The 17th Wharton India Economic Forum 2013 Presents: Changing Seas, Steering for Growth

MUMBAI, India - March 21, 2013 - PRLog -- Mumbai, India, March 21, 2013 – The student leadership committee of the Wharton India Economic Forum (WIEF) announced today the 17th WIEF held in Philadelphia on March 23, 2013 will feature some of India’s top leaders including keynote speakers Arvind Kejriwal, Founder of Aam Aadmi Party; Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission of India, Ron Somers, President, US-India Business Council and Mr. Sashi Reddi, Founder and CEO of AppLabs and VP & GM, Big Data and Analytics at Computer Sciences Corporation. Mr. Kejriwal and Mr. Ahluwalia will be addressing the forum via live videoconference.

This year’s theme will be ‘Changing Seas, Steering for Growth’, and the conference will bring together business and political leaders, professionals, academics, and students from around the world to discuss India's evolution from an emerging nation to a prominent global economic power, and the key social, political and financial challenges ahead.

The forum will be attended by senior industry leaders from Finance, Private Equity, Entrepreneurship, Infrastructure, Healthcare and address social issues like Women’s Empowerment. Prominent speakers include Javed Akhtar (Poet, Lyricist, and Scriptwriter); Ravi Uppal (Managing Director and CEO, Jindal Steel Power Limited); Samir Mitra (Advisor, Prime Minister of India); Shabana Azmi (Actress) and Shankar Narayanan (Managing Director, The Carlyle Group India). Appended below are the names of speakers and panelists for WIEF 2013.

In conjunction with the panels, WIEF will host a Startup Pavilion that will feature 16-20 of the most innovative startups founded by Wharton/Penn students and alumni in India. Last year, Aurality Technologies, a Mumbai-based startup which was a participating Startup in WIEF 2012, successfully secured $300,000 of seed funding shortly after it was showcased at WIEF.

For the first time since its inception in 1996, the forum will feature an Art Pavilion which will exhibit the top submissions for its Photography Contest ‘Portraits of India’ at the conference venue, showcasing the work of participants who intend to represent the beauty and diversity of India.

Over the years, WIEF, an annual conference organized by Wharton students, has been attended by over 800 people annually and has included renowned and influential keynote speakers and panelistssuch as Former President of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam; current Union Minister of Finance, Mr. P. Chidambaram; Mr. K.V. Kamath, Chairman of Infosys Limited; Ambassador Arun K. Singh; member of the parliament, Varun Gandhi and industrialists like Mr. Anil Ambani and Mr. Sunil Mittal.

For more information visit: http://www.whartonindia.com/index.php. For inquires,email chairs@whartonindia.com.

Keynotes and speakers at the forum include:

Keynote Speakers:

Arvind Kejriwal - Founder, Aam Aadmi Party

Montek Singh Ahluwalia - Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission of India

Ron Somers - President, US - India Business Council

Mr. Sashi Reddi - Founder/CEO of AppLabs; VP & GM, Big Data and Analytics at Computer Sciences Corporation

Private Equity/Venture Capital

The Impending Shakeout

Anurag Bhargava - Chairman, IREO

Vikram Deswal - Chief Investment Officer & Portfolio Manager, East Bridge Capital Management

Mukund Krishnaswami - Partner, Lighthouse Funds

Manish Kejriwal - Managing Partner, Kedaara Capital

Shankar Narayanan - Managing Director, The Carlyle Group India

Stephen M. Sammut - Senior Fellow and Lecturer, Health Care Management, The Wharton School (Moderator)

Women Empowerment

The New Indian Woman & Her Increasing Social Empowerment

ShabanaAzmi - Actress

Vrinda Grover - Lawyer and Human Rights Activist

Laxmi Pratury – CEO, Ixoraa Media

Jaideep Bose - Editorial Director, The Times of India (Moderator)

Entrepreneurship

The Emerging Non-Traditional Industry Verticals

Sasha Mirchandani - Managing Director and Founder, Kae Capital

Samir Mitra - Advisor, Prime Minister of India

Aneesh Reddy - Co-Founder and CEO, Capillary Technologies

Devita Saraf - Chief Executive Officer, Vu Technologies

Prof. Kartik Hosanagar - Associate Professor, Operations and Information Management, The Wharton School (Moderator)

Infrastructure

Solution to the Power Crisis

Anita Marangoly George - Director for Infrastructure, IFC

Ron Somers - President, US - India Business Council

Ravi Uppal - Managing Director and CEO, Jindal Steel Power Limited

Healthcare

Delivery Models for Healthcare

Dr. Mohan Chellappa - President, Global Ventures, Johns Hopkins Medicine International

Naresh Malhotra - Director, Modern Family Care

Dr. Jasmin Patel - Venture Partner, Aarin Capital; Former MD, Fidelity Growth India; Former COO, Novartis India

Dr. N. Krishna Reddy - Co-Founder & CEO, CARE Hospitals

ShriramVijayakumar - Founder & CEO, DaVita Nephrolife

Finance

Driving Financial Inclusion

L.N. Balaji - President, Americas, ITC Infotech

Thomas Brunner - Partner & General Counsel, LeapFrog Investments

Prof. Santosh Anagol - Assistant Professor, Business Economics & Public Policy Department, The Wharton School (Moderator)

Media & Entertainment

Media as a Vehicle for Social Change

Javed Akhtar - Poet, Lyricist, and Scriptwriter

Shabana Azmi - Actress

Aseem Chhabra - TV Anchor and Journalist

Boman Irani - Actor and Photographer

Sudhir Mishra - Indian Film Director and Screenwriter