Snippets
Amrapali Kata appointed as Deputy Secretary at the PMO
Amrapali Kata, PGP 2006, has been appointed as Deputy Secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office(PMO), till October 2023. Amrapali is an IAS officer from Andhra Pradesh cadre. She is a civil engineer from IIT Madras and an alumnus of IIMB. She worked at ABN AMRO briefly before joining the civil services in 2010.
On behalf of the entire IIMB community, we wish Ms. Kata all the very best with her new assignment and hope she scales ever greater heights in the years to come.
IIMB Alumnus founded Taraltec Solutions wins National Award
Taraltec Solutions won the National Award in the Urban Services (Water & Water network) category. Prize money of INR 5 Lacs was awarded to the winner and the opportunity to pitch to various governments and govt bodies.
Founded by Anjan Mukerjee, PGP 1989, in 2017, Taraltec solutions is working in the water treatmenet/ disinfection area. Mr. Mukherjee has designed the Taraltec Disinfection Reactor which is a palm-sized device that can be installed in a borewell hand pump. It then kills the microbes in the water and helps eliminate waterborne diseases.
Many congratulations.
Treebo Hotels raises $6 million in funding led by existing investors
Budget hospitality chain Treebo Hotels has raised $6 million (about Rs 44 crore) in a new financing round, led by its existing set of investors – Matrix Partners India, SAIF Partners, Ward Ferry Management and Bertelsmann India, the Bengaluru-based company said on Thursday.
The latest round comes more than three years after Treebo raised $34 million in a Series C funding round from Hong Kong-based hedge funds Ward Ferry Management and Karst Peak Capital.
In June, the company was also reported to have raised Rs 22.5 crore from Bertelsmann BV, SAIF Partners, and Matrix Partners.
Treebo, which operates 600-plus hotels spread across more than 100 cities in the country, competes with the likes of SoftBank-backed Oyo Hotels & Homes and FabHotels.
Cleantech startup GPS Renewables raises $3M led by Triodos and Caspian
Bangalore-based cleantech startup GPS Renewables announced that it has raised $3 million in a Series A funding, led by Netherlands based Hivos-Triodos Fund and Hyderabad-based Caspian.
Sreekrishna Sankar, Co-founder and COO of GPS Renewables, said that the funds from the current equity round will go towards team expansion, as the startup plans to strengthen its senior and middle management.
Mainak Chakraborty, Co-founder and CEO of GPS Renewables, said, “In the last three years, while we have been able to grow the company by 5X, purely via debt, we have also managed to keep the business profitable, since our inception. Caspian Debt has played an instrumental role in our journey by catering to our specific needs as a business, with customised loans that helped us achieve scale. We are happy to extend our relationship with Caspian and welcome this new partnership with Triodos.”
IIMB Alumni recommended for Executive Directors in Public Sector Banks
IIMB is proud to share that 10 alumni, from its Leadership Development Programme, have been recommended by the Banks Board Bureau for positions of Executive Directors in Public Sector Banks.
They are Swarup Kumar Saha, Debadatta Chand, K. Satynarayanan Raju, Nitesh Ranjan, Sangram Keshari Mohapatra, Monika Kalia, Swarup Dasgupta, Karthikeyan M, Ishraq Ali Khan and Raghavendra V. Kollegal.
An initiative of the Banks Board Bureau, the Leadership Development Programme, led by Prof. R. Srinivasan and Prof. G. Ramesh, under IIMB’s Executive Education Programmes portfolio, is supported by the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, Govt of India, and the Indian Banks’ Association. IIMB was identified from amongst the globally ranked Indian management institutes to design and deliver the programme.
Simplifying Digital Payments organized by IIMBAA Kolkata Chapter
IIMBAA Kolkata chapter organized a virtual session on Simplifying Digital Payments by Arko Adhya, PGP 2016. Arko is also an office-bearer of the IIMBAA Kolkata Chapter responsible for the Finance and Legal responsibilities.
This was a well-received event and attended by many, where Arko shared his knowledge and insights on the subject.
The Now! Fest 2020 organized by PGPEM Alums
PGPEM 2019 Alumnus Reshma Tonse and Prakash Sharma organized a global fest – The Now! Fest on behavioral sciences and design thinking. The event spanned from 24th to 26th September. It featured 70 speakers from 23 countries, with more than 10,082 registered participants.
The main focus of the fest was on the unique cultural and economic perspectives of emerging economies. The fest had speakers from all over the globe and many IIMB alumni were a part of the panel. The speaker’s panel was an interesting mix of professionals, authors, entrepreneurs, economists, food reviewers, policymakers etc.
The event had a strong IIMB connection with participation from Karan Bajaj (PGP), Founder of Whitehat Jr, PC Musthafa (PGPEM), Founder of Id Fresh, Sridhar Pabbisetty (PGPEM), Founding Director, Kautilya School of Public Policy, Dr. Pavan Soni (FPM), Founder of Inflexion Point Consulting, and Prof. Ritwik Banerjee, faculty from the Economics area at IIMB.
The event was curated by Reshma Tonse and Prakash Sharma, an alumnus of IIMB’s Post Graduate Programme in Enterprise Management.
The speakers and panellists included Cass Sunstein, Cristina Bicchieri, Rory Sutherland, Yu-Kai Chou, Dilip Soman among others. The topics discussed covered Design Thinking, Gamification, Entrepreneurship, Social Change, Advertising, Hip Hop, Martial Arts and their connections to Behavioural Science.
IIMB alum Shoeb Shaik clears UPSC Exams
Shoeb Shaik, PGP 2018, has successfully cleared UPSC Exams and has will join civil services as an IRS officer. Shoeb is working with Vodafone as a management trainee in Mumbai. He did his computer engineering at the College of Engineering, Guindy before coming to IIMB to pursue higher studies.
On the behalf of the entire IIMB community, we wish Shoeb hearty congratulations and best wishes for a bright future.
Texas Hold’em Poker Tournament organized by IIMBAA Bangalore Chapter
An online poker tournament was organized by the IIMBAA Bangalore Chapter for the alumni of IIMB across all batches. The event took place on 10th Oct 2020. In a one of a kind poker event, there was no need to buy, hence no one would lose only win. PokerBaazi.com was the virtual platform used for the event.
It was a fun event, with an intent to bring all alums together for a fun evening. Alums from 43 various programmes participated in the tournament.
NSRCEL launches AIM Catalysts to help early-stage startups
NSRCEL, the startup and innovation hub at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, launched, in virtual mode, a programme for entrepreneurs called ‘AIM Catalysts’, where early-stage startups, with sustainable ideas, will be welcomed for incubation. AIM stands for Niti Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission.
The AIM Catalysts programme at NSRCEL was launched in the presence of IIMB Director Dr. Rishikesha T. Krishnan, Ramanan Ramanathan, Mission Director, AIM, Ishita Agarwal, Programme Director, AIM, Prof. Venkatesh Panchapagesan, Chairperson, NSRCEL, Prof. Suresh Bhagavatula, Professor of Entrepreneurship, IIMB, and Rajiv Sawhney, COO, NSRCEL.
“NSRCEL was among the first six incubation centres in the country to be supported by the Atal Innovation Mission,” observed Prof. Suresh Bhagavatula.
Prof. Venkatesh Panchapagesan emphasized the need for a centre like NSRCEL to adapt to the new norm, make progress during the pandemic, and launch new initiatives, programmes and partnerships. “NSRCEL is also open to taking in global ventures,” he added.
POST COVID-19: INSURING YOU, FAMILY & BUSINESS by IIMBAA Kolkata Chapter
IIMBAA Kolkata chapter organized a virtual session on Post Covid 19: Insuring You, Family & Business by Boudhaayan Paul, PGPEM 2018. Boudhaayan is also an office-bearer of the IIMBAA Kolkata Chapter and holds the chair of Deputy Director. He is currently working as the Vice President & National Head at SREI.
Some Key Takeaways from the Session:
- Understand the insurance risks post Covid19, in the arena of health, life and business.
- The biggest risk perceived was that of in health insurance, like very high hospitalisation bills and what option do we have to mitigate such high risk.
- Tips were given in this area as to how to have better health insurance and at the same time, save some money.
- The next big risk was perceived as death due to Covid19…the life risk. Tips were given in this area too.
It was a well-received event. Alums appreciated the event. The business risk was perceived in the area of cyber risk. This will be covered in detail in the next session with a recap of today’s session.
IIMB has an extensive International Students Exchange Network. Let’s hear it from some students, from global B-schools, who spent a term at IIMB.
