The 13th Wharton India Economic Forum Presents: INDIA - THE ROAD AHEAD

Philadelphia, United States

The student leadership committee of the Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF) announced today that the 13th Wharton India Economic Forum will be held at the Park Hyatt at the Bellevue Hotel in Philadelphia on March 21st, 2009. The committee invites the public to gain insights from some of the world's top business leaders including keynote speakers: Mr. Jim Rogers (billionaire Investor in the Asian Markets and Co-Founder of the Quantum Fund); Mr. Dominic Barton (named the next Global Managing Director, McKinsey & Co.); Ms. Chanda Kochhar (named the next CEO and Managing Director, ICICI Bank, India's largest private financial institution); Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia (Deputy Chairman of India's Planning Commission and the architect of the country's current economic policy); and Mr. Farrokh Kavarana (Chairman of several Tata Group companies). Registration is available at http://www.whartonindia.org.

As has been the case in the past, the forum will be driven by business leaders, politicians and experts from across the world who will come together to share their outlook and vision for India. The forum will also be attended by the glitterati of the nation's booming sports and entertainment industries including Abhishek Bachchan (Actor), Sunil Gavaskar (Cricketer),Geet Sethi (Billiards Champion), Vijay Amritraj (Tennis Champion) , Sabeer Bhatia (Hotmail) and Rohan Sippy (Film Director). In addition, the young Congress Party leader Mr. Rahul Gandhi, will share his vision for a new India in a specially taped video address.

The Forum will also run nine panel discussions on diverse topics covering every major aspect that is critical to the Indian economy. Many panels will be moderated by the country's top journalists including Sreenivasan Jain (Managing Editor NDTV) and Senthil Chengalvarayan (President & Group Editorial Director Business Media, CNBC TV18). Keynotes and speakers at the Forum include:

Keynotes Address

-- Jim Rogers, Investor & Co-Founder of the Quantum Fund-via live video-conferencing

-- Chanda Kochhar, Joint Managing Director, ICICI Bank

-- Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission- via live video-conferencing

-- Dominic Barton, Chairman, McKinsey & Company Asia Pacific; named the next Global MD

-- Farrokh Kavarana, Director, Tata Sons & Chairman of several Tata group Companies

-- Rahul Gandhi, Congress Party leader-taped address

Panel Speakers

Investing in India: Capital Markets and Hedge Funds

-- Moderator: Senthil Chengalvarayan, President & Group Editorial Director Business Media, CNBC TV18

-- Ramdeo Agrawal, Co-founder, Motilal Oswal Securities

-- Sandeep Naik, Principal, Apax Partners India Advisers Pvt. Ltd.

-- Seth Freeman, CEO, EM Capital Management

Bollywood's Silver Screen: Pursuit of the Golden Globe

-- Moderator: Sreenivasan Jain, Managing Editor, NDTV 24x7

-- Abhishek Bachchan, Actor, Bollywood

-- Ajay Bijli, Chairman and Managing Director, PVR Limited

-- Mukesh Bhatt, Director & Producer, Bollywood

-- Rohan Sippy, Director, Bollywood

Backstage Demand Drivers: The Indian Media and Ad Industry

-- Bhaskar Das, Executive President, Bennett Coleman (Times Group); President, Mumbai Ad Club

-- Colvyn Harris, CEO, JWT India

-- Ravi Kiran, CEO South and Southeast Asia, Star-com

-- Arvind Sharma, Chairman & CEO, Leo Burnett India

The Economics of Sports in India: Prospects and Pitfalls

-- Moderator: Vijay Amritraj- Former Tennis Player, sports commentator

-- Sunil Gavaskar, Former Cricket Captain, Team India

-- Geet Sethi, World Professional Billiards Champion

Entrepreneurship

-- Moderator: Srivastan Rajan, Head of Bain India's Private Equity practice

-- Shantanu Prakash, Chairman and Managing Director, Educomp Solutions Limited

-- Jay Sidhu, Chairman and CEO, Sidhu Advisors, LLC; Former Chairman and CEO, Sovereign Bank

-- Vikram Shroff, Executive Director, United Phosphorous Ltd.

-- Sabeer Bhatia, Co-Founder, Hotmail.com

-- Chander Baljee, founder and CMD, Royal Orchid Hotels

(Sub)Prime Property: India's Real Estate in the aftermath of the Subprime Mortgage Crisis

-- Moderator: Louis Klein, Founder & MD, IREO

-- Pawan Malhotra, Managing Director & CEO, Mahindra Lifespace Developers

-- Sameer Nayar, MD & Head of Real Estate Finance - Asia Pacific, Credit Suisse

-- Sanjay Verma, Executive Managing Director, South Asia, Cushman & Wakefield

-- Samit Chopra, Managing Director, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj

-- Aanandjit Sunderaj, Senior Director & Head of ICICI Private Equity Real Estate Investments

The Healthcare Duopoly: India, the Medical Center of the World

-- Dr. Michael Ross, President, Cadilla Pharmaceuticals Ltd., USA

-- Shobhana Kamineni, Executive Director, Apollo Hospital Enterprises

-- Anula Jayasuria, Managing Director, Evolvence India Life Science Fund

Technology

-- Moderator: Sanjay Puri, President, Alliance for US India Business

-- Vijay Thadani, CEO, NIIT

-- Anand Eswaran, Vice President of Global Professional Services for HP Software

-- Basab Pradhan, Former Global Head of Sales, Infosys; Chairman and Founder Gridstone Research

Nurturing the National Backbone: India's Infrastructure, 2020 and beyond

-- Moderator: Srivastan Rajan, Head of Bain India's Private Equity practice

-- Farrokh Kavarana, Director Tata Sons and Tata Industries and Chairman of several Tata companies

-- Hari Das Khunteta, Director, Finance, Executive Director, Rural Electrification Corporation Ltd.

-- T.N. Thakur, Chairman, Power Trading Corporation

The India Express: Tourism in the Time of Turmoil

-- Moderator: Devika Anand, Head- Travel Programming, NDTV Lifestyle

-- Vikram Madhok, Managing Director, Abercrombie & Kent India Ltd.

-- Chander K. Baljee, Founder and Managing Director, Royal Orchid Hotels

Again this year, the Wharton India Economic Forum will team with India Knowledge @ Wharton, the Wharton School's award winning online journal of business analysis and commentary, to capture through audio and video interviews as well as print articles the insights provided by the high level speakers in attendance. For more information visit: http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/india/. For more information about the Forum contact Mr. Arjun Madan at arjunm@wharton.upenn.edu or +1-718-790-9973. Complete details and registration are available at http://www.whartonindia.org.

About the Wharton School

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania -- founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school -- is recognized globally for intellectual leadership and ongoing innovation across every major discipline of business education. The most comprehensive source of business knowledge in the world, Wharton bridges research and practice through its broad engagement with the global business community. The school has more than 4,700 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students; more than 10,000 annual participants in executive education programs; and an alumni network of more than 84,000 graduates.

Source:Wharton India Economic Forum (Business Wire India)

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