Now, the first batch of IMS Proschool students will graduate to join the industry. The convocation ceremony will be held on August 8, 2008 in Mumbai. The convocation address will be delivered by Prof G Sethu, Director and Officer on Special Duty at National Institute of Securities Market.

As part of the Building IIM-B for Tomorrow initiative, undertaken by the students and faculty to further strengthen the brand IIM-B, the 2006-08 Batch of students have set up the Class of 2008 Fund. The fund will be used for instituting faculty and student excellence awards as well as for supporting infrastructural developments on campus. This is the first time ever a graduating batch has made such an effort as a sign of their commitment to the growth and development of the institute.

The MoU between AIMA and IGNOU to offer joint E-learning and Doctoral programmes was signed on August 2, 2008 in New Delhi.

On the occasion, Prof VN Rajasekharan Pillai, Vice Chancellor, IGNOU and Chairman of Distance Education Council of India; Prof Parvin Sinclair, Pro Vice Chancellor, IGNOU; Mr Kewal Handa, President, AIMA; Mr SK Swamy, Sr Vice President, AIMA, Ms Rekha Sethi, Director General, AIMA, Prof DN Rao, Director, Centre for Management Education, AIMA and Mr K Laxman, Registrar, IGNOU were present.

From humble small town background, Bagchi rose to the top echelons of Wipro and then in 1999 co-founded MindTree. Since then MindTree has emerged as one of Indias most admired companies, employing close to 8000 people with its recent acquisition of Aztec.Interestingly, in 2008, Bagchi took on a new role of Gardener at MindTree.

In last few years, Bagchi has done what only few successful entrepreneurs have done in India sharing their journey and learning with students and young professionals.

Termed as The Financial Express -U21Global Scholarship Programme, the scholarship is aimed at working professionals who wish to realise their potential through higher education.

The Financial Express-U21Global Scholarship Programme awards scholarships for the U21Global Master of Business Administration (MBA) and are open to executives who are currently working in India with at least three years of professional or managerial experience. The scholarships worth a total of USD 350,000 will be awarded to 50 deserving applicants across India.

As a part of the Community Mobilisation and Institution Building course offered by XIM-B in its second year of Rural Management programme, XIMB has included case study in the form of mainstream Bollywood films like Swades, Chak De India and Manthan.

Shailesh Rao, MD, Google India will address the inaugural lecture in New Delhi on August 6, 2008. MBAUniverse.com is the Official Management Portal of this initiative.
Shailesh Rao took over as the MD of Google in India in March 2007. He brings a wealth of experience with him having worked as Director for Google based at the companys headquarters in Mountain View, California. He is a BA from the University of Pennsylvania with Honors, a BS from the Wharton School with a concentration in finance, and an MBA from The Kellogg School of Management.

said Dr Devinder Kumar Banwet, Professor & Group Chair Operations, Project & Supply Chain Management, Department of Management Studies, IIT Delhi at the Conference on International Science Technology and Management (CISTM) held at IIT Delhi on July 31, 2008. The Conference is jointly organized by Confederation of Indian Industry, Information Technology Leadership Institute, Virginia Commonwealth University and IIT, New Delhi focusing on a theme of Transitioning to a Knowledge Economy.

NIIT Imperia to offer five new programmes with IIMs
NIIT Imperia, which focuses on offering management programmes for working executives, has announced its new programme calendar for the September 2008 admission cycle. These programmes will be offered in conjunction with leading management institutes like Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIM-C), Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow (IIM-L) and Indian Institute of Management, Indore (IIM-I). The programmes will cover a wide spectrum of areas like general management, family buinsess management and financial management.

In India there are around 15 million retail outlets which cater to the day to day needs of the customers conveniently and affordably. Big chains on the other hand enjoy large scale efficiencies. Both should coexist.