Harvard meet on where India is headed

Boston, March 24 (IANS) International leaders from government, business, non-profit, media and entertainment sectors are meeting here over the weekend to discuss where India stands currently and where it is headed over the next decade.

The discussions are part of the 9th Harvard India Conference with the theme of India: The Next Frontier, co-hosted by Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School of Government March 24-25 at Cambridge, Massachussetts and Boston.

The conference promises to present a clear, unbiased perspective on where India is headed over the next decade, taking with it the lives and destinies of a billion people and the attached fortunes of an integrated, increasingly dependent world.

Panel discussions with experts in their respective fields would focus on future of the Indian economy, healthcare, education, entrepreneurship, retail and energy, according to organisers.

Hardeep Puri, India's Permanent Representative to the UN, and Bharat Desai, chairman of Syntel Inc, are the keynote speakers at the conference.

The India-heads of Apax partners, TA Associates, TPG, New Silk Route & Tata Capital Firms will talk about the challenges and opportunities of the booming investing market in India.

Speakers include Nitin Nohria, Dean and Richard P. Chapman, Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School, and Bollywood personalities like Abhinay Deo, director of "Delhi Belly", and Ritesh Sidhwani, producer of "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara".

Jay Sean, popular Indian origin singer from London, will dwell on building a brand and successful business in the biggest entertainment market in the world.

The Tata group of companies, which gifted $50 million to the Harvard Business School, is the title sponsor of the conference.

The South Asian Times, the popular New York-based premier newspaper for the South Asian community, is the prime media sponsor of this prestigious event.