CHICAGO: The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will host India Sixty: The Critical Questions, a symposium running November 2-3, at the Illinois Union to commemorate the 60th anniversary of India's Independence.

The Illinois faculty as well as speakers from around the United States and Asia will enter into six panel discussions on India's past, present, and future. Topics will range from the subcontinent's emergence as a major world economy and a technological and nuclear power to women's rights and cultural heritage conservation, especially how will the world's largest democracy handle supporting over a billion people in the future.One panel,

"The Indian Elephant in the Global Marketplace," will address the impact of India's growing economy on the world; the impact of globalization on the Indian economy; and the emerging triangular economic relationship between India, China and the United States. This discussion will also address the economic costs and benefits of technology outsourcing and also draw lessons for economic global relationships.

The panelists will investigate the challenges and benefits of globalization for different socio-economic segments in India in addition to exploring the relational dynamics between and among India, China and the U.S. with regard to the implications of India forming a strategic economic partnership with either nation over the other.Among those scheduled to speak at "The Indian Elephant" are: Motorola's Asian Business Council's Director of Community Programs, Nick Shyamani; Dr. T.N. Srinivasan, Samuel C. Park, Jr. Professor of Economics, Economic Growth Center, Yale University; Dr. Jagdish Sheth, the Charles H. Kellstadt Chair of Marketing in the Goizueta Business School at Emory University; and Anup Sinha, Dean, Program Initiatives, IIM Calcutta.Ronen Sen, Ambassador of India to the United States, will be the keynote speaker for the event, which is free and open to the public.

The symposium is a part of the continuing involvement of the university Illinois and Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur and agricultural universities at Pantnagar and Jabalpur. The goal of the symposium is to continue these productive connections between the university and India.