Wednesday, June 27, 2012

CfPs: International Symposium on Producing knowledge, governing populations; ENS, Lyon, France; 10-13 September 2013

International Symposium on Producing knowledge, governing populations: Anthropology, science studies and health policies
ENS, Lyon, France
10-13 September 2013

Organizers
Charlotte Brives (LAM – UMR5115), Frédéric Le Marcis (IRD & ENS-Lyon) & Josiane Tantchou (LAM-UMR5115)

Scientific Committee
Jean-Pierre Dozon (EHESS), Didier Fassin (Princeton & EHESS), Wenzel Geissler (LSHTM), Marc-Eric Gruénais (U Bordeaux), Bruno Latour (Sciences Po – Paris), Anne-Marie Moulin (CNRS), Vinh Kim Nguyen (U Montréal), Kaushik Sunder Rajan (U. Chicago), Laurent Vidal (IRD)

Research in what is called the anthropology of health (in France) and medical anthropology (in the English speaking world) share a common concern for how bioscience, biotechnology, and biomedicine raise issues at the heart of contemporary society. Francophone and Anglophone anthropologists have worked theoretically side by side (but sometimes in ignorance of each other) to examine health inequalities, patterns of resort, pharmaceutical developments, public health policies, interventions on populations. They have placed the body in context and decentered biomedical notions of health and illness as they have revealed changing definition of old age and death or the patenting of life. These developments index a transforming relationship between humanity and health, one made visible in the relationship between subjectivity, misfortune –embodied or not – and the forms of political engagement these incite. This research, sensitive to how life is not at the heart of our ways of thinking and doing politics, remains haunted by Foucault's works on biopower and, increasingly, the care of the self.

Science and technology studies (STS) has over the past 30 years shown how scientific production creates new standards and values, how such works fans out through complex networks, each time redefining the world in which we live. STS research on biomedicine has also grown, but often isolated from conversations and debates in the anthropology of health and medical anthropology. These two disciplinary solitudes (medical anthropology and STS) have been maintained by critics that accuse STS of inadequate fieldwork and a heavy-handed approach to forcing data to fit pre-established theoretical framework, or critics of medical anthropology who complain that rich accounts of local illness knowledge and practice are too often opposed to a monolithic and "black-boxed" version of biomedicine. Yet can we still do without a real exchange between these two disciplines?

While the paradigm of evidence-based medicine seems to enjoy unquestioned legitimacy today, everyone agrees that this legitimacy is the byproduct of ongoing work engaging life sciences experts, health specialists and of the mobilization of social and political dynamics.
Thus evidence-based medicine is the result of an effort which, although taking the appearance of evidence, is the result of a process aiming at building its own legitimacy. Based on processes rather than given facts, evidence-based medicine is at the heart of the debate we hope to develop during this meeting. The foundations of such omnipresence of evidencebased medicine has to be studied, in that it allows the understanding of the logic of practices associated with it in contemporary societies. The primary objective of this conference is therefore to open, or rather to broaden, the space for exchanges between anthropology of health and science studies around evidence based-medicine: what are its contributions, its limitations, but also its constraints? How does it produce, impose or recompose within its everyday activities norms and standards of care? How does it redefine our conceptions of health, body and ailments afflicting us? How does it change our system of values? How does it influence the politics defining policies implemented within our health systems?
As a rough guide we suggest three main questions that will define our meeting. Although we invite papers to enroll concerning these three questions, they are far from exhaustive.

Making evidence
In most developing countries research activities are conducted within health systems. Clinical trials, scaling up interventions, and various tests and trials are inscribed into multiple dimensions. On the one hand they take part in the production of knowledge at a global level and turn research frameworks into spaces within which many questions are examined. Furthermore, this knowledge produced by researchers from the South (often in collaboration with researchers from the North) is mobilized to help a particular policy along, to defend such or such modification of an international recommendation (e.g. WHO). The problematic link between knowledge produced in these contexts, even from an operational logic standpoint, is rarely discussed. How does one go from protocol, from a test by its very nature "beyond real life" (as scientists like to put it) to public health recommendations and to practical implementations in the field? What are the rationales at stake, what are the operations of translation? What are the negotiations involved between researchers, public health specialists and political actors from global to local stances? It seems to us quite useful to read these negotiations through the lenses of the historical development of medical evidence (Marks 1999). Trial participants are indeed people who remain with their own history and daily life. Health workers have their own conception of medicine and care, which they developed through their experiences. Political, economic and social contexts vary, so do the schools of thoughts. Within trial set ups, trajectories and ontologies are multiple and the production of facts adds further to the different social worlds into which individuals are inscribed. Therefore the issue is not only to understand the production of biomedical facts in the light of the context (presence of other types of medicines, influence of religion and of the socio-political), but also to understand how this production comes to construct ontologies, professional environments, and ways of life. What does it imply for individuals, patients or health professionals? What ontologies of the body, health or disease are emerging from these practices and what is their impact? What consequences can this specific practice of medicine have on the actors involved, willingly or not? And how can we from this questioning conceive ethics or at least try to reframe some of its foundations, or else notice some inadequacies of its standardization? It is clear from these lines that we stand here far from the reductionist label attached to science, quite the opposite. We would rather understand how a new wealth and complexity find their origins in these practices, how within the space of clinical trials it is not so much the opposition of two worldviews which is displayed, rather it is their productive encounter.

Making bodies comparable
The rise of biology as a discipline, the development of statistics, and the practice of care, helped make bodies commensurable and standardizable, condition sine qua non for the development of biomedicine. However this configuration is by no means fixed. It is in fact constantly changing. Indeed, bodies are not comparable in nature and it is biomedicine's tour de force along with sciences in general to let us think they are (Latour 1997). Research carried out in Medical Anthropology highlights the idiosyncrasies peculiar to the living, and understand the materiality of the body as the product of history, social change and ongoing interactions between humans, their environment and the context in which they live, what Lock and Nguyen have summarized by forging the term "local biologies" (Lock and Nguyen 2010). When one considers human beings as unique both in terms of their genomes as in terms of their everyday experiences, there is reason to believe that the biological sciences can only produce partial picture, snapshots of the materiality of bodies. This observation allows us to offer another reading of biomedical failures and permits a better understanding of some of the problems associated with the implementation of biomedical and clinical research results originating from different contexts. Moreover it also allows for further reflection on the consequences of the biomedicalization of life and its impact on subjectivities, on the relationship that individuals have with themselves, with their image, their body, or their identity. The question of both the commensurability of the body and the generalization of data is at the heart of the issues we wish to see addressed during our meeting: while clinical trials along with the emergence of new technologies, and biomedical experiments in general are geographically and historically situated, their results can be generalized to give rise to public health policy. We are interested in all the dimensions of this journey: how, at the experimental level, is the body turned comparable to the point of adding them up, one to another? How do we produce the data? How does one objectify the living? However, this journey cannot account for its 'success', or rather cannot give an answer the age old question "why does it work", a question we must immediately replace with "how does it work." How does one render bodies comparable? How does one produce knowledge, how does one generalize to the point of making recommendations sometimes leading to real public health policies? And what are the consequences? An approach articulating science (in its most concrete modalities) and politics (at the more global scale) is strongly expected.

Standardizing practices, practicing standards
We all know that standardization is at the heart of the production of scientific statements, whether it be practices (Berg, 1997), protocols (Timmermans and Berg, 2003), or even living entities such as cells (Landecker, 2009) or organs (Hogle, 2009). This standardization aims at making facts transportable to other places, with other actors, to make them immutable mobiles (Latour). However, science studies have taught us that such standardization is never complete, never perfect. This is due to the many idiosyncrasies of the living on the one hand, and on the other to the fact that the reproducibility of a result, of a technology or statement lies foremost in the reproducibility of the conditions of their production, and therefore in the standardization of a large number of elements. Therefore, once produced, how are such data, facts, tools, technologies treated to be translated, transported, and distributed? And how are they received? Many studies in medical anthropology underline the richness and diversity of contexts in which they must take root, which sometimes means a temporary or permanent inconsistency between proposed health policies and local contexts in which we want to implement them. How are these contexts "redefined" by these policies and technologies, and with what consequences? How do experiences of populations, health, and people in the interface between science and politics fit? Of course, on this topic historians are probably better equipped than anthropologists to address this issue (Packard 1989, Vaughan 1991; Jochelson 2001) although anthropologists are not totally out of the picture (Dozon 1985, Carton 2003). People themselves are not a passive receptacle for biomedical technologies, practices, or even health policies, policies that carry the characteristic of being based on a type of amnesia when people on their side do remember (Fassin 2006). Today's recommendations may be echoing previous policies (i.e. indoor residual spraying and community mobilization in the fight against malaria). To forget this means not taking into account the history of health policies nor the memory of the people or contexts. How do patients cope with, bypass, reinvent, adapt or adjust pragmatically to implemented medical practices and technologies? How is history mobilized to understand the present? What are the continuities (or breaks) between the colonial and postcolonial eras that matter? For the African continent we invite the panelists to try and answer the question of the place and status of life science in times of necropolitics (Mbembe).

Our meeting in its purpose and questioning is inherently interdisciplinary. We claim therefore an interdisciplinary openness and invite representatives from various disciplines to propose papers (history, political science, anthropology, sociology, science studies but also clinical research, public health ...). Although the fieldwork of conference organizers mainly takes place on the African continent, papers based on other continents are most welcome. Beyond the relevance and quality expected for papers in an international symposium, their selection will be based on the appreciation of their grounding in a real fieldwork. We give to fieldwork a broad meaning: it may be archival or ethnographic. We expect original contributions based on work in progress or recently completed. We will pay particular attention to research including a historical dimension. Indeed we consider it necessary to articulate ethnography with a reflection based over a long time period. Research based on the use of archives will therefore be most welcome.

Deadline for abstract submission (500 words) : December 15th, 2012.
Notification of acceptance : March 1st, 2013
Deadline for papers : July 1st, 2013.
Email: colloquehssa@gmail.com

Monday, June 25, 2012

Public Conference on Consumer Privacy at IIC Delhi; July 7th, 2012

Public Conference on Consumer Privacy

Venue: Indian International Centre, New Delhi

Saturday, July 7th, 2012, from 9:00 am - 5:00pm


On behalf of Privacy India, and in partnership with the Centre for Internet & Society, IDRC, Society in Action Group and Privacy International, we would like to invite you to a public conference focused on discussing the challenges and concerns to consumer privacy in India.
According to the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, a consumer is a broad label for any person who buys any goods or services for consideration with the intent of using them for a non-commercial purpose. Certain services that consumers use may, by their very nature, put an extraordinary amount of sensitive personal information into the hands of vendors.
Consumer privacy is concerned with accuracy of how a consumers information is collected and used. Because a consumers relationship with another entity is based on an exchange along consented terms, a breach in consumer privacy can be constituted as an action that was not agreed to. In the age of data collection – a breach in privacy occurs when information is used in different ways than was intended. Consumer privacy in India is determined at the sectoral level, and differs depending on the services that is provided for.
As corporations sell data banks, ISP's expose consumer habits, or ones personal information falls in the wrong hands – the consequences are far reaching, and can result in spamming, unwanted marketing, theft, or the violation can impact an individual's ability to buy a home, potential employment opportunities, or gain access to credit.
In India, the right to privacy has been a neglected area of study and engagement. Although sectoral legislation deals with privacy issues, India does not as yet have a horizontal legislation that deals comprehensively with privacy across all contexts. The absence of a minimum guarantee of privacy is felt most heavily by marginalized communities, including HIV patients, children, women, sexuality minorities, prisoners, etc. - people who most need to know that sensitive information is protected.
Since June 2010, Privacy India in collaboration with Privacy International, based in London, has been conducting workshops and engaging in public awareness. Participants include policy makers, researchers, sectoral experts, NGOs, and the public to discuss and deliberate different questions of privacy, its intersections and its implications with our everyday life. The discussions have ranged from topics of online privacy to minority rights and privacy and e-Governance initiatives privacy. The workshops have been organized in different cities - Bangalore, Guwahati, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Goa, etc.
Please confirm your participation to Ms. Natasha Vaz at Natasha@cis-india.org.

RSVP
Natasha Vaz
Centre for Internet & Society
No. 194, 2nd 'C' Cross, Domlur 2nd Stage Bangalore 560071
Telefax: (+91)-080-25350955
Email: Natasha@cis-india.org

Further Details

"Understanding Innovation: the Indian Context" February 2012 issue

Understanding Innovation: the Indian Context

February 2012 issue

A Bulletin Initiated by:
National Science and Technology Management Information System (NSTMIS), DST, India
National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies (NISTADS), New Delhi, India

Thursday, June 21, 2012

CfPs: International Conference on India-Japan Relations: Transforming into Potential Partnership; 7-9 Dec; Tirupati

International Conference on India-Japan Relations: Transforming into Potential Partnership [IJR-TPP]

7-9 December 2012

organized by: Centre for Southeast Asian & Pacific Studies, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, India

Call for Papers

India and Japan are the two Asian majors cooperation and understanding between whom is critical in moulding the 21st century as the 'Asian Century'. Historical and civilizational links spanning several centuries, mutual goodwill, amity and respect; absence of conflicting strategic interests; and commitment to promote peace and stability, to maintain regional equilibrium and to strengthen  institutionalized multilateral cooperation in Asia, have lent credence to the claim that India and Japan are natural allies. While the Japanese held India in high esteem as the land of the Buddha, Japan has always remained a source of inspiration to the Indians, in as much as Japan exposed the myth of European invincibility by defeating Russia in 1905; sought to eclipse European colonialism; offered moral and material support to the freedom struggle carried on from Japan by Rosh Behari Bose and Subash Chandra Bose; and demonstrated its saga of rapid recovery from the devastation during the World War II to emerge as an economic and technical powerhouse.

Even though India-Japan cooperation encapsules diverse areas, there are certain areas which are not covered yet. As a country with rising demand for energy to meet the requirements of its rapid economic growth India wanted Japan – a global leader in energy efficient technologies – to participate in the expansion of India's nuclear energy programme. In fact, in June 2010 Tokyo agreed  to enter into an agreement with India on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. However, in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident after the massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011 which caused immense destruction, Japan remained less enthusiastic about cooperation with India in the sphere of nuclear energy. India is keen to obtain bullet train technologies from Japan, but Tokyo sees no urgency is speeding up this matter.

At a time when India and Japan are striving to strengthen their political, economic and strategic ties and to promote the peace, security, and prosperity of Asia as well as to advance international peace and sustainable development, the Centre for Southeast Asia & Pacific Studies is holding three-day International Conference on "India-Japan Relations: Transforming into Potential Partnership" on December 7-9, 2012. It is our true pleasure to request you to contribute a scholarly paper on one of the following sub-themes:
  • Historical perspective of India-Japan relations
  • India and Japan in Asian regionalization
  • Geopolitics and the role of India and Japan
  • Bilateral Trade
  • Foreign Direct Investment
  • Energy security and environmental sustainability
  • Maritime security and cooperation
  • Cultural relations
  • Comparative Literature, Religion and Philosophy
  • People to people contacts
  • Information and Communication Technology
  • Pharmaceuticals
  • Any other relevant theme

Deadlines
  • Abstract submission: 31 July 2012
  • Full Paper submission: 31 October 2012
  • Date of Conference: 7-9 December 2012

Bibliography of Books and Monographs available with CSSP Library

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Sitaram Rao Livelihoods India Case Study Competition 2012

Sitaram Rao Livelihoods India Case Study Competition 2012

ACCESS Development Services and Fr. Arrupe Center for Ecology and Sustainability (FACES), XLRI Jamshedpur jointly announce the Sitaram Rao Livelihoods India Case Study Competition 2012. This competition is supported by Oxfam India.

Theme
A number of large scale programmes of the government, as well as multilateral and bilateral organizations are putting much effort into poverty reduction. However, the poorest of the poor have been bypassed by most mainstream development initiatives. Different approaches are required for alleviating extreme poverty since the poorest of the poor face fundamentally different set of deprivations as compared to the poor. The biggest challenge they face is the lack of a stable income. Enhancing sustainable livelihoods of the poorest of the poor is thus a significantly important step towards reduction of extreme poverty.
The 2012 case study competition, therefore, seeks case studies of experiences in enhancing the livelihoods of the poorest of the poor. The case studies should cover the following:
1.       Socio-economic conditions and needs of the community within the context of which the programme was initiated and implemented;
2.       Nature of engagement, intervention, support and strategies of the implementing agency for reaching out to the poorest of the poor;
3.       Impact of the programme in promoting sustainable livelihoods;
4.       Factors that contributed to the success of the programme;
5.       Critical challenges faced; and
6.       Issues in achieving scale and sustainability and efforts made by the programme to address them.
How to register?
Participants are required to fill in a registration form and provide an abstract (in 500 words) of their cases by June 25, 2012 (Monday). Please click here to go to the registration form. Please go through the details of the Competition on the website before sending in your registrations (http://accessdev.org/lh-li-case-study.php):
 Process
·         All participants are requested to send an abstract of maximum 500 words of their case studies by June 25, 2012.
·         Abstracts will be reviewed and a shortlist will be announced on July 10, 2012.
·         The shortlisted candidates will be requested to send the full case study, not exceeding 5000 words, by September 10, 2012.
·         Once the final cases come in, they will be reviewed and 10 best cases would be selected.
·         The authors of the 10 best cases will be invited for a Jury Meet where the top 3 cases will be selected.(tentatively in October)
·         The top 3 case study authors will receive cash prizes of Rs. 1,00,000, Rs. 75,000 and Rs. 50,000 respectively and a compendium of the 10 best cases will be released during the Livelihoods India Conference 2012 (November 29-30, 2012).
 Look forward to receiving your entries!

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Conference on 'Global Strategies for an Emergent India' at IIM, kozhikode [1 Attachment]

International Conference on 'Global Strategies for an Emergent India'

Dates: December 27 & 28, 2012

Venue: Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK)

Organizing Institutions: Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK); Emerging Market Internationalization Research Group (EMIRG), University of Sydney Business School

Unique features of the conference
A Paper Development Workshop (PDW) where experts will provide in-depth and specific inputs on selected papers. The aim of the PDW is to help the authors to modify their papers so that they can be sent to high impact journals for publication. The experts would be mostly from reputable Business Schools in India and abroad and their names would be announced later. Authors need to specifically mention whether they would like their paper to be included in the PDW when they send in their paper.
It is likely that selected papers presented for the conference will be considered for inclusion in a special issue of a peer-reviewed journal. These papers will have to go through the normal review process of the journal. Further details will be circulated in due course.
   
Guidelines and Information
Please submit an extended abstract of 800 - 1000 words by 30th September 2012. Only original unpublished papers are sought. Contributors will receive decisions by 30th October, 2012. Based on the extended abstract, few authors would be invited to attend the Paper Development Workshop (PDW). Authors invited to the PDW need to submit their full papers by 30th November, 2012.Please visit the conference website for submitting the abstract.
Confirmed participants are required to register. Registration is free for presenting participants and includes lunches, coffee breaks and the conference dinner on December 27. Participants whose paper is selected for PDW would be provided free accommodation. All participants have to register by 30th November, 2012.
Participants can send in their papers in the following conference email address: iimksydneyconf@iimk.ac.in


CfPs: IIMA Doctoral Colloquium 2013

IIMA Doctoral Colloquium 2013

The 6th IIMA Doctoral Colloquium organized by IIM Ahmedabad will be held on 7th - 9th January 2013 at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad campus. The event will provide a platform for those doctoral students and recent pass-outs in different areas of management studies to present their work to the international scientific community. Various tracks of the colloquium cover areas such as Business Policy and Strategy, Finance and Accounting, Marketing, Organizational Behaviour, Personnel and Industrial Relations, Production and Quantitative Methods, Public Policy & Public Systems, Computer and Information Systems, Economics, and Agriculture Management. The event will also host a one day long rigorous Doctoral Workshop conducted by eminent faculty members and researchers from across the world on contemporary issues in management and management research.

Eligibility
All students who are currently enrolled in any full time doctoral / PhD. program in any discipline of management OR those who have completed their PhD. no earlier than January 2011 are eligible to participate in this event.

Categories
In order to enrich the experience of presentations, discussions and feedback, abstracts are invited in two separate categories: Entry Level Proposals and Advance Proposals.

Entry Level Proposals
Students in an early stage of their dissertation process can participate under this category. They should have a (tentative) proposal for the topic they want to study, the method they want to use, and the potential contribution. They will receive suggestions on how to focus and position their work. Selection to this category will be on competitive blind-review basis and the most progressive proposals from among the entries received will be accepted. One paper in each category and track will be awarded as the Best Proposal.

Advanced Proposals
Students in this category should have a good knowledge of the literature in their domain of study and clear research questions. They should be in the process of data collection and should have some preliminary results to discuss. They will benefit from the colloquium by receiving a critical review on the positioning of their research, refining their data collection approach, and receiving suggestions for translating their work into publishable papers. Selection to this category will be on competitive blind-review basis and the most progressive proposals from among the entries received will be accepted. One paper in each category and track will be awarded as the Best Paper.

Tracks
Please submit your proposal in one of the following six tracks:
Track A: Business Policy, Strategic Management, Innovation Management, Entrepreneurship, Social Entrepreneurship
Track B: Organization Behaviour, Human Resource Management, Personnel Management, Industrial Relations, Ethics, CSR, Qualitative Research Methods
Track C: Marketing Management
Track D: Production Management, Operations Management, Quantitative Research Methods, Supply Chain Management, Computer and Information Systems, Information Management
Track E: Economics, Public Systems, Public Policy, Agri-Business Management
Track F: Finance & Accounting

Last Date for Proposal Submission: September 15, 2012
Notification of Acceptance: October 15, 2012
Last Date for Registration: November 15, 2012
Doctoral Workshop: January 7, 2013
Doctoral Colloquium: January 8-9, 2013

Further Details

Friday, June 15, 2012

CfPs: Annual Convention on "the Dawning of the ‘Asian Century’: Emerging Challenges before Theory and Practices of IR in India";

Call for Papers

Indian Association of International Studies (IAIS) is holding its 1st Annual Convention in collaboration with the Institute for Research on India and International Studies (IRIIS) on 10-12 December 2012 at the India International Centre, New Delhi. Prof. Amitabh Mattoo, President, IAIS invites papers for the Annual Convention on the theme – The Dawning of the 'Asian Century': Emerging Challenges before Theory and Practices of IR in India.

 

We invite proposals for papers and panels on the following sub-­themes:

1. Pedagogy of IR in India.

2. Peace and Conflict Studies

3. Resurgence of Asia, Global Governance and IR Theory

4. Indian IR Engagement with IR Theory

5. Political Geography and Geo-­Politics

6. India and its Neighbours

7. India and the Great Powers

8. South East Asia: New Neighbours

9. Ethnicity, Nationalism and Violence

10. Gender Studies and IR

11. Political Economy

12. History and IR

13. Domestic Politics and IR

14. IR Theory and the War on Terror

15. Changing Conceptions of Security/ Sovereignty

16. Sustainable Development and Climate Change

17. India's Strategic Thought/Praxis

18. Political Theory and IR Thought

19. Non-Western Perspectives on IR

 

Deadline for Submission of Proposals: June 15, 2012.

Confirmation of Paper/Panel Proposals: July 31, 2012.

Deadline for Submission of Papers: October 20, 2012

Conference Dates: December 10-12, 2012

All proposals should be submitted online at: indianirconference@gmail.com

 

Participant Guidelines

Paper and Panel Proposal Submission The deadline for paper and panel proposals is June 15th, 2012. All proposals should be submitted online at indianirconference@gmail.com. Each proposal should not exceed 500 words.

 

Further Details

CfPs: International Conference on China (CoC): The Rise of China Policy Parameters and Prospects; 23-25 August 2012; MGU, Kottayam, India

International Conference on China (CoC)
Theme: The Rise of China: Policy Parameters and Prospects

23-25 August 2012

Venue: Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, India

Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam shall organize the ICCS Inaugural International Conference on China during 23-25 August 2012 at Kottayam, Kerala. The theme acquires considerable signifi cance in the wake of the structural changes now underway in China (Transition from a planned economy to a market economy, from an agrarian to industrial society as well as the political transition from the 17th to 18th Congress of the CPP) that have immense implications to India, South Asia, the entire Asian region and rest of the world. The focus of the Conference shall be towards an assessment of the continuity and change in China's relations in this regard on the eve of the 18th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. The Conference shall be organized by the Institute for Contemporary Chinese Studies (ICCS – UGC Centre), School of International Relations and Politics and the University Centre for International Co-operation (UCIC) at Mahatma Gandhi University. The Association of Asian Scholars, New Delhi and Indian Council for World Affairs, New Delhi are among the Conference Partners.

Deadline for submission of Abstract 30 June 2012.

Conference details are available online at www.iccsmgu.in.
For Registration and further details, contact:
Raju K. Thadikkaran, Chair, Conference Academic Committee
Email: rthadikkaran@gmail.com; iccsmgu@gmail.com
Telephone/Fax: 91-481-2731040 (O) 91-481-2732279 (Tele-fax) 9496161060 (M)

Monday, June 11, 2012

Science Writing Internships at Current Science

Science Writing Internships at Current Science

The Current Science Association has instituted Science Writing Internships for working in the editorial office of Current Science. The internships are awarded initially for a period of 6 months, extendable for a further period depending on performance.

Qualification: Candidates must possess a basic degree in any branch of science and show evidence of scientific writing skills in diverse areas of science. Those who possess a postgraduate degree in literature, journalism or mass communication can also apply.

Age: Not more than 35 years as on 1 March 2012.

The candidates should not have any position (full time or part time) that entitles them to any remuneration.

Job description: Selected candidates will be based in Bangalore and will assist in the publication of the journal besides writing for the News, Research News and General sections of the journal.

Fellowship: Selected candidates would be offered a fellowship depending on qualification and experience. Applications, including a detailed CV and reprints of popular science articles of the candidate, must be sent to:

The Executive Secretary
Current Science Association
P.B. No. 8001
Sadashivnagar P.O.
Bangalore 560 080
e-mail: madhavan@ias.ernet.in

Applications may be received throughout the year.

Source: http://cs-test.ias.ac.in/cs/Volumes/102/03/0530.pdf

Article "Sustainable Energy Through Carbon Capture and Storage: Role of Geo-Modeling Studies" by Malti Goel, CSSP

Goel, Malti (2012). Sustainable Energy Through Carbon Capture and Storage: Role of Geo-Modeling Studies. Energy & Environment, 23(2-3), pp. 299-318.

Special Issue: Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage (CCS)

Abstract
The technology for CO2 sequestration is developing fast and a lot of activity to launch pilot and demonstration projects in Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is taking place internationally. The technologies are large-scale and their sustainability is dependent on cost, reliability and acceptability. Geo-modeling has an important role to play in assessing the potential and feasibility. This paper describes recent developments in CCS technology, examines the various options for CO2 fixation and the possible role of geo-modeling studies. We present issues and challenges in modeling and monitoring studies in CO2 fixation and provide glimpses of current research in India. Future research needs are discussed.

Malti Goel is Emeritus Scientist & Research Affiliate, Center for Science Policy Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India

Monday, June 4, 2012

IIPA Annual Essay Prize Competition 2012

IIPA Annual Essay Prize Competition 2012

Entries are invited for the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA's)  Annual Essay Prize Competition 2012. 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.

The following subjects have been prescribed and it is open to competitors to choose any of them.
1. The Meaning and Relevance of Public Administration in Today's India
2. Civil Society and Parliamentary Democracy in India
3. Administrative Measures for Increased Agriculture Production


A competitor may attempt a comprehensive survey of all these factors or may opt for focusing only on problems of a specific sector. These are flexible guidelines, illustrative rather than comprehensive. The competitors may not feel in any way rigidly bound with them. Essay should be based on personal research or experience of the competitors and show evidence of original thinking and scholarship as well as a critical analysis of the subject. Broad generalizations should be avoided. The essay should be in English or Hindi. The length of an essay should approximately be 5000 words and the competitors must indicate the total 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 essay, 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-deplume 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: Annual Essay Prize Competition-2012, Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi. 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 14th August, 2012. The envelope should be marked "Annual Essay Prize Competition 2012". The entries received after the due date may not be entertained. The essays will be adjudged by a body of judges 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.

Word Limit: 5000 words

Last Date for Submission: 14th August, 2012

Further Details