In total, 424 students passed out of Institute on the day.
Giving credit to the past director, Dr PG Apte, Dr Pankaj Chandra said, "I took charge as Director of the Institute from Professor P.G. Apte on December 3, 2007. Over the last five years, Professor Apte has provided able leadership to the IIMB community. A number of new programmes and activities have been initiated during his tenure."
Highlighting the Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP), Dr Chandra said, "The two-year PGP provides our students with conceptual & analytical skills, capabilities and perspectives that will enable them to reach global leadership positions. IIM B is the only leading Institute in the country where almost all of our students undergo a global experience through summer internships, International Business in Practice, and the Exchange programmes."
The Institute has a Student Exchange Programme with 85 partner institutes in 24 countries. During the year, 13 new partner Institutes joined the exchange programme with us including the Johnson School at Cornell University & Thunderbird School of Global Management in USA; University of Alberta School of Business in Canada.
IIM-B is committed to the philosophy that no student will be denied an opportunity to pursue the Post-Graduate Programme in Management for want of financial resources. In the year 2007-8, the Institute provided financial assistance amounting to Rs.91.13 lakhs to 49 students.
Placements 2008 were successfully completed. Said Dr Chandra, "This year 266 students were looking for campus placements. I am happy to inform you that despite global financial troubles, all our students found jobs of their choice with top Indian and international firms. Many top firms recruited at IIM-B more than what they have ever done on any campus in India."
Talking about the Fellow Programme in Management (FPM) at IIM-B, Dr Chandra said that eight students are receiving the title of Fellow of the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. During this academic year, three doctoral students have been recipients of fellowships instituted by Infosys, EADS-SMI and SAP Lab.
Talking about the Post Graduate Programme in Software Enterprise Management (PGSEM), Dr Chandra said, "The PGSEM is a unique programme designed to meet the specific needs of software professionals working in the Indian software industry." On Post Graduate Programme in Public Policy & Management (PGPPM), Dr Chandra commented, "Post Graduate Programme in Public Policy & Management is a two-year programme to impart managerial training to designers and managers of public systems. Twenty six students of the fifth batch of PGPPM are graduating today." Starting this year, the programme is being opened for participants from outside the government.
Executive Education is also a focus area at IIM-B. This year, IIM-B conducted 156 Executive Education Programmes comprising 37 Open Programmes, 103 Customised Programmes, 5 Long Duration programmes and 11 International Programmes.
Dr Chandra especially congratulated Amit Gupta, Abhishek Agarwal & Sahil Barua of PGP, Subrata Nath of PGPPM and Srisankar Swaminathan Kunniyur & Amit Agarwal of PGSEM who have emerged on top by virtue of their outstanding performance.
Ending his address on an inspirational note, Dr Chandra said, "Today you embark on a new journey – an adventure into life and its world of responsibilities. I would exhort you to leave your own personal imprint on India wherever you are."
Wharton educated, Dr Pankaj Chandra was associated with IIM-A since 1997. He was the Chairperson of Doctoral Programme at IIM-A from 2003 to 2005. He was also the Chairperson of Centre for Innovation, Incubation & Entrepreneurship at IIM-A. In past, he has been associated with top tier B-schools like Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell Universiy International University of Japan, Nigaata, Japan Faculty of Management, McGill University, Montreal, Canada and ISB Hyderabad. Dr Chandra did his doctorate from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, in 1989.
