The IIT Alumni 2008 Global Conference is being held at IIT Madras, from December 19 to 21.
The event is expected to get 3,000 alumni participants from around the globe and a galaxy of eminent speakers.
Among the speakers will be Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Home Minister P Chidambaram, LN Mittal, Dr Patrick Aebischer (President, EPFL, Swizerland), B Muthuraman (manging director of Tata Steel) among many others.
Aniket Baheti, final year student of Mechanical Engineering at IIT Madras, hosted a chat on the IIT meet on Tuesday.
Here is the transcript:iit_subbu asked, Hi u there?
Aniket answers, at 2008-12-09 15:35:55hi.. I am here
rishi asked, how have iitians helped the rural population?
Aniket answers, There are many initiatives which IITians have taken up lately.. You must see this website www.paniit2008.org.. which shows all the work they have done.. recently..
simple asked, In open category can you give me how many percentage guys are from rural background?I guess IIT is meant for urban and major city guys with convent education.Is that right?Can you give me the distribution?
Aniket answers, Not really, there are so many people who are coming from rural backgrounds. INfact i have a lot of friends,who have been studying in villages and gave the entrance exam IIT JEE to come to IIT..
harmeet asked, What does Pan-IIT means ?
Aniket answers, PAN IIT is an alumni organization of all IIT alumni.. ONce u are in PAN IIT group.. you dont belong to any particular IIT.. you are just an IITian..
csubbu asked, i am a former iitian and i fully realise that these pan-iit meets are nothing but a waste of moeny and manpower. Of the 5 years i spent in iit i havent seen anything special come out of such meetings. what do u say?
Aniket answers, I guess.. it all depends on how we take it.. If nothing has been done till now.. We can do something about it now... We are the future generations..
arunprabha asked, Outline the Pan-IIT event, pls
Aniket answers, you should check this link.. www.paniit2008.org .. there are loads of info on the event..
partha asked, What is the theme of PanIIT 2008
Aniket answers, the theme of PAN IIT this year is Inspire Innovate and Transform.. It is the expression of IIT.. We wish to inspire India, to innovate and transform it into a new power..
tbharti1 asked, why all IITians inclined towords working for out side india ... why not here for our betterment...since all u guys used to get from here ..
Aniket answers, It was a trend long back when we suffered from brain drain from IIT.I guess now we are pretty much opting to stay back in IIT and work for the country.
ramabhupal asked, what is the agenda for this POanIIT 2008. why are inviting politicians? they are not doing anything for us
Aniket answers, PAN IIT 08 is a global conference wherein alumni from all over the world are invited to discuss, talk and network. There are a lot of national issues which are talked about and helps in framing solutions to the problems.
Malhotra asked, What do you think is the biggest contribution of IITians to India?
Aniket answers, IITians are contributing back to country in evry possible way. PAN IIT conferences in the past have led to a lot of important deliberations which have been successfully implemented.. For eg. IIT for ITI is one such initiative of PAN IIT
Malhotra asked, How do you think this event will help in taking forward the nation building activities?
Aniket answers, The alumni from all the IITs are uniting together , irrespective of which IIT they belong to, to take up sensitive issues concerning nation building. The brightest minds will discuss and help frame policies for government and other organizations
Ramu asked, What will be the agenda of the PanIIT 2008 meet?
Aniket answers, This year's PAN IIT meet is focussing on 6 themes - Innovation, Infrastructure, Education, Entrepreneurship, Rural Transformation and Research. There will be sessions on each of them and important issues will be discussed.
Ramu asked, What role can IIT-ians play to develop India as a knowledge economy?
Aniket answers, IITians are one of the smartest people in India and PAN IIT is an effort to bring the intellect together to solve a number of issues of the country..
Jayanto asked, What are the challenges that India faces in the new millennium? How can IIT-ians help address these challenge?
Aniket answers, This year's PAN IIT meet is focussing on 6 themes - Innovation, Infrastructure, Education, Entrepreneurship, Rural Transformation and Research. IITians are all united to focus on each of these themes and work out a mechanism to strenghen our country.
Kamla asked, Can you dwell upon the significance of the theme for this year's Pan-IIT global conference?
Aniket answers, This year's theme is Inspire , Innovate and transform ( IIT) which envisages to inspire the country to innovate solutions to various issues to transform our country to a super power.
ambush asked, Why is India bad in innovating new products?Why dont IITans take this intiative and make Brand India be heard.
Aniket answers, I really dont agree with you on this. IITians are very much in the forefront of creating world class innovative products. They are a pretty strong brand all over the world. And India is known for creating such talent who are doing wonders all over the world.
Mandaar asked, What is the theme of PanIIT 2008?
Aniket answers, PAN IIT theme for this year is Inspire innovate and transform. Check out the website - www.paniit2008.org
Navneet Anand Sunu asked, Why do u think u need an Alumini Aassociation at IIT?
Aniket answers, All the IITians after graduating from IIT are scattered across the Globe. What PAN IIT exactly does is.. Brings them all under a common platform and helps them to work together to tackle really serious issues concerning our country.
Rakesh asked, Do IITans have solution to the severe recession forecast in India?
Aniket answers, IITians are taking initiatives for creating more entrepreneurs and thereby more jobs. There is a track called Entrepreneurship at PAN IIT '08.. where there will be a discussion on how we can create more Entrepreneurs and thereby more jobs. I think thats the best way to curb recession
sss asked, hi Aniket, Manuj Here, well i wud like to ask u about the recesssion(jobs cut etc) going on. Do IITs have any panel which works on these issues(Industry / Job balance). Dont u feel there should be formed any body to tackle this (as IITs are direcrly associated with the Industry).
Aniket answers, Hi sss, there is a Session on Entrepreneurship which talks about creating a million entrepreneurs. There by we can create a lot of jobs and fight back recession.
swet asked, hi Aniket,how much is registration fee for that conference?
Aniket answers, you can check out www.paniit2008.org to find out registration details. It is only open for IIT alumni and students.
prakash asked, give the meaning for panIITs
Aniket answers, PAN IIT is an alumni club which brings together Alumni from all IITs.. This year's PAN IIT meet is focussing on 6 themes - Innovation, Infrastructure, Education, Entrepreneurship, Rural Transformation and Research. There will be sessions on each of them and important issues will be discussed.
GVJRAO asked, what is pan-iit & its role?
Aniket answers, PAN IIT is a Global organizaion which brings together alumni from all over the world under a single umbrella.. They meet regularly to discuss several issues.
iit_subbu asked, I got the idea that mobilising the alumni is just to gather funds for IIT via their alumni. 95% of these funds are used to make better buildings and offices instead of channelising it to R & D purposes. Why is R& D being sidelined by the IITs?
Aniket answers, It isnt true subbu. We are having a seperate track called Research at PAN IIT 2008 Global conference where we are discussing various methods to strengthen research at IIT. It is one of the core competencies of IITians.
hut asked, Are IIT ians really smart and brilliant? or are they just book worms ?
Aniket answers, IITians are everything you can imagine. They are good at books as well as analytical skills. This year we are having IIT Idol, the first ever Inter IIT music competition at PAN IIT conference to show the world that we are equally good at music too !
Natraj asked, Aniket, What are the action items that you expect to emerge from the 2008 meet? As a follow-up, what were the action items in 2007 and what is the fulfillment status?
Aniket answers, There are a lot of action items which have been pursued as a part of the deliberations at PAN IIT 2007. Prominent among them is IIT for ITI, where in we are going to create IIT level ITI colleges with excellent vocational training facilities for indian youth. There are many more which you can see at www.paniit2008.org
rishi asked, can non-iitians attend the pan-iit? If not, why?
Aniket answers, No, Due to logistics issue, we cant accommodate everyone to this conference. There are about 3000 alumni expected to come to the conference and since it is conducted in IIT Chennai campus, it will be difficult to allow everyone.
Rakesh asked, Do IITans have solution to the severe recession forecast in India?
Aniket answers, Yes, they are working out ways to create jobs by creating more entrepreneurs. We have a B plan Conclave where students and alumni from around the country are promoted.
Rakesh asked, Who will inagurate Pan-IIT meet? Who are the leading IITs attending this meet?
Aniket answers, The PAN IIT conference will be attended by alumni from all 7 IITians.
lll asked, What is the agenda of the PanIIT 2008 meet
Aniket answers, This year's PAN IIT meet is focussing on 6 themes - Innovation, Infrastructure, Education, Entrepreneurship, Rural Transformation and Research. There will be sessions on each of them and important issues will be discussed.
Rakesh asked, Does Pan-IIT has any opinion on the quota system?
Aniket answers, QUota system is also been much talked about by the PAN IIT community. We are discussing all issues and taking all opinions. We stand united against reservation for Professors and faculty.
arunprabha asked, Tell me honestly , Is there an complexity issues between alumnii of different IITs
Aniket answers, No, I dont think so. We are after all an IITian first. There is ofcourse more love for the alma mater, but when it comes to contributing back to the country. They are all just IITians working for their nation
Nitin87 asked, i would like to ask the about the solutions of this financial crisis. is this right time to enter in the market?
Aniket answers, Hi, I think the biggest hit to the market because of this crisis is in case of jobs for the youth. Especially the graduates. It is for this reason, that PAN IIT is organizing a dedicated track on Entrepreneurship where students will be motivated to become job creators and not just job seekers.
mannn asked, Can we still register for panIIT'08 ??
Aniket answers, You can check out the details of registration at www.paniit2008.org
Rakesh asked, What plans Pan-IIT has for rural India? IITs are perceived as catering to Global Businesses.
Aniket answers, IITians are definitely working out ways to empower rural india. It is for this reason we have a dedicated track on rural transformation where technology will be discussed to be support rural system and make it stronger.
saukum asked, What is the use of IIT when there are 1000 engineering colleges in India generating unemployed engineers
Aniket answers, IITians are working out ways to create a million entrepreneurs by means of promoting them and hence, creating a million jo0bs too.
saukum asked, Simply creating entrepreneurs will not ensure that more jobs will come.
Aniket answers, yes, They will create new businesses, create more job requirements and restore confidence in people.
Deepak asked, Hi Aniket, Do you guys have a talk on global economic slowdown and the impact of it on the research fund flowing into IITs?
Aniket answers, The economic slowdown has definitely affected the entire world. Now it is a challenge which IITians have taken up to fight back with all means.
sangeeta asked, What's this event about?
Aniket answers, This is a Global event where alumni from all the IITs are coming down to Chennai during 19-21 dec. pls check www.paniit2008.org
Aniket answers, Thank you everyone for being on this Chat.. :) Pls visit www.paniit2008.org for more event and check out IIT Idol as the most happening event of this year's conference.
Registration for the conference is open at http://www.paniit2008.org
