Canada's Shastri Institute to revive ties with India By Eugene Correia, Indo-Asian News Service
Toronto, Aug 25 (IANS) After a period of strain, the Canada-based Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute (SICI) and the Indian government may see better ties soon. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between them will be renewed on September 1. Arun Prabha Mukherjee, newly elected president of the institute, will kick off the Shastri Applied Research Project (SHARP) inception workshop which will be held in New Delhi from September 1 to 5. The renewed MoU has at least two significant developments. For the first time, it opens SICI's membership for Indian universities. Since SICI began in 1968, only Canadian universities have been allowed as members. It currently has 19 members, including the Museum of Civilisation. Mukherjee, who teaches at York University in Toronto and was the institute's vice president in New Delhi for around a year, said at least 18 Indian universities currently have Canadian studies. Funding from both the Indian and Canadian sources has increased, with the Indian government raising its contribution from Rs.12 million to Rs.20 million and the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs committing $4.1 million over four years. The Indian government has also emphasised that research be extended into new areas like intellectual property, IT, new media, films and biotechnology. Two assessment reviews were conducted, Mukherjee said, the one on management issues being done by the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore and the other relating to academic matters by the Indian Institute of Philosophical Research. The reviews called for structural changes and more funding from the Indian government, which responded by setting up a six-member joint task force with three members each from the Canadian and Indian side. Terming the institute unique, the task force stressed that it must continue and recommended parity of voting. From four members in 1969 to an all-time high of 23 members in 1995 to 19 in 2003, the institute has shown steady progress. While each Canadian university pays $5,000 as annual membership, Indian universities will be paying less at around Rs.10,000. It was in 2000 that matters had come to a head casting doubts on the future of the institute that was set up to promote bilateral intellectual discourse and mutual understanding. The issues that threatened to destroy the organisation were the hosting of the "Dust on the Road: Canadian Artists in Dialogue with SAHMAT" (Safdar Hasmi Memorial Trust), an exhibition that highlighted the spread of communalism in India and which ran in Toronto, and an academic seminar, "Accommodation Diversity: Learning from the Indian and Canadian Experiences", to be held at an Ontario university, which was cancelled at the last minute due to pressure from the Indian government. Under the MoU, the Indian government's approval must be obtained for all projects. Then Indian high commissioner Rajnikanta Verma raised objections to the anti-government bias in the exhibitions that led the Shastri Institute to withdraw funds of $5,000 to the exhibition that had been held in four Canadian cities before Toronto. Subsequent tensions between the Shastri Institute and the Indian government called for an assessment of the body and two reviews were then initiated by the Indian government. It was felt that the Indian government should have a say in the administration of the institute, which is based at the University of Calgary, and has been run by a board elected by the Canadian universities. The institute has an India Studies Programme, Library Programme, Microfilm Programme, and the Canadian Studies Programme. SICI helps students and scholars from both countries continue their research and offers scholarships that are open to others, besides academics. The library exchange programme helps Canadian scholars receive books from India. --Indo-Asian News Service ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################