CO-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

The Sarla Anil Modi School of Economics hosted the 12th edition of its annual economics and management fest, KaChing and the 3rd edition of the Economic Justice Conclave (EJCON). Ka-Ching hosted with over 120 colleges with the theme F.R.E.E.D. which stands for Free Reign of Egalitarian Expression and Discourse.

The national Policy Challenge, a flagship event hosted 20 teams across the nation. The teams went through intense discussions and rebuttals, guided by a panel of experienced judges, such as Dr Arokisamy Perianayagam, Dr Swetasree Roy, Dr Subodh Mathur and more.

Ka-Ching also had the first edition of the Youth Conference which provided a platform for the youth to discuss and deliberate upon pertinent socio-economic issues of the nation.

Annual Intercollegiate sports fest Fury 2022 held on 19^th and 20^th February 2022. Fest was conducted in hybrid mode.

There were seven events that which took place on platforms such as Zoom, Facebook Live, etc. The sports ranged from FIFA, Golden Goal (Football), Real cricket, Gavel Group (Auction), Survival of Fittest, carom, chess, Rocket league, Basketball. Table Tennis, Badminton, Lawn Tennis were held offline. Over 330 participants participated from more than 200 colleges across the Maharashtra.

Shastrarth ’21, the flagship inter college debating fest of the Sarla Anil Modi School of Economics was conducted on the 23rd of October, 2021. Continuing restrictions due to the pandemic meant that the event was conducted online for the second time in a row on the virtual events platform, Zoom, with more than 650 registrations. The preliminary round and the semi-finals followed the modified Oxford-style of debating. The finals were conducted in a unique Lincoln-Douglas format which blended well with the online set up and gave ample time to participants to present their views. The topic for the finals was – "This house believes that policy making is constrained by public sentiments.”

The winner of Shastrarth’21 was Ms. Riddhi Dugar (Stella Maris College, Chennai) who won a cash prize of ₹12,000. The runner-up was Mr. Tathaagat Kaushik (Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Delhi University) got a cash prize of ₹8,000.

The Sarla Anil Modi School of Economics, NMIMS Mumbai, organized an online Conclave on Thursday, 21st October 2021, on ‘India at 75: Challenges to Growth and Employment'. The Keynote address was delivered by Dr Michael Patra, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India.

Dr Patra spoke about independent India's journey of 75 years. Besides being the world leader in many agricultural products, IT services etc., India had one of the highest rates of poverty reduction in the world from 2006 to just before the starting of the pandemic. Despite being badly hit by the pandemic, the IMF's prediction of 8.5% growth for India was a relief. Dr Patra then discussed the growth drivers, monetary policy framework and anchors, the challenges facing the Indian economy post-Covid-19.

The keynote session was followed by a Panel discussion. The panelists were:

• Mr. Dharmakirti Joshi, Chief Economist, CRISIL Ltd., MODERATOR
• Mr. Ashok Bal, Advisor to the President, SVKM and CEO – India Mining Operations, Essel Mining & Industries Ltd. (An Aditya Birla Group Company)
• Dr R. Nagaraj, Professor (retd.), Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai and Visiting Professor, Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum
• Mr. Saugata Bhattacharya, Executive Vice President and Chief Economist, Axis Bank Ltd.

The panel discussed questions relating to the growth outlook for the country and the concerns related to the short & long-term post-pandemic recovery. The panelists further discussed the drivers of growth – particularly the infrastructure & trade sectors, whether growth was employment generating and issues in policy, stability and inclusivity.

Sarla Anil Modi School of Economics organized the first lecture of the eminent Lecture Series, 2021 on 8^th September 2021. The lecture was delivered by Prof. David Aikman, Professor of Finance and Director of the Qatar Centre for Global Banking and Finance. Kings College, London on ‘The Impact of Covid-19 on Macroeconomic Policy-Making in Emerging and Developed Economies’.

The session started at 2.30 PM with welcome address by Prof. Amita Vaidya, Director, SAMSOE followed by the keynote address by Prof Aikman.

Dr Aikman in his lecture provided an insightful account and outlined:

• The impact of Covid- 19 on the global economy, which has been unique both for its causes and severity.
• The policy actions taken and their impact on crucial macroeconomic indicators in developing and developed economies
• The challenges for Fiscal, Monetary and Macro prudential policies.

The lecture was followed by an interactive session moderated by Dr.Anand.B., Assistant Professor, SAMSOE. The event was successfully concluded with a vote of thanks by Dr Anand B.