August 2019

Dear Friend,

 

The Institute of Chinese Studies (ICS) continued its wide range of events, activities, and research on China and East Asia in the month of August.

EVENTS AND ACTIVITIEs

As you are aware, the ICS is commemorating 50 years this year. The predecessor of the ICS, the China Study Group was born in the lawns of Sapru House, Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) in August 1969. To appropriately commemorate the occasion, the ICS held a Special Event, in collaboration with ICWA, in the evening on 19 August. Divided into three sessions, a wide range of people involved in the journey of the Institute in various capacities shared their memories and experiences. The first session chaired by Amb. TCA Raghavan, Director-General, ICWA, saw brief presentations by Prof. Ashis Nandy, Honorary Fellow, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Amb. Kishan S. Rana, Emeritus Fellow, ICS, Prof. Madhavan Palat, Professor of History and Prof. Manoranjan Mohanty, Honorary Fellow, ICS. ICS Emeritus Fellow, Prof, Tan Chung also shared his memories and wishes for the Institute through a video message. Prof. Alka Acharya, Professor, Centre for East Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University chaired the second session which had the daughters of the ICS pioneers – Ms. Nomita Unnikrishnan, Prof. Ashwini Deshpande and Ms. Anuradha Dutt (her message was read out by Prof. Sreemati Chakrabarti, Vice Chairperson, ICS) – sharing their reminiscences. Taking forward the memories and experiences, the final session witnessed brief presentations by the younger faculty of the Institute. Chaired by Mr. Ravi Bhoothalingam, Honorary Fellow, ICS, the speakers were Dr. Madhurima Nundy, Associate Fellow, ICS, Dr. Nirmola Sharma, Research Associate, ICS, Dr. P.K. Anand, Research Associate, ICS, and Dr. Veda Vaidyanathan, Research Associate, ICS. The programme was well attended and received positive response.

 

Four Wednesday Seminars were conducted this month – Ms. Sayantani Mukherjee spoke on Between Two Worlds : British India, Qing China and the Technologies of Empire-Making in Tibet in the Nineteenth Century(Youtube) (Soundcloud); Dr Abhijnan Rej, on China’s interests in Kashmir (Youtube) (Soundcloud); Mr. Ravi Bhoothalingam on India-China relations through the lens of psychology (Youtube) (Soundcloud); and Ms. Ambika Vishwanathan, Co-Founder and Director of Kubernein Initiative, on the  (Youtube) (Soundcloud).

PUBLICATIONS

The August issue of China Report, ICS’ quarterly peer-reviewed journal, in its 55th year of publication, was released. Mr, Samanvya Hooda, Research Assistant, ICS published an ICS Analysis titled ‘Nuclear Arms Limitation With China?’ There were also two blogs this month in the ICS Research Blogs – Ms. Xu Fangfang, Founding Director, Music Department, Renmin University, China, wrote about her father, Mr. Xu Beihong’s experiences at Santiniketan. Mr. Xu Beihong, arguably modern China’s most influential artist and art educator, is best known for integrating Western painting methods and techniques with traditional Chinese painting in order to develop Chinese painting. Dr. Hemant Adlakha, Honorary Fellow, ICS wrote on the reactions of Chinese scholars to India’s Kashmir move.

IN THE MEDIA

Amb. Shyam Saran, Member, ICS Governing Council penned two pieces for The Tribune this month - one on the plight of civil rights in excessively security-oriented states and another on the host of geopolitical problems China currently faces. Our Research Assistant, Mr. Samanvya Hooda, published two pieces this month - One for The Diplomat and one for First Post.

Faculty Updates

Dr. Hemant Adlakha, Honorary Fellow, ICS, published a chapter titled ‘BRICS: A Key Mechanism in Beijing's Global Governance Strategy’ in the edited volume ‘BRICS and the Multipolar World’ (Third World Academy: 2019). Prof. Alka Acharya, Honorary Fellow, ICS, made a presentation at a panel discussion on ‘Emerging Strategic Ambitions of China: An Indian Perspective’ in the 26th Joint Civil Military (JCM) Programme organized by the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Government of India, at Mussoorie. ICS Honorary Fellow Prof. Sabaree Mitra, presented a paper on ‘Intellectual-Spiritual Pilgrimage in Decolonizing Asia: Building Scholarship in India- China Cultural Studies’ in an International Conference on ‘India in Travel Writings 1500- 2000: Producing Knowledge, Fashioning Selves and 'Others'’ organized by the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, Delhi. Dr. Veda Vaidyanathan, ICS Research Associate, took two lectures on the theme 'Doing Business in Africa' at IIM Kashipur for MBA students

 

The ICS Website, Facebook and Twitter accounts are among the several ways you can get the latest on our publications and activities. You can also subscribe our monthly newsletter to follow our events and publications as well as browse our YouTube and SoundCloud channels.

 

We look forward to seeing you at more of our events.

 
 
 

Best Regards,
ASHOK K. KANTHA
Director
Institute of Chinese Studies

 

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