Press Release: 2nd, July, Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad

Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad inaugurated the 19th batch of its flagship Post Graduation Diploma in Management (Communications) course.

The new batch has a strength of 158 students in which consists of 73 boys and 85 girls making MICA the only B-School with higher ratio of female students.

2096 applicants appeared for MICAT

110 students are from an engineering background. Prof Shubhra Gaur who heads the Admissions Committee in MICA said "There is no bias towards engineers. 85% of the applicants were engineers out of which 69percent were able to qualify."

40 percent of the batch consists of freshers. Prof Gaur added,"they would infuse fresh ideas in the classes."

The Chief Guest of the event was Mr Rahul Kansal, Executive President, BCCL

Sequence of Events during the inauguration:

Lamp lighting by the Registrar KGK Pillai, MCSA (Students' Council), Parents and chief guest Rahul Kansal

The Director, Prof Nagesh Rao addressed the audience. He urged the newcomers to "release releasing pre conceived notions and being fresh and open to new experiences
Shubhra Gaur introduced the 19th batch

Prof Nagesh Rao introduced the chief guest Mr. Rahul Kansal- executive president of BCCL
Mr. Kansal gave an enlightening presentation on new age marketing. He talked about the value of a college like MICA specializing in marketing discipline and reminisced about being there for the inception of the college. Talked about ethical business practices and the need for marketing as a profession to shed its superficial image.
Scholastic toppers from last year were awarded medals and certificates

Some Interesting profiles
Zeenat Saba Khan

1. Runs a digital marketing firm named, Ardor Tech Ventures. The firm was responsible for the online marketing for the Amir Khan's show, 'SATYAMEV JAYATE' in association with the offline advertising agency, Grand Mother India.
2. Has bagged prizes in national level creative paper presentation and national level technical project competition.
3. I have been the part of the IPL media management team on behalf of D Y Patil stadium for the IPL cricket matches.

Dimple Grover
I am the co-director of Maalgadi; a one of a kind concept store in India and a first in Gujarat. Maalgadi is a platform for budding artists and designers thus promoting contemporary art with an Indian twist to them. We have more than 35 artists and brands retailing through us.
The Concept behind Maalgadi is that it has travelled all of India stopping only to gather every quirky treasure it finds its way. It has finally decided to park itself in Surat,the city of diamond and dreams. The store celebrates the colourful culture of India, who have now managed to skilfully mix urban with tradition. Collection of products with a sense of humour and distinct Indian flavour specially designed for a generation which may as well have ‘saanu ki?’ stamped across their foreheads. This generation loves whacky and proudly so.
I also handle research and analysis for the store.

Saket Shikha

played karate and won the gold at the karate state level
won anahad a music competition at a global competition
won the maharashtra youth festival for music
learnt bharatnatyam for 8 years and performed my arangetram

Gaurav Garg

I am a dentist by profession , I did my BDS from Manipal College of Dental Sciences ( MCODS, MAHE ) and interested in working in Healthcare sector and Pharma Communications. In india Healthcare sector becomes increasingly privatised and is highly unorganised, There is a need to manage health resources and Streamline them in a way such that health services are available to the low socio economic group. In such a scenario there will be a need for Management professionals with a sound knowledge of Medical field and its nuances.
I have been a winner in CHESS at district, state level, I also won many Inter college chess tournaments and captained my university team in two All india inter university chess championships held at hosur ( tamilnadu) and belgaon ( karnatka) in 2008 and 2009. 
I stood first in Manipal University`s annual cultural fest in Hindi poetry section.

Anusha S

I am a Masters graduate from the University
of Leicester, which pioneered in human DNA
fingerprinting. I have completed my masters in
Cancer Cell and Molecular Biology. I hail from
the Coimbatore, the cotton capital of the south,
and I feel MICA is a wonderful blend of cultures
and personas. I have a beginners degree in Chinese
( Mandarin ). I have been an active member of
AIESEC, holding the position of Vice President,
Development sector. AIESEC specializes in
student exchange and I have helped bring some
excellent teachers and psychologists to train and
control schools for Dyslexia and Autism in India.
My hobbies would include painting, robotics
(mindstorm nxt, GUI interface) and jewelry
making.

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About MICA

Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA) as part of its week long Orientation Programme for PGP 19 batch 2011-13 conducted an experiential learning course titled The Photonovel Company.

The course uses the “classroom-as-organisation (CAO)” model to deliver learning on the basics of management, communication, and marketing. As part of simulation, the students produced photonovels on a variety of social themes such as sexual harassment, female foeticide, child abuse, ragging, peer pressure, road rage, etc. In all, 12 photonovels were produced in a short span of 3 days. Students also enjoyed the reflection sessions on the fourth day trying to connect their immediate experiences to relevant theoretical frameworks.

Photonovel is a medium similar to graphic novels except that the drawings are replaced by photos. This medium takes away the pain of reading and is more engaging than traditional texts. As a genre of literature, it is relatively new in India but has been around for significant time in countries like USA, Mexico, Spain, France, South Africa, etc. 

The course was coordinated by MICA professors Shubhra Gaur, Hemant Trivedi, and Kallol Das. As part of the course, the students were designated as managers in a simulated social organisation called The Photonovel Company. Further, they had to select relevant social issues targetted at the urban youth, develop scripts that educate and entertain, shoot photos, direct, compose pages, and publish. The students also did extensive marketing through dedicated website and various social networking platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc. The marketing department comprising 32 students perfomed exceedingly well and was led by Sidharth Uchil, who has 4 years of experience in the sales function.

The course also acted as a great ice breaker and helped students know each other’s strengths, work as a team, and enhance their communication skills, creativity and critical thinking and leadership abilities. Mr. Rahul Kansal, Executive Director, Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd, unveiled the 12 photonovels and gave away the awards for individual excellence. The best photonovel award went to the photonovel titled Heroisme. This is the story of an interesting character - Nari Man –the saviour of girl child, the issue being female foeticide. This was won by the team led by Kushagra Saurav and Manveer Sood.