India FNF Alumni Network (IFAN)
in partnership with
Friedrich Naumann Stiftung für die Freiheit

Invites you to an informal meeting :
India needs you! - An introduction to the Freedom Team of India (FTI)
21 February 2010 (Sunday),  
4.30pm at Dadar West, Mumbai
        
Resource Person: Sanjeev Sabhlok, Freedom Team of India & Mumbai-based members of FTI

The Freedom Team of India (FTI), a not-for-profit trust created in 2009, is a forum for policy, strategy, and leadership development to promote freedom in India. Members of FTI are committed in principle to contest elections in India with appropriate preparation. They will offer their leadership to India along with a platform of world-best policies, hoping to directly reform India’s governance. FTI is not a political party. Proposed electoral activity will be conducted under a separate banner or platform. For more information on FTI visit http://freedomteam.in

Sanjeev Sabhlok has a doctorate in economics from the University of Southern California. He joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1982 and resigned in January 2001to pursue possible political and other goals. Presently he works in Victoria (Australia) in regulatory policy. His 2008 book, "Breaking Free of Nehru" (Anthem Press) highlighted India’s expensive but disastrous experiment with socialism. It also offered a way forward for India to become a great nation with freedom and ethical governance. The Freedom Team of India is a major step forward in the proposed solution
Sanjeev is visiting India after a gap of two and a half years primarily to attend FTI's first conference (in Mumbai) and to extend his search for leaders. He is keen to get meet those who believe in the principles and policies of liberty and have contemplated the possibility of participating in electoral politics to reform India's governance.
http://sanjeev.sabhlokcity.com/

Venue Address :
L. J. Business and Training Centre
Opp. Tilak Bridge, Next to Lazaree Saree Shop
Behind Punjab National Bank,
N C Kelkar Marg, Dadar West
Mumbai 400 028
Ph: 2430 6472 / 2430 4294

Between Plaza Circle (theatre) and Kabutarkhana in Dadar BB (as it is locally called). Go to Google Map and type “L. J. Business and Training Centre Mumbai” you’ll get its location and directions. Print out the map for your convenience! Alternatively, click here (bitmap 1.5MB).

Parth J Shah

President, Centre for Civil Society

It is in recognition of the merit of private schools that the Act says they must reserve seats for the poor. Why not give students a 100 per cent choice?

The Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act entrusts the government with the responsibility to ensure that every child gets quality education in India. Does this mean that every child has to go to a building called “government school”? Is the school’s ownership really critical to assuring education? Does it really matter to parents and children where they get quality education?

The government guarantees education but this need not be achieved only through government schools. Sadly, many believe that schools have to be built, owned and operated by the government. These educationists seem to have turned a blind eye to the changing reality of the education landscape in India.

Parents are getting tired of teachers’ absenteeism and lack of accountability in government schools where 52 per cent of class-five students can’t even read to match up to the level of class-two (Annual Status of Education Report, 2009). They are increasingly rejecting free government schools and choosing fee-charging private schools. The Aser 2009 report shows that close to 22 per cent of children in rural India attend private schools. This number is much higher in urban areas with states like Punjab and Haryana at the forefront, where two out of every three children attend private school.

An increasingly flat world with vanishing borders has also led to the growth of capitalism  in hitherto non-capitalistic countries. This had led to not only individual countries, but the world as a whole, being subject to the vagaries of the market economies and the consequences thereof.What is the optimal level of regulation in the economy? Was lack of regulation the cause of the financial crisis in the US last year? Is information coordinated better under a market mechanism that under tightly regulated command structures? Is innovation fostered better under a market economy?

These questions provoked 40 young minds to share their knowledge and understanding in an All India Essay Competition on

The market economy and its impact on the global financial crisis organized by the India FNF Alumni Network in partnership with the Bangalore Management Academy (BMA). Dr. Amir Ullah Khan, IFAN member and Professor at BMA, designed the Competition to encourage young thinkers to challenge the conventional thinking behind the financial crises and thereby dig deeper into the popular “blame the market” response.

Out of the 40 entries received from college and school students across the country, 28 finalists were invited to a one-day seminar on the same topic on 31 October 2009. Three best presentations were chosen by the three-member jury from industry, media and academics based on their relevance, structure, style, flow, conviction and language.

Parnika Malhothra from Amity Law School won the first prize for her paper on the failure of the credit rating agencies and lack of government regulation causing the financial crunch. Paras Katoch from Amrita School of Business won the Second Prize for his paper on the cause and recovery from the global financial crisis. Navneet Kaur and Mrinal Chadha from Shaheed Bhagat Singh College won the third prize for their essay focusing on the housing bubble. Building on the papers and the presentations, Dr. Amir Ullah Khan clarified the basic foundations of a market economy and rule of law society.


In a parallel event, IFAN member, Dr Munmum Jha facilitated a provocative discussion on Population: The Changing Perception with social sciences students at the Indian Institute of Technology with fellow IFAN member, Barun Mitra as the resource person.

Bangalore Management Academy and IFAN have conducted an all India essay competition on the topic ‘The Market Economy and its impact on the Global Financial Crisis’.

 There were 40 entries from all over the country, out of which 28 papers were shortlisted for the final presentation. The judges for the event were Ms. Priti Parekh, Mr. Asif Syed and Ms. Rekha. The participants were invited to BMA for their paper presentation on 31 October, 2009.