KFN Internships

Bharat - A cultural-economic network of millions of wealth-creators Pedagogy: Immersion

Nagarjuna

Duration: 8-10 weeks

Known as the second Buddha, he had discovered the alchemy of transmuting base metals into gold. He was appointed as Chancellor of the famous University of Nalanda. Interestingly, he is also considered as one of the most important Buddhist philosophers after Gautam Buddha.

Varahamihira

Duration: 6 to 12 months

Proposed that the Moon and planets are lustrous not because of their own light but due to sunlight. In the Brhat Samhita he has revealed his discoveries in the domains of geography, constellation, science, botany and animal science. Varahamihira in 550 AD have described a large number of comets in the Brhat Samhita. He also predicted the presence of water on Mars. Like Aryabhata before him, he declared that the earth was spherical. In his treatise on botanical science, Varahamihir presents cures for various diseases afflicting plants and trees.

Chanak

Duration: 18 to 24 months

Vishnu Gupta or Kautilya was the teacher of Chandragupta Maurya. He served as a minister in the court of Chandragupta and Bindusara. He authored the ancient Indian political treatise called Arthasastra. Chanakya is considered as the pioneer of the field of economics and political science and his work is thought of as an important precursor to Classical Economics. Chanakya’s works predate Machiavelli’s by about 1,800 years. Chanakya was a teacher in Takshashila, an ancient centre of learning.

Model NITI Aayog

Duration: 3 Months

Model NITI Aayog is a 3 month academic research internship for students interested in public policy. The internship program is facilitated through debates, moderated discussions and quizzes which help students gain essential skills for rational analysis, problem solving and critical thinking.

Nagarjuna

Duration: 8-10 weeks

Known as the second Buddha, he had discovered the alchemy of transmuting base metals into gold. He was appointed as Chancellor of the famous University of Nalanda. Interestingly, he is also considered as one of the most important Buddhist philosophers after Gautam Buddha.

Target group: Students pursuing undergraduate or postgraduate studies

Internships are compulsory for professional courses (e.g. Engineering & Business Studies) currently regulated by AICTE in India

National Education Policy 2020 has made Real World Exposure and Impact an integral part of all Higher Education Programs (encouraging up to 40% of overall program credits for some professional courses like Engineering & Management via real world projects / internships / implementations)

National Education Policy 2020 indicates a shift towards a more modular approach to curriculum which is to be supported by an educational “credit bank” so a credible institution can provide high quality experiential (real world) modules

Students in top American and European Universities encourage students to travel internationally for global internships and exposure to enrich their educational experience.


Expectations and Deliverables:

All participants are expected to read / view material sent / made available

Personal Reflection:

Participants are expected to upload a 14 minutes (min) to 19 minutes (max) audio-visual on their journey and learnings through the Internship on the KFN link provided

Along with a 1400 (min) to 2000 (max) words document which should include original images, photographs, etc.

Visit / explore one local / traditional / bazaar / market

Identify and report at least 5 business types that developed and dominate the market/bazaar.
  • Analyse and write a short report on the dominant business types in 500 words (max).

Make and upload 14 (min) to 19 (max) minutes audio-visual highlighting history and culture of the traditional bazaar. Interview of at least 10 people.

Research about one traditional production cluster near to your town of residence or near where your family might have their roots

Make and upload an audio-visual documentary 

Write a report 1500 words (min) highlighting:

  • The unique products and / or services made there, for how long, and which community / families have been traditionally involved in making and evolving / innovating these products or services over the years, how many generations?
  • How were and are these unique products made there?
  • Why ae they made there? (History and Supply side reasons)
  • Unique skills of all the groups of people / communities who are involved in the overall making these unique products / services

Internet and virtual spaces: The cauldron of new and emergent cultural-economic activity

Create your own blog / web-space (platform to be provided by KFN)

Publish work done by you during your internship

Attract and get comments from at least 25 people (friends and family) for the work published by you on KFN platform

Varahamihira

Duration: 6 to 12 months

Proposed that the Moon and planets are lustrous not because of their own light but due to sunlight. In the Brhat Samhita he has revealed his discoveries in the domains of geography, constellation, science, botany and animal science. Varahamihira in 550 AD have described a large number of comets in the Brhat Samhita. He also predicted the presence of water on Mars. Like Aryabhata before him, he declared that the earth was spherical. In his treatise on botanical science, Varahamihir presents cures for various diseases afflicting plants and trees.

Target group: Students in school

Indian students in grade 11 preparing to pursue higher education in a top-ranking Universities in America, Europe, Israel, Singapore, Australia, or Japan.

International Students on break year before joining University


Expectations and Deliverables:

All participants are expected to read / view material sent / made available

Personal Reflection:

Participants are expected to upload a 14 minutes (min) to 19 minutes (max) audio-visual on their journey and learnings through the Internship on the KFN link provided

Along with a 1400 (min) to 2000 (max) words document which should include original images, photographs, etc.

Visit and explore three traditional / bazaar / market across the country. For each:

Identify and report at least 5 business types that developed and dominate the market/bazaar.

  • Analyse and write a short report on the dominant business types in 500 words (max).

Make and upload 14 (min) to 19 (max) minutes audio-visual highlighting history and culture of the traditional bazaar. Interview and record of at least 15 stakeholders of these bazaars

Visit and research three traditional production clusters across the country with one near where your family might have their roots. For each:

Make and upload an audio-visual documentary 

Write a report 1500 words (min) highlighting:

  • The unique products and / or services made there, for how long, and which community / families have been traditionally involved in making and evolving / innovating these products or services over the years, how many generations?
  • How were and are these unique products made there?
  • Why ae they made there? (History and Supply side reasons)
  • Unique skills of all the groups of people / communities who are involved in the overall making these unique products / services

Internet and virtual spaces: The cauldron of new and emergent cultural-economic activity

  • Create your own blog / web-space (platform to be provided by KFN)
  • Publish work done by you during your internship
  • Attract and get comments from at least 25 people (friends and family) for the work published by you on KFN platform    

Chanak

Duration: 18 to 24 months

Vishnu Gupta or Kautilya was the teacher of Chandragupta Maurya. He served as a minister in the court of Chandragupta and Bindusara. He authored the ancient Indian political treatise called Arthasastra. Chanakya is considered as the pioneer of the field of economics and political science and his work is thought of as an important precursor to Classical Economics. Chanakya’s works predate Machiavelli’s by about 1,800 years. Chanakya was a teacher in Takshashila, an ancient centre of learning.

Target group: Open

Corporates – want to invest in building capability to do business in Bharat.

Individuals - who are passionate about and want to know more about why Bharat was the “Golden Bird”.


Expectations and Deliverables:

All participants are expected to read / view material sent / made available

Personal Reflection:

Participants are expected to upload a 14 minutes (min) to 19 minutes (max) audio-visual on their journey and learnings through the Internship on the KFN link provided

Along with a 1400 (min) to 2500 (max) words document which should include original images, photographs, etc.

Visit / explore two local / traditional / bazaar / market

Identify and report at least 5 business types that developed and dominate in each of the markets / bazaars.

  • Analyse and write a short report on the dominant business types in 500 words (max) for each.

Make and upload three 14 (min) to 19 (max) minutes audio-visual highlighting history and culture of the traditional bazaar. Interview of at least 25 people.

Visit and research two traditional production cluster across India of which one should be nearto your town of residence or near where your family might have their roots. For each:

Make and upload an audio-visual documentary of approximately 30 minutes

Write a report 1500 words (min) highlighting:

  • The unique products and / or services made there, for how long, and which community / families have been traditionally involved in making and evolving / innovating these products or services over the years, how many generations?
  • How were and are these unique products made there?
  • Why ae they made there? (History and Supply side reasons)
  • Unique skills of all the groups of people / communities who are involved in the overall making these unique products / services

Identify and visit where any one crop / fruit / vegetable, native to India e.g. pineapple, has been farmed.

Make a 30-minute documentary highlighting:

  • Its traditional and sustainable ecologically informed farming techniques
  • Varieties throughout history: How? Why? By who were they developed / invented and Why?
  • Interview at least 20 cultivators - of which at least 5 should be above 70 years of age 
  • The soil properties, climatic, water type, seasonality, geographic sensitivities, local flora & fauna eco-system
  • Cultural significance, traditional, folk stories, or Vedic references if any
  • Specific communities that may have farmed
  • Uses as food, medicinal (naturopathic / ayurvedic / APIs), yarn / fabric (clothing or technical textile) including how extraction was done.

Visit two faith based cultural hubs. E.g. Tirupati temple in A.P. For each:

Prepare a research report which includes:

  • Pilgrim inflows, nature, volume, and patterns of offerings
  • Architecture, materials used and scientific sophistication of its design
  • The specific rituals informed by the consecrated deity
  • UTrust in charge and search for published data on collections and offerings.
  • From the collections data do a valuation based only on the annualised collections / donations / offerings of cash
  • Develop tradable debt instruments based only on the data of collections available

Internet and virtual spaces: The cauldron of new and emergent cultural-economic activity

Create your own blog / web-space (platform to be provided by KFN)

Publish work done by you during your internship

Attract and get comments from at least 25 people (friends and family) for the work published by you on KFN platform

Viva by an independent panel of experts to award fellowships to outstanding participants

Model NITI Aayog

Duration: 3 Months

Model NITI Aayog is a 3 month academic research internship for students interested in public policy. The internship program is facilitated through debates, moderated discussions and quizzes which help students gain essential skills for rational analysis, problem solving and critical thinking.

Target group: High school students and undergraduates with keen interest in India centric policy dialogue.

What is Model NITI Aayog?

Model NITI Aayog is a 3 month academic research internship for students interested in public policy. The internship program is facilitated through debates, moderated discussions and quizzes which help students gain essential skills for rational analysis, problem solving and critical thinking.

The 4E Philosophy

Engage on issues of contemporary importance through moderated discussions and strategic puzzles.

Educate students about policy making process and develop critical thinking abilities

Enrich dialogue and improve participation of youth in public policy by providing a platform to publish model policy documents

Evolve into a community for proactive participation in public policy.


Expectations and Deliverables:

Model Policy Document

All interns are expected to publish a well researched and authentic model policy document bringing to fore the best practices and innovation from grassroots.

The model policy document should be the original work of intern and should analyse the knowledge that can be harnessed from rural India.

The interns are also expected to record themselves presenting the abstract of the policy document in a 15-minute video.

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