Time: 6.30 pm (Tea at 6 pm)

27 February 2009@6 pm
Second NIAS-DST Programme on Energy Security and Management
Hindustani Vocal Music Concert by Ms. Kaushiki Chakraborty Desikan
Ms Kaushiki was blessed with the rare gift of a melodious voice and extreme musical potential, which was given shape by her Guru, parents and her unflinching practice and dedication. At Sangeet Research Academy, her birth place, she grew up amidst the greatest stalwarts of music. Her mother Smt. Chandana Chakrabarty an accomplished singer herself, took up the task of training Kaushiki in the initial stages, thus being her first Guru. Since music was in her genes, the task of further enhancement of her musical understanding and knowledge was taken over by her illustrious father Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty. Following the age old tradition Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty took Kaushiki to his mentor and guide, Guru Jnan Prakash Ghosh, who accepted her as a "Ganda Bandh Shagird" (Formal Disciple). Kaushiki's exceptional talent was ably groomed under the magical tutelage of Guru Jnan Prakash Ghosh. It was the influence of Guru Jnan Prakash Ghosh which instilled in little Kaushiki's heart that the path to musical excellence was not only technical brilliance but philosophical realization and devotion.

12 February 2009@6 pm
Associates' Programmes - Fourth DST-NIAS Workshop on
Dimensions of Nanotechnology Classical Music Concert by Sangeet Samrat Chitravina N Ravikiran
Shri Mysore M Nagaraj - Violin
Shri Jayachandra Rao - Mrdangam
Shri Guruprasanna – Kanjira
About the Musician:
Sangeet Samrat Chitravina N Ravikiran: Hailed by Radio national, Australia as 'perhaps the greatest slide instrumentalist in the world today', Ravikiran made headlines as the world's youngest prodigy at the age of two in 1969, identifying and demonstrating 325 ragas, 175 talas and answering numerous other questions. He presented his first vocal concert at five, first chitravina recital when he was 12 and set a record with a non-stop show for 24 hours when he was 18. Ravikiran has toured around the world several times and performed in numerous international festivals and venues such as: Autumn Festival, France, Millennium Festival, UK, Brisbane International Festival, Australia, Esplanade, Singapore, Pablo Caslo Festival, France, Cal Arts Festival, USA, Harborfront Festival, Toronto, Canada, House of World Culture, Berlin, Vienna Palace and Theatre de la Ville, Paris. He has been featured by major radio and TV networks including CNN, BBC, NPR, ABC and leading record labels such as Nimbus, Naxos, Waterlily and Music Today.

His awards include the President's Sangeet Natak Akademy Award, Harvard University Sangeet Award, Houston and Tulsa City Awards, Music Academy TTK Award, Kumar Gandharva Samman, Sangeeta Choodamani and Vadya Ratnakara, to name a few.

7 February 2008
Speaker: Dr. K Eric Drexler
Title: Advanced Nanotechnology: The Road to Sustainable Abundance
Abstract:
Often described as "the father of nanotechnology," Eric Drexler set the technical direction for the field in his seminal 1981 paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which established fundamental principles of molecular engineering and development paths to advanced nanotechnologies. In his 1986 book, Engines of Creation, he introduced a broad audience to the central technology objective: using machines that work at the molecular scale to restructure matter from the bottom up. Drexler's research in this field has been the basis for numerous journal articles and an extensive, physics-based analysis in his textbook Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing, and Computation. In his publications and lectures, Dr. Drexler describes the implementation and applications of advanced nanotechnologies and shows how they can be used solve, not merely delay, large-scale problems such as global warming.

In his talk at NIAS Dr Drexler will show how the coming revolution in atomically precise manufacturing can provide sustainable, world-wide wealth, overcoming the problems of climate change and declining resources. He will discuss India's potential role in accelerating and influencing these developments.

Dr. Drexler is Chief Technical Advisor to Nanorex, a company developing design software for molecular engineering. He is also Chief Technical Consultant to the Technology Roadmap for Productive Nanosystems, a project of the Battelle Memorial Institute and its participating US National Laboratories. Dr Drexler was awarded a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Molecular Nanotechnology (the first degree of its kind).

27 November 2007@6.30 pm
Eighth M N Srinivas Memorial Lecture
Topic: Caste as Capital: Retelling the Story of Our Modernity

Speaker: Prof Satish Deshpande, Department of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics,Delhi University.

Abstract:

Caste was perhaps the one question on which there was unanimity at the time of Independence. Regardless of their political persuasion or caste origins, all strands of national leadership agreed publicly that the only civilized response to caste was to abolish it as quickly as possible. Our constitution and our state tried to do this by simultaneously adopting the posture of caste blindness and initiating programmes of 'compensatory discrimination'.

Half a century later, the apparent consensus on caste appears to have been turned inside out. Today, the deepest and least reconcilable divisions in Indian society and politics are those around caste. One section of society claims to have left caste behind and is demanding that the state deliver on its promises of caste-blindness. Another section of society seems deeply invested in caste and is demanding that the logic of 'compensatory discrimination' be taken to its limit. Both sides feel cheated by six decades of independence.

In taking up M.N. Srinivas's life-long concern with caste, this paper argues that to move beyond the current impasse, we must understand the different ways in which caste has functioned as capital in independent India. Some forms of caste-capital are more easily recognised as such because they require constant and explicit invocation of caste identity. By contrast, other forms of caste-capital tend to render caste invisible, making it implicit rather than explicit. However, both forms share the tendency to transform what they depend on, thus encouraging the contextual misrecognition of the entity that continues to be called 'caste'.

Two prominent versions of the story of our modernity describe, from different vantage points, the failure of our attempts to kill caste. The more common one points the finger at politicians, the electoral encashment of caste and identity politics. The other version points to the continuing correlation between caste and privilege to argue that caste-blindness is actually caste-camouflage. Perhaps we are now at a stage of our history where it is both possible and necessary to retell the story of our modernity in more complex ways. If it is to be enabling, this retelling must resist the temptations of symmetrical neither-norism while recognizing the generative possibilities inherent in the history of our present.

About the speaker, in brief:

Satish Deshpande is a professor of Sociology at the Dept of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi. He is the author of 'Contemporary India', a seminal book on socio-cultural debates in India and has written an essay on Prof. Srinivas' work in the new volume on founders of Indian sociology and social anthropology.

29 October 2007
Associates' Programme
Topic: ' Ballet: A Universal Language
Speaker: Prof.Claire Sheridan
Abstract: Classical ballet is a Western dance form that has taken root all over the world. Whether it's in Cape Town or Shanghai, Moscow or Buenos Aires, Tokyo or New York City, dancers study, companies perform and audiences are moved by this unique combination of movement, art, and music. But why? How does classical ballet manage to reach across so many cultures? In this presentation, Prof Sheridan will go "behind the scenes" and explore the technical, artistic and historical components of this dance form. Video of some of the ballet world's great works and star dancers will provide illustration.

About the Speaker: Prof Sheridan established the dance program at Saint Mary's College of California and is currently on the faculty there. She has directed and choreographed more than 150 dance concerts and musical productions for university and professional theatre and has extensive international experience as a teacher and choreographer at The St. Petersburg Conservatory and The Academy of Culture (St. Petersburg, Russia), Cambridge University (England), Charles University (Prague), and at academies and colleges in India, Japan, Germany, Switzerland, Palestine, Bosnia, and the Ukraine. Prof Sheridan is also the founder of LEAP, a national program that serves the academic needs of professional dancers in the United States. She is currently working with dancers from American Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet, and the Broadway stage.

13 September 2007 @ 6 pm
(Third NIAS-DST Training Programme of Nano-Technology )

Carnatic Violin Duet by Mysore Brothers (Mysore M Nagaraj and Dr Mysore M Manjunath)

Mysore M. Nagaraj & Dr. Mysore M. Manjunath, the sons and disciples of renowned violinist Sangeetha VidhyaNidhi Prof. S.Mahadevappa, were child prodigies who matured quickly to emerge as one of the top ranking violinists in India today. Raised in an atmosphere redolent with music, the brothers mastered an unique style characterized by pristine purity, lucidity, melody, super clarity and perfect rhythm. Individually both are complete musicians having established themselves as artists with rare insight, classicism & technical sophistication. From child prodigies to trail blazers, captivating audiences & critics, Mysore brothers have created unrivalled record as star performers in prestigious organizations world over. Mysore brothers received innumerable awards including the Best Violinist awards from Music Academy and Indian fine arts society, Excellence award from American Institute of World culture and the State award from the Government of Karnataka. The recital is for an hour and half.

7 September 2007 @ 6 pm
Speaker: Mr. S. K. Das, IAS (Retd.), Hon. Advisor, ISRO
Topic:"Touching Life: The outreach of the Indian Space Programme"

28 August 2007 @ 6 pm
Bharatanatyam performance by the Bharatanjali dance troupe under
the leadership of Kum.B.Bhanumati

23 January 2007@7 pm
21st NIAS course for Senior Executives
Speaker: Shri Shyam Benegal
Topic: Indian Cinema and Secularism
About the Speaker:
Shri Shyam Benegal is one of the most popular personalities in the filmdom of India. The film "ANKUR" marked the beginning of his success story as a leading filmmaker of India. His films have found a prominent place of admiral both in India and abroad. The concepts in his films are varied in nature but centered on contemporary Indian experience. His work on television consists of several popular series based on international stories, short stories by well-known Indian writers and a mammoth 53 part series on the history of India. He has also made an extra-mural education series for children. Practically all of his films have won national awards and several of them have been awarded internationally. Some of his prestigious awards are: PADMA SHRI 1976, STATE PRIZE USSR 1985, SOVIETLAND NEHRU AWARD 1989, PADMA BHUSHAN 1991. The lecture/discussion is for about an hour and a half.

10 November 2006@ 5.30 pm
Carnatic Vocal Music by Shri.T.V.Sankaranarayanan
Shri.T.V.Sankaranarayanan, one of the most sought-after and widely-acclaimed vocalists. He has given hundreds of concerts in India and abroad and has carved out a very special niche for himself wherever Carnatic music is heard round the globe. He has been the recipient of several awards and titles, including the Sangitha Kalanidhi, Padma bhushan and the Central Sangeet
Natak Akademi Award

30 September 2006@ 5.30 pm
Associates' Programme
Attakalari Dance by Jayachandran Palazhy and party

27 June 2006@ 6.00 pm
Associates' Programme/ Public Lecture
Speaker: Prof Jean-Marie Lafont
Senior Research Scholar, Embassy of France, New Delhi & INALCO, Paris
Title: La Fontaine Fables & Indian Miniatures

Abstract:
This illustrated lecture tells an extraordinary story of Indo-French artistic collaboration in 19th century and the French fascination for India as the Land of the Moghuls. Feuillet, a 19th century French official, was fond of the Fables written by 17th century French Poet, Jean De La Fontaine which drew on diverse sources from the Aesop's fables to the Sanskrit Panchatantra. Thus, a Moghul miniaturist in the court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, ruler of Punjab, Imam Baksh Lahori, was commissioned to paint these Fables. What followed was a delightful series of miniatures now housed in the Musee Jean De La Fontaine at Chateau Thierry in France. The exhibition 'Dream of an Inhabitant of Mogul', of prints of these paintings has travelled to Indian cities including Bangalore: curated by Dr. Jean-Marie Lafont with a catalogue and supported by the Alliance Francaise.

About the Speaker
Jean-Marie Lafont, an expert on Indo-French historical connections, has been a Senior Research Scholar and Coordinator of the Centre for Human Sciences, Embassy of France, New Delhi and attached to Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO, Paris). He is author of the illuminating books 'Essays in Indo-French Relations, 1630-1976', 'Maharaja Ranjit Singh: Lord of the Five Rivers' and 'Chitra: Cities and Monuments of 18 th century India from French Archives'.

21 June 2006
Center for Philosophy
Topic: Philosophy of History
Speaker: Prof D. N. Tripathi,
Chairman, Indian Council of Historical Research
Abstract:
History may not seem to have much to do with philosophy but like science, politics and art, it also relies on philosophical assumptions and concepts as any other subject. Human history is not a meaningless succession of events. Behind the wars and strife's, political discords and economic disorders, social clashes and religious differences, lies the fascinating story of the limited
efforts of man to achieve the sovereign purpose of the universe. Dissonances emerging from narrow perspectives tone down into harmony of human ascent, when located in the scale of orchestrated symphony of universal music.

'The limited effort of man' finds its social expression through cultural patterns, which he weaves out in response to circumstances and in accordance with his inner urges and cherished ideals. The endeavour is directed knowingly or unwittingly, haltingly or with determination towards self-realisation. Passing through and eventually transcending the economic urges and shining symbols of sensuous pleasures, though transient and yet captivating, man is to play his role in the cosmic drama for his sublimation and for the redemption of his fellow-beings. This, in short, is the Indian concept of history.

We know that modern historian with his predominant concern with positivism and objectivity, related to animal passions and external behaviours and events, will not find himself in agreement with such a view of history. But, I am afraid that, like the prisoner in the story of the 'Beauty and the Beast', a historian who tends to shun in history the beauty of human sublimation will perforce find, to his dismay, only the beast staring at his face. The eminent philosopher Prof A. N. Whitehead has succinctly put it: 'The notion of historians, of history devoid of aesthetic prejudice, of history devoid of any reliance of metaphysical principles and cosmological organizations, is a figment of imagination.'

24 February 2006
Speaker: Dr. Norman NEUREITER
Director, AAAS Centre for Science, Technology & Security Policy
American Association of Advancement of Science
Distinguished Presidential Fellow for International Affairs
The National Academies
Title: Science & Technology for Safety & Security
Abstract: Dr. Neureiter will discuss the work of the Center of which he is the Director at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The Center is called the Center for Science, Technology and Security Policy (CSTSP) and its purpose is to serve as an intermediary between the technical studies and analyses carried out by university centers on security related issues such as countering terrorism, nonproliferation of nuclear weapons, biosecurity, infectious disease, weaponization of space, etc. The
Center is funded by the MacArthur Foundation of Chicago, under its Science, Technology and Security Initiative--which is part of their broader program on Peace and Sustainability. The broad purpose of the MacArthur initiative is to train more
scientists to apply their technical skills to the analysis of security-related issues, in the belief that awareness of the objective technical facts about a security issue will lead to better overall decisions than ignoring the technical realities that apply to that issue. Even a determined political decision cannot repeal the laws of physics or ignore the laws of gravity and have a chance of being successful.

Neureiter will describe some of the challenges in developing scientific analyses and bringing the results of those analyses to
the Washington policy makers in Washington, both in the Executive Branch of the Bush Administration and in the Congress. This is particularly challenging in today's highly polarized political environment in Washington. He would welcome a discussion of how think tanks and private policy research institutions in India can make useful inputs into the political decisionmaking process, particularly with respect to security issues. He is also interested in how to develop cooperation between institutions in the US and India in this field of science and security policy.

9 January 2006
Associates' Programme
Speaker: Tony Watts, National Institute for Careers Education and Counselling, Cambridge, England
Title: Higher Education and Career Development
Abstract
Professor Watts will outline the rationale for strengthening career development services within India. In doing so, he will
draw from three overlapping studies of career development and public policy, for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the European Commission and the World Bank, which together have covered 37 countries. He will focus particularly on the need for improved career development services within higher education, including improved information to potential students, improved services for students during and on exit from their courses, and improved attention to employability and career development within the curriculum. Finally, he will discuss briefly the wider contribution which universities can make through developing a base of theory and research on which the career development field in India can draw, and through providing degree programmes to prepare career development professionals.

Professor Tony Watts is based in Cambridge, England. He is Senior Fellow and Life President of the National Institute for
Careers Education and Counselling; Visiting Professor of Career Development at the University of Derby; and Visiting
Professor at Canterbury Christ Church University. He is the author of many books and articles. He has lectured in over forty
countries, and has carried out a number of comparative studies of guidance systems around the world, as well as acting as
consultant to various international organisations including the Council of Europe, the European Commission, OECD, UNESCO
and the World Bank. He was awarded an OBE in the 1994 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to education.

12 December 2005
JRD Tata Memorial Lecture
Speaker: Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond TUTU, Chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Title: Is there Hope for Humanity?
Venue: J N Tata Auditorium
Programme
1630-1730 hrs - Tea
1730 hrs - Function starts
1800 to 1900 hrs Address by Archbishop Desmond Tutu
1915 hrs Vote of Thanks

About the speaker:

Archbishop Desmond Tutu was born in 1931 in Klerksdorp, Transvaal. His father was a teacher, and he himself was educated at Johannesburg Bantu High School. After leaving school he trained first as a teacher at Pretoria Bantu Normal College and in 1954 he graduated from the University of South Africa. After three years as a high school teacher he began to study theology, being ordained as a priest in 1960. The years 1962-66 were devoted to further theological study in England leading up to a Master of Theology. From 1967 to 1972 he taught theology in South Africa before returning to England for three years as the assistant director of a theological institute in London. In 1975 he was appointed Dean of St. Mary's Cathedral in Johannesburg, the first black to hold that position. From 1976 to 1978 he was Bishop of Lesotho, and in 1978 became the first black General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches. Tutu is an honorary doctor of a number of leading universities in the USA, Britain and Germany.

In 1984, Desmond Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role as a unifying leader figure in the campaign to resolve the problem of apartheid in South Africa. The means by which this campaign was conducted is of vital importance for the whole of the continent of Africa and for the cause of peace in the world.

9 December 2005
Speaker: Simon Singh, Scientist, Writer and Broadcaster, United Kingdom
Title: The Mathematics of Luck, Risk and Gambling
Time: 7.00 p.m.,
Venue: NIAS Lecture Hall

Abstract:
Are you lucky or just obeying the laws of chance? Simon Singh, author of Fermat's Last Theorem, The Code Book and Big Bang, looks at the mathematics behind various situations involving luck, risk and coincidence, from the casino to the hospital, from the courtroom to the supernatural. Indeed, our lives are dominated by the laws of chance ... an oxymoron if ever there was one. Dr Singh will give some examples that illustrate how our intuition often misleads us, and he will demonstrate how mathematics and critical thinking can help us live, thrive and survive.

18 November 2005
Associates' Programme
The Sixth M N Srinivas Memorial Lecture
Sponsored by the Syndicate Bank
Speaker: Prof Rajendra CHENNI
Professor and Head, PG Department of Studies in English
Kuvempu University, Shimoga
Topic: State and Identity: The Case of Karnataka

Abstract:
The linguistic identity which evolved during the unification of Karnataka and later endorsed by the state established in 1956 has always been the site of conflict and contradictions. It was evolved to meet the cultural aspirations of a sub-nationalist movement which in turn was affiliated to and yet distinctive from the nationalist movement. As the act of unification involved the assembling of regional fragments which had been part of other states and other histories, Kannada identity had to be constituted as a universalist identity which could subsume the different identities of caste, gender and region. The formation of a modern linguistic state imposed a common, universal and unmarked Kannada identity. Whatever the requirements of a sub-nationalist politics may have been in imposing such an identity, the fault lines of caste and region would remain to constantly undermine the
functioning of the state as a modern, secular state within the constitutional framework of a federal nation state.

The state itself has exhibited simultaneously two incompatible identities. Though describing itself as a rational and secular instrument of progress, it has also endorsed caste based, religious and regional affiliations in order to obtain and remain in power. It has not either openly or indirectly distanced itself from the culturalist and sub nationalist aspirations which constitute Kannada identity. If anything, it has made itself a major role player in the cultural arena through its sponsorship, patronage and institutional participation.

Therefore whenever issues related to Kannada identity are fore-grounded in the public domain in linguistic riots etc, the state is embroiled not only as the custodian of law and order but also as the official agency endorsing Kannada identity.

It is against this background that the recent reformulations of Kannada versus information and bio technologies, Kannada versus globalisation and Kannada versus English need to be examined.

The unique confrontation of Bangalore versus Karnataka is also a consequence of the fault-lines on which Kannada identity has been formed. A host of other issues of citizenship, domicile, modernity and tradition also need to be re-examined in relation to the problematic relationship between state and identity.

10 November 2005
Associates' Programme
Speaker: Sri P Sainath
Development Writer and Author
Title: Agrarian Crisis and the Role of Media

About the Speaker:

Sri P.Sainath is Asia's leading development journalist, writing frequently about issues such as poverty and the effects of industrialization on India. Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen describes him as "one of the world's greatest experts on famine and hunger". Through his work on the livelihoods of India's rural poor, Sainath has changed the nature of the development debate in his own country and across the world.

His landmark book, "Everybody Loves a Good Drought," is a devastating portrait of Indian economic policies gone
awry.

He received international recognition after he spent two years in the poorest districts in India, reporting about the daily struggles of the citizenry. He covered everything from agriculture subsidies to starvation deaths. That work formed the basis for his book.

Sainath has won numerous awards for his reportage, including the European Commission's Natali Prize in 1994 for articles related to development and poverty as well as working and living conditions of vulnerable social groups. In November 2001, he won the Boerma Journalism Prize from the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization --the most important award in development journalism.

27 May 2005@ 6.00 pm
J R D Tata Birth Centenary Lecture Series
Speaker: Dr. Sundar Sarukkai
Fellow, NIAS
Topic: The Idea of Trusteeship in Gandhi and JRD Tata

Abstract:

Trusteeship is the model of responsibility that best describes JRD's view of himself and his role in the world. It was a view that JRD essentially derived from Gandhi. Gandhi's view of trusteeship was based on the belief that we do not really 'own' our wealth but are only trustees of it, meaning that we have to administer our wealth for the benefit and betterment of the community. There are many important ethical principles associated with trusteeship: a natural association with the principle of non-violence, voluntary renunciation, a more complex meaning of ownership which is not restricted to ownership as authority, a larger sense of responsibility towards the community and the nation, and the need for an ethical approach to the means of profiting. In the trusteeship model, wealth does not automatically go to the family members but only to those who can function as its trustees. Thus, this idea of trusteeship challenged the fundamental principles of a capitalist society.

Ironical then that JRD Tata was not only influenced by Gandhi's idea of trusteeship but developed his personal and professional life based on this idea. However, JRD was not following Gandhi's model completely. Nor did he theorise about the idea of trusteeship. What he did was to lead a life based on the principle of trusteeship. Although there were some overlapping principles common to both Gandhi and JRD in their views on trusteeship, there were nevertheless some important differences. One of which was JRD's emphasis on institutionalizing trusteeship as against leaving it all to the spirit of voluntarism. This talk will discuss Gandhi's model of trusteeship and JRD's practical implementation of it. JRD's approach offers a workable and pragmatic model of this extremely important idea of trusteeship.

About the Speaker:

Sundar Sarukkai is a philosopher at the National Institute of Advanced Studies. He has been a Homi Bhabha Fellow (1997 - 99), Fellow of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla (1991 - 2001) and Associate Fellow of the Project of History of Indian Science, Philosophy and Culture (2003 - 2004). He is the author of the following books: "Translating the World: Science and Language" (University Press of America, 2002), "Philosophy of Symmetry" (IIAS, 2004), "Indian Philosophy and Philosophy of Science" (PHISPC/Motilal Banarasidass, 2005) and "The Human Touch: A Philosophical Walk with JRD Tata" (unpublished). He is a member of the Advisory Board o f the International Society for Science, Arts and Technology, USA and an Editorial Member of the book series Advanced Studies in Mathematics and Logic, Italy.

6 May 2005

Speaker: Prof Frits Staal, Emeritus
Professor of Philosophy & South and Southeast Asian Studies
Department of Philosophy, University of California, Berkeley.

Topic: "`What Euclid is to Europe is what Panini is to India' - or are they?".

About the Speaker
Prof FRITS STAAL is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and of South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of California at Berkeley. He has been a Visiting Professor to many Universities and authored many books. Some of his well-known books are The Science of Ritual, Poona: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute 1982 (with C.V.Somayajipad and Itti Ravi Nambudiri), AGNI - The Vedic Ritual of the Fire Altar, Vols. I-II, Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press 1983, Rules Without Meaning. Ritual, Mantras and the Human Sciences, Peter Lang: New York- Bern-Frankfurt am Main-Paris 1989; paperback 1993.

7 February 2005
Associates' Program

Topic: 'Global warming: the science of climate change - the imperatives for action.'
Speakers: Sir David KING, Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Government
Time: 11.30 a.m.,
Venue: J R D Tata Auditorium, NIAS, IISc Campus

Abstract:

This talk will focus on what is being done globally to assess risk and mitigate climate change, the impact that various UK government led initiatives hope to have, and how these efforts contribute to larger efforts in climate change mitigation, clean energy and capacity building.

27 January 2005
Topic: Human Spaceflight Today and Future Perspectives
Speaker: Prof. Claude NICOLLIER, Golden Jubilee Distinguished Professor, Raman Research Institute, Bangalore
Time: 6.30 p.m.

About the Speaker:
Prof. Claude Nicollier is an astrophysicist-astronaut and a Professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland. He was a member of the first group of European Astronauts selected by NASA for astronaut training as a mission specialist, and is now with the astronaut office EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity) branch of NASA in Houston. He is a veteran of many space flights including the Hubble Space Telescops servicing and repair missions.

30 September 2004
Associates' Programme
Speaker: Anuradha Mathur/ Dilip da Cunha*
Associate Professor
Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Pennsylvania
* An architect and City Planner, Faculty, Parsons School
of Design, New York and University of Pennsylvania

Title: DECCAN TRAVERSES: From 'Naked Country' to 'Garden City'

About the Speakers:
Anuradha Mathur and Dilip da Cunha are involved in their teaching and design practice with issues of environment, design and landscape, in particular the visual representation of landscapes as shifting and dynamic. They are authors of Mississippi Floods: Designing a Shifting Landscape and in the last three years they have been working on a book and exhibition titled Deccan Traverses: From 'Naked Country' to 'Garden City.'

In 1800, the heart of the Mysore Tableland was described by more than one traveler as a "naked country." Today this country is Bangalore, the Garden City of India. This presentation introduces four unique artistic/scientific enterprises instrumental in the transformation from 'naked country' to 'garden city,' specifically, surveying, triangulating, picturing and botanizing. These enterprises are called traverses. They constructed new images, skills, vocabularies and indeed a 'seeing' that even today underlies administration, education, plans, disciplines, and everyday conversation.

At the time of their initiation in the late 1700s these traverses had the added dimension of pioneering 'useful sciences' that were directed to human 'progress' and 'improvement'. They were plotting elements on the earth's surface, measuring the earth's curvature, visually documenting places and things, and cultivating useful plants. These were pursuits that had universal and global ambitions even as they found local uses. They made Bangalore a key player on the world stage. In addition, the presentation will focus on the starting points and continued presence of these traverses in the making of Bangalore's landscape.

10 September 2004 (Friday)
Speaker: Dr. R.K. PACHAURI
Director-General, The Energy and Resources Institute, New Delhi

Topic: Energy, climate change and sustainable development

About the Speaker
Dr. Pachauri has been active in several international forums dealing with the subject of climate change and its policy dimensions. He has held several important positions including, Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, established by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme. To acknowledge his immense contributions to the field of environment, he was awarded thePadma Bhushan by the President of India in January 2001.

24 August 2004 (Tuesday)
Title: JRD Tata's Legacy to Science and Higher Education
Speaker: Prof. M G K Menon, FRS, Dr. Vikram Sarabhai Distinguished Professor of Indian Space Research Organization

Prof. Menon is a Distinguished Scientist, Science Policy Planner and Science Administrator of the country. He was a former Minister of State for Science and Technology, Government of India. Prof. Menon received several awards for his work including Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize and Padma Vibhushan.

This lecture will be the first of a series of commemorate lectures planned at National Institute of Advanced Studies to celebrate the birth centenary of one of the most distinguished Sons of India, Bharat Ratna Late Sri. JRD Tata.

Prof. Menon was closely associated with JRD Tata for more than three decades. In this talk Prof. Menon will focus on an aspect not so well-known or talked about, which is the decisive contributions made by JRD to the promotion and nurturing of Science and Higher Education in India.

23 June 2004
Public Lecture and Associates' Programme @ 6 pm
Topic: SOFTWARE'S SUCCESS: A Sustainable Story?
Speaker: Mr KIRAN KARNIK, President, NASSCOM
About the speaker:
Mr. Kiran Karnik, is currently President NASSCOM, which is an apex body representing India's IT software and service industry. He works very closely with the industry, the Indian Central & State governments to formulate policies and strategies for the advancement of this sector locally as well as internationally. Prior to joining NASSCOM, Mr. Karnik was the Managing Director at Discovery Networks in India. Mr. Karnik was recipient of the Frank Malina medal for Space Education by the International Astronautical Federation.

28 May 2004 @ 6 pm
Speaker: Prof P.Balaram
Topic: Scientometrics and the sociology of science
About the speaker:
Prof. Padmanabhan Balaram is Chairman, Division of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He obtained his PhD from Carnegie-Mellon University, USA. He is a Fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy and the Third World academy of Science. He is editor of Current Science since 1995. His research interest are in the areas of peptides-chemistry, structure and biology; protein engineering, and received several awards for his work, including Padma Shri, Government of India.

30 March 2004
Public Concert and Associates Programme
Time: 6.00 pm
Artist: Karnatak Classical Vocal Music Concert by Vidwan S Shankar
accompanied by
Vidwan S Sheshagiri Rao on the violin
Vidwan N Vasudeva on the mridangam
Vidwan Ranganatha Chakravarthi on the ghatam
Vidushi Swarna Shankar on the tambura
Venue: JRD Tata Auditorium, NIAS, IISc Campus

About the Artists:

Vidwan Shankar studied initially with his mother Smt Rajamma Sastry and later with Smt Nagarathna Bai and Smt Vallabham Kalyana Sundaram. He has performed all over the country and abroad for more than three decades and has participated in several music festivals, including the Workshop conducted by the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in London and the Dasara festival in Mysore Palace. He also performs Jugal Bandi concerts with Hindustani vocalists. He has produced a number of cassettes and CDs. He is an A grade artist of All India Radio and Doordarshan and has directed musical features and dramas for them. He has won several awards for his performances, including the titles Sangeeta Kala Prathibhamani, Gayana Kalavatamsa, Kala Bhushana, and Sangeetha Vidyanidhi,the Best Musician Award of the Bangalore Gayana Samaj, and the Best Young Musician Award of the Music Academy in Chennai. Vidwan Shankar works as a Senior Accountant.

Vidwan Sheshagiri Rao is a well known violinist of All India Radio and has won the title Kalajyoti. Vidwan Vasudeva and Vidwan Chakravarthi accompanying on the mridangam and ghatam are both veteran percussion artists.

31 October 2003
Speaker: Lakshmi Venkatachalam, India Coffee Board, Bangalore
Title: Coffee yatra: the world of Indian coffees

22 August 2003
Speaker: Professor Gilles Bibeau, University of Montreal, Canada
Topic: What kind of humanism in the post-genomic era?
Abstract:
New developments in the filed of biotechnology are shaping a grand narrative around the ability of human-kind to correct mistakes in DNA, reprogramme life, improve plants and living animals and upgrade consciousness in human beings. It is feared that world  is entering a new era, which would lead to the eclipsing of the human dimension, by  the technological. The talk will argue that humanism however is not dead but in fact more alive than ever, and that wisdom cannot be cloned or manufactured.
About the speaker:
Professor Bibeau, at the Department of Anthropology, University of Montreal, earlier studied African medicine and religions. His major research interests have been ethnographic studies of mental health problems, the culture of drug addicts, adaptation process amongst immigrants and the universe of young people. He is also involved in international comparative study of mental health problems, and in exploring the relationship between biotechnologies and anthropology. He has authored Quebec Transgenic, Market and Nation. Professor Bibeau is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, won a national award for the best book in social sciences and the Medal Pierre Chauveau for exceptional achievements in social sciences.

28 July 2003
Speaker: Prof M S Raghunathan, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Mumbai
Title:  The Indian mathematical scene in the 20th century: A personal account
Abstract:
This talk is about some mathematicians who contributed significantly to  the development of mathematics in India in the twentieth century. There will be very little about their mathematics: it is rather an attempt at offering some glimpses of these personalities and their times.

27 June 2003
A Staged Reading of Bertolt Brecht's Play GALILEO

29 May 2003
Speaker: Mr Jayakar Jerome, IAS,Commissioner, Bangalore Development Authority
Title: Turn-around of an urban development body

2 May 2002
Speaker: Dr Vijay L Kelkar, Advisor to the Union Minister of Finance & Company Affairs
Title: Strategic Challenges for the Indian Economy
Dr Kelkar obtained his doctoral degree from the University of California at Berkeley after post-graduate studies in the University of Minnesota. During 1998-99 he was Finance Secretary of the Government of India, and has during his career been associated with the Union Ministries of Petroleum & Natural Gas and of Commerce and with the Planning Commission. During 1999-2002 he was the Executive Director for India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Bhutan at the International Monetary Fund, and has served on UNCTAD in Geneva during 1981-82 and 1991-94. He has spoken extensively on matters connected with the Indian economy at various universities across the world. He has in recent years written several influential papers, on such subjects as India's reforms agenda, the economic outlook for South Asia, and transforming India's oil industry.

17 January 2003
THE THIRD M N SRINIVAS MEMORIAL LECTURE
Sponsored by the Syndicate Bank
Title: Does technology re-invent a purpose in civilization?: Teleology from Bergson to William Halal
Speaker: Mr Justice M N Venkatachaliah
About the speaker:
Honourable Justice M.N.Venkatachaliah, born on 24 October1929 and educated in Bangalore (Government Law College), started practising as an advocate in 1952. He was appointed a Judge in the High Court of Karnataka in 1975, and a Judge of the Supreme Court in 1987. In February 1993 he became the 25th Chief Justice of India, and served in this capacity till October 1994. He was a member of the bench in 465 reported judgements of the Supreme Court. He also served as the Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission and of the National Commission for review of the working of the Constitution.

20 December 2002
Speaker: Dr Sugata MITRA, National Institute of Information Technology, New Delhi             
Title:   Computer-based Self Learning
Abstract:
Development in the 21st century will be determined to a large extent by the thought, action and imagination of young people. This in turn is shaped by the education system. The talk will examine the current systems of education and analyse why they are often perceived as irrelevant. A new structure for determining what should be taught and in what order is proposed. The results of several experiments conducted in the area of self-instruction will be described. Based on observations from these experiments as well as from constructivist theory, an approach named Minimally Invasive Education is proposed and the process will be discussed. The analogy and role of self-organising systems in future education will be mentioned.
About the Speaker:
Dr Mitra studied physics at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and served the Institute,United Database (India) Limited and United India Periodicals Private Limited, before joining the National Institute of Information Technology where he now heads the R&D Centre. He has authored several technical articles.

10 December 2002
Title: Copenhagen
Michael Frayn's critically acclaimed play with
Gerard Bayle as Neils Bohr
Gopal Krishnamurthy as Werner Heisenberg
Isabell Brand as Margarethe Bohr
The play is an explosive re-imagining of the mysterious wartime meeting between two Nobel laureates to discuss the atomic bomb. In 1941 the German physicist Werner Heisenberg made a clandestine trip to Copenhagen to see his Danish counterpart and friend Neils Bohr. Their work together on quantum mechanics and the Uncertainty Principle had revolutionized physics. But now the world had changed and the two men were on opposite sides in a world war. Why Heisenberg went to Copenhagen and what he wanted to say to Bohr are questions that have vexed historians ever since. In Michael Fray's ambitious, fiercely intelligent and daring play, Heisenberg and Bohr meet once again to discuss the intricacies of physics and to ponder the metaphysical - the essence of human motivation.

3 October 2002
Speaker: Prof Hilary W Putnam Harvard University
Title: Ethics Without Metaphysics
Since the time of Plato, philosophers have sought for an objective foundation for ethics, or failing to find one, have sought to debunk the very idea of an objective ethics. This lecture describes the controversy and defends the view that the objectivity of ethical judgement needs no foundation external to ethical life itself.
Prof Putnam, Cogan Professor at Harvard University, was educated at the universities of Pennsylvania and California. He has taught mathematics and philosophy at the Northwestern University, Princeton, MIT and Harvard University. He has written several books including (i) Philosophy of  Logic, (ii) Mathematics, Matter and Method, (iii) Realism and Reason, (iv) Representation and Reality.

23 August, 2002
Speaker: Prof D P Sen Gupta, IISc
Title: Electric power situation in Karnataka: Its past, present and future       
Karnataka has been passing through a grave power crisis which is afflicting its industry, commerce and agriculture, and the daily lives of its people. Strangely, Karnataka was once upon a time the leader in power production in India: it has progressively slid back. Poor management, government interference, technical inadequacies and misleading policy proposals have all combined to precipitate the present situation. Privatization is now being heralded as the panacea to all these problems. The lecture traces the history of the power sector spanning a hundred years, highlighting the major pitfalls, and offers the speaker's perceptions on what lies ahead and how the present situation may be improved and a worse crisis in the future averted.

28 June 2002
Title: Panel Discussion on Human Cloning Its Scientific, Philosophical and Policy Aspects
Panelists
Prof R L Kapur (Chairman)
Dr Anindya Sinha
Dr Sundar Sarukkai
Prof Dilip Ahuja
The objective of this presentation is to initiate debate and discussion on various aspects of human cloning. Each panelist will speak for 15 minutes after which the session will be open for wide ranging discussion from the floor. 

24 June 2002
In the matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer
Play by Heinar Kipphardt,
Translated by Ruth Speirs
Read by
Mr Shankar Melkote and The Little Theatre Group, Hyderabad and NIAS Faculty
The play is based on the findings and recommendations of the U.S. Personnel Security Board, and the decisions and opinions of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, 'in the matter of Dr J. Robert Oppenheimer'.
The Little Theatre, Hyderabad, is over five years old. It is an amateur Reading Group that has brought over 60 short stories, book excerpts, playlets, essays and poems to life in a no-set-no-fuss atmosphere using the story telling genre to create maximum audiovisual impact. Its members come from all walks of life.

24 May 2002
Speaker: Prof G Mohan Gopal, Director, National Law School of India University, Bangalore
Title: Reform of the Indian Legal System: Search for a New Conceptual Foundation
Dr Gopal was educated at Harvard Law School and at Delhi University. He has served in the Legal Department of the World Bank in Washington DC and the Asian Development Bank in Manila; he has been an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Centre and has also taught at the National University of Singapore. Dr Gopal has written several papers on law and development.

12 February 2002
Speaker: John Marr,Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, London
Title: Thinking wood, carving stone
This lecture examined how the earliest extant sculpture documents elements of wood and timber prototypes that have since vanished in India, diachronically beginning with the Barabar caves to later developments such as the architecture of the Chalukyas of Karnataka and the temples of Kashmir
John Marr is currently Honorary Secretary at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, London, and Convenor, South Asia Arts Diploma Course at the British Museum. He has taught at the School of Oriental and African Studies.  

17 January   2002
Speaker: Mr. Mahesh Dattani, Mahesh's Studio, Bangalore
Title: From Life to Page; From Page to Stage
Mr. Dattani is a playwright, stage director and screen writer. He started his theatre company Playpen in 1984. His published works include Final Solutions and Other Plays, Tara and the recently published Collected Works from Penguin India. Mr. Dattani has received the Central Sahitya Akademi Award in 1998. His plays are produced all over the country and abroad.

16 January 2002
Speaker: General S S Rodriguez, Former Chief of the Army Staff, Goa
Title: Managing Diversity in the Indian Defence Services

14 January 2002 
Speaker: Prof. Senake Bandaranayake, Sri  Lankan High Commissioner, New Delhi
Title: Pre-modern urbanization in Asia

9 January 2002 
Speaker: Raja Ramanna, Member of Parliament
Title: Parliamentary democracy

7 January 2002
Speaker: Kota Harinarayana, Distinguished Scientist, Aeronautical Development Agency, Bangalore
Title: Lessons from the LCA Programme
21 December 2001
Micheal Fryan's
Critically acclaimed play organised by the National Institute of Advanced Studies
in Association with
the IISc Literature Circle

"Copenhagen"
With
Gerard Bayle as Neils Bohr
Gopal Krishnamurthy as Werner Heisenberg
And
Merran Poplar as Margarethe Bohr  

7 December 2001
Hindustani Classical Music Recital on Rudra Veena By Ustad Bahauddin Dagar
Ustad B Dagar born in the Dagar family of Dhrupad singers studied rudra veena from a very young age with his father late Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar. He now studies with his uncle, Ustad Fariddudin Dagar. Ustad Dagar has performed all over the country and over television and is known for playing rare and different ragas. 

3 December 2001
The Second M N Srinivas Memorial
Speaker: Kenneth Keniston, Andrew W Mellon Professor of Human Development

Programme in Science, Technology and Society, MIT, USA
Title: IT for the common man: Lessons from India

Prof Kenneth Keniston studied at Harvard College and at Oxford University. He has taught at Harvard and Yale Universities and headed the Programme in Science, Technology and Society at MIT. He now directs the MIT-India Programme. He currently also holds the position of Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee Visiting Professor at NIAS.

28 September 2001
Cello and Sitar Recital
by
Ms Saskia de Haas and Mr Subhendra Rao
Ms Haas, a pupil of cello maestro Tibor de Machula, was educated in the Netherlands and studied Hindustani music with Dr Sumati Mutatkar and  Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia in India. She made her debut recently in  Delhi to high acclaim, as the first ever concert level cellist of   Hindustani classical music.
Mr Rao is a disciple of sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar and has accompanied his guru in several concerts. Mr Rao has also given several  solo concerts in major festivals in India and abroad. He is currently an  artiste with All India Radio and has produced albums released by Music   Today. 

10 August 2001
Speaker: Mr Praveen Paradeshi, I.A.S., Programme Manager, United Nations Development Programme, Bhuj 
Title: Learning from disasters - towards better preparedness

20 July 2001
Speaker: Dr Vasudha Narayanan, University of Florida
Title: Religion and Ritual - Complementary or Contradictory?

26 June 2001
Speaker: Prof B Ramamurthi, FRCS
Title: Consciousness - Elusive or Can one grasp it?

26 June 2001
Speaker: Ashreeta Suraj, Simone Joshi, Meenakshi Sundaram Centre for Performing Arts with
an introduction by Smt Leela Ramanatha

Title: Bharata-natyam Recital

2 March 2001

Speaker: Prof V K Gaur, Indian Institute of Astrophysics

Title: The Gujarat Earthquake and After

13 January  2001

Reading  from the novel "Small remedies" by
Shashi  Deshpande
Reading accompanied by 

Hindustani Classical Music arranged by

The Little Theatre
Hyderabad
Edited and Presented by
Shankar Melkote
Vocal Music: Nalini Kingi,Vinay Patankar, Pradeep Deo, Kalpana Palnitkar 
Accompaniments: 
(Harmonium) Gp Capt M V Naniwadekar (Retd.); (Tabla) Satish Kingi 
Sound: Brig Shashikant Deshpande (Retd.) 
Concept and Direction: Pramila Naniwadekar 
Narration: Air Vice Marshal Cecil Parker(Retd.),Sachi Madhavan, Vijay Marur, Jayashree Uppal, Leela Narayan, Ranjan Ranganathan, Sarala Mahidhara and Shankar Melkote This programme is an unusual combination of English prose and classical Hindustani music. The prose is taken from the most recent novel of Shashi Deshpande, the Sahitya Academy Award winning writer. At its first performance, a reviewer wrote for The Hindu that he has 'never before attended a more absorbing rendering of a literary work'. 

9 January 2001
M N Srinivas Memorial Lecture
Speaker: Dr. T N Madan
Institute of Economic Growth, New Delhi
Title: Religion in the contemporary world 

8 November 2000
Veena Recital by Sri. D. Balakrishna

27 October 2000
Speaker: Prof Evandro Agazzi

Title: Science and values

27 September 2000

Speaker: T P Issar, Former Chief Secretary,Government of Karnataka

Title: Conserving heritage

20 July 2000
Speaker: Ambassador John ASHE from Antigua and Barbuda
Title: The Biosafety Protocol

23 May  2000
Speaker: John P Holdren, Harvard University, USA
Title: The energy-environment-development challenge

 

31 March 2000

Speaker: K S Valdiya

Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research,Bangalore

 Title: The Saraswati that vanished

 

28 January 2000
Speaker: Ambassador Dennis Kux,
The Middle East Institute Washington DC 
Title: Indo-US Relations at the Millennium

 

17 December 1999
On Professor M N Srinivas: In memoriam  - This meeting was   was organised as a tribute to the memory of Prof M N Srinivas by   the faculty and associates of NIAS and from his  close  friends and collaborators elsewhere.

26 November 99 
Speaker: Vivek R Sinha
Title: Wildlife through Lens

7 October 99 
Speaker: M N Srinivas
Title: An obituary on caste as a system

6 October 99 
Bharathnatyam Recital by Subhashini V Rajagopal

27 August 99
Speakers: Balachandra Rao
National College, Bangalore
and
R K Kochhar
National Institute of Science, Technology
and Development Studies, New Delhi
Title: The 15th Century of the Aryabhatiya

30 July 99 
Sarasa: a concert of baroque music
 Violin: Brian Brooks
 Recorder: Rebecca Prosser
 Cello: Timothy Merton
 Harpsichord:   Maggie Cole

11 June 99 
Speaker:   S Settar,  Chairman, Indian Council of Historical Research,  New Delhi
Title:  Institution of devadasis in historical perspective

25 May 99
Speaker: J L Bona,  Department of Mathematics,  University of Texas, USA
Title: Interaction of solitary waves

19 May 99 
 Panel discussion on nuclear arms and security
 John Holdren, Kumar Patel, Lee Butler,
Raja Ramanna, Arundhati Ghose, Satish Nambiar
 Members of CISAC-NIAS Dialogue on  "International Security"

3 May 99
Speaker:  G Suryan, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
Title: Physics of the time phenomenon: foundations  of physics

16 April 99 
A tribute to A K Ramanujan: an exhibition of drawings
by S G Vasudevand a reading of his poetry byArundhati Rao

24 March 99
Speaker:  Dr Mike Hulme, University of East Anglia, Norwich, U.K.
Title: The threat of future climate change

16 February 99
Speaker: Prof Robert Halleux
Secretary-General International Union of History and Philosophy of  Science, Liege, Belgium
Title: Early history of experimental method

13 February 99
Speaker: Dr Shakuntala Narasimhan, Bangalore
Title:  Vocal concert: Kritis of women composers

12 January  99
Speaker: Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw
Title: Leadership: Discipline and Character