Bridging gap between Virtual and Actual through Amity Youth Forum 2020

The historical and maiden Online Amity Youth Forum 2020 that witnessed participation of over 12,000 students in 90 grueling online competitions from 200 higher education institutions in India and across the globe concluded with a glittering, virtual ceremony. The valedictory session was chaired by Dr. Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, Member of Parliament and President, Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) as the Chief Guest who shared how due to COVID-19, we need to learn how to bridge the gap between actual and virtual. “These online forums are helping us overcome the distance between virtual and actual this is perhaps learning out of COVID 19,” shared Dr. Sahasrabuddhe.

He further averred how Public and Private Universities can join their hands to help the government and people of India enhance the quality of education. “We have to see how we imbed the virtual activities in every aspect of education as this is the new normal and a new challenge. It demands smart technology and smart presentation as well. If our emotions, inputs are strong to impart the knowledge with particular strength then our virtual presentation will become more powerful than physical classroom. It is time to sharpen our presentation skills, make use of Artificial Intelligence but try that our emotions do not become artificial. Professionalism goes with human touch. It’s time to think out of box. It is not easy to learn virtually so you have to grow your grasping ability and students will have to sharpen their understanding skills for learning virtually. We can convert the covid challenge as opportunity,” said Dr. Sahasrabuddhe.

Dr. Atul Chauhan, Chancellor, Amity University shared how Amity is very proud to organize such a virtual fest. “Our ability to successfully conduct this online forum shows that future of world’s youth is brighter due to technology. Extraordinary are those who convert challenges and crisis into opportunity and Amity is doing just that. We have great people who are taking education to the very next level in such a short period of time,” said Dr. Chauhan.

During this online fest several programs were organized by a number of Amity Institutions including like Swarmala; Amity Virtual Moot Court Competition; Mock Parliament; SCIQUIZ; Mega Mind Quiz; Bio Quiz; Lakshay- Business Plan Competition; Business Simulation Games; Marketing; CAD Mania; Online Hackathon; Online Folk Dance Competition and many more. These competitions across three days saw enthusiastic participation from institutions in India and across the globe.

Becoming the torchbearer of change, Amity Virtual Moot Court Competition 2020 was organized as a part of Amity Youth Forum 2020. 35 University teams across India participated in the competition including GITAM School of Law; Government Law College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu; ILS Law College Pune; Lovely Professional University; Law University Dehradun; National Law University Jodhpur; NLUI Bhopal; School of Law Bennett University and Sharda University among others. Best Memorial award was given to School of Excellence in Law, Dr Ambedkar Law University, Tamil Nadu; the Best Speaker trophy was bagged by Aparna Raju from School of Excellence in Law, Dr Ambedkar Law University, Tamil Nadu and winner for the Amity Virtual Moot Court Competition 2020 was Symbiosis Law School, Pune.

Another online creative engagement called Swarmala where students were asked to sing the non-filmy songs. There were 52 participants out of which 12 were selected for the finals. Student of IIT Madras stood first, followed by SRTM University and Amity University Dubai in second and third position respectively.

Quiz on Hospitality and Tourism organized by Amity Institute of Travel & Tourism saw participation from 37 teams and had AGBS Indore bag the first position. Star of the Bar Contest, another event by the institute had 58 teams competing with M S Ramaiah College of Hotel Management, Bengaluru emerge as the winner.

Amity Institute of Marine Science and Technology has organized a Marine Quiz Competition with 81 registrations and had Fisheries College & Research Institute, Toothukudi, Tamil Nadu bag the first position.

The Model UNSC Online competition had Amity Institute of Pharmacy, Noida in the first position while the competition Satire on Fire! saw VIPS, New Delhi take the top spot.