Asiatica Association

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. 

Enrica Garzilli has published a paper titled Gandhi Dynasty, which can be read here.

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.

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!