The Industry Interaction Cell of IIM Indore organised TEDx on February 19, 2017; on the theme—‘Catch the Snowflake’, wishing to capture & spread unique ideas which are shaping the world we are living in.
Professor Prashant Salwan welcomed the speakers and urged the participants to take inspiration from these eminent individuals; as TED is all about inspiration and action. He motivated the participants to be action oriented and make sure that they should always have country’s development in their mind.
The event featured distinguished speakers from different walks of life. Ms. Krushnaa Patil, the second youngest Indian woman to have scaled Mt. Everest; said that everyone can be as unique as a snowflake—but what matters is how big a snowball we make out of it.
Dr. Shelly Batra, Co-Founder of operation ASHA has made defeating tuberculosis her personal mission and has delivered the elusive last mile treatment to the disadvantaged. She urged the gathering to find the best low cost models to improve health access across the nation, which still remains the biggest challenge.
Mr. Adithya Kothandhapani is the Mission Systems Engineer, Team Indus Google Lunar Xprize Mission (GLXP). Alternatively referred to as Moon 2.0, GLXP is a global challenge that requires engineers and entrepreneurs to place a robot on the Moon that explores at least 500m and sends feedback to the Earth. He believed that India has the potential of going down in history through this mission, also called #HarIndiakaMoonshot.
Mr. Popatrao Baguji Pawar, currently ex-director of Maharahtra State Government’s model village program has led Hiware Bazar’s transformation from a drought prone village to a green and prosperous model village. He believes development of the country must start at the grass roots level (‘Chalo gaon ki ore’) and urged the audience to take pride in working towards the same.
Dr.Abhijeet Barse has revitalised Slum Soccer’s football based curriculum through effective engagement with a focus on women’s empowerment, hygiene, nutrition and social inclusion and also established pan India presence of the organisation. He said that playing games promotes learning in its most natural form.
The event concluded with a talk by Ms. Astha Kapoor, a public policy strategy consultant working on financial inclusion and digital payments. She spoke at length on the concept of ‘Universal Basic Income’ and emphasised the importance of doing pilots before implementing a policy at the national level.
The event was appreciated by the speakers and provided the participants a platform to interact with the leading icons of various fields.