Speaker: Dr. Rahul Sud, founder, Lattice Semiconductor Corporation (LSCC)
Chair: Shri Suhas Borker, Trustee, IIC

Rahul Sud is the founder of Lattice Semiconductor Corporation. With a market capitalization of the order of $10 Billion, it is the world leader in Ultra low power Programmable Logic Devices. Lattice products are in use in 90% of the world electronics industry including consumer electronics, telecom, automotive, cell phones and data centers for artificial intelligence at the edge. Rahul was voted ‘Man of the Year: Semiconductor Memories’ in the USA for revolutionizing the design of “Static Random Access Memories” (SRAM). His 11 patents have garnered over $2.5 Billion as royalties from worldwide manufactures and the techniques developed are an industry standard.
 

Speaker: Prof. Shanta Sinha, formerly Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Hyderabad. Prof. Sinha is a recipient of the Padma Shri Award in 1998 by the Government of India, Albert Shanker International Educational Award, presented by Educational International in recognition of outstanding personal contribution for education in 1998; and Ramon Magsaysay Award, 2003 for community leadership

Chair: Prof. Sucheta Mahajan, formerly Professor, Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University

An intergenerational narrative on the social transformation of women across a century. Constructed from the forgotten memories about the lives of three generations of women in the speaker’s own family from the early twentieth century, and taking it beyond.

The lecture is based on the paper prepared by Prof. Shanta Sinha as part of the IIC Sectoral Policy Group on History

Surviving Annapurna – The Dangerous 8000 meter Mountain of the World

Illustrated lecture by Anurag Maloo, young Indian mountaineer who has successfully participated in mountaineering Expeditions to Mt. Nun (7135 m) in India and Mt. Ama Dablam (6812 m) in Nepal. An economic development consultant, startup mentor, social activist, engineer, and a global advocate for UN Sustainable Development Goals

Chair: Brig. Ashok Abbey (retd.)

An intriguing talk which recounts Anurag Maloo’s fall into a deep crevasse, during his Expedition to Mount Annapurna (8091 m). His experience of being in a frozen tomb for three days and three nights, his difficult rescue by his saviours especially by the two strong Polish climbers after a tedious and demanding rescue operation…

Ways of Renewing Designs with Communities, Another Way of Building

Discussants: Prof. Savyasaachi, Anthropologist, Professor and former Head, Dept. of Sociology, Jamia Millia Islamia; Prof. Snehanshu Mukherjee, Head of Interior Architecture and Design, Indian Institute of Art & Design, New Delhi; Anisha Shekhar Mukherji, Conservation Architect, author and Visiting Faculty, School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi; Kanchan Joneja, architect, design researcher and visual designer; and Dr. Prabir Das, architect and Consultant on Sustainable Architecture

A continuation of the IIC series of dialogues on architecture, Talking Architecture 13 will discuss ways of ‘Renewing Designs with Communities, Another Way of Building’, through examples of alternative design practices in the 2023 Routledge publication of the same name. The session is dedicated to the memory of Professor Ashish Ganju (1942-May 2021) and his enduring belief in ‘the ability to create well-being in our habitat, a promise inherent in the knowledge-base architecture’
 

Speaker: Prerna Singh Bindra, author, wildlife conservationist and was formerly a member of India’s National Board for Wildlife. Prerna has authored The Vanishing: India’s Wildlife Crisis published by Penguin Random House and co-edited Wild Treasures, an anthology on Natural World Heritage Sites of Asia. A board member of Hathi- Sathi Foundation which works to enable safe shared spaces for people and elephants in north-east India. She is currently pursuing her PhD at the University of Cambridge.

Chair: Ms Prakriti Srivastava, formerly Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Kerala and DIG (Wildlife), Min. of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

India has 42 of the world’s 50 most polluted cities; our rivers are sewers and is ranked second in deforestation after Brazil between 2015-2020. While these figures might be contested, there is no denying that India is an environment basket case, and our wildlife is in a crisis with even some endemic species ie. The Great Indian Bustard and the hangul facing extinction. While India has shown remarkable achievements in conserving endangered megafauna like tigers and Asian elephants, they stand threatened with India’s development juggernaut and consequent demand for energy, power and infrastructure. Troublingly, the legal, policy and institutional framework is being restructured to weaken safeguards protecting forests and wildlife. This lecture will dwell on the issues, explain why conservation matters and why it needs to be a mainstream electoral issue.


 

India and the Global South: Prospects & Challenges
Edited by Amb. Surendra Kumar (Wisdom Tree: 2024)
 
Discussants: Dr. Rajiv Kumar, economist and former Vice Chairman of Niti Aayog; Amb. Lakshmi M. Puri, former Ambassador and Founding Deputy Executive Director, UNWOMEN; Shri T.K. Arun, former Resident Editor, The Economic Times; and Amb. Surendra Kumar, Founder President, Indo-American Friendship Association and Editor of the book

Chair: Amb. Shyam Saran, President, IIC

Speakers: Prof. N. Sukumar, Professor, Dept. of Political Science, University of Delhi; Prof. Sanghamitra Sheel Acharya, Professor, Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Prof. Sumeet Mhaskar, Professor, Jindal School of Government and Public Policy, O.P. Jindal Global University; Prof. Y. S. Alone, Professor, Visual Studies, School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University; and Dr. Harish S. Wankhede, Assistant Professor, Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University
 
Moderator: Suhas Borker, Convener, Working Group on Alternative Strategies and Trustee, IIC
 
This discussion is part of the series on Social Justice and Empowerment  started in 2010 and held every year on 1 May to commemorate the life and work of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
 
(Collaboration: Maharashtra Sanskritik ani Rannaniti Adhyayan Samiti; and Working Group on Alternative Strategies)
 

Speaker: Prof. Baladas Ghoshal, former Professor of Southeast Asia and South-West Pacific Studies, and Chairman, Centre for South and Southeast Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. He was ICCR Chair in Indian Studies, Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow 2013; Honorary Distinguished Fellow, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies; and Visiting Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research

Chair: Amb. Rajiv Bhatia, Distinguished Fellow, Foreign Studies Programme, Gateway House

Over the course of the last year and a half, four national elections were held in countries of Southeast Asia, namely in Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and in Indonesia. Each one of them were consequential bringing about regime and policy changes. While the priorities in each of these countries were distinct, the common focus was political stability, economic development in the post Covid-period and foreign policy directed towards preservation of national sovereignty and balancing the major relations that were in turmoil due to the breakdown of understanding between the United States and China. The change in the political developments of these countries will have a major impact not only in the domestic politics of these countries, but also on regional developments as well as their approaches to the United States and China. More importantly, new challenges will emerge in India’s engagement with the region and will require calibrating and fine-tuning of strategies to deal with them.

Speaker: Dr. Kishore Singh, former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education. He has collaborated with the intellectual community and professional bodies for raising public debate on issues of critical importance for the realisation of the right to education. He remains engaged in fostering the cause of education, giving lectures at Universities and interacting with public institutions

Discussants: Shri J.S. Rajput, former Member of UNESCO Executive Board; and Dr. I.V. Subba Rao, former Secretary to the Vice President of India and former Chief of Literacy & Non-Formal Education, UNESCO, Paris

Chair: Prof. N.V. Varghese, former Vice-Chancellor, National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA)

Conceptualised by Prof. Himanshu Prabha Ray

God on the Hill – The Secret Life of Monuments

Illustrated lecture by Dr. Srikumar M. Menon, Associate Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies. An architect who specializes in ancient and early architecture of the Indian subcontinent, Srikumar’s academic interest focus on ancient architecture, prehistoric monuments, as well as later monuments, such as stupas and temples

Chair: Dr. Shashank Shekhar Sinha, Publishing Director, Taylor & Francis Group

The book, God on the Hill and Other stories is a collection of ten stories mostly set around ancient monuments and the sites they occupy. Inspired by locales, monuments and myths associated with them, encountered by the author during nearly two decades of fieldwork studying the ancient architecture of India, these stories focus attention to less-known aspects of these monuments. The talk will bring alive the remarkable monuments and locales which inspired the ten stories ranging from megalithic structures in Kerala and Karnataka and an early historic Buddhist stupa to an exquisite rock-cut temple on the Kumaon Himalaya