Annual Report 2007 - Observer Research Foundation

THE YEAR GONE BY HAS BEEN A SUCCESSFUL ONE FOR ORF. IT SAW GREAT PERSONalities
visiting ORF, talking on important subjects and topics, and also big
events organised by ORF. To mention a few, Mr. Strobe Talbott, former
Deputy Secretary of State, US, and currently president of The Brookings
Institution, Prof. Shlomo Ben Ami, former Foreign Minister of Israel, and
many other senior international bigwigs visited the ORF campus. Union
Defence Minister Mr. A.K. Antony, Minister of State for Defence Production,
Mr. Rao Inderjeet Singh, Union Minister for Science and Technology
and Ocean Development, Mr. Kapil Sibal, the Chief of Naval Staff Admiral
Sureesh Mehta, Coast Guard chief Admiral F. Contractor were also
among the prominent ORF visitors. ORF was also fortunate to organise
the first ever open talk by the Nepal Maoist leader Prachanda.
These events, along with its well thought-out media strategy, helped boost the ORF image significantly.
ORF became popular among the media, academia, intelligentsia and other people following
frequent projection of ORF through the print, cyber and electronic media. Now, even international
news agencies like AFP, Reuters and AP cover ORF events and some seek quotes from ORF faculty on
major events and developments, putting it on the world media map.
Two latest developments – the events in Pakistan following the sacking of the Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court and the shocking attack on police camp in Chattisgarh – were commented in the
international media by ORF faculty. Wilson John’s article “Inside Political Pakistan”
was published by the Washington Times (22nd March). Dr. P.V. Ramana’s
comments on the Naxalite attack was flashed across the world by the AFP
in an analytical despatch on the event (March 15).
Members of our faculty Wilson John, PV Ramana, Deba Mohanty, Harinder
Sekhon, Lydia Powell and Nandan Unnikrishnan all have been quoted by agencies
like AFP and IANS. Some were also quoted in renowned publications like
The Economist (Ramana) and Asia Times (Wilson John and Mohanty).
Three events especially raised the image of the organisation significantly
– the visits of Mr. John Kerry, US Presidential candidate in the last election,
Mr. Strobe Talbott and Nepalese Maoist leaders Prachanda and Babu Ram
Bhattarai. All these events were covered by national and international media
– both print and electronic. NDTV even telecast a half an hour interview of
Mr. Talbott at ORF.
ORF-NASSCOM conference on “IT and Innovations” helped project ORF
activities to a packed gathering of IT professionals at the Shangrila Hotel in
Now, even
international news
agencies like AFP,
ORF IN MEDIA
Reuters and AP cover
ORF events and
some seek quotes
from ORF faculty on
major events and
developments
Annual Report 2007 ◆ Observer Research Foundation
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