The Economics Society of SVC, Blisspoint

The Economics Society of Sri Venkateswara College - BLISSPOINT 2009

Sri Venkateswara College organised its annual International Economics Students Festival-- Blisspoint during 27th-29th October 2009.

The event this year centred around the theme of 'Inclusive Growth and Environment'. Apart from participation from various colleges from the rest of the country, student delegates came from LUMS, Pakistan, Sabaramugawa University, Sri Lanka , Independent University, Bangladesh, Sherubtse College, Bhutan and Pedjadjaran Univeristy, WestJava,Indonesia.

In his inaugural address, Prof B L Pandit from Delhi School of Economics underlined the importance of a vigilant public over public policy formulation. Attributing the global financial crisis to regulatory oversight, he emphasised the importance of vibrant economic institutions in this regard. Ms Madhu Bhaduri a former Indian Ambassador, the Chief Guest on the occasion, shed light on the plethora of social movements in the country drawing attention to the widening inequalities in the wake of economic reform. Mr Palitha Ganegoda, the acting High Commissioner of Sri Lanka graced the occasion as Guest of Honour. Saplings were planted in the college premises by the guests and the international delegates.

A Panel Discussion on Inclusive Growth and Environment was organised on the second day of the event. Dr Reetika Khera of Right to Food Campaign shed light on the NREGA Act and encouraged students to take to detailed field survey towards understanding the problems of unemployment and destitution.

Dr. Deepa Sankar from World Bank; Mr. Abhijeet Das from UNCTAD; Dr. K Vijayalakshmi, Vice President, Development Alternatives, Mr Koushik Chatterjee, Associate Vice President, HCL Infosystems and Mr. D .A. I. Dayaratne Dean Faculty of Management Studies SUSL , Sri Lanka addressed the gathering on various themes ranging from environmental sustainability to MDGs.

2009 turns out to be an eventful year for Sri Venkateswara College, as the event BLISSPOINT went international. The event came to a close with the cultural; evening followed by dinner in the college lawns. The event benfited from the cultural exchange initiated between India and Bhutan as well as India and Sri Lnaka through the respective embassies.

Dignitaries from universities of national and international repute from across the nation, such as IIT Kanpur, IIT Roorkee, Jai Hind (Mumbai), St Josephs (Bangalore), Loyola College (Chennai), Xaviers (Ahmedabad) , Maharani College (Jaipur), BVS Secunderabad, Scottish Church College (Bengal) and NLS (Bangalore) actively participated in the Summit. We also had wide scale participation from colleges of Delhi University and others in the NCR region.

Blisspoint provides students a platform to express their opinion, interact with other young minds and exchange ideas through the series of thought provoking, stimulating activities and events organised during the course of our three day festival. Events of a varied nature are conducted ranging from Debate, Model United Nations, Quiz, Business Plan, Economic Quest to more fun filled events such as Freakonomics, Ad-mad and Horse Trade (a bartering game). Judges from various walks of life such as bureaucracy, academia, industry have been judging the various events.

In the course of the three days as a part of our Go Green campaign we have promoted the idea of 'Reduce Reuse and Recycle'. .

BLISSPOPINT-The Past Years

BLISSPOINT was initiated in 1993 and has grown to be an extremely prestigious event and one of the mainstays in the calendar of the University of Delhi. Blisspoint went national in 2005 and has grown in leaps and bounds ever since. Last year we had over 300 students participating from all over India. This year the event has participation both from national and international level.

Shailaja Thakur

Faculty Advisor

Economics Society