The Unexamined Society... by David Brooks; New York Times

The Unexamined Society

by David Brooks

The New York Times; July 7, 2011

Over the past 50 years, we've seen a number of gigantic policies produce disappointing results — policies to reduce poverty, homelessness, dropout rates, single-parenting and drug addiction. Many of these policies failed because they were based on an overly simplistic view of human nature. They assumed that people responded in straightforward ways to incentives. Often, they assumed that money could cure behavior problems.
Fortunately, today we are in the middle of a golden age of behavioral research. Thousands of researchers are studying the way actual behavior differs from the way we assume people behave. They are coming up with more accurate theories of who we are, and scores of real-world applications. Here's one simple example:
When you renew your driver's license, you have a chance to enroll in an organ donation program. In countries like Germany and the U.S., you have to check a box if you want to opt in. Roughly 14 percent of people do. But behavioral scientists have discovered that how you set the defaults is really important. So in other countries, like Poland or France, you have to check a box if you want to opt out. In these countries, more than 90 percent of people participate.
This is a gigantic behavior difference cued by one tiny and costless change in procedure.
Yet in the middle of this golden age of behavioral research, there is a bill working through Congress that would eliminate the National Science Foundation's Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences. This is exactly how budgets should not be balanced — by cutting cheap things that produce enormous future benefits.
Let's say you want to reduce poverty. We have two traditional understandings of poverty. The first presumes people are rational. They are pursuing their goals effectively and don't need much help in changing their behavior. The second presumes that the poor are afflicted by cultural or psychological dysfunctions that sometimes lead them to behave in shortsighted ways. Neither of these theories has produced much in the way of effective policies.
Eldar Shafir of Princeton and Sendhil Mullainathan of Harvard have recently, with federal help, been exploring a third theory, that scarcity produces its own cognitive traits.
A quick question: What is the starting taxi fare in your city? If you are like most upper-middle-class people, you don't know. If you are like many struggling people, you do know. Poorer people have to think hard about a million things that affluent people don't. They have to make complicated trade-offs when buying a carton of milk: If I buy milk, I can't afford orange juice. They have to decide which utility not to pay.
These questions impose enormous cognitive demands. The brain has limited capacities. If you increase demands on one sort of question, it performs less well on other sorts of questions.
Shafir and Mullainathan gave batteries of tests to Indian sugar farmers. After they sell their harvest, they live in relative prosperity. During this season, the farmers do well on the I.Q. and other tests. But before the harvest, they live amid scarcity and have to think hard about a thousand daily decisions. During these seasons, these same farmers do much worse on the tests. They appear to have lower I.Q.'s. They have more trouble controlling their attention. They are more shortsighted. Scarcity creates its own psychology.
Princeton students don't usually face extreme financial scarcity, but they do face time scarcity. In one game, they had to answer questions in a series of timed rounds, but they could borrow time from future rounds. When they were scrambling amid time scarcity, they were quick to borrow time, and they were nearly oblivious to the usurious interest rates the game organizers were charging. These brilliant Princeton kids were rushing to the equivalent of payday lenders, to their own long-term detriment.
Shafir and Mullainathan have a book coming out next year, exploring how scarcity — whether of time, money or calories (while dieting) — affects your psychology. They are also studying how poor people's self-perceptions shape behavior. Many people don't sign up for the welfare benefits because they are intimidated by the forms. Shafir and Mullainathan asked some people at a Trenton soup kitchen to relive a moment when they felt competent and others to recount a neutral experience. Nearly half of the self-affirming group picked up an available benefits package afterward. Only 16 percent of the neutral group did.
People are complicated. We each have multiple selves, which emerge or don't depending on context. If we're going to address problems, we need to understand the contexts and how these tendencies emerge or don't emerge. We need to design policies around that knowledge. Cutting off financing for this sort of research now is like cutting off navigation financing just as Christopher Columbus hit the shoreline of the New World.

[A version of this op-ed appeared in print on July 8, 2011, on page A23 of the New York edition with the headline: The Unexamined Society...]

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/08/opinion/08brooks.html?_r=1

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Dr. Anup Kumar Das
Centre for Studies in Science Policy
School of Social Sciences
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi - 110067, India
www.anupkumardas.blogspot.com
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Article "Tagore and the Idea of Cooperation" by Ananya Mukherjee

Tagore and the Idea of Cooperation

by Ananya Mukherjee

Source: The Hindu; July 1, 2011; http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article2151116.ece

Nearly eight decades ago, Rabindranath Tagore worried about the growing concentration of economic power and the coming destruction of rural India.

"Today, economic power has been captured by a small minority. But it has acquired this power only by accumulating the productive power of others. Their capital is simply the accumulated labour of a millions of working people, in a monetized form. It is this productive power that is the real capital, and it is this power that latently resides in every worker ..." — Samabayaniti/The Co-operative Principles, 1928.

In a compelling set of essays written between 1915 and 1940, Rabindranath Tagore articulated a social vision where exploitation would give way to a just, humane, collectively owned economy. At the core of his thought was the cooperative principle. This is an idea worth revisiting on the International Day of Cooperatives, which this year falls on July 2, and even more so during the lead-up to 2012, which is the United Nations International Year of Cooperatives.

Why cooperatives again? Have they not been tried — and have failed? Well, so have big banks and large corporations. Yet they continue undiminished. The reason they do so with such impunity is that alternatives are hard to come by. With the financial crisis on the one hand, and the (predictable) collapse of the system of microcredit on the other, the need to identify alternative forms of ownership is greater than ever before.

In India, the experience with the century-old cooperative movement has been mixed. There are some stunning successes: Amul, for one. There are others, too, where cooperatives have proved transformational for the marginalised. The problems are also well-known: abuse, politicisation, excessive dependence on the state, and so on. But these are mere symptoms. The real disease lies elsewhere. There is little understanding, much less acceptance, of the cooperative principle and its potential. It is yet to enter the core of our social vision, leave alone public policy. Those spaces are dominated, ever more aggressively, by the competitive principle, the sceptre of 'efficiency' and private gain. This is why India can emerge as one of the top wealth-generators even as 93 per cent of its working citizens toil in the informal sector. That 93 per cent contributes almost half of India's fast-growing GDP. But it has no say over the way that growth is generated — or any voice to claim a fairer distribution of the wealth it produces. The same goes for the majority that survives on the agrarian economy.

Written some eight decades ago, Tagore's thoughts stemmed from these concerns: the growing concentration of economic power and the destruction of rural India. He wrote: "Today our villages are half-dead. If we imagine we can just/ continue to live, that would be a mistake. The dying can pull/ the living only towards death." (from The Neglected Villages, 1934).

He was deeply sceptical about the solutions proposed by the elite — such as charity or moral enlightenment of the wealthy. These were like putting out "a raging fire by blowing at it," he wrote. Instead, he sought an ethical model of production.

What would that entail? Tagore's vision went far beyond notions like 'social responsibility' that are in vogue today. To him, ethical production required that resources (such as land and capital) are collectively owned by producers themselves. This would ensure that the produce is also collectively owned, and that all producers have a say in determining their share of value in the product of their work.

The typical small farmer, indebted and impoverished, was much in need of such a structure. "Imagine if all of our small farmers farmed their land collectively, stored their produce in a common facility and sold them through a common mechanism..." Only then can we prevent profiteering; only then can the farmer recoup the legitimate value of her labour, wrote Tagore.

Without such mechanisms, the farmer would never be able to effectively exercise the right to his land, even if he held the title. Structural conditions would make him powerless. Under these circumstances, giving the small farmer the legal right to land was no more than giving him 'the right to commit suicide.'

Indeed, in the cooperative principle, Tagore saw the possibility of challenging power, of altering power relations. Ordinary people, whose work constituted what was 'the real capital,' could only do so if they collectively owned that 'capital.' Many economists may well reject this as the misplaced idealism of an ill-informed poet. But it will resonate readily with the struggles for producer-ownership in the world today, such as Via Campesina. As the clout of agri-business grows, food inflation rises, and informal work becomes the norm, challenging dominant structures of ownership. And power is the central challenge of these movements.

In India, no amount of tinkering can make growth 'inclusive,' unless people have a say in how that growth is driven. Take the case of cotton textiles, a boom sector that has seen much growth. But has it really benefited those who have produced that growth? The cotton growers, for instance — the largest single group within the 200,000 farmers who have taken their own lives in the past decade? Or the millions of women who work the long shifts in export factories? Even worse, the drive for profits constantly pits the growers and workers against one another. When, at the peak of the cotton crisis, cotton farmers received price support from the government, export sector workers were threatened with job losses because cotton had become 'too expensive.' (Ironically, the worst off among the cotton growers did not even benefit from price support.) As long as prices are globally determined, we are told, not much can be done to save those at the bottom. Yet, the past few months have seen global prices hit a big high — and the government sharply restricted cotton exports to favour the textile lobby. This crippled the growers.

This brings us right back to the question of ownership. When global prices fluctuate, who decides how the gains and losses are to be shared? Certainly not the majority of workers and small farmers. But more important, global prices do not operate by magic. They reflect the same concentration of ownership and economic power. Indeed, several movements today urge consumers to use their purchasing power to counter such power. But consumer movements cannot succeed unless the productive economy is differently organised, differently owned.

Can that happen? Yes, if several conditions are in place. First, the competitive principle must be properly applied. Every institution, from schools to universities to hospitals, is increasingly being judged according to that principle, and forced to forgo its social priorities. At the same time, banks and corporations remain blatantly non-competitive, operating like cabals with little discipline or accountability. Second, among the main points of criticism of cooperatives in India has been their need for state resources. But our corporations have been also been heavily subsidised by state resources. While they flourish, cooperatives flounder. Why? Corporations enjoy state support with no interference; cooperatives do not. State support has come with levels of bureaucratic control that are incompatible with a truly autonomous, member-driven movement. Third, cooperatives cannot survive in isolated sectors. Systematic linkages between sectors and across countries are necessary if we are to harness the full political, social, economic power of the cooperative principle.

Here is a story from Peru. From its mountains comes a special brand of coffee called Cafe Femenino, produced by cooperatives of very poor indigenous women. It grew out of the women's struggle to claim their share of the value they produce. As growers of organic Fair Trade coffee they earn a premium over and above the market price. Before Cafe Femenino, the women had no access to this premium, no say in its use. Now they use it to educate their daughters who would otherwise not go to school; more than that they raise awareness against the tremendous gender violence in their communities.

There is more. In Canada, Cafe Femenino is distributed also by a workers' cooperative, creating as a result an entire coffee chain of cooperatives. Finally, as a mark of recognition of the global character of gender violence, Cafe Femenino is distributed free to shelters for abused women in Canada. The Femenino experiment has spread to six countries in Latin America and grows by the day. In India too, various experiments with women's collective enterprises have long been under way, but do not receive the attention they deserve.

As Tagore had foreseen it, the cooperative principle enables the most marginalised people to mobilise their most abundant resource: their productive power and their solidarity. 'Development projects' or paternalistic policy models for 'empowering the poor' cannot achieve this.

The choice is not between textbook theories. The lessons of everyday life have been stark, more so since 2008. The choice is between two different worlds: one driven by hyper-profit and mass distress, the other holding out the promise of shared prosperity and well-being.

(Ananya Mukherjee is Professor and Chair of Political Science/Development Studies at York University, Toronto. Her latest book, Human Development and Social Power: Perspectives from South Asia, was published by Routledge (London and New York, 2008.))

Source: The Hindu; http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article2151116.ece

CfPs:: International Conference on Management of Intellectual Property Rights and Strategy (MIPS2012) at IITB

1st International Conference on Management of Intellectual Property Rights and Strategy (MIPS2012)

2–5 February 2012

Organized by Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB), India

THEME: IP for Development: The emerging Paradigm

Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management, IIT Bombay through the support of the Ministry of Human Resources Development IPR Chair Project, Government of India, is hosting the 1st International Conference on Management of Intellectual Property Rights and Strategy MIPS 2012 at IIT Bombay, India. The core focus of this conference is to provide a suitable and conducive platform to discuss, debate and present contemporary research in the area of Intellectual Property Rights and its management.

Theme of the Conference:
The theme for the conference is "IP for Development: The emerging Paradigm". Following are the Track of interest identified, but are NOT limited to:

• Economics of commons – managing technology, knowledge transfer and spillovers, standardisation and pooling through IPR
• Identification, Decisions and Strategic management of IPR – IP Informatics and analysis
• Missing IP management in strategy
• Myths and realities in IP Quality, Valuation and its branding
• Navigating the Digital jungle – IPR as the compass
• Public institutions, requirements and intergenerational equity of IP
• Rationales and Paradigms in the role of IPR
• The Public – Private Dichotomy under TRIPS Flexibility and Maximum standards
• Tripping open innovation – Does IP close the opening of collaborative innovation models?

Early Call for Papers/ Submissions
The submissions are through the online mode only. Register and upload your extended abstract online at towards the submission and review process. The extended abstract would be limited to 750 words [including the keywords]. Workshop / Tutorial proposals <500 words related to IPR are also invited. Full papers are expected by October 1, 2011. Selected and reviewed submissions would be accommodated in Research / Practitioners / Case study stream. Full papers are a must to be eligible for the research papers stream and the related grants. Practitioners' series can be an extended abstract of 3 pages.

Submission Types
The conference attempts to truly balance the academician researcher and the industrial practitioner. This conference has three different modes of presentation for the selected papers – Research Stream, Practitioners Stream and Case study stream.

Conference Awards
In order to enhance, expand and acknowledge the quality of IPR research occurring in the country, the conference is proposing two sets of awards to be presented. The first set of awards is towards the recognition of the top two research, practitioner and case papers under Indian and foreign category.
The second set of awards is for the best thesis in the area of IPR, being defended under Indian and foreign category. Further information on the nomination and application process / guidelines will be released shortly.
Select submissions will be invited for potential publications in two journals – International Journal of IP management and International Journal of Technology Transfer and commercialisation, both by Inderscience Publishers.

Student and Researchers' Support
The conference is in the process of finalising travel support for shortlisted students from India who present their research work and partial travel support for shortlisted international students [especially developing nations] who present their research work.

Important Timelines

• Extended Abstracts DUE: July 08, 2011
• Review status: August 16, 2011
• Workshops / Tutorials Proposals: July 08, 2011
• Full Paper for Review: October 1, 2011
• Full paper review and selection status: December 1, 2o11
• Early Registration: November 15 – December 31, 2011
• Regular Registration: December 11, 2011 onwards
• Camera Ready Paper: January 01, 2011
• Conference Dates: February 2-5, 2012

Conference Components
The conference provides the ideal opportunity for emerging researchers in the IPR domain to interact with experts and practitioners through doctoral colloquium, themed tracks and keynote sessions. Separate workshops and tutorials are also being planned as part of the pre conference event. To enable the industry and practitioners participation, the conference has separate case study tracks across the various industries and also application style papers which apply the various research models into reality. Proposals for workshops, tutorials and sponsorship are welcome.

MIPS 2012 conference Secretariat

IPR Chair Office
SJMSOM, IIT Bombay, Powai
Please contact us at mips2012[at]som.iitb.ac.in
IPR Chair Project: Prof. Karuna Jain, iprchair[at]som.iitb.ac.in
IPR Chair Office: iprchair.office[at]som.iitb.ac.in

Further Details

17th CEEMAN Case Writing Competition – in partnership with Emerald

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CEEMAN, in cooperation with Emerald, is delighted to announce the launch of its 17th Annual Case Writing Competition.

The aim of the competition is to encourage and promote the development of high-quality case material relevant for the realities of transitional and emerging economies and at the same time promote the development of case-writing capabilities in those countries.

In the spirit of a fully inclusive competition, global submissions are encouraged.

The co-organizers will support global exposure of the submitted high-quality cases through a direct link with the Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies collection, new for 2011. All case submissions will be considered for international publication.

Starting from this year, the total award prize money sponsored by Emerald is increased to €4,000. Prizes are awarded to the overall winner and two runners-up.

Requirements

Compulsory submission criteria:

• Cases should have a developing and emerging markets focus
• Case studies submitted should not have been published before in their current or substantially similar form, or be under consideration for publication in any ISSN/ ISBN-registered publication or with any other case-centre
• All case studies submitted for review must include appropriate signed permissions from case protagonists
• All submissions should be accompanied by a case teaching note and case synopsis.

As the cases will be considered for publication in Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies collection, submissions must comply with the author guidelines, which include information on editorial objectives and criteria, as well as comprehensive manuscript requirements.

Please also consult the competition evaluation criteria before submitting your case.

Copyright

CEEMAN and Emerald reserve the right to publish the cases submitted for the competition, but do not have any other claims for the copyright.

If the editorial team of the Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies collection would like to publish a case submission, the editor will contact the author with an offer to do so.

In the event of publication authors will retain the academic freedom to contribute to the wider distribution and readership of their work. This includes the right to use their work as part of their own teaching. The rights retained by the author are explained fully in the Emerald Authors' Charter.

If, six months after the deadline for submissions has passed, Emerald has not contacted the author about publishing his/her case, Emerald will waive its first claim to publication and the authors will be free to submit their case to another publication.

All cases submitted to the 17th CEEMAN Case Writing Competition that are later published in the Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies collection will be made freely available to CEEMAN members.

Prize

The author of the best case will be awarded a CEEMAN/Emerald prize of €2,500 plus

• Publication of the winning case in Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies.
• Free participation in the 19th CEEMAN Annual Conference in Tbilisi, Georgia on 21-24 September 2011
• Free accommodation at the conference hotel for up to three nights

The first runner-up will be awarded a prize of €1,000, while the second runner up will receive €500.

If a winning case has more than one author, the prize will be split among the co-authors (the prize may be subject to local taxes).

Full evaluations from the competition judging panel will be made available to authors upon request.

Entry details

To enter the competition, please send your case with the teaching note and filled-in application form by email info@ceeman.org.

Important dates

Case submission deadline: 15 July 2011
Authors notified about the competition results: 5 September 2011
Case Writing Competition Award: 23 September 2011, 19th CEEMAN Annual Conference Gala Dinner, Tbilisi, Georgia

Download Case Writing Competition application form

Instructional materials:

CEEMAN Case Writing Competition evaluation criteria
Case writing guide by Ali Farhoomand, University of Hong Kong
A simplified approach to writing case studies by Dr Melodena Balakrishnan, Chair of the Academy of International Business, MENA chapter and Regional Editor Middle East, Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies.
Case organization chapter from Writing Cases, 4th Edition / Learning with Cases, 4th Edition (Book Set), by Michiel R. Leenders, James A. Erskine, Louise A. Mauffette-Leenders
Case primer by David Wylie, Babson College

 

Further Details: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/research/awards/ceemancase.htm

Inlaks Research Travel Grants

INLAKS RESEARCH TRAVEL GRANTS

The Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation has been supporting innovative work in research and scholarship for more than three decades. The "Inlaks Research Travel Grant" is geared to assist registered PhD. students of Indian universities to undertake short-term visits to universities abroad to collect material, use facilities and consult experts.

WHAT DOES THE AWARD OFFER?
"Inlaks Research Travel Grant" offers financial support for a maximum of 3 months at a university/institution/library abroad. The Grant will cover:

•  Discounted air fare
•  Maintenance expenses at a modest rate
•  Funds for buying material and books, and making copies of relevant literature.

WHO CAN APPLY?
 The applicants must

•  hold confirmed Ph.D registration for at least two years but for not more than four years.
•  have a first class degree at either Bachelor's (Honours) or Master's level, preferably both.
•  be under 35 years of age on 31 December in the year of applying.

SUBJECTS FOR WHICH THE GRANT IS AVAILABLE: Humanities and Social Sciences

WHAT MUST THE APPLICANTS SUBMIT?
 Fully filled form for "Inlaks Research Travel Grant". The forms may be downloaded from the Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation website.

• Sample of written work (3000-5000 words) on the subject of the candidate's research. This should preferably be a draft (with full annotation and documentation) of a chapter of the PhD thesis along with details regarding the reading list, surveys, or any other work done towards the thesis.
• Evidence of having communicated with concerned persons or institutions abroad and having received a positive response.
• A written and signed statement from the applicant's supervisor stating:
• The candidate's ability, focus and progress in the work done under her/his supervision
• The candidate's need to go abroad
• That the funds for the visit cannot be obtained from any other source
• The fully filled in forms and other enclosures must be sent by post to the following address: 86/87 Atlanta, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400 021.

LAST DATE OF RECEIVING APPLICATION FORMS September 30, 2011.

IMPORTANT CONDITIONS

• Any material collected by the selected candidates (books, copies, instruments etc.) must become the property of the candidate's institution for wider use by future scholars.
• All this material must carry a statement regarding the support received from the Inlaks Research Travel Grants
• The grants must be utilized within nine months of the date of award.
• The students must furnish vouchers/evidence for major expenses like lodging, library fees, buying books, etc.

SELECTION PROCEDURE

• The candidates will be expected to go through a two-tier selection procedure.
• First round: short-listing on the basis of the written record submitted by the candidate.
• Second and final round: Personal interview of the short-listed candidates.
• (NOTE: The candidates short-listed for the interview will be informed by early November 2011. The final interviews will be held by early December 2011).

Download Application Form (xls. format)

Further Details

CfAs: Lok Sabha Internship Programme 2011

PARLIAMENT OF INDIA, LOK SABHA SECRETARIAT
(Bureau of Parliamentary Studies and Training)

LOK SABHA INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME

Applications are invited in the prescribed format for five Internship Positions for a one-year Internship Programme in the Lok Sabha. The Internship Programme is aimed to provide an opportunity to young men and women with outstanding academic and extracurricular achievements to acquaint themselves with the working of parliamentary democracy and democratic institutions in general and specifically about the Indian parliamentary system. The Programme also aims at imparting requisite skills and knowledge to enable the Interns to develop a proper perspective about the role of Legislature in the parliamentary system which, in turn, would help them while working in their own chosen fields in future.

Duration: The duration of the Internship Programme will be one year.

Eligibility:
Age: The Internship shall be open to Indian citizens between 21 and 28 years of age as on 31st December 2011.

Qualifications: The applicant should have completed a two-year Post-Graduate Degree from a recognised Indian or Foreign University with 55% marks in any of the areas/disciplines such as Social Sciences, Law, Journalism, Finance, Management, etc.

 

The applicant should submit a recommendation letter from the Principal of College/Head of the Institution he/she last attended or is enrolled in to pursue higher studies along with the completed application form. The applicant must also submit a brief statement in 250 words which should inter alia state why he/she intends to join the Internship Programme; his/her career goals; and how the Internship will help him/her in achieving those goals. The short listed applicants will be called to appear for an Interview.

Reservation for Candidates belonging to SC, ST and OBC: Reservation of Internship positions belonging to the category of SC, ST and OBC will be made as per Government of India policy. Candidates belonging to the above categories should attach requisite certificate in support of their claim issued by the Competent Authority.

Stipend and Other Facilities: The Interns will be paid a consolidated stipend of Rs. 20,000/- per month during the Internship period. In addition, a sum of Rs. 10,000/- shall be given as a one-time expenditure towards stationery and typing expenses. Expenses on accommodation, travelling, etc. shall be borne by the Interns themselves.

The selected Interns will have to sign a Memorandum of Undertaking and conditions attached thereto separately. The Lok Sabha Secretariat shall have all right to cancel the Internship awarded to any Intern, without stating any reason, during the course of the Programme at any point of time. The Lok Sabha Secretariat shall issue a Certificate to the Interns on the successful completion of the Internship Programme.

The completed application in the enclosed format should reach the Additional Director, Bureau of Parliamentary Studies and Training (BPST), Lok Sabha Secretariat, Room No. F-077, 'J' Block, Parliament Library Building, New Delhi-110001, latest by 15 July 2011.

Further Details

"Knowledge Swaraj: An Indian Manifesto on Science and Technology" by Knowledge in Civil Society

Knowledge Swaraj: An Indian Manifesto on Science and Technology

by Knowledge in Civil Society (KICS), India

This is a HindSwaraj-inspired document for the 21t Century. It asks what "self-rule (swaraj) for India" can mean, one century after Mohandas Gandhi wrote his manifesto for an independent India on board a ship from Europe to Africa. Swaraj today in the 21st century has to include the important domain of self-rule in science and technology too. If Mahatma Gandhi gave prominence to science and technology in the form of law, medicine and railways in the original Hind Swaraj, for the 21st century we see on centre stage: biotechnologies, tribal knowledge, space technology, hand-loom, information and communication technologies, and ayurvedic medicine. This Indian Manifesto on Science and Technology argues for Indian self-rule of its science and technology, for a knowledge democracy that draws its agenda for research and technology on the richness of Indian culture and the needs of the Indian people. more...

Download Full-text PDF http://kicsforum.net/kics/kicsmatters/Knowledge-swaraj-an-Indian-S&T-manifesto.pdf

KICS welcomes comments on manifesto at scienceswaraj@gmail.com

CfAs:: Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral and Professional Research Fellowships

Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral and Professional Research Fellowships

These research fellowships, for a maximum period of nine months, are designed for scholars who are registered for a Ph.D. at an Indian institution and also for professionals with significant work experience and accomplishments.

Applications from all disciplines will be considered. Priority fields are: Agricultural Sciences; Economics; Education; Energy, Sustainable Development and Climate Change; Environment; International Relations; Management and Leadership Development; Media and Communications with focus on Public Service Broadcasting; Public Administration; Public Health; Science and Technology; Study of India with focus on contemporary issues; and Study of the United States. For Study of India or the Study of the United States (American Studies) the areas could include: language and literature, history, government, economics, society and culture, religion, and film studies.

Grant Benefits
These fellowships provide a monthly stipend, Accident and Sickness Program for Exchanges per US Government guidelines, round-trip economy class air travel, applicable allowances and modest affiliation fees, if any. Selected scholars will have opportunities to audit non-degree courses, conduct research and gain practical work experience in suitable settings in the US. No allowances are provided for dependents. The grant is not sufficient to support family members.

Eligibility Requirements

In addition to the General Prerequisites, the applicants:
* who are working on their Ph.D.s should have done adequate research in the relevant field, especially in the identification of resources in India and the U.S. They should be registered for their Ph.D.s at an Indian institution at least one year prior to the date of application and should enclose a certificate from their Ph.D. supervisor commenting on their research work and the usefulness of the fellowship, and indicating the Ph.D. registration date;

• who are professionals should have a master's degree and substantive professional experience in the proposed field;
• should apply through proper channel, if employed;
• should enclose a 'writing sample' which could be a copy of an article or paper published/presented or extracts from the M.Phil. thesis; and
• should preferably be 45 years of age or under

Note: These fellowships are for pre-doctoral level research. Applications from scholars/professionals with Ph.D. degrees or at the final stage of thesis submission will not be considered.

How to Apply
Please refer to Application Procedure and Guidelines and download Application Material:

• Application Form
• Confidential Letter of Reference

Application Due Date: July 15, 2011

Further Details

"Innovation, Sustainability, Development: A New Manifesto" by STEPS Centre, UK

Innovation, Sustainability, Development: A New Manifesto

by STEPS Centre, UK, 2010

Innovation, Sustainability, Development: A New Manifesto recommends new ways of linking science and innovation to development for a more sustainable, equitable and resilient future.

The Manifesto Project
In 1970 a radical document called The Sussex Manifesto helped shape modern thinking on science and technology for development. Forty years on, what kind of science and technology for development Manifesto is needed for today's world?
The STEPS Centre is creating a new manifesto with one of the authors of the original, Professor Geoff Oldham. With cutting-edge ideas and some Southern perspectives, the New Manifesto recommends new ways of linking science and innovation to development for a more sustainable, equitable and resilient future.

Download Full-text PDF

The Multimedia Manifesto

Further Details

CfP:: 11th Consortium of Students in Management Research (COSMAR 2011), IISc, 21 October

The 11th Consortium of Students in Management Research
(COSMAR 2011)

on 21st October 2011

at the Department of Management Studies, IISc, Bangalore

COSMAR: The Consortium of Students in Management Research (COSMAR) is an annual Research Consortium organized by the Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. The Consortium is a forum for interaction between research scholars who specialize in different areas of management and related disciplines.
COSMAR aims to catalyze and showcase quality academic research in management. It also provides an excellent opportunity for interaction among students, researchers, academicians, practitioners and corporate executives.
We encourage prospective student and delegate participants to browse through this website in order to find out more about COSMAR 2011. Prospective participants are welcome to contact us with their queries for any clarifications.

Call for Papers
Papers are invited from all areas of management and allied disciplines, including but not restricted to, the following research areas:

• Economics
• Energy & Environment
• Finance
• General Management
• Human Resource Management
• Infrastructure Management
• Innovation & IP
• Knowledge Management
• Marketing
• Operations Management
• Organizational Behavior
• Project Management
• Public Policy
• Statistics
• Strategy
• Systems
• Technology Management
• Transportation

Please note that this list is indicative and not exhaustive. Paper submissions from other areas of research in management are also encouraged, and will be considered subject to their approval by the Organizing Committee, COSMAR 2011. The decision of the Organizing Committee, COSMAR 2011, shall be final in this regard.

Eligibility Criteria

• The researcher must be registered as a full-time/part-time scholar in a doctoral programme, i.e. Ph.D/D.Phil/Fellow Programme equivalent to a Ph.D or in an M.S. (By Research), in Management or allied disciplines, of a University/Deemed University/Institute of National Importance/recognized autonomous institution.
• The researcher should have completed at least two years research in the programme and his/her registration must be active.
• The paper submitted by the researcher should essentially be based on his/her management research dissertation.
• Preferably, the thesis for which work is being carried out should NOT have been submitted. If the thesis has been submitted, then the degree should NOT have been awarded as on the date of submission of the Paper and the Certificate of Authenticity.
• The decision taken by the Organizing Committee, COSMAR 2011, in ascertaining and determining the eligibility of a candidate for participation, shall be final.

Important Dates
The Organizing Committee, COSMAR 2011, has decided on the following deadlines applicable for Paper Submission, Acceptance Notification, and Camera-ready Copy Submission. Prospective participants are requested to take note of and adhere to them. Key Activity Deadline

• Paper Submission 20 July 2011
• Acceptance Notification 20 August 2011
• Camera-ready Copy Submission 31 August 2011

Further Details: http://mgmt.iisc.ernet.in/~cosmar11/

Congratulations winners!! Globelics Academy 2011 announces Best Papers Award

Globelics Academy 2011 announces Best Papers Award 

Two best papers amongst the many excellent papers have now been chosen. Final selection was done by us, i.e. organizers. However, also many comments from the lecturing professors were taken into account. In addition, these two papers were clearly voted the best papers by GA 2011 students. And the best papers are:

1. "Location, Structure, Motivation and Linkages of Foreign ICT and Biotechnology Firms in India and China" by Swapan Kumar PATRA (Centre for Studies in Science Policy, Jawharlal Nehru University, India)
   
2. "The Dynamics of National Innovation Systems:a panel cointegration analysis of the co-evolution between Innovative Capability and Absorptive Capacity" by José Miguel NATERA (Complutense University of Madrid, Venezuelan)
   

Further Details: http://www.globelicsacademy.net/2011_students.html

The winners will get a chance to present their papers at the 9th Globelics International Conference, 15-17 November 2011, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Congratulations winners!!

LSE releases "Maximizing the Impacts of Your Research: A Handbook for Social Scientists"

Maximizing the Impacts of Your Research: A Handbook for Social Scientists

 

by  The London School of Economics, Public Policy Group, 2011

 

About this Handbook

There are few academics who are interested in doing research that simply has no influence on anyone else in academia or outside. Some perhaps will be content to produce 'shelf-bending' work that goes into a library (included in a published journal or book), and then over the next decades ever-so-slightly bends the shelf it sits on. But we believe that they are in a small minority. The whole point of social science research is to achieve academic impact by advancing your discipline, and (where possible) by having some positive influence also on external audiences – in business, government, the media or civil society.

For the past year a team of academics based at the London School of Economics, the University of Leeds and Imperial College have been working on a 'Research Impacts' project aimed at developing precise methods for measuring and evaluating the impact of research in the public sphere. We believe the our data will be of interest to all UK universities how to better capture and track the impacts of their social science research and applications work.

Part of our task is to develop guidance for colleagues interested in this field. In the past, there has been no one source of systematic advice on how to maximize the academic impacts of your research in terms of citations and other measures of influence. And almost no sources at all have helped researchers to achieve greater visibility and impacts with audiences outside the university. Instead researchers have had to rely on informal knowledge and picking up random hints and tips here and there from colleagues, and from their own personal experience.

This Handbook remedies this key gap and opens the door to researchers achieving a more professional and focused approach to their research from the outset. It provides a large menu of sound and evidence-based advice and guidance on how to ensure that your work achieves its maximum visibility and influence with both academic and external audiences. As with any menu, readers need to pick and choose the elements that are relevant for them. We provide detailed information on what constitutes good practice in expanding the impact of social science research. We also survey a wide range of new developments, new tools and new techniques that can help make sense of a rapidly changing field.

We hope that this Handbook will be of immediate practical value for academics, lead researchers, research staff, academic mentors, research lab leaders, chairs and research directors of academic departments, and administrative staff assisting researchers or faculty team leaders in their work.

 

Download the Handbook in PDF format

Australia India Institute Emerging Leaders Fellowships 2011-2012

Australia India Institute Emerging Leaders Fellowships 2011-2012

The Australia India Institute, based at the University of Melbourne, is offering a series of 8 week residential fellowships to emerging leaders from India from a variety of fields including media, the arts, academia, the civil service and public life.

The AII encourages distinguished mid-career Indian professionals, who have already demonstrated excellence in their chosen professions, to apply for these Fellowships.

The Fellowships are for truly exceptional individuals who are expected to occupy leadership positions in India in the future.

The Fellowship programme allows time for quiet reflection as well as stimulating interaction with peers in an idyllic University environment. Melbourne has been consistently rated as amongst the most liveable cities in the world and the University of Melbourne is ranked in the top 40 universities of the world.

The Fellows will be expected to deliver a public lecture on a subject of international significance and produce an extended essay of approximately 5,000 words on the same theme, which will be published and widely disseminated by the Institute. Fellows are free to choose any theme, but it is expected that the topic would be of interest to policy audiences in India and Australia.

The Fellowship includes airfares, residential accommodation, office space and a payment of $10,000 (AUD).  Fellows will be housed in a self-contained studio apartment in the University of Melbourne and will be provided office space in the Australia India Institute's premises.

The Fellows are also expected to contribute to the regular programme of the Australia India Institute and it is envisioned that their presence will enrich the Institute and the University of Melbourne. The Australia India Institute will endeavour to customise each Fellowship to maximise interaction with peers across Australia. The Fellows should expect to travel interstate once or twice during their tenure at the University of Melbourne.

The Australia India Institute was launched in Delhi in 2009 by the then Australian Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard and it has recently appointed Professor Amitabh Mattoo as the Director. The Australia India Institute was established to contribute to greater understanding, cooperation and partnership between India and Australia.  In 2010, the Australia India Institute provided grants of nearly one million dollars to collaborative research projects between India and Australia. The Australia India Institute sees itself as a bridge between nations by creating strong academic, professional and cultural links.

How to Apply:
* Download and complete the Application Form* Secure three references. Include at least one academic reference.
* Prepare a 400 word statement identifying the theme of the public lecture and essay, and why this topic was chosen.
* Prepare a detailed Curriculum Vitae.

Scan the Application Form, attach the references, the CV, and the 400-word statement and email as an attachment to aii-fellowships@unimelb.edu.au  by Monday 11 July 2011, 4PM (EST). The selection will be made by a specially constituted jury and successful applicants will be notified by 1 August 2011.  Only electronic applications will be accepted.

Further Details

National Essay Competition on Abundant Foodgrain Stocks, Ample Foreign Exchange Reserves and Poverty...

Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, GoI

announces

National Essay Competition

Topic of the essay
"Abundant Foodgrain Stocks, Ample Foreign Exchange Reserves and Poverty: Addressing the Challenges of India's Development Story"

Last Date of Submission: 31st August 2011

Who Can Participate?
The Competition is open to students who are registered for Ph D/ M.Phil/ Master Course and any undergraduate course in any university or deemed university in India. The participants must submit an attested copy of their student Identity Card along with the essay. The participant must also send a certificate from the Head of the Institution certifying that the candidate is a bonafide student of the university.

Prizes

The Department of Economic Affairs would honour the winners of the competition as under;

 First prize: 1,00,000/-

 Two second prizes: 50,000/- each

The written submissions may be sent to either as hard copy to the following address:

 Director(IES)

 Room no 59, North Block,

 Department of Economic Affairs,

 Ministry of Finance

 New Delhi

 Or in electronic format to ies.essay@nic.in

Length of the essay: The essay shall be no longer than 3000 words.

Rules and Guidelines of the National Essay Competition: http://finmin.nic.in/the_ministry/dept_eco_affairs/ies/Rules_Guideline_Essay_Comp.pdf

International Climate Champions 2011 : Call for Applications

International Climate Champions 2011 : Call for Applications

British Council India invites applications for International Climate Champions Programme 2011

150 International Climate Champions across India with a passion for the environment and an interest to mitigate the effects of climate change are making a difference. Join them and explore a gamut of opportunities to make a difference in the fight against climate change.

As a British Council International Climate Champion, you will raise awareness, address impacts through a project and contribute to the growing international consensus on the need to tackle climate change. We will support you with training and guidance as well as opportunities but the ideas and time will come from you.

International Climate Champions is a youth oriented programme run by the British Council in partnership with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). This programme is part of British Council's global project called 'Climate Generation' which is delivered through a network of Climate Champions across 60 countries and eight Regions. It is directly aimed at young people aged 18-21 and through them will engage leaders and influencers in the society, as well as reaching out to the wider community. Climate Generation engages young people with a proactive interest in climate change and wish to take positive action at local, national and international levels.

Who can apply?
If you are:
-an Indian citizen
-aged between 18-21 years (as on 26 June 2011) and
-have a climate change project idea that can make a lasting impact on your community, nationally, internationally
then we want to hear from you.

How to apply?
Read the Terms and Conditions http://www.britishcouncil.org/india-projects-climate-icc-terms_and_conditions_2011-12.doc

If you meet the criteria click here to apply online http://www.britishcouncil.org.in/Surveys/CCIndia/

Your application should reach British Council by 26 June 2011 5pm

Before you proceed with filling the application, here are a few things to note:
There are some questions that require detailed answers, so gather your thoughts before you start filling it.

Two sections in the application, will require some thinking before you start writing:
Section 2 - In no more than 150 words tell us why you want to become an International Climate Champion. Illustrate your interest and the work you have been involved in so far in the area of Climate Change and Environment
Section 3 - In no more than 350 words, describe the project you would like to undertake as an International Climate Champion. Please ensure that you cover the points below in your description.
* Your project's aim and objectives
* How you will implement your project?
* Finances required for your project and how you intend to fund the same?
* What your project will achieve (the impact and lasting legacy)?
* How you plan to measure the impact?

Go ahead and apply. if successful, you will become part of this growing network of Climate Champions who are working in 60 countries across the world to make a change.

For any queries
North India: Reesha Alvi
Email: reesha.alvi@in.britishcouncil.org

West India: Chetan Mehta
Email: mumbai.enquiry@in.britishcouncil.org

East India: Radhika Singh
Email: radhika.singh@in.britishcouncil.org

South India: Kumaran Sriram
Email: kumaran.sriram@in.britishcouncil.org
 
Further Details: http://www.britishcouncil.org/india-projects-climate-international-climate-champions-2011.htm

Launching INDIALICS (Indian Network for Learning about Innovation and Competence Building Systems) during International Seminar on Innovation, Sustainability and Development at NISTADS; June 28-30

International Seminar on Innovation, Sustainability and Development

June 28-30, 2011

Organised by:

NISTADS, New Delhi; Centre for Development Studies (CDS), Trivandrum; and STEPS Centre, University of Sussex, UK

Venue: Conference Hall, NISTADS, New Delhi, India

NISTADS, New Delhi; Centre for Development Studies (CDS), Trivandrum and STEPS Centre, University of Sussex, UK invite you to participate in the International Seminar on Innovation, Sustainability and Development to be held from June 28-30, 2011 in NISTADS Delhi in India. All of you are well aware about the Prime Ministerial declaration on the current decade as the decade for innovation, and the Government's strong policy thrust on innovation for inclusive growth. This seminar will provide a structured process for undertaking the state of the art thinking on the theme of innovation and sustainable development to the Indian policy makers, civil society, scientific and technological communities and users in all spheres. Through this seminar we wish to propose that the thinking on innovation should go beyond growth in India. In the past the innovation making processes have revealed insufficient concern about sustainability and development within the contents of S&T and development policy.

In this seminar we also wish to take advantage of the network under development in the name of INDIALICS (Indian Network for Learning about Innovation and Competence Building Systems) as a part of the international Global Network of Economics of Learning, Innovation and competence Building Systems (GLOBELICS). This network would be launched in the concluding session of this seminar. The proposed platform of INDIALICS and the seminar planned by NISTADS in collaboration with CDS and STEPS on innovation, sustainability and development are a step in the direction to find out not only where we stand with regard to the thinking within the community of practitioners of innovation but also a platform for interaction with them to propose solutions on these concerns in the area of implementation of innovation.

We believe that the initiatives being proposed on governance of innovation activity in India should be widely discussed among the academics, S&T leaders, civil society organizations and policy makers. Academic and policy developments in this sphere at the international and national level have also intensified. Innovation surveys, acts and policies, mechanisms for governance and manifestos are being formulated, conducted and implemented. Conventional approaches of translating research results in to innovation are clearly inadequate. Actors involved with innovative activities are dispersed entities and demand efforts for the establishment of appropriate mechanisms for governance.

The organizers wish to contribute through this conference to the development of proper understanding and address the challenge of sustainability and development in innovation. Based on the inputs that we will receive in this conference we propose to put out ultimately a report on the state of thinking on innovation in India as a key deliverable. See the enclosed tentative programme.

Contact for Further Details:

Dinesh Abrol, Sr. Scientist, NISTADS, New Delhi

Email dinesh.abrol@gmail.com, rajeswari.raina@gmail.com. Mobile +91-9868242691.

Tentative Programme

Call for Participation in Public Opinion Poll designed to institute a rationalized National Test Scheme (NTS) for admission into Tertiary Education in Sciences and Engineering

Call for Participation in Public Opinion Poll designed to institute a rationalized National Test Scheme (NTS) for admission into Tertiary Education in Sciences and Engineering

 

National Test Scheme (NTS)

The proposed National Test Scheme is designed to allow selection of students for admission to tertiary education. It is based on the single examination evaluation instead of the prevailing multiple competitive examination system in the country.

Most nations employ just one test for assessment of scholastic aptitude instead of a plethora of evaluation tests. The current selection systems have, no doubt, resulted in visible benefits. But, the future of Indian youth might need a paradigm shift that ensures opportunity for larger sections of the society.

The extreme level of competitiveness in the screening processes employed for deciding access to professional education is not without its psychological or sociological implications for the society. They do influence the mindset and behavioural changes among the youth.

"Unity in diversity" is the Indian brand value. Unification, while retaining the diversity of educational systems in the country is the underlying strategy of the proposed National Test Scheme. It is motivated by the principle of inclusion for a collaborative excellence rather than exclusion through competitive excellence.

For more about the underlying Philosophy and Principles of the National Test Scheme (Download PDF http://india.gov.in/nts/philosophy_behind_NTS.pdf)

Kindly post your valuable response on the Public Opinion Poll designed to institute a rationalized National Test Scheme (NTS) for admission into Tertiary Education in Sciences and Engineering.

Post your Opinion here till 21st June 2011 [Public Opinion Poll] http://india.gov.in/nts/profile.php

CfA: “Summer School on Global Warming and Sustainable Water Management”; November 16-22, Braunschweig, Germany

CfA: "Summer School on Global Warming and Sustainable Water Management"

November 16 – 22, 2011 / Braunschweig, Germany

The summer school purposes to increase the understanding of the interactions between climate change and water management. The aim is to clarify causes and effects of climate change and to underline the benefits of a sustainable management of water resources on global warming and on water-, energy- and nutrient cycles. With respect to the different home countries of the participants and their specific questions and problems, strategies will also be discussed how the water sector can contribute to cope with climate change on a local scale. Therefore the participants should be prepared to discuss local problems in their home country due to global warming.

Topics of the summer school:

• Global Warming – Identifying the problem
• Activities in the water sector contributing to greenhouse gas emissions
• Carbon emissions from Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTP)
• Energy production on WWTP
• Improving energy efficiency of water and wastewater treatment
• Wastewater reuse in industry and agriculture
• Energy sources at WWTP
• Alternative technologies for water management
• How to change social patterns and government policies
• Improving social awareness

The course consists of lectures, discussion sessions, participation to the two day international symposium „Re-Water Braunschweig" on water reuse and inspecting the techniques applied for a comprehensive water and nutrient recycling concept in the city of Braunschweig.

• For more detailed information please download the flyer (PDF)
• Please download the Exceed Application Form and apply online until August 15, 2011
• Information on cost coverage
• http://www.exceed.tu-braunschweig.de/1568_cfa-%e2%80%9csummer-school-on-global-warming

Locating Internets: Histories of the Internet(s) in India — Research Training and Curriculum Workshop: Call for Participation

Locating Internets: Histories of the Internet(s) in India — Research Training and Curriculum Workshop: Call for Participation

Deadline for submission: 15th July 2011-06-08;

When: 19th - 22nd August, 2011;

Where: Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT) University, Ahmedabad;

Organised by: Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore and CEPT University, Ahmedabad.

Please Note: Travel support is only available for domestic travel within India.

 

LOCATING INTERNETS is an innovative, multi-disciplinary, workshop that engages with some of the most crucial debates around Internet and Society within academic scholarship, discourse and practice in India. It explores Where, When, How and What has changed with the emergence of Internet and Digital Technologies in the country. The Internet is not a singular monolithic entity but is articulated in various forms – sometimes materially, through accessing the web; at others, through our experiences; and yet others through imaginations of policy and law. Internets have become a part of our everyday practice, from museums and archives, to school and university programmes, living rooms and public spaces, relationships and our bodily lived realities. It becomes necessary to reconfigure our existing concepts, frameworks and ideas to make sense of the rapidly digitising world around us. The Internet is no longer contained in niche disciplines or specialised everyday practices.

 

LOCATING INTERNETS invites scholars, teachers, researchers, advanced research students and educationalists from any discipline to learn and discuss how to ask new questions and design innovative curricula in their discipline by introducing concepts and ideas from path-breaking research in India.

Comprised of training, public lectures, open discussion spaces, and hands-on curriculum building exercises, this workshop will introduce the participants to contemporary debates, help them articulate concerns and problems from their own research and practice, and build knowledge clusters to develop innovative and open curricula which can be implemented in interdisciplinary undergraduate spaces in the country. It showcases the research outputs produced by the Centre for Internet and Society's Researchers @ Work Programme, and brings together nine researchers to talk about alternative histories, processes, and bodies of the Internets, and how they can be integrated into mainstream pedagogic practices and teaching environments.

Knowledge Clusters for the Workshop
LOCATING INTERNETS is designed innovatively to accommodate for various intellectual and practice based needs of the participants. While the aim is to introduce the participants to a wide interdisciplinary range of scholarship, we also hope to address particular disciplinary and scholarly concerns of the participants. The workshop is further divided into three knowledge clusters which help the participants to focus their energies and ideas in the course of the four days.

Bridging the Gap: This workshop seeks to break away from the utopian public discourse of the Internets as a-historical and completely dis-attached from existing technology ecologies in the country. This knowledge cluster intends to produce frameworks that help us contextualize the contemporary internet policy, discourse and practice within larger geo-political and socio-historical flows and continuities in Modern India. The first cluster chartsdifferent pre-histories of the Internets, mapping the continuities and ruptures through philosophy of techno-science, archiving practices, and electronifcation of governments,to develop new technology-society perspectives.
Paradigms of Practice:One of the biggest concerns about Internet studies in India and other similar developed contexts is the object oriented approach that looks largely at specific usages, access, infrastructure, etc. However, it is necessary to understand that the Internet is not merely a tool or a gadget. The growth of Internets produces systemic changes at the level of process and thought. The technologies often get appropriated for governance both by the state and the civil society, producing new processes and dissonances which need to be charted. The second cluster looks at certain contemporary processes that the digital and Internet technologies change drastically in order to recalibrate the relationship between the state, the market and the citizen.
Feet on the Ground: The third cluster looks at contemporary practices of the Internet to understand the recent histories of movements, activism and cultural practices online. It offers an innovative way of understanding the physical objects and bodies that undergo dramatic transitions as digital technologies become pervasive, persuasive and ubiquitous. It draws upon historical discourse, everyday practices and cultural performances to form new ways of formulating and articulating the shapes and forms of social and cultural structures.

Workshop Outcomes
The participants are expected to engage with issue of Internet and it various systemic processes through their own disciplinary interests. Apart from lectures and orientation sessions, the participants will actively work on their own project ideas during the period in groups and will be guided by experts. The final outcome of the workshops would be curriculum for undergraduate and graduate teaching space of various disciplines in the country.

Participation Guidelines
LOCATING INTERNETS is now accepting submissions from interested participants in the following format:
1.Name:
2.Institutional affiliation and title:
3.Address:
4.Email address:
5.Phone number:
6.A brief resume of work experience (max. 350 words)
7.Statement of interest (max. 350 words)
8.Key concerns you want to address in the Internet and Society field (max. 350 words)
9.Identification with one Knowledge-cluster of the workshop and a proposal for integrating it in your research/teaching practice (max. 500 words)
10.Current interface with technologies in your pedagogic practices (max. 350 words)
11.Additional information or relevant hyperlinks you might want to add (Max. 10 lines)

Notes:Submissions will be accepted only from participants in India, as attachments in .doc, .docx or .odt formats at locatingInternets@cis-india.org

Submissions made beyond 15th July 2011 may not be considered for participation.

Submissions will be scrutinized by the organisers and selected participants will be informed by the 20th July 2011, about their participation.

Selected participants will be required to make their own travel arrangements to the workshop. A 2nd A.C. train return fare will be reimbursed to the participants.  Shared accommodation and selected meals will be provided at the workshop.

A limited number of air-fare reimbursements will be available to participants in extraordinary circumstances. All travel support is only available for domestic travel in the country.

Chairs: Nishant Shah, Director-Research, Centre for Internet and Society Bangalore;

Pratyush Shankar, Associate Professor & Head of Undergraduate Program, Faculty of Architecture, CEPT University

Supported by: Kusuma Foundation, Hyderabad

Experts:Anja Kovacs, Arun Menon, Asha Achuthan, Ashish Rajadhykasha, Aparna Balachandran, Namita Malhotra, Nithin Manayath, Nithya Vasudevan, Pratyush Shankar, Rochelle Pinto and Zainab Bawa

Further Details: http://cis-india.org/research/conferences/conference-blogs/workshop

IIPA Annual Decision Making/Teaching Case Study Competition 2011

IIPA Annual Decision Making/Teaching Case Study Competition 2011

The objective of IIPAs Case Study Programme is to build a body of knowledge in governance through case studies with a view to promote a deeper and wider understanding of the functioning of Indian Administration in its specific environmental and institutional framework and also to broaden our knowledge and understanding of international best practices. In order to develop relevant case studies for use in the learning process, IIPA has renamed its annual case study competition as the Annual Decision Making/Teaching Case Study Competition.

A case study submitted for this competition should aim to facilitate the development of conceptual, behavioural and analytical skills, highlight areas for reform and promote sensitivity towards important issues, problems and challenges of public administration and governance.

The Case study may cover one or more of the following facets of public administration and governance:
i. Public policy issues and processes: conceptualization; planning; implementation; monitoring; evaluation and review of plans; programmes; schemes and projects with special reference to a specific State;
ii. Area based development policies, programmes, projects and schemes such as MNREGA, Consumer Awareness, Gender Sensitization, Social Empowerment and Social Inclusion, e-Governance, Human Rights, Elections and Electoral reforms; and
iii. Service sectors including physical, social and economic infrastructure development, social services, voluntary organizations, cooperatives, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and Public Private Partnership (PPP).

The case study must be in two parts.
Part I is to comprise 5-10 A4 size pages typed in double space using size 12 of Times New Roman font and keeping one and half inches margin on each side of the page.It should consist of a description of an official organizational context concluding with an important decision to be made. The following information could be provided: the decision to be made what, why and who has to make it; a brief history of the organization, its vision/mission/values, goals/objectives; the present scenario; key strengths and weaknesses of the organization; challenges, threats and opportunities; influential personalities/groups relevant to the focal decision their feelings/views (given in quotations) as obtained through interviews or accurately paraphrased; socio-political, economic, technological and cultural pressures; group and personality factors values, attitudes,needs and expectations; skills; organizational reward systems; behaviour modeling and example setting by the organisations leadership and other factors relevant to the focal decision; visualized options/alternatives that seem to be available and their immediate, short, medium and long term consequences- the pros and cons thereof.Finally, instead of merely calling this part of the case study as Part I, it should be given a title based upon either one of the following:-
(i) focal organization / department / division / unit/section, programme / project / scheme;
(ii) focal decision to be made.
Part II is to comprise 1 to 3 A4 size page(s) typed in double space using size 12 of Times New Roman font and keeping one and a half inches margin on each side of the page.It should consist of the case writer(s) perceptions of what actually happened the decision that was actually made, why, with what expectations, the actual consequences that occurred and any views that the case writer wished to share vis-a-vis the case and the important learning problems/concepts/insights and or skills that the case may be utilized for imparting in the teaching/training process.Finally, instead of calling this part of the case study as part II, it should be entitled: Perceptions of the Case Writer (s).
An executive summary of the case study is to comprise 1 to 2 A 4 size page(s) and typed in the same way as Parts I and II mentioned earlier.Three copies each of the case study (i.e., Parts I and II) and the executive summary are to be submitted.
Each case study should be accompanied by the following information: title of the case study; name of the case writer (s); address and telephone(s) of the Case Writer(s) and fax/email where available.The case writer(s) should also state whether the case study has been approved for publication by the concerned organization or whether approval is yet to be taken; and, finally, the signature(s) of the case writer(s).

The competition has a first prize award of Rs.10,000, a second prize award of Rs. 6,000 and a third prize award of Rs. 4,000/.Excluding the award winning case studies, any other case studies that are considered suitable for publication shall be given an honorarium of Rs. 2,000/ each.
Any individual or group of individuals may submit a case study to the Institute for the competition.In case of joint authorship, the award will be equally distributed. However, each individual may submit only one entry for the competition, either individually or as part of a group.
A case study submitted for the competition must fall within the broad areas specified and be in the format prescribed above.The case study should not have been published elsewhere as the copyright will vest with the Institute and the writer, if the case study is selected for award/publication.
The last date for the receipt of the case study is 31 August 2011. The cover should be superscribed with Annual Decision Making/Teaching Case Study Competition 2011 and be addressed to the Registrar, Indian Institute of Public Administration, Indraprastha Estate, Ring Road, New Delhi 110002.

Last Date: 31st August 2011

Further Details: http://www.iipa.org.in/case.html

IIPA Annual Essay Prize Competition-2011

Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi

 

IIPA Annual Essay Prize Competition-2011

Entries are invited for the Annual Essay Prize Competition-2011. The value of the prize for the competition will be as under:
First Prize Rs.5,000/-
Second Prize Rs.3,000/-
Third Prize Rs.2,000/-

Any competitor who has got a prize on one occasion will not, on any subsequent occasion, be eligible for an equivalent or lower prize. The joint authorship of essays shall not be allowed and any essay under joint authorship shall not be considered for competition.

The following subjects have been prescribed and it is open to competitors to choose any of them.
1. Role of Audit in Democratic India
2. Judicial Accountability and Democracy
3. Food Security, Food Inflation and the Public Distribution System
4. What the Next Five Year Plan should Focus upon – Five Priority Items
5. Information Technology for the Masses: Bridging the Digital Divide

The essay should be in English or Hindi. The length of an essay should approximately be 5000 words and the competitors must indicate the totalo number of words of the essay contributed by them. Essay exceeding 5500 words will not be accepted. The contestants must indicate the total number of words of the failing which it will not be accepted. All essays must be typed in double space on one side of the paper only and those entries which do not adhere to the stipulation can be rejected. It should be submitted in triplicate under a "nom-de-plume or alias. The full name and address of the competitor should be given on a separate sheet and enclosed in a sealed envelope bearing the nom-de-plume on the outer cover with the following inscription.

All essays should be sent to the Director, Indian Institute of Public Administration, Indraprastha Estate, Ring Road, New Delhi-110002, by Registered Post, so as to reach him not later than the 31st August, 2011. The envelope should be marked "Annual Essay Prize Competition 2011". The entries received after the due date may not be entertained.

The essays will be adjudged by a body of judges selected by the Executive Council of the institute and the award of the judges shall be final. The institute reserves the right not to make any award if none of the essays submitted meets the necessary standard. Any essay which receives an award shall become the joint intellectual property of the author and IIPA.

Last Date: 31st August 2011

Further Details: http://www.iipa.org.in/upload/Notification.pdf

DNA News Article: "Innovation doesn't grow on trees"

Innovation doesn't grow on trees
Published at DNA: Sunday, May 29, 2011, 2:38 IST
By R Krishna | Place: Mumbai | Agency: Reuters 
 
Environment and forests minister Jairam Ramesh is absolutely right when he says that the research output from our IITs and IIMs is dismal; what he doesn't point a finger at are the roots of this intellectual poverty.
Students at IITs and IIMs are world-class, the faculty is not — this proclamation by Jairam Ramesh stirred the scientific community in the country, even as the environment minister went on to point a finger at the poor quality of research being conducted at these premier institutions. Ramesh's diagnosis is that the research is suffering because the faculty is of a low calibre.
"But whose job is it to recruit and retain good quality teachers?" asks Satyajit Rath, scientist at the National Institute of Immunology. "For instance, the government decided to increase the number of students in the IITs by 27%. But what was their solution to improve the student-faculty ratio? They increased the retirement age of professors from 60 to 65 years. How did that help in improving the student-faculty ratio in any way? Isn't all this part of government policy?"
Poor quality of faculty is not the only reason India has lagged behind in its research output. It has failed to build large R&D institutions with up-to-date equipment and a system that rewards creativity — ironically, these are the very things that attract bright teachers. Further, India has failed to take enough initiatives to simulate industry-academy linkages, and instill an entrepreneurial spirit in universities.

China's ambitious plans
India doesn't have to look too far to study how things are done right. One analysis of research done in the field of computer science by Suresh Kumar and KC Garg of National Institute of Science Technology and Development Studies, suggests that India's research activity was significantly higher from 1971 to 1985. From 1986 to 2000, India's research activity declined while China's rose.
A recent study by the Royal Society, London, titled 'Knowledge Networks and Nations', ranked China No. 2 in the world in terms of the number of research papers filed. India is placed at No. 10. Even when it comes to the quality of research, judged by the number of times research papers have been cited by other researchers, China is ranked No. 7. India does not figure in the top 10.
China's rapid rise is a result of ambitious, clear-cut policies and targets set by the government, say experts. "The Chinese government has given a strong message and a clear policy has been defined at the highest level. Road maps for implementation are clearly articulated. In India, on the other hand, we simply state that building science parks is important. How these science parks can be made functional is not clearly stated," says Sujit Bhattacharya, who is part of a group studying China's and South Korea's approach to upgrading their research.
According to Bhattacharya, the State Science Technology Commission of China has several programmes to promote research in the country. "The Chinese Academy of Science (CAS), which is one of the largest research labs in the world, underwent a major restructuring where some researchers were asked to leave. At the same time, the Ministry of Education with the CAS started attracting the best talent from the world by giving huge financial and non-financial incentives to head new world-class research centres. Provinces get into the fray by funding the programmes set at the central level. And as a result, today, universities, industries, and foreign affiliates are part of a chain of science and technology parks. In fact, some universities are inside these industrial high technology zones. These parks compete with each other and you will find special economic zones nearby, thus creating major technological hubs," says Bhattacharya.

India's tardy approach
Far from such tightly integrated ambitious policies, India continues to grapple with basic issues. Funding and infrastructure are not the only areas of concern. The current systemfails to take into account the quality and relevance of research. According to Ram Puniyani, former professor of bio-medical engineering at IIT Bombay, policies should be tailored to reward people who are producing quality research relevant to India. As things stand today, number of papers published is the main criterion to get promotions or even grants for research. "There should be a way to gauge and reward creativity," says Puniyani. But little can be expected from babus in government departments to direct funds to scientific fields and people who show promise.
Moreover, before pointing a finger at the quality of research being conducted at the IITs, the government should consider the way they are operating currently. "In the IITs the facilities are reasonable, but the average teaching load is more than that in a university in the west. This leaves little time to do research. On the other hand, in the universities, the teaching load is less, but the research facilities are poor," says Ashoke Sen, professor, Harish-Chandra Research Institute, Allahabad. He adds, "In contrast, the research institutes, which have good research facilities and almost no teaching responsibilities, have suffered from the absence of young minds. In my view, this separation of teaching from research has been one of the main reasons for the current shortfall in research output in Indian science."
The government also has to do its bit in promoting linkages between universities and industry. According to Chris Llewellyn Smith, chair of the Royal Society report, the UK government is taking several steps to stimulate the entrepreneurial spirit among researchers. "For instance, consider an academic who has an idea which looks promising but not at a stage where a company or serious investor will put in money. This idea will need an amount of money which is larger than the academic budget usually available to researchers. The UK government has now put money in the hands of universities who can internally fund such ideas."
In India too, the government is finally rethinking its strategy, says Bhattacharya. For example, the government may adopt 'utility-model patents' which is expected to give a fillip to patent filing and innovation, because they are not as difficult, expensive, or time-consuming as it would be to produce 'invention patents'.
But while India trudges along, globally the situation is changing rapidly. As Bhattacharya says, "Look at Google and Facebook. Products coming out of universities are changing the world."

Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/opinion/report_innovation-doesnt-grow-on-trees_1548655

UNDP/MNRE invites Case Studies on Access to Clean Energy

Request for Submission of Case Studies on Access to Clean Energy

 

Under the UNDP/MNRE Supported Project on Access to Clean Energy (ACE project),  it is proposed to compile the second Compendium of Successful Case studies from all over the country in order to showcase concrete initiatives undertaken by the public and private sectors to promote widespread adoption of cost effective renewable energy technologies especially in rural areas. The models considered for inclusion in compendium should be cost effective, replicable, and financially viable and entrepreneurship based business and delivery models that has led to economic development and strengthening of livelihoods. You are requested to share details of any such model successfully piloted/ demonstrated by your organisation in the indicative format given here <http://www.undp.org.in/sites/default/files/Note-Format-for-mnre.doc> with relevant photographs, so that the same could be reviewed for inclusion in the compendium proposed to be developed and widely circulated. The details may please be sent by email to aceundp@gmail.com, preferably by 30 June 2011.

 

Further Details: http://www.undp.org.in/sites/default/files/Note-Format-for-mnre.doc

JRD Tata Memorial Lecture 2011 by Shri Kumar Mangalam Birla on 11 August 2011

JRD Tata Memorial Lecture 2011
Speaker: Shri Kumar Mangalam Birla
11 August 2011
Organized by ASSOCHAM, New Delhi

JRD Tata exemplifies a 'Renaissance Man' in today's context, whose ideology drastically transformed the Indian industrial landscape. The contribution of JRD spans across many sectors of the Indian economy particularly Science & Technology, Aviation, Automobile Manufacturing, Chemical industry and Corporate Governance to mention a few. To commemorate and honour JRD's unparalleled contribution to the Indian industry, ASSOCHAM instituted an annual lecture series titled 'JRD Tata Memorial Lecture' in 1998. The lecture has been focusing on topical issues in the Indian socio-economic milieu and is delivered by renowned personalities in their respective fields.

The last year's Lecture, Thirteenth in the series, was delivered by Dean Nitin Nohria, Harvard Business School, USA. The earlier distinguished eminent speakers have been Dr. Manmohan Singh, Hon'ble Prime Minister of India; Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the then Hon'ble President of India; Shri P. Chidambaram; Dr. D. Subbarao, Governor, Reserve Bank of India; Shri Somnath Chatterjee; Shri M. Damodaran; Late Shri. P.V.Narasimha Rao; Shri Azim H. Premji; Shri N.R. Narayanamurthy; Dr. K Kasturirangan; Prof. M.S. Swaminathan and Dr. C. Rangarajan.

ASSOCHAM is happy to mention that Shri Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group has kindly agreed to deliver this year's Lecture on 11th August 2011 at New Delhi. To make this event a grand success, a Steering Committee has also been formed under the guidance of Mr. Dilip Modi, President, ASSOCHAM as Chairman and Dr. J.J. Irani, Director, Tata Sons Limited as Co-Chairman of the Steering Committee.

On this occasion, ASSOCHAM would be bringing out a prestigious Special Publication containing articles by eminent citizens, acknowledged leaders and experts in their own fields. Broadly, the authors will cover the entire gamut of opportunities and critical challenges that confront the Indian economy and recommend policy prescriptions to achieve the stated goals. The Special Publication being brought on the above occasion will be widely circulated and released by the Chief Guest.

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