ITM Music Circle brings Mohan Veena performance to Kharghar, Navi Mumbai for first time on 5th April 2008: A write up

Itm Khargar, 5th April 2008:  ITM Music Circle added another feather to its cap by organising a musical extravaganza for classical music lovers. There was a Jugalbandhi between the Pakhavaj,Tabla and Sarangi. The Pakhvaj was played by ‘Taalmani’ Pratapraj Patil who hails from Khargar itself and presently teaches 200-250 students across Maharashtra how to play the Pakhvaj. Mr.Patil is a disciple of Pt.Bhavani Shankar. The Tabla was played by Mr,Uday Deshpande who has done his M.A in music. Apart from performing all across India he has also performed in Paris and Canada .He also stayed in Canada for 6 years and taught the residents there how to play the Tabla. We had Mr.Sangeet Mishra performing the Sarangi for us . He has passed the ‘ Prabhakar ‘ degree in music from the famous Prayag Sangeet Samithi in Allahabad from where many famous artists have  passed out.He has performed at various venues across India, Australia, Japan, Germany,Malaysia etc with renowned artists like Pt. Anindo Chatterjee, Pt.Bhavani Shankar amongst others.He has also been awarded a national scholarship from Central Govt and the Sangeet  Kala ratna.

The ensuing Jugalbandhi was a treat to the audiences ears. It was truly enchanting to hear the different instruments conversing with each other via melodies and developing a melodious Taal-mel which was truly endearing and engaging. Note worthy was the fact that all these 3 talented artists had never met each other before but the musical dialogue they produced during the Jugalbandhi was amazing. It is said that music is the language of the soul and one artist’s soulful notes simply attracted the other.

ITM music circle created a first of sorts by organising a Mohan Veena performance for the first time in Kharghar. The Mohan Veena was performed by Mr. Sanjeev Kumar Sinha who is a master of music from the Prayam Sangeet Samithi , Allahabad. He belongs to the Maihar Seniya Gharana of Ustad Allaudin Khan..He has learnt the art from his father Mr.Sudhir Kumar Sinha and from internationally acclaimed Sarod player Pt.Brijnarayan. He gave his first performance at the age of twelve and has performed at Delhi university music festival, JNU young musicians festival,etc.
Indian stringed instruments have undergone many changes throughout history . Many western musical instruments like violin, harmonium, mandolin, archtop guitar and electric guitar have come to be accepted in Indian classical music. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt developed and named this hybrid slide guitar and has been added to the list of Indian classical instrument.
The Mohan Veena is a highly modified concord archtop, which one  plays lap-style. It has 19 strings: three melody strings and four three drone strings coming out of the peg heads, and 12 sympathetic strong to tuners mounted to a piece of wood added to the side of the neck. The melody strings are on what we would consider the treble side of the neck, and the drone strings are on the bass side. The drone strings are lower in height than the melody strings to allow for unrestricted playing of the melody strings. The sympathetic strings run underneath the melody and drone strings to yet another level in the bridge. The instrument has a carved spruced top, mahogany back and sides, a mahogany neck, and a flat, fretless, rosewood fingerboard. Simply put this instrument has been totally Indianised to suit Indian classical music.

The musical programme began by lighting of the lamp by ITM Registrar- Prof.Jaikumar, Head of H.R department – Dr.Saritprava Das,Prof.Arjun Naik –faculty coordinator for ITM Music Circle. along with the musicians.
On Tabla and Pakhvaj they played raag CHARUKESHARI and on Mohan Veena raag MULTANI was played. At the end light classical songs in raag BHAIRAVI, sung by K.L.Saigal, Manna Dey and Jagjit Singh were played on the Mohan Veena. The program lasted for around 2 ½ hours and took the audience on a mesmerising journey of Indian classical music.
ITM Music Circle is gradually becoming the music hangout for Navi Mumbai affecionados.

 -- Abhimanyu Kashalkar
    PGDM 2007-2009

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BLOOD DONATION CAMP AT ITM BUSINESS SCHOOL, NAVI MUMBAI

On the 2nd April, the students of Institute for Technology & Management were up for a cause. The Corporate Social Initiative ( CSI ) wing of  ITM Business School , Kharghar and Indian Red Cross Society's Blood Bank organized a Blood Donation Camp on 2nd April in ITM's Campus in Kharghar . On this occasion , there was a lecture on Thalassaemia , a major blood disorder  by Shri. Vinay Shetty , Vice – President of Think Foundation, an NGO dedicated to the service of Thalassaemia patients and blood donation drive among youngsters. Mr. Vinay Shetty is also a permanent member of SBTC (State Blood Transfusion Council). Students were informed about the severity of this disorder, along with the importance of preventive measures for the same. Mr. Shetty also inspired the students to donate blood on a regular basis, and help the cause of people suffering from Thalassaemia.

More than 90 bottles of blood was collected during the camp. The Camp was visited by Dr. Ulhas Kolhatkar, District Governor, Rotary International District 3140. He appreciated the Blood Donation drive and complimented all the organizers of the event.

The management students of ITM participated in large numbers for donating blood, hoping that this small gesture would go a long way in ensuring normal life for the patients suffering from this Blood disorder.

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ITM students carry out projects for NGO's
ITM is known for its innovative pedagogy and it did not come as a surprise when Prof A.K.Dasbiswas, dean, ITM initiated that students take up projects with various NGOs across the state, and with the help of their managerial skills assist the NGO's . The objective of the project was to sensitise the students towards the underprivileged segment of society, learn about the actual working of the NGO's, apply their manegerial skills to practical use and lend a helping hand to a noble cause . ITM ultimately managed to place all 125 students of the PGDM course, who opted for this project & took up various projects with different NGO's for 21 days, and the end result was that they returned, wiser and more responsible with the experience.

To name a few reputed NGO's under whose auspices the students under took projects are The Indian Red Cross Society, Help Age, Aakansha, National Association for the Blind, Hellen Keller Institute for the Deaf and Blind.

The students worked for 3 weeks and at the end submitted a report to their respective project guides. A presentation of the same was arranged for which was judged by faculty members and members of the NGO's. A comprehensive learning was the total out come of this exercise.

Spic Macay - A Report

Music is the literature of the heart; it commences where speech ends.  - Alphonse de Lamartine

This event has been organized by SPIC MACAY which stands for ‘Society for promotion of Indian classical music and Culture amongst youth’. Dr Kiran Seth, a young graduate from IIT Kharagpur, was studying for his doctorate at the University of Columbia, when he chanced to attend a dhrupad concert by Ustad Zia Fariduddin Dagar. Under the aegis of the Indian Club of Columbia University, he and a band of like minded students started inviting Indian artist to perform at the University. When Dr. Seth returned to India to teach at IIT Delhi in 1977, he involved the students in similar activities and SPIC MACAY was born. SPIC MACAY conducts two major activities each year, called FEST and VIRASAT simultaneously in many cities and towns of India.

ITM has always been keen to imbibe the cultural art forms in its student’s life and hence ITM conducts many such enriching experiences for its students, faculty & management. Apart from being able to understand the finer aspects of the art forms, students benefit immensely from the direct interaction with the artists.

There were 2 profound personalities performing for us, Mr Arvind Parikh and Mr Anutosh Degharia. .Mr Arvind Parikh has been a visionary, pioneer and leader in the international freight forwarding and logistics field since 1948, when he joined his father Natverlal Parikh to build the family business from its modest beginnings into its present position of strength and industry leadership. Mr Anutosh Degharia, born in a musical family in Rajiganj near Kolkata received training from his father and Shri Sudhir Roy. Anutosh could establish himself as a versatile table player in a very short time due to his dexterity both in table a soloist and accompanist. His regular appearances on several T.V channels like D.D National , Zee TV. , Asia music etc.

The program started at sharp 5.00pm and as it is a part of our Indian tradition to begin every auspicious event with the lighting of the lamp. Dr Adhikari, Prof Murthy, Pandit Arvind Parikh, Mr Anutosh Degharia and Prof Arjun Naik Sought divine blessings by lighting the lamp.
Melody emitted out of the classical instruments Sitar and Tabla wide well with the audience and reached them to an fantabulous peak of musical ecstasy They played the evening raga ‘Bhimpalas’ which left its soothing presence on the minds of each one present.

In spite of his varied stature, Pandit Arvind Parikh was humble enough to answer an assortment of questions, which were asked by people from all walks of life. He inspired the students to believe that there was never a time demarcation to dwell deep in classical music. He spoke about shruti – which means a sound that can be reproduced. He also spoke of the literal meaning of melody and related music with management. According to him if a businessperson can take out time to play golf, they should have all the time to dissolve their worries and exertion in classical music.

He also assured us that although synthesizers and technical musical instruments have become popular but the human content is a unique aspect in instruments like Sitar and Tabla and ended the astonishing evening by playing few notes on the Sitar along with Mr Anutosh on the Tabla.

Evita Fernandes
GLC- HR

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FRISSION 2008 - A Report

The ITM College Festival FRISSION, which has now become a brand, was held on 7th, 8th and 9th of March, 2008. All the students of ITM put in their heart and soul in order to make this event a grand success and like it is rightly said, where there is a will, there is a way. And thus the way was paved for one of the biggest college festivals that was witnessed by Navi Mumbai – FRISSION 2008 – Surf the high tide, portraying an Aqua theme.

This management festival which had the right blend of managerial and cultural events began on the 7th of March with the guest lecture session where eminent speakers from the industry viz. Mr. Dharmendra Gangadre, Mr. Jayanth Kumar Banarjee, Mr. Sunil Yadav, Dr. Rajendra Bankure etc. gave the students vital inputs on various topics.  The Financial events commenced on the same date and the events were IPO war and Portfolio Management which received enthusiastic participation from various colleges. After these events, it was time for the first of the Cultural nights presented and sponsored by Raymonds. It comprised of Solo Singing competition, duet singing competition, duet dance competition which were  inter – collegiate competitions and a lovely Fusion dance presented by the students of ITM College. The total prizes amounted to Rs. 1, 07,000.

Knowledge is created when great minds work together. This was the spirit with which the next day, 8th of March, began. Competitions like Debate, Business quiz, new product development, Marketing Voyage, E – Cell competition – The search for the newest entrepreneurs were a challenge and put the participant’s intellectual and creative talents to test. And there emerged winners who passed all the tests and were victorious in facing all the challenges. Throughout the day we had the DJ playing songs dedicated to various students and participants to keep up the festive spirit. The participants were then eagerly waiting for the second Cultural Night of FRISSION 2008. And then it was time for some ramp walk. The Fashion show themes were based on the scarcity of water which gave out a meaningful message, the next theme was based on the various news that you get to read in the papers and a “Jab we met” theme which focused on young love and was thoroughly enjoyed by the audience. The floor was then taken over by DJ Jog who played feet-stomping music.

Art, creativity, originality, imagination and pure talent was put to test in the beginning of last and final day of FRISSION 2008. Face painting and T – shirt painting competitions with the themes Day and night and life after death brought out just this. The students of ITM had also arranged some interactive fun games for the participants which everyone enjoyed and actively participated in. When there is goodness in your heart, it always shows. And the students of ITM brought out this goodness in them by inviting “UDAAN” – a musical band of the visually challenged to perform for the third cultural night of FRISSION 2008. All the profits of their collection from the festival were donated to Help Age India. If young students can be so large – hearted, we should all learn a lesson from this. Then, to take the evening to rocking heights, two bands Spiked Crib and Atmos-fear played some heavy metal and rocked the night.

The main sponsor’s for this event were Raymonds, Alok Textiles, Acer, Fame Adlabs, VLCC, Indulgence Saloon, ONGC, and Progressive. The media partners for this event were Big Fm and Pagalguy.com.

Ultimately it was the efforts of the entire FRISSION team comprising of students, faculty and management who with their talents and toil put up a show that will be remembered for long. Maybe that’s why after holding the success of their dearest event in their hands they expressed together in one voice -

Itni Shidat se tumhe paane ki koshish ki hai,
Ke Har Zarre ne tumse milane ki sazish ki hai,
Kehte hai agar kisi cheez ko poore dil se chaaho
Toh saari Kayanaath Usse tum se milane ki Koshish karti hai.

-By Nisha Iyer
GLC HR. (2007 – 2009)

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12th Convocation at WIM

The 12th Annual Convocation will be held on 30 - 03-2008 at 4.00 pm in the campus.

          Chief Guest : Prof.C.Ratnam, Vice Chancellor,S.V.University,Tirupati.
          Guest of Honour: Mr.T.Sreedhar, Managing Director,TMI First,Hyderabad
          Special Invitee: Mr.Vikash Agarwal, VP, KSBL, Hyderabad.

A Seminar on Union Budget 2008-09
WIM has organized a seminar on Union Budget 2008-09  on  4th March,2008  at  it's campus.
   Dr.Banda Prakash,Director, AIMS ,inaugurated the seminar.
   Prof.T.L.N.Swamy, Osmania University has delivered the key note speech  highlighting the various aspects of the budget.
   Mr.Laxamanachary, Tax Consultant , has presented a critique on tax  proposals
   Mr.Panduranga Kurapati, Asst. V.P,Axis Bank,  discussed the budget from banking sector's point of view; implications of proposed loan waiver etc.
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News Report - KNOW AIDS NO AIDS

33 million people around the world are living with AIDS. Five people worldwide die of AIDS every minute of every day. Africa has 12 million AIDS orphans. People living with AIDS in India are 2.5 million of which Maharashtra ranks 3rd after Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh in AIDS cases.

ITM Business School for the first time involved students in the NGO projects in winter. With this kind of initiative from the management, students became more concerned towards social responsibility and awareness among youth. They could apply their managerial abilities to the various projects and activities of the NGO.

An AIDS Awareness show was conducted by ITM Business School, Kharghar jointly with ARCON - AIDS Research & Control Centre on 1st March, 2008. The Chief Guest, Ms. Aditi Choudhary has done her M.A. in (Economics), MSc. in Health & Community Development from London School of Economics, MDP in IIM – A and has worked as Research Associate at many places. She was accompanied with 4 other Clinical psychologists who were Mrs. Fatima D'Souza, Mrs. Vaishali Shelar, Ms. Naziya Khan, Mr. Rajeev Pagare and Ms. Shabnam Khatri.

 A 40 minute video clip on what is AIDS, difference between HIV & AIDS, the reasons for the spread, the expensive medicines available to reduce the spread of AIDS, many myths about AIDS, etc. was shown to a number of students and faculty members, who were listening enthusiastically.

Globalization leading to mobility of people from one country to another is also one of the factors for the spread of AIDS. Since it relates to human behavior and regulation of human behavior on which laws & system might have little impact.

The issue of whether HIV test should be conducted before marriage or not had become a good topic of debate, where the matter of social responsibility came into picture.

There is no such medicine, made which can actually cure AIDS, but pills are available to stop the spread of virus in the body & thereby, making the patient’s life longer. Awareness of these deadly diseases through video clips is a better way for prevention of spreading of the disease especially among youth.

Large number of students attended not only from ITM, but also from Yerala Medical Trust and Bhartiya Vidyapeeth. Students took keen interest by raising various questions related to HIV, like why AIDS was not prevalent in ancient times, cases on homosexuality.

The concept was produced by Jigar Visariya, Sandeep Kumar & Praveen Tayal who had done winter project on AIDS with ARCON.

The main reason why AIDS education should be taught in middle and high schools is due to the growing trends of sexually active teens. Parents are not equipped with updated AIDS information. It is important to know about AIDS for planning of one’s family future, plan for future of one’s child & eventual future death.

Fight AIDS not people with AIDS

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'Branding and Brand Metrics' - A National Seminar
A National Seminar was held at WIM Campus on 23rd February. The Seminar was inaugurated by Prof.N.Linga Murthy,Vice Chancellor, Kakatiya University. Prof.A.K.Dasbiswas,Dean,ITM-Mumbai delivered the Key note address  and Dr.Ghansyamdas,Dean,AIMS,Warangal chaired the technical sessions.Researchers and scholars from across the country - Kerala,Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka and A.P presented papers on the various sub themes.

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ITM ROCKED SIOM CAMPUS
Our teams remained Winners in three events and Runner-up in one.

EVENT NAME:
“Drishti” Intercollegiate B-School fest
ORGANIZED BY:
 Symbiosis Institute of Operations Management (SIOM)
DATE:
 26th & 27th February 2008
ACHIEVEMENTS:
· 1st prize in paper presentation (Prastuti)
Team members: Gunjan Malviya, Aditi Saxena,  Archit Suroliya
Topic: Employee Branding
· 1st prize in HR games (Manav)
Team members: Shweta Mallik, Soumya Tripathi
· 1st prize in RJ Hunt (Akashvani)
Amogh Agnihotri
· 2nd prize in Debate (Ran-bhoomi)
Team members: Amogh Agnihotri, Anant Sharma, Azhar Khan

EXPERIENCES:
It is one of the biggest achievements of ITMites. After a tough competition from all the top-notch colleges like NMIMS, NITIE, JBIMS, SIBM, SIIB, FMS, TISS, Welingkar etc.,  the ITM students proved their excellence and made their Institute shine. It also served as a very good platform for networking and knowledge exchange with other students who came from different parts of the country.

E- Week

“Just as energy is the basis of life and ideas the source of innovation, so is innovation the vital spark of all human change, improvement and progress . The one who initiates change or responds to it and encashes it as an opportunity  is an entrepreneur.

The endeavour of NEN,during this whole week  has been to ignite the spirit of entrepreneurship. The NEN or National Entrepreneurship Network, was co-founded in 2002 by five of India's premier academic institutions: IIT Bombay; IIM Ahmedabad; SP Jain Institute, Bombay; IBAB, Bangalore and BITS Pilani. Over the past three years, NEN's focus on introducing a new paradigm in entrepreneurship education in India -- and its innovative method of doing so -- has made it its leading catalyst on campuses across India.

NEN's ultimate goal is to help launch thousands of new entrepreneurs, who in turn will create hundreds  and thousands of much-needed valuable jobs for India.

E- Week was a week-long awareness campaign engaging budding entrepreneurs in honing their entrepreneurial skills through various activities.

It began  with E SCRABBLE.: an event to test the knowledge of entrepreneurship & business awareness.

This was followed by another exciting round of E-Puzzle.

The 3rd day was the most challenging event: The E-Quiz, followed by the most awaited game: Junkyard Warriors, which brought out the various shades of Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurial Skills  of the participants.

Then there was the E-Movie: giving us an insight into the life sketch of Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal- a living example of Commitment, Focus and an indomitable spirit of Perseverance.

On the concluding day of E-week, Ms Rati Bhargava ,a lady of rare artistic acumen was the honorable guest who enthralled the audience with her speech and on-the-spot paintings on towels which has a good market. This was followed by the prize distribution ceremony.

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ITM's IT Department invited to the CXO Summit at Mumbai
ITM's IT Department was invited to make a presentation on the use of Open Source Software(OSS) at the recently held CXO Summit on 13th Feb. 2008  held at Hilton Towers, Mumbai. This event was organized by the EFY group who publish the "Linux For You" magazine, India's First Linux Magazine. The theme of this event was "Zero CapEx, Reduced OpEx".
 
Prof. J. A. Bhavsar, Group Head(IT) and Mr. Vinay Surve (System Administrator) attended the same. The presentation made by Prof. J. A. Bhavsar was well received as could be gauged from the subsequent interaction with the audience.

The second Board of Governors meeting, of this academic year, was held on 16th Feb.2008, at ITM Vashi.
The board discussed the progress of various initiatives suggested by the members in the last meeting.
 
Prof. P. V. Ramana, Chairman, briefed the board about the growth plans of ITM, both in India and abroad.
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6th EC Meeting held at IFM Vashi on 6th Feb. 2008
The sixth meeting of ITM's Executive Council took place at its Vashi campus. The Guest of Honor at this meeting was Professor Anthony Cohen, Principal, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, Scotland.
 
Ms. Vijayalakshmy of MaFoi, explained the Psychometric testing being used to enhance student capability.
 
Special merit certificates were awarded to the Dean's top ten student in each of the four management programs at ITM Navi Mumbai.
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Workshop on Leadership and Management â?? Dr. Joseph Michelli

On the 25th of January, 2008, as the students, faculty members, members from the industry entered Rang Sharda, Bandra, to attend the workshop on Leadership and Management â?? by Dr. Joseph Michelli, organised by the ITM group, they had no idea what was in store for them. This is because the only thing that can be said about Dr. Michelli  is that â?? â??He came, He saw, he conquered.â??

The workshop began with Prof P. V Ramana welcoming Dr. Joseph Michelli to conduct the workshop. Dr. Michelli is an internationally sought after speaker, an organisational psychologist and business consultant who has been described as â??catching what is right in the world and playfully sparking people and businesses to grow towards the extraordinary.â?? In addition Dr. Michelli writes best selling books about enduring business principles.

He transfers his knowledge of exceptional business practices, through keynote presentations that explore ways to develop joyful and productive workplaces with a focus on the total customer experience. His insights encourage leaders and frontline workers to grow and invest passionately in all aspects of their life.

And this what he did when he began his workshop with instances from his best selling book, When fish fly - The remarkable story of the Pike Place Fish Market. Dr. Michelli spoke about how the Pike place fish market always remained at number 4 position and never rose above until and unless it adopted change. Here very beautifully he told us how to deal with change. He stated that change was inevitable and will occur no matter what. However it is not the speed of change that matters but it is how quickly you adapt to the change which makes a great difference. Every change brings with it an opportunity and it depends on how well you exploit this opportunity that determines your success.

One of the main reasons for the success of the Pike place fish market was â??Listening to the front â?? line workersâ??. Here the owner John adopted a strategy of making the employees feel that they were world famous, important; very important. This gives out a huge message to organisations that world class companies can be built not only if the employees are world class but they also feel world class. Through this book Dr. Joseph Michelli gave a dynamic example of what a group of people can create when they are aligned and living a powerful vision.

Dr. Joseph Michelli then went on to give instances from his second Best selling Book â?? The Starbucks Experience â?? 5 principles for turning ordinary into extraordinary. From its humble origins to a name that is synonymous with coffee, Starbucks is one of the great growth companies of our time. While parts of Starbucks early history have been told in various publications, far too little has been written on precisely how Starbucks revolutionized the coffee industryâ??and in so doing, rewrote many of the conventional rules of management.
Dr Michelli thus shared with us from his 18 month experience 5 key principles that drive Starbucks phenomenal success. The Starbucks Experience reflects tenets that are simple, yet not simplistic. They are results-oriented and can be deceptively powerful when applied:

1. Make it your own
2. Everything matters
3. Surprise and delight
4. Embrace resistance
5. Leave your mark

The impact of these principles transcends the Starbucks story and offers all leaders an opportunity to greatly enrich their workplace. They demonstrate how an entrepreneurial spirit and extraordinary leadership skills can elevate a product or service and even change the way in which that product or service is delivered. These guidelines allow each of us to improve our workplace, whether by developing appealing new products, opening new markets, or just paying attention to the aspects of our business that we can readily enhance.
In the spirit of Starbucks, these principles encourage us to listen and respond with a greater awareness of opportunity. They remind all of us that we are responsible for unleashing a passion that ripples outward from behind the scenes, through the customer experience, and ultimately out into our communities.
Dr. Michelli then gave us all closer look at each of these principles with an eye to how they work inside Starbucks and how we can tap into their transformational power.
While concluding his workshop of leadership Dr. Michelli shared with us the importance of securing utmost customer loyalty. How many customers would say â??I cannot imagine a world without (Xyz Company/Brand)â?? Dr. Michelli stressed that if an organisation builds such customers it has indeed achieved heights of success.
Dr. Michelli who was an excellent presenter which goes without saying, had us all laughing and learning. His sudden actions would set the audiences laughing and applauding at the same time his life story as well as the story of the orphaned Chinese girl brought tears into peopleâ??s eyes. Service is all about giving back to the society, he conveyed and with this a mesmerising yet a highly motivating workshop on Leadership and management came to an end. However as it is rightly said, sometimes, for some people, the end, is merely just the beginning.

Roll no 12
GLC - HR

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3rd Supply Chain Colloquium 2008 organised by ITM , Kharghar on 2nd Febuary, 2008

Who said supply chains are boring?

Whenever I here the words ‘supply chain’ being muttered I immediately see glassy eyes followed by a yawn or two. Little do they realize that every time they purchase a CD or a carton of milk they are completing the end of the supply chain cycle?

This management concept has been used by each one of us and will be used in the workings of our day to day life. Hence understanding this concept is very important for professionals, realizing this ITM Business School presented a forum to the participants where professionals learn the multiple facets of supply chain management. In this colloquium SCM practices of Consumer durables, Engineering, Petroleum, Textile, FMCG, Fashion, Pharmaceutical, Retail & Logistic industries were the topics for discussion.

Under the leadership of the Supply Chain Colloquium chairman, Dr. R.P Mohanty, we had 9 professional speakers who were experts in their field. The colloquium started at sharp 9.45am with the auspicious lighting of the lamp and continued till 6.30pm with immensely knowledgeable speakers sharing their experiences with the various Industrial, Faculty and student delegates.

Mr. Soren Malekar, Vice President (Supply chain) , Castrol Indian Ltd, shared a few concepts with us like Demand forecasting is only the first step to have a successful supply chain. it should be followed by demand planning and demand shaping. He also narrated a story while discussing about collaboration, of a typical Indian and gave a simple moral to it saying that ‘we should learn to feed each other’. We had the audience applauding to every single topic of his. Mr. M.N.Kumta, Consultant, Lean Management Technologies, brought out the importance of the ‘Just In Time concept – JIT’in supply chain management. He explained the made to order concept with a very interesting example of ‘Radhesham – the Bhelwalla’. He also told us that the customers who purchase a CD are not the end link of Supply chain but Feedback is.

Mr. Ajay Chaubal, Vice President (Supply Chain) , S.K.F. Bearings Ltd started by asking everyone a question that ‘Who is the best Supply chain manager ?’ the answer being the lady of the house and after that supply chain and logistics were not like Rocket science to us.  He brought out a new concept of ‘Demand chain’ and the application of six sigma to it. He also briefed us on Project SAATHI, for which S.K.F. won the excellence award in 2006 in the knowledge category. Mr. Milind Patil – Head (SC Excellence Cent), Patni Computers spoke about the ITES Supply Chain challenges  and made us realise that when we deal with products or services it’s very easy but when we deal with humans it becomes very difficult.

Ms Aparna Imam – Head (Supply Chain, Steve and Barry’s LLC gave us insights on how important it is to have a good supply chain, customer focus throughout the supply chain network and technology in the supply chain in the Fashion industry. She also gave us a lot of information of the best practices of Wal-Mart and P&G channel partnership and the RFID technology used in Steve and Barry’s. Everyone out there had gained immense knowledge after her presentation and no one had a doubt about how Unisource being such a young company had achieved so much.

Mr. C.S Malwankar – Sr GM (Supply Chain) Technova Imaging threw light on various important aspects in supply chain management like technology, inventory, revamping regulatory system, outsourcing and global supply chain management. Mr.H.K Varma – DGM (Material), L&T Ltd shared his knowledge and experience on inventory management, importance of working capital in supply chain. He also told us how one should learn from simple but effective examples of Dabbawallas and News Paper vendors. Gaining insights on this topic from such a knowledgeable person was a privilege for each one sitting in the auditorium.

Mr. Arloph Vieira, Management Consultant, educated us on the Pharma Supply Chain process and their challenges, the importance Of standardized supply chain and also why India is a preferred place to conduct research and the last speaker for the day was  Mr Rajesh Nigam, Sr. Mgr (Supply Chain) , Indian Oil Corp gave us an in depth insight about supply chain management in the Petroleum Industry with a well prepared graphical presentation. Although it was the last presentation but leaning new concepts and innovative ideas from him was a privileged. In the end of the session, Dr. R.P.Mohanty gave a brief about the subject and recalled his experiences.

‘The illeterate of the 21st century are not those who cannot read or write but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn’
- Alvin Toffler

This colloquium gave everyone a chance to relearn the concept of Supply Chain Management. Before this session Supply chain management seemed such a heavy topic for all of us but we realised that the basic concept behind supply chain management is simple: customers order products from you; you keep track of what you're selling, and you order enough raw materials from your suppliers to meet your customers' demand. Michael Poter’s strategy of ‘Differentiation’ holds true here that –

“ What Products or Services cant do, Supply Chains can ! ”

Evita Fernandes
GLC, MBA – HR (Jr)

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ITM MUSIC CIRCLE

Music is the universal language of mankind. 
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

ITM’s music circle has two objectives, firstly to spread awareness of the Indian Classical Art among the youth and secondly it acts as a platform for young talented artists. It was with this intention that a talented Kathak dancer Ms. Vrushali Kolhatkar, who believes that - Dance is your pulse, your heartbeat, your breathing. It's the rhythm of your life. It's the expression in time and movement, in happiness, joy, sadness and envy, was invited to throw light on one of India’s most favored dance forms – “KATHAK”.

As per our tradition and culture, we believe that many rays come together with thousands of blessings in them and together they form a flame of a candle, enlighting the atmosphere with their blessings and prayers and so we had the lighting of the lamp by few of the firm pillars of ITM – Dr. Adikari, Prof C.Babu, Prof B.V.R.Murthy, representative of the students community Suprava Nayak and one of our invited artists Ms. Vrushali Kolhatkar.

She started her performance by paying homage to Lord Krishna in her “Krishna Vandana” a composition of India’s Kathak Maestro Pandit Birju Maharaj. To help Ms. Vrushali Kolhatkar to demonstrate this dance form were Mr. Atul on the Harmonium,  Mr. Prasad Ajrekar on the Tabla and Ms. Aditi Deshkar on the Padhang. KATHAK which means “the art of story telling” comprises of many Thats (poses) which have to be demonstrated with perfection. Here we learn and understand the importance of balance and co-ordination between the hand movements and facial expressions it. Ms. Kolhatkar then went on to demonstrate the CHAKRADHARAS which is exclusive to this dance form. She also gave us inputs on the difference between Bharatnatayam and Kathak and performed Kathak on the song named ‘Kahe Ched Ched Mohe’ from the movie Devdas.

In kathak, each syllable is designed not merely to represent the sounds of feet and bells but also to be in harmony with the strokes of the accompanying percussion instruments. “Footwork” in accordance with the Taal was feat worth watching.

Indeed Kathak is the art of communicating a story to the audiences non – verbally through expressions, gait, poise, movements, swaying to the Talas etc. This definitely goes to suggest how accomplished our Indian dance forms are in communication. Kathak is a truly unique and complicated dance that is mastered by the dancer who conveys the message of her dance. It was a site to watch, Dancing with the feet is one thing, but dancing with the heart is another and this reflected while she moved with the every beat.
After witnessing the final TARANA of Ms. Kolhatkar, every one in the audience felt like saying, “Katha Kahe So Kathak Kahaye.”

Dance is footwork on the rhythm given by voice; hence we also had Shri Mahesh Kulkarni as our next performer. He was born to a family of music and he was introduced to music by his father Shri N.K.Kulkarni who is also a well known Bharat Natyam artist. He was groomed by Late Pundit B.V.Kadlashkar of Belgaun. He started his musical journey at a tender age of 7. He has traveled widely giving musical performances in various places like Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkatta, Mumbai, etc. As far as his achievements are concerned, he has received a Sangeet Alankar from ‘Akheel Bhantiya Gandharva Vidyalaya. He was awarded a first prize in classical and Thumari National level competition at Pune and also ahs received scholarship from central government.

After a tremendous performance by Ms. Vrushali, we had our next performer to soothe our ears with his gazals and classical music that touched everyone’s heart and inspired them to come close to Indian Classical music.

Towards the end the master of ceremonies, Ritu and Rohit thanked Milin Raimane, Principal of Gandharva Mahairdydaya Vashi for this immense support, D.N.A and New Bombay Plus for covering this event and Panvel Cultural Centre for supporting this event, Mr. Vinod Todhekar of Kharghar for setting up the banners, all the faculty members, administrative staff, students who helped in organizing this event and students who attended this event.  

This event was a grand success not only in ITM, but also among the people of Kharghar who had come to witness this event. We all look forward to witnessing such events which soothe and enrich our mind, body and soul.

Written by -
Nisha Iyer
Evita Fernandes
(GLC – HR)

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4th HR Annual National Conference 2007

4th HR Annual National Conference 2007 At Institute For Technology and Management, Kharghar 
 
The 4th Annual National Conference on the theme of “Human Resource Management : Multiple Perspectives” was organized by Institute For Technology and Management at its Kharghar campus on December 20th and 21st ,2007.

More than 300 participants comprising of 30 delegates from corporates, 20 delegates from academic institutions, trainers, consultants, missionary organizations and remaining student delegates participated in the conference. The presentations on the themes, such as manpower planning, acquisition, deployment, development and ethical aspects of human resource management were discussed. Over 40 papers were presented in six technical sessions .

The two-day packed conference had events such as inaugural function, key note speeches, plenary sessions, technical sessions and valedictory function. Dr. S. K. Mukerjee, Vice Chancellor, Birla Institute of technology Meshra,  Ranchi in his inaugural address lamented on the absence of the forward feedback mechanism which the industry should provide to the academic institutions in order to incorporate industry relevant courses and subject matter in course curricula. Prof. P.V. Ramana, Chairman ITM group of institutions observed that Asia led by China and India is going to be center of growth and development in the 21st century. However, management courses in India and other parts of Asia heavily rely on the management models, strategies, tools and techniques which are relevant to U.S. and European economies. He emphasized to change the curricula of management education based on the experiences of the businesses in India, China and miracle economies of South East Asian countries. Swami Bhageeshanadji, Chairperson of Ramkrishna Math Mumbai also blessed the audience.
The other prominent speakers were drawn from various walks of life such as corporates, academics, NGOs, ISCON etc. One hour Cultural program by the students of ITM was very well appreciated by one and all. Role play competition was unique in its nature and was highly admired by the audience. Prizes were awarded to the winners of the competition. Book exhibition was held by prominent publishers and computer dealers

To be a successful organization, the Conference suggested the following takeaways:

1. Build strategies taking into account the strength of the employees.
2. Invest on people for their further enhancement and development.
3. Work in transparent manner, maintaining high ethical standards.
4. Follow the principle of Corporate Social Responsibility.

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ITM builds Music Circle

A musical concert was organised at the event held last week DNA Correspondent, Kharghar

With a view to encourage talented artists and keep the traditional art forms, ethical and spiritual values alive, Kharghar-based ITM Business School's ITM Music Circle was inaugurated last week. On this occasion, the circle organised a musical concert which was focused on classical music wherein professional artists were invited.

Director of the institute Dr. C.S. Adhikari informed that the music circle has been formed to bring in talented artists to perform for the Navi Mumbai audience. Hence they would be holding such events on a regular basis at free of cost. "This is being organised as a social obligation towards the public so as to give back something worthwhile to the society", said Senior Instructor and academic associate Arjun Naik adding, this will encourage budding talents and give them a platform to perform.

Chairman of ITM Professor P V Ramana on the occasion opined similar views adding the musical shows would be open to the residents of Navi Mumbai and are expecting it to be acclaimed by the residents here.

Dean of the institute, Prof. A K Dasbiswas stressed the importance of nurturing spiritual quotient alongside emotional quotient and intelligence quotient for all round development of the management students. The musical show consisted of artists performing on tabla, sitar and harmonium. The audience present was enthralled by the artists playing classical ragas like Malgunji, Kerwani on sitar and teental vilambit on tabla. The programme ended with cohesive playing of all four sitars and tabla in classical notes depicting ragas for all seasons called riturang.

Naik further said that they are expecting the ITM music center to become a cultural hangout in the future.

Building a talent pool

Director of the institute Dr. C S Adhikari informed that the music circle has been formed to bring in talented artists to perform for the Navi Mumbai audience.

Dean of the institute, Prof. A K Dasbiswas stressed the importance of nurturing spiritual quotient alongside emotional quotient and IQ.

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ITM signed an MoU with HDFC bank
ITM signed an MoU with HDFC bank on the 29th of November 2007 for conducting the Joint Certification Program in Relationship Management. This will be offered as an elective in the PGDM program: the salient features of this memorandum are-
To facilitate AMFI certification to students enrolling for the elective
Conduct guest lectures for the said elective
Train faculty as and when required
Provide case studies and arrange for field visits
Provide education loans at subsidized rates for students who take joint certification elective
ITM agrees to develop the program, giving full support by providing training material, infrastructure and faculty to ensure total success.
The Memorandum was signed jointly byMr.Harsh Kumar, the Deputy VP(HR) of HDFC Bank and Prof.A.K.Dasbiswas, Dean of ITM Kharghar, in the ITM premises in the presence of senior faculty members of the Institute.
The MoU will go a long way to benefit the students of the Institute as well as HDFC Bank

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Congratulations ! Soumya patnaik - PGDBM-2004-2006 on being featured in the international magazine" Business week" published by McGraw Hill in their August,2007issue.

 

 

AICTE gives approval for an intake of 90 to Warangal Institute of Management
I)AICTE gives approval for an intake of  90 to Warangal Institute of Management.
ii) Ministry of Corporate Affairs,GOI, sanctions financial assistance to WIM to organise Investor Education Seminars

ITM Rankings by Business India's Best B-Schools Survey 2006.
ITM Navi mumbai has been rated as a 'A+-Grade B- School' and ITM Banglore has been rated as 'A-Grade B-School' by the recent Business India : Best B-Schools Survey 2006 (October 22, 2006).