CfP:: National Seminar on "E-waste Management and Recycling in India: Issues and Challenges"

National Seminar on "E-waste Management and Recycling in India: Issues and Challenges"

17-18 March 2011

Organised by
Department of Economics, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
under UGC Special Assistance Programme (SAP)

The main objective of this seminar is to involve all the stakeholders in informed discussions on the various aspects of the e-waste management and recycling in India. Academicians, environmentalists, policy makers, non-governmental organizations, researchers, students and other stakeholders will be involved in these deliberations. The proceedings of the seminar will be published in the form of an edited book for wider dissemination.

Themes of the Seminar are as follows:
1. E-waste – Size and Composition
2. E-waste - Challenges, Prospects and Response
3. E-waste or E-Resources
4. Modified Draft on E-waste (management and handling) rules 2010 - An Assessment
5. E-waste and health and Environmental Hazards (impacts)
6. International Experience in E -waste Management and Recycling
7. Role of Unorganized sector in E-waste management and recycling
8. Role of awareness in E-waste management
9. Use of technology in E-waste management
10. E-waste and energy recovery
11. Population, migration and E-waste
12. Institutional mechanism in E-waste management and recycling
13. Climate change, environmental refuges and challenges to E-waste management
14. Urban vs. Rural aspects of E-waste management
15. People's participation in E-waste management
16. Capacity building for E-waste management
17. Legal and Policy aspects etc

Call for Papers
Research papers are invited from academicians, professionals, environmentalists, NGOs, policymakers, research scholars, students, other stakeholders and people engaged in various aspects of e-waste management on any of the topics / themes mentioned above or related topics. Only analytical papers should be submitted for consideration. An abstract at least one page (around 100-150 words) should reach the organizing committee not later than 21 February 2011. Abstract must contain full title of the paper, the names and affiliations of all authors, e-mail address and full mailing address of the principal author. The abstract must clearly describe the content of the presentation, broad aims, objectives, methodology preliminary findings and tentative conclusions Full paper (in duplicate) not more than 30 pages including tables, references and foot notes (Microsoft word, Times New Roman, font 12, 1.5 line spacing) must be send to organizing committee on or before 1st March, 2011, The papers received will be reviewed by a panel of experts and their decision to accept or reject the paper will be final. Both abstract and full paper must be send to ashrafjamia[at]yahoo.com and ab1sul2[at]yahoo.com.

Important Dates

• Last date for submission Abstract: 21 February 2011
• Last date for submission Full paper: 01 March 2011
• Notification of Acceptance/Rejection: 05 March 2011

Further Details

Awakening Aesthetic Awareness Workshop at Kerala: The holistic way of being in the world.

Awakening Aesthetic Awareness : The holistic way of being in the world.

're integrating art, science and language'

're integrating work, play and learn'

're integrating intuition and reasoning'

're integrating the mind and body'

're integrating the feminine and masculine'

'becoming PRESENT to the moment'

Why we should awaken the sense of beauty within ourselves? The retreat/workshop is an attempt to repair the psychological, physiological and cognitive damages done by modern institutions (schools, market and hospital) and culture. Schools makes us in to rigid, mechanical and second hand beings, ready to serve or to order as we learn 'authority' at schools. Authority of teacher, authority of knowledge. Another damage is the inability for creativity as we loose our intuitive ability because of over use of logic and dependency on memorized knowledge. The reasoning ability is often used to reason away, to maintain status quo of our rigid and static mind. Since our link to the world is through text our experience is textualised.

WHEN

16th to 20th February 2011 (Wednesday to Sunday)

WHERE

Nilambur, Malapuram, KERALA, India

HOW

Beauty is the most fundamental of human existence. Beauty is what truly makes one authentic. Beauty is what binds us to the external world. Senses are our doors to knowledge and beauty. Consciously learning to experience the beauty of the world by seeing, touching, feeling.

PROCESS

Engaging with nature, Habit breaking, Dialogues, silence, reflection, sharing, Sensitizing senses, Awakening of aesthetic sense is brought in as a central issue. making, drawing, seeing, listening This helps them to move away from 'rational' mind to some extent.

FOR WHOM

Anyone who wants to reclaim the authentic natural learning process and creativity. This could help Parents and teachers to enable them to see children's real potential and to enable them to let children be.

FEES AND REGISTRATION

Rs 7,500 to be paid by 20th January 2011 along with the registration form. Any contributions over and above the basic registration fees are welcome to support those who can't pay. (Fees also includes stay and food)

STAY AND FOOD

Simple stay will be arranged in a neat hotel in Nilambur town and food will be Kerala traditional home food.

ROUTE

Nilambur is 70 km from Calicut, 100 km from Palghat and Trichur railway stations. 45 km from Calicut airport. Passenger trains run between Nilambur railway station and Shornur. Contact for more details.

CONTACT DETAILS.

Email: jinankb@gmail.com, mobile 09447121544 or 09995495325.

http://www.rediscoveringchildhood.org

http://my.opera.com/jinankb/blog/sensing-nature

http://awakeningtheaestheticawareness.blogspot.com/

Postal address: Surabhi, S.N.Park, Thrissur, Kerala - 680004, India

Just Published "Liberalizing Research in Science and Technology: Studies in Science Policy"

Liberalizing Research in Science and Technology: Studies in Science Policy
Edited by Nadia Asheulova, Binay Kumar Pattnaik, Eduard Kolchinsky and Gregory Sandstrom. Saint-Petersburg: Politechnika, 2010. ISBN 978-5-904031-76-3.

The present book is based on papers contributed at the international conference held at IIT Kanpur February 4-6, 2009. It was co-organized by Dr. Binay K. Pattnaik (Convener, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur) and Dr. Nadia Asheulova (Centre for Sociology of Science and Science Studies, Institute for the History of Science and Technology, St Petersburg Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences). Fifty two papers were presented over three days by scholars from six countries: India, Russia, Mexico, China, USA and Canada.
The book is published under the scientific guidance of Dr. Jaime Jiménez, President of the Research Committee 23: Sociology of Science and Technology of the International Sociological Association.
Authors representing different viewpoints and approaches share a common interest in examining the various important aspects of science, research, technology and liberalizing S&T research. In the course of the event, the term 'liberalization’ also acquired a broader meaning, as breaking the national boundaries S&T researchers need to reach out to international scientific communities through collaborations and also to be part of international networks/collegial bodies, both formal and informal.
This book is most relevant for those concerned with sociological research in general, and particularly for those in the area of sociology of science and technology.

Papers from CSSP researchers:

• Nimesh Chandra. Knowledge Transfer Strategies at Indian Institutes of Technology.
• Sujit Bhattacharya and Kashmiri Lal. Innovation Activity in the Indian Software Industry.

Download Full-text PDF

The science of research: Why India cannot afford a 'chalta hai' attitude

The science of research: Why India cannot afford a 'chalta hai' attitude
By Dhananjaya Dendukuri

For a country which is so proud that it gave the world the Bhagavad Gita, it is ironic how often its core message is ignored. Take for instance, the world of science and technology. Just like the quadrennial Olympics or Asian Games produce a momentary, albeit passionate, interest in sports, our interest in science is fleetingly elevated during the times when Nobel Prizes are given out. As the often heard message from the Gita tells you, it is the labour of science itself and not rewards like the Nobel Prize that one must strive for.
The most recent laureate of Indian origin, Venky Ramakrishnan, stressed this point during a recent interaction with students in Delhi. There are several reasons why I think this is important. From a purely statistical point of view, the odds of a scientist winning a Nobel Prize are comparable to the odds of winning a lottery. No rational scientist would set out to win a Nobel Prize at the beginning of her career. More importantly, it's the pleasure of doing science rather than winning prizes that drives successful scientists like Ramakrishnan. The rewards of pursuing basic science are often unexpected and realised over the long term. Not even Ramanujan could have predicted that the esoteric mathematical problems he was pursuing would have implications in the very practical problem of security encryption today. The elucidation of the structure of the atom was key to advances ranging from nuclear energy to semiconductor research and the ubiquitous computer. The list is endless. None of these advances would have been possible if a short-sighted view of basic research had been taken.
From the nation's point of view, history has shown that scientifically advanced nations have not only been able to protect themselves better during times of war but also feed, clothe and care for the health of their citizens. An often heard debate is that regarding the allocation of resources to the pursuit of science vis-à-vis immediate priorities and needs. There is no easy answer to this question but a model that has worked well in America is to build an eco-system that represents different interests. Researchers who pursue basic science, technologists who seek to translate viable ideas into applications, entrepreneurs who are able to create a market for new products and ideas and finally a population that has the risk appetite to try things new and untested. This is easier said than done but the recognition that it takes many different kinds of people to build the ecosystem is essential. The ivory tower academic and the cynic who seeks only immediate solutions are both undesirable extremes.
So what can India do to encourage younger people to pursue science? The easy and lazy answer is to say that things will just improve as the economy grows and the nation has more resources to spend on science. However, the trouble with this approach is that science and technology are influencing our lives to an ever greater extent. Our chalta-hai attitude could lead us to fall far behind nations that are pro-actively pursuing basic research. Given the demographic dividend that we are assured is our path to prosperity, we need to use this base of young people to also further scientific research in this country. Parents need to inculcate a greater curiosity in children and encourage them to question things around them. Young adults moving out of college and into careers have to acquire the maturity to look beyond the best-paying job they can lay their hands on and try to find what it is that really interests them. Role models play a huge role in this process and people like Ramakrishnan or Amartya Sen can exercise a huge influence on students by speaking about these issues.
One practical step that the government could take is to hugely increase the number of science graduates from our premier technological institutes like the IITs. Given that they already possess the basic infrastructure to do so and given that they attract a large number of students who have done well in science at the school level, it would make definite sense to increase the number of pure science graduates from these institutions. The boundary between science and technology is only blurring as the years go by and having these institutes generate more science graduates would help both the IITs and the pursuit of science in India. Last but not least, research carries with it the pure pleasure of discovering nature's laws — something which is without comparison.

The writer is CEO and co-founder, Achira Labs, express@expressindia.com
Source: Indian Express, 25 December 2010

International Conference on Preparing Agriculture for Climate Change

International Conference on Preparing Agriculture for Climate Change

6-8 February 2011

Organized by
Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana
in association with Crop Improvement Society of India, PAU

According to Wulf Killmann, who wrote 'Foreword' of a recent FAO publication entitled 'Climate Change and Food Security: A framework document', climate change will affect all four dimensions of food security: food availability, food accessibility, food utilization, and food systems stability. All this will have an impact on human health and purchasing power and market flows. Because, from the standpoint of food, the world is regarded as one civilization, both developed and developing countries will be affected. In developing countries, such as India, climate change could adversely affect the already stressed ecological and socioeconomic systems because of rapid urbanization, industrialization, and economic development.

The world, especially the southern hemisphere, could see a significant drop in agricultural productivity as a consequence of climate change. Agricultural losses related to climate change are expected to hit developing countries hard, as agriculture employs a substantial number of people and contributes greatly to economic growth. Further, poverty in developing world is largely rural with a significant proportion of the population still dependent on agriculture. The Green Revolution of 1970s and 1980s substantially increased food grain productivity and increased rural wages. However, recent agricultural growth rates in countries like India are far below the growth rates of other economic sectors. Thus unlike in developed countries, the adverse impact of climate change on agriculture will disproportionately affect the poor. A key question for agricultural scientists, therefore, is: "Will climate-resilient agriculture technologies mitigate the effects of climate change?"

To develop a consensus global view on this, we are organizing a 3-day international conference of eminent agricultural scientists and climatologists at Punjab Agricultural University at Ludhiana, India, during February6-8, 2011 on the following themes:

1) Agriculture: abettor and sufferer
2) Mitigation strategies – Policy and Management interventions
3) Adaptation strategies: Genetic options/interventions
4) Climate change and biodiversity: Extinction and new emergence

The conference is being organized under the auspices of the Crop Improvement Society of India, whose headquarters are located at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. The conference will comprise invited plenary and symposium presentations and conclude with a panel discussion on "Directed adaptation to climate change and role of long-term forecasting models." There will be symposium lectures in the evenings of the first two days. One session will be devoted to selected contributory posters from bright young scientists and students.

• Abstract Submission Deadline: 31st December 2010.
• Abstract Submission Form
  

Further Details

Conference on Publishing in India: Challenges and Opportunities

Conference on Publishing in India: Challenges and Opportunities
17-18 January 2011
Organized by Bharat Ratna Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University, Delhi

Theme

Publishing lies at the heart of literacy, knowledge, and enlightenment for any society. With its mandate for promoting social enrichment Bharat Ratna Dr B.R. Ambedkar University, Delhi naturally has a keen interest in contributing towards publishing in India. To begin with it would like to initiate an academic programme on publishing at the University. The challenge lies in making sense out of the turbulence in the publishing industry worldwide, and searching for new answers. It also lies in harnessing technology to produce essential books – whether on paper or on the computer screen – at a cost that is within the reach of the poorest in our society, who continue to number in millions. There is also the challenge of making publishing in India's various languages strong and sustainable. These are industry-wide challenges, not just for AUD. The collective challenge is to raise publishing in the country to a threshold where India becomes an attractive destination not just because of its low labor costs, but because of the innovative ideas born in creative minds here. It is with the goal of nurturing such creative minds that AUD seeks to enter the field of publishing studies. The University plans to begin this journey by hosting a conference titled 'Publishing in India: Challenges and Opportunities' on 17-18 January, 2011.

Focal Areas

This conference would be the first initiative of AUD in this field and will address critical issues like:

• New Age of Publishing: evolving structures, demands, and opportunities
• Scholarly publishing: best practices in acquisitions, evaluations, enhancement, and marketing
• The Designer as author: the role of book design in communication
• Editing in the current and future publishing industry in India
• 'Publishing' activities in the periphery
• New technology and publishing: The worlds of Amazon's 'Kindle', Apple's 'iPad' and Google
• University-based Publishing Studies program: challenges, models
• Design and staffing of short-term programs for publishing professionals

The Conference would consist of presentations on these issues by leading practitioners from the publishing industry as well as academicians. Each of these presentations would be followed by discussions.

Participants

The Conference seeks to touch upon a wide variety of areas related to publishing and therefore would be of interest to diverse group of people like

• Practitioners in the field of publishing in English and in regional languages.
• Academics in the Humanities and Social Sciences interested in understanding how their respective fields interact with the world of publishing.
• Information Technology specialists already involved in publishing-related activities, or are interested in possible areas of interface.
• The conference is likely to bring together around 40 people.

Partners

As of now one of the partners for the Conference is the Canadian Centre for Studies in Publishing, at Simon Fraser Universtiy, Vancouver, Canada. Their representation will include Dr. Rowland Lorimer, Director, Master of Publishing Program and Canadian Centre for Studies in Publishing, Simon Fraser University, and Editor, Scholarly and Research Communication.

Participation

If you are interested in attending the conference, please submit a short statement of interest (about 300 words) and a brief CV to conference.aud@gmail.com by 10 December 2010. The language of the Conference will be English.

Further Details

Compendium on Technology Exports: An Illustrative Compilation of Exported & Exportable Technologies from India

Compendium on Technology Exports: An Illustrative Compilation of Exported & Exportable Technologies from India

Published By
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) and Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), New Delhi

Innovation and adoption of new technology are critical areas for sustaining high economic growth. With the advent of globalization, the world is increasingly becoming interdependent, not just in the supply of raw materials and machinery, but more so in terms of technology as well as knowledge sharing and transfer, including technology exports. In fact, science, technology and innovation are going to determine the economic and political power of the nations.
Exports have been key to economic growth in most countries. With India's technology prowess and the focus shifting to newer markets in the foreign trade policy recently announced by the Government of India, there is an excellent opportunity for our country to have a competitive advantage in technology led exports. While India has a large domestic market, it would be prudent to explore newer markets worldwide. It is wise to remember Peter Drucker's words that there is no distance in today's world economy and that everything is 'local'. We need to constantly innovate and improve technology so that India is on the global map.
Over the years, India has achieved a degree of competitiveness in knowledge and technology-intensive products. Our country has been making concerted efforts for building technology strengths and efficiency in sectors like agriculture, manufacturing, software and services, thereby improving its competitive strength and encouraging the attainment of globally accepted standards of quality. Many developing countries need technologies as well as plant & machinery relevant to their development levels. India could be one of the potential suppliers to such countries. However, these countries usually lack access to information on sourcing their requirements and thus there exists a need to disseminate the same.
The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India has taken the initiative of documenting the technologies exported from India. Partnering with Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), a 'Compendium on Technology Exports: An Illustrative Compilation of Exported & Exportable Technologies from India' is being brought out since 1996 with the main objective of disseminating detailed information on export of Indian technologies, technology-intensive exports, covering projects, equipments, products and services.
The publication serves as a ready source of reference to overseas customers who are looking for partnerships with India. It is also helpful to Indian exporters in taking their business beyond national boundaries. This Compendium on Technology Exports is widely disseminated to the organizations dealing with technology intensive trade, including policy-makers, export promotion bodies, R&D institutions, consultants, trade & industry and foreign missions. This project is sponsored and supported by the DSIR.
The previous editions of the Compendium were well received and earned considerable appreciation from various quarters. Encouraged by its overwhelming response, the Institute has brought out the present volume of the Compendium on Technology Exports (VOL .IX) which is the 9th edition. This volume includes data for the years 2002-03 to 2007-08. We are grateful to all those organizations who shared the export data and hope that they would continue to associate and cooperate with us in future also.
The present issue of the Compendium on Technology Exports has a larger coverage and deeper analysis of data compared to earlier volumes. The Compendium includes primary data collected by IIFT through well designed field studies for about 418 organizations and companies. The data has been analyzed based on sectors and technology intensity year-wise. The data on R&D expenditure, number of S&T personnel, foreign collaboration, etc., has also been collected and analyzed.

Download
Volume IX Compendium on Technology Exports, 2009
Volume VIII Compendium on Technology Exports, 2008
Volume VII Compendium on Technology Exports, 2007
Volume VI Compendium on Technology Exports, 2004