India’s Largest-Ever State Legislative Delegation Joins Global Summit in Boston

In a momentous stride toward global democratic engagement, 130 Members of Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) and Legislative Councils (MLCs) from 24 Indian states and 21 political parties participated in the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) Summit 2025 in Boston, USA.

The summit, which took place from August 4 to 6, was Bharat’s largest ever state legislative delegation attending the globally respected co-learning platform. This year’s NCSL was attended by legislators from 102 countries, making it one of the most diverse gatherings in the summit’s history.

Delegates participated in high-impact sessions on global themes including healthcare systems, artificial intelligence in governance, climate change, economic development, women’s empowerment, and transportation policy. They also joined over 100 parallel sessions featuring eminent speakers and legislator-led case studies, fostering cross-border exchanges of policy ideas and legislative strategies.

One of the highlights of the conference was a tour of the historic Massachusetts State House, which gave Indian state lawmakers insight into the Massachusetts state legislative processes. The delegation also visited Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where they interacted with leading scholars and institutional leaders, exploring how academic research can support evidence-based policymaking. The team also met Mr. Wayne Harper, outgoing President of NCSL and congratulated newly elected president Marcus C. Evans Jr.

Speaking on the significance of the summit, Dr. Rahul V. Karad, Founder, NLC Bharat, said, “This historic conference marks a turning point in the journey of Indian state legislators toward global engagement. A total 130 MLAs and MLCs from diverse political ideologies came together, not as opponents across the political aisle but as learners, to understand how Indian state legislative excellence is shaped worldwide. Through NLC Bharat, we are building a non-partisan, future-facing platform that prepares our lawmakers to lead with knowledge, humility, and global awareness.”

The Indian delegation also participated in the 50th anniversary celebrations of the NCSL, where they interacted with senior NCSL leadership and Indian-origin academic and policy experts based in the U.S. These exchanges opened up valuable conversations on the evolving role of legislators in shaping responsive, people-centric governance in the 21st century.

In 2024, NLC Bharat achieved a historic milestone by, for the first time, bringing together 50 state legislators from across India to take part in the NCSL held in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. This groundbreaking initiative set the stage for strengthening democratic capacity through bipartisan learning and global benchmarking. The initiative underscores NLC Bharat’s commitment to strengthening democratic capacity. With its emphasis on bipartisan learning and global benchmarking, the program aims to promote legislative excellence, drive policy innovation, and nurture an inclusive democratic ethos among India’s elected representatives.

National Legislators’ Conference Bharat (NLC Bharat) is an avenue for Members of Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) and Members of Legislative Councils (MLCs) across the nation to gather in one place and exchange ideas in this historic conference.

False Science: When Harvard Scientists Took Bribe To Hide Truth About Sugar

There was a significant controversy involving Harvard scientists and the sugar industry back in the 1960s. Researchers at Harvard were paid/bribed by the Sugar Research Foundation (now known as the Sugar Association) to produce studies that downplayed the role of sugar in coronary heart disease and instead pointed to fat and cholesterol as the main culprits.

This was revealed through newly uncovered documents that showed the sugar industry's involvement in shaping public understanding of nutrition.

By the time the truth came out in 2016, their deception had fueled one of America's deadliest health crises.

Dr. Cristin Kearns discovered papers showing that the sugar industry funded seminal research downplaying the role of sugar in heart disease. [Image - Statnews.com]

The revelation about the sugar industry's influence on scientific research had significant implications for public health. The manipulation of research in the 1960s contributed to decades of misguided dietary guidelines that prioritized reducing fat intake over sugar consumption. This shift in focus played a role in the rise of sugar-laden processed foods and beverages, which have been linked to the increasing prevalence of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

The long-term impact of these skewed dietary recommendations has been substantial, highlighting the importance of transparency and integrity in scientific research. It's a stark reminder of the potential consequences when industry interests interfere with public health information.

US dietary guidelines pushed sugar- loaded "low-fat" foods for decades based on false science.

The misguided dietary guidelines, influenced by the sugar industry's funding, led to the promotion of low-fat, high-sugar foods for decades. This focus on reducing fat intake while ignoring the dangers of excessive sugar consumption had far-reaching consequences on public health.

Many "low-fat" products were marketed as healthy options, even though they were often loaded with added sugars to improve taste. This contributed to a significant increase in sugar consumption, which has been linked to various health issues such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases.

The controversy surrounding these guidelines highlights the importance of independent and unbiased scientific research in shaping public health policies. It also underscores the need for continuous evaluation and updating of dietary recommendations based on the latest, most accurate evidence.

This whole episode serves as a cautionary tale about the potential dangers of allowing industry interests to influence public health information. How do you think we can ensure the integrity of scientific research and dietary guidelines moving forward?, Comment below. 

It's somewhat troubling example of how industry funding can influence scientific research and public health recommendations.

Harvard Comes to India; Partners With Invest India, Dalberg, and Others for Impact Challenge

• Globally renowned Harvard College Project for Asian and International Relations (HPAIR) to be held at IIIT Delhi from Aug 20th to 24th.
• India won the bid to host the conference competing with teams from South Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong, among other Asian countries
• The 5-day academic program will see young leaders participating in a series of immersive challenges and get an opportunity to interact and engage with global leaders
• The theme of the conference is ‘Finding our Future’
• Notable speakers include - Geoff Ralston, Partner & President at Y Combinator, Kunal Shah, Founder of CRED, Deepak Bagla, CEO & MD at Invest India, Aditya Ghosh, Co-Founder, Akasa Air, Former President & Director IndiGo Airlines, and Mina Hsiang, USDS Administrator, among others.

The Harvard College Project for Asian and International Relations (HPAIR), a Harvard University-based student organization, has announced the dates and venue for its 2022 Asia Conference to be held from 20th-24th Aug at IIIT Delhi, India. HPAIR organizes two conferences annually — Harvard Conference (HCONF) and Asia Conference (ACONF).

The theme for this year’s ACONF is “Finding our Future”, alluding to HPAIR’s 30th anniversary and our constant need to rethink the way in which we tackle the issues society faces. The conference is packed with open dialogues around a wide range of subjects which include the evolving startup ecosystem, data security, sustainability, and content creation, among others.

The HPAIR Asia Conference comprises impact challenges, executive speaker sessions, panels, and fireside chats, among other events, to provide other avenues of growth to students and young professionals. Impact challenges serve as an apex of HPAIR’s academic programming with True Beacon, Invest India, Schwarzman Scholars, Dalberg, Council on Energy, Environment and Water, Mythos Lab, and Samagra being brought in for ACONF 2022 as some of the official partners. These challenges drive teams of delegates to collaboratively solve problems proposed by the partners. Past Impact Challenges have been run in collaboration with UNHCR, the World Bank, Tencent, McKinsey & Co, and others.

The conference will host young professionals and students from around the world joining the organizing team in Delhi to learn from speakers including Geoff Ralston, Partner & President at Y Combinator, Mina Hsiang, USDS Administrator, Aditya Ghosh, Co-Founder, Akasa Air, Former President & Director IndiGo Airlines, Kunal Shah, Founder of CRED, Deepak Bagla, CEO & MD at Invest India, Michael Horvath, Founder and CEO of Strava, Rajiv Memani, Chairman of EY India, Lesly Goh, Senior Technology Advisor and Former CTO of the World Bank, Debby Soo, CEO of OpenTable, Masoom Minawala, Global Fashion Influencer and Entrepreneur, Manish Malhotra, Acclaimed Fashion and Bollywood Costume Designer, and Syed Saddiq, youngest Member of the Malaysian Parliament, among others.

Speaking on the conference agenda, Yoel Hawa, President, Harvard Organizing Committee, says, “We are beyond thrilled to be hosting our first in-person Asia Conference since 2019, and in New Delhi for the first time in our 30-year history. As we strive to impact as many young leaders as we can, HPAIR searches for host cities that are uniquely positioned to provide a great setting for both delegates and speakers. New Delhi has proven to be a dynamic and diverse environment in which leaders in all areas can flourish.” We look forward to the incredible mix that our scholars, delegates, speakers, and staff will create with Delhi’s natural academic, professional, and educational ecosystem,” adds Joaquín Cortacáns Sosa, President, Harvard Organizing Committee.

Apart from its academic events, HPAIR will host an international and a desi night, allowing attendees to submerge themselves in other cultures as they mingle with fellow delegates, speakers, and staff.

“Attending HCONF 2021 as delegates is when we realized a clear need for such high-impact platforms to be brought to India. It was a year-long journey of planning, building a team, and competing against numerous teams that we had found out we were bringing HPAIR to New Delhi in 2022,” shares Soham Roy, President, Host country committee. “Our aim with HPAIR is to give a voice and platform to the leaders of tomorrow - today. We know future problems can’t be solved linearly, so we need our next-gen leaders to solve problems in a multidimensional way and that’s how we’ve structured this year’s conference as well,” adds Yogesh Chadha, President, Host country committee.

More than 3000 participants have applied to attend. The conference will be conducted in a hybrid format where the event will unfold over 5 days in a physical format. However, keeping in mind accessibility issues and how complex traveling has become, attending virtually is also an option.

About HPAIR

HPAIR is a premier summit for the world’s next generation of leaders. Founded in 1991, HPAIR is a global youth conference that has organized 49 conferences in 34 different host countries worldwide, touching the lives of more than 40,000 students and young professionals. Past notable speakers include - Justin Kan, Co-founder Twitch & Former Partner at Y Combinator, Sharon Thorne, Deloitte Global Board Chair, N.R. Narayana Murthy, CEO & Founder of Infosys, Ambassador Kathrine Tai, Cabinet member: Biden Administration, Ban-Ki- Moon, Secretary-General of UN), Kevin Rudd, Former Prime Minister of Australia, Adam D’Angelo, CEO and Co-Founder Quora and Former CTO Facebook, Aparna Bawa, COO Zoom, and Kevin Sneader, CEO & Global Managing partner Mckinsey & Co.

PayTM Inspires US Army Veteran Led Harvard Team To Build Similar App

India's digital payments app Paytm has apparently inspired the US, as a team from Harvard Business School, led by a US Army veteran, is currently working on a similar app for a wider launch in December this year.

Called as 'FlashCash', the app allows consumers to pay with their phone camera’s QR code reader, rather than cash or credit.

Currently being incubated as part of Harvard's Rock Center Accelerator, FlashCash project has received significant non-dilutive grants from Harvard Business School. The co-founders of FlashCash are - Chuck Nadd, Pavel Vydra and Bohuslav Šimek, according to Harvard Business School website.

Interestingly, Nadd also has a message for PayTM founder VIjay Shekhar Sharma as he said --

We are excited to bring the kind of experience that Paytm offers to the world's largest economy. We would love to partner with them. If Vijay Shekhar Sharma is reading this, we would like to be in touch and see what we can build together,

According to the FlashCash CEO Chuck Nadd, a US Army veteran, who flew Black Hawk helicopters and coordinated military operations worldwide, felt that QR codes had not yet been widely adopted as a payment solution in the American market.

Nadd told news agency IANS, "We firmly believe that this is a more secure, customer-friendly solution. We live in a digital world that has left many 'brick-and-mortar' businesses behind. FlashCash is completing beta testing and we are looking forward to a wider launch later this spring."

Harvard University Student-Run Harvard Student Agencies Collaborates With Learn With Leaders to Launch Exclusive Programs for Indian High-School Students

With the goal of connecting students to Harvard University student instructors, experienced faculty, and well-known thought leaders around the world, Harvard Student Agencies (HSA) has collaborated with Learn with Leaders to launch three exclusive programs for Indian high-school students (grades 9- 12).

"We are so excited to partner with Learn with Leaders to bring our courses to India," says Austin Kwoun, Managing Director of The Academies, the academic enrichment programs organized by HSA. "We’re proud to offer curricula that allow students to explore various pre-professional fields, and we hope that the students in attendance can leave the programs feeling enriched and invigorated about their professional futures."

"This partnership will provide high school students in India an opportunity to learn from and get mentored by students at Harvard University. What is unique about these programs is that they are highly interactive and have small class size, which ensure students get individual attention. We started Learn with Leaders with the aim to help students gain international networks that get enabled through these unique programs. Many students in India may not get the opportunity to study abroad, and our vision is to bring them the best right here in the country," says Gunjan Aggarwal, Co-founder, Learn with Leaders.

Shubham Gupta, Co-founder, Learn with Leaders shares, "I love working with students, and the HSA programs provide students a great learning experience. There was no one to guide me when I turned entrepreneur; so what drives me is that I can be helpful to students in high school. At Learn with Leaders, we focus on curating exclusive learning programs spanning diverse subject areas and skills that students need in order to succeed in a dynamic environment. By exposing students to different ideas in high school we hope to foster interest in multiple domains that could lead to more informed choices in future."

The three programs that are being launched:

Young Leaders in Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program 2020
Learn the fundamentals of launching a new business: from idea generation, market research, and business plans and pitches to competitive analysis and fund generation.

Young Tech Leaders 2020 – Introduction to Python
Learn the fundamentals of Python. Get the knowledge, guidance, and resources to understand the basic functions of a code, and create their own video game in Python.

Young Future Global Leaders 2020
A program in International Relations and Global Affairs
Spark an interest in international careers through basic learning in world affairs and diplomacy. Helping students understand and acquire knowledge of world politics and international affairs.

For more information on the programs, visit:

http://learnwithleaders.com/harvardstudentagenciesprograms

https://www.academies.hsa.net/learn-with-leaders

Chennai's Harvard and Stanford Alumni-founded Finwego Raises $1.7 Mn from SAIF Partners, HNIs

Chennai-headquartered, Finwego, a "loans-for-school-ecosystem" startup, has raised US$1.7 million ( ~₹ 11.84 crore) in a seed funding from SAIF Partners along with a group of HNIs and angels in a fresh round of funding.

Founded by a Harvard and a Stanford alumni -- Pavee Ramanisankar and Shiv Vadivelalagan, and incubated at the Harvard Innovation Labs, Finwego will use the freshly raised capital for expansion, growing a profitable book and strengthening tech and data infrastructure. Finwego will also focus on doubling its headcount within 3 months from a current team of 30 members.

Founded last year, Finwego is an education finance company in India addressing the entire spectrum of financial needs of K12 schools. The startup delivers tech-enabled lending products to stakeholders in the school ecosystem, including management, parents, teachers and vendors. It is currently operational in Tamil Nadu.

Finwego, which is planning to apply for an NBFC licence, offers personal loans to school teachers, education loans to parents/students for paying school fees, and working and growth capital loans to private schools.

Finwego has already on-boarded over 200 schools in the last six months and is planning to expand to more than 1,000 schools by the end of this financial year.

Finwego co-founder and CEO Shiv Vadivelalagan said in a statement to business daily, "Our aim here at Finwego is to deliver customised lending products for the rapidly growing private school education space in India. With the infusion of new funds, we are looking to build a high calibre team and digital infrastructure to support our robust growth plans."

The edu-finance startup aims to reach out to over 10,000 schools over the next five years and establish a pan-India presence.

Finwego is also the winner of the prestigious Harvard Innovation Challenge 2018 as well as the winners of Financial Health Award 2018 organized by Village Capital, a Washington, DC-based venture capital firm that finds, trains, and invests in early-stage ventures solving major global problems in agriculture, education, energy, financial inclusion, and health.

Gurgaon Based Fashion Social Network Roposo Is Now A Harvard Case Study

Roposo, a Gurgaon headquartered fashion social network - that gives its users a chance to share their style stories via blogs, video links, and infographics to inspire and get inspired - is now a case study on the reputed Harvard Business Publishing platform. The study focuses on how the fashion social network has matured from being a discovery platform to an ultimate lifestyle social network for Indian consumers.

Chirantan Chatterjee, former faculty at IIM-B and faculty member at Indian School of Business, has co-authored the case study with Reechal Vardhan, Product Manager at Roposo and IIM-B alumnus. In the synopsis of the study, titled ‘On innovation and entrepreneurship in growing Asian digital markets’, the authors have stated that niche social networking platforms like Roposo bring social media and online shopping together by allowing its users to not only look at stories or videos posted by people but also to buy similar looking clothes or accessories, as per their preference.

The case study also looks at how Roposo germinated from the founding team's prior venture Giveter that provided the team unique insights on consumer behaviour, product development, dynamic capabilities, and network economies. This case study takes it forward to a point where in the last few quarters, with social-selling as a paradigm being explored by the likes of Facebook and WhatsApp, Roposo tries to reinvent itself - considering whether to enter the social selling space or to strategically focus on further deepening its base on pure play social networking.

With 3.5 million users, over 2 million screen views per day, 3,00,000 posts a month and over 200+ celebrities, designers and stylists using the platform, Roposo has established itself as one-of- its-kind fashion and lifestyle social network of India. A brand of Relevant E-solutions headquartered in Gurgaon, Roposo is the brainchild of three IIT Delhi alumni, Mayank Bhangadia, Avinash Saxena and Kaushal Shubhank.

Speaking on it, Mayank Bhangadia, CEO and Co-founder at Roposo, said, “Being featured as a case study among the growing list of Harvard cases on modern Indian entrepreneurship and innovation is a proud moment for us. We are delighted that MBA students at some of the world’s most prestigious institutions will learn from our brand journey. This case study is ideal for MBA students around the world who are keen to understand digital innovation and entrepreneurship in growing Asian markets, as the study highlights the process of entrepreneurial pivoting, dynamic capabilities, strategic focus, and life-cycle management amidst industry evolution.”

Adding to this, Reechal Vardhan, Product Manager at Roposo, said, "Roposo has had an incredible journey so far and I am extremely happy to share it's story with the world, along with Professor Chatterjee. Being an MBA myself, I can appreciate the value a case-study like this could add to classroom discussions - through which students will get an insight to innovation in the Indian start-up landscape and the strategic decisions that we have to take in our day-to-day operations."

According to Professor Chatterjee, Faculty Member at Indian School of Business, "Roposo proved to be an ideal case to examine the challenges and opportunities for home-grown social platforms in entrepreneurial pivoting, building dynamic capabilities, and maintaining strategic focus when there is a US Facebook, a Chinese Weibo, or Japanese Mixi."

With a heavy focus on personalisation and tie-ups with over 5,000 brands and10,000 SMBs, Roposo connects with users across India through its constant innovations and other exciting activities. The average ticket size of Roposo has grown to INR 1,500, and the user base has grown to 3.5 million in 2017 from 2 million in 2016. The fashion social network connects local boutiques and SMBs with users, further enhancing affinity and the propensity to purchase from the platform, and is well on its way to achieving profit in the coming years.

[Top Image - Dean Shu Ptogography]