas choice.

Industry and b-schools should work together for a sustainable strategy that addresses all these four issues in everyoneas interest, specially the future of business in these emerging sectors as well as careers of generation next.

Dr CS Venkataratnam is Director, International Management Institute (IMI), New Delhi.

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In addition to the degree, a student exchange program for the respective MBAs to do one semester of studies in the other institution to be launched in the 2009-2010 academic year is under discussion. Plans for a faculty exchange program which will involve visiting professors from each institution and joint research in disciplines such as strategy, product development and leadership are also being considered. The faculty exchange program would include facilitation of joint doctoral committees to supervise doctoral thesis at each institution.

aParticipants come away with two degrees and access to alumni networks from top schools on both sides of the Atlantic,a said ValArie Gauthier, Associate Dean of the HEC MBA Program who will follow up the agreement. aNot only do HEC participants gain valuable experience living and studying abroad, our school raises its profile in the US and around the world.a
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The conference would comprise of keynote addresses, panel discussions and academic thought sharing presentations. Keynote speakers and members of panel discussions include faculty from various business schools, entrepreneurs, policy makers, VCs and angel investors. Mr Lakshmi Narayanan, Vice Chairman, Cognizant Technology will give the inaugural keynote address.

According to Dr Bala V Balachandran, Founder & Dean, Great Lakes Institute of Management, aEntrepreneurship is at the heart of economic growth of any nation, and India must also create and nurture entrepreneurs in large numbers in order to sustain the enviable growth it has been able to generate in the last decade, and to reach the global economic leadership status that it is expecting to achieve. In this endeavor the Business Schools have a significant role to play, by way of developing and disseminating the requisite knowledge, models, methods and processes, besides training and developing the entrepreneurs and Entrepreneur inside existing organizations.a
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The tournament was organised by the Sports Committee of IMNU a Akhilesh Vidyabhanu, Ulhas Kelkar, Sachin Singh, Ankur Dhariwal, Ketan Maheswari, Snehal Naik, Simant Bhargava, Mahendra Patil, Amlan Ray, Aasritha Poorna, Vivek Sharma and Akriti Agarwal. Matches were played at 8:00 A.M., 1:30 P.M. & 3:00 P.M on December 7-8, 2008 and the third place playoff and finals were held on December 09. IIM-A were the winners of the tournament with Institute of Management, Nirma University being the runners up.
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BT ACUMEN a started by Business Today in 2002 and presented by Business Today and Aditya Birla Group is a national Business School Challenge on Quiz and Debate. The finals of the BT Acumen 2008 are going to be held on December 12, 2008 at the Taj Mahal Palace and Towers, Mumbai. The East Zone finals were conducted at IIM Calcutta on November 22, 2008 and anchored by Harsha Bhogle. Coming a close third in quiz was the team from IIFT Kolkata Campus comprising of Manoj Bharathi and Titash Banerjea. The team comprising of Cheishta Katyal and Apurv Harsh won the debate beating IIM Calcutta in the zonal finals. The team representing the North Zone is from IIFT Delhi Campus, comprising of Anchal Gupta and Rahul Sanan. Both the teams will now be taking part in the National Semi Finals, representing their zones.

The Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), and The Foundation for a Sustainable Future, San Francisco, organised the second annual Al Gore Sustainable Technology Venture Competition on December 5, 2008 at IIFT Delhi. Contestants for the Al Gore Sustainable Technology Venture Competition needed to prepare a business plan that can meet traditional profitability and return-on-investment standards while also demonstrating eco-friendliness and eco-sensitivity by increasing sustainability. Numerous entries were received from various Engineering and Management institutes. However, the team representing IIFT Kolkata campus comprising of Shashank Singh Rathore, Ankur Agarwal, Kumar Gaurav and Parin Chawda, won the championship title. This team will now represent India in the March 2009 Sustainable Track Global Competition hosted at the Tepper School, Carnegie Mellon University and get cash awards of Rs 100,000 plus all expenses paid travel to USA, where teams from 38 other countries will be competing with their Business Plans. The same Business plan had also won 1st prize at the "Indian Innovator Competition" - the National level B Plan Contest held at NMIMS University in August 2008.

Robin Goyal, a Finance student at IIFT is currently representing India at the BIMUN conference held in Germany. 180 selected students from more than 50 countries came together in order to debate controversial issues of international politics under the overall title "Global Social Responsibility - Merging the Needs of a Fragmented World".

Saswat Kumar Sahu, the Joint Cultural Secretary of IIFTas student body was the Indian delegate to the HPAIR (Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations) conference which was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in August 2008. The HPAIR Business Conference is an annual event in which international graduate and MBA students and young professionals worldwide come together to interact and learn about areas of Asian business from the industry leaders.
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Slowing global growth and a subsequent impact on the economies of the emerging countries led to a significant decline in the financial markets recently. The emerging Asian markets still remained the top performer, however, with markets such as India, Thailand, Taiwan and the Philippines outperforming their peers thus establishing themselves as important global growth centres. These markets have also grown out of their roles, from the early days, of being strategic outsourcing locations into something much more different. They are developing into competitive and competent movers and shakers on every level of economic and corporate relations. Crucible, in its third edition this year, attempts to have a look at the challenges faced by these emerging markets in attracting foreign players, the major recent developments in the consulting services activity in these regions and also the opportunities available for the domestic and global consulting firms.

The speakers at the event include Mr Thomas Kuruvilla, the Managing Director a Asia Pac of Arthur D Little, Mr Richard Rekhy, Chief Operating Officer of KPMG, Mr Sanjay Kulkarni, Managing Director & CEO of Stern Stewart, Mr Harish HV, Partner a National Management of Grant Thornton, and Mr Amit Kumar, Country Head (India) of Grail Research (a member of Monitor Group).

For more information, please visit www.konsult.in/crucible.
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The speakers and panelists that have been selected to participate in the 'Chutnefying English' conference reflect a diversity of perspectives. Speakers include various academicians, cultural theorists, and industry practitioners, such as Prasoon Joshi, Nandita Das, Gurcharan Das, Cyrus Broacha, Urvashi Butalia, and Prashant Panday. The keynote speakers will be Harish Trivedi and Mahesh Bhatt.

aWeave changed as people,a said Professor Rita Kothari, the convener of the conference on Hinglish. aThis is not merely about being globalised (or using multinational products or brands). It's also about thinking differently and talking differently without even realizing it. We now mix our mother tongues and English and don't even realize it. And itas important for us to see whether this new language has the ability to be pan-Indian in a way that neither Hindi nor English have been."

Registration information can be found on the conference website: http://conferences.mica-india.net.