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The pre-convocation ceremony of the Indian Institute of Management Indore (IIM Indore) was held on Friday, March 27, 2015. IIM Indore is celebrating its 16th Annual Convocation from March 27-28, 2015. The convocation is held each year to confer the title of the Fellow of Indian Institute of Management Indore for its Fellow Programme in Management (FPM) and diplomas to the successful participants of Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP), Post Graduate Programme in Management-UAE (PGP-UAE), Post Graduate Programme in Management- Mumbai (PGP-Mumbai), Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management (EPGP) and Post Graduate Programme in Management-MX, Mumbai (PGPMX, Mumbai).
- FPM is the doctoral programme of IIM Indore. After rigorous course work for two years, FPM participants carry out independent research supervised by a Thesis Advisory Committee and submit theses, which are defended before a Thesis Examination Committee.
- The PGP, a flagship programme of IIM Indore, is a two-year full-time residential Post-Graduate Programme, which is equivalent to the MBA Degree of an Indian University.
- PGP at UAE and Mumbai are two-year regular Post-Graduate Programmes on the lines of the PGP at IIM Indore. PGPMX is a two-year, alternate weekend Post-Graduate Programme in Management for Executives and is offered in Mumbai.
- EPGP is an intensive one-year residential programme exemplifying the academic rigor and progressive thinking of IIM Indore. Specially designed to enhance knowledge, skills and capabilities essential for managing and leading organizations, the programme combines skill building with explorations of good management practices.
Some of the significant features of the graduating PGP batch at Indore campus are listed below:
- Out of 455 graduating students of PGP, 318 are male and 137 are female.
- Need-based Financial Assistance (NBFA) amounting to Rs. 114.07 Lakh was provided to needy PGP participants from economically backward families in the financial year 2014-15. This does not include various scholarships and financial assistance schemes sponsored by the Central and State Governments.
- In addition to a weeklong Rural Immersion Programme in the villages of Madhya Pradesh, PGP students spent a week in the Himalayas at altitudes ranging from 7000 feet to 12000 feet as a part of the Himalayan Outbound Programme.
Mr. Sachin Nandgaonkar, Member, Management Board, RPG Group and Ms. Rashmi Bansal, Author and Columnist were the Guests of Honour of the Pre-Convocation function.
Professor Rishikesha T. Krishnan, Director, IIM Indore, in his pre-convocation address extended a warm welcome to Mr. Nandgaonkar, Ms. Bansal, members of IIM Indore Society and Board of Governors, distinguished guests, media persons and the whole IIMI Community. Professor Krishnan observed that the annual convocation is the most auspicious occasion for the students and the whole IIM Indore community. The Director congratulated the graduating class of 2013-15 and appreciated the Students Affairs Committee for their outstanding efforts in motivating and boosting the morale of the IIM Indore community.
During the event, certificates were distributed to the coordinators of various students’ councils by the Director. Top scorers of PGP were also presented with the certificates of appreciation.
Scholarships and awards were presented to the following participants by the guests of honour:
- State Bank of India Scholarship (Rs. 1,50,000/-) to Rahul Teotia
- Eicher Scholarship (Rs. 50,000) to Gangar Mitesh Laxmichand
- Eicher Gold Medal for Best-All Round Performance to Chirag Jain and,
- K.K. Alagh Gold Medal for Best-All Round Performance for Woman participant to Sruthi Srinivasan.
This year, ‘Shapoorji Pallonji Rising Star for Academic Excellence’ award has been introduced at IIM Indore. It will be presented every year to the topper of the EPGP batch. The award carries Plaque, Citation and Cash award of Rs.1 lakh. The first award was given to Vimal 
Chaudhary of EPGP (2013-14 batch) during the pre-convocation function. The award has been initiated by Shapoorji Pallonji Group to celebrate its 150th Year of eventful and ambitious journey.
While addressing the gathering, Mr. Nandgaonkar advised students to not compete with anybody and set a higher bar for themselves after every milestone of their own achievements. He also noted that the graduating students should now focus on giving back to the society and community what they learned in the past two years.
In her thought-provoking address, Ms. Bansal observed that there are three things common in every successful person’s career story-Passion, Purpose and Perseverance. She advised the students to look for higher purpose in their life and explore the alternate career choices other than the traditional fields.
This was followed by a cultural programme by music band Mrigya.
On March 28, 2015, title/diplomas would be presented to the participants of various academic/executive programmes of IIM Indore. 14 FPM participants will receive the title of Fellow of IIM Indore. 455 participants of PGP, 48 of PGP-UAE and 55 participants of PGP-Mumbai will receive the Post Graduate Diploma in Management. 47 participants of EPGP and 20 participants of PGPMX-Mumbai would be receiving the Executive Post Graduate Diploma in Management during the Convocation ceremony.
About Mr. Sachin Nandgaonkar
Mr. Sachin Nandgaonkar is an MBA plus B Tech from IIM-Ahmedabad and IIT Bombay. He is a Member of the Management Board of the RPG Group. He is also the Sector Head for the speciality businesses comprising of Harrisons Malayalam, a tea and rubber plantations company; Raychem RPG, an electrical products company; and RPG Life Sciences, a pharma company. In addition, he is responsible for driving Digital transformation and Business Excellence across all the companies of the RPG Group.
He joined the RPG Group January 2015. Prior to that, Mr. Nandgaonkar has spent 22 years in management consulting across Boston Consulting Group and Accenture. He was a Senior Partner & Director at BCG prior to joining the RPG Group. At BCG, he also played many leadership roles including the Recruiting Director. He was also on the global taskforce created by world-wide CEO to develop BCG’s strategy for future.
About Ms. Rashmi Bansal
Rashmi Bansal, an alumnus of Sophia College, Mumbai and IIM Ahmedabad, is a writer and entrepreneur. She is the author of six bestselling books on entrepreneurship – ‘Stay Hungry Stay Foolish’, ‘Connect the Dots’, ‘I Have a Dream’, ‘Poor Little Rich Slum’, ‘Follow Every Rainbow and Take Me Home’ and ‘Arise, Awake’ which have sold more than 1 million copies and been translated into 10 languages.
She is also the founder of Bloody Good Book (www.bloodygoodbook.com), a platform to discover and e-publish budding authors and co-founder of JAM (Just Another Magazine). Her popular blog Youthcurry features her writings on youth, careers and entrepreneurship. She also has been a consulting editor with Businessworld magazine and business news channel Bloomberg UTV. She is a columnist on popular Indian news portal Rediff.com.
Rashmi mentors numerous students and young entrepreneurs and has spoken at various corporates and institutes of national and international repute namely, IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, ISB Hyderabad and Kellogg School of Management.