India

The German Government set up the Weltwärts programme to allow young Germans to volunteer in a different country for 6-18 months in areas like education, health, environment, culture and human rights, in order to broaden their minds and strengthen international understanding.

The premiere of the 12-minute animation film Sri Aurobindo: A Call to New India, dedicated to sharing Sri Aurobindo’s transformative vision with young people across the world, took place at Cinema Paradiso on 15 August.

Dr. M.S Swaminathan, distinguished agricultural scientist and the leader of India’s Green Revolution, passed away on Thursday 28 September, at the age of 98.

Dr. Debashish Banerji is the Haridas Chaudhuri Professor of Indian Philosophies and Cultures and the Doshi Professor of Asian Art at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), San Francisco, where he also chairs the Department of East-West Psychology.

On November 3rd, Dr. Ananda Reddy released his new book Sri Aurobindo: The Grand Synthesis at a function in Unity Pavilion in the presence of the Vice Chancellor of the Pondicherry University Prof.

Luc Venet has written a new biography of Sri Aurobindo’s life between 1893-1910.

Demonetisation – this brittle word with its short, sharp syllables, gained currency overnight with the draconian move of the Indian Government to invalidate Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes.

Did you ever notice that the island of Sri Lanka was included (with Pakistan, Bangladesh and Burma) in the map of the “true India” that the Mother once drew?

The Teamwork ’88 (or Peace Trees) programme of exchange between youth from Russia, America and India, which was announced in Auroville Today number two, has happened and was a success.

After months of speculation and incertitude, the Auroville Foundation Bill was passed in both Houses of Parliament in early September. There is no doubt of the historic importance of this bill in terms of Auroville’s growth.

The wonder of this country is Return: Always, it seems, The same sun, Winking off leaves and mud, The same boys, Splay-toed, Chanting after dusty cows.

These are extracts from an interview with the Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, by François Gautier on the 24th of February, 1988.