Amidst the Coronavirus (henceforth COVID-19) outbreak, which has brought the entire world to a standstill and led to the generation and sharing of many theories about its origins and possible cure, we interviewed Professor Gautam Menon, Professor of Physics and Biology, Ashoka University to understand the impact of the virus on humankind, the preventive measures needed to reduce its spread and the possibility of finding a cure. Read more... |
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The Coronavirus Pandemic: Are we ready for the long haul? There is a lot that is unknown about SARS-COV-2, but the world’s leading epidemiologists believe that its spread will be a long-drawn process. It will take at least 18 months for a vaccine to become available, and even after that, scaling up vaccine production to cover the entire world population will take a long time. Until then, or until a sufficient number of people become immune to the virus, we may see multiple outbreaks of the disease, leading to spikes in infections and mortality. Read more... |
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The Coronavirus Pandemic: Are we ready for the long haul? In part 1 of this article, we discussed broad recommendations to guide the government's response to the pandemic in India. In this part, we discuss the economic impact of the current crisis on, particularly vulnerable groups. We identify five salient groups who are vulnerable to the economic and health shocks arising from SARS-COV-2: children, women, migrants, daily wage earners, and self-employed individuals. Read more... |
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COVID-19 Considerations | YIF Application Deadline Extension and More Due to the unprecedented circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as we reflect on this time and continue to hear from several applicants, we recognise that not everyone was in a position to submit their application by the March 31 deadline. With an acute awareness of this context, on compassionate grounds and in the spirit of inclusion, we are pleased to announce an extension to the final application deadline of the 10th cohort of the Young India Fellowship. We will now be accepting applications until midnight (IST) on Monday, April 13, 2020. Read more... |
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TATA Crucible Campus Quiz Ashoka University hosted its fourth Tata Crucible event earlier in March with 65 teams participating this year which included extensive participation from several colleges across Haryana. Our students, Rohan Nagpal and Yashaswi Raghuveer, both from the MA Economics Class of 2020, won the Sonipat regional this year while Kanishk Mukherjee and Shigraf Haque, both from Undergraduate Class of 2021, emerged as the runners-up at the competition. One of the most prestigious and undoubtedly toughest in the domain of quizzing, the winners will now proceed to the zonal round to compete with the winners from across northern India. |
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Project Democracy As part of a class project to make academic work more socially engaged, YIF Fellows of the Critical Writing course 'Languages <-- --> Realities' initiated Project Democracy on March 16. Through this, they are composing a range of stories and social media content to nudge the public and the authorities to act in more inclusive, empathetic, and democratic ways. Their work can be found on their blog and their updates on Instagram and Twitter. |
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Interaction with Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus |
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Ashoka's Centre for Entrepreneurship (CFE) hosted Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus for the Social Entrepreneurship class for an enlightening session on understanding social impact where he shared how he believes that "Every crisis is an opportunity," and that the "Three '0's - Zero Poverty, Zero Unemployment, Zero Net Carbon Emissions" should be the aim for every social venture. |
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A talk by Ajinkya Dhariya Ajinkya Dhariya, the founder of PadCare Labs, which seeks to convert waste sanitary napkins into usable plastic, spoke about his experience of setting up the facility, the product, and how design thinking has aided him. |
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The Opportunities in Space The Ashoka Space Society and the Centre for Entrepreneurship hosted a guest speaker session titled 'The Opportunities in Space'. Mr Ankit Bhateja, Founder and Director of Xovian Aerospace, explored the various layers related to space like the historic dominance of the space club nations to the privatization of space; the opportunities which lay ahead for mankind; India's current space policies and practices; challenges and potential conflicts that could arise; and do we fit in? The session was moderated by AVM (Dr) Arjun Subramaniam (Retd.), Visiting Faculty, Ashoka University. |
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Article Published in The Wire CWC Senior Writing Fellow Jyotirmoy Talukdar's article The Travails and Scuffles That Marked Akhil Gogoi's Rise in Politics appeared in thewire.in on March 22. You can read it here. |
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Design Thinking in Action On March 30, Ashoka's Centre for Entrepreneurship (CFE) hosted Ashoka Founder Aditya Ghosh (Ex-director of IndiGo and Board Member of OYO) for its Creativity & Design Thinking class, where he spoke about his experience on employing Design Thinking to his operations in the airline and hospitality industry. An interesting insight he gave was that everything on a plane has a functional aspect, nothing is solely for aesthetic. |
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Some of the highlights from February |
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24 hours of entrepreneurial energy was abuzz at the Startup Ashoka event! Over 150 students participating, 50 idea pitches and 16 startup teams were selected and mentored by startup gurus and industry leaders. Second runner-up, U-We Clean pitched a unique product, a laundry bag that helps you reduce the number of times you have to wash your clothes using ultraviolet (UV) lights. First runner-up Secure pitched a solution to encode any information by providing a layer of security. And finally, the winning team, Photo-Bio Generator pitched a solution to combat air pollution. |
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A talk by Vasu Primlani Vasu Primlani, the first standup comedian to be honoured by India’s Nari Shakti award in 2016, talked about the creativity in creating jokes and how personal growth can lead to a natural flair for creativity. She combined elements of comedy and creativity in this enriching session. |
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Women Entrepreneur Speaker Series Ashoka's Centre for Entrepreneurship (CFE) and Ashoka Women in Business, as part of the Women Entrepreneur Speaker Series, hosted Priyanka Madnani, Founder & CEO, Easy To Pitch, a one-stop solution for pitching for investments or fundraise, and it has served 350+ founders pan India to get pitch ready. |
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By the Office of Communications and Media Relations |
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