Pune International Centre to be launched on September 24

The Pune International Centre (PIC), a platform that will work for the betterment of the city, will be launched at the hands of veteran leader Mohan Dharia on September 24.

The inaugural address will be given by Nandan Nilekani on the topic, ‘The challenge of inclusive development: how information technology can help’.

The office bearers of the PIC include Raghunath Mashelkar (president), Vijay Kelkar (vice-president), Prabhakar Karandikar (honorary general secretary) and Ravi Pandit (honorary treasurer).

The other founding trustees of the organisation are Abhay Firodia, Anil Supanekar, Anu Aga, Arun Firodia, Atul Kirloskar, Baba Kalyani, Dileep Padgaonkar, Jabbar Patel, Mukesh Malhotra, Narendra Jadhav, Naushad Forbes, Pramod Chaudhari, Pratap Pawar, SB Mujumdar, Satish Magar, Suresh Pingale and Vijay Bhatkar.

The list of honorary fellows, who have been nominated on the basis of their eminence, include Avinash Dixit, Babasaheb Purandare, Chandu Borde, Govind Swarup, Jayant Narlikar, Kishori Amonkar, Lata Mangeshkar, Madhav Gadgil, Mangesh Padgaonkar, Mohan Dharia, Rahul Bajaj, Sachin Tendulkar, Sai Paranjape, Sharadchandra Gokhale, Suman Kirloskar, Sunil Gavaskar and Vijaya Mehta.

The PIC will start operating from the Alpabachat Bhavan immediately after its launch. In due time, the PIC will create its own premises with the help of funds from corporates, philanthropists and other donors.

A press statement issued by the PIC on Friday said that the first programme of the PIC would be a major meet.

“The entire nation has been stirred up with a cry to create a corruption-free India, thanks to Anna Hazare’s recent andolan. The question is ‘What Next?’ It is precisely this topic that will be discussed by leading stakeholders in the current national debate,” the statement said.

Other events involving discussions and debates on ‘Building Pune of our dreams’, addresses by world’s leading figures, book releases by eminent national and international authors, cultural events and film shows will constitute the immediate list of programmes of the PIC.