The Indentured and their Route : A Relentless Quest for Identity

By Bhaswati Mukherjee( Rupa Publications; 2023)  

Discussants: Amb. Shyam Saran, President, IIC; Amb. Pavan K. Varma, former diplomat and author; Amb. Rakesh Sood, former Diplomat and Distinguished Fellow, CSDR; and Amb. Bhaswati Mukherjee, former diplomat, President, India Habitat Centre and author of the book

The Quest for Modern Assam: A History 1942-2000
 

By Arupjyoti Saikia (Penguin Allen Lane; 2023)           
 
Discussants: Shri Madan Prasad Bezbaruah, former Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India; Ms. Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty, senior journalist and writer; and Prof. Arupjyoti Saikia, Professor, Dept. of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Guwahati and author of the book
 
Chair: Prof. Srinath Raghavan, Professor of History and International Relations, Ashoka University and Senior Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Speakers: Mr. Selvan Naidoo, Director of the 1860 Heritage Centre, Durban, South Africa; Shri Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Distinguished Professor, Ashoka University and Life Trustee, IIC; Shri Shiv Shankar Mukherjee, former Indian High Commissioner to South Africa; Latha Reddy, former Deputy NSA and former Secretary (East) MEA ; Mr. Sedula Mashudubele Mamabolo, Counsellor (Political), South African High Commission; Shri Sudheendra Kulkarni, columnist and Aide to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee; and Shri Anil Nauriya, Advocate, Supreme Court of India

Moderator: Suhas Borker, Editor, Citizens First TV (CFTV) and Trustee, IIC

The programme will commence with the release of ‘E.S. Reddy – Festschrift’, Edited by Jairam Reddy and Selvan Naidoo (Micro Mega and 1860 Heritage Centre, Durban: 2022)

Enuga Sreenivasulu Reddy (1924-2020) powered the powerful international solidarity for the epic anti-apartheid movement and was a hero of the liberation struggle of South Africa. ES was the moving spirit behind the United Nations’ Centre Against Apartheid from the 1960s to the 1980s. He devoted his later years to writing extensively on the struggle against Apartheid, Gandhi’s philosophy of Satyagraha and non-violence and India - South Africa relations. He was a rare individual from one country (India) who dedicated his life to the liberation struggle of another country (South Africa).

(Collaboration: Working Group on Alternative Strategies)

From the Margins of History

By Hasmukh Shah (Notion Press: 2023)

Discussants: Shri Pavan K. Varma, former diplomat, politician and author; Shri Balbir Punj, senior journalist and columnist; Ms Radhika Dhumal, architect and conservationist

Chair: Shri K.N. Shrivastava, Director, IIC

New Broadcast Bill: Regulations or Control?

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has come out with the draft Broadcasting Services Regulation Bill 2023, which is open for public consultation until Dec 9, 2023. The bill seeks to bring all broadcasting entities, including radio, television, OTT streaming platforms and digital news portals under its ambit. The Media Dialogue will focus on the ways in which the regulatory features of the bill may impact broadcast media, including digital news portals, and whether or not this will restrict their freedom of expression, their ease of operation, and so on.

Panelists: Barkha Dutt, Editor, Mojo Story; Jawhar Sircar, MP and former CEO Prasar Bharati; Seema Chishti, Editor, The Wire; and Abhishek Malhotra, Partner, TMT Law Practice; and Nikhil Pahwa, Founder, MediaNama

Moderator: Vibodh Parthasarathi, who teaches media policy and communication at Jamia Millia Islamia University

(Collaboration: The Media Foundation)
 

Speaker: Dr. Srinivas M., Director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi
Chair: Shri K.N. Shrivastava, Director, IIC

Moderator: Dr. Ashwani Kumar
 

Hills of Paradise: Freedom and the Female Body

Speaker: Prof. Mineke Schipper, Emeritus Professor of Intercultural Literary Studies, University of Leiden, The Netherlands. She is the author of several bestsellers and in India, she has published Never Marry a Woman with Big Feet (2018); Naked or Covered: A History of Dressing and Undressing Around the World (2018); and Hills of Paradise: Power, Powerlessness and the Female Body (2023)

(Collaboration: Speaking Tiger Books; and with the support of Leiden University Fund; Dutch Foundation for Literature; and Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in New Delhi)

A Pottery Story: The work of Ira Chaudhuri(New Delhi: Tulika Books, 2023)

Release of the book by Dr. Raj Kubba, connoisseur and ceramic art collector

Followed by a talk on 
Ira Chaudhuri’s pottery by Kristine Michael, ceramic artist and curator
Moderator: Ina Puri, Curator

The book is a simple commemoration of the work of master potter Ira Chaudhuri, over seven decades-primarily through 150+ images of works juxtaposed with quotes from the artist. Ira Chaudhuri describes her life’s journey in an essay at the end, along with critical writings by artists and critics. The candid, forthright and lucid essay is valuable because Ira Chaudhuri’s career as a self-taught potter tracks the trajectory the development of ceramic art in India, from nascency to its ongoing and gradual insertion into contemporary art practice. Neelima Sheikh, Trupti Patel and Ella Datta’s pieces serve to excavate other facets- her artistic temperament, stylistic influences, and signature technique. The book is compiled and edited by her son Itu Chaudhuri and his studio.
 

Are we REALLY in a New Cold War? The Belt-Road, US-China Relations, and Perceptions of a New Cold War

Speaker: Prof. Ivan Willis Rasmussen, Undergraduate Coordinator, Social Sciences and Associate Professor of Practice in Political Science, NYU Shanghai

Chair: Prof. Pallavi Raghavan, Head of the Department, Assistant Professor of International Relations, Ashoka University

The People’s Republic of China’s (China) now 10 year Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) rhetorically centres around development projects in Asia. While much attention is focused on the Chinese strategy behind the BRI, less analysis has looked at member state motivations for participation. The talk will use qualitative, statistical analysis to look at why specific states should join the BRI. Participation in the BRI can be linked to a variety of factors including GDP per capita, regime type, whether the country is an ally of the United States, and proximity to China. Looking at the regional relevance of BRI, the speaker offers correlations between these factors and whether a country is either an initial member of the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB) or has signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding BRI. The talk offers a novel approach to understanding the state motivations for joining the BRI and regional implications of the Initiative asking whether we have entered a New Cold War
 
(Collaboration: Centre for Chinese Studies, Ashoka University; and NYU Shanghai)
 

Speakers: Dr Trilochan Mahapatra, former Director General, Indian Council for Agricultural Research; Shri Sompal Singh Shastri, former Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Dr. George John, former Vice Chancellor, Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi

Chair: Dr. Siraj Hussain, Advisor, Food Processing