Dear alumni,
I am pleased to share with you the June 2021 issue of Connexion - the newsletter of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIMC). Through Connexion, we intend to share with our alumni and well-wishers some of the highlights of our key institutional activities. I see Connexion as a forum of dialogue between IIMC and its vast networks of alumni. We at IIMC will be delighted to learn of the spectacular achievements of our alumni in different walks of life – business and entrepreneurship, administration and governance, academics and thought leadership. Please do write to us and let us know about your accomplishments so that your alma mater can take justifiable pride in your stellar contributions to society at large. Very recently, Mr. Ashish Chauhan has added to our stock of institutional grandeur, and we are basking in the reflected glory of his appointment as the Chancellor of the University of Allahabad.
This issue contains a brief report on our virtual annual convocation held on 15 May 2021. More interestingly, it contains the experiential vignettes of some of our bright graduates who passed out this year. I am particularly touched by their humility and the way they have expressed their gratitude to their teachers and peers. Their remarks underline our values of collegiality, and the communitarian ethos of Joka campus. It is this sense of fellow-feeling that we cherish and wish to nourish through our continuous efforts at reaching out to our alumni and other stake-holders.
You will be happy to know that IIMC has entered its Diamond Jubilee Year (1961-2021). We are working on our plans for to celebrate our Diamond Jubilee across the length and breadth of the county, and abroad. For us, this is an occasion to strengthen our bonds with our alumni in particular, and the outside world in general.
With the hopeful containment of the Covid-19 pandemic, we look forward to welcoming our students to this lush green picturesque campus of ours at Joka. Their presence is bound to add to the vibrancy and vivaciousness of our campus life and give all of us a sense of overall normalcy that we so earnestly desire.
I hope you will enjoy reading this issue. I welcome your feedback.
Take care and stay safe!
Prof. Manish Thakur
Dean (New Initiative and External Relations)
IIM Calcutta conducted its Annual Convocation 2021 over a virtual ceremony on May 15. The landmark event was graced by IIM Calcutta alumnus and Chief Economic Advisor to Govt. of India, Dr. Krishnamurthy Subramanian as the Chief Guest along with Shri Shrikrishna Kulkarni, Chairperson - Board of Governors, IIM Calcutta and Dr.Subir Bhattacharya, Director-in-charge, IIM Calcutta. 462 students of the 56th batch of IIMC’s 2-year flagship MBA programme were awarded their degrees, 61 students were awarded for the 1-Year MBAEx Programme.
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IIMC alumnus Ashish Kumar Chauhan has been recently appointed the Chancellor of University of Allahabad by the Honourable President of India Shri Ramnath Kovind. He will be serving on the post for a period of five years.
Commenting on Mr Chauhan’s landmark achievement, Prof.Subir Bhattacharya, Director-in-Charge, IIM Calcutta said: "The announcement of Ashish Chauhan’s appointment as the Chancellor of University of Allahabad is a matter of immense pride for all of us at IIM Calcutta. We, as academics, have always been respectful of the rich tradition of Allahabad University with respect to their teaching and research. We congratulate Ashish on his new role and look forward to his tenure as he steps into public service and accelerates the University's transformation journey over the next few years.”
Indian Institute of Management Calcutta organized a Covid Vaccination Camp at the IIMC Campus on 7 June 2021 for its faculty, staff, and other employees. The IIM Calcutta faculty contributed jointly to fund the vaccination of 126 daily wage workers. After a lot of consistent persuasion, the Medical Unit of the Institute received a proposal from Techno India DAMA Hospital (CVC ID: P559319) to organise a 'Vaccination Camp' inside the campus for its employees and dependent family members, keeping in mind the safety guidelines issued by Government of India.
We present here the graduating student awardees of 56th Annual Convocation 2021 with their personalised views and expressions:
Awardee of 'Satish K. Sehgal Doctoral Student Award'
With a technical background and a will to work in the area of technology for social good, I joined the MIS group at IIM Calcutta in the year 2015. The next six years was a journey that I took along with several mentors, peers and other well-wishers that transformed my views about several aspects of my personal and professional life. When I reflect on my time at IIM-C today, I can safely say that the myth that ‘PhD is a lonely journey into an unchartered territory’ was shattered by this beautiful institution.
The first two years at IIM-C helped build my foundations from ground zero for a career in academia. The excellent mix of post-graduate and doctoral level courses offered at IIM-C, helped provide both breadth and depth in knowledge in my area of interest. The pedagogy in the second year ensured that we got to work closely with the faculty members and get a glimpse into how they think about and pursue research. The close-knit student community at IIM-C also helped provide the much-needed perspectives to everything that we learnt.
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Awardee of 'Nirmal Chandra Memorial Doctoral Student Award'
Completing the doctoral program from IIM Calcutta has been the most exhilarating, intellectually stimulating, and soul-searching experience of my life. Coming with over eight years of experience at mid-senior level across consulting, impact investing and civil society activism, I had several questions and apprehensions on rejoining school: Would I get the flexibility and appropriate guidance to work on my topic of interest (at least what I initially thought was crystal clear to me)? Would I get the space to traverse multiple ideologies, disciplinary boundaries, and methodological barriers? Would I receive adequate training to bridge my knowledge gaps, especially since my engineering and management training had ill-equipped me to pursue an academic career in policy and social sciences? And overall, will I get a supportive environment for intellectual pursuits? After a little less than six years into the program, I can safely say that all my apprehensions have been put to rest and IIM Calcutta has not only equipped me well for the long academic journey ahead but shaped my orientation in ways that I could not even have imagined before coming here.
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Awardee of 'Best Publication Doctoral Student Award'
Looking back, the PhD program at IIM Calcutta has been an enjoyable and eye-opening experience for me. It was clearly unlike any of the previous degrees/courses I had experienced before. After the coursework, the familiar timetables with exams and grades giving clear closure were no longer there. What ensues becomes almost a way of life. Every year of the PhD program was very different from the next. The doctoral coursework was quite intense with a broad exposure to a variety of topics, theories, and methods. The month long Comprehensive Qualifying Examination helped me to consolidate my learning before the dissertation stage. In the dissertation phase, what made the journey remarkable was the freedom I got to explore and try out new things that have shaped my life perspective in a major way. In addition to the thesis, I also engaged in other research projects that I was passionate about. Attending two international conferences fully funded by the institute, helped me a lot to connect with global peers and understand the current state of research in various domains. I also got a chance to represent the PhD student body and start some initiatives. These experiences were enriching and fulfilling, and helped me appreciate how institutional processes contribute to its quality and functioning. But all this did not mean that the PhD was all work and no play. We had parties, travel, gupshup, and everything in between. I consider myself truly blessed to have had a great friend circle which made my stay at Joka a truly memorable one.
MBA - 1st Rank Holder
The two years at IIM Calcutta gave me a multitude of diverse experiences in both academic and extracurricular pursuits. These experiences helped me to push the boundaries I had set for myself and have conditioned me for the corporate life that lies ahead. The CEMS exchange program gave me a platform to interact and learn with people from different cultures and communities. The Joka experience can’t be summed up without the mention of my super talented peers, professors and friends who have made this journey full of learnings and memories.
MBA - 1st Rank Holder
IIM Calcutta has given me wings to soar and touch the sky. The bonds I created here with friends and professors alike will always be cherished !
MBAEx - 1st Rank Holder
Words fall short in expressing my gratitude IIMC "The Temple of Management Excellence" for its immense contribution in my journey of transformation. The MBAEx program has helped me identify my own potential to scale newer career heights but most importantly, to work towards making this world a better place. With the Iron Gates of the IIMC campus wide open, I walked out with ever more humility and empathy received with the wisdom and knowledge from the world-class faculties. I had never aimed for the Gold Medal :), rather I was always amazed by the insights and learnings from every single class. I shall forever be indebted to IIMC alumni too who had guided me through this journey and filled the gaps to make me a better business professional.
In this turbulent year, we have been a special batch and all my batchmates hold a special place in my heart. I shall always be grateful to them for the multi-perspective atmosphere they built and the selfless guidance in various discussions.
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PGPEX-VLM- 1st Rank Holder
2020-2021 has been a challenging year for everyone. During this period, the decision to opt for higher studies was a tricky one. However, in hindsight, I can vouch that getting admitted to this program was the best thing that could have happened to me last year. With the right blend of exposure to future technologies and Management knowledge, the curriculum offered me the unique learning experience that I was looking for. Not only this experience helped me to gather diverse expertise across Management and Technology domain, but also it prepared me to sail through the uncertainty around the world. Being curious to learn new things kept me motivated and going throughout the year, and I hope I will continue this in my future endeavours. Most importantly, I will cherish the time spent with my friends during the one-year journey. The short yet fulfilling experience at IIM Calcutta gave me some fantastic friends, and I hope to remain in touch with them.
Read More >IIM Calcutta welcomed the incoming MBA batch with its annual city meets. Organized by the External Relations Cell, these virtual city meets were conducted via Zoom across Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Kolkata. A total of 480 participants attended these meets, including students from the incoming batch, current batch and distinguished alumni.
Each city had multiple hosts from the current batch who welcomed all the participants and encouraged conversations. The sessions also saw distinguished alumni of various batches including Sanchit Garg, Founder - Green Cure Wellness, Shubham Sarvaiya, Manager - Corporate Strategy, Hero MotoCorp, Ashish Chugh, Manager - Corporate Strategy, Hero MotoCorp to name a few. They shared their journey at Joka and the life lessons they learned while pursuing their courses and how that has shaped them as not only professionals but also as who they are.
This was followed by an orientation to IIM Calcutta and its rich history, exemplary academia, and esteemed alumni through a presentation. Apart from this, for further personal interaction, breakout rooms were created where students could ask their Q&A s in a closed group environment.
IIM-Calcutta was happy to welcome MBAEx, Batch 15. The diverse cohort of this one year full time programme comprises of doctors, engineers, chartered accountants, defence personnel, start-up enthusiasts, architects, consultants, etc. coming from varied sectors like telecom, energy, pharmaceutical, aerospace, oil and gas, e-commerce, supply chain, real estate, education, consulting, automobile, banking, just to name a few. The batch was introduced to the IIM Calcutta legacy on 23rd April, 2021 with a virtual induction ceremony hosted by esteemed faculty members and administrative heads - Prof. Subir Bhattacharya, Prof. Bodhibrata Nag, Prof. Prashant Mishra, Prof. Manju Jaiswall, Prof. Preetam Basu and Shri Alok Chandra along with a few of our illustrious alums.
International Immersion Module is an essential and unique feature of the MBAEx program, that gives the students exposure to study a new culture and a new perspective. This year IIM Calcutta partnered with Mannheim Business School to study the complexities and shifting trends of the International German businesses through interactions with distinguished professors of international repute and industry visits including a virtual visit to European Central Bank. This module helped students learn some of the most ground-breaking International Competitive Strategies designed to tackle the most formidable challenges that managers often face because of the unpredictable international business climate. The online immersion module was of 2 weeks duration from April 12 to April 23, 2021.
The Financial Research and Trading Laboratory (FRTL) of IIM Calcutta hosted the 6th Research Summer School in Empirical Finance and Accounting during May 1-10, 2021. The research summer school 2021 is an eleven-day program with two components: 10-day online sessions held over zoom during May 1 - 10, 2021, and 1-day online presentations on June 12, 2021.
The first two days had sessions on applied econometrics that helped the participants learn advanced statistical methods and empirical techniques currently employed in cutting-edge research in Finance and Accounting. The next 8-days had sessions that exposed participants to cutting-edge research and the art of writing high-quality papers in Accounting, Asset Pricing, Banking, Corporate Finance, Corporate Governance, Earnings Management, Executive Compensation, Financial Risk Management, and Market Microstructure. In addition, over these 8-days, participants formed seven teams and pursued group research projects that they would continue subsequently and present their work next month.
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The Tata Social Enterprise Challenge Grand Finale & Summit 2020-2021 was held virtually on May 15, 2021.Graced by several distinguished social entrepreneurs and industry leaders like Chief Guest N.Srinath, CEO, Tata Trusts, Anshu Gupta, Founder, Goonj, Dr. Harish Hande, Founder, SELCO, Shamlu Dudeja and Malika Dudeja Varma, Founders, Self Help Enterprise (SHE), Balaji Ganapathy, Chief Responsibility Officer & Global Head – CSR, Tata Consultancy Services, Prof. Prashant Mishra, Dean NIER, IIM Calcutta, Srikant Sastri, Chairman of the Board, IIM Calcutta Innovation Park & Dr.Subhrangshu Sanyal, CEO, IIM Calcutta Innovation Park, who shared their vision on this year's theme “Social for Local – Social Entrepreneurship for self-reliant India”. Winners of TSEC 2020-2021 announced were Bastar se Bazar tak (Winner), AC Biode (Runner Up) & Innaumation Medical Devices Private Ltd. (Second Runner Up). Bastar se Bazar tak also won the newly formed Tata SE Seed Corpus of Rs 25 lakhs and Rs 5 lakhs Seed Funding from IIM Calcutta Innovation Park.
Mizoram Kailawn Growth Accelerator Program, the IIM Calcutta Innovation Park led start-up accelerator that was being conducted for the Mizoram Government, moved forward with great vigour with regular online sessions on various aspects of business namely Introduction to Business Plan, Revenue Model, Funding and Pitch Presentation. This year long accelerator will conclude in November, 2021.
A five-week long Incubator management program was organised for the Software Technology Parks of India between March 26 – June 6, 2021. The program was inaugurated by Mr. Onkar Rai, Director General, STPI, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India and attended by Srikant Sastri, Chairman of the Board, IIM Calcutta Innovation Park. This intense 40-hour long facilitation program was attended by 47 STPI leaders and managers over 5 weeks across 10 different aspects of incubator management. The program ended with a valedictory ceremony where the seven-groups pitched their Incubation Strategy to a jury panel.
IIM Calcutta is at the fore front of enabling the development of technology-based start-ups and the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem across the country, in myriad ways. It runs various programs to develop entrepreneurship and innovation, IIMC alumni are playing stellar roles as start-up founders, investors, mentors, and IIMC is associated with or supports many institutions that work directly with the start-up ecosystem. One of the key institutions associated with IIM Calcutta in doing this is the IIM Calcutta Innovation Park (IIMCIP) which nurtures and supports entrepreneurship & innovation through its Business Incubation Services, Innovation Lab and the ecosystem development activity across the country. Among the slew of value-adding activities, IIMCIP has built a program management platform / Contest Portal, which it has effectively used to facilitate the management of over 50 start-up business contests and challenges so far.
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T V Narendran, CEO & Managing Director, Tata Steel Limited, is the new President of CII for the year 2021-22. He took over from Uday Kotak, Managing Director & CEO, Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited. Narendran has been engaged with CII for many years at the State, Regional and National level. He was the Chairman of CII Eastern Region during 2016-17 and has led CII National Committees on Leadership and Human Resources besides being Chairman of CII Jharkhand. He was also the President Designate of CII for 2020-21.
Footwear major Bata India has appointed Gunjan Shah as its new chief executive officer. Shah, who has been serving at Britannia Industries as its chief commercial officer, will take up his new role next month. Shah has experience of working in sectors like consumer durables, FMCG and telecom. He worked for Asian Paints and Motorola early in his career, before joining Britannia in 2007.
Flipkart has appointed Dinkar Ayilavarapu, Partner at consulting firm Bain & Company, as the vice president for corporate strategy at the e-commerce firm. In this role, Ayilavarapu will report to Flipkart Group chief executive officer Kalyan Krishnamurthy. The development comes at a time when the company is aiming for an initial public offering (IPO) by next year. Ayilavarapu comes with 18 years of rich experience. Prior to joining Flipkart, he was a partner at Bain & Company..
Sudatta Mandal has been appointed as the Deputy Managing Director of Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). The appointment is for a period of 3 years. Prior to this, Sudatta Mandal was the Chief General Manager of EXIM Bank. He has over 25 years of professional experience in international trade and investment finance, project finance, structured lending, SME lending, including cluster financing, and trade finance.
With the help of Odappali Vijaya Laxmi (mother), daughter Keerthi Priya sensed an opportunity in the sun-dried vegetable space and started Nurture Fields which procures farm produces from farmers and employs local women for food processing and drying. Currently they are in the process of dehydrating 20 varieties of vegetables and 10 varieties of fruits.
Sumit Chadha has moved on from PNB Housing Finance and joined India Mortgage Guarantee Corporation (IMGC) as Chief Information Officer. India Mortgage Guarantee Corporation Private Limited is the first Mortgage Guarantee company in India that aims to make early ownership a possibility for a wider group of people through guaranteed support. The company is a joint venture of Genworth Financial, National Housing Bank, International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Asian Development Bank (ADB). In the new role, Chadha will be responsible for implementing technology strategy, enhancing digital capabilities and strengthening the company's competitive capability with new-age technology solutions.
Eighteen alumni from across 15 batches of IIM Calcutta came together to offer some musical respite in these tough times with a soulful rendition of Kandisa, the Syrian hymn which had propelled fusion band Indian Ocean to popularity. The video features alumni from classes of 1998 to 2013, tuning in from their homes to lend their voice or play an instrument. The video ends with a message from Amit Kilam of Indian Ocean. Lauding what he called was a “standout cover”. Kilam said he had shared the song with bandmate Rahul Ram.
| Name of the Programme | Programme Director(s) | Start Date | End Date | Mode of Delivery | Fees*(Rs) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finance for Non Finance Executives | Prof. Manju Jaiswall | August 06, 2021 | August 22, 2021 | Live Online | 90000 |
| Interpersonal Effectiveness and Leadership Excellence | Prof. Chetan Joshi | August 16, 2021 | August 21, 2021 | Live Online | 82000 |
| Enhancing Interpersonal Effectiveness | Prof. Abhishek Goel & Prof. Rajiv Kumar | September 13, 2021 | September 17, 2021 | Live Online | 90000 |
| Strategic Cost & Performance Management | Prof. Manju Jaiswall | September 17, 2021 | September 26, 2021 | Live Online | 76000 |
| Managerial Leadership and Conflict Resolution | Prof. Chetan Joshi | September 20, 2021 | September 25, 2021 | Live Online | 82000 |
| Business Leadership Programme (3 Modules) | Prof. Amit Dhiman,Prof. Anirvan Pant,Prof. Peeyush Mehta | Module I: Module II: Module III: |
September 20 - 25, 2021; December 13 - 18, 2021; February 14 - 19, 2022 |
In-Campus | 288000 |
| Strategic Brand Management | Prof. Prashant Mishra & Prof. Saravana Jaikumar | September 27, 2021 | October 01, 2021 | Live Online | 100000 |
| Leadership and Team Building | Prof. Chetan Joshi | October 04, 2021 | October 09, 2021 | Live Online | 82000 |
| Managerial Effectiveness | Prof. Abhishek Goel & Prof. Rajiv Kumar | October 25, 2021 | October 29, 2021 | Live Online | 90000 |
| *Taxes and surcharges as applicable will be charged extra on above fees | |||||
| Programme details available at https://iimcal.ac.in/mdp/mdp-calendar | |||||
Programmes may be rescheduled, or those that are currently planned to be delivered in-campus may be shifted to virtual classrooms due to Covid-19 related exigencies and government guidelines.