A discussion based on the new book co-edited by Nayanika Mathur and Ravinder Kaur (Penguin)

Panelists: Prathama Banerjee, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies; Satish Deshpande, University of Delhi; Ravinder Kaur, Copenhagen University; and Nayanika Mathur, Oxford University

Chair: Amita Baviskar, Ashok University

‘The People’ and ‘New India’ are terms that are being invoked freely to both understand and govern India as she enters her 75th year of post-colonial nationhood. Yet, there is little clarity on who these people of India really are, what they do, their desires, histories and attachments to India. Similarly, the phrase ‘New India’ is used far too loosely to explain away a dangerously confounding politics. In this book, some of the most respected scholars of South Asia come together to write about a person or a concept that holds particular sway in the politics of contemporary India. In doing so, they collectively open up an original understanding of what the politics at the heart of New India are – and how best we might come to analyse them.
  
(Collaboration: Ashoka University; and Penguin India)
 

The Moral Compass: Finding Balance and Purpose in an Imperfect World
By Hardayal Singh (HarperCollins India: 2022)

Discussants: Shri Shyam Saran, President, IIC and former Foreign Secretary; Lord Meghnad Desai, economist and former Labour politician; Shri Gurcharan Das, writer and public intellectual; Amb. Pavan K. Varma, former diplomat, author and politician; Prof. Alaka Basu, former Professor, Global Development, Cornell University, New York; and Shri Hardayal Singh, author of the book

Moderator: Shri Suhas Borker, Editor, Citizens First TV (CFTV)
 

Syed Mahmood: Colonial India’s Dissenting Judge
By Mohammad Nasir and Samreen Ahmed (Bloomsbury India: 2022)

Release of the book, followed by a discussion

Chair: Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Judge, Supreme Court of India

Discussant: Justice S. Ravindra Bhat, Judge, Supreme Court of India; Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia, Judge, Supreme Court of India; Prof. C. Raj Kumar, Vice-Chancellor, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat and Dr. Mohammad Nasir, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Law, AMU and co-author of the book

Moderator: Dr. Faiza Abbasi, Director, UGC-Human Resource Development Centre, AMU

(84 min; 1935; b/w; English)
Director: Alfred Hitchcock

With Lucie Mannheim, Godfrey Tearle, Peggy Ashcroft

One of Alfred Hitchcock's finest British film, which was originally released in 1935. Freely adapted from the John Buchan novel, The 39 Steps is a picaresque thriller in which an innocent man Hannay (Robert Donat) becomes caught up in an international spying conspiracy and is pursued by both foreign agents and the police. A significant precursor to the same film-maker's North by Northwest, it remains a supremely entertaining and accomplished work in its own right.

(76 min; 2018; Urdu/English and with English subtitles)
Produced & Directed by Jawad Sharif

Recipient of the Crystal Award for Best Feature Documentary, Guam International Film Festival 2018; Gold Award, Spotlight Documentary Film Awards, 2018; Best Documentary Feature, South Film and Arts Academy Festival 2018; and Best Documentary Feature and Best Cinematography Award, Jaipur International Film Festival 2019

Pakistani folk artists talk about their struggle to keep a fading art form alive while reminding the world what they are about to lose.

Shot in over 15 locations across Pakistan, the musical feature documentary highlights the plight of folk musicians and craftsmen of Pakistan.

Series director: Adrian Pennink
Recipient of the International Emmy 2008 for Best Documentary 

A six-part documentary presented by Niall Ferguson. Based on his book The Ascent of Money: The Financial History of the World, the film examines the long history of money, credit, and banking. Throughout the series, Niall Ferguson examines the origins of the pillars of the world’s financial systems, and how behind every great historical phenomenon – empires and republics, wars and revolutions – there lies a financial secret.

Episode 6: Chimerica (48 min)
Niall Ferguson investigates the globalisation of the Western economy and the uncertain balance between the important component countries of China and the US.

They Chose China (Canada) | Click here to watch
(52 min; 2006; English)
Director: Shui-Bo Wang 

In January 1954, months after the end of the Korean War, U.S. soldiers held in POW camps were at last free to return home. A small group, however, refused repatriation to the U.S. and, after being given 90 days to reconsider their decision, 21 American soldiers decided to stay in China. In They Chose China, Academy Award-nominated Chinese documentarian Shui-bo Wang tells the controversial story of these forgotten American dissidents.

Using rare archival footage, as well as period and contemporary interviews, the film chronicles the fascinating history of this group of young Americans who were hailed in China as "peace fighters" and denounced in America as "turncoats" and "traitors." 

https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/they-chose-china/
 

A six part BBC series with Michael Mosley who takes an informative and ambitious journey exploring how the evolution of scientific understanding is intimately interwoven with society's historical path.

Episode 1: What is Out There? (60 min) | Click here to watch
Director: Jeremy Turner

Michael Mosley begins with the story of one of the great upheavals in human history - how we came to understand that our planet was not at the centre of everything in the cosmos, but just one of billions of bodies in a vast and expanding universe. He reveals the critical role of medieval astrologers in changing our view of the heavens, and the surprising connections to the upheavals of the Renaissance, the growth of coffee shops and Californian oil and railway barons. Mosley shows how important the practical skills of craftsmen have been to this story and finds out how...

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x66cjae

(58 min; 2008; English)
Director: Harry Hook

BBC documentary presented by Griff Rhys Jones

From his modest rural roots in Dorset, Thomas Hardy became one of the most celebrated writers in the world. Jones reveals how Hardy drew on his own emotionally-charged personal life to create some of the most memorable characters and stories in English literature.

Ft. report launch from the High-level Policy Commission on Getting Asia to Net Zero

Speakers: Hon. Kevin Rudd AC, President and CEO, Asia Society; President, Asia Society Policy Institute and 26th Prime Minister of Australia; Hon. Ban Ki-moon, President and Chair, Global Green Growth Institute; Eight Secretary-General (2007-2016), United Nations; and Mr. Vivek Pathak, Global Head and Director of Climate Business, International Finance Corporation (IFC)

Chair: Shri Shyam Saran, President, IIC and formerly Special Envoy and Chief Negotiator on Climate Change

Welcome Remarks: Shri K.N. Shrivastava, Director, IIC

This programme brings together three founding members of the High-level Policy Commission on Getting Asia to Net Zero, former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd; former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon; and Global Head and Director of Climate Business, International Finance Corporation (IFC) Vivek Pathak, along with former Special Envoy and Chief Negotiator on Climate Change, Shyam Saran to discuss India’s path to net zero emissions and the opportunities that it presents. It will include the launch of a report from the Commission which draws on new modelling to examine how India can achieve net zero emissions in a manner that is beneficial to its economy, society, and place in the world. The discussion comes ahead of a pivotal moment for Asian and Indian leadership especially, with India assuming the G20 Presidency in 2023 and the Asia-Pacific Group hosting COP28.

(Collaboration: Asia Society Policy Institute )