Mars Orbiter Spacecraft - First Indian Interplanetary Mission
Speaker: Dr. V. Koteswara Rao, Distinguished Scientist of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Scientific Secretary of ISRO
 
Chair: Dr. V. Siddhartha, National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bangalore
 
ISRO planned an orbiter mission to Mars using an early opportunity of 2013, which recurs with a ‘Synodic period’ of approximately 26 months. The scientific objective of the Mars Orbiter Spacecraft is to study Mars’ surface features like morphology, topography and mineralogy and study the dynamics of the upper atmosphere of Mars. Presently the Mars Orbiter Spacecraft is cruising well in its designated trajectory with defined pace  

Attempts on Her Life (80 mins)
A play by Martin Crimp
Directed by Feisal Alkazi
 
Cast: Radhika Alkazi, Sanjiv Desai, Nandini Sra, Jaipreet Singh, Smita Mazumdar Rajaram, Armaan Alkazi and others
 
Eight unrelated scenes that explore terrorism, pornography, ethnic violence and the male gaze
 

By Nishindra Kinjalk from Delhi, disciple of Pt Uma Shankar Mishra and Pt Gopal Krishna
                        

Keynote Address                  
By Dr. Lobsang Sangay, Sikyong of Central Tibetan Administration
Chair:  Prof Siddiq Wahid, academic and author
 
The Simla Convention between Britain, China and Tibet held from 1913 to 1914 defined the status of Tibet and demarcated the boundaries of Inner and Outer Tibet between Tibet and India.
 
This seminar will re-visit some of the issues such as what were the compulsions that drove the three parties to gather in Simla a hundred years ago? What were Britain’s imperial impulses to host the convention in India? What were the aims and purposes of Tibet to attend the convention?

Directed by Nishtha Jain who will introduce the film
 
 Multiple award winner including awards for Best Film (Social Issue) and Best Editing,  National Film Awards, India 2014; Best Director, International Feature Documentary, MIFF, Mumbai 2014; Best Film, Muhr Asia/Africa Documentary, Dubai International Film Festival 2012; and Best Documentary, Kortfilm  Festivalen, Norway 2012 among others
 
Enter the badlands of Bundelkhand in central India and you have entered a place of desolation, dust and despair. And yet it is hope that this film discovers, as it follows the Gulabi Gang, an unusual group of rural women led by the energetic and charismatic Sampat Pal. Travelling long distances to fight for the rights of women and Dalits, they encounter resistance, apathy and corruption, even ridicule. The film pulls us into the centre of these blazing conflicts and uncovers a complex story, disturbing yet heartening
 
Screening will be followed by a discussion

Group performance by ‘Antarang’ from Delhi, disciples of Hemanta Kumar Kalita

Films on Wildlife and Environment

 

Changing Currents: Net Profits

(26 min; dvd; English)

A staggering one third of the world’s protein comes from fish, but 11 out of the world’s 15 major fishing grounds are seriously depleted. With no slackening in the pace of fisheries, the film looks at measures underway to sustain the boom in fish farming

 

Green Fish (22 min; dvd; English)

From the Earth Report series – with scientists warning that fish stocks could collapse by 2048, Earth Report goes to the Netherlands to find out how supermarkets and top brand retailers are demanding fish from sustainable sources. It is putting pressure on commercial fishing fleets to introduce nets that catch fewer immature fish and thus reduce one of the main threats to stock

 

Discussion around the book, Accidental India: A History of the Nation’s Passage through Crisis and Change by Shankar Aiyar (New Delhi, Aleph, 2012)
 
Panelists: Mr. Prabhu Chawla, Mr. Subir Gokarn, Mr. Naresh Chandra and Dr. Indira Rajaraman
 
Chair: Shri G. Parthasarathy

Odissi Recital
By Rajib Bhattacharya and group from Kolkata, disciple of the late Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra and  Guru Ratikant Mohapatra
 
At 19:00
Kathak Recital
By Namrata Rai from Dehradun, disciple of the late Dr. Madhukar Anand and Pt. Udai Mazumdar