From sunil at mahiti.org Fri Sep 2 16:34:08 2005 From: sunil at mahiti.org (Sunil Abraham) Date: Fri, 02 Sep 2005 16:34:08 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] A blog from Cambodia... Message-ID: <20050902110409.010A95EC22D@server.mahiti.org> Please visit the above for details of the ongoing Free and Open Source Software Asia-Pacific Consultation (FOSSAP II) organised by IOSN.net. FOSSAPII Blog, reporting from Siem Reap, Cambodia * RSS feed of this folder's contents * Send this page to somebody * Print this page * Add to Favorites Keep informed with what's happening at the Free and Open Source Software Asia- pacific Consultation (FOSSAP II) being held from September 1-4, 2005. Link from the Philippines Keep in touch with what's happening in the Philippines, a country which has had a user group going for a decade and more. Surely Asia has a lot to learn from here. http://www.iosn.net/events/fossap-2005/blog/phil An education e-primer, and more Talking about education, if you've not yet come across the IOSN.net education e- primer, then it's probably worth a download. At Siem Reap, Cambodia, participants at FOSSAP-II got freshly-printed copies of this e-primer, together with others on government policy and localisation. http://www.iosn.net/events/fossap-2005/blog/ednprimer In class, fighting the proprietorial tide GNU/Linux in education? If you thought you had heard enough on that front, here's some more. And rightly so. This is indeed an important field that needs to be worked on. Reports from Mongolia, Nepal and Pakistant throw up some interesting links. http://www.iosn.net/events/fossap-2005/blog/classroom Questions coming in from Danese Cooper Questions coming in from Danese Cooper What's the progress being made by countries like India and Vietnam in convicing their citizens and officials about the many benefits of FOSS? Queries from an Open Source diva. http://www.iosn.net/events/fossap-2005/blog/intel Brief link... from Jamil Brief link... from Jamil When I searched Technorati.com for FOSSAP-II, this is a link from Jamil in Bangladesh Browsing some links on Jamil's page took me to the Bangaldesh LUG page (is there some problem with this URL... a google search takes me to this page), screenshots of BanglaOffice and a screenshot of a hack on Mozilla Thunderbird for Bangla localization Baaz Paakhi. http://www.iosn.net/events/fossap-2005/blog/Jamil Two years, two persons... and some impact Two years, two persons... and some impact What do you achieve with a fledging organisation, and a rather limited amount of manpower? Quite a bit, it seems, if you follow the Free Software/Open Source mode of functioning. Or so says the IOSN. http://www.iosn.net/events/fossap-2005/blog/iosn Poverty ... and 'piracy' Poverty ... and 'piracy' Poverty and 'piracy'... that's the vicious circle which the poorer countries of the planet are caught up. Can Free and Open Source Software (FOSS, or FLOSS) provide a way out? The United Nations is taking a closer look at a global movement which was spawned by geeks, decades ago, and for entirely different motivations. http://www.iosn.net/events/fossap-2005/blog/povertypiracy Blogging live... or almost Blogging live... or almost Nice to be at FOSSAP2, meet a whole lot of friends (and, more importantly, persons who one knew earlire largely as email addresses or interesting projects). Most of us reached the venue, in Northern Cambodia, on August 31. By the morning of September 1, the programme got going. Typing in some inputs, while Min Gong of the Chinese Co-Create Association is explaing the history of how FOSS got going, and the challenges it faces in the most populous country of the planet. http://www.iosn.net/events/fossap-2005/blog/Live In Cambodia, the issue is language In Cambodia, the issue is language Free software makes sense to Cambodia because it allows a small country of a little over 13 million to work towards language solutions that are http://www.iosn.net/events/fossap-2005/blog/norbertkleinrelevant to it. It's announced... It's announced...FOSSAP 2 is in early September 2005... in Cambodia. http://www.iosn.net/events/fossap-2005/blog/announced ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Frederick Noronha 784 Near Convent, Sonarbhat SALIGAO GOA India Freelance Journalist TEL: +91-832-2409490 MOBILE: 9822122436 http://fn.swiki.net http://www.livejournal.com/users/goalinks fred at bytesforall.org http://www.bytesforall.org From christina112 at earthlink.net Sat Sep 3 02:08:19 2005 From: christina112 at earthlink.net (Christina McPhee) Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2005 13:38:19 -0700 Subject: [Reader-list] September on -empyre-: Sites in Translation Message-ID: <8C419B97-8DEB-483C-9651-B5F91D7D9DB8@earthlink.net> Please join us at as we explore "Sites in Translation" with artists Ricardo Miranda Zuniga, Mariam Ghani, Lana Lin, H. Lan Thao Lam, and Angel Nevarez In 2004, five artists and collaborative groups were commissioned to make web-based projects for the latest edition of inSite, the binational exhibition of site-specific work staged every few years along the San Diego/Tijuana border. Having opened the final week of August 2005, inSite's first venture online raises a number of interesting questions for discussion. "Tijuana Calling" is online now at: The artists ask: "Is the net a vast ‘no-man’s-land,’ a border-free zone contiguous to every place but specific to none? Or does the net re-enact the politics of physical geography, with its own border policies and politics of exclusion, recognition and reciprocity? Is it possible for new media artists to activate the net for the staging of projects responsible and responsive to communities that fall between legitimized power sectors, and if so how? "We would like to examine the role of the artist as translator, mediating between points of origin and reception. We propose several approaches toward understanding translation: physical place as re- articulated in virtual space; linguistic translation proper; cross- cultural production; and on-line transmission." Please welcome Ricardo, Mariam, Lana, Lan Thao, and Angel. ------------------------------------------------>Ricardo Miranda Zuniga grew up between Nicaragua, and San Francisco. A bicultural upbringing tied to a multidisciplinary education has led to work that attempts to cultivate interaction with the viewer and may include performance, sculpture, video and audio, the Internet or a combination of all. The principle behind the work is communication as a creative process. ---------------------------------------------->Mariam Ghani is a Brooklyn-based artist whose work in video, installation, new media, text and public dialogue performance investigates how history is constructed and reconstructed as narrative in the present. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally since 1999, and she has been making web-based projects since 2003. ----------------------------------------------->Lana Lin is a New York-based media artist whose practice interprets cultural histories and the processes of identification. Her work has been shown at the Museum of Modern Art and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, China Taipei Film Archive, Taiwan, and the Festival de Femmes, Creteil, France. ------------------------------------------------->H. Lan Thao Lam is a bilingual artist/writer who has lived in Vietnam, Malaysia, Canada and the US. Lam's work probes the inter- relationships between place and history, architecture and philosophy. Lam is the recipient of the Canadian Council for the Arts Media Grant, H.L. Rous Sculpture Award, and James Robertson Environmental Design Award. ------------------------------------------------>Angel Nevarez was born in Mexico City, 1970, and raised in the United States. Nevarez studied biology at the University of California, San Diego and in 2001-2002 was a studio fellow of the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program. He is co-founder of the artist collaborative neuroTransmitter, whose work fuses transmission and conceptual art. Subscribe at -cm From zainab at xtdnet.nl Sun Sep 4 19:55:40 2005 From: zainab at xtdnet.nl (zainab at xtdnet.nl) Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 18:25:40 +0400 (RET) Subject: [Reader-list] TC Message-ID: <4025.219.65.11.74.1125843940.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> TC I have decided to call him TC. Even at this stage of research, I grapple with questions about privacy of my subject. I don’t know how far I can tread into my subject’s life and how much of him can I reveal to the public. I even grapple with the question of whether the subject is a subject as in a person of inquiry or more than that. What happens when the relationship deepens and the person is no longer a subject but a friend? When I walk around the city and write stories, people imagine that I am a journalist – I could not be anything else! To top it all, I have this funny name and appearance which makes me an unintended bahurupi. And I wonder about journalistic expeditions and research inquiries – what are the lines of differences and similarities? He is TC, a TTE i.e. a Traveling Ticket Examiner at one of the railway stations in Mumbai. On day, about nine months ago, as I got off from the train, he, in his plainclothes, asked me to show him my ticket. Unquestioningly, I showed him my railway pass which made me a legal and legitimate traveler. “Nowadays, people ask me to produce my identification card when I am checking tickets in the train compartments,” he tells me, laughing in his characteristic tired and sloppy manner, “No trust,” he concludes. TC is an interesting person in the city. He is a bigger and better researcher/journalist than me. And he has more stories to tell than I have – again, bigger and better stories! After all, he is not just a TTE, but a multiple-personality disorder like myself (though I am becoming more sane now with research terminologies and layered language OUCH!). Let’s see what TC is all about. His passion is basketball and his primary identity is that of a basketball player who graduated from the famously infamous Nagpada basketball court (more on the court in the next posting). He now coaches young girls in schools in playing basketball and he also leads his railway team. “I got into the railways through the sports quota,” he announces proudly. Apparently, TTEs are of different quotas including the sports quota, culture quota (?), reservation quota, etc. Then, TC has a family business of poultry. “We supply chicken to some of the famous restaurants in Mumbai. But I never sit on the shop. My elder brother does,” he says again, casually, adding, “But on Sundays, our father sits on the shop because both my brother and me go to play cricket. Sunday is the day for cricket!” So TC is a poultry man + basketball player cum coach + TTE – well, that’s not at all all! Let me go on to describe his typical day. TC starts his day at about 7:00 AM, with his practice sessions. Then, by 9:00 AM, he is into the train, checking tickets and fining faulting passengers. “We have a set quota of fines to collect per month. Earlier, the fine was fifty rupees plus ticket fare. Now, since last July, the fine has been hiked to two hundred and fifty rupees plus fare. And if the passenger is traveling in first class, he pays two fifty plus first class ticket fare, the minimum of which is fifty rupees and can run up to two fifty. Now, imagine shelving out three to four hundred rupees early in the morning? For an office-goer, this is major sadma (shock!)! But I like checking tickets in first class. Passengers pay quickly in first class. There is less rush and the crowd is much sophisticated in the first class,” he concludes. By 11:00 AM, he is done with his ticket checking. He then wanders around the railway station, hanging out with his co-workers who are also from the sports’ quota (that is why they say perhaps that TCs of the same feather flock together!). By 2:00 PM, he has finished lunch and is out for coaching. Come evening, he is around at Nagpada or with his wide variety of friends, doing the rounds of the city and accidentally or intentionally creating stories. Of course, during his two hour ticket checking session of the morning, he is part of several stories – either he is weaving them or he is woven into them. Now, the most interesting part of it all – apart from all his multiple identities, TC is Muslim, which becomes his major identity when he is performing his duties as a TTE. He gets marked as a Muslim owing to his beard. With Muslim passengers, he is fraternity. With non-Muslim passengers, he is a woh wala (other party fellow)! The series of postings this month are aimed at exploring the character of TC and my analysis of my own research practices vis-à-vis him. In stories (as in in solidarity!), Zainab Urban Bawa! Zainab Bawa Bombay www.xanga.com/CityBytes http://crimsonfeet.recut.org/rubrique53.html From mahmoodfarooqui at yahoo.com Mon Sep 5 11:05:18 2005 From: mahmoodfarooqui at yahoo.com (mahmood farooqui) Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2005 22:35:18 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] shahid amin and rahim das Message-ID: <20050905053518.12353.qmail@web80906.mail.scd.yahoo.com> apropos Shahid Amin's recent lament for Rahim Das, here is my own take on the same-published sometime ago in Mid-Day... ___________________ It is understandable that a land that produces two thirds of the world’s diamonds is not particularly crazy about its Ratnas. Since it does not even care about the Bharatratnas all around us, it is perhaps hardly worth bemoaning the neglect of the far removed Navratnas- of Emperor Akbar. I had only recently claimed for Akbar a central position in the early Nationalist imagination. The other day I also witnessed an aspect of its reality in the Nation. This idea of Akbar, it seemed afterward, was very far removed from the reality of the historical ruler- as also from the perception of Akbar in today’s times. The physical attestation of the hollowness of the idea and the reality of the day is provided by the state of the tomb of one of his Navratnas in Delhi. The corporate-aided splendour of Humayun’s tomb and the bustle of Nizamuddin in Delhi overwhelm this forlorn, unvisited and unknown tomb a little to its South. It is the tomb of Abdur Rahim Khan-e-Khana, one of the nobles, a Navratan, of Akbar’s court. The structure is dripping from all sides- it is not merely dilapidated or crumbling, it also bears scars of a long history of pillaging. Beginning with Safdarjang, who tore out slabs and stones from the façade to use for it for his own tomb? This atrophying, non-descript monument, one of the dozens that the hugely over-decked city of Delhi need not think about twice before abandoning, concretizes the dissipation of that idea, the rejection of the ‘invented’ memory imposed by the Nationalist movement. Incidentally, this Abdur Rahim Khan-e-Khana otherwise also happens to be known as Rahim Das. The fourth member of the text book quartet of Sur, Tulsi and Kabir, Rahim Das has become another unfortunate icon. A part of the educational system’s effort to construct ideal-idols, suitable for nation-building. In this case, under a heading called the revolutionary Bhakti poets. Like the others he too has become an object of veneration, a sugar-coated saint who wrote saintly poetry. No doubt, the language/dialects Rahim Das wrote in, Awadhi and Braj, produced a large amount of devotional and religious poetry. But not all the poetry written in those tongues is religious, nor is all of it written by saints. Abdur Rahim Khan-e-Khanan was in fact very far from being a saint. He was every inch the same blue-blooded Chaghtai Turk whose father Bairam Khan had protected (and in some accounts eyed) the precocious Empire Humayun had left for Akbar. A high ranking Noble of Akbar’s court, a soldier and administrator, as worldly a life as it could be. He was also an aesthete and a cultural figure of lavish proportions. A pundit of Sanskrit, Braj, Arabic, Persian and Turkish, he wrote Diwans, that is collections of poetry in all of those languages. In addition, he interacted with a very wide range of contemporary artists, poets, scholars. Admission to his soirees and salons were the proof of arrival for poets and writes from near and afar- from Benaras and Gaya as well as Shiraz and Bijapur. But this Abdur Rahim Khan-e-Khana of historical proportions and the Rahim Das of the school texts are mutually alien figures today. Rahim Das is a Braj poet, which is defined as classical Hindi, yet Hindi was the term used also used for Urdu language of the eighteenth century, as also for Indians (as in the common title Al-Hindi) as opposed to Hindus. Consigned and now confined to the dusty, hoary and ancient departments of Classical Hindi, Rahim Das the robust Braj bhasha poet, and Abdur Rahim the ambitious Noble have lost their voice. Along with him six centuries of poetry, beginning with Gorakhnath and ending in the nineteenth century, in at least eight different registers and poetic traditions have thus been stacked up in one single kabari bazaar of an archive. Jayasi and Tulsi, Raskhan and Qutban, Manjhan and Nanak, Dadu and Raidas, Bihari and Bhushan, supremely gifted individuals, have become identical and replaceable tags for the invocation of the greatness of a uniform and singular medieval India. In some measure this is undeniably the fault also of the Urduwallahs (past and present) who have completely abandoned pre-seventeenth century Hindustani poetry. On the other hand, this lamentation for lost cultural treasure is not much different in principle from the construction of an ideal past by using the figure of Akbar. For people sift, chop, change, in a word chose their accoutrements- cultural, ritual, literary- as they go along. The lament at the neglect of some artifacts and figures presumes their worthiness and relevance to a people, who for a variety of reasons, evince absolutely no interest in it, as a collective body. Who is mourning what then? Of course, if it had so happened that Hindi had not become the National(ist) language and Braj and Awadhi and Dakkani and Magadhi and Bhojpuri had been understood and respected as they were-full blooded and independent poetic traditions-these poets may have been read outside the class rooms as well. And if by chance, the contemporary speakers of the remnants of these dialects, the rural people living in the remote hinterlands, were more powerful or more organized, their status too would be far higher than it is today. Supposing they received Royal patronage in the same measure as what became modern Urdu perhaps the Dohas and Chaupais and Kabits of Rahim would be as well known today as they certainly deserve to be. After all, power and state patronage may also have something to do with the survival and popularity of artistic and literary forms. But once that continuity has been broken, can it ever be resuscitated? Rahiman dhaga prem ka, mat torau chatkaaye Tute to phir jurai nahin, jurai gaanth pari jaaye. ______________________________________________________ Click here to donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. http://store.yahoo.com/redcross-donate3/ From sunil at mahiti.org Mon Sep 5 16:13:56 2005 From: sunil at mahiti.org (Sunil Abraham) Date: Mon, 05 Sep 2005 16:13:56 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Asia-Pacific Argues in Favour of Free and Open Source Software Message-ID: <20050905104357.021355EC1FE@server.mahiti.org> Siem Reap (Cambodia), Sept 3 -- Twenty countries joined a three-day Asia Pacific consultation on Free and Open Source Software, which ended Saturday evening on an optimistic note which saw non-proprietorial software playing an increasingly important role in this talent-rich, resource-poor region. In a historic region, home to 12th century temple structures at a town called Siem Reap, Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) campaigners, supporters, funders and officials from across Asia debated the pros and cons of FOSS versus proprietory software. The focus was on development paradigms of FOSS, open content, e-governance, capacity building, localisation, and more. Participants included techies, government officials, educators, professionals using and supporting FOSS, and others. Free software can be used, copied, studied, modified and distributed. It was built by hackers collaborating across cyberspace, starting in the 'eighties, and today is being seen as a boon for the countries of the Asia-Pacific, in view of the otherwise high and unaffordable global prices of software. Cambodian deputy prime minister Sok An, in a speech delivered on his behalf, argued that Free and Open Source Software could help Cambodia to have a "lot of savings in license fees", make software readily available locally and reduce usage costs drastically, eliminate software piracy, and enable Cambodian students to closely study the software code and "understand its behaviour". This event was sponsored by UNDP's Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme, and co-sponsored by the US-headquartered Intel Corporation. Local hosts were Cambodia's National ICT Development Authority (NiDA) and the Open Forum of Cambodia. Shahid Akhtar, the Pakistani-born Canada-educated head of the Bangkok-based UNDP Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme (APDIP), made a short but pointed presentation at the launch of this event. Many developing countries are caught up in a vicious circle of poverty and piracy, said APDIP coordinator Shahid Akhtar, during the conference. "They are too poor to buy proprietory software, resulting in 'piracy' levels of 90% or more in some countries (of the Asia-Pacific region)," he argued. Then, countries cannot clean their act on 'piracy' because they are poor. "Free and Open Source Software provides a way out of this vicious cycle. It also increases the user's control. It also provides a framework for promoting intellectual capital, and achieving the United Nations' Millenium Development Goals (MDGs), which were accepted by countries across the globe", Akhtar commented. Richard Stallman, the founder of the two-decades-old Free Software Foundation, said at the end of the conference: "People here represent a broad spectrum in beliefs and their goals. There are people from both the Free Software and Open Source movements. It looks like we can work together and make programs that ensure users can be in control of the software they use. I've seen a lot of useful things come up here." Building software capacities was also seen as important in a world where this form of FOSS software -- which can be used, copied, studied, modified and redistributed -- is trying to make its dent in schools, universities, IT education, government policies and strategies of global agencies. Localisation -- or translating software into local languages -- was another issue strongly discussed. There were interesting issues that came up about localisation of software into the Khmer language. One of the suggestions to come up was that FOSS needed its "global ambassador" to promote its case. From siriyavan at outlookindia.com Mon Sep 5 12:16:31 2005 From: siriyavan at outlookindia.com (Anand) Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 12:16:31 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] "Dalits in Dravidian Land" from Navayana Message-ID: <00ca01c5b1e5$8c7915e0$7504a8c0@eth.net> Navayana announces the launch of: Dalits in Dravidian Land: Frontline reports on anti-dalit violence in Tamil Nadu (1995-2004) By S. Viswanathan Paperback, 356 pages, with 34 B&W photographs; demy 1/8 ISBN: 81-89059-05-X Rs 300 (USD 25) >From the Blurb: Since the 1990s, India has witnessed a spurt in violence against dalits. This physical violence is perpetrated largely by the 'backward' castes, who claim victimhood under brahmins but also turn oppressors of dalits. Tamil Nadu, home to the nonbrahmin movement, has been projected by the political class, social scientists and policy-makers as fertile soil for social justice. However, the Dravidian movement's empowerment agenda left the dalits-19 percent of the population-almost untouched. In fact, the dalits have been subjected to the worst forms of violence, from being forced to consume human excreta to being murdered for contesting local body elections. S. Viswanathan has chronicled this violence over a decade in the pages of Frontline, the fortnightly newsmagazine. In his introduction, Ravikumar, activist-theoretician of the dalit movement in Tamil Nadu, offers a framework to understand this violence and suggests that more than being a consequence of the accumulation of power in the hands of the intermediary castes, such violence would be better understood as an attempt by 'backward' caste Hindus to test their newfound authority on those below them. This book will be invaluable to anyone interested in understanding the dynamics of caste in India, especially Tamil Nadu. About the Author: S. Viswanathan has been a reporting for Frontline since 1993. He had worked with the Indian Express for 32 years in Madurai and Madras. A keen follower of Tamil Nadu politics, especially the left movement, he is also interested in education and Tamil literature. "An invaluable addition on an important subject. Perhaps no other journalist has tracked the dalit upsurge in Tamil Nadu from the mid-1990s as closely as S. Viswanathan of Frontline. Whether it is untouchability, structured discrimination, police atrocities or the growing alienation of the dalits from the Dravidian parties, the reporter has missed no great process, issue or event of the time. These are stories of courage, cruelty, resilience and rebellion-and capture one of the most turbulent of eras. There is discipline, detail and a depth to the writing that is exemplary. This is the very opposite of parachute reporting." -P. Sainath, Rural Affairs Editor, The Hindu For orders: The title is available in bookstores across the country. To order directly from us, send a DD for Rs 300 in favour of "Navayana Publishing" for a single copy. Copies will be sent by book post. Those who wish to receive copies by courier, please add Rs 50. (Add Rs 40 as collection charges for outstation cheques.) NAVAYANA PUBLISHING 54, Ist Floor Savarirayalu Street Pondicherry 605001 Ph: 0413-2223337 Cell: 91-94440-61256 For other books in the Navayana catalog visit www.navayana.org Outlook - Celebrating 10 years of Speaking Out. Voice your opinion - " Speak Out" www.outlookindia.com/speakout -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050905/9e98ce9e/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From iram at sarai.net Mon Sep 5 18:13:45 2005 From: iram at sarai.net (iram at sarai.net) Date: Mon, 05 Sep 2005 14:43:45 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Fwd: Film Screening Message-ID: ------ Original Message ------ Subject: Film Screening To: reader-list at sarai.net From: ambarien qadar Date: Mon, 05 Sep 2005 14:31:39 +0200 ELSEWHERE India-Spain, Dur: 28 minutes, Lang: Urdu, Arabic, French, Spanish and English with English subtitles. Venue: The British Council Library, Kasturba Gandhi Marg: The Third Digital Film Festival Date: Wednesday, Sept 7th 2005, 9 p.m. Short synopsis: Between Delhi and Madrid, the film explores the worlds of three young Muslims- Hasnae and Hicham are Moroccan immigrants in Madrid. While Hasnae works in a restaurant, Hicham looks out for work. A burden of prejudice follows them almost like a shadow. In Delhi, Anjala dreams of breaking out of her world that seems to shrink everyday. Credits: Directors: Consuelo Alonso Pimentel and Ambarien Al Qadar Camera: Shakeb Ahmed and Speed Editing and Script: Ambarien Al Qadar Sound Recording: Juan Manuel Lopez and Ambarien Al Qadar Sound Mixing: Pradip Maitty. _______________________________________________________________________________ FOR PASSES CONTACT:NEHA SHARMA: 51555046 or THE BRITISH COUNCIL LIBRARY FOR ANY FURTHER ASSISTANCE: AMBARIEN QADAR: 9810946273. ( No entry without passes...I have a couple of them left with me. Anybody who is interested can collect it frm me at the venue.) --------------------------------- Too much spam in your inbox? Yahoo! Mail gives you the best spam protection for FREE! Get Yahoo! Mail -------------- next part -------------- An embedded message was scrubbed... From: ambarien qadar Subject: Film Screening Date: Mon, 5 Sep 2005 06:35:56 +0100 (BST) Size: 7334 Url: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050905/d46c7a01/attachment.mht -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From nc-agricowi at netcologne.de Mon Sep 5 18:48:53 2005 From: nc-agricowi at netcologne.de (Agricola de Cologne) Date: Mon, 05 Sep 2005 15:18:53 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Digital Film Fest New Dehli Message-ID: <431C45BD.6080608@netcologne.de> 3rd 0110 Digital Film Festival New Dehli/India at British Council New Dehli 5-9 September 2005 www.ekaafilm.com Festival schedule also on http://www.britishcouncil.org/india-arts-visualarts-digital-film-schedules.htm is screening two digital films by Agricola de Cologne "Inability of being Nude" streaming version on http://www.nmartproject.net/agricola/mpc/volume11/nude.html and Truth- Paradise Found streaming version on http://www.nmartproject.net/agricola/mpc/volume1/truth.html ************************************ These info can also be found on NetEX- networked experience http://netex.nmartproject.net/index.php?blog=6 . info & contact info at nmartproject.net _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From impulse at bol.net.in Tue Sep 6 12:46:18 2005 From: impulse at bol.net.in (Kavita Joshi) Date: Tue, 06 Sep 2005 12:46:18 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fw: [ZESTMedia] UNESCO Digital Arts Award 2005 Message-ID: <030401c5b2b3$96dd41e0$54fd5ecb@kavita> Call for participation: UNESCO Digital Arts Award 2005 Young artists from around the world are invited to take part in this year's award devoted to the theme of "Cities and creative media". Organized in collaboration with Art Center Nabi, the Award would be delivered to non-realized project proposals in order to embrace a wider audience of creators, who have the innovative artistic ideas but not necessarily the means. The call specifically aims at encouraging young emerging artists to cultivate new forms of expressions using new media and technology in reflecting on how urban spaces and city environments could be transformed into creative outlets. The submission deadline is 14 September 2005. All project proposals should be submitted online at the official website of submission (http://www.nabior.kr/unesco_award), where participants will also be able to find further detailed information (description of sub-themes, general guidelines, submission criteria, etc). All submissions should be in English. The total prize money is US $10,000, which would be divided into and given to more than one laureate, in some cases a group of artists. In addition, the Nabi center (Seoul, Republic of Korea) is organizing a "special honorary mention" category to the Award, targeting realized projects that could be re-embodied within the urban context of the city Seoul. The award-winning projects would be selected by an international jury, assembled on this occasion representing the five geo-cultural regions (Africa, Arab States, Asia/Pacific, Europe/North America, and Latin America/Caribbean). For more information, contact: unesco_award at nabi.or.kr digiarts at unesco.org UNESCO DigiArts portal: http://portal.unesco.org/digiarts ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> href="http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=12h9e71el/M=362335.6886444.7839734.2575449 > /D=groups/S=1705796846:TM/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1123239261/A=2894362/R=0/SIG=138c78jl6 > /*http://www.networkforgood.org/topics/arts_culture/?source=YAHOO&cmpgn=GRP& > RTP=http://groups.yahoo.com/">What would our lives be like without music, > dance, and theater?Donate or volunteer in the arts today at Network for > Good. > > --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> > > > > -- > > Members of the ZESTMedia list exchange news and views about the media in > Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Bhutan. 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Id, change your > settings at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join/ > > > > theZESTcommunity------------------------------------------------- > > > > ZESTCurrent: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCurrent/ > > ZESTEconomics: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTEconomics/ > > ZESTGlobal: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTGlobal/ > > ZESTMedia: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/ > > ZESTPoets: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTPoets/ > > ZESTCaste: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/ > > ZESTAlternative: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTAlternative/ > > TalkZEST: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TalkZEST/ > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: > > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/ > > > > <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > > ZESTMedia-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com > > > > <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: > > http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > > > > > > > From tarana at cal2.vsnl.net.in Tue Sep 6 14:02:25 2005 From: tarana at cal2.vsnl.net.in (From Vector) Date: Tue, 06 Sep 2005 14:02:25 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fw: The Telegraph on slums Message-ID: <011d01c5b2bd$91ef4f70$0201a8c0@TARANA> ----- Original Message ----- From: To: ; ; ; ; ; Cc: ; ; ; ; ; ; Sent: Friday, September 02, 2005 5:07 PM Subject: The Telegraph on slums > The Editor > The Telegraph > Calcutta > > Dear Sir > > I would like to make some clarifications in response to the report > "Plotting a facelift" in the 'propertt' section of The Telegraph of 2 > September 2005. > > The report begins by saying: "They ruin the cityscape and stick out like > warts as you get closer." This refers to the over 1.5 million basti > dwellers of Calcutta. For over 4 decades now, an informed and enlightened > perspective on urban slums has been sought to be propogated by researchers > and grassroots activists throughout the world. It is unfortunate that > instead of empathising with the plight of slumdwellers and pressing for > much-needed policy and institutional reform for improving their quality of > life, the report refers most derogatorily to these humble citizens who > help to keep the city ticking. > > The report mentions that most slumdwellers are illegal settlers. This > reveals the complete ignorance of the reporter on basti matters. Bastis > are informal but legal settlements, and the dwellers are legal tenants. > > The proposal to redevelop slum settlements is not a novel one either. In > 1997, on behalf of the International Institute for Environment & > Development, London, Calcutta-based architect Manish Chakravarti had > developed a redevelopment proposal for a basti in Shibpur, Howrah, based > on the land-sharing principle. This was published in > the the journal Environment & Urbanization. In 1998, Unnayan, social > action group in Calcutta, together with another city architect, Devananda > Chatterji, published a report on comprehensive renewal in the blighted > canal-side area of Beliaghata city. > > What distinguished these proposals was that they were developed with a > view to empowering slumdwellers. For that to be realised, a redevelopment > venture cannot be something led by builders, or bureaucrats or > politicians. > The greed of promoters and politicians to make a fortune from the land on > which poor slumdwllers live cannot be the foundation of a successful > redevelopment programme. > Redevelopment must be led by an organised, capable, credible, transparent > body representing the slumdwellers, working in tandem with sensitive > professionals who understand the importance of harmonising the aspirations > of all sections of the city. The most important prepartory effort, > therefore, is to build and develop the capabilities of grassroots > organisations. > > Bastis in Calcutta are hostage to the outdated Thika Tenancy Act. Slum > land reform, based on the principle of shelter to the dweller (like the > slogan of "land to the tiller" in rural land reform) is the fundamental > prerequisite. However that is nowhere on the horizon. But meanwhile, the > possibility of a wholesome redevlopment of bastis, in favour of dwellers, > is pre-empted by rampant illegal construction in bastis. This is > undertaken by an unholy nexus of promoters, politicians, police officials > and criminals. The worst sufferers of this are the basti dwellers. > > Basti dwellers in Calcutta must suffer the ruling establishment that is > apathetic to the plight of the labouring poor, totally unaccountable for > its misdeeds, and in cahoots with promoters for mutual gain, violating > basic tenets of due process and democratic norms. Perhaps it is no > coincidence that another report on the same day speaks of the > court-appointed receiver who illegally sold land in east Calcutta to > promoters. Tackling illegality must begin at the very top. > > Viewing slums as an eyesore which much be wiped out, rather than an > outcome of policy and institutional failure - will only ensure that any > proposal for slum redevelopment will be antithetical to the dwellers > rather than empower power. > > While Indian elites love to talk about all that they see abroad, they have > not yet learnt about slum redevelopment in other parts of the world (Asia, > South America, Europe, USA.) Calcutta lags far behind the world in this > respect as well. > > Yours sincerely > > V Ramaswamy > > Sitara, B 299 Lake Gardens > Calcutta 700 045 > > > > From taha at sarai.net Tue Sep 6 16:14:00 2005 From: taha at sarai.net (taha at sarai.net) Date: Tue, 06 Sep 2005 12:44:00 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] Chronicling the remote agent Message-ID: <56430373f21be5f8491d84b1b3fcce23@sarai.net> Dear all, Here is a paper that Iram and I presented at a conference on 'New Global Workforces and Virtual Workplaces: Connections, Culture and Control', at National Institute of Advanced Studies. We look forwards to critiques, comments and suggestions. Cheers Taha /+++++++++++++++++ / Chronicling the Remote Agent: Reflections on Mobility and Social Security of Call Centre Agents in New Delhi by Taha Mehmood Iram Ghufran This paper, through personal stories, work narratives, and anecdotes, seeks to explore the issues of mobility and social security in the international call centre industry. The text is largely gathered through encounters we have had with call centre agents, their families and friends. The research was supported by Sarai-CSDS as part of their Independent Fellowship Programme in 2004. *Wave* The call centre industry, first making its appearance in the mid 1990s in India, grew by leaps and bounds, embracing and consuming upwardly mobile middle class urban India. Modern steel and glass structures in the tradition of IT sector offices were an added lure to a mostly young and vibrant work force. The primacy of a variety of American and British accents, attractive salary packages, an inflated lifestyle characterised the industry's image. Co terminus with these, emerged stories of randomness and monotony of the work, frequent change in shifts and product campaigns, high attrition rates and the frequently changing alias, shadowing this virtual flight to America and Europe. Stories of ill health, frustrations and a career that led to No-where land abound business magazines and newspapers. Yet an ever-rising flood of youngsters, together with housewives, retired army officials and school teachers joined the fray. *Drift* Jamie's father hails from Baroda, a small city in Gujarat. He started his career with a Pharma firm in mid seventies as a Medical Representative, earning two hundred and fifty rupees a month. In the early nineteen eighties, he changed the line to Fast Moving Consumer Goods industry. As a sales representative his job was to set up a primary market for the battery maker, Nippo Company. He would travel by State Transport Corporation buses, hopping into and skipping out of small and medium sized, rural and semi-urban towns of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Talking to dealers, offering schemes in cash and kind, telling them about the premium value of Nippo batteries over other batteries, clinching some deals and traveling on. In the subsequent decades of eighties and nineties, he changed many companies, changing the product line with each switch. He sold a range of products – from washing machines to batteries to hair oil, toothpastes and facial creams. But two things always remained constant: His job profile, which was always to set up primary markets in rural and semi-urban areas; and his paycheck, which increased every time he switched companies. In the late nineties he landed up with a job with a Multi-National Company which manufactured consumer durables. His job was still the same, but he took home around forty-five thousand rupees a month. Despite an experience of a quarter of a century in direct sales behind him, he was still stuck at middle level management. Lack of an MBA degree was often cited as the reason for his non-advancement. The Gujarat riots forced the TV maker to close shop, leaving Jamie's father desperate, in search for a job. After sixteen months of a trying search, disappointment and frustration, he found a job with a start-up local hair oil and broom manufacturing firm for seven thousand rupees per month as salary. For two years, he worked as sales manager for Gujarat region, tottering small villages and non-descript roadside towns; talking, conversing, persuading and cajoling the local dealers he now knew so well, to buy a new product. After two years, the company asked him to leave as they were planning to hire a younger sales manager with an MBA degree. Jamie Johnson feels quite perplexed that his father, at fifty-four, despite being a postgraduate in Pharmacology, is struggling to find a job. Jamie always wanted to have a career in media, preferably to work for an English language news channel. But he didn't have the requisite training, command and control over English, a language that constantly eluded him. His quest for mastery over English made him join an international call centre. For him the job was a stop-gap; the calling was of a television news anchor. He was twenty-one when he joined the industry at a salary of seven thousand rupees a month. He joined the industry to learn the soft skills, be trained in American and British accents, hone his confidence and move on. But four years and five call centres later, he feels that he should spend some more time here before eventually hopping on to an English language news channel. Despite being 'just' a graduate he earns around forty thousand rupees a month, plus perks. He now wants his unemployed father to join the call centre industry. The life worlds of Jamie and his father are symptomatic of the tectonic shifts that the job market in urban India has witnessed in the last few decades. However, these shifts were neither spontaneous nor premeditated. On the contrary, these changes arose from the ruins of earlier notions of 'white caller' work. The vortex of the call centre carries with it memories of instability of work, vulnerability of labor and the arbitrariness of the contract of wage and tenure. The circulation of a 'white caller' professional within an industry – changing companies, product lines, job profiles and routines – is not an unknown phenomenon in the Indian work scenario. The emergence of Information Technology enabled service sector, of which the international call center industry forms a major segment, has redefined work in ways that calls for new approaches to look at changes in work cultures. Jamie, even with a far less formal education than his father, earns a competitive salary. He earns in four years what his father was able to earn after putting in twenty-three arduous years of service. For his father, post graduation in pharmacology, a degree considered rarity in his times, was of no help for a major part of his career. From the nineteen nineties onwards his work profile was stunted because of a supposed 'lack' of another specialised degree. Jamie changed as many jobs in the first four years of his career as his father did in the first decade of his working years. Jamie feels that if he sticks too long in one organisation, it might harm his career in the long run. According to him a change every two years is considered healthy as it denotes productivity, a yearning for growth, a need to accept new challenges, and a will to learn and execute different job requirements. Staying with one company, on the other hand, may be taken for slackness and lack of ambition. The move by many call centres to employ middle level professionals may hint towards a well-formulated tactic to tackle high attrition rates. The tottering nature of work and leisure is not limited to agents alone. The winds of capital movement produces fluctuations in the wide spectrum- from investments to wage rates. As the market develops, the industry responds by changing the venue, rituals, protocols, and profile of call centres, leaving the nature of work invariable. *The Matrioshka Doll* A dusty, broken track just off the inner Ring Road leads to a cluster of unplanned localities and government colonies. Bhagwan Nagar, mixed locality and urban village, lies a kilometer or so inside. A /rickshawala/ charges 5 rupees for a ride to Bhagwan Nagar from the main road. There used to be a '/pucca/' road, but it was dug up last year to lay cables and sewer lines. There is talk that it will be repaired after the monsoons. Shops selling everything from hosiery to toys to household products to hardware, PCOs and cyber cafes, property dealer offices and chemists line the road. An odd electrician, a furniture maker and a number of juice stalls selling fresh mixed-fruit juice, a few /paanwalas/, and small and big /dhabas/ that spill over to the streets, add to the vibrancy of this area. Fruit and vegetable vendors create space for their wares on non-existent pavements, leaving pedestrians and beggars and a local madman to jostle for space with an increasing number of cycles, /rickshaws/, autos, taxis and cars and animals on the road. Buildings that have seen better days, newly constructed houses smelling of fresh paint and a few remnant structures of the former village, on the brink of collapse, propped up with the support of wooden facades, make Bhagwan Nagar a rich collage of architectural styles reflecting a temporal spectrum of many decades. As land value increased and incomes improved, a floor was added to the house and rented out to a steady stream of migrant workers, itinerant professionals, students, petty businessmen, small industrialists and daily wage earners keen to make home in a well connected locality with cheap rents. In this much contested and congested space also lies Microgate, an all night internet cafe. Our regular haunt in a bid to stay connected. Microgate is located in the basement of a three-story building, easily one of the better constructions of the area, sandwiched between a general grocery store and a /saree/ boutique. Narrow steps lead to a tin door, which is usually open at all times. A neat black and white A- 4 size poster – an advertisement for Biology and Zoology tutorials for class XII – is pasted on the peeling green paint of the door. A few more steps lead to the dimly lit cafe. The inside mirrors the congestion outside. The ten feet by ten feet basement hall is divided into four sections: A small reception area next to the stairs, a cubicle with a table and a revolving chair for Guddu, the owner, a small empty space, where the technical and managerial staff of the cafe sleep at night, and a hall, which is the main cafe space. This area is further partitioned in four rows with space for sixteen computers. Coloured printouts of computer games like Tom & Jerry and Road Rash are pasted on the wall. Dysfunctional air conditioners adorn the side walls, seeming taxidermies of extinct priceless birds. A low hum of conversations can be heard as one enters the cafe. A cheap metallic wind chime at the door gives incessant background music to the steady beat of fingers moving on keyboards. The atmosphere reeks of stale air and human sweat. However, in the mornings Guddu lights a daily stick of incense, as offering to the Gods to bring more business to his cyber cafe. Guddu provides better services than many cafes of the locality. There is round-the-clock supply of water, electricity and internet connectivity at Microgate. Some say it is because his mother is positioned as an important worker with a leading political party. One night, a couple of weeks ago, we used Microgate's services to send off a few urgent emails. It was late and by midnight we were the only customers. Some of the staff were dozing on makeshift beds in the sleeping corner and most of the lights had been switched off. At about 1:00 PM however, people started trickling in – young men, in one's and two's, sometimes a helmet in hand. They began taking position on the vacant seats, behind the till now blank screens. Before long, a semi-American accent was confirming participation in Pope John's funeral. A few months before, a middle level manager of an elite international call centre contacted Guddu. The proposition was to share some load of that call centre in return for sum of forty thousand rupees a month. Guddu agreed. He hired some out-of-work and some working agents who had prior experience of the industry on 'payment on performance' basis, from 2:00 AM till 10:00 AM. With no frills of dinner and snacks, pick-up or drop, and no facilities like toilets, cash coupons or tickets to multiplexes, Guddu operates an 'international call centre'. He manages a complete gamut of campaigns and products, just like any other Business Process Outsourcing unit in Noida and Gurgaon. For the agents of this international call centre, there is no accent training, minimal process training, and a more informal relationship with the boss. Unlike many other premium call centers, less monitoring, supervision and surveillance takes place here, even as the work contract is more fragile. The call centre aspect of the operations of the cyber cafe has been closed since last week for about one month now, as the contract has expired; and while Guddu finalises his deal with the next company, his team of agents has moved on. Guddu's call centre marks the transformation and shift in an eager industry, searching for and finding newer avenues of business. This lofty stagger seems to displace the logic and rationality of a trade composed of highly systematised processes, in an overwhelmingly fragmented manner. The outsourcing of work processes within the outsourcing industry and the subsequent mushrooming of a parallel international call centre industry in the city is an indicator of a leveling of work contracts and wages in times to come. Located on the fringes, Microgate may appear flirtatious, but it is a marker of a desire by the industry to widen its base into larger entrepreneurial services. *Tag* The management at Glocall Services, an international call centre, found it difficult to maintain order at the main entry point of the office building. They had given the contract for security, its fourth one in the last seven months, to Leo Securities. Mata Prasad, a security guard posted at Glocall, tries to avoid main gate duty largely due to his complete inability to manage the thronging crowds of workers passing through the gates. Agents would often come in two's or three's, some times in larger groups, and always in a rush to reach their seats before the login time begins. For them, Mata Prasad with his entourage of security guards was an unwelcome speed breaker. He along with Vinod, inside the guard hut to distribute and collect access cards, Bashir at the metal detector and Jai Kishan, the walkman-totting, pot bellied supervisor were nothing more than a road block, an obstacle to be overrun in the mad rush to reach the campaign floor in time. They would badger, mock, ignore, coerce, grimace and do almost anything to scuttle past the narrow passage way at the entrance. For Mata Prasad and his colleagues, the time of shift change was a challenge. Their duty was to make sure that order prevailed, that agents were checked, their identities confirmed, and their bodies scanned for any undesirables. He knew that his agency was failing on all four counts. And if something was not done quickly, it wouldn't be long before he would be out on streets sipping sugary lukewarm /chai/ and waiting for another contract to come his agency's way. His prayers were soon answered in the form of ping-pong balls. The security agency, after giving much thought to the problem, installed a new system. The six feet broad entrance gate was partitioned into four sections: visitors, agents, management and women. At the head of each was a small cardboard box containing four ping-pong balls – white, pink, red and yellow. Agents had to move through their respective partition, and as they would reach the main entrance gate, Mata Prasad, along with his colleagues, would be waiting for them by the box. Agents obeyed blanket orders issued by the management to display their identity cards at all times. With the new system at the gate, an agent would pause for at least ten seconds to pick a ball from the box. This would halt the line, giving Mata Prasad enough time to check his ID card and tally the photograph on it with his face. If the agent was lucky, he might dig up the white ball, which would mean that he could go straight to his floor with out being checked. A pink ball would mean a complete body check. A yellow ball would mean body-scan through a metal detector and a red ball stood for the entire process – a body check, followed by a manual metal detector scan and subsequently passing through the metal detector door. Agents never knew how many balls of which color are placed in each box. The unpredictability of the system became its chief selling point to the management and staff. For John Baker, and agent at Glocall, the line up at the gates was just another addition that restricted his movement inside the call centre. Apart from his campaign floor, the cafeteria, the stairs, the foyer, the lobby and the loo, most of the six-floored building was out of bounds for him. >From the logins, logouts, the AHT's, the canteen breaks, to bio-breaks and commuting schedules, everything was timed. Barging of calls, supervision of his person through CCTV cameras, regulation of work by the Team Leader, tedious repetition of a script over two hundred times a day, coupled with daily monitoring and evaluation of calls taken by each agent was a routine that defined his halting drifts and impermanent stays at four call centres in the last three years. A training workbook at his Centre reads: /Change negative thoughts to positive thoughts. 'If it goes down again, I'll scream!' can be written as, 'I can't control when the computer blinks out, so it's not worth getting upset about. Besides, I'm ready for it. I have a pad of paper and my notes handy, so technical difficulties wont disrupt my calls that much.' 'Sheesh! I get all the crancky customers!' can be written as 'Its really a hard task to handle this customer but I will solve his problems and hope I get a better one in the future.' / Hazel recalls how, after a year in a prestigious international call centre, she ended all her non-work conversations with 'Thank you for calling. It was a pleasure talking to you ma'am/sir'. Her call centre conversations entered the realm of sleep and room mates assert that she talked to her customers in her sleep. For Hazel, the call centre was a learning ground. She quit her job a few months ago and now runs a call centre placement agency in partnership with her sister in Okhla. The phrase 'NOT ALLOWED' – figures quite frequently in an agent's vocabulary, as strict rules monitor her movement across time and space. The agent, though largely immobile, moves through cables and Internet, browsing/sifting/excavating tonnes of data that is vital, tempting and dangerous. The density of panoptical gestures in a call centre seems to be closely linked to its profile and the nature of data that flows through it. The site of an international call center is often fraught with micro-managed processes. These processes ensure rationalisation of surveillance practices, manufacture and enforce codes of conduct, restrict movement of agents in and around the space of a call centre, create procedures of access, normalise mechanistic functioning of the body through predetermined routines, and segregate and control temporality of work shifts by minutely isolating each phase of an agent's time and constantly enforcing and appraising modes of performance. In sharp contrast to the protocols of imperceptibility lies the cubicle or a workstation in a hall, with rows upon rows of seats arranged systematically. A typical cubicle of an international call centre mirrors multiple subjectivities. As the clock ticks, its hands churning away time and shift, agents change and new, different, known and unknown ones occupy the same seat. The interior of the cubicle or the look of a workstation reflects the persona of the agent. A disfigured can of beer, a family photograph, a key chain, a toy car, a miniature bell, stickers with motivational messages, a friendship band, a birthday card – all these are mute testaments to the presence of the working individual. As an agent occupies a cubicle, she marks the space through these mementos of her self, subjugating the seat by an impression of her identity. These inscriptions, although temporary in nature, convey her desire to assert her presence amidst prevalent practices of indistinguishablity. *Stories* As agents move through shifts, workstations, campaigns, processes and companies, with their movement measured in time, distance, currency and rank, they carry with them unique experiences of work and leisure, of negotiation and compliance and of engagement and attrition. The call centre whispers its secrets, regales its jokes, recounts its mundane details, and exaggerates its adventures through these agents, who are the carriers, custodians and transmitters of their narratives. Their stories find motion and mount on the existing networks of cables and communities, entering the realm of the virtual and the real, the drawing room and the chat room, the blog and the diary. The telling sometimes adds romance, spice and luster to the narratives; while some wither away, unrecognised. Dave works as an engineer with an automation company in Delhi. He had just returned from Orissa after completing a preliminary survey of a coalmine, when we first met him. He very matter of factly recalled his first and last day on the floor of Raksh International. Wednesday June 09, 2004 5: 55pm Dave Singer logs in. His Team Leader walks past nodding his head in recognition and possible approval. It is Dave's first day on the floor. The first time he is to be on air, live. He was one of the top performers in his training group and has now been allotted one of the top performing teams in the campaign. The process deals in customer care for ANZ digital scanners – 'the scanner that shows the true picture'. It was a technical process with an AHT of 17 minutes. The team comprises of a few newcomers and a large number of old hands. The Team Leader has recently been promoted to the post and has an experience of over two years as a calling agent. 6:02 pm The first call. Dave's heart beat shot up. He takes the call after being poked in the ribs by a colleague. On hearing the complaining New Yorker on the other end, he forgets his accent and the standard opening line of 'Thank you for calling ANZ services. This is Dave. May I have your case ID or telephone number starting with three digit area code? With the Team Leader (TL) and half a dozen agents staring down at him, noting every move, gesture and stumble in voice with disdain, his nervousness increased and after a brief, awkward conversation with the customer, a Mr. Patrick Shiner from Brooklyn, Dave, bypassing all protocols ended the call with an abrupt 'Bye! Call me later.' Dave did not have much time to recover before the screen showed him the second call. He avoided meeting the TL's disapproving gaze and gradually confidence returned. When he looked up from the screen next time, nine hours had passed. At the stock-taking meeting, the TL gave him a verbal trashing, appraised his soft skills, while recommending him back to the training programme for two months. In the cab that morning, while going home, knowing that he had an exceptionally bad start, other agents tried to lighten the mood. One senior agent, Phil Rogers narrated his own experience of how he froze on his first call and how two colleagues had to wrestle the receiver from his hands at the end of the call because he was too terrified to let the let the instrument go. An agent named Neil Anderson recounted how he once gave a wrong alias to a customer. Instead of saying Neil Anderson, he said, Neil Robinson. The customer almost jumped with joy mistaking him for Neil Robinson, a famous baseball player. With the precise intention of avoiding dead air, Neil promptly replied that his name was Anderson and not Robinson. The customer said that she was positive she heard Robinson. Literally thinking on his feet, Neil replied that he recently got married and changed his last name. Neil Anderson, age 25, was a manic workaholic agent. He had only three loves in his life – Marijuana, Wills Navy Cut and making sales. He ran away from home at age fourteen because his mother didn't allow him to carry on with the legacy of his father and grand father, to work as a fighter pilot. At fifteen years of age, he started his career selling Hawkins pressure cookers as a door to door sales man in Calcutta. He joined the call centre industry with a direct sales experience of five years. From selling the complete edition of Encyclopedia Britannica to Super Clean washing powder, he had sold a complete range of fast moving consumer products. When he joined the industry he couldn't get used to the idea of being tied to a chair for hours. So he devised a way to deal with this, and after some years of sustained above-average performance, he came up with a time-tested maxim. 'You can't do calling unless you do dope'. He believed that one couldn't make sales unless one is on a high. His job was to sell toy models of Harley Davidson bikes to a targeted constituency of ex-US army personnel. He made a few friends while calling and would often spend hours talking to them about comparative advantages and disadvantages of various models. Predictably, when he became a team leader he very carefully selected agents who matched his personality traits. His team's sales performance was trailing the leader within three months of the launch of the process. This was an achievement, considering that there were about a dozen processes on his floor. Soon complaints of agents doing dope on the floor, under the table, in the loo, on the stairs and in the canteen area started circulating around. It wasn't long before the operations manager called on Neil and shared his thoughts about sacking the whole team including the TL. Neil in a fit of anger, mouthed the last quarter's sales results, gave reasons for the high motivation level of the agents, and explained the rationale for above-average accomplishments. The manager left without saying a word. Last heard, Neil, bored with selling credit cards had moved to another call center in Pune. The narratives of call center workers like Neil, Hazel, Dave and Jamie reappear as anecdotes registered in the collective memory of other agents. As they recollect stories of virtual flights, of unformed friendships, of the moment of attrition and of sketches of resistances and cooperation, they circulate a valuable experience of work and in the process create a virtual and mental archive of labor and work practices in the new economy. Their narratives weave a complex tapestry of the everyday and night in a call center. The industry marks an important transformation in the nature of service sector work – where the color of the workers' collar is indeterminately mottled, where for every GE and Daksh there is a Microgate, where for every anomaly there is a ping-pong ball, and where despite containment, stories and tales seep out of unnoticed crevices and circulate. The end++++++++ From aleclerc at fondation-langlois.org Tue Sep 6 20:36:16 2005 From: aleclerc at fondation-langlois.org (=?iso-8859-1?Q?Andr=E9ane_Leclerc?=) Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2005 11:06:16 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] News from the Daniel Langlois Foundation Message-ID: <641A525B0A2A2540B1DD0A3DE660241C014DCDFC@exchange.terra-incognita.net> The Daniel Langlois Foundation for Art, Science, and Technology REMINDER: New and revised programs Strategic Grants for Organisations Program: Canadian non-profit organisations as well as those based in countries listed as eligible may submit proposals now. An online application form is available and must be used to submit a proposal: http://www.fondation-langlois.org/e/programmes/ Research and Experimentation Residencies in Montreal for Professional Artists from Emerging Countries or Regions: Individuals who are nationals of a country listed as eligible may submit an application for a research and experimentation residency. Applications must be sent by mail or e-mail prior to September 30, 2005. Prior to taking steps to submit a proposal, please read the guidelines: http://www.fondation-langlois.org/pdf/e/prog_oboro.pdf (PDF file) From jace at pobox.com Tue Sep 6 22:57:31 2005 From: jace at pobox.com (Kiran Jonnalagadda) Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2005 22:57:31 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Asia-Pacific Argues in Favour of Free and Open Source Software In-Reply-To: <20050905104357.021355EC1FE@server.mahiti.org> References: <20050905104357.021355EC1FE@server.mahiti.org> Message-ID: On 05-Sep-05, at 4:13 PM, Sunil Abraham wrote: > Siem Reap (Cambodia), Sept 3 -- Twenty countries joined a three-day > Asia Pacific consultation on Free and Open Source Software, which > ended Saturday evening on an optimistic note which saw non- > proprietorial software playing an increasingly important role in > this talent-rich, resource-poor region. Dear Sunil, Isn't the title "Asia-Pacific Argues in Favour of FOSS" a gross generalisation, and potentially undermining the efforts of all those still working on FOSS adoption? The opening sentence "Twenty countries joined..." also appears misleading. From what I can make out, the attendees came from twenty different countries. They were not representatives of their country as a whole. Only the national elected government can claim such representation, and that too only if they were elected on a FOSS ticket. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I do not believe this is the case. Imagine if Microsoft throws a bash, invites people from twenty different countries, and issues a press release "Asia-Pacific argues in favour of Microsoft Windows, twenty countries joined a three-day consultation which ended Saturday evening on an optimistic note which saw Microsoft Windows playing an increasingly important role in this talent-rich resource-poor region." The FOSS community would be up in arms. Cries of "FUD!" would resound across community lists. So what's stopping Microsoft -- or indeed anyone who has reason to fear FOSS -- from crying FUD when a lucrative client uses such announcements as justification for moving to FOSS? In 1999 (98?), the Mexican government announced it was migrating schools to Linux over a five year period [1]. 1999 was the year of Linux in mainstream media. Everybody was talking about how Linux would be the non-entity that would finally topple Microsoft's monopoly because for once Microsoft was fighting something that was not an organisation, that had no form that could be attacked. Mexico's migration was the favourite story. It's two proponents became heroes of Linux adoption. [1] http://www.livingstonmontana.com/access/dan/ 120linuxinmexicanschools.html Well, what happened? In 2000, the project folded up silently, having failed to convince students to actually use Linux. The proponents admitted that they may have been a little too enthusiastic, that Linux may have been a little too rough-edged for such a wide rollout (sorry, can't find a link to back this up). Nobody noticed this. I, for one, didn't even hear about it until as late as 2003. This was one of Microsoft's silent victories, one they are happy to retell when a large user threatens to quit. Please, folks, let this not happen again. Hype about adoption is not the same thing as adoption. Exercise restraint in your promotion. Don't raise people's expectations so high that they come away disappointed from the actual experience. -- Kiran Jonnalagadda http://www.pobox.com/~jace From jace at pobox.com Wed Sep 7 01:06:37 2005 From: jace at pobox.com (Kiran Jonnalagadda) Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 01:06:37 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] What ails the Sarai Reader List? In-Reply-To: <3b7bed8505082702432c056ea9@mail.gmail.com> References: <9A2F8C71-96E5-450F-B168-8A06C51BA78B@pobox.com> <3b7bed85050824124164561745@mail.gmail.com> <8B93CD09-430D-4A22-868E-2A4DE9AD6BAE@pobox.com> <3b7bed8505082702432c056ea9@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: On 27-Aug-05, at 3:13 PM, punam zutshi wrote: > I want to as a 'consumer' want to answer things of concern to me: > Is the load of the Sarai Reader List too high? No. > Does the flood of e mails by month end bother me? No. > How does one deal with the list? Does one want it more orderly > accessible fashion? I see little problem in the exercise of a degree > of judgement and selection.Why should deletion of messages be a > problem? I would like to receive whatever is posted and do the > screening myself. Dear Punam, Thanks again. One of my concerns with migrating of the Reader List to a new platform was that there would always be users who liked the existing setup and aren't convinced about the benefits of the new. As you have expressed, I was right about at least this bit. :-) However, not everyone is happy with the list's current state, and whatever solution is adopted must be able to satisfy both parties adequately. I was at Sarai when I made the last post and had discussed the issue with Vivek and Monica. I'm in Bangalore now and continuing the conversation over email. In my proposal (December) I had mentioned that I was looking for a community to test my observations with. Vivek suggested the Reader List. Sarai has been cooperative and accommodating with this process, and I must thank them for this. I do not have a solution at hand. So far, I've only identified patterns in communications in different communities. I haven't studied them all yet. For example, Ryze is a social networking site, much like Orkut, LinkedIn, Tribe, Multiply and a gazillion others, but Ryze has a buzz to it that the others lack. It's not that Ryze works because it has all the people -- Orkut is also heavily populated. There is something about the Ryze interface that makes it tick, that I haven't quite understood yet. How am I going to adapt these observations to an email based list without disrupting the existing functioning of the list? I don't know. But it's a worthy challenge, don't you think? -- Kiran Jonnalagadda http://www.pobox.com/~jace From punam.zutshi at gmail.com Wed Sep 7 11:08:28 2005 From: punam.zutshi at gmail.com (punam zutshi) Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 11:08:28 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] What ails the Sarai Reader List? In-Reply-To: References: <9A2F8C71-96E5-450F-B168-8A06C51BA78B@pobox.com> <3b7bed85050824124164561745@mail.gmail.com> <8B93CD09-430D-4A22-868E-2A4DE9AD6BAE@pobox.com> <3b7bed8505082702432c056ea9@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <3b7bed85050906223872ec064f@mail.gmail.com> Hello Kiran, I thought I was gamely offering feedback ... Many thanks for classifying me as more or less resistant to virtual progress!! You have not actually shared what seems classified information about the critique of the list.Why the flood of other names of sites?Social Networking, what's that?? I thought we were also speaking of reader lists with a specific aim. Just wanted to say that I am a 'low end' user compared to you.(You've been immortalised by TOI ). But feel that what Sarai seems to offer is the participation in 'real space' as well, which you were glad to have in the Independent Fellows meet.So the lack of interaction in one sphere is adequately met in others? Punam On 9/7/05, Kiran Jonnalagadda wrote: > On 27-Aug-05, at 3:13 PM, punam zutshi wrote: > > > I want to as a 'consumer' want to answer things of concern to me: > > Is the load of the Sarai Reader List too high? No. > > Does the flood of e mails by month end bother me? No. > > How does one deal with the list? Does one want it more orderly > > accessible fashion? I see little problem in the exercise of a degree > > of judgement and selection.Why should deletion of messages be a > > problem? I would like to receive whatever is posted and do the > > screening myself. > > Dear Punam, > > Thanks again. One of my concerns with migrating of the Reader List to > a new platform was that there would always be users who liked the > existing setup and aren't convinced about the benefits of the new. As > you have expressed, I was right about at least this bit. :-) However, > not everyone is happy with the list's current state, and whatever > solution is adopted must be able to satisfy both parties adequately. > > I was at Sarai when I made the last post and had discussed the issue > with Vivek and Monica. I'm in Bangalore now and continuing the > conversation over email. In my proposal (December) I had mentioned > that I was looking for a community to test my observations with. > Vivek suggested the Reader List. Sarai has been cooperative and > accommodating with this process, and I must thank them for this. > > I do not have a solution at hand. So far, I've only identified > patterns in communications in different communities. I haven't > studied them all yet. For example, Ryze is a social networking site, > much like Orkut, LinkedIn, Tribe, Multiply and a gazillion others, > but Ryze has a buzz to it that the others lack. It's not that Ryze > works because it has all the people -- Orkut is also heavily > populated. There is something about the Ryze interface that makes it > tick, that I haven't quite understood yet. > > How am I going to adapt these observations to an email based list > without disrupting the existing functioning of the list? I don't > know. But it's a worthy challenge, don't you think? > > -- > Kiran Jonnalagadda > http://www.pobox.com/~jace > > > From sunil at mahiti.org Wed Sep 7 10:55:29 2005 From: sunil at mahiti.org (Sunil Abraham) Date: Wed, 07 Sep 2005 10:55:29 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Asia-Pacific Argues in Favour of Free and Open Source Software In-Reply-To: References: <20050905104357.021355EC1FE@server.mahiti.org> Message-ID: <1126070730.12060.2.camel@localhost.localdomain> Dear Jace, On Tue, 2005-09-06 at 22:57 +0530, Kiran Jonnalagadda wrote: > Isn't the title "Asia-Pacific Argues in Favour of FOSS" a gross > generalisation, and potentially undermining the efforts of all those Thanks for your comments. I will pass them on to the author of the press release. Sunil From zainab at xtdnet.nl Wed Sep 7 11:46:25 2005 From: zainab at xtdnet.nl (zainab at xtdnet.nl) Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 10:16:25 +0400 (RET) Subject: [Reader-list] TC - Continued Message-ID: <4864.219.65.12.185.1126073785.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> TC (Contd ) “One day, I was checking tickets in a long-distance train from Kalyan to CST (final junction for Central Railways). It was a bank holiday that day, perhaps a festival of the Hindus. At Mumbra station, a bunch of Muslims entered the train. I started checking tickets. The Muslims began acting smart when I asked them to show tickets. ‘We all have tickets,’ one boy announced. I replied, ‘I am very happy to hear that all of you have tickets. But my job is to see with my own eyes, not to listen with my ears.’ They recognized that I am Muslim through my beard. They said to me, ‘Kya saab (what sir), you are ‘our’ man and you are asking us for tickets?!?!’ I was in a trap. There was a little commotion created and some gair (other) passengers came over and started watching what was happening. Now, these passengers were keen to see if I would check this Muslim bunch. I was in a real dilemma. If I don’t check the Muslim passengers, these ‘other’ passengers may say ‘look, he is partial and this is what happens in the railways!’ I feared that they may even complain against me to the railways. Two boys from the Muslim bunch demanded me to show my badge, ‘How do we know that you are a TC?’ they said. I showed them my badge. They took away my badge and started playing with it. I had to use rough language now, like our Nagpada style language. I said to them, “Dekho bhailog (look brothers), if you take away my badge, I will make a lost case and get another badge. That’s not the issue. But let’s get straight here. I want to see your tickets. I just want to confirm and I will go away. What’s the problem here?’ Some people in the group turned out to be sensible. They told the rest to show tickets. All of them had tickets except for one who had an expired train pass. ‘This is an expired pass,’ I said to him, ‘You will have to pay a fine.’ ‘What saab,’ he said to me, “You are ‘our’ man and you will fine me?’ Now other passengers started wondering if I will actually fine this fellow. I made ‘prestige’ out of this issue – meri izzat ka sawaal aa gaya! I said to him, ‘You will have to pay a fine.’ One fellow from the group was understanding and he said, ‘Let’s pay up the fine.’ Thus, matters were settled finally! And I came out as a fair TC,” he concluded the story during one of my earlier conversations with him. TC believes that his job is fraught with dangers. “Passengers can get violent when I legitimately ask them to pay up a fine. Sometimes, in very crowded trains, particularly in the evenings, faulting passengers even try to throw us out of the trains. What to do? Very danger,” he said, rolling his eyes and head and posing a grave look on his face. “Arre, you know what happened this morning,” he started telling me one day, some months ago, “This morning, I caught hold of two old Muslim passengers who were traveling without a luggage ticket. I asked them to pay up a luggage fine of fifty rupees. They started howling and cursing the railways. ‘We did not know this, we did not know this!’ To top it all, they were traveling on a ticket which was bound for the previous station and was therefore invalid. I brought this to their notice and said to them, ‘At least pay up the luggage fine!’ They recognized that I was Muslim. They said to me, ‘You are brethren and you are fining us. Allah dekhta hai (God is watching over you).’ I was pissed off. I said to them, ‘What is this allah dekhta hai? I am doing my duty. I am not asking anything illegal from you!’ They got defensive and started offering me twenty rupees. Now I said to them, ‘Ab allah nahi dekhta hai kya? (Isn’t god watching over you now that you are trying to bribe me?)’ They felt ashamed. And finally, they paid the luggage fine! On another occasion, I introduced TC to my French basketball player friend who was interested in listening to his everyday stories of ticket-and-ticketless! “Oh, one day you know what happened?” TC started, “I caught hold of this guy who was traveling without a ticket. He looked very posh. He was wearing executive suit and tie. I asked him his profession. He brought out his card. He was a senior head in ICICI bank. His name was something Aiyyengar. Now, I have heard that Aiyyengar’s are a Brahmin community of South and they can be trusted because they are men of honour and they keep their word! I asked Aiyyengar to pay up the fine. He pleaded before me saying, ‘I don’t have the money right now and I am too rushed for a meeting. I promise to come tomorrow and pay up.’ Because he was an Aiyyengar, I decided to trust him. I took his card and mobile number and told him that I would wait for him at the same place tomorrow. He did not turn up the next day. So I phoned on his mobile ‘Hello, Aiyyengar, I am TC. You are supposed to pay up the fine!’ He said on the other end, ‘I don’t know you. I am busy now. Call later.’ See, even Aiyyenagrs are not trustworthy,” he concluded the tale for the day. To be continued Zainab Bawa Bombay www.xanga.com/CityBytes http://crimsonfeet.recut.org/rubrique53.html From jace at pobox.com Wed Sep 7 11:56:58 2005 From: jace at pobox.com (Kiran Jonnalagadda) Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 11:56:58 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] What ails the Sarai Reader List? In-Reply-To: <3b7bed85050906223872ec064f@mail.gmail.com> References: <9A2F8C71-96E5-450F-B168-8A06C51BA78B@pobox.com> <3b7bed85050824124164561745@mail.gmail.com> <8B93CD09-430D-4A22-868E-2A4DE9AD6BAE@pobox.com> <3b7bed8505082702432c056ea9@mail.gmail.com> <3b7bed85050906223872ec064f@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <1D8F897D-9A47-42A6-8935-5DB7D21306CD@pobox.com> On 07-Sep-05, at 11:08 AM, punam zutshi wrote: > I thought I was gamely offering feedback ... Many thanks for > classifying me as more or less resistant to virtual progress!! Dear Punam, My apologies if I made you appear to be a restraint. That was not my intention. There are several email lists I participate in that I would not be happy to see in another form. Earlier this year I had a fallout with a list maintainer when he hopped between free mailing list providers, unable to decide which one he wanted to use, requiring us to post to both and sending everyone two copies of all mail. And then he did it again with services for organising real life meetings, and at that point I just had to quit. What's the point to adopting a better system if it only annoys people? > You have not actually shared what seems classified information about > the critique of the list.Why the flood of other names of sites?Social > Networking, what's that?? I thought we were also speaking of reader > lists with a specific aim. There is no classified information. I do not have quotes to reproduce simply because it didn't occur to me to ask anyone for one. The other sites I mentioned are all community sites in one form or the other, places where people talk to each other. Some of them are more successful than the others. The task is to understand why, and then see if the same lessons can be applied to the Reader List *without* disrupting its current form. I've had several people complain to me about having trouble keeping up with the volume of the list, but nobody seems to be able to explain it better than "too much mail". I feel this too, and in the past I've quit mailing lists when the volume became too much to bear. Yet, some of these other (non-email) communities are able to sustain higher volumes without feeling like a burden. So how do they do it? That is why I'm studying them. -- Kiran Jonnalagadda http://www.pobox.com/~jace From punam.zutshi at gmail.com Wed Sep 7 18:11:51 2005 From: punam.zutshi at gmail.com (punam zutshi) Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 18:11:51 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] What ails the Sarai Reader List? In-Reply-To: <1D8F897D-9A47-42A6-8935-5DB7D21306CD@pobox.com> References: <9A2F8C71-96E5-450F-B168-8A06C51BA78B@pobox.com> <3b7bed85050824124164561745@mail.gmail.com> <8B93CD09-430D-4A22-868E-2A4DE9AD6BAE@pobox.com> <3b7bed8505082702432c056ea9@mail.gmail.com> <3b7bed85050906223872ec064f@mail.gmail.com> <1D8F897D-9A47-42A6-8935-5DB7D21306CD@pobox.com> Message-ID: <3b7bed850509070541797dd1c5@mail.gmail.com> Dear Kiran, I take your point that many would find the volume high, but would that automatically mean that people would respond less? I was merely reiterating the need for greater attention to the 'surveying' if you must, the needs and views of readers and administrators.A better system from whose standpoint would be important to know.I am sure there was discussion about this in the Sarai seminars. Yes, a list administrator who hums and haws is not such a great idea. Punam On 9/7/05, Kiran Jonnalagadda wrote: > On 07-Sep-05, at 11:08 AM, punam zutshi wrote: > > > I thought I was gamely offering feedback ... Many thanks for > > classifying me as more or less resistant to virtual progress!! > > Dear Punam, > > My apologies if I made you appear to be a restraint. That was not my > intention. There are several email lists I participate in that I > would not be happy to see in another form. Earlier this year I had a > fallout with a list maintainer when he hopped between free mailing > list providers, unable to decide which one he wanted to use, > requiring us to post to both and sending everyone two copies of all > mail. And then he did it again with services for organising real life > meetings, and at that point I just had to quit. What's the point to > adopting a better system if it only annoys people? > > > You have not actually shared what seems classified information about > > the critique of the list.Why the flood of other names of sites?Social > > Networking, what's that?? I thought we were also speaking of reader > > lists with a specific aim. > > There is no classified information. I do not have quotes to reproduce > simply because it didn't occur to me to ask anyone for one. The other > sites I mentioned are all community sites in one form or the other, > places where people talk to each other. Some of them are more > successful than the others. The task is to understand why, and then > see if the same lessons can be applied to the Reader List *without* > disrupting its current form. I've had several people complain to me > about having trouble keeping up with the volume of the list, but > nobody seems to be able to explain it better than "too much mail". I > feel this too, and in the past I've quit mailing lists when the > volume became too much to bear. Yet, some of these other (non-email) > communities are able to sustain higher volumes without feeling like a > burden. So how do they do it? That is why I'm studying them. > > -- > Kiran Jonnalagadda > http://www.pobox.com/~jace > > > From sastry at cs.wisc.edu Wed Sep 7 20:37:35 2005 From: sastry at cs.wisc.edu (Subramanya Sastry) Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 10:07:35 -0500 (CDT) Subject: [Reader-list] On "what ails reader-list" In-Reply-To: <20050907062738.8394128D781@mail.sarai.net> References: <20050907062738.8394128D781@mail.sarai.net> Message-ID: Kiran and Punam, I have been watching the exchange with some interest -- and though I meant to write earlier, I am only getting around to it now. I am one of the silent members of the list -- though having opted to receive emails in digest form, am able to quickly decide what to read and what not to. And, reader-list is one of those few email lists that I pay attention to. Having said that, I am not sure I understand the reasons that has led Kiran to speculate that the list is in a state of collapse. For one, I have been a part of this list for about a year, I do not know what the original intentions/expectations were for setting up this list, and how the email exchanges on this list measure up to those expectations. Despite all that, I feel it sounds somewhat sensationalist to indicate that the list is crumbling. But, I have never seen the reader-list as a "community" -- only perhaps in a very loose sense could that term apply to a mailing list. The term is also a somewhat abused term, and it perhaps helps to clarify what one means when one talks of "community" in the online world. Yet, going beyond that, where there is an already existing "community" in the flesh-and-blood world, a mailing list could potentially be a useful tool in sustaining that community (for example, a group of friends, a group of outgoing graduates perhaps, etc.). But I think it would be too much to expect a mailing list to build a community around all members of the mailing list. Such expectations could be perhaps somewhat uncharitably described as technological romanticism. But, that is not to mean that small sub-communities dont form amongst members of the mailing list (purely based on what one picks up from people's postings on various topics). I have made many a friend (and very good friends at that) because of a sense of "kinship" that I felt based on reading email posts on mailing lists that I have been a part of -- but that again is a formation of sub-communities that is unpredictable/uncontrollable rather than the romantic notion of making a community of all members of a mailing list. So, perhaps it is good to clarify the intentions/expectations of what one means when a reference is made to "community" in the online world. Or perhaps better still, what is Sarai looking for when you have instituted "reader-list" as a mailing list, or if something like that is launched on LiveJournal or one of the countless "community"-building/sustaining tools that now exist and will continue to spring forth. It is those expectations that can be a baseline for evaluating various tools. Without clarity at that level, all this will become a case of peering down the wrong end of the tube. In any case, there is nothing particularly "wrong" if reader-list crumbles or dies. I am sure sub-communities have been made, people have formed relationships, and friendships have been forged. Something new can and will come up in its place ... if done consciously, it requires clarifying intentions and expectations. Just on the level of "what aids reader-list", yes, one can make various observations and I would not have much to contest with Kiran or Punam. Yes, there is too much email, but, my solution is to opt for a digest format. If the discussion on the list ceases to be of interest to me, I would unsubscribe from it at some point. But, I also know personally that I am not one of those who visits journals/blogs or various other offline forums. So, a non-email based forum will be the end of participation as far as I am concerned. I think individual personalities are a very important consideration for what forms of communities (online/offline/real/ virtual/mailing-list/forum/livejournal/wiki/blog...) each one of us participates in. So, it is equally important to factor this into the decision/discussion. And, really speaking, there is no reason why there can't be a mailing list, a LiveJournal approach, wiki approach ... all to co-exist (around matters of interest of Sarai) .. each one will attract its own crowd. I have rambled long enough for now ... so, I will stop for now ... Best, Subbu. From punam.zutshi at gmail.com Thu Sep 8 00:45:14 2005 From: punam.zutshi at gmail.com (punam zutshi) Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2005 00:45:14 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] On "what ails reader-list" In-Reply-To: References: <20050907062738.8394128D781@mail.sarai.net> Message-ID: <3b7bed850509071215cfb2e53@mail.gmail.com> Subramanya aka Subbu (and Kiran) , Thanks so much for intervening, I was beginning to worry whether my perceptions about Kiran's charge about the collapse of this list were skewed and unique! I do wish that others who hold views similar to Kiran's would join the discussion. Oddly enough, I had not registered the fact that a digest could be subscribed to, that is certainly an important point in terms of choices. And yes if e mail stopped being the mode of communication for this list, I would also opt out. I think Nitoo Das did refer in her e mail of Aug 27 addressed to Kiran to the threefold stated purposes of the reader list.She writes: " It is meant, as you pointed out, for "Announcements, Independent Fellows' postings, General Discussions, and responses to all these." These discussions are usually of the non-frivolous variety and, more often than not, we see a consistent engagement with, what can only be termed as, 'intellectual' issues." As I was not present at the Sarai presentations, I can only refer to Kiran's postings on the list.I feel Kiran has yet to make the case about the collapse of the list or even all the 'problems' with it .I was alluding to this in my last mail with that wisecrack about classified information. Does anyone remember my desperate pleas about better archiving/search facilities, or should those be addressed to Other Quarters? Punam On 9/7/05, Subramanya Sastry wrote: > Kiran and Punam, > > I have been watching the exchange with some interest -- and though I meant to > write earlier, I am only getting around to it now. > > I am one of the silent members of the list -- though having opted to receive > emails in digest form, am able to quickly decide what to read and what not to. > And, reader-list is one of those few email lists that I pay attention to. > > Having said that, I am not sure I understand the reasons that has led Kiran to > speculate that the list is in a state of collapse. For one, I have been a > part of this list for about a year, I do not know what the original > intentions/expectations were for setting up this list, and how the email > exchanges on this list measure up to those expectations. Despite all that, I > feel it sounds somewhat sensationalist to indicate that the list is crumbling. > > But, I have never seen the reader-list as a "community" -- only perhaps in a > very loose sense could that term apply to a mailing list. The term is also a > somewhat abused term, and it perhaps helps to clarify what one means when one > talks of "community" in the online world. Yet, going beyond that, where there > is an already existing "community" in the flesh-and-blood world, a mailing > list could potentially be a useful tool in sustaining that community (for > example, a group of friends, a group of outgoing graduates perhaps, etc.). > > But I think it would be too much to expect a mailing list to build a community > around all members of the mailing list. Such expectations could be perhaps > somewhat uncharitably described as technological romanticism. But, that is > not to mean that small sub-communities dont form amongst members of the > mailing list (purely based on what one picks up from people's postings on > various topics). I have made many a friend (and very good friends at that) > because of a sense of "kinship" that I felt based on reading email posts on > mailing lists that I have been a part of -- but that again is a formation of > sub-communities that is unpredictable/uncontrollable rather than the romantic > notion of making a community of all members of a mailing list. > > So, perhaps it is good to clarify the intentions/expectations of what one > means when a reference is made to "community" in the online world. Or perhaps > better still, what is Sarai looking for when you have instituted "reader-list" > as a mailing list, or if something like that is launched on LiveJournal or one > of the countless "community"-building/sustaining tools that now exist and will > continue to spring forth. It is those expectations that can be a baseline for > evaluating various tools. Without clarity at that level, all this will become > a case of peering down the wrong end of the tube. > > In any case, there is nothing particularly "wrong" if reader-list crumbles > or dies. I am sure sub-communities have been made, people have formed > relationships, and friendships have been forged. Something new can and will > come up in its place ... if done consciously, it requires clarifying intentions > and expectations. > > Just on the level of "what aids reader-list", yes, one can make various > observations and I would not have much to contest with Kiran or Punam. > Yes, there is too much email, but, my solution is to opt for a digest > format. If the discussion on the list ceases to be of interest to me, > I would unsubscribe from it at some point. But, I also know personally > that I am not one of those who visits journals/blogs or various other > offline forums. So, a non-email based forum will be the end of participation > as far as I am concerned. I think individual personalities are a very > important consideration for what forms of communities (online/offline/real/ > virtual/mailing-list/forum/livejournal/wiki/blog...) each one of us > participates in. So, it is equally important to factor this into the > decision/discussion. And, really speaking, there is no reason why there > can't be a mailing list, a LiveJournal approach, wiki approach ... all to > co-exist (around matters of interest of Sarai) .. each one will attract > its own crowd. > > I have rambled long enough for now ... so, I will stop for now ... > > Best, > Subbu. > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header. > List archive: > From mediachef at gmail.com Thu Sep 8 01:01:03 2005 From: mediachef at gmail.com (Steve Dietz) Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 14:31:03 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Interactive City Final Call for Proposals ISEA2006 Message-ID: <85d7931b050907123148e7f2ac@mail.gmail.com> Interactive City Call for Proposals ISEA2006 Symposium http://www.urban-atmospheres.net/ISEA2006/ Proposals Due: 9 December 2005 Final Decisions: 10 February 2006 "Never confuse the map with the Territory" --Empire of the Sun, J.G. Ballard The city has always been a site of transformation: of lives, of populations, even of civilizations. With the rise of the mega city, however; with the advent of 24/7 rush hours; with the inexorable conversion of public space into commercial space; with the rise of surveillance; with the computer-assisted precision of redlining; with the viral advance of the xenophobic, the contemporary city is weighted down. We dream of something more. Not something planned and canned, like another confectionary spectacle. Something that can respond to our dreams. Something that will transform with us, not just perform change on us, like an operation. The Interactive City seeks urban-scale projects for which the city is not merely a palimpsest of our desires but an active participant in their formation. From dynamic architectural skins to composite sky portraits to walking in someone else's shoes to geocaches of urban lore to hybrid games with a global audience, projects for the Interactive City should transform the "new" technologies of mobile and pervasive computing, ubiquitous networks, and locative media into experiences that matter. The Interactive City is one of four major themes to be featured at ISEA2006 Symposium + ZeroOne San Jose Festival. Interactive City proposals should embrace aspects of the city of San JosŽ specifically and/or the surrounding metropolitan San Francisco Bay Area. Please visit the Interactive City web page for a list of early round accepted projects and a partial list of urban sub-themes. http://www.urban-atmospheres.net/ISEA2006/ Let us experience your vision of the Interactive City! Eric Paulos Interactive City, Chair ISEA2006 ISEA2006 Calls for Participation http://isea2006.sjsu.edu./calls.html ISEA2006 Mailing List http://cadre.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/isea2006 -- Steve Dietz Director, ZeroOne: The Network Director, ISEA2006 Symposium + ZeroOne San Jose: A Global Festival of Art on the Edge http://isea2006.sjsu.edu : August 5-13, 2006 From sastry at cs.wisc.edu Thu Sep 8 09:06:44 2005 From: sastry at cs.wisc.edu (Subramanya Sastry) Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2005 22:36:44 -0500 (CDT) Subject: [Reader-list] On "what ails reader-list" In-Reply-To: <3b7bed850509071215cfb2e53@mail.gmail.com> References: <20050907062738.8394128D781@mail.sarai.net> <3b7bed850509071215cfb2e53@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: A quick intervention. All of what I said nothwithstanding, I agree with Kiran that LiveJournal, Blogger, Ryze, Orkut, etc. foster a different kind of online interaction that can lead to more engaging conversations/interactions amongst a group/sub-group while still maintaining a coherent and easily accessible online repository of those exchanges. Yet, I also think that each of these tools (including mailing lists) attract its own crowd and there will always be people who will prefer one tool over another (which Kiran has also already noted). Firstly, I was suggesting that perhaps it would be useful to clarify expectations/intentions around "reader-list" mailing list and then evaluate what has happened. Secondly, it would be useful to clarify what Sarai means by "building community" or whatever else .. before evaluating new tools. Thirdly, I think it would be too much to expect a "community" to form around existing members of "reader-list". Even from a narrow interpretation of "community = participants in discussion" I think that goal can be safely shelved without even doing anything. Of course, communities would form around LiveJournal or whatever else. The communities that Kiran is a member of were formed over time on their own without any conscious/controlled process on Kiran's part, I would guess. Similarly, the group that forms around Sarai's LiveJournal "journal" might be a group of people different from those on "reader-list at sarai.net", which is not necessarily bad. Best, Subbu. From sunil at mahiti.org Thu Sep 8 11:32:38 2005 From: sunil at mahiti.org (Sunil Abraham) Date: Thu, 08 Sep 2005 11:32:38 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] UNDP-APDIP's FOSS Open Standards Primer: Extension of Deadline for Feedback Message-ID: <20050908060238.72CFA16D6F2@server.mahiti.org> Dear Colleagues, We have received mails from some individuals and institutions asking us to extend the deadline for public feedback with regard to the FOSS: Open Standards Primer. We have decided to extend the deadline for receiving feedback to 1 October 2005. We hope this will give everybody sufficient time to send us your complete feedback. Also in keeping with the transparent philosophy of the Free/Open Source Software Movement, we are making a small change to our process for public/peer review of our primers. From now we will upload all feedback that we receive to IOSN.NET and also post urls of these pages to the FOSSAP, IOSN-GENERAL and FOSS-PDI mailing list. We hope this will trigger further further discussion that would be of use to the author Dr. Nah Soo Hoe as he incorporates the feedback into the final version of the Primer. Please send all feedback to sunil at apdip.net. Thanks Sunil Abraham Mahiti - International Open Source Network Software Freedom for All Web: www.iosn.net Email: sunil at apdip.net From raghavan at servelots.com Thu Sep 8 11:32:43 2005 From: raghavan at servelots.com (Raghavan Kandala) Date: Thu, 08 Sep 2005 11:32:43 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Indic work report for July & August '2005 Message-ID: <431FD403.6010604@servelots.com> Hi all, Here is our (Surekha and Raghavan) Indic work report for the months of July and August '2005. Raghavan. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * I. Morphological Analyser API in Java *(Surekha & Raghavan) Morphological Analyser API in Java for Indian Languages is ready. At present it is being tested for Hindi Language. The algorithm is generic to all Indian Languages with some exceptions. But a major dependency is on the Lexicon that has the rules and dictionaries essential for Analysis. _Algorithm:_ 1. Let 'INPUT_WORD' be the variable that stores the input word to be analysed. 2. Let 'SUFFIX' be the array into which extracted suffixes from the input word are added. 3. Let 'GUESSED_ROOT' be the variable which holds the guessed root. 4. Repeat the steps [4.1 - 4.5] till length of SUFFIX is equal to the length of INPUT_WORD. 4.1 Extract the last character from the INPUT_WORD and append it to the value of the SUFFIX variable. 4.2 Check if the value in the SUFFIX variable is present in the 'SUFF_INFO' table. (a) If present, ADD_DEL_ENTRY = Entry for this SUFFIX in 'SUFF_INFO' table ADD_DEL_ENTRY.Reference = Reference ADD_DEL_ENTRY.ParadigmCount = Number of paradigms ADD_DEL_ENTRY.add = add ADD_DEL_ENTRY.suffix = suffix GUESSED_ROOT = INPUT_WORD - SUFFIX + ADD_DEL_ENTRY.add (b) If not present, GOTO Step:4.1 4.3 Skip 'ADD_DEL_ENTRY.Reference' number of characters in 'PDGM_OFFSET_INFO' table. 4.4 Read 'ADD_DEL_ENTRY.paradigmCount' number of Entries(lines) from 'PDGM_OFFSET_INFO' Table. PDGM_ENTRY = Entry for this paradigm in 'PDGM_OFFSET_INFO' table. 4.5 For each entry in 'PDGM_ENTRY' found from 'PDGM_OFFSET_INFO' table PDGM_ENTRY.pdgm = pdgm PDGM_ENTRY.category = category PDGM_ENTRY.offset = offset check 'PDGM_ENTRY.pdgm' against 'pdgm' field in DICTIONARY and 'GUESSED_ROOT' against 'word' in DICTIONARY.If a match is found, then Print the 'PDGM_ENTRY.offset' th line from 'FEATURE_VALUE' Table. 5.0 Exit. _Functional Details of Morphological Analyser :_ Morphological Analyser operates in two modes, 1. Compilation mode 2. Analyser mode _1. Compilation mode:_ Morphological Analyser makes use of lexicon which includes Suffix Information files, Paradigm files and dictionaries. These lexicon are stored in text files whose size varies depending on the words in the language being analysed. This slows down the analysis as FileReading is an expensive operation in terms of Time. To make this efficient, the lexicon data is read from the text files. From this data read, objects of SuffixInfo, ParadigmInfo, Dictionary and FeatureValue are constructed and stored in respective Hashtables. The Hashtable containing SuffixInfo objects are hashed on the suffix as key. Other Hashtables are hashed on the paradigm as the key. The entries in the FeatureValue file are stored into a Vector.These data structures are constructed and are serialized to a disk file. This process is called "Data Compilation". Any user who wants to add lexicon data to the Morphological Analyser has to run it in compile mode and specify the lexicon data files as an input to them. _2. Analyser mode :_ To analyse the language words, the Morphological Analyser has to be executed in Analyser mode. In Analyser mode, it makes use of the serialised data. It first deserialises it, populates the required objects and analyses the given word using these data structures. It gives all the possible outputs of the analysis. _Detailed Design of Morphological Analyser :_ Morphological Analyser API has three classes viz, Morph, MorphCompiler, MorphAnalyser, SuffixEntry, Paradigm, Dictionary, FeatureValue. _Morph:_ This class has the main() method which is used to run the morph as an tool. Invoking this class from commandline with required arguments will print the output. This class implements the Serializable interface because it has methods to serialize and deserialize the lexicon data required for analysis. The lexicon is a set of files which includes a dictionary, a suffix information file for the words in that languages, the paradigms that are present in that language and a feature value file which has the properties of the word given for analysis. _MorphCompiler:_ This class does the lexicon compilation. It has methods to read the data from the disk files, construct objects of SuffixEntry, Paradigm, Dictionary and FeatureValue, construct the Hashtables and Serialise these Hashtables to the disk. To compile rules, one can call the compileRules() method of this class with the lexicon files as arguments from which the Morph has to compile rules and serialise these lexicon. _MorphAnalyser:_ This class does the analysis of the given word. To analyse a word call the analyse method with the word to be analysed as an argument. The result of the analysis is stored in the object MorphResult. _MorphResult:_ This class has the methods to access the properties of the word given for analysis. This class has the following methods. set/getRoot() -- sets/Returns the ROOTWORD for the input word set/getGender() -- sets/Returns the GENDER for the input word set/getTense() -- sets/Returns the TENSE for the input word set/getNumber() -- sets/Returns the number (singular/plural) for the input word set/getCategory() -- sets/Returns the category(Noun, Verb etc) to which this input word belongs to. set/getMorphCase() -- sets/Returns the MORPH CASE of the input word. MORPHCASE - 0 means, Direct case MORPHCASE - 1 means, Oblique case The classes SuffixEntry, ParadigmEntry, Dictionary and FeatureValue are used to store entries in each line in the files SUFF_INFO, PDGM_OFFSET_INFO, dict.final and featurevalue files respectively. _Current Status :_ Testing *II. Problem with TIMESTAMP field in Mysql Version 4 with the old JDBC Drivers: *(Raghavan) The data representation in the mysql database for Date and Time fieldtypes(till now we encountered) in the Mysql4+ version is changed from the 3.x version and the JDBC Drivers doesn't have support for these new data representation and gives strange results or exceptions. Using a mysql-3.0.9.jar (JDBC Driver for Mysql), we get all the expected output. But if we use mysql-3.1.7.jar then, we observed the following two things in our pantoto. 1. The ResultSet.getString() on a DATETIME column will give an output with a ".0" appended. 2. when try to retrieve ResultSet.getString() on a DATETIME column and if it has a value "0000-00-00 00:00:00", then it throws an SQLException "Cannot Convert 0000-00-00 00:00:00 to NULL". So, the driver is behaving as expected, because it doesn't know what to do on these situations. To fix these problems, we found an article (http://jroller.com/page/mmatthews?entry=connector_j_3_1_upgrade) written by one of the Mysql JDBC Driver developers. It explains the need for change in this behavior of the JDBC driver and the work around to fix it. We have to add "noDatetimeStringSync=true"(work around for prob 1) "zeroDateTimeBehaviour=convertToNull" (WA for prob 2) to the mysql connection url. eg: jdbc:mysql://localhost/grounddb?zeroDateTimeBehavior=convertToNull&noDatetimeStringSync=true The Parameter autoReconnect: The autoReconnect parameter is used to Set the driver to reconnect if the Mysql Server fails. But this is deprecated as most of the modern Connection Pool Managing packages offer this facility. We are not sure whether wroxpool has this feature incorporated into it. So, we will use it until we completely shift over to DBCP(hoping that it has this feature) in the newcodebase and we will continue with this parameter as long as we have webapps from the oldcodebase. Note: using "autoReconnect" with connector/J 3.2 version will throw an exception. To fix this use another parameter 'enableDeprecatedAutoreconnect=true'. *III. Problems with Pantoto Installation due to Mysql driver version *(Surekha) We faced two problems with pantoto installation on http://pantoto.org 1. HTTP 404 error - saying the resource /servlet/pantoto/ not found Solution: Uncomment the invoker servlet mapping in web.xml under $TOMCAT_HOME/conf/. The purpose of the Invoker Servlet is to allow a web application to dynamically register new servlet definitions that correspond with a element in the/WEB-INF/web.xml deployment descriptor, and execute requests utilizing the new servlet definitions. 2. Unable to connect to the database with urlid pantoto Solution: 1. Gave grant permissions to root for pantotodb GRANT ALL privileges on pantotodb.* to 'root'@'%' identified by 'servelots'; 2. Used this script to test the database connections for the given user and the host using a mysql driver import java.sql.*; public class TestMysql { public static void main(String args[]) { try { /* Test loading driver */ String driver = "com.mysql.jdbc.Driver"; // String driver = "org.gjt.mm.mysql.Driver"; System.out.println( "\n=> loading driver:" ); Class.forName( driver ).newInstance(); System.out.println( "OK" ); /* Test the connection */ String url = "jdbc:mysql://localhost/pantotodb"; System.out.println( "\n=> connecting:" ); DriverManager.getConnection( url, "root","servelots" ); System.out.println( "OK" ); } catch( Exception x ) { x.printStackTrace(); } } } ERROR from the script: java.sql.SQLException: Unable to connect to any hosts due to exception: java.lang.ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException: 40 at com.mysql.jdbc.Connection.createNewIO(Connection.java:1797) at com.mysql.jdbc.Connection.(Connection.java:562) at com.mysql.jdbc.NonRegisteringDriver.connect(NonRegisteringDriver.java:361) at java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(DriverManager.java:512) at java.sql.DriverManager.getConnection(DriverManager.java:171) at db_tests.TestMysql.main(TestMysql.java:23) Downloaded the latest version of mysql driver from http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/connector/j/3.1.html and it worked. *IV. Synchronization of data in PANTOTO system between a Central repository and **different Local Access Points (LAP)*( Surekha & Raghavan ) Synchronization of data means updating the data from a Local Access Point to the Central repository and vice versa. The former is called Synchronizing upward and the latter is called Synchronizing downward. _Synchronizing upwards :_ The users at a Local Access Point are allowed to synchronize data with the central repository with the following assumptions 1. Only data(pagelet information) can be synchronized or updated from the Local Access Point to the Central repository. Any other information that is at the LAP will not get updated into the Central repository. 2. When updating from a LAP, if any pagelet conflicts with the one in the central repository, then that pagelet data will not get updated on to the central repository. This could happen, when a pagelet(also existing in central repository) is modified at one of the LAPs. 3. Users at the LAP are not allowed to do the Pantoto administrative tasks like Changing templates, adding new templates, changing user preferences etc. _Synchronizing Downwards :_ 1. Synchronizing downwards means, replacing the LAP data with the one at the central repository. 2. Any changes(other than pagelet information) made at the LAP will be lost when synchronized downwards. _Technical details on Synchronization :_ 1. At the LAP, whenever new pagelet is created or an existing pagelet(also exists in the central repository) is modified, an XML file is generated with all the new pagelet information in addition to the entry in the database. 2. The generated XML file will also have information about whether this is a new pagelet or an edit of a pagelet that exists in the central repository. 3. When upward Synchronization is initiated, then the script transfers all the XML files from LAP to the central repository and imports these pagelet information in to the database with new pagelet ids. 4. If a pagelet information is found conflicting with the one on the central repository, then it is marked as conflicted and doesn't get imported to the central repository. 5. An LAP can synchronize upwards to another LAP. It need not always synchronize upwards to the central repository. 6. Each LAP has to maintain the information about the central repository or another LAP with which it synchronizes data. 7. The Synchronization is done using some third party tools. eg: ant based scripts etc. *V. IndicIME Toolbar:* IndicIME Toolbar is now available at Firefox extension website http://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/?application=firefox? under the languages category. It can be installed by choosing Tools --> extensions --> Get More Extensions and search for Indic. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050908/1fbe08ec/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: BitDefender.txt Url: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050908/1fbe08ec/attachment.txt From tarana at cal2.vsnl.net.in Wed Sep 7 15:16:02 2005 From: tarana at cal2.vsnl.net.in (From Vector) Date: Wed, 07 Sep 2005 15:16:02 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fw: CPI(M) Message-ID: <00c401c5b391$102fb900$0201a8c0@TARANA> ----- Original Message ----- From: V Ramaswamy To: Somnath Sen Gmail ; Sohel ; vector Sent: Tuesday, September 06, 2005 7:42 PM Subject: CPI(M) Hullo My comments on the CPI(M) in West Bengal - in response to an article by Ramachandra Guha, at http://www.indiatogether.org/2005/jul/rgh-leftpols.htm Vasudha - pls post to Sarai. Thanks Best Ramaswamy ............... Hullo Ram Greetings from Calcutta. I read your article "Good practice, bad theory" on the CPI(M) in IndiaTogether.org. I agree with you when you write: "Communist leaders and activists are probably more intelligent than their counterparts in other parties, and without question more honest. Where other kinds of politicians have eagerly embraced the Page 3 culture, many communists still do mix and mingle with the working people." However, I would disagree with the analysis that "the central paradox of Indian communism is that its practice is vastly superior to its theory." Let me share my personal thoughts with you! Living in West Bengal, through 28 years of CPI(M) rule - has revealed that the real practice of the CPI(M) is as abhorrent as anything else, if not worse! The party in West Bengal is today hostage to the lumpen cadres and promoters who have entrenched themselves in positions of power. Corruption is endemic. The party is an enemy of the right to information, and thrives on disisinformation and concealment of the truth. It is an enemy of democracy, which goes entirely against the culture of non-accountable centralised power that the party is associated with. Today, the party in West Bengal is completely alienated from the Muslims. While they have ensured that communal riots do not take place - nonetheless, the peace here is the peace of the graveyard, as the socio-economic and human development status of Muslims in WB worsens rapidly. While paying lip-service to secularism - the reality is that the party is completely blind and insensitive to the real concerns and aspirations of Muslims, the overwhelming majority of whom are poor, low-income, lacking in education. Non-Muslim party members - tend to be communal and bigoted in their make-up, mirroring the communal and bigoted mindset of the Bengali Hindu society. Hindus and Muslims in Calcutta are completely segregated, and for the educated, middle-class Hindus Muslims might as well be non-existent. And in this context, any effort to articulate the problems of Muslims - is labelled communal. The party leadership is dominated by caste Hindus, and the party may be seen as a (cynical) ingenious means by the babu-bhadralok society to use grassroots discontent of the have-nots to attain and remain in power, giving people the illusion of psychological empowerment without any material means to realise actual empowerment. As the policy and pronouncements on (hand-pulled) rickshaws have repeatedly shown, the party is also very parochial (anti-Bihari). It is greed for power and not concern for or solidarity for the downtrodden people which drives the CPI(M). The abysmal record of WB in human rights - e.g. custodial deaths - may also be brought up. (Last Friday I accompanied a friend of mine from Delhi who interviewed Sujato Bhadra, Secretary of the Association for Protection of Democratic Rights, APDR. Sujato summed up the 3-decades of work of APDR. It was a fascinating account, and a rare privilege to hear that.) Through my work in one large Muslim basti in Howrah, I have had occasion to look very closely at micro-domain politics, corruption, crime and criminality; as well as how things have changed over time. It would not be incorrect to say that the CPI(M) has been responsible for destroying the organic community leadership and spirit and for self-improvement in a historically disenfranchised migrant labouring community. In its place there is today an enfeebled, disempowered community, living amidst a severely criminalised environment, entirely dependent upon the token charity of the party. Illegal construction activity in the bastis of Calcutta - is rampant. This pre-empts any possibility of a wholesome redevelopment of bastis in favour of the shelter and habitat of the labouring poor. Besides, such illegal construction severely worsens the already degraded environment in bastis - e.g. with the illegal structures discharging excreta into the basti drains. If the rains and floods that visited Bombay recently had hit Calcutta - the likely outcome is too horrific to contemplate. The central govt has a scheme to provide a subsidy for the conversion of service latrines (which need to be manually cleaned) into sanitary latrines. There was a nice arrangement in the (CPI-M controlled ) Howrah Municipal Corporation to appropriate this subsidy without actually doing anything. The very foul conditions existing - because of service latrines - in some Howrah bastis are a major environmental health hazard. As a result, the incidence of infant mortality and gastrointestinal diseases is very high. Of course, it must also be conceded that it was Siddhartha Shankar Ray who, as CM, introduced criminal / lumpen elements into the political space of Calcutta. The CPI(M) in WB - is an out-and-out fraud on the people, utterly bankrupt in terms of developmental capability, and totally devoid of the barest concern or sympathy for the poor. And thus e.g. the real record of abysmal failure in primary education and literacy. The condition of Urdu medium primary education in metropolitan Calcutta - I doubt whether apartheid-era South Africa could match this. In the interest of the party and its singular dominance - at any cost - over every aspect of life and society all institutions have been taken over and degraded. Witness Calcutta University, where every appointment from that of a peon to the Vice Chancellor is party-controlled. I could go on and on, narrating instance after instance of ugly corruption, flagrantly illegal and anti-democratic collusion of the party with promoters, against the public interest, for private profit and transfer and appropriation of public resources. It would not be wrong to say that the party is an anti-national force, severely detrimental to the long-term well-being of society. In terms of ethics, aesthetics, humanity, democracy, economics, culture, civility, taste - in every respect, the CPI(M) in WB is simply loathsome, a shame, blot and indignity. Yet, thanks to the predominantly casteist, communal, anti-people, anti-democratic and reactionary make-up of the Indian privileged classes, the CPI(M) can bask in its pro-people rhetoric. In my work, some of my close colleagues are CPI(M) member-activists. They are aware of the reality and have no illusions - and yet remain in the fold for purposes of public action for want of any alternative. Civil society - is non-existent. And of course, there is no political opposition to speak of. So we shall have to simply wait for a collapse. The BJP and the RSS could learn more than a thing or two from the CPI(M). Best regards Ramaswamy -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050907/47962dc6/attachment.html From vipinvijay at yahoo.com Tue Sep 6 13:11:47 2005 From: vipinvijay at yahoo.com (vipin vijay) Date: Tue, 6 Sep 2005 00:41:47 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] VIDEO GAME / Film screening, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. In-Reply-To: <431C45BD.6080608@netcologne.de> Message-ID: <20050906074147.90104.qmail@web53712.mail.yahoo.com> Dear friends, I invite you for the screening of the video titled “VIDEO GAME” at the India Habitat Centre – New Delhi, OPEN FRAME 2005, on 11th September, Sunday at 3.45 PM. Below this mail is a brief description of the video. Cheers! Vipin. VIDEO GAME A complex video journey on a MOTORCAR, that incorporates mythic themes of questing and searching, the need for being, for love, for a home and for a promise of a different future, and yet also serves as a map of current cultural desires, dreams, and fears, juxtaposed with NG shots of a found footage of a B/W filmic exercise. Both the motion of the car and that of the celluloid have been put in the cauldron for an unanticipated convergence, to reveal latent physicality of memory. It begins its Fetch-Decode-Execute cycle as the subject enters “suburbs of hell”, the psycho-geographical zone in transition where the soft technologies of the interior (the body) and the hard technologies of the exterior (the environment) are thrown together in collision and almost surgically cut each other up. A complete mess, as it is played on the turf of the medium of VIDEO. CREDITS: Camera & Direction: Vipin Vijay Editing: Debkamal Ganguly Sound Design: Debkamal Ganguly / Vipin Vijay Script: Debkamal Ganguly / Vipin Vijay Producer & Commissioning Editor: Rajiv Mehrotra Duration: 30 minutes/ Colour / 2005. A PSBT initiative. Vipin Vijay 24/273 TSRA: 105 Sasthamkovil Street, Thycud, (P.O) Trivandrum-14, Kerala, India + 91- 9847318777 / +91- 495 - 2856178 E-Mail: vipinvijay at yahoo.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050906/9c78de50/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From vivek at sarai.net Wed Sep 7 14:12:12 2005 From: vivek at sarai.net (Vivek Narayanan) Date: Wed, 07 Sep 2005 14:12:12 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] TOTO Awards for young bands Message-ID: <431EA7E4.7050406@sarai.net> TOTO FUNDS THE ARTS (TFA) invites entries for its second annual award for young musicians and bands. The award, which is intended to support the advancement of your musical career, is worth Rs. 50,000 in kind. BUT: If you or any of your band members (if you are a music group) are older than 30 on January 1, 2006, and do not live in India, read no further! ALSO: The spirit of the Toto Awards is to identify promise and encourage young talent. Therefore, do not submit an entry if you are already a known name. TFA is looking for entries in all types of music and from all parts of India. The list of genres extends from rock, jazz, heavy metal, trance, house, instrumental, folk – to the as yet unimagined. Entries should adequately represent the musician/band’s range of music. The submissions should be 100% original. Use of samples and remixes is not permitted. Cover versions will not be accepted. Entries should be sent as three CD copies of the music. The entries should reach TOTO FUNDS THE ARTS (TFA) before November 10, 2005. TOTO FUNDS THE ARTS (TFA) H 301 Adarsh Gardens 8th Block, 47th Cross Jayanagar Bangalore 560 082 THE FINE PRINT: Entries must be accompanied by a signed and notarized statement confirming the applicant’s or applicants (in case of bands) date of birth, whether the applicant or applicants has public music releases in existence (give details), and also affirming that the submitted work is original. Submitted material will not be returned. The decision of the TFA jury is final and cannot be contested in any forum. TOTO FUNDS THE ARTS (TFA) is a not-for-profit public trust set up in memory of Angirus ‘Toto’ Vellani who was intensely passionate about music, literature and films of all kinds. _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From vivek at sarai.net Wed Sep 7 14:32:37 2005 From: vivek at sarai.net (Vivek Narayanan) Date: Wed, 07 Sep 2005 14:32:37 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] TOTO awards for young Indian writers Message-ID: <431EACAD.60605@sarai.net> TOTO FUNDS THE ARTS (TFA) invites entries for its first two annual awards for young Indian writers in English. Two cash awards of Rs. 25,000 each will be made on January 19, 2006. BUT: If you are older than 30 on January 1, 2006, or live outside India, read no further! ALSO: The spirit of the Toto Awards is to identify promise and encourage young talent. Therefore, do not submit an entry if you are already a known name. TFA is looking for entries in a variety of genres -- the novel, short stories and poetry. The submissions should ideally not be more than 10,000 words. Two pieces of short fiction, or an extract from a novel, or between five and ten poems are recommended (but not mandatory) norms. Sensible combinations of the above are acceptable within the word limit. Entries should reach TOTO FUNDS THE ARTS (TFA) before November 10, 2005. TOTO FUNDS THE ARTS (TFA) H 301 Adarsh Gardens 8th Block, 47th Cross Jayanagar Bangalore 560 082 Entries should be sent in soft e-mail copy to tfaindia at yahoo.com as well in hard copy form to the above address. THE FINE PRINT: Entries must be accompanied by a signed and notarized statement confirming the applicant's date of birth, whether the applicant's work has been published in print (give details), and also affirming that the submitted work is original. Submitted material will not be returned. The decision of the TFA jury is final and cannot be contested in any forum. TOTO FUNDS THE ARTS (TFA) is a not-for-profit public trust set up in memory of Angirus `Toto' Vellani, who was intensely passionate about music, literature and films of all kinds. _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From tray at cal2.vsnl.net.in Fri Sep 9 20:34:26 2005 From: tray at cal2.vsnl.net.in (Tapas Ray) Date: Fri, 09 Sep 2005 20:34:26 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fw: CPI(M) References: <00c401c5b391$102fb900$0201a8c0@TARANA> Message-ID: <00a401c5b54f$da0435c0$0100a8c0@tapas> As one who lives in West Bengal, I largely share Ramaswamy's sentiments. It is the practice that finally counts, and by that measure the CPI-M is worse than a failure - it's a disaster that has broken the spine of large sections of the state's people through its unique techniques of power that Ramaswamy describes. Even if "the Party" (as it is ominously called here in West Bengal) loses power, which is unlikely in the near future, or turns honest and democratic one fine morning, which is even less likely - not the least because, as a Leninist party it believes in clinging to power at any cost - it will take many decades for the people of West Bengal to repair the psychological and cultural damage they have suffered and are suffering as we speak. However, I would like to differ with Ramaswamy on one minor point - the banning of rickshaws may have less to do with parochialism than with "the Party's" desperate attempt at giving Calcutta a facelift, without which it may have to forgo the substantial foreign development funds that seem to be within its reach, and without which it also is likely to lose large chunks of middle-class vote sooner or later. (Assembly polls are due next year.) "Scientific" and not-so-scientific rigging, of which it has been consistently accused by the opposition, may not see it through forever. It has to be remembered that, in spite of its (in)famously efficient "election machinery", the CPI-M and its partners have never won a really large victory over their opponents in terms of percentage of votes polled, and a moderate swing can upset the party cadres' gravy train. If they have still ruled without a break since 1977, they have India's first-past-the-post electoral system to thank. Since their margin of victory in terms of percentage of the vote has not been large, they would have fared much worse in a proportional representation system. Tapas > Living in West Bengal, through 28 years of CPI(M) rule - has revealed that > the real practice of the > CPI(M) is as abhorrent as anything else, if not > worse! The party in West Bengal is today hostage to > the lumpen cadres > and promoters who have entrenched themselves in positions of power. > Corruption is > endemic. The party is an enemy of the right to > information, and thrives on disisinformation and > concealment of the truth. It is an enemy of democracy, which goes entirely > against the culture of > non-accountable centralised power that the party is associated with. > Best regards > > Ramaswamy From hpp at vsnl.com Sat Sep 10 15:32:11 2005 From: hpp at vsnl.com (hpp at vsnl.com) Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 15:02:11 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Current Dengue epidemic in Calcutta Message-ID: <1ec85c1ee7a7.1ee7a71ec85c@vsnl.net> A few days ago, the West Bengal govt declared that there was a dengue epidemic in Calcutta. Subsequently this was denied by the Mayor of Calcutta Municipal Corporation, who said it was only an 'outbreak' and not an 'epidemic'. I was reminded of the outbreak of malaria in 1995, which saw the city completely unable to cope. I am giving below a transcript of a discussion in May 1996 with the Principal Secretary, Dept of Health, Govt of West Bengal. Its never too late to learn! V Ramaswamy, Calcutta ..... Secretary: ... through (the West Bengal Health System Development Programme, supported by the World Bank) we are trying to start at least a health MIS for Calcutta. Doctors are also not very sure about the present need with respect to environmental aspects. The planning is ad hoc. There is no planning worth the name in the Health Dept now. We are not sure what we want to do. If we are asked what is the trend in bronchial problems - we will be found to be shallow; there is no data; no exercise has been undertaken on this. What is the effect of air pollution, and where? Doctors can only say this is on the rise. There is an increasing trend in malaria, and Calcutta is especially at risk in this regard. Last year, suddenly, there was a crisis. Some ad hoc spraying was taken up? But where should the spraying be done? Gastro-enteritis is on the rise. Noise pollution is also a problem. There is an increase in the incidence of deafness and voice-related problems. Psychiatric cases are also believed to have a link with noise pollution - but nothing has been researched in detail and no link has been established. Community Medicine Specialist: We have found that among pavement dwellers, the number of cases of bronchial asthma is on the rise. TB incidence is also high. Primary data is needed, the existing secondary data is highly inadequate. Doctors are only treating symptoms, there is no etiologic approach. Secretary: All this is also ultimately leading to overcrowding of hospitals in Calcutta. If the basic cause of such ailments were known, then perhaps these people need not be admitted to the hospitals. … Detailed analysis of disease profile and morbidity pattern for Calcutta city cannot be taken up through this (World Bank project). … In Calcutta, disease pattern is changing very fast - malaria, gastro-enteritis, respiratory distress etc. There is also another factor regarding Calcutta. In the municipalities, they are supposed to do some health work, but in practice, they are totally dependent on the Dept of Health. So there is a unified chain of command for these areas, under the Health Dept. In Calcutta, we have the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC), which has its own health-related activities. So here, we do not have a strong, unified command system. (Regarding achieving greater health planning and coordination, about what can be done) - we have not worked out anything. We try to do something when a calamity arises. When the malaria crisis occurred (in 1995), CMC wanted to be in full control. We felt that they would not be able to do the needful, given the nature and dimension of the problem, and the lack of information about the exact spatial dimension. Thus, lacking a unified chain of command, we ended up with an unhappy situation. There was pressure from the GoI. So we had to step in and take over. Our efforts included : daily monitoring of the situation we did not depend on the CMUHO only; a control room was opened sent doctors to CMC areas, together with Borough Medical Officers / CMO technology : collection of information on options - though this was quite late. There was a difference of opinion between CMC doctors and ours - e.g. on what to spray, how to spray. procurement of medicines from Delhi Through this, at least treatment was taken care of. But even here, in regard to the falciparum malaria, there were difficulties. Frankly, we did not succeed in addressing the crisis. Luckily, the outbreak subsided. The role of health education is critical. This is a long-term preventive initiative. It is not meaningful when malaria actually breaks out. It should continue throughout the year, in areas where awareness is low and in specifically relevant areas - such as in South Calcutta, where construction activity is higher. Question: Why should 3 million people in Calcutta be left to the vagaries of lack of institutional arrangements? And given the limitations of the CMC, can we think of take-over of some of the functions in Calcutta and Howrah by the DoH and leave only some rudimentary matters to the Corporations? Secretary: This can be done. We don’t have much problems with other municipalities. They do not have health officers, nor the culture of addressing such problems. They have accepted our role. Besides malaria, on other counts too, Calcutta is in a bad situation. West Bengal is very high in TB. Under the Revised TB Control Programme supported by he World Bank, 6 cities and 5 states are being taken up. Calcutta and West Bengal have been chosen. In fact this is the only case of choice of state and its capital city. CMC does not have the expertise and manpower to handle this. This is an in-depth, community-based approach. In leprosy too, West Bengal is very high. On this too there is a gap between the DoH and the CMC. And now we also have the threat of AIDS. How can CMC alone take preventive steps on all this? They don’t have the orientation, or expertise; their priorities are different and yet they will not give up their responsibilities. What the CMC can do is run good maternity clinics. The IPP 8 programme, in slum areas (like the CUDP 3 Health component) is going well in the non-CMC areas. Question: If a political decision can be reached, can DoH take up planning and related functions for the CMC or would DoH itself need strengthening first? Secretary: Some basic infrastructure, like an office, some equipment will be needed. Personnel already exists. There also needs to be an arrangement between the Dept of Urban Development (DoUD), Dept of Municipal Affairs (DoMA) and the DoH. Question: Another important issue is that of convergence of programmes. You have just mentioned the IPP 8. This is, as you mentioned, something involving community participation. Even though this programme has its own agenda, by virtue of the fact that it involves community participation, this opportunity of community outreach and interface could conceivably be useful in initiating other concerns as well. For these concerns, the IPP 8 can be seen as providing an entry point. So this would give rise to a body of work to be done - how to operationalise the convergence? This is something that will involve a lot of detailing and close collaboration with Dept officials. Secretary: Yes, very much so. There is an educational component in this programme (for education on health), and scope for a pilot project on environmental sanitation; similarly, there is some scope for education and self-employment of women. In the CMC, 2 other projects are on: CUDP 3 Health component and CSIP. We are now also posing another project to the GoI for assistance through World Bank; this would focus on the large municipalities outside CMA. But it is unlikely that GoI would approve of so many World Bank supported health programmes in one state. I would also like to raise the issue of training of doctors to deal with cases of arsenic poisoning. We need to have adequately equipped laboratories for diagnosing this. While there is a lot of controversy on the exact scale of the problem, we can take it that ultimately, Calcutta must be affected. There is a possibility of obtaining funds to deal with this issue - if the will to do so is there. There needs to be a co-ordinated effort involving the DoUD, PHED and DoH. There also needs to be some empowerment of the DoH to implement what requires to be done. CMC can do certain things, but they should conform to guidelines and report to the monitoring system which has to be evolved. If I were to ask “what is the actual situation on arsenic”, we find that govt does not know. People have a right to know such things. From vivek at sarai.net Mon Sep 12 13:51:55 2005 From: vivek at sarai.net (Vivek Narayanan) Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 13:51:55 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] call for proposals: 2005-2006 Sarai Independent Fellowship Programme Message-ID: <43253AA3.6000901@sarai.net> CALL FOR PROPOSALS – SARAI-CSDS INDEPENDENT FELLOWSHIPS, 2005-06 Applications are invited for the upcoming cycle of Sarai-CSDS Independent Research Fellowships. The Sarai Programme, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi Sarai is a programme of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), Delhi. CSDS is one of India's best known research centres, with traditions of dissent and a commitment to the work of the public intellectual going back four decades. The Sarai Programme at CSDS was initiated in 2000 as a platform for discursive and creative collaboration between theorists, researchers and practitioners actively engaged in reflecting on contemporary urban spaces in South Asia—their politics, built form, ecology, culture and history—as well as on the histories, practices and politics of information and communication technologies, the public domain and media forms. For more information, visit www.sarai.net *The Purpose of the Independent Fellowship* The Sarai-CSDS Independent Fellowships allow the time for individuals from diverse backgrounds to either begin or continue research into specific aspects of media and urban culture and society, broadly and creatively defined, and to also think carefully and rigorously about the various public forms in which their research might be rendered. We are also interested in using the materials generated through the research to continue to build up our thematic archive of research on the city. Thus, we see the fellowship as an important source for this archive. Finally, an important purpose of the fellowship program is to spark, overlap and allow access to newly emerging research networks across disciplines, academic and non-academic institutions, organisations, practices, geographical locations and professional backgrounds. We are thus invested in the idea of what we call public and distributed research, where new knowledge is created and shaped from a variety of locations, and not just in a top-down fashion. Participants in the fellowship programme are expected to have a very strong and independent motivation towards the pursuit of their own specialised areas of research, but also to respond to and critique the research of others in the programme as intelligent non-specialists, and be open to suggestions and comments from non-specialists. Each year, a large number of the fellowships are awarded to projects that deploy standard methodologies and forms from the humanities and social sciences towards what we feel are justly deserving, new and emergent areas of research. However, a significant number of fellowships are also awarded to projects that are innovative both in terms of what they consider to be research, as well as the variety of purposes and forms to which that research is applied. As a result, we encourage the inclusion of individuals with little or no previous formal research experience who want to pursue, more rigorously, a passion for a tightly-focused, feasible, understudied research topic; and equally, we encourage individuals with seasoned research experience in a conventional context to experiment with forms that are relatively new to them. For detailed abstracts of successful proposals from previous years, please visit www.sarai.net and click on the link for "Independent Fellowships" on the left-hand sidebar. *Conditions* --For administrative purposes, applicants are required to be resident in India, and to have an account in any bank operating in India. --Applications can be in Hindi or in English. The research work and presentation can also be in either Hindi, English, or a combination of the two languages. --The research fellowship will run from January 2006 to the end of August 2006 and award between Rs 30,000 and Rs. 60,000 during this period. --Fellows will be required to make a minimum of six postings, one per month, on Sarai's "reader-list" email listserve, between January and the end of June 2006. --A working draft or initial prototype of the final work will be expected by the end of July 2006. The final presentation of the research project will be made in Delhi at the end of August 2006. --The fellowships do not require the fellows to be resident at Sarai. --Although participation in the fellowship programme does require a substantial time commitment—to the research, the postings on progress, and interaction with other researchers and projects in the fellowship cycle—participants are also welcome to pursue the fellowship research in addition to their primary occupations or commitments to other fellowships or grants, if any. --Proposals from teams, partnerships, collectives and faculty are welcome, as long as the grant amount is administered by and through a single individual, and the funds are deposited in a single bank account in the name of an individual, partnership, registered body or institutional entity. --Applicants who apply to other institutions for support for the same project will not be disqualified, provided they inform Sarai if and when support is being sought (or has been obtained) from another institution. The applicants should also inform Sarai about the identity of the other institution. *What Do You Need To Send, Where and When?* There are no application forms. Simply send us by postal mail your: 1. Name(s), email address(es), phone(s), and postal address(es). 2. Proposal (not more than 1200 words) including details of the subject, process, mode of public presentation and rationale for the research. Your proposal will be greatly strengthened if you are also able to indicate the kinds of materials that you think your research project would be able to generate for the Sarai archive. In the past, fellows have submitted transcripts of interviews, photographs, recordings, printed matter, maps, multimedia and posters, related to the subject of their study, to this archive. 3. Two work samples: if possible, the samples of previous work done should give us a sense of your preferred mode of public presentation for this project (e.g., academic research paper, narrative prose, multimedia, video, performance, photography, installation, sound recording, "creative" writing, prototype design, combinations of the above, etc.) and also suggest to us how you might understand your upcoming research process for this fellowship. The work samples can—but do not necessarily have to—make reference to the current research topic. 4. A clear work plan (not more than one page) with, if possible, a month-by-month breakdown of the research work. 5. An updated CV (not more than two pages) for each applicant. --Send these to: ATTN: I-FELLOWS PROPOSAL 2005-2006, Independent Fellowship Programme, Sarai, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, 29 Rajpur Road, Delhi 110054, India. --Enquiries: vivek at sarai.net for English proposals, ravikant at sarai.net for Hindi proposals. --Last date for submission: proposals should be postmarked on or before Monday, October 31, 2005. --The list of successful proposals for 2005-2006 will be announced on the Sarai website, and on Sarai's email list, reader-list at sarai.net, towards the end of December 2005. For more details on joining the reader-list, please visit www.sarai.net and click on "LISTS at Sarai". *Who Can Apply? * There is absolutely no pre-qualification required for application to the Sarai-CSDS Independent Fellowship. Sarai invites independent researchers, media practitioners, working professionals, software designers and programmers, urbanists, architects, artists and writers, as well as students (postgraduate level and above) and university/college faculty to apply for support for research-driven projects. *What Other Fellowships Does Sarai Offer?* Sarai offers an exciting "Student Stipendship" for students at academic institutions wishing to pursue closely mentored and innovative research (contact: sadan at sarai.net) and a "FLOSS Independent Fellowship" for programmers and coders wishing to develop free and open source software (contact: viyyer at sarai.net). Please note that the Sarai Media Fellowships have been discontinued. MORE INFORMATION *New Directions for the Independent Fellowship Programme in 2006* The new design for the Independent Fellowships will include: --Systematic and regular monthly offline meets for fellowship holders in each of our major metros. --Use of a list dedicated to discussion and critique in Hindi. --Facilitation of more interaction, both from Sarai and also between fellowship holders in different locations. *Why Research? What Do We Mean by Research? * Sarai is committed to generating public knowledge and creativity through research. Hence the support for research driven projects and processes. The fellowships are in the nature of small grants in order to emphasise the initiation and founding of projects that would otherwise go unsupported. By research we mean both archival and field research, and forays into theoretical work as well as any process or activity of an experimental or creative nature—for instance in the audiovisual media, as well as in journalism or the humanities and social sciences, or in architecture and socially attuned computing. We are especially interested in supporting projects that formulate precise and cogent intellectual questions, reflect on modes of understanding that implicate knowledge production within a critical social framework, foregrounding processes of gathering information and of creating links between bodies of information. We also encourage research that is based on a strong engagement with archival materials and imaginative ways of tackling the question of the public rendition of research activity. *The Experience of Previous Years* This is the fifth year in which Sarai is calling for proposals for such fellowships. We would like to describe how the process has worked in previous years, as an indication of what applicants should expect. These included work toward projects based on investigative reportage of urban issues; essays on everyday life; a history of urban Dalit performance traditions; soundscapes of the city; a graphic novel about Delhi; a documentation of the free software movement in India; research on displacement and rehabilitation in cities; interpretative catalogues of wall writings and public signages; digital manipulation of popular studio portrait photographs; the limitations of language in shrinking public spaces in Srinagar; histories of cinema halls and studios in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata; a study of the world of popular crime fiction in Bengali; reflections on the Kashmiri 'encounter' in Delhi, and many others. Successful applicants included freelance researchers, academics, media practitioners, artists, writers, journalists, activists and professionals such as nurses and bankers. The projects were submitted in English, Hindi or a combination of the two languages. We have seen that projects that set important but practical and modest goals were usually successful, whereas those that may have been conceptually sound but lacked sufficient motivation to actually pursue a research objective on the field, usually did not take off beyond the interim stage. Sarai interacts closely with the researchers over the period of the fellowship, and the independent fellows make a public presentation of their work at Sarai at the end of their fellowship period. During the term of their fellowship each fellow is required to make a posting to our email list every month, reporting on the development of their work. These postings, which are archived, are an important means by which the research process reaches a wider discursive community. They also help us to trace the progress of work during the grant period, and understand how the research interfaces with a larger public. Submissions at the end of the fellowship period included written reports and essays, photographs, tape recordings, audio CDs, video, pamphlets, maps, drawings and html presentations. Fellows have made their final presentations in the form of academic papers, lecture-demonstrations and performances. *What Happens to the Research Projects?* The annual research projects add to our increasingly substantial archival collections on urban space and media culture. These are proving to be very significant value additions to the availability of knowledge resources in the public domain. Researchers are free to publish or render any part or all of their projects in any forms, independently of Sarai (but with due acknowledgment of the support that they have received from Sarai). Sarai Independent Research Fellows have gone on to publish articles in journals, work towards the making of films, exhibitions, websites, multimedia works and performances, and the creation of graphic novels, soundworks and books. We actively encourage all such efforts. *What We Are Looking For* As in the past, this year too we are looking for proposals that are imaginatively articulated, experimental and methodologically innovative, but which are pragmatic and backed up by a well-argued work plan which sets out a timetable for the project, as well as suggests how the support will help with specific resources (human and material) that the project needs. Suggested Themes: Sarai's interests lie in the city and in media. Broadly speaking, any proposal that looks at the urban condition, or at media, is eligible. Proposals for projects that seek to push disciplinary limits and boundaries or break new ground, that offer fresh and detailed empricial insights, that desire to engage with questions and problems pertaining to cities, urban culture, media from a philosophically and conceptually enriched terrain of inquiry are especially welcome. We are committed to methodological and analytic rigour even as we are also keen to engage with sensibilities and registers of thought that are oppositional, dissident, heretical, imaginative and poetic. More specifically, themes may be as diverse as the experience of work in different locations, institutions and work cultures, histories of urban sexuality, heretical figures and imaginations, histories of particular media practices, legality and illegality, migration, transportation, surveillance, intellectual property, social/digital interfaces, urban violence, street life, technologies of urban control, health and the city, the political economy of media forms, digital art and culture, or anything else that the applicants feel will resonate with the philosophy and interests that motivate Sarai's work. We are particularly interested in work that comes from non-metropolitan and mofussil urban spaces, even though we continue to look for strong projects that articulate the realities of major cities. From amitrbasu50 at yahoo.co.in Sun Sep 11 11:49:19 2005 From: amitrbasu50 at yahoo.co.in (Amit Basu) Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2005 07:19:19 +0100 (BST) Subject: [Reader-list] Current Dengue epidemic in Calcutta In-Reply-To: <1ec85c1ee7a7.1ee7a71ec85c@vsnl.net> Message-ID: <20050911061919.51527.qmail@web8506.mail.in.yahoo.com> This is indeed good Ramaswamy. Can't you give us some more like this? amit basu hpp at vsnl.com wrote: A few days ago, the West Bengal govt declared that there was a dengue epidemic in Calcutta. Subsequently this was denied by the Mayor of Calcutta Municipal Corporation, who said it was only an 'outbreak' and not an 'epidemic'. I was reminded of the outbreak of malaria in 1995, which saw the city completely unable to cope. I am giving below a transcript of a discussion in May 1996 with the Principal Secretary, Dept of Health, Govt of West Bengal. Its never too late to learn! V Ramaswamy, Calcutta ..... Secretary: ... through (the West Bengal Health System Development Programme, supported by the World Bank) we are trying to start at least a health MIS for Calcutta. Doctors are also not very sure about the present need with respect to environmental aspects. The planning is ad hoc. There is no planning worth the name in the Health Dept now. We are not sure what we want to do. If we are asked what is the trend in bronchial problems - we will be found to be shallow; there is no data; no exercise has been undertaken on this. What is the effect of air pollution, and where? Doctors can only say this is on the rise. There is an increasing trend in malaria, and Calcutta is especially at risk in this regard. Last year, suddenly, there was a crisis. Some ad hoc spraying was taken up? But where should the spraying be done? Gastro-enteritis is on the rise. Noise pollution is also a problem. There is an increase in the incidence of deafness and voice-related problems. Psychiatric cases are also believed to have a link with noise pollution - but nothing has been researched in detail and no link has been established. Community Medicine Specialist: We have found that among pavement dwellers, the number of cases of bronchial asthma is on the rise. TB incidence is also high. Primary data is needed, the existing secondary data is highly inadequate. Doctors are only treating symptoms, there is no etiologic approach. Secretary: All this is also ultimately leading to overcrowding of hospitals in Calcutta. If the basic cause of such ailments were known, then perhaps these people need not be admitted to the hospitals. Detailed analysis of disease profile and morbidity pattern for Calcutta city cannot be taken up through this (World Bank project). In Calcutta, disease pattern is changing very fast - malaria, gastro-enteritis, respiratory distress etc. There is also another factor regarding Calcutta. In the municipalities, they are supposed to do some health work, but in practice, they are totally dependent on the Dept of Health. So there is a unified chain of command for these areas, under the Health Dept. In Calcutta, we have the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC), which has its own health-related activities. So here, we do not have a strong, unified command system. (Regarding achieving greater health planning and coordination, about what can be done) - we have not worked out anything. We try to do something when a calamity arises. When the malaria crisis occurred (in 1995), CMC wanted to be in full control. We felt that they would not be able to do the needful, given the nature and dimension of the problem, and the lack of information about the exact spatial dimension. Thus, lacking a unified chain of command, we ended up with an unhappy situation. There was pressure from the GoI. So we had to step in and take over. Our efforts included : daily monitoring of the situation we did not depend on the CMUHO only; a control room was opened sent doctors to CMC areas, together with Borough Medical Officers / CMO technology : collection of information on options - though this was quite late. There was a difference of opinion between CMC doctors and ours - e.g. on what to spray, how to spray. procurement of medicines from Delhi Through this, at least treatment was taken care of. But even here, in regard to the falciparum malaria, there were difficulties. Frankly, we did not succeed in addressing the crisis. Luckily, the outbreak subsided. The role of health education is critical. This is a long-term preventive initiative. It is not meaningful when malaria actually breaks out. It should continue throughout the year, in areas where awareness is low and in specifically relevant areas - such as in South Calcutta, where construction activity is higher. Question: Why should 3 million people in Calcutta be left to the vagaries of lack of institutional arrangements? And given the limitations of the CMC, can we think of take-over of some of the functions in Calcutta and Howrah by the DoH and leave only some rudimentary matters to the Corporations? Secretary: This can be done. We don’t have much problems with other municipalities. They do not have health officers, nor the culture of addressing such problems. They have accepted our role. Besides malaria, on other counts too, Calcutta is in a bad situation. West Bengal is very high in TB. Under the Revised TB Control Programme supported by he World Bank, 6 cities and 5 states are being taken up. Calcutta and West Bengal have been chosen. In fact this is the only case of choice of state and its capital city. CMC does not have the expertise and manpower to handle this. This is an in-depth, community-based approach. In leprosy too, West Bengal is very high. On this too there is a gap between the DoH and the CMC. And now we also have the threat of AIDS. How can CMC alone take preventive steps on all this? They don’t have the orientation, or expertise; their priorities are different and yet they will not give up their responsibilities. What the CMC can do is run good maternity clinics. The IPP 8 programme, in slum areas (like the CUDP 3 Health component) is going well in the non-CMC areas. Question: If a political decision can be reached, can DoH take up planning and related functions for the CMC or would DoH itself need strengthening first? Secretary: Some basic infrastructure, like an office, some equipment will be needed. Personnel already exists. There also needs to be an arrangement between the Dept of Urban Development (DoUD), Dept of Municipal Affairs (DoMA) and the DoH. Question: Another important issue is that of convergence of programmes. You have just mentioned the IPP 8. This is, as you mentioned, something involving community participation. Even though this programme has its own agenda, by virtue of the fact that it involves community participation, this opportunity of community outreach and interface could conceivably be useful in initiating other concerns as well. For these concerns, the IPP 8 can be seen as providing an entry point. So this would give rise to a body of work to be done - how to operationalise the convergence? This is something that will involve a lot of detailing and close collaboration with Dept officials. Secretary: Yes, very much so. There is an educational component in this programme (for education on health), and scope for a pilot project on environmental sanitation; similarly, there is some scope for education and self-employment of women. In the CMC, 2 other projects are on: CUDP 3 Health component and CSIP. We are now also posing another project to the GoI for assistance through World Bank; this would focus on the large municipalities outside CMA. But it is unlikely that GoI would approve of so many World Bank supported health programmes in one state. I would also like to raise the issue of training of doctors to deal with cases of arsenic poisoning. We need to have adequately equipped laboratories for diagnosing this. While there is a lot of controversy on the exact scale of the problem, we can take it that ultimately, Calcutta must be affected. There is a possibility of obtaining funds to deal with this issue - if the will to do so is there. There needs to be a co-ordinated effort involving the DoUD, PHED and DoH. There also needs to be some empowerment of the DoH to implement what requires to be done. CMC can do certain things, but they should conform to guidelines and report to the monitoring system which has to be evolved. If I were to ask “what is the actual situation on arsenic”, we find that govt does not know. People have a right to know such things. _________________________________________ reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city. Critiques & Collaborations To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header. List archive: --------------------------------- Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your partner now. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050911/0c2420bd/attachment.html From monica.mody at gmail.com Mon Sep 12 13:09:40 2005 From: monica.mody at gmail.com (Monica Mody) Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 13:09:40 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Tramjatra: Imagining Melbourne and Kolkata by tramways Message-ID: <4badad3b0509120039369d6811@mail.gmail.com> Book Announcement Tramjatra imagining Melbourne and Kolkata by tramways Mick Douglas (editor) An unprecedented inter-cultural arts project called Tramjatra has since 1996 brought together artists and the tramways communities of Melbourne (Australia) and Kolkata (or Calcutta, India) to explore their cities through the medium of tramways. In the context of increasing debates about sustainability and the impact and processes of globalisation, Tramjatra has demonstrated how new linkages made through a public arts practice of inter-cultural collaboration can enliven approaches to identifying and building upon attributes of value in a city. Through a time when Kolkata's struggling tramways have faced a persistent threat of closure and the operation of Melbourne's tramways has been privatised and automated, the Tramjatra project has provoked a broader, globally oriented engagement in what it is to move and be moved in contemporary urban life. The book explores this relationship between the movement afforded by tramways as a mode of public transport, and the contemporary social, political, economic and creative forces of movement that are manifested in the relation between these two contemporary cultures of tramways. Written in English, with a small proportion in Bengali, the book includes essays by emerging as well as internationally renowned writers and scholars (such as Dipesh Chakrabarty, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Soumitra Das) which discuss historical links between Melbourne and Kolkata; that examine the relation between memory and tram travel, ticketing and travelling; that revisit past events of the Tramjatra project; that locate Tramjatra in the context of western notions of public art, and in the context of debates on transculturalism and international education; and which unravel issues of translation in inter-cultural arts practice. The volume also includes short writings by a diverse range of participants and 'passengers' responding to and building upon the Tramjatra project. Supplemented with stunning visuals, this unique volume published simultaneously in India and Australia offers a journey through two cities and a contemporary relation between them via the medium of tramways. Mick Douglas is an artist and senior lecturer in the School of Architecture + Design at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. Book details: Extent: 304pp. Size: 120mmX160mm Binding: Paperback Price: Rs 295 ISBN: 81-902272-4-6 Co-published by YODA PRESS, New Delhi, India and RMIT UNIVERSITY PRESS, Melbourne, Australia Contact details of Yoda Press: Arpita Das, Parul Nayyar (Partners) G 93 Connaught Circus New Delhi 110 001 Tel.: 91-11-23324096/30960306 e-mail: arpita at yodapress.com parul at yodapress.com website: www.yodapress.com The book is distributed by Foundation Books. www.foundationbooksindia.com Also from YODA PRESS: Arvind Narrain and Gautam Bhan (editors), Because I Have a Voice: Queer Politics in India (288pp.; demy octavo; Rs 295; pb; isbn: 81-902272-2-X) Boria Majumdar, Once Upon a Furore: Lost Pages of Indian Cricket (186pp.+xii pages of illustrations; demy octavo; Rs 395; available in hardback; isbn: 81-902272-0-3) Thomas R. Trautmann, Aryans in British India (Paperback edition (294pp.; Royal' Rs 225; pb; isbn: 81-902272-1-1) Judith E. Walsh, How to be the Goddess of your home: An Anthology of Bengali Domestic Manuals (280pp.; Demy Octavo;' Rs 325; pb; isbn: 81-902272-3-8) _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From aasim27 at yahoo.co.in Mon Sep 12 14:22:36 2005 From: aasim27 at yahoo.co.in (aasim khan) Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 09:52:36 +0100 (BST) Subject: [Reader-list] a debate on jaipur visit of justice Sachar. Message-ID: <20050912085236.5851.qmail@web8301.mail.in.yahoo.com> DEar everyone: On the 4th of september,Tavleen Singh wrote an article in the Indian Express,about a committee headed by Justice Sachar touring jaipur. To quote her: "In the name of strengthening secularism the Prime Minister constituted a ‘‘high-level committee to prepare a report on the social, economic and educational status of the Muslim community of India’’. The committee was notified on March 9, 2005 and is headed by that ancient ‘‘secular’’ warhorse, Justice Rajinder Sachar. The committee consists of an even number of Hindu and Muslim members and has as its Member Secretary an economist by the name of Dr Abu Saleh Shariff." Here I am quoting from aletter I came across addressed to justice Sachar himself ,the writer is a muslim friend of mine from Jaipur. Kindly read he article by Ms. Singh in the Indian Express and also the following text. cheers Aasim. Respected Justice Sachar Saheb, "...no Muslim Minority institution for Technical and Professional Degree Courses of MBBS, BDS, B-Tech, MBA, MCA in Rajasthan. The Muslim population in Rajasthan is 8.5% of the total population of the State. The Muslim Community in Rajasthan is more backward than other Communities of the State socially, educationally and economically because prevailing higher rate of illiteracy and lowest percentage in Higher and Technical education of the Muslims in the State. The representation of the Muslims in Government Services is hardly 1-2 %. Less than 1% Muslim ladies complete their education up to graduation level and the same is the condition of Muslim Males in Technical & Professional Degree Courses. Due to lack of education, unemployment and living condition in the Ghettos. Muslims have outnumbered other communities in their involvement in the criminal activities in North India including Rajasthan. The 30% of the total inmates in Tihar Jail are Muslims. Out of total 6 detainees under National Security Act (NSA) in Rajasthan 5 are Muslims. These detainees have no charge of having any connection with foreign mercenaries or terrorists but have involved in the serious crimes against persons of their own community or neighbors regularly for many years. The total number of anti social elements in Rajasthan are approximately 3,000 out of which more than 50 % are Muslims which is extra ordinary higher to the proportion to their population e.i 8.5 % in the State. It shows a very alarming situation of involvement of a Minority community in criminal activities hence steps should be taken to improve the Social, Educational and Economical conditions of the Muslims to control the further deterioration of the present situation because peace and harmony is the necessity for the development of any State and the Nation. In spite of very poor condition of Female Education in Muslim Community no serious efforts have been made so far for the improvement to curb this menace e.g. the Muslim population in the Jaipur (Capital) District is 9.3% of the total Muslim population of the State but in the First year in Government Maharani College in Science Faculty only 7 Muslim Girls got admission out of 650 seats and in Commerce Faculty only 8 Muslim Girls got admission out of 538 seats in the year 2005-2006. It shows the main reason of the backwardness of the Muslim Community in the State and also indicates no further improvement in the present pathetic condition of the community in the State as still there are no serious efforts to improve the situation. The representation of the Muslim Males in the Higher education which is useful for employment is very poor e.i. 1-2% and there is no hope of improvement in it in the near future due to lack of serious efforts in this regard also. The Total number of Muslim students admitted in First year in the Government Maharaja College, Jaipur (Capital) in Science Faculty is only 6 out of total 835 seats and in the Government Commerce College the number of Muslim students got admission is only 13 out of total 1225 seats in the year 2005-06. This is the present situation in the most developed city and the Capital of the State where 9.3% of Muslim population resides and the picture of the condition of the higher education of the Muslims in the rest of the State of Rajasthan may be easily drawn by looking into it. The technical education among Muslim students both in Girls and Boys is much less than other communities as they can not compete with the students of other communities due to lack of coaching and prevailing adverse environment condition for study in the Muslims localities due to poor economic and social conditions and due to lack of separate reservation provision for them in the admission like ST, SCs. The Malviya National Institute of Technology has selected 879 students for different engineering courses this year, out of which only "4" students are Muslims. There is separate reservation provision in Education and Services in the southern States for Muslims hence the population growth of Muslims in Kerala, Karnatka, Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh is much lesser than Hindu Population growth in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Utter Pradesh and Bihar. It indicates clearly that the education is must for the all round development of any Community as education effects all spheres of life but it is also true that only the community can not change it's backwardness without the support of the State. The State can play a vital role to improve the condition of the educationally backward communities by making mandatory provisions in the Rules and Act regarding admission in the education institutions separately for them as has been proved in the case of ST and SCs. . Recently a meeting of the Education Ministers of all the States of the Country after the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court regarding reservation and admission process in the unaided technical and professional Colleges was called by the Ministry of HRD and all States have been directed to submit there proposal by 15th September, 2005 in this regard it is submitted that looking into the above mentioned present condition of the Muslims representation in higher and technical education, it is the fact that Muslims as a whole is the most backward community and there is not a single technical and professional course institution of the Muslims in most of the States of the Country as is the case of the Rajasthan and the same condition prevails except few States where the separate reservation for Muslims have already been made for admission and services also. In your last visit to Jaipur you have seen yourself the pathetic condition of the Muslim Community in the Capital, the most developed city of the Rajasthan and how the Muslims labour due to lack of education are exploited and even not getting the benefit of the Developmental Schemes exclusively meant for them due to their less representation in various Government Department/ Corporations. Sir now you can easily imagine the condition of the Muslims in the remote area of the State. So it is most humbly requested to you that please submit a proposal to the Minister of Human Resource Development, Government of India up to 15th September, 2005 to consider all Muslims as the educationally most backward caste and separate provision for reservation in the technical and professional institutions should be made for them in the forthcoming provisions of the act in the interest of the national development as well as Muslims also..." __________________________________________________________ Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your partner now. Go to http://yahoo.shaadi.com From aasim27 at yahoo.co.in Mon Sep 12 14:25:18 2005 From: aasim27 at yahoo.co.in (aasim khan) Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 09:55:18 +0100 (BST) Subject: [Reader-list] a debate on jaipur visit of justice Sachar. Message-ID: <20050912085518.73606.qmail@web8309.mail.in.yahoo.com> DEar everyone: On the 4th of september,Tavleen Singh wrote an article in the Indian Express,about a committee headed by Justice Sachar touring jaipur. To quote her: "In the name of strengthening secularism the Prime Minister constituted a ‘‘high-level committee to prepare a report on the social, economic and educational status of the Muslim community of India’’. The committee was notified on March 9, 2005 and is headed by that ancient ‘‘secular’’ warhorse, Justice Rajinder Sachar. The committee consists of an even number of Hindu and Muslim members and has as its Member Secretary an economist by the name of Dr Abu Saleh Shariff." Here I am quoting from aletter I received ,addressed to justice Sachar himself ,the writer is a muslim friend of mine from Jaipur. Kindly read the article by Ms. Singh in the Indian Express and also the following text. cheers Aasim. Respected Justice Sachar Saheb, "...no Muslim Minority institution for Technical and Professional Degree Courses of MBBS, BDS, B-Tech, MBA, MCA in Rajasthan. The Muslim population in Rajasthan is 8.5% of the total population of the State. The Muslim Community in Rajasthan is more backward than other Communities of the State socially, educationally and economically because prevailing higher rate of illiteracy and lowest percentage in Higher and Technical education of the Muslims in the State. The representation of the Muslims in Government Services is hardly 1-2 %. Less than 1% Muslim ladies complete their education up to graduation level and the same is the condition of Muslim Males in Technical & Professional Degree Courses. Due to lack of education, unemployment and living condition in the Ghettos. Muslims have outnumbered other communities in their involvement in the criminal activities in North India including Rajasthan. Out of total 6 detainees under National Security Act (NSA) in Rajasthan 5 are Muslims. These detainees have no charge of having any connection with foreign mercenaries or terrorists but have involved in the serious crimes against persons of their own community or neighbors regularly for many years. The total number of anti social elements in Rajasthan are approximately 3,000 out of which more than 50 % are Muslims which is extra ordinary higher to the proportion to their population e.i 8.5 % in the State. It shows a very alarming situation of involvement of a Minority community in criminal activities hence steps should be taken to improve the Social, Educational and Economical conditions of the Muslims to control the further deterioration of the present situation because peace and harmony is the necessity for the development of any State and the Nation. In spite of very poor condition of Female Education in Muslim Community no serious efforts have been made so far for the improvement to curb this menace e.g. the Muslim population in the Jaipur (Capital) District is 9.3% of the total Muslim population of the State but in the First year in Government Maharani College in Science Faculty only 7 Muslim Girls got admission out of 650 seats and in Commerce Faculty only 8 Muslim Girls got admission out of 538 seats in the year 2005-2006. It shows the main reason of the backwardness of the Muslim Community in the State and also indicates no further improvement in the present pathetic condition of the community in the State as still there are no serious efforts to improve the situation. The representation of the Muslim Males in the Higher education which is useful for employment is very poor e.i. 1-2% and there is no hope of improvement in it in the near future due to lack of serious efforts in this regard also. The Total number of Muslim students admitted in First year in the Government Maharaja College, Jaipur (Capital) in Science Faculty is only 6 out of total 835 seats and in the Government Commerce College the number of Muslim students got admission is only 13 out of total 1225 seats in the year 2005-06. This is the present situation in the most developed city and the Capital of the State where 9.3% of Muslim population resides and the picture of the condition of the higher education of the Muslims in the rest of the State of Rajasthan may be easily drawn by looking into it. The technical education among Muslim students both in Girls and Boys is much less than other communities as they can not compete with the students of other communities due to lack of coaching and prevailing adverse environment condition for study in the Muslims localities due to poor economic and social conditions and due to lack of separate reservation provision for them in the admission like ST, SCs. The Malviya National Institute of Technology has selected 879 students for different engineering courses this year, out of which only "4" students are Muslims. There is separate reservation provision in Education and Services in the southern States for Muslims hence the population growth of Muslims in Kerala, Karnatka, Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh is much lesser than Hindu Population growth in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Utter Pradesh and Bihar. It indicates clearly that the education is must for the all round development of any Community as education effects all spheres of life but it is also true that only the community can not change it's backwardness without the support of the State. The State can play a vital role to improve the condition of the educationally backward communities by making mandatory provisions in the Rules and Act regarding admission in the education institutions separately for them as has been proved in the case of ST and SCs. . Recently a meeting of the Education Ministers of all the States of the Country after the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court regarding reservation and admission process in the unaided technical and professional Colleges was called by the Ministry of HRD and all States have been directed to submit there proposal by 15th September, 2005 in this regard it is submitted that looking into the above mentioned present condition of the Muslims representation in higher and technical education, it is the fact that Muslims as a whole is the most backward community and there is not a single technical and professional course institution of the Muslims in most of the States of the Country as is the case of the Rajasthan and the same condition prevails except few States where the separate reservation for Muslims have already been made for admission and services also. In your last visit to Jaipur you have seen yourself the pathetic condition of the Muslim Community in the Capital, the most developed city of the Rajasthan and how the Muslims labour due to lack of education are exploited and even not getting the benefit of the Developmental Schemes exclusively meant for them due to their less representation in various Government Department/ Corporations. Sir now you can easily imagine the condition of the Muslims in the remote area of the State. So it is most humbly requested to you that please submit a proposal to the Minister of Human Resource Development, Government of India up to 15th September, 2005 to consider all Muslims as the educationally most backward caste and separate provision for reservation in the technical and professional institutions should be made for them in the forthcoming provisions of the act in the interest of the national development as well as Muslims also..." __________________________________________________________ Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your partner now. Go to http://yahoo.shaadi.com From zainab at xtdnet.nl Tue Sep 13 17:03:35 2005 From: zainab at xtdnet.nl (zainab at xtdnet.nl) Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 15:33:35 +0400 (RET) Subject: [Reader-list] TC Message-ID: <4662.219.65.11.76.1126611215.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> TC (Contd ) “This morning you know what happened?” TC started as we were eating lunch a few days ago, “One lady, very well dressed, she was traveling without a ticket. I caught her at VT (Victoria Terminus, main junction on Central Railway now known as Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus). I told her that she would have to pay a fine of two hundred and seventy five rupees. She agreed to pay. I asked her again, just to confirm, whether I should make the rasheed (receipt). She said, ‘yes, make it fast.’ I was impressed that she agreed to pay so easily. Otherwise passengers refuse to pay up. But this one was well dressed, executive type. She insisted that I hurry up. I asked her how come she was traveling without a ticket. I said, ‘madam, the ticket would have cost you twelve rupees and now here you are, paying me twenty times more!’ She replied, ‘what to do? I was in a hurry. The queue was long. I could not wait. I decided to try my luck and got into the train. Too bad for me that I got caught by you.’ She kept looking around here and there as I was making the receipt. Maybe she did not want to get noticed by people around. After all, she must be on some high post and would not want to be seen being fined by a TC. Finally, she paid up quickly and left,” TC concluded. Apparently, people in Mumbai often travel ticketless on the trains because they don’t have time to stand in the queues and purchase tickets. A sizeable percentage of the population travels on monthly or quarterly passes which works out to be economical for travel and helps to avoid the hassles of standing in the ticket queues. All about time at a railway station “This morning, I caught hold of a guy in first class. He was traveling on second class ticket in first class. I asked him to pay up. Initially, he agreed. When I prepared the rasheed, he started yelling, ‘you people are cheats and corrupt! Why do you have to fine? I am sure you will put this money in your pocket. I have a brother who is a reporter with a popular newspaper. I will have him follow-up on this and if the money goes in your pocket, it shall be reported tomorrow.’ I got angry when I heard this. I said to him, ‘I have a brother who works in Aaj Tak TV Channel. Your brother will get the story published tomorrow; mine will relay it on TV this evening itself!” TC liked the Gujarati gentlemen who travel in first class. His opinion based on his experiences is that they are the ones who are wealthy and pay up easily. TC also has sharp eyes. The regularity of the train network and train schedules has trained his mind and eyes. As he often says, his job is to watch carefully. One day, as we were standing on VT Railway Station, TC suddenly pointed out towards a group of men who were also standing on the station, in a circle, as if whispering and discussing something. “These are card players from Kalyan. They are distributing their shares at the end of today’s journey,” he smiled. I was astonished. “How do you know?” I asked him. “I know,” he said, smiling with his eyes. “I was standing at the ticket counter at Byculla station one day. My juniors were checking tickets. A girl was passing by. As soon as she saw uniformed officers checking tickets, she changed her direction and started walking the other way. I noticed and immediately asked my junior to go and check her. As soon as he approached her, she started shouting. ‘I did not know when this station came. I missed my station. I was supposed to go to Andheri. It’s not my mistake.’ It usually happens that passengers get defensive. I went up to her and said, ‘Madam, what is the problem?’ She continued shouting, ‘mere ko nahi maloom main yahan kaise pahunch gayi. Mujhe Andheri jaana tha!’ I checked her ticket. Her ticket was from Kalyan to Sion. I knew she was lying. I brought this to her notice. ‘I don’t know, I don’t know,’ she kept shouting. I asked her to pay up the fine. She was very well dressed, ekdum posh. She said, ‘I don’t have that much money.’ I said to her, ‘Don’t make us check your bag. Please pay up.’ She refused. Now, we, as gents, cannot check her bags. Also, when we don’t have a lady constable at the station, we cannot take her to the station police office because if she is a shaani (smart one), then she will scream and shout and make a case of harassment against us! A lady officer came by and we took the girl to the station police office. She continued to shout. ‘My uncle is in the ministry. I shall have you all sacked!’ The lady officer checked her bag. Such a well-dressed and good-looking girl and only hundred rupees came out of her bag. I said to her, ‘Madam, you appear to be from a good (as in wealthy) family. Why do you travel on an invalid ticket?’ Now she became apologetic. ‘I made a mistake.’ ‘What do you do?’ I asked her. ‘I am a dentist,’ she replied. ‘Okay, you will pay a hundred rupees fine and next time, when our officer has a dental problem and he comes to you, you will charge him hundred rupees less!’” TC concludes that Bombay public is stingy. They usually travel with fifty or hundred rupees in their pockets. Hence, when majority are caught, they are unable to pay up the fine. (To be continued ) Zainab Bawa Bombay www.xanga.com/CityBytes http://crimsonfeet.recut.org/rubrique53.html From abshi at vsnl.com Tue Sep 13 18:34:07 2005 From: abshi at vsnl.com (abshi at vsnl.com) Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 18:04:07 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Job Posting: Magic Bus, Mumbai Message-ID: <3fb5b23f5c57.3f5c573fb5b2@vsnl.net> Head MONITORING AND EVALUATION Status: Full Time, Location: Mumbai Magic Bus, is an established, fast growing, professionally managed non-profit organization in the field of building and implementing personal development and mentoring programmes to at-risk children and youth in Mumbai. The organization has international offices and is partnered with some of the largest global development organizations including the World Bank. Currently there are over 60 staff working in Magic Bus with 3,500 children. Magic Bus is seeking a dynamic, professional and motivated individual to join our Research and Development Team as a Monitoring and Evaluation Officer. GENERAL DESCRIPTION: Reporting to the Chairman - the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer is responsible for the development and management of the organization’s monitoring and evaluation systems for all in-field projects; to produce a M&E training package for Magic Bus Field Operations teams; and to contribute to the design of a M&E framework for Sport For Development at a global level. The ultimate goal of the position is to contribute to the learning and growth of the organization through the M&E of results, effectiveness and impact of the programs and activities. SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES • Spearhead the Research and Program Development efforts of the organization to develop and refine methodologies related to results based management, in particular the measurement of results across project locations – and in specific locations. • Lead on the development of data collection tools, reporting formats and evaluation instruments. • Coordinate with Field Operations staff to harmonization M&E practices across the organization. • Analysis and report writing of evaluations and results. • Develop training materials on M&E to respond to the needs of the Field Operations staff both in Magic Bus headquarters and in the field. • Participate in the formulation and ongoing review of M&E policy and guidelines within Magic Bus. • Ensure Magic Bus M&E practices stay in line with “best practice” in M&E, in particular in line with Sport for Development international initiatives. • Plan, manage and participate in selected strategic evaluations. • The incumbent will also be responsible for managing the Monitoring and Evaluation department budgets, all output of written material, including funding proposals for • subsequent years. The incumbent will, from time to time, be expected to speak publicly about the monitoring and evaluation work of Magic Bus. • The incumbent is expected to participate in the process and scientifically assess the impact of the Life Skill program, the effectiveness of the training program and explore other research projects to look at various aspects of the programme. Partners included in this project include the UK government, UNICEF and a host of international and national associations. CANDIDATE PROFILE The successful candidate should possess: • A minimum of 5 years of work experience • PhD or post graduation in Psychology/ Research/Allied disciplines. • A core belief that sport can play a positive role in child development. • Experience in research & statistical methodology and development of tools, models and applied research output. • Good communication skills. • Open mind and ability to build and lead the research team in the NGO with passion and consistent efforts • Sensitivity to understand at-risk population needs and aspirations • Proficiency in qualitative and quantitative analysis. • A solid working knowledge of issues related to humanitarian and development programming (sport for development, health, education, community development, refugee and internally displaced populations, gender equity, diversity, inclusion, community development, decentralization, and advocacy) • Proficiency in qualitative and quantitative analysis. • Substantial experience and knowledge of monitoring and evaluation processes for NGO programs • Experience in M&E training. • Excellent interpersonal, communication and representational skills to negotiate and work with foreign experts, managers, government and non-government officials, local staff, and target populations. • Strong analytical and conceptual skills to think and plan strategically and the ability to translate this into practical and feasible operational program planning both in written and verbal formats. • Proven ability to motivate and work under pressure. • Proficiency in utilization of relevant software applications. For more information please write to Pari Jhaveri, Principal, Third Sector Partners, pari at thirdsectorpartners.com Or call on, 5660 3201/3202 From sunil at mahiti.org Wed Sep 14 23:00:26 2005 From: sunil at mahiti.org (Sunil Abraham) Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 23:00:26 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] UNDP/APDIP/IOSN Sub-regional Nodes - Extension of deadline Message-ID: <20050914173026.55A2C16CF6B@server.mahiti.org> ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Extension of deadline for receiving expressions of interest to manage a sub-regional node of the International Open Source Network. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This is with regard to our earlier announcement, appended below and also available from here:- www.iosn.net/about/news/regional-nodes-request We have received some requests [at FOSSAP II and by email] for extension of deadline. In response to these requests, the deadline for receiving expressions of interest has been revised from 20 September 2005 to 10 October 2005. We hope this will give everyone sufficient time. We would also like to use this opportunity to answer some of the questions that accompanied the requests. QUESTION 1: How much money will UNDP/APDIP/IOSN provide to the sub-regional node? UNDP/APDIP/IOSN will provide up-to USD 75,000 for the project period - January 2006 to June 2007. Apart from financial support UNDP/APDIP/IOSN will also provide technical and incubation support. Additional funds required by the sub-regional node could be raised from other donors. QUESTION 2: What is the scope of work for the sub-regional node. The node is expected to replicate IOSN's activities at a sub-regional level. Very broadly these activities involve - community building, publications, trainings, events, micro-grants and research. You can learn more about our activities from www.iosn.net. But this should only serve as a general guideline. The exact scope of work can only be finalised in consultation with the selected organisation. QUESTION 3: What about institutional approvals? We understand that for some large organisations, institutional approvals cannot be secured within the aforementioned deadline. We would like to request these organisations to submit the expression of interest "in principle". Institutional approval can be secured at a later date. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ORIGINAL ANNOUNCEMENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Request for expression of interest to manage a sub-regional node of the International Open Source Network UNDP-APDIP would like to bring to your attention this request for expression of interest to initiate and manage a sub-regional node of the International Open Source Network with the guidance of UNDP-APDIP. Please submit your expression of interest by 20 September 2005 to sunil at apdip.net We are looking for three partners to manage three sub-regional nodes in the Asia-Pacific region. These nodes can possibly be called ‘IOSN South Asia’, ‘IOSN ASEAN+3’, and ‘IOSN Pacific Island Countries’. The list of countries that would fall under each sub-regional node and which are, therefore, eligible to submit an expression of interest is given below. Ideally, we are looking for a government agency, academic institution or civil society organization with a proven track record in Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) development, research, deployment, and advocacy. The candidate organization must be able to internalize sub-regional needs and priorities in FOSS and design and implement a programme that is truly needs-based. Primary Research Focus: The sub-regional nodes will undertake research activities in three primary focus areas, namely, Open Content, Open Standards and Open Source. This could be accomplished via the establishment of research teams or “cells” within each sub-regional facility. Besides a small core staff, these teams/cells could include volunteers and/or consultants who will collaborate across a wide spectrum of activities such as data collection, research, analysis, authoring and review. We believe this will encourage other institutions from the public and volunteer sectors to undertake serious research into various aspects and implications of FOSS for the developing world. The primary focus of research for each sub-region could be: IOSN South Asia -- Open Content IOSN ASEAN +3 -- OpenStandards IOSN Pacific Island Countries -- Open Source Secondary Research Focus: Apart from the primary research focus area mentioned above, each sub-regional node could also conduct research on specific areas of FOSS application where either software or human resources are unavailable in the Asia-Pacific region. Many of these focus areas were identified during the first Free/Open Source Software Asia Pacific (FOSSAP) consultation held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2004. IOSN has already produced some research outputs in connection with a few areas such as Localization. But additional concerted and specialized research is required in, for example, e-Learning; health; finance; e-governance; geographic information system (GIS); and multimedia. Perhaps the proposed sub-regional centres could focus as follows: IOSN South Asia -- e-Learning IOSN ASEAN+3 -- Health, Finance and e-Governance IOSN Pacific Island Countries -- GIS, Earth Science, and Multimedia Imaging and Publishing IOSN Portal: The IOSN portal serves as a comprehensive, online resource centre providing information on FOSS, FOSS news, wikis, blogs, and online discussion forums, and acts as a means for the FOSS community to collaborate and interact. It is co-managed by IOSN and FOSS advocates throughout the region and all three sub-regional nodes will partake in its management in the areas of their expertise and specialization. Each selected sub-regional node will be designated as a UNDP-APDIP Centre of Excellence on FOSS. UNDP-APDIP will provide seed financing, incubation services for 12-18 months, initial hosting services for the IOSN portal, as well as official affiliation with UNDP-APDIP. Each sub-regional node will also receive overall guidance, support and management assistance by IOSN and UNDP-APDIP in delivering its activities. Information concerning IOSN, is provided here and can also be found at http://www.iosn.net. Expressions of interest are treated confidentially and should be sent no later than September 20, 2005 by email to the manager of IOSN, Mr. Sunil Abraham, at and include the following information in no more than 16 pages: A brief profile of your organization, including vision, objectives, programmes, projects, activities and a brief summary of achievements. Also include key data regarding infrastructure and human resources and annex the legal act/statutes establishing your organization. Finally, include key financial information such as sources of funding and financial sustainability. (Maximum 3 pages) A description of your institutional expertise/experience with regard to FOSS, along with brief (8-10 lines) description of each major FOSS-related project/programme undertaken so far. (Maximum 4 pages) 1. A description of your linkages and connections with government agencies, civil society organizations, academic organizations, GNU/Linux User Groups, Free Software Foundations and other FOSS researchers and practitioners. (Maximum 2 pages) 2. The ideas and expectations you would bring to the implementation and future development of the information service, the resources your organization would be able to contribute in the medium- and long-term, and a suggested time-frame for transitioning the service, including management of the IOSN portal for the sub-region, and in making it sustainable. (Maximum 6 pages) 3. A brief profile of the individual that would lead this effort in your organization and any other possible members of the team. (Maximum 1 page) 4. NOTE: Expressions of interest will be entertained only from institutions and not individuals. We will acknowledge receipt of all expressions of interest by email but contact only those organizations we take further interest in. List of Countries for South Asia Afghanistan Bangladesh Bhutan India Iran Maldives Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka List of Countries for ASEAN +3 Brunei Darussalam Cambodia China Indonesia Japan Democratic People's Republic of Korea Republic of Korea Lao PDR Malaysia Mongolia Myanmar Philippines Singapore Thailand Timor Leste Viet Nam List of Countries for the Pacific Australia Cook Islands Fiji Federated States of Micronesia French Polynesia Kiribati Nauru New Caledonia New Zealand Niue Palau Papua New Guinea Republic of Marshall Islands Solomon Islands Tokelau Tonga Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands Tuvalu Vanuatu -- Sunil Abraham Manager sunil at apdip.net www.iosn.net International Open Source Network - Software Freedom for All Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme www.apdip.net Thailand:UNDP Regional Centre, United Nations Service Building 3rd Floor, Rajdamnern Nok Avenue, Bangkok 10200, Thailand Tel: (66-2) 288-1234 Fax: (66-2) 288-3032 India :3rd Floor, 314/1, 7th Cross, Domlur Bangalore - 560 071 Karnataka, India. Mob: (91) 9342201521 Tel: (91-80) 51150580 Fax: (91-80) 51150583. From anupam_iase at yahoo.co.in Thu Sep 15 00:11:52 2005 From: anupam_iase at yahoo.co.in (anupam pachauri) Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 19:41:52 +0100 (BST) Subject: [Reader-list] Staging of Final Solutions Message-ID: <20050914184152.32784.qmail@web8403.mail.in.yahoo.com> The Play Final Solutions at Hindu College,16th sept,2005 at 11.15 am _____________________________________ MAHESH DATTANI's FINAL SOLUTIONS DIRECTED BY ARVIND GAUR _____________________________________ Where : Hindu College University of Delhi When : September 16, 2005 @ 11.15 am Translation by Shahid Anwar Music By Dr.Sangeeta Gaur AN ASMITA PRODUCTION _____________________ On Stage Hridika: Anupam Pachauri Daksha(young Hridika):Sangeeta Das Smita: Manisha Ramnik: Girish Pal Aruna: Amita Walia Babban: Naresh Kabir Javed: Susan Brar Chorus: Ajit Kr Mahato, Akhilesh Kr (Praveen), Vipin Arora,Shailender Bisht, Sanjay, Siddharth Dubey, Rohan Madhesia, Shamim Gandhi, Amit Rana, Pushpraj Rawat, Prageet Pandit, Rakesh Kumar, Rajesh Kr Sangwan, Tanmay, Rajesh Mishra, Sandeep Srivastava Off Stage Set Execution : Ajit Kr Mahato, Akhilesh Kr (Praveen), Sandeep Srivastava, Girish Pal Property: Prageet Pandit, Pushpraj Rawat Production Controller: Sandeep Srivastava Brochure: Anupam Pachauri Music: Dr. Sangeeta Gaur Direction: Arvind Gaur The Play was recently staged at the National Theatre Festival organised by Nehru Centre, Worli, Mumbai on 29th Aug,05 & also at Paavas Theatre Festival, Patna on 10th sept 2005. THE PLAY _________ "Final Solutions" has a powerful contemporary resonance as it addresses as issue of utmost concern to our society, i.e. the issue of communalism. The play presents different shades of the communalist attitude prevalent among Hindus and Muslims in its attempt to underline the stereotypes and clichés influencing the collective sensibility of one community against another. What distinguishes this work from other plays written on the subject is that it is neither sentimental in its appeal nor simplified in its approach. It advances the objective candour or a social scientist while presenting a mosaic of diverse attitudes towards religious identity that often plunges the country into inhuman strife. Yet the issue is not moralised, as the demons of communal hatred are located not out on the street but deep within us. The play moves from the partition to the present day communal riots. It probes into the religious bigotry by examining the attitudes of three generations of a middle-class Gujrati business family, Hardika, the grandmother, is obsessed with her father's murder during the partition turmoil and the betrayal by a Muslim friend, Zarine. Her son, Ramnik Gandhi, is haunted by the knowledge his fortunes were founded on a shop of Zarine's father, which was burnt down by his kinsmen. Hardika's daughter-in-law, Aruna, lives by the strict code of the Hindu Samskar and the granddaughter, Smita, cannot allow herself a relationship with a Muslim boy. The pulls and counter-pulls of the family are exposed when two Muslim boys, Babban and Javed, seek shelter in their house on being chased by a baying Hindu mob. Babban is a moderate while Javed is an aggressive youth. After a nightlong exchange of judgements and retorts between the characters, tolerance and forgetfulness emerge as the only possible solution of the crisis. Thus, the play becomes a timely reminder of the conflicts raging not only in India but in other parts of the world. Anupam Pachauri __________________________________________________________ Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your partner now. Go to http://yahoo.shaadi.com From khadeeja at sarai.net Mon Sep 12 18:03:10 2005 From: khadeeja at sarai.net (khadeeja at sarai.net) Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 14:33:10 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Open Letter from Michael Moore to George W. Bush Message-ID: <9b9c331fed952063ed858b1060b2351c@sarai.net> ------ Original Message ------ Subject: Open Letter from Michael Moore to George W. Bush To: khadeeja at sarai.net From: Abdullah Ahmed Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2005 22:47:53 +0530 Vacation is Over... an Open Letter from Michael Moore to George W. Bush Submitted by editor4 on September 2, 2005 - 2:33pm. By Michael Moore Source: Common Dreams Dear Mr. Bush: Any idea where all our helicopters are? It's Day 5 of Hurricane Katrina and thousands remain stranded in New Orleans and need to be airlifted. Where on earth could you have misplaced all our military choppers? Do you need help finding them? I once lost my car in a Sears parking lot. Man, was that a drag. Also, any idea where all our national guard soldiers are? We could really use them right now for the type of thing they signed up to do like helping with national disasters. How come they weren't there to begin with? Last Thursday I was in south Florida and sat outside while the eye of Hurricane Katrina passed over my head. It was only a Category 1 then but it was pretty nasty. Eleven people died and, as of today, there were still homes without power. That night the weatherman said this storm was on its way to New Orleans. That was Thursday! Did anybody tell you? I know you didn't want to interrupt your vacation and I know how you don't like to get bad news. Plus, you had fundraisers to go to and mothers of dead soldiers to ignore and smear. You sure showed her! I especially like how, the day after the hurricane, instead of flying to Louisiana, you flew to San Diego to party with your business peeps. Don't let people criticize you for this -- after all, the hurricane was over and what the heck could you do, put your finger in the dike? And don't listen to those who, in the coming days, will reveal how you specifically reduced the Army Corps of Engineers' budget for New Orleans this summer for the third year in a row. You just tell them that even if you hadn't cut the money to fix those levees, there weren't going to be any Army engineers to fix them anyway because you had a much more important construction job for them -- BUILDING DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ! On Day 3, when you finally left your vacation home, I have to say I was moved by how you had your Air Force One pilot descend from the clouds as you flew over New Orleans so you could catch a quick look of the disaster. Hey, I know you couldn't stop and grab a bullhorn and stand on some rubble and act like a commander in chief. Been there done that. There will be those who will try to politicize this tragedy and try to use it against you. Just have your people keep pointing that out. Respond to nothing. Even those pesky scientists who predicted this would happen because the water in the Gulf of Mexico is getting hotter and hotter making a storm like this inevitable. Ignore them and all their global warming Chicken Littles. There is nothing unusual about a hurricane that was so wide it would be like having one F-4 tornado that stretched from New York to Cleveland. No, Mr. Bush, you just stay the course. It's not your fault that 30 percent of New Orleans lives in poverty or that tens of thousands had no transportation to get out of town. C'mon, they're black! I mean, it's not like this happened to Kennebunkport. Can you imagine leaving white people on their roofs for five days? Don't make me laugh! Race has nothing -- NOTHING -- to do with this! You hang in there, Mr. Bush. Just try to find a few of our Army helicopters and send them there. Pretend the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are near Tikrit. Yours, Michael Moore MMFlint at aol.com www.MichaelMoore.com P.S. That annoying mother, Cindy Sheehan, is no longer at your ranch. She and dozens of other relatives of the Iraqi War dead are now driving across the country, stopping in many cities along the way. Maybe you can catch up with them before they get to DC on September 21st. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050912/a7369eba/attachment.html From nc-agricowi at netcologne.de Tue Sep 13 14:32:18 2005 From: nc-agricowi at netcologne.de (NetEx) Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 11:02:18 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Call for proposals by VideoChannel Message-ID: <4326959A.9030300@netcologne.de> VideoChannel http://videochannel.newmediafest.org relaunches a suit of calls for videos 1. theme: gender identity 2. theme: identity of colour 3. theme: totalitarism ****************************** 1. call for videos on theme "gender identity deadline 31 December 2005 ---> In a times when the traditional role of being "male" and "female" in society has lost its meaning, a male expresses his female, and a female her male components of their personality, when sexuality is not reduced to being straight or gay, but countless mixed forms of human existance can be lived, defining oneself in a gender specific context may become an essential question. The call is inviting artists to reflect their own or the subject of male, female, gay, lesbian, transgender etc identity via the medium of video. Details and entry form can be found on NetEX - internal announcements http://weblog.nmartproject.net/index.php?blog=8&cat=54 or http://weblog.nmartproject.net/index.php?blog=3&cat=11 2. call for videos on the theme "identity of colour" deadline 31 December 2005 --> The theme is going down to the essential role and influence of colour on any part of human life. The strong symbolism of the colours expresses itself in language and art, the signal effect of colour is used in advertiosing and design, colour take psychological influence on the unconsciousness, perception and emotion. What would be the world without colour? So what is the identity of colour? Details and entry form can be found on NetEX - internal announcements http://weblog.nmartproject.net/index.php?blog=8&cat=54 or http://weblog.nmartproject.net/index.php?blog=3&cat=11 3. call for videos on the theme "totalitarism" deadline 31 December 2005 As a part of the global networking project [R][R][F]2005--->XP, the view on "totalitarism" may be historically related as well as reflecting "totalitarian" structures nowadays. And while looking closer, one will recognize that traces of totalitarism can be found anywhere in society, politics and culture and everybody's life. But totalitarism can only exist if people let it happen actively or passively. Details and entry form can be found on NetEX - internal announcements http://weblog.nmartproject.net/index.php?blog=8&cat=54 or http://weblog.nmartproject.net/index.php?blog=3&cat=11 ******************************************** VideoChannel is a joint venture between Cinematheque at MediaCentre http://cinematheque.le-musee-divisioniste and [R][R][F] 2005 - global networking project http://rrf2005.newmediafest.org in the framework of [NewMediaArtProjectNetwork]:||cologne www.nmartproject.net and is acting basically online, but also offline in cooperation with media festivals and other cultural events worldwide. . info & contact info at nmartproject.net ***************** technical requirements DSL Internet connection Flash7 plug-in cross-bCrowser _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From shnitu at yahoo.com Tue Sep 13 13:46:14 2005 From: shnitu at yahoo.com (neetu sharma) Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 01:16:14 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Jeevika: South Asia Livelihood Documentary Competition Message-ID: <20050913081614.93256.qmail@web53309.mail.yahoo.com> I am writing on behalf of Center For Civil Society based in Delhi, India. We, (www.ccsindia.org) are an independent , non-profit, research and educational think tank based in Delhi working primarily on the issue of livelihood, education, poverty etc. Through research, outreach, and advocacy, we promote economic, social, and cultural freedom of the people of India. We organise an annual Jeevika: South Asia Livelihood Documentary Competition. Its aim is to make the issue of livelihood an active part of public debate. As there exist tremendous similarity in terms of problems and issues between all South Asian countries and Jeevika will help in not just knowing more about the common problems but also sustainable solutions. Jeevika began in 2003 and has attracted films from students and professional filmmakers This year we are organising first south asain level documentary Competition focussing on livelihood--an issue that affects us all To spread the information about this unique opportunity we would like to contact film institutes, filmmakers and development organisations in Pakistan .We would appreciate your support in providing us the contacts of such organisations , film makers and students who will help us taking this information to larger audiences. The Last Date for submission of entries is DECEMBER 1, 2005. ü The Prizes are: First (Rs 45,000); Second (Rs 30,000); Third (Rs 20,000). There is a special Best Student Film prize for Rs 10,000. ü Financial support will be provided for the next film venture on a related issue. ü Several selected documentaries will be screened during January 20-22, 2006. ü CCS will purchase extra copies of winning films and disseminate them to various educational institutions all over India Young filmmakers are particularly encouraged to participate. · Please pass on this information to your students and faculty. Jeevika is open to all. · We would like you to nominate one student (masters or alumni, no more than three years old) to be part of the Screening Committee Please send, along with the resume, a 250-word statement supporting your selection by September 30, 2005 to Manali Shah, Program Coordinator at the address given above. There will be a two-tier evaluation process. The Screening Committee will select about 15 entries, which will be judged for the prizes by the Jury. For blind review, the identity of the Jury and Screening Committee members will not be revealed until the prize ceremony. Jeevika 2004: A Glimpse · We received 69 entries from students, amateur as well as professional filmmakers from all over India. · The Jeevika Jury included Renana Jhabvala (SEWA, Ahmedabad), Partho Sarkar (Filmmaker), L Tochhawng (India International Centre, Delhi), Paromita Shastri (Outlook, Delhi), and Amir Ullah Khan (India Development Foundation). The Screening Committee comprised alumni of National Institute of Design, MCRC Jamia and St Xaviers College, Kolkata. · The top three winners were Aftershocks (Rakesh Sharma); 3.2.1.0..Who Can Change Me? (Biju KC) and Pedal Soldier of India (Raza Haider & Kaukab). The Best Student Film was Zarina, made by Suhail Bukhari & Piyush Pushpak of Rai University. You may contact me at nidhi at ccsindia.org. In Liberty- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nidhi Chadha Program Coordinator Centre for Civil Society K-36, Hauz Khas Enclave Voice: 26537456/26521882 Fax: 26512347 Web: www.ccsindia.org Blog: http://blog.ccsindia.org __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050913/4a2aaebd/attachment.html From nisha2004 at gmail.com Fri Sep 16 03:09:39 2005 From: nisha2004 at gmail.com (Nisha .) Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 00:39:39 +0300 Subject: [Reader-list] India-Jammu & Kashmir - Conflict - Human Rights Violations of Women & Children In-Reply-To: <299c7784050915143741674024@mail.gmail.com> References: <010701c5ba1a$7f6a8310$6400a8c0@LoisHerman> <299c7784050915143741674024@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <299c77840509151439794fcb46@mail.gmail.com> India: Children unprotected in Jammu and Kashmir http://www.amnestyusa.org/children/document.do?id=80256DD400782B848025704A005C5AA5 Children's Rights AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Public Statement AI Index: ASA 20/027/2005 (Public) News Service No: 201 26 July 2005 India: Children unprotected in Jammu and Kashmir The unlawful killing of three teenaged boys and the serious injuries to a fourth boy during last weekend in a village in Jammu and Kashmir throws into sharp focus the lack of protection for children's right to life and safety in the state. Children are at risk of human rights violations from both state agents and abuses from armed groups. Amnesty International urges both the state government and armed groups to respect the rights of children. The government of Jammu and Kashmir is under an international obligation to promote and protect child rights in line with India's ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Armed groups are under an obligation to abide by the standards of humanitarian law which strictly forbid the torture, killing and hostage taking of all civilians, including children. An army spokesperson stated that the four juveniles, all between 11 and 15 years of age, were shot on 24 July 2005 in Bangargund village in Kupwara district when troops of the 6th battalion of the Rashtriya Rifles opened fire on the four teenagers, whom they mistook for armed fighters. The boys had started to run away when an army patrol called on them to stop in an area close to the Line of Control, which is the de facto border with Pakistan. Villagers claimed that the juveniles were part of a marriage party and had gone for a stroll in the village in the early hours of Sunday when soldiers opened fire before the boys could reply to their commands. According to reports, there was no curfew in the area. Local villagers claim that the village elders had informed the army of the marriage party and that people were likely to move about late at night. An army spokesperson termed the incident "unfortunate" and announced that the army would fully cooperate with a magisterial inquiry set up by State Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. The army also ordered an internal inquiry. Police have registered a case against the army. On dozens of occasions, armed groups have perpetrated indiscriminate attacks which have affected children. They have exploded bombs close to schools resulting in the deaths of several children and causing parents to fear for the safety of their wards. On 12 May 2005, armed fighters threw a grenade just as schoolchildren were leaving a Christian missionary school in Srinagar, killing two women who had come to pick up their children and injuring some 50 people, including 20 pupils. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. On 13 June 2005, a truck bomb explosion near a school in Pulwama killed 15 people and injured almost 100 others. The car blew up as pupils revised for an exam in the sunshine on the school grounds. Two students were among the dead and 10 were injured. Yet another bomb blast outside a school occurred on 20 July 2005 in Srinagar when a suicide bomber apparently drove his car into an army jeep killing four soldiers and wounding 17 civilians. The Hizbul Mujahideen later claimed responsibility for the bomb blast. In December 2004, a school bus was set on fire to prevent schoolchildren from attending army schools in Anantnag district. Children are also often amongst the victims during indiscriminate attacks on civilians. On 22 June 2005, two children were amongst 17 people injured when a grenade was thrown into a crowd of pedestrians in Gorivan Bijbehara. Children are also at risk from discarded explosive materials. On 24 July 2005, three children aged six to nine years in village Ajir in Bandipore district were injured when they played with an explosive device left behind after troops ended an operation. Children are deeply affected by witnessing abuses inflicted on their elders, on fathers, mothers and sisters humiliated, harassed, injured or killed by law enforcement personnel or armed groups. A large number of children have also had to take on the burdens of child labour after the "disappearance" of the main bread earners of their families. While the state government in June 2003 cited the figure of 3,184 "disappeared" persons in the Legislative Assembly, local human rights activists state that between 8,000 and 10,000 persons have "disappeared" in the state. Psychologists have spoken of the high level of disturbance, including sleep disturbance and fears amongst children in Jammu and Kashmir. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Jammu, February 2, 2004: Police arrested a constable and a Special Police Officer, posted at Reasi police station, for raping a mentally deranged girl in the official quarter of another police constable at Reasi. Reports said both the accused, who were on night duty in Reasi town, took a mentally deranged girl who keeps on moving from one place to another, to the official quarter of another police constable of Reasi Police Station, who was on duty in the police station. Since the quarter was locked, the duo broke open its locks and raped the girl inside. Later, they reportedly made the girl to board a bus. Report of the rape came to notice of the police with the help of some local people this morning. ------------------------------------------------------ Srinagar, March 9, 2004: A teenage girl of Nadikhai, who was allegedly abducted and raped by a government gunmen (known as Ikhwani) and had set herself on fire a day after her abduction succumbed to her wounds at SMHS hospital. Her death sparked violent protests in front of Divisional Commissioner's office. The protesters carried the body of the deceased girl to Divisional Commissioner's office and demanded the arrest and persecution of the accused government gunmen. However, police resorted to baton charge and use a teargas to disperse the protesters. Police took the body of the girl in their custody and didn't allow the protesters to meet Divisional Commissioner and voice their demands. A number of protesters were detained by police. They were chanting slogans " the law of jungle was prevalent in the Valley". -------------------------------------------------------- Handwara, November 8, 2004: The alleged rape of a Mother-Daughter duo in Badra, some 14 Kilometers from Handwara town has left this village shell-shocked and whole village mourns the incident. Aisha 29, mother of six and wife of Abdul Rashid Dar and her daughter Shabnum 11 were allegedly raped by an Army Major. The family members said that while the Major was playing with the honour of mother-daughter duo, the troops tortured Altaf, a 5th class student, son of Abdul Rashid Dar in a nearby house. Too minor to bear the shock, ill-fated Shabnum is lying in a room where locals are busy consoling her. Hardly able to speak, her face and turned pale and her body crumbled under the blanket. In broken voice she told Kashmir Images that she was raped by the Major. Aisha musters courage in a jam packed room to speak to Kashmir images; " Army personnel forced their entry into our house in the dead of night and Major dragged me into a separate room and raped me." Wailing besides her daughter, she adds : "he even raped my minor daughter." As the news of rape broke out, thousands of people chanting pro-freedom and anti –army slogans took to Handwara –Baramulla National Highway and blocked it for hours. They were demanding stern action against the major and his party. Agitated protesters blocked traffic for quite some time. ------------------------------------------------------ Srinagar, May 16, 2005: An alleged rape and subsequent cold-blooded murder of 21 year old student has shocked the Kashmir valley. Shazia, a college student, had gone missing on April 25 evening after she left her home for shopping. Her parents had lodged a complaint in the police station Khanyar, the next day. However, on May 8, her body was fished-out from river Jehlum at Sumbal in Baramulla district. Giving the details of gruesome murder, the father of deceased, Abdul Aziz Kawa told that on May 9 he read in a newspaper that an unidentified body of agirl was fished out from river Jehlum. He went to Sumbal where he learnt that the deceased had been buried. He came to know that the girl was his daughter Shazia after police showed her clothes and earrings to him. The body was exhumed and brought for last rites. Abdul Aziz Kawa alleged that her body bore torture marks and she had been gang-raped before killed. Her body was later dumped into the river in order to hide the proofs. -------------------------------------------------------- On July 13, 2005, at about 11:30 pm, a soldier belonging to 49 Rashtriya Rifles identified as Baljinder Singh pretending to be a Mujahid barged into the house of Mohammad Akbar Dar at Dooru's, Anantnag. He demanded shelter and food at gunpoint and later tried to molest Dar's daughter Zahida Akhtar, a 12th class student. On resistance Baljinder stabbed her in back. She was seriously injured and fell down. Seeing this, other inmates tried to pounce upon the erring army man but he did not stop and in fact fired upon the girl with his gun. This led to the instantaneous death of Zahida. The news agency reported that at the same time, a patrolling party of 143 Battalion CRPF was discharging night duty and they asked the army jawan to stop, but he did not listen to them. The CRPF personnel started indiscriminate firing. As a result, Baljinder died on the spot. His body was lying for the whole night in a field. From penguinhead at linux-delhi.org Fri Sep 16 13:30:53 2005 From: penguinhead at linux-delhi.org (Pankaj kaushal) Date: Fri, 16 Sep 2005 13:30:53 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [ilugd] [SORT-OF-SPAM] Freedel starts tomorrow Message-ID: <432A7BB5.6050403@linux-delhi.org> Hello All, Once again ILUG-Delhi crawls out of its hole to bring you Yet Another Linux/FOSS Conference: Freedel Freedel begins tomorrow (September 17th) and continues for 2 days (Saturday and Sunday, 17th and 18th). We have speakers from all over the country joining us for technology, applications and fun. If you know anyone in or around Delhi who may be interested in attending, please forward them the link to the Event web site: http://freedel.in/ Charges are nominal, a lot of our cost having been absorbed by our main Sponsors, Naukri.com and Yahoo!, and our infrastructure sponsors, Primus and Siddhast. The Seminar track is Rs 50 for the two days, while the Workshop track is Rs 1500. Registration charges for the Workshop track include meals for the 2 days, a CD with the presentations and yet another infamous ILUG-Delhi T-shirt. If you like the idea, if you attend the Seminar or the Workshop, if you would like to see more such conferences in India, please send a thank-you note to our partners, PHD Chambers of Commerce and Industry, who have been extremely active in organising and promoting Freedel. ...or just be there :) [Press Release] Freedel: September 17th & 18th 2005, 10:00AM to 6:00PM PHD House, Hauz Khas, New Delhi You've heard about it, now come and see it in full and glorious action! Yes, two full days of demystifying Linux. PHDCCI and India Linux Users Group - Delhi (ILUG-D) are proud to present Freedel. ILUG-D in the past has conducted very successful events where over 450 participants attended. This year we are expecting much greater numbers. People from all walks of life are expected to attend; Students, Professionals, Corporates, all will be there. What's more, ILUG-D will have something to show for everyone. Technical talks covering issues from installation, to desktop usage to Wireless Linux, it will all be there. We will even have young school kids showing how they use Linux. Its an event you don't want to miss! Saturday 17th September the only place you want to be at is the PHD House. It will all be happening there. Several stalls showcasing various aspects of Linux from gaming, to audio/video editing to development, servers, databases and applications -- you name it and we'll demonstrate it for you. Linux, as you know. is about choice and this choice even extends to the "official" birthday of Linux. There are several to chose from. The PHDCCI and ILUG-D event Freedel is as close to a weekend as possible to make sure everyone is able to attend while marking Linux's birthday. The event is organised by ILUG-D and co-hosted by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry. It is completely volunteer-driven and supported by several organisations. This year the prominent sponsors are Naukri.com and Yahoo! Infrastructure for the event has been provided courtesy of Primus and Siddhast. The event is primarily driven by volunteers of ILUG-D and a committed group of computer professionals from PHDCCI. Apart from all the technical stuff happening, there will also be T-shirts, Linux distributions on CDs, tea, snacks and all the elements of fun available at low or no cost. Be there, be counted! Event: Freedel 2005, 17th & 18th September, 2005 - http://freedel.in ---- Alas, even today there's little worth thinking and saying that does not grievously wound the state, the gods, and common decency. -Goethe From db at dannybutt.net Sat Sep 17 08:47:53 2005 From: db at dannybutt.net (Danny Butt) Date: Sat, 17 Sep 2005 13:17:53 +1000 Subject: [Reader-list] CFP (Book): PLACE - Location and Belonging in New Media Contexts References: <2A066CEE-7CB0-42FD-B53C-EE9692C9F910@dannybutt.net> Message-ID: <62716768-B820-4A25-A925-3BD022C32D20@dannybutt.net> Call for contributions - please circulate - apologies if you receive this more than once. PLACE Location and Belonging in New Media Contexts. Edited by Danny Butt, Jon Bywater and Nova Paul James Clifford notes that "land" (whenua, ples, country, la tribu, etc.) signifies the past in the future, a continuous, changing base of political and cultural operations - while a political theory "which sees everything as potentially realigned, cut, and mixed, has difficulty with this material nexus of community". Indigenous epistemologies have sophisticated structures for negotiating belonging among communities who may become widely dispersed from their homelands. New media, by contrast, demonstrates biases toward the the dislocated: a cosmopolitanism implicitly located in the urban, where communities form and fragment in "virtual" environments. However, questions of belonging and identification remain for those who use new media networks. Knowledge in the new media environment may circulate rapidly, but it is still located in human subjects who develop knowledge and identification within physical and social locations. The aim of this publication is to directly address silences within new media discourse on place, as well as understand how long-held attachments to place are transforming in the contemporary media context. We currently have interest from international academic publishers in a book on these issues to be published in coordination with the Cultural Futures: Place, Ground and Practice in Asia Pacific New Media Arts symposium in Auckland, December 2005 . We are also interested in soliciting writing from those not attending the event, including work outside the regional focus of the symposium. Themes that may be addressed in the publication include: Place-based new media practices Migration and movement Indigeneity and colonisation Home and belonging New media and cultural transformation Globalisation and cosmopolitanism Local activism and social change Abstracts of 500 words, along with a 200 word bio should be sent to by October 14th 2005. We expect to notify authors by the end of November 2005, and require chapters to be completed by the end of February 2006, with the book to be published later that year. We also intend to issue a further call for images and pageworks in the future. Please direct any enquiries to the editors c/- Danny Butt From zainab at xtdnet.nl Sat Sep 17 14:10:44 2005 From: zainab at xtdnet.nl (zainab at xtdnet.nl) Date: Sat, 17 Sep 2005 12:40:44 +0400 (RET) Subject: [Reader-list] Field Notes from Marine Drive Message-ID: <3642.219.65.10.55.1126946444.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> This week has been interesting in terms of field work. I began doing the rounds of Marine Drive regularly this week. Migrants from Azamgadh, on the border of MP and UP, form the main hawker community around Marine Drive. Most of their co-villagers have established businesses here. The younger people from the village then come and join their relatives in the business. Patrolling at Marine Drive has become very strict. Nowadays, the MCGM van does not come regularly, but a plainclothes cop does the rounds to catch hold of hawkers doing business on the promenade. There are more private security guards at Marine Drive than usual. Two guards patrol at equal intervals on the promenade. The private security guards have acquired the status and power equivalent to that of a policeman. Earlier, the guards used to be afraid of the hawkers because hawkers would beat up the guards. But nowadays, the guards are able to wield more authority and take actions as if they were law enforcers and policemen themselves. An interesting thing which occurred on Tuesday was when Manoj Kumar, a stall owning hawker started saying to me, “I want a job. It is getting difficult to survive here. Policemen and municipality don’t let us do business. Things are becoming stringent.” Manoj Kumar’s remark is pertinent because it describes the character of the contemporary city of Mumbai. Bombay was once the enterprising city – a city where no one went hungry because there was business for everyone to do. Gradually, new government regimes are taking away conditions of freedom. Everyone is being pushed into jobs. Freedom of enterprise is freedom of the individual. Gradually, this enterprising city is turning into a service economy. Freedom is traded for security of jobs – and interestingly, there is no security in jobs either!!! Finally, another interesting event took place last evening. I met Santosh Yadav after a long time. I asked him that he was not to be seen since quite a few days. He narrated a story to me, “There was a man who had a licensed food business. He decided to go to his village for a month. So I asked him to lease his licensed stall to me for a month. I paid him Rs.20,000 and took over the business. I made a profit for Rs.60,000. The person came back yesterday. I handed over his business to him and he gave me my deposit of Rs.20,000 back.” What is interesting here is the negotiations which take place between people without government interventions and how these negotiations define the character of the city in a larger perspective. I am still thinking whether centralized systems are homogenizing? Is control about homogenization? Zainab Bawa Bombay www.xanga.com/CityBytes http://crimsonfeet.recut.org/rubrique53.html From zainab at xtdnet.nl Sat Sep 17 14:11:36 2005 From: zainab at xtdnet.nl (zainab at xtdnet.nl) Date: Sat, 17 Sep 2005 12:41:36 +0400 (RET) Subject: [Reader-list] TC (Contd)... Message-ID: <4117.219.65.10.55.1126946496.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> TC (Contd ) “People believe that all TCs are corrupt. All of them are out to make money. Actually there are many such TCs. They start with nothing and end up with flats and cars by the end of their term. People don’t have a very good opinion of us. Why would a person want to make friends with a TC? Maybe someday, when the person is caught ticketless, he will remember the friendship and expect that I will come and release him.” “I hate the police wallahs. They will travel in first class without tickets. And I cannot even fine them. So what I do nah, whenever I go out on my bike, I cut the signal when I see the police wallah. When the police wallah catches me, I tell him, ‘baba, you travel ticketless in first class that is nothing. Now I will also break the signal and get away without paying a fine.’” TC has sharp eyes. One day, he and I were to board a train to get to Dadar. The occasion was that TC was going to introduce me to his other friends. The train arrived. Some luggage carrier workers were about to board the first class compartment. TC immediately warned them, “Tch, tch, tch, tch chalo, chalo, yeh first class ka dabba hai – this is the first class compartment. Come on, you people cannot board this compartment.” I asked TC the reason for his behaviour. He said, “Arre baba, you think these people will have first class pass? They are poor persons. Simply at all they will board first class and if another TC steps in, he will fine them. That is why I was telling them not to board the first class compartment. Otherwise, in slack hours, these people want to travel first class.” “I am well-to-do. Why should I make money like my other colleagues? I am a sportsman. I have good salary. Allah is kind to me. One day, I caught a man who had a pass only uptil Byculla and he was traveling upto Vikhroli station. I told him that he would have to pay a fine of Rs.250. I looked at the man carefully. He seemed like a peon. I asked him, ‘what do you do?’ He said, ‘Saab, I am a peon in an office. Boss has sent me to deliver this package. I was getting late and hence, did not have the time to buy an extension ticket. Honestly, I have fifty rupees in my pocket right now. You can take that away as fine.’ I said to myself, ‘Iska kitna salary hoga? How much salary would he be receiving? 2,500 rupees? If I take away the fifty rupees from his pocket, he will go without food for a day.’ I ultimately said to him, ‘I am not fining you. I think you are a genuine person. But yes, you have to buy a ticket and travel back. That much you must do.’ He immediately fell to my feet and started to touch my feet. ‘Thank you saab, thank you saab,’ he started to say. I was embarrassed and said to him, ‘Baba, don’t touch my feet. In my religion we don’t do all this. Just thank uparwala, God, who put the thought in my head and I simply executed the thought. Now go!’” TC is a daily story man. He is not just a TC. He takes on various roles while he executes his duties each day. “One day, I was checking tickets in the first class. I checked an office-going man. Next to him was a school boy. The moment the boy saw me checking tickets, he started shriveling up. I knew something was wrong. I asked him to show his ticket. He said, ‘Sir, I don’t have a first class pass.’ I already knew that something was wrong because this boy was traveling in the down direction, in school uniform at 10 AM when it is school time for everyone. I asked the boy to get down at VT Station. Then I asked him, ‘what is the matter? Tell me.’ The boy had gone to school but because he had not done his homework that day, he was suspended from school for the entire day. The boy thought that if he would go back home, parents would shout. So he decided to go up and down the train and kill time. I told the boy, ‘Parents shout at you for good nah baba? Now, you must give me your phone number. Go back home. I will phone you at home and check if you have reached. It is okay if parents shout. Listen from one ear and take out from the other.’ The boy was scared. He said, ‘Sir, I will go back home. I will give you a call. You please don’t call at my home. I promise I will go back.’ The boy took my number and at about three o’clock, he gave me a call saying he had reached home. Things like this happen nah???” Sure enough Zainab Bawa Bombay www.xanga.com/CityBytes http://crimsonfeet.recut.org/rubrique53.html From oishiksircar at hotmail.com Sat Sep 17 15:54:25 2005 From: oishiksircar at hotmail.com (Oishik Sircar) Date: Sat, 17 Sep 2005 10:24:25 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] MINDSPEAK: Film Series on MIGRATION, DISPLACEMENT & DEVELOPMENT In-Reply-To: <4117.219.65.10.55.1126946496.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050917/531a931a/attachment.html From hpp at vsnl.com Sun Sep 18 19:19:54 2005 From: hpp at vsnl.com (hpp at vsnl.com) Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 18:49:54 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Environmental Problems In Metropolitan Calcutta Municipalities Message-ID: <8fb2398f7d27.8f7d278fb239@vsnl.net> Environmental Problems In Metropolitan Calcutta Municipalities V Ramaswamy, Calcutta In August 1995, at a meeting organised by the Dept. of Environment, Govt of West Bengal, representatives from the various municipalities in the Calcutta Metropolitan Area spoke about the principal environmental problems in their towns. Bansberia We are at the northern extreme of the Calcutta Metropolitan Area. Major highways, such as the G.T. Road, Assam link road pass through our area. Earlier, on both sides of the highway, we had good drainage. Now there is the major problem of ash from the power plants. The place is densely built up. There are many cattle sheds. The rural milieu that prevailed earlier is now gone. Gardens, trees have given way to urbanisation. the problem of thermal ash is particularly inconvenient. We can't sleep out in the open because of this. The Dunlop carbon black factory also emits dust. On this though, there has been some amount of local agitation, and they have effected some improvements. But not so with the power plant authorities. The municipality is having to spend enormous amounts for drain clearing because of this. Drainage on the two sides of the G.T. Road needs to be restored to its earlier health. Pollution from the power plant and from Dunlop's carbon black factory needs to miti gated. Uttarpara-Kotrung Environmental pollution is a key problem of the municipalities. Through CUDP 3etc, the earlier poor physical infrastructural situation of the municipalities has been improved - roads, drains, sanitation etc. Yet, in a small township such as ours, there is just no vacant or open space. Population has been growing, the whole place has been built up on, density is high. A green area has become a concrete jungle. Secondly, in Hooghly district, from Uttarpara to Bansberia, we are all situated along the river. The banks of the river are getting inundated. In many of the municipalities, there is no proper sewerage system. Wastes are simply dumped into the river. The Supreme Court has issued notice to several municipalities. This lack of sewerage systems and the consequent pollution of the river is the key environmental issue for our areas. Uttarpara is like the middle of a bowl, a low-lying area. The earlier catchment areas that permitted drainage are now built up on by industries. This has also brought us industrial pollution. Industrial effluents are also dumped into the river. Mother Dairy, Dankuni Coal Complex, Hindusthan Motors - all are ultimately dumping their effluents into the river via the canals. Where do we release our sewage? We do want to stop the pollution. We have written repeatedly to the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB). We have asked for technical know-how and advice with schemes to keep the river clean. There has not been any response whatsoever. Once in a while, they issue warnings, of action to be taken against us. The next issue is garbage clearance. Earlier, this was being taken care of within the municipality itself. The lands in our area are low-lying. So people would take the garbage for land-levelling. Now, all land has been built up on. we do not have place for a garbage dump. We need a spot nearby where garbage can be dumped. We cannot afford to buy land at current market rates from the municipality funds. Recently a Minister advised us to acquire 10-15 acres of land nearby; he said the government would finance this. With the help of technologists, garbage can be converted to organic manure. The idea is good, we are very enthusiastic. But where's the land nearby? Drinking water is another issue. We have taken up an action programme on this. We have about 16,000 holdings in the municipality. 9,000 holdings have water supplied. The rest have to depend on street taps. We are relying on deep tube wells. But this is despite the major Srirampur project, which was supposed to provide water to 7 municipalities, from Bhadreswar to Uttarpara. We get water only for 6 hours. The underground reservoirs constructed - including ours - are non-functional, cracked and sinking. As regards water supply from the river, water pressure in a remote area such as ours is very weak. So unless the underground reservoirs work, we suffer. And thus the need to run our own deep tube wells. But when so much money was spent on the reservoirs, it is absurd to have such a situation. Then there is the problem of smoke nuisance. Coal fires are very common as there is no other fuel for the common people. The whole area gets very suffocating. The Dankuni Coal Complex nearby is to supply domestic fuel gas to Calcutta city. When we are so close to that complex, and we have this acute problem of cooking fuel, shouldn’t this gas be supplied to our municipality as well? Cheap alternative fuel will wipe out this problem of smoke nuisance. Konnagar Uttarpara and Konnagar are neighbours. Our critical problem is space. With the influx of refugees, vacant lands were occupied. This is now causing problems. With low-lying land having been built up on, we now have flooding and water-logging. There is no master plan for drainage. During the rainy season, the situation is extremely difficult. We also have several large industries in the area, e.g. ICI, Hindusthan Motors. There are acid factories. Noxious fumes are emitted from the ICI factory; near Rishra, the trees do not bear any fruit. The local people also experience difficulty. The acid factories also emit fumes. Then there is the problem of garbage disposal. We have no dumping ground. This is a big problem. Industrial effluents are dumped into the river. This calls for attention. There are brick kilns, which too dump their wastes in the river. Air and river pollution, population density and resultant congestion and the consequent susceptibility to environmental hazards - these are the key challenges. New Barrackpur Our problems are very much the same as those highlighted by others. In addition, we have a large stretch of railway tracks running through our municipality. And there are shanty settlements along these tracks. There are some 2.5 kms of rail tracks running through our place. These settlements are unserviced, with no toilets and sanitation. As a result neighbouring areas are affected. Diarrhoea, gastroenteritis, chicken pox are spread in the municipality from these settlements. Then there are the canals, belonging to the Irrigation Dept. There are settlements along the canals. These canals are part of the sewage outfall system. The Fatesha and Noiai canals are filling up. They have not been excavated for some 15-20 years now. During the rainy season, there are over 1,000 families in areas that get flooded. Diseases break out. We have no dumping ground for garbage. In some parts, we are temporarily managing by filling in low-lying areas; but in the long run we will have problems. So this has to be taken up now. Through the CUDP 3, IPP health programmes, and the municipal health departments we are somehow managing. But the pollution/environmental health problems are straining our abilities to cope. The Fatesha and Noiai canals need to be re-excavated immediately. Similarly, taking a number of municipalities simultaneously, a common dumping ground can be found. We have earlier presented our difficulties to the govt. We hope a joint approach to tackling these problems can now emerge. North Dum Dum Our problems too are like those mentioned by others. Our main concern is regarding the lack of a garbage dumping ground. The municipalities of Dum Dum, North Dum Dum, South Dum Dum and New Barrackpur, as well as some others, face this problem. And one municipality, by its own efforts and with its limited resources, can't buy the required land. We have talked to CMDA about this, about whether this matter can be taken up through the Mega City plan. At the moment, about 75 % of the local garbage is cleared, with 25 % remaining uncleared. The other major problem is the lack of a proper drainage system. During the rainy season, there is a lot of waterlogging, with stagnant water accumulating. The issue of the two canals mentioned earlier is vital. We have raised the question of re-excavation of the Bagjola canal for a long time. If immediate action on this is not taken up, several of our municipalities will be in deep trouble soon. There is no industry in our area, so industrial pollution is not a problem for us. Panihati Drinking water is our major problem. We rely on deep tube wells - this despite the trans-municipality project, under which water comes to us from Baranagar-Kamarhati. But this supply is extremely inadequate. Water does not reach the western side of the B.T. Road. Nor will that scheme be very helpful for the two sides of the rail line. Ours is an extremely densely populated area, with over 3 lakh people. Rainwater has no chance for percolation. Waterlogging results. There is no proper drainage system. Panihati municipality is not a planned one. Roads are very narrow. Even when we build drains, due to the heavy lorry traffic, these do not last beyond 1-2 years. We spend lakhs from our resources on drains. There is also lack of public awareness. People dump their rubbish in high drains and consequently these get clogged. The Ganga Action Plan was meant to help Panihati in terms of a sewerage system. But this has not been very effective. The factories in our area are largely closed. The Bengal Chemical acid factory emits fumes; they say they'll install a purifying tower. Across the river, we can see the rapid erosion of the banks. In a year's time, this will wipe out the road as well. This calls for attention. Dum Dum The problems mentioned by the various speakers are our problems too. In particular I could mention that our role should be to keep the municipality pollution-free; but we are helping to pollute. We don't have a garbage dump. The sewerage system is collapsing. The Bagjola canal needs re-excavation. Then there are insanitary latrines. We had earlier converted service privies to sanitary latrines. Yet where the poor people live there are pit latrines. And unless these are converted these are going to cause a lot of problems. Recently Dr Sankar Sen, Power Minister and Dr Deb Kumar Bose, Chairman of the SPCB visited our area (Dum Dum, North Dum, South Dum Dum, Rajarhat), and we discussed the possibility of joint programmes of our municipalities. All vacant lands in our area have been built up on. The sewerage and garbage problems are critical. Garulia The problems are known to all. In the last decade, environmental awareness has grown. This meeting is very timely and relevant. We cannot see any improvements in our area. There are some small tasks which can be taken up without much effort, but which could have a major impact. In our area, CESC's ash (which is in Bhatpara municipality, strictly speaking) covers us with dust. In the last ten years, we have written some ten letters to CESC. And finally issued them a notice. Yet the problem persists. I am sure this can be dealt with technologically. We have also contacted the SPCB, but to no avail. Smoke nuisance from coal ovens. Fumes from buses and lorries. I had recently been to Madras, and found that the auto-emission situation there is much better. So in our area too things could be better. Why can't we take this up? Cattle-sheds are being shifted out from Calcutta. But they are all moving to our area. Pig farms too - a potential encephalitis hazard. We have issued notices etc - but in the absence of a plan, a proper scheme, what can be done? Where will they be relocated? What about the requisite police arrangements? The institutional power to act is lacking. To restore the ecological balance, and to mitigate air pollution, open spaces are needed. We need to acquire land for this. But the Land Acquisition Dept is so inertia-ridden that many public welfare oriented programmes come to nought. The legal system is also a hinderance, with litigation impeding us. So how does one act? Noise pollution on the highways is acute. We are now aware of some of the consequences of this. Yet the problem seems to be worsening over time. What are the measures to combat or control this? Many of the problems in our area are still at a small scale. Compared to other places, with early resolute action we can achieve a turn-around. Rajpur-Sonarpur Ours is a huge municipality, 97 sq kms, with a population of over 3 lakhs. Some CMC areas are also inside our municipality. The Tolly's Nullah carries Calcutta's rubbish into our municipality. 8-10 kms of this Nullah lies within our boundaries. Carcasses. The entire stretch of the Nullah from Tollygunge to beyond Garia is stagnant and foul. And on both sides of this there are shanty settlements. In Garia and Baruipur some new factories have come up for lead and arsenic extraction. The local people there are agitating against this. The SPCB has closed down 9-10 units. The workers and owners are pressing us to permit these to be re-opened. But the local people are against this. This has caused a law and order problem for us. Such factories in a congested area like ours - a serious problem. Then there are the garages on both sides of the road, which too are polluting. In Garia, land is very expensive now, what with the EM Bypass, Patuli township etc. High rise buildings are coming up, without any proper drainage arrangement. They dump their water in surrounding areas inhabited by poorer people. This has lead to a law and order problem. We do not get any river water, and so use groundwater. But this is arsenic contaminated - till as much as 250-300 feet. The SPCB is not taking up our problems effectively, despite all our efforts to inform them. Budge Budge There are 20 wards in our municipality. This is an industrial belt. On the main road (MG Road), tankers abound. One can hardly move. Vehicle fumes. The CESC project. The IOC bottling plant. The vehicular load is very high, and consequently air pollution is bad. There is no proper drainage system, and there have been no improvements carried out in the last 15-20 years. Public and private oil companies, the five jute factories - all dump their effluents in the river. We had hoped that the Ganga Action Plan would help improve matters. But this has just not materialised. Drinking water is a problem. Budge Budge and the neighbouring Pujali NAA and Maheshtala can together have a booster system installed to improve the water situation. We are unable to go in for deep tube wells because of lack of resources. On both the sides of the roads there are garages, which are a source of noise pollution. With the increase in number of cars, their horns, and the garages - the situation is hellish. Our three municipalities have to depend on just 1 crematorium, in Budge Budge. An electric crematorium is needed. This is a long-standing requirement, and has not been taken up at all. This will help to reduce the river pollution. The industrial pollution of the river calls for action. We have informed the SPCB, but to no avail. The crude privies are also a source of pollution. Hooghly-Chinsura We are the district headquarters, so we have plenty of roads, drains etc. We are aware of environmental problems through the mass media. We have open drains in our municipality. This breeds mosquitoes. This calls for attention. Ours is an old town. The existing underground drainage system is very old and clogged. Water-logging results. Bally We have a population of over 2 lakhs. Our municipality has a special problem on account of its peculiar situation: one part from the river to the GT Road; one from the GT Road to the rail line; and one beyond the rail line. This causes a lot of problems in municipal management of drainage, and water supply, including drinking water supply. We get our water from Srirampur municipality. The water pressure has come down drastically. As a result we are unable to supply water to many holdings. Our sewage was earlier flowing into the river. Thanks to the Ganga Action Plan, this is now going to the panchayat area. There is a law and order problem on our hands because of waterlogging due to low-lying lands being built up on. The GT Road has become hellish. The stretch from Bally to Howrah in particular. Buses, lorries, repair garages. The width of the road has been reduced thanks to these garages. The railway colony is a major part of our municipality. There are cattle sheds here. We have to take the responsibility to deal with their wastes. This fills up our high drains. If we take an average per capita garbage at 600-1,100 gms, then for us this works out to 100 tons per day. This has to be taken out to the dump, 8-9 miles away. Several trips a day. A massive cost. Maheshtala The seven irrigation canals here are stagnant. Mosquitoes and related diseases abound. This is overlooked. The canals are full of hyacinth. We have a population of 3.25 lakhs, within a 50 sq km area. Calcutta's solid wastes come into our area (in the Garden reach, Brace Bridge, Metiabruz areas). The cow slaughter-house has not been improved since the British period. The stagnant wastes from here enter the drainage system, and during the rains this spreads everywhere. There are massive diarrhoea problems. There is no solid waste management, and consequently no health infrastructure commensurate to the situation we face. The growth happening nearby, in Budge Budge: about a 100 factories, each with between 50-300 workers (aside from Bata); there is no monitoring of factory wastes for their pollution content. The CMWSA's surface drinking water facility only partially covers our area. So we need to run deep tube wells. Environmental pollution and health hazards in such fringe areas of Calcutta Corporation need to be improved for better living conditions in our area. Pujali NAA Our area has been a NAA only for a year and five months now. Earlier it was a panchayat area. So there was no infrastructure developed. We have water scarcity. Our rural area is very poor. Health problems come up due to open defecation along the roads. We made a meagre effort by installing 200 sanitary latrines. Then along the river there are 25 brick kilns. Some years ago the SPCB had asked them to install chimneys of at least 65 feet height. They have not done this. Coconut and areca trees in the area are affected. Otherwise our area is still green, rural, full of trees. Pollution is not a problem for us. Baidyabati In Sheoraphuli railway station and bazaar as well as in the railway basti, there is indiscriminate garbage disposal. Installing covered vats would be helpful. Then there is open defecation in the drains. This is a source of polio. When the garbage is taken in lorries, these should be covered - so that the garbage does not spill all along the way. The Srabani Mela that takes place in our area is a major pilgrimage. Visitors drop flowers, pots etc in the drains. Stagnant water accumulates, which is a source of malaria. There are cattle sheds and piggeries in our area. There is all their effluent. The pigs may also be a source of encephalitis. When drinking water is provided for marriages and other public functions, is it possible to have this chlorinated? The sanitary inspector in the municipality has the full power to take action against food adulteration; but this power is not exercised. A lot of unhygienic food is sold by vendors. Bhadreswar, Champdani, Baidyabati Whether the Action Plan is being properly taken up or not by the implementing authority - this is important to ascertain. For instance, under the Ganga Action Plan, they were supposed to install sanitary latrines. But earthen service privies were installed. Population pressure is growing. Earlier, there were natural outlets for the city - in the river, in vacant lands. These vacant lands have been built up on, and that too in an unplanned manner. Add to that the role of promoters. And cattle sheds. In Bandel, there are cattle sheds along the railway tracks. There are also unauthorised settlements. The canals are choked. Despite the huge amount of expenditure on CUDP, IPP etc, the basic unplanned nature of things continues. Factory wastes, cattle shed wastes, service privy wastes, slaughter-house wastes - all are dumped into the river. GT Road is today in bad shape. Rishra We have chemical factories on both sides of the road. These emit fumes. A disaster in the making. Local authorities do not have the ability to cope with this. ICI's rubber, chemical and phosphate factory - this regularly emits gases. The United Vegetable factory - some time back, a boiler there burst, some people were killed, and we were hard put to control the resulting situation. Air and water is being polluted. The jute mills and the textile mills are also generating fine particles which cause respiratory problems. We have highlighted our problems in a note, and we would also like to invite you to visit us and discuss matters with us. Paschim Banga Vigyan Mancha Our organisation has some 40,000 members, throughout West Bengal. We have 18 district committees, zonal committees and unit committees. We have a close link with the municipalities. The problems expressed by the municipalities today - we have been raising awareness on these issues for years now. There are a lot a canals in the area, used for both sewage and irrigation. These are causing problems. This is one of the key issues. Industrial air pollution is another key problem. Here there are both large industries, in the Barrackpur, Naihati, Rishra, Hooghly, Garden Reach, Tangra-Tiljala areas, as well as small-scale units, like battery manufacture, acid processing, gold smelting etc. There are also small concentrated pockets of industry in the municipal areas. These small-scale units must be a major focus area for action. The lead smelting units in Tiljala face a technology gap. The existing institutions are unable to provide this. We try to bring together the industries and scientific-technological institutions. Three units in Tiljala were thus helped to install the requisite devices. The acetylene gas factory in the Budge Budge-Birlapur area - is another example of a polluting unit. The Supreme Court, SPCB are all taking up this matter now. But these units are not getting the requisite technology. For both large and small units, there needs to be an action plan for the best available technology. Regarding vehicular air pollution, we have undertaken awareness programmes with the Calcutta Corporation, Calcutta Police and others. But when there is such a concentration of traffic in the city and the municipalities, what can be achieved? Water-bodies are being filled up. In Behala, we were able to save 9 such water-bodies from the clutches of the promoters. In the Tiljala-Kasba areas there are some water-bodies. Elsewhere these are either no longer there, or are threatened. In the municipalities as well, both within their boundaries as well as in surrounding areas, there are water-bodies. These need to be protected and saved. The municipalities are highly congested. Therefore whatever water-bodies and open spaces still exist need to be conserved. Then there is the issue of arsenic contamination of water, in the Sonarpur area as well as in parts of North 24 Parganas. Piped water supply needs to be made available there immediately. Regarding garbage, CMC is collaborating with Excel Industries and with Western Paques for utilisation of the garbage. Such recycling should be taken up in the municipalities as well. The whole question of recycling needs to be looked at by CEMSAP. Small decentralised programmes need to be taken up. Similarly with sewage. There is a need to look at the possibility of bio-treatment and recycling, for algae and manure production. This would turn out to be much cheaper than conventional sewage treatment plants. So this option is especially relevant for the municipalities. All the municipalities face similar problems. Today, only some 10-20 % of these have been touched upon. There are many more problems. To really do justice to the existing situation, it is necessary to have local meetings; we can bring together 2-3 municipalities and involve local youth associations. We can mobilise our orgnisation's infrastructure for this. Finally, one might mention the need for attitudinal/behavioural changes in people - for instance in regard to garbage, storage of water (which breeds mosquitoes) etc. Concern for Calcutta We are a citizens' group. Our experience is of working in Calcutta. The problems that exist and their magnitude all call for wide-scale collaboration of the citizens with the authorities. Otherwise nothing can be achieved. So a citizen' action plan is needed. We work on the issue of parks. Earlier, when Calcutta was a more planned city, there were many beautiful parks. Now these are degraded. They are the lungs of the city. They need to be saved. It is the joint responsibility of everybody to save these parks from destruction, degradation, and the clutches of promoters and anti-socials. They also need to be beautified. We are working with CMC on this. Regarding garbage collection, we are happy that CMC is now talking about house-to-house collection. We can see some success, e.g. at Russel Street. But we can also see that where the people of the neighbourhood take the initiative, then the programme is successful. We are trying to motivate citizens to take the initiative and plan and collaborate with the CMC. Then there are the market-places. Thousands of people come here everyday. But even in a major market like New Market there are no toilets. This leads to a major public health and sanitation problem. These markets are controlled by the Corporations / municipalities. Yet they ignore this aspect. We are working with Sulabh International for a toilet complex in New Market. When new markets are set up, this aspect should be incorporated in the plan. Regarding vehicular air pollution, there is genuine ignorance and lack of awareness among many drivers. There needs to be a sincere attempt to communicate to such people. Finally, the question arises as to who will implement improvements. Will the agency responsible for this have the requisite power and mandate to do so? Summing Up by the Principal Secretary, Dept of Environment, GoWB One can list the various problems raised, in terms of those common to all, and those which are specific to some. Common problems : Filling up of low-lying areas and water-bodies by human settlements and industries; garbage dumps, disposal, recycling; Ganga Action Plan consequences; industrial wastes; household smoke nuisance; drainage channel re-excavation; river bank erosion; conversion of dry latrines; building byelaws, town planning actions; awareness campaigns at all levels. Special problems : Fly ash; encroachments on railway land; cattle sheds; noise pollution; employment problems from closure of polluting units; arsenic in drinking water; lack of electric crematoria; traffic circulation; population growth and distribution; slaughter house-related problems; problems of spill-over in the CMC fringe areas; brickfields; technologies accessible to small-scale units for pollution control; hazards from chemical industries in congested areas. Water, drainage, sanitation, traffic - these have been the conventional areas of infrastructural programmes, for which development programmes exist. Our role is to look explicitly at the overall environmental situation; at problems arising from the implementation of existing schemes; at those areas that have tended to be ignored. Existing programmes need to be strengthened. There should not been any conflicts or competition between the existing programmes and our work. The municipalities have certain powers - to issue trade licenses, health licenses, for building sanction etc. They have conservancy and water departments. The existing powers and means need to be used. There should not be a dependence on external assistance on aspects that fall well within the existing powers of the municipalities. Existing powers should be sought to be strengthened and implemented. There are also a number of developmental programmes being undertaken in the municipal areas. CMDA, IDSMT, UBSP, NRY, etc. There is a need for area-wise consolidation and combination of these schemes for achieving maximal impact. Now these are undertaken in an ad hoc manner, with no comprehensive impact in an area. A ward as a whole, or a larger area, needs to be specifically taken up through these various schemes. Environmental initiatives can then be converged into this. I believe the Municipal Affairs and Urban Development departments are trying to achieve such coordination. W e would thus have an effective framework to bring about improvements in living conditions. I believe the Municipal Affairs Dept and the Urban Development Dept are trying to achieve such coordination. From jcm at ata.org.pe Mon Sep 19 05:01:51 2005 From: jcm at ata.org.pe (Jose-Carlos Mariategui) Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 00:31:51 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Invitation to subscribe to iberoamerica-act Message-ID: [iberoamerica-act] Lista de Interés Iberoamericana de Arte, Nuevos Medios, Ciencia y Tecnología Iberoamerican Mailing List on Art, New Media, Science and Technology http://groups.yahoo.com/group/iberoamerica-act Subscribe at: iberoamerica-act-subscribe at yahoogroups.com Created in January, 2001, Iberoamerica-act is the main mailing list on Latin American electronic arts. It responded to the necessity of developing a space of dialogue between artists, theoreticians and public in relation to art, science and technology in the Iberoamerican region, extending voices to participate in a multidirectional discussion. Currently the list has around 350 members that in many cases share similar realities and generate working strategies together. Main language: Spanish / Portuguese Subscribe at: iberoamerica-act-subscribe at yahoogroups.com From mahmoodfarooqui at yahoo.com Mon Sep 19 10:36:49 2005 From: mahmoodfarooqui at yahoo.com (mahmood farooqui) Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 22:06:49 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] gaanv, shahar, ravikant aur shaharnama Message-ID: <20050919050649.1906.qmail@web80909.mail.scd.yahoo.com> Humne kuchh dinon pahle ek mock documentary feature ka title rakha tha CHALE GAANV KI OR Maqsad kahne ka yeh, ki voh baat jo us roz Ravikant aur Sanjay ji ne uthayi thi aur jise Nandy ji ne sameta tha ki SHAHARNAMA isliye aur gaanvnaama isliye nahin, kyunki gaanv ab shahar bante ja rahe hain. Nandy ji is baat ke sakht khilaaf hain ki 'shahar banna hi gaanv ki niyati hai' magar shahar aur gaanv ke falsafiyana matlabon ko nazarandaaz karte hue mujhe kahna yeh hai ki sachhai to yahi hai ki chahe shahar vaale hon chahe gaanv vaale donon ke liye gaanv ki sarvottam parinati yahi hai ki voh shahar ban jaayen, ya shahar jaise ban jaayein. Lekin darasal bara mudda jo hai, hindi jagat aur gaanv ka masla jise bahut aasaani aur sahajta se sanjay aur Ravikant ne nipta diya, uska taalluq sirf isse nahin hai ki Hindi saahitya ab apni shahri parivesh mein aatmvishwaas se khara ho gaya hai, maano hindi saahitya koi gaanv se aaya hua mera dada hai jo ab teen pushton ke baad shahar mein apni jarein phaila chuka hai. Voh Nagarjun aur Nagar aur Nirala aur Premchand ab hamare paas nahin hain jo gaanv se nikle the. Gaanv jo kabhi Hindi ka shahar tha so isliye to tha hi ki Gandhi aur aazaadi ke rahnumaaon ne hindustan ki haqeeqat ka asli akas gaanv mein dhoondha tha aur Hindi srijan ek arse tak apne aaspaas ek naitik zimmedari dale hue tha, desh aur desh ke asli juz gaanv ke prati. Baat yeh bhi thi ki jo log voh saahitya parh rahe the aur jo log use likh rahe the voh khud gaanv se aaye the aur unka taalluq gaanv se bana rahta tha saalahasaal. SHuroo ki baat pe vaapas paltun to mere dada jo gaanv mein paida hue aur mere pitaji jinhein gaanv ki baharein dekhi thin, voh virasat mujhe nahin saunp sake, mera gaanv ab ya to aadha hai, ya premchand ke paas rah gaya hai aur usmein jo bacha use raagdarbari le gaya. To kahne ka matlab yeh ki hum yadi aaj gaanv ke baare mein nahin likhte hain aur uske baare mein nahin parhte hain to isliye ki shahron mein ek acchi khaasi taadaad un hindi parhne waalon aur likhne waalon ki hai jo gaanv se poori tarah naabalad hain. Hum gaanv ko isliye haashiye par rakh sakte hain ki voh ab hamara aaspaas nahin basta aur na hi hamare paathakon ke aaspaas basta hai. to hum kyun uspe likhein aur kyun uspe baat karein? Magar agar baat ko gaanv se hata ke kisanon ki taraf laaya jaye, yaani peasants ke, to phir maamla geographical aur spatial na rahke temporal ho jata hai. Voh isliye ki voh jo paanchveen class la lesson hum parhte the ki bharatvarsh kisanon ka desh hai ab usmein yun tarmeem kar di jaani chahiye ki bharatvarsh kisanon ka desh tha, jo ab abhi yahan qareeb saath pratishat ki taadaad mein hain, magar chunki GDP mein voh mahaz 25 percent ka yogdaan dete hain isliye humne yeh maan liya hai ki kuchh hi dinon mein sab kisan ya to shahar palaayan kar jaayenge ya gaanv shahar ban jaayenge aur kisanon ko kisaani ke abhishaap se mukti mil jaayegi. Phir hamara shaharnama aap hi aap poore mulk ka ahaata kar lega. Hum shahri log hain bhaiyya aur shahar ke baare mein likh rahe hain, hum choonki hindi waale hain isliye humko safai deni parti hai. Urdu waalon ne to shuroo se hi apne aap ko shahri zabaan waala banake saari samaajik zimmedariyon se mukt kar liya. To pahli baat to yeh ki kya hamein safaai dene ki zaroorat hai, doosri baat yeh ki hum agar safaai dein to phir dein, kanni na kataayein... Sammanpoorvak, GANWAAR. __________________________________ Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 http://mail.yahoo.com From nomeparece at gmx.net Mon Sep 19 16:01:51 2005 From: nomeparece at gmx.net (nomeparece) Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 12:31:51 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] Re: Invitation to subscribe In-Reply-To: <20050919100014.1C7A728D789@mail.sarai.net> References: <20050919100014.1C7A728D789@mail.sarai.net> Message-ID: <082890CA-CB35-433D-BC64-C0B74CD6CABF@gmx.net> hola Jose Carlos, i wanted to see the archives of the list, but they are blocked for web/public viewing, is this a moderated list? if so, who is moderating it? can it be possible to read it online only? if they are blocked, whats the reason for keeping them off from non-group members? i will like to understand why i cannot access the archives..merci http://ar.groups.yahoo.com/group/iberoamerica-act/ to many questions :) thanks, gracias /a On Sep 19, 2005, at 12:00 PM, reader-list-request at sarai.net wrote: > Send reader-list mailing list submissions to > reader-list at sarai.net > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > reader-list-request at sarai.net > > You can reach the person managing the list at > reader-list-owner at sarai.net > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of reader-list digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Invitation to subscribe to iberoamerica-act > (Jose-Carlos Mariategui) > 2. gaanv, shahar, ravikant aur shaharnama (mahmood farooqui) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 00:31:51 +0100 > From: Jose-Carlos Mariategui > Subject: [Reader-list] Invitation to subscribe to iberoamerica-act > To: Spectre , nettime > , Reader > Message-ID: > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" > > [iberoamerica-act] > Lista de Interés Iberoamericana de Arte, Nuevos Medios, Ciencia y > Tecnología > Iberoamerican Mailing List on Art, New Media, Science and Technology > > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/iberoamerica-act > Subscribe at: iberoamerica-act-subscribe at yahoogroups.com > > Created in January, 2001, Iberoamerica-act is the main mailing list > on Latin > American electronic arts. It responded to the necessity of > developing a > space of dialogue between artists, theoreticians and public in > relation to > art, science and technology in the Iberoamerican region, extending > voices to > participate in a multidirectional discussion. > > Currently the list has around 350 members that in many cases share > similar > realities and generate working strategies together. > > Main language: Spanish / Portuguese > > Subscribe at: iberoamerica-act-subscribe at yahoogroups.com > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Sun, 18 Sep 2005 22:06:49 -0700 (PDT) > From: mahmood farooqui > Subject: [Reader-list] gaanv, shahar, ravikant aur shaharnama > To: reader-list at sarai.net > Message-ID: <20050919050649.1906.qmail at web80909.mail.scd.yahoo.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" > > Humne kuchh dinon pahle ek mock documentary feature ka > title rakha tha CHALE GAANV KI OR > > Maqsad kahne ka yeh, ki voh baat jo us roz Ravikant > aur Sanjay ji ne uthayi thi aur jise Nandy ji ne > sameta tha ki SHAHARNAMA isliye aur gaanvnaama isliye > nahin, kyunki gaanv ab shahar bante ja rahe hain. > > Nandy ji is baat ke sakht khilaaf hain ki 'shahar > banna hi gaanv ki niyati hai' magar shahar aur gaanv > ke falsafiyana matlabon ko nazarandaaz karte hue mujhe > kahna yeh hai ki sachhai to yahi hai ki chahe shahar > vaale hon chahe gaanv vaale donon ke liye gaanv ki > sarvottam parinati yahi hai ki voh shahar ban jaayen, > ya shahar jaise ban jaayein. > > Lekin darasal bara mudda jo hai, hindi jagat aur gaanv > ka masla jise bahut aasaani aur sahajta se sanjay aur > Ravikant ne nipta diya, uska taalluq sirf isse nahin > hai ki Hindi saahitya ab apni shahri parivesh mein > aatmvishwaas se khara ho gaya hai, maano hindi > saahitya koi gaanv se aaya hua mera dada hai jo ab > teen pushton ke baad shahar mein apni jarein phaila > chuka hai. Voh Nagarjun aur Nagar aur Nirala aur > Premchand ab hamare paas nahin hain jo gaanv se nikle > the. > > Gaanv jo kabhi Hindi ka shahar tha so isliye to tha hi > ki Gandhi aur aazaadi ke rahnumaaon ne hindustan ki > haqeeqat ka asli akas gaanv mein dhoondha tha aur > Hindi srijan ek arse tak apne aaspaas ek naitik > zimmedari dale hue tha, desh aur desh ke asli juz > gaanv ke prati. Baat yeh bhi thi ki jo log voh > saahitya parh rahe the aur jo log use likh rahe the > voh khud gaanv se aaye the aur unka taalluq gaanv se > bana rahta tha saalahasaal. > > SHuroo ki baat pe vaapas paltun to mere dada jo gaanv > mein paida hue aur mere pitaji jinhein gaanv ki > baharein dekhi thin, voh virasat mujhe nahin saunp > sake, mera gaanv ab ya to aadha hai, ya premchand ke > paas rah gaya hai aur usmein jo bacha use raagdarbari > le gaya. > > To kahne ka matlab yeh ki hum yadi aaj gaanv ke baare > mein nahin likhte hain aur uske baare mein nahin > parhte hain to isliye ki shahron mein ek acchi khaasi > taadaad un hindi parhne waalon aur likhne waalon ki > hai jo gaanv se poori tarah naabalad hain. > > Hum gaanv ko isliye haashiye par rakh sakte hain ki > voh ab hamara aaspaas nahin basta aur na hi hamare > paathakon ke aaspaas basta hai. to hum kyun uspe > likhein aur kyun uspe baat karein? > > Magar agar baat ko gaanv se hata ke kisanon ki taraf > laaya jaye, yaani peasants ke, to phir maamla > geographical aur spatial na rahke temporal ho jata > hai. Voh isliye ki voh jo paanchveen class la lesson > hum parhte the ki bharatvarsh kisanon ka desh hai ab > usmein yun tarmeem kar di jaani chahiye ki bharatvarsh > kisanon ka desh tha, jo ab abhi yahan qareeb saath > pratishat ki taadaad mein hain, magar chunki GDP mein > voh mahaz 25 percent ka yogdaan dete hain isliye humne > yeh maan liya hai ki kuchh hi dinon mein sab kisan ya > to shahar palaayan kar jaayenge ya gaanv shahar ban > jaayenge aur kisanon ko kisaani ke abhishaap se mukti > mil jaayegi. > > Phir hamara shaharnama aap hi aap poore mulk ka ahaata > kar lega. > > Hum shahri log hain bhaiyya aur shahar ke baare mein > likh rahe hain, hum choonki hindi waale hain isliye > humko safai deni parti hai. Urdu waalon ne to shuroo > se hi apne aap ko shahri zabaan waala banake saari > samaajik zimmedariyon se mukt kar liya. > > To pahli baat to yeh ki kya hamein safaai dene ki > zaroorat hai, doosri baat yeh ki hum agar safaai dein > to phir dein, kanni na kataayein... > > Sammanpoorvak, > > GANWAAR. > > > > __________________________________ > Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 > http://mail.yahoo.com > > > ------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ > reader-list mailing list > reader-list at sarai.net > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > > > End of reader-list Digest, Vol 26, Issue 23 > ******************************************* > > From aarti at sarai.net Mon Sep 19 18:37:02 2005 From: aarti at sarai.net (Aarti) Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 18:37:02 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Sarai.txt 2.3 Message-ID: <432EB7F6.6000300@sarai.net> Sarai txt 2.3 15 August - 15 November, 2005 Also see: http://broadsheet.var.cc/blog for previous issues. *THE STATE YOU ARE IN* Through what registers can we try to articulate the matrices of fear that are part of everyday living? How do movement, space, design alter because of fear, uncertainty, anxiety? Content of the text version: (Does not include the poster and images) SIDE 01 - On Walking The City (Yashoda Singh, Practitioner, Cybermohalla, Sara-CSDS + Ankur and Zamrooda Khanday, reader-list post, September 2002) SIDE 02 - The Day I got Verified (Taha Mehmood, Researcher, Information Society, Sarai) + Information Politics (Jeebesh Bagchi, Sarai Reader 02: The Cities of Everyday Life) - Urban Legends - The "Clap!" (Shveta Sarda, Researcher/Practitioner, Cybermohalla, Sarai-CSDS + Ankur) - Inside The Locality (Aprajita De, Independent Fellow, Sarai) + Late Show (Madhavi Tangella, Independent Fellow, Sarai) - On Taking Flight - Whose Hands Are Sullied (Lakshmi Kutty, Independent Fellow, Sarai) + Late Show (Madhavi Tangella, Independent Fellow, Sarai) - Notes on Unsettling Memories (Notes from Emma Tarlo's Lecture, City One conference, Sarai-CSDS) - Reading Naukar Ki Kameez (Hansa Thapilyal, reader-list post) BACKPAGE: - Sarai[s] : On Daryaganj Bookmarket - The Stop Ragging Campaign - This Year, This City - Credits write to : broadsheet at sarai.net for print copies. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SIDE [01] I saw a woman. Her face was dark-complexioned and experienced. She was trying to cross the road, and was coming in my direction. Four to five men were passing by in front of her. I wasn’t looking at them; I could see only the woman. My eyes were fixed on the woman’s eyes, to see how she reacts while passing through these people. But it wasn’t only her eyes that were reacting. The expressions on her entire face were changing. A face that had looked normal till then, now had an expression of distress. Her hands, fixing the dupatta, were playing on her body. Her eyes were raised towards those people, and mine towards her. In her eyes I could see the need to hurry past. She passed by those people in one second. But in that second, how many expressions had adorned her. She walked on, past me. www.sarai.net/cybermohalla/works/book_box/pages/pdfs/eyescrowd.pdf Yashoda Singh, yashoda at cm.sarai.net It was the usual balmy September weather. I rolled my car window halfway up as I drove home from work, and switched on the radio set. My mind raced through different images from the day as I settled on a channel. Rape, harassement, sexual assult seemed to me to be the flavour of the month – not just on radio but in newspapers and magazines and on TV as well...A voice on Radio FM 102.6 proudly announced what it believed to be something for the women of the city to look forward to... “The New Delhi Municipal Corporation, in its attempt to make Delhi a safe haven for women, is planning to make provisions for walkways and paths specially reserved for women. These walks will have high walls to sheild women from vision. They will be well lit, and with specially trained gaurds posted to make sure that no ’male members’ trespass.“ I turned to another channel, exasperated. Was this the solution? Was it all so simple? Or were we simply not willing to face the problem and its solution in the eye? http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/2002-September/001809.html Zamrooda Khanday, September 2002 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SIDE [02] THE DAY I GOT VERIFIED Kilokri is a mixed locality. Planned Middle and Higher Income Group government flats coexist with settlements, dense unplanned residential areas and housing complexes built on encroached land. There is a profusion of clustered and cloistered neighbourhoods. I live as a tenant in Kilokri. Last Sunday, as I walked home from the grocer’s, I ran into Mr. Malhotra, my landlord. He looked worried. He handed me a tenant verification form and said, “You must fill this, otherwise the police will create trouble.” I looked through the form. It was titled, ’Format for Information of Tenants’. It was bilingual (Hindi/English) and had three sections: landlord’s, tenant’s, and an acknowledgment slip. Landlords were required to give their name, occupation with details of office, their phone number and address. Tenants were to provide four addresses and phone numbers – present, previous, past and office. Other details required were: date of leaving, details of office, family details and details of any official documentation (passport, driving licence, arms licence, ration card, voter ID card, or income tax – and so provide their PAN or Permanent Account Number). The acknowledgment slip had: received from, son/daughter of, resident of, phone number, residence let out to, son/daughter of, date, number of the diary in which entry is made, name, designation, signature of the recipient. I, the tenant, was required to fill in very minute details about my personal life. I had to write the naam (name) and umr (age) of the person I was living with, and my sambandh (relationship) with him/her. I found this very intrusive. Nevertheless, I filled the form. Mr. Malhotra was hesitant about filling his section of the form. For him, the landlord, the form was a cause of anxiety. He has built three stories on his plot, which he has rented out, but has never declared the income accruing to him from this to the authorities. He was apprehensive that the tenant verification form was a facade to elicit information about his property, most of which is constructed in blatant violation of existing municipal laws. After much consideration, he forwarded his widowed mother’s name as the owner of the house, as she does not have a functioning bank account, nor a PAN – sources from which data about identity and income can be collated. Having finished filling up his section, an anxious Mr. Malhotra turned to me and said, ”Now you must come with me to the police station. Lets go after lunch.” On my way to my room, I ran into the old couple who live on the second floor. I asked them whether they had been verified. Uncle: I had to tell Malhotra the procedure from start to finish. He didn’t know a thing. Taha: I don’t understand. Uncle: On 2nd December there was a piece in The Hindustan Times city supplement stating that all landlords must verify their tenants by 23rd December, otherwise they will be fined. Maybe even face arrest. Taha: So? Uncle: What do you mean, ’so’? We are old retired people. We don’t want any trouble. After reading the piece I went to the police station, got the form and told Malhotra about it. I told him to make sure that all the tenants fill this form, or we might end up getting involved with the police. I thanked him and climbed up the stairs to my room. I wondered what would be done with the forms. What kinds of databases will be made? For what would they be used? For the moment, however, filling the form created within me frustration, anger, and a feeling of extreme vulnerability. http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/2004-December/004702.html Taha Mahmood, Researcher, Information Society, Sarai-CSDS, taha at sarai.net *** My mailbox at Sarai has recently been receiving a number of unsolicited mails with subject headers like ’Access Control’, ’Biometrics’, ’Workplace Watchdog’, etc., from companies looking for distributors for various Physical Access Control, and IT Security technologies. Presumably they hope that I might be interested. Meanwhile, my father was recently given a ’tenant verification form’ by the housing society in which he stays, to be submitted to the local police station. He is disturbed about having himself verified after thirty-five years of abiding by the law. Both these events – the emails selling surveillance systems and the arrival of my father’s verification form – are pointers towards an increasing drive to collect information that will enable greater control over access and mobility within urban spaces. What we are witnessing is a sophisticated compact between state institutions, public policy, businesses, voluntary groups and technologists to control ’populations’ and erect fortresses (and gulags?) of data. Information is part of a complex flow of a global traffic of investment, goods, labour, and instructions. Information, in its commodified form, travells towards new frontiers, pushes boundaries, making certain barriers obsolete, some porous, some re-configured, and creating more refined access regulators. http://www.sarai.net/journal/02PDF/10infopol/01infopol_intro.pdf Jeebesh Bagchi, Sarai Reader 02: The Cities of Everyday Life, New Delhi, 2002. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Although no one ever has seen Popo Bawa (Swahili for Bat’s Wing), belief in the monster and his unnatural lust is so strong, that entire villages in Chaka Chaka sleep out of doors for protection. Popo Bawa, a sodomising gremlin, prefers to attack behind closed doors at night. Victims tell that they detected a bad smell, became cold and went into a trance in the moments before they felt the creature’s inhuman strength. Popo Bawa becomes active at election time – a habit that is testing nerves ahead of polls due in October. http://www.phenomenamagazine.com/ A mysterious flying object said to attack sleeping villagers has sparked mass hysteria and rioting across the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The object, described as a flying sphere emitting red and blue light, is said to strike in the middle of the night, leaving victims with burns or scratches on their faces and limbs, and earning it the name the Muhnochwa (Face-Scratcher). Villagers across the region no longer sleep outside, as they usually do during the summer heat, fearing they will be easy prey for the Muhnochwa. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-389122,00.htm Residents of the shantytown Alto do Cruzeiro in North East Brazil, reported multiple sightings of large blue and yellow combi-vans, allegedly driven by American or Japanese agents, who were said to be scouring poor neighbourhoods in search of stray youngsters. The children would be nabbed and shoved into the trunk of the van. Their discarded and eviscerated bodies – minus heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, and eyes – would turn up later by the side of roads, in between rows of sugarcane, or in hospital dumpsters. It is said that these ghoulish acts are carried out by an international mafia trading in organs for wealthy transplant patients in the first world. http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/2002-September/001784.html ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ THE "CLAP!" Connaught Place was crowded, busy with people on their way. Some lingered at the bookstalls laid out on the pavement. Others walked slowly, some rushed past. I smiled, thinking about how everyone managed without a traffic policeman directing the flow. But then I realised the crowd wasn’t really moving as chaotically as it seemed at first. Curiously, after reaching a unique point on the curving pavement, it was as if the crowd parted, made two semicircular arcs, and then met again at the other end of the enclosing circle. I was intrigued. What inside that circle had power enough to choreograph the movement of a crowd of strangers? I shifted my gaze, curious to see who was directing its flow. Right in the middle was a short, slight figure dressed in a faded pink salwar kameez. Her hair was tied in a bun. Below it, on her neck, a thin golden chain shone dully. Her shoulders were broad for her build, her kameez sleeves hung loosely on her elbows. A profusion of colourful bangles adorned her wrists. Narrow hips, and a pair of hawaii chappals on her feet. She stood very still, looking around her. Her back was to me. I thought, how strange. By herself, she may never have drawn my gaze. But the crowd has tied my eyes to her. At that moment, this slight figure, standing alone in the middle of the crowd circling around her, clapped. CLAP! And the circle moved faster. Footsteps became quicker. Eyes turned shifty, unsure where to rest – anywhere but on her who pulled them in her direction. CLAP! And the slender figure caught someone’s eye and moved towards him. The young man’s eyes widened with fear. He raised one arm, bringing the plastic and paper bags he was carrying between himself and the approaching figure, while flailing his other arm, gesturing her to stay away. Frozen in his tracks for a fraction of a second, he now fled the circle as she, unfazed, moved steadily towards him. The circle shifted to enclose her within its boundary. She turned around now, watching the circle. She had deep-set eyes, thick eyebrows and the thin stubble of a moustache beneath her nose. Her breasts were small and pointed. She wore neither dupatta, nor makeup. CLAP! She moved again, this time towards a young couple. They stopped as she stood in their path, and moved closer to one another, suspicious of what she would say or do. She clapped noiselessly, and said something. Maybe a blessing for a long and happy married life. The young woman unbuttoned her purse wordlessly and handed her a ten-rupee note. The couple moved on, turning away from the circle. What was it about the slight, obscure, singular figure that evoked such fear, such loathing, such suspicion? Was it a shared web of stories about what people like her do – they steal little boys and make them like themselves, they can bless and cast strange spells, if you don’t give them money they will bare their genitals, they are queer and they beat their dead with chappals? But what could this lone figure do in a crowded centre of the city? What did she carry on her person that should cause such alarm? Maybe it was the body she covered deep inside her clothes. The penis that was small, the organ that was cut away, the stub that was a mere remnant. She was a standing, moving, clapping testimony of our collective anxieties, a constant, recalcitrant, perplexing embodiment of embarrassed biologies. Loth to tussle with the power our own shame exercised on us, we scowled and shunned, growled and flailed, withdrew and fled. And it was her CLAP that we most abhorred. She clapped to announce she was there, clapped to catch our attention, clapped to draw us to her ambiguous, morphed body. Her clap indicated her location, her closeness to our selves; it was her declaration that she was nearby – in the adjacent compartment of a moving train, at the next turn in a crowded bazaar, among us somewhere in the concentric circles of our tired circumambulations of the city streets. With her clap, she pervades and surrounds. With her clap she summons us to her, and drives us away. She turns us from our path, causes a ripple in our course, marks an alteration in our time – her clap becomes an interlude to which there is a ’before’ and an ’after’. Shveta Sarda, Researcher/Practitioner, Cybermohalla, Ankur+Sarai-CSDS, shveta at sarai.net ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ INSIDE THE LOCALITY ”Outside the pol (locality), people don’t even know each others’ name. It is not so here. There is a lot of bonding and ekta (unity), especially at times of riots and even during the earthquake. During the riots, men and boys took turns to guard the pol round the clock. And women took turns to cook for them and give them tea and snacks round the clock. ”Everyone came together during the earthquake as well. At that time, the entire pol was sleeping outside, on the road. All of us worked together (to reconstruct the houses). We ate together. ”But when there is no crisis, there is no cooperation. ”For example, if I wanted to extend this house, everyone would object. You can see from here that this road runs into a dead-end. No one uses it and it can be of no use to anybody. So if I make some sort of construction, everyone would protest against it: ’You are blocking the path, blocking ventilation, your construction is illegal.’” As told to Aparajita De, Sarai-CSDS Independent Fellow, 2003-04, project title: ”Imagined Geographies: The Case Study of Ahmedabad”. Text excerpted from submission to the Sarai archive. *** LATE SHOW Inside a narrow lane, the entrance to Mala Theater was crowded by young men trying to buy tickets. Two men sat at the counter, busy selling tickets. One of them looked Tamilian, and the other was a young boy in his twenties. ”Do you screen Telugu films here?” I asked. Surprised, the young boy replied, ”Yes, only on Sunday evenings, at 9.30 pm.” ”How many come to watch the show?” Looking at each other, they said about 15-20. Sensing their reluctance to speak, I smiled and started walking away. The young man from the counter was following me. I turned back. He walked up, scared and anxious. Before he could speak I said, ”I’m not from the police.” ”Madam,” he said, ”We own two Video theaters at Jogeshwari. Some one like you came and asked for some information and then clicked photographs. Next day, she came with the police and we had to shut it down. We don’t do ganda kaam (dirty work) now. We at this theater don’t show blue films. Hamara naam bhi kharab hota hai (We too get a bad name).” And so he got talking. ”My name is Vikas. We don’t show Telugu films everyday. Telugu films are screened every Sunday at 9:30 pm. At least 50-70 people come to watch, and we show films they demand. We only allow one film per ticket. However if a man comes at an odd time, i.e. when a film is on, we allow him to get in and continue till the next film is over. We do not want him to go back. After all, where will he go till the film gets over? ”And we don’t collect the ticket for the last show. Generally during daytime, once the film is over, we take the tickets back and tear them up. But for the last show, we allow them to keep their tickets. This is because the film gets over at around one in the morning. Very often, if it’s late at night, these Telugu people are detained by the police and questioned about their movements. They do not have a permanent address or any contact phone number or ID card. So, they show the film ticket as proof of where they have been. We regularly get requests to stamp, seal and sign the ticket.” http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/2005-May/005742.html Madhavi Tangella, Sarai-CSDS Independent Fellow, 2004-05, blueskyandus at rediffmail.com ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ”Do you want to study or not? What do you want to do in life? This world has no need for failures.” The young boy stands quietly, his head lowered, his eyes fixed on his shoes. The teacher continues to admonish and shame him. But by now he is far away from the jeering glances and sympathetic looks of his classmates, away from the piercing voice of this punishing adult. Maybe he would join his friend who has started a small candle-making workshop in the neighbourhood. Was it a mere coincidence that the chance came to him only a week ago, and that the evenings that he had spent in the workshop were already his most memorable ones? *** A young woman is at the crossroads of her life. Soon she must marry and start a new life. For a last outing, to momentarily push away the anxiety of the ‘familiar unknown’ of married life, she is allowed a trip to the local fair, with its giant wheels and fun shows and traders selling trinkets and other wares. She never returns home. She is lost in the mela. Her parents register a complaint in the kotwali, that she has been enticed away. But in hushed meetings, her friends call her ‘urhari’, the one who has flown away. *** How do we understand these acts of ‘fleeing’? What exactly is at stake in this effort to construct a world away from its centres? Is it a ”different thing” that is gained on the byways that lead, seemingly nowhere, through journeys towards making and living undestined lives? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ WHOSE HANDS ARE SULLIED? I’m interested in the public discourse on hygiene, sanitation and cleanliness – how this is linked to notions of good health not limited solely to medical criteria, but also includes notions of wellness, comfort/satisfaction, and the manner in which these discourses play out in public spaces, events and interactions. The promise of a healthy life in a city is not measured, as it traditionally has been, in strictly medical terms anymore, but is connected to visions of space and openness, the absence of clutter and crowds, and the possibility of escaping urban perils while still enjoying the city’s benefits. Interestingly, as the criteria for healthy/sanitised living change from medical to non-medical, the new criteria are themselves increasingly expressed through medicalised metaphors. Co-terminus with this is an urgency attached to acquiring certain lifestyles/products/services (such as air conditioners which filter out harmful microbes and pollutants). There are parallel discourses which label a certain outlook/attitude/way of living as antithetical to health and hygiene, and label certain ways of occupying space as a threat to “clean and sanitised“ environs. ’Segregation’ is crucial in sustaining these narratives. For instance, by what parameters is an outbreak of jaundice declared as an epidemic in Bombay? Which city areas are labelled as ’vulnerable’? What social biases are mobilised? How is the “other-in-our-midst“ evoked in these narrations? Whose hands are sullied in the process? http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/2005-March/005289.html Lakshmi Kutty, Sarai-CSDS Independent Fellow, 2004-05, lakshmikutty at rediffmail.com *** TASTY IMAGES, INADEQUATE SMELLS It was a hot afternoon in Brooklyn. The Mexican diner that I was passing by was empty, just the staff strolling around, a lady wiping the floor. The whole place, and especially the floor, looked extremely clean, and so I asked if they were open at all. The lady behind the counter called me in and guided me to a table at the window. As I made my way through the room, I was hit by the incredibly strong stench of the chloride cleaner. It covered not just the floor but everything within ten metres. I was famished, so I sat down and ordered immediately. I watched the lady mopping the floor. The floor was clean. It looked clean to me. But from the wet trace the lady had left, I could tell she had just started mopping and she seemed far from switching to another task. She hadn’t yet been in my area of the diner. She mopped very carefully, slowly. Once in a while she stopped to have a little chat with the lady behind the counter. They giggled. The front door was open and the orange afternoon sunlight flooded in. The moist floor shimmered. What a nice and calm picture, I thought. The cook appeared in the open kitchen and started creating a delicious burrito. I sat in great expectation of inhaling the incredible odour of chopped onions, spices, herbs, black beans and hot olive oil. But the odour couldn’t make it. It was chopped by the power of the dictatorial chloride cleaner. Disappointed, I tried to salvage the moment by focusing on the image of the juggling cook. It felt a little strange, like sitting at home, starving, the fridge empty, watching a Mexican cooking show on TV. Tasty images, inadequate smells. The dish was quickly made; when it was served, I’m sure my face had a “happily ever after“ look. After my first nip on the burrito, my sensory system sent out a warning: Food Look + Food Smell => Tasting, Chewing, Swallowing => Digestion. Fine. Food Look + Chloride Smell => No digestion. Bad. I tried. Burrito-Burrito. Stomach roaring. No. Enough. I went to the lady with the mop and asked her, in a very friendly manner, if she could stop cleaning till I had finished my food, since I was bothered by the smell of the cleaner. She was chatting with the lady at the counter. Both ladies were shocked. “Excuse me, but this floor has to be clean! This is a restaurant and it has to be clean! It’s the law!“ “But it’s clean. It looks clean to me!“ I said. “But what about the germs and bacteria you can’t see? They are there! But you can’t see them! So we have to clean even if we don’t see them! It’s the law to keep this place clean!“ Got it. I returned to my table. Minutes later the law kicked me into the bathroom and demanded my lunch back. http://www.snm-hgkz.ch/mailman/listinfo/driftwood Monya Plestsch, Hochschule Fuer Gestaltung, Zurich, monya at gmx.at ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ NOTES ON UNSETTLING MEMORIES Memories lie dormant in hidden recesses of the city, whether in neglected papers found in dusty government files, or in the shifting vistas of urban landscape, or in the articulated experiences of many of the city’s denizens. In these articulations, over the years, areas of silence get built – as moments not to be remembered in the history of the city. At other moments, multiple factors combine to cause such remembrance to atrophy: nationalist sentiment, party political interests, individual careers, expedient deaths and social unrest, which gain far wider currency than muted intellectual critiques. Of course there are also the short-lived narratives – propaganda literature, and testimonials produced in the years that follow an incident, a state-generated upheaval or repression. Like the Emergency, which has a heterogeneous discourse of resentment, guilt and accusation, drawn from a variety of sources including prison memoirs, underground resistance literature, public hearings, official commissions, fiction, journalists’ observations/research, and personal experience. These tides of memory and forgetting leave their mark not just on library shelves but also on monuments and landscapes of the city. The museum that is created becomes a place of forgetting, for it diverts public memory onto a different, more pervasive master narrative, which is also inscribed in other parts of the city, in the form of gigantesque national edifices. As a historian, one moves about the city searching for memories, searching that which has since been edited out of history altogether. How can one interpret records, which are officially produced artefacts made not to provide information but to categorise, present and conceal experience in various ways; and so break the mythology of silence, trace how this memory is projected, guarded and denied. From my experience of researching the Emergency I have learnt that both personal narratives and government documents have limited value as evidence or fact. Set against one another, however, they provide an account that is disturbingly coherent, and alarmingly close to lived experience. From Emma Tarlo’s lecture, ”Unsettling Memories: Narratives of the Emergency in Delhi” at ’City One: South Asian Conference on the Urban Experience’, Sarai-CSDS, 9-11 January 2003. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ READING NAUKAR KI KAMEEZ Two questions have lingered in my mind for some time now – one, how can one understand the current tendencies of the middle-class towards the Right? And two, how is English implicated in this? Interestingly, a clue to these questions comes from a novel written in 1979 – Naukar ki Kameez by Vinod Kumar Shukla. The novel, which I read recently, brought in new permutations, spaces inhabited by people I have known – lower-middle-class houses. Not sunk into poverty, but in a continuous struggle to stay afloat, with dignity. People who have veered into right-wing Hindu thought (I do not know much about those who have not – though of course they exist, and I should renew my intimacies). Through the novel, I have tried to move in some small configuration towards ”an ethnography of fascism”. A lower-middle-class Hindu family lives in a lower-middle-class neighbourhood in a town in western UP with a dominant Muslim culture. The family has a pride of education, a gentility of poverty, and an understated, but present pride of caste. The father holds a petty job in the bureaucracy. There is within him a strong consciousness of being a minority in the area. He also sees the conservative ways of families around him – not as educated, earning a livelihood through small business enterprises, and a demand on women to remain indoors. Elsewhere in the city, in a more mobile middle-class area, a close relative of this family is prospering, slowly but surely. A better paid job, mobility in a somewhat liberal public sector organisation which is public sector but opening up, and the wife’s timely (early ’80s) insistence on an ”elite” English education for the children. The parents of family one attempt to give their children terms for dignity: pride in language (good Hindi), hard work, keeping your mind clean, learning from the success of the uncle. The distance, rather, is from the Muslim neighbour – from a fear of what brews behind those high walls. The children will find it hard to struggle out, as the ’80s turn into the ’90s. Because they do not manage engineering or medical or a bank job. And because two of them are girls. The struggle out is defeating, except for the providence of a good match for one of the girls. The pride in Hindi is a myth maintained among the children to keep the real world at bay. The cousin who does not become bitter stays quietly in the class he was born into. With sincerity, he struggles at a job, refusing favours from his uncle. He is laughed at a bit and loved a lot from a distance for being a good man. He salvages his togetherness from this. The English-speaking cousins will grow with a sense of their privilege, some guilt and maybe they will live with the possibility of being downwardly mobile. The father who built a life of relative privilege – though not prosperity – for his children, will work harder, be honest in his work, and tough on many people. It is a demand his job makes. He will try and help relatives and friends of relatives. He will look around at others in his workplace who have had it easier – who were to the manor born – and hold them in some contempt. His children have known opportunity, and the ease that comes with an education in English. He will feel somewhat distanced from them. The distance will wax and wane. Love, affection, a desire to love and comprehend will mitigate the process. He will tell his children about the worlds they have not known – the apples he wanted to eat as a kid but never could, how his mother would tell him they are given to people when they are ill, how he would long to be ill. Does he adhere to feelings of contempt and anger towards those who ”had it easy”? By the mid ’90s he will have labelled them as those who have easy secular politics. His own children too. And the girls of the other family? In the book, one discovered some kind of conservatism in one of them, a bitterness at being denied opportunity, at the failure of Hindi to fulfill its promise, of the glory of school being very different from the situation outside. The conservatism probably increased with her good marriage into a reasonably well-off family, which was into private business. The other one maintained her love for Hindi (and a culture rooted in Hindi) and would not be bitter about her relatives. She probably looks up to right-wing public figures who rose in national politics in the ’90s as gentle, articulate, complex, as men who keep their word. A novel is not reality. And this novel is definitely an artifice – a work of art. But it may be worthwhile to turn to fiction sometimes to be able to isolate the threads running through our lives that get tugged at, with time and in different situations. http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/2002-November/001975.html Hansa Thapliyal, hansatin at yahoo.co.in ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ BACKPAGE SARAI[S]: Once, in a city not unlike our own, there was a book-market. Books and manuscripts from all over the world found their way to the book market, to be picked up by waiting hands. Travellers sold books they no longer wanted, publishers turned over books no one wanted to read anymore, students passed to it old textbooks, and bought new ones. The city had few public libraries, and the book-market filled this vacuum. Textbooks and manuals, erotic novels and philosophy – from the poetic to the profane, or the poetically profane, the book-market sold them all. But slowly the city began to change. Perhaps the gathering of so many words in one place was thought to be too dangerous. Perhaps the piles of paper, binding and the noise of words written and spoken, were thought too cluttered. Whatever be the reason, one day it was heard that the book-market would be closed down. Somehow, the destruction of this transient library has been staved off till today. But it still makes the city ask questions of itself and its hospitality. *** STOP RAGGING! The 'Stop Ragging Campaign' works to document and spread awareness about ragging in India's educational institutions. The campaign assists students who wish to register an official legal complaint against a particular student/students or the institution, and offers advice and guidance on institutional and legal remedies against harassment in educational institutions. To read more about documentation, see postings of Shivam Vij (Independent Fellow, Sarai, 2005) on the reader-list archives at: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list 'Stop Ragging Campaign' website: www.stopragging.org This website-blog will give you an idea of ragging in all its myriad forms, the most reliable source being first hand stories that ragging victims and hostel residents are encouraged to share. To know more, contact Shivam Vij at info at stopragging.org *** THIS YEAR, THIS CITY 17 September 2005 3:30 pm, Interface Zone, Sarai Shifts, transmission, anxieties, exhilarations, public secrets, street-corner intimacies – what did the city say to you this year? For the past five years, Sarai has played host to a public conversation on the year that was, in this our city. This year too we extend to you an invitation to come and participate in a conversation on how different people have witnessed and experienced Delhi in 2004-2005. *** PUBLICATIONS @ Sarai This September sees the launch of three new publications from Sarai. They are available for free download in pdf format on the web. Visit: Sarai Reader 05: Bare Acts – http://www.sarai.net/journal/reader_05.html Deewan-E-Sarai 02: Shahar Nama (Hindi) – http://www.sarai.net/language/deewan/deewan02/deewan02.htm Media Nagar 02 (Hindi) – http://www.sarai.net/mediacity/filmcity/medianagar02.htm ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ [END OF BROADSHEET] CREDITS Editorial Collective: Aarti Sethi Iram Ghufran Shveta Sarda Editorial Co-ordinator Monica Narula Design (print version): Mrityunjay Chatterjee Photographs: Monica Narula Write to broadsheet at sarai.net From aasim27 at yahoo.co.in Mon Sep 19 19:00:57 2005 From: aasim27 at yahoo.co.in (aasim khan) Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 14:30:57 +0100 (BST) Subject: [Reader-list] surrogate advertising onTenant verification form. Message-ID: <20050919133057.78415.qmail@web8309.mail.in.yahoo.com> hi everyone. I was just waiting for the news to break on the reader list!Lo.Taha and Jeebesh,together nailed the anxiety of the verification form(photocopy) that is being circulated by landlords.Sarai's counter- surveillance never disappoints me. I live in shahpur jat and had filled in the essence of my rented existence on the form meant to be submitted at hauz khas thana. I noticed something quite intriguing on the otherside of the form which had a list of guidelines that we must observe for our safety.Among the otherbullet points ,one read like this: -We must install an X COP car security lock in our car to protect it against theft. And at the bottom of the page was an advertisement of (guess what)...X COP secutrities.It read as if it was offically a part of the information provided by the DElhi Police.Even those behind the surrogate advertising on the pages of Delhi Times and HT city would feel embarrased if they saw it.So whats going on? Anyways this form did left me really unsettled.Its implications for the unsuspecting landlord ,who never revealed his rent-income,is another ironic fall out. cheers AA __________________________________________________________ Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your partner now. Go to http://yahoo.shaadi.com From abshi at vsnl.com Tue Sep 20 01:13:59 2005 From: abshi at vsnl.com (Shilpa Phadke) Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 01:13:59 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Petrol Prices References: <20050916100121.CA80B28D719@mail.sarai.net> Message-ID: <008a01c5bd53$36d34d80$1557fea9@pqr> From: Sent: 14 September 2005 13:45 To: Subject: Petrol Prices!!!! IT HAS BEEN CALCULATED THAT IF EVERYONE DID NOT PURCHASE A DROP OF PETROL FOR ONE DAY AND ALL AT THE SAME TIME, THE OIL COMPANIES WOULD CHOKE ON THEIR STOCKPILES. AT THE SAME TIME IT WOULD HIT THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY WITH A NET LOSS OVER 4.6 BILLION DOLLARS WHICH AFFECTS THE BOTTOM LINES OF THE OIL COMPANIES. THEREFORE THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 22nd HAS BEEN FORMALLY DECLARED "STICK IT UP THEIR BEHIND" DAY AND THE PEOPLE OF THIS NATION SHOULD NOT BUY A SINGLE DROP OF PETROL THAT DAY. THE ONLY WAY THIS CAN BE DONE IS IF YOU FORWARD THIS E-MAIL TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN AND AS QUICKLY AS YOU CAN TO GET THE WORD OUT. WAITING ON THE GOVERNMENT TO STEP IN AND CONTROL THE PRICES IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE REDUCTION AND CONTROL IN PRICES THAT THE ARAB NATIONS PROMISED TWO WEEKS AGO? REMEMBER ONE THING, NOT ONLY IS THE PRICE OF PETROL GOING UP BUT AT THE SAME TIME AIRLINES ARE FORCED TO RAISE THEIR PRICES, TRUCKING COMPANIES ARE FORCED TO RAISE THEIR PRICES WHICH AFFECTS PRICES ON EVERYTHING THAT IS SHIPPED. THINGS LIKE FOOD, CLOTHING, BUILDING SUPPLIES MEDICAL SUPPLIES ETC. WHO PAYS IN THE END? WE DO! WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. IF THEY DON'T GET THE MESSAGE AFTER ONE DAY, WE WILL DO IT AGAIN AND AGAIN. SO DO YOUR PART AND SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW. MARK YOUR CALENDARS AND MAKE SEPTEMBER 22nd A DAY THAT THE CITIZENS SAY "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH" From bijoyinic at yahoo.com Tue Sep 20 02:36:34 2005 From: bijoyinic at yahoo.com (Bijoyini) Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 14:06:34 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Petrol Prices In-Reply-To: <008a01c5bd53$36d34d80$1557fea9@pqr> Message-ID: <20050919210634.96758.qmail@web34202.mail.mud.yahoo.com> This is what I found floating on the Internet: http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/nogas.asp Not buying gas/petrol on a given day will just make us buy it a day earlier or later. Not buying petrol on a given day does not mean that we are not going to drive our cars to work on that day. Popularizing cycles/public-transportation/car-pooling or alternative fuels seem to be a more effective way to combat the gasoline problem. --Bijoyini --- Shilpa Phadke wrote: > From: > Sent: 14 September 2005 13:45 > To: > Subject: Petrol Prices!!!! > > > > > > IT HAS BEEN CALCULATED THAT IF EVERYONE DID NOT > PURCHASE A DROP OF PETROL > FOR ONE DAY AND ALL AT THE SAME TIME, THE OIL > COMPANIES WOULD CHOKE ON THEIR > STOCKPILES. > > AT THE SAME TIME IT WOULD HIT THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY > WITH A NET LOSS OVER 4.6 > BILLION DOLLARS WHICH AFFECTS THE BOTTOM LINES OF > THE OIL COMPANIES. > > THEREFORE THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 22nd HAS BEEN FORMALLY > DECLARED "STICK IT UP > THEIR BEHIND" DAY AND THE PEOPLE OF THIS NATION > SHOULD NOT BUY A SINGLE DROP > OF PETROL THAT DAY. > > THE ONLY WAY THIS CAN BE DONE IS IF YOU FORWARD THIS > E-MAIL TO AS MANY > PEOPLE AS YOU CAN AND AS QUICKLY AS YOU CAN TO GET > THE WORD OUT. > > WAITING ON THE GOVERNMENT TO STEP IN AND CONTROL THE > PRICES IS NOT GOING TO > HAPPEN. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE REDUCTION AND CONTROL > IN PRICES THAT THE ARAB > NATIONS PROMISED TWO WEEKS AGO? > > REMEMBER ONE THING, NOT ONLY IS THE PRICE OF PETROL > GOING UP BUT AT THE SAME > TIME AIRLINES ARE FORCED TO RAISE THEIR PRICES, > TRUCKING COMPANIES ARE > FORCED TO RAISE THEIR PRICES WHICH AFFECTS PRICES ON > EVERYTHING THAT IS > SHIPPED. THINGS LIKE FOOD, CLOTHING, BUILDING > SUPPLIES MEDICAL SUPPLIES > ETC. WHO PAYS IN THE END? WE DO! > > WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. IF THEY DON'T GET THE > MESSAGE AFTER ONE DAY, WE > WILL DO IT AGAIN AND AGAIN. > > SO DO YOUR PART AND SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD THIS > EMAIL TO EVERYONE YOU > KNOW. MARK YOUR CALENDARS AND MAKE SEPTEMBER 22nd A > DAY THAT THE CITIZENS > SAY "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH" > > > > _________________________________________ > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and > the city. > Critiques & Collaborations > To subscribe: send an email to > reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the > subject header. > List archive: > > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com From zainab at xtdnet.nl Tue Sep 20 14:35:43 2005 From: zainab at xtdnet.nl (zainab at xtdnet.nl) Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 13:05:43 +0400 (RET) Subject: [Reader-list] TC (Contd) ... Message-ID: <4696.219.65.13.243.1127207143.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> TC (Contd ) “How do your office people know that you are working right now and not sleeping at home?” TC asked me when I tried to explain the modalities of my work with Sarai. Initially, whenever we met, he would keep repeating this question, “How do they know that you are working right now?” I could not place my finger on what was his curiosity? Is it that how do people in Delhi monitor me on a day-to-day basis – maybe they should put a CCTV camera inside me which enables them to know where I am and what I am doing? Maybe they should have spies in Bombay who report on me? Ultimately, one day, I told TC, “There is something called ‘trust’ which operates between us. And I am sure they can monitor me through the quality of my work!” TC’s queries about work and monitoring have always been intriguing. He has his own pace of work. For him, he must complete his monthly quota of fines. He is hardly performing his duties for two hours and I wonder whether he projects his subconscious concerns on me. TC tries to understand what is it that I am doing. He refers to Sarai as ‘Company’ – well, not ‘D Company’ but a corporate office structure. “Does your company give you leave? Do you have Provident Fund?” How do I explain independence to him??? “So, what is it that your company does?” I try to explain Sarai’s publications as one aspect of work. He does not understand. On several occasions, I have introduced him to many of my different friends – some foreigners, some Bombayiites. “So, does your company give you passes for attending film award functions or music shows?” he asks me, given that most of my acquaintances are from the media – print and electronic. Perhaps he thinks of Sarai as a media house. “When will you get promotion? Where is your office? Who else works with you?” were his initial questions. Today, these questions no longer exist. I am not sure why they are no longer part of our conversations. That is because maybe, at some level, our conversations have taken a different turn Zainab Bawa Bombay www.xanga.com/CityBytes http://crimsonfeet.recut.org/rubrique53.html From zainab at xtdnet.nl Tue Sep 20 14:36:08 2005 From: zainab at xtdnet.nl (zainab at xtdnet.nl) Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 13:06:08 +0400 (RET) Subject: [Reader-list] TC (Contd) ... Message-ID: <4869.219.65.13.243.1127207168.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> TC (Contd ) “How do your office people know that you are working right now and not sleeping at home?” TC asked me when I tried to explain the modalities of my work with Sarai. Initially, whenever we met, he would keep repeating this question, “How do they know that you are working right now?” I could not place my finger on what was his curiosity? Is it that how do people in Delhi monitor me on a day-to-day basis – maybe they should put a CCTV camera inside me which enables them to know where I am and what I am doing? Maybe they should have spies in Bombay who report on me? Ultimately, one day, I told TC, “There is something called ‘trust’ which operates between us. And I am sure they can monitor me through the quality of my work!” TC’s queries about work and monitoring have always been intriguing. He has his own pace of work. For him, he must complete his monthly quota of fines. He is hardly performing his duties for two hours and I wonder whether he projects his subconscious concerns on me. TC tries to understand what is it that I am doing. He refers to Sarai as ‘Company’ – well, not ‘D Company’ but a corporate office structure. “Does your company give you leave? Do you have Provident Fund?” How do I explain independence to him??? “So, what is it that your company does?” I try to explain Sarai’s publications as one aspect of work. He does not understand. On several occasions, I have introduced him to many of my different friends – some foreigners, some Bombayiites. “So, does your company give you passes for attending film award functions or music shows?” he asks me, given that most of my acquaintances are from the media – print and electronic. Perhaps he thinks of Sarai as a media house. “When will you get promotion? Where is your office? Who else works with you?” were his initial questions. Today, these questions no longer exist. I am not sure why they are no longer part of our conversations. That is because maybe, at some level, our conversations have taken a different turn Zainab Bawa Bombay www.xanga.com/CityBytes http://crimsonfeet.recut.org/rubrique53.html From lawrence at altlawforum.org Mon Sep 19 12:23:52 2005 From: lawrence at altlawforum.org (Lawrence Liang) Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 12:23:52 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Workshop on Tactical Media by Sarai Media Lab In-Reply-To: Message-ID: Workshop on Tactical Media by Sarai Media Lab Writing On The Surface Of The City Dates : 1st and 2nd October from 9 to 6 Venue: Mahiti, Domlur (Bangalore) Free of cost , lunch included. Only 20-25 participants. The Tactical Media Lab will focus on the interplay of form and content through the production of broadsheets. The workshop will move towards a conceptual understanding of tactical media - broadsheets in particular. A broadsheet as envisaged by us is a light, playful form that also allows engagement with serious concerns. The content for the broadsheets produced during the course of the workshop will be developed through interaction among the participants during the concept building phase. The issue that will be explored through various text and image forms will be ''information society''. The workshop will be useful to individuals interested in tactical media, urban studies, journalism, writing and issues of information society. If you want to participate please email namita at altlawforum.org by 25th September. Applicants will be chosen on a first come, first serve basis. Please forward to whoever might be interested. Thank you, Namita Malhotra Alternative Law Forum Anyone interested in attending may contact namita at altlawforum.org _______________________________________________ commons-law mailing list commons-law at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/commons-law ------ End of Forwarded Message -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050919/e2ad4ccf/attachment.html From sollybenj at yahoo.co.in Sat Sep 17 21:50:41 2005 From: sollybenj at yahoo.co.in (solomon benjamin) Date: Sat, 17 Sep 2005 17:20:41 +0100 (BST) Subject: [Reader-list] Re: [Urbanstudy] Field Notes from Marine Drive In-Reply-To: <3642.219.65.10.55.1126946444.squirrel@webmail.xtdnet.nl> Message-ID: <20050917162041.52962.qmail@web8401.mail.in.yahoo.com> ..whether centralized systems are homogenizing? Is control about homogenization?.... ....nowadays, the guards are able to wield more authority and take actions as if they were law enforcers and policemen themselves..... Bombay was once the enterprising city – a city where no one went hungry because there was business for everyone to do. Gradually, new government regimes are taking away conditions of freedom. Everyone is being pushed into jobs. Freedom of enterprise is freedom of the individual. Gradually, this enterprising city is turning into a service economy..... Hi, I think Zainab'd posting and in particular the three excerpts show us a way to think about power, economy and locality. These seem to be central elements in the way we 'read' cities -- what they do to people in the opening up of complex social space, but also in ways in which these very mechanisms are shaped. I was reminded of a recent statement by hawkers being asked about the impact of urban renewal in central bangalore: To the local police constrable, they did have problems but that was nothing as compared to the higher up police circuits and the BATF! For the curropt local constrable, he was seen as being part of local trading network and interestingly the squatters used the term: "Bribe as a Right". Thus, once they had paid a bribe, through waht is a sophisticated system, they are assured a location and in a sense, a 'right' over it. what turned out to be really problematic for them, was the 'clean and neat' and 'un-curroptable' police commissioner circuit. Obviously curroptable at a higher level, this group with the BATF would plan out road extensions, and also 'clean out' the hawkers. The point here being that centralized and non-centralized is about control, as Zainab usefully points out, but also about 'entry and influence'. What interests me however, is the way cities also allow sort of 'hydras' to erode a system of centralization. One can call this 'bleeding' as Sarai does, as erosion, enchroachments, or subversion. I am not saying that there are no human costs involved. The point here is if the urban experience is a transformative one both ways?, Cheers Solly --- zainab at xtdnet.nl wrote: > > > This week has been interesting in terms of field > work. I began doing the > rounds of Marine Drive regularly this week. Migrants > from Azamgadh, on the > border of MP and UP, form the main hawker community > around Marine Drive. > Most of their co-villagers have established > businesses here. The younger > people from the village then come and join their > relatives in the > business. > > Patrolling at Marine Drive has become very strict. > Nowadays, the MCGM van > does not come regularly, but a plainclothes cop does > the rounds to catch > hold of hawkers doing business on the promenade. > There are more private > security guards at Marine Drive than usual. Two > guards patrol at equal > intervals on the promenade. The private security > guards have acquired the > status and power equivalent to that of a policeman. > Earlier, the guards > used to be afraid of the hawkers because hawkers > would beat up the guards. > But nowadays, the guards are able to wield more > authority and take actions > as if they were law enforcers and policemen > themselves. > > An interesting thing which occurred on Tuesday was > when Manoj Kumar, a > stall owning hawker started saying to me, “I want a > job. It is getting > difficult to survive here. Policemen and > municipality don’t let us do > business. Things are becoming stringent.” Manoj > Kumar’s remark is > pertinent because it describes the character of the > contemporary city of > Mumbai. Bombay was once the enterprising city – a > city where no one went > hungry because there was business for everyone to > do. Gradually, new > government regimes are taking away conditions of > freedom. Everyone is > being pushed into jobs. Freedom of enterprise is > freedom of the > individual. Gradually, this enterprising city is > turning into a service > economy. Freedom is traded for security of jobs – > and interestingly, there > is no security in jobs either!!! > > Finally, another interesting event took place last > evening. I met Santosh > Yadav after a long time. I asked him that he was not > to be seen since > quite a few days. He narrated a story to me, “There > was a man who had a > licensed food business. He decided to go to his > village for a month. So I > asked him to lease his licensed stall to me for a > month. I paid him > Rs.20,000 and took over the business. I made a > profit for Rs.60,000. The > person came back yesterday. I handed over his > business to him and he gave > me my deposit of Rs.20,000 back.” What is > interesting here is the > negotiations which take place between people without > government > interventions and how these negotiations define the > character of the city > in a larger perspective. > > I am still thinking whether centralized systems are > homogenizing? Is > control about homogenization? > > > > Zainab Bawa > Bombay > www.xanga.com/CityBytes > http://crimsonfeet.recut.org/rubrique53.html > > _______________________________________________ > Urbanstudygroup mailing list > Urban Study Group: Reading the South Asian City > > To subscribe or browse the Urban Study Group > archives, please visit > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/urbanstudygroup > __________________________________________________________ Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your partner now. Go to http://yahoo.shaadi.com From nc-agricowi at netcologne.de Mon Sep 19 14:36:32 2005 From: nc-agricowi at netcologne.de (NetEx) Date: Mon, 19 Sep 2005 11:06:32 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Launch of selfportrait videos Message-ID: <432E7F98.4060508@netcologne.de> VideoChannel http://videochannel.newmediafest.org is proud to launch on 19 September 2005 another excellent selection of 20 videos focussed this time on the theme "self-portrait", streaming all online. Agricola de Cologne selected and curates these artists *André Austvoll (Norway), Clare Ultimo (USA) *Reuben James Preston (UK), Vince Briffa (Malta) *Agricola de Cologne (Germany), *Lee Welch (Ireland) *Giovanni Antignano (Italy), *Michael Szpakowski (UK) *Oliver Griem (South Korea),*Sinasi Gunes (Turkey) Nita Mocanu (Romania), *Eileen Bonner (UK) *Jack Messenger & Chirstinn Whyte (UK) *Jen Ross (UK), *Cynthia Whelan (UK) *Donald Bousted (UK), *Svetlana & Andi Wallwhore (USA) *Christina McPhee & Terry Hargrave (USA), *Alice Arnold (USA) The "self-portrait" selection will be also part of VideoChannel DVD collection, consisting of currently 10 volumes to be presented in the framework of the installations of [R][R][F]2005--->XP - global networking project - in physical space as part of the show "Groundworks" - Environmental Collaboration in Contemporary Art 14 October - 11 December 2005 at Regina Gouger Miller Gallery at Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburg/USA http://artserver.cfa.cmu.edu/~miller/exhibitions/online.html and Biennale of Video & New Media Santiago/Chile 18-28 November But the "selfportraits" will be also presented in a gallery installation in the framework of Videologia Festival Volgograd/Russia in November 2005. Detailled information about artists/directors and videos can be also downloaded for free as PDF http://downloads.nmartproject.net/VideoChannel_selfportrait.pdf VideoChannel http://videochannel.newmediafest.org http://cinematheque.le-musee-divisioniste.org *************************************** These information are released by NetEX - networked experience http://netex.nmartproject.net/index.php?blog=3 . info & contact info at nmartproject.net **************************************** Technical requirements: DSL broad bandwidth Internet connection Flash 7 plug-in cross-browser _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From kranenbu at xs4all.nl Wed Sep 21 12:38:38 2005 From: kranenbu at xs4all.nl (kranenbu at xs4all.nl) Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2005 09:08:38 +0200 (CEST) Subject: [Reader-list] [water] FYI Delhi Water Board water privatisation FIASCO website with details (fwd) Message-ID: <20050921090812.J91239-100000@xs2.xs4all.nl> Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 22:55:37 -0700 (PDT) From: Vinay Baindur To: greenaidindia at yahoogroups.com Subject: [water] FYI Delhi Water Board water privatisation FIASCO website with details DearAll, to inform all those who are interested about theNew Delhi water distribution privatisation scenario. For more information and detailed analysis and reports please visit www.delhiwater.org and please direct all others interested in the process underway in Delhi. From lele at sinred.net Tue Sep 20 18:16:58 2005 From: lele at sinred.net (LeLE Luchetti) Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 14:46:58 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] 2nd ONE SECOND VIDEO FESTIVAL Message-ID: <142139833.20050920144658@sinred.net> //////////Español abajo/////////Italiano sotto + 2nd ONE SECOND VIDEO FESTIVAL (http://www.respeto-total.com/sosvf/) is the new edition of the festival of 1 second lasting videos, + organized by Respeto-Total (http://www.respeto-total.com), + which will be hosted by the PEAM'05 (http://www.artificialia.com/peam2005/) The winner will be selected by a formula that combines the popular voting and the algorithm DEEP DREDD(http://www.respeto-total.com/osvf/deepdredd/). The winner of this edition will receive a prize offered by the GOOGLE! + watch the reportage by Interrupt.it(italian) (http://www.interrupt.it/popup/popup.asp?SRC=http://217.72.107.200/streaming/41_04.wmv&ID=200) Dates: 20 September - 15 October: UPLOAD videos 15 October - 29 October: VOTING videos 29 October: online PRIZING Requisites: _ fill up the application form _ upload the 1 second video (.mov .wmv .swf) _ upload a snapshot of the video //////////English above /////////Italiano sotto + El 2nd ONE SECOND VIDEO FESTIVAL (http://www.respeto-total.com/sosvf/) es la nueva edición del festival de películas de un segundo + de Respeto-Total (http://www.respeto-total.com), + que este año será hospedado por el PEAM'05 (http://www.artificialia.com/peam2005/). El ganador sera elegido por una formula que combinará la votación popular y el algoritmo DEEP DREDD(http://www.respeto-total.com/osvf/deepdredd/). El ganador de esta edición recibirá un premio ofrecido por el mismo GOOGLE! + mira el reportage en Interrupt.it (en italiano) (http://www.interrupt.it/popup/popup.asp?SRC=http://217.72.107.200/streaming/41_04.wmv&ID=200) Fechas: 20 setiembre - 15 octubre : UPLOAD peliculas 15 octubre - 29 octubre : VOTACIÓN peliculas 29 octubre : PREMIACIÓN online Requisitos _rellenar la ficha de iscripción _subir el vídeo de 1 segundo (.mov .wmv .swf) _adjuntar unostill de la película //////////English above /////////Español arriba + Il 2º ONE SECOND VIDEO FESTIVAL(http://www.respeto-total.com/sosvf/) è la nuova edizione del festival di video di un secondo + di Respeto-Total (http://www.respeto-total.com), + che quest'anno sará ospitato dal PEAM'05 (http://www.artificialia.com/peam2005/). Il vincitore sará scelto con una formula che combinerña la votazione popolare e l'algoritmo DEEP DREDD (http://www.respeto-total.com/osvf/deepdredd/). Il vincitore di questa edizione riceverá un premio offerto da GOOGLE! + guarda lo speciale su Interrupt.it (http://www.interrupt.it/popup/popup.asp?SRC=http://217.72.107.200/streaming/41_04.wmv&ID=200) Date: 20 settembre - 15 ottobre : UPLOAD video 15 ottobre - 29 ottobre : VOTAZIONI video 29 ottobre : PREMIAZIONE online Requisiti: _riempire il form d'iscrizione _inviare il video di 1 secondo (.mov .wmv .swf) _allegare uno still (immagine-cattura) del video ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program. ===8<===========End of original message text=========== _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From tcm1 at cornell.edu Tue Sep 20 18:07:32 2005 From: tcm1 at cornell.edu (timothy murray) Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 08:37:32 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Future Perfect @ Cornell: Contemporary Chinese Art and the Question of the Archive Message-ID: Future Perfect: Contemporary Chinese Art and the Question of the Archive Cornell University, Ithaca, New York September, 23-24, 2005. The Rose Goldsen Lecture Series at Cornell University presents an international workshop on art and curating: Future Perfect: Contemporary Chinese Art and the Question of the Archive, September, 23-24, 2005. This event will gather together renown Chinese artists and curators to inaugurate the Cornell Library's Wen Pulin Archive of Chinese Avant Garde Art, a joint holding of the Charles W. Wason Collection on East Asia and the Rose Goldsen Archive of New Media Art in the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections. The Wen Pulin Archive of Chinese Avant Garde Art contains some 360 hours of digital video documenting the history of contemporary Chinese art, installation, and performance since 1985. Organized by Thomas Hahn, Curator of the Wason Collection, and Timothy Murray, Curator of the Rose Goldsen Archive, the Wen Pulin Archive is a unique international resource of video footage of art events, art performances, installations, and artist studio tours and interviews that traces the history of Chinese culture over this consequential twenty year period. This unique collection, which, due to the sensitive nature of its materials, is restricted in use in China, will provide students and researchers with previously unseen documentation of the important developments in contemporary art in China over the past twenty years, the period of China's tremendous growth into a major venue of contemporary art and global culture. Cornell's acquisition of the Wen Archive marks the first of many planned collaborations with the new Dongtai Academy of Arts in Beijing, which is directed by its founder, Wen Pulin. In addition to providing a preview of these materials, open for the public viewing in the Wason Collection and Goldsen Archive, Kroch Library, the conference provides one of the largest North American gatherings of contemporary Chinese artists and curators who work in the emergent fields of electronic arts, new media, and mixed media performance. Their aim is to situate their past and current projects in terms of the theoretical, social, and political problems posed by new archival challenges of digital culture and historical transformation. Similarly the endeavor of archiving so-called ephemeral artistic works may require a reconsideration of the aims and imperative of the archive itself and related art historical research. To position contemporary Chinese art in the Future Perfect will require that the participants reflect on their former work in relation to future concerns: to consider "what they will have done" (and how it will have been remembered). Highlights of the weekend include the international premiere of a new performance art piece by the artist, Lin Yilin, on Saturday afternoon at 4pm, and a plenary artist presentation by the internationally celebrated artist Xu Bing, on Friday afternoon at 4:30pm. They will be joined by the artists, Feng Mengbo and Chen Lingyang from Beijing, Du Zhenjun from Paris, Xiaowen Chen from Ithaca, Lin Yan from New York as well as curators Barbara London (Museum of Modern Art), Gao Minglu (Pittsburgh), and Shin-Yi Yang (Artist Commune, Hong Kong). Organized by Timothy Murray, Professor of English and Comparative Literature, this event is hosted by The Rose Goldsen Lecture Series with institutional cosponsorship from the Cornell Library, The Society for the Humanities, East Asia Program, College of Art, Architecture and Planning, French Studies, Departments of Asian Studies, English, Comparative Literature. For further information, contact Timothy Murray, Director, The Rose Goldsen Lecture Series, tcm1 at cornell.edu, 607-255-4012. Schedule of Events Friday, Sept. 23 1:30-3:30 Kroch Library Lecture Room 1:30 Welcoming Remarks Tim Murray, Director, Rose Goldsen Lecture Series, College of Arts and Sciences Sarah E. Thomas, Carl A. Kroch University Librarian 1:45 Unveiling the Wen Pulin Archive of Chinese Avant Garde Art Thomas Hahn, Curator, Charles W. Wason Collection on East Asia Tim Murray, Curator, Rose Goldsen Archive of New Media Art 2:15 Curating Contemporary Chinese Art (I) Moderator, Ellen Avril, Curator of Asian Art, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art Gao Minglu, Curator and Professor of Art History, University of Pittsburgh, "Curating 'The Wall'" Yang Shin-Yi, Artistic Director, Artist Commune, Hong Kong; Lecturer, Museum of Modern Art, New York, " Showing and Storing Contemporary Art" 4:15 Lewis Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall Plenary Artist Presentation Moderator, Sherman Cochran, Department of History Xu Bing, Artist, Beijing/New York "Recent Works-Another Artistic Direction" Saturday, Sept. 24 Lewis Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall 8:30-9:00 Continental Breakfast 9:00 Mixed Media Art in Process Moderator, Sunn Shelley Wong, Department of English and Program of Asian-American Studies Xiaowen Chen, Department of Art, Cornell University, "Mixed Media Explorations" Chen Lingyang, Artist, Beijing, "Chen Lingyang and Chen Lingyang NO.2" Lin Yan, Artist, Beijing/New York, "Constructing Painting" Discussant: Renate Ferro, Department of Art 11:30 Curating Contemporary Chinese Art (II) Moderator, Patricia Zimmermann, Department of Cinema and Photography, Ithaca College Barbara London, Curator of Film and Video, Museum of Modern Art, New York "Stir-fry and Beyond: Media Art in China" 2:00 Digital Interface: Arts of New Media Moderator, Thuy Tu, Department of History of Art Du Zhenjun, Artist, Beijing/Paris, "Eastern Winds, Western Winds" Feng Mengbo, Artist, Multimedia Studio, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing "Game As Arts: Feng Mengbo's Digital Works" Discussant: Thomas Lamarre, Department of Asian Studies 4:00 International Premier Performance Moderator: Buzz Spector, Chair, Department of Art Lin Yilin, Artist, Beijing/New York, "Adult/Education" 5:00 Concluding Panel Discussion Future Perfect, Pondering What Will Have Been Chair, Brett de Bary, Director, The Society for the Humanities Timothy Billings, Department of English, Middlebury College Lily Chi, Department of Architecture Petrus Liu, Department of Comparative Literature Naoki Sakai, Department of Asian Studies and Comparative Literature -- Timothy Murray Professor of Comparative Literature and English Director of Graduate Studies in Comparative Literature Director of Graduate Studies in Film and Video Curator, The Rose Goldsen Archive of New Media Art, Cornell Library Co-Curator, CTHEORY Multimedia: http://ctheorymultimedia.cornell.edu 285 Goldwin Smith Hall Cornell University Ithaca, New York 14853 office: 607-255-4012 e-mail: tcm1 at cornell.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050920/3a769ea4/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From hpp at vsnl.com Wed Sep 21 14:11:56 2005 From: hpp at vsnl.com (hpp at vsnl.com) Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2005 13:41:56 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Is is possible to overcome municipal problems? Message-ID: This is a translated version of a two-part article by Gobinda Ganguly Chairman, Kamarhati Municipality, that appeared in the January 1996 and April 1996 issues of Puro Pathik, the quarterly bulletin of the Kamarhati Municipality. Kamarhati is one of the municipalities within the Calcutta Metropolitan Area, and lies to the north of Calcutta city, past Baranagar (another municipality). V Ramaswamy, Calcutta Is is possible to overcome municipal problems? Part One Problem is an immense word. Again, there are various kinds of problems. It is because there are problems that there is thinking about solutions. A problem may create yet another problem. Many philosophers would contend that it is because there are problems that life continues. My discussion is not about the philosophical aspects of problems. The discussion is about civic problems and current thinking on the subject. As soon as I mention civic problems, immediately everybody starts thinking about some problem or the other. Someone may prepare a long list of problems and say why are you running a municipality with so many problems. If you cannot do anything then please give up (office). Many would say can one survive like this ? If basic civic facilities are not available then why should I pay municipal taxes ? And so on and so forth. My note is on the validity of this discussion and these complaints. At the outset, for convenience of discussion, let us look at some well-known facts. Kamarhati municipal town belongs to all of us. Its area is also a legislative assembly constituency. Kamarhati is made up of four villages. Their names - Kamarhati, Ariadaha, Dakhineswar and Belghoria. Kamarhati Municipality has been administering an area of 10.99 sq kms since 1899. According to the 1991 Census, the population was 2.66 lakhs. Population density is 26,000. In some parts, the density is even more. The Kamarhati village within the municipality is almost entirely made up of bastis or slums. Other than the jute mill workers, if one takes into account the workers employed in all the other factories, then almost half the men are industrial workers. Besides, settlements of the lower-income group, middle class and poor are also significant. Being an old locality, this town has not developed in a planned manner. Streets are narrow. The narrow lanes are entirely inappropriate to today’s situation. Vacant spaces have almost entirely disappeared over the last one decade. In the last 40 years, a number of large as well as small colonies have come up. And some more have come up without any planned approach. We are residents of this town and therefore as residents can demand to know everything about the origins and end-points of problems - this is not quite correct. Again, it is also true that many eminent people have not only thought about this beloved town’s development plans but have also done a lot of work. The responsibility for services in our town is the municipality’s. However, the structure of the services system within which municipal bodies are functioning is not only inadequate to meet citizens’ requirements. This structure and financial situation is clearly not able to keep pace with the contemporary development forces. Whatever the arrangements and systems that are developed are rapidly losing their ability to cope with problems. In this kind of difficult, complex situation, within the democratic framework, elected representatives have to continue to work to see to the well-being of citizens. I would like to highlight some well-known aspects of service-related prob lems. The old systems for civic services have gone through changes. Nevertheless, the civic authority has to identify some arrangements as priority problems of public life. These are - water supply, sanitation, road construction and repairs, solid waste clearance and disposal, cleaning of septic tanks, drain cleaning etc etc. And there are other tasks, which can help to create a sense of social responsibility, or build a healthy cultural environment. The civic authority cannot avoid such responsibilities. But my discussion is not about that. My discussion is on some important problems. Water Supply System and Problems Kamarhati Municipality had a modern water supply project, before Independence - in 1939. This was the Baranagar - Kamarhati joint water project. From this project, Kamarhati and Baranagar have been getting water on a three-eighths - five-eighths basis. As a result of this project, the water supply arrangement was quite good in terms of the population then. I might also mention that in those days the number of water supply connections in individual households was very limited. An amusing point had arisen in connection with the implementation of and distribution from this water project; that the water provided by the civic authorities was not suitable for Hindus because the water was impure through contact with leather. Those making this comment were definitely opposed to progressive thought. Anyhow, through this water supply system, our water requirements were met for a long time. But with the passage of time, with the growth of settlements of refugees from East Bengal, and owing to population pressures, the inadequacy of water supply from this project made citizens think anew. People started thinking about a new water supply arrangement or upgrading the existing arrangement. But upgradation does not happen just by saying so. This calls for a huge amount of finance. The good news was that after crossing a lot of hurdles and cutting a lot of red tape, the Public Health department prepared a proposal for an upgradation project in 1956. It was several years before further hurdles were crossed and this reached the implementation stage. Just as the work was nearing completion, political instability began in the early 1970s. The municipal board was wound up. Democratically elected representatives were driven away from the municipality and were replaced by bureaucrats. The project came to a halt. After 1977, on regaining power, municipal commissioners came to know about the winding up of the project. Why wound up, for what - this could not be ascertained. Anyhow, under the leadership of Jyoti Basu, the project which was wound up after much money had been spent, again saw the light of day. The incomplete work on this project was completed and in 1981 water supply started from this project. Water availability from the two projects stood at 1 lakh 20 thousand gallons. However, water supply from the 1939 works has come down for obvious reasons. Which is why current supply is less than this. Let us again go back to the past, because it is necessary to know about some developments during the period 1950 - 1981 and thereafter. The deep tubewell sinking programme shows how, in a situation of growing population pressure and consequent scarce supply in relation to demand, despite acute financial difficulties, elected representatives are thinking about enhancing water supply. The first deep tubewell was sunk in our municipality in 1957. Since then, deep tubewell water has been supplementing the supply from the project. I may mention that this supply was largely in the older localities. Inclusion of the newer areas came much later. I shall return to that later. Deep tubewells are an unstable element within a water supply system. This cannot lead to a permanent solution to the water supply problem of a town. On the contrary, because of the iron content in the water from deep tubewells, this is not potable. besides, a deep tubewell can at best provide water for 7 - 10 years; yet, within a few years, they start failing. Deep tubewells can become inoperative for a variety of reasons. Owing to the lack of any alternative arrangement between the tubewell becoming inoperative and getting repaired, citizens and their elected representatives have to face a lot of hardship. The high iron content also means that pipe lines are affected. Everyone knows that iron deposits are formed inside the pipes, and hence water flow and pressure declines. Thus, from time to time, pipes have to be cleaned out. But it is not possible to undertake this pipe cleaning in the manner that it should be. The pipes need to be entirely pulled out and struck closely s o that the rock-hard deposits fall out. It will not be difficult to appreciate that this is impossible to undertake. So in order to maintain the water pressure, we clean the pipes from inside from time to time. This has to be done fairly regularly. To maintain the water supply from deep tubewells, the municipality has been systematically increasing their numbers. At present, 26 are in operation. By combining deep tubewell water and the project’s supply, the municipality has been able to meet about 80 % of the locality’s requirements. To provide water in other areas, pipe lines have to be laid. Though pipes have been laid in quite a few areas, it has not yet been possible to lay pipes in some areas. There is a plan to do this. There is a need to look at some other aspects of water supply. Part Two In the past few years, water supply has been augmented by incorporating new areas. However, despite that effort, a number of streets, lanes and whole localities (both new and old) remain excluded. The municipality is trying to get these service deficient areas serviced with piped water supply at the earliest. These new areas are provided with groundwater through deep tubewells. Water supply network is being expanded by digging new deep tubewells, as well as maintaining the older ones. The number of these deep tubewells is quite significant. The deep tubewells are mainly located by the roadside, as suitable spots for siting them are hard to locate, and in most cases electricity is not available for their operation. As a result, starting of pumps is delayed - and hence despite the wholehearted effort of the municipalities, the projects are delayed. A table is provided below to give an idea of the water supply infrastructure. Item 1977 1996 Deep tubewells 9 26 (3 yet to be operational) Pipe line 60,212 m 2,23,524 m House Connections 3000 18,726 Stand post 175 598 Hand tubewells 360 560 Water supplied 42,55,200 ltrs 2,57,70,000 ltrs The number of deep tubewells that went defunct between 1977-1996 stands at 10. A new 30 million gallon, Baranagar-Kamarhati water supply project was started. Through this project, four other municipalities, North Dum Dum, Panihati, Khardah and Titagarh are serviced, in addition to the two mentioned above. On completion of this project, 30 million gallon water can be provided during the 24 hrs of the day. People generally thought that with the initiation of this project there will be no more water shortage in these six municipalities. This notion has proven to be wrong. With only the initial stage of this project being over, it is functioning only to a third of its capacity, and for only 12 hours. As a result, all the areas that are supposed to fall under its ambit are not serviced by this project. This project has led to an increase in water pressure in the supply network. However, since it is not functioning for 24 hours, the pressure is far below optimum. It can only be optimised after completion of the project. There is a huge cost involved in the whole process of providing potable water to the consumers. This cost is escalating day by day. It is known that the municipalities are morally bound to provide water to the consumers. However, it is a sad state of affairs that the water supply scenario is being hit the most because of our negligence. The amount of water wasted stands at 40 % People must be made aware of this loss and of the benefits associated with reducing the wastage of water. The major benefit will be an instantaneous increase in water pressure in the supply network, leading to a more equitable distribution of water. Leaving taps open means that the people at the far end of the pipeline get less water. So it is necessary to try to reduce water wastage - and hence people must be more cautious. It is also prudent to conserve water so as not to deplete the groundwater resource on which the whole supply network is dependent. The thinking that water has no price, has to change - in the public interest. From cahen.x at levels9.com Wed Sep 21 15:15:43 2005 From: cahen.x at levels9.com (xavier cahen) Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2005 11:45:43 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] pourinfos Newsletter / 09-15 to 09-19-2005 Message-ID: <43312BC7.3080703@levels9.com> pourinfos.org l'actualite du monde de l'art / daily Art news ----------------------------------------------------------------------- pourinfos is back! Sincerely yours, pourinfos est de retour! Cordialement, Xavier Cahen infos from September 15, 2005 to September 19, 2005 (included) ------------------------------------------------------------------- (mostly in french) ------------------------------------------------------------------- 01 Job : seek a new coordinator, the Federation Light party, France. http://pourinfos.org/candidature/item.php?id=1936 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 02 Call : 2005 Digital Art Prize,Roma, Italia. http://pourinfos.org/candidature/item.php?id=1935 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 03 Call : FUTURESONIC 2006 The '10 Years of Futuresonic' , Mancherster, United Kingdom. http://pourinfos.org/candidature/item.php?id=1934 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 04 Workshop : call for participation in sensory interaction for artistic creation, Toulouse. France. http://pourinfos.org/emploi/item.php?id=1933 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 05 Workshop : call for participation__FUTURE TV WORKSHOP October 4 - 10 2005, the Film Academy Munich, Germany. http://pourinfos.org/emploi/item.php?id=1932 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 06 Exhibition, performance : eDS onRing, eDS spaces and Displacements at the artotheque Le Ring, Nantes, France. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1931 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 07 Exhibition : Jochen Lempert : « Der Schwarm / la nuée / the swarm », sunday brunchin' cafe au litS, Paris, France. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1930 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 08 Exhibition : Jeune Création 2005, for girls and boys, la Bellevilloise, Paris, France. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1929 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 09 Publication : "WITHOUT TALE, Ni CAPTIONS" and "GLARES", Catherine Poncin, Galery du bar Floreal, Paris, France. http://pourinfos.org/publications/item.php?id=1928 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 workshop : In/Out, ua workshop/ a production/ an exhibition, Paris 8 University, France. http://pourinfos.org/emploi/item.php?id=1927 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 Call : Greenpepper Magazine : EMERGENCY Issue : Call for Contributions, Amsterdam, Netherlands. http://pourinfos.org/participation/item.php?id=1926 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 12 Call : VIDEOFORMES 2006, Clermont-Ferrand, France. http://pourinfos.org/participation/item.php?id=1925 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 Residency : buchsenhausen.air 2006, Kuenstlerhaus Buechsenhausen, Innsbruck, Austria. http://pourinfos.org/residences/item.php?id=1924 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 14 Call : call for project and residence, Tourcoing, France. http://pourinfos.org/candidature/item.php?id=1923 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 15 call : for a CURATORIAL project, la box _bourges, Bourges, France. http://pourinfos.org/candidature/item.php?id=1922 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 16 Call : project for the next festival "the breath of the Equinox" a Poitiers, France. http://pourinfos.org/candidature/item.php?id=1921 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 17 Training course: FIAC : Workshop of the service programming young public of the Center Pompidou, Paris, France. http://pourinfos.org/emploi/item.php?id=1920 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 18 Publication : N°1 of the review Walkie-talkie, Arras, France. http://pourinfos.org/publications/item.php?id=1919 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 19 Metting : Seminar DANTE, royalty and new technologies, Equinox, center of congress of St Brieuc, France. http://pourinfos.org/rencontres/item.php?id=1918 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 20 Exhibition : Borderlines exhibition in 7 European countries, Association of the Potential Trade union, Strasbourg, France. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1917 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 21 Exhibition : FRAKTALE IV, Palast der Republik, Berlin, Germany. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1916 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 22 Exhibition : Ghazel, Jean-Philippe Lemée & Yves Trémorin, Thomas Sipp, 36bis, Ecole Regionale Superieure d'Expression Plastique, Tourcoing, France. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1915 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 23 Exhibition : FOUR, opening of a new galery in Dublin, Irland. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1914 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 24 Exhibition : 93 3 01 002 Rue de la Gare, Theater of Aubervilliers city, France. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1913 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 25 Exhibition : Projet TRANS-PAL de Stefan Shankland , Villa Savoye, Poissy, France. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1912 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 26 Exhibition: PLURIELLES³,Funds municipal of contemporary art (Fmac) of Paris city, France. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1911 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 27 Exhibition : "disorder of the days", Josee Pedneault, Espace 306, Montreal, Canada. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1910 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 28 Exhibition : URBAN 2005, 10 ième edition of the multi-field festival, Lausanne, Switzerland. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1909 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 29 Screening : EXPERIMENTA INDIA, evening Scratch Projection, at Voutes, Paris, France. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1908 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 30 Meeting : Electronic meetings, Space Meetings of Castelnau Lez, France. http://pourinfos.org/rencontres/item.php?id=1907 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 31 Meeting : The dinner of meeting, the dinner project, Montreal, Canada. http://pourinfos.org/rencontres/item.php?id=1906 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 32 RMeeting : ICHIM 05 "Digital Culture and Heritage", Paris, France. http://pourinfos.org/rencontres/item.php?id=1905 -- XAVIER CAHEN -------------- cahen.x at levels9.com Paris France http://www.levels9.com From dunkinj at cscsban.org Thu Sep 22 03:24:10 2005 From: dunkinj at cscsban.org (Dunkin Jalki) Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2005 14:54:10 -0700 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Workshop for Young Research Scholars (Humanities and Social Sciences) Message-ID: <6.2.1.2.0.20050921145405.02730268@cscsban.org> Workshop for Young Research Scholars The Young Researchers' Workshop is a yearly event initiated by the research students of CSCS, Bangalore since 2003. It aims to engage with critical research in the emerging contexts of contemporary Social Sciences and Humanities in India focusing on the interdisciplinary projects and the 'new' methodological tools. The 2005 Young Researchers' Workshop will address the broad field of Culture and Society; emphasizing the need to alter the place that culture holds in our understanding of politics. In enquiring how 'culture' gains its accepted definitions and normative descriptions, requires us to investigate how it is operated within the socio-political context. Research concerns that deal with democracy, gender, caste, ethnicity, region, urban/rural spaces, visuality, media, and education are of particular interest. The workshop will broadly focus on the question of methodology pertaining to the studies in 'Indian' culture and society. The objective is to continue to support a critical rethinking and re-valuation to help us place our research in a clearer perspective. The workshop will provide an opportunity for young researchers from different parts of the country to discuss their areas of study and to enrich the methodological and theoretical rigor of their work. The workshop will invite resource persons to discuss and comment on the presentations of participants and post-doctorates and/or scholars who have just finished their doctoral work to share their experiences. Workshop Dates: 25th and 26th November 2005. Eligibility: Students currently registered for PhD. Application format: 3000-5000-word proposal for paper and CV to be sent- By e-mail to: teena at cscsban.org or sahana at cscsban.org Or by post to: CSCS, 466,9th Cross, 1st Block, Jayanagar, Bangalore 560011. Tel: 080-26562986 Fax: 080-26562991 Or e-mail: admin at cscsban.org Last date for application: 20th October 2005. Selected participants will be informed by 25th October 2005. Travel and accommodation will be provided. Dunkin Jalki Research Scholar Centre for the Study of Culture & Society BANGALORE - 560 011 (INDIA) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050921/c9dddbf0/attachment.html From kristoferpaetau at GMAIL.COM Wed Sep 21 17:48:30 2005 From: kristoferpaetau at GMAIL.COM (Kristofer Paetau) Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2005 14:18:30 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] KIDS AVANTGARDE Part 3: Punishing "The Punishment"... Message-ID: <80bd928c050921051841f935d8@mail.gmail.com> This is a truly amazing reaction to the KIDS AVANTGARDE Part 2 "The Punishment". Needless to say that I disagree with the views of the author, Mr. Tom Brewitz (artist); but I think it is a very interesting document: http://www.paetau.com/downloads/KiezAvantgarde/ThePunishmentReaction.html Best wishes, Kristofer Paetau -- If you do not want mails anymore, you can unsubscribe automatically by sending an empty e-mail from your e-mail account to: ARTINFO-L-unsubscribe-request at listserv.dfn.de If this doesn't work, you probably got this e-mail re-routed through another address: Please reply to this mail and write UNSUBSCRIBE in the mail subject and please indicate some old or alternative e-mail addresses in order to help us unsubscribe you. Thank you and apologizes for the trouble! -- Kristofer Paetau http://www.paetau.com/exhibitions -- From lele at sinred.net Thu Sep 22 03:12:30 2005 From: lele at sinred.net (LeLE Luchetti) Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2005 23:42:30 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] 2nd ONE SECOND VIDEO FESTIVAL Message-ID: <1983627618.20050921234230@sinred.net> //////////Español abajo/////////Italiano sotto + 2nd ONE SECOND VIDEO FESTIVAL (http://www.respeto-total.com/sosvf/) is the new edition of the festival of 1 second lasting videos, + organized by Respeto-Total (http://www.respeto-total.com), + which will be hosted by the PEAM'05 (http://www.artificialia.com/peam2005/) The winner will be selected by a formula that combines the popular voting and the algorithm DEEP DREDD(http://www.respeto-total.com/osvf/deepdredd/). The winner of this edition will receive a prize offered by the GOOGLE! + watch the reportage by Interrupt.it(italian) (http://www.interrupt.it/popup/popup.asp?SRC=http://217.72.107.200/streaming/41_04.wmv&ID=200) Dates: 20 September - 15 October: UPLOAD videos 15 October - 29 October: VOTING videos 29 October: online PRIZING Requisites: _ fill up the application form _ upload the 1 second video (.mov .wmv .swf) _ upload a snapshot of the video //////////English above /////////Italiano sotto + El 2nd ONE SECOND VIDEO FESTIVAL (http://www.respeto-total.com/sosvf/) es la nueva edición del festival de películas de un segundo + de Respeto-Total (http://www.respeto-total.com), + que este año será hospedado por el PEAM'05 (http://www.artificialia.com/peam2005/). El ganador sera elegido por una formula que combinará la votación popular y el algoritmo DEEP DREDD(http://www.respeto-total.com/osvf/deepdredd/). El ganador de esta edición recibirá un premio ofrecido por el mismo GOOGLE! + mira el reportage en Interrupt.it (en italiano) (http://www.interrupt.it/popup/popup.asp?SRC=http://217.72.107.200/streaming/41_04.wmv&ID=200) Fechas: 20 setiembre - 15 octubre : UPLOAD peliculas 15 octubre - 29 octubre : VOTACIÓN peliculas 29 octubre : PREMIACIÓN online Requisitos _rellenar la ficha de iscripción _subir el vídeo de 1 segundo (.mov .wmv .swf) _adjuntar unostill de la película //////////English above /////////Español arriba + Il 2º ONE SECOND VIDEO FESTIVAL(http://www.respeto-total.com/sosvf/) è la nuova edizione del festival di video di un secondo + di Respeto-Total (http://www.respeto-total.com), + che quest'anno sará ospitato dal PEAM'05 (http://www.artificialia.com/peam2005/). Il vincitore sará scelto con una formula che combinerña la votazione popolare e l'algoritmo DEEP DREDD (http://www.respeto-total.com/osvf/deepdredd/). Il vincitore di questa edizione riceverá un premio offerto da GOOGLE! + guarda lo speciale su Interrupt.it (http://www.interrupt.it/popup/popup.asp?SRC=http://217.72.107.200/streaming/41_04.wmv&ID=200) Date: 20 settembre - 15 ottobre : UPLOAD video 15 ottobre - 29 ottobre : VOTAZIONI video 29 ottobre : PREMIAZIONE online Requisiti: _riempire il form d'iscrizione _inviare il video di 1 secondo (.mov .wmv .swf) _allegare uno still (immagine-cattura) del video ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program. ===8<===========End of original message text=========== From subliminalflicker at rediffmail.com Wed Sep 21 14:27:36 2005 From: subliminalflicker at rediffmail.com (Subliminal Flicker) Date: 21 Sep 2005 08:57:36 -0000 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] In-Studio TV/Radio Training, Broadcasting Opportunities Message-ID: <20050921085736.9112.qmail@webmail53.rediffmail.com> Applications invited from serious, talented students In-Studio and On Location Hands-on Practical Broadcast Training You don't learn swimming by going through textbooks on swimming, do you? Likewise, you don't learn broadcast journalism from books alone. You got to be there, doing it - in studios, on location! Media Arc's unique programme combines hands-on, in-studio and on location training with opportunities for trainees to show case their talent to a global audience / potential employers. The programme - options of Three Month Weekend only / One Month regular courses - offers students opportunities to specialize in: I. Radio Jockeying and Production II. TV News Reading and Anchoring III. TV Reporting and Production IV. Film Making: Camera and Editing All courses under this programme are conducted in the afternoons so that students pursuing regular studies / working professionals can avail of the courses. A word about us Media Arc – a team of professionals with a combined experience of over 50 years – works out of a large well-equipped TV studio, and, two radio studios. Our faculty includes Mr. Rahul Roy, an international award winning film maker, Mr. Rakesh Nagar (NHK- Japan) and Mr. Raman Nanda, formerly with the BBC and now heading Media Arc. We don't just train you, we make YOU a broadcaster! Our training programme is supported by global internet broadcasting that enables trainees to show case their audio and video productions to an international audience and potential employers. We also offer career counseling and networking opportunities to our course participants Wish to find out more about this unique, innovative training programme? Drop by at our studios for a free pre-course counseling session. Check us out on the web, or, simply mail us (don’t forget to give your phone number in the mail). Key Dates / Enrollment Process Pre-Course Counseling: Sept 24 – Oct 2; 4 – 4.30 and 4.30 - 5.00 pm (Students are advised to confirm the time slot in advance) Application Form and Processing: Fee Rs 250 Interviews: Sept 24 – October 2; 5 – 6 pm Courses Begin from October 8, 2005 Selection of candidates will be on the basis of Interview. Last Date for Enrollment: October 3, 2005. Course Fee: From Rs 1950 per month onwards. Contact Details: Aditi Mediratta Media Arc Private Ltd, 1st Floor, 118, Shahpur Jat, Near Asiad Village, New Delhi 49. Tel: 2649 5658, 55637575 (Studios), 9818704161 (Aditi), 9811 665977 (Raman) E-Mail: training at media-arc.net Internet: www.media-arc.net, www.indiaworldradio.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050921/e80456be/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From anivar.aravind at gmail.com Thu Sep 22 12:13:30 2005 From: anivar.aravind at gmail.com (Anivar Aravind) Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2005 12:13:30 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Protest against the withdrawal of National Award In-Reply-To: <20050917125343.84672.qmail@web25707.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> References: <20050917125343.84672.qmail@web25707.mail.ukl.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <35f96d470509212343604d013e@mail.gmail.com> Dear Friends, Please Sign in the Online Petition in Protest against the withdrawal of National Award for documentary on Silent Valley. http://www.petitiononline.com/silently/petition.html ~Regards Anivar Aravind GAIA To: Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Governent of India The documentary on the struggle to save Silent Valley rain forests in Kerala, "Only An Axe Away" directed by P. Baburaj and C. Saratchandran was adjudged by the Jury of Non-Feature Film section of the 52nd National Award on 13th July as the Best Educational, Instructional and Motivational film for 2004. In the Jury citation the Jury mentioned the following: "The award for the Best Educational/Motivational/Instructional Film is given to Only An Axe Away. This documentary has ventured to narrate the history of the unique campaign to save the silent valley from destructive development in a very distinct informative style". The above citation is taken from a press release issued by the Press Information Bureau Circular (16:39 IST) which was also available in the Directorate of Film Festival web site till third week of July. It was available in here in jansamachar.net a web magazine. It was reported in the Malayala Manorama Daily, Pune edition of the Decan Herad, Cochin Edition of The Hindu and other News Papers and TV Channels. But after about two weeks this award announcement has vanished mysteriously from PIB and DFF website and instead say that "NO AWARD GIVEN" in this category. PIB Press release (Actual Copy) From Malayala Manorama's archievs http://www.manoramaonline.com/advt/campus/NationalFilmAwards2004/52_NFA_Awards.pdf PIB website now contains a changed version: http://pib.nic.in/archieve/others/2005/52_NFA_Awards.pdf This is heart breaking news for all of us who are involved in documentary film making for the last several years. The National Film Awards still remain one of the very few institutions, which is at least theoretically committed to recognizing excellence in documentary filmmaking. That is why everyone related to this documentary greeted the news of the award with happiness and satisfaction. In contrast to a huge money minting entertainment film industry, documentary films receive scant encouragement or support in this country. The work done by the documentary film makers who struggle to produce works that strive to study, document and spread awareness about issues that affect the public community without any commercial or monetary benefit is rarely appreciated. But still many of them continue to work in this field out of their commitment to issues and their firm belief in the value of this work. But the state institutions set up with the aim of promoting works of excellence,like the Directorate of Film Festival often fail to consider documentary film making as of any serious importance. The cursory manner in which the case of Baburaj's and Saratchandran's film was removed from the awards list after even the award citations were published, is one more example of how these "poor relatives" are treated. Imagine what a fuss would have been created if a similar vanishing of an award happened in the best feature film or best actor category! The incident seriously questions the credibility of the National Film Awards and the manner in which Jury decisions are taken. Furthermore it is a setback to the morale of all documentary filmmakers and others who are concerned about social issues in the country. We, strongly protest against the manner in which the award for "Only an Axe Away" was withdrawn. We demand an enquiry into the circumstances in which this happened, and that until the facts are brought to light and those who are behind this are held responsible, the distribution of the awards for the non-feature film section be withheld. Sincerely, The Undersigned ________________________________ Anivar Aravind Arathi, P.O.Thangaloor Thrissur-680581 Kerala From aasim27 at yahoo.co.in Thu Sep 22 15:56:02 2005 From: aasim27 at yahoo.co.in (aasim khan) Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2005 11:26:02 +0100 (BST) Subject: [Reader-list] Gaza settlemt-russian connection Message-ID: <20050922102602.78124.qmail@web8302.mail.in.yahoo.com> Hi everyone. I came accross these statistics on the net while i was doing some research on Ariel Sharon. It seems the biggest wave of immigration to Israel happend not in the late 1940s but in late nineteen eightees. So were all the settlement constructed in Gaza a result of increase in demand for these immigrants.What was the connection between Israel accpeting immigrants in such large numbers and destrustion of Russian Soviet rule. could open up a new way of looking at the recent settlement crisis. these statistics are very intriguing..Check below.I got the data from a website: Jewish virtual library. Immigration from the Former Soviet Union -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Year Total Olim FSU 1948 101,828 1,175 1949 239,954 3,255 1950 170,563 290 1951 175,279 196 1952 24,610 74 1953 11,575 45 1954 18,491 30 1955 37,528 139 1956 56,330 470 1957 72,634 1,324 1958 27,290 729 1959 23,988 1,362 1960 24,692 1,923 1961 47,735 224 1962 61,533 194 1963 64,489 314 1964 55,036 541 1965 31,115 895 1966 15,957 2,054 1967 14,469 1,403 1968 20,703 224 1969 38,111 3,019 1970 36,750 992 1971 41,930 12,839 1972 55,888 31,652 1973 54,886 33,477 1974 31,979 16,816 1975 20,028 8,531 1976 19,754 7,279 1977 21,429 8,348 1978 26,394 12,192 1979 37,222 17,614 1980 20,428 7,570 1981 12,599 1,770 1982 13,723 782 1983 16,906 399 1984 19,981 367 1985 10,642 362 1986 9,505 202 1987 12,965 2,096 1988 13,034 2,283 1989 24,300 12,932 1990 200,170 185,227 1991 176,650 147,839 1992 77,350 65,093 1993 77,860 66,145 1994 80,810 68,079 1995 77,660 64,848 1996 72,180 59,048 1997 67,990 54,621 1998 58,500 46,032 1999 78,400 66,848 2000 61,542 50,817 2001 44,633 33,601 2002 35,168 18,508 2003 24,652 12,383 2004 22,500 5,406 TOTAL 2,990,320 1,142,878 *This report is based on data from the CBS. **Since 1995 data includes Asian Republics of the FSU. __________________________________________________________ Yahoo! India Matrimony: Find your partner now. Go to http://yahoo.shaadi.com From ravikant at sarai.net Wed Sep 21 22:47:36 2005 From: ravikant at sarai.net (Ravikant) Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2005 22:47:36 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] gaanv, shahar, ravikant aur shaharnama In-Reply-To: <8bdde454050919120419d55cc4@mail.gmail.com> References: <20050919050649.1906.qmail@web80909.mail.scd.yahoo.com> <8bdde454050919120419d55cc4@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <200509212247.36691.ravikant@sarai.net> Dear Mehmood, Thanks for coming up with a quick and as usual deliciuos response. I am sorry for the delay - was a bit preoccupied with the press, etc. Vijender had already forwarded this mail to the deewan, so let us move over to the deewan list and carry this conversation forward - in roman or nagri. (We need some interesting discussions on a newly inaugurated list!) I agree with a lot of what you have said but I guess we could not make oursleves clear so that even a perceptive reader/listener like you missed the point some place down the line. I agree with you that we have dismissed the country/city dichotomy rather summarily. You are also right that we are making a case for city as object of study. We were acutely aware of this while writing that small first intro to Sharanama - had we been writing in English, we would not have offered those clarifications, alibis, etc. So, please do not forget that we are also in conversation with a public that is used to consuming an overwhelming sense of disgust with the city. Also, there is more to how and how much and since when the city has been written about in Hindi or Urdu. It is interesting that village asserts itself as the sole source of inspiration in the writings of hindi writers known as chhaayavaadis or romantics(the quartet of Pant-Prasad-Mahadevi-Nirala) of early 20th century. And the reference to 'bharatmata graamvasini'(village dwelling mother India)is embedded there. Hindi Nationalism, like so many other Nationalisms elsewhere, established its moral and numerical authority/superiority precisely on the basis of its affinity, and claim to represent the real multitudes rather than the urbane, degenerate upper classes. 'Bazaaroo' is a common address of insult for Urdu, as you would know very well. The moral critique of hindi nationalism was loaded against the city and whatever the city represented, and that is something we wanted to question. The idea is not to present a preferential urban model over the essentialised rural or rural-develepmentalist paradigm, but see the city in itself. And there are many other twists to this city/country tale: At about the same time when the New Story emerges as the form for urban content and contempt, village reasserts itself against technological and urban dreams of Nehruvian modernization in the 50s and 60s. I am talking here about Renu's Regionalism, which interestingly becomes the template for Rahi Masoom Raza's Adha Gaon(first published in devanaagri). Raza chooses to write that novel in bhojpuri Urdu and in a polemical, mid-way introduction to the novel - asserts his, a Muslim's, right to stay in India because they chose to do so. To my mind he writes the novel in bhojpuri Urdu also because the space of modern standard hindi was by and large captured by Hindi/Hindu Nationalism and the assertion could come from a diffrent linguistic register. Since bharat has been captured by the Hindus, Gangauli, the village provides him the basis to critique Bharat. So what we are arguing against is the whole tradition of hollow, symbolic and moral romanticization of the village against the city. Notwithstanding the fact that Ambedkar at one point did present the city as a utopian escape for the Dalits, we are just saying that cities are as valid objects of analysis and imagination as villages have been. And by conjoining Urdu with the urban we are owning up both, while not disowning the village. aapka Ganvar hi, jo apne Ganv ko vapis jane layaq nahin samajhta (equally, a rustic who doesn't think his village is worth going back to) cheers ravikant On Monday 19 Sep 2005 10:36 am, mahmood farooqui wrote: > Humne kuchh dinon pahle ek mock documentary feature ka > title rakha tha CHALE GAANV KI OR > > Maqsad kahne ka yeh, ki voh baat jo us roz Ravikant > aur Sanjay ji ne uthayi thi aur jise Nandy ji ne > sameta tha ki SHAHARNAMA isliye aur gaanvnaama isliye > nahin, kyunki gaanv ab shahar bante ja rahe hain. > > Nandy ji is baat ke sakht khilaaf hain ki 'shahar > banna hi gaanv ki niyati hai' magar shahar aur gaanv > ke falsafiyana matlabon ko nazarandaaz karte hue mujhe > kahna yeh hai ki sachhai to yahi hai ki chahe shahar > vaale hon chahe gaanv vaale donon ke liye gaanv ki > sarvottam parinati yahi hai ki voh shahar ban jaayen, > ya shahar jaise ban jaayein. > > Lekin darasal bara mudda jo hai, hindi jagat aur gaanv > ka masla jise bahut aasaani aur sahajta se sanjay aur > Ravikant ne nipta diya, uska taalluq sirf isse nahin > hai ki Hindi saahitya ab apni shahri parivesh mein > aatmvishwaas se khara ho gaya hai, maano hindi > saahitya koi gaanv se aaya hua mera dada hai jo ab > teen pushton ke baad shahar mein apni jarein phaila > chuka hai. Voh Nagarjun aur Nagar aur Nirala aur > Premchand ab hamare paas nahin hain jo gaanv se nikle > the. > > Gaanv jo kabhi Hindi ka shahar tha so isliye to tha hi > ki Gandhi aur aazaadi ke rahnumaaon ne hindustan ki > haqeeqat ka asli akas gaanv mein dhoondha tha aur > Hindi  srijan ek arse tak apne aaspaas ek naitik > zimmedari dale hue tha, desh aur desh ke asli juz > gaanv ke prati. Baat yeh bhi thi ki jo log voh > saahitya parh rahe the aur jo log use likh rahe the > voh khud gaanv se aaye the aur unka taalluq gaanv se > bana rahta tha saalahasaal. > > SHuroo ki baat pe vaapas paltun to mere dada jo gaanv > mein paida hue aur mere pitaji jinhein gaanv ki > baharein dekhi thin, voh virasat mujhe nahin saunp > sake, mera gaanv ab ya to aadha hai, ya premchand ke > paas rah gaya hai aur usmein jo bacha use raagdarbari > le gaya. > > To kahne ka matlab yeh ki hum yadi aaj gaanv ke baare > mein nahin likhte hain aur uske baare mein nahin > parhte hain to isliye ki shahron mein ek acchi khaasi > taadaad un hindi parhne waalon aur likhne waalon ki > hai jo gaanv se poori tarah naabalad hain. > > Hum gaanv ko isliye haashiye par rakh sakte hain ki > voh ab hamara aaspaas nahin basta aur na hi hamare > paathakon ke aaspaas basta hai. to hum kyun uspe > likhein aur kyun uspe baat karein? > > Magar agar baat ko gaanv se hata ke kisanon ki taraf > laaya jaye, yaani peasants ke, to phir maamla > geographical aur spatial na rahke temporal ho jata > hai.  Voh isliye ki voh jo paanchveen class la lesson > hum parhte the ki bharatvarsh kisanon ka desh hai ab > usmein yun tarmeem kar di jaani chahiye ki bharatvarsh > kisanon ka desh tha, jo ab abhi yahan qareeb saath > pratishat ki taadaad mein hain, magar chunki GDP mein > voh mahaz 25 percent ka yogdaan dete hain isliye humne > yeh maan liya hai ki kuchh hi dinon mein sab kisan ya > to shahar palaayan kar jaayenge ya gaanv shahar ban > jaayenge aur kisanon ko kisaani ke abhishaap se mukti > mil jaayegi. > > Phir hamara shaharnama aap hi aap poore mulk ka ahaata > kar lega. > > Hum shahri log hain bhaiyya aur shahar ke baare mein > likh rahe hain, hum choonki hindi waale hain isliye > humko safai deni parti hai. Urdu waalon ne to shuroo > se hi apne aap ko shahri zabaan waala banake saari > samaajik zimmedariyon se mukt kar liya. > > To pahli baat to yeh ki kya hamein safaai dene ki > zaroorat hai, doosri baat yeh ki hum agar safaai dein > to phir dein, kanni na kataayein... > > Sammanpoorvak, > > GANWAAR. From mahmoodfarooqui at yahoo.com Sat Sep 24 13:57:18 2005 From: mahmoodfarooqui at yahoo.com (mahmood farooqui) Date: Sat, 24 Sep 2005 01:27:18 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Urdu as a sick language-any rebuttals? Message-ID: <20050924082718.62223.qmail@web80903.mail.scd.yahoo.com> Urdu is not only > poor for communicating higher > > level of scientific terms, it carries sick > cultural tendencies which can > > destroy a community which uses it as a vehicle for > any kind of communication among > > its members. The decadence in Pakistan is the > prime example. If Urdu had not > > been imposed on Pakistan, it would have been a > better and nicer country. > > > > This position ostensibly seems silly, but deeper > analysis will verify the > > truthfulness of this statement. > In early 60s when Urdu advocacy groups were > > much more powerful in Pakistan they ridiculed > themselves by importing Persian, > > Arabic and Turkish terms to clean Urdu from the > influence of English. In those > > days, they went to such extremes like changing > "toilets" with "bait ul > > khala" and "waiting rooms" with "rahat khana" on > Pakistan's all railway stations. > > These were also the days when Anjamane Tarraqi > Urdu tried to write science > > and math books in Urdu. The terms they coined or > imported from Persian, Arabic > > and Turkish for replacement of English terms were > much more complicated than > > the English terms. We often had to check English > terms in index pages to > > understand the Urdu terms. > > > > So much for the richness of Urdu language for > science and mathematics, now I > > come back to the earlier statement I made about > Urdu language. I said Urdu > > language carries sick cultural tendencies which > can destroy the community > > community which uses it as a vehicle for any kind > of communication among its > > members. Due to these sick cultural tendencies, > Urdu played a major role in the > > destruction of Muslims of India. > > > > By reading this statement if someone's blood is > boiling I'll request him to > > hold his hormones until I explain this statement. > > > > According to my analysis Urdu language carries in > itself many heavy packages > > of "darbari, jagirdari and nawabi" cultural > traditions which condition human > > minds to adopt decadent "darbari, jagirdari and > nawabi" values. We can > > witness these values prevalent in social groups > where Urdu is in frequent use. > > Hypocrisy, racial arrogance, hair splitting are > the common traits. > > > > If one looks at the last 50 years of Mughals when > the transformation started > > from pure Farsi linguistic culture to Urdu > linguistic culture the negative > > cultural values started entering in the mindset of > the Indian Muslim ruling > > elite. Masochistic values became social norms with > the growing influence of > > Urdu to the extent that eventfully it destroyed > Indian Muslims. > > > > Indian Muslims only started recovering when they > became in interaction with > > English language. Hindus started this interaction > much before Muslims, that > > is why Hindus recovered from these sicknesses much > earlier. Muslim started > > interaction with English much later, that is why, > they remained socially sick > > for much longer period. > > > > This rejuvenation continued and remained effective > until early 60s in > > Pakistan till the people who were directly exposed > to English linguistic value > > system were in leadership positions. When the > epidemic of replacing Urdu with > > English became prevalent in Pakistan, the country > and the people started to > > plunge again. > > > > The sad part of this whole story is the advocates > of Urdu have never > > bothered to look at the sick cultural packages > carried by Urdu language. > > > > As a matter of fact most of them treat these sick > cultural packages as the > > richness and beauty of Urdu language. > > > > Best regards, > > > > K. Ashraf > > > > PS: The above statements are not intended to hurt > anyone's feelings, these > > are my personal interpretations, anyone may agree > or disagree in whatever way > > one deems appropriate. > > __________________________________ Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 http://mail.yahoo.com From viyyer at sarai.net Sat Sep 24 15:41:38 2005 From: viyyer at sarai.net (V Vivek) Date: Sat, 24 Sep 2005 15:41:38 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Call For Proposal - Sarai/CSDS FLOSS fellowships Message-ID: <4335265A.2090802@sarai.net> CALL FOR PROPOSAL Sarai/CSDS Short Term FLOSS Fellowship, 2005 - 2006. The Sarai Programme, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi (www.sarai.net) invites applications for fellowship to projects in the area of Free Software, Open Source Software and Social Usage of Software. Sarai invites developers/researchers/ programmers (practitioners as well as students) to propose projects in the area of free and open source software applications relevant to educational, social and community needs. We are looking for original ideas, as well as proposals to localize and adapt existing software and applications to South Asian conditions. We are also looking for ideas around technical manuscripts,beginners manuals, review manuscripts etc. Some of the focus areas are: - Indic Computing - Developing/Distributing/Supporting a standalone / addon localized Linux distribution - Printing support (i.e. ability to print in Indian Languages) - Multimedia / Publishing Tools Research - Developing / Enhancing Tools like GIMP, Scribus for publishing quality work - Enhancing current audio/video tools available under Linux - Fixing/Supporting Cinelerra, LiVES etc - P2P - Researching on feasibility and implementation of P2P news distribution network - Researching and developing - Collaboration Tools/Frameworks (Apnaopus, CreativeDot ) - Developing extensions for the project newsrack( http://floss.sarai.net/newsrack ). - Low Resource Computing - Devising solutions for networked computing in Low Resource Spaces (Define the parameters of the "low resource space" and work on it) - Generic - Developing Linux drivers/software for easily available hardware (usually the cheapest hardware available on the market is not supported under Linux (scanners, webcams etc)) [ This would include writing a howto on how to get it to work under popular distributions (redhat, pcqlinux etc) and all.. ] - Review papers on emerging technologies - Indic Computing - IPV6 - Wireless Networks - Manuscripts for beginners What is Sarai: _____________ Sarai is a public initiative of media practitioners and scholars looking at media cultures and urban life. Sarai's interests are in the field of old and new media, information and communication technologies, free software, cinema, and urban space - its politics, built form, ecology, culture and history, with a strong commitment to making knowledge available in the public domain. It is a programme of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi. For more information visit www.sarai.net . Sarai is committed to promoting the free software and open source vision. Conditions: __________ Applicants should be resident in India, and should have a bank account in any bank operating in India. These are support grants and grantees will be free to pursue their primary occupations, if any. Mail your project proposal, workplan and CV to both the following addresses: > Please mark your subject line 'FLOSS (Free/Libre Open Source Software) Initiative'. Also point out what you see as the relevance of your work, and how you plan to share the resultant software once finalized. Enquires: > Last date for submission: November 15th, 2005 Note: Proposals from teams, partnerships, collectives, faculty are welcome, so long as the grant amount is administered by a single individual, and the funds are deposited in a single bank account in the name of an individual. From ysaeed7 at yahoo.com Sat Sep 24 21:52:28 2005 From: ysaeed7 at yahoo.com (Yousuf) Date: Sat, 24 Sep 2005 09:22:28 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Update on Sarai fellowship: Religious pop art Message-ID: <20050924162228.72753.qmail@web51409.mail.yahoo.com> Friends I hope you remember my postings of last year under the Sarai fellowship 2004, entitled “Syncretism in the Popular Religious Art of Indian Muslims”, of which we also set up a small exhibit of posters at Sarai/CSDS in August 2004. Here are some interesting updates and news on how my research has gone places since its humble beginning at Sarai last year. For those not familiar with my work on this subject, I would recommend details on the website www.alif-india.com/popart which I designed during the fellowship. (1) As you know the postings at Sarai are being read by hundreds of people across the world. My postings, in particular, were followed by a scholar at an organization called ISIM (International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World) at Leiden, The Netherlands. ISIM was planning an international workshop on the themes of visual culture and the politics of archaeology and heritage in context of Islamic world, and contacted me to enquire if I would like to present a paper on the theme of Muslim popular devotional art in their workshop to be held this year in Amsterdam. I of course agreed to it. (2) As part of another international fellowship, I have been spending some time (over 5 months so far) in Pakistan this year. Although the current research does not involve the visual arts (it’s about music in Pakistan), I could not ignore the colourful variety of religious posters available on the streets of Lahore and Karachi. Hence I collected some to add to my growing archive of religious calendar art, which I can call South Asian now. You may find some examples on the website. But the variety of religious images available in Pakistan defies many stereotypes I had about the orthodoxy and iconoclasm of this country. Two excerpts from a forthcoming essay on this are given at the bottom of this mail. (3) So finally, the ISIM workshop that I mentioned above, took place in Amsterdam on 2-3 September 2005 and I visited The Netherlands to attend it. The workshop was called “InVisible Histories: The Politics of Placing the Past”, and was held in the premises of the Amsterdam University, in the picturesque canal-house downtown of this Dutch city. I read a paper called “the Contemporary Challenges to Pluralism in the Popular Devotional Art of South Asian Muslims”, along with an extensive slide show of the posters. Many other interesting papers (with illustrations) were read out by scholars from a wide-range of places including the US, UK, Egypt, and Beirut. More details about the workshop are available at www.isim.nl (I am writing an essay based on my research, to be published in the next issue of the ISIM Review). (4) In December this year, I hope to participate in a “Conference on the Religions and Cultures in the Indic Civilization”, organized by the Indic Studies Network, CSDS, New Delhi, and read a paper about my subject. (5) I also made a presentation about “the popular religious art and syncretic culture of south Asia” to the students of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Jamia Millia University, New Delhi, in September 2004. Excerpts about Pakistani images: “ the popular art of cut-and-paste collages in the devotional prints seems to have acquired ultimate heights in Pakistan’s poster industry. A large number of new posters, collected mainly on the streets of Lahore and some in Karachi, seem to differ from those printed in India, in many ways, and deserve a special mention. An artist’s quest for putting maximum attributes about a saint and his shrine within a frame using minimum effort, results in a collage where an arch and a dome come from separate faded photos, the saint’s person comes from an old painting, the trees and hills are cut out from a Swiss landscape, the lion from a wildlife magazine, and the diyas or lamps from a Hindu poster. Further additions are the pictures of Mecca and Medina, the Arabic inscriptions and a crescent and star that may have been painted by the artist to add some originality.” “A surprising element in many posters printed in Pakistan today, is the unhindered depiction of the personages of saints, something the Indian artists have been reluctant about. In many posters printed in Lahore, one can prominently see what do saints like Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti of Ajmer, Baba Farid of Pakpattan, and many others look like according to the artist. Since these portraits have not been seen in India, I wonder if they have originated in Pakistan. A large poster found very commonly in Pakistani towns is a mega photo collage of almost all Muslim saints revered in south Asia, from Gausul Azam of Baghdad to some 20th century sajjade-nasheens (keepers of Sufi shrines), represented by mug shots cut out from photos and paintings, each with a number, relating to an index of names given in the same frame.” Meanwhile, my collection and the research on this subject continues and its updates can be seen at the site: http://www.alif-india.com/popart Yousuf Saeed __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com From gmc at sonologic.nl Sun Sep 25 16:26:22 2005 From: gmc at sonologic.nl (Koen Martens) Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2005 12:56:22 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] Re: reader-list Digest, Vol 26, Issue 31 In-Reply-To: <20050925100005.CDC6428D760@mail.sarai.net> References: <20050925100005.CDC6428D760@mail.sarai.net> Message-ID: <43368256.1030403@sonologic.nl> reader-list-request at sarai.net wrote: > Date: Sat, 24 Sep 2005 15:41:38 +0530 > From: V Vivek > Subject: [Reader-list] Call For Proposal - Sarai/CSDS FLOSS > fellowships > > CALL FOR PROPOSAL > Sarai/CSDS Short Term FLOSS Fellowship, 2005 - 2006. > > The Sarai Programme, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi > (www.sarai.net) invites applications for fellowship to projects in the > area of Free Software, Open Source Software and Social Usage of Software. [SNIP] > Some of the focus areas are: [SNIP] > - Researching on feasibility and implementation of P2P news distribution > network [SNIP] > Conditions: > __________ > Applicants should be resident in India, and should have a bank account in > any > bank operating in India. Ah now that is a pity, i had almost gone for the P2P news distribution challenge, but unfortunately i am not a resident of India. We are already playing with the idea of a p2p search engine by the way (https://twiki.sonologic.nl/twiki/bin/view/Opensearch/WebHome), to free ourselves of the power of multimilliondollar companies controlling current search engines (google, msn, ..), and this would probably be a good warm-up exercise. Best regards, Koen Martens -- K.F.J. Martens, Sonologic, http://www.sonologic.nl/ Networking, hosting, embedded systems, unix, artificial intelligence. Public PGP key: http://www.metro.cx/pubkey-gmc.asc Wondering about the funny attachment your mail program can't read? Visit http://www.openpgp.org/ From mahmoodfarooqui at yahoo.com Sun Sep 25 16:32:48 2005 From: mahmoodfarooqui at yahoo.com (mahmood farooqui) Date: Sun, 25 Sep 2005 04:02:48 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] DASTANGOI PERFORMANCE 29TH SEP Message-ID: <20050925110248.85981.qmail@web80910.mail.scd.yahoo.com> THE SEA OF ELOQUENCE- AN EVENING OF DATANGOI- A RECITATION FROM THE TILISM-E HOSHRUBA by MAHMOOD FAROOQUI AND HIMANSHU TYAGI at ALLIANCE FRANCAISE, near IIC Annexee, 29th Sep, Thursday, 6.30 pm. PS- Those near the Univ can catch the performance at IP College at 12 pm on Tuesday the 27th. __________________________________ Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 http://mail.yahoo.com From bia2006 at cihts.ac.in Mon Sep 26 09:20:38 2005 From: bia2006 at cihts.ac.in (bia2006 at cihts.ac.in) Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 09:20:38 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] International Conference on BUDDHISM IN ASIA: CHALLENGES & PROSPECTS (10-12 Feb. 2006, Sarnath, Varanasi, India) Message-ID: <1415.172.16.1.1.1127706638.squirrel@myaccount.manage.cyberoam> Please check the following link for information about the conference: http://www.cihts.ac.in/bia2006/ If you are interested in the conference and would like to receive the printed conference brochure and form, please send us your mailing address, and we would be happy to mail it to you right away. Best wishes. Coordinator Buddhism in Asia: Challenges & Prospects (10-12 Feb. 2006) Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies Sarnath, Varanasi-221 007. India E-mail: bia2006 at cihts.ac.in From aarti at sarai.net Fri Sep 23 17:13:30 2005 From: aarti at sarai.net (Aarti) Date: Fri, 23 Sep 2005 17:13:30 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Talk: Partition and Faiz Message-ID: <4333EA62.4070802@sarai.net> The Center for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi and The Partition Studies Group Invite you to a talk by Aamir mufti on Partition and Faiz Ahmed faiz: Towards a Lyric History of India 27 September 2005, Tuesday 3.00 pm Sminar Room CSDS 29 rajpur Road Delhi - 54 Near Old Transport Authority Shail Mayaram Senior Fellow CSDS _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From sbreitsameter at snafu.de Mon Sep 26 13:31:20 2005 From: sbreitsameter at snafu.de (Sabine Breitsameter) Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 10:01:20 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] New on Audiohyperspace In-Reply-To: <20050925100003.9F11728D75F@mail.sarai.net> Message-ID: Hello all, probably you have not checked out yet: http://www.swr.de/swr2/audiohyperspace/ger_version/index.html http://www.swr.de/swr2/audiohyperspace/engl_version/index.html Audiohyperspace's latest issue tries to answer the questions: - What has the webstream of a media art conference to do with Rudolf Arnheim, one of the early theorist of radio art? - What is going on in India's media art scene? - What's going on in Warsaw, where artists have been taking over a radio studio every night between 10 p.m. and midnight? Please, check it out! Best, Sabine From oishiksircar at hotmail.com Tue Sep 27 01:35:12 2005 From: oishiksircar at hotmail.com (Oishik Sircar) Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 20:05:12 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] MINDSPEAK: Film Screening on 30 Sptember Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050926/a6010ede/attachment.html From anand at sarai.net Tue Sep 27 10:56:44 2005 From: anand at sarai.net (Anand V. Taneja) Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 07:26:44 +0200 (CEST) Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Screening of 'Original Child Bomb' at Sarai/Khoj Message-ID: <4258.202.88.149.158.1127798804.squirrel@mail.sarai.net> Original Child Bomb Directed by Cary Schonegevel 2004, 57 minutes, documentary (This film has been provided courtesy Breakthrough, www.breakthrough.tv) Khoj - 29th September 5.30 pm Sarai - 30th September 4.30 pm Inspired by Thomas Merton's poem, ORIGINAL CHILD BOMB shows the human cost of nuclear weapons. The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are depicted through declassified footage, photographs, drawings and testimonies of mothers, brothers and soldiers. Ordinary people gaze upon the nuclear past and its terrifying present. They expose the political rhetoric surrounding "security" and "weapons of mass destruction". -- The Sarai Programme http://www.sarai.net/ Weblogs - http://synchroni-cities.blogspot.com/ http://www.chapatimystery.com/ _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From vivek at sarai.net Mon Sep 26 16:19:23 2005 From: vivek at sarai.net (Vivek Narayanan) Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 16:19:23 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Delhi reading: Sharmistha Mohanty, New Life Message-ID: <4337D233.60007@sarai.net> SHARMISTHA MOHANTY : NEW LIFE Saturday, October 1, 5.00 p.m., India International Centre (IIC) Annexe Garden, Delhi: Sharmistha Mohanty will read from her novel, New Life, recently published by India Ink/Roli Books. She will be introduced by renowned author U.R. Ananthamurthy. Following the reading there will be a talk by Ananthamurthy on Indian writing in English. _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From sadan at sarai.net Tue Sep 27 12:58:19 2005 From: sadan at sarai.net (Sadan Jha) Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 12:58:19 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Call for Proposal: Sarai-CSDS Student Stipendship Programme Message-ID: <4338F493.6040207@sarai.net> Dear all, Sending you the call for proposals for Sarai-CSDS Student Stipendship Programme for Research on the City. Kindly pass the information to interested research scholars, instituions and forums. wishes, sadan. *Sarai Programme, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi* Student Stipendship For Research On The City *Sarai*, an interdisciplinary research and practice programme on City and Media, at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi, invites applications for short term studentships to facilitate research on urban life in South Asia. Candidates may be from any discipline and should be enrolled in Master, M.Phil or Ph.D programme in India. You are required to send *one page abstract* (indicating the scope, nature and approach of proposed research) along with your* C.V*. Candidates who have already undertaken research may also send a *sample copy of their writing*. Indicative themes include: Urban histories, architecture and spatial transformations, planning, environment, labour, economy, community life, memory and narratives of the city, literature and urbanism, cinema and the city, visual culture, public space and media practices. Selected candidates will be expected to participate in two workshops (February and June 2006) to discuss their research after which they will present a final paper in September 2006. The stipendship amount is Rs.15,000. Sarai will also take care of travel, boarding and lodging for researchers attending the workshops. Applications may be sent to: Sadan Jha Sarai, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies 29. Rajpur Road, Delhi 10054 Ph: 23960040, 23942199 Inquiries: _sadan at sarai.net , _ Further details: _www.sarai.net _ *Deadline for Application: 21 November 2005* From iwasthere2000 at yahoo.com Tue Sep 27 14:12:50 2005 From: iwasthere2000 at yahoo.com (shashidhar sabnavis) Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 01:42:50 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Urdu as a sick language-any rebuttals? In-Reply-To: <20050924082718.62223.qmail@web80903.mail.scd.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <20050927084250.8113.qmail@web32401.mail.mud.yahoo.com> In agreement with Mahmood Farooqui, I work with more than 20 Udu language schools in the city of Pune; In most of the cases more than two schools are run from the same campus on the same day, usually one of the schools is a Marathi Medium school and the other a minority language school such as Urdu, Tamil, Kanada etc. In all of these Marathi schools there is not even one single hindu enrolled, amongst the siblings the girls are usually sent to the urdu school and the boys to the Marathi Medium school. Children are not introduced to any language other than Urdu until the time they are in Class 4 and the best part, there are more than 40 school imparting education in Urdu at the primary level but there are only 5 Secondary schools in the entire city of Pune. Like many other languages Urdu is also on the wane, none of the teachers who teach Urdu speak Urdu at home, they claim to but when it comes to simple tasks like composing the question papers, they fall short miserably. I have had a lot of trouble getting translations for a simple puppet show on sanitation, it took us a life time to find equivalent words for exam, toilet, brusing your teeth. The entire excersice cased us a lot of misery. In my opinion language of instruction, be it in schools, be it in filling up railway forms should be kept the same and uniform through out and the champions of the society whose sole purpose in life is to ensure the survival of self styled religions and languages should be left to guard them. Imagine the life a student in class seven who cannot read the numbers on the busses, understand directions on a carton of detergent because his father forces him to attend a school in Urdu and the state is ruled by a proxy who ensures that even medical shop and hospital are written in Marathi. Regards, Shashi __________________________________ Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 http://mail.yahoo.com From ravik_rk at hotmail.com Wed Sep 28 12:45:11 2005 From: ravik_rk at hotmail.com (Ravi Kumar) Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2005 12:45:11 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Invitation for CSD Seminar Series Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/attachments/20050928/f9244c41/attachment.html From sadan at sarai.net Tue Sep 27 13:04:42 2005 From: sadan at sarai.net (Sadan Jha) Date: Tue, 27 Sep 2005 13:04:42 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] call for Proposals: Sarai-CSDS Student Stipendship Programme Message-ID: <4338F612.5070405@sarai.net> Apology for double posting, if any. Dear all, Sending you the call for proposals for Sarai-CSDS Student Stipendship Programme for Research on the City. Kindly pass the information to interested research scholars, instituions and forums. wishes, sadan. *Sarai Programme, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi* Student Stipendship For Research On The City *Sarai*, an interdisciplinary research and practice programme on City and Media, at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi, invites applications for short term studentships to facilitate research on urban life in South Asia. Candidates may be from any discipline and should be enrolled in Master, M.Phil or Ph.D programme in India. You are required to send *one page abstract* (indicating the scope, nature and approach of proposed research) along with your* C.V*. Candidates who have already undertaken research may also send a *sample copy of their writing*. Indicative themes include: Urban histories, architecture and spatial transformations, planning, environment, labour, economy, community life, memory and narratives of the city, literature and urbanism, cinema and the city, visual culture, public space and media practices. Selected candidates will be expected to participate in two workshops (February and June 2006) to discuss their research after which they will present a final paper in September 2006. The stipendship amount is Rs.15,000. Sarai will also take care of travel, boarding and lodging for researchers attending the workshops. Applications may be sent to: Sadan Jha Sarai, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies 29. Rajpur Road, Delhi 10054 Ph: 23960040, 23942199 Inquiries: _sadan at sarai.net , _Further details: _www.sarai.net _ *Deadline for Application: 21 November 2005* _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From anand at sarai.net Wed Sep 28 10:22:33 2005 From: anand at sarai.net (Anand V. Taneja) Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2005 06:52:33 +0200 (CEST) Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Re: Screening of 'Original Child Bomb' at Sarai/Khoj Message-ID: <33583.59.176.27.149.1127883153.squirrel@mail.sarai.net> Sorry for the repeat, this time with addresses. Original Child Bomb Directed by Cary Schonegevel 2004, 57 minutes, documentary (This film has been provided courtesy Breakthrough, www.breakthrough.tv) Khoj - 29th September 5.30 pm Sarai - 30th September 4.30 pm Inspired by Thomas Merton's poem, ORIGINAL CHILD BOMB shows the human cost of nuclear weapons. The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are depicted through declassified footage, photographs, drawings and testimonies of mothers, brothers and soldiers. Ordinary people gaze upon the nuclear past and its terrifying present. They expose the political rhetoric surrounding "security" and "weapons of mass destruction". Khoj Studios S-17 . Khirki Extension. (Near Sai Baba Temple) New Delhi-17 Call:91-11-55655874\73 Sarai-CSDS 29 Rajpur Road, Civil Lines (Near Old Transport Authority) New Delhi-54 Call - 91-11-23960040 -- The Sarai Programme http://www.sarai.net/ Weblogs - http://synchroni-cities.blogspot.com/ http://www.chapatimystery.com _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From penguinhead at linux-delhi.org Wed Sep 28 18:50:27 2005 From: penguinhead at linux-delhi.org (Pankaj kaushal) Date: Wed, 28 Sep 2005 18:50:27 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] strikes Message-ID: <433A989B.3040904@linux-delhi.org> >From rediff.com, > Get set for the mother of all strikes > rediff Features Desk | September 28, 2005 15:35 IST > Planes grounded. Banks shut. Government offices shut. Industries crippled. Agitations on the streets. Trains disrupted. > http://in.rediff.com/money/2005/sep/28strike1.htm What do strikes achieve? Do strikes work? A student or workers' strike just results in demonstrations being beaten by the police. I am not sure but strikes aren't even legal in India. A call for Strike often makes first page news but, no one talks about the results of these strikes if any. Do strikes achieve anything at all? PS: Before you punch that keyboard would you like to support it with some data? P. -- Alas, even today there's little worth thinking and saying that does not grievously wound the state, the gods, and common decency. -Goethe From lawrence at altlawforum.org Thu Sep 29 08:46:19 2005 From: lawrence at altlawforum.org (Lawrence Liang) Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 08:46:19 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Launch and Discussion of Sarai reader 05: Bare Acts Message-ID: Dear All Following the launch of Sarai Reader 05 in New Delhi, ALF and Sarai would like to invite you for a launch cum discussion of Sarai Reader 05: Bare Acts in Bangalore on the 3rd of October 2005. The discussants are : 1. Eshah Shah, Fellow, Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Environment and Development 2. Sitharamam Kakarala, Senoir Fellow, Center for Study of Culture and Society 3. Sudhir Krishnaswamy, Faculty, National Law School Venue: Center for Education and Documentation (Domlur), at 6 PM . Take the left turn on the Shanti Sagar intersection on Airport road, and follow the road till you reach a prominent red brick building. For further details see www.doccentre.org About the Reader Every year , for the past five years, Sarai has bringing out an independent Reader based on specific conceptual themes. The past 4 readers have raised critical questions about 1. The Public Domain 2. The cities of everyday life 3. Shaping Technology 4. Crisis Media The theme for the Reader this year is "Bare Acts', and includes over fifty articles written by a range of people cutting across disciplines and interests. The Reader is also available for free to download on www.sarai.net. We hope you will join us for this discussion Lawrence Liang ======== >From the Reader The ŒBare Act¹ is an expression used to specify the content of law, bereft of any interpretative gloss. In a legal library in India and many parts of the English-speaking world, a Bare Act is a document that simply codifies a law without annotation or commentary. The ŒBare Act¹ is legality pared down to its textual essence. It expresses only what the law does, and what it can do. The enactment of law, however, is less a matter of reading the letter of the law, and more a matter of augmenting or eroding its textual foundation through the acts of interpretation, negotiation, disputation and witnessing. The law, and practices within and outside it, stand in relation to a meta-legal domain that can be said to embrace acts and actions in all their depth, intensity and substantive generality. This too is a stage set for the performance of Œbare acts¹, of what we might call Œnaked deeds¹ ­ actions shorn of everything other than what is contained in a verb. The ŒBare Act¹ that encrypts the letter of the law, the wire frame structure that demands the fleshing out of interpretation, and the Œbare act¹ that expresses and contains the stripped-down kernel of an act, of something that is done, are both expressions that face each other in a relationship of tense reflection and intimate alterity. Bare Acts generate bare acts, and vice versa. With this book we hope to consolidate and take forward a process of considered examination of this troubled mirror image. From madhumita at disabilityindia.org Thu Sep 29 11:11:10 2005 From: madhumita at disabilityindia.org (Dr Madhumita Puri) Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 11:11:10 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Reader-list] Hutch Marathon Message-ID: My apologies for any objection anyone might have for the following post: It is to obtain your support - which we hope will be readily forthcoming To run at the Hutch marathon is to run for a cause! The Society for Child Development works providing opportunities for children and young adults with mental handicap and other disabilities lead a life of dignity by earning a living. We are trying to collect money to purchase the raw material that would help the youngsters make a living: Center located at 9,Rajpur Road - you are invited to come and see the place. We request you to run for us (you could walk too if you like!!!). To run a registration is required (payment of Rs 100) which could be given to us, form has to be filled and receipt will be issued by the Marathon organizers (you could send the money online as well: www.giveindia.org), but do remember to mention that you would like the Soicity for Child Development to benefit from this. You could also write back if you will join us, I request you to. The registration fee be given to us by the organizers and the more number of runners means that we would be able to collect some money for our work. You could read about us at the links given below. or visit one of our centers located in Delhi - at 9 Rajpur Road, Delhi 54. http://www.disabilityindia.org/aboutus.cfm http://www.outlookindia.com/mad.asp?fodname=20050808&fname=Making&sid=1 Many thanks Madhumita Puri Director Society for Child Development From vivek at sarai.net Thu Sep 29 14:29:56 2005 From: vivek at sarai.net (Vivek Narayanan) Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 14:29:56 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] US soldiers trade grisly photos of dead and mutilated Iraqis for access to amateur porn Message-ID: <433BAD0C.9070908@sarai.net> http://eastbayexpress.com/Issues/2005-09-21/news/news.html From cahen.x at levels9.com Thu Sep 29 20:10:16 2005 From: cahen.x at levels9.com (xavier cahen) Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 16:40:16 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] pourinfos Newsletter / 09-23 to 09-29-2005 Message-ID: <433BFCD0.8000407@levels9.com> pourinfos.org l'actualite du monde de l'art / daily Art news ----------------------------------------------------------------------- infos from September 23, 2005 to September 29, 2005 (included) ------------------------------------------------------------------- (mostly in french) ------------------------------------------------------------------- 01 Call : Fellowship , Center for Creative Photography, Tucson, Arizona, Usa. http://pourinfos.org/candidature/item.php?id=2011 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 02 Call : Fellowship For Research On The City, Sarai, Delhi, Inde. http://pourinfos.org/candidature/item.php?id=2010 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 03 Call : Fake Art: Call for Digital Web Art/Programs, virtual museum. http://pourinfos.org/participation/item.php?id=2009 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 04 Call : 5th International Short Film Festival , Berlin, Germany. http://pourinfos.org/participation/item.php?id=2008 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 05 Call : cycle conference intended for the architects, Paris ,France. http://pourinfos.org/participation/item.php?id=2007 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 06 Call : Figures Libres/ Free Figures, Pompidou Center, Paris, France. http://pourinfos.org/participation/item.php?id=2006 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 07 Divers : Petition, To save the Verlaine Museum,, Juniville, France. http://pourinfos.org/divers/item.php?id=2005 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 08 Job : assistant professor of new media/intermedia, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, Usa. http://pourinfos.org/emploi/item.php?id=2004 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 09 Meeting : Projection, Peter Greenaway, Pompidou Center, Paris, France. http://pourinfos.org/rencontres/item.php?id=2003 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 Publication : 05 out now, Spike Art Quartely, wien, Austria. http://pourinfos.org/publications/item.php?id=2002 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 Publication : Exporevue, magazine on line, France. http://pourinfos.org/publications/item.php?id=2001 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 12 Publication : n°36-37, Mouvement, Paris, France. http://pourinfos.org/publications/item.php?id=2000 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 Screening: Compilation #4, video of Latin America, Miss China Beauty, Paris, France. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1999 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 14 Screening : CIT.CIT. Platform and Treasury, Etablissement d'en face, Brussels, Belgium. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1998 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 15 Program : October, Discovered movies and videos of artist in October, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1997 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 16 Program : october 2005, Espace Culture Multimedia de la Maison populaire, Montreuil, France. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1996 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 17 Exhibition : performances, myrtilles, en, quartiers, libres, montpellier, France. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1995 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 18 Exhibition : videos-performances, ACTION D'ART, Grasse, France. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1994 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 19 Exhibition : Versailles off, LA MARECHALERIE contemporary art center, Versailles, France. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1993 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 20 Exhibition : A Told World, Parc Saint Léger, Pougues-les-Eaux, France. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1992 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 21 Exhibition : Parabolas, Aire, espaces transdisciplinaires de creation, Moulins, France. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1991 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 22 Exhibition : Nuit Blanche at la goutte d'or,l'Association M.U. et l'espace Cargo 21, Paris, France. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1990 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 23 Exhibition : small stories, Biennale d’art contemporain de Lyon, Centre d’art contemporain de Lacoux, Hauteville-Lompnes, France. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1989 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 24 Exhibition : "seen from top : to draw the landscape", Albert Clermont, Galerie/Ateliers L'H du Siège, Valenciennes. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1988 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 25 Exhibition : ARBORESCENCE 05, Terre Active, Aix-en-Provence, France. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1987 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 26 Exhibition "MADE IN CHINA" Pascal Simonet, Galerie Commune, Tourcoing, France. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1986 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 27 Exhibition "the time of a photo" à la Galerie d'exposition du theâtre de Privas, Œuvres de la collection IAC, Privas, France. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1985 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 28 Publication : virtual city III, N° 22, On line magazine du CIAC, Montreal, Canada. lien http://pourinfos.org/publications/item.php?id=1984 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 29 Publication : "photography as manufactures history", Isabelle Hersant, Rencontres Photographiques, Timisoara, Romania. http://pourinfos.org/publications/item.php?id=1983 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 30 Meetings : New formats, new territories of art, IRCAM, IRCAD, festival Emergences, Paris, France. http://pourinfos.org/rencontres/item.php?id=1982 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 31 Meetings : ITANOMTHUB : conference de Research&development et congres WU-M-P, Saint-Ouen, France. http://pourinfos.org/rencontres/item.php?id=1981 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 32 Job : web-design, teacher, Ecole superieure d'art et de design d'Amiens, Amiens, France. http://pourinfos.org/emploi/item.php?id=1980 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 33 Job : artist for realization of a fresco, Maison de l'Art et de la Communication, Sallaumines, France. http://pourinfos.org/emploi/item.php?id=1979 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 34 Job : artist for realization of a fresco, La Maison des Jeunes de Ruitz, Ruitz, France. http://pourinfos.org/emploi/item.php?id=1978 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 35 Job : Director for the contemporary arts center of Brest, Passerelle, France. http://pourinfos.org/emploi/item.php?id=1977 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 36 Call : Grant franco-german, Deutsch-Französischen Kulturrat, Saarbrücken, Germany. http://pourinfos.org/candidature/item.php?id=1976 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 37 Call : Call for Project, Belluard Bollwerk International, Fribourg, Switzerland. http://pourinfos.org/candidature/item.php?id=1975 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 38 Call : Interactive Film Lab Budapest, Korsakow System, Budapest, Hongrie. http://pourinfos.org/participation/item.php?id=1974 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 39 Call : PLAN Exhibition, Manchester, United Kingdom. http://pourinfos.org/participation/item.php?id=1973 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 40 Call : URBAN SCREENS, Amsterdam, Netherlands. http://pourinfos.org/participation/item.php?id=1972 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 41 Divers : A work of Alain Declercq destroyed, domaine de Chamarande, France. http://pourinfos.org/divers/item.php?id=1971 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 42 Divers : in "le cadre de lire en fete", reading of Claude Ber, Paris, France. http://pourinfos.org/divers/item.php?id=1970 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 43 Performance : Infraction program, Festival International de Performance, Sete, France. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1969 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 44 Exhibition : installation Interactive, Nuit Blanche, Paris, Strasbourg, France. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1968 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 45 Exhibition : Open studios, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1967 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 46 Exhibition : Artforum Berlin and Fiac de Paris, Galerie Jocelyn Wolff, Allemagne, France. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1966 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 47 Exhibition : Exhibition #2, Association FetArt, Cachan, France. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1965 ------------------------------------------------------------------- 48 Exhibition : "the name of the island", Clement Rodzielski, Betonsalon, Paris, France. http://pourinfos.org/expositions/item.php?id=1964 -- pourinfos.org -------------- XAVIER CAHEN Direction de la publication xavier.cahen at pourinfos.org http://www.pourinfos.org From basvanheur at gmx.net Fri Sep 30 16:18:03 2005 From: basvanheur at gmx.net (Bas van Heur) Date: Fri, 30 Sep 2005 11:48:03 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] cut.up.magazine special issue on netporn Message-ID: <433D17E3.6030008@gmx.net> Cut-up.media.magazine: special issue on the art and politics of netporn In cooperation with the Institute of Network Cultures, Cut-up.media.magazine (http://www.cut-up.com) has produced a special issue on the art and politics of netporn. Although a growing number of theoretical and historical porn studies have appeared over the last decades, few have focused on the analysis of netporn as complex networks and its embedment within digital media environments. By publishing five new articles based on original research online and freely accessible to all, we hope to contribute to a climate of critical research surrounding the topic of netporn. The five new articles are: - Nishant Shah, “Playblog: Pornography, Performance, and Cyberspace” - Manuel Bonik and Andreas Schaale, “The Naked Truth: Internet-Eroticism and The Search” - Bert de Muynck, “The Art of Adult Architecture or the Politics of Pornographic Planning“ - Tim Noonan, “Netporn and the Politics of Disability: A Catalyst for Access, Inclusion and Acceptance” - Mireille Miller-Young, “’Because I’m Sexy and Smart!’: Black Web Mistresses Hack Cyberporn” Publication data: “Special Issue: The Art and Politics of Netporn”, ed. by Bas van Heur, Cut-up.media.magazine, issue 20 (2005). Stable URL: http://www.cut-up.com/news/issues.php?issue=20 More information: Bas van Heur bas at cut-up.com Cut.up.media PO Box 313 2000 AH Haarlem The Netherlands