Monday, June 29, 2009

XLers helping with Relief efforts in the Sunderbans

I received this email from Tushar Dalmia of the 2008 batch through another of his batchmates.

Please read through this. If the issue strikes a chord and you would like to help, please contact

Aakash Shah +91 98318 04001

From: <tushardalmia at gmail dot com>


Hi!

It was just another cyclone. The Aila.

Except that it happened in our own backyard – in the world’s largest mangrove forest called the Sunderbans.

In one stroke, it’s almost endangered the very survival of the huge area that falls within the administration of 24 Parganas (S) and (N), of West Bengal, India

The Cyclone did not kill as much as it maimed. People are dying a slower death because they live on little islands accessible only by boats which are the lifeline to the area.

With everything swept away and the rest rotting away, we – just a motley group of friends- had decided on the spur of the moment to visit the affected areas and offer help and support to 800 families living in two villages of Bagbagan and Rajapur, under the Gosaba Block of the Rangabelia panchayat in South 24 Parganas.

The soil in these villages has become unsuitable for any kind of farming for a minimum of next two years and it is important that we support them in the interim period before they can figure out ways to help themselves in the long run. We are also working with the village seniors to see how we can help them in the medium to long run horizon.

We have already made 4 trips and supplied almost Rs. 150,000 worth of relief material. This was done entirely through the help of our friends and relatives who pitched in with their timely support.

Now we intend carrying basic food supplies to the villages for the next 16 odd weeks within which they would have limped back to some normalcy. And that is where we need your help. On a very rough average, we need almost 2500 kgs rice, 500 kgs of dal, medicines, oil in small pouches, haldi and salt, 100 kgs of biscuits, and 100 kgs of cattle feed every week. The weekly expense inclusive of transportation by road and river is close to Rs 75,000.

We would be very happy to continue distributing this under our personal supervision, as we have done in our past 4 visits. We would be happier still if you join us on one of our visits.

We are not an organisation; we are simply humans, united by the cause of providing whatever relief that we can to the soil of the land that made us into what we are today. We prefer your contribution in kind and in case you have to pay by cheque, we can try and make arrangements for that too.

It is in adversity that humanity faces its most severe test.

For any contributions, please get in touch with

Aakash Shah +91 98318 04001

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Singapore Alumni Chapter raises 5000SGD$ for XLRI Social Entrepreneurship Trust

Received this mail from Madhukar Sir yesterday.

Thanks a ton, all the "Dream-Runners"!

Today, I received the contributions you all made (SGD$ 5,000/- ~ Rs 167,000/-) for the "XLRI Social Entrepreneurship Trust".

In fact the last fortnight has been quite good for the Trust. I got a contribution of Rs 12,500/- from one of the 91 batch alumnus (with a promise that this will be repeated every 2 months:)...

and one of the old XL strategy faculty who was visiting Jampot, and went with me to the Parichay's Learning & Design Center, and was so thrilled with their work, that cut a USD$1,000/- for the Trust on the spot)

So thanks folks, for making my day...

Special thanks to Rajesh "Ciggy" Soundarajan and Ramesh for mobilising the energy of junta

Paraphrasing GWB for the monies to the Trust, I would say - "Bring 'em on!" :0)

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

From vccircle.com

Banerjee was the Head-Private Banking in India for ABN Amro and also lead the consumer banking business in India.

Financial services firm Ambit Holdings Pvt. Ltd has announced its foray into wealth management business with appointment of Sutapa Banerjee 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.

Picture and full story on XLRI Alumni making news

Madhukar in CII's National Committee on Skills & Human Resources

From: "Madhukar Shukla"

I am very happy to share with you that one of XLRI Profs has been inducted in the CII's National Committee on Skills and Human Resources.... However, being modest, I am afraid I will not be able to tell you his name.



:0))

XL Canada Picnic - July 1 (With Family)

Date : July 1, 2009 (Wednesday)-Canada Day - RAIN/SHINE

Time : 12:00 pm onwards (normally lasts till 4:00 pm at least)

Location : Sunnybrook Park (Picnic Area No. 2), Toronto - see map attached

Directions : Most convenient to use the Entrance marked in Black on the Map off Leslie St.

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

Please bring our own soft drinks, styrofoam plates / cups/ napkins/spoons/ forks etc.
Please bring lawn chairs, Duree/sheets.
If you have a Stove, pls bring that along to to heat up the food if required.
(if your friends want to come along, welcome too)

We could also have games for the kids and play some cricket - and Fred has a cricket set so we can play some tennis ball cricket. Those who have Frisbees/Balls, or any other sport items, please bring them along too.Fred will be bringing a small stove and will make 'Chai' for all of us.

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

Once again looking forward to see you all there,

Regards,
Siddharth

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Easy2commute - Secure Corporate Carpool for Delhi NCR

This is a new and innovative initiative being spearheaded in Delhi by an Alumnus of the 2006 batch - Ambrish Bajaj and a friend of his from IIMA - Abhishek Rajan.

About Easy2commute (E2C)

E2C is a Corporate Carpool solution designed to help office-goers find fellow commuters travelling on similar routes. The site utilizes an in-house Vicinity Search technology to suggest potential poolers who reside in nearby areas and travel to office destinations which are in close vicinity of each other. The site’s database covers more than 3000 colonies, sectors, pockets, apartments, office areas and landmarks in the Delhi NCR region to enable users to accurately locate their home and office areas, with an option to use a visual area map. In its endeavour to provide a secure environment, the solution relies on a unique User Verification process wherein HR/Admin representative from companies verify the credentials of their respective employees that register on this site. Registered users can search for potential carpoolers both intra-company as well as inter-company. Concerted efforts have gone into making this site more usable and secure for the users.

Ambrish & Abhishek

How it all began...

The origin of this site is more logical than interesting...

Abhishek Rajan and Ambrish Bajaj, having offices in DLF Cyber City (Gurgaon), often wondered over their many cups of coffee about what could be done to reduce the ever increasing traffic on the roads of Delhi NCR? One option could be to dis-incentivise purchase of new vehicles by levying more taxes, toll charges and parking fees. Another option could be to encourage commuters to use public transport. In the absence of these two, they decided to look for the third option - Carpool. The reason why they thought this could work was the emergence of several thickly populated corporate hubs (like DLF Cyber City or Udyog Vihar in Gurgaon, Electronic City in Noida) across NCR, with thousands of cars entering and exiting these corporate hubs everyday.

But the ground reality is that people do not really carpool, as is evident from the large proportion of single occupancy cars on the road. While part of the reason is to do with the mindset (some people have safety concerns, others consider it detrimental to their privacy), the other part could be that these office commuters do not really have any comprehensive means to search for fellow commuters residing in nearby areas and travelling daily to the same office/building/complex at nearly similar times of the day. The need to bridge this gap between commuters who could be potential car poolers, led to the development of the E2C Corporate Carpool concept. Addressing the safety concerns of people was also the top priority. A secure environment was to be provided, where one could choose to connect with only genuine and verified users.

Many months and numerous coffee cup discussions laters, the two managed to develop this safe and easy Corporate Carpool solution, their contribution towards a green and de-congested NCR. Abhishek and Ambrish are graduates from Delhi College of Engineering and post-graduates in Business Administration from IIM Ahmedabad and XLRI Jamshedpur respectively.


Check out the website http://easy2commute.com

Energize the HR department of your company to make use of such a green initiative which will also benefit the company employees in the long run.

Contact details of the 2 innovators is on their website.

ITC Chairman, YC Deveshwar inaugurates IAJBS 15th World Forum @XLRI

Jamshedpur, June 8 (The Telegraph): Proper business education is a necessity for better sustainability, said ITC chairman Y.C. Deveshwar today.

Stressing on sustainable development, he cited examples from the company’s rural initiatives under corporate social responsibility while delivering the keynote address at the 15th World Forum of the International Jesuits Business Schools. About 80 delegates from the Jesuits Business Schools across the globe - USA, Europe, Asian countries - are participating in the forum held at the XLRI campus.

“Sustainable development is about the triple bottomline across three dimensions — economic, social and ecological, which means creating social and ecological wealth. However, there are some challenges of development that arise from growing income inequities and secondly there’s a threat from global and climate change,” said Deveshwar.

undefinedStressing on the role of management institutions, he said that the institutions needed to spread awareness and education. He suggested areas in which institutes could carry out meaningful research in collaboration with the industry to find solutions.

Citing e-Choupal — a model designed by the ITC to tackle the challenges posed by the unique features of Indian agriculture — as an example, Deveshwar said that the common man has to be involved in order to achieve the sustainability. “People are not society’s burden. If they are utilised in a proper way, they can be created as resources. Education helps in innovation. With creative business models we can convert threats into opportunities. This begins with a realisation of compelling challenges.”

Delhi Alumni Meet Pictures are up

Richa Malik has uploaded her pictures of the meet.

Her message and link to her pictures, follows:

The pics are finally here...Sorry for the delay...


The pictures are uploaded in their original size so feel free to download them without worrying about the resolution. Do let me know if you want me to email you some pictures, just in case.
Thank you for coming for the alumni meet.
Hope everyone had a great time.
Regards,
Richa Malik

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Tata Capital Limited appoints Mr. Jamshed Daboo (86BMD) as Head - National Sales and Service Organization

From Domain News

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

Mr. Jamshed Daboo as Head - National Sales and Service OrganizationTata 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.

Tata Capital Limited is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons Limited. Tata Capital is registered with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as a Systemically Important Non Banking Financial Company and aims to fulfill the diverse needs of retail and institutional customers through divisions, subsidiaries or joint ventures as per regulatory requirements.

The Company's diversified portfolio includes - Retail Finance, Corporate Finance, Investment Services, Wealth Management Services, Investment Banking, Private Equity, and Rural Finance.

SAP Research Award for XL Prof

From Times of India

BANGALORE: SAP Labs India has established the SAP Research and Innovation Award to recognize the scientific and research potential of Indian

academics and their role in nurturing industry-ready talent.

“In an effort to set up formidable alliances with some of the best institutions in India, SAP is attempting to harness the Indian talent pool to establish collaboration between Indian Academics and SAP’s research and development departments,” Kush Desai, managing director, SAP Labs India told TOI.

“These awards will be instrumental in building an essential framework of knowledge-sharing between the industry and the academia of the country. This will go a long way in ensuring conversion of indigenous scientific ideas into business propositions,” he said.

SAP Research and SAP Labs India had invited entries on contemporary and relevant research topics like advanced web technologies, real-world awareness, real-time enterprise transparency and so on.

The selection process involved an initial round of online submission of a project brief, while in the second round, the contenders with the most promising proposals were required to submit a full-fledged project proposal.

Eight candidates were short-listed to present their projects to a committee of SAP Research experts and five winners were selected in the final round, including Prof Jalote, Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIT), Delhi, Prof. Balasubramaniam, BITS, Pilani, Prof. Sanjay Kumar, Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), Jamshedpur and others.

The winning projects will be awarded a research grant of Rs 11,00,000 each for a project duration of one year, and receive an opportunity to collaborate with SAP Research and its partners.
SAP also supports education around the world.

The SAP University Alliances Program is currently established in Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand and Thailand.

One of the winners, Prof. Sanjay Kumar, Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), Jamshedpur, says, “We are grateful to SAP Research for providing us with a platform to incubate our ideas into business projects. We are excited to work with researchers at SAP Labs India, as this will foster sharing of best practices among the industry and the academia, a quintessential element that ensures success in innovation.

XLRI Campus Store - Inaugurated!

Heard that there may be an online ordering and delivery option soon, in case you were wondering:)
Kim

The XLRI Campus Store was inaugurated today by the Director, Fr E Abraham, S.J., @ XLRI, Jamshedpur.

Here are some photos of the Store:















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Posted By The Theme to XLRI Jamshedpur - News and Latest Updates at 6/07/2009 04:18:00 PM