IIMB Alumni Magazine Summer 2009

S U M M E R 2 0 0 9

IIMB ALUMNI MAGAZINE

Dear Alum,

It's been a little over 10 months now since I joined the Alumni Office at IIMB. Time flies so fast in the lovely woods and the granite walls of our campus. It's been a very eventful period for the Alumni Association and I can't help but feel grateful to the wonderful support you all have

provided. The 34th Annual Convocation took place on April 2, 2009, with about 419 students graduating this year. It was a moment of joy for everyone. We wish the class of 2009 all the very best and also intend to keep them engaged with IIMB through the Alumni Office.

The Alumni Office has been very busy over the last six months working to create a formal structure of the Alumni Association worldwide. We are very happy to inform you that we now have 11 recognized city chapters in Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, Singapore, Hong Kong, London, Middle East and New York. I was fortunate to witness the launch of Kolkata, Mumbai and Delhi chapters and meet with many of you. The office-bearers of these chapters will work with the Alumni Office and serve as nodal agencies for you to connect with IIMB. We also have representatives for every batch who will help us reach out to you all. The goal of having these structures is to ensure that we reach out to everyone and collaborate in various programmes that benefit the entire IIMB community. We encourage you to update your information on www.iimbaa.org, get the contacts of your local city chapter and stay connected.

Anusmaran '09, planned in all 11 cities between the 16th to the 23rd of May is a good example of how this structure is beginning to work. For the first time, we had telephonic conferences between six India chapters to plan the event. The office bearers worked very hard to get partners to sponsor the event and for the first time, we all realized the power of working together. It's a sense of nirvana to see these chapters now taking full ownership and charge of their cities, driving the agenda, engaging students and the alumni in that city to come together. We can only go onwards and upwards from now on. I sincerely urge you to maintain the momentum.

We are proud to bring you the Summer 2009 edition of the IIMB Alumni Magazine. From a humble beginning eight months ago, and from the launch of the first edition in Winter 2008, I think we have come a long way with this edition. The editorial team comprising of the lovely ladies Aparna, Sonira, Srividya and Sushma have worked very hard to bring you the Summer 2009 edition. In this edition, you will meet more alums from a cross-section of industries, batches and programmes, their views on the recent economic situation, articles from members of the faculty, updates from students, alumni events, reunions and class notes. Last, but not least, some very touching words and pictures that capture the essence of our campus.

I still recall my first mail to all you in August 2008. And I will use the same words here again. Let's Engage, Energize and Enhance IIMB's leadership through a strong Alumni Association.

Rakesh Godhwani, PGSEM '04

Head, IIMB Alumni Association

Editorial Team (left to right): Sushma R; Sonira Gulhati; Aparna Datta; Srividya Krishnamurthy


ContentsEditorial Committee:Sankarshan BasuRakesh GodhwaniAparna Datta

Editorial Team:Aparna DattaRakesh Godhwani Sushma R Srividya Krishnamurthy Sonira Gulhati

Design & ProductionCicada MediaBangalore

IIMB ALUMNI ASSOCIATIONINDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENTBANGALOREBannerghatta RoadBangalore 560 076, IndiaTel: +91-80-2699 3336Fax: +91-80-2658 4050Email: [email protected]:www.iimbaa.org

Copyright, 2009. Indian Institute of Management Bangalore.

All rights reserved. No part of this magazine can be reproduced

either in part or full without IIMB's prior written permission

FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION ONLY

From the Alumni Office 2

Round Table 4

Back to B-School 9

Salon 14

Hall of Fame 23

Anusmaran 25

Class Notes 28

What's Up @ IIMB 30

IIMB in Motion 36

Giving Back 38

IIMB on My Mind 39


Waiting to exhale. That could sum up the current mood in

business circles. For the past few months, the global

economic downturn has affected everyone to a greater or

lesser extent. It's been the subject of discussion in

boardrooms and at the water-cooler and out on the streets, as

people struggle make sense of the tectonic shifts in the

financial landscape worldwide and impacts at a personal

level. To try and decipher the situation, IIMB Alumni

Association hosted a Round Table on the topic at IIMB on

April 15, 2009, with alumni participants. The discussions form

the basis of this article, which offers several takeaways on

coping with economic cycles and coming out stronger.

Professor Chiranjib Sen, Professor, Economics and Social Sciences, IIMB (Moderator)

Nagendra Venkaswamy, PGP '82 - President, Juniper India

M. S. Rajagopalan, PGP '83 - Vice President, Real Image

Samir Kumar, PGP'86 - Managing Director, Inventus India

Ravikiran, PGSEM '01- Head of Solution Centre, Nokia Siemens Networks

Jay Srinivasan, PGP '94 - Head, Governance & Assurance, Fidelity India

Professor Chiranjib SenWe are here to discuss an issue which is on everybody's minds. Every day, the newspapers bring tidings about the economic crisis, and people are always looking for signs as to whether it's going to continue, how big it is, how long it will last etc. We don't expect to find answers in our discussion but we probably can figure out the current situation and where it is heading.

India fortunately, has been somewhat insulated, as compared to the rest of the world. There is no doubt that we are affected. A situation like this is a reminder that our success is dependent on countries and organizations around us. We are also meeting under the shadow of the G 20 meetings.

The situation as I see today is that the worst is probably over. To be able to revive from this economic crisis we need to build back a healthy financial sector. A global boom that is backed by a strong financial sector is the opportunity of the future. So it's essential we zero in on this boom. To give you a concrete example, Obama seems to be trying very hard to get the green energy boom going. It's the way in which the United States' supremacy in science and technology can be re-harnessed.

Gentlemen, you are in the forefront of these major developments and must be facing the difficulties of the present turmoil. I am sure you all have given a lot of thought to the situation and how it must be faced. So we are looking forward to hearing from you. We shall start with Mr. Venkaswamy.

ROUND TABLE

IIMB ALUMNI MAGAZINE SUMMER 2009

GETTING PAST THE ECONOMIC DOWNTURN - AND GAINING THE HIGH GROUND

4

Nagendra VenkaswamyProfessor, thank you for giving us an overview. I'd like to say that I am not quite as optimistic about the future as you.

Fundamentally I think the whole crisis is because of leverage - leverage in households, real estate and financial services. Historically, if you look at any of the depressions or downturns, leverage has often been the cause. This has created huge assets in India as well. I wouldn't give credit to our government for the creation of the asset bubble and 9% growth in the economy. Much of it is due to the huge increase in value of assets globally. If we look at the latest figures that have come in, the real impact of the economic downturn is being felt in India now. Our industrial growth is 3% as opposed to 8.7% earlier and our export growth is 7.6% as opposed to 26% earlier. The GDP is expected to grow at 6%, which is respectable, but let us not forget that the 6% is due to the fantastic growth in the first two quarters of the fiscal.

Historically recessions have lasted about 16-18 months. It doesn't look like this crisis is going to be over that soon. India is hit just like the rest of the world. In the good old days, we didn't go out and buy a refrigerator if we didn't have money for it. Today 95% of fast-moving durables are bought on credit. Ninety-eight percent of all automobiles including trucks are bought on credit and that has gone through the floor.

To my mind the next year or so is going to be tough and we need to be prepared for it. So what is it that we can do about it?

After some brainstorming there are a few general survival strategies that came to my mind. These could be applied in any organization. In my opinion there is a list of priorities which every company can follow in order to help one get out of this crisis sooner than later.

1. Understand your business; understand what your core competency is and focus on it.

2. Act decisively and quickly - what are the key drivers of your business? Where are you going to cut costs, what are you going to focus on etc.? Act before the problem hits you… anticipate.

3. Cash is king - preserve the cash. The impact can be sudden, so one has to be prepared.

4. Focus on what matters - revisit the investment programs, cut out empty revenue customers and channel partners and focus on high margin customers /opportunities

5. Manage the cost base - operational expenses, simplify processes, and cut business processes, cut cost wherever you can without disturbing your core business.

ROUND TABLE


Round Table panelists (left to right): M. S. Rajagopalan, PGP '83; Samir Kumar, PGP '86; Nagendra Venkaswamy, PGP '82; Professor Chiranjib Sen; Ravikiran, PGSEM '01; Jay Srinivasan, PGP '94

6. Value people - this is the time when people are nervous and insecure. At times like these, managements need to communicate frequently and transparently.

7. Take advantage of opportunities- look at low-cost acquisitions, new markets, new customer requirements, etc.

8. Focus on innovation- this will hold you in good stead when the economy improves.

9. Closely communicate with your stakeholders- your channel partners, customers, shareholders, etc.

Not doing anything at times like these is actually a disaster. In my opinion if we focus on these nine points it will help us come out a lot better. At the same time we will be over ambitious if we expect overnight recovery.

RajagopalanI would like to take the discussion further to give a societal view of the situation. Unlike Prof Sen or Venkaswamy, my thought are somewhere in the middle. I am neither too optimistic nor am I pessimistic. To explain my point of view, I would like to make use of an example. Let us say that there is an earthquake and everybody starts to feel tremors. People head outside their houses and wait. Some buildings fall, others survive and some get damaged. The fact is that in time, people do get back to their houses/offices and get back to what they need to do.

Just as there are different parts of the earth that could experience different effects of the earthquake, the effect of the financial crisis is also differential. Some parts of the world are more insulated than others.

Today I would say that approximately 90-95% of the salaried people are keeping their monthly incomes. Why do we have to go into a freeze mode? If we go into a freeze mode by not doing anything, the impact would be greater than what it could be otherwise. This financial instability and crisis cannot go away by just sitting quiet. By freeze mode I mean the lack of consumption. We need to go out there and spend. A stimuli needs to be provided for people to consume, especially in times like this. Consumer consumption stimulation needs to be focused on, especially in a country like ours.

Consumer consumption along with government expenditure in core areas like healthcare, education, etc. can help us get out of this crisis in less than a year.

Samir KumarI come from the Venture Capital industry and we take a slightly longer term view of things. We see recessions as good opportunities, not just from our investment stand point but for the entrepreneurs that we back.

In boom times, like in 2006-07, everyone started to go overboard. People wanted to join only the large corporations. So the start-ups had a tough time recruiting. Start-ups couldn't compete with the salaries offered by the larger companies. Rents went through the roof- people wanted fancy offices. So it was a difficult time for entrepreneurs. The scenario in tough times like this is quite different - large companies are either laying off people or cutting salaries. People are therefore looking at other opportunities. A start-up job is no longer looked down upon. Expectations of people who join are reasonable, rents are realistic and start-ups can afford to hire offices in decent locations. People who think it is a good thing to start a venture in boom times don't do it now, so competition is less. Customers who are the life blood of start-ups are more accessible. So from a start-up point, I think, recessions are spring-cleaning times. They are extremely essential for the economy. Obviously if it lasts for ten years it's not good for anyone, not even the start-ups. From the VC point of view also these are great times to invest. Expectations are reasonable, valuations are reasonable and given the long time horizon we have, we think investments made in these times will yield very good results.

RavikiranI would like to give you the perspective from the stand-point of someone working in the telecom industry.

Ten years ago, a mobile phone was not a commodity but a premium service. Like Venkaswamy mentioned, India has added 15 million new subscribers in the last month. In the last two months we have added a total of 30 million. Now let us look at the world markets. The markets can be divided into two - the mature markets like the US and Europe where the recession has set in completely and the other countries being India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Africa and Eastern Europe etc. In mature markets which are recession hit, people are not spending much, so it is a time to be cautious. In a market like that it is not wise to make to investments. Even companies are cutting down on business communication. There is a pressure on operators and in turn on vendors.

Most operators today are global players and are safe guarding their investments by putting a lot more into the emerging markets like India and South-East Asia etc.

ROUND TABLE


The growth in emerging markets, on the other hand is reasonable and hence companies are making investments there. Even in India, companies in the telecom sector haven't stopped investing in infrastructure. This optimism and growth will not be seen for long, though. There has to be a natural slowdown. In my opinion it will be natural and not because of the economic slump. There will be something to worry about only if people start cutting back on using communication services. So what do we do with our portfolio? Companies prefer to cut down on innovations and technology rather than people. Let me share with you, the solutions I am looking at to get us through this crisis.

• The first and foremost is to keep the fundamentals intact. Like Venkaswamy mentioned, to conserve cash. In our case it is also to get the cash in.

• Cost control at times like this is very critical.

• Build an organizational culture which can sustain you in tough times like this. Employees are coming together in times like these and there is a certain level of insecurity.

• Opportunities do exist; it's just a matter of going out and finding them.

Jay SrinivasanThe recession has definitely debunked a thought, that India was insulated from the Western markets. India is feeling the heat of the latest economic crisis. I work at Fidelity, which is an investment company. One of things we have is a governance model in which we check on certain triggers in the market when we do our corporate buying. Over the years we have realized that one requires to be prepared for any outcome at any given time. Today, there is a compelling need for companies to be nimble, to be able to put things into place much faster than they did before. One of the learnings for a company like ours has been to put a process in place, a strategy that will ensure that we are able to implement our plans a lot faster.

Today almost ninety-five per cent of people in India are using credit for all their consumer durable purchases. I am not too sure about how much of the investment by companies has been protected by appropriate safeguards. I think in the next three to six months a huge crisis is going to occur when people are not going to be able to meet their obligations. I hope I am wrong but I think that this is going to have a ripple effect on the whole economy.

With the situation being what it is, there is certainly a sense of insecurity among people. To give you an example, there is a Barista and an Adigas in the building where I work. In the last six months I noticed that the Adigas was starting to get more crowded than the Barista. This is a wonderful barometer. Personally I don't think I would pay 50 or 60 rupees for a cup of coffee unless I know my future is secure.

We are reasonably insulated, but I think there is a need to diversify our portfolio so that our dependence on the western economies comes down.

At Fidelity, we are looking at shuffling our portfolio and giving customers safer options of investments. Customers are also looking at safer investments. So there is no irrational exuberance anymore.

• Times like this are excellent for organizations to take a look at their controls. Other things to do: Keep your people engaged. It is just not enough for them to have their jobs. This is essential because when the market starts recovering it is these minds that will start looking at opportunities outside.

• Don't waste a good recession. Use the time to network.

• Educate yourself.

• Travel, engage in social activity. Re-set your own inner compass.

Professor Chiranjib SenThank you, gentlemen. I'd like to raise some issues that emerged in my mind during this discussion. I think there is a great need for a systemic approach to thinking. The key question is whether or not this is a period in which India can emerge from the shadows. In the last decade or so we have definitely grown in confidence. But can we make a quantum leap in the near future? This cannot happen only at a micro level. Here I think it is the entrepreneurs who need to be more imaginative to chart a new collective direction. We certainly cannot bank on world economies to recover, and wait to be bailed out. The global economy is unlikely to return to its old trajectory. Then what is it that we can do? I think in our discussion today we've stumbled upon some wonderful ideas about how we can strengthen our companies. What we need now is a strengthening of mutually complementary investments, which will not only lift us out of this recession, but propel us forward. We need a vision which will pull our country out of this economic crisis.

ROUND TABLE


Discussion:Samir Kumar:

There are a lot of ways to stimulate the economy and fuel demand. In my opinion one of the ways to do that is to unleash the entrepreneurial energy of India. We can start right here at the academic institutions. At most business schools, we are taught not to take risks. I think a shift in that needs to be made. We should teach our youth to be able to take calculated and mitigated risks.

Venkaswamy:

Whether we like it or not the recession is going to play up. India is a country that has been driven by consumption, more specifically internal consumption. That in a sense has protected us. Fortunately exports only constitute fifteen per cent of our GDP. Internal demand is down and needs to brought up. So how is it that we can bring this internal demand back again? The way to get people to spending more is to give them a vision of a secure future. To have a bright future an able leadership is required. As a country we are great at planning but terrible when it comes to execution. Even the 9 per cent of growth we've had over the last few years has made the government complacent.

Everybody knows what has to be done, now is the time to go out there and do it. It is a fact that there has been downsizing and we have been hit by this crisis just as the other countries. The one thing I am more bullish about is the telecom and communications sector. I think the last thing people are going to give up is their mobile phones or their internet connection. People need communication devices to look for jobs, network with people etc.

Rajagopalan:

I do agree with Venkaswamy that people will not give up their demand of mobile phones and other communication devices. The job cuts do exist; there is an impact no doubt. I do not think that the consumption of basic things like food have gone down drastically. People may have shifted down from say a Barista to an Adigas, but they do eat food. One never knows about the future being secure, not only in times of recession.

Venkaswamy:

While most of us sitting here may not hesitate to see a movie or eat out today, we will think twice before investing in an apartment, if we aren't too secure about our future. We are only a fraction of the economy. If you look at the majority of the population things are bad. Several thousands of construction workers have lost their jobs. One million people are going to come back from Dubai to Kerala jobless. Even the national highway

authority project which was way ahead of schedule is now forty per cent behind schedule. The biggest employer in any part of the world today is construction. Some of the biggest players in this market are badly hit. We are witnessing a fairly serious situation where many people and organizations may be impacted.

Srinivasan:

If we look at the Indian economy it has done well in the last 5-10 years because of two sectors, IT and real estate. So what we need is diversification. I would say we also need to focus more on manufacturing. That's where the government can play a huge role in making it easy for people to manufacture in India and export. Contract manufacturing is another huge opportunity. I think we've been going after the low-hanging fruit for way too long.

Venkaswamy:

I disagree with what you say, Jay. The fact that a product or a brand has to be at the top of the food chain is wrong. Take the example of a McKinsey. It does not have a product. That you should expect a TCS or an Infosys to have a product like an Excel or a Windows isn't correct. If you look across the globe there are very few companies who excelled in both services and product. Our strength lies in the services sector and we should focus on that. Also, I do not think that the back bone of our economy has been IT and real estate. If you look at our economy, every single sector has grown dramatically over the last five to seven years. Less than five percent of our economy is driven by IT. We are a services driven economy and we should be proud of it.

Professor Chiranjib Sen:

In conclusion, I think the present problem that the world is facing is because of what is being called market fundamentalism. If ever there was a time to understand how false the idea of an unregulated world being the best world is, it is now. It is also important that we move beyond government bashing because it's a totally jaded thing. What we need is some medium-term restructuring because we have over invested in certain areas.

From our discussion, one of the things I am reminded of is the theory of Paradox of Thrift. If in times of recession people try to save more by spending less and conserving, they may be doing themselves a favor but it drags down the economy.

Also we discussed and shared several ideas on what we as individuals and companies can do to get out of this recession sooner than later and meanwhile learn something from it. It is a time to take a pause and think about restructuring our thinking, our strategy and our mindsets.

ROUND TABLE


IntroductionOver the past two decades, most economies have entered into free trade agreements (FTA), preferential trade agreements, and economic cooperation and economic partnership agreements (collectively termed PTAs). Between 1995 and 2005, more than 220 PTAs were notified to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Between 2000 and 2007 alone, 185 agreements were concluded.

The Asian economies are major participants in this trend. More than half of the 60 or so agreements that the major economies in the Asia-Pacific region have entered into involve countries from within the region. India too has joined the bandwagon of regionalism. In recent years, India has significantly expanded its bilateral trade and investment relations with Asian countries by initiating PTAs. Within Asia, India has been involved in negotiating bilateral FTAs with Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, China, Korea, and Japan. It is also a member of BIMSTEC*. FTA negotiations are underway with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). India is also pursuing the idea of a pan-Asian economic cooperation initiative known as the Asian Economic Community (AEC).

The shift in India's global economic and strategic relations towards the Asian region is a result of its 'Look East Policy' (LEP), initiated in 1991. The LEP aims to deepen India's economic and political linkages with Asian countries and forge mutually beneficial economic partnerships within the Asian region. Since then, bilateral relations between India and other Asian countries have expanded rapidly. India's trade share with developing Asia doubled from 12 per cent to 24 per cent between 1987 and 2004. Over the past decade, its average growth in merchandise trade with developing Asia has been higher than for all other regions. (Asher 2007)

India's PTAs: motivating factorsWhat are the reasons underlying India's growing interest in negotiating regional and bilateral agreements with the Asian economies? The answer lies in a combination of factors. From the perspective of other Asian countries, it could be explained by India's growing importance to the rest of Asia in the latter's pursuit of diversified export markets, continued growth and macroeconomic stability, and efforts to counterbalance China's regional dominance. From the Indian perspective, these efforts could be explained by Asia's growing importance in India's pursuit of regional export markets and investment sources, and for securing its long-term geo-political and strategic interests.

BY PROFESSOR RUPA CHANDA

UNDERSTANDING INDIA'S REGIONAL INITIATIVES WITH EAST AND SOUTH-EAST ASIA

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India's growing importance in Asia

Over the past decade, India's growing domestic market has attracted attention as an investment and export destination. In 2006, India accounted for 11 per cent of incremental global GDP in purchasing power parity terms - second only to China, which accounted for about 30 per cent. What makes the Indian and Chinese economies so important for the rest of the Asian region is that their growth is largely driven by domestic forces such as rising consumption and investment, favourable demographics, growing affluence, and long-term favourable growth prospects. These domestic stimuli can help temper the adverse effects of a slowdown in major developed markets.

India's growing importance for the rest of Asia also stems from its emergence as one of the leading exporters of commercial services, particularly in IT and various professional services. In 2005, India's share in Asia's total services exports and imports stood at 10.7 per cent and 9.1 per cent, respectively, underlining its significance in global commercial services trade within Asia (WTO 2006).

There is also demographic complementarity between India and other more rapidly ageing Asian countries that could be tapped for labour-intensive manufacturing as well as services provision. India has a growing working age population to total population ratio as against the declining ratio in other major Asian countries, such as China, Korea, and Japan.

On the investment front, India has considerable potential as an investment destination for other Asian countries. Korea, China, Japan, and Singapore contributed on an average about 35 per cent of India's total FDI inflows between 2001 and 2005 (UNCTAD). Malaysia and Singapore have a keen interest in ensuring a close and stable relationship with India. Meanwhile, Indian companies continue to invest significantly in Asia, with India's outward investment stock in this region estimated at US$12 billion in 2006 (Asher 2007).

The rise of Asia

India's interest in negotiating regional agreements with other Asian countries is also explained by its realisation of the region's growing significance in its trade and investment flows, its long term growth prospects, and larger strategic objectives. Just as Asia cannot ignore India, India cannot ignore the rest of Asia.

Over the past two decades, the centre of gravity of world trade has shifted towards Asia. This region is projected to grow annually at 4.9 per cent during the 2006-20 period as compared to 3.5 per cent for the world as a whole, with China, India, and Vietnam projected to grow most

rapidly within Asia. The share of East and South East Asia's exports in world exports rose from 14 per cent in 1980 to nearly 27 per cent in 2006, while its imports expanded from 15 per cent to 24 per cent during the same period. The Asian region today accounts for about 50 per cent of India's total exports. ASEAN alone accounted for about 9.5 per cent of India's imports and nearly 10 per cent of India's exports during 2006-07, up from mere 1.2 per cent and 1.7 per cent shares respectively in 2001-02 (IBEF 2007).

Given the strong investment and trade linkages among East and South East Asian countries, India's agreements with selected countries (e.g., Singapore and Thailand) and regional groupings (ASEAN) also provide it with an opportunity to penetrate third countries and the wider regional market using the hub and spoke method. For example, when the Indo-Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement was signed, IT industry experts noted that this agreement would provide them the opportunity to tap the wider Asian market by using Singapore as a front office and hub for their Asia- Pacific operations.

Counterbalancing China's economic influence

India's efforts in Asia may also be motivated by its fear of marginalisation, in particular, a concern that it could suffer from trade and investment diversion due to China's regional agreements within Asia. More than 50 per cent of China's total trade is now with Asian countries. China has formed nine bilateral FTAs and is considering negotiations with about 30 other countries (Gibbs and Wagle 2005). In the Asia-Pacific region, it has a mini-FTA with Thailand, a framework agreement with ASEAN, and negotiations are underway with Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. Interestingly, India's PTA initiatives are with almost the same set of Asian countries, reflecting the competitive regionalism forces at play.

ASEAN too may be seeking to counterbalance China's growing role within Asia by forging an agreement with India. The ASEAN economies are concerned about the intense competitive pressures that a China-ASEAN FTA could bring from Chinese manufacturers.

Recent reports indicate that earlier patterns of investments - wherein FDI was re-routed from ASEAN countries to China for intermediate input production, which was then imported for further value addition in the ASEAN countries and final export to Japan or the US - may be changing, with investors locating their investments and doing their value addition in China for direct final export to Japan, the US, and other markets. Hence, there is concern that an FTA with China could be at the expense of the ASEAN countries.

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India provides an alternative market to China, not only as an export destination but also for sourcing intermediate inputs and locating investments.

Geo-political considerations

Many geo-political considerations have also played an important role in India's regional integration efforts in Asia. One such consideration has been to develop India's North-Eastern region and to curb insurgencies in the border areas. BIMSTEC, for example, envisages cooperation in trade and investment, technology, transportation and communication, energy, tourism, and fisheries, through collective plans. Another initiative, the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) Forum (India, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, Kampuchea, and Thailand) launched in 2000, aims to undertake economic development by developing transport, communication, and infrastructure facilities along with promoting tourism, culture, and education in the Mekong region. MGC offers immense scope for India to develop its North-Eastern states.

Another strategic consideration is to counteract China's political and diplomatic influence in the region. China's regional agreements in the Asia-Pacific go beyond economic objectives to build stronger political and diplomatic relations and establish leadership credentials in the region. India's regional efforts with similar countries can be seen as a move to establish its own political and diplomatic clout in the region.

Some Final Thoughts

Looking ahead, geo-political and strategic interests are likely to become increasingly important in shaping India's trade and investment cooperation strategies and its choice of partner countries, regions, sectors, and issues. One such issue will be energy security. Another important issue will be maritime security and trade facilitation. For instance, the proposed Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC), could promote trade and investment cooperation between the countries bordering the Indian Ocean rim and help India meet its geo-political, commercial and wider regional interests in Africa and the Asia Pacific.

Overall, a mix of commercial, strategic, geo-political, developmental, and other considerations will guide India's regional integration initiatives. But if India wishes to truly benefit from such agreements, it must be prepared to: (a) look beyond its immediate defensive and narrow interests in particular sectors and products; (b) complement its liberalisation efforts under such agreements with forward looking reform measures to build capacity and leverage the market access that is obtained; and (c) look beyond

traditional sectors and go beyond a status quo view of bilateral relations by addressing emerging areas, such as services and investment and create the basis for a more dynamic and competitive relationship with its partners.

References

Asher, M., 2007. India's rising role in Asia, Working

Paper No. 121, Research and Information System

(RIS) for Developing Countries, New Delhi.

<http://www.ris.org.in/>, accessed 29 January 2009.

Gibbs, M. and Wagle, S., 2005. The great maze:

regional and bilateral Free Trade Agreements in Asia-

trends, characteristics, and implications for human

development, Policy Paper, Asia-Pacific Trade and

Investment Initiative, UNDP Regional Center in

Colombo.

IBEF, 2005. India ASEAN: India's Enduring

Commerce with Rest of Asia, Gurgaon

http://www.ibef.org/artdisplay.aspx?cat_id=402&art_i

d=14327

UNCTAD FDI Database at <www.unctad.org>

WTO, 2006. International Trade Statistics, World

Trade Organisation, Geneva.

http://www.wto.org/english/res_e/statis_e/its2006_e/it

s06_toc_e.htm, accessed 29 January 2009.

*BIMSTEC: Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral and Technical Cooperation. It includes Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal.

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Rupa Chanda is Professor and currently Chairperson, Economic and Social Sciences Area.

Email: [email protected]

The article above is an excerpt from a paper published in

the May issue of the journal Asia Pacific Economic

Literature, and co-authored with G Sasidaran (Research

Associate at Institute for South Asian Studies, National

University of Singapore).

The global financial crisis has been around now for some time. A lot of people believe that the crisis started in the spring of 2008 with the closure of the venerable Bear Sterns, while there are others who believe that the crisis started in the summer of 2007 with the advent of the mortgage crisis in the US. Whatever the choices of date in terms of the start of the crisis, almost all agree unequivocally that there is a crisis and right now we are in the midst of it. The crisis has been compared by some to the "Great Depression" and there are other commentators who have called the crisis more severe than the "Great Depression" as well. Definitely it has been the "Financial Crisis of the Century". Indian industry and some policy planners also believe that the impact of the crisis is no less severe in India. However, the question remains as to whether it is as severe in India as it is being made out to be. In fact, there is a strong view that is coming around is based on the fact that the impact in India is far less severe than that has been talked about - the severity of the crisis is being hyped up by the industry in expectation of better sops from the government. This is a theory that seems to have some merit in it and this article looks at the justification of this view.

It may be noted that the Indian economy is still growing, unlike most other developed economies which have formally been declared to be in recession and hence contracting. Yes, it is true that the growth rate in the

Indian economy has slowed down from around 9% levels over the last couple of years to about 6% in the financial year 2008 - 09. In this context, it needs to be noted that 6% by itself is not too bad - in fact for decades the Indian economy grew at what has subsequently been termed as the "Hindu Rate of Growth" of about 3% - 3.5% per annum. Even in the heady days of 9% growth, there were doubts raised over the sustainability of the 9% growth rate and there were no global financial crisis clouds hovering over the horizon. In view of this, there is no reason for the level of panic and gloom that has set in due to a drop in the growth rate to 6% levels - the hypothesis of "hype" is to some extent justified.

Another approach is based on the financial data released by the Reserve Bank of India on an annual basis - this shows that the exposure that the Indian economy has to the external sector (all countries put together) is only about 15% of the country's GDP. Add to this some trickle effect and even then the total exposure to the external sector will not be more than 25% of the GDP. Even if we potentially assume the hypothetical worst-case scenario, this would mean that the impact on our GDP should be to the tune of 25%; i.e. the size of India's GDP should contract by 25%. Given the fact that India's GDP was about USD 1 trillion last financial year (2007-08), this should imply that the size of India's GDP should contract to USD 750 billion.

Myths and realities of the current Indian economic scenario

CUTTING THROUGH THE HYPE

BY PROFESSOR SANKARSHAN BASU

BACK TO B-SCHOOL


Sankarshan Basu is Associate Professor, Finance and Control Area, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, and Chairperson IIMB Alumni Association

Email: [email protected]

It should be noted that this number is larger than the comparable number in 2006-07, when the upsurge in the economy started. Further, with a billion-plus consumer base and growing, this is an impact that can be easily absorbed by the Indian economy. In this context, another point that needs to be mentioned is that government servants form a significant part of the consumer base and with the implementation of the 6th Pay Commission for Central Government employees, the disposable income of a significant section of the consumer base has suddenly gone up. Even without this, the domestic consumer demand in India had not come down. All these indicate that the market in India is growing and hence there is no reason for the level of despondency that is being portrayed.

In fact, this brings us to the question: why is this level of despondency being portrayed? There are potentially two reasons for that: first the expectation of something worse to come. However, that seems to be highly unfounded given the fact that globally a turnaround is being seen. The other plausible reason seems to be that by keeping up with this façade of a sorry state of the market, things which seem to be seemingly beyond the control of the industry, they expect a larger largesse and set of sops from the government. This seems particularly plausible given the fact that the new government which took over on May 22, 2009 will have to present the budget for the year 2009-10 by early July 2009. Given this, there seems to be a view that is gaining ground that this whining will

continue till July, and only post the budget announcements will any semblance of "business as usual" come back to Indian industry. Thus, the hype about the impact of global slowdown on the Indian economy and markets, to the extent that is being touted about, needs to be tempered in reality and the hype around the meltdown in India modified somewhat.

Based on this, it might be a good idea for policy planners to be wary of all the industry demands in terms of largesse and sops, and look at the reality of the Indian scenario rather than base it only on the basis of global markets. One has to realize that the inherent strengths of the Indian market and the benefits it has as compared to the global market - the large size of the consumer base is a force to reckon with and should not be treated as a liability. It is high time for Indian industry to be more circumspect about its demands, for it cannot be propped up by the government in excess of what the situation warrants.

BACK TO B-SCHOOL


Dr. K. Radhakrishnan is currently Director of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre at Trivandrum and has done his country proud with his contributions in the area of space, notably as a key member of the Chandrayaan-1 mission and RISAT-2.

On his visit to IIMB in January 2009, Dr. Radhakrishnan spoke to the IIMB team about his life after IIM and what he learnt from the Institute. Here are some excerpts from the interview…

Q: How has the IIMB evolved from the time you were studying here?

A: When we joined the IIMB, it was in its formative years. We started in a hired campus in the heart of the city. The hostel was in building which was a Kalyan Mandapam, behind Lalbagh. We even ran our own mess, which was I would say the first lessons of management education that we had. We were all like a close-knit family.

From then, IIMB has come a long way. It has become one of the leading institutions for management education in the world. As an alumnus, I am always proud to say that I belonged to this institution.

Q: Tell us about your professional journey since you graduated from the IIMB?

A: I came to the Institute from ISRO. I had about four years of service as a design engineer. After I graduated I went back to ISRO. I was then with the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre Trivandrum for another five years, looking at the avionic systems for the launch vehicles, specifically the SLV 3. Later I came back to the ISRO headquarters where I was in charge of budget and economic analysis for the entire space program.

In 1996 I decided to study further and enrolled in a doctoral program at IIT Kharagpur. I moved to Hyderabad with the National Remote Sensing Agency of ISRO. I was running a national mission called Integrated Mission for Sustainable Development. Through this mission we were essentially trying to see how the space-based remote sensing data could be used for water-ship manning at micro-level.

Soon after, I got an offer from the Department of Ocean Development to set up a new centre in Hyderabad for the ocean information services. I took up that challenge. I set it up as a model scientific institution. In a couple of years it became an attraction for the international community in the oceanic realm. Then in 2004 when the tsunami disaster struck, we came forward to set up the early warning centre for tsunami and storm searches.

DR.K. RADHAKRISHNAN, PGP '76

CANDID CONTRIBUTIONS

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This became one of the best model centers for tsunami early warning in the whole world.

In 2005 I came back to the ISRO family again to become the Director of National Remote Sensing Agency in Hyderabad.

For the last fifteen months I have been at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre as the Director. It has been a very satisfying period. We've had 3 successful launches of the PSLV. The icing on the cake undoubtedly has been the Chandrayaan mission. Our PSLV c 11 vehicle put the Chandrayaan into the earth's orbit where it started its journey to the moon. We also made the Moon Impact Probe that came out of Chandrayaan space craft and put the Indian flag on the surface of the moon on November 14, 2008. I have had a very purposeful and satisfying career so far.

Q: What has the Institute given you?

A: The Institute has taught me how to look at things in a different perspective. That's the first thing I learnt. The two years at IIMB teaches one to look at things in a holistic way.

Q: What role has IIMB played in your success?

A: From an engineer one has to become a manager and then a leader. What IIMB did was to accelerate the process of becoming a manager. Also it laid a foundation for leadership. Today I am in a role where I have to develop leaders and my training at IIMB has definitely helped me to do this.

Q: Today we see several successful IIMB alumni all over the world doing exceedingly well for themselves. What is it

in your opinion that sets them apart?

A: Apart from management education, what IIMB gives you is also a sense of values. Initially the thrust was on serving the public sector. Money was not as important as service to the country. I think this has had a huge impact on how one thinks and behaves in one's professional life. There is a sense of responsibility towards society and one's country. I would say that this is one of the great lessons that one learns at IIM, apart from the techniques and tools of modern management.

Q: Why do corporates prefer IIMB students?

A: To begin with IIM attracts the best talent from all across the country. So the input is fantastic. Secondly the training that one receives here over the two years is the best that it can get. So certainly the output has to be of high quality. Naturally the corporate world finds the IIMs to be a gold mine of talent.

Q: Any thoughts or a piece of advice that you would like to share with the new PGP students?

A: IIMB is providing you the best training that is possible and the country is looking for talent to build a new nation. The growth of the nation for the next fifty years is in the hands of the younger generation. So there is a major responsibility for you in the nation-building process. It is important that all of you understand this and take your responsibility seriously.

Q: IIMB as Alma Mater- what does it mean to you?

A: IIMB has a very special place in my life. It is the place where I built the foundation of my career and learnt to be a thinking individual and a thinking manager and leader.

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A seasoned banker with over 15 years experience in the banking industry, Sonjoy Chatterjee, did his B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from Jadavpur University Calcutta and went on to doing PGDM from IIMB.

Sonjoy, currently Executive Director on the Board of ICICI Bank, is responsible for Corporate & Investment Banking and the International Banking business of the Bank. He joined erstwhile ICICI's (eICICI) project finance business in Kolkata in April 1994. Since then he has held various positions in the bank including Head of Strategic Support in the office of the Group CEO, eICICI.

In 2003, Sonjoy moved to UK to set up ICICI Bank's first overseas subsidiary. Today ICICI Bank UK Plc is the largest overseas Indian bank. This proved to be one of the highlights of his career and a great challenge.

"I would say that setting up the UK business for the bank was like an entrepreneurship challenge. That along with the diverse roles I have held in the bank are the biggest joys of my career," says Sonjoy.

IIMB had a very big role to play in his life and Sonjoy is grateful for that. He met his wife here who was one batch junior to him. She is now with KPMG, managing corporate finance. His time here has had a very strong impact on his thinking and way of living, he says.

"My years at IIMB taught me how to be more sensitive to people around me. The education here is more than just management education. I would definitely say that my time at IIMB gave me an all-round development," he adds.

Sonjoy has fond memories of his life on campus. The campus was barer then and there were more open

spaces. "I remember the early morning jogs and visits to the nearby temple down Bannerghatta road. It was and still is a visually beautiful place," he adds.

According to Sonjoy, balance in life is the most important thing. Whether it is in one's personal or professional life, it is important that one keeps one's head on the shoulders. He advises today's students to remember that the platform for success is very important. Once one has that, one should make the most of it.

Having been one of the Institute's first drummers, Sonjoy still plays once in a while. Though work keeps him busy, opportunities like off-site meets provide him a chance to re-live his passion sometimes.

Sonjoy lives in Bombay with his wife and two daughters, 8 and 5 years of age.

SONJOY CHATTERJEE, PGP '94

From iimpressions '94 SONJOY CHATTERJEE aka Dicky, Chottu

This gentle giant had a passion for anything that began with A - grades or babes. After drumming for 5 terms, he ultimately broke the final barrier when he drummed his favourite song I AM at IT Again. Who ever said drumming ain't good business?

This Bong with a big heart was a big hit with the faculty as well. Extremely helpful, he would fight for just causes, be it for a student or the campus dhobi. An academic buff to the core - 'A's were the only grades he ever saw. But International Business wasn't really A business for him. Watch this tall guy doing taller things in life!

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"L-square parties, the night canteen, Desan's food, movies at the amphitheatre, case competitions and placements….."

Trying to count the ways I remember our alma mater, and ways it has shaped who I am today is no small feat.

I joined Deloitte Consulting's US practice through their on-campus recruiting process in the summer of 2001. I started out in the Chicago Office, as a Senior Consultant in the Financial Services Practice. I later moved to the New York office in early 2004, primarily driven by the fact that my wife (who was one year my junior at IIMB), was working in NY. Over the last 7+ years with Deloitte's Financial Services Practice, I have had the opportunity to work with every major US financial services institution across Capital Markets, Banking and Insurance. My areas of focus include Cost Reduction, Enterprise Transformation and Merger Integration, specifically in the operations and technology space. The challenge of working with global teams, on the critical business and operational strategies and their execution has been hugely enriching (and caused some material graying - but we won't dwell on that). The focus on global FSI clients has allowed me the opportunity to work across all continents, in some hostile, but mostly hospitable surroundings.

I am one of a handful of my batch-mates still with the Company I joined out of campus. Some of that is general good fortune (member of a thriving practice area within a high-growth industry), some due to the challenge my assignments have brought - at times historic, transformational initiatives for some of the world's leading banks - very high visibility with long term implications, and some perhaps due sheer incompetence on my part

and my complete inability to land another job.

My wife Pallavi and I live in Manhattan, with our two-year old son Jai. Pallavi is a Director in leveraged finance with a boutique investment bank, and Jai spends his time wrecking havoc in our apartment and running around in the park. As a family we enjoy traveling, attending concerts and the opera (Pallavi enjoys, I submit and Jai, the lucky kid, gets to stay home) and experimenting with new restaurants and watering holes. And between those family vacations and work, I manage to fit in a round golf and occasional squash.

The obvious platitudes to the City aside, one of the benefits is that over a dozen of my classmates from IIMB live in the tri-state area, and we make it a point to catch up at least quarterly. It's a great forum to catch up on what has been going on with the alma mater as well as old friends.

As I look back on my two years at IIMB, the dunking, the first marketing quiz, my affiliation with the FII, the startup club, the class play - the Institute offers you so many opportunities to go beyond the academics, to help you grow into a multi-faceted individual, and to build lifelong friendships. More than what I learnt in the classrooms, it's the lessons learnt in building relationships with my classmates that have endured. The professional free riders and the class RGs may abound, but a little dose of confidence and the right work ethic, will break down walls and offer up opportunities to showcase your unique talent, in more ways that you can imagine. Always remember, you can't keep a good man down!

RANJIT BAWA, PGP '01

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A familiar face at the IIMB, Associate Professor Vasanthi Srinivasan now teaches at IIMB, and has the advantage of have having been on been on the other side of the classroom as well during her time as a student of the (doctoral) Fellow Programme in Management at IIMB.

Vasanthi did her Post Graduation in Personnel Management and Industrial Relations from XLRI Jamshedpur which was followed by a stint in a large IT organisation over three years. Vasanthi was always clear that she wanted to do a doctoral program and so enrolled for the FPM in the year 1995. It took her six years to complete the program, which was otherwise a five year one, since she decided to take a maternity break.

Six years later, with a doctoral degree and daughter in tow, Vasanthi decided to get back to working and joined P&P, a consulting firm in the non-profit sector.

"I was always interested in the non-profit sector and was happy to take up an opportunity like that. The education I received at the IIMB helped me tremendously. I could apply a lot of what I had learnt at IIMB in my work," she says.

Teaching came very accidentally for Vasanthi. It was never something she thought she would do.

"A professor of mine had to go on medical leave and since she knew I lived in Bangalore, she asked me whether I could take a few lectures. So initially I came in as a guest faculty. Finally, after three years of being visiting faculty I decided to take up teaching as a full-time career," she adds.

Besides teaching, Vasanthi is very passionate about corporate social responsibility and leadership and ethics. She feels the need to teach management students the importance of ethics in management.

As a Human Resources person and a professor at one of the country's leading business schools, Vasanthi gets an opportunity to design new courses and offer new electives. This is something that proves to be very exciting, she says.

As an alumnus of IIMB, Vasanthi has various wonderful memories. She says it gave her the confidence and ability to look at things from a holistic perspective. "IIMB is a place which has so much to offer and yet gives you the space and freedom to think and be when you need it," she adds.

The library was a place Vasanthi used to frequent. She says that she used to spend hours together at the library and even knew where each book was kept.

"I would advise the current batch of students to make use of everything the institute has to offer. The whole atmosphere, the professors and one's batch mates can all be sources of learning- one must try and learn from everywhere," she adds.

Being a faculty member at the very institute one has studied in provides some unique perspective. Having specialized in HR, as a student Vasanthi often thought about what HR meant to a student who was not going to specialize in it. This has helped Vasanthi design the courses she teaches, and teach them differently too.

VASANTHI SRINIVASAN, FPM 2000

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SHARADA SUBRAMANIAM, PGPPM '03

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Sharada Subramaniam, is currently Special Secretary to the Governor of Karnataka. She did her Masters in International Relations from the School of International Relations, JNU, New Delhi and then went on to join the government service. Much later, Subramaniam took a sabbatical and enrolled in the Post-Graduate Programme in Public Policy and Management at the IIMB. The two years played a definitive role in shaping her career and propelling her to her current position. She is the only woman from the Indian Audit and Accounts service to do a course at IIMB.

"Studying at IIMB gave me a sense of confidence, a realization that I was on the right track," she says.

Sharada has held various positions in the government, from being Deputy Accountant General (Central Revenue Audit) in the office of the Account General (Audit), Karnataka (1995-1998) to being Director Finance, Coffee Board of India (1998-2003) and now the Special Secretary to Governor of Karnataka.

In her current role, Sharada interacts with several heads of states and dignitaries. The Governor of Karnataka is also the Chancellor of all universities in the state and so there is a lot of interaction with academicians as well. Being an alumnus of IIMB is an asset in her current role.

"When you have a degree from a prestigious institution like IIMB, people start looking at you with a certain respect. Moreover it gives you an edge over other colleagues," she says.

Sharada had the support of her family to take a mid-career academic break. Though a day-scholar, Sharada says she enjoyed her time at the IIMB thoroughly and

savored every moment. She fondly remembers the quiz competitions held with the PGP students and the project work etc. She left with a sense of pride, and the ability to think more holistically, she says.

"I would advise the students of the current batches to make the most of their time at IIMB. It can add tremendous value to your life. Take in as much as you can," she adds.

Juggling a high-profile career with a husband and two children isn't easy. Sharada says this could certainly not have been possible without a supportive husband. "We women can never really enjoy our success completely. Guilt is a part of being a working mother and home-maker," she says.

Sharada lives in Bangalore with her two children aged 15 and 11 and her husband who is also in government service.

The above photo shows Sharada along with B S Yeddyurappa present Chief Minister of Karnataka.

Vinod Nair is an engineer and is currently CEO of Enzen Technologies. In earlier assignments, Vinod has lead technology consulting, systems integration and programme management engagements with leading global consulting firms. His experience covers a number of industries including Utilities, Engineering & Financial Services spanning countries in Europe and India. Vinod lives in Bangalore with his wife and 15-month old son and is a very active alumnus.

Q: Tell us about your professional journey post IIMB?

A: Before coming to IIMB I was working for some large IT organizations for ten years. Though I was doing well professionally and monetarily, I knew this wasn't my destiny and there had to be something else I had to do. So when the IIMB opportunity presented itself, I welcomed it knowing well that having to manage a high pressure multi-million project alongside assignments, surprise quizzes etc was not going to be easy. The Post-Graduate Programme in Software Enterprise Management at IIMB began and life became busier than ever. It was early 2000 and the BPO wave had just begun. After various calculations and late night discussion over chai a group of friends and I decided that we would chuck everything we have and start our own BPO. In the heat of the moment, none of us realized that all three of us had full-time jobs which we couldn't leave because of parental and social pressures! So I ended up juggling between my full-time job, the evening course at IIMB and the startup BPO Company! Our dreams came crashing when the BPO didn't take off. It took us ten months to realize that things were not working out. So I then decided to concentrate on my studies at IIMB. As a learned man had once said - entrepreneurship is like a perennial itch - once you get it, it's almost

impossible to get rid of it. For me the entrepreneurial itch resurfaced right after I completed my graduation. I quit my well-paying job and plunged fully into realizing my passion. That's when Enzen was formed, under the guidance and stewardship of my long term mentor and guru. Good planning, prudent financing combined with very strong passion and vision made sure that this venture continues to be a grand success. In three years time, Enzen has grown to a 100 crore company uniquely positioned as an end-to-end solutions provider for the global Energy & Utility Industry. Enzen's team of 1200 professionals serve over 150+ global energy and utility customers across 10 countries. Despite the recession, Enzen's results have still been reasonably good.

Q: How has professional life changed since you graduated from the IIMB?

A: I have known several IIM graduates who fail to come to terms with the real world. Being from an IIM, they have a chip on their shoulders and think they are a cut above the rest. As a result they often lack humility and patience, and thus fail to make an impact in their organizations. Having seen this, I was extremely cautious about how I positioned myself post my graduation from IIMB. Unlike most people I didn't do the IIMB course to graduate with a fatter pay package or senior position. I was lucky that I had clarity about what I wanted to achieve. My professional life has changed 360 degrees because of the shift from an employee to an employer mindset. Today I feel personally responsible for the 1200 people and their family members whose livelihood is dependent on this organization. Everyday when I drive back from work, I ask myself how my actions or inactions could have impacted those around me.

VINOD NAIR, PGSEM '03

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Posted on http://www.startupjourney.blogspot.com, Spetember 7, 2008. The Start-up Journey is a web log and forum for entrepreneurs catalyzed by Arun Natarajan, Founder of Venture Intelligence.

Over the weekend, I was immersed in reading Madcap Crazy Inventions by Gyles Brandreth, a slim volume published in 1997 as a tribute to the imaginative people from around the Western world. These quite remarkable people dreamt up an incredible variety of inventions that, no doubt, they thought would prove very useful but which we recognize today as being simply ridiculous. Of course, the inventors themselves had faith in their inventions! The inventions range from a spaghetti eating tool to a robber catcher to a rat scarer to a stammer stopper to reversible trousers to the Smellorama (where smells were made to match the action on a movie screen!). Most of the inventions were made in the 1st half of the 20th century.

On February 28, 1856, the Government of India promulgated legislation to grant what was then termed as "exclusive privileges for the encouragement of inventions of new manufactures". On March 3, 1856, a civil engineer, George Alfred DePenning of 7, Grant's Lane, Calcutta petitioned the Government of India for grant of exclusive privileges for his invention - "An Efficient Punkah Pulling Machine". On September 2nd, DePenning, submitted the

Specifications for his invention along with drawings to illustrate its working. These were accepted and the invention was granted the first ever Intellectual Property protection or patent in India!

After the patent for the "efficient punkah pulling machine" one would have imagined that the electric fan would have been patented in India electricity having come to India in 1906. Look around and see the environment around - there are thousands of opportunities for innovation and invention. Yet the story of inventions and patents in India has been a long and sorry one.

That set me thinking. What would a list of Madcap Crazy Inventions look like for India? I suspect our list, if at all, there were one would be rather short and boring. And why should that be the case?

Madcap and Crazy are two words that as most stereotypes would have us believe adjectives that describe brainy scientists and inventors. Would we describe our scientists and inventors as "madcaps" and "crazy"? Why not? I think the problem lies in our social milieu. To make truly quantum leaps in science and innovation, one needs to be imaginative, unafraid to question the status quo and be willing to experiment. And even more unafraid of failing.

Q: IIMB as an alma mater- what does it mean to you?

A: I often tell people that while my engineering course taught me how to fix machines and appliances, my tenure at the IIMB showed me how to diagnose problems in the right perspective and come up with an innovative, yet implementable solution.

Armed with the experience of four entrepreneurial ventures, I came to IIMB feeling over-confident about my knowledge of entrepreneurship. It is now that I realize that IIMB played an important role in helping me realize my entrepreneurial dreams. The course definitely broadened my horizons. At IIMB I learnt to dream bigger dreams than I would have otherwise. So the Institute definitely holds a special place in transforming my life and helping me realize my dreams.

Q: What strong memories do you have of IIMB?

A: I would say there are a lot of sweet memories. Discussions over endless cups of sweet tea. Working on assignments late into the night, struggling to meet those impossible deadlines. The quiz competitions that brought out the competitive spirit in us.

Q: What advice/thoughts would you like to share with the current students at IIMB?

A: Visualize your goals and dreams every day. Your sub-conscious knows no difference between your imagination and reality, so if you rehearse your success in your mind, then your subconscious will believe in it and make it happen.

IIMB IN BLOGOSPHEREAre We Inventive Enough?

BY SANJAY ANANDARAM

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Einstein imagined what it would be like if he were to ride atop a beam of light - A madcap idea? Yes! Crazy idea? Yes!! Edison is supposed to have tried several hundred materials before he chose the tungsten filament for his electric bulb. Our social milieu frowns upon questioning, imagination, experimentation and indeed failure.

True innovation comes from both right and left brain thinking. Not valuing or appreciating the arts and humanities adequately leads to atrophying of creative powers and insight. Creating "insanely great" products like what Apple routinely churns out, for example, requires not just engineering smarts but a high degree of creativity. As a nation, we've consistently under-emphasized the arts (the economic rationale is appreciated but that's not the point) over the last 50 years and are now therefore left wondering about the arcane intricacies of say, user interface design, which is all about understanding how humans interact with each other. Movie making, for example, is another field which requires an enormous amount of creativity - from writing a top class script to visualizing the scenes to creating the mood to the music. Without the training in giving free reign to one's imagination, experimenting and failing, it is hard to see how top class movie making talent from India can stand up on the world stage and be counted.

Another example: how many of our youngsters read science fiction for example? How many writers of sci-fi do we have? How many of our youngsters read or write or undertake creative pursuits? Sci-Fi by its very genre challenges the writer and the reader to imagine worlds that don't exist. Innovation will ensure that these worlds come to pass! Is it a coincidence that the US and Japan have the world's most evolved and robust sci-fi sub-cultures?

Sure, there have been truly Indian innovations that have addressed Indian problems but these have been

sporadic and highly uneven. The National Innovation Foundation, the GIAN-Honeybee network are terrific initiatives to harness innovation and grass-roots inventions. But there needs to be many more such programmes especially ones that can be scaled.

With India's booming economy and growth prospects, it can only be hoped that more and more madcap and crazy ideas will be worked upon, failures notwithstanding. After all, as the saying goes, if you haven't failed it means you haven't tried hard enough.

What do you think?

Sanjay Anandaram is a passionate advocate of entrepreneurship in India; He brings close to two decades of experience as an entrepreneur, corporate executive, venture investor, faculty member, advisor and mentor. He's involved with Nasscom, TiE, IIM-Bangalore, and INSEAD business school in driving entrepreneurship. He can be reached at [email protected]. The views expressed here are his own.

Sanjay Anandaram is from the PGP batch of 1991

Several IIMB Alumni are active bloggers. We list below some which we found while surfing. Do send us URLs of other blogsites operated by IIMB Alumni and we'll list them in the next issue of the IIMB Alumni Magazine

Yadav Chandana - PGP1979 http://valueconcept.blogspot.com

Anantharam Mani - PGP2001 - http://nl-media.blogspot.com

Vasanth Tilak Naik, recipient of the IIMB Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2007, is educator, researcher and manager, all rolled into one. Currently Naik is Managing Director, Nomura International and is based in London. He heads a team called quantitative strategies group which is a part of Nomura's fixed income research division.

Naik completed his B.Com from Gujarat University and then went on to doing PGP at IIMB, graduating in 1983. Later he also completed his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1988.

After ten years of teaching at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, Naik joined Lehman brothers in 1998 as Director, Interest Rate Strategies, Fixed Income Research in London.

Naik's strong interests lie in research, and in the finance academia he is viewed as a very successful academic and researcher. His papers have been published in leading finance journals world over. He has also received the Smith Breeden Prize for his published work in the year 1999.

Despite being a researcher, Naik's contribution to academia did not end at that. At the University of British Columbia, he was also very closely involved with the running of the MBA Program and also taught several courses in investments, derivatives and risk management for both undergraduate and MBA programmes.

In 2005, Naik became the Managing Director at Lehman Brothers and made rapid progress through the ranks

thereafter. According to his colleagues, Naik is a perfect example of an intellectual powerhouse and a brilliant strategist.

Some of the awards and distinctions received:

• Journal of Finance Smith Breeden Prize,

1999 for article Optimal Investments,

Growth Options and Security Returns"

• MBA Teaching Excellence Award,

University of British Columbia, 1996

• Second Prize in the Chicago Quantitative

Alliance Competition for academic

research, 1996

• University of California Regents'

Fellowship (1986-1987)

VASANTH NAIK, PGP '83Managing Director, Nomura International

IIMB Distinguished Alumnus Award, 2007

HALL OF FAME


Sankaranarayanan Padmanabhan, recipient of the IIMB Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2008, has been working with the Tata conglomerate since he graduated from IIMB. Currently Padmanabhan is Executive Director (Operations) at Tata Power and is responsible for all the Company's Operations which include Generation, Transmission and Distribution businesses. Prior to this, he held several positions with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in various capacities.

Mr. Padmanabhan, a gold medalist in Electronics and Communication Engineering from the PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu did his Post-graduate Diploma in Management (PGP 1980-82) at IIMB, with a specialization in Marketing.

While at Tata Consultancy Services, Padmanabhan worked in several different capacities. He headed the Application Software and Maintenance Practice (2001-2002). Prior to this he was responsible for the Airline Industry Practice (1999-2000) and the Delivery Centre at Sholinganallur, Chennai (1998-2000). He was also CEO of the Aviation Software Development Consultancy, a joint venture between TCS and Singapore Airlines (1996-1998) and Country Manager for TCS Switzerland (1993-1996).

As the Executive Director & Head Global Human Resources of Tata Consultancy Services Limited (TCS), he drove initiatives to create a multilingual and culturally-diverse global workforce and was responsible for over 100,000 employees worldwide. In his capacity, he achieved the highest retention rates at TCS as compared to the overall Indian IT industry, besides creating a world-class training and learning focused organisation, capable

of integrating over 30,000 new employees every year.

Over the span of his career Mr. Padmanabhan has had a rich experience in large scale project build up and delivery, global sourcing and operational efficiencies. He has played a key role in several landmark projects such as the development of a Securities Clearing and Settlement System for SEGA in Switzerland as well as other key engagements in New Zealand, Australia, UK and USA.

Mr. Padmanabhan is known for his effective people skills and innovative approach to problem solving and human resource management.

Other positions currently held:

• Member- Board of NDPL (North Delhi Power Limited)

• Member- Board of Powerlinks Transmission Limited (a JV WITH Power Grid)

• Member- Board of Tata Power Trading Co. Ltd

• Member- Board of IEL (Industrial Energy Limited (a JV with Tata Steel)

• Member- Board of Tata Power Trading Co.

• Member- Board of Chemical Terminal Trombay Limited

SANKARANARAYANAN PADMANABHAN , PGP '82Executive Director (Operations), Tata Power

IIMB Distinguished Alumnus Award, 2008

HALL OF FAME


anusmaran enhanceengage energise

Bangalore

Bangalore

ANUSMARAN '09


Dubai

Singapore

Singapore

London

Delhi

ANUSMARAN '09


Mumbai

Mumbai

Hong Kong

HongKong

ANUSMARAN '09


PGP 1984

Rajendra Nargundkar has written an autobiography titled "My experiments with half-truths - Adventures of an IIMB Alumnus"

PGP 1988

Obituary

Mohan Nathan as I remember him…

What do you write about a friend who was literally an alter ego of yours?

Nalini and I first met Mohan in 1986 at IIM Bangalore. That's twenty three years ago ... but I still remember the IIM days vividly. The endless chai cups at Aunties, the last minute cramming (after having partied through the entire term), the dashes to class when we realized that there was a "surprise quiz" scheduled in POM, the disastrous attempt to put together a band with Mohan on rhythm guitar ... and I remember an unflappable, cool-as-cucumber person who always sailed through. remember his setting up Crescendo Music, and the first audio cassettes that were released through that company (I still own them). I remember the awe and wonder when we realized that Jethro Tull was visiting Bangalore, and I remember Mohan's (as usual) irreverent interview with Ian Anderson. I remember his never-say-die attitude all through the years ... even through deep personal sorrow

when Mohan lost his younger brother, and then, his father. I remember his struggle with his pancreatic operation a year ago, and his victoriously coming back to life But most of all, I remember the days and months we spent together at my place, the long sessions of music, and the inspiration he provided to me to pick up the guitar for the first time. I remember Mohan being around, and when a dull day automatically brightened.

Rest in peace, Mohan. I'll miss you ... but I just know that where ever you are now, the place would be brighter and more cheerful. Have a great after-life, my friend.

Guhesh Ramanathan

Director - Strategic Partnerships

Professional Aptitude Council

www.proaptitude.com, +91 99017 70317 Mobile,

+91 (80) 25216711 Work, +91 (80) 32449422 Work

PGP 1989

Surendra Rajiv spent a year at IIMB as Visiting Faculty during July 2008-June 2009. He is Professor of Marketing at the NUS Business School, Singapore and was on sabbatical leave, to study the emerging retail structure in India. Earlier he was part of the faculty at the Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago, and visiting faculty at the Haas School of Business, University of California. Professor Rajiv holds M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Industrial Administration (Marketing) from the Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University. He obtained his B.Sc. in Mathematics from Patna University and PGDM from IIMB.

Professor Rajiv's research interests include analytical modeling of marketing strategies using Game Theory and Industrial Organization paradigms. He also specializes in using econometric modeling to understand consumer choice behavior. His work has been published in leading Marketing, Strategy and Economics Journals and he is also on the editorial boards of reputed marketing journals.

Mohan Nathan

Surendra Rajiv

Rajendra Nargundkar

CLASS NOTES


PGP 2003

Sathish Krishna (Batch of 2001-2003, PGP) and his wife Aparna had a pretty little daughter on 17th April. They have named her Akshita

Rajesh B (PGP2003) and his wife Ranjeetha had a son - Gautam.

Anurag Sinha (PGP2003) and his wife Shivani Sharma had a daughter - Jahnvi.

PGP 2007

Manasi Prasad, PGP’07, has been selected for the Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar awarded by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi, in the category of Carnatic vocal music, for the year 2008. This award, instituted in 2006, is given each year to young artists under the age of 35 in various disciplines, who have made a mark in their respective fields.

‘Living life to the fullest’ has always been Manasi’s motto, and as one of the rising stars among the new generation of Carnatic musicians, she has certainly exemplified this. Manasi was initiated into Carnatic classical vocal music and Bharatanatyam dance at the age of 5. Since then, she has been pursuing the arts with passion and dedication. Manasi gave her maiden solo music concert at the age of 14 and also released her first audio cassette

at that age. Manasi Prasad is truly a multi faceted artiste Apart from her passion for the arts, she is also academically accomplished. She is an Engineering graduate and was also a recipient of Aditya Birla Scholarship while at IIMB . She gained the experience of a corporate environment, while working at Standard Chartered Bank, Bangalore. Her other activities include hosting live and TV shows as a compere, composing and singing music for dance productions, as well as writing and speaking extensively on various subjects.

Ajit Phadnis, has been selected for the Lok Sabha Internship Programme 2009. The internship is a new initiative in India and was started only last year. It has been introduced on the lines of the US Senate internship programme and gives an opportunity for the youth (21-28 years) to understand the working of the parliamentary system. Only 5 interns from all over India are selected to pursue the programme every year.

PGP 2009

Sharmili Phulgirkar, PGP ‘09 married Viraj Datar on April 18, 2009 at Mumbai

Akshita, daughter of Sathish and Aparna

Ajit Phadnis

CLASS NOTES


Manasi Prasad

TAKE ONE: LIVE ACTION FILM STUDIES AT IIMB

Vidhu Vinod Chopra

WHAT'S UP AT IIMB


IIMB students experience a film shoot on campus and in the process learn about film production

Movie-making was the flavor of the month at IIMB during January 2009. The cast, producers and crew of 3 Idiots were on the IIMB campus for the whole month, which brought Bollywood stars up close, and gave students, staff and campus residents a unique opportunity to personally witness how film-shooting actually gets done.

For those who came in late, here's the trailer: 3 Idiots is a movie being directed by Rajkumar Hirani and produced by Vinod Chopra Films (of 'Munnabhai' fame and several other major hits). The story is based on Chetan Bhagat's novel Five Point Someone. The film stars Aamir Khan, Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Kareena Kapoor and Boman Irani. The film is "a satire on India's educational system" according to the blurb on Vinod Chopra's official website, and is slated for a December 2009 release.

Aamir Khan at the IIMB creche along with kids and members of the IIMB community

On January 12, the Central Pergola was the scene of action with Aamir Khan on the sets, and half the student population of IIMB landed up for a ringside view. Apart from the acting, students got to observe how sets are constructed, how 'takes' are planned according to location.

On January 16, another major event on campus was a talk by celebrated film producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra. Directed at students the talk was virtually a documentary of Vinod Chopra's own life, narrated with such cinematic verve that you could almost visualize each turning point in his life. His pearls of wisdom: stay true to yourself, pursue your dreams.

As part of Unmaad 2009, the annual cultural extravaganza hosted by IIMB, a movie-making workshop

was held on January 30, with Boman Irani, Madhavan and Sharman Joshi sharing their experiences, and fielding questions from the audience on topics like an actor's life, economics of movie making, right education to enter the entertainment business and the personal experiences of the stars.

The excitement extended even to the little ones on the IIMB campus: Aamir Khan spent time at a crèche managed by IIMB and interacted with kids of faculty members and employees residing on the IIMB campus.

Apart from the thrill of having the stars on campus, the film shoot itself turned out to be a learning experience for IIMB students and campus residents.

WHAT'S UP AT IIMB


34TH ANNUAL CONVOCATIONThe 34th Annual Convocation was held at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore on April 2, 2009. A total of 419 students from the Fellow Programme in Management (FPM), the Post-Graduate Programme in Management (PGP), the Post-Graduate Programme in Public Policy and Management (PGPPM) and the Post-Graduate Programme in Software Enterprise Management (PGSEM) graduated this year.

Professor Pankaj Chandra presented the Director's Report, in which he gave the highlights of the year, including recognitions received by the Institute and faculty members, new initiatives in terms of programme offerings, accreditation, other activities and developments on campus, including new construction of faculty quarters, a new canteen etc. He exhorted the graduating class to become agents of change in issues related to society at large.

Former Chief Justice M.N. Venkatachalaiah was the Chief Guest and delivered the Convocation Address on the Science and Art of Management. In his encouraging address to the graduating batch, Former Chief Justice Venkatachalaiah told the students to "keep a balance between human welfare and economic progress".

Mr. Mukesh D Ambani, Chairman Board of Governors of IIMB presided over the function and gave away the diplomas to the graduating students. He gave an inspiring speech, commenting on the economic downturn, saying that the "Meltdown was an aberration" and that the graduating students would have plenty of opportunities for growth in their lifetime. He stressed on purpose and perseverance as guiding principles in life.

WHAT'S UP AT IIMB


DEAN APPOINTMENTSProfessor B Mahadevan took over as Dean Administration in April 2008. Dr Mahadevan belongs to the Production & Operations Management Area, and joined IIMB in 1994. He has over 15 years of wide ranging professional experience in teaching, research, consulting and academic administration at IIM Bangalore and other reputed academic institutions such as IIT Delhi and XLRI, Jamshedpur. He was a visiting scholar at the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration, Dartmouth College, NH, USA during 1999 - 2000. He was also a retainer consultant to Deloitte Consulting LLP, USA during 2001 - 2002. He obtained M.Tech and Ph.D. from the Industrial Engineering and Management Division of IIT, Madras.

Professor Trilochan Sastry took over as Dean Academic in December 2008. Dr Sastry obtained a Ph.D. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also did his B. Tech. from IIT Delhi and an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad. Prior to joining IIMB in 2003, he was a faculty member at IIM Ahmedabad. He has to his credit a number of management cases on operations management, ethics, change management and electoral reforms. Professor Sastry has been a consultant to various Indian and International corporations. He is a Trustee of Cooperative Development Foundation, Hyderabad, Chairman of Association for Democratic Reforms, and Secretary of the Centre for Collective Development, focused on promoting small and marginal farmer Cooperatives. In November 2008, Professor Sastry received a significant honour in being invited to be a member of the prestigious Bretton Woods Committee.

Professor Trilochan Sastry Dean Academic

Professor B Mahadevan Dean Administration

WHAT'S UP AT IIMB


NSRCEL: IDEAS TO IMPLEMENTATION

The Nadathur S. Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning, or NSRCEL as most of us at IIMB know it, was started in October 1999 with a generous endowment from Mr Nadathur S Raghavan, formerly Joint Managing Director of Infosys Technologies Ltd. What may seem a quiet tucked-away corner of IIMB is, in fact, buzzing with activity and has several achievements to its credit.

The Centre was started with a vision to champion entrepreneurial studies at IIMB. Today, the Centre not only trains entrepreneurs and promotes entrepreneurship through teaching, research, short-term programmes and seminars/panel discussions, but also has an active Incubator Cell for startup companies. Since inception, NSRCEL has incubated about 23 companies out of which over 10 are successfully running businesses.

"Once an individual or group of individuals comes to us with a unique idea, it goes through a three-stage filtering process. We examine the idea in totality for its viability to become a fully self-sustaining business," says A. Suryanarayanan, Chief Operating Officer of NSRCEL.

The objective of NSRCEL is to produce successful

companies that will have the potential to create jobs, revitalize neighbourhoods, commercialise new technologies, and strengthen economies. The fundamental concept behind the incubation of a startup company is to help the core team focus on their business idea without having to worry about statutory, legal or other formalities.

Thus, incubatees at NSRCEL can expect complete physical as well as intellectual support for a period of 18 months.

From basics like a fully wired office on the IIMB campus, to legal, HR, secretarial support, and other facilities, the Centre also offers the incubatees the benefit of the IIMB network. Just Books is the latest company to take up incubation at NSRCEL, starting on April 30, 2009.

The experience of incubatees at NSRCEL has been pleasant and enriching. 8K Miles, one of the companies currently in the incubation process, is an IT related firm and has benefited tremendously by having access to the IIMB network.

A. Suryanarayanan Chief Operating Officer, NSRCEL

K Kumar Chairperson, NSRCEL

WHAT'S UP AT IIMB


As Paddy Raghavan, a co-founder of the firm says, "NSRCEL has offered tremendous value-addition for 8KMiles. Through our incubation at NSRCEL, we were able to get access to professors, PGP students and industry experts which otherwise would have been close to impossible."

Apart from access to the IIMB network and all the physical infrastructure and intellectual support, NSRCEL also reviews the progress of the business every six months. "This periodic review is done so that corrections can be made if required. More importantly, if the idea isn't fructifying, we can advise them to cut their losses soon enough," adds Suryanarayanan.

To overcome the limitations of a single physical incubation location, the Centre is now also sponsoring what is being termed 'virtual incubation'. This means that the selected companies would receive all support except that of physical space and infrastructure. This would enable NSRCEL to meet the larger goal of encouraging/promoting entrepreneurship and increase the reach of NSRCEL/IIMB. Vyvaya Labs from Belgaum is has enrolled for virtual incubation.

Till date, only one of the incubatees at NSRCEL has been led by an IIMB alumnus. The reason for this, Suryanarayanan feels, could be the fact that the long-duration IIMB programmes from which the alumni would have emerged, have not focused on entrepreneurship so far. Needless to say the Centre always encourages IIMB alumni to tread the path of entrepreneurship!

Of course, that isn't the only way alumni can engage with the centre. "We look forward to support from the alumni in terms of their network and intellectual support.

We also hope that alumni would come forward to mentor Incubatees that are generating businesses in their areas of interests.

Apart from the commercial interest in a project, a lot of alumni want to give back to the institute where they studied. This could be a great way to do that," adds Suryanarayanan.

The Centre hopes to have an increasing number of alumni participate in their activities. This would not only benefit the Incubatees but would also give IIMB alumni a chance to remain current and enhance their interest areas.

For more information and to engage with NSRCEL, contact:

A. Suryanarayanan Chief Operating OfficerNadathur S Raghavan Centre for Entrepreneurial LearningIndian Institute of Management BangalorePhone: +91-80-2699 3710Email: [email protected]: www.nsrcel.org

IIMBAA ORGANIZES TALK BY SUBROTO BAGCHIIIMB Alumni Association organized a talk by Subroto Bagchi on March 28, 2009. Mr Bagchi is a co-founder of MindTree Ltd., an international IT consulting company. In April 2008, he was re-designated as the "Gardener" and in this role he tries to "re-pot, fertilize and weed and clip the human resources." Mr Bagchi took the opportunity to speak about his book: Go Kiss the World: Life Lessons for the Young Professionals. Through personal anecdotes and simple words of wisdom, this book provides lessons to young professionals on working and living, and is an inspiration to 'young India.'

WHAT'S UP AT IIMB


IIMB IN MOTION

ANUBHA DHASMANA

Anubha Dhasmana joined as Assistant Professor in September 2008. She holds a

Ph.D. in Economics from Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA. Earlier, she

received a B.A. in Economics from Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of

Delhi, a M.A. in Economics from Delhi School of Economics and another M.A.

Economics from Johns Hopkins University. She has received several awards and

honors, including Department Fellowship, 2001-2006, Dept of Economics, Johns

Hopkins University; Hira Lal Bhargava Gold Medal, 2000, University of Delhi; Shri

Ras Bihari Rohtangi Gold Medal, 2001, University of Delhi.

Anubha worked with the International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC during

2007-08, and has done assignments with the Economist magazine, and L.A. Times

newspaper. She worked at the Johns Hopkins University, Dept of Economics, as

Teaching Assistant during 2002-06 and took courses including Elements of

Macroeconomics and Econometrics. Her research and teaching interests are in

International Macroeconomics, Macroeconomics, Development Finance and

Econometrics.

ARNAB MUKHERJI

Arnab Mukherji joined as Assistant Professor in June 2007. He has a Ph.D. in Public Policy

from the Pardee RAND Graduate School, Santa Monica, California and an M.A. in

Economics from the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, New Delhi. Earlier, Arnab

received a B.A. in Economics from the University of Delhi.

Arnab's research interests lie in Public Policy, Public Health systems and Community

Development.

Arnab was awarded the Ph.D. scholarship in 2005 from the International Water

Management Institute and the Kip and Mary Ann Hagopian Fellowship in 2005 at the

Pardee RAND Graduate School. He was also awarded the Sir Ratan Tata Travel Grant and

Donald and Susan Rice Fellowship in 2001.

DEEPAK MALGHAN

Deepak Malghan joined as Assistant Professor (CPP) in December 2008. Deepak is a

public policy scholar with research and professional interests in political

decentralisation, ecological economics, energy and environmental policy, modern

Indian history, and social entrepreneurship.

Deepak is currently finishing an intellectual biography of J.C. Kumarappa (1892-1960),

economic philosopher and close associate of Mahatma Gandhi. This book project is the

recipient of the prestigious New India Foundation Fellowship for books on the history of

independent India.

In ecological economics, Deepak's primary interests are in the analytical theory of scale and

theoretical aspects of contingent valuation. Contemporary theory of scale in ecological economics

was largely developed as part of Deepak's doctoral research. He is working on a major new theoretical synthesis of

ecological economics from a scale perspective.

In addition to an interdisciplinary academic career that spans the disciplines of economics, engineering, political

philosophy, and ecology, Deepak has also independently pursued a parallel career as an energy entrepreneur and

energy policy advocate. He is the cofounder of a startup decentralised energy engineering product company.

Deepak has also worked closely with several government, business, and civil society organizations on issues of

decentralised energy resources and policy.

Deepak received his Ph.D. in ecological economics from University of Maryland, and a Masters in economics and

public policy (MPA) from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He also

has a certificate in science and technology policy from Princeton University.

NEW PROFS IN THE FACULTY BLOCK

Generation Next. Young Turks. The Young Ones. A new set of professors are at large on the IIMB campus! Armed with

doctoral degrees from renowned international universities, and coming from diverse backgrounds, these talented

individuals have recently joined the IIMB faculty. Meet the new team:

IIMB IN MOTION

ARNAB BASU

Arnab Basu joined as Assistant Professor in October 2007. Arnab's research interests lie in the areas of Controlled

Diffusion Processes, Variational Inequalities, Viscosity Techniques of Partial Differential Equations with applications to

Stochastic Hybrid Games. He is presently working on Game Theory and Mechanism Design for Multi-Agent Learning

Systems.

Arnab has a Ph.D. in Computers and System Sciences from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai.

He completed his B. Tech (Honours) in Computer Science and Engineering from IIT Kharagpur. While at TIFR, Arnab was

awarded the Sasken Best Thesis Award for the Best Ph.D. thesis in 2007-2008 and the Infosys Research Foundation

Fellowship for Graduate (Ph.D.) studies.

Arnab has earlier served as Head (Research & Development) of BrainMatics Pvt. Ltd. Mumbai and Visiting Research

Fellow, Information and Decision Technologies Laboratory, GE Global Research Centre, Bangalore. His teaching interests

lie in Operations Research, Non-cooperative Game Theory and Probability and Statistics.

MUKTA KULKARNI

Mukta Kulkarni joined as Assistant Professor in March 2007. Mukta has a Ph.D.

in Organisation and Management Studies from the University of Texas, San

Antonio and an M.S. in Industrial Organisational Psychology from the Baruch

College, City University of New York. She has also done M.A. in Applied

Psychology and a B.A. in Psychology from Mumbai University.

Before joining IIMB, Mukta worked with Lehman Brothers as a Human Resource

Analyst and at the Weissman Centre for International Business as Human

Resources and Marketing Research Assistant, both at New York. Her research

interests lie in Organisational Behaviour and Human Resources practices.

Mukta's paper titled Radical Change Accidentally: The Emergence and

Amplification of Small Change, co-authored with D. Plowman, L. Baker, T. Beck,

S. Thomas, and D. Villarreal, published in the Academy of Management Journal

(2007, 50, 515-543) won the 2007 Academy of Management Journal Best

Paper Award.

MOUTUSI MAITY

Moutusi Maity joined as Assistant Professor, Marketing Area in January

2008. She holds a Ph.D. in Business Management from the University of

Georgia and an MBA from the University of Calcutta. She also has an M.A.

in English from Jadavpur University, West Bengal. Moutusi's interests lie in

Marketing Theory, E- commerce. She has researched on several subjects

including consumer decision making, consumer behaviour, consumer

information, internet search.

SEEMA GUPTA

Seema Gupta joined IIMB faculty in November 2007 and is currently serving as

Assistant Professor. Her research and teaching interests lie in the areas of Marketing,

Advertising, Corporate Reputation Management and Corporate Communication.

Seema holds a Ph.D. from Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, Rajasthan and an

MBA from R. A. Podar Institute of Management, Udaipur, Rajasthan. Seema was

awarded a Gold Medal on completion of her B.A. in Economics, Psychology and

Statistics at the Rajasthan University.

Seema has extensive teaching as well as corporate industry experience. She has

taught at Mudra Institute of Communications (MICA) and B. N. Girls' College Udaipur

prior to IIMB. She also worked with the RPG group where she was Territory Manager.

IIMB's vision is to build leaders and entrepreneurs through holistic, transformative and innovative education. Aiming at building a truly global management institute, IIMB is working on several initiatives:

• Supporting new academic programmes for a diverse group of students

• Providing financial assistance to brilliant students

• Building world class infrastructure

• Strengthening the alumni services

• Having the best faculty

• Significant and relevant research focused on emerging issues, areas of concern and collaborative work with other reputed institutions

• Entrepreneurship development as an important focus area of all student programmes

• Holistic learning through an integrated learning system comprising both the technical and non-technical aspects.

In order to achieve these aspirations, the Institute requires significant resources, expected to be raised through the Institute's initiatives in fund-raising.

IIMB alumni have common values, common areas of interest and want to turn their shared interests, vision and passion into action. IIMB alumni are therefore at the heart of any fund-raising campaign, and we look to you to re-connect with you alma mater in tangible ways.

Based on discussions and interactions with the alumni, IIMB has identified specific areas of contribution. Our comprehensive fund-raising programme will have a variety of initiatives that you, as an alumnus, would like to espouse or support. Such support will enable IIMB to move in a planned and strategic manner towards sustenance, retain its cutting-edge position, be the leading business school in the country and amongst the top five business schools globally.

We look forward to your support to IIMB. We plan to launch a fund-raising campaign soon. Watch this space for more details!

THE SUPPORT IIMB CAMPAIGN

Ruchira Neog joined IIMB as Head-Development in January 2009. At IIMB, Ruchira is working on the Institute's fund-raising efforts, building linkages with all IIMB stakeholders and strengthening revenue generation activities.

Ruchira has earlier worked in the voluntary sector with a leading NGO in the North East of India. She has been mobilizing resources from donor agencies, bilateral and government agencies, UN Bodies and corporates and implementing major developmental initiatives in the area of community health, education and gender concerns. She has been closely associated with the implementation of the National Rural Health Mission in Assam and the other NE states.

Ruchira Neog

GIVING BACK


Twenty Years Ago!

It's been a long time, since I walked thru these corridors

And how old memories have started to flow

The 'movie' hall, night canteen, Jethro Tull and The Doors

You could find me there, every other night, twenty years ago.

It's been a long time, since I saw those lecture halls

Some profs might still be there, who I would barely know

I did learn a few things here, though mostly, I had a ball

Those crazy days, the way we played, twenty years ago.

The frisbee games, tennis ball cricket, o' how nostalgia grows

Tall tales and cards, trips to 4th block, MG and Brigade road

Tea at 'aunties', rum 'n' cola, and late night 'video' shows

You could find me there, every Friday night, twenty years ago.

It almost seems like yesterday, where do the good times go?

Life was so much fun, twenty years ago!

… And Now!

And now that I have revisited the campus, on our 20th year reunion

Reconnected with friends and relived old times

I wonder if it will be, just an event to be remembered and forgotten

Or will it be the beginning of something more sublime.

While some seek joy in their family and friends

And others in worldly possessions

Some look for it in career trends

Yet others in devotion.

As IIMB alumni, we can be proud

We create jobs, we innovate and we train minds

On the career front, we have several tales to be read aloud

But it seems to me, that it is true happiness that we still strive to find

If we can make a small contribution, a small change around us

To bring happiness and hope, in the life of others less privileged

While this might not give us lasting fame, or media accolades

It will certainly give us great joy, and pleasure unabridged.

So when we meet for our next reunion, let there be fun and wit

But along with that it will be great, if you could also bring a gift

A gift of giving, a tale of selfless act

Today, in all sincerity, let's make this solemn pact.

BY PIYUSH SINGHManaging DirectorIDC Centre for Consultancy and ResearchBangalorePGDM 1987-89

SUMMER 2009

IIMB ON MY MIND


Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore - 560076, IndiaBannerghatta Road, Bangalore - 560076, India

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT BANGALOREINDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT BANGALORE

Documents

IIMB Alumni Magazine Summer 2009