XLers Unlimited
A blog about XLRI, XLexperiences, XLmemories, XLnostalgia, XLnews .... by XL Alumni
Contribute to the XLDreamRun
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Seeking your help/ contribution for The XLRI Social Entrepreneurship Trust:
through XL Dream Run (Nov 16th, ‘08):
(organised by XLANC, XL Sportscom, CII’s Young Indian Chapter @ XLRI, & XLRI Alumni Association)
- 240 XL students (including a few faculty!) have registered to participate in the XL Dream Run for this cause
- Paypal Account is in place
- We even have some “Early Donors” who have given us a head-start with a kitty of $600+ !! :0)
The Cause:
The XLRI Social Entrepreneurship Trust is supporting 3 Social Entrepreneuship Ventures by XL students who have decided to take the “road less travelled” as a career option. These are nascent ventures, currently in the form of partnership firms. We are trying to provide them support through the initial incubation loans (thanks to the Rs 10.5lac contributions received from the XLRI batch of ‘81 and from the Jamshedpur Alumni Chapter)
The XLRI Social Entrepreneurship Trust is supporting 3 Social Entrepreneuship Ventures by XL students who have decided to take the “road less travelled” as a career option. These are nascent ventures, currently in the form of partnership firms. We are trying to provide them support through the initial incubation loans (thanks to the Rs 10.5lac contributions received from the XLRI batch of ‘81 and from the Jamshedpur Alumni Chapter)
The details of the social venture projects approved to be funded by the Trust are available at:
Briefly, these are:
- Parichay: a venture to connect the rural/tribal artisans & craftsmen to the market. It was covered here earlier this month:
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081012/jsp/jharkhand/story_9957000.jsp
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081012/jsp/jharkhand/story_9957000.jsp
- Swavalamban: a venture to use “ox-driven generator” (patented technology) to provide electricity to rural India. It was covered here a few days back:
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081018/jsp/jharkhand/story_9985179.jsp
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081018/jsp/jharkhand/story_9985179.jsp
- Dreams4Others: a venture to use online market-surveys to provide funds to NGOs.
To raise funds for these and other future activities of the XLRI Social Entrepreneurship Trust, we are organising the XL Dream Run (http://www.xldreamrun.com) , during the5th Annual Alumni Homecoming (Nov 15-16), where the students will run for the cause, and the alumni can pledge money for the cause.
Thus this mail and a plea… If you can contribute (whatever amount) it will be our pleasure to have your name at:
http://tinyurl.com/XlDreamRun-Donors
http://tinyurl.com/XlDreamRun-Donors
XLRI powers rural life
Sunday, October 19, 2008
After helping in cultivation, oxen will aid in generating electricity to light village households.
The Swavalamban project of students of XLRI tells this and much more.
The team of three — Abhilash Somen, Ankur Saboo and Anand Raghvendra — all business management students, has developed an animal powered prime mover (generator) where mechanical energy can be converted to electrical energy will the help of oxen.
The students today invited eight NGOs of Jamshedpur to present the idea before them.
The concept of the project was born when the students visited some villages last year as part of their curriculum.
"When we visited the villages last year, we thought of doing something constructive. We began our research that time. The technical specification is not completed as yet. The project would benefit the villagers as it is low on cost compared to solar energy," said Ankur.
The generator consists of a shaft, a bearing, a battery and CFL lamps. The shaft attached with the generator has to be rotated by an oxen to charge the battery connected to it, generating electricity.
A generator is connected to a battery of 44 lamps that can light up four houses. A single generator can also be connected to three generators or more. Electricity will be generated depending upon the power of the batteries.
The students have presented their project before Tata Motors and will be working in a village near Rakha Mines.
XLRI to invite start-ups, social ventures for placement
http://www.financialexpress.(also
XLRI School of Business & Human Resources will be the first B-School in the country to invite social organisations and start-ups for the summer placement process of its 2010 batch.
The B-School's "initiative for social & entrepreneurial leadership (ISEL)" will be jointly implemented by its placement committee, social initiative group for managerial assistance (Sigma) and its committee for research, strategy, consulting and entrepreneurship (Crescent).
A number of social ventures like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, microfinance institution BASIX, Azim Premji Foundation and IFMR, an ICICI Foundation, have confirmed participation in the ISEL. XLRI's regular placements will take place in the last week of this month.
Altogether 40 students of its 180-strong batch have so far shown interest in moving away from high-paying corporate jobs and opted for a career either as a start-up or in joining established players in the social sector.
Among start-ups who will take part in the placement process are Quetzal Verify, Vinculum, Beans & Intellect, Chaupaati and MBMC Consulting, to name a few.
"Time has come when the students select not to work for a company but created jobs, as creation of wealth for the country by becoming entrepreneurs is something what the institution would definitely support," said Father E Abraham, director, XLRI.
XLRI has for some years now being taking initiatives to promote social and entrepreneurial spirit at its campus here, which includes setting up of a "social entrepreneurship trust (SET)" by its alumni and an "entrepreneurship development cell (EDC)", to provide training and funding to budding entrepreneurs.
Again, although internship with social organisations has been on Sigma's agenda for some years now, the idea got impetus this year after Byrraju Foundation chief integrator & lead partner Verghese Jacob (an 1979 batch alumnus) made a presentation at the campus in August this year, prompting around 27 students of the B-School to take a week-long internship at Byrraju in Hyderabad in September.
PMIR course intake to be increased
Saturday, October 18, 2008
XLRI is all set to increase the PM&IR seats to 120 from the 2009 session:
The ever-increasing demand for its personnel management and industrial relations (PMIR) course has prompted the XLRI School of Business and Human Resource to double the number of seats.
At present, XLRI’s flagship course has room for 60 students, but from the next academic session, beginning June 2009, it will house as many as 120 business enthusiasts.
XLRI director Father E. Abraham said students and representatives of top-notch corporate houses were making a beeline for the PMIR course, which is the oldest and the most prestigious among the institute’s teaching programmes. Though business-oriented, it emphasises on understanding human values.
Abraham said the institute had sought a stamp of approval from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) on seat increase last year, and it was cleared recently. “Admission was then in the last stage. So, we can only make room for more students from the next academic session,” he said.
Officials said the school was developing infrastructure to make room for 120 students. New faculty members would also be appointed soon.
Interestingly, the XLRI had increased the number of seats in the business management stream in 2005, but the demand for the course has gone up further. Even MNCs are making a beeline to rope in XLRI students. Last year’s recruitment record shows that each student in the PMIR stream had two offers to choose from.
“The demand has exceeded the supply. In fact, we have had to turn down offers from some of the elite recruiters because we had no students to give them,” Jeevan Kumar, secretary of XLRI’s placement committee, said, explaining the reason behind the decision to increase PMIR seats
XLRI bags Dewang Mehta Business School Award
Actually two honors according to this news report:
XLRI has bagged the prestigious Dewang Mehta Business School Award 2008 for the “best academic input (syllabus) in human resource”.
This is not the only award that the institute bagged in the prestigious award ceremony. Jeetu Singh, a professor of human resource management and organisational behaviour of the institute, was adjudged the “best teacher in human resource”.
“This is the first time XLRI has bagged Dewang Mehta Business School Award. This is one of the business schools, which has now come to the forefront,” said R.L. Bhatia, a senior functionary of the Dewang Mehta Foundation that organises the business awards.
“Awards like these will encourage the morale of not only the faculty but also the students. It is a kind of appreciation for the work we do,” said P. Venugopal, dean (academics), XLRI.
“The information had come almost as a surprise to us. Although teaching cannot be judged by awards, it can be considered one of the ways of recognising the teachers,” said Jeetu Singh.
