Prof. Mrinal Miri with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his residence

Lessons in morality and philosophy

A festschrift of former Nehu vice-chancellor Prof. Mrinal Miri, entitled Grounding Morality: Freedom, Knowledge and the Plurality of Cultures, edited by Jyotirmaya Sharma and A. Raghuramraju, was presented to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his residence recently by Prof. Miri.

The Prime Minister expressed his deep sense of appreciation and praise for Prof. Miri’s philosophical works and concerns, as reflected in the volume.

The volume comprises essays from noted Indian and foreign authors who addressed themes such as analytic philosophy, political philosophy, philosophy of culture and value, tribal worldviews, and Gandhian philosophy.

The volume throws light on styles of thinking and expression by showing how the disciplinary boundaries between language and politics, language and aesthetics, values and practices can be overcome by moving towards a broader, universal and inclusive discourse on human sciences.

Prof. Miri is not only among the noted Indian philosophers but also a humanist, a liberal thinker and an intellectual connoisseur of classical music of the West.

The country had already recognised his contribution by honouring him with the Padmabushan.

The contributors to the volume include a galaxy of contemporary Indian and foreign thinkers and scholars such as Akeel Bilgrami, Jonardon Ganeri, Michael MaGhee, Udaya Kumar, Noel O’Sullivan, Leela Gandhi, Saurabh Dube and many others.

Routledge, New Delhi and London, has published the volume.

India calling

At a recently held seminar organised by Ramanujam Mission in Chennai, the chairman of the organisation, Prof. Swami Chaturvedi, felicitated Shillong author Salil Gewali for his book What is India?

Prof. Chaturvedi termed the book as an eye-opener and delivered a lecture on how Indian classical literature inspired many renowned scientists, philosophers, linguists and writers of the West.

The organisation has undertaken the task of translating the book into five major languages of South India and also in Hindi.

Gewali, in a statement issued here, said the seminar, attended by national and international scholars, scientists and writers had appreciated his work.

What is India? published by the author from Shillong and released in April 2009 by Meghalaya Governor R.S. Mooshahary, is now being published from Georgia, USA.

The book is the compilation of quotes of the world’s renowned philosophers and scientists on the significance of Indian wisdom and spirituality.

The rescued rhino calf. A Telegraph picture

FOOTNOTE

A rhino calf, which got trapped in a trench at Hatikhuli tea estate while waddling to Karbi Anglong hills from Kaziranga National Park on Tuesday, was rescued by forest personnel and reunited with its mother.

The mother and the one-and-a-half year-old calf had crossed NH37 and were on their way to the hills when the calf got trapped in the trench.

Garden labourers noticed the calf this morning and informed the forest department immediately.

This is the first time that a rhino calf has been rescued and reunited with its mother in Assam.

“The calf was rescued and carried on a stretcher to its mother which was hiding in the woods about 150 metres away,” a forest official said.

Traffic on the highway was stopped for a few hours as the mother tried to charge at the forest personnel who carried out the rescue mission.