UNESCO awarded for its action to protect the ocean

PRESS RELEASE   UNESCO awarded for its action to protect the ocean   Paris/Barcelona, 30 September 2024 – Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, received the 2024 La Vanguardia Prize in the Sustainable Development category at a ceremony held on Monday at the Palau de Congressos in Barcelona, in the presence of Pedro Sanchez, President of the Spanish Government. The award recognizes UNESCO's global leadership in ocean protection.   "UNESCO is honoured to receive this award, which recognizes the important work carried out by its experts to better understand, protect and educate about the ocean. I would also like to share this distinction with the thousands of scientists, educators, site managers and artists who work alongside us every day through our global cooperation networks. Saving the ocean is a global challenge that must mobilize us all", declared Audrey Azoulay.   The La Vanguardia Prizes, created by the newspaper of the same name, are presented each year to half a dozen personalities and institutions for outstanding achievements in fields such as culture, science or entrepreneurship. UNESCO has become the very first international organization to receive this award, in the Sustainable Development category.   The award recognizes UNESCO's cross-disciplinary action to protect the ocean and marine biodiversity, especially through its programmes that support scientific research, environmental education and the safeguarding of marine sites, as well as ancestral know-how and knowledge linked to the ocean.   UNESCO is among the most pioneering organizations in the field of ocean sciences, with the creation in 1960 of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission which has established itself as a global authority within ocean science community.   The Organization is behind the creation of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) and the Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS), which has inventoried more than 190,000 species to date. The Organization also coordinates high-resolution mapping of the seabed.   Since 2021, UNESCO has been leading the United Nations Decade of Ocean Sciences for Sustainable Development, which has already raised $1 billion to fund more than 500 projects. The Organization is also helping more than 100 countries to develop their ocean and environmental education, by adapting their school curricula and textbooks.   Finally, UNESCO protects nearly 300 marine sites around the world, which include exceptionally rich ecosystems, thanks to its World Heritage Convention and its Biosphere Reserves programme.   About UNESCO   With 194 Member States, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization contributes to peace and security by leading multilateral cooperation on education, science, culture, communication and information. Headquartered in Paris, UNESCO has offices in 54 countries and employs over 2300 people. UNESCO oversees more than 2000 World Heritage sites, Biosphere Reserves and Global Geoparks; networks of Creative, Learning, Inclusive and Sustainable Cities; and over 13 000 associated schools, university chairs, training and research institutions. Its Director-General is Audrey Azoulay.   "Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed" – UNESCO Constitution, 1945.   More information: www.unesco.org   Press contact François WIBAUX, f.wibaux@unesco.org, +33 (0)1 45 68 07 46   UNESCO Newsroom All our press releases   Social media

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New Book "Decolonizing Science and Modernity in South Asia: Questioning Concepts, Constructing Histories"

Decolonizing Science and Modernity in South Asia: Questioning Concepts, Constructing HistoriesEdited by Sahara Ahmed, Suvobrata Sarkar, Springer Singapore, ISBN: 9789819718313. DOI: 10.1007/978-981-97-1829-0

• Connects the history of science and modernity with South Asia's socio-economic and cultural background
• Offers important insights into South Asia's experience of modernity
• Provides an interdisciplinary perspective on the colonial roots of modern science, technology, and medicine.

About this book: This book offers a unique perspective on the colonial roots of modern science, technology, and medicine (STM) in South Asia. The book questions the deconstruction of imperial visions and definitions of science and modernity in South Asia. It presents an in-depth analysis of the contested relationship between science, modernity, and colonialism. It explores how new research can contribute to the diversification of perspectives in the history and sociology of modern South Asian studies. The chapters in the book delve into various aspects of STM in South Asia. It covers diverse topics, including the social, cultural, and pedagogic context of early modern Bengal, the popularization of science in colonial Punjab, the Hindi science periodical Vigyan, and the emergence of the Indian science community. The book also examines the intersection of indigenous medical practices, ayurveda, Unani, and medical revivalism and highlights peripheral creativity in science. The contributors engage with the existing historiography to raise new questions concerning the global circulations of scientific knowledge from the perspective of South Asia and the regional appropriation of the same. It connects the history of science and modernity with South Asia's socio-economic and cultural background. It offers valuable insights into the decolonization of STM. It greatly interests scholars and students of modern South Asian history, sociology, social anthropology, and Science, Technology and Society Studies (STS).

Table of contents (15 chapters)

• Emerging Disciplines and Science in Vernacular
• Monies, Measures, and Arithmetic(s): a Brief Glimpse into the Śubhaṅkarī Tradition | Santanu Chacraverti
• Vernacularity, Ruchi Ram Sahni, and the Pursuit of Science in the Colonial Punjab | Kamlesh Mohan
• Characterizing the Debate on Constructing Scientific Terms in Hindi: A Study of Influences and Motivations | Sandipan Baksi
• Plural Healing and Multiplicity
• Modernizing Ayurveda: Interactive Indigeneity and Medical Revivalism in Colonial India | Saurav Kumar Rai
• Bazaari-Subaltern Unani Medical Public Sphere: Blanket Binaries, Disjunctions, Implications and the Making of Alternative Texts and Archives Convivially | Neshat Quaiser
• Medicinal Practices of a Downtrodden Castes: Reflections on the Folk Medicinal Practices of the Rajbanshis of Sub-Himalayan Bengal | Rup Kumar Barman
• Institutionalization and Professionalization of New Knowledge
• Evolution of Electrical Engineering in Colonial Calcutta: Bhadralok Articulations on Education and Industrialization Interface | Suvobrata Sarkar
• Dental Public Health and the Institutionalisation of a Science: R. Ahmed Dental College and Hospital, Calcutta, C.1920s–1950s | Sahara Ahmed
• Electronics and Computing: Experiments in Government Entrepreneurship | Dinesh C. Sharma
• Metropolitan Methods, Colonial Practices
• The Emergence of Indian Science Community: 1870s to 1940s | Venni V. Krishna
• The Craving for British Honours Among the Scientists of Colonial India: A Case Study of the Centre-Periphery Relationship in History of Science | Arnab Rai Choudhuri
• An Argument for Scientific Creativity in Peripheral Contexts: The Case of Satyendra Nath Bose | Deepanwita Dasgupta
• Science and Multiple Modernities
• The Dreams of Reason: Rabindranath Tagore and the Invention of Science in India | Shiv Visvanathan
• Understanding Gandhi's Approach to Technology: After the Critique of Modernity and Industrialism | Dhruv Raina

About the editors: Sahara Ahmed is Professor at the Department of History, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata, India. She obtained her Ph.D. from University of Calcutta. Her research interests include histories of ecology, environment, and sustainable development, health and medicine in colonial and post-colonial contexts. She is the author of Woods, Mines and Minds: Politics of Survival in Jalpaiguri and the Jungle Mahals, 1860–1970 (Primus, 2019). Her most recent publications—'Epidemics and the Indigenous Tribes: Sub-Himalayan Bengal and the Jungle Mahals', in Poonam Bala and Russel Viljoen (eds.), Epidemic Encounters, Communities in the Colonial World (Lexington Books, 2023), and 'Designing scientific mining: evolution and implementation, c. 1860s–1960s', in Suvobrata Sarkar (ed.), History of Science, Technology, Environment, and Medicine in India (Routledge, 2022). She is the secretary of the Society for the History of Science Kolkata. Suvobrata Sarkar teaches history at Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata. He obtained his Ph.D. from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. His research explores the history of technology in the context of 19th and 20th century South Asia. Sarkar is the author of Let there be Light: Engineering, Entrepreneurship and Electricity in Colonial Bengal, 1880–1945 (Cambridge University Press, 2020), in addition to several articles and book chapters. He has also edited the History of Science, Technology, Environment, and Medicine in India (Routledge, 2022). He received the Maurice Daumas Prize 2019 from the International Committee for the History of Technology (ICOHTEC).

New Article "Prospects of Artificial Intelligence in the Annihilation of Caste"

Sinha, Kunal (2024). Prospects of Artificial Intelligence in the Annihilation of Caste. Contemporary Voice of Dalit. DOI: 10.1177/2455328X241266637

Abstract: The masquerading effect of caste has engulfed the social structure in such a way that the myth associated with it has perked up in the ideas of existence, making it a reality regulating day-to-day affairs of interaction. Most of the time, it is considered a functional prerequisite. The stratification associated with it has conformity emanating from the acceptance of the identity, which is not evading even after migrating to foreign countries to participate and be part of the capitalist mode of production. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a creation of the human mind. Caste is also a creation of the human mind. Technology has always paved the way for the betterment of society if used properly. Caste practices have always divided society and contaminated the public sphere with divisive manifestations of their stronghold in influencing social processes and policies. Annihilation of caste was the published work of Dr B. R. Ambedkar in the year 1936, and still the content and the context are seen in society. In the backdrop of this, the article engages with the role (if any) of AI in mitigating the divisions in society. The readers are already aware of the repercussions of the caste system since time immemorial. The diffusion of technology has always been trying to be inclusive, depending on the socio-economic aspect of any society. Industrialization along with the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) revolution has rendered several avenues and opportunities for the so-called lower caste people to come forward and amalgamate themselves with the so-called upper caste people in the socio- economic process. The article discusses the prospect of the annihilation of caste by the influence of AI. It also engages in discussing caste as a main component of individual and community identity, which has become immune to any form of change in society. The article is based on available secondary sources.

People’s Festival of Innovations 2024

People's Festival of Innovations 2024

Dates: 25-29 November 2024

Venue: India International Centre, Max Muller Marg, New Delhi

The People's Festival of Innovations (PFoI) will bring together innovators, and various stakeholders from the national and global innovation ecosystems to showcase, accelerate, & scale biotech and other inclusive innovations from various sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, natural resource management, environment and clean energy.

Highlights:

• Network with experts, mentors, and investors
• Attend sessions on technical mentoring, policy, and investment
• Hear success stories from innovators
• Explore innovations from across India, including J&K and the North East

Mentors and Curators:
Dr. Renu Swarup: Former Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology
Prof. Anil Gupta: Founder, Honey Bee Network, SRISTI, GIAN & NIF; Visiting Faculty, IIMA, IITB; Academy Professor, AcSIR
Dr. Swati Basu: Former Scientific Secretary, Office of the PSA
Dr. Taslimarif Saiyed: Director and CEO, C-CAMP, Bengaluru

Registration:
Register by: 30th September 2024
Register here: pfoi-india.in
Websites: https://www.pfoi-india.in/, https://www.ccamp.res.in/pfoi-2024

Email: pfoi[@]ccamp.res.in | gian[@]gian.org

New Journal Article "Feedback and (Social) Loop: Biometric System and the Digital Empire in India"

Mishra, R.K.(2024). Feedback and (Social) Loop: Biometric System and the Digital Empire in India. Development. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41301-024-00409-3

Abstract:  In a technological system, feedback means learning and getting information on system functions and performance. The cyclical process through which data is collected, delivered, and assimilated is called a loop. The concept of feedback and its loop were adopted from biological organisms and translated into cybernetic system design. Similarly, the everyday operations of a technological system interact with users, and their interaction can be termed feedback connected through a social loop. A social loop can mean everyday interactions of users with a technological system and an automated loop for collecting, delivering, and assimilating feedback information on system performance and functioning. Feedback through machine and social loops can provide a crucial understanding of the everyday operation of technological systems and their use for development. In this context, the key focus of this article is to juxtapose automated feedback from the machine loop and feedback from the social loop of the biometric system in India. In doing so, the article intends to critically unpack the operational reality of the empire of digital welfare and the triad alliance of state, international development organizations, and market players driving it in India. The article's methodology is based on the use of 50 qualitative unstructured interviews, three focus group discussions, and two weeks' personal observation diary notes. The empirical fieldwork data were collected from four districts of Delhi and Jharkhand in India in October 2017 and February 2018.

Summerhill IIAS Review: Author Guidelines

Summerhill: IIAS Review

Started in the year 1994, Summerhill: IIAS Review is a bi-annual, double-blind, peer-reviewed journal of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla. The journal is dedicated to promote high standards in the dissemination of research findings in the field of inter-/ multidisciplinary studies covering a wide range of themes in Arts, Social Science and Humanities, Life Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Arts, Philosophy, Law, Education, Commerce and Management, Physical Education, Library Sciences, Journalism and Mass Communication, Applied Sciences, etc.

By offering intellectual platforms to the intellectuals, Summerhill: IIAS Review aims to promote publication of research outcomes with a perceptive approach to address societal matters and contemporary issues in inter-/ multidisciplinary studies. The aim of bringing out this journal is to maintain high quality of publications on innovative and interesting content having practical application that leads to theoretical development of inter-/ multidisciplinary research.  

Abstracting and Indexing Information: Summerhill: IIAS Review is now indexed in Google Scholar 

Language: English

Article processing charges: There is no publication/ processing fee

Publication Frequency: Bi-annual

Starting Year: 1994

Subject Coverage: Inter-/ multidisciplinary studies

Aim and Scope: The aim of Summerhill: IIAS Review is to:

• promote inter-/ multidisciplinary studies covering diverse disciplines
• link diverse academicians and researchers and encourage dialogue to address societal issues across discipline around the globe
• encourage publication of innovative, theoretical, and empirical inter-/ multi-disciplinary research ideas, with special focus on emerging areas/ contemporary issues
• provide a platform to scholars and readers for exchange of ideas and experience

Summerhill: IIAS Review has wide-ranging scope with focus on theoretical, methodological, quantitative and qualitative research that:

• adds to knowledge on emerging areas of thinking, agenda-setting issues, etc.
• is relevant to the development of inter-/ multidisciplinary studies

Based on their methodical and logical rationality, all submissions will be evaluated and the journal adheres to and ensures high quality standards through a double-blind peer-review process. The submission(s) qualifying logical accuracy in the field will be considered for the publication. The journal prefers publication of original papers, creative pieces, review articles, conceptual agendas, case studies, empirical research and state-of-the-art reviews, in addition to special issues on contemporary themes of academic interest, published occasionally. The journal realizes this in three ways:

• Critical, quality reviews of the internal publications of the institute by eminent experts from the outside
• Reviews of important external publications in relevant areas by the Fellows
• Initiating a dialogue between the authors of publications and their reviewers.

Moreover, the articles submitted by the renowned scholars and interviews with outstanding intellectuals and artists add to the interest of the journal and general reader.

Peer Review Process: It will pass through following stages:

First Screening: All the submitted manuscripts will be checked to assess that the:

• submitted manuscript is prepared appropriately and falls within the purview of journal
• author has followed the manuscript preparation guidelines
• references are correctly cited (incomplete, incorrect, or vague/ambiguous references may lead to desk rejection)
• language and grammar is correct
• submitted article has been checked by the author for plagiarism (a report of the same may be attached for the reference of the editor)

Manuscripts that are not in accordance with the Author's Guideline will be returned to the author(s) for modification and resubmission.

Manuscripts lacking originality, serious scientific or academic flaws, or not prepared as per journals instructions will be rejected without a formal peer-review.

Only those manuscripts will be acceptable which have not been published earlier or are not under consideration for publication by any other research journal.

Second Screening: The manuscripts selected during initial screening will undergo plagiarism check and if found suitable will pass through a rigorous double-blind peer review process, where a team of experts from diverse disciplines will evaluate each manuscript to ensure that it meets the quality standards and publication guidelines.

The report of all the reviewers will be taken into consideration while making the final decision on a submitted manuscript. Based on the reviewer's comments, the Chief Editor will make the final decision in consultation with editor(s), members of the editorial board to arrive at an appropriate decision. Author(s) are required to respond to reviewer's comment and submit the point-wise explanation for the reviewer's comments/ suggestions.

Submission: While preparing the manuscript, authors are advised to strictly adhere to the Author Guidelines, especially the citation and reference writing pattern. All manuscripts must be submitted electronically through the e-mail to the editor at summerhill[@]iias.ac.in.

Author Guidelines

GUIDELINES FOR PREPARING MANUSCRIPT

1. Language: English
2. Length of paper: The length of the paper typed in double-space, must not exceed 15 pages, preferably A4, with substantial side margins. Research papers must be approximately 5,000 to 6,000 words long, including references and footnotes. Book review must not exceed 1000 to 1500 words
3. Title Page: Title page is a separated page before the text. It must include the following information:

Title: Concise and informative title, avoiding abbreviations.

Author(s) name and affiliation: Indicate clearly the:

• First name and family name
• Author's institutional affiliation, and address
• Full postal address, including the e-mail address, and telephone number of each author
• If available, the 16-digit ORCID of the author(s)

Corresponding Author: Clearly indicate the name, telephone numbers, e-mail address and complete postal address of the corresponding author.

4. Abstract: The abstract is not more than 250-300 words with brief details of the theme, objective, research method, main findings and conclusion to be attached with the paper. It must be a single paragraph without any sub-headings and citation/ reference.
5. Keywords: A minimum of six keywords that highly represents the research content of the manuscript
6. Subdivision of the article: Divide the article into sections/ subsections with proper numbering, 1, 2, 3.

• Abbreviations: Abbreviations must be defined at first mention and used consistently thereafter.
• Endnotes: Endnotes can be used to give additional information, which may include the citation of a reference included in the reference list.
• Acknowledgments / Sponsoring information (if any): Please indicate, if the research is sponsored or supported by any organization. Acknowledgments of individuals, grants, funds, etc. must be mentioned in a separate section on the title page; however, the relevant details of the funding agencies must be complete.

7. Table and Figures (if any): Tables and figures (if any) may be placed at the end of the manuscript. Please note that the journal is published in black and white.

• Tables: All tables are to be numbered using Arabic numerals and must be cited in text in consecutive numerical order. For each table, a table caption elucidating the context of the table, must be provided. Footnotes to tables must be specified by superscript lower-case letters and included below the table.
• Figure/photograph Numbering: All figures/ photographs must be numbered using Arabic numerals. Figures must be cited in text in successive numerical order. Figure/ photograph parts must be indicated by lowercase letters (a, b, c, etc.).
• Figure/photograph Captions: Each Figure/ photograph must have a concise caption describing accurately what the figure/ photographs depicts. Good quality/ high resolution figures/ photographs must be submitted within the text.

8. References: Author(s) must follow the latest edition of APA style in referencing.

• Citations in the text: Kindly ensure that each reference cited in the text is also placed in the reference list (and vice-versa). Citation in the abstract must be avoided. Unpublished results and personal communications must not be included in the reference list, but may be mentioned in the text.
• Reference List: References must be listed alphabetically and if required, may be organized chronologically. More than one reference of the same author(s) in the same year must be pinpointed by using letters 'a', 'b', 'c', etc., placed after the year of publication.

9. Submission Checklist: Before submitting the manuscript, author(s) must ensure that the:

• Manuscript has not been published earlier, nor is it under consideration with any other journal
• Manuscript is submitted in MS Word file only
• Manuscript has been prepared in accordance to author's guidelines
• Author(s) did not mention his or her name and affiliation in the main text
• Author(s) has gone through the terms and conditions of the journal and the same are acceptable to them
• A report of plagiarism check

10. Permissions: Authors who want to include figures/ tables/ text passages that have already been published somewhere else are required to get permission from the copyright owner(s) and while submitting their manuscripts, and must provide proof that such permission has been obtained.

CfPs: Workshop on Between Promises and Ruptures: Infrastructural Realities of our Built World | Doha, February 2025

Call for Papers: Workshop on Between Promises and Ruptures: Infrastructural Realities of our Built World.

Location: Northwestern University in Qatar, Doha, Qatar

Dates: 12-13 February 2025

Subject Fields: Infrastructure Studies, Science and Technology Studies, Environmental Studies, Digital Studies, Urban Studies

Submission Deadline: September 30, 2024

About:  This workshop is jointly organized by the Liberal Arts and Communication Programs of Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q). The human-built world abounds with infrastructures that dominate many aspects of human lives (Hughes 2004). One of the most important insights scholars have shared is that infrastructures are sociotechnical systems; they are constitutive of the social and technical aspects of our world. Steve J. Jackson et al. (2007) coined the phrase "infrastructural imagination" to point to "a way of thinking and acting in the world capable of moving between the separate registers of technical and social action." The way political leaders, government bureaucrats, policy planners, and technical experts imagine and shape the design and implementation of infrastructures, provides glimpses of infrastructural imagination and promises. However, the infrastructural imagination often undergoes complicated processes (Anand et al. 2018), encounters disruptions, ruptures, and fractures on the ground (e.g., Graham 2010), and fails to live up to some of its promises (Davies 2023). The encounters between top-down planning and development and everyday usage of infrastructures can produce unexpected outcomes and disconnected realities. Uncertainties of the environment can also produce unintended consequences. Additionally, infrastructures also require retrofit, maintenance, and repair to stand and hold to their promises (Howe et al. 2015, Henke and Sims 2009). Building on the works of scholars who have examined the opportunities and limits of infrastructures and how certain schemes to improve the human condition failed (Scott 1999), we plan to hold a workshop that will examine how infrastructures imagined for certain functions or put in place in society have unintended effects, break their promises, do the opposite intended effect, or even forbid the smooth functioning of society. We are interested in paper abstracts that address the following questions. They include, but not limited to:

• What are the sociotechnical imaginaries of an infrastructure project being examined and how might the infrastructure produce unanticipated outcomes and unexpected consequences that were not imagined by the planners and designers of the infrastructure?
• When infrastructures fail or disrupt the smooth functioning of societies what improvisations are being carried out to address the failures and disruptions?
• What infrastructural politics is at play when a certain infrastructure is being conceived, designed, and built and who would the infrastructure benefit most in reality? Relatedly, what socio-political role does a particular infrastructure hold in the society in which it is being built?
• How are the promises and imagined benefits of an infrastructure project kept and how do these complicate the initial infrastructural imagination?
• How are state-led and non-state-led infrastructure development projects differ in their imaginations and implementations?

Submission of Abstracts: Paper abstracts should include a title, an abstract (250 words maximum), and a short bio-note including institutional affiliation (max 100 words) for submission by 30th September 2024. Please also include a statement confirming that your proposed paper has not been published or committed elsewhere and that you are willing to revise the version of your paper presented at the workshop for potential inclusion in an edited volume or a journal special issue. Please submit your paper abstract and other requested details using the Google Form. Authors of selected abstracts will be notified by mid-October 2024. Invited authors will have to submit a working paper (about 4,000-6,000 words) by 2nd January 2025. These drafts will be circulated to fellow invitees and discussants in advance for peer review comments. This workshop will be conducted in person. NUQ will provide invited participants full roundtrip airfare, three nights of accommodation, and food during the workshop in Doha.

Online Submission