AUA Lecture
Series 2024

The theme of this year’s AUA Joint Online Lecture Series is "Sustainable Materials for Tomorrow".

The importance of materials in producing fascinating engineering miracles and high-end products is well accepted and undoubtful “Materials Science and Engineering” is one of the must-learn subjects by all engineering disciplines in the universities.

In the era of Industrial Revolution 4.0, requirements of engineering materials became more stringent to embrace unexpected challenges not only limited to fundamental aspect of engineering design but also from the delicate perspective in applications.

This year’s Joint Online Lecture Series will invite experts from each AUA university to share their insight into the future of sustainable materials from each of their specialized fields of interest. This Joint Online Lecture Series aims to broaden the understanding of materials for future applications and sustainable developments.


Theme:

COVID-19 and Livelihood Challenges in Rural India


Professor:

Prof. Krishnan Narayanan

Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Bombay, India


Date: 14 October 2021 (Thursday)

Time: 19:00-20:30 (UTC+8)


Main Points

1. Status of Employment in the formal and informal sectors of rural India

2. Changes in employment, income and consumption during the lockdown period of the Pandemic

3. Policy initiatives to address the challenges

4. Micro-level evidence of impacts and coping strategies

5. What more initiatives could be undertaken to deal with the challenges.


Summary:

This lecture provides an overview of the impact and challenges COVID-19 has had on livelihood in rural India. Prof. Narayanan first introduced the status of employment in rural India’s formal and informal sector. Changes in employment, income, and consumption, with a special focus on ‘Disruption in Food Systems and Threat to Food Security’, are then summarized. Relevant policies and coping strategies were provided and analyzed. Next, Prof. Narayanan discussed the policy implications. The lecture concludes that the final success against Covid-19 could be achieved with open-mind solutions by mobilizing resources, focusing on agriculture, making mid-course corrections and interventions, and developing ‘data driven’ policy decisions.

(written by program student Ms. ZHENG Jie)


*The views and opinions expressed in this lecture series are those of the guest lecturers. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the AUA or its members or its Secretariat.





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