The Iran War: Geopolitics at the Edge of a New World Order

The ongoing tensions surrounding Iran signal a critical inflection point in global geopolitics, with far-reaching implications for regional stability, energy security, and shifting power alignments. The discussion will explore how these developments may reshape the contours of an emerging world order.

Chair:  Amb Saurabh Kumar, Former Ambassador of India to EU and Iran  

Discussants: Prof. (Dr.) C. Raja Mohan, Visiting Research Professor, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore;  ; U.K. Sinha, Diplomat and Former Chairperson, SEBI; Happymon Jacob,  Distinguished Visiting Professor, Shiv Nadar University, Founder & Director, Council for Strategic and Defence Research, Editor, INDIA’S WORLD magazine. 

Morning Twilight: Poems
 

By Jayshree Misra Tripathi (Speaking Tiger, 2026)

Chair: Dr. Amarendra Khatua, Former Diplomat, Author and Poet

Discussants:  Prof Kalyani Dutta, Translator and Academic; Dr. Sanjeev Chopra, Historian, Columnist and Festival Director; Mandira Ghosh, Poet, Author and Researcher and Jayshree Misra Tripathi, Writer, Former Educationist & Author of the book

Bandung to BRICS: Women, War and Peace

Chair: Prof K Srinath Reddy, President, Council for Social Development

Introductory Remarks: Prof Rama Baru, Jindal Global University, Former Professor of JNU; Prof Manoranjan Mohanty, Former Professor, University of Delhi

Speakers: Prof. (Dr.) Anuradha Mitra Chenoy, Adjunct Professor, Jindal School of International Affairs & Dean and Professor in the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Meera Shankar, Former Indian Ambassador to the United States of America and Germany; Uma Chakravarty, Former professor, Department of History, Miranda House, University of Delhi; Rita Manchanda, Independent consultant on Gender, Peace and Security on Southeast Asia; Vasanthi Raman, Social Scientist, Feminist Activist; Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj, formerly India's Permanent Representative at the UN

Discussant: Dr Rityusha Mani Tiwary, Bhagat Singh College, DU, Convener, Bandung India Network

Keeping the Bandung Principles of 1955 in mind, as India prepares to host the 18th BRICS Summit later this year, the discussants would address, from the vantage point of women, issues that have led to recent wars and how to build conditions of peace in contemporary times.

(Collaboration: Council for Social Development)

Nishka, The Earliest Indian Gold Coin
 

Speaker: Prof. Buddha Rashmi Mani, Former Director General, National Museum and Vice Chancellor, National Institute of Heritage Management. Awarded Padma Shri by the Government of India (2026) for his distinguished services in the field of archaeology.  

Chair:  K. N. Shrivastava, Director, IIC

Numismatists were silent about the identification of Nishka. In a recent study of the so called disc shaped gold beads with the central hole, found in less numbers from Harappan sites and found at Mandi in UP in 2000 with a number of no less than 5000 such pieces, of which 1547 are on display in the National Museum, New Delhi, the speaker has argued that they are the physical evidence of ancient nishkas and we can suggest that nishkas were used as gold coins in the 3rd millennium BCE.

AI-Friendly Newsrooms
Reimagining Journalism in the time of AI 

The Ethics Framework (The “Why”)
•    Transparency: Protocols for “AI-assisted” disclosures
•    Human-in-the-Loop: Editorial oversight to prevent bias and inaccuracies
Streamlining Production (The “How”)
•    Automated Layouts: Multi-platform publishing templates
•    Transcription & Translation: ASR tools and multilingual workflows
•    Visual Storytelling: AI-driven data analysis and visualisation
Audience Engagement & Distribution
•    Hyper-Personalisation: Machine learning for content recommendations
•    Text-to-Speech: Audio formats for long-form journalism
Closing Remarks & Q&A
Summary of key takeaways and audience interaction.
 

Speakers: Sanjay Kapoor, President, EGi; Editor, Hardnews; Siddharth Varadarajan, Founding Editor, The Wire; Sanket Upadhyay, Founder, Double Check; Pradeep Gairola, Chief Digital Business Officer, The Hindu; and Nandagopal Rajan, Chief Executive Officer (Digital), The Indian Express; and others.
 

(Collaboration: Editors Guild of India)
 

The Gift of Presence

Discussants: Dr. Saroj Dubey, senior consultant gastroenterologist, author, TEDx speaker, and motivational guide; Prof. (Dr.) Charru Sharma, Professor of Psychology at the University of Delhi, Fulbright Academic & Professional Excellence Award at University of Pennsylvania, USA; Ritu Bhardwaj, journalist and storyteller and founder of Connected – Woman for Woman and Connected Minds Wellness.

A seminar to promote awareness about mindfulness and well-being; to introduce practical tools to manage stress and anxiety and to foster a space for dialogue, reflection, and shared experience.

The flow of the session will be as follows:
•    The Dance of Being and Doing – Strategies to Bring Joy and Peace Amidst Activity
•    Building the Mindfulness Muscle and Resilience in Daily Life
•    The Power of Sharing – Healing Through Expression

Harvesting Gods: Poems
By Satya Mohanty (Speaking Tiger, 2025)

Discussants: Anisur Rahman, Former Professor, Dept. of English; Radha Chakravarty, Writer, Critic & Translator; Satya Mohanty, Poet, Playwright and Author of the book.

Chair: Ashok Vajpeyi , Poet, Critic and Essayist
 

The Jallianwala Bagh Journals: Political Lives of Memory
By Sarmistha Dutta Gupta (Jadavpur University Press, 2025)

Discussants: Uma Chakravarty, Historian and Film-maker, formerly of Miranda House College for Women, Urvashi Butalia, Writer, Researcher and Publisher; Madan Gopal Singh, Composer, Lyricist, Singer and Critic; Sarmistha Dutta Gupta, Independent Researcher, Writer and Author of the book

Moderator: Sucheta Mahajan, Historian, formerly of the Centre for Historical Studies, JNU
 

Riding with the Silver Wolf 
By  Bindiya Bedi Charan Noronha  (Red River, 2025)

Discussants: Sagari Chabbra, Writer and Film Director; Samar Singh Jodha, Photographer and Artist; Shalini Mullick, Writer; Mandira Ghosh, Poet, Author and Researcher; Bindiya Bedi Charan Noronha, Writer, Social Worker, Educationist, Bibliotherapist & Author of the book

Chair:   Dr. Amarendra Khatua, Former Secretary, MEA & DG, ICCR & Poet
 

Rising Ambition: Carving New Pathways- India’s Energy Transition

By Ajay Shankar (The Energy and Resources Institute, TERI, 2024)

Discussants:  Amitabh Kant, Former sherpa G20 and CEO,Niti Ayog;Dr Sanjaya Baru, Former Media Advisor to PMO,Commentary and Policy Analyst; Ajay Shankar, Distinguished fellow, TERI and Author of the book.

Chair: Shyam Saran, President, IIC

Moderator: Dr Ipshita Mitra, Manager, Communication and Stakeholder Engagement