Issue Nº374 – News in brief

The Auroville film EVER SLOW GREEN has been officially selected by six international film festivals and is nominated for two awards. The Green Screen Wildlife Film Festival, Eckernförde, Germany, the largest wildlife film festival in Europe, has nominated it for Best Newcomer FIlm. The Wildlife Film Festival Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, has nominated the film for the Green Impact Award. The film will also be shown at the Matsalu Nature Film Festival, Lihula, Estonia; the Eugene Environmental Film Festival, Eugene, OR, USA; the GNG Green Earth Film Festival, Los Angeles, CA, USA; and the Science Film Festival which will screen the film in Argentina, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Iran, Kenya, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. The screening will be done by the Goethe-Institut in each country in close cooperation with local partners.

The Collector Villupuram District has granted special permission to use Sharanam guesthouse in the Bharat Nivas compound as a primary site, and the Tibetan Pavilion as a secondary site if needed, for quarantining residents of Auroville (including registered guests and volunteers) who have tested Covid-19 positive. This implies that those residents who are asymptomatic or with very mild symptoms can be in full isolation with medical supervision, as an alternative to sending our community members to government run Covid Care Centers. Patients with severe symptoms will have to go to a hospital as recommended by doctors.

The Working Committee’s call for random COVID-19 testing to see if any “community transmission” is happening in Auroville has been answered by 66 residents, who were tested on August 18th at Santé by a team organised by the Block Medical Officer. The tests were the ICMR prescribed RT-PCR test. All persons tested negative.

The fundraising campaign A4A (Acres for Auroville) was inaugurated seven years ago on 15th of August. The A4A team has taken this auspicious day as a moment for renewing its efforts and pledge to secure and consolidate the City of Dawn’s designated but still-missing lands. With funds raised, a total of 63 plots (58 acres) have been purchased since Acres for Auroville started.

On July 1st, S. Mahalingam, an Indian Independence fighter, spiritual seeker, teacher, translator, Ashramite, and Aurovilian, celebrated his 100th birthday. A radio interview with Mahalingam can be found at https://land.auroville.org/mahalingam-turns-100.

On the occasion of India's Independence Day and Sri Aurobindo’s birthday on August 15th, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Sri Aurobindo. “Tributes to Sri Aurobindo on his Jayanti. He was synonymous with brilliance and courage. His thoughts and ideals, views on spirituality continue to motivate us. Here are my remarks at the Golden Jubilee celebrations at Auroville,” Shri Modi tweeted, sharing his 2018 speech in Auroville.