Campus Diary

IIFT DELHI: Hitch On
The Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), if you've walked through its Qutab Institutional Area campus in Delhi lately, is not just about imports and exports.

In fact, India's premier school of international business is due to hold a symposium on the retail scenario on 12 August, 2005, in association with CII.

Titled "Indian Retail Bandwagon: Are You On?", it will feature presentations by many of India's retail luminaries on retail opportunities, new formats, supply chains, regulation, mall magnets and much else.

With Wal-Mart keen on entering India, it is a subject of "international business" too. But will the wagons get circled, or will they let the global guns hitch along for the ride ?

AMITY B-SCHOOL NOIDA: Mentors Matter
As you read this, Amity Business School, Noida, is busy living up to its name, with students cosying up to executive volunteers from corporate India "" for their mentorship.

It has invited managers from Acer India, Hindustan Coca-Cola, Citibank, Bajaj Auto, Jindal Industries, Orient Craft, ICICI Bank, TATA-AIG, Wipro Lighting and several other companies to take students under their tutelage and explain the ins and outs of corporate reality to them "" long before they're splashed awake by it in a real job.

The point is to play "friend, philosopher and guide" as one mentor puts it.

ISB HYDERABAD: Figuring Future Value
The Centre for Analytical Finance (CAF) at Hyderabad's Indian School of Business (ISB) is organizing a symposium, on 5 August, 2005, on Indian Capital Markets and Institutions.

Among the speakers: Bimal Jalan of the Rajya Sabha, Sanjay Nayar of Citigroup, Suman Bery of NCAER, C.B. Bhave of National Securities Depository Ltd and Ravi Narain of NSE India.

They will discuss the financial institutions and capital markets needed for India to become a world player by 2020. This event will be followed a day later by a seminar on microfinance.

Some of the speakers: Y V Reddy of RBI , AK Purwar of SBI, Priya Basu of World Bank and Ela Bhatt of SEWA . Needless to add, "Grameen" would get several mentions .

PSB SINGAPORE: Open Spirit
Singapore's PSB Academy, an educational institution owned by the city-state's government, is keen to enrol Indian students. On offer are a wide range of business diploma and degree programmes.

Some of these are offered via its alliance with The University of Newcastle, Australia, while others are offered through its deal with California State University, Long Beach.

Especially popular is the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, centred on "the spirit of enterprise and adventure" as the academy boasts.