“Atmanirbhar Bharat is not about being self-contained or being closed to the world, it is about being self-sustaining and self-generating.

What is Atmanirbharta? How does India achieve it? What are the opportunities and challenges in front of us? What does atmanirbharta mean in a globalized world?

Mohandas Pai

Mohandas Pai is a Padma Shri Awardee and former CFO and Board Member at Infosys. He is also the co-founder of Akshaya Patra, the world’s largest midday meal program, and works actively with the government on policy recommendations and guidelines. He has served as the Chairman of the Board of SEBI and is now a Board Member of the NSE. He has emerged as one of India’s most prolific angel investors and leads a private equity fund – Aarin Capital that invests in life sciences and education companies including Byju’s, Counsyl, ZoomCar, Praxify, YourStory, and Licious.

Pillars of Nation-Building

In conversation with Shobhit Mathur at the Summit, he discussed the crucial pillars of nation-building and developing a coherent vision between different pillars. He also talked about the role of institutions and institutional frameworks for long-term reforms in education, economy and administration. He stressed upon building a society based on trust and values and preparing the youth for an atmanirbhar future.

S Gurumurthy

S Gurumurthy is a Chartered Accountant and Senior Journalist editing the Tamil political weekly Thuglak. He is the co-convenor of the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch. He has also been a Member on the Board of the Reserve Bank of India. He is a regular writer on issues of polity and economy in various dailies and periodicals. He is the Chairperson of Rishihood University’s Board of Advisors.

History of India’s Atmanirbharta

In conversation with Vice-Chancellor Prof. Kamlesh Misra, he discussed the foundations of Bharat’s self-reliance and its economic history. He also talked about the position of India in the global economy and how it deteriorated in the last few centuries of foreign rule. He gave a vivid description of the indigenous systems of trade, education, and governance, and shared several lessons from the past for the Atmanirbhar Bharat of the future.

Sridhar Vembu

Sridhar Vembu is the founder and CEO of Zoho, He has a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Princeton University and started his career at Qualcomm in 1994. Born in a family of farmers, he always had the vision to take Silicon Valley to the village. In October 2019, he moved to Tenkasi, making the big move to a small town and vindicating his vision that we don’t have to be in urban hubs to develop world-class products.

Decentralized Economic and Technological Growth

In conversation with Anurag Goel, he discussed Zoho’s experience of decentralized teams in village clusters. He shared his inspiring journey from a small village in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu to the US and back to India; and his experience around alternate economic models for distributed wealth. He also talked about Zoho’s learnings from being a homegrown, top-class tech company and the recent Atmanirbhar App award.

Dr Chinmay Pandya

Dr Chinmay Pandya is an educationist, medical doctor and spiritual seeker. He is currently the Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya, Haridwar. He is also a spiritual patron to Rashtram School of Public Leadership.

Atma and Atmanirbharta

Dr Pandya discussed the spiritual significance of atmanirbharta and how deeper dimensions of atmanirbharta relate to the worldly dimensions such as economic growth. He also shared his views on the role of socio-spiritual organizations in Atmanirbharta, and how these institutions will shape India’s future.

Amish Tripathi

Known for his Shiva Trilogy, the Ram Chandra Series, and the recently launched Legend of Suheldev: The King Who Saved India; Amish Tripathi is an author par excellence. Amish’s 8 books have sold over 5.5 million copies in the Indian subcontinent since 2010. Forbes India has regularly ranked him among the top 100 celebrities in India and was also listed among the 50 most powerful Indians by India Today in 2019. He is the first author in Indian publishing history to have all 6 of his fiction books simultaneously in the top 10 of the HT-Nielsen Bookscan national bestseller list for 4 weeks in a row.

India’s Soft Power and Self-Reliance

In conversation with Soumya Aggarwal, Amish talked about the traits and qualities that make Indians unique and diverse at the same time. Sharing India’s global contributions as a Civilization State, he discussed the role of soft-power in brand India. He also shared his experience of India’s global perception and how we want to be perceived globally. He also talked about his recent book on King Suheldev and the lessons we can draw from his life for India’s present and future.

Ritu Beri

Ritu Beri is a fashion designer and advisor to the Khadi and Village Industries Commission, a part of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Government of India. She became head of the Ready to Wear section of French fashion brand, Jean-Louis Scherrer in March 2002. Later, she launched The Luxury League to promote creativity and innovation in the luxury industry in India.

Creative Sector – A Global Potential

In conversation with Prof Mike Knowles, she discussed India’s presence on the Global Design Scene and the future of Design Education in India. She also talked about the changes that will come through the National Education Policy 2020 and the role of educators in improving the situation. Talking about the tough times faced by the creative and luxury industries during the COVID 19 pandemic, she also said she feels positive about future as see sees many creative and hard-working people willing to bring a change.

Suresh Prabhu

Rajya Sabha MP and India’s Sherpa to the G18 Summit, Shri Suresh Prabhu has previously been the Minister for Commerce and Industry, Minister for Railways, Minister for Civil Aviation among other very important profiles. Constantly featured in the list of top five ministers in India from 2014-2017 in terms of both performance and accessibility in nation-wide surveys, he has always been an advocate for decisive and growth-driven change. Under his able leadership, Railways transformed from a slow-moving behemoth into a fast, responsive organization. He has also the man behind introducing the Agriculture Export Policy, setting up the Investment War Room, an implementation plan for Make in India 2.0, and setting up a Data Analytics Unit. He is also the Founding Chancellor of  Rishihood University.

India and the Global Economy

In conversation with Prof Nitesh Bansal, Mr. Prabhu said, “We can’t have a strong nation with weak citizens. Atmanirbhar Bharat is to be built on the foundation of Atmanirbhar Bharatiyas. Our goal is a strengthened citizenry.” He discussed the role of atmanirbharta in an interlinked global economy and the ways to practice it. He also pointed out the global challenges to achieve Atmanirbharta and the vision to develop a strong and self-reliant India that can lead the world.

Pratik Poddar

Pratik Poddar, Principal – Nexus Venture Partners, is an entrepreneur turned Venture Capitalist and works alongside technology entrepreneurs to create an impact on the lives of millions of people in India. He is a BTech CSE graduate from IIT Bombay and is interested in consumer, community/content, education, e-commerce, financial services, and healthcare startups. Before joining Nexus, Pratik spent three years working on his startups in social e-commerce and content marketing spaces; as a quant analyst and algorithmic trader at Morgan Stanley, and private equity analyst at Blackstone.

Funding The Indian Dream

In conversation with Ankit Ratan, he discussed the necessity of atmanirbharta in the global pursuits of venture funding and entrepreneurship. Comparing Israel’s unique place within the Funding world as a region with Deep tech startups, he talked about preparing for such equivalent systems in India. He said that we are in unprecedented times, but these are also times of opportunity, and we have the potential and resources to build several trending systems like TikTok or Zoom. He also pointed out that many of India’s problems are at the bottom of the pyramid, and suggested some interesting ideas that can address these social issues which might lead to social benefits much before economic value creation.

About Rishihood:

Rishihood University is an impact-oriented initiative established in India. The university believes in an ‘ecosystem’ approach to learning rather than isolated training and research. Therefore, Rishihood actively engages and nurtures an ecosystem for our academic areas as well as for the larger growth of the nation and society.

About Rashtram:

Rashtram School of Public Leadership nurtures ‘self-aware’ and ‘civilisationally-assured’ public leaders who are nourished by Indic knowledge traditions and systems of thought. The specific focus of the school is to prepare leaders in three domains: Academia, Politics, and Civil Society.

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