Testimonials

What is life without challenges? And what is more cherished than the feeling of having conquered all of them, both foreseen and unforeseen? The Certificate Ceremony of the 6th EBMP Pune Batch was the true embodiment of this victory.

One year of intertwining high pressure jobs due to receding market conditions with a rigorous academic schedule comprising of lectures on weekends, frequent tests, assignments, open book exams, and a detailed final business plan, was no small feat. Surely, each and every one who had fully participated and lived through this journey deserved a grand celebration and recognition, and the IGTC team went all out to organize and host a beautiful ceremony on Saturday 11th January 2020 at the O Hotel, Pune.

The dignitaries for the grand evening were Gurpratap Boparai, Managing Director of Škoda Auto Volkswagen India Pvt. Ltd.; Marja Einig, Deputy Consul General, German Consulate General Mumbai; Georg Graf, President, Indo-German Chamber of Commerce and Bernhard Steinruecke, Director General, Indo-German Chamber of Commerce. And the other dignitaries were the 55 graduating managers off the dais, who stood tall and proud in front of the audience consisting of their senior corporate partners, faculty and family members.

Bernhard Steinruecke opened the event by sharing his happiness on always beginning the New Year with an event linked to education, upskilling, career progress and transformation. He also highlighted the growth and momentum that the EBMP course has gained among member companies year after year.

President Georg Graf did the formal welcome on behalf of the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce. In his speech, he advised the participants to remain grounded. While the business of business is business, he urged them to never compromise on their ethics and social values regardless of where the world is going. His key message was “Business of business is now purpose, responsibility and sustainability.”

Chief Guest Gurpratap Boparai, Managing Director of Škoda Auto Volkswagen India Pvt. Ltd. started his speech by fondly recalling his early days when he was a student too. While he also spoke on imbibing the right values and ethics, he emphasized on humility. By remaining humble, one continues to learn, not only from the people who are above on the corporate ladder but even people who are below. Very candidly, he shared that corporate life is not always smooth. Just like business cycles, there will be ups and downs in one’s career. One has to tide over them. One has to be persistent, not give up and continue to do one’s best. Results come but sometimes it is not as instant as desired. He concluded by stating, “One cannot afford not to continue learning, as we do not know how the world is evolving, the downturn in one’s career also has to be wisely utilized”.

Guest of Honour Marja Einig, Deputy Consul General, German Consulate General Mumbai elaborated that lifelong learning will be one of the aspects which will have to be integrated in the work-life as digital technologies change the whole the way of life, how will robotics and artificial intelligence improve lives and the planet as a whole in a positive, constructive way. She also added, “This strong and lively Indo-German network of mutual support, including your companies who trust in the value of this program since many years, is a fantastic basis for your future development – please stay connected with this crowd for the years to come.”

To give the audience a short insight into the life of an IGTC student, Dr. Harkant Mankad delivered a short but powerful lecture on ‘Economics in Hard Times’. He emphasized on how the last decade was extremely difficult and stressful, and the fact that we have entered in the age of perpetual crisis, a sign of time where repeated disruption and less resolution is becoming the new norm.

On behalf of the graduating EBMP managers, a core team of 8 managers – Kalpesh Gupta -Vulkan Technologies Pvt. Ltd, Vignesh N- Tata Technologies Ltd, Susmita Vaikar- Siemens Information Systems Pvt. Ltd, Harmandeep Sokhi- Happy Beverages and Foods Pvt. Ltd, Prashant Bhandari-Bosch Ltd, Sandhya-Kimberly Clark India Pvt. Ltd, Anup Honrao, Anup Upasani- ARaymond Fasteners India Pvt. Ltd and Shreya Joshi- Knorr-Bremse Technology Centre India Pvt. Ltd. recreated the avalanche of wonderful memories in the form of a heart-warming video and some personal narratives. The core of their speeches were some promises:

• a promise to remember that before they become future CEOs, they need to remain present CEOs of their own lives
• a promise to be master players of their own game before they take on the world
• a promise to compete with oneself first
• a promise to enjoy every aha-moment with a child-like innocence
• a promise to be fair, to be real, to let synergies drive the world

The evening concluded by the most awaited distribution of trophies and certificates followed by the Vote of Thanks by Radhieka Mehta. The audience stood up for the IGTC Anthem. The graduating batch took a final bow at IGTC. They bid adieu to a year that ended fruitfully, one where they had upgraded their knowledge and renewed their urge to think innovatively and seek excellence.

“Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.”
Nothing could be closer to this adage for the graduating managers of the Executive Business Management Program, who had diligently invested more than six months, as a part of their learning journey, to work on live projects to impact the profitability of their organizations. IGTC necessitates that the Capstone Project or Final Business Plan is the application of all the acquired management principles and concepts and it marks the culmination of the intense, one-year program.
The 6th Pune EBMP Batch 2019 of 55 participants was divided into 13 groups. The groups were guided by IGTC faculty and administration to work in the following directions:
 
New Product Introduction

• Industrial Valve for the power plant industry, which would significantly improve control over fluid flow, result in improved efficiency and longer life of the plant
• Top Latch Seat Structure of a Vehicle, which would be a 40/20/40 split and fold flat functionality, with less number of parts and process offering lightweight and contributing to fuel efficiency
• Building automation software that would improve energy efficiency, safety and reliability of electrical types of equipment in buildings
• Industrial Safety Shoes, which would be trendy, light and fashionable. A combination product ensuring safety not only on shop floor but also in daily life
• Metal Hose Connector, a product that would to help diversify existing Fuel Quick connector business and reduce dependency on fuel line connector business

 
New Service Launch

• “Un-new”, a modern-day thrift store for pre-owned clothes, to reduce the carbon footprint generated from the dumping of our used clothes
• Trading and disposal solutions for Lithium-Ion Batteries, which focused on imports of these batteries and gave an environment-friendly disposal solution, thereby offering an end-to-end product life cycle management
• “V-Serve”, Car Service Aggregators with pick-up and drop service, along with live streaming of the actual service process of the car, providing convenience to car owners as they can do complete transaction from mobile phone

 
Plant Setup

• “New assembly line setup for Silent Chain System” which comprised of development, installation and start of production from local facility which will have benefits such as customer proximity, lower costs and better service to customers
• Indigenous Battery Manufacturing Unit establishment with projected market share, plant capacity, flow, and investment decision
• Relocation of an automotive production plant to India to lower costs and increase market share, along with a detailed business case study on Tyre Pressure Monitoring System

 
Operations Profitability

• Installing a robotic welding assembly line, which improved efficiency of the assembly process and space utilization for optimized inventory control
• A business turnaround, which emphasized fixed cost reduction by applying the Kraljic model for inventory optimization and envisaged reducing the supply costs by offering bundling facility

 
The projects were reviewed and questioned by a viva panel comprising of IGTC faculty S. M. Fakih, Sagar Narsian and Dr. Suhas Rane; IGTC Director Radhieka R Mehta; senior representatives and mentors from the respective organizations. Undoubtedly, the projects had a serious implication on the profitability and growth of the organizations, which in turn became a strong reason for the overwhelming success of the Executive Business Management Program.

On 14th November 2019, Knorr-Bremse Technology Centre India (KBTCI) hosted the Indo-German HR Partner Forum Meet at the Courtyard by Marriot, Hinjewadi, Pune. Representatives from the following partner companies attended the meeting: BASF Group, Bayer Group, Bosch India, Brose India, Covestro India, DHL India, FEV India, Fuchs Lubricants, Hafele India, Hirschvogel India, Kaercher India, Lanxess India, MAN Trucks India, Siemens India, Škoda Volkswagen India, Thyssenkrupp India, TUV India, Wacker India, Wuerth India.

The meeting began with an informative welcome speech and overview on KB Globally and KBTCI by Deepak Joseph, Director – Engineering Truck, KBTCI and Mahesh Shahapure, Head – R&D Knorr Bremse Commercial Vehicle Systems. It was a very interesting and insightful experience for all the attendees to know about their advanced technology products. They briefed the forum about the Scrum structure adopted by them, which has 3 roles such as Product Owner, Scrum Master and Team Member. They promote ‘T-shaped’ teams, where in the members of the team develop skills such as cross-functioning, self-organising, self-managing and collaborating.

Neeraj Kumar Gupta, Head – HR, Admin & HSE addressed the forum on KBTCI’s journey on HR Transformation including the following broad agenda points: Demographic, Attraction, Development, Digitalization and Engagement. He proudly described KBTCI’s House of Values – Entrepreneurship, Passion, Reliability, Responsibility and Technological Excellence. It was heartening to know that in a short span of 7 years for KBTCI since inception, more than 35% of the employees had spent more than 4 years in the company. KBTCI has filed for many patents in the year 2019. The Employee Engagement Committee organizes many events like Engineers Day, Trekking Club, Nutrition Intervention Programs, Cricket Tournament and various CSR activities that focus on engaging employees on technology, sports, entertainment, health and social awareness.

Neeraj’s interactive presentation concluded by demonstrating the impact of the HR Transformation Process, which were as follows:

• In recruitment, lead time was reduced by 60%.
• In people development, training man hours target was achieved 100%, training feedback score was more than 3.5 out of 4.0, and training effectiveness was more than 90%.
• Employee satisfaction and participation was increased.
• People turnover was reduced drastically, and top talent were retained successfully.

Following the insights into KBTCI, it was time for some serious discussion among the HR Partners about the new challenges and future of the forum into the new decade starting 2020. This introspective Community Dialogue Process was spearheaded by Santanu Ghoshal, Vice-President HR, Schaeffler Group and facilitated by Anu Sethi, Head – Human Resource, FEV India. The HR Partners were divided into 4 teams with the following topics:

• Purpose of IGTC Forum.
• Value Proposition for Business Eco System.
• Staying agile and in tune with environment.
• Looking beyond Business.

After a late lunch, the KBTCI HR Partners were given a fascinating tour of the assembly plant of Knorr-Bremse Commercial Vehicles Systems India and Knorr-Bremse Technology Centre India. On an informal note, the HR. Partners also ended the day by celebrating Children’s Day and with a promise to stay curious and inquisitive forever! Deepest gratitude to the entire KBTCI team for being the most warm-hearted hosts!!

In April 2019, some member companies of Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC) recognised the need to form a ‘Supply Chain Management Forum’, a platform where they can share best practices of the industry and provide appropriate solutions to the industry problems. The key members of the forum include representatives from Bosch Limited, Bayer India, BASF India, Brose India Automotive, Covestro India, Evonik India, Fuchs India, KSB Ltd., Lanxess India, Siemens Ltd., Thyssenkrupp India and Volkswagen India.

The first meeting of the forum was held at Siemens Ltd. on 4th April 2019 to set up the objectives and the functioning of the forum. An engaging dialogue and brainstorming among partners lead to the generation of several ideas of mutual interest or concern such as:

• Recommendations for suppliers / business partner development
• Focus on compliance, sustainability, digitalization, innovation, risk management, tail spend
• management, supplier finance, payment on time (PoT), GST and taxation
• Conducting expert talk sessions and trainings with regard to Purchase / SCM
• Discussing policies, guidelines and alliance sourcing

Considering the latest need of the business to strike out balance between the social, economic and environmental aspects, the second meeting hosted by Bayer Group on 25th July 2019 focused on the topic of ‘Sustainability in Supply Chain Management’. Representatives of the participating organizations shared their respective practices to achieve sustainability in Supply Chain Management (SCM) while also pointed the pain areas in maintaining sustainability.

• Bayer Group believes in adopting sustainability in SCM right from operations to the end of value chain by adopting 4 steps towards suppliers: Awareness, Nomination, Performance Evaluation and Development.
• BASF India states its purpose as ‘Chemistry for Sustainable Future’. BASF’s logistic team aims at reduction of carbon footprints by reducing the usage of coal fuel and road transportation and promoting railways and waterways. However, while doing so challenges such as limited awareness of suppliers, low importance of Environment Health Safety (EHS), resistance of suppliers to change and unwillingness of stakeholders to share responsibility are faced by organisations in the industry.
• “At BASF, sustainability means an alignment of economic success with environmental and social responsibility. To live up to its purpose of ‘Creating Chemistry for Sustainable Future’, BASF India has implemented the TFS (Together for Sustainability) initiative to improve sustainability practices within the supply chain. The company has also started auditing suppliers as a part of the TFS program. BASF shared how its logistics team aims at lowering the overall carbon footprint by reducing the usage of traditional fossil fuel as well as in road transportation, promoting railways and waterways. The company noted that during the implementation of sustainability-focused initiatives, limited awareness and thus resistance among suppliers, low importance paid to Environment Health Safety (EHS) concerns, and unwillingness of stakeholders to share responsibility are some of the challenges faced by organizations in the chemical industry.”
• Thyssenkrupp India shared its efforts toward maintaining sustainability among the civil / erection contractors from the unorganized sectors. It celebrates Supplier’s Day to recognise and to train their key vendor partners.
• Bosch Limited instituted a ‘Supplier’s Panchayat’ which is for ‘Voice of Suppliers’ (VOS).
• Siemens Limited links its organisational values – Excellence, Innovate and Responsible to sustainability.

The next meeting of the SCM Connect will be held in December 2019 and will be hosted by BASF India. The Indo-German Chamber of Commerce acts as an anchor and facilitator of the SCM Forum.

Amidst the grand celebration of the German Days in Mumbai, IGTC hosted another extraordinary Certificate Awarding Ceremony for the 9th EBMP Mumbai Batch 2018 – 2019 at the RWITC, Turf Club, Mahalaxmi. 32 graduating managers had a new story to tell and it looked nothing like their past. Their learnings were significant – holistic but focused, action-driven business acumen, high customer orientation and uncompromising attitude toward personal values, and social and environmental responsibility. Something had changed as they had travelled together on the learning journey for the past one year, making them wiser and more confident to stand out, face challenges and emerge as future CEOs.

The dignitaries for the event were Chief Guest Jürgen Wolf, Managing Director, Häfele India; Guest of Honor Dr. Jürgen Morhard, Consul General, German Consulate General; IGCC President Georg Graf; and IGCC Director General Bernhard Steinruecke along with IGTC Director Radhieka R Mehta. The audience included many corporate partners, HR partners, IGTC faculty and families of the graduating managers.

The ceremony was marked with inspirational speeches, sharing personal life lessons from the dignitaries to the graduating managers:

• Bernhard Steinruecke, in his opening remarks, reiterated that skilling and reskilling should be a lifelong process that is imperative to keep pace with the changing world. He also commented on the beautiful coincidence of having the soccer legend Klaus Augenthale’s presence during the German Days, who was going to coach young girls in the game of soccer. There was no doubt that IGCC has many innovative ways to instill the message of skilling and reskilling!!
• IGCC President Georg Graf advised on the importance of both professional and personal ethics. Passionately, he exclaimed “You and me are responsible for our value systems. One should not believe in people who put others in a corner and claim that they are the ones behind the work done. There should be disbelief in people who want to build concreate walls and live behind the walls.” He concluded his speech by appreciating the good work done by IGTC and complimenting the family members of the graduating managers for their unstinted support in the learning process.
• Guest of Honour, Dr. Jürgen Morhard, Consul General, German Consulate General congratulated everyone on their success and reflected on how it was a proud moment for all the IGTC faculties and families. He shared his personal story of how participating in a rowing competition taught him the value of team work and the importance of having the most appropriate leader. In this experience, he also learnt life lessons of always having a vision of what the fellow competitors are doing. He concluded his speech by stating “Indian hearts and German minds have always had a lasting impact. IGTC professors have given the toolbox and the program has changed you internally. Now work according to your instincts to create a phenomenal impact.”
• Chief Guest, Jürgen Wolf, Managing Director, Häfele India shared his personal experience of the time when he was completely unaware of the know-how of different departments in his organisation. His quest for learning made him know more about each of them. Even at the age of 62, he ensures that he learns something new daily. This helps him overcome challenges and inadvertently gets exposed to more knowledge. He also strongly advocated that learning is perpetual and it should never stop.

With such a distinguished dais and audience present to applaud the graduating managers, they also ensured that they spared no effort to brilliantly showcase their year-long learning journey, which had culminated with the holistic capstone project:

• Vikrant Yevle, Research Executive, BASF India Limited was the first to take the stage to introduce each and every batch mate with a personalized introduction that did justice to the camaraderie that they had grown to develop at IGTC.
• Gurpreet Kaur, Key Accounts Manager, Häfele India and Disha Aggarwal, Director, Pheonix Appliances Private Limited elaborated that course was perfectly designed to enhance their thinking process and decision making skills and to mould their future as desired by them. One of the best things that they claimed to take back from the course is the experiences of their fellow classmates and professors. Everyone had brought some experiences to the table when they started this course but they soon realized that whatever they had learnt, whatever that has brought them to IGTC, won’t take them where we want to go. And hence they learnt how to unlearn and to prepare themselves to be in the management of change.
• Himanshu Mamtani, Zonal Manager – Key User Sales, Bosch Limited presented the futuristic, important and value adding project in his organization, because it had an environmental cause and impact. The project involved developing BS VI injectors for light commercial vehicles on roads with lowest cost and ease of adaptability that will further simplify the use of tractors and other off-highway applications within 4 years from now. With the program learnings, the group was able to make the project economically viable, work on reduction in cost/unit, and dive deep into exploring the savings potential. He summed up “learning is called as experiential as when we learn, we are able to emit, able to demonstrate improvement at our workplace in-terms of KPI improvements”.
• Sayontoni Banerjee, Senior Executive and Rohit Mishra, Business Development from Siemens Limited, presented their capstone project, which was a live business plan to localize the existing Siemens Vacuum Circuit Breaker (designed at Germany), so that it would make their electricity grids better, smarter and more reliable. This project was perfectly positioned under the ‘Make in India’ program driven by the government. Their project aimed to reduce the cost over existing product and import content, to drive business through direct and indirect channels, to improve the market share and profit margin, and to improve operational efficiency and control inventory by standardization. All aspects of marketing, operations, finance, costing and strategy, culminated to positively reduce the material costs. This led to higher margins and ultimately identification of a higher addressable market through kit concept for global Siemens factories and Channel Business for Retrofit and OEMs. The team profusely expressed their gratitude towards the distinguished faculty for their mentorship and support in the execution of this live project.
• Philomena Fernandes, HR Business Partner, Inde Global Consulting LLP and Mandar Vilankar, Senior Manager, Quality Assurance, Siemens Limited presented their entrepreneurial project, wherein they had joined hands with a start-up named Brightsandz to embark on a mission to spread awareness about Electro-Magnetic Pollution and to promote the use of laptop radiation shields. They assimilated their yearlong learnings in a) understanding the market, b) formulating a promotional strategy and focusing on the price cohort to arrive at the apt price c) studying the advantages of the patent law which could be applied to product development and its promotions, d) creating a material flow and a single line flow for production that helped them to cater to the increased demand with cost optimizations and e) preparing the P&L and other financial statements. Based on these learnings, they were able to help Brightsandz to sell more than 300 plus pieces of the electromagnetic shield in the last six months as compared to 500 pieces in the previous five years.
• Viraja Redkar, Strategist, Uma Surgicals and Disha Aggarwal, Director, Pheonix Appliances Private Limited shared their social cause project, which was based on integrating a day-care and old-age home together under the same roof. Learning about the changing demographics and an increasing average life span in the subject of Economics, there was no doubt that these two industries (childcare and eldercare) were going to see a huge boom in the future and never go out of demand. This team based their project on assimilating the 8Ps of service marketing, supply chain and its effects, and correct pricing that would influence the service to emerge with a strong, impactful project that moved the audience due to the sheet passion with which they believed in it and presented it!
• The graduating managers’ extraordinary tribute ended with a personal poem penned by Himanshu Mamtani, Zonal Manager – Key User Sales, Bosch Limited, thanking each and every faculty member with a little anecdote, on behalf of the entire batch.

Finally, it was time to award the much-awaited certificates and trophies to the graduating managers, to give a vote of thanks to the dignitaries for their precious time and encouragement, to take a trip down memory lane with a video flashback, and to end it all with a ceremonial cake cutting and a little jig on DJ Bravo’s Champion! It was surely an afternoon to remember, followed by an extended after-party at the IGCC Oktoberfest with the German band Die Kirchdorfer! The euphoria and memories will remain etched just as deep as IGTC’s best wishes to all of them for a very bright and phenomenal future.

DHL Express, the world’s leading international express service provider, has been named the Best Workplace in Asia for 2019 by Great Place to Work Institute. To learn the secrets of this journey, the 3rd meeting of the Indo-German HR Partner Forum was held on 14th August 2019 at DHL Express (India) Office. The discussion theme for the day was “Building and Sustaining a Great Place to Work: DHL’s Journey”.

Representatives of the following partner companies attended the meeting: Baerlocher India Additives, BASF Group, Bayer Group, Bosch Limited, Brose India Automotive System, Covestro India, Fuchs Lubricants, Häfele India, Kärcher Cleaning Systems, Knorr-Bremse Technology Centre India, Lanxess India, MAN Truck & Bus India, Schaeffler India, Siemens Ltd, TUV India, Volkswagen India, Wacker Metroark Chemicals.

All dressed in bright yellow, the young, vibrant DHL HR Team welcomed the HR Partners warmly to their pride, their Great Place to Work. The hosts of the day were R. S. Subramanian, Senior Vice President and Country Manager and Sunjoy Dhaawan, Vice-President HR, DHL Express Limited. It was a pleasure that Bernhard Steinruecke also chose to attend the meeting and spend the day networking with the HR Partners.

R. S. Subramanian opened the day with an extremely engaging presentation on DHL Express. DPDHL Group has about 550,000 employees in more than 220 countries and territories worldwide, DHL connects people and businesses securely and reliably, enabling global trade flows. They have created a culture which prioritizes hard work, passion, pride and focuses entirely on the customer. They aspire to be the most global, most quality driven and most customer centric organization. To meet this objective, their strategy for year 2020 is based on 3 key pointers:

• Focus on what has made them successful to achieve industry leading performance.
• Connect across organization to achieve quality and service excellence.
• Grow by finding and capturing new opportunities.

‘First Choice’ is how DHL imbibes the practice of Continuous Improvement. They have imbibed a culture and mindset to address challenges, solve issues sustainably and strive for excellence. More than 170,000 employees engage in Performance Dialogs. It is a community of 36,000 trained experts, experienced in the methodologies and established with a proven set of tools and techniques to help each other to improve on a daily basis. They have 29,000 process improvements to their credit.

Hand-in-hand with process improvements, comes responsibility to their employees, to society and the environment. This strong sense of responsibility has a major influence on the way they conduct business and is the foundation of their corporate culture. They aim a target of zero carbon emission in 20 years. They plan to achieve this by the following 3 steps:

• Go Green – The program’s main objective is to reduce and/or avoid emissions of greenhouse gases and local air pollutants
• Go Teach – The program aims at turning society’s attention to improve future opportunities of young people by employability training
• Go Help – Partnership with the United Nations in Disaster Management Response Teams
  It is truly credible that they have touched 15500+ children, planted 50000+ trees, rehabilitated 500 drug users, trained 300 youth, saved 220+ lives through first aid and trained 3000 police personnel in crisis management.

After a short networking break, Sunjoy Dhaawan engaged the HR partners with the DHL Journey over the last 6 years of creating and sustaining a Great Place To Work and how people practices have contributed as a chief enabler in ensuring motivated people delivering great service quality, which ensures customer loyalty and profitability. The openness with which the entire HR Team shared their best practices, initiatives and numbers was indeed very encouraging and inspires trust in the forum members. It was also very engaging to note the DHL 1-2-3-4-5 Story around culture building. The culture at DHL Express is driven by strong respect for employees, customers and community. This forms the core reason for the existence of the company and the practices followed.

• One signifies that employees stand as As One, which makes them ‘The Logistics Company for the World’
• Two signifies the 2 guiding principles of ‘Respect’ & ‘Results’
• Three signifies the quest to deliver on 3 bottom lines for key stakeholders – provider of choice for their customers, employer of choice for their people, and investment of choice for shareholders, while being responsible to the environment
• Four signifies the 4 pillars of the FOCUS Strategy – motivated people, great service quality, loyal customers, and profitable network, denoting the virtuous cycle of engaged employees, quality focus through processes, customer loyalty and strong business performance
• Five signifies the 5 core competency framework that defines and measures people leaders

Undoubtedly, the magic mantra at DHL is Speed, Can Do Attitude, Right First Time and Passion. They are a strong believer of the quotient P = GQ, which means people deliver growth and quality.

After lunch, the HR partners were addressed by the Director – Customer Service on the Insanely Customer Centric Approach. He enlightened the audience on how team DHL ensures future success by creating a culture that is truly focusing at placing the customer at the center of everything they do. His statement “we don’t carry shipments, we carry emotions”, struck a chord with every partner.

The HR partners were then given a tour of the Customer Service Floor and taken to different HR Kiosks to give an impression of why DHL is one of the best workplaces. Through the diverse DHL HR Kiosk, they learnt about DHL’s Internal Awards, WeCare Programs, Employee Health and Wellbeing Initiatives, Talent Acquisition, Reward and Recognition, CIS Learning and Development, Employee Engagement, Diversity and Inclusion. It was also very inspiring to see the digitalization journey in HR for DHL Express as they have been able to digitalize the entire employee lifecycle experience through which they engage the heart and minds of 3200 employees spread across 50+ offices in India.

As a fitting conclusion, Bernhard Steinruecke gave DHL a new meaning to their acronym – Dedication, Human and Legacy, and the HR partners could not help but remain in awe to this giant logistics service provider. What a wonderful learning experience at a Great Place to Work!

It takes an indomitable spirit to beat the Mumbai rains, and on Saturday 3rd August 2019, this is exactly what the incoming IGTCians demonstrated. Undeterred, they made it for their inaugural ceremony and opening lecture. The common thread binding all of them was an aspiration to enrich their lives with a new learning experience. 20 managers, the most experienced one being only 50 years young, converged from diverse industry backgrounds to constitute the 10th EBMP Mumbai Batch 2019 – 2020.

The inauguration ceremony began with a short prayer and the lighting of the lamp by Bernhard Steinruecke, Director General, Indo German Chamber of Commerce along with Radhieka R Mehta, Director IGTC and faculty members Dr. Harkant Mankad, Suhas Rane, S M Fakih, and Sagar Narsian. The incoming managers felt very privileged and honoured to have Mr. Steinruecke’s presence on a Saturday morning, especially to welcome them. On the other hand, Mr. Steinruecke found it refreshing to interact with the curious minds and generously appreciated them for investing their time in education, especially during a difficult business cycle. Faculty Dr. Harkant Mankad emphasized that the participants should inculcate a habit of lifelong learning to keep pace with the current environment, as what has been learned today will become invalid or void in 3 years.

There was a contrast of emotions, as alongside the inauguration was the 9th EBMP Mumbai batch appearing for their final capstone presentation. It’s the circle of life that continues at IGTC, where one batch ends and the new one begins!! The 10th batch walked in with subtle apprehension and anxiety whilst the participants of the 9th batch had a growing sense of achievement by projecting excellence in their capstone projects to the judging faculty panel.

The 10th batch comprised of managers from the following companies – Abbott India, Arusha Jewels, BASF India, Bosch Limited, Connell Bros Company India, Ensinger India Engineering Plastics, IDIADA Automotive Technology India, LANXESS India, Link Logistics, Orange Business Services India Technology, Preetam Springs, Primetals Technologies, Siemens Healthcare, Siemens Limited.

On a euphoric note, here is what the managers had to share on Day 1:
Sharukh Khatrak, Managing Partner, Link Logistics said “IGTC EBMP will help me grow as a leader and develop better structures to be India’s best logistics company.”
Menaka Kulkarni, Associate Project Manager, LANXESS India Pvt. Ltd. mentioned “On a personal level, I am looking forward to getting mentored by the esteemed IGTC faculty and to increase my network within the German organizations. Professionally, I would like to get a bird’s-eye view for my role and contribute to the organization.”
Shailendra Singh, Zonal Manager, Bosch Ltd mentioned “I want to improve my managerial and analytical skills so that I can reach the next level in the organizational hierarchy and also add a qualification to be a more sought-after sales professional.”

Let the circus leave sweet memories ‘Life is a circus’ is an often-used metaphor! It is mostly perceived to reflect the chaos of life, the pressure of handling too much, too much happening at one time, too many plates to juggle, too many challenges to face, and of course one ringmaster who cracks the whip! Most of us have heard this before, but were we trying to convey that this is what is similar to IGTC? While building the theme for the event, our team was a little perplexed, confused and clueless. Nevertheless, as we started putting the acts together, we started discovering some amazing similarities between the Circus and “Life at IGTC”. We started recognising the elements that were omnipresent in both these amazing and magical worlds.

Our esteemed dignitaries Sunil Mathur, President, Indo-German Chamber of Commerce, Ravneet Gill, Chief Executive Officer, Deutsche Bank – India, Dr. Jürgen Morhard, Consul General, German Consulate General and Bernhard Steinrücke, Director General, IGCC joined us to witness this magical night. The century-old glorious Royal Opera House was the chosen venue for the big day on 18th February 2019. A dream and a vision that every student and parent had seen came to life.

It would be incongruous to say that people were putting together pieces of this circus- themed convocation ceremony. There were little surprises in store at every corner of the venue. At the Karaka Circle, the Rangbhumi Playback Theatre group made all the guests play a fun- filled game before they walked inside the Royal Opera House to collect their tickets for the show. At the Bandmann Black Box, the parents were taken through an emotional journey, as they heard a gratitude message from their child. It was delightful to see the parent’s reactions of pride, love and happiness. At the Maurice Box Office window, the parents were handed over personalised tickets with a caption that best described their child.

The show began with a playback performance from the students of the junior and the graduating batch. The theatre was filled with pride as the PGPBA students performed and gave a musical tribute to their journey and life at IGTC. Despite no words, the audience was able to connect and relate to all the characters of the play and what they were trying to narrate. It was very interesting to see all the pieces of the puzzle weave in together as the story unfolded.

Following the act, Mr. Sunil Mathur, President, Indo-German Chamber of Commerce was invited to give his welcome address to all the guests. He began his speech by looking back in time to 1991 when the first batch was started at the Indo-German Training Centre headed by a General Manager at Siemens, who wanted to introduce the dual vocational training program. According to him, this was a unique concept at that time and is still today. He shared his three personal goals with the graduating batch which can be used in everybody’s career.

• Don’t plan your career – how you evolve is much better than how you plan
• Think 10% differently from other people
• Be ethical.

With great learning and unique thought, we moved ahead with the ceremony. It was time to narrate a compelling story on IGTC. In this beautiful piece, Radhieka R Mehta, Director, Indo-German Training Centre illustrated how IGTC was built with different pieces coming together. As she stood zealously speaking about IGTC, a deconstructed collage kept emerging. Just like how we put together the pieces in a jigsaw puzzle, the audience saw a flawless picture collage of IGTC emerge behind her. Adding to this performance was a classical song in the background sung by the talented graduating student, Kaustubh Shaligram. The entire amalgamation of her speaking, the collage wall being built and Kaustubh singing created a larger-than-life experience for the evening.

From behind the collage wall, the graduating students emerged to narrate their story. Vidhi Anam, Sanat Munot and Devesh Nair put together their focus point – Choices, Outlook and Influencers – which they feel passionately about and which have paved their way toward their growing careers. Whilst Vidhi spoke about her choices in life that has made her stand tall today, Devesh showed how an outlook in life can help make the right decisions. Sanat explained how getting influenced by the right people can have a positive impact and motivate one to achieve one’s goals.

The address by the Chief Guest Ravneet Gill, Chief Executive officer, Deutsche bank – India struck a chord in the minds of the students graduating. He stated that the quality of a really good education can be told by the fact that it teaches you that there’s no finishing line that you continue to learn all the time, you remain, students, all your life. IGTC has the whole endeavour to bring academia and industry together, and it prepares youngsters for a successful career that will be gratifying and fulfilling. He concluded by saying, “Having worked for a German organization for 28 years, besides everything else that you may have learnt on academic and technical skills, an education with a very strong German background to it, I am sure also subconsciously brought into you, a commitment to quality, excellence, precision and punctuality. Very few cultures embody it and amplify it the way Germany does. Having such a strong influence of such an empowering and liberating culture is something that will hold you in good stead going forward.”

Guest of Honour Dr. Jürgen Morhard, Consul General, German Consulate General in Mumbai was invited on stage as a Storyteller. “Life is a Circus! There is a lot of things to learn about the circus; you showed us tonight a lot of magic a lot of mystic, a lot of enchantment. It was quite thrilling and brought us back to our childhood, to a time when you had time to relax, enjoy theatre, dream and dive into other things that you cannot find time to do in life. He gave an example of how he tried to use tennis balls to create a juggling act. One that juggles work and the second that is health. However, these cannot be in individual compartments and have to overlap to form a pattern. The third ball is relations and the pattern gets more and more complicated. By the time, a fourth ball is added, it spells disaster! Through the performances, you taught us that one should never be a one-trick act only. Many of you can do multiple things. This is what the students must master. A very important slogan that I have learnt from the circus is that if you push too hard to be the ringmaster, you will end up to be the clown.”

Before moving on to the felicitation of the graduating students, IGCC chose to celebrate and felicitate the graduation from corporate life, 40 years in HR of Ramesh Shankar, Executive Vice President Human Resources, Siemens Limited. As the Founding Partner (2011 – 2019) and President (2014 – 2017) of the Indo-German HR Partner Forum, his professional expertise, unconditional involvement and passionate engagement was deeply appreciated by all the forum members.

As he retires, Ramesh was warmly awarded a silver plaque by the current Indo-German HR Partner Forum Chairperson, Santanu Ghoshal, Vice-President HR, Schaeffler Group along with the other dignitaries. In his parting speech, Ramesh gave a very lucid perspective on what the HR looks for in new graduates by aptly relating it to the theme of the Circus, wherein he defined it as Conscience Keeper, Integrity, Rigor, Commitment, Umbilical Cord and Synergy.

The most awaited moment for the PGPBA batch arrived when they were called up on stage to receive their certificates and trophies. This was followed by special awards to recognise the talent of some meritorious students by the partnering companies BASF India, Bayer Group and Siemens Limited.

IGCC Director General, Bernhard Steinrücke gave the closing, finale speech. He thanked the dignitaries for their time and congratulated the students. His farewell words were “life is a culmination of long and challenging hardships, but ultimately it’s a rewarding journey.”

The proud graduates now embark on their careers with organization such as Ambica Steel Ltd., Ascent Intellimation, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd., Bosch Automotive Electronics India, Brose India Automotive Systems Pvt. Ltd., Carborundum Universal Ltd. (Murugappa Group), Covestro (India) Pvt. Ltd., DB Schenker, DBOI Global Services, Eskay Engichem Pvt. Ltd., Ethosh Designs Pvt. Ltd., Evonik India Pvt. Ltd., Extentia Information Technology, FEV India Pvt. Ltd., Forbes Marshall Pvt. Ltd., General Mills, GEP, Häfele India Pvt. Ltd., Hirschvogel Components India, Indo-German Training Centre, Kion India Pvt. Ltd., Mercedes-Benz India Pvt. Ltd., Neilsoft Limited, Phoenix Mecano India Private Limited, R-Biopharm Neugen Pvt. Ltd., REINTJES Middle East, Schott Kaisha Pvt. Ltd., Shakai Packaging Pvt. Ltd., Siemens Ltd. and Supreme Universal.

IGTCians at heart…phenomenal we will be!

“Manager Ready”, a customised program was organised by the Indo-German Training Centre for Hamburg Süd on 28th and 29th of March 2019. Hamburg Süd is a strong brand in the international logistics service sector. As a container shipping company, Hamburg Süd stands for quality, outstanding customer service, and a personal point of contact in 250 offices in over 100 countries worldwide.

The idea of training incepted with the thought process of having the managers equipped with the vital leadership skillset when they transform from being a colleague to being a “BOSS”. In an organization, this is perhaps the most challenging issue and has rarely been recognised. As a manager of a single employee or a group of employees, one suddenly transforms into a “Boss”. Mr Heiko Mohn, General Manager, Hamburg Süd expressed the need to have a Manager Ready Program to synergise the energy of his managers so that they demonstrate the right character for effective leadership.

This program was thus designed to explore the various facets of Managerial Responsibilities and develop skill sets to be Manager Ready. Dr. Anita Badyopadhyay facilitated the two-day workshop. She is an acclaimed expert in leadership development, talent management, performance management and HR processes. 20 managers handling key functions at various levels were nominated by Hamburg Süd to be a part of this exclusive program.

Key objectives of the tailored two-day workshop covered the following points:
• Managers Role – The challenge of responding to expectations of stakeholders
• Communication – Being perceptive and developing relationships
• Setting Objectives – Inspiring teams to achieve their objectives
• Leadership Style – Task Vs. Relationship

Mr Heiko Mohn opened the 1st day of workshop by inducting his team, he expressed that he envisages his team members to grow not only professionally but also stimulate their personal growth by being a part of the program. Radhieka R Mehta, Director of Indo- German Training Centre welcomed the team to the IGTC learning environment. Team Hamburg Süd then was geared up to spend the next two days with the expert Dr. Anita.

Team Hamburg Süd then set on a journey of exploring what exactly is leadership? They spent insightful two-days filled with answering retrospective questions and engaging in meaningful discussions and exercise. They were exposed to the fact that qualities, characteristics, and skills required in a leader are determined to a large extent by the demands of a situation in which he has to function as a leader.

A few key takeaways by the participants were –
• Right communication is vital for leadership
• Planning, organising and optimising resources at work is essential
• Understanding and handling situations with subordinates

Some of the testimonials generated after the training were “It was good learning and changed my perception towards the company. The tools and techniques provided have challenged me to get out of my comfort zone and I am sure I can apply this to my personal and official interactions and ensure things work in my favour.” Another one says “I am very thankful to my management for having me enrolled in the training; it has helped me identify the key stakeholders involved and then channel my communications in the direction”.

Mr Heiko Mohn closed the workshop with a small but warm speech in which he thanked his team for the strong support rendered. He conveyed his gratitude towards IGTC for helping him bridge the gap. Radhieka R Mehta also shared her experiences briefly and gave the managers a few vital tips on implementing the new skillset learnt before the group parted.

“Horizon Redefined”, the HR Capability Building Initiative designed by the Indo-German HR Partner Forum for the HR community was delivered with a high level of engagement and importance by the Indo-German Training Centre from June 2018 to February 2019. Approximately 125 employees from the HR teams of 23 German organisations built their competencies by undergoing training on various topics, which the Indo-German HR partners fondly named as the ABCDE modules of HR.

• A – Analytical Mindset
• B – Business Acumen
• C – Consultative Mindset
• D – Digitalization
• E – Employee Relations (ER)

Employee Relations

Employee Relations being the need of the hour, it was decided that this would be the first program to be conducted. The employee relations module was facilitated by an industry expert, Mr. Suman Mitra, Senior General Manager – Human Resources, Bosch Ltd. With his 24+ years of work experience in the field of Human Resources and Employee Relations, the program was more practical and industry related than theoretical. Live examples from industry were discussed during the program. Participation for this program was so over whelming that 2 batches were held over consecutive months of June and July. The participants also gained tremendously from Mr. Mitra’s vast experience and knowledge.

Analytical Mindset
The participants then revisited basics of Analytics with the Analytical Mindset program. The program was conducted over 2 batches of 25 participants each. The facilitator for the analytical mindset program was facilitated by Jigsaw Academy. The objective of the program was to enhance the analytical ability of the HR employees and ensure that they proactively leverage analytics through various frameworks and tool. It also taught them the business application in their organizations.

Business Acumen
The Business Acumen program was conducted in November for 30 participants by TOPSIM. This program which was a business simulation was an extremely interactive session. Participants were divided into groups of 5-6 where each group was competing with each to see who has the highest profit at the end. The objective of this simulation was to give the participants a holistic picture about management and a comprehensive understanding of business realities. It encapsulated and connected all functions of business to achieve a common goal. It aimed at improving the understanding between the various stakeholders involved in business, the marketplace and the market dynamics, which in turn would increase efficiency and performance.

Consultative Mindset
Red Wisdom facilitated the Consultative Mindset program in January 2019. This engaging program made use of experiential games and role plays to create an impact on the participants. The program was designed to discover and acknowledge the why, what and how of Consultative Mindset in the HR capability development context. It showed the participants what to expect as HR and stakeholder and also how to apply consultative engagement in situations in the organization.

This program of Horizon Redefined is a testimony to the quote said “Beginnings are even more beautiful, when our combined efforts and collaboration culminate into a reality” where a joint collaboration of the HR partners has resulted in a wonderful 9 months of training and upskilling the HR partners. We also work towards making the digitalization module a reality while continuing to conduct such programs regularly for the HR partners.

Indo-German HR Partner Forum Meeting Performance Management

Siemens Limited hosted the first Indo-German HR Partner Forum of the year 2019 on 19th February at their Kalwa-Thane Plant. The meeting was conducted at the Training and Skill Development Centre of their oldest but digitally transforming plant. Ramesh Shankar, Executive Vice-President and Head – Human Resources played the gracious host before he bids adieu to the forum due to his retirement end of March 2019. His team members – Satish Mohapatra, Rupesh Basu, Meghna Joshi and Anusha Madan ensured that the day was extremely well organized for all the participating forum members. This meeting was attended by partners from Baerlocher, Bajaj Allianz, BASF, Bayer, Bharat Forge, Bosch, Covestro, DHL, Evonik, Knorr-Bremse, Man Trucks, Siemens, Volkswagen, Wacker Chemie.

For this year, the HR Partner Forum had decided to use the highly effective method of the Community Dialogue Process as a facilitation tool for all its meetings. The theme for this meeting was chosen as “Performance Management” and Anu Sethi, Head HR from FEV was the chosen facilitator for the day. Anu, in her very calm, composed but firm demeanour ensured that the participants remained in the right frame of mind.

The day began with all the HR attendees divided into pairs, wherein they had to discuss about one fantasy that they would like to accomplish but have not been able to accomplish it. The responses received varied from personal targets and hobbies to one’s professional goals in life. Following this, they were asked to determine a turning point in their life that changed their outlook, perhaps something that significantly moved them in life. This ice-breaker session gathered the right energy for the day as they moved into more meaningful discussions regarding the strengths and weaknesses of the Performance Management System in their organisations.

Each group presented their discussion on flip charts and after an open dialogue in the room, the below mentioned points were concluded by all the attendees. Organizations should:

• Establish a feedback culture, where feedback is received from all sources.
• Define the purpose of Performance Management System (PMS)
• Role of the HR should be toward integrating target setting in the PMS
• Role of Manager and Employees should be to eliminate biasness
• Ensure a positive overall experience for all stakeholders during the process
• Build trust of all the stakeholders towards the established system

Anu concluded the dialogue process by making the partners focus on what is the heart of the Performance Management System and how it can it be achieved. Some very creative outcomes emerged from this discussion. The best definition emerged as the “Organization being the soil, the employee being the flower and the managers being the gardeners” for the performance management system.

After lunch, the HR Partners were given a tour of the impressive digital factory of Siemens. The afternoon continued with a detailed discussion of the onward plan for the HR Forum for the year 2019. The upcoming themes finalized were Managing Talent in a Digital Age with focus on multi-generations, The Best Employee Experience, Transactional v/s Transformational HR, Human Resource Management v/s Human Resource Development, Diversity and Inclusion.

We look forward to an enriching 2019!

What gets measured gets analysed, and everything that gets analysed, is acted upon! And hence 12th of January 2019 was an exceptional day for Indo-German Training Centre (IGTC) Team as we felicitated the 52 experienced managers who put in a lot of dedication and devotion all through the last year. The New Year, 2019 began on a happy high note for these 52 participants of 5th Batch of Pune Executive Business Management Program as they all gathered together, along with their Families, Dignitaries, Corporate Partners, Mentors, Faculty and Alumni at the venue Crown Plaza Pune for their Graduation Ceremony.

Yuliya Ivashyna, Manager Production Systems and Industrial Engineering, Volkswagen India Private Ltd. hosted the show and introduced the dignitaries on the dias as Bernhard Steinruecke, Director General, Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC), Martin Schwenk, Managing Director and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India Ltd. Marja Einig, Deputy Consul General, German Consulate General, Shrikrishnan Yogi, Regional President, Brose India Automotive Systems Pvt. Ltd. and Radhieka R Mehta, Director, Indo-German Training Centre.

The celebrations began with the IGTC anthem followed by a welcome address by Bernhard Steinruecke, Director General IGCC. He shared the excitement of being with the wonderful audience on the occasion. He emphasized the year 2019 as a special year for the Indo-German Industries for a lot of reasons such as Mercedes-Benz India Ltd. celebrates 25 years, Brose India Automotive celebrates 12 years of their 1st plant in India and soon to have the 5th plant in Pune. He pointed that Siemens is building the metro in Pune. The year 2019 is also indeed remarkable for the Chamber Network worldwide, as it celebrates 125 years. The first Chamber was inaugurated in Brussels in 1894 and now serves 140 offices in 92 countries and aids to 95% of German foreign trade.

After Bernhard Steinruecke’s inspirational welcome address, the evening proceeded further as Marja Einig was invited to address the audience next. Marja Einig said that the consulate is proud of IGTC, as leanings are put into practice immediately after the classroom sessions and there is an evident spirit of sharing, supportiveness and confidence. She concluded by saying that “this is the moment to celebrate your achievements and also express gratitude towards your excellent mentor Radhieka Mehta, Bernhard Steinruecke and the competent faculty”

In continuation of the evening, the centre stage was taken over by the passionate participants Aditya Vaze, Lead Manager, A Raymond Fastener India Pvt. Ltd. and Gurmukh Kehlani, Finance Manager, Wirtgen India Private Ltd. as they encapsulated their EBMP journey. It was a laughter riot as they nostalgically mentioned anecdotes of the day-to-day class nuances. They notably thanked IGTC and the renowned faculty for all the learnings imparted. Aditya and Gurmukh fondly recalled how the jargons learnt over the last year have become a part and parcel of their life now.

Kapil Rai, Executive Vice President, A Raymond Fastener India Pvt. Ltd. introduced the audience to the 2018 EBMP world. He candidly confessed that he has become two years younger after joining the course because of the knowledge diet intake and the mental workout. Kapil Rai was pleasantly surprised as his co-speaker was none other than his son Kakul Rai, who is an existing student of the full time PGPBA Batch 2018-2020. Kakul has taken up the IGTC course after recommendations from his father.

Dipti Bhalerao, Manager, Puja Fluid Seals Pvt. Ltd. was the next speaker, who held an impressive record of 100% attendance. Dipti shared her experience about how a commerce student like her was made to understand the concept of value engineering by the IGTC professors. She said “After this EBMP experience, while making any professional decision, I learnt to ask myself, am I adding value or cost to the company?”

Kiran K P, Senior Manager, Mercedes-Benz India Private Limited and Shyam Gyanani, Director, Trident International Pvt. Ltd. enlightened the audience by explaining their Capstone Project and how phenomenally it changed their perspective to business and their work profile. Shyam Gyanani contributed that the Capstone project is like a handle to the briefcase where the briefcase is the EBMP course. Shyam owns a business and has participated in management programs of other management schools and according to him other management schools use case study-based learning method which is backward looking, but at IGTC, capstone method is proven to be a forward looking approach. Kiran admitted that he learnt different things by doing the market research for the capstone project; the process of converting an idea into a successful business plan is a hard but wonderful process.

Vinay D’Souza, Alumni, 2nd EBMP Pune Batch 2015 – 2016 and Regional Business Unit Head, Bosch Chassis Systems India Pvt. Ltd. shared the “EBMP learning experience ‘’. He expressed that the impact of the training at IGTC has never left him. All the teachings proved to be practical and helped him get grounded. He confessed that he still refers to his IGTC notes and implements those learnings at work. He claims that this has time and again produced fantastic results and has proven to be the basics to help him grow in life.

Shashidhar Pasupulati, Alumni, 1st EBMP Pune Batch 2015 and Sales and Marketing Manager–EU, Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions shared his EBMP experience. The captivating speaker Shashidhar advised the now successfully trained IGTCians to start questioning everything and refuse to believe in things blindly. He stated that questions always lead to answers resulting in a change for improvement. He further added that “your approach towards job should always be customer centric.”

The audience was addressed by Chief Guest, Martin Schwenk. He put the cherry on the icing for the participants by addressing them as the Future CEO’s of their company. He said “You are stars of today and its commendable how all of you have completed the course by balancing job and personal life.” He shared the key message to learn, unlearn and relearn, and to have a pioneering spirit always. He also spoke about looking out for new ways to raise the bar for oneself. He confessed that Mercedes Benz is proud of its association with IGTC as it has befitted in shaping their employees year after year.
The other Chief Guest, Shrikrishnan Yogi, Regional President, Brose India Automotive Systems Pvt. Ltd value added his address by sharing his own personal learnings. He inspired the audience to believe in themselves and to work beyond boundaries. He benefited in his career because he believed in continuous improvement and has always had a vision for it. He finally concluded by saying that challenge the best, because the best is always changing.

On such a wonderful note now the participants could not wait any longer to hold on to their certificates and trophies. This happened after a short address by their beloved Director Radhieka Mehta. The enthusiastic participants came on the stage in their capstone groups to receive the certificates and trophies. They were also accompanied by the mentors from their company. They cherished the occasion with their families by cutting the cake along with the faculty as without their significant support their journey looked difficult.

The young at heart batch then gathered in their gowns and hats for a wonderful group picture and the most awaited activity of tossing their hat in the air as an official closure to their EBMP journey and experience.