:: Indian Council for Cultural Relations ::Cultural Centres/Chairs of Indian Studies

Maintaining Indian Cultural Centres

In order to promote awareness and appreciation of India’s composite cultural heritage abroad, the Council has established 20 Cultural Centres with two sub-centres in different parts of the world. The Centres are located at Cairo(Egypt), Berlin(Germany), Phoenix(Mauritius), Paramaribo(Suriname), Georgetown(Guyana), Jakarta and Bali(Sub-Center)(Indonesia), Moscow(Russian Federation), London(UK), Astana(Kazakhstan), Tashkent(Uzbekistan), Durban and Johannesburg(South Africa), Port of Spain(Trinidad & Tobago), Colombo(Sri Lanka), Dushanbe(Tajikistan), Suva and Lautoka(Sub-Center)(Fiji), Kuala Lumpur(Malaysia) , Tokyo(Japan), Kathmandu(Nepal) and Kabul(Afghanistan).

The activities of the Cultural Centres support the cultural needs of the local population. The Centres organize several outreach programmes including panel discussions, lectures, exhibitions of visual arts, essay competitions, performances of dance, music & theatre, screening of Indian films, publication of news bulletins, seminars on Indian topics etc. Some of the Cultural Centres also have regular teaching classes in Indian music, dance, yoga and Hindi language. The Centres also maintain Libraries and Audio-Video material. To facilitate the programmes, ICCR periodically sends print & audio-video material including books in Hindi, English, Sanskrit and Urdu and audio-video material.

Apart from organizing their own activities, these Cultural Centres also provide a supportive role to the respective Indian Missions for coordinating various cultural activities. The Centres develop and maintain contacts with the local citizens particularly students, teachers, academicians, opinion makers and cultural personalities to project a composite picture of India’s rich and diverse cultural heritage.

List of India Base Staff at Indian Cultural Centres Abroad

List of Indian Cultural Centres Abroad

Announcement for chair in Abroad

Chairs of Indian Studies

The Council deputes Visiting Professors at prestigious universities abroad and maintains Chairs of Indian Studies to teach Indian languages and other related subjects. At present, the Council maintains 19 Chairs of Indian Studies and 5 Chairs of Indian Studies on semester basis. The Council is in the process of setting up a Chair of Political Science & International Relations at Osh State University and a Chair of Indian Economics at Sciences Po as per details given below:

Visting Professors Deputed at Chairs of Indian Studies Abroad As on 20.02.2008

S.No.	Country	Name of Professors	Tenure & Date of Joining	University
Chairs of Hindi
1	Poland	Dr.(Smt)Ramkali Saraf Visiting Prof. of Hindi	2 years 19.02.07 to 18.02.09	Warsaw University Warsaw, Poland
2	Hungary	Dr. Pramod Kumar Sharma Visiting Prof. of Hindi	2 years 18.01.2008 to 18.01.2011	( ELTE ) Eotvos Lorand University, Budapest Hungary
3	Bulgaria	Dr. Satyakam Visiting Prof. of Hindi	2 years 4.10.2006 to 3.10.2008	Sofia University, Sofia, Bulgaria
4	South Korea	Dr. Mudliar Pratibha Ramachandra Visiting Associate Prof of Hindi	2years+9months 7.11.05 to 31.08.2008	Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Seoul, South Korea
5	Romania	Dr. Sheelu Agrawal, Hindi Teacher	2+1 years 07.09.05 to 05.09.2008	Bucharest University Bucharest, Romania
6	Turkey	Dr. Shakeela Khanam Visiting Associate, Professor of Hindi	2 years 15.09.06 to 14.09.2008	Ankara University Ankara, Turkey
7	Belgium	Dr. V.Krishna Visiting Prof. of Hindi	2 years 12.09.07 to 12.09.2009	State University of Ghent, Brussels, Belgium
8	China	Dr. Ravi Ranjan Visiting Professor of Hindi	2years+9months 2.11.05 to 31.07.2008	Peking University Beijing, China
9	Spain	Dr. Vijay Kumaran C.P.V. Visiting Prof. Of Hindi	2 years 09.07.07 to 08.07.2009	University of Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
10	Trinidad & Tobago	Dr. Durga Prashad Singh Associate Prof. of Hindi	2 years 28.09.07 to 27.09.09	University of West Indies, Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago
Propagation of Hindi Abroad on behalf of Central Hindi Institute (Agency Work)
11	Russia	Dr. R.S.Sarraju Associate Prof. of Hindi	2+1 years 5.10.05 to 03.10.2008	Jawaharlal Nehru Cultural Centre, Embassy of India Moscow, Russia
12	Suriname	Smt. Kanta Rani Nanduru Hindi Teacher	2+1 years 05.09.2005 to 03.09.2008	Indian CulturalCentre, Paramaribo, Suriname
Hindi Chair under ITEC terms
13	Afghanistan	Dr. K.G.Kapoor Hindi Teacher	1 year 28.09.2007 to 27.09.2008	Nanghar University, Jalalabad, Afghanistan
Chairs of Sanskrit
14	Thailand	Designated Dr. Shashi Prabha Kumar as replacement of Dr. Dash is under Process as visiting Prof. of Sanskrit	Likely to Join in April 2008	SilpakornUniversity, Bangkok, Thailand
15	France	Dr.Satyanarayan Chakraborty Visiting Prof. of Sanskrit	2+1 years 24.02.06 to 23.02.2009	SorbonneNouvelle University, Paris, France
Chairs of Tamil
16	Poland	Dr. A. Mariapan Visiting Prof. of Tamil	2 years 27.09.07 to 25.09.09	Warsaw University Warsaw, Poland
Chairs of Modern Indian History Civilization & South Asian Affairs
17	Trinidad & Tobago	Dr. Ratan Lal Hangloo Visiting Prof. of Modern Indian History & South Asian Affairs	2 years 08.09.2007 to 08.09.2009	University of West Indies, Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago
18	Kyrghystan	Dr. G.K. Basu Visiting Prof. of Political Science/International relations and world economy and diplomacy	2years 15.09.2007 to 14.09.2009	Osh State University, Osh, Kyrghystan
Chairs of International Relations Diplomacy and International Law
19	Uzbekistan	Dr. Smt. Jyotsna Bakshi Visiting Associate Prof. for Indian chair	2 +1years 28.04.2006 to 24.04.2009	University of world Economy & Diplomacy, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
20	South Africa	Gandhi Luthuli Chair for Peace Studies (Designated Dr.M.S.John, visiting Prof of Peace Studies)	Likely to join in July 2008	University of Kwazulu Natal, Durban, south Africa
Chairs of Contemporary Indian Studies
21	Mauritius	Associate Professor	Under Process	Mahatma Gandhi Institute, Moka, Mauritius
Chairs on Short Term Basis
1	U.S.A.	Dr. Rimli Bhattacharya Visiting Prof. of English	18.01.2008 to 15.05.2008	University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
2	Mongolia	Visiting Prof. of Budhist Studies Dr.R.K.Mishra Visiting Prof. of Sanskrit	w.e.f. 1st March 08	National University of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
3	France	Dr. Prem Shankar Jha (Chair of Indian Economy Institut'd Etudes politiques De Paris) Designated Dr. Amitabh Kundu	From 30.09.2007 to 30.01.2008 (likely to join in March 2008)	Science Po, Paris France
4	Germany	Dr. Aloka Parasher Sen	From 08.10.2007 to 31.03.2008	HeidelbergUniversity Heidelberg, Germany
5	Germany	Dr. Adapa Satyanarayana	From 15.10.2007 to 31.03.2008	Martin Luther University Halle Wittenberg, Germany
6	Germany	Vacant	Under Process	Hamburg University, Hamburg, Germany
7	Germany	Dr. Nonica Dutta	From 20.10.2007 to 29.02.2008	Humbolt University, Berlin, Germany
8	Germany	Vacant	Under Process	Mainz University / Johannes, Gutenburg University, Mainz, Germany