Asiatica Association

Scholars of philophy should never forget the wonderful online resource, originally made on paper by Karl Potter, titled Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies (1st ed. 1975, revised in 1983 and 1990). I say scholars of philosophy tout court since what has been thought and written in India does not belong to the country, but to the human civilization.

This site is continuosly updated and contains a bibliography of the philosophical literature of India during its classical phase and the secondary material on this literature that is available (for the most part) in English,

It has just been published by the French Institute of Pondicherry a DVD-Rom study on biodiversity in Western Ghats, a world biodivesity hotspot. It is in English, Kannada and Malayalam and is titled BIOTIK: Biodiversity Informatics and Co-Operation in Taxonomy for Interactive Shared Knowledge Base.
Western Ghats v 1.0. A multimedia identification system of evergreen tree species of the Western Ghats, India, by B. R. Ramesh, N. Ayyappan, P. Grard, J. Prosperi, S. Aravajy, J-P. Pascal…[et al.]. Collection Ecologie n°46, IFP, 2010.

The Association of Japanese Institutes of Strategic Studies (AJISS) has just published the AJISS-Commentary no. 84 by Masahiko Ebashi, Professor of Asian Economies at Meiji Gakuin University.

In November, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and his counterparts from five Mekong region countries (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand) held their first summit in Tokyo. Hatoyama then pledged to provide financial and technical assistance in a wide range of areas, including the environment and climate change, infrastructure, health care and basic education, in order to assist the region's development. He committed more than 500 billion yen in official development assistance (ODA) over the next three years.

We have just received the Sungkyun Journal of East Asian Studies, vol. 9, no. 2 (Oct. 2009). This is a research publication on Sinology written in English. It is published by the Academy of East Asian Studies of Sungkyunkwan University.

This issue includes the papers "The Advent of the Buddhist Conception of Religion in China and its Consequences for the Analysis of Daoism" by T. H. Barrett, "On the Origins of Detached Soul Motif in Chinese Literature" by Zhenjun Zhang, "Public Memory and Identity Politics at the Ruined Budhist Temple Kudaraji ato in Hirakata City" by Yoko Hsueh Shirai, "Screening Education: Schools on Film in People's Republic of China" by Xuelin Zhou, "The Play of Morality in Feng Xiaogang's Films" by Dian Li, "Toppling the Tiger, Devouring the Dragon: Alternative Readings of Korean History through the Muhyop Genre" by Remco Breuker, and two books reviews.

As agreed by the International Association of Sanskrit Studies (IASS) at its 14th
World Sanskrit Conference held in Kyoto (Japan), in 2009, the 15th World Sanskrit
Conference will be held at Delhi (India) from the 5th to 10th January 2012. The
conference will be hosted jointly by the IASS and the RSKS [Rashtriya Sanskrit
Sansthan (Deemed to be University under Ministry of Human Resource Development,
Government of India), New Delhi.)

The 1st circular, including the sections and the conveners, can be downloaded here.

On December 31, 2009 has been published a thick issue of Limes, the international magazine of geopolitics directed by Lucio Caracciolo, wholly dedicated to India. 

Editorial by Lucio Caracciolo (titled The good giant); papers by Francesca Marino, Enrica Garzilli, Beniamino Natale, Marco Restelli, Raimondo Bultrini, Meghnad Desai, K. P. S. Gill, Ajai Sahni, Kanchan Lakshman, Daniela Bezzi, Bhikhu Parekh, Chitvan Gill, Luca Muscarà, S. D. Muni, Paola Tavella, Alberto Bracci Testasecca, Parag Khanna, P. R. Chari, Ezio Ferrante, Vijay Prashad, Nirupama Subramanian e Pervez Hoodbhoy, Ayesha Siddiqa e B. Raman, Praveen Swami, John C. Hulsman, Matteo Tacconi, Marco Ansaldo, Raymond Barre. Here  the summary of papers.

The paper by Enrica Garzilli, titled Gandhi Dynasty, can be read here.

Posts and short analysis on Indian phenomena, such as the history of the Naxalites by Marino, can be read here.

Enjoy!

The Power of Tantra. Religion, Sexuality and the Politics of South Asian Studies, by Hugh B. Urban, paperback, London, I. B. Tauris, 2009, pp. XI+250.

The book is scholarly treatment of Tantra traditions in South Asia, based on reasearch made by the author between 2000 and 2008 in Assam, Bengal, Orissa, Tripura, and Meghalaya. It is notheworthy the complete absence of the Italian scholarship on Tantrism, which started with the famous scholar Giuseppe Tucci and is still well represented.

The new year starts well. North Korean authorities, in fact, signal that leader Kim Jong may visit China, the biggest benefactor of the country. The aim of this visit should be whether he will end his boycott of international nuclear disarmament talks. There is still hope on Earth!