President's Message
 

In my greetings to all of you in my previous message, I had written about turning a corner into 2023.  The ability to manoeuvre through crises moments is what has ensured SICI’s long journey holding the academic communities from both India and Canada.  It is with a lot of happiness that I note here that SICI signed a MoU with the Government of Alberta.  Hon. Demetrios Nicolaides, Minister for Advanced Education, Government of Alberta and Dr. Pavneesh Madan, Vice President, SICI signed the MoU in person in Calgary.  SICI also signed a Letter of Intent with the University of Alberta to strengthen a great long-lasting partnership.  Prof. Bill Flannagan, President, University of Alberta and Prof. B. Hariharan, President, SICI signed the LoI in person in New Delhi.

 

SICI was able to extend financial support for workshops and conferences for member institutions as in the previous years despite the lack of financial support that continues to be elusive.  The awardees were also given an online orientation programme which sought to address their queries as it briefed them about the value of being a part of SICI’s knowledge network.

 

We were also able to announce results for various competitions for member institutions.  These include the Shastri Faculty Training in Applied Education (SFTAE) Project Grant Awardees 2022-23,Shastri Conference and Lecture Series Grant (SCLSG) and the Shastri Best Research Paper Award.  My hearty congratulations to all the achievers. 

 

I was able to meet the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Shri V. Muraleedharan and briefed him about the Addendum that needs to be in place to ensure continued financial support for SICI.  The minister has assured that he will study our request in detail and has promised to get back to us. 

 

I must record here the untiring work of all the administrative staff in both the offices and the Executive Committee as I sign off with the hope that we will be able to take forward this momentum.

 

Thanks!

 

Dr. B. Hariharan

 
What's On?
 

Signing of Letter of Intent between SICI &    University of Alberta

To mark the strengthening of the existing partnership, a Letter of Intent between Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute (SICI) and the University of Alberta, Canada was signed by Prof. B. Hariharan, President, SICI, and Prof. Bill Flannagan, President, University of Alberta, on January 11, 2023, 10:00 AM (IST) at the Institute’s premises. The Letter of Intent is based on the understanding that both parties are committed to the further strengthening of the existing linkages between the Institute & its members and the University of Alberta. The officials from the High Commission of Canada in India and SICI associates from the Indian Members institutions were present to witness the signing ceremony.  

 

The delegation from University of Alberta included  Dr. Cen Huang, Vice-Provost & Associate Vice-President (International);C Dr. Andre McDonald, Chief Strategy Officer, Associate Vice-President (Strategic Research Initiatives and Performance), Office of the Vice-President (Research and Innovation); Dr. Amit Kumar, Professor of Mechanical Engineering; Deputy Director of Future Energy Systems; and President of Engage India: Association of Professors, Dr. John Bell, International Research Officer, Office of the Vice-President (Research and Innovation) Ms. Maria Mathai, Advisor (India), UAI.

Signing of MoU between SICI and  Government of Alberta, Canada

On January 12, 2023, the Institute signed an memorandum of understanding(MOU) with the Ministry of Advanced Education, Government of Alberta, in Canada to strengthen post-secondary relationships and expand academic & research opportunities between Alberta and India. Dr. Pavneesh Madan, Vice President and President Elect, Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute and Minister of Advanced Education, Government of Alberta, Minister Demetrios Nicolaides signed the MoU.

 

The MOU will allow for post-secondary institutions in Alberta and India to collaborate with one another and share knowledge more easily through new research partnerships, professional development opportunities, and engagement with students and faculty.
 
Interaction of Mitacs Programme awardees with visiting Mitacs Officials at SICI

The Institute hosted an interaction of the visiting Mitacs delegation with past and current Mitacs-SICI partnership programme awardees on January 18, 2023.  The delegation from Mitacs included Prof. John William Hepburn, Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Rajat Jaswant Sharma, Chief Operating Officer and Mr. Charles Kingsley Achampong, Vice-President, International Partnerships. Ms. Jennifer Daubeny, Minister (Commercial) and Ms. Deborah Rojas from the High Commission of Canada in India and Dr.Amit Dutta from AICTE were also present at the event. Recipients talked about their enrichments and experiences and future plans for the Graduate Research Awards and Graduate Internship Programme.

 

Meeting with Karnataka State Higher Education Council

In continuation with SICI's ongoing outreach to Indian states, on January 25, 2023 Dr. Kaul and her team met with Dr. Gopalkrishna Joshi, Executive Director , Karnataka State Higher Education Council and Ms. Rajni B.,Special Officer, KSHEC. The proposed partnership with the state of Karnataka will pave way to actualise the internationalization of campuses and implementation of the National Education Policy 2020 in the academic institutions governed by the state of Karnataka. The discussions were around the idea of enhancing institutional collaboration, building academic and research partnerships, and providing high-quality programmes exclusively for the students, researchers, and faculty of the academic institutions from Karnataka with SICI's Canadian Member Institutions.

 

Orientation Session for

Shastri Conference and Lecture Series Grant Awardees

SICI organised a virtual orientation on February 14, 2023 to welcome the awardees of the Shastri Conference & Lecture Series Grant (SCLSG) from India and Canada. During the session, the recipients had the opportunity to discuss and seek clarification on various aspects of the grant, including honorarium, budget, and expenses. SICI is pleased to fund and support 10 conferences and 10 lectures in the coming weeks and months.
 

Shastri Conference & Lecture Series Grant (SCLSG) Events

 

  • Lecture organized by Prof. Minati Panda of Jawaharlal Nehru University on ‘Decolonising Higher Education: Multilingual Pedagogy and Epistemic Justice’ on January 30, 2023
  • Conference organized by Dr. Lakshmi Priya N.   University of Kerala on ‘Ecological Compositions: Indigenous Responses from India and Canada’ on February 9- 10, 2023
  • Conference organized by Dr. Debashree Dattaray, Jadavpur University on ‘Ecology and the Individual: Reading Trans-nationalism from Indo-Canadian Perspectives’ on February 15-16, 2023
  • Conference organized by Dr. John Solomon M, Manipal Academy of Higher Education on ‘Early Intervention and Family Centered services: Bridging the Gap to Participation and Inclusion for Children with Disabilities’ on February 16-17, 2023
  • Lecture organized by Dr. Robinder P. Bedi, University of British Columbia on ‘Confronting Coloniality in Indian Psychology and Psychology in India: A Quarterly Speakers Series’ on February 21, 2023
  • Conference organized by Dr K Abirami SASTRA Deemed University on ‘Cultural heritage’ on February 24, 2023
  • Lecture organized by Prof. Ramkrishna Sen, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur on ‘Green/Bio-polymers as renewable and sustainable alternatives to Petro-plastics’ on February 26, 2023
  • Lecture organized by Prof. Binesh Nair, Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies on ‘Artificial Intelligence for Public Health: Potentials and Challenges in Low Resource Settings’ on February 27- 28, 2023
  • Conference organised by Dr Jayendra Kumar, SRM Institute of Science and Technology on ‘Development of Entrepreneurial attitude in Pharmacy Students’ on February 27-28, 2023
 
In Other News...
 

India-Canada Joint Symposium at CHEMCON-2022 in Kanpur, India 

The Indian Chemical Engineering Congress (CHEMCON) is an annual flagship event of the Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers (IIChE). An invitation from the IIChE was accepted by CSChE’s Board of Directors in early 2022. Ajay K. Dalai, Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering and Canada Research Chair in Bio-Energy and Environmentally Friendly Chemical Processing, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Saskatchewan and Anil K. Mehrotra, Professor, Schulich School of Engineering, Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Calgary and Treasurer of the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering (CSChE) were asked to organize and co-lead a 9-member CSChE delegation to an India-Canadian Joint Symposium at CHEMCON-2022. In addition, Dr. Prachi Kaul, Director, SICI  made an invited presentation on opportunities for engagements available and facilitated by SICI to strengthen the bilateral research and academic partnerships.

 

Launching of the University of Toronto Centre in India

 

On January 31, 2023, the University of Toronto launched The University of Toronto Centre in India in partnership with Tata Trusts. The Centre will focus on urban research and entrepreneurship, bringing together leading scholars and entrepreneurs from Canada and India to develop ground-breaking research and innovation to benefit people in India and around the world.
 

Prof. Shanthi Johnson, a leading public health scholar and SICI Executive Council member will become the University of Windsor’s next Vice-President, Research and Innovation effective July 1, 2023. Prof. Johnson is currently professor and dean of the School of Public Health, University of Alberta.

 

Congratulations, Prof. Johnson!

 
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