Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute
Shastri News - August 2009
Updates from the Shastri Institute
1. Application details have now been posted for our Canadian Studies Fellowships. Submission deadlines will be October 1, 2009
2. The Shastri Institute 2008-2009 Annual Report is now available to be downloaded both in English and in French.
3. Thanks to the keen research of our summer intern, Priyanka Karuvelil, we have been able to document many funding opportunities currently being offered in Canada for both Canadian and Indian students. The list is now available on our website and can be accessed here.
4. Priyanka has also collected a list of useful links for Canadians traveling to India. You can view them here.
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Great potential for collaboration in agriculture
Among those who follow the relationship between Canada and India, 2009 may be remembered as the year of the farmer. Agricultural linkages between Canada and India are growing strong with formal relationships being established by both government bodies and private businesses. Trade in this sector continues to increase and both Canada and India are investing in research to improve agricultural practices. There is immense potential for further collaboration between academics in this field of study, especially as the Canadian Faculties of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine (CFAVM) decide collectively to turn their attention to India for the next two years.
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Manitoba mission to India focuses on food
Earlier this month, the province of Manitoba sent a business delegation to India to meet with federal and provincial governments, chambers of commerce and Indian businesspeople. Much of their discussions revolved around agriculture. Manitoba, a prairie province, has a lot of expertise in the food processing industry yet its current interactions with India have been relatively low. The delegation’s goal was to identify possibilities for joint ventures between Canadian and Indian businesses. Such business ventures will likely coincide with increased academic engagements. Joining the Canadian delegates was Dr. Digvir Jayas, Vice-President (Research) at the University of Manitoba, and an alumnus of the G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology in Pantnagar, India.
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Dual degree programme brings Indian horticultural students to Canada
A recent Memorandum of Understanding between the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) and the Nova Scotia Agricultural College (NSAC) has laid the foundation for a new dual degree programme that will allow Indian students the chance to study environmental horticulture in Canada. According to Brian Crouse, manager of student recruitment and awards at NSAC, students will have to complete five semesters at TNAU and then three semesters at NSAC in order to obtain certificates from both universities.
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A new way of thinking about English in India
One of the greatest assets to India-Canada academic collaboration is the general ability to communicate in a common language – English. However, the place of the English language in India is still a heavily debated topic due to its roots in British colonization. Was English imposed on India by the British? If so, why is it so widely accepted nearly 60 years after independence? Dr. Alok Mukherjee tackles these questions and many more in his new book, This Gift of English: English Education and the Formation of Alternative Hegemonies in India.
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Shastri scholar selected to evaluate project proposals for $2.5 million programme commemorating Komagata Maru incident
Citizenship and Immigration Canada has announced the appointment of three prominent members of the Indo-Canadian community to serve on an advisory committee for the Community Historical Recognition Programme (CHRP). This programme, initiated in 2008, allocates funds to community-based commemorative and educational projects that recognize the impact of historical immigration restrictions and wartime measures on various minority groups in Canada. Through CHRP, the Indo-Canadian community will receive $2.5 million to support projects related to the Komagata Maru incident of 1914.
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Many events taking place in September
The month of September is busy with cultural and academic events for Indians and Canadians to partake in. Here is a glimpse of what our calender holds:
September 5
September 9-10
September 17
- Synergy ‘09 Education Conference (Toronto)
September 20-22
October 2
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Canadian High Commissioner visits IIT Bombay
On July 30, 2009, the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay hosted Canadian High Commissioner Joseph Caron. The purpose of the High Commissioner’s visit was to discuss IIT Bombay’s current and future collaborations with Canadian universities. Since 2006, IIT Bombay has been building momentum in its efforts to engage Canada and is looking to increase the scope of its international collaborations.
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New Publications
A critical edition of Sangitanarayana by Purusottama Misra (2 Vols.)
by Mandakranta Bose / Purusottama Misra
Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) © 2009
New Delhi
Sangitanarayana is a Sanskrit text on music and dance written in the 17th century by purusottama Misra, a minister at the court of Kind Gajapati Narayanadeva of Parlakimidi in Orissa and his instructor in musicology, with the assistance of the kind. While the precise date of the Sangitanarayana is not known, its relationship to Purusottama Misra and Gajapati Narayanadeva prompts us to place it in the first half of the 17th century.
Mandakranta Bose is Professor Emerita at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. She is also Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and the Royal Society of Canada. Dr. Bose is a Sanskritist with active research interests in the classical performing arts and religions of India, the Ramayana, and gender studies.
Urban Transport Policy as if People and the Environment Mattered: Pedestrian Accessibility the First Step
Economic & Political Weekly – August 15, 2009 vol xliv no 33
Editorial on pedestrian accessibility in Indian cities
by Madhav Badami, Professor, School of Urban Planning, McGill University
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In Ancient Footsteps
For Dali Basu, there was never really any doubt about what she would be when she grew up. Continue...
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