Working for an Equal World

Panel Discussion by leading women from Northeast

Panelists: Ms Patricia Mukhim, social activist, writer, journalist and Editor of The Shillong Times; Prof Rakhee Kalita Moral, Professor and Head Department of English and Chair, Centre for Women’s Studies Cotton University; Dr Stuti Goswami, Associate Professor, Department of English, The Assam Royal Global University, Guwahati; and Dr Purnima Devi Barman, Indian wildlife biologist

Moderator: Sanjoy Hazarika, writer, journalist and human rights activist

Chair: Rami Chhabra, veteran media person, author and social activist
 

Role of Women in Politics in India- Then and Now

With Aparajita Sarangi; Bansuri Swaraj, Atishi, Sudha Ramakrishnan, and Iqra Hasan

Chair: Sonia Singh, former Editorial Director, Anchor, NDTV Group

‘Women, Work, Resilience and Peace

SEWA’s role in Empowerment of Women in India’s informal economy

Keynote Speaker: Reema Nanavaty, Director SEWA

Chair: Dr Bina Agarwal, Professor of Development Economics and Environment, Global Development Institute, University of Manchester, UK; former Director, Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi

Video Screening of “Swacch Aakash” followed by summary Remarks

Women in Architecture in India: Changing the Historical Canon

Illustrated talk by Madhavi Desai, architect, researcher and writer

Chair: Mr Abhay Purohit, President, Council of Architecture, Nagpur

Breaking the Frame: Women’s Shifting Roles in Media

Panel discussion with Malini Parthasarthy, Sunetra Choudhury and Neerja Chowdhury

Chair: Sonia Singh, former Editorial Director, Anchor, NDTV Group

Navarasa: Kavya Sankalan

By Anita Chand and Manoj Krishanan (Novoquill Publications, 2024)

Discussants: Mandira Ghosh, poet, author & researcher; Renu Hussain, author, poet & educator; Manoj Krishnan, poet & founder & The Asian Literary Society & Author of the book; Ms. Anita Chand, Poet, Administrator, Asia Literary Society and author of the book

Chair: Dr. Amarendra Khatua, former Secretary, MEA and DG, ICCR & poet

Souls in the Kalyug: The Politics and Cosmologies of Migrant Workers in Contemporary India

By Shankar Ramaswami (Permanent Black, 2025)

Discussants: Purushottam Agrawal, former Chair, Centre of Indian Languages, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Uma Chakravarti, Former Professor, Department of History, Miranda House, Delhi University; Nandini Sundar, Prof, Department of Sociology, Delhi University; Aseem Shrivastava, scholar, writer, and ecological thinker; Shankar Ramaswami, Professor of Sociology, O. P. Jindal Global University and author of the book

Chair : Sh. Ajay Singh Mehta, Former Executive Director, National Foundation for India

Reimagining India's Economy: The Road to a More Equitable Society

By Arun Maira (Speaking Tiger, 2025)

Discussants: Yet to be finalized

Echoes of the Past : Deep Threads of Indian Diplomacy

By Lakhan Mehrotra (Heritage Publishers, 2025)

Discussants: Dr. Amit Kapoor, Chairman, Institute of Competitiveness; Amb. Harsh Vardhan Shringla, Member, Rajya Sabha (TBC) ; Dr. Bhavna Jaisingh, academic (TBC) ; Amb Lakhan Mehrotra, author of the book

Chair: Dr. Karan Singh, eminent author and scholar

South Asian countries rank among the least open to international trade and finance, with very high tariffs and non-tariff trade costs. Amidst a changing global environment and the reshaping of supply chains, can lowering trade barriers serve as an engine of growth and job creation in the region.

The event will discuss the latest edition of the World Bank’s bi-annual flagship Report South Asia Development Update, which examines the region’s current economic landscape and explores the labor market implications of trade reforms.

(Collaboration: The World Bank)