Orientation 2024 | Welcoming Our New Cohorts for the Academic Year 2024-25!

Welcome to NLSIU Orientation 2024!

We are excited to welcome a new cohort of undergraduate and postgraduate students for the Academic Year 2024-25. The orientation programme, beginning July 1st, is spread across three days to introduce over 550 new students from the BA LLB (Hons), 3-year LLB (Hons), LLM and the MPP cohorts to various academic and social aspects of the NLS community.

The orientation programme began with an inaugural address by the Vice Chancellor and the Registrar, which was followed by introduction to various University teams, and an address by the respective Programme Chairs. The orientation schedule, spread across three days, covers activities of various teams including Student Welfare, Residence and Campus Life, Academic Administration, Library and IT & Operations, etc, along with sessions on safety and conduct on campus, sensitization on caste, gender, and disability among other key areas. Introductory sessions by course faculty along with pedagogical discussions will also be covered during the orientation. A campus tour is part of the orientation to familiarise new students to various aspects of the campus such as the Academic Blocks, Amphitheatre, Library Precinct, Quad, Medical & Wellness facilities, and sports facilities of the University.

Besides this, the Director of Campus and Residential Life along with members of the Student Bar Association (SBA) will conduct sessions on introduction to student life at NLSIU, announcement of College membership for incoming students, and events including a Social mixer for Colleges, and a University campus life fair. The Orientation sessions are being held across both the NLS campus and the B R Ambedkar School of Economics (BASE) campus, Nagarabhavi.

Inaugural Address by Vice Chancellor (Excerpts)

In his inaugural address to the students and their parents, NLSIU Vice-Chancellor Prof. Sudhir Krishnaswamy first set out the University’s motivations and goals for the Orientation programme by asking ‘why orient?’ and in what way?. Second, he briefly surveyed and described the cohort gathered in the auditorium, changes across the academic programmes, and the historical juncture at which the new cohorts join the University. Finally, he concluded his address with a focus on why NLS was set up and several idiosyncratic and symbolic elements that may give a deeper insight into ‘who we (as a University) aim to be.’

Reflecting on NLSIU’s origin, mission and values, Prof. Krishnaswamy said: “We share this with you in the hope that all you will join us in this quest; not as passive recipients of the mission our founders set for the University, but as creative craftspersons who first, acknowledge and understand  the University’s mission, and then reinterpret it by infusing your personal hopes and aspirations into this mission. Institutions are brought alive and revitalised by the intensity, vigour and integrity in the daily life of its members. Great institutions produce extraordinary outcomes by aligning collective and individual goals through purposive action. We forge this purposive alliance among faculty, staff and students not by disciplinary force or by lecturing from the pulpit, but by meditation and reflection on the daily acts and practices that accumulate to make up our daily life. If at the end of this session, you are prompted to ask: is my action contributing to, or taking away from, the University’s goals and purposes, then we have succeeded in our ‘orientation’ programme.”

“This is an exciting period for our students and the University, and we’re glad that you’ve joined us on this journey. While we have academic programmes of varied durations, we make no distinctions in the level of academic rigour in the design and delivery of all these programmes. We invite all you to immerse yourselves in University life as NLS students without distinction of which programme you belong to.”

Address by Registrar (Excerpts) 

NLSIU Registrar Prof. Nigam Nuggehalli, during his address to the students, stressed on the importance of the classroom experience and students needing both the faculty as well as their peers to learn from. “An essential part of the journey is to have faith in yourselves, interact with friends, and build on each other’s insights. This is integral to academic life,” he said.  Reflecting on the pressures that many of us tend to impose on ourselves, the Registrar said: “Pressure to win makes the best of us to cramp up. The focus should not be only about rankings or grades but additionally, should also be about other intangible things and taking some pleasure in that. So, community and residential life is very important for us to reach our full potential. Take part in a wide variety of activities and share your interests with more people. Cultivating deeper and fulfilling friendships can really help at this juncture – while this is more organic at a school level, you may have to work more on this aspect at a University.” He also highlighted the importance of organisational unity and team work. “You are conditioned to achieve success individually. But a team player is already on their way to success. So focus on working, participating and flourishing as a member of the larger community at law school,” he said.

Alumni Address 

On Day 1 of our Orientation, we had two of our distinguished alumni addressing the students:

Hon’ble Mr. Justice Sunil Dutt Yadav | NLS BA LLB 1996 

Justice S. Sunil Dutt Yadav was born in Bangalore in 1972. After graduating from NLS as a gold-medallist, he enrolled at the Karnataka Bar Council and practiced as an Advocate at the High Court of Karnataka and various tribunals in Bangalore for more than two decades. Although his practice spanned a broad array of civil and appellate disputes, he is renowned for his expertise in property law and writ matters. He was empanelled as counsel for various governmental institutions and was appointed special counsel for the NICE Corridor project. With a keen interest in social litigation and environmental protection, Justice Yadav appeared pro bono for numerous NGOs and poor litigants in disputes concerning the re-purposing of lakes, prevention of deforestation, solid waste management and rehabilitation of slum dwellers in Bangalore. Due to his academic interest in the theory of law, he took part in various international conferences and summer schools and even organised numerous workshops, while being in active practice. At the age of 45, he was elevated at to the bench, and was later confirmed as a permanent judge at the High Court of Karnataka on January 7, 2020.

Mr. Rahul Matthan | NLS BA LLB 1994

Rahul Matthan is partner with Trilegal and heads the technology practice of the firm. Rahul writes a weekly column on the intersection between technology, society and the law. His latest book “The Third Way: India’s Revolutionary Approach to Data Governance” describes how digital public infrastructure could offer a new approach to data governance. Rahul has served on the RBI Committee for Household Finance as well as the Kris Gopalakrishnan committee on Non-Personal Data. During India’s Presidency of the G20 he served as the DPI Advisor to the Ministry of Finance. After having served, for many years, on its Management Committee, Rahul is currently a member of the Board of Trilegal.

Orientation Address by Jahnavi Phalkey 

On Day 2, Jahnavi Phalkey, a filmmaker and historian of science, delivered the Orientation address to the students. She is the Founding Director of Science Gallery Bengaluru. Prior to founding Asia’s first Science Gallery, Jahnavi was an academic based at King’s College London. She has been a Fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, an external curator to the Science Museum London, and a Scholar-in-Residence at the Deutsches Museum, Munich. She is the author of Atomic State: Big Science in Twentieth Century India and co-edited Science of Giants: China and India in the Twentieth Century. She is also director and producer of the documentary film, Cyclotron. Jahnavi is the recipient of the Infosys Prize in the Humanities (2023).

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Student Activities & Campus Fair

Day 3 was a visual treat for many of us at the NLS campus as our students put up a fantastic show of performances and showed off their talent through both Indian and Western musical and dance performances.

Earlier in the day, the Student Bar Association (SBA) conducted a session on student life at NLSIU where the new cohorts were introduced to the University’s Colleges, Committees, Collectives/Groups and more. Several student groups put up their stalls in the Library precinct which our new students visited to understand more about the related activities based on their interests.  The evening concluded with

Gallery

More photos of the Orientation sessions is available in the gallery below.