Celebrating 50 glorious Years of Industrial excellence at NITIE, Mumbai

One of the premier management institutes in the country, National Institute of Industrial Engineering, popularly known as NITIE, reached its golden jubilee milestone in 2013. NITIE regarded as a pioneering academic institute of higher learning was established in the year 1963 under the aegis of UNDP and ILO in the financial capital of India, Mumbai. Since then NITIE has travelled a long way in its endeavour to reach excellence in various aspects of Industry.

The inaugural function for Golden Jubilee Celebrations was held on 22nd October, 2013 at NITIE Campus. On this occasion, the 16 storey new hostel building was inaugurated by Mr. B.Prasad Rao, CMD, BHEL who graced the occasion as the chief guest and new academic and library building was inaugurated by Ms. Amita Sharma, Additional Secretary, Technical Education, MHRD in the presence of Prof Jahar Saha, former Director, IIM Ahmadabad, Mr. Gautam Thapar, Chairman,Board of Governors, NITIE, Prof (Ms) Karuna Jain, Director,NITIE and former Directors of NITIE, Dr S Ramani, Dr Thomas Mathew and Dr S D Awale.

On this occasion, Prof. (Ms) Karuna Jain, Director, NITIE announced that two new Post Graduate Programs in “Manufacturing Management” and “Project Management” would be commencing from next academic year. The Golden Jubilee Commemorate issue of NITIE’s journal ‘Udyog Pragati’ and ‘Souvenir’ was also unveiled by the luminaries.

As part of Golden Jubilee celebrations, all the five student fests – Lakshya, Prerana, Empressario, Arohan and Josh have been amalgamated under an umbrella event “Avartan”, literally meaning rhythmic cycles. All the events are being organized under the leadership of Director Prof (Ms) Karuna Jain and guidance of Prof. Ashok K Pundir,Dean (Student Affairs andPlacement) and Convener - Avartan. During the 14th edition of Lakshya event “Lakshya Business Visionary Awards” was awarded to Shri B.Prasad Rao, CMD, BHEL and Shri Babasaheb Kalyani, CMD, Kalyani Group. The awardees are those icons of the industry, who by their exemplary vision and extraordinary leadership have changed the course of the Indian economy.

Shri. B. Prasad Rao, NITIE alumnus of 1978 batch dedicated this award to the entire BHEL team. He was glad to receive this award and said “NITIE has played a key role in shaping his career”. He expressed that manufacturing sector should grow for inclusive growth of the country. Dr. S.V. Bhave Sr. VP (HR) of Bharat Forge received the award on behalf of Shri. Babasaheb Kalyani and communicated his message – “This award will be a constant source of inspiration for us to work”.

Every year NITIE felicitates “Empressario Entrepreneur Awards” to entrepreneurs who make a mark for themselves in this world. The award for the “Most Inspiring Entrepreneur” was conferred upon Mr. Pramod Chaudhari, Executive Chairman, PRAJ Industries. “Most Promising Entrepreneur Award” was conferred upon Mr. Mangesh Kale, Chairman and co-founder, Precision Automation and Robotics Ltd. Both of them shown the courage to live their dreams and built the path for others to follow.

In the later part of the evening, there was a panel discussion on the topic “Road Map for Developing Manufacturing Competitiveness by 2025”. The session was chaired by Mr. Gautam Thapar, Chairman, Board of Governors, NITIE.Other panellists were Mr. B Prasad Rao – CMD, BHEL; Dr. Rakesh Sinha, COO (Global Supply chain, Manufacturing and IT), Godrej Consumers Products Ltd and Prof. Jahar Saha, Former Director, IIM Ahmadabad alongwith Prof. (Ms) Karuna Jain, Director, NITIE. The discussion touched upon various aspects like the contribution of manufacturing sector towards GDP of the country, improving the technological depth, environmentally sustainable products and changing the attitude of workers in manufacturing industries.

The day concluded with a fantabulous performance by the much revered Indian classical dancer Dr.Sonal Mansingh organised by Spic Macay – NITIE Chapter. She mesmerised the audience with her captivating ‘Navras’ dance act.

Another flagship event of Avartan 2013, “Prerna Business Meet” was held on 23rd October 2013. The theme of the meet was – “The Path to Becoming a Developed Nation: Manufacturing or Services?” Luminaries who graced the event this year were Dr. Habil Khorakiwala, Chairman - Wockhardt Group, Mr. Uttam Bose, Managing Director and CEO - Hindustan Motors Limited; Mr. Ganesh Ayyar, CEO and Director – Mphasis; Mr. Arindam Sen, Country Head, Global Delivery and Technology Services, Schneider Electric. The meet provided insights about the importance of integrating the strengths of Indian service sector with manufacturing sector and leverage it to pave the path for country’s development.

In addition to this, Annual Financial Conclave had the theme “The 18 month Roadmap for Banking and Financial Sector” and was graced with the presence of following eminent personalities; Mr. Anirban Lahiri, CEO-GMC, Deutsche Bank; Mr. Sujan Sinha, MD and CEO; Mr. Shriram Housing Finance; Mr. C Jayaram, Joint MD, Kotak Mahindra; Mr. Abraham Chacko, ED – Federal Bank and Ms Shubhada Rao, Chief Economist, Yes Bank. The discussion revolved around the importance of financial inclusion by expansion of banking industry through window for new Banking licenses, other RBI reforms and concerns about rising NPA’s and CDR’s due to sluggish economy.

The highlight of the day was the Lakshya power talk session delivered by Dr. Kiran Bedi. She shared some of her experiences and a list of lessons that she thinks are paramount to success. She highlighted the importance of maintaining one’s own journal of life experiences. Audience were also shown a short clip of a motivating biopic documentary on her life titled ‘Yes Madam Sir’.

The day ended with a similar interactive talk session titled ‘Cita De La- Prerna’ which saw Mr. Siddhartha Basu and Mr. Nagesh Kukunoor gracing the dais. Mr. Nagesh discussed about the challenges he faced in making a transition from engineering to film-making and the current trends in the Indian film industry. Mr. Siddhartha Basu talked about his life briefly and the quizzing shows he has managed till date. He even conducted a mini-quiz session on the spot and left the audience spellbound after the event.

Last two days of the fest had various case study competitions across different streams of management for students from the best B-schools across the country. On the evening of 25th October, the week long fest found a perfect conclusion in the electrifying performance by ever so charming Sona Mohapatra at Decibelz 2013. She enthralled the audience with her eclectic style and melodious voice. She left everybody mesmerised as she sang her popular tracks from Talash, Satyamev Jayate, Delhi Belly & most recent 'Ambarsariya'.

“Avartan” unites industry stalwarts, academicians, managers, NITIE PG and Fellow students leading to qualitative networking and a healthy exchange of ideas and knowledge. The celebrations reaffirm the fact that NITIE’s golden streak in the industry will never fade away. NITIE will continue making our country proud in the future like it has done in these fifty years.

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