Originally posted on sciy.org by Ron Anastasia on Thu 20 Sep 2007 12:42 PM PDT
Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 03, 2007
ePaper
“Pavilion of India has an active role to play in Auroville activitiesâ€
Staff Reporter
AUSPICIOUS START: Karan Singh, chairman of the governing board of the Auroville Foundation, performs ‘bhoomi puja’ for a VIP guest house at Auroville on Sunday. Secretary of the Foundation M. Ramaswamy (left) is in the picture. Photo: T. Singaravelou
PUDUCHERRY: Chairman of the Governing Board of the Auroville Foundation Karan Singh said on Sunday that the Pavilion of India had an active role to play in cultural and integration activities of Auroville.
Speaking after performing the ‘bhoomi pooja’ for a housing complex and Swagatham, a VIP guest house, Dr. Karan Singh said there were many groups working towards their goals and they could work on various topics.
He said there was a very high concentration of creativity in Auroville and added that the residents were pursuing a collective yoga. “People of different religions, castes, creeds and communities are living together. There will be some inter-personal conflicts in such a situation but they have to live and work together to create a sense of community.â€
On the plans to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the founding of Auroville, Dr Singh said the community was planning significant events including unveiling of the statue of Sri Aurobindo at Savitri Bhavan on February 29 next year, opening of a new office for the foundation, a procession and a bonfire.
Secretary of the Auroville Foundation M. Ramaswamy said the Union Government had granted Rs 3 crore for construction of 32 houses in the new housing complex for Aurovilians and the work would be completed within two years.
The Centre had also given Rs 80 lakh for construction of VIP guest house for members of the Governing Board and the International Advisory Committee.
The inner circle road, called Crown Road, would be laid using funds from the Union Government.
The Governing Board of the Auroville Foundation met on Saturday and discussed issues pertaining to development of the international township.
Members of the Board including Ajoy Bagchi, chief architect of Auroville Roger Anger; Malini Parthasarathy, Joint Editor of The Hindu; Aster Patel, director, Centre for Indian Studies; and newly inducted member Ameeta Mehra, founder -trustee, Gnostic Centre, participated in the meeting.
Two ex-officio members — Keshav Desiraju, Joint Secretary (Planning and UNESCO), Department of Secondary Education and Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development, and S.K Ray, Joint Secretary and Financial Adviser, Department of Secondary Education and Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development, also participated.
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