Dr. G.P.C. NayarChairman, SCMS Group

Vol : 7No : 5August 2011

A Monthly Newsletter of SCMS Group of Educational Institutions, Cochin

Vol : 9No : 6September 2013

A Monthly Newsletter of SCMS Group of Educational Institutions, Cochin

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

Editorial Advisory Council: Dr. D. Radhakrishnan Nair, Prof. R. Sahadevan

Contd. from page 3

Shri.K.P.Dhanapalan MP formally launched the Climate Change Adaptation Research for Water Security Project at Koratty Grama Panchayat, planned and implemented jointly by the Koratty Grama Panchayat and the Centre for Sustainable Water Technology and Management (CSWTM) of SCMS College of Engineering and Technology at Karukutty, on September 16. Dr.G.P.C.Nayar, Chairman SCMS Group, delivered the keynote address.

Koratty Modelclimate change adaptation

project launched

Shri.K.P.Dhanapalan MP launching the Climate Change Adaptation Research for Water Security Project at Koratty Grama Panchayat. Dr.G.P.C.Nayar (third from right), Chairman, SCMS Group, Shri.Dennis K.Antony (second from right), President, Chalakudy Block Panchayat, Shri.Manesh Sebastian (fourth from left), and Dr.C.K.Rajan (extreme left), Professor and Chair for Climate Change, SCMS, are also in the picture. Contd. on page 2

the fact that the self-financing sector has been able to successfully make available higher education to a larger section of youngsters it has a further responsibility to ensure better affordability and quality of education, stated Shri.Srinivasan in his inaugural address. Dr.G.P.C.Nayar, Chairman, SCMS Group, presided.

Shri.Gijo Joseph, CEO, SmartCity Kochi, in his keynote address advised the students not to restrict themselves to the knowledge received from the class room. They would emerge as real managers only when they would try to find their own solutions to the issues before them, he added.

Dr.Radha Thevannoor, Group Director, welcomed the gathering and Dr.Sherin Mariam Alex, Vice Principal, proposed the vote of thanks.

Shri.T.P.Srinivasan, Vice Chairman, Kerala State Higher Education Council, inaugurating the Batch 11 MBA at SSTM. Others in the picture from L-R: Dr.Radha Thevannoor, Group Director, Dr.Sherin Mariam Alex, Vice Principal, Dr.G.P.C.Nayar, Chairman, SCMS Group, and Shri.Gijo Joseph, CEO, SmartCity Kochi.

A two-day National Seminar on 'Latest Innovations in RF & VLSI Engineering' was organised by the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, IETE-SSET Students' Forum and Trident Techlabs on July 26 and 27. Dr. K.R. Suresh Nair, Chief Technology Officer, NEST, inaugurated the seminar. Dr. E.M.S. Nair, HOD-ME presided. Shri. N.M. Kumar, Chairman, IETE Cochin Chapter, proposed the vote of thanks. Many eminent personalities from industry as well as educational institutions delivered talks on various topics.

The inauguration of the Electronics and Communication Engineering department association, 'Explora,' for the academic year 2013-2014 was held on August 20. Prof. R. Sahadevan, HoD-ECE, presided.

A webinar on 'AJAX-An Introduction' was conducted in association with Infosys for faculty and students on August 13.

Congratulations! University Toppers!

As in the last year, five B Tech students brought laurels to SSET in the form of Top Ranks in Mahatma Gandhi University exams 2013.

Sreevas P. - 2nd rank - Automobile Engineering Surjith S. Pai - 3rd rank - Automobile EngineeringShafnas P. S. - 2nd rank - Civil EngineeringLakshmi Priya - 3rd rank - Civil EngineeringKitty Kuriakose - 3rd rank - Computer Science and Engineering

Sreevas P. Surjith S. Pai Shafnas P. S. Lakshmi Priya Kitty Kuriakose

Independence Day celebrated

Placement news

The 67th Independence Day was celebrated at the campus. Shri.K. K. Gopalakrishnan, former NSS Programme Officer hoisted the National Flag.

SFO Technologies conducted campus recruitment for 2013 batch B Tech ECE students on August 21 and final results are awaited.

Konfidence conducted two-day aptitude training programme for final year CSE and 4th semester MCA students during August 13 and 14.

ObituaryWe, the management, faculty, staff and students of SCMS Group of Institutions deeply mourn the sad demise of Nikhi Nazar T. N., fourth year B Tech CSE student, on August 6. May the departed soul rest in peace. The entire SCMS family joins the bereaved family of the deceased in their agony and sorrow. Nikhi Nazar T. N.

Seated on the dais (From L-R): Smt. Saira Joseph, Assistant Professor-E&CE, Dr. E.M.S. Nair, HoD-ME, Dr. K.R. Suresh Nair, Chief Technology Officer, NEST, Shri. N.M. Kumar, Chairman, IETE Cochin Chapter and Smt. Praveena S. Kammath, Assistant Professor-ECE.

Our great epics like Mahabharata and Ramayana are treasure houses of fundamental thoughts on the practice of management.

The story of Ramayana is known to all of us. Rama fought a great war to get back his wife Sita whom King Ravana abducted and took away to Lanka. The war ended with the death of Ravana. Rama killed him with his arrow.

While the story is known to everyone, some of the fundamental principles of management beautifully dealt with in the epic are worth a relook. The last moments of the powerful demon king has been narrated in one of the versions of Ramayana as follows:

Ravana was about to die. Rama, after placing his bow on the ground, walked to where Ravana was lying. He knelt down at Ravana's feet with humility and said: “Oh! Lord of all the three worlds, you abducted my wife, a terrible crime for which I have been forced to punish you. You are no more my enemy. I bow to you and request your good self to share your wisdom with me. You have been a powerful ruler and I am just a novice in the field. So, please tell me the secret of good governance.”

Ravana opened his eyes and tried to raise his arms to salute Rama. “Oh! Lord, I now understand that you are the Lord of all the worlds. It is only out of your humility that you are calling me the Lord of all the three worlds,” he replied.”It is true that I had all the power and wealth. I had even the blessings from everyone in power from whom I sought it. But, it had only helped to multiply my ego that has led to this state of mine at the moment,” he continued.

“Now, let me tell you a secret which I have been keeping in mind for long. I had a wonderful project to build a golden bridge from Lanka to Heaven, so that all the people in my kingdom could straightaway go there,” he

Excellence of man

revealed. (What a wonderful project for any ruler to think of!) “But, I kept it pending. Instead, I took up first another project to abduct your wife. And, that is the reason why I am in this stage now,” continued Ravana.

“Now, I shall answer your question. You get all sorts of thoughts coming to your mind – noble thoughts as well as evil thoughts. You cannot stop

evil thoughts coming to you. So, what you should do? When good thoughts come to your mind, act on it immediately. When bad thoughts come to your mind, keep them pending. I did the other way and that is the cause of my misfortune, “he explained.

“This is the wisdom of my life, Lord Rama,” he concluded. With these last words, Ravana died.

The principle of prioritisation is one of the greatest principles in management with very wide range of application. It is about achieving efficiency by making the best use of our time and resources, the essential skill we need in order to make the very best use of our own efforts

and those of our team. It is the skill we need in our life so that we can focus our energy and attention on the things that really matter.

Leaving things that matter most to be at the mercy of things that matter least seems to be our common mistake. ”Knowing the most important thing in life is the most important thing in life.”

Excellence of man lies in his power of thought. The right choice and application of thought ascends man to divine perfection. Abuse and wrong application descends him to the level of a beast.

What a simple, down-to-earth and pragmatic approach for managing our thoughts taught by Ravana?

SSTMSalver

Contd. on page 4

The Koratty model, if implemented at the state level, can make the state self-sufficient in drinking water supply and solve one of the perennial and burning issues facing the entire population, said Shri.Dhanapalan. SCMS Group is an institution responsive to the challenges of the modern world with a firm commitment to create a better world for our people to live in through the right kind of education, Dr.G.P.C.Nayar disclosed.

The innovative project developed by the CSWTM at SCMS College of Engineering, provides cost-effective solutions for sustainable supply of quality drinking water for the entire population in the Panchayat all through the year. On completion of the project the Koratty Grama Panchayat will become the first Panchayat in India to be fully self-sufficient in quality drinking water supply.

Rain water harvested from all the nearby terraces will be routed directly into 64 identified wells by affordable methods. The quality of water in the wells will be periodically monitored by CSWTM in order to maintain them as sanitised wells. The quality of water from the wells has been found to be far superior to the water presently supplied by the Water Authority.

The project now being implemented is only the initial phase of the total project planned for development of sustainable solutions for water, energy and waste management in the Panchayat.

Shri.Dennis K.Antony, President, Chalakudy Block Panchayat, presided. Shri.Manesh Sebastian, President, Koratty Grama Panchyat, welcomed the gathering.

Prof.M.Madhavan, Director, SCMS College of Engineering, Dr.C.K.Rajan, Professor and Chair for Climate Change at SCMS and Dr.Sunny George, Associate Professor and Head-CSWTM, also addressed the gathering.

Contd. from page 1

MoU signed with Decathlon

Prof.Pramod P.Thevannoor, Senior Group Director and Mr.Thomas de Lizaso, Regional Manager, Decathlon Sports India exchanging documents after signing the MoU. Others in the picture from L to R: Dr.Filomina P.George, Dean-Academic Administration, Prof.Sreekumar B.Pillai, Mr.Mathew, Store Manager, Decathlon, Mr.Laurent Fernandez, Community Development Manager, Decathlon, and Dr.V.Raman Nair, Director, SCMS COCHIN School of Business.

SCMS Group has inked a MoU with Decathlon SAS, a France-based global sports goods manufacturer and retailer for strengthening mutual cooperation and long term partnership that will facilitate training and development of management students with specialisation in retailing. The association will also enable internship, placements and development of a new industry-based curriculum. The MoU was signed by Prof.Pramod P.Thevannoor, Senior Group Director, SCMS Group and Mr.Thomas de Lizaso, Regional Manager, Decathlon Sports India.

Decathlon is currently in the process of establishing a major sports retail outlet at Kalamassery, Cochin. Dr. V.Raman Nair, Director, Dr.Filomina P.George, Dean and Prof. Sreekumar B.Pillai were present at the signing ceremony.

With a view to further strengthen its consultancy services, SCMS has signed an MoU with Consultancy Development Centre (CDC), an autonomous institution under Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, for participation in CDC's programme on ‘Building capacities for Consultancy Development and Knowledge Management with Partner Institution (KMPI).’

CDC concentrates mainly on development of human resources, providing computerised data/ information services, and strengthening of technological and managerial consultancy capabilities of partnering institutions. They also help to promote consultancy exports through the Consultancy Promotion scheme.

Consultancy Development MoU with CDC

Dr.Filomina P.George, Dean-Academic Administration and Shri.Melwin Jose, Assistant Professor, were invitees to participate in a programme called Deloitte Tax Faculty Symposium, organised by Deloitte at Hyderabad, on July 25 and 26. In addition to participating in the symposium, they also had a panel discussion with the expert team wherein the career opportunities and career path/progression at Deloitte were explained in detail. The symposium sessions were addressed by the US tax leaders of Deloitte.

Around 25 professors from selected 15 b-schools attended the programme. The objective of the event was to promote greater collaboration and understanding with the participating institutions where Deloitte regularly conduct recruitment drive. The highly interactive sessions across the two days also helped to provide a context on how to guide the students to grow careers in US taxation.

Deloitte Tax Faculty Symposium attended

“It is great to be back here, after a gap of 15 years, and to be in company with a good number of my classmates. The ambience at the campus looks magnificent,” said Shri.Avinash Bhambra, Manager-HR, Zuari Agrochemicals Ltd., Goa, during homecoming 2013. Fourteen alumni members of the PGDM batch 6,'Mavericks,' all of them spread across India and abroad celebrated their homecoming on August 16.

The whole event was held in an informal and cheerful atmosphere, hosted by Shri.Vijay Srinivas, Head-National Collection, Vodafone, Mumbai, who was the class representative of the batch. They were given a warm welcome on arrival. They met the management team headed by Dr.G.P.C.Nayar, Chairman, and the faculty members headed by Dr.V.Raman Nair, Director. They had a session with the current batch of students sharing their valuable experiences and promising all possible support and guidance.

Shri.Vilas Nair, Assistant Professor at SSTM, who belonged to the batch, took the initiative to organise the eventful visit.

The 'Mavericks' are seen along with Prof.Pramod P.Thevannoor, Senior Group Director, Dr.Radha P.Thevannoor, Group Director, Prof.Indu Nair, Group Director, Dr.V.Raman Nair, Director, and Prof.K.J.Paulose, Dean-Management Studies.

Exciting, memorable homecoming

Prof. Pramod P.Thevannoor, Senior Group Director, and President-Elect of South Asia Council, ACBSP, speaking at the Annual Meeting 2013 of the Council at New Delhi.

Dr.Filomina P.George, Dean-Academic Administration, spoke to the women entrepreneurs at Times of India's entrepreneur exhibition for women in Cochin (Aspira) on the topic 'Retail business and women entrepreneurship,' on August 19.

Talk at woman entrepreneurs meet

Flooded Prathap Nagar campus of SCMSFor the first time in its history the Prathap Nagar campus of SCMS got inundated and remained closed down for about a

week from August 6 to 11 as water level in the Periyar river crossed its

boundaries due to incessant rain and opening of the shutters of Edamalayar dam to let go the brimming water. The transformers, the generator and the UPS panels were damaged due to water logging.

The 67th Independence Day was celebrated at the Prathap Nagar campus. Dr.G.P.C.Nayar, Chairman, SCMS Group, hoisted the National Flag.

Dr.C.Sengottuvelu, Professor and Head-Consultancy, presented a paper on 'Measuring Supply Chain Performance in Selected White Goods Industries' at the International Conference on Applied Research in Business Management, Economics and Finance, organised by Academic Research Publishers at Abad Plaza, Cochin, on July 25 and 26.

A paper by Prof.Suresh Mallya titled 'A study on effectiveness of training and development programme at Ashok Leyland Limited, Ennore,

Independence Day celebrated

Paper presented

Paper published

Chennai' was published in NIMS Journal of Management Research, Vol. 2, Issue 1, June 2013, ISSN: 2278-2362.

Shri.Sudhakar Pai, CEO, Kurlon, shared his experiences with the students on entrepreneurship and family business, on August 13.

Talk

(From the letter received by Shri.George Joseph, Placement Officer)

We are happy to inform you that the Interview held on 20th July 2013, at our Kaynes Headquarters for the MBA and BE (BTech) candidates, was very successful and the performance of the students was found good. Their behavior and preparation showed the importance they attached to their interview and eagerness to join our organization. I shall also take this opportunity to congratulate the whole SCMS Group and its faculty for taking such a good initiative in preparing the team for the process and discipline maintained by them. The hospitality provided was appreciable and we completely look forward for associating more with your organisation.

Krishna K. J., HR-Kaynes Technology India Pvt. Ltd.

MAILBOX

MBA batch 11 inaugurated

Batch 11 MBA was inaugurated at SSTM by Shri.T.P.Srinivasan, Vice Chairman, Kerala State Higher Education Council, on August 5. In spite of

Shri.Sudhakar Pai

News in pic