India-Maldives Relations    Coordinator: Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Ashok K. Mehta

Panelists: Dr. Gulbin Sultana, Research Analyst, South Asia Centre, Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses; Dr. N. Sathiya Moorthy, Distinguished Fellow and Head,  Observer Research Foundation’s Chennai Initiative; and Dr. Sripathi Narayanan, independent geopolitical analyst

Chair: Maj. Gen Ashok K. Mehta 

After Bhutan, Maldives is the smallest country in India’s neighbourhood. Its strategic location along Channel 8 in the Indian Ocean allows it to dominate major shipping routes. Maldives follows an India First policy though not long ago it was considered ‘lost to China’. Recovering Maldives from China’s orbit is a foreign policy success though the story is not finished. The elections in September 2023 are important in this context.

Kathmandu Dilemma: Resetting India Nepal Ties
By Ranjit Rae (Vintage Books, New Delhi: 2021)

Discussants: Dr. Constantino Xavier, Fellow, Foreign Policy and Security Studies, Centre for Social & Economic Progress, and a Non-resident Fellow, the Brookings Institution; Prof. Sangeeta Thapliyal, Chairperson, Centre for Inner Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University; and Amb. Ranjit Rae, former Ambassador to Nepal and author of the book

Chair: Shri Shyam Saran, Life Trustee, IIC

A weekly screening of four award winning children’s films organized in collaboration with Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, New Delhi to celebrate National Children’s Day. The film will be accessible for a period of 36 hours from Saturday 9 am to Sunday 11:55 pm. The registration link for accessing the weekly screenings is given below:

On Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th 2021

Miss Sing Song
(96 min; 2017; Dutch with English subtitles)
Director: Mischa Kamp

Recipient of the Adult’s Jury Award or Live-Action Feature Film or Video, Chicago International Children’s Film Festival 2018

The musical adventure of the 16-year-old Jasmine who goes to Suriname to attend a song contest, but is secretly looking for her mother.

Screening schedule and online registration to access the films: 

Family Film | Eye Film Player

A Zoom video recording of a lecture delivered by Murali Ranganathan, unaffiliated researcher who explores nineteenth century South Asia with a special focus on Mumbai and western India.

Introduced by Dr. Shernaz Cama

In the talk, Murali Ranganathan speaks about the long tradition of print culture in the Parsi community that goes back 250 years. His lecture focuses on the nineteenth century when Guajarati printing was dominated by the Parsis

(Collaboration: Jiyo Parsi and Parzor Foundation)

My Octopus Teacher | Click here to watch
(90 min; 2020; English)
Director: Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed

With Craig Foster, Tom Foster

Multiple award winner including Oscar for Best Documentary Feature, Academy Awards, USA 2021; BAFTA Film Award for Best Documentary, BAFTA Awards 2021; Critics Choice Documentary Award for Best Cinematography and Best Science/Nature Documentary, Critics Choice Documentary Awards 2020; among others

A filmmaker forges an unusual friendship with an octopus living in a South African kelp forest, learning as the animal shares the mysteries of her world.

After years of swimming every day in the freezing ocean at the tip of Africa, Craig Foster meets an unlikely teacher: a young octopus who displays remarkable curiosity. Visiting her den and tracking her movements for months on end he eventually wins the animal's trust and they develop a never before seen bond between human and wild animal.
 

A series of documentaries presented by the historian Bettany Hughes. Travelling across present locations, Bettany explores the cultural and political pasts of ancient peoples, including the Greeks, Minoans and Egyptian.

The Ancient Worlds: Helen of Troy | Click here to watch
(52 min; English)

Bettany Hughes travels across the eastern Mediterranean to disentangle myth from reality and find the truth about the most beautiful woman on earth. She is 'the face that launched a thousand ships'; the woman blamed for the Trojan War - a conflict that caused countless deaths - but who was the real Helen of Troy?

PHYSICAL PROGRAMME

Edited by Vikram Chopra (Heritage Publishers, 2021)

Guest of Honour: Dr. Karan Singh
Chief Guest: Shri N.N. Vohra, President, IIC

Followed by a panel discussion with
Dr. Minoti Chatterjee, former Principal, Kamala Nehru College, University of Delhi and theatre person; Dr. Rajiva Verma, Former Professor of English, DU; and Dr. Vikram Chopra, former Associate Professor, University of Delhi and editor of the book.