Students of the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad are set to give the IIMs a run for their money if the placement pattern for the current year is any indication. Barely three weeks after an IIM Ahmedabad student set a record by bagging an annual salary package of Rs 67 lakh, an ISB graduate broke the record by accepting a package from an international company for Rs 80 lakh.

The five-year-old ISB did not release the name of the student.

Its deputy dean Ajit Rangnekar said in a statement, “The placement results for 2005 have been phenomenal. The number of offers our students received this year jumped by 26%, with the number of international offers increasing by 55%. Consultancies were the biggest recruiters followed by information technology and financial services.”

Of the 273 students in the 2005 batch, 251 participated in the placement process. They received 344 offers, of which 333 were lateral and 31 international.

While there was a growth in international offers, the number of Indian companies offering international assignments too has gone up. Companies like Birlasoft, ITC Infotech, Satyam, Mindtree Consulting and RPG offered international positions to ISB students in countries like the UK, Australia, US and Singapore.

With a representation of 19%, ISB’s Class of 2005 had the highest number of women students across B-schools in the country. Out of the 52 women students in the class, 48 participated in the placement. The highest offer made to a woman this year was Rs 20 lakh, an increase of 53% compared to Rs 13 lakh in 2004.

Ajit Rangnekar has over 30 years of experience in East Asia and India in the areas of business strategy, new business creation, systems implementation, and performance improvement in a variety of industries ranging from telecom, utilities, energy, chemicals and shipping, both in the private and public sectors.

He has extensive operations management experience of business start-ups in the manufacturing, trading and professional services sectors in Hong Kong and India. He returned to India in June 2002, with the objective of working in the education sector. Education Times speaks to Ajit Rangnekar, deputy dean, Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad on what makes ISB one of the premier B-schools in the country.

The ISB is believed to be one of its kind in Asia. What makes it so different from other B-schools?

The ISB is a research-focussed management institution and offers a one-year, post-graduate programme in management. The programme is appealing to a different market segment of students, typically those who are working and are looking to upgrade their knowledge and skills; entrepreneurs; people who are looking for career shifts. The ISB is affiliated to three of the world’s best management institutions, the Wharton School, Kellogg School of Management and London Business School. Some of the world’s best faculty who teaches at top management institutions across the world teaches at ISB - a unique combination that is unparalleled. The ISB is a global institution that offers world class infrastructure as well.

How has the programme at the ISB evolved since its launch two years ago?

We have completed two years and the response has been excellent. We have had some of the world’s best faculty teaching our students. Our students go through an intensive one-year management programme. They have not only performed very well but have contributed to a vibrant campus atmosphere through several club activities including community work. We have ramped up our short-term executive education programmes and plan to increase it further over the next few years. We have made progress in establishing our centres of excellence. The Wadhwani Centre for Entrepreneurship Development is active and the Centre for Finance will shortly be established. We are commencing a unique post-doctoral programme and will have about 10 students this year.

Hyderabad’s rapid March compared to the status of a global city is proving a challenge to the Government on the pace of infrastructure development, “said Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy Monday.

At a conference on “Hyderabad: Vision 2020″ organized by the Times of India as part of their long months Festival “happening Highderabad ‘, the Chief Minister was said, why the government has the city in a Development Overdrive, to win Big - Ticket Home investors, and the pressure of immigration.

Learning of the plight of cities, such problems are not addressed, he said Hyderabad, projects like the airport in Shamshabad and outside the Ring Road. During the implementation of these projects, the Government had, for the “delicate balance” acquisition of land and compassionate compensation packages displaced.

This task has been difficult by the real estate speculation triggered by the launch of new projects, he said.

For example, he said, the value of land in Ranga Reddy district, two or three years by R 10-15 lakh morning.

But if the government announced its plan for the construction of the outer ring road, prices shot up by RS 60-70 lakh per hectare and farmers would be affected by the acquisition of countries expect that the value current market, the government is not likely to provide. At the same time, the acquisition of land was inevitable. “It is indeed a delicate balance,” he said.

At the conference brought together 11 speakers from various sectors to submit their bids for Hyderabad hour drive towards 2020.

The representatives Asaduddin Owaisi and M Shashidhar Reddy said that the problems dogging the city of commodities such as water supply and transportation did not wish away and proposed that a wider consultation development in Hyderabad.

Indian School of Business deputy dean Ajit Rangnekar of Satyam Learning Centre and the director Edward Cohen, said she found a beautiful city of Hyderabad and stressed the need to pay special attention to its social infrastructure, as Global City .

Rangnekar, Hyderabad was that skip a regional city to a global city without passing through the scene
, National City.

Dileep Ranjekar, chairman of the board of the Azim Premji Foundation, said urban planning for the future would have been for young people. For this, it was necessary to understand the spirit of Generation X.

Infosys Hyderabad Development Centre head M Narasimha Rao has a SWOT analysis of the city and came to the conclusion that “the best execution and strong branding.”

Apollo Group Executive Director Shobhana Kamineni and Suven Life Sciences said CEO Venkat Jasti Hyderabad, whatever it takes to be a leader in the field of disease and the pharmaceutical sector.

Centre for Good Governance Director General PK Mohanty, said Hyderabad has the potential of an international city, but it needs to reorganize its priorities.