Events

The 10^th PIC Foundation Day Lecture was a significant milestone as it marked a decade of PIC’s work and contribution to the social, economic, scientific, and industrial policy space. Dr. Suhas Palshikar, Professor and Political Commentator delivered this year’s lecture on “Majoritarianism and the Future of Democratic Politics in India”. The lecture was chaired by Dr. R. A. Mashelkar, President, PIC. Dr. Mashelkar spoke about how Pune International Centre had in it’s journey over the past 10 years evolved into the ‘vicharmanthan kendra’ that had been envisioned for it. He expressed pride and delight at PIC’s continued work and efforts towards building on this foundation, lauding the people and members supporting, and helping deliver PIC’s programmes.

Dr. Palshikar began his lecture by congratulating PIC on it’s decade long achievements, and expressed his sincere hope to see it go from strength to strength. He went on to discuss the different nuances of understanding the term ‘majoritarianism’, expounding on the difference between political and ethnic majoritarianism and how both terms are understood and applied.

The political scientist spoke at length on the dynamics of majoritarianism in politics and how could shape the future of Indian politics and society. He provided a brief timeline of the majoritarian political and cultural process and detailed how the cultural focus was eclipsed by the political process over several decades. The concluding remarks were made by PIC Vice President Dr Vijay Kelkar who presented a fresh perspective on the topic by stating that an open economy and a closed mindset could not go together. He said that India could very well chart a path of her own and it is the states, south of the Vindhyas which could provide a positive direction to Indian politics in the future.

The ‘Science for Society’ series was launched on September 22 and the inaugural lecture was delivered by Dr. Shekhar Mande, Director General, Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) and Secretary, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India. Dr Mande spoke on the topic “Innovations at CSIR to combat Covid-19 Pandemic”. The welcome address for this event was delivered by the session Chairperson, Dr. R. A. Mashelkar, President, PIC and the session was moderated by Dr. Aravind Chinchure.

Dr. Mashelkar introduced the series by pointing out that the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated rapid and adaptive decision-making by governments, for which they turned to scientists like Dr. Mande. The latter in their turn provided sound advice grounded in actionable science.

Dr Mande’s presentation was very inspiring and he spoke of the numerous, ground-breaking  technologies that were launched by CSIR laboratories to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. He said that a task force at the CSIR had met every evening since March to plan and execute their strategies for innovative technologies.

Dr. Mande described how a Strategic Group was put in place to map CSIR’s strategic response to COVID-19. He outlined the two principles that CSIR followed for the implementation of this strategic response – the involvement of industry to scale up CSIR lab findings in order to make them available to the public, and the focus on using material or products that were either Made in India or available in the country (as imports could not be depended on given the global situation).

The focus was on five verticals – molecular surveillance, diagnostics, pharmaceutical interventions (drugs or vaccines), hospital devices, and supply chain and logistics.

Dr. Mande also spoke about the lessons learned by both CSIR, and industries during this period. He cited the example of how certain active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) have begun to be manufactured in India now, as other nations shored up their stores and curbed exports. In closing, he emphasised that the science pursued at CSIR has humanity as its guiding principle and that all the work done by them is in service to humanity.

Dr Mande said the Indian scientific community could stand up to the Covid-19 challenge because of the investments made in science and technology research by the country in the last 70 years.

Dr. Aravind Chinchure, Founder & CEO, QLeap Academy moderated the session and introduced Dr. Mande and CSIR’s innovative work on finding solutions for the COVID-19 pandemic.

The latest edition of the PIC Adda on 19th September 2020, entailed a talk by an illustrious member of PIC, Lt. Gen. (Dr.) D. B. Shekatkar, PVSM, AVSM, VSM (Retd), on the topic of ‘India China Stand-off: Should India ever trust China?’ The session was moderated by Dr. Sangeeta Kale, Member, PIC. Prof. Amitav Malik, Trustee, PIC, introduced Lt. Gen. Shekatkar and the topic for the session.

This was one of the best attended Adda sessions as Lt. Gen. Shekatkar provided a historical background to Sino-Indian relations over the past few decades. He highlighted that India’s previous experiences with China, whether in 1962, 1971, or in the many years hence have proved that dealing with the Chinese requires caution. It was clearly stated that while India has the military capability to stand up to China, it might be unwise to get drawn into a situation of intense conflict.

China has given India little room to build trust in bilateral relations, Lt. Gen. Shekatkar said and emphasised that ensuring a firm stance and building military preparedness is crucial to dealing with China as the situation evolves.

Questions from the audience largely evoked concern about India’s defence preparedness, and ability to trump China in the on-going standoff. The potential for de-escalation was also discussed, with the speaker assuring all participants that the Indian Armed Forces were trained for and ready to handle all possible eventualities.

The inaugural webinar of the ‘Ambassador Speaks’ series was addressed by His Excellency Mr Emmanuel Lenain, Ambassador of France to India who delivered a lecture on “Strategic Autonomy: A driver of French-Indian Relations in Times of Changing Geopolitics”.  Ambassador Lenain was welcomed by Dr. R. A. Mashelkar, President, PIC. In his opening remarks, Dr Mashelkar noted that within the evolving geopolitical dynamic, social, political, and economic changes were being driven by crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. He said that given the vantage point they have, Ambassadors of various nations are best placed to provide their perspective on these global changes and the series launched by PIC would throw valuable light on global developments with an Indian context.

Amb. Lenain provided a brief overview of the evolution of Indo-French bilateral relations, before expounding on why France considers India an important partner. He emphasised that India is a natural partner to France not only on security, but also on the economy, trade, and most significantly for promoting the practice of multilateralism. Especially in light of the fact that China is now considered a systemic rival by the European Union.

The French Ambassador also highlighted that France would like to trade more with India, specifically agro-products and wines, but that the Indian market was difficult to access owing to trade barriers. That defence and nuclear cooperation between India and France was healthy and would continue apace, was also emphasised.

The session was chaired by former Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale. Questions from the audience focused on France’s support for India’s bid for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, defence industrial cooperation, and foreign investment.

On September 11, our second webinar on the National Education Policy, 2020 was held with the participation of eminent experts such as Dr. John Kurrien, Director Emeritus of the Centre for Learning Resources, Pune; eminent journalist Dr Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar, social worker Sanjay Nahar of the Sarhad Foundation and Dr. P. A. Inamdar, President, Maharashtra Cosmopolitan Education Society who chaired the session.

Dr Kurrien presented his analysis of the gaps in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, and some major recommendations which would help improve the educational futures of some of India’s main disadvantaged groups. He elaborated on the need for universal education from the ages of 3 – 18 years, the requirement for an increase in public investment in education, and most importantly the need to clearly indicate legal entitlements to education for all disadvantaged groups. These include not only the socially and economically backward groups, but also minorities, and tribal groups.

While Dr Aiyar stressed on the need for accountability to ensure that the goals were achieved, Mr Nahar gave his perspectives on trying to promote education among the disadvantaged sections of the population in the Kashmir valley. Dr Inamdar related his experiences of bringing education to the disadvantaged sections of the Muslim population, especially girls, at Azam Campus.

Questions and comments from the audience focused on the cultural attitudes towards education, and the need to encourage communities and focus community efforts towards improving quality of education of children from all groups.

https://youtube.com/live/ISfGzO-oQsg

The PIC Adda event was conducted as a public lecture on the topic, ‘Cyber Crime: Few classic cases to ponder & analyse”’ an online mode on 29th August 2020. It was delivered by Advocate Vaishali Bhagwat, an expert on cyber crime and cyber security. She was in  conversation with Dr. Sangeeta Kale, Member, PIC.

A practicing lawyer, Advocate Vaishali is an expert in Cyber Law and Privacy Law. She gave an overview on the typical cases of cyber crime and cyber fraud in India and also pondered on the critical issues related to the Education sector and the Corporate sector, with the “do and don’ts” in these fields. “Security does not come by default” was the main message in her talk. “People-Process-Technology” is the mantra for secured online communications and transactions, she said. More than 120 people attended this session. Dr. Vijay Kelkar expressed his views and participated in the discussion while Dr. AmitavMallik gave the vote of thanks.

Dr. DJ Pandian, Vice President and Chief Investment Officer of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and former Chief Secretary of Gujarat delivered a fascinating presentation on ‘Possible Strategies on Building Infrastructure in India’. The session was chaired by Mr. Prakash Apte, Non-Executive Part-time Chairman of Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Member, PIC.

Dr. Pandian highlighted the role of AIIB and spoke of various projects undertaken by this international bank for regional infrastructure development. He discussed the goals of providing better infrastructure- bridging the infrastructure gap, regional connectivity (for a better flow of trade), and export of energy, and the accompanying challenges.

While speaking about the impact of the pandemic on the world, he stressed that the only way to reboot, is through investment and infrastructure which would absorb more employment. Administrative reforms were vital for economic and infrastructure development, he stressed.

Questions from the audience related to relations between India and China, and the way in which the Bank could assist infrastructure projects in the country. Dr. Pandian also spoke of the many projects that had been taken up by the AIIB in the country.

https://youtube.com/live/BNCMmFky4_w

Prof Arvind Subramanian shared his thoughts on Indian Economic Policymaking post-Covid19, during a PIC Conversation chaired by Dr Rathin Roy, former Director of National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP).He spoke on the global context, the Indian scenario and the financial system and how the pandemic has led to an unprecedented economic shock worldwide with widespread unemployment and loss of safety nets. He discussed at length the deployment monetary and fiscal policies to counter this shock.

Prof. Subramanian made an important distinction between countries where the pandemic appears under control and others where it doesn’t and what the long term outlooks for economic growth appears to be. He also discussed the complications that will arise from exiting a national lockdown when the pandemic is not fully under control. He specifically stressed on the issues arising from the migrant crisis which has led to a massive disruption in the labour market. Dr Subramanian also discussed the option of whether India should turn inward again or maintain outward looking growth and the importance of rebuilding trust.

Date : 3rd February 2020

Venue : Kale Hall, Gokhale Institute of Politics & Economics (GIPE), BMCC Road, Deccan Gymkhana, Pune

Chief Guest : Shri. Aaditya Thackeray, Environment Minister, GoM

Programme Chairperson : Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar, President, PIC

Date: Wednesday, 29th January 2020

Time: 3:00 PM onwards (Tea Begins at 2:30 PM)

Venue: Finolex Board Room, MCCIA, Senapati Bapat Road, Pune