The Indian Institute of Management Raipur celebrated its 5th Annual Convocation on April 18, 2016 amid an aura of pride and joy. The Chief Guest – Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, Hon’ble Minister of Human Resource Development, Government of India and the Guests of Honour – Dr. Raman Singh, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh; and Smt. Shyamala Gopinath, Chairperson, BOG, IIM Raipur and Prof. B.S. Sahay, Director IIM Raipur were present at the ceremony.
With a sense of fulfillment of enriching dreams and a glint of sparkle in their eyes, the students of the 5th batch of enthusiastic graduates were seen clad in their graduation robes. It was a moment of pride for the students to attend the convocation ceremony with their families. The students were inspired by the words of the Chief Guest Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, Hon’ble Minister of Human Resource Development, Government of India, said , “True education must provide ‘life-building, man-making, character-making assimilation of ideas. Real education is that which contributes to nation-building and enables one to stand on one’s own legs. IIMs definitely contribute here by being job providers for their own students and many thousands of their countrymen.”
Smt. Smriti Irani also stressed on the fact that IIM Raipur has emerged as an established campus known for its management education and research and that the institute has positioned itself as a research-based institute and for this created a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship on its premises. IIM Raipur has been steadfastly preparing ethical leaders who are not only committed to business, commerce and industry but are also socially conscious towards their contribution in nation building. She put a special emphasis on how these graduates can enhance their vision by including a social angle to the parameters on which we measure success. These students as IIM Graduates can touch the lives of thousands others and help in imbibing in them the essence of the learning they had here.
Congratulating the students on completion of their program, she acknowledged their success and achievement and stated that the students richly deserved the applause and admiration. She addressed the students and motivated them with her words, “Whenever we embark on a new journey in life, we know very little about what is going to follow. In these situations, don’t allow any kind of fear to overpower you, just follow your heart. The nation is looking up to you for running and establishing organizations that will earn respect and admiration for their global standards. Failure is inevitable at some or the other part of life, but not taking a risk can be the biggest failure in life. If one learns to celebrate the learning that comes from both success and failure, then one will be more often successful in life.”
Speaking on the occasion the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Dr. Raman Singh emphasized that management institutes have a lot to teach and one can learn and apply these learning for capacity building and the betterment of the society. He discussed how by proper management of resources, Chhattisgarh has been able to minimize its energy losses and revamp their Public Distribution System. Congratulating the student on the occasion, he encouraged students to contribute to the society by instilling a sense of Social Entrepreneurship. His special mention on the way these young graduates walked up the stage instilled a unique sense of pride among each one present there.
Ms. Shyamala Gopinath, the Chairperson, Board of Governors, IIM Raipur, earlier welcomed the guests and congratulated the students on successfully completing the program. She further advised the students that, “In the world you are entering, you must carry professionalism along with your competence. You must strive to become a professional who is fair and unbiased. Be a professional who would make objective decisions based primarily on data. You are then bound to get due regard of everyone, low or high in hierarchy, if you have professional conduct.” She further congratulated the parents of the students and family members of all the graduating students and complimented them for providing their children with the guidance to withstand the pressure of a very demanding course at IIM Raipur and come out with flying colors. Addressing the students, she reminded them, “With this day comes a great responsibility and we should be equally aware of the need to guard against complacency and instead set the safeguard bar higher. With the knowledge and skills and more importantly the moral and ethical values that IIM Raipur has taught you would go a long way in making you all not only a successful business leader but also a responsible citizen of the country.”
Building on the achievements of IIM Raipur, Prof. B S Sahay, Director, IIM Raipur released the Director’s report. A copy of the souvenir was presented to the Chief Guest and other guests present at the occasion. He enumerated the Institute’s accomplishment in the field of research mentioning that the faculty of IIM Raipur published 30 research papers in refereed journals, 12 cases in classified case houses, 19 papers in national and international conferences. IIM Raipur also organized two Summits this year.
IIM Raipur, in its endeavor to fulfill its objective of becoming ‘a world class institute with global outlook has started several initiatives. IIM Raipur took up several consultancy assignments and senior level management development programmes during this year. It included “Leadership Development Programme” for Directors and Vice Chancellors of Technical Institutions under TEQIP in collaboration with National University of Singapore.
He took this opportunity to inform the audience that IIM Raipur bagged 18th position in a recent ranking by National Institutional Ranking Framework 2016. Not just this, IIM Raipur has been identified as one of the top research based institution in India in a recent paper published in Omega , one of the top journal in the world. The paper was published by professors from IIM Bangalore and others.
Prof. B S Sahay inspired the outgoing batch by urging on them to dream big, think big and do big. To become a great leader one has to become first a great doer, a great follower and a great contributor. He took pride in each student being graduated today and assured them success given they carry on hard work with the same rigour and sincerity and aim to become a good citizen. He ended his speech with a quote meaning always strive to move from untruth to truth; and move from darkness to light.
In the 2014-16 batch of IIM Raipur, of the total 118 students PGP batch, 89 students got convocated today. The remaining 29 students have gone for Students Exchange Programme to partner institutions in different parts of the world to complete their final term. In addition, 24 students from the 4th Batch of PGP 2013-15 were convocated today as they had gone to complete their final term at partner institutions under Students Exchange Programme last year.
The batch of 2014-16 consisted of students from diverse academic backgrounds and work experience with a batch size of 118 future leaders who have proved their mettle at every opportunity presented to them. A total of 115 recruiters showed interest in the final placement process this year. The number of PPOs/PPIs (13) was a testimony to the exceptional performance of the students during their Summer Internships.
Over the years since inception, to strengthen its international ties, IIM Raipur has signed a ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ (MOU) with some of the finest business schools in the world including, Grenoble Ecole de Management, France; IESEG School of Management, France; HLL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, Germany; AIT Bangkok, Thailand; ALBA Graduate Business School, Greece; IPADE Business School, Mexico; Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea; University of New Castle, Australia, ESC Troyes, France; Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand and University of Melbourne, Australia. These MoUs focus on student and faculty exchange programmes, collaborative research publications, organizing joint conferences and academic programmes.
As a result of the increase in the number of partner institutes, the student exchange programme has become more robust and gives opportunity of cross-cultural exposure to a large number of students. While the first student exchange program had seen four students being sent abroad in 2012-13, this number has gone up to 29 this year. IIM Raipur has introduced financial support to meritorious students to participate in the exchange program. It also encourages students to participate in international events of repute by giving financial support for up to 10 students every year.
Recognizing the increasing demand from the working executives to handle complex business problems, IIM Raipur started ‘Post-Graduate Programme for Working Executives’ (PGPWE) in the academic year 2012-14. Twenty-eight students of the 4th Batch of PGPWE, 2014-16 were convocated today.
Students of the outgoing batches proved themselves not only in academics, but also won several accolades in extracurricular activities. Some of the achievements included winning case study, business plan, competitions held by Deloitte, IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Calcutta, IIM Lucknow, ING Vyasa, Tata Crucible quiz, Cognizant, etc.
The IIM Raipur convocation ceremony also saw gold medals being given away for scholastic performance by the Honorable Union HRD Minister, Smt Smriti Zubin Irani. Among the Post Graduate Programme (PGP) students, Yerawar Akhil Surendra received the Chairperson’s Gold Medal for scholastic performance in academics while Jaysun Antony Alumkal received the Director’s Gold Medal and Pradhan Sayali Sanjeev received the PGP Chairman’s Gold medal. For Post Graduate Programme in Management for Working Executive (PGPWE) batch Vineet Agarwal received Chairperson’s gold medal. During the ceremony all the students of Post Graduate Programme (PGP) and Post Graduate Programme in Management for Working Executive (PGPWE) received their diplomas from the Chairman Board of Governors, IIM Raipur. The students walked the aisle wearing impressive ceremonious gowns as they start their new journey.
The excitement was palpable among the students of the graduating batch. Mr. Abhishek Sharma, a student of the 2014-16 batch said, “After IIM Raipur, I would never get a jet-lag in my life. That’s because of the short, on-and-off sleep cycles we got used to here. Assignments with extremely short deadlines taught us to push our limits. I cherish the experience of online and off-line promotions for Equinox 2016. Late night meetings, brainstorming sessions and visiting other campuses; the run-up were as exciting as the event itself.” Ms. Aleena Chishti, the class representative of the passing out batch, says, “The last two years have been no less than a dream fulfilling journey for me, I stepped into this building with a hope of having enriching experiences; full of learning and I was not wrong. I learnt to appreciate diversity in thoughts and inculcated crucial interpersonal skills necessary to overcome management challenges. The faculty has been extremely supportive, they have always helped me in every possible way.” Mr. Pranav Kumar from Dehradun, who was the coordinator of public speaking club, says,” My most important learning from IIM Raipur is the ability to structure my thoughts. This has helped me in taking clear decisions. IIM Raipur has a very diverse student community which has helped me learn about and appreciate different cultures and thought processes.” Currently, Pranav is in France on the Student Exchange Program. Ms. Saranya Panicker’s mantra of “If you want to do something, do it now” has led her to feel that the two years at IIM Raipur are the most memorable in her life, in which she has also published two case studies. She attributes her achievements to the wonderful faculty who were ready to help at all times. Mr. Jaysun Alumkal has a different perspective that, “The two-year PGP Programme at IIM Raipur was a philosophical journey for me. First, it helped me identify my strengths and weaknesses and made me believe in myself. But even more importantly, it convinced me that business is good and that business adds value to the society. I think this conviction is most necessary for a business student.” He represented the institute at an International Trading Competition in Toronto. Mr. Sudhanshu Gupta in his own way explains his experience of MBA as, “an opportunity to participate in more than 110 corporate competitions, opportunity to volunteer in more than 25 CSR initiatives, opportunity to learn from the best faculty in the country from more than 10 top level B schools and most importantly, opportunity to interact with literally hundreds of top level CEOs and leaders.” Mr. Pradeep Choudhary reminisces the tremendous amount of support he received from the batch, faculty and administration and memories of helping society through collection drive for J& K flood victims and underprivileged kid, and organizing Global Summits and various other student activities. He also cherishes the case study learning methodology at IIM Raipur. Mr. Ashis Tripathy summarises his learning as, “I discovered my true potential and the goal of my life with the help of esteemed professors and my dear friends. I also realized the practical implications of my learning and how it can be utilised to help our society. The most important thing which I have gained during my two years in IIM Raipur, is the importance of a true mentor behind a successful career.”
Snapshot of Batch Profile of 2014-16
The batch of 2014-16 consisted of students from diverse academic backgrounds and work experience with a batch size of 118 future leaders who have proved their mettle at every opportunity presented to them. The Class of 2016 comprised a diverse mix of students from various educational streams. More than 19% of the students belonged to diverse disciplines such as Architecture, Business Administration, Commerce, Computer Application, Economics, Medicine, Pharmacy and Sciences. The batch had a fine balance of fresh graduates and students with prior work experience in varied domains like Automobile, BFSI, Construction, Consulting, Education, Engineering, IT, Manufacturing, Pharmaceuticals, Power, Telecommunications etc.
The highest international salary for the batch stood at whopping INR 30 lacs and highest domestic stood at 21.50 lacs. The average package for the batch was INR 12.51 lacs, with 126 companies showing interest in hiring these young minds.
Profiles of PGP6 Award Winners
Akhil Yerawar
Akhil is the recipient of the highest academic honour of IIM Raipur’s PGP. He joined IIM Raipur in 2014-16 after completing his BTech. in Electronics and Communications from VNIT. During the course of his MBA, Akhil has brought several laurels to the institute. He was one among few MBA students selected from all across India for Indian Youth Delegation to China 2015. An avid badminton player he shall be joining ICICI bank after stepping out of the institute.
: Jaysun Antony Alumkal
Jaysun an Electrical and Electronics Engineer from National Institute of Technology Calicut completed his MBA from IIM Raipur with finance as his major. During his MBA he was a part of the Academic Committee and served as the coordinator and also was a part of the team that represented IIM Raipur in the prestigious Rotman International Trading Competition held in Toronto Canada in February this year. He has been recruited by ICICI bank.
: Sayali Pradhan
During her stint at IIM Raipur Sayali interned at Taj Hotels. Prior to joining IIM Raipur, she worked with Tata Consultancy Services as an Assistant System Engineer. An Alumnus of Fr Conceicao Rodrigues Institute of Technology, Vashi, Navi Mumbai, Sayali is passionate about learning new things and exploring avenues. She would be joining DE Shaw to embark her new journey.
: Dushyant Panda
Dushyant joined IIM Raipur in 2013 after completing his Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering from KIIT University. An intern at Dr Reddy’s Labs and later working as a technical Advisor at Kadence International, Dushyant left no stone unturned wherever he went. With grades being in the Top 1% of the batch, he was an active performer in every possible domain including research and extracurricular activities.
For PGPWE
Vineet Agrawal
Vineet is the recipient of the IIM Raipur’s Chairman’s Gold Medal. Working with Cognizant as a team lead in associate projects from past 6 years and handles crucial client interactions. Currently he is posted in Zurich where he manages all things related to his team with Credit Suisse Bank.
Read more about IIM Raipur here.
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