Asim Bando's KOLKATA BLOG

Kids and young lads celebrating Chinese New Year with traditional fanfare and enthusiasm at Bo Barrack of Kolkata. They are enjoying the dance of dragons. "Happy Chinese New Year" has been written in English on the wall of red-green house near Bowbazar thana. -- A. B.

On 3 Januar, 2015, American Historical Association (AHA) honoured a Bengalee in New York with prestigious "Toynbee Prize" for the year 2014. He is Dipesh Chakrabarty. Named after Arnold J. Toynbee, the Toynbee Prize Foundation was chartered in 1987 "to contribute to the development of the social sciences, as defined from a broad historical view of human society and of human and social problems." Currently, it is awarded every other year for work that makes a significant contribution to the study of global history. Dipesh Chakrabarty was chosen by unanimous consensus by the Selection Committee of Toynbee Prize in last July acknowledging the importance and influence of his work. Dipesh Chakrabarty has taught at Chicago since 1995 and is a scholar of South-Asian history, postcolonial studies and global history. Best known for his 2000 volume 'Provincializing Europe', he has made major contributionsto the historical fields at the core of...