Lost Horoscope and other New Poems

By Yuyutsu Sharma (Nirala Publications: 2022)

Discussants: Prof. Payal Nagpal, Professor, Janki Devi Memorial College, University of Delhi, poet and critic; Shri Kumar Vikram, Senior Editor and Project-in-Charge, Research and Innovation, National Book Trust; Ms Mandira Ghosh, poet, researcher and writer; Shri C.P. Surendran, poet, novelist, senior journalist, columnist and screenplay writer; and Shri Yuyutsu Sharma, Himalayan poet, journalist, Editor and author of the book

Chair: Amb. Amarendra Khatua, former Secretary, Min. of External Affairs and former Director General, Indian Council for Cultural Relations

(Collaboration: The Poetry Society, India)

Speaker: H.E. Dr. Bassam Seifeddin Alkhatib, Ambassador of the Syrian Arab Republic

Chair: Amb. K.P. Fabian, Professor, Symbiosis University, and Indian Society of International law

India and Syria, linked by age old civilizational links for millennia, have maintained cordial and multifaceted relations. India responded with alacrity to the earthquake by sending assistance to Syria

Illustrated lecture by Ms Ana Maria Cogorno, renowned archaeologist and conservationist from Peru who has worked for almost four decades for the protection and promotion of the Nazca lines and Palpa, an important archaeological site in Peru

Chair: Mr. Fabio Subio Diaz, Embassy of Peru

Organised in collaboration with the Embassy of Peru as part of the celebrations commemorating the 60th anniversary of Diplomatic Relations Between India and Peru
 

Speaker: Prof. Pema Gyalpo, Director-General, Center for South Asian Studies, Gifu Women’s University, Professor, Toin University, Yokohama and formerly a representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Japan for 15 years

Chair: Amb. Deepa Gopalan Wadhwa, former Indian Ambassador to Japan

Panelists: Prof. Achin Vanaik, writer and social activist, former Professor, University of Delhi and Delhi-based Fellow of the Transnational Institute, Amsterdam, and author of The Painful Transition: Bourgeois Democracy in India and The Rise of Hindu Authoritarianism; and Prof. P.R. Kumaraswamy, Chairperson, Centre for West Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University

Chair: Omair Ahmad, Managing Editor for South Asia, The Third Pole; a political analyst and journalist, with a particular focus on the Himalayan region, and author of The Kingdom at the Centre of the World: Journeys into Bhutan and Jimmy the Terrorist

Speaker: Prof. Osmund Bopearachchi, Emeritus Director of Research, French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS-ENS Paris), former Adjunct Professor of Central and South Asian Art, Archaeology and Numismatics, University of California, Berkeley and former Visiting Professor and Member, Doctoral School of the Paris-Sorbonne University

Chair: Shri Shyam Saran, President, IIC

When a Man Raises the Flag of Dhamma but Conceals his Sins: Notes on Fake Ascetics in the Jatakas 

Speaker: Dr. Naina Dayal, Associate Professor, Dept. of History, St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi

Chair: Dr. Vijay Tankha

Early Indian literature often draws our attention to hypocrites who use gestures, words and costumes associated with holiness to acquire what the true holy man renounces. Naina Dayal will focus on some stories from the Pali Jataka corpus, which identify the characteristics of those who are not genuine ascetics, and in the process, formulate the ideal of renunciation
 

Does “South Asia” Have a Future?

Panelists: Ms Suhasini Haider, Diplomatic Editor, The Hindu; Prof. Atul Mishra, Associate Professor, International Relations and Governance Studies, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Shiva Nadar University; Dr. Sanjay Kathuria, Senior Visiting Fellow, Centre for Policy Research; Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore; Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University; and Visiting Faculty, Ashoka University;and Prof. C. Raja Mohan, Senior Fellow, Asia Society Policy Institute

Chair: Amb. Shyam Saran, President, IIC

The idea of South Asia regionalism was put on the agenda with the founding of the South Asian Association for Regional Integration (SAARC). After more than three decades, there is growing disappointment with the inability of the SAARC to meet its objectives. Endemic conflict and divergent security perspectives continue to limit the prospects for regionalism in South Asia. The discussion will explore the possible regional futures and India’s policy choices in promoting regional integration in South Asia

(Collaboration: Asia Society Policy Institute, New Delhi)
 

Panelists: Nandan Unnikrishnan, Distinguished Fellow, Euasia Studies, Observer Research Foundation; Dr. John Cherian, Contributing Editor (Foreign Affairs), The Frontline; and Sandip Lal, India Central Asia Foundation, New Delhi

Chair: Amb. K.P. Fabian, Professor, Symbiosis University and Indian Society of International Law

Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February 2022. Washington took the lead in building a coalition of NATO and others to send arms and other supplies to Ukraine. America has already supplied arms worth about $25 billion since the war started. While no accurate estimate of casualties are available, the U.S. military has indicated a figure of 100,000 casualties on either side. The figure includes the dead and the wounded.

The war has impacted adversely on the global economy, particularly on the South with food prices going up. India has followed a calibrated policy of refusing to join the West in condemning or imposing sanctions on Russia while calling for a cease-fire to be followed by negotiations. Will India as Chair of G-20 be able to persuade the belligerents to agree to a cease-fire? The panel will examine these issues and look at the likely trajectory of the war 
 

A discussion with Shovana Narayan, senior Kathak artist, Guru and author; Amal Allana, theatre director; and Paresh Maity, well-known artist

Chair: Amb. Suresh Goel, former Director-General, Indian Council for Cultural Relations

The discussion will focus on the importance of using public spaces for the development and exposure of the arts in the three primary genres – visual including painting and sculpture; theatre; and performing arts

(Collaboration: Legends of India)