How Archaeology is Helping Improve Climate Models: A View from South Asia

Illustrated talk by Prof. Kathleen D. Morrison, Professor of Anthropology & Department Chair, University of Pennsylvania

and Curator for South Asia, University of Pennsylvania Museum

Chair: Dr. M. Nambirajan, Joint Director General, Archaeological Survey of India

Unfilled Barrels: India’s Oil Story

By Richa Mishra (Bloomsbury India, New Delhi: 2022)

Discussants: Shri Sunjoy Joshi, Chairman, Observer Research Foundation; Shri Raghuvir Srinivasan, Editor, Business Line; and Ms Richa Mishra, Bureau Chief, Hyderabad & Kolkata, BusinessLine & Author of the Book

Chair: Shri Amitabh Kant, former CEO, Niti Aayog
 

West Asia at War: Repression, Resistance and Great Power Games
By Talmiz Ahmad (HarperCollins India: 2022)

Moderator: Amb. K P Fabian, Distinguished Fellow, Symbiosis University 

Speakers : Sh. Atul Aneja, Editor, India Narrative.com ; Dr. Meena Singh Roy, Head, Eurasia & West Asia Centre, Tillotoma  Foundation ; Amb. Talmiz Ahmad, Ram Sathe Chair for International Studies, Symbiosis, Pune & Author of the Book

 

 

Maritime Trade of the Harappans – Evidences at Dholavira

Illustrated lecture by Dr. V.N. Prabhakar, archaeologist and Associate Professor, Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar

Chair: Shri B.M. Pande

Water Eco-system of Delhi

Speakers: Shri Jasmine Shah, Vice-Chairman, Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi, Government of NCT of Delhi; Shri Ankit Srivastava, Technical Advisor to the Minister for Water, Government of NCT of Delhi; Prof Shashank Shekhar, Professor, Department of Geology, University of Delhi; Dr Deeksha Katyal, Assistant Professor, Environment Management, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi; and Shri Depinder Kapur, Director, Water Programme, Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi
 
Chair: Shri Suhas Borker, Founder Member, Green Circle of Delhi
 
Top metros of the world have learnt to address their water eco-system in a sustainable manner:  from efficiently providing safe and easily accessible water to reliable sanitation and protecting their rivers and waterways from pollution. Sustainability also means resilience and adaptability to extreme weather events which may lead to flooding and scarcity. This Dialogue shall take up the entire gamut of issues pertaining to the water eco-system for Delhi: the river Yamuna; sharing of the river waters; pollution of the river; construction on the river bed; the nallas; the groundwater recharge, revival and rejuvenation of lakes and water bodies; reuse/recycling of water, sustainable water management, citizens' save water campaign led by school children etc. What are the challenges being faced by Delhi's waterscapes and water sources? How does Delhi measure across three pillars of water sustainability — resiliency, efficiency and quality? To achieve a sustainable water eco-system for Delhi can we set a future fit benchmark for 2025 with an action plan with strict timelines?
 
The series is dedicated to the memory of Shri Mahesh N. Buch, civil servant and environmentalist, who passed away on 6 June 2015 and who had given the key-note address at the inaugural edition of the Dialogue in 2013.

(Collaboration: Green Circle of Delhi)

The Second Wife and Other Stories

By Nandini C. Sen (Om Books International: 2021)

Moderator: Prof Malashri Lal, Academician and Author

Speakers: Shri K. N. Shrivastava, Director, India International Centre (Chair) ; Prof. Aruna Chakravarti, Academician, Author and Translator; Prof. GJV Prasad, Academician, Author and Translator ; Ms. Rumi Malik, Writer and Broadcaster ;  Dr. Nandini C Sen,  Academician and Author of the Book

Saving the World? Reflections on UNESCO’s Mid Century Mission in Conflict

Illustrated lecture by Prof. Lynn Meskell, Penn Integrates Knowledge (PIK) Professor, University of Pennsylvania and Richard D. Green Professor of Anthropology, School of Arts and Sciences, Professor, Graduate Program in Historic Preservation, Weitzman School of Design, and Curator, Middle East and Asia sections, Penn Museum. Employing archival and ethnographic analysis, her award-winning book A Future in Ruins: UNESCO, World Heritage, and the Dream of Peace (OUP, 2018) reveals UNESCO’s early forays into a one-world archaeology and its later commitments to global heritage

Chair: Prof. Madhavan K. Palat

At the 50th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention, UNESCO finds itself at an impasse, faced with the impossibility of calling powerful nations to account. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is the most recent example. Yet earlier instances of inertia include international conflicts in Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen and Crimea. More able to publicly repudiate non-state actors, such as Ansar Dine or Islamic State, than some of its own high-profile member states, UNESCO has increasingly walked a diplomatic tightrope and prioritized geopolitical alliances, financial considerations, and tactical relationships.
 

PHYSICAL PROGRAMME

The Fort at Bhatinda: From a Desert Outpost to an Inner City Landmark

Illustrated lecture by Dr. Vikas Rathee who teaches History at Central University of Punjab, Ghudda (distt. Bhatinda)

Chair: Prof. Yogesh Snehi

Architecturally and strategically, the Bathinda Fort is unremarkable. However, as an ASI protected site located in the centre of the crowded Old City of Bathinda, the Fort has acquired a new kind of life of its own over the last century or so. The transition of Bathinda Fort from a symbol of governance and authority in the region to a space accessible by the citizenry and public for spiritual and leisure purposes. The presentation documents this transition and showcases the relationship that various stakeholders of the Bathinda Fort have with each other and with the site.

PHYSICAL PROGRAMME

Speaker: Dr. Manpreet Sethi, Distinguished Fellow, Centre for Air Power Studies and Head of Nuclear Security Project and author of Nuclear Strategy: India’s March towards Credible Deterrence (2009)

Chair: Amb. Shivshankar Menon, former National Security Adviser of India and former Foreign Secretary of India

(Collaboration: Society for Policy Studies)

Registration link
 

PHYSICAL PROGRAMME

Gottiprolu - An Early Trade Centre in Andhra Pradesh

Illustrated lecture by Dr. T. Sree Lakshmi, Director, Archaeological Survey of India

Chair: Shri B.M. Pande

Excavations by Archaeological Survey India at Gottiprolu, near Nellore district in Andhra Pradesh has uncovered the remains of a huge settlement. A fortified Satavahana urban trade centre on the South-east coast of India, the excavations have revealed literary, inscriptional and etymological evidences.