On October 1st, Dr. Anil Rajvanshi, an eminent scholar in the renewable energy sector, and Director and Honorary Secretary, Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute (NARI), was at Pune International Centre (PIC) to discuss his book, titled ‘How Technology Guided by Spirituality May Lead to Happiness’. 
This PIC ADDA event was moderated by Dr Sangeeta Kale, Professor in Physics, Defence Institute of Advanced Technology, Pune, and Member, PIC, Pune.
Dr. Rajvanshi in his lecture said happiness and sustainability can both be attained through spirituality and the wise use of technology, and as a result, they are related. Technology is the source of civilizations, and since technology now permeates every aspect of our life, it should be handled wisely. 
Technology that is spiritually led can bring happiness, and happiness comes from being at peace with oneself. The book has chapters that explain topics like how to have a powerful mind through meditation, the meaning of life, the art and science of happiness; why people are so fascinated with things, how human thought and gravity relate, and more. .
The session was enriched with a lively round of Q & A.

 

Justice Madan Lokur, an eminent former judge of the Supreme Court of India, delivered the Pune International Centre’s 12th Foundation Day Lecture on the evening of 24th September.
He spoke on the topic, ‘Rise and Shine: Judiciary and Transforming Justice Delivery.’ The event was chaired by PIC President Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar, and the closing remarks were presented by Dr. Vijay Kelkar, Vice President, PIC. Mr. Abhay Vaidya, Director, PIC welcomed the guests.
Justice Lokur delivered a deeply thought-provoking address and urged the judiciary to ‘rise and shine,’ assert its independence and restore its past glory. He said the judiciary “has dug itself in a hole, but it can come out of it”.
Post emergency, public interest litigation, access to justice, and initiatives such as Lok Adalat had helped regain the honour of the top court, to the extent that it began to be called as “the people’s court” and “the most powerful court in the world.” This was a matter of pride for all. 
Today’s challenges were different from those of the past, with huge pendency of cases, unfilled vacancies, delay in appointment of judges, and a large number of constitutional cases lying in cold storage.
Justice Lokur stressed that the judiciary must introspect and bring about a systemic change, undertake transformation, and regain its turf. He appreciated the efforts being made by the Supreme Court to move in the right direction.
A brief Q&A session followed the lecture, with a lively interaction between Justice Lokur and the audience.
Dr. Vijay Kelkar thanked the eminent jurist for his inspiring exposition and presented him with PIC’s book, ‘ising to the China Challenge. Ms. Riya Gandhi presented the vote of thanks.

 

To Watch more: 

https://youtu.be/1nv9JTUb29A

https://youtube.com/shorts/n1AmF4n64Sw?feature=share

https://youtube.com/shorts/Y31aH2td8gs?feature=share

https://youtube.com/shorts/7AGWTg5Abz4?feature=share

https://youtube.com/shorts/NOG_IrZaIbI?feature=share

On September 24th, Pune International Centre celebrated its 12th Foundation Day with an inspiring engagement with children, in the form of Abhinav Spardha 2022 (Story Narration Competition). This was followed by the Foundation Day Lecture by Justice Madan Lokur, former judge of the Supreme Court of India.
The Abhinav Spardha this year featured the theme, ‘Inspirational Stories from Grandparents’ and, as in the previous years, was organised in association with the non-profit organisation, Gyan-Key, led by PIC Member Mr. Pradeep Lokhande.
The competition required students to submit a short video recording of a narration of inspirational stories heard from their grandparents. As many as 4,630 students from 28 districts of Maharashtra participated in the competition.
The award-winning students were presented with cash prizes and trophies by Mrs. Savita Lokur and Justice Madan Lokur.
The students, during their interaction with the dignitaries, delighted the audience by requesting the dignitaries to narrate the stories that had inspired them as children.
Addressing the students, PIC President, Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar, cited incidents from his own life and said there is no substitute to hard work to achieve success in life. He inspired the students with his words and urged them to cherish values that would lead them and the country towards a better future.
During the day, the children had a fun-filled visit to Savitribai Phule Pune University and the Pavilion Mall on SB Road.

 

 

 

On 14th September, educationists and scholars such as Mr. Nilesh Nimkar, Director, Quality Education Support Trust, (Quest); Dr Girish Bapat, Director, Jnana Prabodhini; and  Mr. Abhay Tilak, Hon. Director, Indian School of Political Economy (ISPE), participated in a discussion on ‘Recovering Learning Loss caused by Covid-19’.
This discussion highlighted the enormous loss suffered by schoolchildren during the Covid-19 pandemic. Mr Nimkar gave a detailed presentation on the research project undertaken by Quest in ashram schools in Nashik district. The research indicated considerable learning loss suffered by children during the periods when the schools were completely shut. The discontinuation of the mid-day meal programme also adversely affected the nutritional intake of poor students.
The academic performance of children declined significantly in skills such as complex comprehension readings and the ability to logically comprehend essays. The disadvantaged girl child suffered all the more with vulnerabilities in the form of early age marriage, underdeveloped physical state and poor nutritional intake.
As part of its research, Quest suggested interventions for recovering the learning losses suffered by children. The session saw a lively discussion with the other experts and a Q&A with the audience.

 

On September 5th, distinguished agricultural economist and President, the International Association of Agricultural Economists, Dr. Uma Lele, gave a detailed presentation on ‘Structural Transformation of India: Sectoral Shifts’. Her presentation was followed by a conversation with Dr. Ajit Ranade, Trustee, PIC, who chaired the event.
In his opening remarks, Dr. Ranade, Vice-Chancellor, of Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, said that while many countries across the world were going through recession and high inflation, India’s economy was growing rapidly. However, there were concerns about food security in India.
In her presentation, Dr. Uma Lele explained India’s overall economic performance, compared to the rest of Asia, and shared her reflections on the complex challenges of poverty alleviation and sustainability. For India, challenges in the short run include the ill effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, which were compounded by an already weak healthcare system. She explained that the full lockdown was hard on the poorest migrant workers, setting back structural transformation. Longer-term trends include enormous pressure on natural resources in the face of climate change. Dr. Lele argued that India needs the right mix of policies to build efficient value chains and give due importance to environmental sustainability. A reasonable solution could be to shift from pro-consumer to income-oriented policies and invest in improved human and physical infrastructure. Dr. Vishal Gaikwad moderated the discussion, which concluded with an engaging Q&A session.

On September 6th, Amb. Shyam Saran, one of India’s foremost experts on China, was at the Pune International Centre to discuss his latest book, How China Sees India and the World. Mr. Saran has served as the Prime Minister’s special envoy for Indo-US Civil Nuclear issues and special envoy and chief negotiator on climate change. He was in conversation with Mr. Vijay Gokhale, former Foreign Secretary of India and trustee, PIC, and the event chair, Mr. Amit Paranjape, co-founder, ReliScore, PuneTech, and Member, PIC.
Politics, diplomacy, and economy were the key points of the discussion. Amb. Saran noted that China identifies herself as an ancient civilization with a rich culture and this is now bolstered by China’s spectacular economic development. In the geopolitical sense, the diplomatic gap between India and China as well as US and China started shrinking vis-à-vis the common challenges to the world, like climate change. China’s economic performance is 5x of India, but China’s economic slowdown will certainly impact the future. The world sees China as a big threat and this perception will pose great challenges to China in terms of being a ground for ease of doing business.
This session saw a lively round of Q&A.

 

THE UKRAINE CRISIS : CHALLENGES TO INDIA’S FOREIGN POLICY

 On August 1, 2022, Pune International Centre, Takshashila Institution
and XKDR Forum jointly organised a day-long national symposium on The Ukraine Crisis: Challenges to India’s Foreign Policy. 

 This symposium was addressed by some of India’s best minds in foreign policy, defence, economics, technology and strategic affairs (see below forspeakers, agenda). It closely examined the many dimensions of the Russia-Ukraine war. Immensely tragic for the people directly affected, the war has upset the world order, put enormous stress on the global economy and has thrown up fresh challenges in diplomacy and international relations. India has taken a firm and independent view of the situation based on her national interest. All of this has posed challenges for the future, especially from the Indian perspective. The symposium highlighted and discussed these issues.

 Here are the quick read Takeaways from the symposium:

           POLITICS & DIPLOMACY

• The Ukraine Crisis shows us that – we cannot seek 20^th Century solutions for 21^st Century problems. 21^st Century problems demand 21^st Century solutions. We now live in a less safer, unstable world. Use offorce will be more and more prevalent.  Longer this war continues – the more it will hurt all across the globe. A long war will be disastrous for all nations.
• Many of the participants in this war have lost – not merely Ukraine but also Russia, the EU and the United States. If at all there is any nation which has benefited it is China. That is not good for India given Chinese animosity towards us and its recent positioning vis-à-vis India.
• Russia will emerge from this war – a weaker State. Even tacit military cooperation between Russia and China will be bad for India. Open military cooperation between the    
• Is    India a global swing State? Don’t have an answer to this question but as the soon-to-be Chair of the G-20, it is incumbent on India to work with other middle powers or the Global South to fully explore conflict resolution.    
• India and Russia are BFF. It is a pity that Government of India was not more critical of Russia as there was no excuse for Russia to wage war on Ukraine. However, can we leverage our partnership with Russia to get it out of China’s stranglehold?
• India will have to beef up its military power to ensure that China cannot push it around.

                 ECONOMICS

• Before the war, both Russia as well as Ukraine were stagnant from an economic perspective.
• The war will damage Ukraine almost permanently. The destruction of the capital stock in Ukraine is significant. It will take almost US $ 1 trillion to rebuild Ukraine.
• Impact of sanctions on Russia has been significant. 
• This is because Russia was deeply integrated into the world economy. Now, the West is pulling the plug on that integration.
• This is because Russia was deeply integrated into the world economy. Now, the
• West is pulling the plug on that integration.   
• Globalization seems to be alive and well. Global trade
• has increased by 3% in 2022 so far. However, nations seem to be placing more emphasis on peace or good behavior. Globalization is for those nations which behave well.
•  In a race between geopolitics and geo-economics, politics will lead.
• Global firms have taken losses in both Russia as well as China.
• India is integrated with the West (not Russia). India
• should deepen these economic ties and integration with the West.
• A more limited form of globalization will ensue where a premium will be placed in international good behavior. This will be globalization amongst countries which behave themselves.
• This is a gain for India vis-à-vis China.
• The best foreign policy for India is 8% economic growth over an extended period of time.
•  India must pursue 3^rd generation economic reforms with focus on taking Government out of business.
• India also needs to focus on empowering the public sector – that is, making it more competent and efficient.

          TECHNOLOGY

•            Economic interdependence does not prevent war. Economic interdependence can be weaponized. In modern warfare – not only which Army wins matters. Whose narrative wins also matters.
•          India is a vital node in the global technology ecosystem. There are opportunities for us which we can leverage.
•        India can share its digital public infrastructure with the broader world.
•        There is a hi-tech worker shortage across the globe. 
•        Further opportunities for India. 
•        Opportunities for critical technology transfer to India are increasing.

          DEFENCE

•        India must seek deterrence from – land, sea, air, cyber and space.
•        To win a war – people, ideas and things have to come together. The ability to do so successfully is key to defending India.
•      We must give thought to the Armed Forces we Need – not merely to what we have. Do we have the resources and the capabilities to build the Armed Forces we Need?
•      Indian Armed Forces need a Technology Strategy also.
•      Why has Russia not succeeded in its war with Ukraine? Answer lies in the wide dispersion of Russian forces. Further Russia has a conscript Army. Russian Non-Commissioned Officers have not done well and have not been successful.
•      India needs to ask itself – How would China fight a war against us? They would open up a wider front so as to disperse Indian forces. Most likely, they would also extend it to air and space.
•       India must also ask itself the question – Do alliances help? Ukraine miscalculated and became a patsy for a Russia – US war. 

**********  

 Suggested Readings:

• XiJinping now holds the better cards in steering the Moscow-Beijing relationship.
  https://www.politico.eu/article/china-new-vassal-vladimir-putin/
• India’s Last Best Chance
  Choosing the West Over Russia Could Make New Delhi a Great Power
  By Lisa Curtis
  https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/india/2022-05-31/indias-last-best-chance

The Ukraine Crisis Should Force New Delhi to Rethink Its Russia Policy
By Manjari Chatterjee Miller
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/india/2022-02-22/indias-faltering-nonalignment 

      Helping India replace Russia in the value arms market
By Vasabjit Banerjee and Benjamin Tkach
https://warontherocks.com/2022/05/helping-india-replace-russia-in-the-value-arms-market/

      Downstream from the war in Ukraine
By Ajay Shah and Gautam Bambawale
https://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/downstream-from-the-war-in-ukraine-122080700901_1.html

****

Session- 1: Politics and Diplomacy

 

Session-2: Economics: Growth, Energy and Sanctions

 

Session- 3: Technology and the Ukraine War: Opportunities and Challenges

 

Session- 4: Rethinking Indian Defence Strategy in the light of the Ukraine War

 

Session- 5: Lesson’s for India’s Policy Choices

A very thought-provoking discussion titled महाराष्ट्रातील सत्तांतर: शोध आणि बोध (An analysis of the recent power transition in Maharashtra) on the latest developments in Maharashtra politics was held on July 27th at MCCIA’s Navalmal Firodia auditorium. The event was chaired by Mr. Mukund Sangoram, Resident Editor, Loksatta and the discussants were Mr Parag Karandikar, Editor, Maharashtra Times, and Mr. Bhanu Kale, eminent writer and publisher. Ms. Swati Raje, Member, PIC, and part of the Pune Samwad planning team anchored the program.
 
The speakers set the context for the discussion by drawing on the history of Maharashtra politics and the upheavals that took place in the past. The dramatic snapping of the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance and the equally dramatic formation of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance with the NCP and the Congress; the role of central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate in de-stabilizing non-BJP governments and the much-awaited Supreme Court verdict on pending cases relating to the formation of the new government under Chief Minister Eknath Shinde were discussed.