Celebration of the Power of Non-Violent Action & the Life of Martin Luther King Jr (15 January 1929 – 4 April 1968) & Commemoration of the 54th Anniversary of the Gandhi-King Memorial Plaza

10:30 to 11:00 at Gandhi-King Memorial Plaza
Commemoration Service 
Songs by Choirs of Schools from Delhi NCR

11:15 to 12:15 at C. D. Deshmukh Auditorium
Interactive Session 
Theme of the Interactive Session: "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy".
- Martin Luther King, Jr., (Strength to Love, Harper & Row edition, published June,1963)

During the Interactive Session a short film on Martin Luther King's Life shall be screened 
Address by H.E. Eric Garcetti, U.S. Ambassador to India

Moderators: Shri Suhas Borker, Convener, Working Group on Alternative Strategies
Shri Ramesh Sharma, Gandhi Yuva Biradari

Students from Schools of Delhi NCR to participate 

This programme is part of the Taking Children to Gandhi series that brings children closer to the enduring legacy of Gandhi’s non-violent struggle for equity, justice, pluralism and sustainable development

Gandhi-King Memorial Plaza was inaugurated on 21 January 1970 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and commemorates two iconic figures of our times: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.
 
(Collaboration: Gandhi Yuva Biradari; and Working Group on Alternative Strategies)
 

A Dastangoi performance on the great Thumri singer, Naina Devi
Scripted and performed by Mahmood Farooqui

Presented by the Naina Devi Foundation and Dastangoi Collective

Known to the world as the doyen of Thumri, the life of Naina Devi, Padma Shri, traversed many worlds - Thumri, Dadra and Ghazal singer, Institution builder, indefatigable benefactor of artistes and a Sufi at heart. This Dastangoi performance begins with Wajid Ali Shah and his exile to Matiya Burj and ends with her demise in 1993, by which time Delhi had become an established centre for Hindustani Classical Music substantially thanks to Naina Devi’s efforts and tireless activities 
 

Political Economy of Development in the Global South Post-Covid-19 Pandemic

Edited by Hebattalah Adam & Ravinder Rena (Springer; 2023)

Discussants: Amb. Gurjit Singh, former Ambassador of India to Germany, Indonesia and Japan; Prof. V. Upadhyay, former Professor and Head, Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Delhi; and Prof. Hebattallah Adam, Associate Professor & Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs; Director, Jindal Centre for the Global South, Jindal School of International Affairs and co-Editor of the book

Moderator: Dr. Chisom Ubabukoh, Assistant Professor, Jindal Global Law School and Associate Fellow, Higher Education Academy, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonepat

Odissi Recital

By Supriya Chatterjee from Kolkata, disciple of Guru Giridhari Nayak

At 19:00
Bharatnatyam Recital

By Gayathri Ravikumar from Delhi, daughter and disciple of Guru Supriya Ravikumar
 

Climate Change, Public Health and Equity

Speaker: Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, Chairperson, M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation. A pediatrician and a globally recognised researcher on tuberculosis and HIV, Dr. Swaminathan is the former Chief Scientist of World Health Organisation (WHO) where she played a key role during the pandemic in coordinating scientific efforts at the WHO, as well as in setting up Covax, with a focus on equitable vaccine distribution to LMICs.

Chair: Shri Shyam Saran, President, IIC

Illustrated talk by Prof. Ajay Sinha, Julie ’73 and Helene ’48 Herzig Professor, Art History and Architectural Studies Department, Mount Holyoke College. 

Chair: Dr. Yaamniney Mubayi, Culture and Community Development

The talk is based on an art historian’s discovery of over one hundred black and white photographs of Ram Gopal, pioneer of Indian classical dance, taken in New York City in 1938 by an American photographer, Carl Van Vechten. The unpublished and extensive record shows the dancer taking on a variety of poses wearing gorgeous costumes, while the photographer changes fabric backgrounds and studio lighting for full views, mid-shots and close-ups. Examining the stunning record closely, Sinha will build a story of a layered conversation taking place between the Indian dancer and the American photographer, who encounter each other in New York for the first time

Living a Positive Old Age

Speaker: Dr. Harshbir Rana, Founder and CEO, Positive Aged

A Concert by Vidya Shah, well-known vocalist, disciple of Smt. Shubha Mudgal and Smt. Shanti Hiranand

Script and Narration by Chandrasekhar Tampi

Accompanists: Kamal Ahmed Khan(Sarangi);Shanti Bhushan Jha(Tabla) and Ashique Kumar(Harmonium).

(Collaboration: Women on Record) 

Speakers: Dr. Rakesh Batabyal, Associate Professor, Centre for Media Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University;
Bharat Bhushan, South Asia Editor, 360 info; N. R. Mohanty, Senior journalist; and  Bhasha Singh, Senior journalist and writer
 
Moderator: Suhas Borker, Managing Trustee, D. S. Borker Memorial Foundation, Editor Citizens First TV (CFTV) and Trustee, IIC

This is the ninth annual seminar in the series 'Keys to Governance'; the earlier eight seminars in the series were on 'Compliance and Delivery' (2016), 'Political Will' (2017) , 'Constitution as Ideology' (2018), 'Education as Empowerment' (2019)  'Steel Frame' (2020), Independence of Judiciary (2021), Constitutional Morality (2022) and Social and Communal Harmony (2023).
 
The annual seminar is held in remembrance of Shekhar Borker, 'Banana Boy' on the Indian postage stamp, private sector administrator, citizen environmentalist and advocate of empowerment of persons of disabilities who passed away in 2015 on 7 January.       
 
(Collaboration: D. S. Borker Memorial Foundation)
 

WEBINAR 

  East & West: Stories of India

 By Catherine Ann Jones (Pippa Rann Books; 2024)

Moderator: Prof. Sukrita Paul Kumar, Poet & Critic 

Panelists:  Prof. Sachin C. Ketkar, Dept. of English, Faculty of Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao Univ. of Baroda, Gujarat; Mr. Roger Edwin Mark Lee, American Foundation Administrator and Ms. Catherine Ann Jones, Author of the Book