Prestigious Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad in its first ever media conclave to be held on Saturday as part of the institute’s annual event ‘Confluence 2013’ dropped the idea to call Tehelka Managing Editor Shoma Chaudhary as speaker.
In the high-profile event of one of the leading business schools in Asia, Shoma was empanelled along with Rajdeep Sardesai, Editor-in-Chief of IBN18 Network, Madhu Trehan, founding Editor of India Today and Prof. Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, independent journalist and educator, in interactive sessions on ‘Whether selling news is a sustainable corporate model’.
IIM Ahmedabad had made an announcement about the four speakers on November 22, before Tehelka’s founder-editor Tarun Tejpal’s alleged sexual assault on his junior made headlines. “IIM Ahmedabad had made announcement on Twitter showcasing Shoma’s picture with three other prominent journalists,” said top sources in the B-School. However, later on the programme schedule pertaining to her presence in the Confluence 2013 deleted from the same Twitter account but still its cached copy are available online.
When contacted, the IIM Ahmedabad spokesperson said that she was aware about the three speakers for the conclave and that she didn’t receive Shoma’s name from the institute’s board.
Meanwhile, confluence, the annual business summit driven by the two-year post-graduate students will kick-start from November 29 and conclude on December 1. This year the confluence is centered on the theme ‘Traversing Turbulent Times — Obstacles to Opportunity’. New paradigms that have emerged for businesses across sectors and geographies — learning to survive and emerge from extended periods of global economic turmoil is the central theme of this year’s summit.
The confluence is Asia’s biggest business school summit with over 5,000 students participating from more than 200 schools and colleges. The summit occupies a coveted position in the calendars of the managerial intelligentsia worldwide and attracts students from premier colleges and prominent industry leaders.
The speaker sessions at Confluence 2013 includes talks by speakers. Dr C Rangarajan, Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council and former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India and Vinod Rai, the former Comptroller and Auditor General of India; (Ms) Anu Aga, Padma Shri awardee and member of the Rajya Sabha, currently serving as the Chairperson for the Teach for India campaign; Dr Mukesh Batra, founder and CEO of Dr Batra’s Positive Health Clinic; Chander K Baljee, IIM A alumnus, founder and current Chairman and Managing Director of Royal Orchid Hotels limited to name a few.
The summit will comprise a host of other events in domains of Finance, Marketing, Policy and Strategy. A unique ‘Management Student Programme’ is being offered during the Confluence 2013 that will give participants an exclusive opportunity to be taught and mentored by the renowned faculty of IIM Ahmedabad as well as the chance to attend six workshops in six different domains — Finance, Marketing, Strategy, Operations, Consulting and Human Resource and Organisational Behaviour.