The following panel discussion event is about the future of the anti-corruption movement in India. To update you on upcoming Delhi Elections, Delhi's political mood is swinging rapidly, Outlook is showing as many as 47 per cent of Delhiites willing to give AAP a chance to form the government, as against only 33 per cent for the BJP, and 27 per cent for the Congress. Arvind Kejriwal is way ahead of Sheila Dikshit and Vijay Goel in Chief Ministerial popularity ranking (
http://news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid=809284)
To find out more, and for a lively discussion, please do register and attend the UC Berkeley event if you can.
Please forward this to your lists, including Indian groups at work and friends who may be interested.
Warm regards,
Abhay Bhushan, 650-868-66456
Panel discussion on India’s political landscape
with Mr. Gurcharan Das, Mr. Abhay Bhushan and Mr. Pran Kurup.
Moderated by Prof. Robert Goldman.
Followed by Q&A and Book-signing with Mr. Gurcharan Das.
3:30-5:30 pm: Saturday, September 21, 2013
at 2060 Valley Life Sciences Building (VLSB), UC Berkeley
Event is free. Seating is limited, so please register now.
https://canaamaadmipartybeagamechangeri ... tbrite.com
Panel Topic: India's political landscape - Can the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) be a game-changer in India?
Program:
3:30-4:00 pm: Registration (please come early to get front row seats!)
4:00-5:00: Panel discussion with Gurcharan Das, Abhay Bhushan, Pran Kurup, followed by question and answers. Prof. Bob Goldman will moderate the session.
5:00-5:30: Book-signing with Gurcharan Das.
Background: India is in an interesting and challenging stage in its history. Deep discontent with the existing political parties and leaders fueled by a multitude of scams saw the rise of the anti-corruption movement that eventually brought the Indian Parliament to its knees in 2011. But to this day, the Lokpal bill (the primary demand of the agitation) has not been passed. The country's two major parties, the Congress and the BJP, continue to lose their significance, while a plethora of regional parties increasingly appear to hold the cards in the next Lok Sabha elections to be held in 2014. But India can't afford an unstable government given its falling rupee, frequent tensions with Pakistan and China, and decreasing economic growth numbers.
In the recent past, several new parties have been started with aspirations to bring change in India. Most have been unable to catch momentum at a national scale, yet. In Fall 2012, Arvind Kejriwal, a Distinguished Alumnus of IIT Kharagpur, Ashoka Fellow, Ramon Magsaysay Award winner, and key force behind the India against Corruption movement, has launched the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) (
http://www.aamaadmiparty.org) and is contesting the state assembly elections in Delhi this November. His clean record, idealistic and practical ways seem to have captured the imagination of the people of Delhi, especially the younger generation. Through an active social media campaign and the creative use of Internet technologies, AAP has managed to raise most of its funds online. It has also started a unique process of candidate selection.
Key Questions: Can Indians aspire to curtail corruption in the near future? Can politics be transformed in India? Is there hope or is India headed for another hung Parliament? Can AAP transform its groundswell of support to an election victory? Can AAP make an impact at the local, regional and national level? Can AAP be a game-changer in India?
Panelists:
Gurcharan Das: is a well-known author, commentator and public intellectual. He is the author of The Difficulty of Being Good, and the international bestseller India Unbound, which has been translated in many languages and filmed by the BBC. His other works include a novel, A Fine Family, a book of essays, The Elephant Paradigm, and anthology, Three Plays consisting of Larins Sahib, Mira and 9 Jakhoo Hill. Gurcharan Das writes regular column for a number of Indian newspapers including theTimes of India and occasional guest columns for Newsweek, Wall Street Journal, and Foreign Affairs. Gurcharan Das graduated from Harvard University and was CEO of Procter & Gamble India before he took early retirement to become a full-time writer. He lives in Delhi and is currently visiting UC Berkeley.
Abhay Bhushan: is a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur and MIT, Internet pioneer and author of FTP, SF Bay Area entrepreneur, and environmental and community activist. Co-founder of Bay Area Action (now Acterra) and of PanIIT, Abhay is the former president of PanIIT USA, IIT Kanpur Alumni Association, IIT Kanpur Foundation and Indians for Collective Action. He has been supporting social and environmental activists in India and in USA for many decades, including the anti-corruption movement, and AAP.
Pran Kurup: is a IIT Kharagpur graduate, bay area entrepreneur, and political commentator (Economic Times websitehttp://blogs.economictimes.indiatimes.com/outsideedge/) and has been closely following politics in India and writing about the anti-corruption movement, the rise of AAP and other events. Pran is the author of three technical books and founder and CEO of Vitalect, Inc., an eLearning company. He was the former President of the Silicon Valley Indian Professionals Association (SIPA) and actively involved in the alumni activities of his alma mater, IIT Kharagpur for over a decade.
Moderator:
Robert Goldman: is a Professor of Sanskrit and Catherine and William L. Magistretti Distinguished Professor in South & Southeast Asian Studies at UC Berkeley. His areas of scholarly interest include Sanskrit literature and literary theory, Indian Epic Studies, and psychoanalytically oriented cultural studies. He has published widely in these areas, authoring several books and dozens of scholarly articles. He is perhaps best known for his work as the Director, General Editor, and a principal translator of a massive and fully annotated translation of the critical edition of the Valmiki Ramayana. His work has been recognized by several awards and fellowships including election as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Most recently he has been honored by the President of India as the 2013 awardee of the President's Certificate of Honour for Sanskrit (International). He is a long time resident of India and a keen observer of India's culture and society.
Co-Sponsors of the Event:
Asha for Education, Berkeley, and
Indian students at UC Berkeley
Community Partner:
Center for South Asia Studies, UC Berkeley
Location: please review:
http://berkeley.edu/map/
Directions: visit:
http://visitors.berkeley.edu/gethere/traveling.shtml
Questions: e-mail
[email protected]
I know him on this forum for a long time in a lot of AK related posts.
