The 17th edition of Confluence, IIM Ahmedabad’s (IIM-A) management conclave, is scheduled to take place between November 27 and 29. According to a press release, more than 6000 students from several institutes across India will be taking part in the three-day event.
A significant part of the conclave will comprise of speaker sessions and workshops, which will enable a detailed and intellectually stimulating discourse on issues central to the business trajectory of India and the world. Speakers will be bringing out recent developments in their respective fields.
Education and finance panels
With a growing focus on education in the country and the need for improvement in quantity and quality, the education panel would take forward the issue and talk about how India can teach its poor. Debashish Mitter, Country Director of the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation; and Anmol Vellani, Founder and Director of the Indian Foundation of Arts, will be speaking to the audience. Speakers on the finance panel are Vijay Kedia, MD, Kedia Securities and N.T. Arunkumar, MD, UBS. The panel will throw light on where India is heading in the financial sector, and what reforms can improve the environment.
Prominent bureaucrats such as K V Chowdary, Central Vigilance Commissioner, who headed the tax probe in the 2G scam; Amitabh Kant, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion; and Anil Swarup, are also scheduled to speak at the event.
Panel on sports in India
For all the sports enthusiasts out there, the discussion on new age sports in India will be conducted by eminent people from the sports marketing field, including Manish Kumar, CDO, Red Chillies Entertainment and Kolkata Knight Riders; Mustafa Ghouse, CEO of JSW Sports Ltd; and Vijay Bhardwaj, a renowned sports marketing professional.
Women leadership summit
An upcoming issue concerning the larger Indian audience is that of how changing times have brought about several transformations in the workplace, and how to deal with them effectively. With diverse representation from the corporate sector and the government, this panel discussion aims to give insights into workplace enforcement norms, as well as how environmental changes are causing them to transition as well, as people find it increasingly difficult to manage the same. The speakers include Kalpana Gopalan, IAS Officer, Government of Karnataka; Nitin Parekh, CFO, Zydus Cadila; Nimita Limaye, VP, CDM, Medical Writing and risk-based monitoring, TCS; and Mythree Ganapati, Principal Program Manager, Microsoft. Established entrepreneurs such as Laxmi Char, Founder, DEVI and Sheetal Kharka, MD and Founder, Innocent Heroes Foundation would also share their knowledge on this significant issue.
Apart from the speaker sessions and workshops, many competitions centred on business and management are organized, mirroring the real-world corporate environment. The brightest minds from across the country fight for the ultimate prizes and it is a great learning experience for all the participants.
Cultural activities
Apart from the discussion of academic and current issues, the event will be hosting classical performances by Pandit Rajan Sajan Mishra and two child artists – Mehtab and Khurram Ali. On the second day, the team of upcoming Bollywood release Dilwale, Varun Dhawan and Kriti Sanon, will be making an appearance. A play on the LGBT community by Mona Ambegaonkar, a renowned TV personality, will also be staged.