2nd Annual Convocation

It was an event that marked the first step for fresh Business Management graduates to step out into the world and stand true to their lessons and learning at IIM Raipur. As the beginning of new phase of their lives 41 students of the Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) were awarded their diplomas at the 2nd Convocation of the Indian Institute of Management on Saturday, March 30, 2013.

Dignitaries lighting the lamp

Decked in their robes, the students of the graduating batch were addressed and motivated by none other than Shri Sam Pitroda, Advisor to the Prime Minister, who was the Chief Guest for the solemn occasion. The students were also encouraged by Shri Hari S Bhartia, Chairman, Board of Governors (BoG) and Prof. B.S.Sahay, Director IIM Raipur. The students felt every bit inspired to take with confidence their initial tread in the corporate world.
The Convocation ceremony began with the traditional lighting of the lamp and rendering of Saraswati Vandana, invoking the Goddess of Learning to bless the ceremony and all participating. Shri Hari S. Bhartia then announced the formal beginning of the Convocation.


In such an austere environment, the Director of IIM Raipur, Prof. B.S.Sahay, released the Director’s report
where he informed the audience of various achievements made by the Institute in the past year.

Director reporting the milestones of IIM Raipur for the year 2012-13

Predominantly he stressed on several new courses being started at IIM Raipur in keeping with its core values of providing world class management education and training, to produce relevant and high quality research and groom future academicians. For instance, he told that IIM Raipur besides its Flagship Post Graduate Program in Management (PGP) programme has also started the Fellow Program in Management (FPM), Executive Fellow Program in Management (EFPM) and Post Graduate Management Program for Working Executives (PGPWE), keeping in mind the needs of the industry here and preparing future ethical leaders who could contribute to the development of local, regional and national economy. He also informed that IIM Raipur had associated with international institutes of repute for encouraging flow and constructive sharing of cross cultural knowledge and sustaining faculty and students exchange and exposure. Some of the institutes with which IIM

Raipur has signed MoU are Grenoble Ecole de Management, France; IESEG School of Management, France; HLL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, Germany; AIT Bangkok, Thailand, ALBA Graduate Business School, Greece and IPADE Business School, Mexico. Prof. B.S.Sahay also reiterated IIM Raipur’s commitment to contribute to the growth and development of the state and asked the students to display professionalism with social and national commitment as well as develop their selves into responsible ideal citizens. He said;
“As you step into the world with innumerable opportunities do remember that there are a set of responsibilities that you carry - a responsibility that ensures the growth of the society and nation, a responsibility that you will ensure the ethical code and emerge as leaders in a world of mercurial values. My dear students, you must dream big, you must think big and must to do big.”

The director also threw light on the placements of the graduating batch illustrating that prominent recruiters made their presence felt in the placement process on the campus. Despite the economic slowdown, a total of 52 companies had shown interest. Offers were made in various functional areas spanning Finance, Operations, Marketing, Sales, General Management and Strategy. These companies were among the market leaders in their segments. Some of the prominent companies which participated in the process were HSBC, Ranbaxy, JSPL, Hero MotoCorp, Maruti Suzuki, Godrej & Boyce, Vedanta, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank, Usha International, HT Media, BPCL, Infosys BPO etc.

Shri Hari S. Bhartia, Chairman, Board of Governors, gave his welcome address. Thanking the Central Government for its continuous support and encouragement, he opined that “at the heart of business lies in the values of honesty, service, respect, integrity and personal accountability”. Furthering this notion was one of the ideals of the Institute which believed in creating ethical leaders who are not only committed to business, commerce and industry but are also socially conscious towards their contribution in nation building and bring in name for the country globally. He firmly said that, “As an Institute IIM Raipur aspires to create leaders who are responsible towards the society and nation.” With this mantra for making it big in the corporate world, he further encouraged the students to understand the graduating ceremony as a new beginning where they will be facing range of possibilities & realities. He also advised them to take an informed choice and always remember that success is measured in terms of 'character' for which they were groomed by IIM Raipur.

Shri Sam Pitroda addressing the students

The chief guest on the occasion was Shri Sam Pitroda, who is an internationally respected development thinker, policy maker, telecom inventor and entrepreneur who has spent over four decades in Information and Communications Technology and related human and national developments initiatives. Credited with having laid the foundation of India´s technology and telecommunications revolution in the 1980s, Mr. Pitroda has been a leading campaigner to help bridge the global digital divide. He is currently Adviser to the Prime Minister of India on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovations and has undertaken the ambitious task of providing a plan for creating digital infrastructure in the country for enhancing governance and improving delivery of public services. He is also the Chairman of the National Innovation Council (NInC), which is working on several initiatives to boost innovation performance in the country. He holds close to 100 worldwide patents and has published and lectured widely in the US, Europe, Latin America and Asia. Delivering the convocation address, he asked the students to dream, to dare and to share their dreams and have faith in them, “The time to take a step forward to do ‘crazy’ stuff is now, because if you don’t do it now, you will not be able to accomplish it ever. Dream and don’t give heed to those who say that you are on a wrong track,…. believe in the might of self and the power of dreams, of a vision which will help you achieve whatever you want to achieve in life.” He also shared with the students the lessons he had learnt in his life, he urged the students to:
 Focus on Job,
 Focus and develop a Disciplined life,
 Cultivate a Positive attitude, remember that “the glass is always half full”
 Understand and follow Corporate Roles and Relationships,
 Be a team player,
 Innovate, develop a multidisciplinary approach and sharp analytical abilities and
 Develop the art of self-review. “Develop a sense of what you are, where have you reached and what you have to do.”
The students indeed were motivated by his words.

Batch 2011-13 taking their pledge

Excitement filled the air as the students were awarded medals and their diplomas with proud parents beaming with joy. Amidst thunderous applause the medals were awarded by Shri Sam Pitroda who stood as an ideal and icon for the young minds. Medals for meritorious performance and all round leadership potential were awarded namely:

 The Board of Governer’s Chairman Gold medal for best academic performance in the graduating class was awarded to Kanika Khandelwal.





 The Director’s Gold Medal for second best academic performance in the graduating class was awarded to Navjeet Siddhu.


 The Post-Graduation Programme Chairman Gold Medal for the third best academic performance in the graduating class was awarded to Mayank Raizada and Amit Singh.




 Best overall performance medal for outstanding all round performance including excellent organizational abilities, leadership qualities, overall conduct, institution building and active participation in extra-curricular activities was awarded to Srinath Vijayan.

                                     

The Convocation came to an end with the national anthem followed by a sumptuous dinner.

Summer Placement Report 2013

Indian Institute of Management Raipur has concluded its summer placements for the 2012-14 batch with a batch size of 111 students. IIM Raipur gathered stupendous support from the industry this season. It established new industry relations and reinforced the existing ones. 

Highlights:

1.      Number of Companies participated in the process – 67

2.      Number of New Recruiters - 44

3.      Major first time recruiters include Britannia, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Ogilvy & Mather

4.     Various niche profiles like Brand Management, Technology Consultant, Wealth Management, Inventory Management Modelling, Supply Chain Modelling were offered to the students.

5.     A private equity firm based out of Mauritius and a venture capital firm based out of Mumbai also participated in the summer internship process for the first time at IIM Raipur.

A gamut of profiles was offered which include Market Research, Rural marketing, Advertising, Brand Management, Brand Solutions, Sales, Business Development, Media marketing, Digital Marketing, Technology Consultant, Risk Management, Equity Research, Treasury Management, Corporate Finance, Wealth Management, Financial Consulting, Commodity Trading, Inventory Management Modelling and Supply Chain Modelling.

Major firms where students would be interning include Renault Nissan, Britannia, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, ICICI Bank, Pepsico, Café Coffee Day, Vedanta, HT Media, Hero Motocorp, Reserve Bank of India, Future Group, Blue Star, KPMG, Jindal Steel and Power Limited, Ogilvy & Mather, Starbucks and L&T Electrical to name a few.

The companies came from over 14 sectors representing a wide variety of opportunities for students to choose from. Students had a diverse mix to choose from which included Apparels & Textiles, Automobiles, BFSI, Consulting, Consumer Durables, Energy and Power, Engineering and Manufacturing, FMCG, IT/ITES, Media and Entertainment, Petroleum, Retail Chains, Advertising and Startups.

Ernst & Young had offered winter internships in government advisory profile for 12 students. Consulting Domain Growth at IIM Raipur was well appreciated by the industry with short term projects from the esteemed firms such as Redseer Consulting, NBC Bearings, JWT, CLSA and Hero Motocorp.

Follow the link below for the detailed Summer Placement Report 2013.

 http://www.iimraipur.ac.in/pdf/IIM%20Raipur%20PGP%202012-14%20Summer%20Placement%20Report.pdf

Consequences of using English as language of education in India

India, which was the richest country on earth and a great country in each term till 17th century, today is in no way comparable to its previous position. Apart from looting trillions of rupees from India, British did destroy our knowledge base and tried to make us forget our great Indian cultural heritage.

Historical Facts:

How the seeds of intellectual slavery were planted in us can be seen by this historical fact:

When British were trying to sustain their rule over India, British parliament sent historian/politician "Lord Macaulay" to figure out how it can be done. He came to India for the analysis and gave the following statement in British parliament in 1835.

“I have traveled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such caliber, that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage, and, therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture,……for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own,……they will lose their self-esteem, their native self-culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation.”

When I see myself & around me, I find that he became successful in his dream of dominating our country. Because our generation’s mentality is "Speaking english is cool. Western culture is better than ours. Whatever is western is better."

English education was imposed on us to attract us towards western culture (so that we forget our culture & consider it inferior and subsequently lose our self-respect), and western products.

How Language affects our development:

Does education in English (foreign language) affect us?

Yes. Language experts say that speaking a foreign language influences how we interpret the world. It attracts you towards that culture and subsequently changes your thought process.

If you do your primary/higher education in foreign language, your knowledge base becomes very weak. If you gain education in your mother tongue your knowledge base becomes very strong (because you are emotionally attached to that knowledge), which is very necessary for fundamental research.

This is the reason that India is far behind in doing inventions/innovations and fetching Nobel prizes. While other smaller countries are way ahead of India, because they get education in their mother tongue.

Many bright students who could to better in research/invention/innovation are denied opportunities of higher education because of lack of knowledge of English (which works against India’s development).

And because of lack of depth in fundamental knowledge of science and technology, India is not able to come up with innovative products. And this is the reason; Indian consumer market is majorly dependent on products of MNCs, which is big loss to our economy because billions of Indian money goes into the country of origin of those MNCs every year.

Comparison with other Countries:

If we judge a country's richness by per capita GDP, you will see all the countries which are richer/more developed than India use their mother tongue as the official language.

Following are a few examples:

Germany, France, Italy, Japan, USA, China, Canada, Russia , Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Taiwan, and Singapore.

There are many other countries who use their mother tongue as their official language and language of education and even then are way ahead of many English speaking countries.

Among top 10 economies of the world (by their nominal GDP) India is the only country which provides higher education in a foreign language (English). And India which uses English as language of education is at 140^th rank in per capita GDP.

What could have been better:

There is a misconception that Indians get jobs because they are educated in English. The fact is that crores of Indians are considered unemployable because of lack of knowledge of English.

Had we used Sanskrit/mother tongue as the language of education since 1947, we not only could have given jobs to all our people but, would have created jobs for whole world as well, because then we would have been leading the world with our knowledge power. We would have been leading in research/inventions/innovations in the same way as we were leading before British invasion.

 

Need of the hour:

Because of poor leadership and lack of visionaries in politics we could not do it in 1947, but it is high time we start educating our children only in our mother tongue/Sanskrit (other countries have already started teaching Sanskrit to children, as it has been found most suitable language for development in all fields) to become the world leader, otherwise India will always remain a follower and will be in intellectual slavery for centuries to come.

Jai Hind.

Contributed By: Rahul Khedkar, PGP2012-14. He can be reached at pgp12033.rahul@iimraipur.ac.in.

Symposium on “Impact of the Budget on Aam Admi and Industries in Chhattisgarh” at IIM Raipur

The PGPWE (Post Graduate Programme in Management for Working Executives) 2012 Batch of IIM Raipur organized a Symposium on “Impact of the Budget on Aam Admi and Industries in Chhattisgarh” on 2^nd March 2013.

The symposium commenced with Prof. B .S Sahay, Director, IIM Raipur emphasizing on the importance of pre-budget and post-budget analysis by the students. According to Prof. Ajit Prasad, Dean, IIM Raipur, “This budget is just a series of numbers and not really a budget per se where major policies are missing. Government still doesn’t have enough tools to combat 2 flaming issues of the country: inflation and unemployment.”

Prof. M. Kannadhasan, Chairman (PGPWE) holds another perspective. According to him the government this year is aiming to bring down fiscal deficit to 4.8% and hence is taking all the necessary steps to bring that change for the coming financial year. He pointed out that the budget addressed the inflation and unemployment issues indirectly.

Dr. Hanumant Yadav, Ex. Member, Chhattisgarh Planning Commission started with the definition of Aam Aadmi as given by R.K Laxman. Aam Aadmi is a person who is just a spectator but has no role in the budget. Dr.Yadav focussed his talk on economic aspects of the budget. He said that the goal of the economy is higher economic growth with inclusive development. He further talked about the upcoming project ‘National Institute of Biotech Stress Management’ in Chhattisgarh.

Ms. Ritu Jain, FCA, Consultant emphasized on the need for greater transparency in the income tax payment process. Foraying into the education sector she talked about strengthening the existing colleges and universities rather than setting up new universities and colleges. She stressed on the need to shift focus to renewable energy instead of importing fuel from outside.

Mr. Rajesh B Doshi, FC (Sr. CA) highlighted that no retrospective amendments have been made in the finance bill which is a positive point. He touched upon the decline in FDI which will lead to decrease in dollar inflow thus increasing import prices. He also emphasized on interest rate disparity of education loan and housing loan. He acted as a moderator of the panel discussion.

Mr. S.K.Goel, Director, Goel Group of Companies presented his views from the industry perspective. He emphasized on the increase in incentives in green energy sector due to the high cost of production. He said that skill development and job training is the need of the hour in Chhattisgarh. He also stated that there is huge scope for IT Industry, Auto industry and Agriculture industry in Chhattisgarh.

PGPWE Students of IIM Raipur

The discussion on the budget considering its effects on the common man brought about different views from the experts which helped the participants to understand various perspectives.