7th Annual XL Canada Summer Picnic July 6th (with family)

Ok the Picnic is nearly upon us 1 week to go ....
Look forward to see most the XLers in Toronto and KNV(from New York) there. Please note this time it is on a Sunday...
Have had 4 dropouts so for for various reasons.

The location and format is the same but still putting it below :

Where : "Sunnybrook Park",North York,Toronto

Date : July 6, 2008 (SUNDAY)

Time : From 11.30 am onwards (RAIN OR SHINE EVENT)

Location : Sunnybrook Park is on Leslie South of Eglington Avenue.

Directions: Take 401 and exist Leslie South You will see the sign for Sunnybrook Park on your right just before Eglington Avenue.
Turn into Sunnybrook Park, and then turn left at the fork (Sign for Earnest Thompson Seton Park) PLEASE NOTE THE TURNOFF IS WITHIN 200 m of ENTERING THE PARK FROM LESLIE ST.
After you turn left, park on the right at the 2nd picnic area.
In case of any confusion please call (Siddharth)

If any one needs a ride please do let me know and we arrange for it

Format : Xlers and their families

Pot Luck Lunch - Each family brings a dish/snack to share in a pot luck format Please bring our 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.

Do check the weather forecast and dress accordingly. The picnic will be held rain or shine.

Those whose parents/in-laws/relatives are in Toronto, please bring them too and am sure they will have a good time. They are all invited as part of our families.
We could also have games for the kids and play some cricket - and Fred has a cricket set so we can play some tennis ball cricket. Those who have Frisbees/Balls, or any other sport items, please bring them along too.Fred will be bringing a small stove and will make 'Chai' for all of us.

PS: if you are aware of any new Xlers that have moved to Toronto, please circulate to them.

Once again looking forward to see you all there,

Regards,
Siddharth & Bala

Diro and Dr Singh visiting the USA

Fr E. Abraham, the current Director of XLRI (also the previous director 1989-94) and Prof Jittu Singh (who taught at XLRI till 1984, and is now back at XLRI) will be traveling to the US in July.

Some Alumni Meets are being planned around the country to coincide with their visit. their itinerary is as follows.

a) Chicago (July 13 to 16)
b) Detroit (July 17 & 18)
c) New York (July 19 to 23)
d) Cleveland (July 24 & 25)
e) Philadelphia (July 26 & 27)
f) Charlottesville (July 28)
g) Houston (July 29 & 30)
h) New Orleans (July 31)

Avijit Ghosh(BMD 74) has offered to host a get-together on 16th July at the University club in downtown Chicago.

The others are still being finalised.

5th Annual Alumni Homecoming (Nov 15-16, 2008) - 1st Invite

Hello Folks!

The 3rd Weekend of November is approaching - and so, time to start planning your trip back to XL for the 5th Annual XLRI Alumni Homecoming

This year we also plan to kick-off the XLRI's Diamond Jubilee Celebrations with the Homecoming

Am pasting the preliminary invite below so that you can start planning your trip for the Nov 15-16, 2008...

.... More details will be forthcoming

3rd Batch of Defence Batch Graduates

From The Telegraph

XLRI director E. Abraham awards a student. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, June 26: The third defence officers’ batch of the executive management programme at XLRI graduated today at a function held on the B-school campus.

XLRI launched the certificate programme in business management for the defence personnel on January 14, 2007, and 59 officers graduated from the present batch.

The programme for defence officers was launched on the request of central ministry of human resource development, which perceived the need for resettlement of officers.

The batch comprises engineers, doctors and air traffic controllers, mountaineers, naval aviators and submariners with experience ranging from five to 30 years of service.

Professor Pranabesh Ray, the course in-charge, said: “The executive management programme has been designed keeping in mind the needs of the business world with the aspirations of the service officers. This programme has been structured to focus on the theoretical formulation and is designed to augment and adapt the officers’ varied experience to disciplines and functional areas relevant to management of business.”

The programme equipped the students with basic skills of all functional areas of management thereby enabling them to find a second career in the corporate world.

Bhushan Raina, the managing director of the Tinplate Company of India Limited, was the chief guest at the graduation ceremony.

Addressing students he said: “From defence officers to management personnel — it’s a huge transition. All the officers are already efficient managers as in their previous career they always had some uncertainty to deal with.”

Based on their academic excellence Captain Kavita M., Colonel Krishna Dev Singh and Captain Esha were awarded the first, second and third ranks, respectively.

New XLRI curriculum on the cards

From The Financial Express

Jamshedpur, Jun 23
XLRI is gearing up to introduce a new curriculum for its two flagship courses from the next academic year (2009).

The B-School faculty has already discussed the new curriculum, which has a more "hands on" element to it than the existing one. Prof Sharad Sarin, professor (marketing area) has been responsible for the changes suggested in the business management (BM) course.

Speaking to FE on Monday, XLRI director Father E Abraham said, "We have a faculty council meeting coming up next month where we may finalise the report."

The committee on curriculum revamping spent several months studying contemporary managerial needs, interacting with several B-Schools, understanding industry needs and has even entertained feedback from several of its alumni in trying to assess the gaps in its present course format.

In the process, while some electives have been updated, some new ones have been added to both the PM&IR and the BM courses.

Citing an example, prof Madhukar Shukla, who teaches OB & strategic management, said while 'personnel management' has been revised, a new elective on 'socio-political change' has been introduced.

XLRI feels understanding the political power shifts and the implications of developments like Companies in the Middle East buying properties in the US will help the students. According to Shukla, "There should be some kind of integration across the board, from concept to practice."

Citing an example again, he said a student will be taking up an elective subject, which integrates other subjects and has to be studied over three terms.

Though XLRI had originally desired to introduce the new curriculum strictly in the academic year beginning 2009, some subjects will be some more time to be introduced.

The B-School had last carried out a major curriculum review exercise in 2002.