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SES organises a Workshop on 'Upper Indus Basin Network'

SES organises a Workshop on 'Upper Indus Basin Network'

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SES organises a Workshop on 'Upper Indus Basin Network'
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Second Upper Indus Basin Network-Indian Chapter Workshop

Strengthening science and socio-economic linkages

 

13 December 2019, New Delhi, India

 

Organizers: JNU and ICIMOD

Venue: JNU Convention Center (108 Committee Room)

 

Background

The upper Indus basin covers regions of Afghanistan, China, India and Pakistan. Due to climate change and related impacts these regions have issues related to water stress, agriculture, etc. The basin is comprised of distinct riparian regions which are being impacted impact due to a combination of global-regional-local factors that will have a distinct mark on the basin countries and their respective development agendas.

 

The UIBN (Upper Indus Basin Network), with its six thematic working groups under specific country chapters – the Upper Indus Basin Network India Chapter (UIBN-IC) - works to promote collaboration among institutions such as, academia, research organisations, development agencies and other expert groups to understand issues related to a wide range of issues ranging from climate change, water availability, disasters to sustainability. This collaborative platform will work to address cross-cutting understanding, regional challenges and foster coordination among researchers working in the UIB region.

 

Objective and the workshop

 

The first UIBN-IC focused on largely identifying key research areas for each of the six respective working groups. The groups deliberated on possible research outputs and presented each respective working group’s proposed research structure followed by a plan to integrate research activities among the six groups to support cohesive collaboration within the chapter. To take these discussions further, and to stocktake on the progress of each of the working groups, a second workshop has been co-organized by JNU and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).  

The core objective is to discuss the progress of flagship research being carried out by UIBN-IC members, and find means of integrating interdisciplinary through the social sciences into the proposed objectives.

A warm welcome to the modified and updated website of the Centre for East Asian Studies. The East Asian region has been at the forefront of several path-breaking changes since 1970s beginning with the redefining the development architecture with its State-led development model besides emerging as a major region in the global politics and a key hub of the sophisticated technologies. The Centre is one of the thirteen Centres of the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi that provides a holistic understanding of the region.

Initially, established as a Centre for Chinese and Japanese Studies, it subsequently grew to include Korean Studies as well. At present there are eight faculty members in the Centre. Several distinguished faculty who have now retired include the late Prof. Gargi Dutt, Prof. P.A.N. Murthy, Prof. G.P. Deshpande, Dr. Nranarayan Das, Prof. R.R. Krishnan and Prof. K.V. Kesavan. Besides, Dr. Madhu Bhalla served at the Centre in Chinese Studies Programme during 1994-2006. In addition, Ms. Kamlesh Jain and Dr. M. M. Kunju served the Centre as the Documentation Officers in Chinese and Japanese Studies respectively.

The academic curriculum covers both modern and contemporary facets of East Asia as each scholar specializes in an area of his/her interest in the region. The integrated course involves two semesters of classes at the M. Phil programme and a dissertation for the M. Phil and a thesis for Ph. D programme respectively. The central objective is to impart an interdisciplinary knowledge and understanding of history, foreign policy, government and politics, society and culture and political economy of the respective areas. Students can explore new and emerging themes such as East Asian regionalism, the evolving East Asian Community, the rise of China, resurgence of Japan and the prospects for reunification of the Korean peninsula. Additionally, the Centre lays great emphasis on the building of language skills. The background of scholars includes mostly from the social science disciplines; History, Political Science, Economics, Sociology, International Relations and language.

Several students of the centre have been recipients of prestigious research fellowships awarded by Japan Foundation, Mombusho (Ministry of Education, Government of Japan), Saburo Okita Memorial Fellowship, Nippon Foundation, Korea Foundation, Nehru Memorial Fellowship, and Fellowship from the Chinese and Taiwanese Governments. Besides, students from Japan receive fellowship from the Indian Council of Cultural Relations.