Students turn politicians for the mock parliament event, Consensus, on Day Two of Confluence 2012. (Below) Father Felix Raj releases the annual departmental magazine Eco Echoes on Day One.

What: Confluence 2012 presented by St. Xavier’s College in association with The Telegraph

When: September 18, 19 and 20

Where: St. Xavier’s College campus

Confluence 2012, the annual summit of the economics department of St. Xavier’s College, saw colleges from across the country battling for supremacy in a variety of events that tested everything from their knowledge about the subject to their ability to put theory into practice.

Day One: The event was inaugurated by Father Felix Raj, principal of the college, who also launched the departmental magazine, Eco Echoes. The first event of the day was a panel discussion on “Inclusive Growth in India: A Distant Dream?”. Next up were the prelims for the quiz, Conundrum, which saw six teams making it to the finals. This was followed by paper presentations. Also on the cards was Confucius, the teacher’s apprentice contest, where students had to lecture a panel of judges on a given topic. The first round of Confluence’s flagship event Connoisseur, the best economist competition, and Concoction, a journalism event, were also held on September 18.

Day Two: On the second day, students with a thing for numbers made a beeline for the best statistician competition called Configuration. “We introduced it this year because there is a close relation between economics and statistics,” said Aditya Vikram Doshi, one of the organisers of the event. St. Joseph’s College, Bangalore, claimed the best statistician trophy.

What added zing to the summit was Consensus, the mock parliament session. Nine colleges represented nine different political parties from BJP to CPM and TMC to debate the issue of FDI in retail. “When we fixed the topic we hadn’t expected the Prime Minister to take this measure,” laughed Aditya. St. Joseph’s College, Bangalore, won this too, for “political and ideological conformity and general entertainment”.

The same issue, “FDI in Retail : Boon or a Bane”, was the topic of the panel discussion that followed.

One of the highlights of the day was the marketing event Consumerism, where students had to market products from various companies. The twist? The products and companies did not match. So, while some had to design an advertising campaign and marketing strategy for Fevicol Biscuits, others had to do it for Bombay Dyeing Diapers. St. Xavier’s College did it best, talking away with the first prize.

The other event with a twist was Conjurer, the business plan competition, but here participants had to draw up plans to revive sick units in an operational area that is not their specialisation. St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, won the event.

Day Three: With so much at stake, participants of Confluence 2012 braved the bandh to bring the summit to a resounding close with finals of events like the quiz and the debate, both of which were won by Siddhant Agarwal of Presidency University. And after a gruelling final round, Shomak Chakrabarti of Presidency University was judged the best economist.

One of the highlights of the day was Contango, the mock stock market event in which a simulated stock market has to be played for win or loss. Scottish Church College played their shares the best and emerged winners.

“We really had a great event. And we pulled it off so well even with a bandh,” said Shourjya Nag, a student of the college.