New Delhi | 31, March 2023: The third edition of News18 Network’s marquee initiative, News18 Rising India Summit, successfully concluded on Thursday. Themed ‘The Heroes of Rising India’, the two-day summit acknowledged the contribution of ordinary people who have made an extraordinary social impact to help India rise.
The grand event honoured 20 real heroes who have created ground-breaking solutions that have created a significant transformation in their respective fields via social ventures that can change lives, led community programs for positive impact, and showed bravery and kindness to make India better. The individuals who were felicitated across various categories include Urgain Phuntsog and Dr. Shiv Darshan Malik who has shown remarkable contributions in the field of agriculture. Similarly, Sunita Jhingran Sharma and C.V. Raju were acknowledged for their efforts in ‘Arts & Culture’ category, Pankaj Kumar Tarai and Inderpal Singh Batra were honoured in the ‘Healing from the Heart’ category for creating positive social impact, P.V. Chinnathampi, P.K. Muraleedharan and Ahmed Ali were recognised for their contribution in the ‘Education’ category. Kandoni Soren and Bilal Ahmad Dar were awarded in ‘Environment & Sustainability’, Ashaita Mahajan and Babita Rajput in ‘Gender Equality’, Dr. Tapesh Mathur and Late Trilochan Singh & Kamaljeet Singh in ‘Health’ category, Gulab Singh Yadu and Village Modhera were recognised for Rural Transformation, Pulithevan Silamba Training School and Vijay Barse for ‘Sports for Development’, and Tongbram Bijiyashanti Devi and Surjit Singh were awarded in the ‘Innovation’ segment.
Day 1 of the News18 Rising India summit included an opening fireside chat titled ‘Loktantra’ with Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce & Industry, followed by ministerial fireside chat ‘India’s G20 Moment’, with S. Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs, along with Zakka Jacob, Managing Editor, CNN News18. Day 1 also included ministerial fireside chats titled ‘Building Blocks of Rising India’ with Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways, and ‘Education & Skills: Making Excellence a Habit’ with Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Education.
The Panel Discussion, titled ‘Made in India: Rising Aspirations of Young India,’ was attended by prominent industry leaders, including Vivek Tyagi, Chairperson of India Electronics and Semiconductor Association, Aman Gupta, Co-Founder & CMO of boAt, Tarun Mehta, Co-Founder & CEO of Ather Energy, Srinath Ravichandran, Co-Founder & CEO of AgniKul Cosmos, and Abhay Bhutada, MD of Poonawalla Fincorp Ltd. The ministerial fireside, ‘Swasth Bharat Shreshth Bharat,’ featured Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of Health & Family Welfare, while the subsequent panel discussion was ‘The Oscar Whisperers,’ which featured Oscar winner Guneet Monga sharing her experiences. The first day of the summit concluded with a fireside chat, ‘Keeping India Safe,’ in which the Union Home Minister of India,. Amit Shah, engaged in an open conversation with Rahul Joshi, MD, Network18.
The opening address on day 2 was delivered by the Minister of Defence, Rajnath Singh. A panel discussion with inspiring women leaders such as actor Rakul Preet Singh, Vineeta Singh, CEO of SUGAR Cosmetics, Rani Rampal, member of the Women’s Hockey Team, and singer Shilpa Rao discussed women empowerment in today’s time. The ministerial fireside chat ‘Water Warriors’ featured Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, the Minister for Jal Shakti.
Day 2 also included a music performance by Grammy winner Ricky Kej & Amaan Ali Bangash-Ayaan Ali Bangash. This was followed by two Ministerial Addresses & Firesides, one on ‘Jammu & Kashmir: Can It Be a Model for Development?’ with Manoj Sinha, Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, and another on ‘Renewing India’ with Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs and Petroleum & Natural Gas of India. A ministerial fireside on ‘Sustainability Solutions with Big Impact’ was held with Bhupender Yadav, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change & Labour and Employment.
The summit also included a session, ‘Acting Ka King Kaun’ with actor Manoj Bajpayee and a panel discussion on ‘The Power of Influence’ featuring social media influencers like Niharika NM, Shraddha Jain, Abhiraj & Niyati, and Yashraj Mukhate. Director Siddharth Anand discussed ‘The Blockbuster Formula’, while filmmaker Ayan Mukerji shared his experience and ambitious journey of Brahmastra. Anurag Thakur, the Minister for Information & Broadcasting, Youth Affairs & Sports, led the Ministerial Fireside on ‘Play to Rise’, along with a panel discussion with Sania Mirza, Shafali Verma, and Nikhat Zareen. Kajal Aggarwal Kitchlu, an actor, was also part of a candid conversation.
The Vice President of India, Jagdeep Dhankhar, delivered closing remarks at the Rising India Summit. While addressing the summit Mr. Dhankhar stated, “India is not only the world’s largest democracy, but it is also considered the most functional democracy in the world. The constitutional institutions of the country are extremely strong and independent. None in democracy can claim he is above the law, and out of the reach of law. There is no democracy if one says we are different.
