Asiatica Association

The Association of Japanese Institutes of Strategic Studies (AJISS) has just published the AJISS-Commentary No. 112 "Presence of Mind Needed", by Akio Watanabe. He ([email protected]) is Editor of AJISS-Commentary. He is also Vice Chairman of the Research Institute for Peace and Security (RIPS).

What we most need now is the presence of mind to deal with the current crisis. Back in World War II, Winston Churchill was quoted as saying in a speech that the maxim of the British people is "Business as usual." For the Japanese, who are undergoing a moment of truth, nothing is more appropriate than this message of Churchill's.

The earthquake that struck off the Pacific coast of the Tohoku region just past 2:42 p.m. on March 11 had an enormous magnitude of 9.0. The quake not only devastated buildings, roads, an airport and the rail system, but also triggered a tsunami that engulfed people with an intensity that went well beyond the estimate of Tohoku residents along the Pacific coast, who historically have experienced numerous tsunamis. At the time of writing, more than 15,000 people are dead or missing - a number that surpasses the death toll of the Kobe-Awaji Earthquake, which took the lives of 6,000 people 17 years ago, and that of the Isewan Typhoon, which killed more than 5,000 people 62 years ago.

The Digital Colonial Documents Project (India) is intended to promote study of the rare seminal documents which were influential in the formation of the notions of nation, state and culture during the colonial period. The project makes available rare colonial documents as searchable internet documents.

A ten-day workshop is being organised by the Indian Council of Philosophical Research at its Academic Centre Lucknow (India) from May 27, 2011 to June 06, 2011 with Professor Navjivan Rastogi as the Director aims at introducing the Trika philosophy.

The word “Trika” stands for the monistic tradition/s of the tantric Saivism of Kashmir (of medieval India, specially 9th -12th centuries) subscribed to and nourished by the contributions of Abhinavagupta, one of the foremost Indian thinkers and his entire lineage. The system challenged the established paradigms of Indian philosophical thinking and re-constructed a life-affirming world-view revolutionizing philosophical responses to the core issues, extending from soteriology, logic, epistemology to language, fine arts, aesthetics and social ethos.

We have just received the Newsletter for Research in Chinese Studies, 116 (November 2010 - vol. 29, no. 4), a hard copy quarterly published by the Center for Chinese Studies (CCS), established in 1981 to promote research in Chinese studies both in Taiwan (The Republic of China) and overseas.

It is written in Chinese with subtitles in English. It contains articles, interviews, and regular updates on the happenings in the worldwide community of Chinese studies.

The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday issued notices to Uttar Pradesh authorities and Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on a plea seeking information about the whereabouts of a woman who went missing after meeting him in Amethi in 2006 (from Express Buzz).

Apparently there is no peace for Gandhi's family. Now, there is Rahul Gandhi's involvement in gang rape in Amethi. Is it just by chance that is a member of the Lok Sabha, representing the Amethi constituency?