New York:

Prestigious Ivy leagure Brown University has launched an India-centric initiative that will focus on academic research and public discourse on India.

The ‘Brown-India Initiative’ was launched by External Affairs Minister S M Krishna who visited the Rhode Island-based university yesterday and addressed students on ‘India’s Foreign Policy Priorities for the 21st Century.’

Brown said the initiative would be an interdisciplinary hub for the study of contemporary India through research and a series of public lectures and events throughout the academic year. The initiative would be based out of the university’s Watson Institute for International Studies.

“Developments in India are generating enormous intellectual and practical curiosities,” International Studies and Social Sciences Professor and Brown-India Initiative director Ashutosh Varshney said.

He said the rapid pace of change over the last two decades has led to exciting research puzzles and new challenges have also been posed for the politics and economics of the country.

“By promoting research on questions of contemporary political and economic relevance, Brown University can play a significant role in analyzing key issues and can influence public debates about the future evolution of India,” he added.

The initiative’s goals would be to produce exemplary academic research and to contribute to public discourse on India through convergence of figures from academia, civil society, literature, public policy and journalism.

The initiative would promote research in economics, politics, urbanization, national security and domestic conflict management and work with partners in India to conduct the research.

The partners include Bangalore based nonprofit organization Janaagraha, Center for Policy Research and the National Council of Applied Economic Research, both in Delhi.

Krishna’s lecture was the first in a series of year-long public presentations to be offered by the initiative.

The initiative would also host other prominent public figures like World Bank chief economist Kaushik Basu, who would focus on two decades of India’s economic reform.

source: http://www.articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com / Home> News By Industry> Education / by PTI / September 29th, 2012