Nalanda Diary

During the last quarter, the Department of Economics remained actively involved in deepening policy-relevant and interdisciplinary economic discourse through lectures, workshops, and field-based learning. The department hosted a distinguished lecture featuring Senior Journalist Mr. Manohar Manoj, who reflected on pathways towards Mission Developed India by 2047, and Prof. Ajit Sinha, who offered a rigorous examination of Basic Income in the context of automation, inequality, and changing labour markets. A special academic interaction with Vice Chancellor Prof. Sachin Chaturvedi expanded discussions on the internationalisation of the Indian rupee, global currency transitions, and India’s digital payment leadership.

Complementing classroom learning, the department played a key role in international and cross-Asian dialogues on rural development, highlighting people-centric, inclusive, and sustainability-driven approaches across Asia, alongside immersive village visits near the Nalanda campus. Field visits to Vipulgiri Hills, Rajgir, enabled students to study the socio-economic and environmental dimensions of traditional livelihoods, offering valuable grassroots insights. Collectively, these initiatives strengthened experiential learning and reinforced the Department’s contribution to Nalanda University’s vision of socially grounded and policy-oriented economic scholarship.