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
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
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.
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.
XLRI Canada Alumni Picnic - July 10, 2010
Scheduling the Picnic at Sunnybrook Park (exact same location), for the very last time I hope.
Time : July 10, 2010 , Saturday, 12:00 pm onwards (normally lasts till 4:00 pm at least)
Location : Sunnybrook Park (Picnic Area No. 2), Toronto
Directions : Most convenient to use the Entrance marked in Black on the Map off Leslie St.
Pot Luck Lunch - Each family brings a dish/snack to share in a pot luck format
Please bring your own soft drinks, styrofoam plates / cups/ napkins/spoons/ forks etc. Please bring lawn chairs, Duree/sheets.
If you have a Stove, pls bring that along to to heat up the food if required.
(if your friends want to come along, welcome too)
Looking forward to seeing you all there. Please give me a call in case of any issues in getting there.
Regards,
Siddharth
Time : July 10, 2010 , Saturday, 12:00 pm onwards (normally lasts till 4:00 pm at least)
Location : Sunnybrook Park (Picnic Area No. 2), Toronto
Directions : Most convenient to use the Entrance marked in Black on the Map off Leslie St.
Pot Luck Lunch - Each family brings a dish/snack to share in a pot luck format
Please bring your own soft drinks, styrofoam plates / cups/ napkins/spoons/ forks etc. Please bring lawn chairs, Duree/sheets.
If you have a Stove, pls bring that along to to heat up the food if required.
(if your friends want to come along, welcome too)
Looking forward to seeing you all there. Please give me a call in case of any issues in getting there.
Regards,
Siddharth
Friday, June 25, 2010
XLRI ranked No. 3 in Business World Survey
From Business World
Some excerpts:
... While the top three retain their positions (it’s Xavier Labour Relations Institute or XLRI at No. 3)...
... Classroom layouts are taken very seriously globally. So we asked them about the nature of their classroom layouts as well. XLRI (established in 1949) and IIM-C (established in 1961) were found to be the oldest B-schools that have an amphitheatre classroom layout....
(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 28-06-2010)
The overall scores can be downloaded here where XLRI stands 3rd.
XLRI also stands 3rd in the Ranking By Infrastructure scoring 145 out of a possible 150. (losing 5 points for a criteria called "Campus Area")
In the Ranking By Intellectual Capital, XLRI stands 4th with 201 out of a possible 250. IIMA at the top of this ranking scored 239.
IMI, Delhi pipped XLRI to the 3rd position by 7 points. 5 more than XLRI for number of Indian Guest Faculty. 5 for papers presented by faculty at Indian seminars although XLRI faculty scored 5 more for research papers in International Journals. IMI also scored 5 more for number of books published. On the rest of the parameters, they are either tied or scored less than XLRI.
Links are embedded in this post if you want to read the original articles and survey results.
Some excerpts:
... While the top three retain their positions (it’s Xavier Labour Relations Institute or XLRI at No. 3)...
... Classroom layouts are taken very seriously globally. So we asked them about the nature of their classroom layouts as well. XLRI (established in 1949) and IIM-C (established in 1961) were found to be the oldest B-schools that have an amphitheatre classroom layout....
(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 28-06-2010)
The overall scores can be downloaded here where XLRI stands 3rd.
XLRI also stands 3rd in the Ranking By Infrastructure scoring 145 out of a possible 150. (losing 5 points for a criteria called "Campus Area")
In the Ranking By Intellectual Capital, XLRI stands 4th with 201 out of a possible 250. IIMA at the top of this ranking scored 239.
IMI, Delhi pipped XLRI to the 3rd position by 7 points. 5 more than XLRI for number of Indian Guest Faculty. 5 for papers presented by faculty at Indian seminars although XLRI faculty scored 5 more for research papers in International Journals. IMI also scored 5 more for number of books published. On the rest of the parameters, they are either tied or scored less than XLRI.
Links are embedded in this post if you want to read the original articles and survey results.
Good, not greed, is good–and profitable
From The Inquirer
IN 1987, “GREED IS GOOD” Became the mantra that symbolized the excesses of the decade, an era of yuppies lining up to work at Wall Street, obsessed with making more money, regardless of the cost to society.
How would the children born in this era, whose parents were exposed to Gordon Gekko and the glorification of wealth above all, end up? This year, we get a close look at how these children, now in college or recently graduated, have fared as business schools around the world converge at the Ateneo de Manila this July for the 16th World Forum of the International Association of Business Schools.
India is a particularly interesting case study. This year, around three million will graduate from college to find work in one of the world’s fastest growing economies. India is a world leader not just in business process outsourcing and software development, but also in steel, telecoms, and, with Tata’s purchase of Jaguar and Rover, even automobiles as well.
But prosperity has not been widespread, as students at the Xavier Labor Relations Institute (XLRI) in Jamshedpur, India, found out when they went on a tour of rural areas.
“Our first visit to a village shattered any illusions we had about the progress of our country,” writes Chintan Agarwal, one of the students at XLRI. “What we found was a whole range of cultures faltering to the exceedingly competitive, biased and short-sighted world. A lot of introspection and a few meetings later, we knew we had to do something and we knew we could.”
What they did was a venture called Parichay, which worked to sell the products of rural and tribal artisans from the communities, to the world at large.
The students set up a Design and Learning Center to train artisans in innovative and contemporary designs, as well as to improve their production processes. The products of these rural artisans are now available online (www.parichay.co.in) and the venture now provides direct livelihood to 30 artisans, while giving opportunities to 100 others.
That India, with its huge and largely poor population, poses numerous social problems seems to have spurred, rather than deterred, innovation in entrepreneurship.
Noted management guru C.K. Pralahad cites outstanding cases of Indian companies being profitable by focusing on the ‘bottom of the pyramid,’—engineering products to meet a price point low enough for the poor to purchase, without sacrificing essential quality.
That philosophy—of identifying a social problem and developing an innovative solution - essentially guides social entrepreneurs as they go about with the passion to do good, and to do well while doing so.
The Economist, in a special report on entrepreneurship last March 2009, points out that entrepreneurship is reshaping the voluntary sector as much as the private one.
Rich people have often turned their hand to philanthropy in their later years, but this old story has acquired some new twists. Today’s entrepreneurs routinely apply business techniques to philanthropy.
A prime example of how business techniques were applied to solve a problem can best be seen in the case of Samanvit (www.samanvit.org) which wanted to provide electricity to villages in remote, off-grid areas in rural India.
Rather than use expensive solar cells, Samanvit, a venture created by another group of XLRI students, developed technology to generate electricity by using the common ox that can be found anywhere in India.
Oxen, tied to a gear and pulley mechanism, walk around and generate enough electricity to light up to 50 CFL lamps for up to five hours. ”
The entire setup can be achieved at the fraction of the cost for solar lighting,” the group explains, while making rural Indians more self-reliant.
Around the world, management education is being influenced by the drive toward social entrepreneurship, as Jesuit schools open the eyes of idealistic and talented students to a new mantra: good, not greed, is good—and profitable.
IN 1987, “GREED IS GOOD” Became the mantra that symbolized the excesses of the decade, an era of yuppies lining up to work at Wall Street, obsessed with making more money, regardless of the cost to society.
How would the children born in this era, whose parents were exposed to Gordon Gekko and the glorification of wealth above all, end up? This year, we get a close look at how these children, now in college or recently graduated, have fared as business schools around the world converge at the Ateneo de Manila this July for the 16th World Forum of the International Association of Business Schools.
India is a particularly interesting case study. This year, around three million will graduate from college to find work in one of the world’s fastest growing economies. India is a world leader not just in business process outsourcing and software development, but also in steel, telecoms, and, with Tata’s purchase of Jaguar and Rover, even automobiles as well.
But prosperity has not been widespread, as students at the Xavier Labor Relations Institute (XLRI) in Jamshedpur, India, found out when they went on a tour of rural areas.
“Our first visit to a village shattered any illusions we had about the progress of our country,” writes Chintan Agarwal, one of the students at XLRI. “What we found was a whole range of cultures faltering to the exceedingly competitive, biased and short-sighted world. A lot of introspection and a few meetings later, we knew we had to do something and we knew we could.”
What they did was a venture called Parichay, which worked to sell the products of rural and tribal artisans from the communities, to the world at large.
The students set up a Design and Learning Center to train artisans in innovative and contemporary designs, as well as to improve their production processes. The products of these rural artisans are now available online (www.parichay.co.in) and the venture now provides direct livelihood to 30 artisans, while giving opportunities to 100 others.
That India, with its huge and largely poor population, poses numerous social problems seems to have spurred, rather than deterred, innovation in entrepreneurship.
Noted management guru C.K. Pralahad cites outstanding cases of Indian companies being profitable by focusing on the ‘bottom of the pyramid,’—engineering products to meet a price point low enough for the poor to purchase, without sacrificing essential quality.
That philosophy—of identifying a social problem and developing an innovative solution - essentially guides social entrepreneurs as they go about with the passion to do good, and to do well while doing so.
The Economist, in a special report on entrepreneurship last March 2009, points out that entrepreneurship is reshaping the voluntary sector as much as the private one.
Rich people have often turned their hand to philanthropy in their later years, but this old story has acquired some new twists. Today’s entrepreneurs routinely apply business techniques to philanthropy.
A prime example of how business techniques were applied to solve a problem can best be seen in the case of Samanvit (www.samanvit.org) which wanted to provide electricity to villages in remote, off-grid areas in rural India.
Rather than use expensive solar cells, Samanvit, a venture created by another group of XLRI students, developed technology to generate electricity by using the common ox that can be found anywhere in India.
Oxen, tied to a gear and pulley mechanism, walk around and generate enough electricity to light up to 50 CFL lamps for up to five hours. ”
The entire setup can be achieved at the fraction of the cost for solar lighting,” the group explains, while making rural Indians more self-reliant.
Around the world, management education is being influenced by the drive toward social entrepreneurship, as Jesuit schools open the eyes of idealistic and talented students to a new mantra: good, not greed, is good—and profitable.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Aditya Narayan Singh Deo (XLRI 2001) - New head of HR joins HSBC, Bangladesh
From The Financial Express
Mr Aditya Narayan Singh Deo has joined the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) Limited in Bangladesh as the head of Human Resources, said a press release.
A post graduate in Human Resources from the prestigious XLRI School of Business and Human Resources in India, Mr Singh Deo joined the HSBC Group in 2005.
With a rich experience of over 10 years in Human Resources, he had previously worked with HSBC, Asian Paints and Mindtree Consulting in India.
Commenting on the appointment, Mr Sanjay Prakash, HSBC CEO in Bangladesh, said "The appointment of Mr Singh Deo as head of HR comes as a welcome move. His extensive knowledge and experience in human resources management will surely benefit the people strategy of HSBC in Bangladesh."
A post graduate in Human Resources from the prestigious XLRI School of Business and Human Resources in India, Mr Singh Deo joined the HSBC Group in 2005.
With a rich experience of over 10 years in Human Resources, he had previously worked with HSBC, Asian Paints and Mindtree Consulting in India.
Commenting on the appointment, Mr Sanjay Prakash, HSBC CEO in Bangladesh, said "The appointment of Mr Singh Deo as head of HR comes as a welcome move. His extensive knowledge and experience in human resources management will surely benefit the people strategy of HSBC in Bangladesh."
Monday, June 14, 2010
Singapore Alumni Meet - 17 July
Dear XL Friends :-)
Fr. E. Abraham SJ our Director, Fr. CL George our Dean Finance and Administrator and Prof. Jittu Singh in Singapore on 17th July 2010. Lets use this as an opportunity to meet and greet and party with all our old and not so old friends :-)
This is what I'm thinking right now (this will naturally depend on enthu)-
- Dinner (meet and greet) - 8ish - 11ish/Mid night
- XL isstyle party (for folks who don't want to go home) - post mid night
I've volunteered to help organise this event. Need 1 or 2 people - esp some xlers from recent batches :-) to help pull this off !!
So need 3 things from all of you
a) Let me know if you can attend this event on the 17th. Pls specify if you can do dinner and/or after dinner party
b) Let me know if you are willing to help organise
c) For folks who are not yet a member of XL Singapore yahoo group pls subscribe to XL Sing.
Pls feel free to share with all XLers in and around the region who may not be on this list!
Looking forward to seeing you all soon!
Pooja Arora
XL - Batch of 2001
Fr. E. Abraham SJ our Director, Fr. CL George our Dean Finance and Administrator and Prof. Jittu Singh in Singapore on 17th July 2010. Lets use this as an opportunity to meet and greet and party with all our old and not so old friends :-)
This is what I'm thinking right now (this will naturally depend on enthu)-
- Dinner (meet and greet) - 8ish - 11ish/Mid night
- XL isstyle party (for folks who don't want to go home) - post mid night
I've volunteered to help organise this event. Need 1 or 2 people - esp some xlers from recent batches :-) to help pull this off !!
So need 3 things from all of you
a) Let me know if you can attend this event on the 17th. Pls specify if you can do dinner and/or after dinner party
b) Let me know if you are willing to help organise
c) For folks who are not yet a member of XL Singapore yahoo group pls subscribe to XL Sing.
I've also created a facebook event for this for folks who would rather respond via facebook!! :-)
Pls feel free to share with all XLers in and around the region who may not be on this list!
Looking forward to seeing you all soon!
Pooja Arora
XL - Batch of 2001
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
XLRI to offer international courses
From < a href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100605/jsp/jharkhand/story_12531641.jsp">The Telegraph
XLRI to offer international courses - B-school joins hands with US varsity to start programmes from 2011 | ||
| ANTARA BOSE | ||
Jamshedpur, June 4: XLRI is all set to introduce two international programmes in association with a US-based university from the next academic session. The courses will be offered simultaneously on both India and offshore campuses. The Jamshedpur-based B-school and Weatherhead School of Management under Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), Cleveland, have decided to introduce masters programme in organisational development and masters of science in finance that would be possibly started in the next academic session, 2011-12. Mohan Reddy, the dean of Weatherhead School of Management, is on a visit to XLRI to discuss the future course of action. “These two proposed programmes will be the first of its kind in India. No business school in the country has ever opted for this kind of courses so far. Though both the universities need to do a lot of planning before introducing these programmes. The motive to start these courses is to bring XLRI into the international education scene,” said Jittu Singh, chairperson, international relations, XLRI. The institute had signed an MoU with the CWRU last year for faculty exchange programmes, joint research programmes and to start international joint courses in finance and organisational development. According to the plan, the courses would be offered at XLRI and the US institute simultaneously for giving international exposure to students. The faculty members would also be drawn from India and the US, making the programmes global in true sense. The courses, particularly organisational development, would be for professionals with more than five years of experience. There would be 40 seats in each course at XLRI and the US institute. Both the B-schools may have to chalk out a common entrance test for these courses because the CWRU takes students through Graduate Management Aptitude Test (GMAT) while XLRI admissions are based on Xavier Admission Test (XAT). “May be we have to find out a common way for the admissions in the international programmes. We have to work out on the areas. Let’s see how it happens to be. It is for this reason we are delaying the programme for sometime,” said Father E. Abraham, director, XLRI. |
XLRI Canada Alumni Picnic - 10 July
Yes it is that time of year again.
Proposing the XL Alumni Picnic for July 10, 2010 (Saturday) , weekend after the Canada Day Weekend.
We have traditionally held it at Sunnybrook Park but this year want to try and change the venue a bit.
Looking at the list of XLer's notice we have quite a few in the Missisuaga/Brampton Area, so hoping to switch venue to Missisuaga this year. However, personally am not aware of good picnic spots there so hoping for your suggestions in this regard.
Request you to please send in your suggestions ( please note the spot should be capable of accomodating 25-30 of us and have adequate parking).
Since the summer is in early and looks like this year is going to be a nice and hot summer, hoping to see most of you for our Annual get together.
Awaiting your responses.
Regards,
Siddharth
Proposing the XL Alumni Picnic for July 10, 2010 (Saturday) , weekend after the Canada Day Weekend.
We have traditionally held it at Sunnybrook Park but this year want to try and change the venue a bit.
Looking at the list of XLer's notice we have quite a few in the Missisuaga/Brampton Area, so hoping to switch venue to Missisuaga this year. However, personally am not aware of good picnic spots there so hoping for your suggestions in this regard.
Request you to please send in your suggestions ( please note the spot should be capable of accomodating 25-30 of us and have adequate parking).
Since the summer is in early and looks like this year is going to be a nice and hot summer, hoping to see most of you for our Annual get together.
Awaiting your responses.
Regards,
Siddharth
Friday, June 04, 2010
Pratik Kumar (88 PMIR) among top 6 highest paid employees at Wipro
From The Times of India
Total annual compensation: Rs 8,611,998
Stock options
All other compensation: Rs 5,027,449
Total compensation
Total annual cash compensation: Rs 8,611,998
Total short term compensation: Rs 5,027,449
Other long term compensation: Rs 5,027,449
Total calculated compensation: Rs 13,639,447
See the entire slide show on the 6 executives from the start
Total annual compensation: Rs 8,611,998
Stock options
All other compensation: Rs 5,027,449
Total compensation
Total annual cash compensation: Rs 8,611,998
Total short term compensation: Rs 5,027,449
Other long term compensation: Rs 5,027,449
Total calculated compensation: Rs 13,639,447
See the entire slide show on the 6 executives from the start
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