New Delhi, Delhi, India:  

• IIFT commemorates 150^th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on its 56^th Foundation Day
• New Assessment and Development Centre (ADC) inaugurated at IIFT

​Smt. Shobhana Radhakrishna, Chief Functionary of the Gandhian Forum for Ethical Corporate Governance and Dr. Ravi Chopra, Founder Secretary of the Centre for Gandhian Vision and Values addressed students and faculty at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) on the principles of ethical corporate governance. The eminent Gandhians were invited to speak at the prestigious B-school on its 56^th Foundation Day and commemoration event of the 150^th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Speaking on the subject of ‘Ethical Leadership of Mahatma Gandhi and its relevance in Governance,’ Smt. Shobhana Radhakrishna said, “The most important thing for Mahatma Gandhi was action, making sure that we walk on the right path. His principles of Satyagraha (power of truth), Akardhrashti (level observance) and Shramdaan (voluntary contribution) are required in business as well as in personal life. Hard work, punctuality and simplicity are important for ethical leadership.”

Speaking about the programme, Prof Manoj Pant, Director, IIFT, said, “The 56^th Foundation Day is an important milestone for IIFT which over the years has grown to become a landmark institution in India. Since IIFT was founded on the Gandhian principles of ethics, values and transparency it is fitting to have such eminent speakers address us today as we also commemorate the 150^th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.”

The event also witnessed the inauguration of the Assessment and Development Centre (ADC) at IIFT by the hands of Prof. Manoj Pant, Director IIFT. The vision of the centre is to strive for excellence in maximizing organization effectiveness and employee engagement by identifying and developing Human Resources through psychological assessment and development services.

The potential areas where ADC can render its services are career counselling, personality profiling, entrepreneurial trait identification and leadership development. The ADC would look forward to provide services to all business organizations and government missions as well depending on their need. IIFT has an experienced and competent faculty having expertise in human resource management, behavioural sciences, marketing, finance, operations, trade and business. With the faculty bench strength, the ADC is fully equipped to take up any consultancy and training assignment in the area of change management, competency mapping, succession planning, identifying the leadership pipeline, besides providing training in the area of leadership, conflict resolution, design thinking, data analytics, logistics and supply chain, and marketing.

The Foundation Day event also saw the release of a new book titled ‘A Basic Guide for International Business’ edited by Dr. Vijaya Katti, Dean Administration (Academics) and Shri. S. Balasubramanian as well as the release of Yagya – the annual Hindi Magazine of IIFT. Ex-Faculty members and employees were honoured for their contribution to IIFT.

The programme began with the lighting of the lamp by Prof. Manoj Pant, Director, IIFT, followed by a welcome address by Dr. PK Gupta, Registrar, IIFT and Prof. Pant. The programme included a rendition of bhajans titled Gandhiji ke Priya Bhajan. The entire staff, faculty members and students graced the ceremony with their presence and celebrated the special day reflecting the beginnings of the Institute and its significant development since inception.