Month in Review: February 2020
Written on March 2nd , 2020 by {"login"=>"jcbitshyd", "email"=>"journal@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in", "display_name"=>"Journal Club, BPHC", "first_name"=>"", "last_name"=>""}Stressed out with the mid-sem exams? Missing February more than ever? As almost half the semester comes to an end, Journal Club takes a moment to go back and look at some highlights from the month of February 2020.
Shangrila 2020 (February 1)
Shangrila, the cultural night of BPHC, was organised on the first of February, bringing a fresh start to the month. The night started off with a moving performance from the Dramatics Club, whose phenomenal acting coupled with the stage ambience managed by the Lights and Sound Department (LSD) set the mood for the night. Performances by Cypher, the Dance Club, included well-choreographed performances by both juniors and seniors that filled the auditorium with adrenaline and received raucous cheers. Swaranjali also showcased their talent, with a few dance performances in between the other performances. They brought a Bollywood/Hip-Hop tinge to their classical pieces, keeping the crowd glued to their seats throughout. Unlike a lot of events on campus that suffer from delays, or 'BITSian Standard Time' as it's called, the cultural night progressed with relatively minimal delays and provided an exciting way to kick-off the month.
TBI Talk (February 1)
TBI (Technology Business Incubator) hosted its first session of "Lean Startup Fundamentals and Business Model Canvas" on 1st February. This interactive session by Aaditya Srinivasan allowed young entrepreneurs to have a glimpse of various business and market-related topics including business model analysis, market research, building an MVP (Minimal Viable Product) and other areas of entrepreneurship. The interactive session created an atmosphere for the audience to speak up and clarify their doubts. The speaker himself giving his living start-up as an example made the entire discussion real, authentic and genuine. The team has promised many more interactive sessions like these.
Amazon UX Outreach Program (February 2)
As long as narrow mindsets and unimaginative thoughts exist, the myth that engineers would not be able to excel in the field of design will forever be words to live by. To help raise awareness and bridge the gap between engineers and high-level design jobs, Designers Anonymous organized a workshop on User Experience (UX) as a plausible career opportunity, held by Mr. Anudeep Ayyagari, a senior designer from Amazon India.
A former alumnus of BPHC, Mr. Anudeep was able to create an environment of familiarity and relatability while sharing his personal experiences as a member of this campus, wishing to give something in return, in the form of a mentor for existing students. A very social and approachable person, Mr. Anudeep showcased his extensive knowledge on UX/UI and product design, keeping the event interactive and answering a variety of queries related to the scope and viability of the career opportunities ensuring to satisfy the 30-odd students.
Ad-Astra Talk (February 4)
Ad Astra, the student Astronomy and Science Club, organised a talk on special and general relativity. Unlike a lot of other talks where the speakers are invited guests, this talk was by Mahavir Chaudari and Avi Mathur, first and second-year students respectively. After a brief introduction on Einstein and his career, this interactive talk saw discussions on the special and general theories of relativity. Using thought experiments and simplifications to make conveying the message easier, this talk ended with an explanation on how the Physics at high school level is just an approximation of the actual working of the real world.
IGNITE 2020 (February 7- 9)
Ignite 2020, playing host to more than 300 kids from schools and orphanages, was organised in the first weekend of February by the student-run Nirmaan Organisation. The ninth edition of the fest was inaugurated on Friday and was presided over by Prof. G. Sundar (Director, BITS Hyderabad), Prof. Suman Kapur and B.V. Pattibhiram, who was the guest of honour.
Saturday began with a self-defence workshop, aimed at empowering the children, and a public-speaking workshop for kids in 9th and 10th grades. The importance of health can never be understated; a health checkup was held for the girls of higher classes, where the importance of personal hygiene and other medical issues were discussed in detail. Workshops for developing life skills and making posters were also organised.
Sunday saw more slightly more serious activities, including science exhibitions, a career guidance talk and a session on waste management. The counselling workshop was taken by the faculty members, Dr. T S L Radhika and Prof. Jayanti Subbalaxmi. Children were also made aware by volunteers about waste management and its importance to the ecosystem. On the more fun side, a puppet show was organized to extract precious laughter from the kids and to tap into their creative side, an origami workshop was also conducted. The event ended with an extravagant ‘Kids Got Talent’ show - with inspiring performances from kids who performed, danced, sang and beat-boxed. Summing up this event, in a nutshell, cannot be done in words. If you truly wish to understand the experience, just ask the innocent smile of a child, and you will have your answer.
TEDx 2020 (February 9)
TEDxBITSHyderabad, held on the 9th of February 2020, boasted speakers from Ankit Mehrotra, the CEO of Dineout, to Lydian Nadhaswaram, the 14-year-old prodigy pianist and from Neville Shah, the infamous stand-up comedian, to Imtiaz Qureshi, the ITC Master Chef. Aimed at providing a platform to attendees for networking with established personalities from across the country, TedX was organised on the second weekend of the month, on Sunday.
The theme for this year's conference was "Unaltered Through Time" focusing on core principles that do not waver with adversity or time. The event consisted of nine inspiring talks over topics ranging from "Getting Out of One's Comfort Zone" to “A Method to Extracting Water from the Air”. These talks were interspersed with performances from the soulful Piyush Bhisekar and the Dramatics Club. While the event did have a reduced turn-out as compared to the previous years, the event was still very successful with positive feedback from its attendees.
Tech Week (February 10 - 16)
Tech Week 2020, a series of events held by the various technical clubs and associations came to an end on February 17th, 2020. The events included quizzes for the trivia enthusiasts, workshops for the learners, hackathons for the coders, with many events having the extra incentive of prize money.
Among the new additions to the roster were the Project Open Houses. A few professors from the respective departments shed light on their research areas and the formal/informal projects being offered under them. The Open Houses were received well by students and faculty alike. The professors, in particular, were happy with the new initiative. Another exciting prospect was the Tech Night where a host of personal projects were on display.
The First National Symposium: Issues in Indian Economy (February 14 - 17)
The Department of Economics and Finance, alongside the Economics Association, organised a three-day National Symposium on the “Issues and Trends in Indian Economy”. Featuring great professors in the field of economics from across the country, the Symposium helped the students and faculty to take a deep dive into what plagues our stagnant economy, and what can be done to alleviate its qualms. The inaugural session, by Dr. Prabhat Pattnaik from JNU’s Centre for Development Studies, delved into the death of neo-liberal economic order, which had heralded unseen increases in labour productivity, leading to a disastrous neglect of agriculture and petty production sector. In his most compelling part of the speech, he explained the moral and economic foundations of wealth tax and why we needed to levy a 33% inheritance tax in our country.
Having set the tone for an engaging Symposium, he was followed by an ex-faculty, Dr. Prasanna Tantri from ISB (whose work on relationship between educational attainment and electoral preferences is worth reading), enumerating the scope of Finance for college students.
One session that stood out however, was Dr. R Nagaraj’s look-through at the ailments of India. From unemployment to trade imbalances and rapid fall in export growths, the session (and the lunch room discussions post the event) left the audience in awe. An ex-BITSian, he shared his experience of 0% attendance, graduating with a merely 6+ CGPA, and rejecting many institutions for PhD just because of their strict attendance rules.
The final day featured a panel discussion on Union Budget, moderated by an ex-faculty Dr. Sunny Jose. The panel detailed their frustration with the salient aspects of the bahi-khata, and proposed alternate measures to address the pitfalls of the macro economy. All in all, it was an enlightening and fulfilling 3 days that provided a much-needed view into workings of some of the finest economic minds in the country.
Launchpad (February 15-16)
Launchpad, the annual entrepreneurship summit of our campus, was organised on the 15th and 16th of February by E-Cell. There were two business plan (B-Plan) competitions held, namely Ground Reality and Beyond Profits. Ground Reality was a commercially driven competition with prize money of Rs. 5 lakhs, while Beyond Profits was targeted for social start-ups and had prize money of Rs. 2 lakhs. The summit also had a talk arranged with five speakers who came from entrepreneurial backgrounds, including Pankaj Dubey, the Managing Director of Polaris, India. There was also a Start-up Expo where students could interact with entrepreneurs from start-ups from a wide range of backgrounds. Another exciting aspect of Launchpad 2020 was the Internship Drive which took place, wherein internships were open to all years. There was a turnout of over 30 companies and the stipend ranged from 5k-30k. At the end of the drive, over 100 internships were given out.
Brindavanam Cultural Night (February 21)
Brindavanam, the regional association for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, conducted their annual Cultural Night on 21st February. The event was conducted in the evening in the Library Lawns. It started with a series of dance performances followed by a special dinner. With live music that kept the audience engaged throughout, a photo-booth with creative placards made by the Department of Arts and Deco, a Telugu DJ and tons of oppurtunities to take pictures, the cultural night saw footfall ranging in the hundreds. A photo booth was set up by The Photog Club where attendees could take pictures with creative placards made by the Department of Arts & Deco. While logistical issues in the special dinner caused the caterers to run out of food early on, that was pretty much the only blip in the entire evening. The event was capped off with a Telugu DJ night (with the help of the Lights and Sounds Department) that allowed people to dance the night away.
It’s definitely hard to say goodbye to February, but March is ready to welcome us with its own set of exciting events. Stay tuned!