Arjun Malhotra – The KGP Chronicle

Arjun Malhotra sends heart warming message to welcome the new KGPians of Y2024

Esteemed Alumnus of IIT Kharagpur, Mr. Arjun Malhotra who is widely renowned for his instrumental role in co-founding the HCL Group, way back in 1975 and is currently the Chairman of the Advisory Board of Altysys sent a heart-warming message to welcome the Freshers of the Y2024. As a proud Alumnus, he recalls his days in his Alma Mater and shares the anecdotes that will help the new undergrads to have a home away from home. The Institute is indeed overwhelmed for the inspiring words of Mr. Malhotra for our newbies.

“”Hello KGPians, this is Arjun Malhotra. I am an Electronics Graduate from 1970.I want to welcome all of you to @IIT Kharagpur. I hope you all see the advantage of being in a small town like Kharagpur away from the metros. The important thing here is, this Institute allows you to make a life for your own. You do not have to rush to the city to enjoy yourself. You enjoy your life, set-up you own life, make friends and do things that you normally may or may not do when you are in a city. When I was there, I played games, acted in plays, was in debates, quizzes etc. both at the institute and at the department level and in the hostels. So make friends, I think this is great opportunity. I will be there in campus on January 2025 around spring festival time. It is a 60th year of joining and over a hundred of my batch mates will be there just to tell you about the bonds that living few years in IIT Kharagpur creates among people. So I just want to say, it is great to have you at Kharagpur, all of you please enjoy your stay…there will be lots of issues but you should have lots of fun and I look forward to meeting many of you then and there in January next year. All the very best.” – From Arjun Malhotra (1970/B.Tech/EC/RP)

Arjun Malhotra has been a prominent figure in the Indian IT entrepreneurial scene. He is widely renowned for his instrumental role in co-founding the HCL Group, way back in 1975. After an illustrious career in HCL, he went on to successfully build and exit companies such as TechSpan and Headstrong. Malhotra’s wisdom has helped in building several organizations worldwide as well as eminent institutions, such as ISB, Hyderabad, and IIT (Kharagpur) Foundation. His contributions to the Indian IT industry were recognized with several distinguished awards, including the Albert Einstein Technology Medal in 2001 and the DQ Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018. Altysys, a data and cloud-first start-up with deep expertise in the healthcare IT consulting and services ecosystem has appointed Arjun Malhotra as the chairman of its advisory board.

“I am extremely excited and honored to have joined Altysys as the chairman of the advisory board. Altysys has the potential for rapid growth and innovation. Together, we shall drive innovation, foster digital solutions, and prioritize data security, all with a steadfast dedication to improving patient outcomes and shaping the future of healthcare,” said Arjun.

Malhotra, acclaimed for his distinctive insights into IT industry, was the first leading Indian entrepreneur to relocate to USA who took over HCL’s US operations (now known as HCL Technologies) in 1989 and grew it to nearly $100 million annual revenues. He has a long string of entrepreneurial successes. He has served as Chairman of Headstrong’s Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of TechSpan. He is on the Board of Governors of ISB, Hyderabad and IIT (Kharagpur) Foundation. Arjun’s contributions to the Indian IT industry were recognized with several distinguished awards, including the Albert Einstein Technology Medal in 2001 and DQ Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018. Arjun is presently an Advisor in a number of start-ups in Education and healthcare verticals.

Reacting to the news, Abhinav Mishra, the CEO of Altysys said, “We are absolutely thrilled that Arjun has agreed to chair our advisory board. His vast expertise will undoubtedly steer Altysys toward unprecedented growth and success. With his guidance, we are poised to revolutionize healthcare technology services and deliver innovative solutions that will transform the industry and positively impact countless lives.”

“Altysys, under the guidance of Malhotra, will be aiming for the next orbit of growth. The company is already growing exponentially as it serves multiple clients from the healthcare and insurance industries to facilitate their data, AI/ML, and cloud initiatives, improving patients’ and HCPs’ outcomes,” he added.

The company founded by executives with several years of experience in technology consulting and services, is a provider of healthcare technology consulting and solutions. Headquartered in Bengaluru the company is a data and cloud-first company with deep expertise in health clouds, data interoperability, data analytics, GenAI, and AI/ML-enabled technology solutions, serving Payers, Providers, Health Techs, and Pharma.

Media Courtesy:
https://startup.outlookindia.com/sector/saas/altysys-appoints-arjun-malhotra-as-new-chairman-of-advisory-board-news-9454

By : Poulami Mondal, Digital & Creative Media Executive (Creative Writer)
Email: poulami.mondal@iitkgp.ac.in, media@iitkgp.ac.in, Ph. No.: +91-3222-282007

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An incredible moment

Times of India India Education Diary

Close to 150 members of the Batch of 1970, together with their spouses celebrated their 50^th graduation anniversary at IIT Kharagpur recently in a grand celebration titled the ‘Golden 2020 Reunion’ (from Jan 24-26). Batch members congregated from all over the world to commemorate the occasion with the twin inaugurals of ‘ADDA’ – their batch’s gift to the campus community, along with the Alumni Clock Tower which now stands as a gift from the passionate Kgpians across the alumni batches.

The Alumni Clock Tower was inaugurated by Shri Amit Khare, IAS, Secretary, MHRD, Govt of India, who lauded the IIT Kharagpur alumni for their thoughtful gift to the campus community. “As the District Collector of Darbhanga, which had two clock towers, I often wondered the need for them when people had their wristwatches to look at the time. I soon realized that they were great socializing points. Both ADDA and the Alumni Clock Tower would be places of interaction and exchange of ideas, which is what great institutions facilitate,” said Mr. Khare during the inauguration.

The Clock Tower has been designed by renowned architect and alumnus of the Institute, the late I.M. Asthana, for whom this tower was the last project. Thanking the batch for their sustained support to the Institute, Director of IIT Kharagpur, Prof. V.K. Tewari, said, “The Clock Tower may be made to display more features in the future, such as digital display of the temperature, humidity or announcements of major events. IIT Kharagpur has the largest infrastructure, students, faculty as well as alumni of all the IITs. With this enormous resource, particularly the assistance and mentorship of the alumni, no dream is impossible to achieve.”

Mr Khare (third from right) with the other dignitaries at the Clock Tower inauguration

Mr. Arjun Malhotra, a pioneering figure in the Indian software industry, Co-Founder of HCL, and a top fundraiser among the Batch of 1970, suggested that a commemorative postage stamp could be released by the government on the occasion of IIT Kharagpur’s 70^th anniversary next year.

‘ADDA’, the batch’s gift to the campus on their golden anniversary, is an expansive area with a sculpted garden and varied seating arrangement. Renowned architect Abin Chaudhuri designed the gigantic red emblem that marks out the space. Speaking on behalf of the batch, Mr. Ranbir Gupta, President of the IITKGP Foundation USA and reputed US-based architect, said,”’ ADDA’ – which reads the same from left to right and right to left – means different things to different people, but it belongs to the IIT Kharagpur’s alumni, its students, its faculty, the staff and the entire community of IIT Kharagpur. This beautiful piece that sits at the crossroads on the campus is a small token of our appreciation for the Institute.”

The Batch of 1970 was dubbed “The Incredibles” during the celebrations, and not without reason. Iconic Schools and Centres – G.S. Sanyal School of Telecommunications, Ranbir and Chitra Gupta School of Infrastructure and Design, PK Sinha Centre of Bioenergy, MN Faruqui Innovation Centre – have been founded by leading members of the batch. Batch leaders have also come forward to fund chair professorships, various flagship programs of the Institute, workshops, advanced tech labs, for yet to be instituted schools and academies and have also pitched in, together with other alumni, to reach internet connectivity to the hostels. Together they raised Rs 1.1 crore recently as a ‘Super Endowment Batch’, donating on behalf of even their departed classmates, to name a classroom in the Nalanda academic complex after their batch.

ADDA being inaugurated by Mr. Ron Gupta (second from right)

“The reason why the Batch of 1970 will remain a ‘Model Batch’ for all times to come is not because of a few of its active members. The synergy among the Batch is unique and incomparable,” said Prof. Subrata Chattopadhyay, Dean, Alumni Affairs. To enable batch members to relive their joyous student days, the Grand Reunion was held simultaneously with the Spring Fest. ‘The Incredibles’ were seen partaking Spring Fest’s unique fare of entertainment, that included top performers like Divine and Ritviz, from the front circles among the audience.

Together with alumni all over the world, members of the Batch of 1970 also contributed for the setting up of the Alumni Clock Tower. “This is going to serve as a beacon for the entire campus,” said Mr. Gupta, who, as President of the IITKGP Foundation USA, has led the fundraising efforts. On behalf of his batch, Mr. Gupta also promised to fund a ‘Center of Happiness’ and a ‘Hall of Fame’ in the premises of the Technology Students’ Gymkhana.

“The Center of Happiness, to be established in association with the Rekhi Centre for the Science of Happiness, will be a huge space at the Gymkhana devoted to students’ wellbeing where they can pursue their individual interests, be it listening to music or practising yoga,” said Prof. William Mohanty, President of Technology Students Gymkhana. The Hall of Fame at the Gymkhana will record the major extracurricular achievements of the students.

The Changemaker

Times of India

Alumnus Arjun Malhotra has been conferred with the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ at the Dataquest Digital Leadership Conclave 2018. Arjun who graduated from the Dept. of Electronics & Electrical Communications Engineering at IIT Kharagpur with B.Tech. (Hons.) in 1970, is considered to be one of the pioneers of the Indian IT industry with his leadership role and entrepreneurial zeal of over three decades. At the Dataquest ICT Conference & Awards 2018, Arjun was felicitated with this award for his outstanding contribution in organizing and building the Indian IT industry from where it was over 40 years ago to today.

Arjun’s journey as an IT leader started with co-founding HCL in the 70s’. He played a pivotal role in putting Indian IT giant on the global map. And it was only the beginning. Arjun has guided several ventures across the IT sector globally, partnered with several global majors like Hewlett-Packard and Dr. James Martin and launched joint ventures to create new products and solutions addressing markets untapped before. Arjun took charge of Headstrong after the merger of his venture Techspan with the former and led it to one of the fastest-growing IT-based Financial Services companies till 2011 when Genpact acquired Headstrong. He is at present the Chairman of SolMark and Magic Software Inc.

Arjun Malhotra with Kgpians Kiran Behera, Pranav Chavan, Poonam Gupta and Bhavya Kumari at Gurugram in 2017

Arjun has been a father figure for the entire tech startup community in India through the various initiatives including TiE and PAN IIT. He has encouraged and cultivated the spirit was entrepreneurship, that played a big role in shaping, perhaps, the most number of tech entrepreneurs who went on to start their own ventures in hardware, software, and services; and thereby contributed to building the Indian IT industry. He also serves on the board of corporations and supports several start-ups.

But IT is not all. Arjun’s vision for giving direction to the Indian telecom industry led to the foundation of the G S Sanyal School of Telecommunication at IIT Kharagpur. The School is now an R&D leader in 5G Communications, Biomedical Signal Processing, Cellular Networks, Chemical and Material Science and Cloud RAN. He further envisioned encouraging students right from their undergraduate studies to explore innovative ideas which could later become their entrepreneurial ventures. With this in mind, he seed-funded the M N Faruqui Innovation Centre at IIT Kharagpur. These were not only giving back initiatives to his alma mater but pillars of building the tech ecosystem and human resource development for India and the world.

With this award Arjun joined the ranks of Prof. R Narasimhan, considered as the father of computer science research in India, F C Kohli, referred as the father of the Indian software industry, Dr. N. Seshagiri, Founding Director General, National Informatics Centre, Govt. of India, Dr. Vijay P. Bhatkar, best known as the architect of India’s national initiative in supercomputing, Nandan Nilekani and many more.

“To become a true leader, you must never be shy of venturing into the unknown and let your confidence and the team back you up to achieve the impossible,” says Arjun.

Arjun is now championing the Centre for Classical Arts at IIT Kharagpur which would introduce in collaborative interventions in Indian classical music and other classical arts with science and technology.

with inputs from PR NewsWire