The Informal Discussion Group invites you to an interactive session with:

Dr. Krishna Kumar

(Director, NCERT)

On the topic:

‘Why Cambridge is clean, and Delhi University is not’

(The real picture of higher education in India)

Dr. Kumar is one of India’s foremost educationists. He has worked at the Central Institute of Education (dean from 1988-91), been a national lecturer of the UGC, and served as a member of the Executive Committee of the National Literacy Mission. He was awarded the Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship for a comparative study of history textbooks used in schools in India and Pakistan. Books written by him include Raj, Samaj aur Shiksha; Vichaar ka Dar; What is Worth Teaching amongst several others. His latest books are Battle for Peace (2007) and A Pedagogue’s Romance (2008). A columnist and a short story writer in Hindi, several of his books on education are in Hindi. Professor Kumar also writes for children. In September, 2004 he was appointed to the post of Director, NCERT.

Time: 8:00 PM

Date: Thursday, 11^th February, 2010

Venue: Staff Room

The Informal Discussion Group invites you to an interactive session with

MICHAEL PELLETIER

(Minister-Counselor for Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy at the American Embassy in New Delhi)

on the topic:

US Policy and the Volatile Middle-East

Michael Pelletier is currently the Minister-Counselor for Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy at the American Embassy in New Delhi. He oversees the U.S. government’s public diplomacy mission in India, including operations at the Embassy, the American Center in New Delhi, and the U.S. Consulates General in Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Chennai. Previously, Michael served as the U.S. government’s Arabic language spokesman and founding director of the Arabic Regional Public Diplomacy Hub in Dubai. Michael is a member of the Senior Foreign Service, and has worked for the Department of State and the U.S. Information Agency in various public affairs positions including Counselor for Public Affairs in Amman, Jordan; Dakar, Senegal; and Bamako, Mali. He has also served in Kaduna, Nigeria; Cairo, Egypt; and Chennai, India. He is fluent in French and Arabic, and continues to study Tamil.

Time: 8:00 PM

Date: Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Venue: Staff Room