Happy Republic Day Greetings!

Only a year ago we had the privilege and the honor of becoming India’s first Jesuit

University and quickly another successfully year has rolled by. We made history in

establishing Xavier University and we continue on our journey of delivering quality

education with excellence and integrity comparable to the best, carrying out the

mission of inspiring futures, inspiring future generations.

The XUB-Magis is our initiative to share with you periodically the highlights of

happenings at the University. We invite your support and encouragement.

I thank the student editorial team for their communicative spirit in bringing out

XUB-Magis to connect Xavier University with the people.

We are proud to be Indians and we salute the free spirit of our Nation.

God Bless!

Prof. Dr. Fr Paul Fernandes S.J.

Vice Chancellor

Xavier University, Bhubaneswar

Government of Odisha in collaboration with XIMB, XUB

established the Centre for Excellence in Fiscal Policy and

Taxation (CEFT), on 7th

September, for research support

and academic input for mobilization of resources through

tax and non-tax revenues, inter-governmental transfers,

rationalization of public expenditures and for formulation

of fiscal policies. Shri Naveen Patnaik, Hon’ble Chief

Minister of Odisha, inaugurated the CEFT in the presence

of Shri Pradip Kumar Amat, Minister of Finance, Govt. of

Odisha. The first National Conference of CEFT was also

held at the occasion wherein two key issues namely,

“Changing Paradigm in State Finance” and “Financial

Stability and Macro Economic Fiscal Policy” were

discussed. Dr.Tapas K Sen, Professor, National Institute of

Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi and Shri B.M Misra,

Principal Advisor, Dept. of Economic Policy and Research,

Reserve Bank of India, moderated them. Speakers for the

session included noted personnel namely, Dr. Debashis

Acharya, Professor, School of Economics, Central

University of Hyderabad; Shri S.P Mohanty, Dy. General

Manager, RBI; Dr. CS Mohapatra, IES, Joint Secretary,

Advisor (FS), Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India and Dr NR

Centre for Excellence in Fiscal Policy and Taxation

(CEFT)

XIMB, XSHRM, XSRM, XCOMM, XSoS, XSC

Bhanumurthy, Professor, National Institute of Public

Finance and Policy, New Delhi.

The School of Sustainability organized a Summit on

Sustainability Leadership during 5-6th

July. The

Development Commissioner-cum-Additional Chief

Secretary and Secretary, Planning and Coordination

Department, Government of Odisha, Sri Upendra Nath

Behera, IAS, was the chief guest.

With the launch of Uber Cab services in Bhubaneswar,

XIMB hosted Uber on campus on 15th

July. Mr Varun

Mundkur, Senior Launcher at Uber interacted with the

students on the changing mobility needs of the cities and

how Uber has evolved in meeting those needs. He also

spoke about Uber providing sustainable means of

livelihood by employing drivers, a significant part of

which are women. The session ended with the launch of

the competition ‘Uber in XIMB’ wherein the participant

teams competed to get maximum number of non Uber

users to sign up on Uber using various social media

platforms.

Start-up weekend is a global network of entrepreneurs

and leaders on a mission to inspire educate and

empower individuals to start their own companies. This

event was a joint initiative by X-SEED, the idea and

initiative cell of XIMB, E-cell of CET and Google Business

Group, Bhubaneshwar. It was a 54 hour event that took

place over 3 days from 14th

August to 16th

August and

was the first event of its kind in the state. The judging

panel included the professor of Finance, XIMB Shridhar

Dash and founder of mysmartprice.com Sitakanta Ray

and CEO of Mindfire Solutions Chinmoy Panda. It was

held for the first time at XIMB where the budding

managers of XIMB learned the basics of founding start-

ups and launching ventures.

XIMB hosted a series of business conclaves conducted by

Finance, Marketing, Operations, Systems, Consulting&

Strategy, HR, RM Committees and the Media & PR Cell of

the institute. Eminent speakers from the industry were

invited to speak on diverse issues ranging from, “India:

An investment destination”, “Evolution of Brands and

Consumer interaction”, to “Crowd sourcing in Media”.

The list of industry stalwarts included Mr. Prabhu Chawla

(Seedhi Baat, Aaj Tak fame), Mr. Ambika Prasad Mohanty

(Reliance Foundation), Mr. Pradeep Deshpande

(Schneider Electric), Mr. A Karthik (Ashok Leyland), Mr.

Ashok Dash (Microsoft Corporation, India), Mr. Ramesh

V.S. (Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd.), Mr. Joseph Bosco

(Karamel Knowlege Ventures), Mr. Sanja Tripathi (HDFC

Life), Mr. Arvind Suri (Sun Pharma). The series of business

conclaves helped students gain insights on the current

trends and situations in the market. Also, the problems

faced in these industries and ways to tackle them were

another take away for the students. Being addressed by

such eminent speakers on these topics enabled the

students to decide their future course of action for their

careers.

Sustainability Leadership Summit

Uber on Campus

Start-up weekend

Business Conclaves

XIMB hosted the Eastern Zone regional finals of season IV

of Maverick, the annual industry academia connect by

Deloitte on 17th

August. 16 teams from various colleges

in the east including IIM Shillong, IIM Ranchi, and XLRI,

participated in this event, which offered students a

chance to work on simulated business case studies and

come up with innovative and sustainable solutions.

Finally, 3 teams made it to the finals which included team

Skunkworks from XIMB, Marketing Mafia from IIM-C and

Ranchi Dreamers from IIM-Ranchi.

A Discussion session by the British High Commission,

Kolkata and the British Council organized on 26th

August.

"GREAT Conversations - Future of Indian Cities",

moderated by Mr. Scott Furssedonn-Wood, the British

Deputy High Commissioner for Eastern India with expert

speakers, Ms. Karuna Gopal, an internationally acclaimed

thought leader, columnist, keynote speaker and advisor

on SMART CITIES & Ms. Bee Rowlatt, a writer, journalist,

author of the best-seller “Talking about Jane Austen in

Baghdad” in Oct 2015.

Human Resource Management as a function in the

organizations is increasingly becoming recognized as a

strategic business partner in their quest to become high

performers. Recognizing this fact, Xavier School of

Human Resource Management, in association with

National HRD Network (NHRDN) organized a special HR

roundtable conference at Hotel Leela Palace, Gurgaon on

26th

September. The agenda of the conference was to

discuss the role of HR practices in High performance

organizations and people focussed HR practices in the new

millennium. The speaker panel included esteemed HR

personnel from the industry namely, Mr Deepak Bharara

- CHRO Lanco, Mr Rajiv Kapoor - Chief People Officer,

Fortis, and Mr Sarab Preet Singh – Head, Talent

Acquisition, Learning and Development, Citibank.

Sanidhya – the annual alumni meet that is held across

cities, comes home to the city of temples- Bhubaneshwar

for the last one of the year. The Bhubaneswar Alumni

Chapter and the Alumni Committee of XIMB jointly

organized the event, which was held on 4th

October at

XIMB Auditorium. Indian cricket commentator, Harsha

Bhogle and revered actor and director, Rajat Kapoor,

interacted with the students and alumni. The Annual

General Body Meeting of XIMB Alumni Association, a

body registered at the national level, was held during

Sanidhya, which attracted a large number of alumni. The

students of the Alumni Committee displayed the student

activities through a video presentation. Sanidhya is held

every year across major cities of the country and gives a

Deloitte Maverick

GREAT Conversations – Future of Indian Cities

HR conclave in collaboration with NHRD

Sanidhya 2015

platform to the Alumni to connect with the alma mater.

Gramotsava, the Rural Marketing fair of XIMB is a three

day event which was launched on 8th

October in Xavier

Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar. This year

Gramotsava was organized in the haats of Begunia and

Tangi (Khurda). It is the flagship event of RMAX-Rural

Manager’s Association of XIMB. The Theme for this year,

“Connecting India: Digitalization” is inspired by

honourable Prime Minister Mr.Narendra Modi’s

initiative, ‘Digital India. Gramotsava is organized by

RMAX in the “haats” of rural Orissa. This ensures a

comprehensive study of the tastes, choice and

preferences of the rural market through qualitative and

quantitative research methods and subsequent impact

analysis. The students of Rural Management promoted

the event through Skits, Nukkad Nataks, Songs and Van

promotion. The tireless efforts of the students attracted

several Self Help Groups, Businessmen, farmers and

other rural customers.

XIMB along with the Bhubaneswar Alumni association

hosted one of the most eminent personalities in the

world of Cricket, Mr. Harsha Bhogle on campus on 4th

October. The entire XIMB fraternity listened in awe to

the most influential speaker that he is and he left the

audience completely captivated by his thoughts on

various issues. Instantly this witty man connected with

the crowd and shared his insights ranging from his own

personal life, his take on life, the electrifying experience

he had in the commentary box.

Maverick film director, Imtiaz Ali visited Xavier Institute

of Management, Bhubaneswar, on 10th

October, to have

an interactive session with the students of the B-School.

Mr. Ali, who has delivered super-hit gems like "Jab We

Met", "Love Aaj Kal", "Rockstar" and "Highway",

answered questions posed by the students and faculty

members, shared incidents from his personal life and

also gave some valuable advice.

The campus round for Mahindra War Room Season 8

took place at XIMB on 14th

October. Seven teams were

shortlisted among which the winners, qualified to the

next round. The theme for season 8 was ‘Infinite

Possibilities’.

Gramotsava

Celebrity Talk

Mahindra War room

The University hosted the National Conference on

Jesuit Higher Education “Strategic Leadership in

Higher Education: Options For The Future” during

22nd

– 25th

October. Dr. B. Muthuraman, Ex-Vice-

Chairman, Tata Steel Ltd., Fr. George Pattery, S.J.,

Provincial of South Asia, Prof. T. V. Rao, Chairman,

TVRLS, Ahmedabad and Mr. Simanta Mohanty,

Executive Chief consultant, Rashtriya Uchchatar

Siksha Abhiyan (RUSA), Ministry of HRD, New

Delhi, took sessions and sharing their views with

the participants.

The School of Communications hosted the

international media conference on “Mass

Mediated Culture and Trend Today: Challenges

and Opportunities” on 7th

November. Mr. Krishna

Prasad – Editor in-Chief of Outlook, was the Chief

Guest and OTV the conference partners.

"Xpressions'15", the flagship Management-

Cultural fest of Xavier Institute of Management,

Bhubaneswar, concluded successfully on 15th

November. Spread over three days, 13-15th of

November, the fest witnessed a huge number of

participants from reputed colleges such as XLRI,

IIM Bangalore, IIM Shillong, Great Lakes Institur Of

Management, IMI Delhi, MDI Gurgaon, etc. Around

3000 students participated in various events such

as Gladiator, Helios, Goonj, Aaghaz etc, and the

final night, which had the Vishal-Shekhar concert,

saw a footfall of more than 20,000 people.

Xavier School of Human Resource Management

(XSHRM), in collaboration with IIRA AND FES

hosted a National Conference from 4–5th

December on “Make- in- India initiatives and

changing paradigms of Industrial Relations.”

Hon’ble Justice Shri Gopal Ballav Patnaik, former

Chief Justice of India delivered the Inaugural

keynote address. Prof. (Dr.) E.M Rao, was

felicitated and honoured during the conference for

his immense contribution to the field of IR and

Labour Laws.

National Conference-Jesuit Higher Education

School of Communications Conference

Xpressions ‘15

IR Conference by Xavier School of HRM

The Institute’s Foundation Day celebration on 7th

December was made special with Mr. D

Shivakumar, Chairman & CEO, PepsiCo India

Holdings Pvt. Ltd. delivering the 13th XIMB

Foundation Day Lecture.

International Conference on Information

Technology (ICIT-2015), a premier forum for

sharing high quality research in the areas of

Information Technology was inaugurated at XIMB

on 21st

December in technical collaboration with

IEEE. A three day event continued till 23rd

December where participants presented their

research findings on various topics of IT and its

applications.

Grand homecoming 2015 was held from 26-28th

December for the batch of 1988-90 where the

alumni revisited their days at XIMB. There was an

interaction session with the batch of 2015-17.

Xavier School of Rural Management and XIMB RM

AlCom were privileged to host the Reunion of the

RM batch of 2001-03 on 16th

and 17th

January.

Dressed in traditional attires of various states

across the country, budding rural managers of

Xavier School of Rural Management staged a

colorful show at the Rural Living and Learning

Experience (RLLE) Mela at Xavier University on

13th January.

The event showcased the learning of local

culture, livelihood, governance and business

during their 45-day village stay. As many as 81

students participated in the programme

between November 17 and December 31 last

year. Xavier University has tied up with

organisations such as Unnati, Setu Abhiyan,

Parivar Vikas, SLI-Auroville, Mrida,

Agragamee, Seva Mandir and Tambul plates.

Foundation Day

International Conference on IT

Grand Homecoming – Batch of 1990

Rural Living and Learning Experience: Working at

the Grassroots

Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar has been ranked as the 11th

Best B-School in India by the latest Outlook B School Ranking. The 2015 edition of the popular annual

ranking of B Schools has also adjudged the infrastructure of XIMB as the third best among the B Schools of

India. As per the ranking, XIMB is the third best institute providing management studies in the eastern part

of the country. As per the ranking, XIMB is also one of the preferred choice for the recruiters as it has been

ranked as the 8th best management institute in India for placements parameter. The result of this ranking

published by Outlook has proved the commitment of XIMB to provide quality management education and

create competed and compassionate leaders through capacity building, technology enabled learning and

organizational development.

Outlook B-School Ranking 2015

Student Achievements

Srikumar Misra (Batch of 1999-2001) Founder of Milk Mantra Business Leader Award to Milk Mantra was

given 'Odisha Citizen Awards‘

Deva Dhar (PGDM 1987-1989) Won "Business Development Award" at the Arthritis NZ Awards Night in

Christchurch.

Adwaita Govind Menon (FPM Alumnus)

working with KPMG in Dubai, has been chosen for the Top Emerging HR

Leaders of 2014 Award.

Dapinder Singh (PGDM-HRM 2011-2013) Received the Golden Globe Tiger Awards at Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia

Ravi Kumar, Executive Vice President of

Infosys, New York

MIT Forum for Supply Chain Innovation honoured him with expanded

role on its Technology Advisory Board.

FinalMile, co-founded by our Alumni

Mr. Biju Dominic (1988-1990 Batch) &

Mr. Anand MP (1995-1997 Batch)

Won the Best Case Study Award at ESOMAR 2015.

Nandikolla Venkat Kumar (PGDM-BM

1996-1998)

Won the Chairman's Award in Mindtree this year.

Mritunjay Kumar, (Batch of 2002-04) Chief Business manager, Biostadtindia Limited qualified for the finalist in

Agro Awards in two categories “Best Public Outreach Programme & Best

Packaging Innovations” at Agrow Awards - 2015, London (UK).

Milind Geete (PGDM-BM 2011-2013) Received the Deltapine Champion Award.

Anirban Gupta PGDM-RM (2002-2004

Batch)

Won SEED Recognition Award

Dr Sanjay Mohapatra Professor at XIMB

(PGDM-BM 1991-93) and Shriram Misra

(PGDM-BM 2013-15), Mr Rohit Padhi, Mr

Subhabrata Nath Sharma, Mr Vikram

Swain, Mr Subhajit Deb, Mr Neelakanth

Veluru & Tanay Saha Dalal (Batch of 2013-

15)

Bag the 6th place in Emerald-UUM case writing competition.

Uday Satpathy's (PGDM-BM 2008-10) His Novel BRUTAL joined ranks of bestseller books

Alumni Achievements

It was indeed a proud moment for XIMB, XUB as Prof. Asit Ranjan Mohanty was nominated as the Chair Professor of the Centre for Excellence in Fiscal Policy and Taxation (CEFT). Excerpts from the interview:

Firstly, sincere congratulation Sir, for your new appointment.

Thank you very much for your wishes!!

1. Academicians have been consulted before in matters of Fiscal Policy. How does establishment of CEFT bring a difference?

A) Fiscal policy as such is one of the important areas in the economy. After the 14th Finance Commission recommendations, the issue has become very prominent. In a sense, the central government has stated that states should become self-reliant in terms of revenues and their efficient allocation. This is where CEFT assumes a unique role of examining and investigating empirically any kind of policymaking decision on state finance.

2. What are the current challenges that Odisha is facing in this regard?

A) After the 14th Finance Commission recommendations of the period 2015-20, the share of funds to Odisha has declined drastically. Odisha is an economy where industrial activity is not very prominent and as such the sector contributes to only 15% of the state’s revenue. Likewise, very less revenue is mobilized by the agriculture sector. Services sector is prominent but the revenue generated by it goes to the centre and not to the state. With this, augmenting revenue efficiently becomes a big challenge. When business units are taxed, it affects them negatively. But we have to raise tax in an efficient manner which will lead to augmentation of tax revenue which in turn would lead to optimization of expenditure and increased growth rate.

3. Will CEFT look after Odisha specific Fiscal Policy matters only? Is there a plan to take it to other states?

A) Yes, for a comparative analysis which is very much a part of our study, we have to look at other states for a learning experience. Therefore, in this regard, we may go to other states and interact with their policymakers and look at how they implement their schemes.

4. Can you please share the vision and mission of CEFT?

A) The mission of CEFT is to carry research on overall fiscal policy of the state and to provide assistance to the government of Odisha for formulation of monetary policies and to provide analytical reports in order to implement different schemes with respect to fiscal and taxation matters. Also, it would provide inputs with a strong academic base and core competency in federal finance to the government.

The vision of CEFT is to position itself as a nodal point of policy research with sound principles of taxation and fiscal prudence. This will ensure that FRBM (Fiscal responsibility and Budget Management) Act has been carried out in Odisha in letter and spirit.

Editorial Team: Akasdeep Bhadra, Isha Das, Rupal Singh Chauhan, Sashidhar Emani, Swapnika Das, Swati Mohanty, Upasana Samaddar

Faculty Interview

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