The sixth Ramnath Goenka Lecture was delivered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Speaking on the legacy of Ramnath Goenka, the PM described his famed impatience as a virtue “not in a negative sense, but in a positive one,” the kind that “stirs still waters into motion”. Today’s India, he said, shares that drive: “impatient to become developed, impatient to become self-reliant.”
“At a time when the world is fearful of disruption, India is confidently moving in the direction of a bright future,” he said, adding that “India is not just an emerging market, but also an emerging model.” The PM also urged Indians to reverse the legacy of Thomas Macaulay, who enforced colonial education in the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi being welcomed by Viveck Goenka, Chairman and Managing Director, The Indian Express Group,and Anant Goenka, Executive Director, The Indian Express Group
The lecture was attended by top dignitaries, including Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena; Delhi Minister Parvesh Verma; Supreme Court judge Justice Manmohan; BJP Lok Sabha MP Anil Baluni; BJP leaders Ravi Shankar Prasad and Vinay Sahasrabuddhe; Congress leaders Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary and Shashi Tharoor; former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad; former Law Secretary Dr Anju Rathi Rana; former Law Minister Ashwani Kumar; Rajiv Shukla; former MP Rakesh Sinha; and Attorney General R Venkataramani; former Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora; Secretary to Vice President Amit Khare; former Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa; Australian High Commissioner Philip Green; Delhi University Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh; Nepal Ambassador Dr Shankar Sharma; Awanish Awasthi, advisor to UP Chief Minister; Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Bery; Vice Chancellor of National Law University G S Bajpai; Centre for Policy Research president Srinivas Chokkakula; economist Surjit Bhalla; writer Kishwar Desai and journalist Nalini Singh.
(From left) Ghulam Nabi Azad, chief of the Democratic Progressive Azad Party; Congress’s Shashi Tharoor and BJP’s Ravi Shankar Prasad
The first lecture, in the series, was delivered by Marianne Pearl, wife of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Speakers since have included RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, President Pranab Mukherjee, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and philanthropist Bill Gates.
