IT Minister Milind Deora is out of Wharton speakers' list
There were changes even in the health care segment with new names added. However, it is confirmed that activist-politician Arvind Kejriwal and Manipal Group chairman Mohandas Pai will address the prestigious economic forum meeting.
The annual conference organised by the Wharton School - one of the most prestigious business schools of the US has been engulfed in controversies first for its decision to invite Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to deliver a keynote address, and later for rescinding the same invitation following protest from a group of professor and students from the University of Pennsylvania.
The
meeting
has
now
scheduled
only
two
keynote
speakers,
which
has
been
scaled
down
from
original
six.
The
two
keynote
speakers
would
be
Deputy
Chairman
of
the
Planning
Commission
Montek
Singh
Ahluwalia
and
Ron
Somers,
president
of
the
US
India
Business.
Two others Gautam Adani from the Adani Group and Atul Nishar, from Hexaware Technologies, dropped off after Wharton's decision to rescind its invitation to Modi.
Kejriwal
and
Ahluwalia
would
deliver
their
keynote
addresses
via
video
conference.
The
latest
panel
of
speakers
during
the
daylong
event
on
March
23
also
indicates
some
changes
among
the
participants.
In the panel on healthcare, Dr Preetha Reddy, managing director of Apollo Hospitals, and Dr Ashwin Naik, CEO and co-founder of Vaatsalya Healthcare, are no longer among the listed speakers.
In place of columnist Sadanand Dhume, who is a scholar at the Washington-based American think-tank American Enterprise Institute (AEI). He who withdrew from the conference because of WIEF decision on Modi. The organisers have now invited New Jersey-based eminent Indian-American Dr Sudhir Parikh in Dhume's place.
Launched in 1996, Wharton India Economic Forum is an annual India-centric conference hosted by the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, brings business and political leaders, professionals, academics and students from around the world on one platform to discuss India's evolution as economic power, and key social, political and financial challenges which still stand in its way.
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