India and the Kurdish People: Re-Starting a Civilizational Dialogue

Chair: K.N Shrivastava, Director, IIC

Moderator: Kallol Bhattacherjee, Journalist at The Hindu

Discussants: Miloon Kothari, Visiting Professor, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva; Arif Rhein, Kurdistan National Congress (KNK)

The cultures of India and West Asia are deeply interwoven. The millennia-old values and customs of the 60 million Kurds in Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria resemble those of the Indian subcontinent in many ways. How can this historical bond be transformed into practical relations today? What opportunities for cultural exchange exist?
 

BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP

Footsteps on the sands of Time
by Anil Golani (Notion Press, 2025)

Discussants: Dr. Usha Mujoo Munshi, Chief Librarian, IIC; Prof. Payal Nagpal, Poet & Professor, Dept of English Literature, Janki Devi Memorial College, University of Delhi; AVM Anil Golani, Director General, Centre for Aerospace Power and Strategic Studies and Author of the book

Chair: Amb Dinkar P. Srivastava, Former Ambassador to Iran and Distinguished Fellow, Vivekanand International Foundation

(Collaboration: Poetry Society of India)
 

BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP

The Alphabets of Africa
by Abhay K. (Vintage Classics, 2026)

Discussants: Author, Abhay K will be in conversation with Prof. Siddharth Mallavarapu, Professor at the Department of International Relations and Governance Studies at Shiv Nadar University.
 

How do we annihilate caste?
 

Moderator:  Suhas Borker, Convener, Working Group on Alternative Strategies
 

Discussants: Prof N. Sukumar, Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Delhi; Prof  Y. S. Alone, Professor of Visual Studies, School of Arts and Aesthetics, JNU; Prof  Sumeet  Mhaskar, Fulbright-Nehru Fellow, Department of Anthropology, University of Stanford (Online); Prof Ram Chandra, Professor of Hindi,  Centre of Indian Languages, JNU; Dr Rehnamol P. R., Associate Professor, Jindal Global Law School, O. P. Jindal Global University; Disha Wadekar, Advocate, Supreme Court of India  and member of CEDE (Community for the Eradication of Discrimination in Education and Employment)

The 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) 

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.

Book Discussion Group

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 Day Symposium 2026

Bandung to BRICS: Women, War and Peace

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

Welcome Address: K.N. Shrivastava, Director, IIC

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; Prof Uma Chakravarti, Former professor, Department of History, Miranda House, University of Delhi; Rita Manchanda, Independent consultant on Gender, Peace and Security on Southeast Asia; Prof 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

Vote of Thanks: Dr Sourindra Mohan Ghosh, Assistant Professor, Centre for Social Development

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)

INDIAN ARCHAEOLOGY

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