Day & Date: Saturday and Sunday (12th and 13th February)

Venue:  India International Centre, Fountain Lawn / Rose Garden

From the land of maach (fish) and bhaat (rice), we bring you a cuisine that is rich in taste and boasts a splendid culinary heritage.  Bengali cuisine’s blend of sweet and spicy flavours generally involves a hot palette, using a large number of herbs, spices and roots that create dishes with layers of flavours and regional variations. This weekend, savour robust curries with the distinctive flavours of mustard oil, poppy seeds and turmeric, and a variety of authentically flavoured vegetables and dal. Mustard fish and kosha mangsho are must-haves for non-vegetarians. Dessert aficionados can round off their meal with komola kheer and kanchagolla. IIC will be serving the special Bengali menu from 11th to 13th February 2022. These items shall be served in addition to the regular take away/dine in menu.

Take away services with prior booking will be available from 1100 hrs to 2100 hrs. Last order can be placed at 2030 hrs.

Kindly Place order at: 011-24609359, 24609449, 24609472 or WhatsApp at 9910333937

Kanwal Wali
Secretary
 

The Library Open House Meeting will be held under the Chairmanship of Dr. Ashis Nandy on Friday, 18^th February 2022 at 4 pm in the Main Dining Hall. 

Members of IIC are requested to attend the same.

Suggestions are welcome from Members which may reach the Chief Librarian by 15^th February 2022 at cl@iicdelhi.in. 

Preceding the meeting, tea will be served at PD Hall between 3.30 pm and 4 pm.

All Members are advised to follow the COVID-19 pandemic safety protocol at the IIC premises.

Kanwal Wali
Secretary, IIC

Please click here for signed copy

To:    All Members
          Members’ Notice Board

Emerging from the Partition: Afterlives of Popular Sufi Shrines in Punjab

Illustrated lecture by Dr. Yogesh Snehi, Assistant Professor, School of Liberal Studies, Ambedkar University, Delhi and author of Spatializing Popular Sufi Shrines in Punjab: Dreams, Memories, Territoriality (co-published by Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla and Routledge, Delhi 2019)

Chair: Prof. Partho Datta, Professor, School of Arts & Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University

A large plethora of sacred spaces associated with Muslim piety or popular veneration in (Indian) Punjab were abandoned during Partition. These sacred spaces consisted of mosques, dargahs, khanqahs, takiyas or pirkhanas. One of the immediate repercussions of this tragedy was a break in ritual practice. While spaces like mosques came to disuse, the same wasn’t true for Sufi saint shrines. This lecture aims to evolve a discussion on complex ways in which Sufi saint shrines emerged from Partition. This presentation will share some narratives of the afterlives of Sufi saint shrines in Punjab.

AI, Society and Governance

Speaker: Prof. Arogyaswami J. Paulraj, Professor Emeritus, Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, USA

Welcome: Shri K.N. Shrivastava, Director, IIC
Chair:           Shri N. N. Vohra, President, IIC

Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology is beginning to reshape our marketplace, governance, national security, and the broader society. The technology breakthroughs from algorithms, computational power, and the massive availability of data, have enabled powerful AI applications with significant benefits, but also potential costs and risks. This has, in turn, raised the need for a wider public understanding of this emerging technology and for crafting public policies that protect fundamental societal interests.

This talk will outline the nature of AI technology, some of its many applications, its potential risks and the need for an informed public policy.

Registration link

Panelists: Dr. T.V. Paul, James McGill Professor of International Relations, McGill University, Montreal, Canada; Mrs. Anita Khaldy-Kehmeier, President, International Trading Post, Denver, Colorado, USA; and Dr. Anuradha Chenoy, formerly Professor and Dean, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University

Chair: Amb. K.P. Fabian, Professor, Symbiosis University

The president of U.S.A. has enormous power and that power, ideally, should be used with utmost responsibility and wisdom. President Biden has just completed one year in office. He had promised, as candidate, to correct the foreign policy errors of his predecessor and to restore America's leadership role. 

Our distinguished panel will examine to what extent Biden has delivered and how he is addressing the crisis over Ukraine, the nuclear deal with Iran from which Trump walked out, and other international issues.

Welcome Remarks: Mr. Peter Rimmele, Resident Representative, India, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung ; Shri Jayadeva Ranade, President, Centre for China Analysis and Strategy and former Member, National Security Advisory Board

Panelists: Mr. Eric B. Brown, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute, Washington DC ; Dr. Gudrun Wacker, Senior Fellow, German Institute for International and Security Affairs, Berlin ; Dr. Ting Hui Lin, Deputy Secretary-General, Taiwan Society of International Law ; Rear Admiral Sudarshan Shrikhande, former Head of Naval Intelligence; and Ms Namrata Hasija, Research Fellow, Centre for China Analysis and Strategy


China’s aggressive militarization of the South China Sea including by extending some islets, constructing airstrips and emplacing missiles along with the increasing threats to Taiwan have alarmed the US and other regional powers. The discussion will seek to ascertain how China’s growing naval strength and aggression are viewed by the different players and also provide a perspective as to the future contours of the region. The rising tension between China and Taiwan, the US and China and US efforts to build support for its Indo-Pacific strategy among the European countries will provide the backdrop

(Collaboration: Centre for China Analysis and Strategy; and Konrad Adenauer Stiftung)
 

Gulammohammed Sheikh, artist, teacher, art historian and curator in conversation with artist Vadudevan Akkitham on Among Several Cultures and Times

Gulammohammed Sheikh has played a major role in the development of contemporary art in India since the early 1960s. His work has spanned painting, printmaking, digital media, sculpture and ceramics, and has been featured in major exhibitions in India and around the world. Sheikh taught art history and painting for over three decades at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Baroda, and has acted as curator for significant exhibitions in India as well as in UK and Australia. His work is held in public museums and private collections in many parts of the world. Sheikh lives and works in Baroda.

Vasudevan Akkitham did his Diploma and Post Diploma at the Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University, Baroda, where he studied under Gulammohammed Sheikh. He spent two decades teaching at his alma mater and retired as the Head of the Dept. of Faculty of Fine Arts, MSU, Baroda. He has had many exhibitions including one-man shows across the country and his works are in private and public collections across the country and the world, including NGMA, Kiran Nadar Museum, Uttarayan.

(Collaboration: J.D. Centre of Art)

Registration link: https://zoom.us/j/99847099585
Meeting ID: 998 470 99585

Dear Member,

The Govt. of NCT Delhi have revised the night curfew in the Capital from 11 pm instead of 10 pm.  

In accordance with the guidelines the operation hours of the Centre have been revised:

The Catering Venues and Bar shall function as per the following timings:

Catering Venues (Main)

• Dining Hall:        12 pm – 10 pm  (last order at 9.30 pm)
• Lounge:             10.30 am – 9 pm (last order at 8.30 pm)
• Lotus Lounge    11.00 am – 6.45 pm

Bar (Main)                                 

• 12 noon – 2.30pm
• 7 pm - 10 pm (last order at 9.30 pm)

Bakery & Take-Away Counters

• Bakery         -  10.30 am – 8.30 pm
• Take-Away   -  10.30 am – 9.00 pm (last order at 8.30 pm)

(The IIC Annex will remain closed for the present)

All Members are advised to follow the COVID-19 pandemic safety protocol at the IIC premises.

Wearing of face-mask, hand-sanitization and maintenance of social distancing norms are mandatory.  Members are requested to kindly co-operate.
                                                                                                  
Kanwal Wali
Secretary IIC
 

The ever-popular winter barbeque at the Annexe Terrace (temporarily closed) has now been shifted to the Rose Garden at the Main Centre. Members are invited to dine al fresco all week from Monday to Friday on a wide range of starters, meats, exotic vegetables and rich desserts.   Enjoy the winter sunshine and IIC Gardens in full bloom over a leisurely meal with your family and friends till the winter lasts. Timings for the same will be from 1230 hrs to 1445 hrs

Kanwal Wali
Secretary