This year the Frugal Innovation Forum will focus on two hot topics in development: data and mobile money. The agenda is action packed, with a welcome dinner and two days of debates, Ted style talks, workshops and plenty of time for networking. Participants include leading practitioners, researchers and activists working on digital financial services and data.
Tarun Khanna, Director of the South Asia Institute and Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor, Harvard Business School spoke to Business Today about how Indian companies can work with colleges to nurture talent.
SAI organized a talk in Kolkata, India by Diana Eck, Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies at Harvard University, followed by an interactive session and lunch. The event, generously hosted by Gaurav and Parul Swarup at their elegant Alipur home, was well attended by Harvard alumni from Kolkata, as well as friends of the Swarup family.
Harvard University will be well-represented at the upcoming Contemporary South Asian City Conference (Pakistan Urban Forum). Harvard is sending a team of scholars, students and doctors to represent Harvard at the mega-conference.
The Club’s Annual Dinner will feature Chief Minister Punjab, Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif as the keynote speaker.
On December 9th, SAI hosted a film screening of The Good Road, which is India’s official entry for Best Foreign Film at the 2014 Oscars. SAI caught up with the director to discuss his film and the direction of Indian cinema.
Around 50 students, faculty, and friends of SAI gathered and shared delicious South Asian food and fun music.
SAI is excited to welcome Teri McGuane as Staff Assistant. Teri will be responsible for support of the Executive Director, office support, processing financial reimbursements, event logistics, and travel arrangements for the organization.
Organized by the Harvard Club of Chennai and the HBS Club of India, the event was attended by 20 graduates from across the different schools at Harvard.
On November 25, 2013, SAI hosted a webinar titled “Tackling Gender Based Violence in South Asia – What Options Do We Have?” as part of SAI’s ongoing webinar series. The interactive discussion featured sites across Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. To make the webinar interactive across the globe, SAI utilized social media to take questions and monitor the discussion online.
On November 21, SAI hosted a roundtable meeting to convene experts on water issues from the Boston area. With an issue as complex as water, SAI hopes to coordinate future conferences and workshops to identify a common intellectual language about water issues and harness the resources of these experts.