Jagdish Bhagwati to address Parliament session on Dec 2

Renowned economist Jagdish Natwarlal Bhagwati will address a joint session of Parliament on December 2, the second such address after US President Barack Obama. Bhagwati, professor of economics and law at Columbia University, will talk about “Indian reforms: Yesterday and today” in the third Prof. Hiren Mukerjee Memorial Annual Parliamentary Lecture.

The memorial lecture series was started in 2008 and so far, renowned economists have been invited to this prestigious occasion. In the first year, Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen came and spoke about the idea of justice. Last year, another Nobel Laureate — Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh’s Grameen Bank — came to address the parliamentarians. The theme of Yunus’ lecture was “Social Business: A Step Toward Creating a New Economic and Social Order”.

Vice-President and Chairman of Rajya Sabha Hamid Ansari will preside over the function and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be the chief guest. Singh will also speak a few words on the occasion before Bhagwati takes the podium.

For Manmohan Singh, currently facing the heat of the Opposition on corruption issues, the evening of December 2 is going to be a happy reunion too — for Singh and Bhagwati were classmates at Cambridge in the 1950s.