Coordinator: Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Ashok K. Mehta

Threat and Perceptions in the Himalayas: India, Bhutan and China 

Panelists: Amb. V.P. Haran, former Indian Ambassador to Bhutan; Lt. Gen. P.J. S. Pannu, former Additional Director General, Military Operations; and Dr. Nihar Nayak, Senior Research Fellow, M.P. Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses

Chair: Maj. Gen. Ashok K. Mehta

Two countries that enjoy the closest bilateral relations are India and Bhutan; historically bound by the Treaty of Perpetual Peace and Friendship 1949 / 2007. Common security is the foundational principle of the treaty. India and Bhutan are also two countries with which China has not resolved its border. The panelists will discuss the opportunities and challenges of these ties.

Role of Private Sector and the Media in Eradicating Child Labour

Panelists: Tanja Brok, Communications Coordinator, Work: No Child’s Business, the Hague, The Netherlands; Dr. Shankar Borua, creative entrepreneur and communications professional; and Smita Agarwal, Head, Education Programme at Tata Steel’s Corporate Social Responsibility who has worked in the field of education for over two decades

Introduction: Aditi Datta, Senior Manager-Research and Communications, ICCSPL

Moderator: Rakhi Sehgal, labour researcher and trade union activist who is currently coordinating an ILO project on industrial relations in the Indian garment industry

Third and final discussion in a series of three dialogues addressing the root causes of child labour organised in collaboration with Work: No Child’s Business (WNCB) to mark International Year for Elimination of Child Labour (IYECL – 2021). 

EARTHWORM TRACTORS (USA)
(69 min; 1936; b/w; English)
Director: Ray Enright

With Joe E. Brown, June Travis, Guy Kibbee

Alexander Botts is a self-described natural born salesman and master mechanic, who is trying to make a big sale of Earthworm tractors to grouchy lumberman Johnson. Since Botts doesn't really know anything about tractors, and since the old-fashioned Johnson is opposed to tractors of any kind, it isn't going to be an easy sell. But Botts perseveres, encouraged by Johnson's daughter. 

The film has some amazing sequences that make viewers wonder how they were executed especially since special effects technology was not that well developed. The first one involves Alexander Botts giving the prospective client, Sam Johnson a demonstration and we watch the tractor practically destroy everything in sight! 

https://archive.org/details/Earthworm_Tractors_movie
or
https://youtu.be/zk12-PZKtg0

A 4-part series directed by David Wallace for BBC2/PBS with the English historian and broadcaster, Michael Wood. The Spanish conquest of the Americas in the sixteenth century was one of the most important and cataclysmic events in history. Spanish expeditions endured incredible hardships in order to open up the lands of the ‘New World’, and few stories in history can match these for drama and endurance.

In Conquistadors, Michael Wood follows in the footsteps of some of the greatest of the Spanish adventurers travelling from the forests of Amazonia to Lake Titicaca, the deserts of North Mexico, the snowpeaks of the Andes and the heights of Machu Picchu. He experiences the epic journeys of Cortes, Pizarro, Orellana and Cabeza de Vaca, and explores the turbulent and terrifying events surrounding the Spanish conquest of the Aztec and Inca empires.

Conquistadores: The Search for El Dorado (49 min) | Click here to watch

Michael Wood tells the story of the ill-dated Spanish expedition of 1541, to find mythical lands of gold. After crossing the Andes, Wood and his team build a raft and sail down the river Napo before following the route of the Conquistadors to the head waters of the river Amazon. Tracing one of the great voyages of exploration Wood tells how the Spaniards were the first outsiders to see Amazonia and the first to discover and travel the length of the river, an achievement which was ‘less of a journey and more of a miracle’.

https://www.documentarymania.com/player.php?title=Conquistadors%3A+The+…
 

Fermat’s Last Theorem (UK) | Click here to watch
(48m min; 1996; English)
Director: Simon Singh

Andrew Wiles stumbled across the world's greatest mathematical puzzle, Fermat's Theorem, as a ten- year-old schoolboy, beginning a 30-year quest with just one goal in mind - to solve the problem that has baffled minds for three centuries. 

A documentary about mathematics and mathematicians, but also about childhood dreams, ambition, obsession, passion, failure and triumph. 

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1btavd

(59 min; 1999; English and with subtitles)
Director: Paul Smaczny

Préludes for Piano, Book One by Claude Debussy. Performance by Daniel Barenboim. An explanation is given on these Préludes by Daniel Barenboim as well as readings of Debussy's own writings.

According to Claude Debussy, "Music begins where the words end." It builds a bridge between reality and unreality. In his Preludes, he left the music open to interpretation by the performer and the listener, wishing that "they be played only privately" and "among four eyes," (entre quatre-z-yeux). Debussy sets dance movements to music, evoking three bacchantes sculpted on a column in the Louvre Museum. "La fille aux cheveux de lin" derives from a poem by Leconte de Lisle, while "La Cathedrale engloutie" tells the story of the sunken cathedral of Ys, which rises again from the waters, becomes visible and sinks once more - a tone painting of cathedral-like chords. Claude Debussy endeavoured to revolutionize tone colour. He wanted to journey down new roads remote from harmonic "rules." "Music is mysterious mathematics whose elements partake in the eternal. It lives in the movement of water, in the play of the waves in the changing winds."

(54 min; 1985; English and with subtitles)
Directors: Alan Benson, Daniel Wiles

Marguerite Duras – 20th-century France’s greatest femme de lettres – was the sort of woman who spared neither herself nor others. In this vintage filmed interview, the late novelist and filmmaker talks openly about the hardship and the romance of her childhood in French Indochina, sharing how this period haunted her life and shaped her work. The film includes excerpts from her films and readings from her books by actress Elizabeth Rider and Duras herself, including The Lover, winner of the Prix Goncourt and translated into more than forty languages.

Illustrated lecture by Benoy K. Behl, filmmaker, art historian and photographer

Introduction: Sujata Chatterji

Benoy Behl and his office have digitally restored the Ajanta paintings and other ancient murals of India to reveal what they may have looked like many centuries ago. The Ajanta paintings have been acknowledged by art critics and historians the world over as “among the finest art of humankind”. The centuries have taken their toll and the resplendent beauty of these paintings has been obscured by damage. Over a period of many years, as a labour of love, Behl has digitally restored much of the damage and they can now be seen nearer to their original glory

Video recording of a lecture for IIC online programmes

Electoral Democracy? An Inquiry into the Fairness and Integrity of India’s Elections

Panelists: Shri K.N. Shrivastava, Director, IIC ; Shri M.G. Devasahayam, Chairman, People-First and Member, Constitutional Conduct Group, Coordinator, Citizens’ Commission on Elections(CCE) & Editor of the book; Justice Shri Madan Lokur, former Judge, Supreme Court of India & Chair, CCE; Shri Wajahat Habibullah, former Chief Information Commissioner & Vice-Chair, CCE; Professor  Subhashis Banerjee,  Department of Computer Science, IIT Delhi & Member, CCE; Dr. S.Y.Quraishi, former Chief Election Commissioner; Shri Jawhar Sircar, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha; and Professor Jagdeep Chhokar, Co-Founder, Association for Democratic Rights & Former Dean, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad

Moderator: Ms.  Anjali Bhardwaj, Co-convener, National Campaign for People’s Right to Information 

Italian cuisine combines the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet with a wide choice of seasonal ingredients and regional flavours. It relies on fresh ingredients cooked on the spot and a combination of vegetables, grains, fruits, and seafood, fish, meat and olive oil. Carbohydrates come in the form of pasta,  risotto, polenta and herbs. IIC has made special arrangements to serve “Italian Cuisine” from 20th January 2022 to 21st January 2022 (Thursday to Friday) for its members. In addition, our bakery chef will also be presenting special *“American Bakery items” at the confectionary counter for food lovers. These items shall be served in addition to the regular take away.

Take away services with prior booking will be available from 1100 hrs to 2015 hrs. Last take away order can be placed at 2015 hrs.

Kindly Place order at: 011-24609359, 24609449, 24609375:

Kanwal Wali
Secretary