ARCHIVED MEDIA - 2017

LN Mittal takes a question from a student of St. Xavier's at the interactive session. Picture by Pabitra Das

CHANDREYEE CHATTERJEE July 7: He flew down from London to witness his alma mater spread its wings. The inauguration ceremony of St.Xavier's University in Rajarhat wrapped up, industrialist L. N. Mittal interacted with Xaverians past and present.

Metro attended the session in an amphitheatre- style classroom in the academic block, named The Lakshmi and Usha Mittal Foundation Building in acknowledgement of the generous donation for the wing. Excerpts:

Always a Calcuttan

It is always a great pleasure to come back to Calcutta. I was telling my wife, ami Kolkatar chhele ( I am a Calcutta boy), but I can't speak Bengali as well as my wife. She corrects me whenever I speak incorrect Bengali. Today was a great day for Xavier's. Father Felix Raj and I have been dreaming of this day for some years now.

When we met in London we discussed about this and now it has become a reality.

Xaverian duty

On behalf of Father Felix Raj, I have asked chief minister Mamata Banerjee for more land. I told her that for our Jaipur institute we've got 100acres, here we have only 17acres. Since she is an honorary Xaverian and comes to Xavier's all the time, you should ask her for more land every time. I met the chief minister today for the first time and I am impressed because she has Bengal in her heart.

That is really important. She does her best and she understands the problems of Bengal.

Constant learning

I have always felt very close to my professors. When I completed my degree and went to collect my mark sheet, Father Joris asked me to teach the first- year students. It was a great moment for me. I am glad and I am sad. I am sad because if I had done that I would be sitting there ( pointing to where Father Felix Raj was sitting). I still feel that I haven't learned enough. If there is any regret I have it is that I haven't studied enough. I still want to study more but that age has passed.

The world is changing. Every day you hear about different kinds of disruptions. And every day our learning is being unlearned because of the disruptions.

We have to continue to learn so that we meet the challenges of disruptions.

Importance of failure

The world is cruel. You see me here as a businessman, employing so many thousand people in so many countries, but you don't see my failures.

For me, my failures are more important that my successes, that's how we learn. You always have to do something better and better. Life is very challenging, don't be discouraged by failure. It is important to put in passion and dedication and hard work, but you also need to do things differently.

College memory

I had to work hard to get admission to St. Xavier's. Father Joris was the one who challenged me, for his own reasons.

I was a student from a Hindimedium background and Father Joris did not want to admit me because I didn't speak English and the lessons were all in English. I promised to learn English and keep up with the class. He put me in a class for weaker students. I worked very hard in the first year. I used to study and I also used to work with my father. I remember taking the 5.10am bus from near my house. It would drop me off at the Park Street crossing at 5.35am and I would walk to college. Once I finished, I would go home, take a shower, go to the office and work with my father. There was one thing at the back of my mind � I had to prove to Father Joris that he had not made a wrong decision.

Power play

I am not a powerful man ( on being asked by a student how it felt to be on the Forbes list of the world's most powerful men). It is all a myth. You and I, there is no difference. The difference is in our responsibilities.

If you become a housewife, you become the most powerful person in the house.

If you are running a global business, you are responsible for so many people, you touch their lives. If you are a class leader, you become the most powerful leader in the class.

Power does not come just like that. It comes with your own deeds and by your own leadership, and your own choice in how you influence others.

Business secret

Unless you think differently you will not be successful. You need to take risks, but the risks cannot be uncalculated ones. You need to differentiate yourself from your peers or you will never stand out.

Laxmi Niwas Mittal ( centre) with wife Usha and father Mohan Lal at the inauguration ceremony of St. Xavier's University in Rajarhat on Friday. Picture by Pabitra Das

OUR BUREAU July 7: The seeds of Lakshmi Niwas Mittal's success as a steel baron were probably sown during his days as a student of St. Xavier's College, Calcutta.

The chairman and chief executive officer of Arcelor- Mittal acknowledged the contribution of his alma mater at the inauguration of St. Xavier's University in Rajarhat today.

"I have always seen opportunity in challenge and that started at St. Xavier's. The education that I got also taught me to take bold decisions," said Mittal, who left India in 1976 with a few trusted lieutenants to set up a steel mill in Indonesia, much before globalisation became a buzzword among India Inc.

"Back then it was a huge decision.

To leave my home, my family, to live in a foreign country with my wife and my baby son, Aditya. St. Xavier's gave me a grounding, and quest for adventure that I may not have got elsewhere," Mittal said.

Today, the boy from Churu district of Rajasthan who grew up in Calcutta is head of a business empire spread across 60 countries and with 200,000 employees.

Sharing the dais with the industrialist today were chief minister Mamata Banerjee, higher education minister Partha Chatterjee, St. Xavier's University chancellor Jeyaraj Veluswamy and vice- chancellor Father Felix Raj. In the audience was Mittal's father, Mohan Lal.

After Mittal's passionate call to students with an " entrepreneurial streak" to transform the world, the chief minister took the stage. " I believe this university will prove itself to be number one in future. I believe in dreams - without dreams one cannot afford to survive," Mamata said.

It was she who had, in 2012, urged the college to become a full- fledged university. The next year, she allotted 17 acres of land and unveiled the foundation stone of the Rajarhat campus.

The chief minister reiterated her promise of a Rs 7crore grant every year for the fledgling university.

Mamata also had words of praise for minority institutions.

" I feel people are known by the education they receive; education makes one a real human being. Minority institutions have a very vital and important role. Christian institutions, Ramakrishna Mission are known for the quality of learning and education they impart. All missionary schools and colleges, including St. Xavier's, provide good education.

We are for all those who believe in human values," she said. " I believe, in three- four years, St. Xavier's will be able to compete with institutions such as Harvard and Oxford." St. Xavier's University vice-chancellor Father Felix Raj, praised by Mittal for his untiring efforts in making the dream a reality, said: " This is a moment of sentiment, a moment of emotion. Vision 2020 has been a long journey. It all began in 2011 and it has taken us down the main road and side roads and bylanes but we've had loyal and dedicated fellow travellers and the journey has been pleasant and fruitful. Let St. Xavier's be the DNA that will carry the genetic code as students go out to serve the world." Jeyaraj Veluswamy, the chancellor of the university, set the tone for the hour- long programme by welcoming the first batch of students. " This is a historic day for all of us.... Education for us is a mission to continue forming generations of Xaverians into men and women for others. Dear students, you are the privileged first batch of St. Xavier's University and I want to welcome you and wish you all rich experiences of learning and growth."

Thursday, March 9, 2017: Father Felix Raj, the newly appointed vice-chancellor of St. Xavier's University, announced on Wednesday that the varsity would issue forms for the bachelor in commerce and the bachelor in management studies courses as soon as the final board exam results are declared. The university will open doors to students this July. Forms for postgraduate courses - MA in English and mass communication, master's in finance and control, and social work - will be distributed in May. "The university is in the process of deciding on the fee structure but it will be on the lines of the fees of the self-financing courses offered by St. Xavier's College," Felix Raj said. The university will begin its journey with 650 students, 60 in each course. While admission to BCom will be

based on merit, there will be entrance tests for all other courses. The New Town campus will be inaugurated on July 8 and chief minister Mamata Banerjee and alumni members like L.N. Mittal, who has sponsored the G+11 academic block, have been invited. Felix Raj said the academic block, central library and research centre, two hostels and the administrative block would be completed by 2020. The final phase, which will include an auditorium, an assembly hall, a law college, a sports academy, a swimming pool and more, will need another five years. (Shuvo Roychaudhury)

March 9, 2017: A sprawling football field, a state-of-the-art sports academy, a top-ranking law institute and a huge swimming pool: St Xavier's University that will commence its first session in July on its new sprawling campus in New Town is already taking steady strides towards its Vision 2025.

The vision of the youngest university in the state also includes a sprawling food court spread over 3,500 sq ft, a separate wing dedicated to library and research and two hostels for boys and girls with a capacity of 1,000 students each. The academic building will have over 11 storeys, keeping in mind the demand for academic space a few decades later.

"We are thinking of a sce nario 50-100 years down the line. We will need more space to start new-age courses and accommodate more students," said vice-chancellor Father Felix Raj.

Classes will commence in July with undergraduate courses on commerce and management studies. The post-graduation courses will include masters in English, mass communication, commerce and social work.

"The UG students will be selected on merit basis. In case of PG, we will hold admission tests," said Father Felix Raj. The university authorities are in the process of finalizing the fee structure for all the courses.

In its next session, the university will introduce courses in BA in mass communication, MA in multimedia and animation, MA in economics and MEd.

The formal inauguration of the university will be on July 8. "I have invited chief minister Mamata Banerjee and hope she will join us. We could not have achieved all this without her support and help," said Father Felix Raj.

All the Jesuit colleges in state will come under the university's fold. "This will be done after three years when the university is on its feet," said the V-C.

The university also plans to introduce vocational courses. "We plan to start a community college where we will offer vocational courses to residents of villages situated around the campus. This will help them gain expertise which will enhance their employment skills," Father Felix added.