Making the cut

Moderators at panel discussions are expected to manage the content of the discussion and the length of time panelists and questioners take to speak. But it is possible that some may moderate not wisely but too well, which is what happened at a plenary session on large emerging economies at Confederation of Indian Industry’s Partnership Summit in Agra. Moderator Rajat Nag, managing director general, Asian Development Bank, asked the panelists to speak as briefly as possible to save enough time for questions from the audience at the end of the session. One of the panelists who spoke at length was Lindsay Fox, founder and chairman of the Australian logistics conglomerate Linfox Group, but he had the audience listening with rapt attention. But just as he was beginning to enjoy loud applause, Nag abruptly stopped him for not being brief. Fox was visibly upset, though Nag did apologise subsequently.