Santa Claus is coming to Town! - Bangalore

Hi All,

You better watch out, You better not cry! Better not pout, I'm telling you why. Coz Santa is coming to town! The magic of Christmas is in the air and there’s merriment everywhere. Join us with family to celebrate a jolly Christmas with Carols, Mistletoes and Santa! Be sure to bring your kids too, coz Santa’s got a special gift for every one of them.

Venue: The Catholic Club, (Next to St. Patricks Church)

Date and Time: 11th December, 7pm onwards.

There will be a nominal entry charge of Rs 100 per adult. The evening is free for children below 15. Beverages will be available across the counter. Confirm your attendance for the event by responding to the RSVP below at the earliest.

Click here to confirm attendance for Christmas night! or go to the link below.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en_GB&formkey=dEI3X0QteTNIdVRBcUFhUXBVTlZsVHc6MQ#gid=0

Jingle bells, Jingle bells......

Cheers!

Sebastian Chandy

PMIR '07, Secretary Events

XL Bang

Fr E. Abraham S.J., Director, XLRI Jamshedpur conferred Lifetime Achievement Award by NHRDN

From mbauniverse.com



Father E. Abraham S.J., Director, XLRI Jamshedpur was conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the National HRD Network (NHRDN) during the second day of its national conference in Gurgaon on 2nd December 2010.

Father E. Abraham S.J., Director, XLRI Jamshedpur was conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the National HRD Network (NHRDN) during the second day of its national conference in Gurgaon on 2nd December 2010.

The award to Father Abraham is in recognition of his excellence in HRD and his several contributions to the subject of HR management.

At the award ceremony Fr. Abraham thanked his mentors as well as his students for this achievement at the NHRDN conference. “I wish to thank all my colleagues for their support and the mentors who helped me in doing my research work. XLRI has been the home of HRD research. I also wish to thank all the students of XLRI who are implementing the lessons learnt at XLRI in their respective organizations.”

Fr. Abraham is the Director of the same B-school from where he did his PGD in Personnel Management & Industrial Relations. Prior to pursuing his PGD at XLRI he studied Sociology at Hindu College, University of Delhi. He also did his BA in Philosophy & Theology from Jnanadeep Vidyapeeth, Pune. He did his Ph .D Psychology (HRD) from Gujarat University.

This is not the first time that Fr. Abraham is leading XLRI. He was also the director from 1989-94. He later joined XIMB, where he served as the Director from 2000 to 2007. Since 2008 Fr. Abraham is the Director of XLRI, his alma mater.

Fr. Abraham has authored several research papers, some of which are: ‘HRD Practices in Indian Industries’; ‘HRD Climate in Indian Organisations’; ‘HRD Climate in Banks’.

The Lifetime Achievement Award ceremony was one of the major highlights of the NHRDN conference, which was attended by over 1200 HR professionals and management educators.

National HRD Network, an association of professionals in HRD sector, was set up in 1985 and has completed 25 years of service to HR community. Presently the Network has 30 chapters across the country with total membership of over 8500. Recently the association took a series of forward looking steps to further improve its governance, engagement with HR community and strengthen its network.

Newbie entrepreneurs with XLRI tag launch consultancy firm

From The Telegraph

Three of the four entrepreneurs who have floated Odyssey Wonder. Telegraph picture Jamshedpur, Nov. 24: If two’s company, four’s a tourism company called Odyssey Wonder. Fresh from XLRI’s enterpreneurship classes, the quartet of Prativa Gupta, Abhishek Kumar, Chandan Thakur and Shadab Akhter has launched a tourism consultancy firm in Jamshedpur. Their aim: if not god’s own country, then make Jharkhand a guest’s own state at least. The four were part of the first batch of 50, including 12 girls, who recently got their degrees after completing the six-month postgraduate programme for certificate in enterpreneurship management. Of them, only Shadab is a city boy. Prativa is a Calcutta girl, while Abhishek and Chandan hail from Bokaro and Durgapur, respectively. “We started this venture as we wanted to promote tourism, which has immense potential in Jharkhand. Besides consultancy, we will also help start-ups in tourism,” said Prativa, and added they had applied for the firm’s registration. Prativa, the only girl in the gang, said she had worked with Singapore Airlines for two years before coming to Jamshedpur to join XLRI. “I am an adventure freak. I always loved tourism. But the XLRI course triggered our business venture,” she said. Chandan Thakur, with an MBA under his belt, opted for the enterpreneurship course to gain confidence to do something on his own. “Full marks to XLRI for designing such a course for entrepreneurs. Our fledgling company has already bagged a tourism project at Hata on the city outskirts,” he said. Shadab said that they would soon initiate talks with clubs and hotels in Jamshedpur to offer tourism-related services. “We will help them organise events, adventure sports and games,” he said. Enterpreneurship Development Centre chairperson Prabal Sen expressed pleasure over initiatives taken by the quartet. “They have selected the right business vertical. It has great scope in Jharkhand. Consultancy by their firm will be effective,” he said.

Summer Placements 2010-12 a huge success at XLRI

From The XLRI Blog

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

SIP 2010-12 a huge success!

The Summer Internship Placement Process for the batch of 2010-12 was a huge success this year, with all students of both batches getting placed in just 4.5 days. A total of 103 companies confirmed participation in the process (up by 27% compared to last year), with 76 companies making 307 offers for the batch of 240 students. The average stipend, also up by 26%, stood at INR 1,12,000, while the median stipend was INR 85,000.

The highest international offer was made by an Investment Bank for its trading desk in Singapore, with a stipend in excess of 5,00,000, while the highest domestic stipend was offered by another Investment Bank for its Mumbai desk. This year, numerous companies offered international roles to XLRI students, including Novartis, JP Morgan, Hay Group, Hindustan Unilever Limited, Proctor and Gamble, Cadbury, PepsiCo, Aditya Birla Group, Standard Chartered Bank and Wipro.

The Aditya Birla Group and Goldman Sachs were the largest recruiters, taking no less than 10 students each.

XLRI continued to maintain its student-friendly preference-based process, which ensures that students get placed in a company and sector of their preference.

Prof Rajiv Misra, chairperson of Placements said, “This year not only we saw the participation of new companies but also the emergence of new sectors. We are very optimistic, and these are definitely positive upwards signals for the coming few quarters as well. The improvement in the general economy is well reflected in the way the recruitment has happened over the past week.”

Venkatesh Kommineni, secretary of Placement Committee, said, "We got unanimous feedback from first time recruiters and in this recruitment process not only student quality met but surpassed their expectations."

------

Some links from the media:

http://www.dailypioneer.com/293630/Offers-pour-in-for-XLRI-students-at-Summer-Internship-Process.html

http://www.coolavenues.com/mba-placements/2010/final-placement-reports/xlri-summer-placements-2011-recession-bubble-seems-blowing-xlri

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1101101/jsp/jharkhand/story_13125213.jsp

http://www.pagalguy.com/2010/11/xlri-jamshedpur-summer-placements-2010-12-307-offers-fmcg-and-finance-largest-recruiters/

MBA student (Ankit Kumar - 2011XLRI) finds a win-win in Bihar's desolate farms

From DNA

There are still many months to go before Kumar Ankit can stick the management-graduate appellation to his calling card.

Come to think of it, this is just the time to worry for his classmates, for placements and pay packets season is nigh.

Not for Kumar, though. He is going the other way — he seeks to provide employment to 50,000 farmers in Bihar in the next two years.

It was with this target in mind that Kumar entered the post-graduate diploma in management (or MBA) course at the Xavier Labour Research Institute, or XLRI, as it is more popularly known, in June last year.

The computer engineer is working round the clock to realise his dream even as he squeezes out time for his management studies. Hailing from Gaya —- the land of Lord Vishnu and Gautam Buddha — Ankit was deeply affected by the plight of farmers who had no sources of income within his home state, and had to migrate to distant Mumbai in search of jobs.

This fuelled in him the desire to start something that would generate jobs that would curb migration. While scouting ideas that would could work, Ankit noticed the Pongamia (called dithodi in Hindi, Karanj in Sanskrit), a biodiesel producing plant indigenous to Bihar, which grew on wastelands. He found the locals were oblivious to its uses.

“Bihar has 10 lakh acres of wastelands. And it has several thousands of farmers who are jobless. So if farmers could be encouraged to start planting pongamia, not only will we generate another source of energy and make good use of the wastelands, but also check migration,” said Ankit.

Today he is the executive director of Green Leaf Energy Pvt Ltd, an enterprise he started in June 2009, just 15 days after joining his MBA course, with an initial investment of under Rs 10 lakhs, under the guidance of professor Prabal Sen, chairperson of XLRI’s Entrepreneurship Development Centre.

Green Leaf has now entered into contracts with about 700 farmers for cultivating pongamia and about 1.25 lakh saplings have been planted.

Ankit’s target is to reach 1 lakh acres in the next two years, in districts like Gaya, Nawada, Jamui, Banka, Kaimur, and Aurangabad, whereby about 50,000 farmers would get employment.

But chalking out the project and implementing the plan was as exhaustive as it could get.

“I needed support from the Bihar government. I requested professor Sen to write to chief minister Nitish Kumar seeking support. After this I met S Vijayaraghavan, the investment advisor to the Bihar government, as well as principal secretaries and other officials,” he said.

Sen said he noticed the passion and intensity with which Ankit was pursuing this idea and thus extended all help. “This project can create a new movement in Bihar where, at the moment, there is no big system for alternative sources of energy, barring gobar gas.”

Ankit’s perseverance and encouragement from Sen eventually lead to the government giving funds to the tune of Rs 26,700 per acre.

Sen said Green Leaf will get support from the government under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) to cover material and labour costs for plantation activities.

“We realised that NREGA funds can be used for cultivation in private lands of small and marginal farmers for growing particular crops, and pongamia is one of those crops,” said Sen.

The pongamia sapling takes about three years to grow, during which, farmers would get monetary support to the extent of Rs 12,400 from the government. After this gestation period, farmers would sell the oilseeds to Green Leaf, which would then crush the seeds to extract bio-diesel, and, in turn, sell that to oil companies such as Bharat Petroleum.

Ankit said post gestation, a farmer can get up to Rs 20,000-25,000 per acre annually by selling the seeds to Green Leaf.

“Our next phase is to have a nursery of 13 lakh pongamia saplings on 500 acres. We have recruited local youths to create awareness among the farming community about this. We have also taken some loan from Punjab National Bank for the administrative and marketing activities,” Ankit said.

Strategic Brand Management for B2B Markets - by Prof Sharad Sarin (XLRI Jamshedpur)

From XLRI Blog

Strategic Brand Management for B2B Markets

by Prof Sharad Sarin (XLRI Jamshedpur)

Sage Publications (Response Books)
ISBN: 9788132105220

This book aims to uncover the hidden and unexploited power of leveraging from the concept of brand and brand building for B2B marketers. It focuses on the need of B2B marketing from the point of view of Indian markets and economic conditions at home.

With extensive discussions on the three most respected corporate brands in India—Tata, Larsen & Toubro and Infosys—the author demonstrates how these companies have created value through brands and how their branding initiatives are benchmarks in their journey to success. With three decades of experience as an academician and consultant in B2B Marketing, the author argues that a brand-driven business can accelerate the transformation of all the big and small B2B marketers to gain competitive advantages. He advocates the need is for a holistic brand management approach and illustrates his point through six case studies of leading brands

Prof Sharad Sarin (B.E. (Jodhpur), PGDBA (IIMA), Ph.D. (Pune)) has been with XLRI since 1976. Before joining XLRI, he worked in industry for four years. He is currently on the Boards of XLRI Jamshedpur, Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad and Tata Refractories Limited. Over the last 30+ years, he has been a corporate consultant to several large and well-known Indian companies. He has conducted more than 100 programmes and workshops on Strategic Marketing, Industrial Marketing, Relationship Marketing, Strategic Management and Customer Satisfaction, both in India and abroad. He has been Visiting Faculty to IIM-Ahmedabad, University of Colorado at Boulder and Rhode Island in the USA. His areas of interests are: General Marketing, Industrial Marketing, Competition and Globalization, Relationship Marketing and Marketing’s Role in Development.

Prof Trishit Bandyopadhyay's book: A Regional Energy-Economy Model - A Case Study Of Karnataka

From XLRI Blog

A Regional Energy-Economy Model - A Case Study Of Karnataka: Incorporating penetration of new and renewable energy technologies in a multisectoral intertemporal optimizing framework

by Prof Trishit Bandyopadhyay, XLRI Jamshedpur

Publisher: LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing (14 Oct 2010)
ISBN-10: 384335992X
ISBN-13: 978-3843359924


It is widely being acknowledged that renewable energies will become important in future and we are already getting a glimpse of that now.In order to study the impact of penetration of new and renewable energy technologies in a regional economy,under a planning and policy analysis context,-it is often desirable to have a unified framework which integrates all forms of energies,both conventional and renewable,that have reasonable potential of being harnessed.This integration has been achieved here by developing a multisectoral intertemporal optimizing model which allows the study of interactions between the energy sector and the regional economy and thus would be a valuable tool for energy planning and policy analysis.Equity related goals could also be introduced into the model,as shown in the book while assessing the impact of gap reduction in per capita household energy consumption as heat between rural and urban areas.The working of the model has been demonstrated by energising it with data from the state of Karnataka,India.The energy policy analysts,the regional planners,and students including practitioners interested in applications of optimizing models should find this book useful.

Prof. Trishit Bandyopadhyay, B.Tech(IIT Kharagpur), Fellow(IIM Bangalore] teaches Strategic Management of Technology, Innovation and Operations at XLRI Jamshedpur. He has earlier worked in public and private sector organisatons in areas such as Electronic Switching R&D, Project Implementation and Production Management.

XLRI lab to map marketing future

From The Telegraph

Jamshedpur, Oct. 19: XLRI inaugurated its behavioural marketing research lab today and organised a panel discussion — Maxi Mindscapes — to peek into the pros and cons of neuroscience marketing.

The lab, the first of its kind in the country, will delve deeper into people’s minds to know the emotional reasons influencing consumer choices.

The panel discussion comprised of experts from various fields who explained the applications of neuroscience marketing. The meet was aimed at framing a roadmap for the institute and understanding the merits and limitations of the application. The initiative has already got the nod of XLRI director Father E. Abraham.

“XLRI has always been a pioneer in innovations. I hope the initiative will set higher benchmark in knowledge,” said Father E. Abraham.

Planned by Marketing Association of XLRI (Maxi), the laboratory will work on the behavioural patterns of consumers. “We are ready and will start work as soon as we get projects,” said Maxi secretary Vinayak Mehta

Neuroscience plays a revolutionary role in research and marketing. When used with established research techniques, neuroscience-based research can add powerful new insights. By employing techniques of eye tracking, brainwave measurement, et al, marketers might get a whole lot of hitherto unknown information.

A Colloquy with Dr. Pranabesh Ray, Dean (Academics), XLRI

From Cool Avenues

 As GMP students come in with substantial work experience, we have tried to structure the course towards solving practical business problems rather than provide theoretical knowledge alone

“The goal was to address the unique needs of the participants who have rich work experience and are coming back to school to position themselves as future business leaders. Since the participants have rich work experience, it is possible for us to make the program much more rigorous than our two year programs. This also leads to much richer class discussions and peer learning,” says Dr. Pranabesh Ray, Dean (Academics) – BM, PMIR and GMP, XLRI.

CoolAvenues.com, in its endeavor to bring most relevant information to MBA aspirants as well as corporate recruiters, keeps on bringing details about the most happening courses and management colleges in India.
Following this trend at CoolAvenues.com, we decided to speak to Dr. Pranabesh Ray Dean (Academics)– BM, PMIR and GMP, XLRI. Dr Ray has been teaching in XLRI for more than 15 years. He joined XLRI after about a decade of corporate experience, both in the private and public sector. His teaching, consulting and research are in the areas of Human Resource Management with special emphasis on Managing Redundancy, Managing Negotiations, Performance Management, Union Management Corporation, and Employment Relations in the service sector.
Here he gives an insight into the Executive Postgraduate Diploma in General Management—curriculum, target students, selection criteria, fee structure, scholarships and much more. Read on…

Q. What has been the guiding principle at XLRI, which distinguishes it from other B-schools of the country?
In last 60 years of our history, one of the values which we have held supreme is our commitment to "Magis" which means “excellence in everything”. Besides the focus on developing managerial competence among our students, XLRI emphasizes the importance of developing a sense of social justice with the right attitude and values of discipline, dedication and commitment among all its members. An example of this is the fact that we were the first b-school in India to introduce courses in the area of business ethics and corporate citizenship. We have a very unique XLRI culture which gives all of us freedom to choose and pushes us to outperform ourselves, each day.

The result is that our students have achieved great success not only in the world of profits and market capitalization but also in the areas of social responsibility and societal change.

Q. What components have been added to the Executive Postgraduate Diploma in General Management of XLRI to ensure that it acts as a value addition to employees who have considerable work experience and a prior qualification in management?
As the name “General Management Program” suggests, this program aims to expose the participants to all the streams of business management.

As GMP students come in with substantial work experience, we have tried to structure the course towards solving practical business problems rather than provide theoretical knowledge alone. The course has different modules such as village exposure program, International immersion program, adventure program, industrial visits, simulation games, etc. which prepare the participants on how to grapple with the dilemmas they would face in middle management roles after this program.

Q. In what ways is it different from the executive programmes offered by other colleges around India? How better is it from others?
The average experience level in GMP is about 6.5 years which is neither too high nor too low for executive education. We have noticed that at this experience level, a working professional has gathered useful industry knowledge and more importantly has a clearer sense of direction. This makes it easy for them to get back to school and learn fast for the long haul.

Starting with the current batch, GMP is now our flagship program. So it goes without saying that we take this program as seriously as we take our other programs. The same features which XLRI stands for – the faculty, the coursework, the infrastructure and the unique XLRI culture - make this program one of the best executive MBA programs in India.

Q. Generally MBA programs are of two years so have you compressed the two year curriculum to one year or you have redesigned the whole curriculum? Can you elaborate on this?
The goal was to address the unique needs of the participants who have rich work experience and are coming back to school to position themselves as future business leaders. Since the participants have rich work experience, it is possible for us to make the program much more rigorous than our two year programs. This also leads to much richer class discussions and peer learning.

Each year, we take a hard look at the students’ requirements and customize the courses accordingly. While doing this, we introduce new modules whenever necessary and remove parts of the courses which students find less relevant. It is a continuous and rigorous process.

Q. Is the course recognized by AICTE or AIU?
When we started GMP in year 1997, it was the first 1 year full time MBA program in India. The industry received the program whole heartedly and lack of AICTE approval was never felt to be an impediment to the success of the program.

Q. What made you launch this one year Executive Diploma in General Management?
In fact, we set the trend. GMP was launched in 1996 when no one had heard of a 1 year full time MBA program for executives. It was initially available only for executives of Tata group of companies, but we opened it to public in 2002 when requests from industry for such students started piling up. I can say that the industry wanted to build a strong middle management layer in their organizations and we responded with GMP.

Q. Who are your target students for this particular course?
The course is a general management program and is open for participants from all job functions and industry backgrounds. It is optimized for professionals with at least five years of relevant managerial experience. We believe diversity is important to facilitate rich classroom learning in such intensive programs and hence we welcome professionals from all industries.

Q. Please give a brief on the students' background and diversity in the current batch admitted at XLRI– in terms of age, gender, educational background, entrance test score cut-off, work experience, etc.
We get applications from a very diverse set of industries and job functions. The current batch is no different where the lowest age is 26 and the highest is 43. We have good representations from all industries and have many interesting student profiles. Detailed information about current student profiles can be found on our website www.xlri.ac.in.

"Interschool Musical JoyFest" for "Leh Relief Fund" (Oct 2, Tata Auditorium 5pm-9pm)

Dear all

 

to generate funds for the Leh-Relief operations by http://www.prgya.org/ we are organising Inter-School Musical JoyFest as the finale of Joy of Giving Week: Jamshedpur Joyest on October 2nd, Tata Auditorium (5pm - 9pm)

 

Our aim is to raise another Rs1-1.5lac through the sale of the passes (each for Rs 100/-..... or more if someone wants to contibute :).

 

I am writing to you for your help in promoting the event and sale of the passes  through your contacts. The passes are available with me (madhukar@xlri.ac.in )

 

thanks and regards

 

madhukar

 

Joy of Giving Week (Sept 26 - Oct 2, 2010) - Invitation & Appeal

Dear friends

 

As you may be knowing, like last year, we at XLRI are partnering in the Jamshedpur JoyFest: Joy of Giving Week (Sept 26-Oct 2, 2010).

 

Working together along with the Jamshedpur Schools, executives of local companies, Rotary Club, local NGOs, we have designed a number of initiatives to celebrate this Festival of Philanthropy. Some of those are given below (also available at http://www.tatanagar.com & http://jamshedpurjoyfest.blogspot.com )

 

I am writing to appeal to you to participate in this initiative. I am specifically writing for your support for 3 key initiatives:

 

1. Vastra-Samman:

Like last year, we are collecting wearable clean clothes, which will be sorted and distributed to the needy through the help of NGOs and other organisations which work in deep interior villages of Jharkhand.

 

2. Ann Daan:

Given the drought in the Jharkhand villages, we are also collecting dry ration which can be distributed to the needy. We would invite your contribution in 1Kg/ 2Kg/ 5Kg packs of:

- "Usna" (Parmal) or "Arwa" Rice

- Daal

- Grams

- Chooda

- Sattoo

 

I am happy to share that Tata Steel Corporate Sustainability Services have kindly offered all their community centers to be the collection points. I am enclosing the list, where you can reach your contribution.

 

3. Leh Relief Fund:

We are also doing a fund-raising campaign for http://www.pragya.org  who is working for Leh Disaster Relief. Pragya is an award-winning organisation which was founded by two XLRI Alumni - Garrgi Banerji (88PMIR) and Sunil Pillai (87PMIR) - and has been working in the Himalayan regions in the area of livelihood promotion, green energy and medicinal plants.

 

To support their work, we are organising an Inter-School Musical Festival in Tata Auditorium on October 2nd, 2010 (5pm-9pm).

We aim to raise funds through sale of passes (anything in the multiples of Rs 100/), and through corporate sponsorships.

 

We will be grateful for any help or lead

 

thanks and regards

 

madhukar

 

 

 

 

Joy of Giving Week (Sept 26^th – Oct 2^nd, 2010)

Planned Initiatives/ Campaigns

·         Nukkad-Natak: These will be organized by XLRI students in public places from Sept 25^th to raise awareness about the Jamshedpur JoyFest and various campaign.

·         Make Jamshedpur Plastic Free City campaign: Plan to raise awareness, and campaign with the help of local companies, schools and civil society organizations. Awareness to be created by video-clip contests, and encouraging the school children to take this as an issue for the Design for Change Contest (see later)

·         Design for Change Contest: Promote the contest among the schools –  which encourages the school children to identify an social issue of their concern, think about a solution, and then implement it. The contest  has already started and schools can participate in it from today till Oct 2^nd.

·         School to School: S2S is GOONJ’s nationwide ongoing initiative which aims to channelise the underutilized material (pencil boxes, books, school bags, uniform, shoes, toys, etc.) from the cities to thousands of resource-starved schools in villages and slums, which lack basic infrastructure and facilities.

·         SHG Training: XLRI students in partnership with Kala Mandir will conduct a module on “basic accounting” which will be launched during this week, and will be an ongoing program for volunteerings.

·         Ann-Daan: Collection of rice, dal and moodi from schools, households, community organization, corporates, Rotary members, etc., and  will be distributed in the villages of Jharkhand through NGOs and other organization s which work in interior villages.

·         Health Camp: XLRI students with medical degrees, along with volunteer medical practitioners, will hold health camps to provide free medical check-ups, and distribute basic medicines in the rural and slum areas.

·         Vastra-Samman: Like last year, this will focus on collection and distribution of wearable clothing from the city and distribute them in the villages through the help of NGOs.

·         Career Counseling in basti/ under-privileged schools: XLRI students will visit the schools and provide a group career counseling session to the students.

·         Inter-School Musical JoyFest: This is being organized on 2^nd October in Tata Auditorium as the concluding function. This event will raise funds through proceeds and sponsorships for Leh Relief.

In addition, SIGMA has also planned a daily calendar of activities (e.g., A Day with the  Elderly, XLRI Labour Day (“Serving those who serve us”), Tree-Plantation Driev, A Day with the Specially Enabled , etc.), which will involve the entire community of students, faculty and staff in acts of volunteerism and giving.

XLRI decides to set up another institute in Hyderabad

From The Hindustan Times

Jamshedpur-based premier management institute, the Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI) has decided to set up its new campus in Hyderabad. XLRI Director E Abraham and Dean (Administration and Finance) C L George called on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah in the Secretariat today and
informed him about the XLRI governing board's decision on their Hyderabad plans.

Rosaiah wrote a letter to XLRI on August 18 requesting it to set up a campus in Hyderabad and promised all support from the government.

The XLRI governing board considered and approved the proposal, the Director told the Chief Minister.

He sought allocation of 75 acres of land for setting up the XLRI campus.

The Chief Minister said the required land would be allotted at Jawahar Nagar, close to the BITS, Pilani.

A group of representatives from Alexandria, a US Pension Fund House, led by its head of Indian operations Vishal Goel also met the Chief Minister along with the XLRI team to inform about their likely association with the institute.

Started in the year 1949 at Jamshedpur as an anchor institute catering to the professional and skilled manpower requirements of the steel city, XLRI is one of the top-five managements institutes in the country. It has only 240 seats on offer every year at Jamshedpur while the proposed Hyderabad campus would augment the intake of students in near future.

Bijou Kurien (BMD81) to lead IRF 2010

From The Economic Times

Nominated by Sanjiv Goenka of RPG Group and seconded jointly by Kishore Biyani of Future Group and Thomas Varghese of Aditya Birla Retail, Bijou Kurien, received support of over 200 industry leaders besides prominent global and Indian trade bodies, to lead the 7th edition of IRF and make this the biggest ever retail show in India. Aptly themed 'Get the Power', IRF 2010 promises a sharing and empowering experience with great retail minds from across the globe.

B.S. Nagesh, the immediate past chairman of the forum - Vice Chairman, Shoppers Ltd and Chairman, Retailers Association of India, in his welcome message said that while the 2009 edition of IRF effectively signaled the resurgence of retail in India, the 2010 edition, under the chairmanship of Bijou Kurien, will see world visionaries, retail captains and policy makers converging to discuss India's consumption potential and how modern retail can further stimulate and channelize this consumption and create multifaceted growth of the economy.

Emphasizing the relevance of IRF, Raj Jain, President, Walmart India said, "Retail in India is at an exciting juncture. Over the years, IRF has brought together top strategists from the retail sector to discuss and unravel best practices in retailing and supply chain development aimed at strengthening India and its economy. The forum provides a great opportunity to meet like-minded professionals bound together with similar goals and aspirations. I look forward to an eventful, insightful and inspiring session and am convinced that time spent here will contribute greatly in enhancing our retailing knowledge. Let's all join together to save people money, so they can live better."

"Modern retail has a huge potential to not only benefit from India's increasing consumption demand but also create demand for value-added products, boost local entrepreneurship, create jobs and raise income levels. At India Retail Forum let us explore how we can collaborate to create consumption demand and offer Indian consumers a better standard of living by providing better products at best prices", said India's retail major Kishore Biyani, Founder and Group CEO, Future Group.

Calling upon the entire retail fraternity to join him in extending support to Kurien in making IRF '10 a huge success, B.S. Nagesh said that IRF was all about sharing, learning and evolving together, and was recognized as a global standard conference. "IRF goes way beyond just speeches, presentations and discussions. It literally stimulates our minds, bodies and souls. I myself experience its great energy every year. I eagerly look forward to the 2010 edition of IRF, which promises to be bigger, better and busier than ever! With his unique style, his remarkable accomplishments and tremendous passion for retailing, Kurien is the ideal chairman to make this huge business, knowledge and networking platform even more relevant for the participants", he added.

Accepting the chair, Kurien said that with its conferences, exhibitions and awards, IRF continues to provide a great platform for the retail industry. With over 3,500 delegates expected to attend from all over the world, IRF 2010, provides an opportunity to meet and interact with key stakeholders in the business and also understand what is currently happening in the retail world. He said that one can learn from international visionaries and also from our peers in India, within a tightly packed two-day programme that encompasses visionary addresses, CEO power tracks, motivational sessions and workshops.

Patni appoints Steve Correa(IR86) as chief HR officer

From The Economic Times

MUMBAI: Global IT and BPO services major Patni Computer Systems (Patni), on Tuesday said it has appointed Steve Correa as chief human resources officer.

Correa will be responsible for Patni's people and organisation strategy, working in collaboration with the executive leadership team, the company said in a statement.

Correa is an HR veteran and comes with 25 years of experience across sectors. He joins Patni from Vodafone UK, where he was the HR director--group technology since September, 2008.

Prior to this, he was HR director with Vodafone Essar (erstwhile Hutch) in India since February, 2000.

Steve was also instrumental in growing Vodafone's pan-India telecom presence and played a critical role in managing its several M&A activities as well as its customer services function, the statement said.

"Patni has consistently made significant investments in its people as well as its management team. This is demonstrated by the key executive appointments we have made over the last two years as well as the several employee development programs we have put in place. Steve's appointment reiterates this philosophy and we are glad to have a professional of his standing and experience in our team," Patni, chief executive officer, Jeya Kumar, said.

Mark 17th Sept For XLBang

Hi Folks:

Sebastian and Anu Fredericks are setting up a fabulous evening on Friday, 17th September at the Whitefield Club.

We may even have Prof Madhukar Shukla join us there .

So Just a quick line to request you to keep the date marked for another great XLBang event.

Sebastian, Avinash Baliga and Anu will keep you posted of developments.

Bye for now.

David D'Costa

Prof Manish Singhal publishes - Spirituality at Work: A Study of Indian non-profit Organizations

From Amazon.com

Product Description

Spirituality at work (SAW) is being considered as a significant construct to deal with a number of issues resulting from increased dynamism in the business context and the resulting stresses and strains at organizational and individual level. The conceptual framework in this study linked individual SAW needs and organizational SAW supplies to emerge with a P-O fit model on Spirituality at work. The individual SAW needs, organizational SAW supplies and SAW P-O fit were related to outcomes of Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment. FINDINGS: The distinction between religion and spirituality that forms the basis for defining SAW for scholars did not find support in this study. The 3-way conceptualization of SAW in terms of Integrity/Wholeness, Meaningful work, and Larger than oneself was supported. The influence on outcome variables grew progressively stronger in this order: individual SAW needs, P-O fit on SAW, and organizational SAW supplies. This study provides the first empirical proof of the interactive effects of individual and workplace spirituality on outcomes of interest to organizational scholars.

About the Author

An eclectic profile with qualifications in mechanical engineering, financial and general management, organizational behavior and sociology and YOGA as sadhana and therapy. Prof. Singhal has been teaching at XLRI, Jamshedpur since 2006. Primary interests are in areas of Spirituality and actualizing human potential in organizations.

XLRI professor pens To Push or to Pull: Dynamics of Promotional Strategies

From The Pioneer

Indian B schools have been regularly churning out cutting edge research work and publications that are making waves in the contemporary management discipline. Leading from the front are the top Indian B schools where a blend of knowledge with practical applications has incubated a healthy environment of learning and top of the line research.

XLRI assistant professor of Marketing Management Debasis Pradhan has penned a book on marketing management titled To Push or to Pull: Dynamics of Promotional Strategies Book. The book reveals a lot about the current promotional strategies prevalent in the global marketing scenario.

In this book, the focus has been on the promotional strategies being adopted by three rural industries of India. Relevant research questions have been identified with the help of literature review coupled with exploratory work that has led to the conceptualisation of a framework. Survey method has been used for data collection. Data analysis and its interpretation have been discussed in detail with a reference to the scope for further research.”

The 292-paged book would constructively address the push vs. pull debate with a focus on Indian rural industries.

Prof. Pradhan, along with another faculty of XLRI, had earlier published a seminal paper on “Measurement of Retailer Brand Equity Using Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process.” Therein it was proposed that retailer brands possess equity termed as retailer brand equity or retailer equity.

It is an “added value” endowed to the retailer brand as a result of past marketing activities of the retailer. Branding of retailers can be instrumental in influencing customer perception and driving the store choice and loyalty. Measuring retailer brand equity can help the retailers and the brand mangers to be more strategic in their decision-making. This study undertaken in India has followed a customer-based brand equity measurement approach wherein dimensions like retailer awareness, retailer association, retailer perceived quality, and retailer loyalty have been considered. A fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was used to measure the retailer brand equity. The same was presented by the in University of Cologne, Germany this year.

Such publications and research are the need of the hour in the changing and volatile fields of global management. It is indeed heartening to notice that our national schools are sizing up to the challenge and able to leave a strong mark in the field.

Prof Pradhan is a post graduate and fellow from XIMB and IRMA respectively. He joined XLRI 2006 and teaches Advertising and Sales Promotion, Consumer Behaviour, and Marketing Management. Prior to this, he has more than two years of managerial experience in power sector. Papers and cases authored by him have been published in national and international journals of repute.

Bay Area XL picnic 2010 - photos & videos

All, a BIG thank you to all those who attended the summer picnic the Sunday before last at the Uvas Canyon County Park.  22 XLers & their families attended, which is the largest gathering that we had. 

Madhukar Shukla, who was visiting Santa Clara University on some work, was the big marquee name. Everyone gathered around him, breaking away only to dive into the excellent desi pizza that Pal sourced.  Pal made the wait worth it, hauling 22 boxes of delicious pizza. 

Fortunately the beer was at hand, so most of the people were well lubricated. And thanks to Mei’s (Navi’s wife) sturdy corkscrew & Murali’s perseverance even the wine bottles could be opened. 

We had many new faces this time (Murali, Navi, Ruchi) & a second visitor (Dorjee).  It looks like we have a good momentum going.  The kids broke all age, batch, BM/IR barriers & showed the rest of us the way to interact. 

A few of the folks went hiking along the many beautiful trails, & my dogs managed to convince the kids to give up their food for them.  Next year the plan is to have a real live barbeque (big enthu from Meghna for that).  I wish I could have spent more time to talking to all of you, but between the organizing, video shooting & keeping track of babies & dogs, I didn’t get much chance.

I still plan to do a winter potluck at home in December (there is some construction going on, which hopefully won’t be a hindrance), so watch for future announcements.  I understand Shailley is planning to do some smaller scale pub type events in the fall.

I also want to recognize Pal &  his wife Joan for managing almost all aspects of this picnic (starting with a suggestion for the spot), with some able support from Shailley, Meghna & Kieran.  Everyone pitched in to make this a successful event. 

Madhukar & Murali took some amazing photos, which are at http://photobucket.com/xlersuvas.  The password is xxxxx(Contact an Xler in the US for the password, I'm not posting it here - Kim). I also uploaded my weekend video project on YouTube, which includes a selection of the photos & some cell phone camera videos I recorded at the picnic.  Unfortunately the audio didn’t come out well.  It is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gx0t_J50G8. Shailley also has a small clip of the picnic up at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnXL8UdvVuw.  Please view & enjoy & leave comments.

Here is the final list of XLers who attended (in descending order of graduating year):

Harini Ganesan, IR06
Ragini Mathur, IR05
Pooja Arora, IR01
Herambh Athavale, BM00
Anurag Chhabra, BM00
Shailley, IR98
Asmita Katdare, IR98
Ruchi Gupta, BM98
Samba Yarlagadda, BM96
Tipu Purkayastha, IR96
Sheela, IR95
Murali Mazhavanchery, IR93
Dorjee Tsewang, IR93
Sandeep Harpalani, BM92
Navi Singh, BM90
Aashish Bhargava, BM89
Sameer Govil, BM89
Meghna Virick, IR89
Kieran Gonsalves, BM87
Vivek, BM86
KP Naidu, IR81
Pal Luthra, BME 72

Regards,
Tipu

XLRI grooms global managers

From The Telegraph

Jamshedpur, Aug. 31: Global work exposure as main course and Belgian chocolates for dessert? Trust XLRI students to get the best of both worlds.

Under the international students’ exchange programme, 44 B-school students — a sharp spike compared to 13 students last year and nine the year before — will visit 18 European universities and institutes in United Kingdom, Germany, France and Belgium for a three-month term. In fact, partner universities and institutes have also increased this year — last year, it was five and the year before, three. 

“The objective behind the stint is to adapt to cultural differences while forming a cordial working relationship with people across cultures,” said Siddhesh Ajgaonkar, a student bound for the University of Muenster, Germany.

Added Anjali Birla, raring to go to the University of Antwerp Management School in Belgium: “Apart from the excellent education, I am looking forward to explore scenic destinations and gorge on Belgian waffles and chocolates.”

The increase in student volume is explained by the fact that the personnel management and industrial relations batch doubled from 60 to 120. The international students’ exchange programme also managed to successfully rope in more partner universities and institutes this time.

XLRI also started an online seat allocation process to make the application process easier for students. Instead of filling up a form and submitting it manually, students can go online, apply directly and look for details on partner institutions and feedback from former students. “We have beefed up the technology for application to foreign exchange programmes. Students can apply online directly for faster and easier results,” said Hartashika Kaur, a member of the B-school’s external linkages cell.

Although the offshore tuition fee would be inclusive of what students pay XLRI, living expenses would come to Rs 3 lakh to be borne by students. But no one is complaining, as the stint would mean an opportunity to explore a new country, work culture and lifestyle. “We left no stone unturned for students. Some partner institutions are new, so students were apprehensive as they did not have seniors to get feedback from, but I believe we have tried to address all concerns,” said Priti Mittal, the exchange programme secretary.

ISTS Worldwide, Inc. Names Akash Jain (BMD 88) as President

From The Sun Herald

ISTS Worldwide, Inc., a retail and payments technology services provider announced the appointment of Akash Jain as president of ISTS. The appointment is effective immediately and is a newly created position for ISTS.

In this new role, Akash will be responsible for growing the business in rest of the world outside of North America, Strategy and Development of IP, heading India business and delivery operations.

Akash will report to the CEO, Viren Rana and will be based out of ISTS's India headquarters in Noida, India, while Viren will be based out of ISTS's Corporate Office in Fremont, CA. Having ISTS's two most senior executives based in different corporate headquarters reflects the true global nature of ISTS's business.

*
“I have known Akash professionally for nearly 15 years, and his rich background in Payments and Loyalty will add significant value to ISTS. I look forward to working closely with him and to ISTS becoming a global player with technology and business services in this domain,” said Viren.

Akash brings more than 22 years of professional experience in the software services industry, having worked for companies like MasterCard, Reliance and being an entrepreneur before becoming an IT Strategy consultant in 2009. Over the years, Akash has held various positions in technology leadership. He was instrumental in setting up a captive IT and managed services center for MasterCard in India, and for launching many technology-driven, innovative financial products at Reliance. Akash has also managed independent P&Ls, having built practices from scratch in the US. His early background includes hands-on experience at all levels of SDLC implementations.

Akash is an Economics graduate from Delhi University and holds an MBA from XLRI Jamshedpur in India.

“I am happy to be associated with ISTS, an organization that is on the cusp of a significant leap in its services and relationships,” said Akash. “I look forward to working with employees and customers of the organization, most of whom have a long and deep relationship with ISTS.”

About ISTS

ISTS Worldwide (www.istsinc.com) is a domain driven - end to end IT consulting and services organization, providing strategy, custom development, integration and global execution capabilities for the retail-payments industry. Its capabilities span around the following areas: POS, Payment terminals, Acquiring and issuance systems, Card management systems, Payment switches, Loyalty, Mobile payments and ecommerce.

XLRI students to conduct project to study human behaviour, seek solutions to problems

From The Pioneer

As a unique initiative at the B-School XLRI, the students of the organisational behaviour course for the 1st-year students are taking a social project to learn about human behaviour, and about themselves. Prof MG Jomon has asked the class to break into 12 teams and do a social live project to learn about.

“We have prepared out a list of programmes to be carried out in different areas. Our objective is to help students learn about human behaviour. The students will mingle with the people and try to understand their problems and help them overcome it,” said Madhukar Shukla, Professor, Organisational Behaviour, XLRI.

Professor Jomon said they would soon organise a fun fair at Kalyan Niketan, run by All India Women’s Conference in Kadma.

The first phase of the project will involve identifying an orphanage in Jamshedpur and encouraging the inmates to participate in various fun-filled programmes.

“We will then get into talks with one of the orphanages for organising the event. The logistics will be worked out to evaluate the resources needed and finalise the event's schedule. Funds for organising the event will be collected,” said a student.

The B-school also plans to organise a daylong eye-checking camp for underprivileged children on the premises of Gyan Deep Vidyalaya in Birsanagar. Opticians and doctors would be present at the camp to check the students and to offer them the necessary diagnosis.

“We are conducting a career counselling session, psychometric test to make the students aware of the different career opportunities available to them. It will be conducted among students of class 10 and 12 and their concerns regarding different career paths will be addressed. Moreover they will be guided regarding the suitable career path for them by a psychometric test which will be conducted and a comprehensive study of various career opprtunities will be provided to them through brochures, website etc. We will be in continuous touch with them even after the completion of this project through our website,” said another student.

While another group of students will partner with a school for the visually challenged/an NGO working for the visually challenged and make educational resources available to them. Very books are available in Braille.

The students propose to procure books and make audio recordings which can be played in classes to impart knowledge to the visually challenged.

Young India Inc (XLRI) backs needy kids

From The Telegraph

Preparations for Kshitij are on in full swing at XLRI in Jamshedpur on Friday. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, Aug. 20: More than 400 underprivileged students across 40 schools from the steel city have a date with Kshitij, the annual flagship extravaganza with a conscience, to be hosted by the CII’sYoung Indians Team at XLRI tomorrow. 

Jusco chairman and Tinplate Company of India Ltd director Bushen Raina will inaugurate the daylong event, now in its third year, at the Tata Auditorium, while prizes worth more than Rs 35,000 will be distributed by East Singhbhum deputy commissioner Himani Pandey. 

Tinplate is this year’s official sponsor of the event, which, as its name suggests, seeks to help less-privileged schoolchildren reach new horizons of achievement through a host of competitions such as quizzing, painting, singing and dancing. 

Aishwarya Kalyan, a member of the external linkages cell of the premier B-school said that the CII Young Indians network in XLRI was led by student Harsh Jhawar under the guidance of professor M.G. Jomon, and comprised 26 team members across management streams of XLRI. The CII Young Indians’ XLRI chapter worked to provide a leadership platform to young minds at the B-school, with a focus on nation building initiatives, including socially relevant development projects in the areas of education, employability, youth affairs and health. 

Kshitij is an important vehicle and platform to fulfill those ends, say organisers, as it actively involves children of vernacular medium schools and project schools of the steel city. 

“Kshitij helps boost confidence among students who hail from the economically weaker sections of society. They have talent, but they need opportunities and encouragement to display and hone it. This platform can really help them strive for betterment in their lives,” said a senior professor of the B-school. 

Last year’s event had been a resounding success, said the organisers, which prompted them to reach out to more less-privileged students this year. 

Members of the external linkages cell said, it was only because of sustained efforts of the Young Indians network at XLRI that Kshitij is being able to help more children every year. Active involvement from the faculty and students at XLRI and generous support from the industry have made this event a success, they said.

Prof. P Venugopal's new book - Marketing Management - A Decision-making Approach

Being retailed at SAGE Publications

A contemporary discourse on the rapidly changing environment of the world of marketing, this book provides the mantra to transform short-run sales into long-term marketing growth. Starting with the basics of marketing, it takes the reader on a smooth journey to understand various strategies of correct 'decision-making' in the market. In doing that, it provides an in-depth analysis of how to build a sustainable customer base in the ever-growing competitiveness and dynamism of the Indian marketing arena.

The author defines marketing to include all activities associated with identifying the needs of the target customers and making them 'want' the product. Thus, the book redefines the need hierarchy, allowing marketers to look at their technical product as more than one marketing product, and develop a marketing product concept.

Table of Contents

1: UNDERSTANDING THE BASICS: Needs, Wants and Need Hierarchy
Marketing Product
2: UNDERSTANDING THE MARKET: Marketing Environment
SWOT Analysis
Purchase Process
Competitive Advantage: Building Entry Barriers
3: THE DECISION MAKING: Segmenting and Targeting
Positioning / Marketing Planning Process

This is Prof. Venugopal's THIRD book release for SAGE after
1. Sales and Distribution Management, Response - An Indian Perspective
2. Managing your Sales Force - A Motivational Approach


From XLRI Jamshedpur - News and Latest Updates
Prof P Venugopal is a Post Graduate and Fellow in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, is currently the Dean (Academics) and Professor (Marketing) at XLRI, Jamshedpur. He has been a Marketing faculty at XLRI, Jamshedpur, since 1994. He was the Dean (Academics), XLRI during 2004-2010. Prior to his stint at XLRI, Prof. Venugopal held managerial positions for 10 years in the marketing divisions of two agribusiness companies.

Professor Venugopal has authored four books, including “Marketing Channel Management: A Customer Centric Approach” and “Input Management, The State of the Indian Farmer: A Millennium study”, and has also been involved as a consultant with several projects for both the profit and non-profit sectors.

XLer's Social Venture Products @ The Red Bean, Hyderabad (Aug 12-17)

Folks,

 

one of our '04 batch alumnus, Malavika Sharma, now runs a social venture, RAICO, at Ranchi - which is in rural handicraft sector; RAICO works with 360 rural women, provides them with training and design.

 

RAICO products will be on sale during the Indian Food Festival at THE RED BEAN in Hyderabad as part of their Indian Food festival – 12^th August to 17^th August

 

THE RED BEAN,

Level 3 & 4,

“GACHIBOWLI CENTRAL”,

Vinayak Nagar, Near Subway,

Gachibowli, Hyderabad

 

Product lines (hand embroidered and Zardozi work):

Kurtas – for ladies and gents / Suit pieces / Saris and stoles / T-shirts / Dokra work / Chawoo masks / Jewelry (bead jewelry – shell, wood, glass etc) and lac bangles / Madhubani paintings  and garments etc

 

for a sneak peak to the kind of saris please goto the URL:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2070328&id=1102322247&l=459648b888

and for Gents kurtas:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2071236&id=1102322247&l=0a04cd8d30

 

RAICO also takes orders – so you can order at the stall or directly send your request to Malavika (malavika_s0 [at] yahoo.com ) 

You can contact Manjesh at +91 9507037903 who would be managing the stall – for more details.

 

ciao

madhukar

Dr Vanita Viswanath @ XLRI

From The Pioneer

‘Innovation important for promotion of woman enterprises’

PNS | Jamshedpur

Vanita Viswanath, the CEO of Udyogini, in an interaction with the students of XLRI on Wednesday said that to make the ventures of the women entrepreneurs sustainable, it is more appropriate to focus on helping the women enterprise groups to systematise and innovate business processes for efficiency and cost-cutting, than on merely increasing the “turnover”.

She also discussed the challenges in developing rural women entrepreneurs. She shared that scale and making the products available in large volumes is a major challenge. The key to overcome this is to create and target intermediate level markets (e.g, markets at block or district levels), rather than markets with large volume buyers.

Low education, illiteracy among the women, and dependence of professionals (who come at a high cost) are some of the other challenges. Viswanath described Udyogini’s initiative in Jharkhand, and specifically talked about the Udyogini School of Entrepreneurship which is being started in Bundu on Jamshedpur-Ranchi highway. The School will be supported by Intel.

After the interaction with the students in the class, Vanita Viswanath, who was accompanied by two of her colleagues from Jharkhand field office, also discussed possible collaboration with the students and faculty of XLRI in terms of research, internship and involvement in the Udyogini School of Entrepreneurship.

Vanita Viswanath also shared Udyogini’s experience with various initiatives such as formation of women’s trade-based enterprise groups in various parts of country, e.g., workingVanita Viswanath is a PhD from University of Texas at Austin (USA), and has worked for more than 20 years in the field of women’s issues and micro-enterprises. Before joining Udyogini has served as consultant and advisor to many international agencies. She was also micro-enterprise consultant with the World Bank in early 1990s. She has also written many books and articles on gender issues in development, micro-enterprises, and poverty alleviation.

Udyogini was founded in 1992, and works to empower poor women in secluded rural areas through helping them to create their own micro-enterprises, provides them with training and capacity building, credit and market-linkages.

At present, Udyogini works in seven States of the country (Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and Assam). Though started recently, its Jharkhand field-office has become the second largest, after Madhya Pradesh.

Udyogini works with a target of 6-8 years support to the rural women who want to become entrepreneurs during which time they must become sustainable ventures, and become entrepreneurs in their own right. It does so by promoting women enterprise groups to achieve scale of produce (e.g., textiles, crafts, agriculture produce, NTFPs, etc.)

Support XLRI Alumnus Relief Work in Leh

Folks,

 

I am writing with an appeal to support the relief work which two of our alumnus - Gargi Banerji (88batch) and Sunil Pillai (87batch) - are doing. Their venture www.Pragya.org has been involved with sustainable development for the indegenous communities in the Himalayan region for more than a decade - and has earned international recognitions for their work.

 

Will be grateful for your support. Mail by L Prabhakar (88PMIR) is pasted below.

 

ciao

madhukar

=========================

 

You must be aware of the pioneering work being done in the Himalayan region and at Leh by PRAGYA (www.pragya.org), a not-for-profit organisation started by Gargi

(XL-88) and Sunil Pillai (XL-87).

 

The on the ground  situation is truly bleak after the recent natural calamity.

 

To give you an idea, a migrant worker camp in Phyang village (one of the places where PRAGYA delivers education and health services) had 250 inmates, of which only 104 have survived. Several villages have been destroyed and many families have lost everything - houses, crops, belongings - and half their members as well.

 

PRAGYA has taken up rescue and relief operations through its field office in Leh. Pragya Leh staff and members from Gurgaon / other offices have put together a volunteer team that is carrying out rescue and evacuation of survivors to hospitals in the area, and supply of essentials (medicines, blankets, food, hygiene kits, etc.). There is enormous work to be done for reconstruction and helping the people of Leh get back on their feet.

 

They could do with additional help from every quarter.

 

Contributions could be in cash and kind. They have a list of relief requirements for the immediate relief (essential supplies)- but those who would want to

contribute in kind would need to check the need status on the day of contribution.

 

Contributions in cash could be be to following account:

Account name: Pragya R

Account no.: 002105000370

Bank: ICICI Bank Ltd.

(The above account is valid only for in-country contributions)

 

The Pragya Leh Relief Team is being coordinated by Nimisha Srivastava (office:

0124-4574518, mobile: 9213136468), and those interested in helping may contact

her.

 

In case, you are not able to get through, please do drop a mail to

Gargi (gargi@pragya.org) or L Prabhakar (prabhakarlinga@yahoo.com)

 

 

Thanks and regards,

 

Prabhakar (XL-88)

Apollo partners with XLRI to conduct management programmes

From Vebtoday.com


Hyderabad, Aug 4 : Apollo Hospitals Group has announced its partnership with XLRI Jamshedpur to conduct management programmes for Apollo’s practicing managers.

Apollo Hospitals Group Executive Director (Operations) Sangita Reddy and XLRI Jamshedpur Director Fr E Abraham S J have signed the MoU yesterday to mark the partnership at Apollo Health City here.

The tie-up is a part of Apollo’s Talent Management Programme that aims to nurture in-house talent.
’’This unique tie-up is a path-breaking initiative to address the need for professionally trained hospital managers, which is being increasingly felt in Indian healthcare,’’ Ms Reddy said.

She said professional training for practicing managers will be an important step to improve standards in managerial and functional areas of healthcare, which in turn will go a long way in boosting operational excellence and care delivery.

According to a CII report, employment in healthcare is expected to increase by at least 2.5 million by 2012, which is indicative of the demand for professionals in this space.

Currently, India has about 400 healthcare managers graduating every year, while the need is for 8,000.

XLRI Alumni Meet - 17th July 2010 - Singapore

Folks,

We have quite a quorum confirmed for 17th! We have 29 people confirmed and 7 maybes!! Really excited to see the excitement and enthusiasm!!

We need one help from you - Pls confirm that you can make it and weather your spouse/better half will accompany you to the event. We will be making booking and payments based on your confirmation. So pls confrim your participation . Especially if you were a "maybe" till now. 

You can send me a uni-cast email to update me. 

2 updates from the organizing team

a) Location - We are looking to confirm Ivory at Clarke Quay.  Its promising us a great dinner, lots to drink and a dance floor J

b) Costs - we are looking at about $50/person – including dinner and drinks.

So be ready to put on your partying shoes! See you all on 17^th!

Thanks

Pooja

On behalf of organizing team (Ramesh, Manisha, Ajit)

Media Direction Finds Its Next President In Chintamani Rao (74BMD) - XLRI

From BestMediaInfo.com


Les Margulis quits as President of R K SWAMY BBDO’s Media Direction; Rao comes in here from Times Global Broadcasting.
BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | July 2, 2010

Ex-Times Global Broadcasting Chintamani Rao will join R K SWAMY BBDO’s Media Direction on 5th July, 2010 to replace Les Margulis. Les Margulis has put in his papers as President at Media Direction.

RK Swamy Hansa Group’s official has confirmed the development to BestMediaInfo.com.

Prior to joining Media Direction, Chintamani Rao was made Vice Chairman in December 2009 at TGBCL to play a mentoring and strategic role for all the television businesses of Bennett, Coleman & Company Limited. Before that Rao took charge as CEO of Times Now in February 2008 by replacing Sunil Lulla who replaced him later in December last year.

Till 2005 Rao was associated with the advertising industry before joining India TV as CEO in September 2005.

He also, is the industry-appointed man to spearhead BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council) as its Chairman, along with that he is one of the Board of Directors for NBA 2008-09.

Prior to taking on the role at India TV, Rao has 30 years of experience in the advertising industry, where he was associated with Universal McCann, and was responsible for all the non-advertising businesses of the group, including Result McCann (direct marketing and event management). In his advertising career, he has also been associated with other agencies such as O&M and Lintas, and has done stints in India and abroad.

Kim (99PMIR) on BBC this Sunday

Feels extremely weird to be posting about myself, but then a BBC International Report is worth it right? :)

Just did a food photo shoot with BBC for their program "India Business Report".

It will be aired this Sunday,  4th of July at 11am and 10pm IST.

Its a section on International food in India and I cooked a Thai Glass Noodle Salad. Will be posting the recipe soon on my food blog

Very excited as this is the first time someone other than the husband has recorded me cooking :)


Here are the timings for those countries where we have the most friends, for other countries, please check the timing online at
http://www.bbcworldnews.com/Pages/Schedules.aspx?

India: 11:00 & 22:00 (11am & 10pm)
Egypt: 8:30 & 19:30
USA (Pacific) : 9:30 - repeat (There may be a show on Saturday) and another repeat at 17:30
Canada (Eastern) : 1:30am, 12:30 & 20:30
UAE: 9:30 & 20:30
Germany: 18:30 - repeat (There may be a show on Saturday)
UK: 17:30 - repeat (There may be a show on Saturday)

Swarathma music Video with Shubha Mudgal

Hey folks

Our first music video is out. It features the voice of the legendary Shubha Mudgal who very graciously collaborated with us.

Shekhar Kapur was a creative consultant to this film that was shot in Jodhpur.

This is all thanks to the Gibson Foundation (whose guitars we endorse) and the Global Water Challenge, a US-based NGO.

Watch the video here http://www.swarathma.com/

Peace,
Jishnu Dasgupta

Jasper Infotech buys Grabbon (co founded by 2007 batch Xlers)

From The Economic Times

Jasper Infotech buys Grabbon
Move Signals Growing M&A Interest In Business Of Providing Online Discounted Deals To Consumers  
Sarah Jacob BANGALORE

    DELHI-based marketing solutions company Jasper Infotech has acquired a Bangalore based group buying firm, Grabbon, signalling growing M&A interest in the business of providing online discounted deals to consumers.

    Senior Jasper executives told ETthat the company purchased Grabbon last week in a cash-cum-equity transaction. Financial terms were not disclosed. Group buying is an online retail service that aggregates demand from consumers to negotiate unbeatable discounts from merchants across restaurants, spas and other entertainment avenues. Last month, Group Buying Global, and Harish Bahl, the founder of internet solutions company Smile Group, acquired Mumbai-based WanaMo.com. The daily deal site was rebranded as Deals and You in order to integrate it with the German firm’s lifestyle product portal Fashion and You, which targets the same consumer.

    “There are around 10 group buying firms in India and the segment is gaining momentum because it can be easily monetised by the power of social media. Group SMS service providers may also enter this segment by linking together advertising with deals from merchants,” said Arvin Babu, partner with Greylock Partners. Unlike pure play e-retail which has failed to deliver across the 50-million internet user base in India yet, group buying is a low capital expenditure business. Its resultant high margins coupled with the consumer draw created by substantial value offering has led to a mushrooming of firms in the past nine months. Venture capital’s interest in the sector is also aiding growth. Greylock and Battery Ventures have committed $8.75 million to another Bangalore-based site Taggle.com, in tranches. The founders of private equity firm CX partners have also angel funded Delhibased Mydala.com.

    While merchants gain by optimising capacity at his outlet and leveraging the branding on social media, the group buying firm picks up a marketing fee of around 20%-25% on each transaction. Many players now intend to extend this model into mobile phones to tap into a bigger base of impulse purchases. Part of the sector’s attraction lies in the nature of the business. “There are very few transaction-based businesses online where monetisation is directly through revenue and not just advertising,” Mr Babu added. Jasper, which uses its relationships with 15,000 merchants through its other businesses to offer discounts through Snapdeal, sees potential in developing a network of group buying firms. Founded by Kunal Bahl and Rahul Bansal, Jasper is the holding company of group buying arm Snap Deal and Moneysaver which offers co-branded discount cards and coupons on mobile.

    In Grabbon, Bahl said he saw a brand that had geographical strength in Bangalore and was built by a team founded by XLRI graduates Tony Navin, Jackson Fernandes and Balamurgan Balasubramanian. The founders will continue to manage the company. Jasper intends to expand to Singapore by August and is exploring inorganic options across markets such as Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines. “It’s a buyers market internationally as most players are at the same stage of growth. The team becomes the clincher,” said Kunal Bahl. Group buying is also seeing some M&A activity in western markets where it is very well developed. Pioneer and the world’s largest group buying site Groupon, reportedly valued at $1.35 billion, entered the European market by snapping up German competitor Citydeal in May.