Media Release
Bengaluru, Jun 29: The newly elected Board of Directors of Kanara Entrepreneurs (KE) consisting of president, Adrian D'Souza, directors - finance, Nigel Fernandes, mentoring, Ivy Saldanha, sponsorship, Ajay Fernandes, events, Naveen Rodriques, membership, Dr Joseph Rasquinha and past president, Anil Peter Rego, started with a bang by inaugurating the third edition of the Certificate Course in Entrepreneurship (CCE) at Christ University Bengaluru. This course is a cutting edge certification that is conducted jointly by Christ University and KE for students from entrepreneurial families intending to diversify their business opportunities.
The collaboration between Christ University and KE commenced under the tenure of previous KE president, Mark Souza. This course is structured to give Christ University students an insight into business. It has a tremendous connect with students as it is mostly built around the business and life experiences of KE Entrepreneurs who cover over 73 industries and have tremendous business experience among themselves.
The certificate, conducted by the School of Business Studies, Christ University, under the stewardship of its associate dean, Dr Jyothi Kumar and KE is a combination of academic and business case studies. In her speech, Dr Joythi mentioned that the course includes panel discussions, group discussions with entrepreneurs and topics that various KE members cover which they feel will be beneficial to students in real life. According to Dr Jyothi, last year 63 students attended the course with a 94% pass rate which is expected to be 100% this year. Professor Rashmi Rai from the e-cell stated that the need today is for more passionate leaders for which guidance from a course like this is invaluable. She also said that 62% of new jobs are provided by small businesses which further highlight the importance of this course.
In his inaugural address, the esteemed vice chancellor of Christ University, Col Dr Fr Thomas C Matthew stated that Christ has a mix of students from diverse histories, cultures and religious backgrounds. He stated that 95% of the students who attended this course were from business families. Col Dr Fr Matthew reserved the highest praise for KE for truly delivering corporate social responsibility in its truest spirt by giving back to students their valuable experience and time to help them succeed. He urged students to emulate the KE example and enumerate their experiences in society in turn when they were well entrenched in their career path.
The past president of KE, Mark D'Souza in his speech mentioned that being part of the KE course would help students understand business better particularly if they use the KE Entrepreneurs teaching them as anchors to take their ideas forward. Although this course was conceptualised during Mark D’Souza’s tenure, the turning point came during the time of past president Anil Peter Rego, who ensured that this course received priority among KE members. KE president, Adrian D'Souza with his usual optimistic and passionate bent put across the important point that students must understand that life is not about success but about failures. Success does not teach you anything, failure does. And KE Entrepreneurs have seen ample combinations of both which they are happy to discuss with students.
The difficult task of organising the busy members of KE to contribute their best was done by Ivy Saldanha, the director of mentoring who had also done it flawlessly last year to great acclaim from KE members. Apart from a full house of students, other KE members who attended were Leena Lobo, Reshma Saldanha, Lawrence Saldanha, Charles Gomes, Clarence Pereira and Naveen Fernandes.
The vote of thanks was given by professor Srinivas Kulkarni of Christ University and it was followed by a tour of the new campus including the 1,600 seater fully air-conditioned and acoustically designed state of the art auditorium, hostel block, well stocked library and utilities wing which feature an environmentally friendly rainwater collection and state of the art sewage treatment plant. The vice chancellor himself, Col Dr Fr Thomas C Matthew conducted the tour for KE members.