The event was graced by various corporate leaders of the country. L.S. Subramanium, President NISE, (Ex Director CRISIL/COO OTC Exchange of India) inaugurated the event and was the Guest of Honour. The Chief Guest for the meet was Shri Anil Vasantrao Deshmukh Minister – Food & Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection (Govt. of Maharashtra) who inaugurated the event by the traditional lighting of the lamp.

Speaking on the ocassion Shri. Anil Vasantrao Deshmukh said, “It gives me immense pleasure to be a part of this event. I am enthralled by the efforts and preparations undertaken by the students and staff. It is indeed a place of excellence and I am sure they will do exceedingly well in the future.“

Top management from various corporate giants like Suzlon, Bank Of Maharashtra, Skoda Auto, Lifestyle, Tata Communication, Bharat Forge, Ceat Tyres, etc. were present during the 3 day event.

The corporate leaders shared their ideas based on their experiences and observations. Their wisdom helped their fellow colleagues to identify not only the symptoms but also the root-causes; and design an action-plan for prevention and/or resolution much ahead of time

Giving more information on the event, Mr. Manish Sinha, Member- Board of Governors AIMS Institute of Management Studies said, “With this event we aimed to provide a platform for our students. The students gained an insight on the functioning of the industry and also they got a chance to interact with the stalwarts of the industry. This meet was very beneficial for all our students.”

 The theme of this national level event was “Hawk Eye View- Symptoms and Solutions”. This is the first event organized by AIMS Institute of Management Institute after its inception in 2009. Ekayana is a step to bring closer to create a platform for bringing the mentors, fellow colleagues and aspiring management students. The meet will see active participation from the students, staff and the stalwarts of the industry.

A university spokesperson informed that admission counselling for vacant seats of B.Tech. course (ECE/CSE/ME and Biotech) in UIET will be held on Sept. 8. The last date for submission of application form in this regard will be Sept. 6.

Meanwhile, the admission counselling for vacant seats of MCA (First Semester) will be held on Sept. 13 at 11 a.m. The last date for submission of application in this regard will be Sept. 10.

The spokesperson said that details of the vacant seat, etc. are available on website www.mdurohtak.com. For further information may contact the concerned department, informed the spokesperson.

L’Oreal’s newest cutting edge products include the revolutionary INOA professional hair color system, which was recently featured in numerous publications including Marie Claire, Lucky and Vogue, among others. Academy Di Capelli is honored to work with L’Oreal, the early 1900s inventor of modern hair color. L’Oreal Professionnel and Academy Di Capelli uphold the highest standards for technology, inspiration and trends.

Also wowing the beauty industry is L’Oreal’s Série Nature product line, which has been featured in publications such as Health, Ebony, Fitness and Harper’s Bazaar, among others. L’Oreal’s Professionnel products are intended to bring forth unparalleled results when properly applied by trained professionals. Academy Di Capelli brings that level of precision home to Connecticut where timesaving methods meet brilliant, healthy hair.

According to Beth Minardi, spokeswoman for Joico, a maker of hair products, L’Oreal Professionnel products make “you look like you have $500 worth of highlights,” of course at a fraction of the cost. With numerous patents still pending on some of L’Oreal’s newest products, Academy Di Capelli’s students and clients are at the forefront of beauty trends internationally.

With over 65% of L’Oreal’s sales coming from North America and Western Europe, the company recognizes the importance of educating cosmetology professionals in these markets

The Indian Robot Olympiad is held in three categories – primary school, junior high and senior high. In this showcase of talent and intellect, teams from over 100 different schools across India participated and the two winning teams from each category will get to represent India in the World Robot Olympiad to be held in Philippines from November 5th -7th 2010.

Participant students demonstrated capabilities of their Robots, which were created using LEGO® MINDSTORMS® Education NXT kits. These students are part of the Robotics for Schools program being rolled out in India through Techtronics Education (India) Ltd. Some of the prominent schools participating are Amity International School, New Delhi, Vasant Valley School, New Delhi, Saupins School, Mohali and Chandigarh, Young Scholars School, Barnala, St. John’s High School, Chandigarh. Displaying exceptional acumen for robotics, children aged between 9-17 years created and programmed various robots to solve complex challenges.

In his introductory speech Mr. Sudhanshu Sharma, MD Techtronics Education (India) Limited stressed on the importance of “Learning by Doing” – the inherent principle behind Techtronics Education. He said, “Techtronics Education in India is committed to the core cause of learning by doing in the education system in India. Globally, the developed world has risen to the use of robotics and automation technology. In India, we want to make children familiar with this technology at an early stage to prepare them to embrace this technology with enthusiasm as they enter the professional world. With this Olympiad, Techtronics education has written yet another successful chapter in Indian Robotics Education, with a commitment of many such more.”

Director of the host Genesis Global School, Mr. Pramod Sharma said, enesis, being co-partners with Techtronics Education this year, takes pride in the opportunity of organizing Indian Robot Olympiad at our impressive Multi Purpose Hall. Our association with Techtronics Education is because we strongly believe in their motto of “learning while doing”, which to a great extent, is in concurrence to our teaching methodology.”

`Long time Lego enthusiast and Chief Judge – IRO 2010, Mr. Apurva Kalia introduced the competition and added, “It’s been our sincere effort to set highest benchmark each time with the India Robot Olympiad. Our ultimate aim is driven by the motive to produce world champions in international robotic competitions. I am also pleased to see that each year as we host the Olympiad, the existing benchmarks just go higher.”

The occasion was graced by the presence of Mr. Ashoke Chandra Retd. IAS and Chairman of DPS Education Society inaugurating the competition. Honourable Chairman of CBSE Mr. Vineet Joshi distributed the prizes at the closing ceremony emphasizing the need of robotics education in India

The paper is based on the fact that technological developments and the increase in the mobile device penetration among the population have led to sustainable change in all spheres of our lives – radically changing the way we live and learn. Authored by Abhijit Kadle, Manager – Instructional Design at Upside Learning, this Point of View takes a comprehensive look at Mobile Learning – starting with the basics and delving deeper into the nuances of mLearning design.

Ideal for people who are considering mobile learning, the paper includes key points on:

• What is Mobile Learning?
• When to use Mobile Learning
• Design Considerations for Mobile Learning
• Advantages (& disadvantages) of Mobile Learning

Besides this, the paper also highlights a framework for evaluation, identifying three core areas – Usability, Technical, and Functional, which is handy while considering varied mobile devices available. It addresses key trends occurring in Mobile Learning space and its rapid growth across businesses, globally.

Abhijit Kadle commented, “The PoV is intended for a general audience to acquaint themselves with the concept of Mobile Learning. It will also help readers with understanding the use of Mobile Learning and some associated considerations.”

A complimentary copy of the Point-of-View Paper, ‘Mobile Learning – Here and Now’, can be obtained from Upside Learning’s website http://www.upsidelearning.com/white-papers.asp

Mr. Singh stressed that at this juncture, BCA students are heading for a big decision. Either after completion of BCA they can pursue MBA or MCA or MS abroad. Alternatively, they can directly get into the job market by exploring suitable placement opportunities. While making a choice between joining industry or pursuing higher studies, Mr. Singh explained that for higher studies a student has to undertake a detailed research work and has to indentify his/her strengths and weaknesses.

The seminar was conducted in an interactive mode where the students were requested to ask relevant questions. While responding to a question raised by a final year student of BCA, Mr. Singh appraised that following positions are available in Infosys for BCA pass out students with Masters degree:

• BCA with MBA from top 20 B-Schools: Business Analyst and Consultant
• BCA with MCA: Equivalent to regular B-Techs : Programmer/ Analyst
• BCA with MS from abroad: Research and Development cell

He concluded the session by saying that plenty of opportunities are there for BCA students as the time is changing exponentially and the student has to decide whether to join a job available at the moment or to pursue higher studies for better placement or Research work. He ended the interactive seminar with a short video clip containing lots of relevant and interesting information about the present scenario of the job market and the exponential growth that can be foreseen at the moment.

The session ended with a vote of thanks to the speaker by Prof. Gour Banerjee, Principal, The Heritage Academy. The idea of this type of unique corporate interractions was initiated by Shri Pradip Agarwal, the Chief Executive Officer, Heritage Group of Institutions, who believe that corporates are the centre for continuing learning for the students and the entire process helps the young minds with concrete practical ideas which can really shape their career for the future. Heritage Academy has been doing this since the inception and is sustaining the unique proposition by nurturing the vision of Kalyan Bharti Trust, the promoters behind this educational conglomerate in the Knowledge Revolution

During his presentation, Mr. Bajaj informed that the spending on telecom equipment and services has been predicted to rise by 3.4% in 2010. “The mobile connections are due to grow by 47% worldwide between the end of 2009-2014. The focus of the industry is shifting away from hardware to providing enhanced user experience. The Carrier Network Infrastructure trends towards faster broadband; increased mobility; higher capacity demands; and richer content, experience and service. The sale of Smartphones in 2010 shall continue to capture almost 1/5th of the overall mobile device market, thanks to widespread availability, aggressive advertising and decrease in average selling prices,” he said.

Mr. Bajaj also provided an overview on the Telecom Market Segmentation and increased convergence in technologies within the Telecom industry, on the occasion.

Today’s lecture was part of the Invited Lecture Series of DSM, where industry experts are invited to share their knowledge and experience with the MBA students. Speaking on the occasion, Prof. P.B. Sharma, Vice Chancellor, DTU remarked, “One of the agenda of DTU for year 2010-11 is to connect the world of academia to the world of industry so that together we can understand what new domains could be unleashed on the young minds. The Invited Lecture Series of DSM is one of the ways to enhance the industry interface.”

The occasion also saw the conferment of ‘TCS Best Student Project Award‘ on Mr. Saurabh Kumar and Mr. Puneet Kumar, both 2009 pass-outs of Computer Engineering branch of DTU. As a part of its ‘Academic Interface Programme’, TCS regularly bestows Best Student Project Awards to recognize and reward academic excellence among students.

The lecture was attended by Mr. Rajat Sikka from TCS, Prof. S.K. Garg, Head of the Department, DSM, faculty members and MBA students of DSM. The MBA programme of DSM is designed to inculcate managerial capabilities alongwith nurturing technical temper so as to prepare the management professionals of the new knowledge age

Upside Learning is excited to announce the launch of its app for Upside Learning Blog called the ‘Upside Blog App’. Designed to facilitate browsing of Upside Learning’s blog content for its readers, this app is now freely available at the iTunes Store.

The Upside Blog application allows users to access, read and interact with posts on the Upside Learning Blog from an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad on the go.

The app displays the latest posts on the main panel and also allows users to ‘search’ on keywords, or browse posts by ‘category’ or ‘authors’. Users can directly checkout the ‘Top 25′ blog posts or get a list of the ‘latest’ posts. The readers could also comment on the posts directly from their phones.

Additionally, the app interacts with popular social media tools like Twitter and Facebook. Users can directly ‘tweet’ about a post or ‘like’ it on Facebook, right from the app itself. This is brought about by the in-app browser functionality which enables the readers to visit external links without leaving the app. Another important feature is the ‘Read it Later’ facility that allows users to bookmark blog posts of their choice for later reading.

Amit Garg, Director of Content Solutions, said, “We wanted to make it easy for readers to receive regular updates form Upside Learning Blog and discover interesting content on their mobile phones. We are sure that this app will make it easier for our readers to connect and interact with us better. We plan to introduce apps for Blackberry and Android devices soon.”

Besides the Blog App, Upside Learning offers a range of mLearning solutions like short nuggets (micro-courses), mobile apps, mobile videos, games, assessments (interactive quizzes), m-Books (short story-based learning modules) and Augmented Reality (Geo-location based or image-based) solutions

Mr Mitra an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur and IIM Calcutta , has over 22 years of experience in the field of Marketing, Media and Communications. He has spent most of his corporate career in three of India’s largest market communication groups- Lintas/Lowe, O&M and Mudra and has headed agency businesses on some of India’s largest MNC and local marketers, including Unilever, J&J, Nokia, Reliance ADAG, SmithKline Beecham, Bajaj Auto, Jet Airways, Idea Cellular, MRF, Dabur, Spice Group, Coffee Board and American Express. He is currently the Founder & CEO of PipalMajik, where he plays the role of a senior Consultant, Coach & Trainer.

Addressing an enthralled audience for over an hour and a half Mr Mitra provided the students a wonderful glimpse into the exciting world of Media, Advertising and Branding. Focusing specifically on the subject of Nation Branding and its importance today Mr Mitra said that “Nation Branding is an Economic Imperative. It has become a central tool in country’s competitiveness”.

He also elaborated on how the youth of today could leverage this concept in order to raise the country’s brand to greater heights. He quoted an example of how Somalia’s 500 pirates have more effect on the country’s brand than the 5 million other Somali citizens. Students were so enthralled by his words that they were soon able to relate the concept with facts in India. One of the students quoted about the image of Kerala as “Gods own country” and the effect of this branding on the tourism.

Held a few weeks after an equally enlightening talk on “Ad and Film making” by noted Bollywood director Mr R.Balki, the workshop received an overwhelming response from the IIM Lucknow student community. The venue was packed to the brim and the students showed a high level of enthusiasm in their participation by asking insightful questions.

IIM Lucknow regularly invites leaders and industry stalwarts to campus to interact with its students. Some of the noted speakers last year were Mr. Ajit Balakrishnan – CEO Rediff.com, Ms Kalpana Morparia – CEO JPMorgan, Ms Meera Sanyal – Country Head ABN Amro/RBS, Mr Sundar Raman – CEO Indian Premier League, Dr Biswadip Mitra – MD, Texas Instruments, Mr Sandeep Pandey – Magsaysay Award Winner and Dr Wilfried Aulbur – CEO, Mercedes Benz India. Mitra’s talk sure adds a new feather to IIM Lucknow’s pursuit of excellence and holistic development

The speaker started the seminar by saying that the purpose of the seminar was to shift the students from consumers of advertising to students of advertising in the future. He had named his presentation as ‘The “ladders” in our minds’. The objective of advertising is to move the product higher up the ladder of demand and popularity in the minds of the customers. He asked questions to the students to make the seminar an interactive one. He asked questions like ‘, What do people actually buy when they buy a preferred brand’.

The speaker talked to them about the iconic heroes and how they are portrayed in advertisements to create an aura that they want to associate with a brand. He enlightened the students on how one arrives at the advertising idea- the who, what and how of the advertising idea. The important factors which help decide on the advertising idea are the target group, marketing objective, brand positioning, USP (unique selling proposition) , communication objective and so on. Examples from daily usable items like Kelloggs cornflakes and Maggi were used to put forward the idea.

Mr Bitan Chakraborty gave an interesting and valuable insight into the reason of failure of cornflakes. He then moved forward to discuss how the profession of advertising started in the barter era. It started with word of mouth communication as a form of communication. Then came the town criers who would move from village to village announcing about the advent of any incident. The industrial revolution brought the idea of mass production which in turn made the producers think how is my product better than his. That is how advertising started. Formal advertising was started by a person from Philadelphia who first thought of putting an advertisement in the newspaper for the purpose of selling a piece of land of his aunt.

He also enlightened the students on the different product and service levels. The different levels are core benefit, basic product, expected product, augmented product and potential product. The marketer tries to promote his product by highlighting more than one product level. The objective of Advertising is to inform, persuade and remind the customers. The advertiser also has to keep in mind the different types of appeals. The rational appeal can be used for the advertisement of a car. Emotional appeal works best for advertisements for items like fairness creams, whereas moral appeals can be used for tourism advertisements.

The last topic of discussion was how to design the advertisement. Two very important factors to be kept in mind here are ‘Who is saying it’, which includes brands personality and philosophy, nature of product (high involvement purchase or low involvement purchase) and to whom it is being said. A product has functional or tangible benefits and perceived or intangible benefits. He explained what is brand image citing the example of a Mercedes car. The three entities involved in creating an advertisement are the marketer, the agency and media. The main entity in an advertisement is the customer. The golden rule of Advertising is to think from the point of view of the customer. The brand is what the customer perceives and not what the marketer or the creator of the advertisement thinks, but one should always remember to do justice to the brand. Advertising is the act of informing about a product or service. To sum up it is Salesmanship in Print. Advertisement is successful only if it helps to sell.

The Seminar was attended by the 1st year, 2nd year and 3rd year students of BBA (H) and the faculty members of The Heritage Academy who found the seminar very interesting.