RNP Singh has lucidly narrated the heroic saga of integrating the nation by indomitable Sardar Vallabhbai Patel by incorporating the princely territories into it. The account refreshes the memory of struggle to keep together the parts of the dismembered and exploited nation by the colonial power.
The Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) organised an online essay contest for school students between classes X and XII in January 2018. The theme for the contest was ‘My Vision of India’. The prizes were announced in March and the prize distribution took place at the VIF on 15 May.
On 01 Mar 2018, the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) invited Dr Sushmit Kumar, author of “The Modernisation of Islam and the Creation of a Multipolar World Order” (Booksurge, January 2008) for a discussion that hinged on exploring possibilities of India to become a Super Power. Dr Kumar highlighted key historic events of global politics and their implications for countries like India seeking to rise in the global power status.
On March 12, 2018, Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) hosted a group of teachers and students from the MIT School of Government, Pune. The session was chaired by Brig Vinod Anand. The other members on the panel were Shri RNP Singh (Senior Fellow), Cmde Somen Banerjee (Senior Fellow) and Ms Gunjan Singh (Associate Fellow).
VIF’s monthly Vimarsha for the month of February, 2018, focused on ‘Ensuring Food Security for India’ through an enlightening talk delivered by Mr. S.K Pattanayak, Secretary to the Government of India (Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare). The Secretary highlighted availability, accessibility, utility and stability, among various other dimensions, to India’s food security. He underscored that policies on food security are made in accordance with emergent priorities across various dimensions.
The Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) organized an interaction the topic being "Aadhar 2.0: Leveraging Blockchain" on 23rd January, 2018. Presentation on the topic was given by Sh. Vinayak Dalmia, Co-founder, Amber Health, and Smt. Shikha Mehra, Senior Research Associate, Jindal Global Law School and Member, Digital Asset and Blockchain Foundation of India.
Following the path breaking interventions for ‘Doubling the Farmers’ Incomes’, brainstorming workshop held at Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF), New Delhi from 15-16 March 2017, a second Conclave on River Basin Management was organized at the VIF from 29-30 November 2017, in partnership with International Commission on Drainage (ICID).
The VIF invited the noted cardiac surgeon, Dr. Devi Shetty, Founder and Chairman of Narayana Group of Hospitals, for a talk on ‘Making Healthcare Affordable’, followed by an interactive session. The talk was held under the auspices of Vimarsha series of lectures delivered by persons of great eminence on issues of contemporary and historical significance,. Decorated with India’s third highest civilian award, the ‘Padma Bhushan’ in 2012 for his contributions to affordable healthcare, Dr.
It was Elie Wiesel who had said, “Without memory, there is no culture. Without memory, there would be no civilisation, no society, no future.” The Holocaust survivor would know, as would those in India and Pakistan who went through the trauma of Partition (yes, with a capital ‘P’, because this partition was more than a division of geographical boundaries - it was an event that uprooted families from not just their homes and hearths but cultural moorings as well). It is fine today to talk of Partition as something that had to happen given the social and political conditions of that time.
A round table talk with Bertil Falk was organised by the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF), on Oct 6, 2017, on his book ‘Feroze: The Forgotten Gandhi’. The author Bertil Folk is a Swedish author whose book was released last year. The talk was presided over by the VIF Director Dr. Arvind Gupta and attended by the members of VIF.