Nobel laureate Sir Venki to attend Lahore ThinkFest

LAHORE :The Managing Committee of ThinkFest Pakistan has announced the fourth edition of the Lahore ThinkFest from January 11-12, 2020.

Unveiling two of the keynotes at the upcoming event, Dr Yaqoob Khan Bangash, the founder of the ThinkFest, said: ‘Keeping the ThinkFest’s tradition of brining Nobel laureates to Pakistan, the Lahore edition in January will feature the acclaimed Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, Sir Venki Ramakrishnan. Sir Venki won the Nobel in 2009 for helping explain the genome, and is also currently the President of the Royal Society, the premier science organisation, in the United Kingdom. Another keynote is Sir Mark Lyall Grant, who was once the British High Commissioner to Pakistan. Sir Mark knows Pakistan like none other, and has also been the world’s foremost diplomat. His insight and depth of knowledge about how the world works is incomparable", explained Dr Bangash while announcing his participation in the event.

In 2020, the ThinkFest Lahore will bring over a hundred speakers from across the world to Lahore for two days of creative thought and discussion. A dozen books will be launched during the festival, including a riveting biography of a Buddhist nun, Freda Bedi, written by Andrew Whitehead, the Camel Merchant of Philadelphia based on stories from the court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh by Sarbpreet Singh, a book on shrines and setting up of the Auqaf Department by Umber Ibad, a book on Shia Islam in Pakistan and Iran by Simon Fuchs, and many others. Special among the book launches will be the debut novel, 99 Days in Logar, by Jamil Jan Kochai, which has been shortlisted for the DSC Prize in Literature.

Other distinguished speakers include Professor Nicholas Dirks, lately Chancellor of University of California Berkeley, Sir Mark Tully, former South Asia correspondent for the BBC, Dr Bruno Maceas, lately a minister in the Portuguese Government, Ziauddin Sardar of the Muslim Institute, and Sadanand Dhume of the Wall Street Journal.

The ThinkFest will be held from 11am to 7pm on January 11 and 12, 2020, at the Alhamra Cultural Centre, The Mall, Lahore. The event is free and open to the public.