Presentations by Mr. Michal Tabisz, Vice President, Rzeszów–Jasionka Airport, Poland (online); and Shri Jagadeswara Rao Maddukuri, Founder and President, PolandIndia Business Council and Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awardee 2019

Chair: Amb. Dnyaneshwar Mulay, former Indian High Commissioner to the Maldives and presently Member, National Human Rights Commission

India brought back over 15,920 nationals on 76 flights under the evacuation mission ‘Operation Ganga’ that was launched following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Shri Rao Maddukuri and other Indian businessmen along with officials of the Indian and Polish embassies were instrumental in the evacuation of 4000 Indian students overland from Ukraine to Poland and then to India
 

 Treasures of Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library

An exhibition of texts, reproductions of archival photographs, facsimiles of rare books, digitised copies of illuminated and illustrated manuscripts including Tarikh-e-Khandan-e-Timuriyah, The Ramayana, Sirat-i-Firuz Shahi and Hisab- e-Fauji of Maharaja Ranjit Singh; and other digital reproductions from the collection of the Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library, Patna


Inauguration of the exhibition on 14 October 2022 at 4 pm

By Prof. Ashis Nandy, Trustee, IIC

(Collaboration: Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library, Patna)

Speaker: Captain (IN) Anurag Bisen, Research Fellow, Manohar Parikkar-Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses

Chair: Cmdre C. Uday Bhaskar

India’s Arctic Policy, released by the Government of India on 17 March 2022, fulfils a longstanding need for a clear articulation on a rapidly transforming Arctic, which is warming three times faster than the rest of the world. This is leading to major transformation of global shipping routes and increased availability of mineral and hydrocarbon resources, both of which are likely to have an immense impact on the geo-political and resources landscape of the world, including India, in the coming years. The talk will examine the need for an Arctic Policy for India; look into the gaps in India’s present engagement in the Arctic; and analyse the features of the recently released policy. 

Illustrated lecture by Dr. Anu Gupta Jindal, artist, curator and scholar

Chair: Dr. Srikanth Kondapalli, Dean, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University

With inputs by Dr. Kusum Ansal, Ikebana Practitioner and author

Japan and India have a long and rich history, heritage and culture. The two countries are indelibly linked historically through Buddhism. In modern times, much progress has been made in deepening and strengthening ties in many areas – politics, strategic partnerships, economy and trade, grants assistance, science and technology, urban planning, and in the field of art and culture. The talk will discuss the cultural interactions between Japan and India and prospects in the future which can percolate into multiple advantageous areas.

Dr Anu Jindal, artist, scholar & curator holds a Ph.D. in Japanese Art History from the National Museum Institute, New Delhi. As a Japan Foundation Fellow she studied at Doshisha University, Kyoto. For a year she worked as Visiting Research Professor at the International Research Centre for Japanese Studies, Kyoto, Japan. For three decades she has been involved with Japanese studies, with many presentations, teaching modules and publications. Her admiration of Japanese culture reflects in her artistic oeuvre too, through inspiration and influences from Japanese art & ethos.

Speaker: Prof. Matthew S.Hull, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan
Discussants: Prof. Deepak Mehta, Professor, Sociology and Anthropology, Ashoka University, Sonepat

Chair: Prof. Rita Brara, Editor, Contributions to Indian Sociology, Senior Fellow, Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi and Visiting Professor, Ashoka University, Sonepat

The CIS-IEG-SAGE Annual Lecture 2022
 
In 2013, the Indian state of Punjab contracted with a corporation to operate a new police phone helpline. The corporation call centre not only took complaints, but also monitored, directed, and reported police responses to them. An original provision of the Indian Code of Criminal Procedure, maintained since 1861, requires that oral testimony of complainants must be ‘reduced to writing’ by an authorised official. This requirement has been strained by the integration of corporate call centre customer service practices into the Punjab State police procedures. Audio recordings and database text records of complaints have only some of the features of writing and are not produced by a government officer. Nevertheless, the composite records generated by the call takers through corporate customer service software form the basis of quasi-official police proceedings. We can see in this arrangement two parallel tensions: first, a tension between two forms of human and technological mediation—the paper-based records of police and the call centre voice and database records; second, a tension between two conceptualisations of a political subject within bureaucratic procedures: one requiring representation by another authorised person and the other able to present him or herself.

(Collaboration: Contributions to Indian Sociology; Institute of Economic Growth; and SAGE)

TREASURES OF KHUDA BAKHSH ORIENTAL PUBLIC LIBRARY 

An interactive walkthrough conducted by Dr. Shayesta Bedar, Director, Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library

A Historical view of Vindhyan Rock Art and its Significance
Illustrated lecture by Dr. Ajay Pratap, Senior Professor and former Head of the Dept. of History, Banaras Hindu University

Chair: Shri B.M. Pande

The lecture introduces the idea of rock paintings being not simply archaeological but also historical source material. This, it is argued, is because rock paintings continued to be the main means of symbolic recording of things and events, well-after scripts and writing came in being. The main common purpose of painting on rocks from prehistory to history, seems to be ‘remembering’, ‘commemorating’ and ‘memorializing’. The painted spaces constitutes socially and cognitively charged material which by means of being contemporary to the times of their creation is open to historical interpretation. 

Prof. Apoorvanand and Dr Ananya Vajpeyi In Conversation with Suhas Borker

Prof. Apoorvanand is Professor of Hindi, University of Delhi. He is also a regular columnist and political commentator.
Dr Ananya Vajpeyi is Fellow and Associate Professor, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies. She works at the intersection of intellectual history, political theory and critical philology.

Suhas Borker is Convener Jan Prasar and Editor, Citizens First TV (CFTV)

This conversation marks the 32nd Anniversary of the Presidential Assent to the Prasar Bharati Act, 1990 and is the 29th discussion in the annual series.

(Collaboration: Jan Prasar)
 

Illustrated lecture by Dr. Charmaine O’Brien who researches and writes about the social and cultural history of food and eating. Internationally recognized for her work on Indian food history and culture, her books include The Penguin Food Guide to India, Recipes from an Urban Village and Flavours of Delhi and a forthcoming book on India’s changing foodways, Routes of Connection: Journeys through India’s contemporary foodscape

Chair: Rajesh Luthra

The talk will draw on Dr. O’Brien’s twenty-five years of experience researching and writing about India’s food and the transformation she witnessed in India’s foodways over that time, exploring how factors such as urbanisation, the changing role of women, globalisation and technology, have affected this change. The key theme of the talk will be the movement of food in India from its preparation and eating ‘inside’ the home to the increasing use of ‘outside’ food: pre-prepared convenience foods and meals, online food delivery, boom in cafes and restaurants, etc.

From Shanties to School: A Silent Movement

By Manimala Roy (Konarak Publishers: 2019)

Discussants: Amb. Reena Pandey, former Ambassador to Armenia; Prof. C.B. Sharma, Professor, School of Education, IGNOU and former Director, NIOS; Prof. Prasannanshu, Professor of English, National Law University, Delhi; and Dr. Manimala Roy, Principal, Basava International School, Delhi and author of the book

Moderator: Dr. Renu Tomar, Assistant Registrar, GGSIPU, Delhi