Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH) celebrated its 34 th foundation day on October 2, on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri.
The event was graced by Prof (Dr) MV Rajeev Gowda, Chairman, AICC Research Department. He is also the former member of Rajya Sabha, a former professor at Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, and currently serving as the Chairman of the Research Department of the Indian National Congress. He presented the foundation day Address on the “Relevance of Mahatma Gandhi in Today’s India.”
Emphasising empathy
The talk was focused on two themes — lessons for public life, public policy, and lessons for management students from Gandhi's life. He explained the relevance of initiatives took by Gandhi such as Satyagraha. He also explained the marketing lessons we can learn from Gandhi’s life. At the end of his address, he asked: “Is Gandhiji beyond criticism?" and spoke about one should never glorify a human being and ignore their flaws. The guest reiterated the importance of being changemakers, and ended with Gandhi’s quote “Be the change you want to see in the world.”
Director Dr Harivansh Chaturvedi welcomed the guests and shared his thoughts about the legacy of the institute and the connection that the founders had with Gandhiji. He conveyed the meaning of the bhajan Vaishnav Jan To Tene Kahiye , “you are a good human being only when you realise the pain of others.” Mahatma Gandhi always taught us to be empathetic towards the suffering of others. He explained how the institute’s patrons and founders Basant Kumar Birla and Sarala Birla had a strong affinity towards Gandhian ideologies and wisdom. BIMTECH’s motto “Excellence with Values,” was also inspired from that, he said.
Felicitations
This year, the Basant Kumar Birla Distinguished Scholar Award was awarded to Dr Debajit Roy, IIM Ahmedabad, Dr Ernesto Noronha, IIM Ahmedabad, and Dr Tarun Jain, IIM Bangalore, for their impactful research. Dr Khanindra Das, Assistant Professor, and Dr Monika Jain, Assistant Professor, were presented with the Best Research Award.
The Best Teacher Awardwas given to Dr Manosi Chaudhuri, Professor, and Dr Pooja Misra, Associate Professor. Dr Jagdish N Sheth Best Thesis Award was conferred to Dr Shreya Mishra. The faculty and staff who completed 10 years at BIMTECH were also felicitated. After the felicitation, the HR Round Table website was launched by the Chief Guest. The annual activity report was released and presented by Dr Jaya Gupta, Associate Professor, OBHR. A book on the case method was released by Dr AK Dey, Chairman, CMCD.