President of India, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam visited Pilani campus this past month to address the students and faculty at the Pilani Campus. The President told the students that India should use its enormous potential to become a knowledge power and lay the foundation that would help in development of India. He said, “For this, the time is right because of the ascending trajectory of the economy, availability of great institutions for capacity building of our human resource. And above all, 540 million youths who are determined to make the nation prosperous and a safe place to live before 2020". He also shared thoughts on the “convergence of technologies”. According to Dr. Kalam, “Technology is a non-linear tool which can effect fundamental changes in economic competitiveness”. He emphasized on the need for fostering education to improve creativity, establishing a BITS Virtual university and challenged the students to dream big and participate in India Vision 2020. The audi was packed and questions were pouring in.  Follow this link to see the complete address and answers to several follow up questions.

http://presidentofindia.nic.in/scripts/eventslatest1.jsp?id=1483

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Kartik Hosanagar's ('93 CS) Natpal Update

Kartik Hosanagar, BITS Pilani alumnus and currently an assistant professor of Operations and Information Management at Wharton Business School, cofounded Natpal Inc with a couple of Wharton undergrads in late 2005. Natpal Inc http://www.natpal.com/ provides a platform for local businesses to manage and generate leads online and encourages them to move their advertising dollars to the Internet. Kartik helped develop the data-driven analytics that allows them to participate in ad auctions run by Google, Yahoo and others. 

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BITS Pilani alumunus Raj Sisodia coauthered "Firms of Endearment"

Firms of Endearment is about gaining “share of heart,” not just share of wallet. It’s about aligning stakeholders’ interests, not just juggling them. It’s about building companies that leave the world a better place. Most of all, it’s about why you must do all this, or risk being left in the dust... and how to get there from wherever you are now.

From Costco to Commerce Bank, Wegmans to Whole Foods: today’s companies are becoming the ultimate value creators. They’re generating every form of value that matters: emotional, experiential, social, and financial. And they’re doing it for all their stakeholders. Not because it’s “politically correct”: because it’s the only path to long-term competitive advantage.

These are the Firms of Endearment. Companies’ people love doing business with. Love partnering with. Love working for. Love investing in. Companies for whom “loyalty” isn’t just real: it’s palpable and driving unbeatable advantages in everything from marketing to recruitment. Raj’s book – Firms of Endearment will show you how. You’ll find specific, practical guidance on transforming every relationship you have: with customers, associates, partners, investors, and society. If you want to be great–truly great–this is your blueprint.

We’re entering an Age of Transcendence, as people increasingly search for higher meaning in their lives, not just more possessions. This is transforming the marketplace, the workplace, the very soul of capitalism. Increasingly, today’s most successful companies are bringing love, joy, authenticity, empathy, and soulfulness into their businesses: they are delivering emotional, experiential, and social value—not just profits. Firms of Endearment illuminate this, the most fundamental transformation in capitalism since Adam Smith. It’s not about “corporate social responsibility”: it’s about building companies that can sustain success in a radically new era. It’s about great companies like IDEO and IKEA®, Commerce Bank and Costco®, Wegmans and Whole Foods®: how they earn the powerful loyalty and affection that enables truly breathtaking performance.

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Rajesh Hukku's ('74 EEE) I-Flex in the News

I-flex^® solutions announced that FLEXCUBE^®, its flagship product, has retained its leadership position as the world's No.1 selling banking solution for the fifth consecutive year.

International Banking Systems (IBS), UK, in its Annual Sales League tables for 2006, unveiled in London on March 1, 2007, has ranked FLEXCUBE as the No.1 Universal Banking Solution. Moreover, FLEXCUBE leads all other products, across all other categories, in terms of number of new wins for 2006.

FLEXCUBE is the first product ever to have achieved the distinction of being ranked No. 1 for five years in a row in the IBS Sales League tables.

For several years, IBS has been the most definitive source of news, research and analysis relating to banking operations and systems internationally. Their Sales League table, published annually, is renowned for its independence and breadth of coverage of the banking IT systems market.

Commenting on the ranking, BITS Pilani alumnus, Rajesh Hukku, Chairman and Managing Director, i-flex solutions, said: "Our mission, since our inception, has been to empower the global financial services industry with superior and effective technology solutions; and our continued leadership position in the IBS rankings, is a strong independent endorsement of our progress on this mission. This achievement is testimony to the comprehensive functionality, scalability, reliability and state-of-the-art architecture of the FLEXCUBE solution."

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NUS MBA Club President - Srikanth Sridharan

Srikanth Sridharan was elected by the student body consisting of fulltime, part-time and international MBA students of the NUS Business School as President, NUS MBA Club. As the President, Srikanth would be the Executive Officer of the Executive Committee and would have general supervision of the affairs of the MBA Club and would preside at all meetings. He would represent the MBA Club at all conferences, conventions and faculty, alumni meetings. Srikanth will be the overall coordinator of MBA Club activities with the NUS Business School and Alumni.

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