Mumbai, 25 January 2023: The 13th edition of Ka-Ching x EJCon, an economics and management festival, was successfully conducted by NMIMS Sarla Anil Modi School of Economics, on January 23rd and 24th, 2023. The festival attracted over 200 participants from Indian and international universities after nearly 2 years of conducting it online.
Prof. Amita Vaidya, Director, Sarla Anil Modi School of Economics, NMIMS rightly articulates, “From its humble beginnings with 35 students in the inaugural B. Sc Economics cohort, Ka-Ching has evolved into a highly esteemed and well-attended economic festival that embodies the essence of innovation, enthusiasm, and purpose. This year’s theme, “Urban Era Equity Re-allocation and Accessibility,” is a testament to Ka-Ching’s dedication to finding novel solutions to the challenges of rapid urbanisation and building a brighter future for everyone.”
The classic flagship ‘Bull Run’ (the mock stock event), ‘War of Westeros’ (the strategy board game), finance-based ‘Pennywise’, ‘Emissions Impossible’ (carbon credit trading), ‘Whizdom’ (Quiz), ‘Jumanji’ (crisis), ‘Siyasat’ (politics), ‘Zero to One’ (entrepreneurship) and ‘Go MAd!’ (Advertising) events were designed to cover a range of domains in economics, from finance to entrepreneurship, and were centered around the theme of ‘The Urban E.R.A. – Equity, Reallocation, and Accessibility’.
The Economic Justice Conclave (EJCon) aimed to deliberate and discuss various urban challenges, with guest speakers including public policy consultant Pankhuri Dutt and Director and Distinguished University Professor at Urban Studies Institute, Dr. Jan Nijman.
In addition to the festival events, the Sarla Anil Modi School of Economics also organised various social outreach activities, ‘Miles to go’ – A Walkathon fundraiser in collaboration with GiveIndia, ‘Nukkad Natak’ – A street play held at ‘Sunday Street’ in Marine Lines to raise awareness on health inequality, gender disparity, sustainability as well as mundane problems of urbanization like congestion and pollution and ‘Project Kintsugi’ – Based on the Japanese art of upcycling, tote bags were manufactured out of old clothes that were donated for the cause by students of the School. The festival also featured concurrent policy events, including the National Policy Challenge and the Youth Conference, with a panel discussion on cities’ economic, social, environmental, and institutional resilience.
On 23rd January 2023, a panel discussion was held on the economic, social, environmental, and institutional resilience of cities. The panellists were Dr. Anusha Gavankar, Senior at ORF’s Center for Economy and Growth, Dr. Debasis Barik, National Council of Applied Economic Research, Mr. Pavan Srinath, public policy researcher, educator & communicator, as well as a bilingual podcaster based in Bangalore, Dr. Sreeja Nair, senior consultant at the International Framework at National Disaster Management Authority and Ms. Ankita Kapoor, Assistant Program Manager at Safetipin. Mr. Swapnil Karkare, a post-graduate in Economics, public policy, and data analysis from Meghnad Desai Academy of Economics was the moderator for the discussion.
The fest ended with a closing ceremony held in the Mukesh Patel auditorium on the 24th of January 2023. Mr. Dharmakirti Joshi, Chief Economist at CRISIL, graced the event as the Chief guest and shared his insights on the Macroeconomic outlook for the Indian economy, “In uncertain times like the current global crisis, policymakers must use the opportunity to implement necessary reforms, much like in 1991 and 2008. As Churchill stated, we must not let a good crisis go to waste. India has the opportunity to take advantage of the current economic and political turmoil by creating new supply chains and building new cities to address urban and climate-related issues, such as mobility, transport, and drinking water.”
The first prize at Ka-Ching x EJCon 2023 was won by H.R. College of Commerce and Economics, Mumbai whereas Sarla Anil Modi School of Economics won the second prize, which was then rolled over to Christ College, Bengaluru.
Sarla Anil Modi School of Economics is proud to have hosted a successful edition of Ka-Ching x EJCon, bringing together young minds from around the world to explore and discuss economic issues and challenges. The school remains dedicated to providing quality education and fostering a community of critical thinkers and problem solvers.
About Sarla Anil Modi School of Economics
The Sarla Anil Modi School of Economics was started in 2010. In this short period the School has managed to make its mark amongst the colleges offering Economics in the city of Mumbai, with its corporate interface, industry exposure, as also the strong and rigorous academic content that it has come to signify. The B.Sc. Economics program launched in 2010 in its Mumbai campus, seeks to redefine graduate Economics courses in India, with its unique course content and innovative pedagogy. The M.Sc. Economics program is a full time 2 year degree course which was introduced in 2016. It is an academically challenging course which gives application based learning and equips students to get employment in professional occupations or in other Research focused roles.
