The National Youth Conference,organised by IIM-Indore,brought together college students from across India to celebrate the 146th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda from January 12-14. The conference,involving panel discussions and seminars featuring eminent speakers,pitted teams from various colleges against each other for the youth leader contest,complete with debates on social issues,campaigning through posters,skit presentations,and voting. Terror and youth leadership were among the key topics discussed during the event. The inaugural function was presided over by Shekhar Gupta,Editor-in-Chief of The Indian Express,and K N Padmanabhan,director of Prerana Educational Media Private Limited. While Shekhar Gupta in his speech emphasised the shift from identity politics to youth politics,Padmanabhan focused on the relevance of Swami Vivekanandas teachings in the present demographic scenario. Among Indian youth,the weight of their dreams is more than the weight of their memories,and that is a very positive picture, said Gupta. The panel discussions on the second and third day focused on governance and internal security,with students from various colleges putting forward their views on these critical issues. Guest speakers like L K Maheshwari,vice-chancellor of BITS,Pilani,and S Neelamegham,president of the NIILM Centre for Management Studies,New Delhi,addressed the students. Former CBI director D R Karthikeyan and Col Hariharan focused on the role of citizens and political deficiencies while tackling terrorism,during discussions on national security,terrorism and politics. The final day sessions and panel discussions on space technology and healthcare had distinguished speakers like A D Dharma from ISRO,Ravi Kannan,director of Cachar Cancer Hospital and Research Centre,Assam,and Mohan Rajapurkar,medical director,Muljibhai Patel Urological Hospital,Nadiad. The grand finale saw the three finalists of the youth leader contest Liberal Youth Party from MICA,Yuva Shakti Party from SJMSOM and Black Xaviers from FMS express their views on issues of national relevance and formulating manifestos for Indias future. The team from MICA,Ahmedabad,won the contest after a round of voting by the audience and the judges.
