XLRI Alumni: Making News

"A Flawed God" - novel by Arjun Shekhar (90PMIR)

2011-06-03T19:39:00.004+05:30

A Flawed God is Arjun Shekhar's (90PMIR) first book published by Hachette, which presents a compelling point-of-view about corporate ownership through a fast, funny story/ spoof.

Arjun Shekhar is one of the founders of Pravah, a not-for-profit organization that seeks to encourage urban youth to become active citizens. He worked as an HR professional for several years before that, and now runs a consulting firm called Vyaktitva which explores the relationship between an organization and its people. He has used his consulting experiences to write A Flawed God, a novel set in the corporate world.

Vineet Nayar named HCL Tech Vice Chairman

2010-11-11T02:55:00.000+05:30

Vineet Nayar (85BMD) has been appointed as the Vice Chairman of HCL Technologies. He will continue to be the CEO and whole-time Director of the company.

Commenting on his appointment, Shiv Nadar, Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer, HCL Tech said "Vineet’s dedication to the success of HCL Technologies has catapulted the company to a position of unparalleled market and thought leadership today. He has an exceptional vision for the company moving forward and I am confident that in this new additional role he will continue to take the company to new heights.”

Vineet joined HCL in 1985 after graduating from XLRI Jamshedpur. In 1993, he started his own company, Comnet, where he pioneered many innovative management practices like EFCS (Employee First Customer Second) which is now taught as a case study at Harvard Business School.

AXA Group appoints Priya Ranjan as Human Resource Director

2010-11-11T02:28:00.003+05:30

Private sector insurer Bharti Axa's country HR director, Priya Ranjan, has recently been elevated as the Head of their Global Life and Savings Business leading a global force of over one-lakh people based out of Paris.

On the appointment, Glenn Williams, CEO, Bharti AXA Life Insurance said “It is a proud moment for the entire Bharti AXA Life Insurance team in India. The movement is a part of the renewed focus on international mobility for talent by the AXA Group.”

Priya Ranjan has over 15 years of HR experience in diverse fields spanning financial services, information technology and manufacturing. Before joining Bharti AXA Life, Ranjan was with JPMorgan Chase Bank, Singapore as Vice President and Regional HR Manager - Technology & Operations (APAC).

He also has the experience of working with GE Capital as the Vice President and Head - HR for their Credit Card business. He also has an entrepreneurial venture to his credit - for its initiation and scale up of the business.

He holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Personnel Management from XLRI Jamshedpur and is a graduate from St Xaviers, Kolkata.

Fidelity appoints Shriram Ramanathan (2000BMD) as Fixed Income Fund Manager

2009-12-15T19:38:00.002+05:30

Fidelity Mutual Fund today announced that it has appointed Shriram Ramanathan (00BMD, XLRI) as the new fund manager for its fixed income funds.

He will be the fund manager for five fixed income / hybrid funds - Fidelity Cash Fund, Fidelity Ultra Short Term Debt Fund, Fidelity Flexi Bond Fund, Fidelity Flexi Gilt Fund and Fidelity Wealth Builder Fund.

Commenting on the appointment, Andrew Wells, Global chief investment officer (CIO) - fixed income, Fidelity International, said, "I am pleased to welcome Shriram to the India fixed income team. With his decade long experience in fixed income investing locally and domestically, he brings expertise that will strengthen the team as we look to grow our fixed income business in India."

Prior to joining Fidelity, Shriram was senior investment manager - global emerging market debt (Asia) at ING Investment Management Asia Pacific in Hong Kong. He started with ING Investment Management as a fixed income fund manager in India. His earlier assignments were with Zurich Asset Management Company in fixed income research and with the treasury department of ICICI Bank. Shriram started his career with Larsen and Toubro.

He is a chartered financial analyst and holds a post graduate diploma in business management from XLRI Jamshedpur and an engineering degree from the university of Mumbai.

Radhika Sood Nayak (94PMIR) - XLer as a Classical Vocalist

2009-11-24T11:06:00.003+05:30

TimeOut Mumbai: Veteran vocalist Sushila Rani Patel believes Radhika Sood Nayak is the only singer who can carry on her legacy. “She’s hardworking, and picks up difficult things easily,” said the 90-year-old Jaipur-Atrauli gharana exponent about her student. “Recently, I taught her a tarana in raga Sohini that she grasped within no time. She has that inner drive.” Like Patel, 38-year-old Sood Nayak has been blessed with a powerful voice and she’s not afraid to use it. “My teacher insists that the voice should be projected without any inhibition,” said Sood Nayak. At her recital this fortnight, which has been organised by the Bhavan’s Cultural Centre, she will sing khayals in Bageshri and Bhoop and a thumri in Des

Timken appoints Ajay Das (92BMD) as the new India MD

2009-09-23T18:18:00.003+05:30

Bangalore (Financial Express, Sept 23): The Timken Company announced the appointment of Mr. Ajay Das as its new managing director for its business in India, headquartered in Bangalore.

In this new role, Mr. Das will oversee the continued growth of the company’s business in India, including the Timken Engineering Research Institute, the global R&D and engineering facility at Bangalore, operations at Jamshedpur and Chennai, as well as sales, marketing and all supporting functions.

“I am optimistic about returning to India and the significant growth opportunities we have in this region. Timken has created the ‘best in the industry’ engineering, manufacturing, sales and services capabilities to serve a growing customer base in India. We will continue to focus on leveraging those capabilities to improve the performance of our customers’ operations, and to deliver additional value to them,” said Mr. Das.

In 17 years with Timken, Ajay Das has provided leadership across business segments. He was national sales manager of the automotive business in India, and later was the director of manufacturing of the Jamshedpur plant between 2001 and 2005. In 2005, he relocated to Shanghai as director of new business development, and in 2007 he became the general manager of Timken’s wind energy business unit based in Canton, Ohio, United States of America.

Mr. Das received a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur and a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management from XLRI, Jamshedpur.

K Muralidhara (88BMD) joins the Board of Altamount Capital Management

2009-09-13T22:03:00.003+05:30

Mumbai (Sept 12): Altamount Capital Management today announced the joining of Murlalidhara Kadaba on the board of Altamount Capital Management.

Kadaba, has twenty years of corporate experience in senior management positions with organizations such as Reliance Retail Ltd, American Express and Citibank. He will oversee Strategy and Business Development at Altamount Capital Management and will support Altamount's Delhi operations.

Till recent Kadaba served as the President and Chief Executive of the Financial Services vertical at Reliance Retail Ltd. Earlier, he worked for American Express as Country Manager for India and Area Countries, where he launched Amex's consumer banking franchise in India and introduced several successful card products including The Platinum Card. Prior to Amex, he was Vice President and Head of Investment Products at Citibank-India.

Kadaba is an alumnus of XLRI, Jamshedpur and a Graduate in Mechanical Engineering from SJCE, Mysore.

Subex appoints Monisha Tambay (96PMIR) as VP (HR)

2009-08-20T16:53:00.002+05:30

Bangalore, India (Equity Bulls, Aug 19, 2009): Subex Ltd, a leading global provider of Operations and Business Support Systems (OSS/BSS) announced the appointment of Monisha Tambay as Vice President - Human Resources. She will be responsible for the global Human Resource function of the company.

Monisha Tambay brings more than 13 years of Human Resource (HR) experience in consulting and operations. She has previously worked with Arthur Andersen Hewitt Associates, StorageTek and Genpact (erstwhile GE company).

Commenting on Monisha's appointment, Sudeesh Yezhuvath, COO, Subex Ltd said, "We are pleased to have Monisha on board. Her experience will prove valuable as we continue to enhance our human resource function to support business growth."

Monisha holds a post graduate degree in management from XLRI, Jamshedpur, and is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt from the American Society for Quality.

Asitava Sen (93BMD) to Lead Nielson Consulting inIndia

2009-07-28T13:26:00.002+05:30

MRWEB: In Mumbai, Nielsen has launched a specialist Business Consulting Services group, which will combine qualitative consulting with fact-based analytic-driven recommendations. The group will be led by Asitava Sen, who joined Nielsen as Director, Retail Consulting last year.

The new service has been designed to help clients identify and optimize existing and new growth opportunities, and will integrate Nielsen’s current services as well as develop new solutions to address business issues in sales, marketing and innovation.

...Sen, who is now Director, Business Consulting Services, has more than 18 years’ experience in consumer and retail management consulting. He previously led the retail and consumer industry practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers in India, prior to which, he held senior roles at management consultancies Kurt Salmon Associates and AF Ferguson & Co.

Preeti Reddy (82BMD) to head LMRB

2009-07-21T08:25:00.003+05:30

Preeti Reddy (82BMD) will replace Tissa de Alwis at the head of the Kantar-owned Lanka Market Research Bureau (LMRB) at the end of July.

Reddy, a native of Bangalore, worked in India as a VP at management consultants Technopak for the last three years, and prior to this was a Senior Vice President at TNS from April 1995 to April 2005. She holds an MBA from XLRI in Jamshedpur and a BA Honours in Economics from Lady Shri Ram College.

Surojit Shome (86BMD) takes over as MD/CEO of Rabo Finance India

2009-07-02T19:18:00.003+05:30

IndiaPR Wire (July 1, 2009): Effective today, Surojit Shome joins Rabo India Finance Limited, the wholly owned Indian subsidiary of Rabobank International, as Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer.

A seasoned banker, Surojit comes with over two decades of experience in Banking encompassing Corporate Banking, Capital Markets and Investment Banking. Surojit has worked with Citibank, Lehman Brothers and Nomura prior to joining Rabo India.

In his 19 year stint with Citigroup, he held various business management, origination and risk management roles with assignments in India and overseas. Before he moved to Lehman Brothers, in late 2006, he was Managing Director and Head of Corporate Banking for the Indian sub-continent, overseeing corporate and financial institution coverage teams for India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.

In his role as Managing Director & Head of the Investment Banking Division at Lehman Brothers in India, he was responsible for building the investment banking platform for Lehman Brothers with capabilities across capital markets, M&A advisory and private equity origination. Post the acquisition of Lehman Brothers’ Asian & European businesses by Nomura Holdings in October 2008, he spent the last few months helping in the integration of the legacy Lehman Brothers’ Investment Banking business into the existing Nomura India businesses.

Surojit will report to Rob van Zadelhoff, Head of Asia for Rabobank International. “I am very pleased to have Surojit join our team in India. I am confident that he will be successful in building and growing Rabobank’s business in India given his leadership and management skills,” said Rob van Zadelhoff.

Suman Bose (95BMD) appointed MD of Siemens PLM India

2009-07-02T18:41:00.002+05:30

Business Standard (July 2, 2009): Siemens PLM Software, provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) software and services, today said it has appointed Suman Bose as vice-president and managing director for its Indian operations.

As VP and MD, Bose will be responsible for increasing the company's market share and extending its leading position in India's PLM field, a company statement said.

"India is a strategically important market for Siemens PLM Software in terms of our extensive market presence and growth opportunities," Siemens PLM Software Senior Vice-President (Asia Pacific) Hans Kurt Lubberstedt said.

Bose has earlier served as the Country Director (India) at Dassault Systems and has been associated with MatrixOne (acquired by Dassault Systemes in 2006) and HP.

Sutapa Banerjee (89PMIR) to Head Ambit's Wealth Management

2009-06-11T19:53:00.004+05:30

June 11 2009, 14:02:07 IST | TEAM VCC: Financial services firm Ambit Holdings Pvt. Ltd has announced its foray into wealth management business with appointment of Sutapa Banerjee (89PMIR) as the unit head. As Head of the Wealth Management arm at Ambit Capital, Banerjee will be responsible for establishing the business and providing impetus to the private client business. Before this, she was the Head - Private Banking in India for ABN Amro and also lead the consumer banking business in India.

“Apart from her expertise in the private banking business, Sutapa has displayed exceptional leadership skills and managerial capabilities throughout her career. We look forward to her leadership skills and business acumen to drive Ambit’s growth and give a new dimension to our wealth management business,” said Ashok Wadhwa, Group CEO, Ambit.

Banerjee worked at ABN Amro for twelve years, where she played a key role in integrating the new and existing staff of the Consumer Banking division when ABN AMRO acquired Bank of America’s Retail Banking business. After that, Banerjee launched the new Private Banking division of ABN AMRO, whose assets under management has now grown to $1.25 billion.

Before ABN Amro, Banerjee worked with ANZ Grindlays Bank. She holds a post graduate diploma in Management from XLRI, Jamshedpur and is a Gold Medalist in Economics.

Jamshed Daboo (86BMD) to head Tata Capital Ltd's National Sales and Service Organization

2009-06-04T20:16:00.002+05:30

Mumbai (June 4, '09): Tata Capital, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons Limited, today announced the appointment of Jamshed Daboo, as head, national sales and service organisation.

Tata Capital has a unique customer-centric business model with the capability to offer a comprehensive suite of products and services to retail, corporate and institutional customers. As part of its customer-centric strategy, the company aims to establish one of the highest standards of service quality and operational excellence.

Towards this end, it has established a unique sales and service structure called the national sales and service organisation, which Daboo will spearhead.

Daboo is a management graduate from XLRI, Jamshedpur, and holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Walchand College. He started his career with Tata Administrative Service (TAS) in 1986, after which he joined Titan in 1987 as part of the sales and marketing team.

In 1999, he took charge as chief executive officer of Tata Quality Management Services (TQMS), the business excellence initiative for the Tata companies, before moving on to the Taj Group of Hotels in 2000.

Immediately prior to joining Tata Capital, he held the position of the chief operating officer, premium hotels.

Indranil Roy (98PMIR) Joins Korn/Ferry as Managing Director, Asia Pacific of Leadership and Talent Consulting Group

2009-06-04T20:09:00.001+05:30

SINGAPORE, May 29 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Korn/Ferry International, a premier global provider of talent management solutions, recently announced that it has appointed Indranil Roy as Managing Director, Asia Pacific of its Leadership and Talent Consulting (L&TC) group.

Based in Singapore, Mr. Roy is responsible for further driving the growth of the L&TC business throughout the region and building a team of leadership consultants with a diverse range of capabilities. He will also lead Korn/Ferry's efforts in generating a unique platform of thought leadership for Asian talent.

Mr. Roy joins Korn/Ferry from Hewitt Associates, where he was the global head of the Leadership Consulting business. Renowned as an executive coach in the areas of cross-cultural leadership, Mr. Roy brings with him extensive experience in consulting across a wide range of sectors including financial services, IT, government, consumer and healthcare. His work with global clients has focused on leadership alignment and effectiveness, with a specific focus on board effectiveness, top team alignment and senior executive coaching.

Mr. Roy succeeds David Everhart, currently based in Shanghai, who will be returning to the United States to continue working within the practice.

"I am delighted that Indranil has decided to join Korn/Ferry and am convinced that he will be able to develop the L&TC business in Asia Pacific to its full potential," said Charles Tseng, President, Asia Pacific for Korn/Ferry. "Indranil will continue to build on the momentum that David has started in growing the practice in Asia over the last three years from two consultants to a team of 15 strong."

Korn/Ferry Leadership and Talent Consulting helps companies implement their business strategy and achieve high performance by improving the effectiveness of their organizations, executive leadership and talent management programs. Korn/Ferry's solutions are delivered by a global team of consultants, supported by research-based and market-leading intellectual property, methodologies and tools.

"XL Dream Run" (Nov 16, '08) on Youtube

2008-11-15T21:42:00.000+05:30

"XL Dream Run" curtain-raiser is up on Youtube

... thanks to the amazingly creative work by Mayur Bhutani & Varun Gulati (09BMD batch)

XL Dream Run (Nov 16th, 2008)

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=zq1cIKS2poI

Big B, Ajay Devgan & Kajol on Mahesh Mahadevan (XLRI 1976-78)

2008-07-07T12:24:00.004+05:30

This is an excerpt of the "Kaun Banega Crorepati" special episode for Mahesh Memorial Trust on YouTube:

An earlier post on Mahesh: Remembering Mahesh... he still makes a difference!

Dr Pallab Bandyopadhyay (05FPM) appointed Perot Systems' Head (HR, Asia Pacific))

2008-05-24T16:24:00.003+05:30

May 23: Perot Systems Corporation (NYSE: PER), today announced the appointment... Dr. Pallab Bandyopadhyay as Head of Human Resources for the company's Asia Pacific Region.

....Dr. Pallab Bandyopadhyay will be responsible for the group's global talent acquisition, resourcing and retention strategies. As such, he will oversee performance management, rewards & recognition, career planning & development, as well as employee communications & relationship management.

Dr. Bandyopadhyay has over twenty four years of professional experience in the areas of Institution, Organization and Human resources development. Prior to joining Perot Systems, he was heading the global HR function of Cambridge Solutions, a multinational IT and ITES organizations, as its Chief People Officer.

Having earned a doctorate in HRD from XLRI, Jamshedpur, Dr. Bandyopadhyay has undertaken training at various human process and organization development programs at NTL, USA, in addition to adult learning theories at Interactive Consultants, Canada.

Ajay Mallapurkar (02PMIR): The New Consulting Chief of Ma Foi

2008-05-12T19:14:00.001+05:30

Chennai (May 7th, 2008): Ma Foi Management Consultants has named Ajay Mallapurkar as Chief Executive Officer, Ma Foi Consulting Services Ltd. (MCSL). He was the General Manager for the Western operations of Ma Foi Management Consultants.

Alumni Meet @ Hyderabad (May 10th, Taj Krishna)

2008-05-08T13:07:00.000+05:30

Pope appoints Guilherme Vaz (80PMIR) as Member Of Vatican’s Laity Council

2008-05-03T12:21:00.002+05:30

Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Mr. Guilherme Vaz (80PMIR), Director of IL&FS Education and Technology Services Ltd, Mumbai, as member of the Pontifical Council for the Laity.

Previously, Mr Vaz worked for 23 years, in the TATA group, before taking up the present assignment.

Mr Vaz is also a member of the Bombay Archdiocesan Board of Education and an adviser to the Archbishop of Bombay on Educational matters.

Jaspal Bindra (84BMD) in Olympic Torch Relay

2008-04-23T11:37:00.002+05:30

Jaspal Singh Bindra (84BMD, CEO - Asia, Standard Chartered Bank) was one of the torchbearers in the Olympic Torch Run in Delhi on Friday, April 18, '08.

According to Indian Olympic Association, a total of 70 torchbearers, including 47 sportsmen, took part in the Olympic torch relay in New Delhi.

Among the world's top four HR Bloggers

2008-04-21T09:26:00.003+05:30

Gautam Ghosh (99PMIR) who blogs at http://gauteg.blogspot.com/ was featured in the Hindustan Times (April 20, 2008). His blog is amongst the top four HR blogs in the world:

Atisa and Seven Wonders by Anu Kumar (94PMIR)

2008-04-13T17:58:00.009+05:30

After her two earlier fictional works - In Search of Raja and Other Stories, and Letters for Paul, Anu Kumar (94PMIR) has published her third book - This time for children.

Atisa and the Seven Wondersis published by Penguin Books India (Puffin), and is described as a story:

"...full of thrills, chills and spills, Atisa and the Seven Wonders weaves fact and fiction to take you on an action-packed, imaginative and informative exploration of the seven wonders of the ancient world."

XLer as a Social Entrepreneur: Aparna Banerjee

2008-04-11T07:53:00.006+05:30

April 11, 2008 (The Hindu BusinessLine): Big retail chains such as Reliance Fresh, Spencer's Daily and Big Bazaar have competition. Not from a rival business group, but from a Kolkata-based enterprising woman - Aparna Banerjee. An alumni of the prestigious Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI) in Jamshedpur, Bihar, Aparna, 36, retails her goods under the name of Project Sukanya.

Interestingly, the goods are not sold from huge showrooms, but from 54 roadside mobile kiosks, manned by 141 women who work in shifts. Another 3,500 women directly benefit from this project by making products such as handicraft items, edibles like papad , pickles and jams. Packaged spices and ready-to-eat lunches are also sold. And in the next six months 500 more `boucarts' would be deployed across 18 districts, again manned by women.

"When I got the idea of these mobile kiosks, my first step was to finalise the design and patent it under the Intellectual Property Rights Act.," says Aparna. The project was the result of extensive research based on material gathered from 62 villages across India during her studies on Anthropology at Calcutta University.

"I did my MBA in Logistics and Supply Chain Management from XLRI and realised during that time that I wanted to become a social entrepreneur. I then did a course in Anthropology to get a grip on human rights. I realised that women need financial independence to get freedom from restrictions, abuse and social taboos," says Aparna, who struggled to complete her studies under great financial constraints...

... The turnover for the Project, which started rolling in early 2007, has already reached Rs 1.05 crore. The target is to touch Rs 50 crore by 2009. "We market a range of handicrafts and home-made edibles under the brand name Sukanya. The organised sector never bothered to tap the potential of the cottage industry, but we are giving a brand identity to these products," says Sudakshina Sen, 43,Chief Coordinator, Project Sukanya.

Project Sukanya has a 20,000 sq. ft. common facility centre at Topsia. The rural women who supply the products come here with their samples.

The products are graded into three categories. Under A category, the product is immediately bought with a 10 per cent advance. For the B category products, Sukanya gives support for better packaging and then it is bought. Falling under the C category are products that have market saturation. Sukanya trains these women to shift focus to products that would have more market demand.

The edible products are tested and certified by the central government's National Test House. The success of the venture is obvious from the fact that several big retail chains have started making offers to buy out Project Sukanya as well as the patent for the mobile kiosks.

"But I am committed towards my social responsibility. Rather than entrepreneurship, it is the emancipation of women that is my primary concern. My venture helps several needy women take home a well-earned salary," says Aparna....

Full Article at:
Manned by Women, BusinessLine, April 11, 2008

XL Alumni Achievements '07-'08: A Round-Up

2008-03-18T20:31:00.000+05:30

Compiling such a list will always remain an incomplete task...

Nevertheless, here is an indicative list of what XLRI Alumni have been upto during last year:
[Last Year's List is available here]

PL Barua (70PMIR) assumed charge as the Executive Director of the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (Assam Oil Division).

RS Thakur (72BMD) took over as Executive Director of TACO, the Tata auto-component company.

Jagdish Dore (73BMD) was appointed the CEO & Managing Director of Matrix Laboratories Ltd. (of Mylan Group).

Ninad Gupte (75BMD) took over as the Managing Director of Cheminova India, and was elected the Vice Chairman of the industry association, Crop Care Federation of India.

Rattan Bhavinani (75BMD) joined Cisco Globalisation Center East, Bangalore, as Director Head of AsiaPAC Vendor Management Services.

Madhukar Kamath (76BMD) Managing Director & CEO of the Mudra Group, was elected as the President of Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI).

S Nandkumar (76BMD) was elected the President of Institute of Management Consultants of India (Hyderabad chapter)

Bipin Lal (78BMD) was appointed as the Managing Director, Nitrex Chemicals India.

Prakash Puram (78BMD), President & CEO, iXmatch Inc., was appointed to the Advisory Council on Small Business & Labour of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.

N Krishnakumar (81BMD) took over as the CEO & Managing Director of Mindtree Consulting.

Prabhakar Jain (81BMD) joined as the Chairman and Managing Director, Goodyear India Ltd.

Aneeta Madhok (81PMIR) joined as the Dean, Center for Human Resources (Dubai & Singapore), SP Jain Center of Management.

Deodutta Kurane (81PMIR) joined as the President (HR) of Yes Bank.

Kamlajeet Bhullar (81PMIR) took over as the Group Head (HR) of Anand Automotive Systems.

NS Rajan (83BMD), Partner (Human Capital), Ernst & Young, was chosen as Global Leader-HR Advisory of Ernst & Young. He was also elected the President (Northern Region), National HRD Network.

Jaspal Bindra (84BMD) took over as the Head-Asia Region, Standard Chartered Bank.

K Pandiarajan (84PMIR), Founder-CEO of MaFoi Consulting, was inducted into the Board of Madras Stock Exchange Limited as one of its Directors.

K Shankar (84PMIR) joined Airtel as the Director (HR).

Radha Krishnan Nair (84PMIR) joined as the Chief HR Officer of Tata Steel. He was also inducted into the Board of Governors of XLRI.

Sankaran Raghunathan (84PMIR) was elected as the President of IT SME Association, which represents 3,200 companies with exports of $10bn.

Vineet Nayar (85BMD) took over as the CEO, HCL Technologies Ltd from its founder, Shiv Nadar.

Mahesh Nair (86BMD) published his book of photographs Let There Be Light: Exploring Nature Through Light (Roli Books).

Ramesh Gudalur (86BMD) joined Mphasis is President – BPO, and Member of the Executive Leadership Team.

Sandra (Sequeira) Mahadwar (86PMIR), Sr Director (HR) with KLA-Tencor Corp., was selected to receive the 2008 YWCA’s Silicon Valley Tribute to Women Award, for Executive Leadership.

Arjun Trivedi (87BMD) was appointed the Head of Nokia Siemens Network, Indonesia.

Srinivas Duvvari (87BM-Eve) took over as the Managing Director of Rolls-Royce India Ltd.

Ernst Louise (87PMIR) was appointed as the Global Head (HR) for Essel Propack Ltd.

Ronald Mark D’Souza (87PMIR) took over as the Vice President (HR), Alcatel-Lucent (India).

Anurag Prashar (88BMD) took over as the Chief Officer, Customer Management Systems and Shared Infrastructure for all telecom businesses of Bharti Airtel Ltd.

M Shankar Prasad (88BMD) joined Tata Communications Ltd (formerly VSNL) as President, Broadband.

Amar Babu (89BMD) was appointed as the Managing Director of Lenova India.

Amitabh Jaipuria (89BMD) joined as the Managing Director of Monsanto India Ltd.

KR Ravi (89BMD) published his 2nd book Ten Minutes to Creativity (St Paul’s Publications).

Satish Nambisan (89PMIR) published his book The Global Brain: Your Roadmap for Innovating Faster & Smarter in a Networked World (Wharton School Publishing).

Sutapa Banerjee (89PMIR), Head of Private Banking at ABN Amro Bank, was nominated among 20 most successful, rising wealth managers in the world by leading international business magazine, The Institutional Investor.

Ajay Bagga (90BMD), CEO of Lotus India Asset Management Co Pvt. Ltd., was elected the Vice Chairman of Financial Planning Standards Board of India.

Ashish Khera (90BMD) took over as the CFO of Microsoft India

VS Sridhar (90BMD) was appointed the Chief Operating Officer of the VSNL Global Services.

R Chandrasekar (90PMIR) took over as the Group Head (HR) of the Noor Islamic Bank (Dubai Investment Group), Dubai.

Sudip Mall (91BMD) joined as Country Manager (Philippines), Kraft Asia.

Suprio Guha Thakurta (91BMD) joined The Economist as its Associate Publisher in India.

V Chandramouli (91BMD) was appointed as the Director (HR) of Cadbury India

Jayaram Philkana (91PMIR) took over as the Director (HR) of Cargill Inc.’s Health & Nutrition business at MN, USA.

NT Arunkumar (91PMIR) took over as CEO of Dun & Bradstreet.

Ramesh Soundarajan (91PMIR) joined as the Vice President (HR) of Trianz India.

Ravi Parmeshwar (91PMIR) joined Cargill India as their Director (HR).

Anurag Behar (92BMD) was selected to the World Economic Forum’s list of Young Global Leaders 2008.

Lokesh Jindal (92BMD) returned from USA to take over as Sr Vice President & General Manager of Computer Associate’s India Technology Center.

Leena Nair (92PMIR) took over as the Executive Director (HR) of Hindustan Unilever Ltd., thus becoming the youngest and the first woman director in HUL’s Board. She was also featured in the Business Today’s “25 Most Powerful Women in Indian Business List”.

Sabyasachi Nag (92PMIR) published his first book of poems Bloodlines with Writers' Workshop.

Salil Raghavan (92PMIR) took over as the Head (HR) of Great Eastern Shipping.

Ratnesh Mittal (93BMD) branched out to start his own firm, Market Entry Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

Sadashiv Nayak (93BDM) joined the Pantaloon Retail India Ltd, as the CEO, Food Bazaar.

Sharat Dhall (93BMD) was appointed as the Managing Director (India) of the travel portal Expedia.com.

NV Krishna (93BMD) joined EXL Holding Inc. (NY, USA), as the Vice President and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer

Amitabh Hajela (93PMIR) joined as the Vice President and Global Head of Human Resources of the ExlService Holdings, Inc, USA.

Uday Shankar Sinha (94BMD) took over as Executive Director of PepsiCo India.

Biplob Banerjee (94PMIR) joined Nokia Siemens Networks as Director (HR – Global Services, India).

Raj Ambekar (94PMIR) moved to the shipping & logistics company, Maersk, as the Head (HR) for South Asia.

Naveen Kumar (94PMIR) took over as the Vice President (HR) of Lehman Brothers, India.

V Satish (94PMIR) took over as Sr Vice President (Global HR & Recruiting) at AztecSoft.

Ramki Sundaram (95BMD) was appointed the CEO of Air Deccan.

Suman Bose (95BMD) joined Dassault Systemes (part of French Dassault Group) as the Country Head – India.

Brajesh Bajpai (96BMD) moved into an enlarged role as the Head of Middle East and North Africa Region of Marico’s International Business.

Zohmingliana Hualngo (96PMIR) joined as the Head (HR) of Airbus Engineering India.

Ketan Awalegaonkar (98BMD) joined McKinsey & Co. as Associate Principle & Leader for North American Operations Practice, USA.

Indraneel Roy (98PMIR) took over as the Global Head of Hewitt Leadership Consulting.

Gaurav Lahiri (00PMIR) was elected as the Partner, Hay Group. He also co-authored the book The Indian CEO: Portrait of Excellence (Sage Books).

Kulshaan Singh (01PMIR) took over as the Country Manager (Singapore), Hewitt Associates.

Tanmay Prusty (06BMD), Sales Manager with ITC, won the south zone BusinessToday ACUMEN 2007, and was the runner-up in the national finals.

Jishnu Dasgupta (06BMD), Sales Manager with ITC, and joined as bass guitarist and backing vocals with the Hindi Band “Swarathma”, which won the Best Band prize in All India City Radio Finals.

Amitabh Hajela (93PMIR) is EXL's new Global Head HR

2008-01-09T10:03:00.000+05:30

NEW YORK, Jan. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ExlService Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: EXLS), a recognized business solutions provider, today announced Amitabh Hajela has joined EXL as Vice President and Global Head of Human Resources.

Amitabh joins EXL from Celanese Corporation, a Dallas-based Fortune 300 Chemical company, where he served as the Director for Global Talent Acquisition and Leadership Development. Amitabh also led the talent acquisition and review process for Celanese in the U.S., Europe and China.

Before Celanese, Amitabh Hajela was based at American Express, New Delhi as the Vice President and Business Leader for Strategic Initiatives and Projects. He was responsible for providing leadership to the strategic development and implementation of operating strategies for the American Express controllership function in India.

Earlier, Amitabh served in several significant capacities with General Electric both in the U.S. and India. From 2001 to 2005, Amitabh managed GE's effort to establish organizational capability to support global sourcing from the U.S. which included outsourcing work to India. Amitabh is an alumnus of XLRI with a specialization in personnel management and industrial relations.

Commenting on Amitabh's hiring, Rohit Kapoor, President and Chief Operating Officer of EXL stated: "We are delighted to have someone with Amitabh's background join EXL at this stage in our growth and evolution. Amitabh's focus will be helping to ensure that we meet the future challenges of talent management and a higher level of employee engagement as EXL experiences rapid growth and the further globalization of our organizational footprint."

Vikram Talwar, CEO and Vice-Chairman of EXL, stated: "With his international exposure and his rich experience in talent acquisition, leadership development and organization restructuring, Amitabh is a valuable acquisition as EXL focuses on acquiring and retaining the best global talent within our organization. We are excited to have Amitabh join the senior leadership team of EXL..."

Amar Babu (89BMD), the new Managing Director of Lenova India

2007-11-30T09:10:00.000+05:30

Nov 27th: Lenovo today announced the appointment of R K Amar Babu as Managing Director, Lenovo India. Amar will be responsible for the overall business and growth for Lenovo in India.

Amar Babu has more than 17 years of multi-functional experience of which over 10 years have been in leadership roles. He was most recently the Chief Service Delivery Officer of Idea Cellular Ltd., and a member of Idea Cellular’s Executive Committee.

Prior to this, Amar served as Managing Director (South Asia), Sales & Marketing Group, Intel Technology (I) Pvt. Ltd., and was in charge of Intel’s business in South Asia (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh), as well as all sales and marketing operations. As an integral part of the regional management team, Amar’s mandate included driving business growth and strengthening Intel’s brand and presence.

Before that, Amar was Vice President (Operations) for HCL Information Systems, where he was involved in all key strategic decisions and responsible for consumer, channel and retail business. Amar’s achievements at HCL include leading the marketing and operations resulting in significant business growth, and re-establishing HCL’s Toshiba business...

...Amar has also worked at Citibank NA and HCL Hewlett Packard Ltd. Amar is a Management Post Graduate from XLRI, Jamshedpur and has an Engineering degree in Electrical & Electronics from PSG Tech, Coimbatore.

XLRI Homecoming 07: The Idli Boy Steals the Show

2007-11-19T10:04:00.000+05:30

Jamshedpur Nov 18th (The Telegraph): A packed Tata auditorium listened with rapt attention to Sarathababu Elumalai, who was here to share his rags-to-riches story during the XLRI annual Homecoming ceremony.

The other speakers on the topic "Entrepreneurs - Carpetbaggers or Nation-Builders" included, Mr S Sivakumar (Chief Executive, ITC Agri-Business), Mr Manish Sabharwal (CEO-Founder, Teamlease), Mr Gautam Mallick (CEO-Founder, LSI Financial Services).

The youth from Chennai, an IIM graduate who refused a brilliant job to start a catering service, said: “I was born in a family of five children in Chennai and my mother worked with the government’s mid-day meal schemes. The money was not sufficient to sustain the large family, so she set up a small idli shop near our home in one of the slum areas of Chennai.”

The founder of FoodKing Catering Services, which today serves home-made hygienic food to offices in Ahmedabad and Goa, recalled how in Class IX his teachers had to persuade him hard not to quit studies.

From selling idlis on the pavements of Chennai to binding books for students, Elumalai had done it all till he reached BITS, Pilani. “I had never heard of the institution as we never got such an exposure. Someone told me that if I study there I will get a job,” he said.

After the engineering degree and a three years’ stint in the corporate world, Elumalai moved to IIM (A).

“The kind of salary and position an IIM graduate is offered is very difficult to turn down. But if I had not taken such a decision, I would have never been able to start my business,” he said.

The business, which started with a mere Rs 5,000 and a small kiosk at Ahmedabad, has today spread to over six branches employing over 175 people whose only job is to supply nutritious home-made food to corporates.

“It was an idea that I chanced upon during my internship at Pilani when I learnt that 30 per cent of the country’s population go to bed without food,” he said.

“More than working for somebody I wanted to give jobs to people like me, who did not have other means of livelihood.”

Soon his company would venture into other cities and provide employment to at least 15,000 people.

And while Sarathababu surprised everybody with his stories, XLRI today too put its first step in the same direction. After almost three years of negotiations, the much talked about Social Entrepreneurship Trust (SET) was formed today.

Aimed at funding and supporting innovative social entrepreneurship ideas, the trust which is the first of its kind would also work for different tribal upliftment projects in Jharkhand and would provide scholarships to tribal youths for further studies....

XLRI alumni set for homecoming with ethical recharge

2007-11-15T12:04:00.000+05:30

Jamshedpur, Nov 14 (Financial Express): In a world where alomost everyone wants to earn more profit by any means, the alumni of XLRI, spread all over the country and abroad, are set to gather here for the fourth 'homecoming' this Saturday. Amid fun and nostalgia, they will recharge themselves with ethics, values and care for the society at large--things they learned here during their student days.

"It's a homecoming where they touch trees and visit fond places of their student days…" said Bushen Raina, president of the National Alumni Association of XLRI.

Like the previous three occasions, this year too around 250 former students representing six decades of the B-School will be here. They will also be representing various famous groups and companies spread across the world.

"Focus on ethics, values and the society at large that the institute inculcated in us are very important tenets to become successful as managers," said Raina, himself an XLRI student of the 1973 batch.

During the first 'homecoming' in 2004, a debate on 'Ethics in business is an oxymoron!' was organised. Wipro CEO Azim Premji and ex-CEO of Indal/Haldia Petrochemicals Tapan Mitra were among the panelists. This year, the debate will be on 'Entrepreneurs: Carpetbaggers or Nation-Builders', and the four-member panel will include E Sarathbabu (founder of Food King Catering Services Pvt Ltd), Manish Sabharwal (founder & CEO of TeamLease Services), S Sivakumar (chief executive, ITC agribusiness/e-choupal) and Anjan Dutt (a social and cultural entrepreneur-cum-director/producer). Business World deputy editor Rajeev Dubey will act as the moderator.

According to Prof Madhukar Shukla, OB & strategic management teacher at the B-School, even today every batch is sent to interiors of Jharkhand/Orissa for a month to gather experience on rural economy and to help people residing there. These trips are arranged in association with NGOs.

An XLRI team had recently designed a model course for computer-illiterate young people of Jamshedpur to give them an idea of how to operate a computer.

"Priests used to play a major role in our education here by way of setting examples by offering their services to society," recalled Radhakrishnan Nair (a 1984 batch student), chief human resource officer of Tata Steel.

The National Alumni Association and its Jamshedpur Chapter have set up the XLRI Social Entrepreneurship Trust, a registered one, enabling the alumni to contribute for good causes.

The association is set to institute the Distinguished Alumni Award from next year, criterion for which will be laid down and announced during the November 17-18 meet.

4th XL Alumni Homecoming Invitation

2007-10-01T17:22:00.000+05:30

XLRI Across Ages... Documentary

2007-09-26T23:44:00.000+05:30

To all XL Alumni:

Invitation from K Pandiarajan (84BMD)

2007-09-25T14:21:00.000+05:30

The following is the invitation from K Pandiarajan (84BMD),

...the Founder MD of Ma Foi Management Consulting, Director of Madras Stock Exchange, recepient of Eisenhower Fellowship for Leadership...

...among his many other achievements....

-------------------------------

Dear XLers

I have pleasure in enclosing a cordial invitation to attend the first Anniversary of our Ma Foi Foundation (MFF) in Chennai on the 26th Sept 2007.

We presently have adopted 1130 poor children from the Sivakasi and Chennai areas from 46 schools – they get scholarship, mentorship and career education from 5th standard to college completion ( Rs 1200 pa upto 10th std, Rs 1500 pa during higher secondary and Rs 5000 pa during college). All our Corporate Social Responsibility efforts have been integrated under MFF since last Sept.

We run a School for the underprivileged in Chennai with about 650 children.

We have taken micro-finance to about 8000 women through Self-Help Group and fostered about 450 tiny enterprises.

We also run a network of about 172 NGO’s under the CIOSA (Confederation of Indian Organisations for Service and Advocacy) banner.

We have also recognized 10 Young Achievers (unmined gems) every year during this function.

You can get more details about this in http://www.themafoifoundation.org/

The function will start at 6.30 pm and will see a creative expression by some of our Disha Scholars, recognition of achievements, performance by young artists led by Abhaswaram Ramji/Venky (Venky Monkey fame) and networking. I look forward to your support and wishes,

Regards,

Pondy
K Pandiarajan (84BMD)

Leena (Menon) Nair 92PMIR: among "25 Most Powerful Women in Indian Business"

2007-09-24T16:19:00.000+05:30

HR High Priestess
FMCG giant Hindustan Unilever's first, and youngest, woman Executive Director is an HR ace.

Leena Nair
37/ Executive Director (HR), Hindustan Unilever
Education: BE Electronics and MBA from XLRI
Work Experience: 15 years
Career High: First woman ED at HUL
Hobbies: Bollywood movies, reading, outdoor sports and travelling
Success Mantra: Look for a win-win in every situation

It's a hat trick, in some sense. Leena Nair isn't just the first woman to make it to Hindustan Unilever's Management Committee (mc), but also the youngest Executive Director (ED) and that too one in charge of not a profit centre, but human resources. As the HR boss, Nair heads a team of 250 people who look into the well-being of about 15,000 employees across 70 different locations in the country, including 45 factories and four regional offices.

The 37-year-old Nair joined Hindustan Lever (as it was known until recently) straight out of XLRI, Jamshedpur, 15 years ago, and has risen quickly through the ranks. From being a factory personnel manager to management development planning manager to hr manager for the detergents business, Nair has been there, done that....

Jaspal Bindra (84BMD) as New StanChart Asia Head

2007-09-07T16:15:00.000+05:30

Press Release (Sept 7, 2007): Standard Chartered Bank is pleased to announce today that Jaspal Bindra, currently Regional Chief Executive Officer for South and South East Asia, will take responsibility for growth and governance across the Asia region, excluding South Korea. He will oversee several of Standard Chartered’s key markets like China, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, among others.

Mr. Bindra succeeds former Group Executive Director Kai Nargolwala’s governance role who has resigned to pursue other career interests.

Mr. Bindra was in August appointed Director of Standard Chartered Bank, the main operating subsidiary of the Group, and is a key member of Standard Chartered Group’s senior management team. He is on the Boards of Standard Chartered Bank (Thai) PCL, Prime Financial Holdings Limited, Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Berhad and SCOPE International (M) Sdn Bhd. He is the Chairman of Standard Chartered Nepal Limited, Standard Chartered Bank (Mauritius) Limited and Scope International Private Limited, India.

.....Jaspal joined Standard Chartered Bank in 1998 as Chief Executive India and successfully led the acquisition of ANZ Grindlays. Prior to his current role Jaspal was Global Head of Client Relationships, Wholesale Banking where he was responsible for all client relationships and commercial banking products across all the 56 countries that the Bank operates in.

An Interview with Percy Siganporia (74BMD), MD Tata Tea

2007-09-05T16:53:00.000+05:30

Signalling its intent to evolve as a complete ‘beverage solutions company’, the once conservative Tata Tea has been in the news lately for a couple of big-ticket acquisitions and aggressive business moves.

....In the domestic branded tea business, Tata Tea overtook market leader Hindustan Unilever in volumes for the first time in several years.

Read this exclusive interview with Percy Siganporia (74BMD), Tata Tea’s MD about how the company has changed its DNA to adopt a challenger mindset for growth.

Click to Read

Sutapa Banerjee (89 PMIR) - a First for India Inc.

2007-09-02T08:35:00.000+05:30

Economic Times (Sept 2): In a first for India Inc., Abn Amro Bank’s Sutapa Banerjee (89PMIR) has been nominated among 20 most successful, rising wealth managers in the world by leading international business magazine, The Institutional Investor. For Banerjee, who heads the private banking department in Abn Amro Bank, the feat is even more noteworthy as there are only two nominations from Asia.

Banerjee.... will fly to New York on September 10 to take part in the award ceremony....

Banerjee, who has experience of 18 years in the banking business, also holds to her distinction setting up consumer banking division for ABN Amro in India from scratch in 1996. Prior to joining ABN Amro, she was working with ANZ Grindlays Bank plc for seven years from 1989 to 1996.

NV Krishna (93BMD) as VP & Chief Sales & Mktg Officer of EXL Holdings Inc.

2007-08-19T00:42:00.000+05:30

Exl Service Holdings, Inc. has recruited Krishna Nacha (NV Krishna, 93BMD) as Vice President and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer effective 30 August 2007. Based out of EXL's New York office, Krishna will report to Vikram Talwar, vice chairman and CEO....

Prior to joining EXL, Krishna was working with iGate Global Solutions since 2004 and was a member of the executive leadership team. Prior to that, Krishna worked with Infosys for 4+ years in roles including group sales manager - insurance and healthcare and head, sales for Canada.

Rohit Kapoor, president and chief operating officer, ExlService, said, "Krishna will be a key asset for EXL as we execute on our strategic vision of becoming a trusted partner for our clients in transforming and outsourcing business processes. We are impressed with Krishna's strategic and systematic approach to client engagement and business development."

Sharat Dhall (93BMD) joins Expedia as India Head

2007-08-15T22:03:00.000+05:30

Sharath Dhall (93BMD) has been appointed online travel portal Expedia.com as its head of India operations.

...Prior to joining Times Internet Ltd (TIL) as its Director (e-Commerce) about a year-and-a-half ago, Dhall was working for HLL (now, HUL) as business head of its rural venture, Project Shakti. He has 14 years of experience and has also worked with Asian Paints.

Expedia created buzz in October 2006 when it said it was looking for a person to head its imminent operations in India. The company now has an office in Gurgaon, but has not announced any other plans. Expedia offers the ‘Expedia Best Price Guarantee’ which guarantees customers the best rates for all types of travel -- it offers vacation packages, flights, hotels, car rentals, cruises and in-destination activities. Since Expedia is very strong globally on hotel bookings, the company is expected to follow the same route when it officially launches in India.

Madhukar Kamath (76BMD) is AAAI President

2007-08-15T21:57:00.000+05:30

The Hindu (July 31): Mr Madhukar Kamath (76BMD), Managing Director & CEO of the Mudra Group, has been unanimously elected as the new President of Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) for the year 2007-2008.

The AAAI is the apex body of advertising agencies in the country and comprises 84 members who account for approximately 80 per cent of all the advertising business in the country.

Commenting on his appointment as the President of AAAI, Mr Kamath said, “The Indian advertising industry is undergoing tremendous change. I believe marketing communications play a valuable role in the economy. The task at hand is to improve the image of the industry and to promote the interests of the advertising agencies so that they continue to make an essential and ever-increasing contribution to the nation.”

XLer as a Poet

2007-05-05T09:19:00.000+05:30

Sabyasachi Nag (92PMIR) published his first book of poems early this year with Writers' Workshop.

Sabyasachi Nag, Bloodlines, A Writer’s Workshop Redbird Book, ISBN 81-8157-571-7 hardback (100 Rupees), 50 pages, 2006, Available from Lake Gardens Press, 162/92 Lake Gardens, Kolkata 700 045, India.

The review reads:

Calcutta, India-born Sabyasachi Nag, now a resident of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, represents one of the new, refreshing voices writing poetry today. A poet sensitive to what is happening in the world around him, Sachi Nag writes vividly and strongly on themes that draw from his Indian background, on nature topics, and on current events. His writing is never dull but is full of fresh surprises that reward the reader.

The poet is unflinching in tackling difficult and brutal topics....
Read on...

PL Barua (70PMIR) the New IOC (Assam Oil Div) Chief

2007-05-05T09:14:00.000+05:30

DIBRUGARH, April 30 – PL Barua today assumed charge as the executive director of the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (Assam Oil Division), which has its divisional headquarters at Digboi. Prior to taking over as executive director of Assam Oil Division, Barua was executive director (Human Resources) at Refineries Headquarters of Indian Oil Corporation Limited for the last one year. Earlier, he was on deputation from IOC to head the human resource function of Numaligarh Refinery Ltd as advisor (HR) from 1999 to 2006, where he established the organisational set-up of the newly formed company NRL and implemented many innovative HR policies and practices.

An alumnus of GUwahati’s Don Bosco High School and Shillong’s St. Edmund's College, Barua completed his post-graduation in Industrial Relations and Personnel Management from XLRI of Jamshedpur. He joined the erstwhile Assam Oil Company Limited as assistant labour welfare officer in August 1970....

Leena Nair (92PMIR) to head HR at Hind Lever

2007-03-12T08:34:00.000+05:30

MUMBAI (Economic Times, March 5, 2007):
Leena Nair, general manager – HR (HPC, foods and leadership supply), Hindustan Unilever (HUL), has been promoted as vice-president, HR.

Ms Nair will be the first woman manager in HUL’s history to rise to vice-president level. Ms Nair has been with HUL ever since she joined the company as a management trainee from XLRI Jamshedpur in 1992.

Expressing delight over her appointment, Ms Nair said, “I feel excited about such a great opportunity. HR is an important function in HUL, and we have been thought leaders in the industry in terms of policies and planning to attract the best talent. I hope to take this forward and continue the good work.”

XL Alumni Achievement '06-'07: A Round-Up

2007-02-23T21:02:00.000+05:30

Here is a compilation of the achievements by XL alumni during last one year (06-07).

Though the list is neither complete nor comprehensive, at least it is indicative of the diverse fields in which XLRI Alumni have been achieving excellence:

Aquil Busrai (72PMIR), Executive Director (HR), IBM India, was conferred the Life-Time Achievement Award for his work in the field of HR by the National HRD Network.

Sujit Baksi (72PMIR) took over as the President, Tech Mahindra.

Vikram Rao (75BMD), head of ABG’s Garment Business, joined the Board of Aditya Birla Group.

Prof Gerald Tellis (BMD 1977), the Director of the Center for Global Innovation, Neely Chair of American Enterprise and Professor of Marketing at the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California (LA), was awarded 2006 Mahajan Award for Lifetime Contributions to Marketing Strategy Research by 2006 American Marketing Association Educators' conference in Chicago.

Harsh Kumar (78BMD) was appointed the Managing Director of Mahindra Intertade.

Prakash Puram (78BMD), CEO, ixMatch, was inducted as a Member into US President’s Export Council (PEC), making him the first India-born MBA to take up an advisory role to the White House

Bijou Kurian (81BMD) joined Reliance Retail Venture’ Lifestyle Business as the CEO.

R Ramakrishnan (82BMD), President and COO of Bajaj Electricals was invited to address the 1000+ gathering of professionals at the Campus Symposium of Iselorn, Germany. The other speakers included Bill Clinton, Lord Chris Patton (frm Governer of Hong Kong), the German Finance Minister, and CEOs of Credit Suisse, Audi, Mushreq Bank, etc.

George Zacharias (82BMD) was appointed the Managing Director, Yahoo! India.

Suri Venkat (83PMIR) took over as the Chief Operating Officer of Sify.

Vinod Sawhney (83BMD) was appointed as the CEO of Bharti Retail (P) Ltd.

Rajan Krishnan (85BMD) took over as the Business Head of the Principal Mutual Fund, the Asset Management Group of PNB.

Vineet Nayar (85BMD), President, HCL Techologies Ltd., was featured in the Fortune magazine for creating, as the title of the article says, “The Most Modern Management – in India”.

Surajit Shome (86BMD) was appointed the Managing Director and Head of Investment Banking of Lehman Brothers India.

Gargi Banerji (86PMIR), Founder of Pragya, was given Sadguru Gnanananda National Award (2007) for her work on environmental conservation. She was felicitated by the Governer of Tamil Nadu, Mr Surjit Singh Barnala.

Vijay Nair (87PMIR) published his second book, and first novel, “Master of Life Skills”. The book was launched by Harper Collins India, and received very favourable reviews.

Vikas Gupta (88BMD) joined the Anand Bazar Patrika Ltd as the President, BusinessWorld magazine, and the Chief Marketing Officer.

Milind Chalisgaonkar (89BMD) took over as the CEO of the Bharti AXA General Insurance India.

Ashish Rajpal (92BMD), the co-founder & Managing Director of iDiscoveri, was featured among the “50 Leaders shaping the Indian Education in India” in Education World.

Rajiv Kaul (92BMD), the former Managing Director of Microsoft India, joined as Partner, Actis in London.

Anu Kumar (94PMIR), with Economic and Political Weekly, published her 2nd book “Letters for Paul” (Mapin Books). The book was released by Shyam Benegal at Crossword, Mumbai.

Mohit Nayyar (95PMIR), Director – HR, P&G India was awarded the “Young Achiever” award by the National HRD Network.

Brajesh Bajpai (96BMD) moved from Pepsi to take over as theCountry Manager, Marico - Egypt.

Dinu Poonacha (96BMD) was appointed the President – Corporate Stategy and Planning for the Rs. 2,300cr Yash Birla Group.

Anuradha Vijayakrishnan (98BMD), with Citibank, was selected by the renowned literary agent, David Godwin for her forthcoming novel, making her the 60th such author worldwide, and the 6th Indian (including Arundhati Roy).

S Ministhy (98PMIR), an IAS officer and rank-holder of her batch, published her first book of short stories “Unequal Equations.”

Ajay MK (99PMIR), Head - HR, Colgate Palmolive (Malaysia & Singapore), and the G-Sec of the batch, published his first book of short stories: “Drizzle of Yesteryears & Other Stories” (Frog Books, India).

Nandita de Cunha (01BMD), a consultant with KPMG, published her first book, “The Magic of Maya” (Rupa Publications). The book was released by Anil Dharkar at Crossword bookstore, Mumbai.

Kumar Anand (05BMD) and Lara Lobo (06PMIR), both in Standard Chartered Bank (India), won the Microsoft Corporate Challenge 2006 – an event involving cross country running & cycling, rowing, puzzle cracking, deciphering, map navigation, stock market simulation, etc, - and competing against 35 participating corporates included the likes of Barclays Bank, ICICI Securities, ICICI Bank, J P Morgan Stanley and a host of others like Unilever, Infosys and our formidable Indian Navy.

... the list, as mentioned ealier, is incomplete....

Lehman Brothers appoints Surojit Shome (86BMD) as New MD

2007-01-30T13:09:00.000+05:30

Lehman Brothers, the global investment bank, today announced the appointment of Surojit Shome (86BMD) as managing director and head of Investment Banking, India, based in Mumbai.

Mr. Shome brings to the Firm a depth of experience in the Indian market covering the corporate banking, capital markets and investment banking product range. He is responsible for building the Firm’s investment banking franchise in that market and reports to Kunho Cho, head of Investment Banking, Asia Pacific, at Lehman Brothers, and Tarun Jotwani, chairman and chief executive officer, India, at Lehman Brothers.

Mr. Shome joins Lehman Brothers from Citigroup, where he was most recently a managing director and head of Corporate Banking for the Indian sub-continent overseeing corporate and financial institutions coverage teams for India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. He has a bachelors degree in Economics & Statistics from Presidency College, Kolkata and a postgraduate degree in business management from XLRI, Jamshedpur.

A Breed Apart - A Story of 2 XLers

2006-12-26T13:02:00.000+05:30

Why Some Execs Are A Breed Apart
Kunal Guha
(Economic Times, Tuesday, December 26, 2006)

When one starts off in the corporate world, they’re well aware of the ‘why’ and so the ‘how to’ follows. But after a couple of years, and hours of labour many lose sight of the ’why’. It all seems pointless and does not commiserate to the effort exerted. Even at this point, most people choose to sit back and suffer, while satiating themselves with the minor perks that their corporate life offers.

They lament, grieve and hypothesise about the sorry state of the world. But it is only a select few who take up a cause that infuses a new dimension of meaning to their lives. They do this knowing that their endeavours might not always bear fruit. But when you find a cause which could light up your soul and fill you with a feeling of vitality every single day- it goes beyond all rewards. We profile two such brilliant personas who have dedicated their lives for a greater cause- to serve humanity and fulfil themselves in the process.

The wind beneath her wings

After passing out of XLRI in 1988, Gargi Banerji did what most would do: she chased corporate success at Tata Consultancy Services. A couple of years down, she went on to do something which could again be safely called as a logical next step by moving out on her own and setting up a consulting firm- Prometheus with another XL-er and TCS colleague Sunil Pillai. Life was routine up until her participation in a path-changing expedition that took her across the length of the Indian Himalayas in 1990.

Having spent her childhood in the Himalayas, the call of the Himalayas had always been there, and this adventure ride catalyzed her to undertake work to address the growing degradation of the region in a more active manner. She began by trying to draw the attention of several NGO’s towards this neglected land.

But since most did not venture into the remote villages and high altitude areas, she decided to take things on her own hands and co-founded Pragya with Pillai in 1995, and has since then dedicated her career to addressing the issues of the Indian Himalayas and improving the lives of its indigenous communities. Pragya has been very successful in developing innovative solutions to problems such as depletion of medicinal plants, reducing water resources, lack of livelihood options. A recent Pragya initiative is addressing the problem of electricity in high altitude villages.

Banerji explains, “Normally, electricity is generated at a central point and then distributed. But many of the remote Himalayan villages can’t be reached this manner, and even those that are electrified, suffer power breakdowns lasting even upto 2-3 months. We have developed a mode of decentralised energy generation using renewable sources for local usage and have installed a solar wind hybrid system- a windmill and a series of solar panels – to light up a remote village at an altitude of 14000 feet. Being a modular system, it can help in electrification of all remote, unserviced villages.”

Why are you doing this?

One of the basic reasons one works is to impact the world with one’s work. In the corporate environment, you can at the most impact a few thousand people in the particular organisation and among its customer base. But in working for a social cause, you are able to impact an entire community and that is what has kept us enthused.

What have you gained?

There is tremendous learning and opportunity to be creative in this kind of work. In the corporate sector, the context is structured and solutions are standardised. But generating electricity for remote Himalayan villages is a wide canvas with not a line - a delight for one’s creative self! Besides, the satisfaction of bringing electricity to a farmer’s hut or for that matter, introducing a new cash crop to an entire valley, has to be felt, to be understood.

Teaching values to Generation Y

Ashraf Patel, another XLite from the batch of 1990, has a similar story. She was working with Escorts Finance, when the 1993 Mumbai riots took place. She was deeply affected by the state of affairs post-riots. Patel explains, “After the 1993 Bombay riots, I was disturbed by the polarisation of society which was affecting us very deeply. Communalism was moving to violence based on hatred that we had for each other and I just wanted to do something about it. So, it all started of with a desire to make people question violence and the repercussions of it and see the connection between self and society.”

Patel quit her job to launch Pravah, a New Delhi-based organisation that facilitates high school and college students to confront conditioned values and stereotypes, expands their awareness of social issues and gives them the leadership skills needed to tackle pressing social problems.

Why are doing this?

We are doing this because we have a vision of a society that we want to live in and the kind of society we live in today needs serious changes. Everyone has a role to play in it being a part of the larger community. If everybody says that someone else will do it then it will never be done. Non-violence, social justice and equity of opportunity are three values that I would want my society to imbibe. I have also been inspired by my volunteering days in school and college where I was actively concerned about social issues.

What have you gained?

There is a lot of learning about social issues and you are able to make an impact. What counts for us most is ,when for instance, young people take up a campaign as a result of our exchange with them. The idea is to create a sense of purpose and direction and a sense of community, and belonging to the larger world. Your message to management grads:

While you are studying management, you should keep your minds and eyes open and be aware of social issues around you. Securing a job should not be the only objective, we should all engage in social action. For me the solution would be that everyone, in which ever field they would be in, should be involved in social issues.

Harsh Kumar (78BMD): MD of Mahindra Intertrade

2006-12-21T07:15:00.000+05:30

Mahindra Intertade, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Mahindra Group, announced the appointment of Mr. Harsh Kumar as Managing Director. He had joined as Joint MD last year...

Mr. Harsh Kumar has had a distinguished career of over 25 years in various functions spanning manufacturing, marketing and strategic / project planning in reputed organisations. He has an excellent academic record with a B.Tech (Mechanical) degree from I.I.T. Delhi and a PGDBM (Marketing / Finance) from XLRI, Jamshedpur.

He started his career with The Indian Tube Co. Ltd. as a Management Trainee and moved on to Tata Steel where he was involved in diverse functions such as Marketing, Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management. Prior to joining Mahindra Intertrade, he was the Executive Vice President, Tata Metaliks Ltd., responsible for Marketing & Sales, Exports, Business Development and Mergers & Acquisitions

XLer's Launch of "Maya of Magic"

2006-11-30T19:39:00.000+05:30

Crossword Bookstores

invites all for the launch and reading of

“The Magic of Maya”
by

Nandita da Cunha (BMD'01, XLRI)

Anil Dharker will launch the book, followed by a dramatic presentation of excerpts by Raell Padamsee's ACE Productions

Date: Friday, 8th December 2006
Time: 7.00 pm
Venue:
Crossword Kemps Corner
09/11, Mohammedbhai Mansion, NS Patkar Marg
Below Kemps Corner Flyover
Kemps Corner, Mumbai - 400026

RSVP
Ms Bakhtawar Bamboat – 23842001 / 9820776765

R Ramakrishnan (82BMD), Exec President & COO, Bajaj Electricals in Germany

2006-11-26T19:05:00.000+05:30

R. Ramakrishnan (82BMD), Executive President and COO, Bajaj Electricals was invited to speak at The Campus Symposium at Iserlorn, Germany on September 28 & 29, 2006 to a group of over 1000 German business leaders and Professionals.

Ramakrishnan spoke on "Tomorrow's India - Opportunities and Challenges". Other speakers included Mr Bill Clinton, Lord Chris Patten of Oxford (Former Governor General of Hongkong) , General James L Jones of NATO, Mr Rudi Weyler of Audi, Mr Abdul Aziz Al-Ghurair of Mashreq Bank, Mr M. Rudiger , CEO of Credit Suisse , Mr R. Groger , CEO of O2 and the German Finance minister amongst others.

Dinu Poonacha (96BMD) appointed Yash Birla Group's Group Prez

2006-10-01T12:39:00.000+05:30

Mumbai, Sep 25: The Rs 2,300-crore Yash Birla Group has announced the appointment of Dinu Poonacha as its President-Corporate Strategy and Planning.

Poonacha will be instrumental in helping develop business and operational strategies for each company and the group as a whole and going forward, "he will play a key role in the group's aggressive path toward growth in existing and new areas of business", a press release issued here today stated.

Poonacha has over 10 years' of experience in the area of strategy consulting and corporate strategy in India and the Middle-East with leading firms including McKinsey & Co, Kaiser Associates, Tata Strategic Management Group and the Government of Dubai.

He has worked on strategy for a wide range of sectors including chemicals, energy, economic zones, government, agri-business, media, textiles, pharmacy, real estate and materials.

Yash Birla, Chairman of the group, said: "We are very pleased to have Mr Poonacha on board. Our group will benefit immensely with his vast experience and his appointment will definitely help us build a stronger organisation." On accepting his new responsibility, Poonacha said: "I would like to thank the group for this opportunity to shape the growth and development of the group as well as the individual companies. I will leverage my extensive strategy experience in this challenging and a highly-entrepreneurial role."

Winners of Microsoft Corporate Challenge 2006

2006-09-27T14:19:00.000+05:30

Kumar Anand (BMD-05) and Lara Lobo (PMIR-06), were part of the Standard Chartered Bank (India) Team that won the Microsoft Corporate Challenge 2006.

The event involved them going in Kerela countryside with cross country running & cycling, rowing, puzzle cracking, deciphering, map navigation, stock market simulation, etc, and even required making a boat out of bamboo sticks/tubes and row across a lake as well as the Kerala backwaters. The 35 participating corporates included the likes of Barclays Bank, ICICI Securities, ICICI Bank, J P Morgan Stanley and a host of others like Unilever, Infosys and our formidable Indian Navy.

For more on this exciting event check up Business Today (Issue: 8 Oct, 2006)
or
catch up the event telecast on NDTV Profit on 26th, 27th, 28th & 29th of September from 6:00pm to 6:30pm.

Annual XL Alumni Homecoming '06 - 2nd invite

2006-09-12T22:45:00.000+05:30

George Zacharias (82BMD) - Video Interview

2006-09-11T11:09:00.000+05:30

George Zacharias (82BMD) is the Managing Director of Yahoo! India

Annual XL Alumni Homecoming '06

2006-07-26T17:50:00.000+05:30

XLers!

In case the mail has not reached you

Block your date!.. and plan your travel!

The 3rd Annual XL Alumni Homecoming
is scheduled on
November 18-19, 2006
@ XLRI Jamshedpur

To know what to expect, please visit the photoblog of Homecoming '05 at:

http://xlhomecoming05.blogspot.com/

....and watch this space for updates

Piyush Mehta (90PMIR) on MBAs

2006-07-11T14:35:00.000+05:30

Business Standard (July 11, 2006) carries an article on MBAs & the Art of Job-Hopping by Piyush Mehta (90PMIR), Sr Vice President, Genpact.

"A B-school label certainly increases your marketability, so the temptation to switch jobs frequently for a better designation, a more prominent brand-name or a larger pay-cheque is high.... But it's not a good idea from the point of view of professional growth... to develop as a well-rounded professional, it is important to prove yourself over a period of time within a company.

...Another aspect that you can't really learn at B-school is the need to develop a positive disposition. This may sound simplistic and idealistic, but the importance of a constructive outlook cannot be over-emphasised. It is easy these days to find people with drive, passion and ambition... But the tendency to be easily dissatisfied and cynical is also high."

Read the full article at:
MBAs and the Urge to Job Hop

Intel's India chief moves to US...

2006-07-04T16:24:00.000+05:30

Amar Babu (89BMD) is moving to Santa Clara...

Business Today (July 16, 2006) reports:

"Amar Babu, Intel India's managing director for sales and marketing, must have mixed feelings about his relocation to the US. He must surely be happy that he is exchanging country-specific responsibilities for a larger corporate role at Santa Clara, but at the same time sad that he will miss all the action back home. In the seven years that Babu, 40, has been with Intel India, the local marketing business has grown from a four-city set up to an estimated Rs 2,733 crore in annual revenues for 2004-05 (Intel doesn't disclose figures)... His India lessons may just come handy in the US.

Reshaping the India Education

2006-06-26T13:42:00.000+05:30

The June issue of Education World features Ashish Rajpal (92BMD) among the "50 Leaders Reshaping the India Education"

[Ashish Rajpal, top row, between Narayana Murthy and Arjun Singh

Ashish is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of iDiscoveri India Pvt Ltd.

Titan's Bijou Kurien (81BM) joins Reliance's Retail Venture

2006-06-25T12:53:00.000+05:30

Bijou Kurien <81BMD), chief operating officer (COO) of Titan Industries, quit the company to join Reliance's retail venture.

A long-timer at Titan, Kurien will be heading the lifestyle division of the retail venture. He joined the list of high-profile CEOs in the country from different sectors who have already been roped in by Reliance for its mega-entry into the retail sector later this year.

Rajan Krishnan (85BM) to head Principal Mutual Fund

2006-06-25T08:57:00.000+05:30

Slightly dated news:
Rajan Krishnan (85BMD) took over as the new Business Head of Principal Mutual Fund, the Asset Management group of PNB, in May 2006

Rajan used to be the Vice-President, Sales & Marketing at Principal PNB Asset Management Company Pvt. He started his career in the mutual fund with Kothari Pioneer, the first private sector mutual fund in the country. After spending about five years in Kothari Pioneer, he moved to take on Sales & Maketing responsibility at Zurich India Mutual Fund. He has been with Principal Mutual Fund since June of 2003. Prior to joining the mutual funds industry, Mr. Krishnan garnered rich and solid experience in the field of advertising and market research and has worked with renowned names from the industry, like, Lintas, Ogilvy & Mather and Bozell.

Shebu Raphael (92PMIR) as Global HR Chief of Marlabs

2006-06-25T08:49:00.000+05:30

BANGALORE (CIOL, June 21): Marlabs India, wholly owned subsidiary of Marlabs Inc. today announced Shebu Raphael as its worldwide head of human capital.

In his new role Raphael is responsible for HR services to the projects and professional services in India, the US besides other markets where Marlabs operates in.

Earlier Raphael was the director - HR services, North America for Birlasoft

Vikram Rao (75BM) Joins AV Birla Board

2006-06-25T08:41:00.000+05:30

According to Times of India (June 20, 2006) Vikram Rao (75BM) has joined the boad of the AV Birla group.He was the Head of Garment Business of the group.

The news item reads:
"He was roped in from Arvind Mills as group executive president of the fabric business. He was instrumental in the Birla's acquisition of Madura Garments.

Over the years, he played a significant role in consolidating and growing the garments business, product development and forging partnerships with retail chains across the country. Under the new dispensation, he also has additional responsibility of Jay Shree Textiles and Vikram Woolens."

Vikas Gupta (88BMD) joins ABP

2006-05-05T10:26:00.000+05:30

Vikas Gupta (88BMD), Marketing Head, Coca Cola India has put in his papers at the flavored water giant. Gupta is scheduled to join the Anandabazar Patrika (ABP) Ltd as President, Businessworld magazine and Chief Marketing Officer of the group. He will continue to be based in Delhi.

...He has been with the cola major for over 10 years, including a five-year stint at Coke headquarters in Atlanta. Before joining Coca Cola India in 1994, he worked with Brooke Bond and P&G India. Gupta is an alumnus of XLRI (Jamshedpur) with specialisation in marketing & finance. Gupta has also worked with Brooke Bond and P&G India in their marketing departments prior to the 1994 era.

Conquering Antarctica.. Ashish Asthana (92BMD)

2006-03-04T16:38:00.000+05:30

Seniority Counts!! ;0)

Just around the time when the current batch of students are planning for flag-off for a trip to Mt Everest Base Camp this month, one of their super-super-super... seniors is on his way to Antarctica

Ashish Asthana (92BMD) is part of the expedition 2041.com/ to Antarctica (Feb 26 - March 10)...
You can listen to his Audio Dispatch (click here)

and read his musings:

"I believe it is a combination of my passion for this expedition and my deep rooted belief in the power of the individual which won me my place on this trip. I passionately believe that individuals are capable, alone and collectively, of making a difference -- as exemplified by what one of my country's most revered leaders, Mahatma Gandhi, a single man in a loincloth, accomplished. I come from a country (India) and practice a religion (Hindusim) which believes that each man has a destiny and a path to follow. It has always been one of my dreams to, during my lifetime, set foot on all seven of the world's continents, and touching Antarctica always seemed like it would be the most challenging. This expedition is dear to my heart because I have a keen sense of the environment and come from a background where respect for nature and recycling is a way of life. What Robert Swan is doing is legendary and to be able to participate in his efforts is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me. I hope to return from this trip with an enhanced sensitivity to how lucky we are to be in a position where we can make a difference. I look forward to convert that realization into reality by doing what I can to make the world a better place to live in, for ourselves and the generations which follow. For, we do not inherit our planet from forefathers but borrow it from our children and theirs and theirs..."

George Zacharias (82BMD) Logs into Yahoo! India

2006-01-22T09:51:00.001+05:30

Global internet company Yahoo Inc has appointed George Zacharias as managing director of Yahoo India, with effect from January 30, 2006.

George Zacharias (82BMD)

He would be based in Bangalore and work with the head of Yahoo's global software development center Venkat Panchapakesan to draw on those resources and build a stronger India-focused product organisation, it added.

Zacharias moves to Yahoo! from Sify, where he was President and Chief Operating Officer since 2000. Prior to joining Sify, Zacharias had spent 16 years in a variety of sales, marketing and export assignments at Madura Coats in Bangalore. In 1997, he was appointed President of Madura Garments, a leading garment/retail company in India, then a division of Madura Coats. As President of Madura Garments, Zacharias was responsible for $23 million in business, which he grew to $55 million in annual revenues in two and a half years. Zacharias graduated from Nagpur University with a degree in Chemical Engineering in 1980 and from XLRI, Jamshedpur with a PGDBM in 1982.

Zubin Mody (93 PMIR): The New Head (HR) of IndusInd Bank

2006-01-06T20:18:00.000+05:30

IndusInd Bank appoints Zubin Mody Senior VP-HR
[Hindu BusinessLine, January 5th, 2006]

MUMBAI: IndusInd Bank announced the appointment of Mr Zubin Mody as its Senior Vice President, Human Resources.

Mr Mody will be responsible for the entire HR function of the Bank, IndusInd said in a release here. Mr Mody was earlier with ICICI Lombard as Head HR and had also worked for FMCG brands such as Marico Industries and Heinz India. - PTI

GG Gets Special Best Blog Award

2005-12-24T18:14:00.000+05:30

Here is a news about Gautam Ghosh (99PMIR) - or rather, about GG's Blog - from the Recruiting.com site:

Everyone knows by now that two weeks ago, Jay-Dee made a tragic mistake and accidentally left Gautam Ghosh, the Indian HR Thought Leader, off of the voting list for the Best HR Blog of 2005.

I didn't say anything at the time. Jason apologized and Gautam graciously accepted. And I thought that was that.

But then I started thinking. (It happens once in a while). I thought that the optics on this thing weren't very good. Someone might think that we'd cut Gauty deliberately because he lives in India and it would cost us lots of money to fly him to Las Vegas if he won. I went to Jay-Dee.

"Jay-Dee, we've got to do something. Everyone is going to think we cut Gautum because he lives in India."

"Gautum lives in India? I thought he worked in a casino."

"No. He lives in Bangalore. Listen, we've got to do something. Give him a special prize."

"Okay, give him a hundred Starbucks."

"There's no Starbucks in India!"

"Really!!! Okay, listen, Ileane Frank just donated an iPod Shuffle to the prizes. There's only one. Let's give it to him."

"Yeah! Great! What's an iPod Shuffle?"

"I don't know."

"And, what should we give it to him for? What award?"

"Just make one up."

The problem was solved. Then I realized something. The Las Vegas prize is awarded by a jury. Not popular vote. So, no one would have thought that we screwed Gautam anyway.

But we're all happy he's getting a special prize all the same. And not a consolation prize. Because he's a winner even without an award and doesn't need to be consoled.

Mind you, now I've got other worries. Will an iPod work in India? And does he have the bandwidth to download songs? Ugh! That's enough thinking already. Please, brain, leave me alone!

But, friends, before I go, I'm proud to announce that the Recruitosphere's award for HR Thought Leader of the Eastern Hemisphere for 2005 goes to .......drums...... The Indian HR thought leader himself, Gautam by Ghosh.

Gautam, Gautam, he's our man.
So say the boys from Canuckistan.

Alumni HomeComing 2005: Registration Form

2005-10-23T15:02:00.000+05:30

Homecoming 2005
November 19-20 (Sat-Sun) @ XLRI

...plan to return to/revisit the roots: have a trip down the memory lane, network with those who passed through the same portals across batches, interact with the current batch and faculty (and the old stalwarts in the mess, hostel and staff;0), discuss and participate in what XL and alumni need from - and can do for - each other, etc.... and of course, touch base with the alma mater (remember Bodhi Tree? Dadu's? Evening Dosawala? Enright Hall?;0)

Download the Registration Form
(or mail me for the form - your early registration will help us plan better)

Sneak Preview:
19th Nov:
We plan to start by 9:30 after registration (so do plan, to reach here by 18th evening). There are number of things we have planned, e.g.:

- take you down the memory lane, re-introduce you to XL now (and that more it changes, the more it remains the same;),

- discuss what XL and its alumni can do for each other, and can work together on. Also share the vision of XLRI (we started this exercise last year, and are in the process of implementing it)

- a huge lunch, hosted by Director, XLRI, with the whole community (students, faculty, staff, XL board of governers) in the hostel lawns

- an interaction with the current batches on "What it Means to be an XLer"

- Like last year, in the evening, we have a Big Event planned - a panel/debate - in Tata Audi. This year's theme:

"India Inc. has failed Mera Bharat"
- and this, naturally, followed by Cocktails and Dinner

20th Nov:
Well, you have a choice. You can decided to:
- join the Golf
- play cricket with the students, staff, faculty
- go on a trip to Dimna
- or visit old haunts like Frank's
... plan your own agenda with friends and batchmates. Basically, the idea is to have fun.... and all arrangements will be made.

"Officially" we will close with lunch at Beldih Club, hosted by Mr Bushen Raina, President, Alumni Association (BME 73, and MD Tata Tinplate)
[... this is because, some may like to catch the evening train back to Kolkata to take morning flights.]

But "Unofficially", we don't close :0)... hope that many of you will stay back and overnight (I mean so much to catch up - batchmates, Frank's, evening Dosawala, Basanto...

Remembering Mahesh... He still makes a difference!

2005-09-18T23:40:00.000+05:30

This week's Star TV episode of Kaun Banega Karorepati (KBC) featured the Bollywood star-couple Kajol and Ajay Devgan, and was dedicated to Cancer Rose day. The money they win was to go to Mahesh Memorial Trust

And they won... Rs 1 crore!!!

Yes, this was a tribute to Mahesh Mahadevan (78BMD), who could play his guitar (and "raghupati raghav raja ram") holding it above his head, who ventured into composing music from a corporate career - and won the National Award for his first film "Nammavar"... And though he is no more with us - his motto remained "Live - Beyond Cancer"...

...And he lives - and still makes a difference in the lives of people.

Before his death, in his will, Mahesh ("Dracula Mahesh" he used to call himself, while living on blood transfusions) formed the Trust, which will aid and support institutions involved in the treatment of cancer and create public awareness about the disease.

The list of trustees reads like the city's "who's who" directory and includes Kamal Hassan, Mani Ratnam and former cricketer K. Srikkanth.

The obituary on the site of Mahesh Memorial Trust reads:

Mahesh Mahadevan, the respected composer and music director, passed away in the early hours of October 29, 2002. He was 47 years old and had been battling cancer for 13 years. In these 13 years of affliction he had brought to his life and the life of those around him a joy that epitomizes the trust’s motto "LIVE – beyond cancer".

Mahesh was a very versatile and talented person. He handled his business and creative interests with dexterity. An MBA from XLRI, Jamshedpur, he was a Director of Finance and Administration at Real Image Media Technologies. Prior to this, he worked in various capacities as a Corporate Manager in companies including Chennai based India Pistons Ltd..

Mahesh had developed a childhood passion based on prodigious talent for music. Over the last decade, Mahesh has composed more than 250 popular advertising jingles including the extremely popular Regaul Blue jingle. He has also directed the music for six very successful multi-language motion pictures. His first feature film, Nammavar, won him the national award for the best music.

Nammavar (Tamil) - 1994
Kuruthi Punal (Tamil) - 1995
Preeminchu Kundaam Raa (Telugu) - 1997
Pelladi Choopistha (Telugu) - 1998
Padutha Theeyaga (Telugu) - 1998
Alavanthan (Tamil) [background score] - 2001
Moonnilonnu (Malayalam)
Vaanam Vasapadum (Tamil) [ongoing project]

Untitled film by Janaki Vishwanathan (Tamil) [ongoing project]

Over the last ten years, Mahesh was actively involved in cancer counselling and in motivating other cancer patients to approach treatment with a positive attitude. His work in this area has been of immense help to patients.

It is coincidental (or perhaps not so, really, given the common DNA of XL) that the last page of Abhijit Bhaduri's (84PMIR) book Mediocre But Arrogant ends with this letter from Fr Hathaway (or Fr Hathi... No prizes for guessing the person;0):

"...No, you were not here to understand the Corporate Sector or the intricate theories of management. You came here to understand yourself and your strengths. To believe how easy it is to make a difference. That is the purpose of higher education.... There are no limits to which we can grow as human beings. Every morning we get up and make a choice about how much we will do to make a difference... Too many people give up the opportunity because they do not believe they can make a difference. I do hope this education has given you the belief within.... Never underestimate your ability to make a difference"

Mahesh intuitively understood this wisdom.... And continues to make a difference!

XLRI Regional Alumni Meet @ Kolkata September 10th

2005-09-13T21:37:00.000+05:30

A Touch of Class

It took three months of meticulous planning, numerous meetings, unearthing and contacting alumni from across the decades... and, in the process, a core team of XL alumni (see the team in action at the end of this page) formed and came together at Kolkata.

XLRI Regional Alumni Meet, held at Nalbon, Kolkata on September 10th '05, was a different event than what many had experienced previously...

what with Fr McGrath, Fr Abraham, Fr Casimir Raj, and Bushen Raina joining in..

well... if you want to know more...

just go to
http://xlalumnimeetkolkata.blogspot.com/

All India Release of Mediocre-But-Arrogant

2005-08-09T12:12:00.000+05:30

A novel about love and life in "Management Institute of Jamshedpur" by Abhijit Bhaduri (84PMIR)

Abhijit is traveling through India for the launch:
Schedule is as follows:

Mumbai
9th Aug 2005 at 5:30pm (by Shyam Benegal)
Oxford Bookstore
Apeejay House,
Dinshaw Vacha Marg,
Churchgate,
Mumbai.

Delhi
11th August at 6.30pm (by Gurucharan Das)
India International Center
40, Max Muller Road
New Delhi - 110003.

Bangalore
(1) 13 August at 1:00pm (by Dr Prakash Apte, Director, IIM/B)
Apeejay Oxford Bookstores Pvt Ltd
Leela Galleria, The Leela Palace
Shop # B4 - B8
# 23 Airport Road, Bangalore 560008

(2) 13th August at 7:30pm (exclusively for XLers + spouses)
Karnataka Golf Association
Airport Road
Bangalore

Hyderabad
14th August at 1:30pm (exclusively for XLers + spouses)
Country Club
Hyderabad

The Novel was earlier released at:

Kolkata
3rd August 2005 at 6:30pm (by Russy Mody)
at Oxford Bookstore
17, Park Street, Kolkata 700 016, India.
read coverage:
The Telegraph (August 4th, 2005)
Indian Express (August 4th, 2005)

Jamshedpur
4th August at XLRI (1:00 pm) (by Bushen Raina)
Read Coverage:
The Telegraph (August 5th, 2005)

Making Learning Fun...

2005-08-02T07:38:00.000+05:30

Deccan Herald carried this story today under the column "Pioneers"

A high profile job fetching an obscene salary could not confine him to the corporate circle; when he decided to quit his corporate job years ago and took an entirely different path. A graduate from XLRI, Tarun Chandna wanted to give tomorrow a different perspective so he chose to be known as “a social entrepreneur” instead of an entrepreneur.

Tarun Chandna (92PMIR)

Tarun is one of the pioneers in the field of ‘adventure education’ and one of the co-founders of iDiscoveri. He has also worked with programmes like Pacific Crest Outward Bound School, California and Singapore.

iDiscoveri is a learning, teaching and research organisation that works at making learning more experimental, meaningful, understanding and interesting. The organisation works in coordination with schools by guiding their teaching and overall techniques, to impart lessons in children more conveniently and interestingly. “We believe that children can realize their true potential by getting in touch with nature. We guide them instead of imposing lessons on them,” says Tarun.

His passion for adventure, strong belief in outdoor education and learning by hands on experiences drove him to start small projects that could help children learn immensely while having fun. “They grasped their lessons faster because they learnt them through experiences and could understand them well,” mentions Tarun.

....At present, iDiscoveri has three sub-branches. Besides this, it also conducts workshops on positive parenting and maintaining relationships. iDiscoveri also helps people make a school and training its faculty from scratch. By now, three such schools including two Heritage schools in Delhi have asked him to join them.

Note: The article fails to mention the other co-founders of iDiscoveri - so I must mention them: Gaurav Sakhlani (92PMIR), Ronny Gulati (92BMD), Ashish Rajpal (92BMD) and Lokesh Jindal (92BMD).

XL Celeb Watch

2005-06-19T11:30:00.000+05:30

Ramchandra Rao (80PMIR) has joined the Hinduja group as Senior Vice President (HR). He was earlier the Vice President (HR), Wockhardt

Shantonu Aditya (84BMD) is joining Sahara One as its CEO. Shantonu was earlier the President, Alliance One (a JV between Discovery and SET) and the Head of Distribution of Sony Entertainment Television, India.

Gautam Sen (84BMD) will be the Editor of Top Gear, an auto magazine from the BBC stable, which is being launched in india by the Times of India group. Gautam ws earlier the Editor of Delhi-based "Auto Motor & Sport".

Dr Om Sitoula (84BMD) was decorated with Mahendra Vidya Bhusan Class 1 by His Majesty King Gyanendra of Nepal. Mahendra Vidya Bhusan Class 1 is the highest medal of Nepal for academic achievement

Abhijit Bhaduri's (84PMIR) forthcoming novel Mediocre But Arrogant ("a story of love and life in the fictitious Management Institute of Jamshedpur (MIJ)") was featured in the article "A Novel Pastime" in Business World (June 13th)

Ajay Bagga (90BMD) who was CEO, Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund has taken over as the new CEO of Sabre Capital. Sabre India is an AMC, promoted jointly by Sabre Capital (of former Stanchart CEO, Rana Talwar) and Tamasek Holdings.

Shantonu Aditya to join Sahara One as CEO

2005-06-11T15:39:00.000+05:30

MUMBAI (June 10, 2005): SET Discovery president Shantonu Aditya has quit and is joining Sahara One as Chief Executive Officer. His responsiblity will extend to all Sahara's media and entertainment businesses (excluding news).

Shantonu Aditya (84BMD)

Aditya is likely to join Sahara One in the first week of July, a source said. SET India and Percept officials were not available for comment.

Sahara's media and entertainment businesses operate under Sahara One. Last year, Sahara entered into a joint venture management company with Percept. Aditya will replace Peter Isaac who was heading this company.

Sahara has ambitious movie plans with 40 projects on the floor. Aditya will drive this as well as the domestic and international distribution of movies. Sahara is also planning launch of a movie channel later this year.

...Aditya joined SET India in 2001 to lead Sony's distribution business. He went on to head the distribution joint venture company between SET India and Discovery Communications India set up in 2002.

SET Discovery expanded its bouquet and currently distributes not only the Sony and Discovery group of channels but also MTV, Nick, Animax, Ten Sports, Sab TV, NDTV 24x7, NDTV India and NDTV Profit.

A management graduate from XLRI Jamshedpur, Aditya had worked with UB group ( McDowell &Co ) in sales and marketing in Delhi and luggage major Blow Plast in various capacities.

Schedule of Alumni Meets (May 27-29, 2005)

2005-05-26T19:59:00.000+05:30

The following is the schedule of the Alumni Meets this coming week-end. Most meets will start around 7:00pm.

If you are an XLRI alumnus, please confirm your participation (with/without spouse/family) with the contacts. Please also check the cover charges from them:

New Delhi (May 27th), Friday
India Habitat Centre
Contacts:
Mohit Raina - mohitspace [at] yahoo.co.in (9810943279)
Rajiv Chandran - rajiv.chandran [at] gmail.com (9334624641)
Nikhil Moorthy - nikhilm.06 [at] astra.xlri.ac.in

Bangalore (May 28th), Saturday
Royal Orchid Park Plaza
Contacts:
Desmond Nikhil D'Souza - desmondnikhil [at] yahoo.com (9880544623)
Dhananjay Misra - dhananjaym.06 [at] astra.xlri.ac.in

Kolkata (May 28th), Saturday
The Park, Park Street
Contacts:
Sujot Malhotra - sujotmalhotra [at] yahoo.com (09331213222)
Sivaram Yadavalli - yds_ram [at] rediffmail.com (9830846570)

Mumbai (May 28th), Saturday
The Hyatt Regency, Andheri East
Contacts:
Abhishek Tripathi - tripsabhishek [at] yahoo.co.in (9892123970)
Nitya Wakhlu - nitya_wakhlu [at] yahoo.co.uk

Hyderabad (May 29th), Sunday
The Taj Banjara
Contacts:
Ankush Kedia - ankush_kedia [at] yahoo.com (9848738202)
Piyush Sarode - piyushs.06 [at] astra.xlri.ac.in (9848467574)

From MD (India) to Head (Asia-Pacific)

2005-05-14T16:15:00.000+05:30

CVL Srinivas, who is the managing director of Maxus India, will now also look after the agency's operations across the Asia-Pacific.

CVL Srinivas (93BMD - Maxi Secy, too!!)

Speaking to agencyfaqs! from Bangkok, where he is at the moment on a trip, Srinivas delineates his role. “My responsibilities would entail building the Maxus brand across the region. I will be working with the heads of the agency at various offices in APAC to further this objective.”

With blue chip clients such as Titan, Britannia, Hero Honda, Hutch, Walt Disney, Pidilite, Tata Motors (Maxus handles the SUV business) etc on its rolls, Maxus is a strong entity in India.

...“There are markets, however, where operations are not as large as in India, and I would concentrate my attention in these areas. Overall, growing the business in the region through new and existing clients is part of my responsibility,” says Srinivas, who will be based in India.

A mechanical engineer from BITS, Pilani with a management degree from XLRI, Srinivas took charge of Maxus India early 2004 after Bashab Sarkar, the erstwhile head of the agency, put in his papers the year before.

Prior to heading Maxus, Srinivas was the COO, north & south at Madison Media – an agency he joined in mid-1998.

He was part of the start-up team that set up Fulcrum in 1995, and spent a year before that at Lowe (then Lintas) working largely on brand Brooke Bond.

Alumni-in-Making: "Cerebrating" the Success

2005-05-06T15:37:00.000+05:30

Well... these are not alumni - at least not so far. So one can say that this posting is about "alumni-in-making":0).

The news came this morning through a mail from National University of Singapore:

Sivaram Vadavalli & Rakesh Vyas

Amit Chitnis & Subramanian Raman
The Team that made it to the Finals
"It gives us immense pleasure to inform that a team from XLRI School of Management has made it to the Grand Finals of Cerebration: The Global Business Challenge organized by the National University of Singapore Business School.

Facing tough competition, starting with 323 team registrations, to 115 teams in Round One and 20 teams in Round Two, this team came out winning and has made it to the top 8 teams so far. The Grand Finals will be held in Singapore and the teams are being flown here on a fully sponsored trip for this event."

The Final run-up (out of 61 b-schools from 18 countries) is:

Instituto de Empresa (Spain)

Chicago Graduate School of Business (USA)

Richard Ivey School of Business (Canada)

Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (India)

XLRI School of Management (India)

Rotman School of Management (Canada)

NUS Business School (Singapore)

Graduate School of International Management, IUJ (Japan)

Go, man, go!!!

A New Director at Cadbury India

2005-05-05T08:37:00.000+05:30

V Chandramouli (91BMD) is joining Cadbury as Director (Strategy, Innovation, and International Business). Economic Times Reports:

"The marketing and sales head of consumer durables company Mirc Electronics which operates under the brand Onida and Igo, V Chandramouli... is moving out to join confectionery major Cadbury as a director.

Chandramouli V (91BMD) on left
...Mr Chandramouli has been with Mirc Electronics for the past four years as vice president of marketing, sales and service... When contacted Mr Chandramouli confirmed the developments, “I have put in my papers and would move on by the end of next month. I will be positioned as director (strategy, innovations and international business). FMCG as a business is looking exciting again and so I have decided to move on."

In his previous jobs he has worked in the area of consumer marketing being associated with Asian Paints and the consumer finance arm of General Electric GE Countrywide...."

The New MD of The Carlyle Group (India)

2005-04-28T14:54:00.000+05:30

Well, this not exactly a "news", since it happened a few months back - but I discovered it only today...

Global private equity firm The Carlyle Group today announced that Shankar Narayanan has joined as Managing Director in India to lead venture and growth capital investments there.

M Shankar Narayanan (89BMD)
Said Wayne Tsou, Carlyle Managing Director and Head of the Carlyle Asia Venture Group, "I am pleased to welcome Shankar to Carlyle. He has a very impressive track record in India having invested in a wide range of businesses spanning a variety of sectors in both traditional private equity and venture capital. Shankar’s rich experience in building and running private equity businesses will be a major asset to our expanding investment activities in India.... Shankar’s appointment in India is a reflection of Carlyle’s strong commitment to enlarging our Indian private equity business and funding the growth and vibrancy of the private sector in India."

....
Mr. Narayanan, 42, has more than ten years of private equity experience in India. He started his career with Citibank, was Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Hathway Investments in India, and was then based in Hong Kong covering India for Deutsche Bank Capital Partners. He has served on the Board of Directors of Johnson Tiles, Exide Industries, Hathway Cable, Asianet Satellite Communications, Prism Cement, Tata Infomedia, Kirloskar Systems, AFL Limted and Pushpa Polymers, all were private equity investments with which he was associated.

Mediocre But Arrogant - Abhijit Bhaduri's Forthcoming Novel

2005-04-21T20:05:00.001+05:30

Abhijit Bhaduri's (84PMIR) debut novel "Mediocre But Arrogant" is getting published in June'05.

The announcement reads:

"Mediocre But Arrogant is the debut novel of Abhijit Bhaduri. Set against the backdrop of a fictitious business school in the steel city of Jamshedpur, India, this is a story of how the two years of doing an MBA transforms Abbey's life, perspective and relationships. Anyone who has lived in a school or college hostel will be able to identify with the characters of this funny but insightful novel.

Abbey - the narrator and protagonist is in MIJ - the coveted Management Institute of Jamshedpur, as an act of "serendipity". That is where he meets several classmates in the Boys Hostel - Harpal Singh alias Hairy, David Chummanoor - Chumma for short, Arunesh Nanda - the guitarist who sings Dylan songs and the mysterious, enigmatic Rascal Rusty. And then there are girls ... Ayesha for one.

There is Dadus Dhaba. Basanto, the Mess Bearer who doles out pieces of chicken to the select few as if it was a state secret. Ganauri - the dhobi who comes to pick up the laundry on his moped.

Will Abbey find the love of his life? In a Darwinian microcosm of the corporate world, MIJ has taught Abbey to hone his survival instincts and shave off jagged edges of his character. Is this what he wants to be?"

Here is a shade of Abbey's Micro-Economics class-notes:

So Folks!... Watch out for the release

...and for more info, check:
http://mediocrebutarrogant.blogspot.com

[As the EBC Radio (NJ & Eastern Pennsylvania, USA), on which Abhijit hosts the popular show called "Movie Magic" which is on the air every Sunday (1:00-2:00pm) describes him: "Abhijit is a versatile cartoonist, singer and mimic who works in Human Resources for a large Fortune 500 company"]

Vineet Nayar takes over as President of HCL Tech

2005-04-06T14:27:00.000+05:30

The Economic Times (April 6th, 2005) reports this news about Vineet Nayar (85BMD):

"NEW DELHI: HCL Technologies has appointed Vineet Nayar as President. He will be responsible for HCL's Software & Infrastructure business accounting for 86% of HCL's $750 million revenue run rate global services business.

Nayar started his career with HCL in 1985 as a management trainee and has held diverse portfolios in Sales and Strategic Marketing and has been an integral part of building HCL's business to its global scale and stature. He pioneered HCL's foray into the Remote Infrastructure Management business.

"Vineet has demonstrated strong leadership skills during his 20 years with HCL. I feel confident that his global outlook, leadership skills and demonstrated track record of building new businesses will take HCL's Software & Infrastructure business to the next trajectory of growth,’’ says Shiv Nadar, Founder HCL, and Chairman & CEO HCL Technologies.

Nayar takes over the reins from Mr. S Raman, Co Founder of HCL and President and COO of HCL's software business.. "

Self Worth over Net Worth

2005-04-01T08:55:00.001+05:30

Sanjay Anand (80PMIR), earlier Head-HR for Amex, is featured in Business World (April 4, 2005) issue:

"It's a dilemma that also strikes many a man at some point in his career; but it is much harder to resolve than for a woman!

After 15 years in the business, Sanjay Anand knew corporate life wasn't giving him a buzz anymore. "Something was nagging away inside," he says. "I realised what I really wanted to do was to be closely involved with young minds, because that's where you can really make a difference."

Today, Anand is doing just that - teaching business and economics at Pathways World school in Gurgaon. But the leap from Amex to education took 10 agonising years. "My goal was to move out by age 50," says Anand. It finally happened in 2004, with a couple of years to spare.

Anand is thoroughly enjoying himself. Every day there is a sense of achievement. In a reversal of gender stereotypes, the 1980 batch XLRI graduate says he can "afford" to teach because he has the luxury of having a wife who's earning well (spouse Smita is head of consulting at Hewitt Associates). "She enjoys the corporate world much more than I did," he admits."

X-Factor (March '05) Issue

2005-03-14T08:05:00.000+05:30

Download X-Factor (March'05) Issue [pdf 417kb]
[right click and save]

Hamaara "Vaachak"...reaches Election Commission

2005-03-12T19:53:00.000+05:30

For the first time in India (and world?), the election results for the recent state elections of Bihar, Haryana and Jharkhand, could be read out - in English and Hindi - by your computer, if you logged on to the Election Commission site.

This news item from TOI reads:

"Now your personal computer can read out election results in Hindi and English in a clear human voice with an Indian accent. This has been made possible through a special software — Vaachak — developed by city based software company, which employs latest speech technologies to convert the text into speech. The software is being used by the Election Commission (EC) for the first time in India during the counting process for the state elections of Bihar, Haryana and Jharkhand on February 27.

...Vaachak was developed by Vinamra, an MBA degree holder from XLRI Jamshedpur, and his elder brother Vibhu, an IIT-Kanpur graduate in 2001 and since then they have been working to apply it in different fields and improvising its applications.

"It is a boon for almost half a million illiterate Indian population which knows only native language as well as the 95 per cent among literates who do not know English," said Vinamra. "It can also pave way for a future model for E-governance in India as Vaachak has the ability to convert text into other Indian languages as well," he added.

The addition of this latest technology is a part of the ongoing efforts of the EC to enhance its information delivery mechanism. Vinamra met senior officials at the EC earlier this month and proposed a speech enabled web based solution.

On February 10, he got a green signal from EC and within 10 days made a live demonstration. Satisfied with the test trials, the EC decided to deploy it for the coming election results on February 27.

Vinamra said that the same technology can also be used to provide information on telephone through interactive voice response system..."

[Vinamra "Vaachak" Agarwal" is from the 2001BMD batch, and though he has been covered onece earlier on xlalumni blog... magar, kya karen? he keeps on appearing in media again and again ;0)]

One more Kaul-ing: The New Pizza Chief

2005-03-06T09:22:00.000+05:30

Media seems to have become positively biased towards the Kauls from XLRI!!! :0)

After Rajiv Kaul's coverage, this time it is about Ajay Kaul of 89BMD batch...

...this news item from Economic Times (March 2, 05), reports:

"It’s the year of homecoming for the Fredies (Foreign Returned Desi Executives).

So it wasn’t surprising when Coca-Cola India announced Vikas Gupta as its marketing head recently. He comes back after a five-year stint at Atlanta. Mr Gupta follows many other Fredies who have come home in the last few months.

They include the high-profile CEO of Britannia , Vinita Bali, Whirlpool MD, Arvind Uppal, Pepsi’s marketing head Punita Lal, and the new Domino CEO Ajay Kaul, who has been moved from Indonesia to head the pizza major’s Indian operations."

(the news about Vikas Gupta (88BMD) was already covered in an earlier posting)

Redmond Kaul-ing

2005-02-22T10:21:00.000+05:30

I am afraid the link to this news-item about Rajiv Kaul (92BMD), in Business Today (Feb 27, 2005)is subscription based. So, I am doing what needs to be done - Pasting it!

Rajiv will be, as was reported in Economics Times earlier (Feb 4, 2005), the Head of "the Emerging Markets Group including the BRIC countries. Emerging countries are estimated to contribute about 40 pct to 50 pct of Microsoft’s business. In his new role, Mr Kaul will lead three teams in the US to devise strategies to create new business models and develop new partnerships suited for emerging markets."

After nine years in Microsoft India, four of them as Managing Director, Rajiv Kaul is moving on to bigger things at the software colossus. More specifically, he's headed to Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond where he will head a newly-created group that will look after Windows in emerging markets. "Discussions had been on for a few months," says the 36-year-old Kaul, when asked about this move. It will be some time yet before he moves out. "I do not expect to move before April or May at the earliest. It's not too easy to physically leave India," he says. Kaul is particularly proud of Project Shiksha (computer literacy in schools for teachers and students) and Project Bhasha (computing in local languages), which he conceptualised and implemented in India. "These two have become global best practices for the company, and working on them, particularly Shiksha, has given me project experience at a global level, which I guess will hold me in good stead for my new assignment," he says. It's a window of opportunity, alright.

X-Factor (Feb '05) Issue

2005-02-18T11:09:00.000+05:30

Download X-Factor (Feb '05) Issue [pdf 728kb]
[right click and save]

New Marketing Chief of Coca Cola India

2005-02-16T19:19:00.000+05:30

Coca-Cola India has announced the appointment of Vikas Gupta (88BMD)as the Vice-President (Marketing for) India division that also includes Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Maldives.

He will assume his new responsibilities at Coca-Cola India from March 1, 2005. Gupta replaces Shripad Nadkarni, the erstwhile marketing chief of Coca-Cola.

Vikas has worked with companies like Brooke Bond and Procter & Gamble India in their marketing departments between 1984 and 1994. He joined Coca-Cola India marketing team in 1994 and held various portfolios, including brands and regional marketing assignments. He moved to join Coca-Cola's marketing team at Atlanta in 1999 until his return to India last year.

Making the announcement, Sanjiv Gupta, president & CEO, Coca-Cola India, said, "We are delighted to have Vikas Gupta join us and look forward to propelling our marketing success to even greater heights under his leadership."

Vikas Gupta said, "I am excited to return to the Coca-Cola family that continues to create excitement in the markets and has won scores of national and international marketing excellence awards."

Vikas is an alumnus of XLRI Jamshedpur where he specialized in marketing and finance. Along with an extensive experience in marketing, he brings along an excellent knowledge of Indian markets, consumer insights and hands-on experience of having worked with the Coca-Cola system in India and Atlanta.

A Virtual Interaction...

2005-02-11T08:10:00.000+05:30

KN Venkataraman aka "KNV" (90BMD), and the Finax Secy of that batch - and currently based in USA - met the present batches in the virtual space on the night of Feb 6th-7th.

Making Her Own Rules

2005-01-24T03:53:00.000+05:30

Eco Times published an article on the 1980 batch Gold Medalist, Nidhi Reddy:

For Nidhi Reddy, XLRI alumnus, who runs Chennai-based Nidhi Reddy Consultants, success has been largely thanks to her “immense self-belief and being able to chart out her own path”, which has helped her face adversities and challenges with ease.

"I have not had any mentor in particular. I am glad that I have been able to trace my own path and have always done what I believed in..."

Read on...

Tsunami: Appeal from Director, XLRI

2005-01-22T14:37:00.000+05:30

January 20, 2005

To : The Alumni

Dear Alumni/ae :

All of us are shocked by the havoc done by tsunami in a few minutes in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Indonesia. Many of our own have suffered material and personal loss.

Faculty, staff and students of XLRI have generously contributed to the tsunami relief. The staff have made sacrifices to contribute for the fund.

Our Alumni in the South are involved in relief and rehabilitation work. Among them, Mr K Pandiarajan, MD of Mafoi [an alumnus of 84batch] has involved a group of NGOs in the rehabilitation work. He has taken up this task, in spite of his heavy responsibilities with missionary zeal. He has adopted three pronged rehabilitation programmes :

- Adoption of children
- Vocational Training
- Entrepreneurship Development

Part of the XLRI collection will go to Mafoi, which has Sornammal Education Trust as its Development arm. The other part will go to Andamans which needs more help.

I invite all the Alumni to join us in helping Sornammal Education Trust to execute its development programmes. It will be a lasting development for those people. I request to be generous toward this project so that XLRI family can help at least 100 children.

Your generous demand drafts should be in favour of “Sornammal Educational Trust”, Chennai and sent to :

Mr K Pandiarajan
Managing Director
Ma Foi Consultants Ltd.
8, Khader Niwaz Khan Road
Chennai 600 006
Phone : 044-28333351
Email : kpr [at] mafoi.com

Yours sincerely,

N Casimir Raj, S.J.
Director, XLRI
Email : director [at] xlri.ac.in

X-Factor 2nd Issue (Jan 05)

2005-01-11T08:45:00.000+05:30

The wait is over.
Stop refreshing your inbox...
Stop asking your friends when it will come...
Say goodbye to those withdrawal symtoms...
The latest issue of The X-factor is here...
Its bigger than before. Its better than before.

Download your copy of
The X-factor:
Essential Reading for the XLer

New Business Head of HT Media Marketing

2005-01-09T08:27:00.000+05:30

exchange4media News Service reports (Jan 4, 05):

Benoy Roychowdhury (85BMD) will join HT Media Marketing Organisation as Business Head (Media Marketing) and will be based in Delhi. This is a new position created by the company.

Benoy Roychowdhury(left)during a meeting

The official communiqué issued by Rajiv Verma, CEO, HT Media, states that “This change is designed to create an organisational structure for HT Media Sales Organisation that will optimise and strengthen organisational capabilities and support the company’s growth and value creation strategy. Given the organisation’s agenda of growth in Bombay, refocus on Hindi and entry in new Categories like radio, it will be imperative that we strengthen our organisation capabilities to take on the challenges ahead.”

In past, Roychowdhury has worked with companies like Procter and Gamble and Whirlpool. He is and MBA from XLRI, Jamshedpur of 1985 batch. His previous assignments included Director Market Development – Asia, being based at Hong Kong and Vice President Sales, Trade Marketing and Logistics for South Asia Market, He started his career as a Management Trainee at Godrej P&G....

XLer CEOs in India

2005-01-01T20:25:00.000+05:30

Somehow, this information never gets highlighted in/by XL... so this is just a partial list of XLers across batches, who head a company in India
[please note that this is not a comprehensive list - and lists only those XLers who are CEOs in India]

...any additions to this list are welcome

Manet Paes (71BMD)
Managing Director
Alliance Airways

Sankaran Raghunanthan (84BMD)
CEO
Blueshift Ltd

Ravi Mehrotra (85BMD)
Managing Director
Franklin Templeton India MF

Vineet Nayar (85BMD)
CEO
HCL Comnet

Raman Madhok (81PMIR)
CEO & Dy Managing Director
Jindal Iron and Steel

Amar Babu (89BMD)
Director (Sales Marketing Group) South Asia
Intel Corp

Ajay Bagga (90BMD)
Managing Director
Kotak Mahindra MF

Sujit Baksi (72PMIR)
CEO and India Head
Lehman Brothers BPO

Vikram Rao (75BMD)
Group Executive President
Madura Garments

K Pandiarajan (84BMD)
Founder & CEO
Ma Foi Consultants

CVL Srinivas (93BMD)
CEO
Maximise India

Rajiv Kaul (92BMD)
Managing Director
Microsoft India

N Krishnakumar (81BMD)
Co-Founder & MD
Mindtree Consulting

Madhukar Kamath (76BMD)
Managing Director & CEO
Mudra Communications & Advertising

Akash Khurana (77BMD)
MD & CEO
Nimbus Communications

Jagdish V Dore (73BMD)
Managing Director
Novartis Enterprises

Georges Zacharias (82BMD)
CEO
Sify

B Muthuraman (75BME)
Managing Director
Tata Steel

Percy Siganporia (74BMD)
Managing Director
Tata Tetley

Bushen Raina (73BME)
Managing Director
Tata Tinplate Ltd

Rana Sinha (78BMD)
Managing Director
Telcon Ltd

Bijou Kurian (81BMD)
Chief Operating Officer
Titan Watches

Kalyan Ganguly (73BMD)
President
UB Group Beer Division

Anurag Behar (92BMD)
Managing Director
Wipro Fluid Power

Prash: An XLer as a Musician

2004-12-17T16:39:00.000+05:30

Five years after graduating with a specialisation in Marketing, Prashant Vadhyar (99BMD) - or "Prash" as he is known - decided to go full-time into what he enjoys most - Music.

[You can download 16 of his compositions from The Electromancer or Soundclick.com site]

This interview with Prash about "Prash" - name of his band - on Soundclick.com (and don't forget to click to read reviews):

Why this name?
Its what everyone calls me... its a short version of my first name.

Do you play live?
I play live occassionaly with a jazz/blues band. I play the lead guitar for the band and also do some vocal bits. But, by and large my obsession is writing, composing and arranging.

How, do you think, does the internet (or mp3) change the music industry?
The ease of distribution rocks!!! The exchange of ideas between musicians across different cultures, the friends one makes... its a boon to all musicians worldwide!

Would you still sign a record contract with a major label?
Yes!

Band History:
I got back to music making after 6 years. I used to play a lot of guitar in my college... then, I got an MBA in marketing and worked for 5 years during which time, music was discarded. One day, I couldnt take it anymore and quit everything and now, pursue music as a full time profession.

Your influences?
My influences are too diverse to list and get a fair representation... my earliest memories of music are hindi film songs, then moving onto mainstream western pop, heavy metal, jazz and blues and then electronica. These days, I am heavily into classical, film background type of music.

Favorite spot?
Goa, India... psycotrop paradise

Equipment used:
Korg Triton LE Keyboard Synth
Behringer UB 1002 Mixer
Fender Telecaster Guitar
Digitech RP6 Guitar FX Processor
Behringer B1 Condenser Mic
Computer-1.7 Ghz Pentium, 512MB RAM, 2x 40GB HDD, M-Audio Audiophile 2496 Soundcard
Wharfedale Pro Active Studio Monitors
Behringer Headphones

Download X-Factor Newsletter

2004-12-03T12:02:00.000+05:30

The X-factor - a monthly e-newsletter for both alumni and current students of XLRI - was launched yesterday on December 2nd, 2004.

The X-factor aims to address a long felt need for sharing and disseminating news/views across the XLRI community - alumni, students and faculty.

You can Download Your Copy Here (right click, save - it is a 377kb, pdf document)

We would love to have your feedback, suggestions and contributions for the forthcoming issues.

Please write back to us at:

editor.xfactor [at] gmail.com

Happy Reading!

and Kudos to - Mohit, Surya, Allen, Deepti, Kushgara, and Sheshank - the X-factor Team!!!

What They Don't Teach at B-Schools

2004-11-28T12:03:00.000+05:30

After Gautam Sinha (94PMIR), and E Abraham (78PMIR), this one is from Ronald Sequeira - VP & Head of Human Resources, Tata Power - of 84PMIR batch from Business Standard (Nov 23, 2004):

If you ever want to see several happy people in one place, visit any leading B-school campus just after the placement season is over. What a sybaritic feeling. A business school stamp behind your name and a dream job ahead of you. The B-school grad has learnt all that is there to learn. Could it get any better?

Going back to my own first day on campus, we were told by the legendary Father McGrath, “XLRI is not a place but an experience and an opportunity.” Now we had been through the experience and were on the threshold of seeking opportunities to apply all the teachings that a business degree offers.

As we waited with our packed bags in the foyer of the institute to say our last goodbyes, Father Maggie (as we referred to McGrath) in a soft tone said to me “Ronnie, I hope and pray that all of you get a very good first boss.” At that time one did not fully comprehend the meaning of that message.

Look back at your own experience over the years. Identify the number of times a young career was made or shattered by the early mentor(s) who had strong influence over a new arrival to the workforce.

Research and surveys have established that the single biggest reason for loss of talent is “the boss”: not the organisation, not the compensation nor any other seemingly obvious reason. Strangely, no course on campus teaches you this, nor did any course say that in time one would need to be the good first boss/mentor.

Having left campus and arriving into the corporate world, you quickly adapt to excelling within a structure in order to earn your rewards. Despite B-school teachings, “strategy” and “out-of-the-box thinking” take a backseat and the “activity trap” takes control of your life. After all, you have joined the rat race and you learn, like Pavlov’s dogs, that rewards follow a pattern. Suddenly, 15 or more years go by and there is a paradigm shift and no more patterns.

You are now assessed on your ability to deal with ambiguity. Your free and frank views — once appreciated as “fresh thinking” from a young B-school grad — are now marked down as “lack of political astuteness”. Could your B-school education have predicted this?...
Read on...

HOMECOMING 2004: Director's Invitation

2004-11-09T12:07:00.000+05:30

The International Alumni Association of XLRI, under the able presidentship of Mr Bushen Raina, Managing Director, The Tinplate Company of India Ltd, is planning to hold the first ever Annual Get Together of the XLRI alumni.

This year we shall hold it at XLRI on Saturday and Sunday, November 20 and 21, 2004.

Program:

Saturday, Nov 20th:
11:00am-12:30pm: A session among the alumni
04:00pm-05:00pm: An interface with the students (theme: "What they don?t teach at XLRI")
05:00pm-05:30pm: Tea with the students
05:30pm-07:00pm: A panel discussion (Theme: "Ethics in Business is Oxymoron")
Panelists:
-Mr Azim Premji - confirmed
-Mr Suhel Seth - confirmed
-Ms Anu Aga - to be confirmed
-Mr Dipankar Dasgupta - to be confirmed
[Mr Azim Premji will also inaugurate the Centre for E-business]
7:30 pm onward: Dinner at Beldih Club
[Students' band in attendance]

Sunday, Nov 21st
Golf game
Prize Distribution
Lunch at XLRI

This is the advance notice I am sending you. You are welcome to send your suggestions. But I want you to join us and celebrate the Homecoming 2004. Send your suggestions and confirmations to
Mr S Akhtar
General Secretary
XLRI Alumni Association.
akhtar(at)xlri.ac.in
Dial - 0657 2225506 x 214(O)/619(R)
Fax - 0657 2227814

Fr N Casimir Raj, sj
Director, XLRI

Making the Computer Speak!!

2004-10-20T23:35:00.000+05:30

For many Xlers, this will become the neatest way to get marks for CP/ACP/DCP :0)

...but Vaachak - the first commercial multilingual text-to-speech solution from Vinamra Agarwal's (01BMD) company, Prologix is also a commercial and social breakthrough.

Earlier this year in March 2004 issue of Business World, it was featured as a boon for the visually handicapped in India...

and now, this week, Vinamra's interview on Creating Unique Products is featured on NASSCOM's site...

...way to go, Vinamra;)

B-Schools Should Not Be Islands of Intelligence

2004-10-12T22:52:00.000+05:30

Here are some excerpts from an Interview published in BS Strategist with Fr E Abraham (78PMIR), and one of the previous Directors of XLRI:

Fr E Abraham, director, Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneshwar (XIMB), is convinced that B-schools should be shaped to meet the objectives of both industry and the development objectives of society at large.

“I strongly feel that every management institute should do something for the state in which it is based. We should not be islands of intelligence,” he says.

.... It seems the institute’s efforts are being noticed. Abraham is happy that the latest Cosmode-BusinessWorld survey of the best Indian B-schools ranked the institute at number 10, up five notches from last year.

Then there’s the soon-to-be-signed MoU with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for the creation of a CII-XIMB Centre of Excellence, which will give the institute some much-needed visibility.

Apart from research and consultancy in areas such as energy and power, insurance and foreign direct investment, the centre will also work on training executives from small, medium and large enterprises, as well as mentoring of entrepreneurs.

...“But it’s not just the ranking,” Abraham clarifies. “I want XIMB to be among the most reputed B-schools when it comes to intellectual capital and internal capabilities, too.”

Abraham’s efforts in this direction started early. Last year, the annual convention of the Association of Indian Management Schools and the National HRD Network Conference were held at the XIMB campus and the activities put the institute on the international map not only with academicians but also with industry stalwarts.

Celebrations apart, Abraham believes there’s more to be done. Global exposure for the institute, for instance.

...“Poor communication with the rest of the country was one of the main hurdles the institute faced initially. But in today’s world of email, web-cast and teleconferencing, the location of a management school is not an issue anymore,” Abraham clarifies.

If last year’s placement results are anything to go by, he’s probably right. The institute broke all its previous records; 51 companies visited the campus and the entire batch of 120 students for the post-graduate programme was recruited in just 30 hours. The average salary offered was Rs 4.65 lakh a year.

“We also have a prominent personality from industry visit us every week and interact with the students,” says Abraham. Add to that, in 2003 XIMB tied up with Marico Industries in 2003 whereby faculty interact with the company, researching various processes and systems.

....“We believe in an academic model and distinguish an educational institution from a consultancy firm,” Abraham says.

Combining Intellect with Global Opportunities

2004-10-08T18:05:00.000+05:30

The article in Business World reads:

HOW'S this for combining intellectual capital with global opportunities? Amlan Ghose (79BMD batch), a 49-year-old IIT-Delhi graduate, runs an IT boutique called Prologic First. Its ERP software Wish is used by hotels. Amlan is in Delhi, but his business comes from markets as diverse as Brazil, Australia, Dubai and, recently, China. Amlan works mostly with mid-sized hotels, "equivalent to the Jaypees and the ITDCs". His big-name clients include Inter-Continental and Hilton. Says Amlan: "We provide current technology products that are functionally at least as powerful as the best international competition. Our edge is our domain expertise."