Dr. Radhakrishnan Chair and two Rajya Sabha Fellowships on Parliamentary Studies

Applications are invited for the Dr. S. Radhakrishnan Chair and two Rajya Sabha Fellowships on Parliamentary Studies instituted by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat for promoting an indepth inquiry and research on different aspects of Parliamentary democracy in general and Indian Parliament and Rajya Sabha in particular.

The Chair and the Fellowships are open to academics/experts of proven scholarship in these areas with suitable qualifications.

The details of the Scheme and the Application Forms can be downloaded from here.

Application Form, duly filled in, may be sent to
Shri S.D. Nautiyal
Director
Rajya Sabha Secretariat
Room No. 147, Parliament House Annexe
New Delhi – 110001

Last Date: 15 June 2009

International Conference on Research Policy for Sustainable Energy

International Conference on Research Policy for Sustainable Energy

October 12-13, 2009

Venue: India Habitat Centre, New Delhi

Organized by: Indian National Academy of Engineering, New Delhi

Climate Change and Global warming caused by excessive Greenhouse gases (GHG) are considered the biggest threat to our planet. Kyoto Protocol is a mandate for countries to reduce GHG emission globally although few are subscribing to it aggressively. Electricity generation resulting from burning of fossil fuels is considered one of the prime sources of GHG emission. Therefore alternate energy systems to reduce burning of fossil fuels have come to centre stage of development globally. Wind, Small Hydro, Solar and Bio Energy are considered as viable sources for power generation so as to reduce the need for additional coal and oil based plants. In addition, Ocean / Tidal, geothermal and Hydrogen Energy are also in development stage. About 20% generation from such renewables is anticipated in the next decade. Recent EU summit has proposed an attractive “20-20-20” plan implying 20% reduction in GHG by 2020 with 20% electricity generation from Renewable Energy.
Energy Conservation and Efficiency are the new Mantra in this endeavor wherein saving energy is assuming prime importance in all sectors. Converting Urban and Rural waste to energy called “Waste to Watts” is another promising area. Both Micro and Macro level solutions should be attempted. Unlike centralized power generation of yore, emphasis will be on distributed and decentralized generation (DDG) using locally available resources. ‘Roof top’, ‘back yard’ or ‘basement’ power plants may become the order of the day both to feed local loads and to the grid. Many technological, economic and social challenges lie ahead as ‘out of box’ solutions are attempted.
The Kyoto protocol thrust may indeed become the vehicle for industrialized countries to not only reduce their emissions but help developing countries to effect the same through development of appropriate technologies. An appropriate “Carbon Credit” scheme could also support developing countries to reduce emissions through technology intervention and implementation in the latter. Thus “global synergy” will become a requirement and global R&D a necessity in tackling this energy crisis and climate change. We need to identify suitable R&D projects to be undertaken by Industry, Universities, Utilities, Energy Agencies and Research organizations to augment the above efforts leading to viable “green technologies” centered on “ Sustainable and Renewable Energy Systems”. Conventional Energy can not be wished away as it continues to be the mainstay for development for decades to come. The challenge is to make conventional energy sustainable. Clean coal technologies, emission reduction, improved efficiency, reduction of losses are some of the aspects.
The sequence of steps for any Technology to see the light of the day is: a) Scientific inventions, b) Engineering & Technology, c) Lab. Models & conceptualization, d) Field Models, e) Field Demonstration, f) Replication and scalability of Field models for mass applications, g) Commercial Model h) Business model. Unless the R&D concept ultimately results in a Business Model acceptable to Society the effort is considered incomplete.
Identification of R&D Projects will remain a wish list unless a suitable mechanism is worked out to implement the same. Therefore a Two day conference is being organized on “Research Policy for Sustainable Energy” to deliberate on all relevant issues to make “ Sustainable Energy” (SE) realizable. The prime objectives of such a policy should be to spur technology development and help its adaptation for societal applications.
There are many international agencies supporting R&D in Sustainable Energy such as USAID, UN, GEF, UNDP, World Bank, EU, Asia Pacific consortium (AP6) etc. India has entered into S&T collaboration agreements with several countries with emphasis on SE, such as Canada, Australia, Israel etc. Ministries of Govt. of India dealing with Energy such as Coal, NRE, Power, S&T, Petroleum etc, are mandated to support developments in SE. Academic and Research Institutions established by Govt. and non- Govt agencies are prime actors in R&D. Similarly Industry, Energy Agencies, utilities are active stake holders. The conference will have presentations from above organizations on their role to support research for SE so as to brainstorm on networking them for expected outcome. A conducive research policy to achieve desired results is being aimed at.

Conference Objectives

• Brainstorm on viable / implementable technologies for local/global applications through Research Development & Deployment (RD&D) efforts on “Sustainable Energy”.
• Understanding of past energy policy/initiative and their effectiveness.• Identify the role of stake holders- Universities, Industry, Govt./Funding Agencies (National and international) and Utilities/ User Agencies in this effort.
• Discuss workable institutional mechanism to carry out RD&D in a consortium mode to achieve the desired goals.
• Discuss mechanism of international cooperation in these efforts to effect ‘Global Synergy’

Registration
Participants/delegates are requested to register in advance. The Registration Form may be filled and mailed alongwith following registration fee, so as to reach the Chairman, Organizing Committee before July 15, 2009.

• Students Rs.500
• Participants from Academia/R&D/Govt Organisations Rs.1500
• Industrial/Corporate Sector Rs.5000

All remittances should be made by a demand draft drawn in favour of “Indian National Academy of Engineering, New Delhi”.

Download Conference Brochure
Download Registration Form

Research Inventory Reports

Bhattacharya, Sujit. Indian Patenting Activity in International and Domestic Patent System: Contemporary Scenario. Report No. PSA/2006/1. New Delhi: Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, 2007. Download Full-Text

Krishna, V.V. (ed). Indian Country Profile: ERAWATCH Research Inventory Report for India. European Commission, 2009. Download Full-Text PDF

Krishna, V.V. (ed). Country Report on Innovation Policies - India 2008-09, European Union Network InnoPolicy Trendchart, European Commission, 2009. Download Full-Text PDF

Report on the Activities of the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India and the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet. New Delhi: Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, 2009. Report No. PSA/2009/1. Download Full-Text PDF

Past Experience, Cognitive Frames, and Entrepreneurship: Some Econometric Evidence from the Indian Pharmaceutical Industry

Bhaduri, Saradindu; Worch, Hagen (2008). Past Experience, Cognitive Frames, and Entrepreneurship: Some Econometric Evidence from the Indian Pharmaceutical Industry. Papers on Economics & Evolution Number 0804. Jena: Max-Planck Institute for Economics, 2008.

Abstract

The theoretical literature identifies three important entrepreneurial dimensions, namely discovering new opportunities, responsiveness to uncertainty, and coordination of a firm. In the empirical literature, past experience has been identified as having an important influence on organizational behavior. This literature, however, focuses predominantly on the impact of experience on new opportunities using a resource-based view and human capital perspective. In contrast, we draw upon the cognitive science literature to argue that past experience shapes an entrepreneur’s cognitive frame, and, hence, influences entrepreneurship in a more holistic manner. We provide econometric evidence of the impact of past experience on all three entrepreneurial dimensions from the small scale Indian pharmaceutical enterprises.

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Bhaduri, Saradindu; Ray, Amit Shovon (2009). "Co-evolution of IPR Policy and Technological Learning in Developing Countries: A Game-theoretic Model", Discussion Paper No. 09-04; Mexico City: GLOBELICS 2008 & New Delhi: Centre for International Trade and Development, SIS, JNU, 2009. Download Full-text PDF

Seminar on ICT Measurement and Indicators concluded in New Delhi

14-May-2009, New Delhi: The Department of Information Technology (DIT), Government of India, in collaboration with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), organized a Seminar on ICT Measurement and Indicators in New Delhi (India) from 12 to 14 May 2009, to discuss on issues related to measurement of ICT access, infrastructure, usage and impact on the society in general, and on business, individuals, governance and education in particular.

To take advantage of the rapidly changing information society, governments need to monitor and benchmark progress in order to design and review national policies and strategies. In order to do so, reliable data and indicators on the access and use of ICTs, and their impact on development have to be defined and collected. Such data and indicators help governments design and evaluate ICT policies and strategies, compare their ICT developments with those in other countries, and adopt solutions to reduce the digital divide. In order to so, different agencies need to work together to identify priority areas and to examine ways of coordinating activities, to maximize available resources and achieve optimum results.

The Seminar was addressed to national ICT policymakers, regulatory agencies, national statistical offices, industry associations and academia. It covered issues related to indicators for infrastructure and access, households, business, education, and e-government; benchmarking the information society; measuring impact; measuring ICT and gender; security and trust in the online environment; statistics on ICT-enabled services; and capacity building for ICT measurement.

There was a session on Indicators on ICT in Education, where Mr. S. Venkataraman of UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) briefly introduced concepts of Information Literacy Indicators, Media Development Indicators, and Literacy Assessment and Monitoring Programme (LAMP) of UIS, which are very useful for measuring the information society.

In this Seminar, following manuals/ publications were extensively consulted for understanding of concepts and methodologies:

• Revisions and Additions to the Core List of ICT Indicators, Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development, 2009.
• Manual for Measuring ICT Access and Use by Households and Individuals, International Telecommunication Union, 2009.
• Manual for the Production of Statistics on the Information Economy, revised edition, UNCTAD, 2009.
• Measuring ICT: the Global Status of ICT Indicators, Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development, 2005.
• Measuring the Information Society: The ICT Development Index, International Telecommunication Union, 2009.
• Information and Communications Technology Statistics, Partnership on Measuring Information and Communication Technologies for Development, 2009.

The seminar provided a platform for national experts, policymakers, practitioners and stakeholders to discuss ICT indicators and topics that are important to national policymaking. The Seminar has made some suggestions to improve the availability of ICT statistics in India, such as:

• harmonization and scaling up of statistics available with deferent ministries, national statistical offices and other agencies;
• bridging the data gaps between available statistics and statistics required based on Revised Core List of ICT Indicators;
• adaptation of international statistical tools and guidelines in gathering, analyzing and presenting statistical data; and
• capacity building at the national level as well as state-level so that quality and reliability of data can be maintained.

Information Economy Report 2007-2008

Information Economy Report 2007-2008: Science and Technology for Development: the New Paradigm of ICT
Prepared by the UNCTAD secretariat. New York: United Nations, 2007

Highlights
The Information Economy Report 2008 - Science and technology for development: the new paradigm of ICT, analyses the current and potential contribution of information technology to knowledge creation and diffusion. It explores how ICTs help generate innovations that improve the livelihoods of the poor and support enterprise competitiveness. The report examines how ICTs affect productivity and growth and reflects on the need for a development-oriented approach to intellectual property rights in order to enable effective access to technology. ICT has also given rise to new models for sharing knowledge and collective production of ideas and innovations, known as "open access" models, which often bypass the incentive system provided by intellectual property rights.
The Report presents a current cross-section of themes and analysis that aim to inform and enable governments to understand the policy challenges and opportunities. The analysis identifies important areas of concern and best practices necessary for the formulation of targeted policy decisions to support and accelerate ICT diffusion. In particular, the Information Economy Report 2007-2008 addresses the following issues:

• Trends in ICT access and use consisting of basic ICT indicators and an analysis of how ICTs impact on enterprises in developing countries;
• The ICT producing sector and the emerging South examines the role of the sector from the perspective of South-South trade, while exploring issues of the relationship between ICTs and employment, FDI and outsourcing;
• Measuring the impact of ICT on productive efficiency through a case study of Thailand confirms that developing countries can benefit as much as developed ones from increasing ICT use;
• ICT, e-business and innovation policies highlights the need for balance between policy stability and flexibility to meet the needs of evolving ICTs and feedback from policy implementation;
• E-banking and e-payments explains the potential of ICTs to improve overall business efficiency and assist in bringing SMEs and micro-enterprises into the formal economy;
• ICTs for the poor are discussed within the scope of the increasing use of mobile telephones and supportive policy measures and the potential of telecentres to promote livelihoods by providing access to relevant information and business opportunities to rural and poor populations.

Table of Contents

• Introduction:: Science and Technology for Development: the New Paradigm of ICT
• Chapter 1: Trends in ICT Access and Use
• Chapter 2: The ICT Producing Sector and the Emerging South
• Chapter 3: Measuring the Impact of ICT on Production
• Chapter 4: ICT, E-Business and Innovation Policies in Developing Countries
• Chapter 5: E-Banking and E-Payments: Implications for Developing and Transition Economies
• Chapter 6: Mobile Telephony in Africa: Cross-Country Comparison
• Chapter 7: Promoting Livelihoods through Telecentres
• Chapter 8: Harmonizing Cyber Legislation at the Regional Level: The Case of ASEAN

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First Indian Youth Science Congress 2009

First Indian Youth Science Congress

Date: June 5-7, 2009

Venue: Chennai

Organized by M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai; Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development, Chennai; and SRM University, Chennai

Focal Theme 1: Youth and Shaping the Future of Innovations in Science for Societal Needs

Focal Theme 2: Your Planet Needs You: Unite to Combat Climate Change

India is a land of the youth with more than sixty percent of the population of 1.1 billion falling under the age of thirty-five. The opportunities for education in science and technology are growing. Our young scientists are making a mark in many areas of technology like biotechnology, space, atomic energy, information and communication, etc. Increasing number of IITs and Technical Universities are being established. There are also many Women’s and Rural Universities as well as Home Science Colleges. There are nearly sixty Agricultural, Veterinary and Fisheries Universities. Universities also exist in the field of Forestry. The time is, therefore, opportune to provide our young scholars and scientists an opportunity for sharing their views on how our country can progress not only in technology development but also in dissemination. How can we become world leaders in frontier areas of science and technology? How can our young scientists be nurtured to grow into Nobel Laureates?

Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Shri Manmohan Singh, while inaugurating the Indian Science Congress at Shillong on 3rd January 2009, made the following timely observation “The best science is done by young people. Our institutions must be receptive to the needs of young people. They must promote younger talent and allow youth to lead. Seniority and age may be relevant in bureaucratic systems, but scientific institutions must be led by intellectual leaders, irrespective of age”.

The Indian Youth Science Congress (IYSC) is being organized at Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development (An Autonomous Organization of Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, GOI) Sriperumbudur, Chennai, TamilNadu during June 5-7, 2009. It intend to provide a voice to young scientists and scholars on how we as a nation can contribute more to advancing the frontiers of knowledge and knowledge based wealth.

The IYSC will provide a forum for young professionals in agriculture, science, technology and innovation to discuss and share the expertise and experiences on how to tap and utilize science, technology and innovation for India’s development. The programme will comprise of special lecture by eminent scientists, technical sessions on identified themes, and special forums for young scientists, poster sessions and exhibitions .

The congress will discuss and deliberate on following thematic areas with reference to application of science, technology and policy interventions

• Recent Advances in Life Sciences (Agriculture, Biotechnology etc)
• Recent Advances in Frontier Technologies (Space, Communication, Bioinformatics, Physical andChemical Technology, Energy, Nanotechnology etc)
• Climate Change and Mitigating Its ImpactConservation and Enhancement of Natural Resource (Biodiversity, Traditional Knowledge Systems, Water Quality etc)
• Ensuring Health Security (Medical Biotechnology, Pharmacology etc)
• Inculcating Scientific Temper at the Early Career Stages (Linking Science and Society)
• Enlarging the Opportunities for Self-employment

Participation is invited from young research scholars and students (B.Tech / M.Sc. / M.Tech / M.Phil/ Ph.D / Post Doc) to present their work relevant to the themes mentioned above. Students and scholars who are not presenting their work are also encouraged to register as observers without submitting any abstract, and participate in all the events of IYSC 2009.

Interested participants are requested to send the following on or before 15th May 2009, to the Organising secretary, IYSC 2009.

1. One page abstract (not applicable for observers)
2. Filled in registration form
3. Registration fee as demand draft (DD) drawn in favour of M.S. Swaminathan Research Fountation, payable at Chennai
4. Bonafide certificate form research supervisors for scholars and from Head of the Department or other competent authorities for students

Participants should also send their abstract by e-mail to ysc2009@mssrf.res.in. The abstracts will be reviewed and selected for presentation at IYSC 2009. Among the selected abstracts, some will be chosen for oral presentation and all others will have to be presented as posters. The selection of the abstract for oral or poster and the guidelines for preparation of the poster and oral presentation will be communicated by e-mail by 20th May 2009, and also published in the websites (www.mssrf.org, www.srmuniv.ac.in, www.rgniyd.gov.in). The participants whose abstract was not selected or presentation at IYSC 2009 can participate as observer.

Registration Fee

• Delegates: Rs. 1000
• Research Scholars: Rs. 600
• Students: Rs. 400

Participants are requested to arrange for their travel expenditure from their own resources. However, need based travel support will be provided to few participants on specific request and based on availability of resources. Accommodation for the participants will be provided for free in guesthouses and students hostels. Accommodation in Hotels will be arranged on payment basis.

Download

• IYSC Brochure
• Registration Form

Applications Invited for Fellowships by The New India Foundation

Applications Invited for Fellowships by The New India Foundation

In the sixty years since Independence, there has been a large body of work produced by Indian historians and social scientists. Taken singly, many of these studies are very impressive; viewed cumulatively, they add up to much less than what one might expect. The chief reason for this is the determining influence on scholarly practice of that single date: 15th August, 1947. Historians don't look beyond the attainment of Independence, whereas other social scientists don't look back at all. We have solid studies of the Congress under British rule, with books written about its operations' in different parts of India, yet there are no systematic studies of this most influential of political parties in the post-independence period. Again, there are numerous ethnographic accounts of the caste system. Yet, we have no analytical overview of caste since Independence.

We have had political scientists conducting field studies of every single election since 1952. But we have no comprehensive analyses of changes over time in voter behaviour, election propaganda, or election finance.

These examples could be multiplied manifold. The Republic of India is a Union of twenty-eight states, some larger than France and Germany. Yet not even the biggest or most important of these states have had their histories written. Again, there are no serious biographies of some Invited for of the key figures in our modem history: such as Sheikh Abdullah or C. N. Annadurai or A Z. Phizo or (to take figures from very different fields) Pandit Ravi Shankar or Dhirubhai Ambani.

It is this lack that the New India Foundation seeks to address, by sponsoring work of quality on modem India.

The New India Foundation invites applications for the fifth round of the New India Fellowships. Open only to Indian nationals, these Fellowships will be awarded for a period of one year, and will carry a stipend of Rs 70,000 a month. Fellowship holders shall be expected to write original books. Proposals should be oriented towards final publication, and outline a road map towards that destination. The Foundation is ecumenical as regards genre, theme, and ideology: the only requirement is that the proposed work contributes to the fuller understanding of independent India. Thus Fellowship holders may choose to write a memoir, or a work of reportage, or a thickly footnoted academic study. Their books could be oriented towards economics, or politics, or culture. They could be highly specific-an account of a single decade or a single region--or wide-ranging, such as a countrywide overview.

Since 2004, a total of twenty New India Foundation Fellowships have been awarded, for books to be written on such topics as the social history of Telugu films, the reform of personal laws, refugee politics in north-eastern India, the history of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, debates on the death penalty in India, and the science and politics of biodiversity conservation.

The first books to emanate from the New India Fellowships are Harish Damodaran's India's New Capitalists (Pal grave Macmillan), Vasanthi Srinivasan's Gandhi's Conscience-Keeper (Permanent Black), and Dinesh Shanna's India's Long Revolution (HarperCollins India).

How to Apply

Applicants for the New India Fellowships for 2009 are invited to submit their

• CV with contact details (email ID mandatory)
• Book proposal
• A writing sample of at least 5000 words (published or unpublished)

Send these to:

The Managing Trustee

The New India Foundation

22 A Brunton Road, Bangalore 560025

These may be sent before 31 July 2009 by post or courier. Email applications will not be entertained. However, specific queries may be addressed to ramguha[at]gmail.com

The fellowships will be decided by a jury whose members are Andre Beteille, Ramachandra Guha, Niraja GopalJayal, Nandan Nilekani, and N. Ravi. Further details about the Foundation may be found at http://www.newindiafoundation.org/