Kochi: The fifth edition of the Manorama News conclave on Thursday witnessed the best minds of the nation come together to discuss ‘India – The Future Story’.

Union Minister Smriti Irani inaugurated the conclave at the Lulu Bolgatty International Convention Centre at 9.45 am. Executive Editor and Director of Malayala Manorama Jayant Mammen Mathew delivered the welcome address. He highlighted the special significance India's future holds on the eve of a general election. Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka DK Shivakumar higlighted the crucial role played by media in Indian democracy in the valedictory address.

Chief Editor of Malayala Manorama Mammen Mathew presented gold medals to winners of the Hangzhou Asian Games at the Conclave. 

“The divide among the Opposition parties in the country was a lot more pronounced today despite them forming the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) to take on the BJP in the coming Lok Sabha elections in 2024,” Smriti Irani said while delivering the keynote address at the Conclave. Read more: Rahul is Congress party's master, I'm a BJP karyakarta: Smriti Irani 

India in the perspective of Kashmir

The morning session commenced with former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah speaking on ‘India in the perspective of Kashmir’. The Jammu & Kashmir National Conference leader said that if one questioned the special constitutional status of J&K then one would also have to question the state's accession to India. He also questioned the central government's logic that Article 370 was a temporary measure. Read more: If J&K accession is right, why should India disapprove of Article 370: Omar Abdullah 

Yechury on 'India – The Future Story'

This followed by a session with CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury. He outlined his party’s stance ahead of the 2024 general elections. The 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be all about India that is Bharat and the Opposition's Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) will win it by uniting the people of the country, Yechury said. Read more: 2024 poll is about India that is Bharat, says CPM’s Yechury 

Kerala Politics in 2024

Kerala's Opposition Leader V D Satheesan and CPM state secretary M V Govindan participated in a heated debate on ‘Kerala Politics in 2024’ after this. 

“What has Congress got to say about CPM? Let him answer and then I will reply,” said Govindan while discussing the Opposition alliance and its priorities, and Satheesan said, “CPM has a strong understanding with the BJP. Why else is the SNC Lavlin case getting delayed every time? Because their common enemy is Congress.” Read more on the debate here.

India’s space dreams

In another session, ISRO Chairman S Somnath shared his thoughts on ‘India’s space dreams’. During the session, Somnath expressed hope that Chandrayaan-3's rover Pragyan, like all mass heroes, would come back from the dead. He was confident that the scientific truths revealed by Chandrayaan 3 would be of far greater significance than those revealed by Chandrayaan 1. Read more: Will Chandrayaan 3's Pragyan return from the dead? Somanath says wait and see 

Future of Cinemas & Theatres

The afternoon session was kicked off with an enriching discussion on ‘The Future of Cinemas and Theatres’ by Malayalam film personalities Basil Joseph, Jude Anthany Joseph, and Nikhila Vimal.

While Basil Joseph flagged the risks involved in making a big budget film expecting a country-wide reach, Nikhila Vimal blamed the poor maintenance of theatres for keeping audience away. Jude, who is the director of India’s official Oscar entry “2018”, echoed Nikhila’s concern. Read more: Risky to design a Malayalam film as pan-Indian: Basil Joseph 

Widening space for women in politics

Women politicians from Kerala K K Shailaja (CPM), K K Rema (RMP), and Shoba Surendran (BJP) deliberated on ‘The need for widening the space for women in politics’ during the afternoon session of the conclave.

From the thoughts on the first decisions to take if they become Kerala’s chief minister, reasons on Kerala not having a lady CM yet, issues like women’s entry in Sabarimala, banned practices like sati, to the Israel-Palestine conflict, the panelists touched upon a variety of matters. Read more: Quota Bill alone won’t improve women's situation in India: KK Shailaja

Possibilities of Artificial Intelligence

Google DeepMind research director Dileep George attempted to answer the intriguing question of whether 'Artificial Intelligence will surpass human intelligence' during one of the sessions. He was joined by noted playback singer and CRED chief design officer Harish Sivaramakrishnan.  Read more: 'World should be more optimistic about AI'

Reverse brain drain

Ashok Mani, the managing director and CEO of Intergroup Brands Pvt Ltd and Vivek Venugopal, director of AVA Group of Companies discussed the topic 'Business in Kerala: The Brain Drain Question' at the Conclave. The two young and successful Kerala-based entrepreneurs had two major solutions to reverse the drain.  One, it is time for Kerala to identify its strengths and concentrate on developing those sectors. Two, advertise and scale up social and entertainment infrastructure that would prompt even non-Malayalis to work in Kerala. Read more: How can Kerala transform brain drain into brain gain.

The conclave was also noted for the presence of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who shared the plans of ‘INDIA’ front ahead of the general elections. , Tharoor said there is a strong anti-incumbency sentiment across the country, especially in the Hindi belt. Speaking on ‘Why 2024 Matters', the three-time MP from the Kerala's capital stated that if Congress works well among people for the next six months and form a solid manifesto, they can make it hard for the BJP.  Read More: No chance for BJP in 2024: Shashi Tharoor

Spiritual Guru and orator Gaur Gopal Das spoke about ‘The yardstick of happiness in the era of Artificial Intelligence’ at the end of the session.

Gaur 's basic philosophy is this: Happiness is neither directly not inversely proportional to human possessions."Happiness has got nothing to do with what you have. What you have only enhances your standard of living. It is how you live that enhances the standard of your life," he said. 

In the valedictory address of the Conclave, Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka DK Shivakumar higlighted the crucial role played by media in Indian democracy. He spoke about the significant role played by Malayala Manorama in the country for the past 130 years. He also expressed his gratitude to all the Malayalis settled in Karnataka for supporting the Congress party. "The entire world is looking at India for human resources. We are producing the best engineers and doctors," DK Shivakumar said.