1 | P a g e FORM B (Under rule 8 of ICWA Rules, 2006) INDIAN COUNCIL OF WORLD AFFAIRS ANNUAL REPORT 2014-15 1. Introduction During the year, ICWA continued with its mandated activities and accorded high priority to research and study of political, security, and economic developments in Asia, EU, Africa, and Latin America. Global geo-strategic and geo-political developments were analyzed. The conclusions were disseminated in the form of Sapru House Papers, Policy Briefs, Issue Briefs and Viewpoints, which were placed on the ICWA website. A large number of events including lectures, conferences and outreach activities were conducted. The Library was improved and new books were acquired. In line with the advice/recommendation of the last meeting of the Governing Body/Governing Council, ICWA initiated various programmes and activities to propagate and popularize foreign affairs and international relations issues in Hindi by sponsoring activities in various universities outside of Delhi. 2. Constitution of the Council, including changes therein. Shri M. H. Ansari, Vice-President of India, is the President, ex officio, of the Council during the year 2014-15. Ambassador Rajiv Kumar Bhatia has been the Director General, ICWA & Member-Secretary of the Council since 27 June, 2012. The process of nomination for the new Council has been completed and new list of the members of the existing Governing Council and Governing Body is attached at (Annexure – I&II respectively). 3. Meetings of the Governing Council/Governing Body : 3.1 Meetings of the Governing Council 11th Meeting of the Council: 19th August, 2014 3.2 Meetings of the Governing Body 12th Meeting of the Governing Body: 19th August, 2014 4. Meetings of the Committees: A. FINANCE COMMITTEE 19th Finance Committee Meeting held on 29th May, 2014 20th Finance Committee Meeting held on 14th November, 2014 2 | P a g e B. PROGRAMMES COMMITTEE 21st Programmes Committee Meeting held on 17th April, 2014 22nd Programmes Committee Meeting held on 15th October, 2014 23rd Programmes Committee Meeting held on 20th February, 2015 C. RESEARCH COMMITTEE 11th Research Committee Meeting held on 24th April, 2014 12th Research Committee Meeting held on 23rd September, 2014 The membership of the various Committees mentioned above is at (Annexure – III). 5. Grant-in-Aid by Ministry of External Affairs Rs.10.05 Crores 6. Note on Administrative Issues Position, as on April, 2015, regarding important administrative issues, is reflected below:- (i) Staff Strength ICWA has presently a total of 64 (sixty four) personnel. The break-up is given below:- i. Director General on fixed tenure 01 (one) ii. Permanent Employees 26 (twenty six) iii. Deployed from MEA 04 (four) iii. Those on Contracts 03 (three) iv. Those Outsourced 10 (ten) v. Research Faculty on contract 20 ( Twenty) (ii) Officials from MEA At present, there are four MEA officials working in ICWA as per the details below: i) Shri N.K.Saxena, Joint Secretary, MEA (working in ICWA from 25.11.2013). ii) Shri Anwar Haleem, Joint Secretary, MEA (working in ICWA from 14.10.2014). iii) Shri Sunil K. Mishra, Director, MEA (working in ICWA from 08.08.2014). iv) Shri Jatinder Singh Bhatia, Accounts Officer (working in ICWA from 04.02.2011) 3 | P a g e Given the paucity of administrative staff, and the rising work concerning the Phase-II and Phase III of Renovation Project and expansion of the institution‟s activities, it is strongly recommended that an additional official, a Section Officer, may be deployed in ICWA. (iii) Service Regulations of ICWA „Service Regulations‟ of ICWA‟s regular staff, after its approval by the MEA, have been notified in the Gazette of India on 27 September, 2014. As such, the Service Regulations are in force with effect from the date of notification. (iv) Renovation Project : Phase II : Being conscious of the heritage value of the Sapru House, systematic measures have been taken for the renovation of the various parts of the building. In the last three years, renovation of parts of the Research Wing, the Lecture Hall, and the Auditorium (and related works) have been completed. Under the next phase of renovation, up-gradation of Library has been taken up and the work has been awarded to CPWD after its approval by MEA against the total estimate of Rs. 7,54,83,540/-, submitted by CPWD. The first installment of Rs. 2,68,40,000/- has been released in the Financial Year 2014-15 and the budget provision for the remaining expenditure has been spread to Financial Year 2015-16 & 2016-17. (v) Maintenance Work All maintenance/cleaning work are undertaken regularly. (vi) Security Security of the building is ensured through one Chowkidar on the pay roll of ICWA and 4 (four) security guards provided by a private company. No serious untoward incident has taken place during the period of review. 7. Status of Court Cases & RTI applications COURT CASE : There are two Court Cases pending as of April 2015. i. The case relating to Shri H S Chadha concerning arrears of his emoluments is before the Hon‟ble High Court of Delhi. ii. 1 case has been filed in the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) by Shri P. S. Gosian, an employee of the Council. This relates to the payment of interest on salary arrears. RTI Applications Council has received a total number of 17 (seventeen) RTI applications during the financial year 2014-15. All the RTI applications have been suitably replied. 4 | P a g e 8. Publications ICWA‟s Journal „India Quarterly‟ was brought out regularly during the period 2014- 15. In addition, the ICWA has brought out the following publications titled – S. No Title Editor/Author Year of Publication I Books/Booklets 01. Change In Myanmar ICWA (Edited by Rajiv K.Bhatia, 2014 Dr. Vijay Sakhuja and Dr. Vikash Ranjan) 02. India-China Boundary Issues Sh. Ranjit Singh Kalha 2014 03. India and Central Asia ICWA (Edited by Rajiv K.Bhatia, 2014 Meruyert Abusseitova, Laura Yerekesheva and Dr. Athar Zafar) 04. Indonesia‟s Rise: Seeking Edited By Dr. Vibhanshu 2014 Regional And Global Roles Shekhar 05. India‟s Asia-Pacific Engagement: Edited By Amar Nath Ram 2014 Impulses and Imperationatives 06. Latin America, The Caribbean Edited By Deepak Bhojwani 2015 and India: Promise and Challenge 07. India‟s Engagement with East Edited By Dr. Nivedita Ray 2015 Africa: Opportunities and Challenges 08. ICWA Global Review 2014 ICWA (Edited by Rajiv K.Bhatia 2015 and Pankaj Kumar Jha) II Sapru House Papers 09. Transition, Regional Integration Dr. Dinoj K Upadhyay and Dr. 2014 and Complexities: Evolving Athar Zafar India-Afghanistan Interface III Other Publications 10. Transitions and Interdependence ICWA 2014 India and its Neighbours 11. ICWA News Letter ICWA 2014 12. ICWA-SIS Dialogue 2014 ICWA 2014 13. Asian Relations Conference ICWA 2015 (ARC) VI on (Non Traditional Themes in Asian Foreign Policies) 9. Library Functioning since 1955, the Sapru House Library has the premier collection in India of documents on international relations and functions as a research library with a stock of 1,42, 993 documents including books (thousands of them are rare), bound volumes of journals, maps, special collections of UN Documents and EU Documents. The Library has automated the entire collection of books, journals, UN & EU documents. The collection is now searchable through Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC). The OPAC is accessible from the ICWA web site (www.icwa.in). List of New Arrivals are published on the ICWA web site. 5 | P a g e A part of this rich and unique collection in the field of international affairs, comprising rare books, bound volumes of newspapers and press clippings, is available in digital format, useful for researchers and experts in the field of world affairs in India and abroad. The entire collection of ICWA journal - India Quarterly is available in digitized form on the ICWA web-site. The documents of the first Asian Relations Conference held here in March 1947 are also available in digital format. A state of the art Cyber Library is available in the main hall with access to the electronic contents and information. The Library has arrangements with other libraries to allow consultation of the resources for ICWA scholars on the basis of their ICWA ID cards. To consolidate it as a premier research library, the Library Committee has decided that the library should be equipped with exhaustive research material and documentation in niche areas of Indian foreign policy, with focus on South Asia. Amid the constraints of reduced staff strength, and the need to strike a balance given the relatively limited utilization of the Library facilities and the persistent challenge of upgrading them, suitable actions are being undertaken to present a tidy/efficient environment. Library Statistics at a Glance: (as on 31.03.2015) Books (including 673 New Books added during F. Y. 2014-15 107678 Bound Volumes of Journals / Serials: 35315 Total Collection: 142993 No. of Members: 176 No. of Visitors: 4381 Book Exhibitions Organized: 3 Journals Subscriptions: National 16 International 51 Total - 67 Newspapers Subscriptions 12 Online Database / Resources: JSTOR DELNET Online Project Muse 10. Conference/Lectures/Seminars From 1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015, the Indian Council of World Affairs organized events as under: i. Lectures - 07 ii. Conferences/Seminars - 33 iii. Bilateral strategic dialogue - 18 iv. Panel Discussions/Background briefings - 09 v. Book Launch/Release function - 02 Total 69 6 | P a g e Some of the important Lectures held: 1. 18 September, Address by the H.E. Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic 2014 of China (PRC) Venue: Taj Palace, New Delhi (Shahjehan Ballroom) 2. 28 November, Twelfth Sapru House Lecture by H.E.