Consulate General of the United States Chennai, India

OFFICIAL TEXT

January 30, 2012

Remarks by U.S. Consul General Jennifer McIntyre at American Corner, Bangalore

As Prepared Text

Namaskara. It’s my pleasure to inaugurate a more spacious American Corner at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in Bangalore.

The American Corner program is a US Department of State sponsored worldwide initiative.

The American Corners are built upon the core concept of partnership and serve as regional resource centers to provide accurate and current information about the U.S.  

The Public Affairs Office of the U.S. Consulate General, Chennai established the American Corner in Bangalore in September 2004 in partnership with the Bharatriya Vidya Bhavan.

The Corner is the first place for accurate and up-to-date information about political economic, cultural educational and social trends in the United States for residents of Bangalore.

Services include open access to materials, reference services and invitations to programs organized by the Corner and the Consulate.

The U. S. Consulate, Chennai will continue to support and provide information on the United States through this facility.

The Bangalore American Corner has organized a variety of activities ranging from screening of video programs, art workshops, photo exhibits, book discussions, play readings, ELT workshops, quiz programs, music workshops, press events and presentations by Indian and American experts.

Through these activities, the Corner has been able to reach out to large number of professionals, students and other members in the community.  

This American Corner which has completed seven successful years in Bangalore, currently has more than 1000 books and subscriptions to 30 periodicals.

The Corner also offers DVDs and guided internet access which provides information on the United States. You can also access commercial databases through eLibraryUSA  in the Corner.

We welcome you and all cinema lovers of Bangalore to attend the Second Saturday Matinee shows of some of the best American films right here in the American Corner.

Should you wish to access material beyond the Corner’s resources, you are welcome to make use of the services offered by the American Library which is located within the American Consulate General premises in Chennai.  

Let me take the pleasure in announcing that three new computers have been added to the American Corner this morning along with 70 books for young adults which will be a new addition to the present collection.

More books will be added to the children’s collection on a regular basis.  

Before I conclude, let me take the opportunity to thank Dr. N. S. Viswanath for organizing the workshop  on Business Planning for budding business professionals.

Congratulations to all the students from Management schools in Bangalore and Mysore who participated in the workshop.

My colleagues in the Consulate join me in thanking Mr. N. Ramanuja, Chairman, Bhavan-Karnataka, Mr. H.N. Suresh, Director of the Bangalore Bhavan and other senior members at Bhavan for their constant support to us.

I would also like to recognize Mr. V. Muralidhar, Manager of the American Corner for his role in convincing the Bhavan’s Management to move the Corner to its current, more spacious location.  

Bangalore American Corner  will continue to serve as a venue for events, interaction and information exchange related to Indo-U.S. interest.   

Thank you all for joining me today.