The Mortgage Banker’s Association (MBA) announced earlier this week that Jonathan L. Kemper, current President and CEO, will be stepping down on December 31, 2008. According to the same MBA statement, during Kempner’s seven years with the MBA, the association doubled its revenues and operating reserve fund.

“This has been an extremely intellectually stimulating and rewarding period in my professional life,” said Kempner. “Navigating the highs and lows of the real estate cycles, with a first rate leadership and wonderful membership, afforded me a rare opportunity to contribute to one of the most important industries in our society. I am very proud for the extraordinary staff I have helped assemble at MBA, as my colleagues’ dedication, intelligence, and expertise make a true difference in the overall quality of life for many Americans. MBA’s mission, I am convinced, will be enhanced with new leadership, and on a personal level I very much look forward to a new position of leadership myself after nearly eight wonderful years at MBA.”

Kieran P. Quinn, MBA Chairman of the Board of Directors had this to say of Kempner, “Jonathan has been an exceptional leader for MBA. He has led a major transformation in our operations, and put in place a first rate staff that is widely acknowledged to be one of the most effective in the Washington association world. He has poured his heart and soul into MBA with the highest degree of professionalism, integrity, and devotion to our members, and always with a personal warmth and sense of humor. The entire MBA family will miss him.”

Quinn also announced that John A. Courson, former MBA Chairman, will become their COO effective August 1, and will assume the position of President of MBA, effective January 1, 2009.

Quinn said that, “John Courson brings tremendous industry knowledge, business savvy, and political skills to MBA. John has worked tirelessly on behalf of our industry for more than 40 years. He has been an advocate ensuring safe and affordable housing for all Americans and for simplifying the mortgage process. We are lucky to have John join MBA and steer our association to represent the real estate finance industry as we continue to build America’s communities.”

Courson, who currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the California Housing Finance Agency, served as Chairman of MBA in 2003 and as a member of MBA’s Board of Directors, the Residential Board of Governors (RESBOG) and the Commercial Real Estate/Multifamily Finance Board of Governors (COMBOG).]

More : dsnews.com

AS A PhD student at Oxford University, Cleo Choong spent most of her waking hours at the lab, researching ways to help heal damaged bones with biodegradable material.

When she returned to Singapore, the bioengineering graduate wanted to market her work, but didn’t know where to start.

‘I was lacking skills in areas like finance and management,’ said Dr Choong, 29.

So, she enrolled in the executive MBA programme at at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in July 2007.

Dr Choong represents a new breed of student that the university’s Nanyang Business School is trying to attract.

Spring Singapore chairman Philip Yeo, who helms the school’s advisory board, said that many fresh graduates in science and engineering had a strong technical grounding.

However, they lacked equally important skills in other areas, such as training, managing and retaining staff, for example.

‘We want future technical people to become CEOs of start-ups,’ he said, calling MBA training a necessity, not a luxury.

More : straitstimes.com

The Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A), in an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court on Tuesday, has said that the unilateral decision of the Union ministry of human resources development regarding fees to be charged by IIMs does not seem to be a step in the right direction.

The affidavit, filed after the apex court served notices to the six IIMs on April 8, asking them to clarify their stand on the fee-cut issue, puts on record the IIM-A’s willingness to sort out the issue through a process of dialogue.

“We have not gone to the court proactively. The affidavit places our views on record in answer to the notice and not filing it would have limited our options. We are, however, not a party to the PIL,” said a source in the IIM-A.

The affidavit has three components - the Position Paper prepared by the faculty, the resolutions passed by the IIM-A Society and the Board of Governors recently, and the fact that the institute is in a process of dialogue with the ministry.

Dons feel that the affidavit clarifying the institute’s willingness for a dialogue will create an atmosphere that will help the process initiated by chairman NR Narayanamurthy during the board meeting here on April 3.

The affidavit said the fee-reduction order has to be seen not in isolation, but in the larger context of many other decisions by the ministry that threatened the autonomy of the institute.

It has also said that the notification on fee reduction “violates the time-honoured process of the fee being decided by the Board of Governors and that it is not necessary to reduce fees to make management education more affordable to the less well-to-do sections of the society.”

Meanwhile, the Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta faculty council filed an application before the Supreme Court, praying for an order impleading it as a respondent in the fee-cut case already pending before the apex court.

ZEE Network has announced an in-house reorganisation possibly in the wake of Zee TV President, Ms Apurva Purohit’s plan to quit.

The company says the move is aimed at job enrichment and offering higher responsibilities.

Mr Sunil Khanna, CEO, Zee Turner, would take over from Ms Purohit. Mr Khanna has been with the Zee Network for 10 years, occupying various positions, and has a track record in distribution and marketing. Mr Khanna, an engineering graduate from IIT Kharagpur and management graduate from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, is a marketing professional having worked in various marketing positions before joining Zee.

Mr Ashwini Yardi, Business Head, Zee MGM and Zee English, will assist Mr Khanna as head of programming for Zee TV.

Mr Khanna is expected to take over formally at Zee TV in Mumbai after Ms Purohit’s service period ends on 31 January.

Mr Dheeraj Kapuria, at present heading operations of Zee in the US, will take over as CEO of Zee Turner from Mr Khanna. Mr Kapuria’s deputy in the US, Mr S. Venkatasubramanian, will take over from him.

Mr Sunil Rohra, head of the UK operations and Mr Pushpinder Singh, head of the Africa operations, will report to Mr Kapuria, a press release said.

“This re-organisation is a result of our learning from an in depth internal communications exercise in which I met most of the managers within the network to assess the width of in-house talent. It was truly satisfying to reaffirm that we have an extremely talented pool of people in-house. I believe by enriching their portfolios, they will lead Zee Network into the New Year with greater vigour and effect,” the release said quoting Mr Subhash Chandra, Chairman, Zee Network.

Some of the executives have been given additional responsibilities. Mr Abhijit Saxena, currently handling international business (Asia-Pacific) and syndication of programming, will handle Zee English, Zee MGM, Trendz, Smile TV and FX Channel as business head. Mr Yogesh Radhakrishnan, in addition to his current portfolio of Zee Cinema and Zee Music, will also handle Premier Cinema, Action Cinema and Classic Cinema.

Chairman and Chief Mentor of Infosys Technologies Limited (BSE: INFY) NR Narayana Murthy was presented on Saturday, the “brand-comm’s most admired Business Leader Award.

brand-comm, leading brand consultancy, advertising and relations company, said that after its third annual b-school study, Murthy has been admired for the most visionary and its value for the third consecutive year, managing students from ten institutes across India.

The distinction was Murthy director of the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, Professor PG Apte, said today, the management of students were seeking job opportunities in an environment that was created for their overall growth .

“You need leadership to exceed the global market and in a world increasingly competitive, a visionary, as Narayana Murthy is indeed an inspiration to all of them,” said Apte.

Oil and Gas Corporation (ONGC) has submitted a government proposal to increase paid up capital by ONGC Videsh of Rs 300 crore according to RS 500 crore.

ONGC Videsh is a subsidiary of ONGC, is investing in oil ventures abroad.

“The registered capital of ONGC Videsh is relatively low compared to debt on its balance sheet. The issue of debt-equity compared sometimes the way of smooth running of our business abroad. We also proposed that the authorized capital of ONGC Videsh, up to Rs 5000 crore, “Mr. Subir Raha, Chairman and Managing Director, ONGC, said the edge of the newspersons launch of the “super-Unnati Prayas programme for ONGC employees.

Under this programme, ONGC sends his career in the mid-leaders of the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) for an MBA 18-month residential program.

The program, under the direction of IIFT for ONGC workers should pay special attention on trade and international affairs.

For the first part, twenty leaders were selected from about 340 nominations received from ONGC employees.

Mr. Raha said ONGC and spend over Rs 25 crore per annum for the training of its leaders in management and engineering programs.

The company will also soon in a tie-up Management Development Institute to offer a general programme management of his career in the mid-leaders.

Information Technology (IT) holds the key to kick-starting a revolution in banking, said Radha Unni, chief general manager, State Bank of India, here.

She was inaugurating a national conference on `Braving new frontiers in banking,’ organised by the ICFAI Business School, here.

She called for standardisation across banks and appealed to them to take the services to the doorsteps of the customers for financial inclusion.

Anoop Narayanan, security consultant, First Legion Consulting, said human fraud, incompetence and errors made the implementation of new technologies difficult. He also spoke on information leaks and the cultural factors involved.

Punjab National Bank senior manager Guru Murthy spoke on the implementation of core banking solution. He provided an overview of the technologies used in mid-level interactions, in the back offices and in internal monitoring and reports.

K.A. Joseph, managing director, Kerala Venture Capital, summarised the session on IT in banking by providing an overview of mobile Internet banking. He said that IT should equip bankers to convert future threats into opportunities.

A.K. Basu, general manager, State Bank of Travancore, spoke on private banking. He highlighted the various challenges faced in private banking.

Ommen Jacob, regional sales manager, ICICI Bank, said the challenge before private bankers was to provide their customers with the best service in the industry. He spoke about the four R’s of private banking: reach, relationship, research and resource. It was only by investing in them in favour of customer needs could the banks achieve their goals.

A.V. Anil, branch manager, Kotak Mahindra Bank, focussed on the services provided by private banking and also gave a brief picture of the challenges faced such as high client expectations, higher fixed costs and so on. Padma Kumar, former chairman and managing director of Federal Bank, stressed the need for private banking. He said that as the interest rates had reduced, people did not just invest in banks; they had more options.

Private banking should aim at providing products for wealth management to all sections of society for financial inclusion.

Cherian Varghese, former chairman and managing director, Union Bank of India, spoke on retail banking and the various norms issued by RBI regarding it.

V.P. Roshan, branch head, IDBI Bank, gave an overview of how banks operated, the importance of retail banking.

St. John’s University conferred 2,146 undergraduate degrees at three graduation ceremonies held over the weekend.

The Rev. Donald J. Harrington, president of the university, gave the keynote address at all ceremonies for the 122d commencement exercises.

Addressing the students at the campus in Jamaica, Queens, yesterday, Father Harrington told the students that “the quality of life in society rests upon the quality of education in our grammar and high schools and in our colleges and universities.”

Referring to the rioting in Los Angeles, he said, “Regardless of how we interpret the events of the past month, regardless of where we seek to place the blame, I submit to you that an essential part of any solution must be the renewal of the educational system of our land.” Industry, Health, Banking

At the first ceremony, held in Alumni Hall in the morning, an honorary doctor of commercial science degree was awarded to Michael E. Maher, an alumnus of the university who is chairman of Maher Terminals Inc. in New Jersey, one of the largest independent container terminal operators.

Sister Irene Kraus, president of the Daughters of Charity National Health System in St. Louis, received an honorary doctor of letters degree.

In the ceremony held in the afternoon, also in Alumni Hall, an honorary doctor of commercial science degree was awarded to Richard T. Greene, president of Carver Federal Savings Bank, one of the largest black-owned financial institutions in the nation.

Edward Mercado, director of the Office of Civil Rights for the Department of Health and Human Services, received an honorary doctor of laws degree.

On Saturday, a commencement ceremony was held on the Grymes Hill campus of the university in Staten Island. An honorary doctor of civil law degree was awarded to Josephine L. Gambino, president and senior member of the New York Civil Service Commission. Cornell University

Cornell University’s 124th commencement took place yesterday in a cold rain with temperatures in the 30’s, prompting the university’s president, Frank H. T. Rhodes, to cut short his prepared remarks to the 5,900 graduates. University officials said it was the first time in 17 years that it had rained on commencement.

Each of the graduates of Cornell’s 11 schools and colleges at the ceremony, which was still held outdoors on the campus in Ithaca, N.Y., was given a red rose. Mr. Rhodes used the occasion to remind them to “take time to smell the roses.”

Clarissa Lucretia Bushman, distribution and trading partners, in conjunction with Salomon Brothers Inc., the investment bank, bankers, and Charles ortel Kampmann, Associate Corporate Finance of the investment banking company of Dillon, Read & Company, was married yesterday at Grace Episcopal Church. The ceremony was developed by Rev. Paul FM Number

Connie Kang-Chuan Chin was the daughter of honour. Erik G. ortel his brother was the best man. The bride, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Lyman Bushman Newark, Del.. She graduated cum laude from Harvard University and Columbia Graduate School of Business. His father is chairman of the department of history and their mother is a professor at the University of Delaware. Mrs. Buschmann is also an author.

Mr. ortel is a son of Mr. and Mrs. William CG Ortel New York. He studied at the Horace Mann School in New York and graduated cum laude from Yale University and Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. His father is a physicist on the technical staff of Bell Telephone Laboratories in Holmdel, NJ, and his mother is a professor in Manhattan.

R.S. Baskkaran, professor, Periyar anniversary Polytechnic College, Vallam, received the “Best Polytechnic Teacher Award” for 2005 in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the polytechnic education system.

The release given here by the Polytechnic said the award was NO Shetty, chairman, Southwestern Region, AICTE, Bangalore, in the constitutive of the eighth Indian company for technical training Annual Convention (Tamil Nadu and Pondichery section ) Held a PSNA College of Engineering and Technology, Dindigul.

More than 300 technical papers presented at the Convention different high schools and specialized engineering schools, five papers were prepared and presented by members of the Faculty Periyar anniversary Polytechnic College.

P. Arul Selvan, professor, Department of Communication, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli, a conference on “Community Radio experiences in India under the aegis of the Division of visual communication JJ College of Arts and Science, Pudukottai, recently.

It explains the philosophy behind the concept of Community Radio, run by you the people for the people and on behalf of the people. Community radio in general reflects the problems of people in their own dialect and non-profit organizations.

Dr. Arul Selvan said that the establishment of a community radio station does not cost much. They are far from the Nepali SriLankan and municipalities, whereas the experiment is still at the beginning of the country. Anna FM, started by Anna University, is the first campus radio in India.

S. Parthasarathy, Director, Division of visual communication; Suganthini Joyce, professor in the department, spoke.

Students of the social division of labour, JJ College of Arts and Science, an outreach program of “alcoholism” MCT school registration in Arangal Namanasamudram. Swagurunathan, Principal of the school; Cyril, teachers and Ponnarasan, physical education teacher; spoke on the occasion. Bharathimohan and Ravi Kumar, both the Khajamalai Ladies Association, Tiruchi, cultural programmes, the awareness of students on the harmful effects of alcohol and drugs.

The department of microbiology and biotechnology for Srinivasan College of Arts and Science, Perambalur, is organizing a seminar on “emerging trends in life sciences recently. S. Sankaran, Dean, Faculty of Life Sciences, Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan College of Arts and Science for Women, was the guest conductor. It motivates students with new ideas on relevant areas. Pupils and students actively in the interactive session in the port.

The association Bio-Pearl of the department of bio-chemistry of Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan College of Arts and Science, Perambalur, organized a specific course of the programme for the benefit of life sciences students. N. Pradeep Kumar, project manager and coordinator of the programme and bio-informatics Institute of India, Hyderabad, a conference on career prospects and projects of life sciences. He invited students to be more aware of recent trends and the importance of the major problems in the field of life sciences. He also stressed the importance of research.

During the interactive session, Mr. Pradeep Kumar clarify various concerns of students.

The main R.M. Meenakshi, the presidency of the function. The head of the department of bio-chemistry, P. Manju, spoke.

The Rotaract Club of college Ranganathapuram village. The club has planned to organise camps and awareness programmes in the village and take careful planning in this regard was held recently. The club members have visited the village and spoke with the chairman of village panchayats, Chinnasamy and other members away.

One day during training programme for government officials was held in Thai Than Hans Roever College, Perambalur recently. This program was organized jointly by the Department of Management Studies and Department of Social Work college.