Founder’s Day Lecture at IILM by Dr Bhagwati Prakash Sharma

November 16, 2018, New Delhi

Dr Bhagawati Prakash Sharma, on IILM Founder’s Day Commemorative Lecture, spoke on  ‘Techno-nationalism and Economic Patriotism to Leapfrog Economic Growth’, a topic which is truly relevant in today’s political and economic ecosystem. He elaborated how India should pursue policies of Economic-Patriotism and Techno Nationalism for accelerating its growth and development. Dr Sharma feels that the key to India’s economic maturation for placing it in the forefront of economic development is by giving protection to Indian Industry.  He said, “If we think of developing capabilities with Techno-nationalism, we can develop as an economy.”

An Entrepreneur, Industrialist, Philanthropist, Educationist, Dr. Kulwant Rai was a self-made man. His abiding passion was education. The Rai School (now known as the Banyan Tree School) was set up in 1986 and the Institute for integrated Learning in Management in 1993. Dr. Kulwant Rai would explain his goal in education based on the teachings of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba: “The process of education is to render the individual a happier and more useful person; it must also make him a better citizen, able and willing to further the progress of the nation to which he belongs.”

This is our 25th year in delivering Management and Engineering courses at undergraduate and graduate levels. We started our journey from this campus at Lodhi Road and today IILM has five campuses located in Delhi, Gurugram, Greater Noida, Jaipur and Lucknow and has over 10,000 alumni.  We are happy to share that IILM University, Gurgram has been set up during this silver jubiliee year. Our University was inaugurated by the Honourable Vice President of India Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu on 20th April 2018.

The IILM Founder’s Day Commemorative Lecture is held in the memory of Dr Kulwant Rai,  began in 2005 with His Holiness, The Dalai Lama’s address who highlighted the value of hard work, peace and non-violence. The subsequent lectures were delivered by distinguished luminaries such as Dr V Krishna Murthy, Morari Bapu, Mr Wajahat Habibullah, Dr Farooq Abdullah, Prof Najeeb Jung, Ms Naina lal Kidwai, Mr MN Krishnamani, Prof VN Pandit, Prof G Venkataraman and Dr Murli Manohar Joshi.

This year’s eminent speaker was Dr Bhagwati Prakash Sharma, an Economist who has been teaching Commerce and Management since 1978, is   an expert on Global Trade Scenario the WTO, Free Trade Agreements, Economic Globalization, Patents, Investment Measures, Business Environment, Socio-cultural Values & Trends. He has authored 14 text books in various areas of Commerce and Management and more than a dozen popular monographs on a variety of topics. He has more than 200 research papers and articles to his credit, which have been published in various journals, magazines and newspapers. Being a nationally renowned Consultant on Intellectual Property Rights, Industry Clusters, Zero Based Budgeting, Competition Law and Free Trade Agreements, Prof Sharma has also participated in the 5th and 6th and 10th  Bi-annual Ministerial Conferences of the World Trade Organization (WTO), held at Cancun (Mexico) and Hong Kong and Nairobi respectively.

Dr Sharma, a strong proponent of the slogan “Made by India” and not “Made in India, spoke about how Indian purchasing habits should shift from products made in India to products made by India. He spoke about how Japan and China have advanced as economies by following Techno-nationalism and Economic Patriotism.  He said, “India too needs to develop alternative technologies and promulgate national technologies so that home-grown industries get a foot-hold in the economy.”

The basic thrust of the lecture was that India needs to roll out ‘Made by India’ so we can carve out a place in the global arena as a manufacturing nation and create hundred per cent employment. Dr Sharma believes that Techno-national and economic patriotism is the way forward towards India occupying a respectable place in global manufacturing.

The lecture was opened to the audience resulting in a robust interaction with several interesting and probing questions posed by the audience consisting of distinguished guests, faculty and students of IILM. The IILM Founder’s Day special lecture highlighted pertinent and significant issues prevalent in today’s world infusing the audience with enthusiasm and leaving them with many thought provoking concepts.

Lingayas Vidyapeeth
JP International School
KR Mangalam World School GK2