BILIMALE: December 2013

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Happy New Year 2014

“Hope
Smiles from the threshold of the year to come,
Whispering 'it will be happier'...”
― Alfred Tennyson

Best wishes for 2014

Sincerely

P Bilimale

Sunday, December 29, 2013

A talk on the Economy, Business, and India’s 2014 Parliamentary Elections

American Institute of Indian studies

AIIS-IIC Lecture series-22

A talk on

“The Economy, Business, and India’s 2014 Parliamentary Elections”

JOHN ECHEVERRI-GENT

Associate professor in the Department of Politics

University of Virginia.

Discussants

Surjit S Bhalla.

Noted Columnist

Dr. Ujjwal Kumar Singh

Professor, Department of Political Science

Delhi University

January 6, 2014

IIC-Conference Hall-1

6.30 -7.45

Synopsis: India’s liberalizing economic reforms have been accompanied by the growing power of its business class. At a time of rising inequality, the increase of business influence has been a matter of concern for many. This talk will assess the implications of increased business influence for India’s elections and its economic policy. It will argue that the problem of growing business power is less a matter of its growth and more a matter of the how it is exercised – in particular the manner in which illegal contributions have financed the continued viability of India’s dynastic political parties. The presentation will begin by exploring India’s current economic challenges. Then it examines the manner in which business has exercised its influence through India’s elections. Finally, it will speculate about the likely consequences of the 2014 parliamentary elections for business’s political influence and India’s economic policy.

JOHN ECHEVERRI-GENT is associate professor in the Department of Politics at the University of Virginia. He is author of The State and the Poor: Public Policy and Political Development in India and the United States and co-editor of Economic Reform in Three Giants: U.S. Foreign Policy and the USSR, China, and India. He has written many articles in comparative public policy and the political economy of development. His most recent publication is “Understanding India’s Response to the Global Financial Crisis: From Quick Rebound to Endless Slowdown?” forthcoming in a volume to be published by the Brookings Institution. He is currently completing a book-length manuscript entitled Politics of Markets: Political Economy of India’s Capital Markets. He serves as treasurer of the American Institute of Indian Studies.

Monday, December 23, 2013

ನಾಡಿನ ವಿವೇಕದ ಸಂಕೇತ ಡಾ. ಜಿ ಎಸ್ ಶಿವರುದ್ರಪ್ಪ.

ಸಂತಾಪ ಸೂಚನೆ

ಡಾ. ಜಿ ಎಸ್ ಶಿವರುದ್ರಪ್ಪನವರು 20ನೇ ಶತಮಾನದ ಪ್ರಮುಖ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯಿಕ ಚಳುವಳಿಗಳಾದ ನವೋದಯ, ಪ್ರಗತಿಶೀಲ, ನವ್ಯ ಮತ್ತು ಬಂಡಾಯಗಳ ಅತ್ಯುತ್ತಮ ಅಂಶಗಳನ್ನೆಲ್ಲ ಮೈಗೂಡಿಸಿಕೊಂಡು ಬರೆದ ಮಹತ್ವದ ಲೇಖಕ. ಅವರ ಗದ್ಯ ಮತ್ತು ಪದ್ಯಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ನವೋದಯದ ಭಾವುಕತೆ, ಪ್ರಗತಿಶೀಲ ಚಳುವಳಿಯ ಸಾಮಾಜಿಕ ಕಳಕಳಿ, ನವ್ಯದ ಆಕೃತಿ ಸೂಕ್ಷ್ಮತೆ ಮತ್ತು ಬಂಡಾಯದ ಪ್ರಗತಿಪರ ಚಿಂತನೆಗಳು ತಾನೇ ತಾನಾಗಿ ಮೇಳವಿಸಿತ್ತು. ಹಾಗೆ ನೋಡಿದರೆ ಅವರ ಗದ್ಯ ಮತ್ತು ಪದ್ಯಗಳ ನಡುವೆ ಅಂಥ ಅಂತರವೇನೂ ಇರಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಎಲ್ಲ ವಯಸ್ಸಿನ ಓದುಗರನ್ನು ಏಕಕಾಲಕ್ಕೆ ಮುಟ್ಟಬಲ್ಲ ಶಕ್ತಿ ಅವರ ಭಾಷೆಗಿತ್ತು.

ಜಿ ಎಸ್ ಎಸ್ ಒಳ್ಳೆಯ ಆಡಳಿತಗಾರನಾಗಿಯೂ ಹೆಸರು ಪಡೆದವರು. ಅವರು ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು ವಿಶ್ವವಿದ್ಯಾಲಯದ ಕನ್ನಡ ವಿಭಾಗವನ್ನು ಕಟ್ಟಿದ ರೀತಿ ಇದಕ್ಕೆ ಅತ್ಯುತ್ತಮ ಉದಾಹರಣೆ. ನಾಡಿನ ಪ್ರತಿಭಾವಂತರನ್ನೆಲ್ಲ ಒಂದೆಡೆ ಸೇರಿಸಿದ ಹಿರಿಮೆ ಅವರದು. ಅವರ ನೇತೃತ್ವದಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆದ ವಿಚಾರ ಸಂಕಿರಣಗಳು ನಾಡಿನ ಚಿಂತನಾಕ್ರಮವನ್ನೇ ಬದಲಾಯಿಸಿದುವು.

ಕುವೆಂಪು ಅವರ ವಿಚಾರ ಧಾರೆಗಳಿಂದ ಪ್ರಭಾವಿತರಾಗಿದ್ದ ಅವರು, ತಮ್ಮ ಜೀವಿತಾವಧಿಯುದ್ದಕ್ಕೂ, ಕೋಮುವಾದ, ಜಾತಿವಾದ, ದಲಿತ ಮತ್ತು ಮಹಿಳೆಯರ ಮೇಲಿನ ಅನ್ಯಾಯಗಳನ್ನು ಪ್ರತಿಭಟಿಸುತ್ತಲೇ ಬಂದರು. ಯಾರ ಹಂಗಿಗೂ ಒಳಗಾಗದೆ, ತಮ್ಮ ಅಭಿಪ್ರಾಯಗಳನ್ನು ತಮ್ಮದೇ ಮೃದು ಭಾಷೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಕಟಪಡಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಅವರು ನಾಡಿನ ವಿವೇಕ ಸದಾ ಜಾಗೃತರಾಗಿರುವಂತೆ ನೋಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು.

20 ನೇ ಶತಮಾನದ ಪ್ರಮುಖ ವೈಚಾರಿಕರೂ, ಲೇಖಕರೂ ಆಗಿದ್ದ ಅವರಿಂದ ನಾನು ಮತ್ತು ನನ್ನ ತಲೆಮಾರು ವಿಶೇಷವಾದ ಪ್ರಭಾವಕ್ಕೆ ಒಳಗಾಗಿದ್ದೇವೆ.

ಅವರ ನಿಧನಕ್ಕೆ ನಾನು ನನ್ನ ತೀವ್ರ ಸಂತಾಪವನ್ನು ಪ್ರಕಟಪಡಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದೇನೆ.

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Sahitya Academy award for Dr. CN Ramachandran

Central Sahitya Academy award for Dr. CN Ramachandran

Dr. C.N. Ramachandran, noted Kannada writer awarded the Central Sahitya Akademi Award for his book of essays, Akyana-Vyakyana.

Dr. C. N. Ramachandran was my esteemed colleague at Mangalore University, has taught English language and literature in various universities in India, Somalia, Saudi Arabia, and the U. S. Primarily a critic-translator, he has published both in English and Kannada. His works in English include: a study of British drama (Shifting Perspectives, 1986), and monographs on Triveni and Shivarama Karanth. Some of his works in Kannada include a novel (Shodha, 1978), Post-colonial discourse (Vasahatottara Chintane, 1998), comparative criticism (Taulanika Sahitya, 1996), and a study of 25 oral epics (Hosa Madiya Mele Chaduranga, 2007). He has translated many works from Kannada to English, the most ambitious being the translation of the Kannada oral epic Male Madeshwara ( 2001). He has presented papers in National and International Conferences held in San Francisco, Tokyo, Turku, Frankfurt, and New Delhi.

His awards include the ‘Karnataka Rajyotsava Award’ (2007), ‘Karnataka Sahitya Akademi Award for lifetime Achievement’ (2001), ‘Katha-award’ for translation (1994), and K K Birla Fellowship (2005).

Let us congratulate him.