In the third edition of Appl-i insights, the Appl-i consultancy club invited Mr Pratik Ranjan for a session on approaching the case studies and competitions on 11th October. Mr Ranjan graduated from MANIT in 2016, with a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering and then went on to pursue the MBA program at IIM Lucknow. He was bestowed with the title of "India's Most Employable Management Graduate of 2019 (Top 30)" and is an ardent marketing strategist, currently working as a Senior Associate at BCG. The session touches upon the basics of consultancy in the corporate world, the types of cases that a consultant comes across in real-world and the different approaches to solve case studies to help one ace the competitions as well as interviews. A discussion on what constitutes as the market size and how that changes according to a specific scenario is highlighted in the session. Mr. Ranjan also solves a mock guesstimate which to give viewers a hands-on experience on guesstimate solving. We also dive deep into other aspects such as the coding skills required and efficient execution of case solutions to avoid linear approach to problems in a case. In the end, Mr. Ranjan shares insights from his valuable experience at BCG and his personal life as well.

In the 2nd edition of Appl-i Insights, we are pleased to share the enlightening conversation we had with Shobhit Nair, a seasoned ex- consultant, who is currently working with Amazon EU.  He has worked in a wide spectrum of sectors ranging from real estate and luxury townships to waste management and power distribution. His vast experience enabled us to dive into the details of the life of a typical consultant and unlock key insights about the various nuances of consulting as a profession right from the work-life balance theme to more technical details of skill requirements.  Our conversation touches upon general aspects of a career in consulting like responsibilities of a newly joined associate, growth prospects in the industry, learning experiences along with the overall work-life balance in this line of work. We also discussed the technical side of the story, which included a set of skills and abilities required to succeed in the field, implications of working in a business turnaround role and barriers to entry in strategy consulting. Moreover, Shobhit also busted some myths which rampantly surround consultancy and shared with us his dynamic view of what's in store for consultancy in the coming years. All students, as well as professionals who are even remotely considering the possibility of entering into or switching to the field of Consulting, should definitely watch this to gain more insights into the field and build an understanding of what entering this field would entail.

On the 2nd of August, the members of APPL-i convened to discuss the Financial Stability Report released by the Reserve Bank of India on the 24th of July. Each aspect of the report was covered in great detail, with particular emphasis on India's financial conditions.  Adhiraj Verma set the context for the discussion, carried out by Saurabh Kudligi, Vishwas Vaish, and Anjaney Sudhakaran. The discussion was moderated by Club Presidents Vasu Golyan and Divij Punjabi.   The discussion commenced with Saurabh laying out the major macro-financial risks prevailing in the economy and provided a brief introduction to the global economic outlook. He also spoke of various problems that plagued the financial sector both before and after the advent of the novel corona-virus pandemic.  Following the brief overview, Vishwas spoke on the soundness and resilience of banks and NBFCs by utilizing various sector-specific performance indicators. The interconnectedness of the financial system has also been discussed at a great length by him.  Finally, Anjaney concluded by explicating the Regulatory Measures undertaken by the Authorities in the wake of the pandemic as laid down by the report.  The event was considered a success as we managed to examine key aspects of the Indian financial system and develop a sound understanding of the current state of the economy.