focused on the theme Advantage India - The bird of gold spreads its wings. The fest will be held from January 25-26, 2008.

This fest will hold an Idea Summit, where speakers coming from myriad backgrounds will share their vision and experiences from their life; and also share their expectations with the generation next.

What is the relevance of this essay question in XAT, and what are the topics fielded in last many years? MBAUniverse.com special series on XAT 08 has some answers.

Aspirants across the country wish to know what they should expect from XAT and some last minute tips to soothe their nerves. MBAUniverse.com spoke to Mr Sandeep Manudhane, Founder Chairman, PT Education for his advice to all XAT takers.

Mr Manudhane believes that XAT is going to be tough exam. Said Mr Manudhane, The test is going to be a tough one, especially for those who had also taken SNAP and NMAT. Considering the past two years trend, Mr Manudhane said, The toughness level of some questions in Maths, specially from Algebra, could be high.

For the first time the summer placements 2007 at Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management (SJMSOM) at IIT Bombay witnessed various international offers with banking giant ICICI Bank and US Technology leading the way. SJMSOM was reports an increase of 80% in the number of companies coming to campus, over the last year. For a batch of 74 students around 42 companies participated in the process. According to SJMSOM, the highest stipend offered this time was staggering Rs 1.2 lacs excluding benefits.

Former Director of Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubneshwar (XIMB) Fr E Abraham has taken over the charge as new Director at Xavier Labour Relations Institute of Management, Jameshedpur on Jan 1, 2008. Father P T Joseph is the new Director of XIMB. He assumed the charge at XIMB on December 26, 2007.

Talking to MBAUniverse.com, Dr Sasmit Patra of XIMB said, Father P T Joseph has taken over the charge of Director of XIMB on December 26, 2007. Our former Director Father Abraham has also joined the XLRI.

A brainchild of the JBIMS Placement Committee and Nestle, this event took the relationship of JBIMS with Nestle to a new high. Students got an opportunity to showcase their talent and Nestle got a glimpse of its future managers and leaders.

The workshop is scheduled to be held at the IIM-B Campus on January 3-4, 2008. The keynote address will be given by Mr Prasad Chandran, CMD, BASF SouthAsia.

The workshop will draw insights from Prof Jeremy Moon, Director, International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility, Nottingham University Business School and Mr Chris Gibson, Director, British Council South India.

Dr. Kiran Bedi Indias first woman IPS officer, Mr. Sarthak Behuria Chairman, IOCL, Mr. Chandra Sekaran President & MD, CTS and Mr. Siddarth, IT Secretary West Bengal will presides over the Intaglio. Some of the prestigious organizations that are participating in Intaglio include NERA Economic Consulting, London; Boston Consulting Group; the India Club of Wharton Business School and the India Business Forum of London Business School.

So when CK Prahalad aced the list of thinkers which included tycoons like Bill Gates and super brands like Michel Porter, Jack Welch and Jim Collins, it certainly created a flutter in the world of management thinking. MBAUniverse.com, in tie-up with Thinkers 50, puts a spotlight on ideas that makes CK Prahalad the most influential business thinker of our times.

After Indian megacorps like Tatas, Mahindras and Wipros putting the Indian flag on international deal-street, CK Prahalad was recently named as the worlds most influential thinker by Thinkers 50, a respected global ranking of business gurus. Indias leading management portal MBAUniverse.com has officially tied-up with UK based Thinkers 50, to present the findings and learnings from this global ranking.

With this tie-up, MBAUniverse.com will publish the profiles and learnings from worlds leading business thinkers, every week.