A three-part BBC series. Historian Bettany Hughes travels to India, Greece and China on the trail of three giants of ancient philosophy - Buddha, Socrates and Confucius. All three philosophers lived between the 6th and 5th centuries BCE, during a period of unprecedented and intense intellectual development.

Trailblazers whose radical ideas signalled a key change in human consciousness, each embodied the shift from a reliance on the supernatural, as the sole way to explain humankind’s place in the cosmos, to one where rational argument and logical reasoning offered new, exciting possibilities.

Drawing on archaeology and expert opinion, Bettany Hughes follows in the footsteps of these great figures, in her quest to unpack their philosophy in the context of their age. She reveals how, even though their ideas came about two and a half thousand years ago, their thinking still shapes, and continues to provide solutions to, our own lives.

Genius of the Ancient World: Episode 1 - Buddha | (59:10 min; 2015; English) | ( Click here to watch )

In this first episode Bettany Hughes investigates the revolutionary ideas of the Buddha. In his 20s the Buddha abandoned his family and homeland in the foothills of the Himalayas to embark on an ambitious philosophical quest to find a solution to human suffering. 

Before the Flood | (96 min; 2016; English) | ( Click here to watch )
Director: Fisher Stevens

Recipient of the Hollywood Film Award 2016 for Documentary Film of the year

This epic documentary follows Leonardo DiCaprio, actor, environmental activists and U.N. Messenger of Peace as he travels to five continents and the Arctic speaking to scientists, world leaders, activists and local residents to examine first-hand the devastating effects of climate change, and to investigate concrete solutions to prevent catastrophic damage that could make the Earth unsustainable for human life.

Bharatanatyam Recital video recording ( Click here to watch )

By Binal Wala from Ahmedabad, disciple of Smt Ellakshiben Thakore, Shri Kubernath Tanjorekar and Guru Swathi Daithankar 

Accompanists: Somnath Natarajan (vocal); R. Natarajan (mridangam); Alap Parikh (flute); and Hemanth Sadhu (violin)

Binal Wala and artists of Kalamandir Performing Art, Ahmedabad – Dipal Khajanchi and Misha Shah will present Tanjore School of Bharatanatyam

Nelson Mandela: The Man of Our Times
Opening Remarks: Suhas Borker

Speaker: Ambassador Talmiz Ahmad, Ram Sathe Chair Professor, Symbiosis School of International Studies, Symbiosis International (deemed University), Pune and formerly India’s Deputy High Commissioner in Pretoria, 1994-97

Closing Remarks: H.E. Mr. Joel Sibusiso Ndebele, South African High Commissioner to India
 
Chair: Ambassador Shiv Shankar Mukherjee, former Indian High Commissioner to Pretoria

(Collaboration: South African High Commission; and Working Group on Alternative Strategies)
 

Lead presentation by Shri Ranjit Sabikhi, well-known architect
Introduction: Ms Meena Mani

Followed by a dialogue between Shri Ranjit Sabikhi; Prof. Aneerudha Paul, Professor, and Director, Kamala Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute of Architecture (KRVIA), Mumbai; and Ms Tanuja Kanvinde, partner at Kanvinde, Rai and Chowdhury  

Chair: Shri Ashok B. Lall, practicing architect based in Delhi

As towns and cities expand and grow across India, there is a need for design intervention by trained architects. This need has largely remained unrecognised

Higher Defence Management Reforms – Some Challenges

Chair: Shri N.N. Vohra, President, IIC

Panelists: Lt. Gen. Deependra S. Hooda (retd.), PVSM, AVSM, VSM & BAR, ADC, former General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command,  Presently Senior Fellow, Delhi Policy Group; Admiral Arun Prakash (retd.), PVSM, AVSM, VrC, VSM, ADC, former Chief of the Naval Staff and Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee; and Air Chief Marshal Fali H. Major (retd.), PVSM, AVSM, SC, VM, ADC, former Chief of the Air Staff, Indian Air Force and former Member, National Security Advisory Board

Moderator: Lt. Gen. Satish Dua (retd.), PVSM, UYSM, SM, VSM, former General Officer of the Indian Army and former Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee

The military is in the midst of a major restructuring exercise with a focus on enhancing jointness and carrying out integration in the three Services. The first step in this direction is the creation of integrated theatre commands that will exercise operational control over assets of the three Services, enable joint planning and warfighting, and lead to resource optimisation. However, there are some apprehensions, particularly in the Air Force, that air resources are limited and the allocation of these within the integrated commands could lead to a weakening of our overall capability.

While much of the debate is focused on integrated commands, reforms in higher defence organizations have a crucial impact on operational decision making within the government, and on the nature of civil military relations. The IIC webinar seeks to look at all the challenges ahead.

Nehru, Tibet and China
By A.S. Bhasin (Penguin, New Delhi: 2021)

Discussants: Amb. Chandrashekhar Dasgupta, writer and former Indian Ambassador to the European Union, Belgium, Luxembourg and China; Dr. Zorawar Daulet Singh, author and foreign affairs analyst, Adjunct Fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies and Visiting Fellow,  Forum for Strategic Initiative; and Shri A.S. Bhasin, former Director, Ministry of External Affairs and author of the book 

Chair: Amb. Vijay Gokhale, former Foreign Secretary

The Janus Face of Agricultural Policies – Kisan and Sethias: Local and Global
Speaker: Prof. Y.K. Alagh, eminent economist, educationist and Government Policy Adviser, former Minister for Planning and Programme Implementation, Science and Technology and Power

(Collaboration: Council for Social Development)

Visual Arts in Corona Times
A discussion with Mithu Sen, Ranjit Hoskote and Sadanand Menon
Moderator: Ashok Vajpeyi

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