We are happy to publish our first new letter

2. Happy Republic Day Greetings!
Only a year ago we had the privilege and the honor of becoming India’s first Jesuit
University and quickly another successfully year has rolled by. We made history in
establishing Xavier University and we continue on our journey of delivering quality
education with excellence and integrity comparable to the best, carrying out the
mission of inspiring futures, inspiring future generations.
The XUB-Magis is our initiative to share with you periodically the highlights of
happenings at the University. We invite your support and encouragement.
I thank the student editorial team for their communicative spirit in bringing out
XUB-Magis to connect Xavier University with the people.
We are proud to be Indians and we salute the free spirit of our Nation.
God Bless!
Prof. Dr. Fr Paul Fernandes S.J.
Vice Chancellor
Xavier University, Bhubaneswar

3. Government of Odisha in collaboration with XIMB, XUB
established the Centre for Excellence in Fiscal Policy and
Taxation (CEFT), on 7
th
September, for research support
and academic input for mobilization of resources through
tax and non-tax revenues, inter-governmental transfers,
rationalization of public expenditures and for formulation
of fiscal policies. Shri Naveen Patnaik, Hon’ble Chief
Minister of Odisha, inaugurated the CEFT in the presence
of Shri Pradip Kumar Amat, Minister of Finance, Govt. of
Odisha. The first National Conference of CEFT was also
held at the occasion wherein two key issues namely,
“Changing Paradigm in State Finance” and “Financial
Stability and Macro Economic Fiscal Policy” were
discussed. Dr.Tapas K Sen, Professor, National Institute of
Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi and Shri B.M Misra,
Principal Advisor, Dept. of Economic Policy and Research,
Reserve Bank of India, moderated them. Speakers for the
session included noted personnel namely, Dr. Debashis
Acharya, Professor, School of Economics, Central
University of Hyderabad; Shri S.P Mohanty, Dy. General
Manager, RBI; Dr. CS Mohapatra, IES, Joint Secretary,
Advisor (FS), Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India and Dr NR
Centre for Excellence in Fiscal Policy and Taxation
(CEFT)
XIMB, XSHRM, XSRM, XCOMM, XSoS, XSC

4. Bhanumurthy, Professor, National Institute of Public
Finance and Policy, New Delhi.
The School of Sustainability organized a Summit on
Sustainability Leadership during 5-6
th
July. The
Development Commissioner-cum-Additional Chief
Secretary and Secretary, Planning and Coordination
Department, Government of Odisha, Sri Upendra Nath
Behera, IAS, was the chief guest.
With the launch of Uber Cab services in Bhubaneswar,
XIMB hosted Uber on campus on 15
th
July. Mr Varun
Mundkur, Senior Launcher at Uber interacted with the
students on the changing mobility needs of the cities and
how Uber has evolved in meeting those needs. He also
spoke about Uber providing sustainable means of
livelihood by employing drivers, a significant part of
which are women. The session ended with the launch of
the competition ‘Uber in XIMB’ wherein the participant
teams competed to get maximum number of non Uber
users to sign up on Uber using various social media
platforms.
Start-up weekend is a global network of entrepreneurs
and leaders on a mission to inspire educate and
empower individuals to start their own companies. This
event was a joint initiative by X-SEED, the idea and
initiative cell of XIMB, E-cell of CET and Google Business
Group, Bhubaneshwar. It was a 54 hour event that took
place over 3 days from 14
th
August to 16
th
August and
was the first event of its kind in the state. The judging
panel included the professor of Finance, XIMB Shridhar
Dash and founder of mysmartprice.com Sitakanta Ray
and CEO of Mindfire Solutions Chinmoy Panda. It was
held for the first time at XIMB where the budding
managers of XIMB learned the basics of founding start-
ups and launching ventures.
XIMB hosted a series of business conclaves conducted by
Finance, Marketing, Operations, Systems, Consulting&
Strategy, HR, RM Committees and the Media & PR Cell of
the institute. Eminent speakers from the industry were
invited to speak on diverse issues ranging from, “India:
An investment destination”, “Evolution of Brands and
Consumer interaction”, to “Crowd sourcing in Media”.
The list of industry stalwarts included Mr. Prabhu Chawla
(Seedhi Baat, Aaj Tak fame), Mr. Ambika Prasad Mohanty
(Reliance Foundation), Mr. Pradeep Deshpande
(Schneider Electric), Mr. A Karthik (Ashok Leyland), Mr.
Ashok Dash (Microsoft Corporation, India), Mr. Ramesh
V.S. (Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd.), Mr. Joseph Bosco
(Karamel Knowlege Ventures), Mr. Sanja Tripathi (HDFC
Life), Mr. Arvind Suri (Sun Pharma). The series of business
conclaves helped students gain insights on the current
trends and situations in the market. Also, the problems
faced in these industries and ways to tackle them were
another take away for the students. Being addressed by
such eminent speakers on these topics enabled the
students to decide their future course of action for their
careers.
Sustainability Leadership Summit
Uber on Campus
Start-up weekend
Business Conclaves

5. XIMB hosted the Eastern Zone regional finals of season IV
of Maverick, the annual industry academia connect by
Deloitte on 17
th
August. 16 teams from various colleges
in the east including IIM Shillong, IIM Ranchi, and XLRI,
participated in this event, which offered students a
chance to work on simulated business case studies and
come up with innovative and sustainable solutions.
Finally, 3 teams made it to the finals which included team
Skunkworks from XIMB, Marketing Mafia from IIM-C and
Ranchi Dreamers from IIM-Ranchi.
A Discussion session by the British High Commission,
Kolkata and the British Council organized on 26
th
August.
"GREAT Conversations - Future of Indian Cities",
moderated by Mr. Scott Furssedonn-Wood, the British
Deputy High Commissioner for Eastern India with expert
speakers, Ms. Karuna Gopal, an internationally acclaimed
thought leader, columnist, keynote speaker and advisor
on SMART CITIES & Ms. Bee Rowlatt, a writer, journalist,
author of the best-seller “Talking about Jane Austen in
Baghdad” in Oct 2015.
Human Resource Management as a function in the
organizations is increasingly becoming recognized as a
strategic business partner in their quest to become high
performers. Recognizing this fact, Xavier School of
Human Resource Management, in association with
National HRD Network (NHRDN) organized a special HR
roundtable conference at Hotel Leela Palace, Gurgaon on
26
th
September. The agenda of the conference was to
discuss the role of HR practices in High performance
organizations and people focussed HR practices in the new
millennium. The speaker panel included esteemed HR
personnel from the industry namely, Mr Deepak Bharara
- CHRO Lanco, Mr Rajiv Kapoor - Chief People Officer,
Fortis, and Mr Sarab Preet Singh – Head, Talent
Acquisition, Learning and Development, Citibank.
Sanidhya – the annual alumni meet that is held across
cities, comes home to the city of temples- Bhubaneshwar
for the last one of the year. The Bhubaneswar Alumni
Chapter and the Alumni Committee of XIMB jointly
organized the event, which was held on 4
th
October at
XIMB Auditorium. Indian cricket commentator, Harsha
Bhogle and revered actor and director, Rajat Kapoor,
interacted with the students and alumni. The Annual
General Body Meeting of XIMB Alumni Association, a
body registered at the national level, was held during
Sanidhya, which attracted a large number of alumni. The
students of the Alumni Committee displayed the student
activities through a video presentation. Sanidhya is held
every year across major cities of the country and gives a
Deloitte Maverick
GREAT Conversations – Future of Indian Cities
HR conclave in collaboration with NHRD
Sanidhya 2015

6. platform to the Alumni to connect with the alma mater.
Gramotsava, the Rural Marketing fair of XIMB is a three
day event which was launched on 8
th
October in Xavier
Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar. This year
Gramotsava was organized in the haats of Begunia and
Tangi (Khurda). It is the flagship event of RMAX-Rural
Manager’s Association of XIMB. The Theme for this year,
“Connecting India: Digitalization” is inspired by
honourable Prime Minister Mr.Narendra Modi’s
initiative, ‘Digital India. Gramotsava is organized by
RMAX in the “haats” of rural Orissa. This ensures a
comprehensive study of the tastes, choice and
preferences of the rural market through qualitative and
quantitative research methods and subsequent impact
analysis. The students of Rural Management promoted
the event through Skits, Nukkad Nataks, Songs and Van
promotion. The tireless efforts of the students attracted
several Self Help Groups, Businessmen, farmers and
other rural customers.
XIMB along with the Bhubaneswar Alumni association
hosted one of the most eminent personalities in the
world of Cricket, Mr. Harsha Bhogle on campus on 4
th
October. The entire XIMB fraternity listened in awe to
the most influential speaker that he is and he left the
audience completely captivated by his thoughts on
various issues. Instantly this witty man connected with
the crowd and shared his insights ranging from his own
personal life, his take on life, the electrifying experience
he had in the commentary box.
Maverick film director, Imtiaz Ali visited Xavier Institute
of Management, Bhubaneswar, on 10
th
October, to have
an interactive session with the students of the B-School.
Mr. Ali, who has delivered super-hit gems like "Jab We
Met", "Love Aaj Kal", "Rockstar" and "Highway",
answered questions posed by the students and faculty
members, shared incidents from his personal life and
also gave some valuable advice.
The campus round for Mahindra War Room Season 8
took place at XIMB on 14
th
October. Seven teams were
shortlisted among which the winners, qualified to the
next round. The theme for season 8 was ‘Infinite
Possibilities’.
Gramotsava
Celebrity Talk
Mahindra War room

7. The University hosted the National Conference on
Jesuit Higher Education “Strategic Leadership in
Higher Education: Options For The Future” during
22
nd
– 25
th
October. Dr. B. Muthuraman, Ex-Vice-
Chairman, Tata Steel Ltd., Fr. George Pattery, S.J.,
Provincial of South Asia, Prof. T. V. Rao, Chairman,
TVRLS, Ahmedabad and Mr. Simanta Mohanty,
Executive Chief consultant, Rashtriya Uchchatar
Siksha Abhiyan (RUSA), Ministry of HRD, New
Delhi, took sessions and sharing their views with
the participants.
The School of Communications hosted the
international media conference on “Mass
Mediated Culture and Trend Today: Challenges
and Opportunities” on 7
th
November. Mr. Krishna
Prasad – Editor in-Chief of Outlook, was the Chief
Guest and OTV the conference partners.
"Xpressions'15", the flagship Management-
Cultural fest of Xavier Institute of Management,
Bhubaneswar, concluded successfully on 15
th
November. Spread over three days, 13-15th of
November, the fest witnessed a huge number of
participants from reputed colleges such as XLRI,
IIM Bangalore, IIM Shillong, Great Lakes Institur Of
Management, IMI Delhi, MDI Gurgaon, etc. Around
3000 students participated in various events such
as Gladiator, Helios, Goonj, Aaghaz etc, and the
final night, which had the Vishal-Shekhar concert,
saw a footfall of more than 20,000 people.
Xavier School of Human Resource Management
(XSHRM), in collaboration with IIRA AND FES
hosted a National Conference from 4–5
th
December on “Make- in- India initiatives and
changing paradigms of Industrial Relations.”
Hon’ble Justice Shri Gopal Ballav Patnaik, former
Chief Justice of India delivered the Inaugural
keynote address. Prof. (Dr.) E.M Rao, was
felicitated and honoured during the conference for
his immense contribution to the field of IR and
Labour Laws.
National Conference-Jesuit Higher Education
School of Communications Conference
Xpressions ‘15
IR Conference by Xavier School of HRM

8. The Institute’s Foundation Day celebration on 7
th
December was made special with Mr. D
Shivakumar, Chairman & CEO, PepsiCo India
Holdings Pvt. Ltd. delivering the 13th XIMB
Foundation Day Lecture.
International Conference on Information
Technology (ICIT-2015), a premier forum for
sharing high quality research in the areas of
Information Technology was inaugurated at XIMB
on 21
st
December in technical collaboration with
IEEE. A three day event continued till 23rd
December where participants presented their
research findings on various topics of IT and its
applications.
Grand homecoming 2015 was held from 26-28
th
December for the batch of 1988-90 where the
alumni revisited their days at XIMB. There was an
interaction session with the batch of 2015-17.
Xavier School of Rural Management and XIMB RM
AlCom were privileged to host the Reunion of the
RM batch of 2001-03 on 16
th
and 17
th
January.
Dressed in traditional attires of various states
across the country, budding rural managers of
Xavier School of Rural Management staged a
colorful show at the Rural Living and Learning
Experience (RLLE) Mela at Xavier University on
13th January.
The event showcased the learning of local
culture, livelihood, governance and business
during their 45-day village stay. As many as 81
students participated in the programme
between November 17 and December 31 last
year. Xavier University has tied up with
organisations such as Unnati, Setu Abhiyan,
Parivar Vikas, SLI-Auroville, Mrida,
Agragamee, Seva Mandir and Tambul plates.
Foundation Day
International Conference on IT
Grand Homecoming – Batch of 1990
Rural Living and Learning Experience: Working at
the Grassroots

9. Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar has been ranked as the 11th
Best B-School in India by the latest Outlook B School Ranking. The 2015 edition of the popular annual
ranking of B Schools has also adjudged the infrastructure of XIMB as the third best among the B Schools of
India. As per the ranking, XIMB is the third best institute providing management studies in the eastern part
of the country. As per the ranking, XIMB is also one of the preferred choice for the recruiters as it has been
ranked as the 8th best management institute in India for placements parameter. The result of this ranking
published by Outlook has proved the commitment of XIMB to provide quality management education and
create competed and compassionate leaders through capacity building, technology enabled learning and
organizational development.
Outlook B-School Ranking 2015
Student Achievements

11. Srikumar Misra (Batch of 1999-2001) Founder of Milk Mantra Business Leader Award to Milk Mantra was
given 'Odisha Citizen Awards‘
Deva Dhar (PGDM 1987-1989) Won "Business Development Award" at the Arthritis NZ Awards Night in
Christchurch.
Adwaita Govind Menon (FPM Alumnus) working with KPMG in Dubai, has been chosen for the Top Emerging HR
Leaders of 2014 Award.
Dapinder Singh (PGDM-HRM 2011-2013) Received the Golden Globe Tiger Awards at Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia
Ravi Kumar, Executive Vice President of
Infosys, New York
MIT Forum for Supply Chain Innovation honoured him with expanded
role on its Technology Advisory Board.
FinalMile, co-founded by our Alumni
Mr. Biju Dominic (1988-1990 Batch) &
Mr. Anand MP (1995-1997 Batch)
Won the Best Case Study Award at ESOMAR 2015.
Nandikolla Venkat Kumar (PGDM-BM
1996-1998)
Won the Chairman's Award in Mindtree this year.
Mritunjay Kumar, (Batch of 2002-04) Chief Business manager, Biostadtindia Limited qualified for the finalist in
Agro Awards in two categories “Best Public Outreach Programme & Best
Packaging Innovations” at Agrow Awards - 2015, London (UK).
Milind Geete (PGDM-BM 2011-2013) Received the Deltapine Champion Award.
Anirban Gupta PGDM-RM (2002-2004
Batch)
Won SEED Recognition Award
Dr Sanjay Mohapatra Professor at XIMB
(PGDM-BM 1991-93) and Shriram Misra
(PGDM-BM 2013-15), Mr Rohit Padhi, Mr
Subhabrata Nath Sharma, Mr Vikram
Swain, Mr Subhajit Deb, Mr Neelakanth
Veluru & Tanay Saha Dalal (Batch of 2013-
15)
Bag the 6th place in Emerald-UUM case writing competition.
Uday Satpathy's (PGDM-BM 2008-10) His Novel BRUTAL joined ranks of bestseller books
Alumni Achievements

12. It was indeed a proud moment for XIMB, XUB as Prof. Asit Ranjan Mohanty was nominated as the
Chair Professor of the Centre for Excellence in Fiscal Policy and Taxation (CEFT). Excerpts from
the interview:
Firstly, sincere congratulation Sir, for your new appointment.
Thank you very much for your wishes!!
1. Academicians have been consulted before in matters of Fiscal Policy. How does establishment of CEFT bring a difference?
A) Fiscal policy as such is one of the important areas in the economy. After the 14th Finance Commission recommendations, the
issue has become very prominent. In a sense, the central government has stated that states should become self-reliant in terms
of revenues and their efficient allocation. This is where CEFT assumes a unique role of examining and investigating empirically
any kind of policymaking decision on state finance.
2. What are the current challenges that Odisha is facing in this regard?
A) After the 14th Finance Commission recommendations of the period 2015-20, the share of funds to Odisha has declined
drastically. Odisha is an economy where industrial activity is not very prominent and as such the sector contributes to only 15%
of the state’s revenue. Likewise, very less revenue is mobilized by the agriculture sector. Services sector is prominent but the
revenue generated by it goes to the centre and not to the state. With this, augmenting revenue efficiently becomes a big
challenge. When business units are taxed, it affects them negatively. But we have to raise tax in an efficient manner which will
lead to augmentation of tax revenue which in turn would lead to optimization of expenditure and increased growth rate.
3. Will CEFT look after Odisha specific Fiscal Policy matters only? Is there a plan to take it to other states?
A) Yes, for a comparative analysis which is very much a part of our study, we have to look at other states for a learning
experience. Therefore, in this regard, we may go to other states and interact with their policymakers and look at how they
implement their schemes.
4. Can you please share the vision and mission of CEFT?
A) The mission of CEFT is to carry research on overall fiscal policy of the state and to provide assistance to the government of
Odisha for formulation of monetary policies and to provide analytical reports in order to implement different schemes with
respect to fiscal and taxation matters. Also, it would provide inputs with a strong academic base and core competency in federal
finance to the government.
The vision of CEFT is to position itself as a nodal point of policy research with sound principles of taxation and fiscal prudence.
This will ensure that FRBM (Fiscal responsibility and Budget Management) Act has been carried out in Odisha in letter and
spirit.
Editorial Team: Akasdeep Bhadra, Isha Das, Rupal Singh Chauhan, Sashidhar Emani,
Swapnika Das, Swati Mohanty, Upasana Samaddar
Faculty Interview

14. © A Newsletter of Xavier University, Bhubaneswar
XUB-Magis