Vol : 10No : 11February 2015

A Monthly Newsletter of SCMS Group of Educational Institutions, Cochin

Co-ordinating Editor - Mr. Sanal Potty Editorial Advisory Council: Dr. D. Radhakrishnan Nair, Prof. R. Sahadevan

Edited and published by Prof. B. Unnikrishnan for and on behalf of SCMS Group of Educational Institutions, Prathap Nagar,Muttom, Cochin - 683 106 and printed at Maptho Printings, Cochin - 683 104.

www.scmsgroup.org Email: scms@scmsgroup.org

SCMS School o f Archi tecture

Dr.G.P.C.NayarFounder & Chairman

SCMS Group of Educational Institutions

One day a grand piano kept inside a chapel was required to be moved to the cultural hall for an event. The hall was in an adjacent building. There were no professional movers available anywhere around. So, a group of devotees available on the spot was assigned the task of moving the instrument through the chapel and into the cultural hall. The bunch consisted of a diverse lot of people – the young and the old, the weak and the strong, the tall and the short and so on.

The group went around and inspected the piano and tried to lift it up from the ground. They could not. They tried several alternatives by repositioning themselves based on height, strength and age but none of the ideas worked. They found that the task required not just physical strength but also careful balancing and coordination. Finally, it appeared to be an almost impossible task for them.

As they stood around the piano for some time uncertain of what to do next, one of them came up with a novel idea. He said, “I have got a feasible idea to offer. Let us stand close together and just lift up where each one stands.”

The idea seemed very simple. And the man was able to make others believe that it was a feasible proposal. So, they decided to implement it with total faith. As they stood close together with conviction and each one lifted where he stood, the piano safely rose from the ground and moved into the cultural hall as if on its own power.

We can do only what we think we can. What we can do, what we can have and what we can be, all depends on what we think.

Whenever we start a new attempt or work on a new dream there can always be a little nagging voice in us that tells us, “You can't do it,” “You are not good at it,” ”You are going to fail,” or “You are going to lose your money.” This little voice, we call it self-doubt. If we let it, it will kill our dreams. It is capable of destroying us.

Impossible is not a fact

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What can bring about a change in such situations? The answer is simple, but powerful. It is all our strong belief which will come to our rescue. We need reframe our mind. The first step in making a change is to believe we can have what we want. Believe that we have the ability to change anything we want. Our beliefs are everything.

A classic example in this case is that of Mahatma Gandhi. When he led the historic freedom struggle against the all powerful British government it was his

total faith in his plan of action that paved the way for a drastic change in the situation leading to the accomplishment of his noble objective.

When the Wright brothers invented the first flying machine it was again the strength of their conviction that made it possible for them to fly overcoming all the hurdles.

Nobody has ever achieved anything meaningful in life by doing the easiest things. It is when we do the things that are the hardest or which appear impossible that true recognition comes to us.

If you embrace a challenge, no matter how big, and keep moving forward with faith, one day you will look up and be surprised at how far you have come. Miracles do happen when you start believing. If you start believing and acting as if it were impossible to fail, nothing is impossible. Impossible is a word thrown around by small men who opt for an easy way to live in the world they have been born to explore the possibilities before them.

Impossible is not a fact. It is only an opinion.

Say 'not' and you become 'not,' say 'is' and you become 'is.'

– Swami Vivekananda

Dr.G.P.C.Nayar

International Relations course for PGDM and MBA inauguratedAt a time when there is growing demand for Indian managers to run global companies, the PGDM students of SCMS COCHIN School of Business and MBA students of SCMS School of Technology and Management (SSTM) are offered a new course on International Relations.

Mr.T.P. Srinivasan, Vice Chairman and Executive Head of Kerala State Higher Education Council, renowned former diplomat, and former permanent representative of India to the UN, inaugurated the course on January 7.

Notwithstanding the fact that many global corporations are still struggling to find managers who are comfortable and effective in the

India-born managers as CEOs

Mr.T.P.Srinivasan, Vice Chairman and Executive Head of Kerala State Higher Education Council, inaugurating the course on International Relations.

SSETDigest

Open house

SCMS Water Institute

MOUs with German Companies

The open house for first year BTech students was held from January 5 to 12.

The Centre for Sustainable Water Technology and Management, a research and consultancy centre for water technology and management, functioning at SSET has been rechristened as SCMS Water Institute. The Institute has an MOU with University of Applied Sciences, Ravensberg- Weingarten, Germany, enabling regular student and faculty exchange, joined research, and institutional strengthening programmes. The Institute could prove itself as a dependable partner for Indian-German Water Partnership (IGWP). The spectacular success of the Indian-German Water Summit held in Kochi in 2014 has inspired the IGWP to select Kochi once again as the venue for the next Indian-German Water Summit to be held in October 2015.

It is noteworthy that, now, five more German companies have come forward to sign MOUs with the Institute. Two companies, Aqua and Waste International GmbH, Hannover, and Limco Biosensors GmbH, Konstanz have already signed the MoU with the Institute. The agreement is for technology transfer, incubation and fine tuning outstanding German technologies to Indian conditions. The technology team at SCMS Water Institute will conduct collaborative research and technology development with these companies for providing sustainable solutions to problems related to water and waste water in India. The MoU also includes student and faculty exchange visits. This is a matter of great significance enabling additional transfer of technology for addressing the water-related problems of our country. The objectives of the Institute include developing water and waste water technologies comprising reuse of water and recycling of valuable components, fine-tuning and standardisation of technologies for local conditions, framing water policies, performing water audits, offering water-related capacity building on all levels, and so on. It is also providing Research & Development, Consultancy, and Networking with like-minded institutions. SCMS Water Institute also runs a Technology Incubation Centre which focuses on localisation and fine-tuning of selected outstanding German technologies to make it useful to solve our local water problems.

Paper presentations

Seminars and workshops

Student achievement - University Rank holder

Placement news

Ms. Ann Varghese, Assistant Professor-ECE, presented a paper titled 'Hardware implementation of a digital watermarking system using 3D DCT' at the International Conference on Emerging Trends in Engineering and Management 2014 held at Sree Narayana Gurukulam College of Engineering and Technology, Kolenchery on December 30 and 31 and won the Best Paper Award under the stream 'Energy-efficient manufacturing and design.'

Ms. Saira Joseph, Assistant Professor-ECE, presented a paper titled 'Compact dual band antenna for GSM 1800/1900/ UMTS/LTE/UWB' at the International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies, organised by CUSAT on December 3.

Ms. Saira Joseph, also presented a paper titled 'Compact CPW-fed UWB antenna with dual notch bands' at the International Symposium on Antenna and Propagation APSYM- 2014 organised by CUSAT, on December 17.

Ms. Poornima S., Assistant Professor-ECE, presented a paper titled 'Performance evaluation of Cell Cooperation Technique for several channel models' at the National Conference on Communication & Microelectronics 2014, held at SSET, Karukutty.

Ms. Saira Joseph, Assistant Professor-ECE, participated in IEEE APS workshop on Electromagnetic Education organised by CUSAT IEEE APS chapter, on December 18.

Ms. Sachithra Rani G.S., MCA student of SSET, bagged the Third Rank in Mahatma Gandhi University 2014 MCA examinations.

Blue Star conducted interview for 2015 batch Btech - Mechanical, Electrical and Electronics Engineering students on January 8 and have shortlisted six students for further rounds.

MRF conducted interview for 2015 batch BTech- Mechanical, Electrical and Electronics Engineering shortlisted candidates during January 9 and 27 and the final result is awaited.

SAP Labs conducted interview for 2015 batch BTech students on January 17 and the final result is awaited.

NuCore Software Systems conducted campus recruitment drive for 2014 batch MCA students on January 9 and selected two students.

The Foundation Training programme for Infosys-placed students of 2015 batch was conducted during January 20 and 21 by Mr. Hari S. from Infosys. Students from Sahrdaya Engineering College, Kodakara, too participated in the training.

Ms. Sachithra Rani G.S.

Opportunities and Challenges,' held at Government College, Tripunithura on November 6, 2014.

Mr. A. V. Jose, was an invited guest at Office of the Principal Chief Commissioner, Income Tax, Kerala to handle a session on 'Financial Planning for Retirement ,' on December 18.

Invited guest

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SCMSSpectrum

SSTMNews from

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increasingly global economy, never before in the history of global business, there were so many India-born managers as CEOs of MNCs. The growing club of India-born CEOs includes Satya Nadella of Microsoft, Indra Nooyi of Pepsico, Anshu Jain of Deutche Bank, Ajay Banga of MasterCard, Shantanu Narayen of Adobe Systems, Ivan Menezes of Diageo, Rakesh Kapoor of Reckitt Benckiser, Sanjay Jha of Global Foundries, Prem Watsa of Fairfax Financial, and the list goes on.

It is to be assumed that there must be some reason why so many Indians, and not, say, Brazilians, Russians or Chinese, were able to make such stellar corporate careers. Some of the studies made on Indian management culture may, perhaps, be able to provide an answer.

According to a study made at St.Gallen University, Switzerland, Indian executives have an inclination toward participative management and in building meaningful relationships with their subordinates and partners. A study made at Southern New Hampshire University comparing Indian managers with the US managers, found the Indians as more humble. Satya Naryana Nadella was chosen as the new CEO of Microsoft, the third man to take up the post after Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, as the best choice in a global hunt. It was not by accident that Nadella started his first email to his Microsoft employees by saying: “This is a very humbling day for me.”

Indian managers are considered valuable assets also because of the grounding they get by operating in one of the most complex market conditions that prevail in India. A 2012 study by HR firm Randstand said 39 per cent of Indian managers were willing to move abroad for better prospects.

It is in this backdrop that the new course on International Relations becomes significant. The course will be of six months' duration and no better person than Mr.T.P.Srinivasan will be leading the course.

In his inaugural address Mr.Srinivasan stated that during the period from 1947 to 1952, the golden era of Indian foreign policy, “India was being looked upon as a model country for the developing world” and “Mahatma Gandhi was accepted as a world leader.” “India went to the UN in 1947 as a model bright light in international relations” –

Indians more humble

Indian managers, valuable assets

all inspired by the vision of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, he continued.

Mr.Srinivasan narrated, in his speech, a brief history and evolution of India's foreign policy with special reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign policy and explained how it differs from that of the previous government.

The Chinese war in 1962 was the incident that drastically changed India's world view and from then on our foreign policy turned to become more realistic, he commented. As an after effect, during the period from 1962 to 1989 India became closer to the Soviet Union, not by accepting their ideology but for the fact that “we were starving for foreign investment to build our nation,” he elaborated. Since no help was coming from the US we had to accept it from the Soviet Union despite the fact that their technology was not the best available, he disclosed.

At the time of the Bangladesh liberation, the rest of the world saw India as a satellite of the Soviet Union, he informed. At the same time, dividing Pakistan was seen as the success of the Indian foreign policy. India was the only country other than the communist countries to support the Soviet Union's presence in Afghanistan, in the UN. After remaining in the soviet bloc, when the Soviet Union broke down we had nobody to look for as an ally. When the US became the only super power, we had no other option but to shift our policy towards the west, he added.

He said that PM Modi's foreign policy is a continuation of the policy followed by the previous government and it is “not based on non-alignment but focused on selective alignment.”

According to Mr.Srinivasan, the two thrust areas that shape Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign policy are FDI and national security. So, naturally, his priorities are to make the US our best friend and to improve our relations with our neighbours, he reasoned. Modi has been remarkably successful in initiating action to improve the friendship with the US but his efforts to persuade Pakistan to come to an understanding had miserably failed, he observed.

India's world view changed

Success of Indian policy

Selective alignment

Running for a cause

Celebrating the spirit of the th35 National Games hosted

by Kerala, and symbolising the glorious sports heritage of the State, the faculty,

staff and students of SCMS joined the millions of Keralites in the Run Kerala Run programme organised as a precursor to the Games, all over the State, on January 20. Dr.G.P.C.Nayar, Chairman, SCMS Group, flagged off the run at the Prathap Nagar campus, after taking the National Games pledge. The run announced the unity and vitality of Kerala in scaling new heights in sports as well as all other fields of human endeavour. Dr.G.P.C.Nayar, Chairman, SCMS Group, flagging off the run at the Prathap Nagar campus.

Mr. T.K.S. Mani, Kerala football team captain flagged off the run at SSET.

former

The run moving out of Prathap Nagar campus.

The participants of the run at SSET taking the National Games pledge before the run.

Paper published

Talks

Best paper award

Training attended

Athulya Menon wins coveted trophy in essay contest

A research paper entitled 'Adoption of Information and Communication Technology in the Banking Sector: Services Augmentation of the ATM Marketplace as a Customer Channel in Kerala' by Ms. Bindu K.Nambiar, Assistant Professor and co-authored by Dr.V.Raman Nair, Group Director, has been published in the International Journal of Multidisciplinary Educational Research, Impact Factor 2.735 and ICV 5.16 Points. (Index Copernicus Value).

Dr.C.Sengottuvelu, Professor and Head-Consultancy published a paper titled 'A study on knowledge management system in aircraft design centre' in International Journal of Multidisciplinary Educational Research (ISSN:2277-7881), Volume 3, Issue 12(1), December 2014.

Dr.Gayathri Devi, Professor of Department of Eng l i sh , Un ive r s i t y o f Lockhaven , Pennysylvania, US, made a presentation to the students on the topic 'Critical reading,' on December 30.

Ms.Bindu K.Nambiar, Assistant Professor, presented a paper titled 'Adoption of CRM initiatives by entrepreneurs: Reshaping the customer centric model with special reference to banks in Kerala' co-authored with Dr. V. Raman Nair, Group Director, was presented at the UGC-sponsored Nat ional Confe r ence on Ro l e o f Entrepreneurship in Economic Development of India, at St.Paul's College on January 8

and 9. The paper was adjudged as the best research paper and was rewarded with a cash award.

Dr.C.Sengottuvelu, Professor and Head-Consultancy successfully completed 'Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt' training programme organised by MSME-Technology Development Centre, Agra, Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, a Government of India Organisation conducted at Kochi on December 6.

Athulya Menon, student of PGDM batch 22, has won the coveted trophy and a cash prize of Rs.25,000 in the inter-collegiate essay writing contest conducted by the multi-faceted business group, MIR Group, to welcome the New Year. The topic for the contest was 'I am the future.'

Dr.Gayathri Devi

Athulya Menon receiving the First Prize from Mr.G.S.Pradeep, reverse quiz master.

Paper presentedMr. A.V. Jose, Associate Professor, presented a paper on 'WTO - Trade Facilitation Agreement and Indian Agriculture' at a National Seminar on 'India's Business –

The T.K.S. Mani flagging off the run at SSET.

Bangalore days29 students of the Retail specialisation of PGDM batch 22 undertook an Industrial visit to Bengaluru on January 3 and 4 to study the

working of major retail establishments in varied formats. They were accompanied by Prof. Sreekumar B.Pillai and Mr. Nobin Philip, Asst. Professor.

They first visited Metro Cash and Carry outlet where the group was addressed by Mr. Prasad N.G., Chief HR Manager of Metro India, who explained the specialty of the Cash and Carry format, the only one in South India. He also enlightened the students on the measures followed by Metro India to increase employee motivation and thus reduce attrition.

The second visit was to Mantri Mall which is the biggest mall in the country. The group had the chance to meet Mr. Praveen Methin, Business Head of Propcare Mall Management India who are managing the mall for Mantri Group. Mr. Praveen briefed on facility management and collaborative mall management. Mr. Mohammad Arif, Marketing Head also spoke to the students on mall marketing procedures.

The final visit was to the Lifestyle Mall MG 1 and the team was addressed by Mr.Varun Khanna, GM-Marketing, and Mr. Anand Ramanan, Marketing Manager, Lido Malls Management, who explained the complex procedure of mall promotions and creation of mall event calendar.

The group also visited the UB City Mall and Phoenix Mall for observing the outlets of specialised retailers and had a chance to see the high street retailing at Brigade Road and Commercial Street.

The Retail specialisation students are seen at the Metro Cash and Carry outlet in Bagaluru. Prof.Sreekumar B. Pillai is seen second from right.

Ms.Bindu K. Nambiar receiving the award for the best paper from the hands of Dr.V.Raman Nair, the chief guest.