Safe and Unsafe: how design choices help women online 

Speakers: Sabina Dewan, President and ED, JustJobs Network; Rwitwika Bhattacharya, CEO of Swaniti Initiative; Supriya Paul, Founder, Josh Talks; Tarunima Prabhakar, Co-Founder, Tattle; and Saranya Gopinath, Head, Public Policy, Razorpay

Moderator: Ms Mahima Kaul, Head Public Policy, Bumble APAC and former Public Policy Director, Twitter India

A well designed platform, with progressive policies and product features, can help offer ‘safe spaces’ for women online. Conversely, it is often found that points of vulnerability – be it harassment, fraud, even a confusing interface – can negatively impact women’s participation. How are women leaders across different sectors – employment, skilling, content, financial services – thinking about these issues?

ASI  Outside India

Conservation of Iconic Monuments in South-East Asia

Illustrated lecture by Shri Janhwij Sharma, Additional Director General  (Conservation, World Heritage), Archaeological Survey of India
 

Speakers: Col. (Dr.) Divakaran Padma Kumar Pillay, Research Fellow, Manohar Parikkar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses; and Dr. T.K. Vinod Kumar, IPS, Additional Director General of Police (Int.), Kerala Police

Chair: Dr. Adil Rasheed, Research Fellow and Coordinator of the Counter Terrorism Centre, Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses

Communal riots and terrorist attacks are one of the most extreme forms of violence that can occur in any society. It not only causes serious damage to property and loss of life, but also damages the social fabric. Communal conflicts also provide a fertile ground for rise of terror groups and the occurrence of terrorist attacks. Such conflicts and violence pose an existential threat to a diverse, multi religious democratic society. It is therefore the primary function of the state and the administration to monitor, prevent, and control the occurrence of communal conflict and terrorism in any society.
Kerala is one of the states in India with a high degree of religious diversity. While the diversity enhances the social and cultural vibrance of the society, it has posed a challenge for the rulers and administrators of the state historically. On the basis of a historic analyses of the relations between religious groups in the state, the talk addresses the challenges, tools, and processes of maintaining communal relationship in contemporary Kerala.

Speakers:  Dr. Mujibur Rehman, Assistant Professor, Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, Jamia MIllia Islamia; Dr. Harish S. Wankhede, Assistant Professor, Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Dr. Ananya Vajpeyi, Associate Professor, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi; and 
Prof. Mary E. John, Professor of Women's Studies, Senior Fellow and former Director, Centre for Women's Development Studies, New Delhi 

Moderator: Suhas Borker, Managing Trustee, D. S. Borker Memorial Foundation and Editor, Citizens First TV (CFTV)

This is the eighth annual seminar in the series 'Keys to Governance'; the earlier seven 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) and Constitutional Morality (2022).          
 
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)       

Anticipating Environmentalism: Patrick Geddes and his Indore Report (1918)

Illustrated lecture by Abhilash Khandekar, journalist based in Bhopal with a special interest in the work of Patrick Geddes and has brought out an edition of the classic Indore Report

Chair: Snehanshu Mukherjee, architect, Founder Partner of TEAM

The talk will explore Patrick Geddes’ famous town planning report and his ideas on urbanism and sustainable environments
 

Speakers: Prof. Surajit Mazumdar, Professor of Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Prof. Partha Sen, former Professor of Economics, Delhi School of Economics; Prof. Farzana Afridi, Professor, Economics and Planning Unit, Indian Statistical Institute and Visiting Senior Fellow, Department of Economics, National University of Singapore (joins from Singapore); Prof. Vikas Rawal, Professor of Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University; and Dr Zakaria Siddiqui, Visiting Fellow, Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation, Thiruvananthapuram (joins from Canberra)

Moderator: Suhas Borker, Convener, Working Group on Alternative Strategies and Editor, Citizens First TV (CFTV)

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Working Group on Alternative Strategies

Is there any reasonable prospect of the Covid pandemic marking a transition from industrial stagnation to industrial revival? Post-Covid the bottom end of the income distribution is struggling. What is the macroeconomic policy framework? In this is there a role for pro-poor growth? Has the allocation for public health and public education increased? What is the state of employment in India? Is India facing a crisis in its labour market? The agricultural sector continues to remain in a neglected catastrophic mess: agriculture’s share in India’s economy is less than 15% but two-thirds of India’s families depend on rural incomes and the majority of India’s poor live in rural areas. Is chronic hunger widespread in India? Do statistics on hunger and food insecurity correctly capture the Indian reality? Why do Indian children continue to suffer from malnutrition? What is the evidence from National Family Health Survey-5?

(Collaboration: Working Group on Alternative Strategies) 

Speaker: Mr. Kedir Awol Omar, Head of Regional Delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in New Delhi, India (also covers Nepal, Maldives and Bhutan). He has also headed the ICRC operations in conflict affected areas like Sudan, Yemen, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Palestine, Nepal, Ethiopia and has worked with conflict related issues, humanitarian diplomacy and developing partnerships in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran and South Africa

Chair: Amb. K.P. Fabian, Professor, Symbiosis University and Indian Society of International Law, New Delhi

The work of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is based on the Geneva Conventions of 1949, their Additional Protocols, its Statutes – and those of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement – and the resolutions of the International Conferences of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.

The ICRC is an independent, neutral organisation ensuring humanitarian protection and assistance for victims of armed conflict and other situations of violence. It takes action in response to emergencies and at the same time promotes respect for international humanitarian law and its implementation in national law.

Obviously, it follows that humanity facing so many war and conflict situations, is deeply indebted to ICRC

Lead presentation by Dr. Rajnish Karki who specialises in strategy and organisation design. Dr. Karki has advised business groups, multinational corporations, professional firms and institutions, government and allied entities at the centre and in Uttarakhand

Discussants: Amb. Kanwal Sibal, former Indian Foreign Secretary; and Shri K.N. Shrivastava, Director, IIC 

Chair: Shri Gurcharan Das, author, Commentator, Public Intellectual

The government is the pivotal instrument for realising India’s potential and aspirations. Efficacy of its organisational construct or the design is thus critical. Rajnish Karki in a recent IIC Quarterly article, ‘Organising the Indian Government: Where We Stand, and Could’, traced the patterns in its evolution and the challenges going further. There is indeed a strong case for the organisational reforms and being innovative, ahead of the curve. The panel delves into the ‘whats’ of right design and structure-process-cultural elements and the ‘hows’ of making it ready for the future.

Architectural Adventurism in 19th Century India: Begum Samru’s Sardhana Church

Illustrated lecture by Prof. Jyoti Pandey Sharma, Professor of Architecture, School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi. She engages with issues of architectural and urban history and heritage and is widely published.

Chair: Dr. A.G.K. Menon

Operating against the backdrop of the politically fluid and culturally hybrid environment of the Indian subcontinent during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, this talk examines the ecclesiastical architectural feats of Begum Samru, Bibi of a German mercenary; subsequent ruler of Sardhana, a Jagir, near Delhi, and a zealous advocator of Christianity. It is argued that the Begum resorted to what can be termed as an ‘Architectural Adventurism’, to mark her identity as a devout Catholic. 

Speaker: Prof. Michael Grubb, Professor of Energy and Climate Change, University College of London. Since leading the Energy and Environmental Programme at Chatham House in the 1990s, his career has combined a wide range of energy systems and climate change research with half-time implementation roles. He is Strategy Director for a major international research programme on the Economics of Energy Innovation and System Transition. Prof. Grubb is the author of eight books, over sixty journal research articles and numerous other publications

Introduction: Prof. Shreekant Gupta, Professor, Dept. of Economics, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi

Chair: Shri Shyam Saran, President, IIC

Michael Grubb will summarise some of the key insights from the IPCC Mitigation Report published earlier this year, drawing on his experiences as Convening Lead Author for the first chapter.  After briefly setting the scene on climate change, he will focus on new insights in the IPCC report, highlighting areas of progress, and continuing challenges in national and global responses to climate change - including relationships between climate mitigation and sustainable development in the context of continuing deep inequalities.  Drawing also on debates amongst the IPCC authors, he will argue that we are in the midst of a major transition in our understanding of the climate change problem, and potential solutions – including some implications for international cooperative approaches.