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Awarding the certificates, MDIas Dean of Continuing Education, Professor CP Shrimali, said despite global economic slow down the outgoing officersa placements figures were satisfactory. Twenty outgoing officers had already been selected for jobs in different companies and five more were in final stages of selection.

Professor Shrimali noted that in this batch not all officers are keen for immediate placement as some of the officers will be relieved from their departments only by the end of the year and would pursue for placement later. Many have offers but not taking up due to personal family reasons or the roles they are seeking while two participants opted to pursue their own business. Three of the participants decided to go back to their respective Services with one on promotion from Air Commodore to Air Vice Marshal.

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The resource person and coach for the workshop was Mr Kanwal K Muthu. Mr. Muthu, who is B.E. (Mechanical) from Bombay University, M.Tech (Production & Industrial Engineering) from IIT Delhi, PGDBM from West Berlin, Germany and DIM from IGNOU, carried an experience of over 43 years in teaching, research, industry and consulting. Mr. Muthu has co-authored a book and has over 40 publications in technical journals. Some of the teachings of Mr. Muthu have been manifested in the form of 4 video cassettes, one of which on Total Quality Management (TQM) was also telecasted on Doordarshan. Mr. Muthu, who is a fellow of Indian Institution of Industrial Engineering, Institute of Standards Engineers & All India Management Association, is also the Director of Quality Circle Forum of India.

The workshop covered the following topics for the participants:
  • Strategy, Benchmarking, Business Process Re-engineering and Change management
  • Quality Initiatives, TQM and Quality Circles
  • People Management, Leadership, Team Building and Competencies
  • Japanese Management Techniques, 5-S, Gemba Kaizen, TPM and JIT
  • General Management, Operations Effectiveness, Time Management, Value Engineering & Cost rationalization and Lean Manufacturing
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Mr Madhukar Kamath, Chairperson, Mudra Foundation Society declared the Convocation open. The Scholastic gold medal went to Indronil Goswami. 24 students of 16th batch of the Creative and Crafting Communications Course were also conferred with Post Graduate Certificates at the Convocation. Also, MICA, in partnership with WWF, observed the aEarth Houra and lights were switched off at 8:30 pm.

The Year Book was released on this occasion by AG Krishnamurthy along with a book aChutnefying Hinglish Highlightsa authored by Prof Rita Kothari of MICA. A third book, 'Culture, Consumption and Brandinga co-authored by Prof Atul Tandon and Prof. Rajneesh Krishna was also released by Mr Gerson.

On this occasion the Chief Guest, Mr AG Krishnamurthy, recalling his experiences at MICA, said, aI come to MICA after 6 years with great deal of pride.a He advised the graduating batch that in these troubled times, students need to realize that success is a process, not an event. He said, "I have learnt in 30 odd years that, to create professionals, we need to follow the 'panchasutras', or the apower of 5a, which include 'Dream very big', 'Be the master of your trade', 'Be positive', 'Do not aim for materialistic things', and 'Never give up'."

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Mr Sikka opened the session by explaining how our society is built on negativity. He questioned, aIs there any point of wasting our energy in criticizing others for no reasons when we do not have much time to fight with ourselves?a He explained how a person can possibly come out of this negativity and start utilizing his resources effectively by being open minded & and thinking out-of-box. Mr Sikka asked all the adults to learn a thing or two from the innocent nature of an infant characterized by aSmile for no reasons, Cry only for a reasona. He said that a smile helps in building relationships instantaneously and also helps in building acredibilitya which is one of the most important aspects of personal marketing in the contemporary business world.

Mr Sikka gave the mantra of aThe Three Baby Stepsa, namely keep your body light, effective communication and keep your mind light. He said, aKeep your body lighta.. Eat carefully, treat your body as the temple of soul and observe self discipline where you do not go overboard in eating trash. Secondly, communicate well, speak well of others where you can, and avoid loose talk, bad mouthing, gossip etc. This will help you in conserving energy, help in cleansing internal blockagesa. He urged the students to observe the aforementioned two steps till they become part and parcel of oneas life. Once a person succeeds in the first two steps, then the third step takes shape automatically oneas mind opens up to the limitless horizons of knowledge. He concluded his session with the saying, aA thousand miles journey begins with the first step".
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Although it sounds deceptively like the MBA-equivalent post-graduate diploma awarded by autonomous institutions such as the Indian institutes of Management (IIMs) or SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, in reality the University of Puneas PGDBM is not at all at par with a Post Graduate or Masteras degree as commonly recognized in the Indian education system. Why? Because for one, University of Puneas PGDBM will not enable you to pursue higher doctoral studies. Moreover, this course has relaxed eligibility criteria which even allow a class XII failed student to pursue it.

As of now, senior DINA officials including four members of the family backing the institute have been named in the complaint which charges the officials with the offences of cheating and forgery. The 17 student complainants alleged that the institute officials cheated them by misrepresenting the PGDBM as a fulltime MBA equivalent degree. Reacting to the development, DINAas Executive Director Ajit Kumar Oberoi along with five other officials (including family members) named in the case filed a plea for anticipatory bail on March 4, 2009, which was rejected by a Pune sessions court on March 23.

Apart from DINA, many Pune based management institutes such as MIT School of Management (MITSoM), Suryadutta Institute of Management and Research (SIMR) and Prestige College of Management and Technology too offer the PGDBM course in affiliation with the University of Pune. The Universityas official documents do not specify the PGDBM course to be a part time program. Prestige College of Management and Technology specifies the PGDBM course it offers to be a full time program while MITSoM and SIMR list the course as a part time program. DINA has described the PGDBM to be a fulltime program and a degree equivalent to MBA in marketing emails and pamphlets issued by the institute. Several other business schools in and around Pune offer this course in various forms, though none of them are equivalent to an MBA degree.

The PGDBM eligibility criteria enable Engineering Diploma holders from a Board of Technical Education of any state or central government to apply to the course. It may be noted that the eligibility criteria for Engineering Diplomas is passing Senior Secondary Certificate (class X), including the ones offered by the Directorates of Technical Education of state governments. In India, a Bacheloras degree is the minimum eligibility required to apply for a Masteras degree in management.

aThe two year PGDBM course under the University of Pune is not equivalent to the post graduate diplomas in management provided by institutions such as the IIMs. A graduate of this course cannot enroll for a PhD at the University of Pune,a said a high placed official in the management department of the University. The University specified eligibility requirements for Ph.D state that applicants are required to hold a full-fledged Masteras degree.

PaGaLGuY.com has also learnt that IIMs too do not accept graduates of a university affiliated PGDBM course for their doctoral program called Fellow Program in Management (FPM). An applicant to this course is required to be a holder of a post graduate degree. Graduates of MBA programs conducted by universities or holders of post graduate diplomas in management from autonomous institutions may apply to the FPM course provided at various IIMs.

When asked to clarify on the issue, DINAas Executive Director Ajit Kumar Oberoi said, aThe PGDBM program under University of Pune is equivalent to an MBA in terms of course content, job opportunities and competencies provided. I cannot comment on whether a PGDBM graduate is eligible for a PhD as eligibility criteria vary across institutions. The University allows holders of Bacheloras degree as well as diplomas from technical institutions to enroll for this course. It appears that the University equates the two.a

DINA is also mired in a parallel controversy over the fees charged for PGDBM. While other institutes such as Suryadatta Institute of Management and Information Research, Pune charges Rs 50,000 and Prestige College of Management and Technology charges Rs 40,000 for two years, DINA charges Rs 2.75 lakh for the same duration. This matter was brought up in a University meeting, where as per a Mid-Day Pune report, Mr Oberoi nearly assaulted the universityas Dean of Management Department Mr CM Chitale. As of now, the Universityas Vice Chancellor Narendra Jadhav has instituted an enquiry committee to investigate the cheating in fees.



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"This
flagship event will host a variety of finance related events to cater
to the finance enthusiasts across the country. Other than the various
competitions, the campus shall be a host to a variety of eminent
personalities who would be interacting with the students and sharing
their knowledge and insight with them," said the institute press
release.

The conclave shall have crossword competitions,
quizzes, a lecture series and a commodity trading workshop among other
events. More at http://www.iitk.ac.in/ime/MBA_IITK/finatics/
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Prior to this appointment, Dr Sahay was the Director of the Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Ghaziabad.

"Professor
Sahay did his MTech and PhD in Industrial Engineering from Indian
Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, India. He has over 25 years of
experience in teaching, research, consultancy, executive training, and
industries. He has visited a number of countries and has worked both in
India and abroad on various assignments for manufacturing and service
industries. His teaching, research and consulting interests include
logistics and supply chain management, production and operations
management, project management, productivity management and business
modeling," said the MDI Gurgaon press statement.

It may be noted here that IMT Nagpur director Dr Anwar Ali has been named as Dr Sahay's replacement at IMT Ghaziabad.
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According to the institute, the event will explore whether the emerging
power of the consumer a threat to the marketing discipline, or an
opportunity waiting to be harnessed.



"MICANVAS 2009 will present several opportunities in the form of formal
events, informal events and panel discussions for students from select
B schools, undergraduate colleges and universities abroad to showcase
their ideas and innovations," it said.
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This seasonas placements saw 36 job offers being made, a drop of 40 percent from the previous year's recruitments. 33 companies recruited PGP-Ex students from IIM-C as compared to 48 firms who hired from the earlier batch of students.



While the absence of foreign placements is indicative of the global effect of the economic slowdown, the IT and ITES sector also appears to be affected. Job offers from this sector constituted 22 percent of the total as compared to over 50 percent in last seasonas recruitments. It is notable that over 50 percent of the students had prior work experience in IT and related sectors.



The consulting sector provided 31 percentage of total job offers and this was the highest number of jobs from a sector. Sales and marketing firms made job offers constituting 22 percent of total offers. The telecom sector and general management resulted in 14 percent and eight percent of total jobs respectively. The power sector contributed the remaining three percent of job offers.



McKinsey and Co., Deloitte, IBM Consulting and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) were some of the prominent consulting companies who recruited while Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Tech Mahindra made job offers from the IT and ITES sectors. IBM and Tata Teleservices were notable firms who made sales and marketing and telecom job offers respectively.



The PGP-Ex program at IIM-C also provided students graduating this year with the option of deferred placements. This option enables graduating students who wish to pursue entrepreneurial ventures to avail of placement in any one of two subsequent batches of PGP-Ex at IIM-C. Two students chose this option and have decided to start their own ventures. One student chose to not participate in the recruitments process and has reverted to his parent organization.
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Prior to his stint at IIM-K, he was a part of management faculty at National Institute of Technology, Calicut for eight years.

"A project aimed at robust supply chain for ensuring value addition in agri-commodities conceived and implemented by him has won the national Award for the best project in the NGO sector from Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. He is also a Management consultant to many public and private sector organizations including Murugappa group, Ministry of Rural development, Government of Kerala, Department of Tourism, Department of Handlooms & Textiles, Kerala University and South Malabar Gramin Bank and is a resource person for executive development programmes of various governmental and corporate bodies. His areas of research interest include supply chain management, IT-enabled business and inclusive growth," stated TAPMI's official release.

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"The launch of the E-Cell was accompanied by the launch of the website for the same along with a small Entrepreneurship summit. The summit boasted of eminent entrepreneurs as its speakers. Ms. Shradha Sharma a Founder, YourStory.in and AVP, CNBC TV18 was invited as the Chief Guest. Also present were Mr. Sujoy Gupta a Chairman, Samraat Group of Companies, Mr. Kartik Raichura a Founder & CEO, Management Paradise and Mr. Sreelaj John a Founder, iDuple," stated SIOM's official press release.

"SIOMas very first success story Zuna Consultancy Services, a brainchild of 6 students of the 2008-10 batch also shared their story with the audience," it added. The launch ended with an interactive session with the guests.

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Amongst Indian b-schools, the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderbad is the most noted institute yet to successfully place 100 percent of the graduating class in which students took loans of upto Rs 19 lakhs. Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon and Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Ghaziabad are other prominent b-schools which are yet to complete campus placements and required a total two year investment in excess of Rs 5 lakh from students graduating in 2009. Further, the economic slowdown has resulted in significant reductions in salary levels with all institutes so far to have released final salary data recording a 20 percent minimum drop in average salary.

The drop in average salary has a significant impact on return on investment considerations for b-school students. Two year expenses for students who graduated from IMT Ghaziabad in 2007 and 2008 was approximately Rs 4.3 lakhs. It is worth noting that the average domestic salary secured by IMT graduates in 2007 was Rs 9.5 lakh and in 2008 was Rs 8.67 lakhs while a 2009 graduating student from IMT, Ghaziabad says that the salaries secured by the majority of those placed so far are in the range of Rs 5 a 6 lakhs. The total fee for the two year fulltime program IMT, Ghaziabad for students graduating in 2009 was Rs 5 lakhs approximately.

MBAs who graduated in 2007 and 2008 from Symbiosis Center of Human Resources and Development (SCMHRD), Pune also enjoyed a similar return on investment with students securing an average domestic salary of Rs 8.4 lakhs and Rs 10.32 lakhs respectively and an education loan for the two year course amounting to approximately Rs 4 lakhs. The total expenses for the two year course at SCMHRD, Pune for students graduating in 2009 amounted to Rs 7 lakhs. At the institute, 16 students out of a batch of 192 remain to be placed.




The total fee for graduating students at Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA) was Rs 8 lakhs while the average salary recorded in this yearas recruitments is in the range of Rs 6.5 lakhs. 2008 MICA graduates secured an average salary of Rs 8.02 lakhs while the total fee for this batch of students was Rs 6.7 lakhs. Students from MICA who graduated in 2007 paid just over Rs 6 lakh for the 2005-07 program and secured an average annual salary of Rs 7.25 lakh.

Typically, banks allow students to repay loans over a maximum period of five a seven years and a loan amount of Rs 6 lakhs paid over seven years would require a Equated Monthly Installments (EMIs) of Rs 10,000 approximately while repayment of the same sum over four years would involve EMIs of Rs 15,000.

Faculty across b-schools is concerned about issues which the MBA batches of 2009 may face. aBanks are considering restructuring loans and even in that case I feel that MBAs will have to sacrifice some amount of quality of life. Earlier students could buy a house or a car within two-three years of work life. Graduating MBAs this year will have to tighten their belts at some level and cut down on discretionary expenses such as a car and an owned home,a says Subir Verma, Placements Chairperson at Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon.




aStudents in these times will find it difficult to pay EMIs and the situation is very difficult for those students who are currently placed. It is of course horrible for those who are still to secure a job. Even if loans are restructured, students will still be required to pay interest. It is possible that non-placed students may have to take another loan in order to repay the educational loan,a predicts a high placed official at SDM Institute for Management Development (SDMIMD), Mysore.




While MBAs of the batch of 2009 enrolled in b-school at a time when fee levels were not as high as they are currently, students at private b-schools such as MICA, Ahmedabad and Alliance Business Academy (Alliance), Bangalore still find themselves faced with the prospects of a loan exceeding Rs 6 lakh. Banks have recently asserted that they sympathise with students in these economic times and will restructure loans on a case by case basis if approached by loan applicants.

However, it is clear that job woes have some MBA students worried and concerned parents are willing to aid their wards. aIam not placed currently and I think that I will have to take my fatheras help in order to repay this loan. My father advised me to first get placed and then think of issues related to loan restructuring. He has assured me that he would help repay the loan if required but that is not an assurance I really want. I am very anxious about how I will pay the loan and will probably have to remain based in Bangalore as it won't be possible for me to secure a job in Delhi which is my hometown and the cost of living here is lower than that in other cities,a says Heena Bajaj, a second year student at Alliance, Bangalore.

Shruti Shankar Misra, a MICA graduate says frankly, aMy story is slightly different as I got married recently. EMIs are not an issue for me as I stay in a double income household. However, it would have been a big problem if I was living off my own. I donat know how such people are managing. Quite a few of my batchmates are struggling as they canat be based in their hometowns, have to stay in a working peopleas hostel or share a room with others. What is the point of higher education if such compromises have to be made?a Another MICA graduate, Aparna Moossaddee explained that her parents paid the interest for the entire loan amount of Rs 10 lakh of their own accord.




Other soon to be MBA graduates who are yet to secure a job displayed a positive outlook. A second year student of a prominent operations management institute who opted for a loan of Rs 3.75 lakh for his MBA studies says, aI cannot think right now about the salary I would be getting. It will definitely not be possible to save in the initial period. My parents are always there to help me but I will not let them help me repay the educational loan. In the first few months, life will be tough. However, Iam confident that I will secure a job within the next three months and will not need to approach the bank to restructure my loan.a Another second year student at TA Pai Management Institute (TAPMI), Manipal said that he would plan his loan repayment only after securing a job which he was hopeful of obtaining in the near future.




MBAs who have secured jobs through campus placement are guardedly optimistic about loan repayment issues. aStudents who are placed should not find it too difficult to pay the monthly loan installments. Most graduates would begin repayment of loans in early or mid 2010 and by then the situation would be such that the training period would be over and employment would be confirmed. Companies which came for campus recruitment have promised that salaries would be significantly higher by that time. Of course, they havenat specified actual figures as far as this is concerned,a comments Mansi Bagga, an MBA graduating from IMT, Ghaziabad.

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"Experts of General Manager and above ranks will take all the 30 sessions comprising different aspects of petroleum management. The company will initiate with MDI collaborative programs, research activities and case studies on the issues related to all aspects of petroleum sector," the school's official release quoted IOC's Director (HR) as saying.

The school is hoping for more such collaborations with energy companies. "These companies (future joint ventures with the school) will also absorb and take responsibility for placements of the passing out energy graduates," said the Dean of School of Energy Management, as per the school's statement.

The school already runs a program with Ministry of Power, Government of India and United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
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The program aims at preparing students to take up top management roles. "The batch has an average age of 34 years, average GMAT of 720, an average total work experience of 10 years and an average international work exposure of above 7 years that compare very well with the best B-schools around the world," stated their official release.

"Applications for PGPX (2010- 11) will be held between May, 1 to August, 10, 2009. Applicants with minimum 27 years of age and some industry experience can apply online (www.iimahd.ernet.in) with their GMAT scores," the statement said.
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The first session covered varied topics on operations by speakers like Mr, Anant Kishore, COO of Indorama India; Mr. Giriraj Niyati, CTO and VP, MoserBaer; Mr Gaurav Saxena, DGM, Strategy and Logistics planning, Bharti-Walmart etc.

The second session on strategy had speakers like Sameer Sathe, Partner, Universal Consulting; Mr. Ashutosh Gupta, VP, EValueServe; Mr. Naresh Priyadarshi, Head of Business Consulting, Synovate Business Consulting etc, said the release. Many speakers laid emphasis on the tactics and innovations to be applied in the current economic scenario.

The seminar series was held in collaboration with FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry).
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The forum was supported by UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund),
Orissa with the objective of assessing the achievement of MDG in
Orrisa. "A status note and a short video documentary on MDG 3 was
presented by Prof. S. Peppin, XIMB and Mr. Prosun Sen, UNICEF,
respectively, followed by a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Reeta
Ray, Utkal University," said the statement.



"Faculty members from XIMB, Human Development Foundation (HDF), Utkal
University and other members from civil society, media and UNICEF also
participated and offered their views," it added.
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The institute released a list of provisional admissions for the 2009-11 Post Graduate Program in Management (PGPM) on April 21, 2009 which had mismatches between CAT registration numbers and names listed. What does this mean? A student called Rohan Mehra with a CAT registration number of 45678 would have seen the registration number of 45678 in the results but with another person's name. The institute has currently withdrawn the list of provisional admissions from its official website.

aThere were discrepancies in the list. We will be releasing a new list in a few hours from now. The new list is being drawn up from scratch,a said a high placed admissions official on the condition of anonymity. In total, 450 students had been included in the provisional admissions list released by the institute. Students expecting a call from MDI are discussing the development on the PaGaLGuY forums.

This is the second instance of a top management institute mismanaging its final results this season, the other one being IIM Calcutta.

Update: An MDI admission official informed that the new list has been sent to MDI's website operator and would be live latest by Wednesday morning.

Update (April 22, 2009, 5:15 PM): The institute has revised 2009-11 admissions results and released new lists for its post graduate programs in management. These lists are available on the MDI official website.

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The judge concluded the hearing by asking the students and the instituteas Executive Director Ajit Kumar Oberoi to attempt an out-of-court settlement, failing which the case will be heard again on May 5, 2009.

As reported by PaGaLGuY earlier, students of DINAas Pune University-affiliated PGDBM course had filed a complaint of cheating and forgery against the institute, accusing them of misrepresenting the course as a fulltime course. In parallel, the Pune University had set up a committee to examine the disproportionately high fees charged by the institute for the course.


PaGaLGuY had also reported that the PGDBM course itself was not an MBA-equivalent course as was claimed by DINA.

During Wednesdayas hearing, DINAas lawyer Rajendra Sorankar pleaded that the institute has approached the Shikshan Shulk Samiti (the Maharashtra Government body appointed to regulate fees in Medical, Higher and Technical education) for determining the fees the institute can charge for the Pune University-affiliated PGDBM program.

The judge however replied saying, aThe institute must return some portion of the fee charged as the students have not been provided with the infrastructure and facilities promised to them at the time of admissions in 2007.a




Shekhar A Ingwale, the lawyer representing the students presented a Pune University letter (Ref No: CA 847 dated March 12, 2009) addressed to the state police which stated that the maximum fee which can be charged for the PGDBM program was Rs 50,000. Hearing this, the judge said, aThe excess amount of Rs 1.75 lakh should be kept in a fixed deposit account till the Shikshan Shulk Samiti makes a decision.a




Ingawale then presented a letter obtained from the University of Pune (Ref No CA/1523 dated April 17, 2009) addressed to a DINA student which stated that the PGDBM course affiliated to the University (and offered by DINA) was not an MBA equivalent course. He also provided DINA admissions materials which specify the PGDBM program as an MBA equivalent course. After studying the evidence provided, Justice Bhosale said, aWhy did the institute misrepresent the PGDBM course? The entire course fee must be refunded.a




"Students had taken admission in DINAas PGDBM program because it was claimed to be a Pune University affiliated MBA equivalent program,"
the judge added.

DINA representatives suggested that a certificate declaring the PGDBM course as not equivalent to MBA would not help students in any manner. Judge Bhosale concluded the hearing by saying, "I would prefer it if students concentrated on their studies and careers and did not come in large numbers for court hearings. They should not be focused on putting another person behind bars. The two parties must discuss and see if they can arrive at a solution. If that is not possible, there will be a court hearing on May 5, 2009."
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The highest domestic salary package for MBA-IB students was Rs. 19 lacs. The list of recruiters included global companies like ITC, Colgate Pamolive, Nomura Holdings, Coca Cola etc, said their statement.

The convocation was addressed by the guest of day, Dr C Rangarajan, Chairman, PMas Economic Advisory Council & Former RBI Governor. He threw some light on the current economic situation stating, "India's growth rates will be below 7% as compared to 9% in previous year. Prospects do not appear to be better. While in 2008-09 the first half escaped the impact of global recession, in the current year the impact will be felt throughout the year," the release quoted as him saying.

"The Indian financial system is not directly exposed to the "toxic" or "distressed" assets of the developed world. This is not surprising since the Indian banks have very few branches abroad. However the indirect impact on the economy because of recession is very much there," he added.

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"Due to general slowdown in economy, the number of officers undergoing training has considerably receded," said their release. In their earlier batch, 62 officers participated compared to 50 this time which includes nine lady officers compared to 15 previously.

Management course for defense officers are currently conducted by MDI and Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata.