50th XLRI Convocation April 2nd, 2006.

Dear Alumni,

The XLRI Golden Jubilee Convocation will be held on Sunday, April 2nd, 2006, 5:30pm at Tata Auditorium.

The Convocation Address will be delivered by
Mr A M Naik, Chairman & MD, L&T

and

Mr Subir Raha, Chairman & MD, ONGC
is the recepient of
Sir Jehangir Ghandy Medal for Industrial and Social Peace.

I am writing to both inform and invite you to the event.

Though as an alumnus, you can just walk in, but if you need the invitation card, please collect it from Ms Lily Joe, Alumni Officer, XLRI

madhukar

Kim's Note: If I'm not mistaken, Batch of 81 must be having its Silver Jubilee Reunion & batch of 96 is having its 10th year reunion on campus at the same time.

Sydneysiders meet for a drink at Greenwood Plaza pub on31stMarch

Sorry for the short notice. Anyone around North Sydney is welcome to join in for a couple of drinks on friday, 31st March at the Greenwood Plaza pub between 5.30 and 7.30 pm.

Greenwood Plaza is opposite the North Sydney Railway station entrance on Blue Street. Give me a call on friday afternoon/early evening on #0400349594 for the name of the pub.

Regards,

Pankaj

Memorial to some Flatlined XLRI Blogs

Lets start with
XlCampus
Professor Fenn has written a touching last note.

Time to pick up the spade

Hello again,

Lets call a spade a spade. This blog didnt acheive its objectives. It was meant to be a shared resource that spoke about informal events on campus. The dream was that there would be someone on the residential part of the campus, perhaps a young budding journalist, some student from the other part of the campus, and some faculty and staff who would write about informal events on the campus. A way of putting our life online.

Read the rest of the Goodbye Note

Hope Floats Concert
Concert organised by Sonic Deaf Monkeys on April 24, 2005 @ XLRI, for raising funds for cancer patients
Event Over
Blog Halted

XL Campus Club Picnic 05
Wanna see what the campus faculty is upto on the days they don't have to interact with pesky students ?
See the pictures on Prof Shukla's photoblog of the event.
Event Over
Blog Halted

XLRI Regional Alumni Meet @ Kolkata (Sept 10,2005)
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 formed and came together at Kolkata.
Special mention : Fr Mc Grath arrived on a Shikhara
See the pictures & view the Write ups.
Event Over
Blog Halted

XL Alumni Homecoming 2005 (Nov 19-20)
On Nov 19-20, 2005, they came back home in the sleepy town of Jamshedpur... from batches of 1959 to 2005... and relived 2 best years of their lives
Well, This blog has been started but nothing has been posted yet. So its kinda over before it began.

5th National HR Conference @ XLRI Jamshedpur
an Open-Space Summit on
Crafting the Future of HR
(Jan 28-29, 2006)
Event Over
Blog Halted

XL 80 Batch Silver Jubilee Reunion
It just reminds me that my Silver Jubilee Reunion is 18 years away {grin}
Event Over
Blog Halted

XLBang !! XLRI Alumni in Bangalore
Temporarily halted until the next event ?
Or has the poster moved to Hyderabad ?

FIREX : The Looking Glass of Employee Relations
Last posted on February 07, 2005
2005 batch passed out ?
Blog Halted
Can someone from the current batch take over ?

The Finax Ledger
Accounts of the latest in finance, balance sheet of issues , records of all opinions, notes to hotspots!
Last posted on July 24, 2005
2005 batch passed out ?
Blog Halted
Can someone from the current batch take over ?

The Best of X-Factor
The best of stuff from X-Factor, the magazine that cuts across organisations, continents, batches and ages into the mailbox of 3000-odd XLers..
Last post on March 25, 2005
2005 batch passed out ?
Blog Halted
Can someone from the current batch take over ?
The good news is that XFactor can be downloaded from one of the XL blogs. If u r an Xler, U know which blog it is. If you don't you know how to mail me or Mad Shuks : )

That's my round up of Blogs that have flatlined. Anyone want to add more to this list or the current blogroll. Drop me a comment on this post.

Statutory posting:
The views expressed here are those of the authors, and does not reflect the views of the Institution in any way.
I found this on The Best of X-Factor and I think its very apt to be posted here.

XL celeb watch: Bijou Kurien

A long-timer at Titan, Kurien will be heading the lifestyle division of the retail venture. He will be joining 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.Though he had been denying it for a while, Mr Kurien today confirmed the development, "Yes I am leaving Titan to join Reliance. I would be heading the lifestyle vertical of the venture." He added that the actual date of joining Reliance has not been fixed, but he is most likely to join by the end of April or early May.

Read Titan's Bijou Kurien to join Reliance's retail venture.

XLRI on Orkut

XLRI
http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=37698

XLRI - A smaller Group
http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=1000738

Fraxers at XLRI
http://www.orkut.com/community.aspx?cmm=9395642

MadFaxi - Madhukar Shukla Fans
http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=8740187

VLAXI - Venkat Lovers Association of XLRI
http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=8676962

PFAXI: Premu's Fans at XLRI
http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=8669451

Invitation from Arun Diaz 73batch 27th March

posting this invitation on behalf of Arun Diaz 73BM for the inauguration of his entrepreneurial venture:

The Apollo Clinic - Thane

Date & Time: March 27th, Monday 10:00am

Venue:
The Apollo Clinic
Zed - 5, Zed Shopping Center
Flower Valley
Off Eastern Express Highway
Khopat
Thane 400601

ROI Musings...

Surya writes :

One of the rituals on getting a job is to call up your relatives and inform them that you finally got some ROI on your investment for two years.

Those of you who may do so in the future; a word of caution: celebrate first, then call. Especially if you are the pioneer MBA in your imediate family. Otherwise, you may not be left with anything much to celebrate about.

Parents are most effective when it comes to curbing enthusiasm. They can spot the flaw in our perfectly happy scenario in a nanosecond. Moreover, all of use do crave at some level to 'do our parents proud' and their strategic silences, the drawled out "weeeeeeeeeeeeeeelll..." with a touch of disappointment do deliver karate chops to our self esteem and glee.

They are the best cooks of put-you-downs.

Read the Entire Article on Mixed Feelings after being placed. I'm sure most of us can identify with the feelings.

Chennai : XL-IIM Cricket -Rolling Trophy Awards Function

This event is finally happening this Sunday. Please come with your spouses

Venue: MCC-Madras Cricket Club
Date: Sunday, 26th Mar
Time: 7 PM
Cost: Rs 200 per head
Chief Guest : Mr Ramesh Sadagopan

Please pass this message to as many as possible

I request either an email / phone confirmation

PNS:9380514778 Dominique:9840270228 Suresh Reddy:9840082526
P N Subramaniyan
pns[at]vsnl[dot]net

XL Students on NDTV Profit (18th & 19th)

Arun Paul Alex and Jacob Dijo - both from 06 batch - had won 2nd Prize in the National Finals of the Tata Crucible Business Quiz last month.

The event was targeted at over 700 engineering colleges and business schools.

The regional rounds were held at Chennai, New Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune and Mumbai earlier.

The finals will be telecasted tomorrow and day-after.
Following are the details:
Channel: NDTV Profit

18th March, Saturday @ 10:30 pm

19th March, Sunday @ 4:00 pm

For those hoping to get calls for XLRI Interviews.

For those of you who have stumbled across my blog trying to info-gather in the hopes of getting insight ahead of your PI call at XLRI :

Here are some blogs which may give you an idea of what to expect.
Don't take the interviews to be absolute truth, because XLRI is known for shifting tactics and startegies at every round & at every instance. How they standardise results is still a MYSTERY : )

So check out
Theja's Blog
Pagal Guy
Joji's Interview

Remember the best way to deal with PI calls, is to remain cool, calm & collected.
Answer to the best of your knowledge & abilities.
Don't faff for too long. Try to be as precise in your responses, rather than long winded.
Don't try to make up stuff. XL profs know their gyaan.
Watch what you say. Don't throw words about to seem knowledgeable, because a common technique of interviewers, is to pounce on the most pompous word in an interviewees sentence & then ask further questions along that line. Remember with each word that you speak, you are opening more doors. Same goes for listing interests & hobbies in resumes.
Always be polite & respectful, the interviewers definitely have more knowledge than you do, at least at top B-Schools.

All the best to you.

XLRI Mt Everest Base Camp Expedition - Kolkata Flag Off

XLRI Leadership Expedition 2006

Kolkata Flag Off & Press Conference

Date : March 13th 2006, Monday

Venue : Taj Bengal Hotel

Time : 10.30 am to 11.00 am.

Chief Guest : Major General Arun Roy GOC Bengal Area

Director Fr. Cashmir Raj will be present.

XLER's are invited to participate.

about the XLE:

Venue: Trek to Mount Everest Base Camp (till Kala Patthar at an altitude of 18,480 feet)

Social Mission: Undertake AIDS awareness activities in Jamshedpur India and in Nepal (till Mount Everest Base Camp)

Partner: CARE (for executing AIDS awareness). Both the India and Nepal chapters.

Details: The twenty member expedition will be flagged off on the 13th March, 2006 from Kolkata. The expedition will summit and put the Indian tricolor at Kala Patthar (altitude of 18,480 feet) and return on 28th March, 2006, in time for the 50th convocation of XLRI Jamshedpur.

Prakash Puram (78 BMD) speaks at Minesotta

as many know, Prakash is from 78BM batch
===========================
Dear Friends of TiE Minnesota,

For our upcoming event on March 16th, we are excited to announce a panel discussion: “India Rising: New opportunities for Minnesota Entrepreneurs”. Our panelists are Prakash Puram, President and CEO of iXmatch and Dr. Bruce Corie, Professor of Economics, Concordia University.

Prakash Puram, was recently appointed to the President Export Council that advises the president on government policies and programs that affect U.S. trade performance. The Council consists of 10 Cabinet Secretaries, 27 other CEO's of the largest U.S. Companies, and 5 Congressmen and Senators. In February, Prakash was appointed by the President, along with Condoleezza Rice and several others, to the Sub-Committee on Trade Promotion and Negotiations. Prakash will be spending June 21st in a working session with President Bush in Washington D.C..

Bruce Corie is founding editor of the online journal http://www.policybriefs.org/, which provides diverse perspectives on policy issues.

Discussion will focus on the following topics

• The future of the Indo/US relationship and implications for entrepreneurs
• Examples and anecdotes of companies locally that have capitalized on an Indian connection.
• Top sectors that are growing and that may present opportunities for members.
• Local MN business perspectives of how the entrepreneurial landscape may be changing.
• Impressions and takeaways for TiE members from President Bush's visit to India.

Prakash Puram
Prakash has over 25 years of management experience in the consumer and high-tech industries. Most recently he was GM of the Consumer and Retail Markets Software Business at Net Perceptions. Prior to that, he was Director of Worldwide Strategy and Business Development for Honeywell's Home & Building Controls division. He has had successful business leadership and product management roles at Honeywell, IBM, Pillsbury, and Unilever, and a unique consulting stint in Kiev with Harvard University's Project for Economic Reform in Ukraine (PERU.) He received a BS from Loyola College, Madras, India; a Business Management diploma from XLRI, Jamshedpur, India; an MBA from the University of Minnesota; and a Master's in Competitive Strategy and Trade Policy from Harvard University. Prakash serves on the advisory board of the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. He is a private pilot, and speaks Japanese and some Russian. Prakash was a torch-runner for the Atlanta Olympics.

XL Final Placement News

The Economic Times Online
Printed from economictimes.indiatimes.com > News By Industry > Services> Education

India Inc makes a beeline for XLRI
RUNA RAJEEV KUMAR

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ WEDNESDAY, MARCH 08, 2006 10:19:19 PM]

JAMSHEDPUR: The campus recruitment programme ‘06 of Xavier’s Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), Jamshedpur saw a significant rise in the participation of consulting firms. Over 10 consulting firms participated this time, which is almost double that of last year’s participation. 21% of the batch size of 186 students, both from the Business Mangagement and Industrial Relations (PM&IR) courses opted for consulting firms.

Three students signed out with offers from McKinsey, which offered a package of Rs 13 lakh. The highest offer was made by McKinsey, followed by Hay Group, Accenture Business Consulting and HSBC Bank.

Reflecting the growing brand equity of both XLRIs Business Management as well as the top-notch PM&IR programme, this year saw a significant rise in the institute’s consulting portfolio, with first-time recruiters Capgemini Consulting, KPMG Consulting, SAP America, Nokia, Oracle and Virtusa, in addition to the regular premier recruiters like Accenture Business Consulting, Ernst & Young Human Capital, Hay Group, Hewitt Associates and McKinsey.

The average salary for the batch this year was Rs 8.4 lakh, a big rise as compared to Rs 7.4 lakh in the previous year. Over 25 students were offered salaries of Rs 10 lakh or more.

Father Casimir Raj, director of XLRI said: “The overall placements scene this year has been satifactory. Because of the strategic and advanced courses that we offer, more consulting firms are showing interest in XLRI. This also proves that our teaching methods are different from other B Schools.”

IBM (23), Cognizant (15), Goldman Sachs Equity Research (12), Ernst & Young Human Capital (11), ICICI Prudential (9), Hewitt Associates (8) and Nokia (7) were among the largest recruiters this year. Over 50 companies were a part of the process, of which 9 participated for the first time. The banking, finance and insurance sectors ranked among students’ top preferences, with 26% accepting offers across companies in this sector.

Professor S.Sengupta, chairperson-placements of XLRI said: “This sector has witnessed a phenomenal increase in the number of jobs. This is because of not only the burgeoning economy, but also that XLRI is the only B School in India which offers the dual specialization in finance and economics.”

Besides the top banks like Citibank, HSBC Bank, ICICI Bank and Standard Chartered Bank, Lehman Brothers India and Goldman Sachs Equity Research featured in the list of companies in this sector for the first time. The insurance sector, represented by AIG and ICICI Prudential picked up 11 students.

FMCG companies which participated include Asian Paints, Cadbury, Coca Coal, Colgate Palmolive, HLL, ITC, GSK, Marico, Nestle, Pepsi, Reckitt Benckiser and Seagrams. 27% of the students signed out with offers from FMCG or manufacturing firms. Four students signed out with the business conglomerate TAS. The number of lateral offers made was 82, while 53 candidates were offered pre-placement offers and 18 were offered pre-placement interviews.

©Bennett, Coleman and Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

XLRI to Open Singapore Campus

This story was printed from channelnewsasia.com

Title : India's Xavier Labour Relations Institute to open Singapore campus
By :
Date : 06 March 2006 2047 hrs (SST)
URL : http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/196486/1/.html

One of India's top post-graduate schools, Xavier Labour Relations Institute, is setting up a campus in Singapore in June.

The institute said it wanted to ride on Singapore's rising popularity as an education destination for students in the region.

It will begin with an initial batch of 60 students at its Bukit Merah campus, but expects enrolment to hit one thousand within 5 years.

The school is joining a growing list of foreign institutions with campuses in Singapore.

Father N Casimir Raj, Director, XLRI, said: "Singapore itself is a small market for us. But when I met the EDB, I was really convinced that they are very serious to make Singapore as an education hub for Asian Pacific countries. Secondly they were also willing to help us to go ahead in that process."

The Singapore campus will be XLRI's second campus outside India after Dubai.

For a start, it will offer Masters programmes for both full and part-time students.

It also plans to offer specialised management courses for working executives.

XLRI says that's because it will take time before the student population here hits critical mass.

Until then, its strategy is to stay as a niche player focusing on human resources programmes.

Father N Casimir Raj said: "Human resources management is changing, the face of it is changing. For example, the timing of the work. People have to work on 3 shifts as in the production line. As a result, there is a lot of stress created, quality of life suffers, family life suffers. So how do we cope with that?"

Singapore has four main universities and there are also many private institutions that offer tertiary education. - CNA/ch


Copyright © 2006 MCN International Pte Ltd

Conquering Antarctica..AshishAsthana (92BMB)

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....."
Read more:

A tribute to all Alumni who helped by Rahul Bhargava BMD06

Hi,

It's time for my batch, batch of 2006, to bid adieu to XLRI. Around one year back, I had raised queries about how to improve the perception of XLRI specially in the area of finance. I received lots of positive suggestions and advices and I am glad that we were able to get few things implemented. Apart from econometrics (for which I had specifically raised queries), we got many other economics courses introduced here, which enabled students to specialize in Economics also (something which was unheard of so far). Many students took advantage of this and took dual specialization of Finance + Economics, a powerful combination I believe.
We conducted the National Investors Meet in partnership with the Investors Education Promotion Fund and the Government of India. All this added tremendously to our existing brand, a fact that would get reflected in the number of finance offers during placements.

I would specially like to thank the following alumni for taking their time out to do somthing for XLRI:

Mr. K.N. Venkatraman (BMD, 1990) - Talk on careers in finance

Mr. Narsimha Rao (BMD, 1990) - Talk on career opportunities in IT and IT consulting

Mr. Asitave Chanda (BMD, 1987) - Highly useful tips, reports in finance, areas to focus on to get good jobs, wonderful tips on usage of excel and its importance in treasury jobs

Mr. Akshay Soni (BMD, 1999) - Inputs on introduction of new courses

Mr. Pramod Mehra (BMD, 1971) - Alumni meet improvement

Mr. Ambarish Raghuvanshi (BMD, 1987) - Introducing me to XAB :)

Thanks a lot once again,

Rahul Bhargava
BMD 2006
XLRI, Jamshedpur

XLRI CRP on CNBC

This is to inform that the

CNBC TV18

will be teleasting a

30min coverage

of the

5th National HR Conference @ XLRI

on

March 5th(Sunday)

at

17:00hrs.

.


You have been given enough advance notice : )

Cricket match on 5th March- Chennai Alumni

This is to confirm that the cricket match between XLRI,IIMC,IIMA and if we are lucky an assorted team from the other IIM's will make up the participating teams for the forthcoming cricket gala on 5th March.

The Venue: Central Polytechnic Cricket Ground,Taramani Road

Date: 5th March 2006, Time: 7.45 am

Special Attractions: Breakfast for the 1st 45 guys who land up fro the various teams and Lunch thereafter at 12.45pm.

Duration: 15 overs per side, rules similar to our last series at Mayajaal with some slight modifications .

Teams: XLRI, IIM-C, IIM-A and possibly a 4th group from all other IIM's

Hey guys, the venue is the Central Polytechnic cricket ground on the Taramani road adjacent to Voluntary Health Services Hospital Building. It is a turf wicket and a graet ground to play on. Imagine at this late stage in our illustrious cricketing careers we get this opportnity to play on TURF !!!

The following XLers (and deemed Xl'ers) have confirmed their participation so far.

Thomas Philip
Rohan Philip of Ms.Asin Fame
Rajiv Krishnan
Moochie
Shantaram
Santosh Nair
Purushottam
Debabrata ( cfmtn done by Puru on his behalf)
Murali (that's me)
Mukundan Iyengar
PNS- Team Manager
The missing names from the "regulars' that I can recall are Karthik Karunakaran, Vaidy, Ramanand,Rajesh John( maybe he needs a wake up and pick up from home too like last time to ensure his participation), Uday( Mr.Coremind), GS.

All the above are requested to confirm their participation to me on 3/3/06 on my cell 98407-52717 or to Tommy Philip-98400-82741 and any other XLer especially from the recent batches (circa 2000 onwards) shall be eagerly welcomed if he/she can play.

Though it may be rather late in the day, any sponsors even now for soft drinks, lunch,T-shirts etc are welcome.

Jk of IIM-C is also coordinating for sponsorships and cud update us on the status so far of our discussions with Deutsche Bank.

Looking forward to hearing for more confirmations from the XL cricket community out in Chennai.

Tommy, as usual need your help for arranging the cricket kit. The umpires is bringing new balls for the matches. I have my wicket keeping gloves and pads and abdo guards, but we'll need bats, pads and gloves.

C'mon guys pile on !!! You pretty girls too are welcome though so far we've yet to have the pleasure of having the fairer sex onboard our XL team.

Murali/LG Ramaswamy
98407-52717