FLAME University students, Jayanth Deshmukh and Ritwika Das, participated in Ashoka University’s Leadership Summit held on 14th-15th October, 2017 in Sonepat, Haryana.
Jayanth Deshmukh's team won the first place in the policy formulation competition held on the second day of the summit. Participants were provided with case studies and asked to formulate and present a policy with real time data. The winning team was awarded a certificate and a combined cash prize. Participants were judged on creativity, feasibility of the policy, impact of the policy and identification of objectives.
The Ashoka University Leadership Summit (AULS) is a two day event aimed at bringing together think tanks, NGOs, companies, industry experts, and various other organizations to help students be the active change makers that they wish to be. The event entailed talks, discussions, workshops and mentor sessions and culminated in a competition. The central themes of the event were Human Rights, Sustainability and Conservation and Social Entrepreneurship and Microfinance.
Human Rights
The human rights theme revolved around understanding the relationship with governments, industries, communities and individuals and how one can expand the scope of the State’s agenda to involve discussion on human rights. The Human Rights Council - the intergovernmental organization which protects human rights - emphasizes on conflict prevention by using diplomacy, good offices and mediation. Following these principles, the AULS, planned to discuss and come up with solutions to situations of human rights violations in the world today.
Sustainability and Conservation
Sustainability is about multifaceted issues that consist of both economic and social dimensions. There exists a disparity between those who pollute the environment, and those who suffer the consequences. It is of paramount importance that sustainable models of development are adopted by everyone for the continuation of the human race and planet Earth.
Social Entrepreneurship and Microfinance
This theme aimed to provide students with skills to become social entrepreneurs. In today’s society, there is not only an urgency to reduce disparities in the world, but also an urgency to reduce it in ways that are new, innovative and enduring. Social entrepreneurs must not only recognize pressing social issues but find a way to create an appropriate, sustainable and enterprising solution for them. The summit aimed to provide students with insights into funding, development, implementation and maintenance of different solutions and ideas towards social causes. It aimed to help students learn how to organize, create, and manage a venture to implement social change.
Some of the renowned speakers who addressed students at the AULS were Aabid Surti, a National award-winning prolific author whose work spans fiction, non-fiction, travelogue as well as children’s literature; Alok Prasad, a veteran banker with over 35 years of experience in the field of banking and finance having also served on the committees of the Ministry of Finance, Government of India; Rajdeep Sardesai, a senior journalist, author, television news presenter and currently the consulting editor and lead news anchor of the India Today group; Shankar Venkateswaran, former chief of Tata Sustainability Group which is tasked with providing thought leadership and support on sustainability and corporate responsibility activities of the $100 billion Tata group of companies; Shaheen Mistri, founder of Teach For India that has an audacious vision of providing excellent education to all children across India; Professor Debashis Chatterjee former director of IIM-Kozhikode; and Amit Chadha, a Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court of India and various other High Courts and Tribunals.
We congratulate our students on winning this competition.