BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP 
India and Africa: Legacy of Exchanges and Cultural Affinities
edited by H.H.S. Viswanathan and K.N. Shrivastava (Konark Publishers Pvt Ltd)

Welcome remarks: K.N. Shrivastava, Director, IIC
Discussants: Prof. Ajay Dubey, Chair, Centre for African Studies, JNU & Secretary-General, African Studies Association of India; Prof. Nandini C. Sen, Bharti College, Delhi University; Ruchita Beri, Senior Fellow, Vivekananda International Foundation; Amb. H.H.S Viswanathan, Editor of the book

Chair: Shyam Saran, President and Life Trustee, IIC

Birds in flight
Translated by Rashmi Govind (Penguin, 2025)

Discussants: Prof. Sukrita Paul, Guest Editor, Indian Literature, Poet, Academic & Critic; Chandana Dutta, Author, Editor, and Translator; Prof. Anisur Rahman, Centre for West Asian Studies, JMI; Rashmi Govind, translator of the book

Moderator: Moutushi Mukherjee, Commissioning Editor, Penguin Random House

Combating War by Art and Poetry
By Mandira Ghosh (Authorspress, 2025)

Discussants: Sunit Tandon, Former Director, IHC; Prof. Radha Chakravarty, Writer, Critic & Translator; Prof. Swati Pal, Principal and Professor, Janki Devi Memorial College, University of Delhi; Dr. Rumki Basu, Former Professor, Jamia Millia Islamia & Poet,Mandira Ghosh, Poet, Author & Researcher & Author of the book

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

The Thousand Years War: Russia and the West.
By Achala Moulik (Har-Anand Publications, 2025)

Discussants: H.E Mr. Denis Alipov, Russian Ambassador (Guest of Honour); Prof. Archana Upadhyay, Centre for Russian and Central Asian Studies, JNU; Sh Dipanjan Roy -Chaudhuri, Diplomatic Editor of Economic Times; Dr. Achala Moulik, Author of the book

Chair:  K. N. Shrivastava, Director, IIC

Gossips of Our Surrogate Story: Prose poems 
By Rajorshi Narayan Patranabis (Hawakaal Publisher, 2025)

Discussants: Sudeep Sen, Poet and Literary Editor; Shubha Dwivedi, Associate Professor, ARSD College, University of Delhi; Rajorshi Patranabis, Poet, Reviewer, Essayist & Author of the Book

Moderator: Kiriti Sengupta, Poet and Publisher

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 Burman, Indian wildlife biologist
Moderator: Sanjoy Hazarika, writer, journalist and human rights activist

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

Panel Discussion
Role of Women in Politics in India- Then and Now
 

Panel Discussion with Aparajita Sarangi; Bansuri Swaraj, Atishi Marlena, 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, writer and teacher

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

Breaking the Frame: Women’s Shifting Roles in Media
 

Panel discussion with Malini Parthasarthy, Palki Sharma, and Neerja Choudhury
Chair: Sonia Singh, former Editorial Director, Anchor, NDTV Group