KSOM arranged a knowledge sharing session in yet another format – in the form of an interesting tete-a-tete between stalwarts in their own fields.

The audience was welcomed by Prof. S. K. Mahapatra, Director, KSOM following lamp lighting by the guest speaker – Sri Anil Swarup and other dignitaries present – Sri Debraj Pradhan, Prof. Sumita Mishra, Dean, KSOM and Sri S. N. Mishra, Professor Emeritus, KSOM. The session started with an educative and energetic address by Sri Anil Swarup (Retd. IAS) on Saturday, 6th August, 2022; 4 pm onwards at Campus 7 Auditorium. Sri Swarup, Former Civil Servant belonging to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), was Secretary to Government of India in the Ministry of Coal and subsequently in Department of School Education. He brought transparency in Coal Auctions and pioneered Examination reforms. Before joining IAS, he worked as an Indian Police Service officer for one year. Swarup joined IAS in 1981 and is the recipient of Director’s gold medal for “best officer trainee” of his batch at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration. Post retirement, Sri Swarup started a movement, “Nexus of Good” and set up a Foundation to identify, understand, appreciate, replicate and scale Good work. His administrative prowess can be seen in three bestselling books, authored by him, books which speak in detail about the different facets of being a civil servant.

The address was followed by a Dialogue session with Sri Anil Swarup by Sri Debraj Pradhan, His Excellency Ambassador & DG, International Relations, KIIT DU. He worked at Indian Foreign Service and at the Ministry of External Affairs. After Foreign Service training in India he was posted as Third Secretary/Second Secretary to the High Commission of India. He was posted as First Secretary and later Counselor overseeing Commercial matters in the Embassy of India, Buenos Aires. He was appointed as Ambassador of India to Angola in October 2011 and continued as Ambassador of India in Luanda and later was accredited as Ambassador of India to the Republic of Chile. His last assignment was Ambassador to Norway.

Prof. Mishra who has himself served the Government of India in leadership roles before proving his excellence in academics, moderated the Dialogue session and presented words of gratitude.

The session was extremely interactive with a lot of questions being answered by the speaker. Students were awarded with books for their innovative queries. The informative session witnessed an auditorium packed with more than 300 MBA I & II students, along with faculty members and guests.

The session was facilitated by Prof. Isa Mishra, Chairperson of “Konfabulate”, anchored by Ishan Rath, ppt credits by Anisha Nayak, stage support by Sivani Patra and Neha Mukherjee, all MBA II students of KSOM.