India's response to the terrorist attack in Pulwama through an air strike in Balakot marks a paradigm shift in India's approach to combating terror. Previously, audacious surgical strikes had provided the first glimpse of the changing approach. Strategically, the air strike is significant because, for the first time, a nuclear weapons state has orchestrated a strike on the territory of another. With the reappointment of Ajit Doval as the NSA in the Modi 2.0 regime, and his elevation to the rank of the cabinet minister, the discussion around a stronger, centralised security architecture has gathered momentum.

C Uday Bhaskar, a retired Commodore who served in the Indian Navy, is one of India’s leading experts and critics on security and strategic affairs. He is currently the Director of the Society for Policy Studies (SPS), an independent think-tank based in New Delhi. He had served in the Indian Navy till 2007 for 37 years. Commodore Bhaskar will share his expert insights on India’s new security architecture, the challenges and prospects.

IAS officer Armstrong Pame has made news for all the right reasons quite a few times. In 2012, he built a 100 km road connecting Manipur, Nagaland and Assam without any financial aid from the government. Since then he has kept busy with his many initiatives, a recent one starting when he decided to invite school students to his house every Friday for dinner. The ‘Miracle Man’ as he is fondly referred to, wanted to listen to their dreams and visions and have them express their desire about how they wished to see their district in the days to come.

His marvellous initiatives and his work in the civil services earned him the honour of ‘India’s Most Eminent IAS Officer’. In 2018, he even made it to the list of the 100 most influential future leaders. Listen to the man himself as he talks about his experiences and achievements, and importantly his drive to achieve despite myriad challenges.

By 2020, India’s 400-million strong internet user base is set to grow to 730 million and the smartphone user base to 702 million. 75% of these new users are expected to consume data in local languages. Moreover, they will consume more audio and video content than text. Consequently, the go-to-market strategy for businesses looking to gain new users will have to be different. Overwhelming ‘content density’ means consumers are seeing chaotic news feeds; there is excessive competition between brands; and consumers’ attention spans are decreasing. ‘Viral’ has become the buzz word and cracking the viral code the holy grail of content marketing.

Aashish Chopra, an award-winning viral video marketer, will share the method in the madness behind viral videos, offering learnings from the trenches of content marketing.

India, the world’s fastest-growing major economy, could do a lot better if it could fully leverage the power and potential of its women leaders. By some estimates, the country could boost its GDP by over 25% simply by giving equal opportunities to women. With only 25% of India’s labour force being female, their contribution to GDP is currently just 18%, one of the lowest ratios in the world. Evidently, countries with more women in the workforce are economically more prosperous and progressive.

Radhika Gupta’s story is not only fascinating but also inspiring. She left a lucrative career on Wall Street at 25, turned entrepreneur and founded an alternative asset management fund and sold it, and then became CEO of one of India’s fastest growing mutual fund houses. Engage with the woman herself as she shares her journey of breaking stereotypes and making a place for herself, blazing a trail for others to follow

One of the finer pleasures of life is to ‘feel’ the mountains and to experience their majesty and their permanence. Take a nature walk among towering Deodars and through quaint settlements with the Himalayas on one side and the beautiful Doon valley on the other.

(This will be hosted as a joint session with spouses over cocktails)
One of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet initiatives – the Clean India Mission or Swachh Bharat Abhiyan – has been making headlines for some time now. We have seen celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan pick up brooms and sweep sections of streets after being asked to serve as a sort of brand ambassador for the mission. But this time, it is not celebrities who are in the news. A young woman from Nagaland decided to take up the task of cleaning the Prabhu Ghat, one of the filthiest ghats in Varanasi, the PM’s constituency. She started her mission in 2013 after quitting her fulltime job, and ended up cleaning the Prabhu Ghat in 2015. Engage with Temsutula in a discussion over drinks and snacks as she shares her spirited efforts that earned her the praise of the Prime Minister himself.

It takes a strong work ethic and an even stronger sense of tenacity to reach the ‘top’. But does reaching the highest ranking position mean there is no more room to grow? Successful CEOs are involved in all aspects of the business while focusing at the same time on becoming better managers, strategists, problem solvers and better at many other roles. How should CEOs balance business objectives and personal goals? What attributes do they need to inculcate to be able to manage dilemmas and make effective decisions? How to be fulfilled and, importantly, happy?

R Gopalakrishnan (Gopal to his friends) is one of India's best known and most experienced business leaders. He has been a professional manager from 1967 – 31 years in Unilever and 17 years in the Tata Group. In the last decade, Gopal has become a prolific writer, churning out numerous insightful books on management and history. In his third innings, as the CEO of Mindworks, he mentors leaders, writes thought pieces and is actively engaged in both instructional and inspirational speaking. Engage with Gopal as he shares experiences and lessons drawn from a long and illustrious career.

Does India’s Parliament truly function and govern the way it is supposed to? How many members of the public even bother to hold their elected representatives answerable to their obligations and promises? Amidst all the focus on media bytes and vote bank politics, the fundamental question about the role of Parliamentarians and their collective functioning in Sansad Bhawan is often missed.

PRS Legislative Research, an independent think tank set up in 2005, tracks the functioning of India’s Parliament and its processes. To citizens, it provides a resource base to understand the policy making process and know what their elected representatives are doing. To parliamentarians, it provides the data and analysis they need to contribute meaningfully to policy debates. PRS Co-founder MR Madhavan has, in many ways, the deepest and keenest insight into the country’s highest decision making body. Join him in what promises to be an engaging discussion about the policy making process in India – its strengths and weaknesses and the way forward.

Dr Pawan Agrawal, Author and Educationist
(This will be hosted as a joint session with spouses)
Dressed in white outfits and traditional Gandhi caps, an army of 5,000 dabbawalas fulfil the hunger of almost 200,000 Mumbaikars with home-cooked food, daily, on time with an accuracy rate of 99.99% with 100% customer satisfaction. Amazingly, the dabbawalas – with semiliterate workers – have achieved this level of performance at very low cost, in an eco-friendly way and without the use of any IT system or even cell phones. Six Sigma, ISO and many other certifications awarded to this organisation by external organisations only confirm its excellent supply chain and logistics management capabilities.

Dr Pawan Agrawal, who earned his doctorate studying how the dabbawalas operate, will share the lessons that make the 118-year old organisation successful and elaborate on the ideals of passion, teamwork, dedication and hard work.

Anuj Dhar, Indian author and former journalist
(This will be hosted as a joint session with spouses)
As the Second World War came to an end in Southeast Asia in August 1945, Subhas Chandra Bose boarded a plane to shift the base of India's liberation struggle to a new territory controlled by the Soviet Union. Officially, the story goes that he died on August 18, 1945 as the plane crashed in the small island of Formosa (now Taiwan), but multiple investigations later there is no certainty about his fate.

Anuj Dhar, a former investigative journalist, has devoted nearly two decades to uncover the mystery behind Bose's disappearance and has documented how India's political establishment kept swinging between its belief in Bose's death and apprehension that he might return: all in strict secrecy. The story spanning seven decades is perhaps even more engaging than that of a James Bond or a Jason Bourne. Dhar will delve into this rollercoaster of a political thriller to share his findings. Apart from his 2012 bestseller India's Biggest Cover-up, Dhar has authored several other books on topics such as the CIA's activities in South Asia and the mystery of Lal Bahadur Shastri's death in far away Tashkent.