India, launchpad for 'reinvented' British Council

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, SEPT. 26. Keen to cash in on the existing ``as-good-as-it- has-ever-been'' bilateral climate between India and the U.K., the British have decided to make India the launchpad for the ``reinvented'' British Council that is aimed at strengthening Britain's knowledge partnership with countries.

Unveiling `A new British Council in the new India' at a press conference here today, the High Commissioner, Sir Rob Young, and the British Council Director, Mr. Edmund Marsden, said the coming year would see Britain increasing its investment in public diplomacy in India.

Describing the Indo-U.K. relations as ``strong, confident and multi-faceted'', Sir Young said the two countries were engaged in dialogue on key issues.And, public diplomacy - which the British Council represents - being a key component of bilateral ties, much attention will be paid on repackaging it to meet the needs of the new India in general and the Internet generation in particular.

On the project at hand, Mr. Marsden said India was chosen to pilot the exercise which combines the best of the familiar and the new because it was at the forefront of the IT revolution and was also home to one of the biggest operations of the British Council worldover. A beginning has already been made in New Delhi where the library is being rebuilt and refurbished into a knowledge and learning centre. It is slated to open in January 2002.

``Apart from the conventional library, it will provide access to a database that is not even accessible on the Net because of the cost factor. We are trying to get access to this database at concessional rates,'' Mr. Marsden said. To begin with, members will be able to access the online data base only from the library but plans are to facilitate access from their homes.

Likewise, all the other lending libraries of the British Council will be modernised. The Council will be moving to new centres in Bangalore, Kolkata and Mumbai while its premises in Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune and Thiruvananthapuram will undergo a facelift.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : National
Previous : Medha Patkar to await clarifications
Next     : Drought, travel advisory behind IFFI cancellation