Celebrating 75 years of the Indian Constitution, one-of its kind workshop series will employ unconventional methodologies, including role-plays, dramatized readings, and explorations of original documents, to offer an immersive experience in understanding the values and enduring spirit of the Indian Constitution. This workshop will be led by Prof. Achyut Chetan, author, Founding Mothers of Indian Republic.  Can their radical questions, unconventional methods, and fierce debates offer new ways to navigate challenges of democracy, fraternity, nation-building, peace, and coexistence? Through these interactive sessions, participants will familiarize themselves with the warp and weft of the Constitution while amplifying women's voices and agency in shaping the modern Indian democratic republic.

Inaugural Remarks: Shri Shyam Saran, President, IIC

Special Remarks: Prof. Neera Chandhoke

Workshop Facilitator: Prof. Achyut Chetan

Welcome Remarks: Dr. Meenakshi Gopinath

(Collaboration: WISCOMP)

 

Celebrating 75 years of India’s Constitution, this special dialogue will explore the pivotal contributions of the women members of the Constituent Assembly in shaping the modern Indian democratic republic. Prof. Achyut Chetan, author of Founding Mothers of Indian Republic, will lead the conversation, drawing from extensive archives and rare artifacts to bring forth the compelling yet often invisibilised voices of the founding mothers.

Opening Remarks and Chair: Shri N.N. Vohra, Life Trustee, IIC

Speaker: Prof. Achyut Chetan

Special Remarks: Dr. Meenakshi Gopinath

Closing Remarks: Justice Gita Mittal

Programme Details

Bandung Spirit and the Role of the Global South 
A programme of seminar, cultural programme and an exhibition

Inauguration of the exhibition at 09:30 on 24 April 2025

The exhibition will remain on view in the Quadrangle Garden until 30 April 2025

From 10:00 to 17:45 in Seminar Rooms I to III, Kamaladevi Complex 
Bandung Day Symposium 2025
Welcome Remarks: Shri K.N. Shrivastava, Director, IIC
Introductory Remarks: Prof. Nitya Nanda, Director, Council for Social Development

Keynote Address: Amb. Shyam Saran, President, IIC and former Foreign Secretary of India

At 18:30 in C.D. Deshmukh Auditorium
Samanvay: Celebrating the Bandung Spirit
Presented by Bluebells School Choir; Pratidhwani led by Prof. Subhendu Ghosh; Students of Bahasa Indonesia, Centre for Chinese & South East Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, led and directed by Dr. Gautam Kumar Jha; and Tiryak, the Choir, led and directed by Kajal Ghosh, coordinated by Sabaree Mitra

(Collaboration: Council for Social Development; Bandung India Network; and People’s Forum for a Multi-Polar World)

Release of the IIC Quarterly Winter 2024 – Spring 2025 Special Issue
Edited by Mritiunjoy Mohanty, Runa Sarkar and Omita Goyal

To be released by Dr. Karan Singh, Chairman, IIC Editorial Board

Followed by a panel discussion with
Ashwini K. Swain, Sustainable Futures Collaborative; Nagraj Adve, Teachers Against Climate Crisis; Mritiunjoy Mohanty and Runa Sarkar, IIM Calcutta and Guest Editors

Chair: Dr. Karan Singh 

This collection of essays makes an assessment of the energy transition path that India has chosen and is taking, both in terms of macro-strategy as well as sectorally, seen from the standpoint of a renewable energy pathway that can deliver sustainable growth alongside climate justice. The contributors locate the discussion on energy transition and climate justice within a political economy framework to try and understand the choices that have been made, and discuss feasible alternatives and coalitions that might be forged to deliver a more sustainable future.
 

Amb. Navtej Sarna, distinguished writer and former diplomat

Moderator: Prof. Malashri Lal, Convenor, English Advisory Board, Sahitya Akademi

(Collaboration: Sahitya Akademi)

The Philosophy of Tagore: Thinking Across Cultures
 

Discussion with Prof. Ramin Jahanbegloo, political philosopher, Professor & Vice Dean and Executive Director, Mahatma Gandhi Centre for Peace Studies, O.P. Jindal Global University and author of the book; and Prof. S. Irfan Habib, historian of science

Moderator: Shri Ashok Vajpeyi

(Collaboration: The Raza Foundation)
 

Recent Archaeological investigations in Tamil Nadu
Illustrated lecture by Dr. K. Rajan, Academic and Research Advisor, Govt. of Tamil Nadu and former Professor, Dept. of History, Pondicherry University

Chair: Dr. B.R. Mani, Director General, National Museum, New Delhi

Recent archaeological investigations carried out in Tamil Nadu provide new insights for understanding various cultural phases and transformations in this region. Excavations conducted at Attirampakkam, Pattaraiperumpudur, Mayiladumparai, Kilnamandi, Porpanaikottai, Keeladi, Korkai, Sivakalai, Adichanallur and many other sites have raised several important historical questions. The AMS dates received for the Iron Age and the Early Historic period at these sites have changed our hitherto held perceptions. The dates demonstrate that the existence of Iron Age in South India was contemporary to the chalcolithic age of North India. Other important discoveries include the early dates for the Brahmi script, the development of technology-driven industries such as gemstone, copper, iron, steel, shell and textile industries, and the emergence of trade and trade routes in resource zones. The lecture will highlight these and other results of recent archaeological explorations and excavations.

(Collaboration: Ashoka University, Sonipat)

Conceptualised by Dr. Ashwani Kumar

To Mark World Health Day 2025

Workshop from 10:00 to 13:00
Special session on Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Techniques
A training session on CPR techniques as well as Automated External Defibrillator (AED), a medical device designed to analyse the heart rhythm & deliver an electric shock to the victims of ventricular fibrillation to restore the heart rhythm to normal. The session will also include First Aid in Common Emergencies (F.A. C.E.) – an evidence based first response to acute health emergencies and how to avoid common myths and mismanagement in these situations

Conducted by Dr. Nitish Naik and Dr. Ambuj Roy and associates

Open to IIC members and staff members of IIC

At 16:00
The Ten Commandments for Nurturing Heart
Speaker: Prof. Ambuj Roy, MD, DM, FACC, FAMS, FRCP, FNASI, Professor, Dept. of Cardiology, Head, Skill, e-learning & Telemedicine Facility, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi

Panel Discussion on Heart Attack: How do we prevent and abort?
Panelists: Dr. Nitish Naik, Prof. of Cardiology, A.I.I.M.S. New Delhi; Dr. Ambuj Roy; Dr. Yashdeep Gupta, Addl. Prof. of Endocrinology A.I.I.M.S, New Delhi; and Dr. Suparna Ghosh Jerath, Program Head,Nutrition, The George Institute of Global Health, India

Chair: Dr. Ashwani Kumar
 

Illustrated lecture by Nandini Purandare, writer and editor, President, The Himalayan Club, editor of The Himalayan Journal; and Deepa Balsavar, writer, award-winning illustrator, Adjunct Professor, IDC School of Design, IIT – Bombay; co-authors of the internationally acclaimed book The Sherpa Trail: Stories from Darjeeling and Beyond (Roli Books) which received the Climbing Writing Award at the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festiva, Canada and the Boardman Tasker Award at the Kendal Mountain Festival, UK.

Chair: Brig. Ashok Abbey

The story of a fast-disappearing community of Sherpa climbers without whom any exploration in the Himalaya would have been impossible. Nandini and Deepa set out on an adventure that began in 2012 and culminated on a book ten years later. The book focused on the Darjeeling Sherpas, who, centuries ago, first migrated from Tibet to Nepal and then to the foothills of the Himalaya in northern India, becoming renowned for their skills as expedition porters from the turn of the 20th century

(Collaboration: The Himalayan Club)
 
 

ART MATTERS

Discussion on Cinema and Time
 

Panelists: Anupama Srinivasan; Gurvinder Singh; and Sashikanth Ananthachary

Moderator: Udayan Vajpeyi

(Collaboration: The Raza Foundation)