OCTOBER 2017

NIAS EVENTS AND ACTIVITES

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED STUDIES INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE CAMPUS, -12

NIAS was conceived and founded in 1988 by the late Mr. J. R. D. Tata, who sought to create an institution to conduct advanced multidisciplinary research. Housed in a picturesque green campus in Bangalore the Institute serves as a forum to bring together individuals from diverse intellectual backgrounds. The objective is to nurture a broad base of scholars, managers and leaders who would respond to the complex challenges that face contemporary and global society, with insight, sensitivity, confidence and dedication. 2 EVENTS

ROUND GLASS SAMSARA FESTIVAL 2-11 OCTOBER 2017 Coordinators: Prof Anitha Kurup and Dr Rajani MB 01

RoundGlass Samsara Festival 2017’ organised in association with National Institute EVENTS of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru held during 2-11th October 2017, Bengaluru. It is a global heralding of Conscious Action through Art, Appreciation and Dialogue, spear- headed by Grammy® Winner & well known Conservationist Ricky Kej, successfully concluded the 10 days long festival on Environment and Conservation. This large scale International Environmental Festival having thousands of audience had series of events including Environmental Art Exhibitions, Film Festivals, Music Concert and 02 Summits. All with the theme of Environment & Conservation, which were attended by Thought Leaders, Scientists, Legislators, Intelligentsia, Law-makers, Artists, Media CONFERENCE, & many more from different walks of life from around the world. WORKSHOPS AND MEETINGS

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NIAS PUBLIC PROGRAMMES

Mr. Anote Tong (Former 3 Term President, Republic of ), addressing the public at Round Glass 04 Samsara Summit, Vidhana Soudha, Bengaluru on 07 October 2017 04

International Film Festival: NIAS OUTREACH

‘RoundGlass Samsara Festival 2017’ opened at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS at IISc campus) on the auspicious day of Gandhi Jayanti on October 2nd with an insightful walk through wilderness with an array of environmental films. The Festival, launched by Grammy® Winner Ricky Kej, was attended by numerous dignitaries, including award winning Swedish filmmaker Mr. Frederic Ollerstam, also 05 a jury member for the festival; and Grammy-Nominee, Lonnie Park from USA.

A total of 90 films from over 4000 entries from 105 countries were screened during NIAS NATURE this film festival. Each chosen film was carefully curated by an eminent panel of film CONNECT makers and has a theme of environment. While the chosen films are interesting, they were also entertaining and had the power to enter the consciousness of viewers. The film festival had a great response with more than 1500 people watching these environmentally conscious movies.

It also had an ‘Indian Premiere’ of the Film ‘Naledi – A Baby Elephants Tale’ by Ben Bowie & Geoffery Luck from USA . 03 EVENTS

International Art Exhibition:

The International Environmental Art Exhibition opened on October 3rd at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Bengaluru. The Chief Guest for the inauguration of the Art Exhibition was Mr.Sudhakar Rao, Chairman, NGMA Bengaluru and the Guests of Honor were Mr.Y.K.Muddukrishna, Former Director of & Culture Department & Winner of Santha Shishunala Sharief Award and Mr.Vikram Sampath, Author & Winner of Sahitya Academi Yuva Puraskar. The 2nd Art Exhibition inaugurated at UB city on 4th October witnessed an overwhelming response from around the world.

Eminent artists whose art works were displayed at the exhibition are Dhritiman Mukherjee, Dhimant Vyasand, Meital Rusdia etc. Their works boldly provoke thoughts of environmental consciousness and conservation; the message being the need of a drastic change to make this world a better place for us and our natural world. The exhibition was on till the 10th of October.

The art exhibition showcased created using diverse mediums including Photography, Painting, Digital Illustrations, Sculpture, Installations, Mixed Media and Virtual Reality. The Exhibition over 7days had a footfall of over 7000 people. 04

EVENTS

International Music Concert:

RoundGlass Samsara Festival presented a historic environmental music concert by Grammy® Winning Musician Ricky Kej at the magnificent venue of Vidhana Soudha as part of its curtain raiser to the 60th year celebrations. The concert had over 200 artists from around the world, including other Grammy® winners from USA, Ghana, Tibet and South Africa.

The concert witnessed spectacular and thought provoking performances by Darlene Koldenhoven (USA), Wouter Kellerman (South Africa), Monks of Sherbaling (Tibet), Rocky Dawuni (Ghana), Lonnie Park (USA), Hai Phuong (Veitnam) along with renowned Indian musicians B. Jayashree, M.D. Pallavi, Dr.Suma Sudhindra, Sumarani, Charanraj, Chaitra H G, Venugopal and many others.

Environmental Summits.

The festival concluded with two International Environmental Summits held at Vidhana Soudha and National Institute of Advanced Studies, (IISc campus) on Oct 7th & 8th respectively. The Summits touched upon topics such as , Man-Animal Conflict, Climate Change, empowering people, Conservation and associated misconceptions, SDGs etc.

Along with some thought-provoking, soul-stirring presentations and interactions, the Summits also saw musical performances and a meaningful awards ceremony honoring winners of the RoundGlass Samsara Film Festival, RoundGlass Samsara Photography Competition and RoundGlass Samsara Childrens Competitions.

The Festival also honored 2 unsung heroes of our Forest Department, the Forest Range Officers. 05

EVENTS

All the Festival events were attended by numerous dignitaries as speakers, participants and audience. The key speakers included Mr. Anote Tong (Former 3 Term President, Republic of Kiribati), Mr. Robert Swan(Adventurist, Guinness Record Holder), Mr. Kartick Satyanarayanan (Animal Rights Activist, Rescue Specialist), Mr. Jairam Ramesh (Former Union Minister), Mr. Vivek Menon (CEO, Wildlife Trust of India), Ms. Dia Mirza (Brand Ambassador - Wildlife Trust of India), Mr. Mordecai Ogada (Carnivore Ecologist, Kenya), A.S. Kiran Kumar (Chairman, ISRO), Ms. Meital Rusdia (Chief Field Office for UNICEF South India), Mr. Kalyan Akkipeddi (Founder of Proto Village- a Sustainable Village), Dr. Barbara Maas (Conservationist), Ms. Tashi and Ms. Nungshi Malik (Adventurists, Guinness record holders), Mr. Dhritiman Mukherjee (Nature/Wildlife Photographer) and Prof.Sundar Sarukkai (Professor of Philosophy at NIAS, Bangalore).

Ricky Kej said, “The RoundGlass Samsara Festival was founded to encourage high-level, inter-disciplinary dialogue between Legislators, Scientists, Filmmakers, Artists, Environmentalists, Innovators, Musicians, Thought Leaders, Industry Leaders, Media and other important change-makers in the society to find solutions for the ecological crises in the country and around the world and to promote Environmental Consciousness. Through this Festival of Art, Appreciation and Dialogue, we hope to not only create awareness of what we are doing but to also create a consciousness about our actions in this world and the impact it has on all our co-inhabitants.” 06

EVENTS

The closing statements by Prof. Baldev Raj, Director NIAS and Festival Adviser, stressed on the importance of going past caste, creed, gender, region and physical appearances to achieve sustainability. He said, “Sustainability can be achieved only from coming together and working towards it. All citizens have to be consciously involved otherwise the whole idea of sustainability is not met. The Samsara festival is like a lotus in a pool. The way a lotus multiplies in its ecosystem, this festival will similarly play the role in the journey of sustainability in the next 25 years of 'RoundGlass’ Phase 1.”

Carbon Auditing of RoundGlass Samsara Festival:

Smarter Dharma monitored every detail, right from the number of energy blubs used, the temperature of the air conditioning system, printing, air and land travel, food consumption etc in order to arrive at the cumulative carbon emission. Measures were taken at the outset to limit the footprint by using alternates, but what was not, will be offset through planting an equivalent number of trees or installing renewable energy resources or buying credits on solar installations etc among other such measures.

On a very rough calculation (as data is still being accumulated), the Festival will need to plant and take care of about 90 – 130 trees to offset its carbon emission and hence become the first ever event in India to become fully carbon neutral. 07

CONFERENCE, WORKSHOPS AND MEETINGS

AARAMBH 1: HINDUSTANI CLASSICAL MUSIC INITIATION WORKSHOP IN COLLABORATION WITH MS ADITI UPADHYA, WELL-KNOWN HINDUSTANI VOCALIST (OCTOBER 26 AND 27, 2017) Coordinator: Prof Sundar Sarukkai

The Aarambh series, a Svarit initiative in association with NIAS, is an earnest attempt to demystify the complexities of Hindustani Raag sangeet for audiences and students featuring Smt. Aditi Kaikini Upadhya, a well known Hindustani vocalist.

Through lucid explanation and live demonstration by expert artists in the field, the sessions unravel the key components of Hindustani music to make the abstract style more accessible. It intends to stimulate meaningful conversations on music that can enhance the listening experience and bridge the gap between the performer and the audience.

It is aimed to reach a wide audience spectrum, from audiences who want to enhance their basic listening skills, to those who would like more nuanced explanations about advanced topics. Both the evenings had an interactive lecture demonstration on Hindustani raag sangeet, it's elements. 08 CONFERENCE, WORKSHOPS AND MEETINGS

ROUNDTABLE ON SUSTAINING EXCELLENCE AND RELEVANCE IN AN ORGANISATION IN ASSOCIATION WITH NITI AAYOG (OCTOBER 25 AND 26, 2017) Coordinator: Dr. Anshuman Behera

A roundtable on “Sustaining Excellence and Relevance in an Organization” was jointly organised by National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) and NITI Aayog in NIAS on 25th and 26th October 2017. Several distinguished scientists, academicians and professionals were in attendance over the course of the discussions, and contributed substantially to an understanding as to how to address the concerns and issues raised, as to how to sustain excellence and relevance in organizations over time. Dr. Baldev Raj, Director, NIAS, welcomed the participants, and encouraged everyone to share their views and thoughts on the theme.

Dr. V.K Saraswat, member NITI Aayog, established the tenor for the discussions by harping upon the lacklustre efficiency of the scientific community in India. According to him, research in India is predominantly ‘incremental’ in nature, where the research effort emphasizes upon either improvising or developing upon pre-existing research instead of following an innovative approach right from the ideating stages. As a supplement to this, the success of an organization also depends upon its leadership. A strong leadership which represents certain core values nurtures an organization whereas a weak leadership can lead to its collapse.

The first session was chaired by Dr. V.K Saraswat. The panel comprised of Dr. Girish Sahni (Director General, CSIR, ) Dr. S.V. Ranganath (Fmr. Chief Secretary, Govt. of Karnataka), Prof. Anurag Kumar (Director, IISC, Bengaluru), Dr. P.S Goel (Raja Ramanna Chair Professor, NIAS), Mr. S.S Bajaj (Former Chairman, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, Mumbai), Mr. Venkatramanan (Larsen & Toubro, Mumbai), and Dr. Alex Thomas (President, AHPI, Bengaluru).

Highlighting on the mandate of CSIR Dr. Sahni flagged the progress CSIR had made with regard to the number of patents it had filed in India and abroad in recent years. Along with its strong value, the excellence in CSIR can also be attributed to the strong human resource development arrangement it adheres to, which incorporates strong sector and industry specific skill development, Dr. Sahni stressed.

Dr. S V Ranganath expressed that organizations of today they are slowed down often by the out-dated processes, procedures, and mind set they represent. The need to focus on the prevention of undesired outcomes through rigorous inspection from the very beginning was something he emphasized upon substantially. 09 CONFERENCE, WORKSHOPS AND MEETINGS

Prof. Anurag Kumar emphasised that ensuring the presence of a high quality of faculty members is of paramount importance for sustaining excellence in institutes. Start-up grants are also provided to motivate faculty members to conduct research on projects.

Dr. P S Goel stated that all organizations are created with a long-term vision, based upon certain core values According to him the quality of leadership is one of the prime determinants of the nature of the organization and its level of excellence.

Mr. S S Bajaj spoke about his experiences from having been associated with the nuclear power industry. He highlighted that the nuclear industry functions around a ‘Safety Culture’ where safety is accorded priority, and all processes and procedures are developed around this consideration.

Mr. Venkatramanan argued that for an organization to achieve excellence, emphasis has to be placed on the recruitment policies of the same. Leadership skills need to be nurtured, and the teams need to be given incentives in the form of bonuses for the profit they generate from their projects.

Dr. Thomas stated that AHPI regularly monitors the quality in its institutions. The teachers are regularly assessed, along with the functional and administrative mechanisms of its institutions. Excellence is ensured through engaging in socially responsible activities that spread awareness.

The second session of the roundtable discussions was chaired by Dr. S. Banerjee (Former Chairman, AEC & Secretary, DAE, Mumbai). The key speakers of this session were Prof. Indranil Manna (Director, IIT Kanpur), Prof. J.B Joshi (Fmr. Director, ICT, Mumbai), Dr. Gurmeet Singh (Global R & D Director, Unilever, Bengaluru), Prof. P. Radhakrishnan (Director, PSG Institute of Advanced Studies, Coimbatore), Mr. Ricky Kej (Grammy Award Winning Composer) and Dr. Mustansir Barma (Professor Emeritus, TIFR Centre for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Hyderabad). 10 CONFERENCE, WORKSHOPS AND MEETINGS

Dr. Banerjee introduced the session by speaking about the general competency in India with regards to industry and technology. He expressed that indigenous products and developments are not getting the importance that it deserves.

Prof. Manna expressed that excellence is relative and is not time independent. To attain sustainability, a continuous effort is warranted. Keeping society as the pivot, the factors of science, engineering and technology can be visualised as part of a perpetual triad.

Dr. J B Joshi expressed that sustainable excellence entails a creative ambience for ensuring the welfare of society, which encompasses performance in all aspects of life including arts, literature, sports, education, research, agriculture, industry, service sector and others. He contended that excellence is sustained only when the grassroots level of any organization are also directly engaged with the activity, and reaps the benefits of such a direct association.

Dr. Gurmeet Singh spoke about the importance of the factors of mission, vision, values that an organization utilises for attaining excellence. He stated that every organization needs to understand their three main phases of functioning: Input, Process, and Output. Each phase has certain parameters, which if adhered to and maintained can directly influence the success of an organization.

Prof. Radhakrishnan highlighted the performance excellence framework of a higher educational institution, stating that operations within an organization are influenced by a process of continuous strategic thinking and planning, which subsumes factors such as customer satisfaction, knowledge internalisation, quality and commitment of personnel, and the leadership which monitors the contributing factors.

Mr. Kej spoke about how it was his passion for music that led him to make a career out of it. He said that excellence can be achieved when one understands the surroundings and spaces they occupy and how people respond to the same. 11 CONFERENCE, WORKSHOPS AND MEETINGS

Dr. Barma spoke about TIFR’s constant endeavour to advance research by venturing into newer areas and focusing on people development. He emphasized on the importance of the interdisciplinary approach to understand problems and develop solutions from them.

The third session of the day was chaired by Dr. S. Ayappan(NABARD Chair Professor, NDRI Southern Regional Station). The other panellists for this session were Prof. Alok Dhawan (Director, CSIR-IITR, Lucknow), Dr. Baldev Raj (Director, NIAS), Dr. R.K. Tyagi (Fmr. Chairman, HAL & Pawan Hans Helicopter), Dr. Sanjay Chandra (Chief R & D and SS, Tata Steel, Jamshedpur), Dr. R.D. Raveendran (Chairman, Arvind Eye Hospital, Bengaluru), and Prof. S.S. Meenakshisundaram (Visiting Professor, NIAS, Bengaluru)

Dr. Ayappan stated the importance to assess the mechanisms of excellence that are present and operating in other nations. Internal mechanisms need to be supplemented with aptitude development procedures to comprehend, and keep up with national and international standards and levels of competition. He asserted the relevance of strong mentoring mechanisms which can contribute to the sustainability of excellence.

According to Prof. Dhawan, a system of feedback has a significant contribution in achieving excellence. Engaging directly with people and empowering them, enabling ecologically sustainable production and operation, equality, and ethics are important steps towards attaining excellence.

Dr. Baldev Raj addressed the relevance of autonomy in an organization. He stated that autonomy is to be provided alongside accountability. The integrity and values of a team determines its success. An organization needs to identify the gaps in performance and functioning through a mechanism of ‘gap mapping’.

Dr. Tyagi stated that what people do should be measurable. In science, the metrics of measuring achievement should be in the form of the number of patents filed. He emphasized upon the importance of peer review and the need for a strong industry-academia partnership for the success of an organization.

Dr. Chandra expressed the need for an environment that can accommodate the needs of research and development at level of industry. He insisted on the need to move out of incremental research. Collaboration with all stakeholders is important for the success of an organization.

Dr. Ravindran expressed the need to promote industry-wide best practises and benchmarks. The best practises developed by each organization needs to be shared so as to raise the standards of an industry. The problems from this sphere of activity need to be identified, and ownership of these problems needs to be taken in an effort to develop solutions to address the same. 12 CONFERENCE, WORKSHOPS AND MEETINGS

Prof. Meenakshisundaram focussed upon the relevance of sustainability and excellence. He expressed that an organization needs to improve its communication with line departments in the government. A success of an organization depends on how well it can involve people.

The second day of the roundtable saw discussions mostly centred on the theme of sustaining relevance and excellence across time. The panel discussion had as its primary discussants, Dr. Anil Kakodkar (Former Chairman, AEC, and Secretary, DAE, Mumbai) and Prof. Sandip Trivedi (Director, TIFR, Mumbai). Dr. V.K. Saraswat (NITI Aayog) and Dr. Baldev Raj (Director, NIAS) were also present at the session, as moderators.

Dr. Kakodkar delivered the first address of the session, where he pointed out the need to continuously reconfigure the Government’s position on what he identified as the four pillars of a competitive society – technology, institutions, infrastructure and incentives. According to him, excellence in organizations is of key relevance for the country. If well organized, then these institutions have the potential of maintaining a high standard of excellence for a long time. Therefore, the true test of excellence, as he mentioned, lies in whether an institution stays relevant over time.

Following Dr. Kakodkar’s address there was a brainstorming session in which both the participants and the speakers discussed important aspects of excellence and relevance of an organisation. At the concluding remark Dr. Baldev Raj harped upon the necessity of defining relevance with the utmost clarity, in accordance with changes in aspirations and capabilities over time. At last, Dr. Saraswat stated that mobility between different research avenues should be encouraged in an effort to breach certain research silos, thereby necessitating the need for much more intense and deeper interactions between every constitutive elements engaged in research as a process which is necessary in order to ensure the sustenance of relevance and excellence in an organization.

Participants of A roundtable on “Sustaining Excellence and Relevance in an Organization” was jointly organised by NIAS and NITI Aayog in NIAS on 25th and 26th October 2017 13 CONFERENCE, WORKSHOPS AND MEETINGS

THE NIAS–CSIR (NISTADS) COLLABORATIVE PROGRAMME HELD ON 26 OCTOBER 2017 A collaborative programme was officially initiated between NIAS and CSIR- National Institute of Science Technology and Development Studies (NISTADS), when Prof Baldev Raj, Director, NIAS and Dr. Prashant Goswami, Director, NISTADS signed an overarching Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two institutions on 26 October 2017.

Both NIAS and NISTADS have interest in promoting research, training and outreach in the areas of policy research. Based on discussions and deliberations, it has been found to be highly desirable to create a long-term, enabling and sustained institutional framework for collaboration between NIAS and NISTADS to harness complementarity. This MoU is createdto provide such an institutional framework for synergetic and collaborative platform between NIAS and CSIR-NISTADS. The major goal of this MoU is to create value-added policy analysis and policy advocacy for applications of science and technology for sustainable and holistic development at national and global scale.

Some of the objectives are :

1. To create strategy/roadmap for India’s sustainable development and global leadership. 2. To review and create recommendations/roadmap for policy formulation for a sustainable world. 3. To formulate strategy/roadmap for holistic development integrating all relevant components. 14 NIAS PUBLIC PROGRAMMES

Play Reading: "Vanguard: The Story of the Mysore Rockets" hosted by Actors Ensemble India Forum in association with NIAS held at JRD Tata Auditorium, NIAS on 23 October 2017

Prof Roddam Narsimhan, Emeritus Professor, NIAS participated in Q&A session with the artist of Actors Ensemble India Forum

Film Screening and Discussion: 'Our Gauri', a documentary film on Gauri Lankesh , filmed by Pradeep K.P, Lecture Hall, NIAS, 10 October 2017 15

NIAS PUBLIC PROGRAMMES

Book Release Function and Panel Discussion on the book 'Bridging the Communication Gap in Science and Technology in India', edited by Pallava Bagla and V.V. Binoy, Assistant Professor, NIAS held at CSIR Auditorium, Rafi Marg, New Delhi, on 9 October 2017. The book was released by Hon'ble Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Science & Technology & Earth Sciences.

WEDNESDAY DISCUSSION MEETINGS

Mr Srikumar Pullat Visiting Professor, NIAS Unmanned Aerial Systems – Kal, Aaj aur Kal October 25, 2017

Dr Kshitija Joshi Assistant Professor, NIAS Chitties as an Informal Response to Uncertainty October 11, 2017 Mr Srikumar Pullat

Dr Hippu Salk Kristle Nathan Assistant Professor, NIAS Substitutes and Complements – The Curious Case of Poverty Measure October 4, 2017

ISSSP LECTURE Dr. Abhinav Pandya Policy analyst Terrorism and terror financing, hosted by ISSSP, NIAS, October 3, 2017 Dr Kshitija Joshi 16

NIAS OUTREACH

NIAS Faculty Outreach

Prof. Baldev Raj

Chaired Search-cum-Selection Committee Meeting for the position of Professor in Dept. of Applied Chemistry and Dept. of Fuel and Mineral Engineering at IIT-ISM- Dhanbad as Visitor's Nominee, 31st October 2017

Member, Steering Committee of Centre for Materials for Electronics technology (C-MET), 31st Oct. 2017 (3 years)

Chairman, PAC Meeting in Materials & Engineering Sciences at NIAS organized by Science & Engineering Research Board, DST, Ministry of Science & Technology, Bangalore 27-28 October 2017

Chaired National Material Policy Meeting at DRDO, Delhi, 23 November 2017

Chaired Board of Governors meeting of the National Design and Research Foundation (NDRF), Bangalore, 17 November 2017

Doctoral Committee Meeting of Mr Ashok Ganapati Kumbhar at Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana - S-VYASA, Bangalore , 17 November 2017 as a Doctoral Committee Member

Board of Governors Meeting of the TransDisciplinary University (TDU), Bangalore, 14 October 2017 as a Member

Chaired 53rd Research Council meeting of CSIR-CGCRI at CSIR-Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute, Kolkata, 13 October 2017

Discussion meeting on Mindmine Conversation in the theme of ‘India@75:Is this the New India?’ at The Taj Krishna, Hyderabad organized by Strategic Planning and Projects, Hero Corporate Service, 6th October 2017

Attended meeting of the Formulation of the National Education Policy 2017, INAE, New Delhi, 4th October 2017

Chairman, Research Advisory Board of PSG Institute of Advanced Studies, Coimbatore, 9 October 2017

Guest speaker of the Science and Innovation Forum of the RMTI-AcSIR partnership programme on Translating Science into Innovation Through Global Partnership at The Imperial Hotel, New Delhi, 4th October 2017 organized by RMTI University, Australia

Festival Advisor, Unique Roundglass Samsara Festival and Summit, October 2017 organized by NIAS and Ricky Kej, Grammy® Award Winning Composer 17 NIAS OUTREACH

Dr. Srikumar M. Menon

Presented a paper titled "Replicating the Mountain: the Case of Temple Shikharas" at the "Symposium on Sacred Geometry in Nature: an Interplay of Art, Science and Philosophy" held on 26-27 October, 2017 at the Central University for Tibetan Studies, Varanasi.

Prof. Sisir Roy

I have organised as a co-chair for a symposium on "Sacred Geometry and Design in Nature: An Interplay of Art, Science and Philosophy"during 25-26, October 2017 at Central University of Tibetan Studies, Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh. This is in collaboration with National Institute of Advanced Studies, Centre for Indic and Agamc Studies in Asia, New Delhi and Central University of Tibetan Studies.

My paper on "Öntology of Geometry and Physical World" I has been published in their proceedings, p.1-8. published by Central University of Tibetan Studies.

Prof. Anindya Sinha

Delivered the Foundation Day Lecture, entitled “Conceptualisation of the Self in a Nonhuman Primate”, at the Centre for Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, Allahabad University, Allahabad, October 28, 2017

Delivered two lectures on nonhuman communication and cognition as Visiting Professor to the Centre for Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, Allahabad University, Allahabad, October 25–28, 2017

Participated in and delivered a lecture, entitled “Of Monkeys and Men: Human–Macaque Conflict in Northern India”, in the Workshop on Human–Wildlife Conflict, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru, October 7, 2017

A three-credit course on Evolutionary Ecology and Behaviour, consisting of lectures, paper presentations and discussion sessions for doctoral degree students of Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysuru, India; August–October 2017

New Additions at NIAS

Dr M Sai Baba (formerly Outstanding Scientist & Director, Resources Management Group & Senior Professor, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam) joined NIAS as Principal Scientist in the Energy and Environment Research Programme on October 6, 2017.

Dr Amit Mukherjee joined NIAS as Assistant Professor under the International Strategic and Security Studies Programme on October 3, 2017. 18

NIAS NATURE CONNECT

Pictures Captured by Bharath Chandra BK