Yale University and Confederation of Indian Industry to Explore India’s Future and Women’s Global Leadership

New Haven, Conn. – Yale University, widely recognized for educating leaders in government, business, and civil society worldwide, and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) will present panels on “India 2050: A Grand Strategy for India Rising” and “Women and Global Leadership” as part of the Incredible India@60 campaign. The two panels, featuring luminaries such as Indra Nooyi and Nandan Nilekani, will examine the challenges and opportunities that India will face in the coming decades and the rise of women leaders in all facets of India and its global diaspora.

Yale President Richard C. Levin stated that “Yale University’s collaboration with CII signals the growing interest that India’s emergence holds for all Americans. The study of India and South Asia has blossomed at Yale during the last decade, and we expect expanded exchanges and partnerships with India in the years to come. The topics of the panel discussions in New York City reflect the values of critical engagement, leadership, and public service that Yale has long sought to instill in our students.”

Nandan Nilekani, co-chairman of the board of Infosys Technologies, Ltd. and chairman of the Incredible India@60 campaign steering committee expressed that “The Confederation of Indian Industry is very pleased to partner with Yale University for these two very important panel discussions. As we celebrate India’s sixty years of democracy and explosive growth, we look forward to joining with our distinguished panelists, as together we dissect India’s future challenges and opportunities and redefine the leadership roles of women both within India and around the globe.”

“India 2050: A Grand Strategy for India Rising” will be held on Monday, September 24, 2007 from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. “Women and Global Leadership” will be held on Tuesday, September 25, 2007 from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Both events will be held in the Grand Ballroom of the Yale Club of New York City at 50 Vanderbilt Avenue. Attendance for the events is limited. Attendees should register at the India@60 web site.

The panels are among the events of the Incredible India@60 campaign organized by CII and the Government of India for September 23 to 26, 2007 in New York City. The campaign celebrates sixty years of a democratic, independent India and seeks to engage the American public, the Indian immigrant diaspora, and the international business, governmental, and media communities.

India 2050: A Grand Strategy for India Rising
President Levin will moderate the session on “India 2050” which will feature as panelists Nandan Nilekani; Ramachandra Guha (historian and author of India After Gandhi: The History of the World’s Largest Democracy); Roopa Purushothaman (Director of Future Capital Research and co-author of Dreaming with BRICs: The Path to 2050); T. N. Srinivasan, the Samuel C. Park, Jr. Professor of Economics at Yale University; and Ernesto Zedillo, the former President of Mexico (1994 - 2000) and Director of the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization.

The panelists will engage in a discussion that considers what India must do to leverage its advantages to continue to meet its promise; what India can do to capitalize on its social and economic gains to more equitably address the disparities faced by its population; what failures could prevent India from fulfilling its ambitions; and most of all, to share their imagination and vision of India in 2050.

Women and Global Leadership
Margaret Warner, Senior Correspondent of The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS Television will moderate the session on “Women and Global Leadership” which will feature as panelists Shabana Azmi (actress and social activist); Naina Lal Kidwai (Chief Executive Officer, HSBC India); Rohini Nilekani (Chairperson, The Arghyam Trust, The Akshara Foundation, & Pratham Books); and Indra Nooyi (Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, PepsiCo.).

The ascent of India on the world stage has been marked by the rise of women leaders in all facets of India and its diaspora, and women have figured critically as change agents and as consumers in India’s growth. This panel brings together four of the most highly visible and influential women in the arts, the corporate world, and civil society to consider women’s leadership in India and globally.