ICICI Prudential CEO NS Kannan delivers special address; Distinguished Alumni Awards for Vipul Parekh, Saugata Gupta, Apurva Purohit and Raghavendra Rau
13 June, 2022, Bengaluru: IIM Bangalore welcomed the new batch of students to the Doctoral programme and the two-year fulltime MBA programmes: Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) and the Post Graduate Programme in Business Analytics (PGP-BA) of IIM Bangalore, today.
The inauguration of students to the Doctoral programme took place, this morning.
Professor Rishikesha T Krishnan, Director, IIM Bangalore, welcomed the new batch, while Prof. Rahul Dé, Dean, Programmes, offered an overview of the programme. Prof. Chetan Subramanian, Dean, Faculty and faculty of the Economics & Social Sciences area; Prof. Rajendra K Bandi, Dean, Administration and faculty in the Information Systems area, and Prof. Sourav Mukherji, Dean, Alumni Relations & Development and faculty in the Organizational Behavior & Human Resources Management area, as well as other faculty members, were also present with some of them addressing the incoming PhD scholars.
Batch profile
Prof. Ananth Krishnamurthy, Chairperson, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), and faculty in the Decision Sciences area, shared the profile of the 46th batch of doctoral students.
Altogether 16 candidates have joined this year, out of which nine are men and seven women. While three candidates have joined in the Strategy area, there are two candidates each in the Finance & Accounting, Marketing, Production & Operations Management, Public Policy, Economics & Social Sciences and Entrepreneurship areas, with one candidate joining the Decision Sciences area.
PGP and PGP-BA
IIMB Director Prof. Rishikesha T Krishnan, in his welcome address, informed the students that as the institute aims to create extraordinary leaders, the new curriculum for the programmes is based on feedback from industry which focus on digital fluency, effective use of social media, the importance of data as well as Environmental, Social and Governance issues, communication skills, and the ability to come up with creative solutions to different issues. “Pay attention to how the government works and how policies are made. Take care of your personal wellbeing. Above all, practise high levels of ethics and integrity as the institute does not compromise on such values,” he said.
Prof. R Srinivasan, Chairperson, Post Graduate Programme in Management and Post Graduate Programme in Business Analytics, in his address, urged the students to interact with their peers, learn well and learn fast.
Prof. Rahul Dé gave an overview of the programmes, highlighting the top rankings achieved by IIMB. “We do not follow the lecture and exam pattern. We have added, dropped and revised aspects of the programmes based on needs of the future. We want you to engage with the study material, take part in extracurricular activities and international exchange programmes, interact with students of other programmes, make use of institute resources and be conscious of academic integrity,” he said.
A section of the faculty members and programme officers were also part of the event to welcome the students to campus.
Batch profile
A total of 480 students joined the 2022-24 batch of the two-year fulltime MBA programme – Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP), and 45 students joined the two-year fulltime Master of Business Administration (Business Analytics) (MBA(BA)).
Prof. Ashis Mishra, Chairperson, Admissions & Financial Aid, and faculty in the Marketing area of IIMB, discussed the batch details: for PGP, he said out of the total students, 81.7% are from Engineering background, followed by students from other streams and there is one lawyer. A total of 15% of the engineers are from IITs and 24% from NITs; 75% come with work experience, the average work experience is about 22 months, and the average age is 24 years.
For PGP-BA: There are 37.7% men and 62% women in the new batch; the average age is 24 years; the maximum number of students are from Engineering background of which 7 are from NITs and 8 from IITs. The average work experience is 13.7 months.
Special lecture
A special lecture was delivered by Chief Guest NS Kannan, CEO, ICICI Prudential, and alumnus of the PGP batch of 1991. He was also a gold medal recipient for best all-round performance when he was a student at the institute. Calling his academic journey a ‘game changer’, he listed some qualities that the students needed to imbibe, some of which were based on his experience and some he wished he could do differently. “Do not join the bandwagon, try to lead a balanced life, make best use of IIMB’s resources, learn from inside as well as outside the classroom, read more and at random, develop perspectives, learn from and integrate them to your advantage, network beyond the IIM ecosystem and nurture diverse friendships. Take leadership positions in the campus, experiment with courses which are out of your comfort zone, and look after your health. As you go ahead in your careers, build on resilience. Remember integrity is critical and that there is no substitute for preparation. Stay humble. IIMB is a big opportunity to reflect on your life and decide on your goals. In the process, find your passion and your calling,” he said.
SAC welcomes students
The day’s events also included an address by the Students' Affairs Council (SAC) President A Harisankar, on Life at IIM Bangalore. Announcements of the Director’s Merit List, Director’s Honours List and other scholarships were also made. The inauguration ceremony ended with a cultural program.
Distinguished Alumni Awards
The evening’s event also saw the IIMB Director felicitating the recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Awards for 2022 – Vipul Parekh, PGP 1988, Co-Founder of Bigbasket.com; Raghavendra Rau, PGP 1989, Professor of Finance at the University of Cambridge; Apurva Purohit, PGP 1989, Co-Founder, Aazol, and Saugata Gupta, PGP 1991, Managing Director and CEO, Marico Limited.
Prof. Sourav Mukherji, Dean, Alumni Relations & Development, introduced the awardees, who received their awards from the Director.
Vipul Parekh, in his acceptance speech, talked about the mantra that has served him well in his entrepreneurial journey: do good for your customers, do good for your employees and suppliers, and do good for your stakeholders. “You have limitless opportunities before you. Learn from your IIMB experience, take risks and keep the flag of IIMB flying high,” he advised the students.
In her address, Apurva Purohit, who has worked extensively for women empowerment and as CEO in several organizations, shared that amongst the many awards that she has won, the DAA – coming from her alma mater which has played such a significant role in her life –felt truly momentous. “Institutes such as IIM Bangalore have made us what we are today,” she said.
Saugata Gupta said that it was an incredible honour to receive the award from his alma mater. “My deepest thanks to my professors and batchmates from the Class of 1991 and to my friends and family for getting me here. This recognition will always hold a special place in my heart,” he said.
Prof. Raghavendra Rau, in his speech, shared that he was always driven by the desire to do something interesting in his career and thought that the perk of being an academician was the ample opportunity for research, some of which may prove to be beneficial to society. “Whenever I come to the institute, I get a lot of pleasure talking to the faculty about research, presenting my own research, and meeting the people who make IIMB so special. This is an impressive and a beautiful campus.”
Instituted in 2007, the Distinguished Alumni Awards are given to alumni in recognition of their achievements of exceptional merit and excellence in their chosen field of endeavour – be it industry, management, entrepreneurship, research, academia, or social service. Each awardee receives a citation and her/his name is engraved on the IIMB Wall of Fame.
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