BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP
Satish Kumar: Abundant Love
By Jagdish Rattanani (Triarchy Press: 2023)
About the book:
Satish Kumar: Abundant Love is the first in a new book series covering "long-form conversations" with global leaders who offer us perspectives away from the dominant narratives of our times. The first book covers insights, experiences and reflections from Satish Kumar, a Jain monk who became a follower of Vinoba Bhave, then went on a global peace yatra during the 'Bay of Pigs' crisis and later went on to found Schumacher College in Devon, UK, at the Dartington Estate, which has connections going back to Raibndranath Tagore. Jagdish Rattanani is the editor of the book series, which also seeks to make the point that listening, engaging and learning can come from meaningful conversations. To help unpack complex issues, the book celebrates 30 hours (and more) of conversation rather
than the 30-second soundbite.
Speakers :
Shri Arun Maira, Former Chairman, Boston Consulting Group; Former Member, Planning Commission
Dr. Saamdu Chetri, Executive Director, GNH movement of Bhutan
Dr. Sudarshan Iyengar , Former Vice-Chancellor, Gujarat Vidyapith
Shri Jagdish Rattanani, Assistant Prof. SPJIMR ; Director, The Billion Press
Mapping Sustainable Agriculture
Changing Global Dynamics and Challenges for India in International Trade Negotiations
Speaker: Dr. Abhijit Das, international trade expert with more than two decades of experience in international trade and WTO in various capacities, including five years in trade policy making in the Government of India and twelve years as the Head of the Centre for WTO Studies, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi. His research and advocacy wok has played an important role defining the terms of debate on many issues including agriculture, government procurement and digital economy
Chair: Shri Siraj Hussain, Promoter Director, Arcus Policy Research Private Limited (APR)
Watch it Live
IIC-The Media Foundation Dialogues
AI and its Impact on Journalism: The Road Ahead
Chair: Harish Khare, President, The Media Foundation
Panelists: Ritu Kapur, Co-founder and Managing Director, Quint Digital Media; Sunil Abraham, Public Policy Director, Meta India and Samarth Bansal, Tech and Media Reporter
Moderator: Karishma Mehrotra, South Asia Correspondent, The Washington Post
OpenAI's Chat GPT has made the technology easily accessible to a vast number of people. However there are growing concerns over how artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to destroy the very nature of journalism
IIC-The Media Foundation Dialogues is a series of conversations that regularly discuss issues challenging the Fourth Estate. Featuring prominent voices and highlighting different perspectives, these interactions are a platform to promote debate, analysis and understanding.
NEIGHBOURHOOD FIRST
Coordinated by Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Ashok K. Mehta
Whither Pakistan: Trapped in Perpetuating Crisis
Panelists: Amb. Sharat Sabharwal, former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan; Ms Nirupama Subramanian, Editor, International Affairs, The Indian Express; and Shri Sushant Sareen, Senior Fellow, Observer Research Founation
Chair: Maj. Gen. Ashok K. Mehta
Pakistan’s present polycrises is not its first: but for the first time, the Army has been challenged directly in a civil-military confrontation. The panel will discuss the internal and external fallout of the current crises
BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP
Indus Basin Interrupted: A History of Territory and Politics from Alexander to Nehru
By Uttam Kumar Sinha (Vintage Books: 2022)
Discussants: Shri Sharat Sabharwal, former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan; Dr. D.V. Thareja, former Member, Central Water Commission; Dr. Ashok Behuria, Senior Fellow, MP-Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses; Col. D.P.K. Pillay (Retd.), Fellow, MP-Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses; and Dr. Uttam Kumar Sinha, Senior Fellow, MP-Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses and author of the book
Moderator: Shri K.N. Shrivastava, Director, IIC
Book Discussion Group
New Facets of Early Historical Archaeology and Buddhist Art and Architecture
Essays in Honour of Dr. R.C. Agrawal
Edited by C.B. Patil and Vinay Kumar (Sharada Publishing House: 2022)
Speakers:Dr Himanshu Prabha Ray, Sanskrit Scholar; Historian & Archaeologist; Dr. Alok Tripathi, Additional Director General (Archaeology), ASI; Sh. C. B. Patil, Former Deputy Superintending Archaeologist & Editor of the book; Prof. Vinay Kumar, Asst. Professor, Banaras Hindu University & Editor of the book
Chair : Sh. K. N. Shrivastava, Director, IIC
History and Heritage-The afterlife of Monuments
Curator: Prof. Himanshu Prabha Ray
Coins of the Realm: A Numismatic Overview of Eighteenth Century India
Illustrated lecture by Dr. Sanjay Garg, Deputy Director, National Archives of India and Officer on Special Duty, Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, Min. of Culture, Govt. of India. Dr. Garg is the author of many books on numismatics including Monetary Foundations of the Raj (Manohar & Routledge, 2019) and the edited volume The Raj and the Rajas: Money and Coinage in Colonial India (Routledge 2023)
Chair: Dr. Shashank Shekhar Sinha
The eighteenth century in India saw a unique blend of political, cultural, social, and economic transformations. The decline of the Mughal Empire from about the beginning of the eighteenth century and the political ascendency of the British East India Company, a number of revivalist powers (the Sikhs, the Marathas, the Rohillas etc.), and a horde of Indian princely states, was almost simultaneous. The talk will focus on the symbiotic relationships between various coins and currencies – which were in a constant state of flux, vis-à-vis multiple sovereign authorities during major political transitions during the eighteenth century India
Book Discussion Group
Free Trade Agreements: India and the World
By V.S. Seshadri (Oxford University Press: 2023)
Discussants: Dr. Harsha Vardhana Singh, former Deputy Director General, World Trade Organisation (WTO); Dr. Mohan Kumar, Former Ambassador of India to France, Dean, Strategic and International Initiatives & Professor of Diplomatic Practice, O.P. Jindal Global University; Dr. Sanjaya Baru, former Media Advisor to PMO, commentator and policy analyst; and Dr. V.S. Seshadri, former Indian Ambassador to Slovenia and Myanmar, Senior Fellow, Delhi Policy Group and author of the book
Chair: Amb. Shyam Saran, President, IIC
A Poetry Evening with Abhay K.
Abhay K. will read from his own anthology of poems as well as from his own translations of Kalidasa’s Meghaduta and Ritusamhara
Chair: Dr. Savita Singh
(Organised by IIC-International Research Division)
Panel discussion on Global South Priorities at COP28: Public Policy Innovations
Panelists: Shri Ram Boojh, former Senior Consultant, United Nations Environment Programme; Ms Parul Agarwala, Country Programme Manager, India at UN-Habitat; Shri Bhaskar Padigala, Head, Climate Hub, World Wide Fund for Nature India; and Shri Amit Jain, Senior Energy Specialist, The World Bank
Moderator: Dr. Anindita Sarkar, Professor, Dept. of Geography, Miranda House, University of Delhi
How can COP28 support technology transfer and capacity building in the Global South, including through financing and sharing of best practices and the promotion of south-south cooperation? While global policy frameworks like the Paris Agreement provide a broad framework for action on climate change, local communities and governments often have the most direct experience with the impacts of climate change. Effective adaptation and mitigation policies must therefore take into account local conditions, and be tailored to the specific needs and vulnerabilities of different communities
(Collaboration: The Geostrata; and Miranda House College)