THE DROP OF INK

The crown of literature is poetry. It is its end and aim. It is the sublimest activity of the human mind. It is the achievement of beauty and delicacy. The writer of prose can only step aside when the poet passes - . W. Somerset Maugham

Sumantra, the Book Club at the Institute of Management, Nirma University gave poetry aficionados in Ahmedabad a whale of a time. The Club is organised an English Poetry Session “A Drop Of Ink” for seasoned and budding poets and writers today i.e. 30th August, 2009 in the auditorium of the Institute of Management, Nirma University. The Programme was open to all and was a platform for interaction between lovers of poetry and management students.



“A Drop Of Ink” has traditionally been organised in the Institute of Management, Nirma University as an internal event held every year with MBA students being encouraged to show off their creativity by expressing their thoughts on paper in the form of poems. The event was extended to include all colleges of all streams as well as the general public. The event was conceived with the basic objective of providing a platform to every person who wants to express himself in the form of a poem. The event is open to non-writers and other members of the public interested in listening to the poems.

The event attracted entries from a wide variety of people from housewives to techies at IIT Kharagpur.

When a drop of blood is shed,a nation is born;
But when a drop of ink goes,a poem is born.

This was rightly said by one of the poets at the event.

TUNE IN TO RADIO ONE

This was something for which all the amateur radio jockeys were waiting for.
RADIO ONE team came over to IMNU with their COLLEGE CHAMPIONS contest on Saturday.

Participants had to form a team of two.There were five rounds in which their instant thinking and speaking abilities were tested.It was not about RJing but about MJing.The concept of Music Jockey was explained.It was great fun for those who gave it a shot and the audience.
All the participants got goodies sponsored by Clearasil and Reliance.
Two teams have been selected for the next round to be held in the HIMALAYA MALL.
They are:
1.Kshitij and Nupur
2.Ankur and Richa

The final team would get a chance to play as MJs live on the radio channel.
The event was sponsored by Pantaloons,Yamaha and Ultra Clearasil.

SLAM DUNK!!!!!

This year's new addition to IMNU's sports circuit, Slam Dunk, the basketball tournament has been an unqualified success. The electric atmosphere created every evening at 9 pm by the vibrant crowds and deft play is simply worth a watch. Crowds gather in the basketball court everyday at 9 pm to cheer for their respective class teams. The accompanying 'team marketing' concept by Niche, the marketing club of IMNU, adds an extra zing to the crowd's participation.

The competition begin with an amazing match between the Pirates and the Turbochargers, where the Pirates overpowered the Turbochargers 28-6. The Pirates also went on to defeat the Bisons and enter the finals with a match that was contested closely and ended at 26-27.

The other finalists, The Stallions have had a stupendous run into the finals, overpowering their opponents with little mercy. They won their match against Czars with a score of 32-8 and then went on to rout the titans with a score of 36-10. Cheered on by their boisterous classmates, they have put up an impressive show.

The finals between the Pirates and the Stallions is sure to be an action packed one, given their run up to the finals and the teams. Although the rain gods are playing spoilsports in the past couple of days all IMNU'ites are looking for an exciting match soon.

YUVA CLEANS IT ALL

The YUVA CLUB of IMNU is conducting a sanitation and cleanliness drive on this Saturday in the campus. They will be visiting the workers residence and will make them aware of the importance of the cleanliness and hygiene.
This is another act of philanthropy from their bag after the CLOTH DRIVE which was a success too.The club is living upto its name and is full of the young ideas and young torch bearers of the society

Date- Saturday,August 29,2009
Time - 5:00 PM
Venue - Management Building Back gate

TEAM YUVA is DEFINITELY UNSTOPPABLE!!

LETS GOOGLE IT WITH CLIQUE

"GOOGLE IS GOD" was organized by CLIQUE-The IT Club Of the Institute.The name itself justifies what it was all about.A session explaining the various avtaars of google apart from just being a search engine.A Dictionary,A Calculator and A Converter.It serves them all.

The audience was also told about the offline google functions and how important they can be.The You Tube,Picasa and Flicker are also unique features.The TRANSLATOR which has about 54 languages in gmail is self explanatory of the multitasking feature of google.

GOOGLE SMS CHANNELS,GOOGLE CHROME and GOOGLE ANDROID were also the main highlights.
It was a sincere effort put in by the CLIQUE coordinators.
The club will keep on organizing such IT activities in the campus to keep the budding managers about the latest know how of the field.
KUDOS to the team!!

FINESSE CLUB -Take on the world of stocks.

As the basics of finance and the knowledge of stocks are a must for entering into the corporate world.
It is very important that the MBA students,both the seniors or the juniors are well aware of the mechanism and the way the shares and stocks works.

Thus the FINESSE club took this wonderful initiative to make the new students understand the concepts and so that the fear of these terms does not prevail in the mind.There was an interesting finance CROSSWORD also put up at the end of the session wherein all the audience which comprised of finance lovers participated with lot of enthusiasm.
The club always keeps on organizing some unique sessions for the students.

Update on Copa Nirma

Group One = Bisons (2B), Turbochargers (FB), Pirates (1B)

Group Two = Stallions (1C), Titans (1A), Czars (2A)

Match One
Turbochargers beat Bisons 1-0
Scorer - Harshal

Match Two
Czars drew with Titans 2-2
Scorers -
Czars: Mohit Bhandari(1-0), Kapil Halmare (2-2)
Titans : Rohit Mehta - 2 (1-1, 2-1)

Match Three
Stallions beat Titans 1-0
Scorer - Ghazi

Up...up.... and away - An online network for IMNUites

Nirmayans - The social networking site for students and alumni of Institute of Management, Nirma University is up and roaring with over 150 new joinees already.

http://nirmayans.ning.com

Coming up today - At 11.30 pm IST, the first ever global online puzzle

Puzzle Game Show Of IMNU...The Fastest Nirmayan !

The Stock Market Bond proves his mettle ....

Planet IMNU wishes to congratulate Manish Lalwani whose reputation as a Stock Market Bond for further affirmation after he won the highly competitive Toro-Orso' fund manager competition, organised by IIT Delhi.

All credit to his commendable performance of wresting the initiative from participants from colleges like IIML, JBIMS, KJSom, IMTG, SIBM, etc

Wishing him all the best for his future endeavors and hoping he would bring back many more laurels to IMNU :)

Ganesh Chaturthi Celebrations at IMNU

The colorful festival started off with great enthusiasm at IMNU. The cries of "Ganpati Bappa Maurya" were all over the campus.



The Ganapati Murti Sthapna took place in the boys hostel with all the students in a devotional mood. Paying highest regard to Lord Ganesha, all the students gathered in the hostel. Colors were all around. Beautiful rangolis made by the girls added to the color and the spirit of the festival.



After the murti sthapna, in the evening aarti had been organized which was attended in big numbers. There was a religious aura all around in the institute. Students danced with enthusiasm and passion for the festival. It was like celebrating a festival away from the family in a traditional way.

Art Of Living Sessions for Mess workers at Nirma

Sankalp has been engaged in teaching the workers at the Management Mess as well as the NIT Mess for quite a while now. The initiative has been well appreciated by NGOs and also by the media. Sankalp is taking their efforts on to a higher plane.




On Sunday, Sankalp had organised an orientation to the Art Of Living by Pratik Chavda for the mess workers who work on cooking and cleaning jobs in the NIT Canteen. The workers were introduced to the finer points of living and work. The purpose of living and the reason to be happy and productive was clearly laid out.



The session was followed by games and fun. After looking at the positive response from the workers, an Art Of Living course for the mess workers is proposed to be held in the second week of September.

Cult Com Brings Bollywood Fever to IMNU

Students at Institute of Management, Nirma University had rocking time at the Bollywood Night which was conducted tonight. A novel concept, it consisted of Dumb Charades, Quizzes, Singing Competitions, all of which were based on the single theme of Bollywood.

The fun and games kicked off with a Dumb charades round, after an initial multiple choice question quiz. In the Dumb Charades round, the contestants were given a song which they had to enact. The participants had a lot of fun enacting the many songs that came their way. After the Dumb Charades there was an interesting round where the participants were given a situation and they had to sing a song which fits into the situation. One of the situation went like this " you are alone with your girlfriend in your house and suddenly your parents come. What song will you sing to warn your girlfriend that your parents have come." And the fun situations kept on coming.

In this competition there were no winners and losers as all the contestants won equal prizes of Chocolates. All in all a fun way to help the students remember their forgotten bollywood memories.

Yuva Clothes Drive brings smiles to all :)

“Nothing brings more happiness than the joy of giving”



Apart from the daily business activities that go around the campus, IMNU came alive with the spirit of social work on Sunday. The Yuva Club of the Institute which keeps on organizing fun activities with a social flavour went about the work of distributing the clothes they had collected as part of their Clothes Drive.



The clothes were collected and distributed among the needy people within the campus. The process was the culmination of a week long exercise, in which both junior and the senior Yuva coordinators got together and asked the students to come up with anything that they would like to give to the construction workers and their children who live within the sprawling campus and work on construction projects.



A lot of clothes were collected and were finally distributed today much to the delight of the recipients. The workers were really happy and thankful.



More deeds of philanthropy and random acts of kindness are expected to come out of Yuva’s bag.





The determination of future business leaders to become social volunteers is necessary and commendable.

COPA MARKETING CUP

With the football fever catching up in the campus with COPA NIRMA 09 starting off from tomorrow,NICHE and SPORTSCOMM have joined hands for the COPA MARKETING CUP which will be awarded to the section that promotes its team in the most creative way.

Also the winning team will feature in the NCL VIDEO.

The sections are required to cheer for their teams using audio and video media.They can also use attractive posters.

What better way to celebrate the aura of sports and your passion for ur team.It will also test the true spirit of the audience.

A great effort put in and a huge response expected from the teams.

Starting tomorrow - Game on! Copa Nirma and Slam Dunk

Copa Nirma - The Annual Inter Class Football Tournament of Planet IMNU is back.

To add to the excitement of Copa, Slam Dunk – the First ever official Inter class Basketball Tournament will be held next week in tandem with Copa.

Real action and pure unadulterated fun awaits all on the sports grounds at IMNU.

The events will separate the “Best” from the “Rest” of Planet IMNU. As always, the stakes are going to be high as no class would want to miss this opportunity of proving their mettle and basking in the glory for the days to come.

These are the schedules for the matches that are going to be held on Sunday, 23 August.

Copa Nirma

7:00 A.M. FBE vs BISONS (2b)

4:30 P.M. CZARS (2a) vs TITANS (1a)


Slam Dunk

7:30 P.M. PIRATES (1b) vs TURBOCHARGERS (Fb2)

Last Day Of Management Conclave - Prayaag 09

Prayaag ‘09, the annual Management Conclave of Institute of Management, Nirma University, concluded on the right note giving more insights to the students in understanding recession and combating it. The session was marked by notable speakers from both the government and the industry, who enriched the students with their thoughts in line with the theme of the conclave, ‘Recession Proof Business: Directions for the Future.’

The first session was presided over by Dr. Chandan Chatterjee, Director, The Centre for Entrepreneur Development, Govt. of Gujarat, Ahmedabad. He spoke on the government’s efforts in providing industry one of its main requirements, skill development. He stressed on the importance of entrepreneurial ventures and said “Entrepreneurship is one of the most important parameters for industrial growth.” Smart skills are required for smart business was his clear message.

The next speaker Mr. Sachinder Binder – Sr. Vice President, Kotak Bank, Mumbai, gave a bankers perspective on the real estate industry in India, explaining terms such as Bubble Burst, Colossal Inventory, etc. His address also covered the topic of the Subprime Crisis and its subsequent impact on the world economy. Towards the end he said “There are no entry or exit barriers in real estate industry and nothing stops anyone from becoming a builder” which illustrated the opportunities in the sector.

Covering the critical function of people management, Mrs. Archana Bhatt, Senior Trainer, Counsellor and Functional Incharge, Adani Knowledge Centre, Ahmedabad threw light on Strategic Human Resource Management in post 2008 Global Meltdown. She said”Management challenges cannot be bigger than the ones being faced in this recession.” She posed the question - how long will the present financial scenario last? And offered her views on the same. The closing address of the conclave was delivered by Dr. C.Gopalkrishnan and Prof. Sushil Bahl.

As Prayaag ’09 ended, students went back with a rich treasure of information and perspectives given by distinguished speakers from across the industries.

Recession Proof Businesses- An all-round Perspective

Keeping in mind the current phase of recovery for economies and industries the world over, the Institute of Management, Nirma University kick started Prayaag ’09, its annual Management Conclave, with the theme, “Recession Proof Business-Directions for the Future”. The main theme of the conclave was carried forward by eminent speakers from various industries from the perspective of Government institutions, Banking and IT offering an all round perspective.

The inaugural session had Mr. Maheshwar Sahu - Principal Secretary (Industries and Mines) Govt of Gujarat as the Guest of Honour. He said that “there can never be a recession proof business, one can only mitigate the risk” but on the other hand stressed the Government’s role in providing infrastructure to alleviate supply side constraints and stimulate domestic demand. He concluded his talk on a positive note, stating that signals that recession will pass by are bright and India will come out of this crisis in a better shape. Mr. S.K. Das - GM, Operations, Bank of Baroda, Gujarat region presided over the function as the Chief Guest. He praised the conservative banking system and timely action from the RBI for insulating Indian banks from the worst effects of the recession. He also expressed confidence in India’s ability to handle the current downturn because of pro active policymakers and strong fundamentals of the economy.

The main message from the next speaker, Mr. Rajesh Gupta - Sales Director, Asia – Pacific, Intel India Technology was that companies need to drive up innovation and efficiency in a downturn. He stressed on Intel’s Philosophy of cutting down on discretionary spending, and not on non Discretionary spending like R&D. In fact, quoting Charles Kettering, “Business will come back when we have products which people would want to buy” he explained Intel’s new investments in designing new products. His interactive speech was replete with anecdotes and interesting facts about the Internet Economy. He also dwelled on the impact of connectivity on various sections of the society, from Fishermen in Tamil Nadu to Diamond traders in Surat. His statement “Every 10 million new connections have an impact of $ 1 billion on the GDP” only emphasized the importance of connectivity. He also offered an international perspective, comparing the situation in India with that in China and Brazil.

The next session saw Mr. Navin Shah, CEO, P9 Communications offered insights about the theme from the media and marketing perspective. “Foreplay is important to capture consumer interest to finally draw his attention to the brand”, was his clear message. He also interspersed his session with ad videos to drive home his point.

The first day of the conference thus drew to a close with experts from a wide array of sectors from the Government to multinational giants like Intel to media companies like P9 offering sound advice to help take the recession head on and emerge as winners.

Day two of the conclave will have Mr. Jagdeep Kochar, Executive Director, IT Division, GNFC,Dr. Vikram Raj, Project Advisor – Audit, United Nations, Mr. Baqar Naqvi, AVP - Retail and Consumer Products of Technopak Advisors and Dr. Nitin Naik, Head HR – India and SAARC Region, Andrew Telecom addressing the audience.

Recession Proof Businesses- An all-round Perspective

DAY 2 at PRAYAG 09 in INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT,NIRMA UNIVERSITY

“When your neighbour loses his job its economic slowdown, when you lose your job it’s recession and when an economist loses his job its a depression”. The day two of the management conclave "Prayaag” 2009 continued on the theme of “Recession proof business – Directions for the future”.

MR.JAGDEEP KOCHAR

Mr. Jagdeep Kochar, Executive Director, IT division at GNVFC, started by drawing parallels between the recessions of the past and the present. He dwelled on the point that a recessionary period in the economy can help a company cut redundancy and cut flab. He stressed on the need for a company to innovate constantly to stay ahead in the competitive world. He said, “Life altering changes don’t happen overnight”. One of information technology’s answers to countering recession is the new buzz word -“Virtualization” which will help companies save tremendous operating costs.

Mr. Vikram Raj, Project Advisor – Audit, United Nations was the speaker for the next session. He delved on the question- why the business cycle flattened? He discussed the causes for the recession in depth and how the United Nations takes a holistic view of problems at global level. He said, “This recession calls for us to be flexible and start thinking for the future today.”

DR. VIKRAM RAJ

Mr. Baqar Naqvi, AVP, Retail and consumer products, Technopak Advisors accompanied him who talked about certain sectors of the economy actually growing during recession. He gave the examples of the education and the pharmaceutical industry.

MR. BAQAR NAQVI

The last session of the day had Mr. Nitin Naik, head HR- India and SAARC Region for Andrew Telecom, Goa throw light on the perspective of people management.

The second day of Prayaag left the students of Institute of Management, Nirma University with rich insights and experiences that recession provides to a developing economy like India.

Day three of the conclave will have Dr, Chandan Chatterjee, Director, The centre fro entrepreneur Development, Govt. Of Gujrat, Mr. Sachin Binder, Senior VP, Kotak Bank, Mumbai, Mrs. Archana Bhatt, Senior trainer, Counsellor and functional incharge, Adani knowledge centre, Ahmedabad.

In past distinguished personalities who have graced the conclave include Mr. J.J Irani (Executive Director, Tata Sons), Sam Pitroda (Chairman, World Tel), Mr. D. Ravi Shankar (CFO & Director CRISIL), Sanjay Lalbhai (MD, Arvind Mills), Mr. Ravi Nedungadi ( President & CFO, UB Group), Mr. Satish Naralkar (MD & CEO, NSE iT), and many more.

And now presenting an English Poetry Recital Session...

===========================

Sumantra - The Book Club at the Institute of Management, Nirma
University organizes A Drop Of Ink - An Original English Poetry
Recital Programme for seasoned and budding poets from in and around
Ahmedabad. Please find attached the event poster.

Time - 4.30 pm sharp
Date - August 30, 2009
Venue - Institute of Management, Nirma University

If you have a flair for English poetry, you are invited to send in
your original work and recite the same to an appreciative audience.
Email your entries to sumantra.imnu@gmail.com with your name and
contact details on or before 26th August 2009.



For further details, please contact Jason - 9376371983 or Hemant - 9727764336

Management Conclave 'Prayaag 2009' starts today :)

The atmosphere at Institute of Management, Nirma University is filled with excitement as the students and faculty gear up for the Management Conclave - ‘Prayaag 09’, from 20th to 22nd August. Great business minds will come together on a single platform where they let wannabe management professionals know what they expect from them and share their experiences and insights.

“Recession Proof Business: Directions for the Future” is the theme for Prayaag-09. Though the Indian economy and business have been better off than others in the global meltdown and economic crisis over the past two years, it is of paramount importance to know how to manage business during recession, to formulate the right strategy, and to transform and harness human resources. These being some of the new paradigms of staying above the water in times of recession, the three-day Management Conclave will be an effective platform for sharing views, tactics and strategies in Money, Markets, Manpower, Manufacturing and Information Technology.

It is all due to the caliber and quality of the Indian managers and business leaders being able to turn the recession into a kind of advantage in respect to finance, markets, HR, and operations and IT practices. A combination of entrepreneuralism, fostered by right thinking among them, resulting in success and survival.

Sub-themes for the Conclave are in the areas of:
1. Outlook for managing finance during recession
2. Testing times require tried and tested market strategies
3. Transforming and harnessing human resources
4. Manufacturing and IT to the fore in fuelling growth

A select list of speakers at Prayaag 09 is as follows
Mr. Rajesh Gupta (Sales Director, Asia – Pacific Intel India Technology)
Mr. Navin Shah (CEO, P9 Communications)
Mr. SK Das (GM – Gujarat Operations, Bank of Baroda)
Mr. Baqar Naqvi (AVP - Retail and Consumer Products, Technopak Advisors)
Mr. Chandan Chatterjee (Director, Centre for Entrepreneurship, iNDEXTb)
Mr. Sachinder Binder (Sr. Vice President, Kotak Bank)
Dr. Nitin Naik, Head HR – India and SAARC Region, Andrew Telecom
Mr Jagdeep Kochar (Executive Director, IT Division, GNFC)
Dr. Vikram Raj (Project Advisor - Audit, United Nations)

The event promised to be one full of learning and new insights for the students and business fraternity.

Finesse Club gets into the act again!

Finesse Club sprang to life and the IMNUites responded with glee. Braving the rain and the OB and MM assignment deadlines, the crowd gathered at the Finesse Club meet as usual.

The session delved into finance terminology, with an Annual Report being discussed. Falling in love with Balance Sheets and other components is key to marking a mark and Jay Joshi explained the finer points in detail.

This was followed by a quiz and chocolates and prizes.

JAI SHRI KRISHNA - IMNU STYLE

It was holiday time though,but the festive mood was on full swing in the campus. Janmashtmi was celebrated with full fervour and devotion to Lord Krishna.It all started with a puja ceremony in the hostel where all the students could be seen in a complete bhakti avtaar.


COLORFUL JANMASHTMI

All the students took the aarti and obviously prayed for all good results and happy outcomes.
It was an occasion to bond with everyone and be a part of the family at NIRMA.



THE HOLY AARTI

The best part of the festival is the 'matki phod' ritual which is an ecstasy to watch. It was real fun for allthe students who built this tall tower playing with the splashes of water from all sides.

WATER SPLASH

The day was a culmination of fun and values.It was well organised by THE CULTURAL COMMITTEE.

Prakash Bagri, Director - Marketing (South Asia) of Intel at IMNU

The Director - Marketing (South Asia) of Intel, Mr. Prakash Bagri addressed the students of Institute of Management, Nirma University today under the Institute Lecture Series at the Auditorium, Institute of Management.



Being at the vantage point of driving PC relevance and desirability from the start, Mr Bagri shared some critical insights on and addressed the critical elements of the marketing mix – from product evolution, distribution (reach, coverage), pricing and promotion. The session gave the students an unique perspective of marketing technology – Not just Buy me, but why Buy and what to Buy too – in our milieu. Mr Bagri also covered the Intel Inside Program, undoubtedly the best case study of marketing an ingredient brand. From a historical perspective of how the Intel Inside program started to where it has evolved, as well as the road ahead for it in India and the image shift of Intel from a microchip manufacturer to a standard quality bearer.



Prakash Bagri is currently Intel’s Director of Marketing for South Asia and responsible for driving brand and market growth strategies for all Intel’s products and technologies in the region. Prakash joined Intel in 1999 and has carried out a gamut of business roles over the past decade. His last assignment was as Director of OEM business covering all aspects of engagement with MNC and local OEM customers. Prior to Intel, Prakash spent 7+ years with Hindustan Unilever Ltd (then Hindustan Lever Ltd) in different sales and marketing functions. Prakash is a recipient of the Intel Achievement Award in 2004. Prakash is an engineering graduate from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and received his MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.

Expressions Club kicks off its journey

Today the Expressions Club started off with a fun filled and pleasurable session for all in the campus. It was an instant success as it was all fun and no gyaan. And of course the students loved it.

The theme of the 1 hour meet was all fun with a number of contests lined up from "Facial Expressions" to Dumb Charades and what not. And the club being "Expressions" the games were contested with lots more than just enthusiastic participation, and after all it was chocolates that the fighting was for.

The games were closely contested and in the end Team 2 won by a close margin and they had loads of chocolates. And as it was to be expected, the games were accompanied by a lot of cheering, hooting and friendly fights and even had a fake tantrums on the floor.

It was the most well attended meets at IMNU and may be that is because of the fun promised by Expressions. The whole point of Expressions is to allow the students to let loose and to have fun in their own way and fun it was. So I guess its mission accomplished for the Expressions Club. Hoping they have many more Fun-Filled meets lined up.

NICHE-MYSTIC INDIA

Niche is back this time not with a quiz but a contest with a creative side to it.

The contest is a blend of the diversity of India and our ability to brand the experience one can have in the country.
There are more stages to the contest.And wonderful prizes to be won at every stage.

A UNIQUE CONCEPT!!
For all the marketing gurus out there...
This one is for u!!

FINE$$E -THE RULES OF THE GAME

Monday being the Finance Day in IMNU,Finesse -The Finance Club started off with its first meet.It was a session on the basic jargons and terms used in the financial arena and of which the first years are not very clear about.A platform to clear the popular folklores regarding the stream and providing with the real facts.It was to explain the different facets the subject has to it and to build up the conviction that finance is more than just accounting.



FINE$$E CLUB....The Members

"Finance is the heart of any business".This was very well quoted by one of the coordinators.
Topics ranging from Mergers & Acquisitions,Equity,Investment Banking to Loans were discussed.


FINANCE..The Serious Take

After the presentation there was an interactive open house in which some very good queries came up.Then there was QUIZ TIME, the most awaited part of any campus meet in which all answered fair enough.Loads of chocolates were distributed.

LOADS OF CHOCOLATES

The meet was carried on by the junior Finesse members after a whole week of research under the guidance of the senior members of the club.

It was a nice effort by FINESSE as always.
Many more useful events to come up from their side.