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Future activities: |
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"Howzaat & Vivarta"
by Sampradaya Dance Creations at Chowdaiah Memorial Hall
in the evening on 27th December, 2008. - An Airtel-Manthan
Arts & Culture Series Programme |
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Talk on "Foreign Aids - Blessing or
Curse?" by Prof. K P Chandrashekar, TERI, on Friday,
9th January, 2009 at 6 pm |
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Screening of film "No Country for
young girls" by Nupur Basu on Saturday, 31st January,
2009 at 6 pm |
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"Stree Katha" by Mythili Prakash
at Chowdaiah hall on 14th March, 2009 - An Airtel-Manthan
Arts & Culture Series programme |
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Recent Completed Activities : |
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Discussions
on Union Budget |
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Discussions
on “Disaster Management” |
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Lecture-cum-Demonstration
on various dance forms of India – their differences
and similarities – by Mrs.Prathibha Prahlad,
famous dancer of India |
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Screening of “The Most Amazing Moments”
by NGC |
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Screening of “The Gospel of Judas”
by NGC |
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Screening of “Unlocking Da Vinci
Code” by NGC |
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Interactive
session on China's approach to Economic Reforms and its
unfinished Economic Reforms Agenda |
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Interactive
session on “Democracy and Pluralism in India”
by Dr. Ramachandra Guha. |
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Discussion
on “Oil Price Rise and its impact on the Poor” |
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Interaction
with Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar, Union Minister for Panchayati
Raj, Youth Affairs & Sports |
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Screening
of film "Bin Laden's Spy in America" by NGC |
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Screening
of a National Geographic film "INSIDE : ROLLING STONES
IN RIO" |
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Lecture
on "ENHANCING INDIA'S CONSTRUCTIVE INFLUENCE IN THE
INTERNATIONAL ARENA" by Prof. James Manor (UK) |
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Discussions on the "Union Budget-2007 and Karnataka
Budget-2007" |
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Screening
of NGC Film "Munich Olympic Massacre" in May,
2007 |
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Talk
on "CLIMATE CHANGE AND GLOBAL WARMING" by Dr.
R K Pachauri, in May, 2007 |
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Screening
of film "Fun@Sun : Making of a Global Workplace"
in June, 2007 |
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Screening of film "An Inconvenient Truth : A Global
Warning" in June, 2007 |
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Talk
on "Indo-US Civil Nuclear Co-operation Agreement"
in June, 2007 |
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"German Classical Music Evening" in June, 2007 |
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Celebration of "Kannada Journalism Day" in July, 2007 |
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A Function to present a set of Gandhian books to BIC Library
and screening of a film "Freedom in our Lifetime" in July,
2007 |
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Screening of film "The Curse of Talakadu" in July, 2007 |
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Screening
of Japanese Film "The Sea is Watching" in July,
2007 |
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Screening
of Iranian Film "At Five in the Afternoon" in
July, 2007 |
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Screening of two films - "Road to America" (documentary)
and "Chances Are" (Fiction) in August, 2007 |
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A Programme - Meet the Author - Shrabani Basu - The Author
of the book "Spy Princess" in August, 2007 |
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Talk
by Shri N Gopalaswami, Chief Election Commissioner on
"Conducting Elections - Experiences in the UP and
recent Elections " in August, 2007 |
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Lecture
Demonstration by Dr. T S Sathyavathi on "The niceties
and nuances of Karnataka Classical Music" in September,
2007 |
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Interactive
Session by Prof. James Mayall and Prof. Philip Towle on
"World Order: Problems and Prospects for the 21st
Century" in September, 2007 |
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Interactive
Session by Mr. Champak Chatterjee, Secretary, Dept. of
School Education and Literacy, Ministry of HRD, Govt.
of India on "New Perspectives on Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan"
in October, 2007 |
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Talk
by Mr. Arun Pai On "History and Heritage of Bangalore"
in October, 2007 |
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A
presentation by Mr. Ravi Kumar Kashi on "Generation
of Meaning in Visual Art - Various Approaches" in
Octobr, 2007 |
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A
Dance Performance by Mrs. Prathibha Prahlad, the well-known
dancer on "Classical Dance Performance" in October,
2007 |
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A
Nostalgic Musical Evening by Dr. Sohail Hasan, who was
presented old Hindi Film Songs in October, 2007 |
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Celebration
of Kannada Rajyotsava with an interactive session on "KANNADA
RAJYOTHSAVA - A FEW THOUGHTS" led by Dr. Vinod Vyasulu,
in November, 2007 |
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Presentation
by Mr. Amitab Sengupta, Artist from Kolkata, in November,
2007. |
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Talk
by Mr. K B Jinan, well-known Designer on "Initiating
Collaboration between the Community and the Artisans" |
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Screening
of film "Footsteps of Nikitin" by Mr. Phalguni
Matilal |
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Screening
of a documentary Film "Pane Amaro (Bitter Bread)"
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Talk
by Mr. Jon Halliday and Mrs. Jung Chang, Chinese Scholars. |
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Screening
of film "Madame Butterfly" |
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Talk
by Dr. Marti
G Subrahmanyam and
Prof. Marc Luychx Ghisi |
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Talk
by Mr. Reinhard Hans Butikofer |
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A
Solo performance by Mr. Parnab Mukherjee |
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Talk
by Prof. P K Michael Tharakan, Shri Ramakrishna Hegde
Chair in Decentralisation and Governance, ISEC |
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Discussions
on Union Budget 2008-09 |
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Talk
by Prof. Madav Badami on "Urban Transport in India:
Beyond the Nano and Metro... and back to the Basics" |
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Sabras
by Smt. Sonal Mansingh on 22nd March, 2008 |
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Talk
by Mr. V Balu on "Land Encroachments in Bangalore
UrbanDisrict" |
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Talk
by Mrs. Achala Moulik on "Pushkin, the father of
modern Russian Literature. by Smt. Sonal Mansingh
on 22nd March, 2008 |
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Talk
by Mr. V Balu on "Land Encroachments in Bangalore
UrbanDisrict" |
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Talk
by Mrs. Achala Moulik on "Pushkin, the father of
modern Russian Literature. |
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Launch
of Prof. Kishore Mahbubani's new book viz., 'THE NEW ASIAN
HEMISPHERE : THE IRRESISTABLE SHIFT OF GLOBAL POWER TO
THE EAST" |
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Discussions
on "Should the HAL Airport be kept Open?" |
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Book
Launch by Ms. Jasleen Dhamija |
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Talk
by Mr. TCA Srinivasa Raghavan, Columnist, Business Standard,
held on "The Sixth Pay Commission : Incentivising
the Civil Service" |
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Talk
by Prof. M D Usha Devi, ISEC on "Marginalised Children
in Primary Education - Current Challenges for Schools
and Teachers" |
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Screening
of film "The Advocate" directed by Ms. Deepa
Dhanraj |
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Talk
by Dr. Annapurna Garimella on "Urbanization in Tourism's
Own Landscape"
An Airtel-Manthan Arts & Culture Series Programme |
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Talk
by Ms. Urmila Devi on "Reminiscences of Mysore Palace".
An Airtel-Manthan Arts & Culture Series Programme |
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Talk
by Mr. Arvind Panagariya on his recent book "INDIA
: THE EMERGING GIANT" |
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Talk
by Dr. Lata Mani on "BANGALORE JOURNEY: LOCAL AND
TRANSLOCAL REFLECTIONS ON
GLOBALISATION |
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Illustrated
talk by Mr. Balan Nambiar, on 'BHUTA MASK - MYTH, SPIRIT,
RITUAL" An Airtl-Manthan Arts and Culture Series
Programme. |
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Talk
by Dr. Griffin M Thompson, on "RELIABILITY AND AFFORDABILITY
OF
ENERGY SERVICES REQUIRED FOR A DEVELOPING ECONOMY VIS-A-VIS
THE RISKS ANDIMPACTS OF OVER-DEPENDENCE ON OIL, GLOBAL
CLIMATE CHANGE AND OTHERENVIRONMENTAL LIABILITIES" |
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Illustrated
Talk on "THE INTERREGNUM IN MYSORE'S HISTORY - HAIDAR
ALI AND TIPU SULTAN" by Mr. Vikram Sampath on Saturday,
the 13th September, 2008 at 6 P.M. An Airtel Manthan Arts
and Culture Series Programme. |
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Screening
of classic Shakespeare film "The Merchant of Venice"
on Friday the 29th August, 2008 at 6 p.m. |
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Talk
on "Nano Technology : Hype or Hope"? by Prof.
Mohan Sundara Rajan, an Eminent Science Communicator and
Author on Tuesday, 23rd Sept. 2008 at 6.30 pm. |
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Talk
on "An Aesthetics of Erasures" by Sadanand Menon
on 31st October, 2008 |
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Progrmme
by Mr. Sikkil Gurucharan (Intoxicated Eyes) at Chowdaiah
Memorial Hall in the evening on 11th October, 2008.
An Airtel-Manthan Arts & Culture Series Programme |
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Appreciation
of Hindustani Classical Music" by Mr. Ravindra Katoti
on Friday, the 7th November, 6 PM. An Airtel Manthan Arts
and Culture Series Programme. |
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Talk
by Roger Martin on 12th November, 2008 |
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Talk
by Gen Sood on "Leadership in the Indian Army : The
Legacy of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw" on 15th November,
2008 |
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Anniversary
functions of Bangalore International Centre on 22nd November,
2008 |
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Launch
of "Imagining India Discussion Series" on 12th
December, 2008 - Lead Speaker Mr. Nandan Nilekani |
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Interactive
Discussion on "Wikipedia and free culture by Jimmy
Wales, founder of Wikipedia on 13th December, 2008 at
6 pm |
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Lecture by Mr. Aditya
Sondhi a Lawyer on "Reservations for OBCs in higher education
- Constitutional Issues and perspectives" in April, 2007 |
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An interactive session on the
Constitutional Issues and and perspectives of Reservations
for OBCs in Higher Education was organized on 20th April,
2007 at Bangalore International Centre. The lead speaker
was Mr. Aditya Sondhi, a brilliant young advocate who
practices in Karnataka High Court and Supreme Court.
The Director of BIC introduced Mr. Sondhi to the select
audience which had gathered to listen to him.
In an incisive and thought-provoking speech, Mr. Sondhi
drew attention to the fact that the Reservation for OBCs
has assumed emotional overtones, leading to both protagonists
and antagonists taking extreme stances. As a result there
are often misunderstandings about the real issues involved.
For instance, neither the Supreme Court, nor the Constitutional
provisions indicate that Reservations per se are either
undesirable or unwarranted. Admittedly Article 16 of the
Constitution talks of reservation for SC/ST in employment/promotion,
but does not talk of OBCs. However, 93rd Amendment to
the Constitution provides for the power to reserve seats
for “socially and educationally backward classes”.
The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission)
Act, 2006, which now provides for 27% reservation in favour
of OBCs, in addition to 15% for SCs and 7.5% for STs,
is in furtherance to the objectives of the 93rd Amendment.
Apart from that, reservation as a tool for upliftment
of those who are deprived and depressed is well within
the mandate and objective of our socialist and welfare
state, as stipulated in our Constitution. It is therefore
wrong to assume that the Supreme Court, in granting a
stay to the immediate operationalisation of the Central
Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act,
2006 has raised any, constitutional issue. What the Supreme
Court has really asked the Government to clarify is the
basis for identification of OBCs and the manner of ensuring
that the benefits of reservation flow only to those who
really belong to the deprived and depressed class. The
concept of “Creamy Layer”, which was evolved
by the Supreme Court while delivering its judgement in
Indira Sawhney’s case (The Mandal Judgement, as
it is popularly known), assumes relevance in this context.
There is no scope for any debate on the stance taken by
the protagonists of reservations that it is a constitutional
mandate to constantly strive for the elimination of inequalities
and to provide for equal opportunities and accessibility
to all the sections of the population. It is also by and
large true that reservations for OBCs in seats of higher
education are unlikely to lead to any substantial impact
on either standard or merit as the cut-off for the OBCs
is still substantially high. However, the issue of laying
down the guidelines or criteria as to who in fact are
the OBCs, can not be brushed aside. The date of 1931 census
which has been taken as the basis by the Government may
neither be relevant, nor accurate. There is vast difference
between India of 1931 and India of 2007. For one thing,
two independent and sovereign nations – Pakistan
and Bangladesh – have emerged since those days along
with substantial shifts and changes in both the class
and composition of the population, as it is available
from the 1931 census data. There has also been considerable
changes in the social and economic status of several classes
in the population since 1931, even within areas undisturbed
by the formation of Pakistan and Bangladesh. It would
therefore appear to be prudent to do a caste-based census
of the present population, as has been suggested by Mr.
V P Singh, former Prime Minister, so that only those who
are really deprived and depressed can get the benefits
of reservation. Shri Sondhi had no doubts in his mind
that a caste-based census, if undertaken, would show that
the socially and educationally backward classes require
reservations at a level much higher than 27%. However,
in view of the Supreme Court directive that reservations
of all categories taken together can not exceed 50%, possibly
the level for OBCs would have to be kept pegged at 27%
or close to that. The relevant question is not whether
there should be reservation for OBCs, but how exactly
the beneficiaries would be categorized and identified
so that only those who are socially and educationally
marginalized get the advantage. In other words, protection
should not be wasted on those who do not require such
protection. Another extremely relevant point stressed
by Mr. Sondhi was that reservations, by themselves, can
not be considered as an end. It would be necessary to
look at the whole issue from the supply side so that quality
education is made available and accessible to all, irrespective
of class, caste, religion or economic conditions right
from the primary level and make the whole question of
reservations redundant. Since such an approach can not
be taken up in a lackadaisical and laid back manner, the
Government would have to take up a massive national programme,
to be completed within a specified time-frame and have
reservations confined to that time-frame instead of for
an indefinite period.
In the lively interchanges that followed, there was a
general endorsement to the approach of Mr. Sondhi and
an appreciation that the issue needed to be handled with
sensitivity and understanding. It was indeed an evening
when several cobwebs and misunderstanding were cleared.
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