From anjakovacs at gmail.com Tue Mar 1 00:57:20 2011 From: anjakovacs at gmail.com (Anja Kovacs) Date: Tue, 1 Mar 2011 00:57:20 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Invitation activist meeting on the Internet and freedom of expression, Delhi In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Dear all, The Centre for Internet and Society (India) and the Central American Institute for Studies of Social Democracy - DEMOS (Guatemala) have the pleasure to invite you to a day-long workshop on* the role of the Internet in fostering freedom of expression and strengthening activism in India*. The workshop will take place in the Deputy Chairman's Hall, Constitution Club, Rafi Marg, Delhi 110001, on 4 March 2011. With the signficant role reported for new technologies in recent revolutions in Tunesia, Egypt, and elsewhere, activists in India, too, have taken a renewed interest in the potential of the Internet to support their struggles for social change and social justice. But what are some of the potential stumbleblocks activists in India might run into in their exploration of the Internet's potential? What are the legal restrictions and frameworks activists should be aware of when they use new technologies in their work? And what can we do to create an environment in which the online world unequivocally supports efforts for greater democratisation and social justice offline, rather than thwart them? It is questions such as these that this workshop seeks to answer, through an exciting mix of *panel discussions, unconference sessions, a film screening, and technical and legal clinics* in its day-long program. Our hope is that the workshop will help participants as well as organisers to get a stronger sense of the potential and challenges of online activism in the particular context of India, as well as to start building stronger networks among the activists interested in these issues in the country. The workshop will take place *in the presence of Mr. Frank La Rue*, President of our partner organisation, the Central American Institute for Studies of Social Democracy, as well as UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression. Participation in the workshop is free; however, we would be grateful if you could confirm your attendance by emailing Anja Kovacs at anja at cis-india.org, ideally by 2 March. A *draft agenda* of the workshop is available here: http://www.cis-india.org/events/fostering-freedom-of-expression Hope we will be able to welcome you there! Best wishes, Anja Kovacs Centre for Internet and Society *INFORMATION ABOUT THE ORGANISERS* *The Centre for Internet and Society* The Centre for Internet and Society is located in Bangalore, India. It critically engages with concerns of digital pluralism and public accountability in the field of Internet and Society, with particular emphasis on South-South dialogues and exchange. Through multidisciplinary research, intervention, and collaboration, it seeks to explore, understand, and affect the shape and form of the internet, and its relationship with the political, cultural, and social milieu of our times. *DEMOS Institute *The Demos Institute, based in Guatemala, is a research centre that promotes democratic alternatives for Guatemala, under the human rights framework. Within DEMOS, there is a research team which supports the mandate of Frank La Rue, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, in the making of his annual reports before the United Nations Human Rights Council. From chandni_parekh at yahoo.com Tue Mar 1 01:23:44 2011 From: chandni_parekh at yahoo.com (Chandni Parekh) Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2011 11:53:44 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Film Screenings in March Message-ID: <311555.31670.qm@web161419.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> Chandni Parekh sent a message to the members of the Vikalp at Prithvi group on facebook. Hi, We're showing 'Inshallah, Football' this evening at Prithvi House. We moved it to Tuesday as it was clashing with Prithvi Theatre's Memorial Concert with Taufiq Qureshi and others (which was quite lovely, by the way). And now for info on films being screened this month by other groups: Swiss Experimental Films, March 1-2, Kolkata 'Big Deal on Madonna Street' by Mario Monicelli (Italian), March 2 and 5, Delhi 'Nero's Guests' by Deepa Bhatia, March 3, Bangalore 'Manipur Song' by Pankaj Butalia and 'Two Year Guarantee' by Juan Parra Costa (Spanish), March 4, Chennai 'Chalo Hamara Des: Journeys with Kabir and Friends' by Shabnam Virmani, March 5, Bangalore 'An Inconvenient Truth' by Davis Guggenheim, March 5, Bombay Swiss Experimental Films, March 5-7, Bombay 'Saamam' ('The Music') by Ramachandran K and 'The Salt Stories' by Lalit Vachani, March 6, Bangalore 16th European Union Film Festival, March 7-May 1, Bombay, Delhi, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai and Thrissur 'The Great War' by Mario Monicelli (Italian), March 9 and 12, Delhi Short Films presented by Shamiana, March 12, Ahmedabad 'Mayomi' by Carol Salter (Sinhala) and 'The Way of the Road' by Ben Campbell and Cosmo Campbell, March 13, Bangalore 'Love of Gold' by Mario Monicelli (Italian), March 16 and 19, Delhi Vikalp at Alliance presents 'Inshallah, Football' by Ashvin Kumar, March 22, Bombay 'We Want the Colonels' by Mario Monicelli (Italian), March 23 and 26, Delhi Vikalp at Prithvi Screening of 'Divorce Iranian Style' by Kim Longinotto and Ziba Mir-Hosseini (Persian), Monday, March 28, 7 pm, Prithvi House, Juhu, Bombay 'An Average Man' by Mario Monicelli (Italian), March 30 and April 2, Delhi For details of these screenings, check the Discussion Board on http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=46819848804 By the way, did you know that Vikalp at Prithvi has been showing documentaries and a few short films for free every month since Feb 2007 (with a break in 2009)? Thank you for all the support! :) - Chandni From gowharfazili at yahoo.com Tue Mar 1 08:06:27 2011 From: gowharfazili at yahoo.com (gowhar fazli) Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2011 18:36:27 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] India: Nine years after Jalil Andrabi's death perpetrators still free Message-ID: <308404.34527.qm@web114720.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Please circulate widely and address to those who matter and can help the case. Dear Friends, Colleagues, and Mentors, I am writing on behalf of the Kashmir Solidarity Network to seek your urgent advice and help. "On 27 March 1996, the dead body of human rights lawyer Jalil Andrabi was found in the river Jhelum [Kashmir], 19 days after he was seen being taken away by [Indian] military personnel. Those responsible for his death remain free despite continuing efforts by members of his family and the members of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association to obtain legal redress for the death of their relative and former colleague" (AI statement from 2005, pasted below). Please also find the UNHCR report on Andrabi's murder pasted below. The retired military officer, Major Avtar Singh, accused of the brutal torture and murder of Andrabi, has been arrested recently in a case of domestic violence somewhere in California, in a classic case of the violence perpetrated outside being brought inside the home -- as reported by today's newspapers in both Kashmir and India (please click on the links for the respective stories). In fact, it was Major Avtar Singh's wife who gave the California police some details about Singh's involvement in the murder trial in India! In spite of vigorous attempts made by Andrabi's family, the accused was not only never arrested by the Indian Army (which finally, very reluctantly agreed to court martial him), but Major Singh was also quickly given an Indian passport. This enabled him to flee India, settling first in Canada, and then making his way to California, according to both news reports. According to the Times of India report, a "liaison officer of Interpol in Jammu and Kashmir said that the accused was in the preventive custody of the US police in California and would [be] shifted to Srinagar in fifteen days." Given the absolutely abysmal track record of legal redress in Indian administered Kashmir, where the Indian security apparatus has the cover of the draconian and oppressive Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) for such cases, Kashmiri activists seek some urgent way to stop the extradition of Major Singh to India, where they have no expectation of justice, and seek to have him tried here in the USA under the Alien Tort Statute, or any other suitable avenue of redress that you all might suggest! AFSPA has been called akin to a "holy book" for their military by the Indian Army’s Northern Command Chief Lt. General BS Jaswal, and remains strictly enforced in spite of recurrent and massive non-violent protests for its repeal (here's an example of a 10-year-long hunger-striker Irom Sharmila). Here is more on AFSPA by HRW: Human Rights Watch’s 16-page report, “Getting Away With Murder: 50 years of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act,” describes how the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, or AFSPA, has become a tool of state abuse, oppression, and discrimination. The law grants the military wide powers to arrest without warrant, shoot-to-kill, and destroy property in so-called “disturbed areas.” It also protects military personnel responsible for serious crimes from prosecution, creating a pervasive culture of impunity. (HRW appeal to repeal AFSPA; emphasis added) Many thousands await justice, just as thousands of mass graves await excavation in Kashmir. Time is of essence, to ensure that at least one murderer of one human rights lawyer/activist in Kashmir is brought to justice. On behalf of Kashmir Solidarity Network, I would be so grateful for any idea, suggestion, help, or guidance! Thanks so much for your patience in reading this email! With all best wishes, Huma Dar University of California at Berkeley 1) http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA20/015/2005/en/d423d182-d506-11dd-8a23-d58a49c0d652/asa200152005en.html Document - India: Nine years after Jalil Andrabi's death perpetrators still free AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Public Statement AI Index: ASA 20/015/2005 (Public) News Service No: 072 24 March 2005 India: Nine years after Jalil Andrabi's death perpetrators still free The continuing failure of the Government of Jammu and Kashmir to bring to justice those responsible for the death of human rights lawyer Jalil Andrabi nine years ago reinforces the sense that human rights defenders in the state cannot count on the state’s protection, Amnesty International said today. On 27 March 1996, the dead body of human rights lawyer Jalil Andrabi was found in the river Jhelum, 19 days after he was seen being taken away by military personnel. Those responsible for his death remain free despite continuing efforts by members of his family and the members of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association to obtain legal redress for the death of their relative and former colleague. The Jammu and Kashmir High Court noted in late 1996 that 'the functionaries of the Union of India have not been cooperating with the Investigation Team in a proper manner'. The family of Jalil Andrabi has expressed its feeling of frustration and loss of faith in the institution of the judiciary which has failed to provide legal redress for nine years. Amnesty International believes that justice must be done to ensure that human rights violations end. Undue delays will produce the impression that perpetrators can get away with abuses and that the state shields its agents from being brought to justice. The organization reiterates its repeated earlier appeals to the Government of Jammu and Kashmir to break the cycle of impunity by ensuring that perpetrators of all human rights violations in the state are brought to justice without delay and in a transparent manner in order to restore people's confidence in the rule of law. Background The Special Investigation Team set up on High Court orders in 1996 in the following year identified an army major posted in the Rawalpora Camp of the 103 Territorial Army as prima facie responsible for the death but army representatives told the High Court that the major was not employed by the army any longer and that he had not committed the offence in his official capacity. In October 2000, the case gained momentum when the Special Investigation Team submitted a report of its findings to the High Court which asked the army to present the accused in the court of competent jurisdiction, the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) in Budgam. Despite repeated requests, the army did not comply. In December 2001, the Special Investigation Team submitted a charge sheet (the final police inquiry report) before the Budgam CJM, who admitted the charge sheet without insisting on the presence of the accused as is required by law. The army then made known its decision to try the accused by court martial. Members of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association representing Jalil Andrabi's family challenged the trial by court martial before the High Court. This petition was sent back to the CJM without clarifying the point if a charge sheet could be entertained without the accused being brought before the court. Hearings of this petition have continued since then. The CJM has ordered the Special Investigation Team to arrest the accused and bring him to court on 30 April 2005. Army representatives have asserted in court that the accused is absconding and that they have not been able to locate him. The Special Investigation Team while filing its final report is on record as having stated that the accused major was working with the Railway Regiment of the Territorial Army located at Ludhiana, Punjab. 2) http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,HRW,,PAK,,3ae6a8558,0.html The Murder of Jalil Andrabi "The body of Jalil Andrabi, a prominent human rights lawyer and pro-independence political activist associated with the JKLF, was found in the Kursuraj Bagh area of Srinagar on the banks of the Jhelum river on the morning of March 27, 1996. According to press reports, the body was in a burlap bag. Andrabi, who was forty-two, had been shot in the head and his eyes had been gouged out. He had apparently been dead for at least one week. According to eye-witnesses, Andrabi was detained at about 6:00 pm on March 8 by a Rashtriya Rifles unit of the army which intercepted his car a few hundred yards from his home in Srinagar. On March 9, the Jammu and Kashmir Bar Association filed a habeas corpus petition in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, and the court ordered the army to produce Andrabi. However, the army denied that Andrabi was in custody. Over the next two weeks, the court continued to grant the government extensions for replying to the petition. The murder sparked widespread protests in Kashmir and condemnation from civil liberties groups in India and abroad. In Srinagar, a protest march led by JKLF leader Yasin Malik was broken up by police who beat up members of the crowd, smashed a number of reporters’ cameras and seized the body.[47] The police also fired shots in the air to disperse the crowd. In a statement released on March 29, the United States condemned the murder and called for a “full and transparent investigation.” On April 2, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Jose Ayala Lasso called on the government of India to “undertake a thorough investigation ... with a view to establishing the facts and imposing sanctions on those found guilty of the crime.” On April 3, India’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) announced that it would send a team to Kashmir to investigate the killing. Andrabi had previously received death threats from government-sponsored so-called “renegade” forces. At about 9:30am on January 29, 1996, two men arrived at Andrabi’s house in Srinagar, claiming that they wished to discuss a human rights case with him. After confirming that Andrabi was at home, one of the men left, saying that he was going to bring his mother and sister who were waiting outside in a taxi.[48] He returned instead with a third man. At that moment, a number of other persons gathered at the house, including Andrabi’s brother, who began questioning the men. The three men abruptly left, stating that they would see Andrabi at his office. After they left, witnesses in the vicinity of the outside gate of the neighborhood reported that the three men had returned to two waiting taxis in which eight more men were sitting, some openly carrying weapons. The next day, at 9:20am, the first two men returned to Andrabi’s house. After confirming that Andrabi was at home, they left and returned along with at least two other men in a taxi with license number Reg. JKT-1988. Andrabi told Human Rights Watch/Asia that one of the other men appeared to be wearing a uniform and carrying a weapon under his pheran (a long woolen cape). From an upstairs window, Andrabi took photographs of the men and the taxi. When the men saw him, they abruptly returned to the taxi and left. Local residents reported that on the way to Andrabi’s house, the taxi had been escorted by a Border Security Force vehicle until it was within one hundred yards of the outside gate of the neighborhood. The incident followed several other attacks on human rights activists in Kashmir, and about a week before the incident, Andrabi had told Human Rights Watch/Asia that he had received warnings that he “would be next.” Since 1984, Andrabi had filed petitions in the High Court on behalf of detainees and had publicized the fact that the security forces routinely ignored High Court orders to produce detainees in court. At the time he was abducted, he was preparing for a trip to Geneva to attend the meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Commission where he hoped to raise concern about the human rights situation in Kashmir." From ujwalasam at gmail.com Tue Mar 1 11:04:13 2011 From: ujwalasam at gmail.com (Ujwala Samarth) Date: Tue, 1 Mar 2011 11:04:13 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Valmiki workshop Message-ID: *Valmiki in the 21st Century* At Open Space we are always looking to understand and redefine the conventions that bind us. As part of the work we do we are bringing together *Valmiki in the 21st Century*, a workshop with *Arshia Sattar* which will focus on Valmiki’s Ramayana, looking at modern interpretations of the text in cinema, animation, theatre and popular culture. *Registration fee**: *Rs 2000, (Rs 1500 for students) includes reading material and a copy of Valmiki’s Ramayana (translated by Arshia Sattar). *Registration: * Mail imranalikhan.os at gmail.com, or phone Open Space 020-25457371, or come to Open Space. * * *Venue:* Open Space B-301, Kanchanjunga Building, Kanchan Lane, Off Law College Rd, Pune 411004 (020-25457371) *Time:* 4.30-8pm *Date:* 12th March – 19th March *Resource Person*: Arshia Sattar is an* *Advisor to Open Space. Arshia has a PhD in South Asian Languages and Civilizations from the University of Chicago. She teaches courses on classical Indian literatures for various American universities and has recently begun teaching traditional narratives for screenwriting programmes. She has been closely associated with theatre in India over the last two decades. -- Ujwala Samarth (Programme Coordinator, Open Space) www.openspaceindia.org www.infochangeindia.org http://www.facebook.com/pages/Open-Space/116557125037041 B-301, Kanchanjunga Building, Kanchan Lane, Off Law College Rd,, Pune 411004 (020-25457371) From chintan.backups at gmail.com Tue Mar 1 11:47:54 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Tue, 1 Mar 2011 11:47:54 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Learning to Close My Eyes: Aman shares his journey with Kabir Message-ID: From http://sunosadho.blogspot.com/2011/02/learning-to-close-my-eyes-amandeep.html *Learning to Close My Eyes* By Amandeep Sandhu My journey towards understanding the fires that had until then driven me into clinical depression started when Nilanjana sent me two music files by a singer named Prahlad Tipanya who sings Kabir. It was the summer of 2007. My mother lay dying in a small town called Mandi Dabhwali in the Malwa region of southern Punjab. Prahladji is also from a region called Malwa but his Malwa is in Madhya Pradesh. His language was alien to our ears and my laptop computer had no external speakers. Still, from time to time, mother asked me to play the songs to her. In spite of the two Malwas, in spite our different languages, in spite of the two thousand kilometres that separated us, his message of submission and humility permeated into our ears. While cancer spread in my mother’s body a fire raged in our Malwa. Mandi Dabhwali was at the centre of a violent battle between the Sikhs and the head of a sect called *Sachha Sauda*. The Sikhs were angry because the head of the sect, Gurmit Ram Rahim, had appropriated icons from Sikhism and had attracted a certain caste of Sikhs to his fold. The reasons for the fight are complex but the gist is that Sikhism, which was conceived as casteless by Kabir and contemporaries Guru Nanak and other Sikh Gurus, had actually discriminated against its own lower castes who had in turn sought salvation in other sects which were more inviting. As a result the Gurdwaras were missing out on donations. My mother’s death was simpler. She was a life-long Schizophrenic, who had developed severe cardio-myopathy, and was now in breast cancer Stage IV. The secondary’s spread to the rest of her body. She died. Punjab burnt as vote bank politics and monetary gains stroked the fires. I came back to Bangalore and Nilanjana told me she goes singing Kabir with someone called Shabnam Virmani who, every morning, opens her home to anyone interested in singing or listening. In February 2008, Nilanjana told me Shabnam is singing at the annual cultural festival on the outskirts of Bangalore -- *Fireflies.* I went to listen. For years I had been listening to a Kabir cassette by Madhup Mudgal but again the language was slightly alien to me. A friend’s mother had told me there was someone called Kumar Gandharv who used to sing brilliantly. I had never heard him. At *Fireflies* I could understand Kabir. Shabnam’s translations in a mix of simple English and Hindi and her singing made the songs so easy to comprehend. After the concert I told her that couplets from Kabir open my first book of fiction and thanked her for giving me an opportunity to listen to Kabir live. She looked at me kindly and asked indulgently: ‘Have you never heard him live before?’ I said no but in that question of hers I knew that I had failed to access the 500-year old poet who I had only encountered in school text books, on thin shabby pages. He had survived the oral and written traditions and has existed alive and available to us. Now the question was what route should I take to access him? I heard Shabnam thrice before her festival in Bangalore in 2009. But it is at that festival when she sang *Munn mast huaa re phir kyaa bole* ... that I closed my eyes. Now I tend to close my eyes every time I listen to music. It does hamper my work or even life at home. But it happens and I lose myself. Then I saw the documentaries Shabnam had made through her *Kabir Project*and picked up Kumar Gandharv’s *Avdhoot.* Since then, in the last two years, every morning I have listened to any one of the Kabir singers collected in Shabnam’s *Project* or to Kumar Gandharv and I just recently discovered MS Subbalaxmi. I do not have any knowledge of the terms of music. It helps me that Shabnam claims even she had never sang before she got onto the *Kabir Project*. I, in fact, know nothing about what has invaded me so beautifully for the last two years that now I have found newer loves – classical music. Yet, through all the music and the films I learnt something that comes up fairly early in *Had-Unhad* when Prahladji asks a young man who hates idolatry and leans towards the formless to explain if his own body is not a form and towards the end of *Koi Sunta Hai* when singer Dhulichand, a rustic villager, flips his hand and says that what we are all looking for, the ‘word’ that denotes it, can only be found if one turns one’s focus to the inside rather than looking for it outside. This was my conflict. Until then I had looked at events and phenomena through the labels I had learnt. When they clashed with each other I felt the fires burning me. I learnt that not knowing that these are mere labels makes the fires blaze and knowing that these are ‘mere’ labels gives you a sense of being able to harness the fires, channelise the self. In my case, finish my second book, which again opens with a couplet by Kabir. My journey led me to Kumarji’s home in Dewas in 2010. I had learnt of the *Kabir Mahaotsav* in Lunyakhedi, Prahladji’s village near Ujjain. Nilanjana had once said that thousands gather for the festival. I wanted to be there and I had wanted to see Ujjain. I was experiencing the ease of the state without external labels *(Nirgun*) but I was still interested in *Matsyandar Nath*and the *Mahakaal* temple (*Sagun).* The temptation to see Kumarji’s home where he had lain for many years, stricken by Tuberculosis, and listened to beggars sing Kabir and wanting to see the *Sheel Nath Dhooni* where Kumarji had seen written on a mirror *Ud jayega hans akela*... pulled me to the festival. The festival was a miracle of sorts. Lunyakedi did not have metalled roads yet people from nearby villages and far off cities had gathered and with them had gathered the modern power paraphernalia: IAS and IPS officers, and politicians and Kabir Panthis. This was realpolitik. Through all this, cutting through symbolism and iconography, one singer after another touched our hearts. This was *Sat Sang*, the concept that is a recurrent motif in all of Kabir’s and Shabnam’s work, as Shafi Mohammad Faqir, from (now) Pakistan says: *mil baithna, saat suron ka sangam*. After the night long singing I went to Kumarji’s house and was admitted to the room where he lay ill and where he regained his voice and sang so wondrously. Coming out of the room I spotted a tobacco box and asked how it had reached the pious room. Kumarji’s grandson replied: ‘Kumarji kept chewing until the end.’ So this was how the great singer who dealt with TB and kept feeding himself the poison that caused the mighty illness and who was once a patient and then a healthy body found and sang the essences. He once said: ‘*jo sunta hoon, who gaata hoon*.’ He did it by seeing what each state was and then by going beyond them. That evening, behind a tent, in the light of one yellow bulb at Lunyakhedi, I told Shabnam, ‘Seven times I have heard you sing a song about a forest on fire in which a bird keeps going back to sprinkle water on a burning tree that has earlier housed her. Each time I listen to it, it reconfigures my associations. The characters in the song: the tree, the bird, the fire, the lake take on ever shifting personas in my personal life. Sometimes I feel I am the bird, sometimes I am the tree, at other times I am the fire and I look for the lake.’ If I am rooted in the tree I find myself burning and if I fly like the bird I feel self-righteous. Both of them are ego states. Beyond the forest and the lake lies the experience of the story. That experience is beyond words. It can be found, as the singer-villager said, when you turn the knowledge of the story inwards. I now recognise that my own experience is ever changing, ever informing. This knowledge liberates me from the explicit need to label it. What right do I have on an emotion I feel in a moment which the next moment will alter? My journey with Kabir has been one of recognising the value of the markers of my identity, questioning them, and then stripping down these markers and finding myself shorn of them. I try to walk this path with my mind aware and my eyes closed, in faith. --- Amandeep Sandhu has no permanent address. These days he is a neighbour of Amir Khusro in New Delhi where he feeds birds on his terrace. He is the author of *Sepia Leaves* (Rupa, 2008) and a to-be-published novel *Roll of Honour. * From sonia.jabbar at gmail.com Tue Mar 1 12:13:34 2011 From: sonia.jabbar at gmail.com (SJabbar) Date: Tue, 01 Mar 2011 12:13:34 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Learning to Close My Eyes: Aman shares his journey with Kabir In-Reply-To: Message-ID: What a beautiful piece. Thank you so much for posting this. On 01/03/11 11:47 AM, "Chintan Girish Modi" wrote: > From http://sunosadho.blogspot.com/2011/02/learning-to-close-my-eyes-amandeep. > html *Learning to Close My Eyes* By Amandeep Sandhu My journey towards > understanding the fires that had until then driven me into clinical depression > started when Nilanjana sent me two music files by a singer named Prahlad > Tipanya who sings Kabir. It was the summer of 2007. My mother lay dying in a > small town called Mandi Dabhwali in the Malwa region of southern Punjab. > Prahladji is also from a region called Malwa but his Malwa is in Madhya > Pradesh. His language was alien to our ears and my laptop computer had no > external speakers. Still, from time to time, mother asked me to play the songs > to her. In spite of the two Malwas, in spite our different languages, in spite > of the two thousand kilometres that separated us, his message of submission > and humility permeated into our ears. While cancer spread in my mother¹s body > a fire raged in our Malwa. Mandi Dabhwali was at the centre of a violent > battle between the Sikhs and the head of a sect called *Sachha Sauda*. The > Sikhs were angry because the head of the sect, Gurmit Ram Rahim, had > appropriated icons from Sikhism and had attracted a certain caste of Sikhs to > his fold. The reasons for the fight are complex but the gist is that Sikhism, > which was conceived as casteless by Kabir and contemporaries Guru Nanak and > other Sikh Gurus, had actually discriminated against its own lower castes who > had in turn sought salvation in other sects which were more inviting. As > a result the Gurdwaras were missing out on donations. My mother¹s death > was simpler. She was a life-long Schizophrenic, who had developed > severe cardio-myopathy, and was now in breast cancer Stage IV. The > secondary¹s spread to the rest of her body. She died. Punjab burnt as vote > bank politics and monetary gains stroked the fires. I came back to Bangalore > and Nilanjana told me she goes singing Kabir with someone called Shabnam > Virmani who, every morning, opens her home to anyone interested in singing or > listening. In February 2008, Nilanjana told me Shabnam is singing at the > annual cultural festival on the outskirts of Bangalore -- *Fireflies.* I went > to listen. For years I had been listening to a Kabir cassette by Madhup Mudgal > but again the language was slightly alien to me. A friend¹s mother had told me > there was someone called Kumar Gandharv who used to sing brilliantly. I had > never heard him. At *Fireflies* I could understand Kabir. Shabnam¹s > translations in a mix of simple English and Hindi and her singing made the > songs so easy to comprehend. After the concert I told her that couplets from > Kabir open my first book of fiction and thanked her for giving me an > opportunity to listen to Kabir live. She looked at me kindly and asked > indulgently: ŒHave you never heard him live before?¹ I said no but in that > question of hers I knew that I had failed to access the 500-year old poet who > I had only encountered in school text books, on thin shabby pages. He had > survived the oral and written traditions and has existed alive and available > to us. Now the question was what route should I take to access him? I heard > Shabnam thrice before her festival in Bangalore in 2009. But it is at that > festival when she sang *Munn mast huaa re phir kyaa bole* ... that I closed my > eyes. Now I tend to close my eyes every time I listen to music. It does hamper > my work or even life at home. But it happens and I lose myself. Then I saw the > documentaries Shabnam had made through her *Kabir Project*and picked up Kumar > Gandharv¹s *Avdhoot.* Since then, in the last two years, every morning I have > listened to any one of the Kabir singers collected in Shabnam¹s *Project* or > to Kumar Gandharv and I just recently discovered MS Subbalaxmi. I do not have > any knowledge of the terms of music. It helps me that Shabnam claims even > she had never sang before she got onto the *Kabir Project*. I, in fact, > know nothing about what has invaded me so beautifully for the last two years > that now I have found newer loves ­ classical music. Yet, through all the > music and the films I learnt something that comes up fairly early in > *Had-Unhad* when Prahladji asks a young man who hates idolatry and leans > towards the formless to explain if his own body is not a form and towards the > end of *Koi Sunta Hai* when singer Dhulichand, a rustic villager, flips his > hand and says that what we are all looking for, the Œword¹ that denotes it, > can only be found if one turns one¹s focus to the inside rather than looking > for it outside. This was my conflict. Until then I had looked at events and > phenomena through the labels I had learnt. When they clashed with each other I > felt the fires burning me. I learnt that not knowing that these are mere > labels makes the fires blaze and knowing that these are Œmere¹ labels gives > you a sense of being able to harness the fires, channelise the self. In my > case, finish my second book, which again opens with a couplet by Kabir. My > journey led me to Kumarji¹s home in Dewas in 2010. I had learnt of the > *Kabir Mahaotsav* in Lunyakhedi, Prahladji¹s village near Ujjain. Nilanjana > had once said that thousands gather for the festival. I wanted to be there and > I had wanted to see Ujjain. I was experiencing the ease of the state > without external labels *(Nirgun*) but I was still interested in > *Matsyandar Nath*and the *Mahakaal* temple (*Sagun).* The temptation to see > Kumarji¹s home where he had lain for many years, stricken by Tuberculosis, and > listened to beggars sing Kabir and wanting to see the *Sheel Nath Dhooni* > where Kumarji had seen written on a mirror *Ud jayega hans akela*... pulled me > to the festival. The festival was a miracle of sorts. Lunyakedi did not have > metalled roads yet people from nearby villages and far off cities had gathered > and with them had gathered the modern power paraphernalia: IAS and IPS > officers, and politicians and Kabir Panthis. This was realpolitik. Through all > this, cutting through symbolism and iconography, one singer after another > touched our hearts. This was *Sat Sang*, the concept that is a recurrent motif > in all of Kabir¹s and Shabnam¹s work, as Shafi Mohammad Faqir, from > (now) Pakistan says: *mil baithna, saat suron ka sangam*. After the night > long singing I went to Kumarji¹s house and was admitted to the room where he > lay ill and where he regained his voice and sang so wondrously. Coming out of > the room I spotted a tobacco box and asked how it had reached the pious room. > Kumarji¹s grandson replied: ŒKumarji kept chewing until the end.¹ So this was > how the great singer who dealt with TB and kept feeding himself the poison > that caused the mighty illness and who was once a patient and then a healthy > body found and sang the essences. He once said: Œ*jo sunta hoon, who gaata > hoon*.¹ He did it by seeing what each state was and then by going beyond > them. That evening, behind a tent, in the light of one yellow bulb at > Lunyakhedi, I told Shabnam, ŒSeven times I have heard you sing a song about a > forest on fire in which a bird keeps going back to sprinkle water on a burning > tree that has earlier housed her. Each time I listen to it, it reconfigures > my associations. The characters in the song: the tree, the bird, the fire, > the lake take on ever shifting personas in my personal life. Sometimes I feel > I am the bird, sometimes I am the tree, at other times I am the fire and > I look for the lake.¹ If I am rooted in the tree I find myself burning and if > I fly like the bird I feel self-righteous. Both of them are ego states. Beyond > the forest and the lake lies the experience of the story. That experience is > beyond words. It can be found, as the singer-villager said, when you turn the > knowledge of the story inwards. I now recognise that my own experience is ever > changing, ever informing. This knowledge liberates me from the explicit need > to label it. What right do I have on an emotion I feel in a moment which the > next moment will alter? My journey with Kabir has been one of recognising > the value of the markers of my identity, questioning them, and then > stripping down these markers and finding myself shorn of them. I try to walk > this path with my mind aware and my eyes closed, in faith. --- Amandeep > Sandhu has no permanent address. These days he is a neighbour of Amir Khusro > in New Delhi where he feeds birds on his terrace. He is the author of *Sepia > Leaves* (Rupa, 2008) and a to-be-published novel *Roll of Honour. > * _________________________________________ 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. To unsubscribe: > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list List archive: > <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From chintan.backups at gmail.com Tue Mar 1 13:55:35 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Tue, 1 Mar 2011 13:55:35 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The Travelling Archive: Folk Music of Bengal Message-ID: >From http://thetravellingarchive.org/home.php The Travelling Archive is a website about an ongoing journey through the rich and varied folk music of Bengal, covering mainly Bangladesh and the eastern Indian state of West Bengal and some adjoining areas of Assam, in the east of South Asia. Back in 2004, Bengali singer, composer and music researcher Moushumi Bhowmik had embarked on this journey with sound recordist Sukanta Majumdar, supported by the Bangalore-based India Foundation for the Arts. The years that followed have been intense with music and friendship, festivals and fairs, field recording and documentation, and finally the dissemination of the music through archives and presentation/ performances, lectures and writing, while the two have continued to travel. The map of ‘Bengal’ expanded to include places as far away as Brick Lane and Commercial Street in east London, where immigrant Bangladeshis live. For this part of the fieldwork, Moushumi received support from the Charles Wallace India Trustand an acquisitions grant from the World and Traditional Music section of the British Library . Through The Travelling Archive now, Moushumi and Sukanta take a step forward in sharing their joy of listening with, literally, a wider world, using the services of ‘our magnificent mass communication technology ’. From chintan.backups at gmail.com Tue Mar 1 14:23:02 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Tue, 1 Mar 2011 14:23:02 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The Caravan paid Editorial Internship Program | Deadline: March 21, 2011 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: altaf Date: Tue, Mar 1, 2011 at 2:18 PM Subject: [Opportunity2079] The Caravan paid Editorial Internship Program | Deadline: March 21, 2011 To: Opportunities The Caravan is now accepting applications for its paid Editorial Internship Program. Interns work on a full-time basis for three to five months (starting 1 April) and receive training and hands-on experience in critical reading, research, fact-checking, online publishing and the general workings of a narrative monthly. To apply, please familiarise yourself with The Caravan’s current and past content by going through our archives at www.caravanmagazine.in. Then, send us 500 words on your understanding of the magazine along with your resumé and a brief cover letter at editor.thecaravan at delhipress.in with the subject: The Caravan Editorial Internship Program. *INTERNS WILL BE EXPECTED TO:* *FACT-CHECK ARTICLES.* This involves calling sources, locating primary documents, evaluating information and working closely with the story editor and writer. *PROOFREAD WEB CONTENT* under tight deadlines and coordinate with the website team and section editors in uploading the material. *CONDUCT RESEARCH* in support of articles and special projects published in the magazine and on the website. *ATTEND EDITORIAL AND WEB MEETINGS.* *CARRY OUT OTHER PROJECTS* as assigned by the editors. *PERFORM SELECT ADMINISTRATIVE TASKS.* *DESIRED ATTRIBUTES:* - Strong oral and written communication skills - Commitment to long-form journalism - Superior organisational skills, ability to multitask - Comfort level with urgent situations - **Ability to work as part of a team and in a challenging and unpredictable work environment - Deadline for the application: 21 March 2011 From rohitrellan at aol.in Tue Mar 1 14:45:44 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Tue, 01 Mar 2011 04:15:44 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Looking for speaker for topic"Blogging as a Business Tool" at New Delhi In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <8CDA60860F1216B-1204-8B4A@webmail-d066.sysops.aol.com> FLO in collaboration with HSF, Germany is organizing a workshop on GROWING BUSINESS THROUGH THE INTERNET & BLOGGING AS A BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY. This workshop is primarily aimed at creating awareness about the internet as a business tool and providing insight about various opportunities that it offers for beginners in business, professionals and students to make an earning using the internet.   FLO is looking for a suitable speaker who can speak on Blogging as a Business Tool during the post lunch session of the workshop.   The details of the workshop are given below: Day & Date: Wednesday March 16, 2011   Time: 10:00 am to 5:00 pm  Venue: FICCI, Federation House, Tansen Marg, New Delhi 110001   Interested professionals can mail there bio data to ankurita at ficci.com with cc marked to rohitrellan at aol.in.    Regards,   Ankurita Pathak Asst Director FICCI LADIES ORGANISATION Ph: 23738760-70 Extn: 416           -- The first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: Decide what you want... From chintan.backups at gmail.com Tue Mar 1 22:07:12 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Tue, 1 Mar 2011 22:07:12 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Arka's appeal to stop madness in the Sunderbans Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Arka Mukhopadhyay Date: Tue, Mar 1, 2011 at 10:19 AM Subject: Madness in the Sunderbans - Please Act NOW! To: Dear friends, I am writing to you as a concerned human being, to share my extreme alarm at something I can only see as an assault on the fragile ecology of the Sunderbans. I am talking about a festival called Ujaan ( www.ujaanfestival.org ), that is scheduled to take place in Frazer Ganj, a semi-village semi-resort on the fringes of the Sunderbans. On the face of it, it claims to be a 'festival for the Sunderbans' - to raise awareness about this precious and fast-disappearing treasure. However, the way it is going to go about doing that is stupefying, to say the least. The festival involves twenty bands and several more solo acts, most of them non-acoustic. The website says several more are in the process of being confirmed. From what I could gather from their Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/ujaanfestival) and elsewhere, the organizers and volunteers number about 300, and the number of attendees could be around two or three thousand! So we are talking about maybe four thousand plus people descending on a little village which borders one of the world's most sensitive bio-diversity zones with LOUD amplified electic/electronic music playing late into the night. We are probably talking about hundreds of drunk/stoned spectators wreaking havoc on the beach and the rest of Frazer Ganj/ Bakkahli! All told, I cannot begin to imagine the kind of environmental disaster the festival itself will be! Not to mention the fact that at 2,000/- a pass, the festival will be completely out-of-reach of the local population of Frazer Ganj. Now, raising awareness about the Sunderbans is a fantastic thing to do, and it's a wonderful idea to do so by organizing a rock concert. However, there is something However, there is something quite asinine about organizing that concert right on the fringes of the fragile Sunderbans! I am sure the people who are doing this want to do their bit to prevent man-made climate change. I am sure they are brave, committed people. However, this is not the way! This is not what the Sunderbans need of what Frazerganj needs. Please circulate this, please tell your friends. If you know people who are going there, engage them in dialogue and try to dissuade them. If any of you know how to file a PIL against this/ get a court injunction - please tell me. I am on this ID and on 9831731422. If you know any of the organizers, please engage with them and try to make them see the madness of this. Warmth and peace, Arka -- *Stat rosa pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus* From javedmasoo at gmail.com Wed Mar 2 10:21:54 2011 From: javedmasoo at gmail.com (Javed) Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2011 10:21:54 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Great justice to Indian Muslims Message-ID: Wow, this is great justice to Indian Muslims. First give their university a Minority status to make them happy, then give death sentence to 11 accused Muslims in Godhra train burning, while the real culprits who played the game of death and destruction in Gujarat in 2002 are walking free... Congrats to all Muslims on their "minority status". ---- Eleven get death penalty for Godhra train carnage HT Correspondent , Hindustan Times Ahmedabad, March 01, 2011 Eleven people were sentenced to death and 20 to life imprisonment for the February 27, 2002 Godhra train carnage by a special trial court in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. Fifty-nine kar sevaks were burnt alive in the S6 coach of the Sabarmati Express near Godhra railway station, sparking the worst communal riots in Gujarat that left more than 1,200 people dead — most of them Muslims — in three weeks. Terming the case “rarest of rare”, the trial court said all the active conspirators deserved the death penalty while their associates were spared the gallows and given life terms. It also said it wasn’t an act of “terror” but rather, a planned “conspiracy” to target the kar sevaks in the train. "The court, looking into their active role in the conspiracy and in setting fire to the S6 coach of the Sabarmati Express near Godhra, gave the death penalty to 11 people,” special public prosecutor JM Panchal said after the sentencing. Panchal said the prosecution had sought death for all 31 people held guilty by the court on February 22. The court had acquitted 63 accused out of a total of 94 for want of evidence, including Maulavi Hussain Umarji, the alleged mastermind. The court has given the convicts three months to challenge its verdict in a higher court. IM Munshi, counsel for the accused, said: "We will definitely appeal against the verdict in the high court." He added: "Till the high court confirms the judgment, it cannot be implemented." Asked if the prosecution would appeal against the life terms for the 20 convicts, Panchal said a decision would be taken by the special investigation team that probed the case after studying the judgment. The Godhra trial started in June 2009 and was completed in September 2010. During its course, 253 witnesses were examined by the court. Initially, there were 134 accused, out of which 14 were released due to lack of evidence, five were juvenile, five died during the proceedings of over nine years and 16 are absconding. The trial was conducted against 94 accused. http://www.hindustantimes.com/Eleven-get-death-penalty-for-Godhra-train-carnage/Article1-668031.aspx From jeebesh at sarai.net Wed Mar 2 11:38:21 2011 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh) Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2011 11:38:21 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?Alain_Badiou=3A_=93Tunisie=2C_Egyp?= =?windows-1252?q?te_=3A_quand_un_vent_d=27est_balaie_l=27arrogance_de_l?= =?windows-1252?q?=27Occident=94?= Message-ID: Alain Badiou: “Tunisie, Egypte : quand un vent d'est balaie l'arrogance de l'Occident” By Sarah Shin / 25 February 2011 Read an English translation of Alain Badiou's recent article for Le Monde. Translation kindly provided by Cristiana Petru-Stefanescu. The Eastern wind is getting the better of the Western one. How much longer will the poor and dark West, the “international community” of those who still think of themselves as masters of the world, continue to give lessons of good management and behaviour to the whole planet? Isn't it laughable to see certain intellectuals on duty, disconcerted soldiers of the capital-parliamentarism that stands as a shabby paradise for us, offering themselves to the magnificent Tunisian and Egyptian peoples in order to teach these savage populations the basics of “democracy”? What a distressing persistence of colonial arrogance! Given the miserable political situation that we are experiencing, isn't it obvious that it is us who have everything to learn from the current popular uprisings? Shouldn't we, in all urgency, closely study what has made possible the overthrow through collective action of governments that are oligarchic, corrupt and—possibly, above all— humiliatingly the vassals of Western states? Yes, we should be the pupils of such movements, and not their stupid teachers. That is because, through the genius of their own inventions, they give life to some political principles that some have been trying for so long to convince us that they are outdated. And especially the principle that Marat never stopped reminding us of: when it comes to freedom, equality, emancipation, we owe everything to popular uprisings. We are right to be revolted. Just as with politics, our states and those who take advantage of it (political parties, unions and servile intellectuals) prefer management to revolt, they prefer claims, and “orderly transition” to any kind of rupture. What the Egyptian and Tunisian peoples remind us is that the only kind of action that equals a shared feeling about scandalous occupation by state power is mass uprising. And that, in such a case, the only watchword that can federate the disparate groups of the masses is: “you out there, go away”. The extraordinary importance of the revolt in this case, its critical power, is that repeating the watchword by millions of people will show the worth of what will undoubtedly and irreversibly be the first victory: the man thus designated will flee. And no matter what happens afterwards, this triumph of the popular action, illegal by nature, will be forever victorious. That a revolt against state power can be absolutely victorious is a lesson universally available. This victory always indicates the horizon where all collective action, subtracted from the authority of the law, stands out, the horizon that Marx called “the failing of the state”. That is, one day, freely associated in the spreading of their own creative power, peoples could do without the gloomy coercion of the state. And it is for this reason, for this ultimate idea, that a revolt overthrowing an established authority can determine unlimited enthusiasm throughout the world. A spark can set a field on fire. It all starts with the suicide through burning of a man who has been made redundant, whose miserable commerce that allows him to survive is threatened to be banned, and with a woman-officer slapping him to make him understand what is real in this world. This gesture expands within days, weeks, until millions of people cry their joy in a far-away square and the powerful rulers flee. Where does this fabulous expansion come from? The propagation of an epidemic of freedom? No. As Jean-Marie Gleize poetically puts it: “a revolutionary movement does not expand by contamination. But by resonance. Something emerging here resonates with the shock wave emitted by something emerging out there”. This resonance, let's name it “event”. The event is the sudden creation, not of a new reality, but of a myriad of new possibilities. Neither of them is the reiteration of something we already know. This is why it is to say “this movement is demanding democracy” (implying the one we enjoy in the West), or “this movement is demanding social improvements” (implying the median prosperity of the small-bourgeois in our countries). Born from almost nothing, resonating everywhere, the popular uprising creates unknown possibilities for the whole world. The word “democracy” is practically never mentioned in Egypt. There's talk of a “new Egypt”, of “the real Egyptian people”, of constituent assembly, of an absolute change of existence, of unprecedented possibilities. This is about the new field that will be there where the previous one, set on fire by the spark of uprising, will no longer be. It stands, this new field to come, between the declaration of overthrowing forces and the one of assuming new tasks. Between what a young Tunisian has said: “We, the sons of workers and farmers, are stronger than the criminals”; and what a young Egyptian has said: “Starting today, 25th January, I take charge of the affairs of my country”. The people, and only the people, are the creators of universal history. It is very surprising that, in our West, governments and the media consider that the revolts in a square in Cairo are “the Egyptian people”. How come? Isn't it that, for these men, the people, the only reasonable and legal people, is usually reduced to either the majority in a poll or in an election? How is it possible that all of a sudden hundreds of thousands of revolted people have become representative of a population of eighty million? It's a lesson to remember, and we will remember it. Once a certain threshold of determination, obstinacy and courage has been passed, a people can indeed concentrate its existence in one square, one avenue, a few factories, a university ... The whole world will be witness to this courage, and especially to the amazing creations that accompany it. These creations will stand as proof that a people is represented there. As one Egyptian protester has put it, “before, I used to watch television, now it's the television who is watching me”. In the midst of an event, the people is made up of those who know how to solve the problems that the event imposes on them. It goes the same for the occupation of a square: food, sleeping arrangements, protection, banderols, prayers, defence fight, all so that the place where everything is happening, the place that has become a symbol, may stay with its people at all costs. These problems, at a scale of hundreds of thousands of people who have come from all over the place, may seem impossible to solve, especially since the state has disappeared in that square. Solving unsolvable problems without the help of the state, that is the destiny of an event. And it is what determines a people, all of a sudden and for an indeterminate period, to exist, there where it has decided to gather. There can be no communism without communist movements. The popular uprising we are talking about is manifestly without a party, without any hegemonic organisation, without a recognised leader. It should always be determined whether this characteristic is a strength or a weakness. It is in any case what makes it have, in a pure form, without a doubt the purest since the Commune of Paris, all the necessary traits for us to talk about a communism as movement. “Communism” here means: common creation of a collective destiny. This “common” has two distinctive traits. First, it is generic, representing in one place humanity in its entirety. In this place there are people of all the kinds a population is usually made up of, all words are heard, all propositions examined, all difficulty taken for what it is. Second, it overcomes the great contradictions that the state pretends to be the only one capable of surmounting: between intellectuals and manual workers, between men and women, between rich and poor, between Muslims and Copts, between people living in the province and those living in the capital ... Millions of new possibilities for these contradictions spring with every moment, possibilities that the state—any state—is completely blind to. We see young female doctors, who have come from the province to treat the wounded, sleep in the middle of a circle of fierce young men, and they are more at ease than they've ever been, knowing that no one will touch a hair on their heads. We can equally see an organisation of young engineers addressing youngsters from the suburbs to ask them to hold on, to protect the movement with their energy for combat. We also see a row of Christians standing in order to keep watch over the Muslims bent in prayer. We see vendors feeding the unemployed and the poor. We see each person talking to their unknown neighbour. We can read thousands of banners where each and everyone's life is mingled to the grand History of all. All these situations, inventions, constitute the communism as movement. It's been two centuries since the unique problem is the following: how can we establish in the long run the inventions of the communism as movement? And the unique reactionary statement is: “that would be impossible, even detrimental. Let's put our trust in the state”. Glorious be the Tunisian and Egyptian peoples who remind us the true and unique political duty: faced with the state, the organised fidelity to the communism as movement. We do not want war, but we are not afraid of it. The pacifist calm of gigantic movements has been talked about everywhere, and it has been linked to the ideal of elective democracy that we bestowed upon the movement. We should, however, note that there have been hundreds of dead, and their number increases each day. In many instances, these dead have been combatants and martyrs of the initiative, then of the protection of the movement itself. The political and symbolical places of uprising had to be kept by paying the price of fierce combat against the militia and the police of the threatened regimes. And who has paid with their own lives if not the youth from the poorest classes? The “middle classes”, of whom our inspired Michèle Alliot- Marie has said that the democratic outcome of the movement depended on, and on them alone, should always remember that during the crucial moment, the duration of the movement has only been guaranteed by the unrestricted commitment of the people's militia. Defensive violence is inevitable. It still goes on, in difficult conditions, in Tunisia, after the young provincial activists have been sent to their destitution. Can we seriously think that all these innumerable initiatives and cruel sacrifices' fundamental goal is to make the people “choose” between Souleiman and El Baradei, just as we here resign to arbitrate between Mr. Sarkozy and Mr. Strauss-Kahn? Will that be the only lesson of this splendid episode? No, a thousand times no! The Egyptian and Tunisian peoples tell us this: to rebel, to construct the public space of the communism as movement, defending it by all means and making up its successive steps of action, that is the reality of the popular politics of emancipation. It is not just the Arab states that are anti-popular, of course, and, fundamentally, with or without elections, illegitimate. Whatever their future, the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings have a universal significance. They prescribe new possibilities whose value is international. Visit Le Monde to read the article in French. For an alternative translation, please visit lacan.com. http://www.versobooks.com/blogs/394-alain-badiou-tunisie,-egypte-quand-un-vent-d'est-balaie-l'arrogance-de-l'occident From jeebesh at sarai.net Wed Mar 2 17:32:29 2011 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh) Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2011 17:32:29 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Thoughts on Flat Ontology Message-ID: dear all, recently in an conference on archiving ashok sukumaran argued that we need to seriously consider the "flat ontology" philosophy. it led to some interesting confusion. here is an interesting blog posting that i found furthering the confusion in my head :) warmly jeebesh http://enemyindustry.net/blog/?p=168 Thoughts on Flat Ontology On September 15, 2010, The term ‘flat ontology’ was coined by Manuel DeLanda in his book Intensive Science and Virtual Philosophy. Flat ontologies are opposed there to hierarchical ontologies in which the structure and evolution of reality is explained by transcendent organizing principles such as essences, organizing categories or natural states: [While] an ontology based on relations between general types and particular instances is hierarchical, each level representing a different ontological category (organism, species, genera), an approach in terms of interacting parts and emergent wholes leads to a flat ontology, one made exclusively of unique, singular individuals, differing in spatio-temporal scale but not in ontological status (DeLanda 2004, p. 58). In a flat ontology the organization of entities is explained with reference to interactions between particular, historically locatable entities. It is never the result of entities of one ontological kind being related to an utterly different order of being like a God, a transcendental subject, a natural state or its associated species essences (Sober 1980). For flat ontologies, the factors which motivate macro-level change are always emergent from and ‘immanent’ to the systems in which the change occurs. DeLanda’s characterization of flat ontology comes during a discussion of the ontological status of species in which he sides with philosophers of biology like David Hull and Elliot Sober who hold that species are differentiated populations that emerge from variations among organisms and the evolutionary feedback processes these drive (DeLanda 2004, 60). For DeLanda, evolutionary feedback instances a universal tendency for identifiable things and their properties to emerge from intensive or (or productive) differences such as variations in heritable adaptive differences or chemical concentrations (Ibid., 58-9; 70). Thus the formation of soap bubbles depends on the tendency of component molecules to assume a lower a state of free energy, minimizing inter-molecular distances and cancelling the forces exerted on individual molecules by their neighbors (Ibid., 15). The process instantiates an abstract tendency for near-equilibrium systems with free energy to ‘roll down’ to a macrostate attractor. Thus for DeLanda’s ontology (following Deleuze) individuals are not products of the operations of a Kantian/Husserlian transcendental subject but of the cancellation of intensive differences and the generative processes they drive. These processes are governed by mathematical structures – e.g. ‘virtual’ attractors or ‘singularities’ – which are ‘quasi-causal’ influences on their trajectory through a particular state space (Ibid., 14). How do we reconcile this second ontological claim (which I will refer to as ‘transcendental materialism’) with an adherence to a flat ontology of individuals. Is ontological flatness merely a regional principle applying to the ‘bits’ of the universe where differentiated particulars have alreadyemerged from intensive processes, rendering their generative mechanisms irrelevant to understanding or categorizing the entities they have become? Moreover, if these processes are explained in terms of the virtual structures they exhibit, such as their singularities, doesn’t TM just reintroduce an ontological hierarchy between particular and universal?* Graham Harman argues that the quasi-causal role of the abstract or virtual in DeLanda’s thought vitiates its commitment to a flat ontology for which “atoms have no more reality than grain markets or sports franchises” (Harman 2008, 370). Thus while depriving species and kinds of any distinctive organizing role, DeLanda inflates the role of the ‘genus’ in the form of virtual patterns (such as the relationship between the topology of systems and their capacity for autocatalysis explored of Stuart Kauffman and others). Secondly, subordinating individuals to their historical generative processes is seen by Harman as a way of ‘undermining’ the status of the particular or individual, which – against the letter of flat ontology – is somehow less real or effective than the intensive processes that produce it. I think Harman does contemporary philosophers a favour by anatomizing these tensions within DeLanda’s materialism. However, it is far from clear to me that the regulative ideal of ontological flatness necessitates an ontology in which deep individuals and their (largely non-manifest) capacities play the central organizing role. It may be that the generative histories of particulars are relevant only insofar as they leave ”lasting fingerprints” on the particulars they generate, making DeLanda’s proposal that we categorize particulars by way of the generative processes that produce them potentially problematic in some cases (Ibid.,374; DeLanda 2004, 50). However, if DeLanda’s (and Deleuze’s) transcendental materialism is correct, then any entity generated as a result of these processes will always be – as Iain Grant emphasizes – a fragile achievement, fatally involved in the play of further intensities (for example, at certain temperature thresholds, the lipid layers dividing biological cells from their watery milieu will simply melt, their ‘cohesion’ as individuals breaks down). The question of typing by generative process is thus an empirical matter of the causal relevance of such processes to the maintenance of individuals at all scales. There is no reason why flat ontologies have to be individualist or object-oriented. The concept of the ‘individual’ and the wider category of the ‘particular’ are often conflated. The latter category may contain events, ‘diffusions’ or collectives: each of which may be insufficiently differentiated to qualify for objecthood (Roden 2004, p. 204). The cancellation of intensive quantities can certainly be accommodated within the category of particular events without threatening flatness (whether this is an orthodox Deleuzean solution doesn’t concern me). Secondly, insofar as the virtual laws of form which DeLanda describes reflect the mathematical structure of morphogenetic processes or systems, then their ontological autonomy need not violate the autonomy of the particular. Rather, morphogenetic structures reflect substrate neutral or formal constraints on the behavior of material systems whose effects are entirely produced by those systems. Quasi-causes do not preempt causes proper but reflect structural similarities between systems with otherwise distinct components. For example, Stuart Kaufmann has used computer simulation of so called ‘NK Boolean Netoworks’ to argue that the capacity of systems of mutually interacting parts to generate stable auto-catalytic cycles is sensitive to the number of inter-connections between those parts. If the number of connections is large (that is, if the number of connections K to a given component approximates to the number of components N) the system behaves in a random, disordered way. However, for smaller values of K (e.g. K=2) the system settles down to exploring a relatively small number of ‘attractor’ sequences. Kaufmann speculates that this relationship is substrate-neutral - independent of nature of the system components (they could be nodes in an NK boolean simulation or chemical substances in a solution). So a provisional conclusion, here, is that we can retain the role of structural ‘quasi-causes’ and reject the primacy of individuals without compromising the regulative ideal of ontological flatness. DeLanda, Manuel. (2004), Intensive Science and Virtual Philosophy. London: Continuum. ___(2006), A New Philosophy of Society. London: Continuum. Harman, Graham (2008), ‘Delanda’s Ontology: assemblage and realism’, Continental Philosophy Review 41, 367-383. Roden, David. (2004), ‘Radical Quotation and Real Repetition’, Ratio: An international journal of analytic philosophy, XVII/2 (2004), pp. 191–206. Sober, Elliot (1980) ‘Evolution, Population Thinking and Essentialism’, Philosophy of Science 47(3), pp. 350-383. *We could also ask: is the cancellation of intensive difference merely a regional principle applying to various kinds of thermodynamic systems rather than, say, to more fundamental physical entities or structures? From anu.mukh at gmail.com Wed Mar 2 18:06:16 2011 From: anu.mukh at gmail.com (anuradha mukherjee) Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2011 18:06:16 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Learning to Close My Eyes: Aman shares his journey with Kabir In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Thanks Chintan for a lovely piece once again.I have heard Shabnam Virmani sing on the Internet. Is her documentary available in stores? Best Anuradha On Tue, Mar 1, 2011 at 11:47 AM, Chintan Girish Modi < chintan.backups at gmail.com> wrote: > From > > http://sunosadho.blogspot.com/2011/02/learning-to-close-my-eyes-amandeep.html > > *Learning to Close My Eyes* > > By Amandeep Sandhu > > My journey towards understanding the fires that had until then driven me > into clinical depression started when Nilanjana sent me two music files by > a > singer named Prahlad Tipanya who sings Kabir. > > It was the summer of 2007. My mother lay dying in a small town called Mandi > Dabhwali in the Malwa region of southern Punjab. Prahladji is also from a > region called Malwa but his Malwa is in Madhya Pradesh. His language was > alien to our ears and my laptop computer had no external speakers. Still, > from time to time, mother asked me to play the songs to her. In spite of > the > two Malwas, in spite our different languages, in spite of the two thousand > kilometres that separated us, his message of submission and humility > permeated into our ears. While cancer spread in my mother’s body a fire > raged in our Malwa. Mandi Dabhwali was at the centre of a violent battle > between the Sikhs and the head of a sect called *Sachha Sauda*. The Sikhs > were angry because the head of the sect, Gurmit Ram Rahim, had appropriated > icons from Sikhism and had attracted a certain caste of Sikhs to his fold. > The reasons for the fight are complex but the gist is that Sikhism, which > was conceived as casteless by Kabir and contemporaries Guru Nanak and other > Sikh Gurus, had actually discriminated against its own lower castes who had > in turn sought salvation in other sects which were more inviting. As a > result the Gurdwaras were missing out on donations. My mother’s death was > simpler. She was a life-long Schizophrenic, who had developed severe > cardio-myopathy, and was now in breast cancer Stage IV. The secondary’s > spread to the rest of her body. She died. Punjab burnt as vote bank > politics > and monetary gains stroked the fires. > > I came back to Bangalore and Nilanjana told me she goes singing Kabir with > someone called Shabnam Virmani who, every morning, opens her home to anyone > interested in singing or listening. In February 2008, Nilanjana told me > Shabnam is singing at the annual cultural festival on the outskirts of > Bangalore -- *Fireflies.* I went to listen. For years I had been listening > to a Kabir cassette by Madhup Mudgal but again the language was slightly > alien to me. A friend’s mother had told me there was someone called Kumar > Gandharv who used to sing brilliantly. I had never heard him. > > At *Fireflies* I could understand Kabir. Shabnam’s translations in a mix of > simple English and Hindi and her singing made the songs so easy to > comprehend. After the concert I told her that couplets from Kabir open my > first book of fiction and thanked her for giving me an opportunity to > listen > to Kabir live. She looked at me kindly and asked indulgently: ‘Have you > never heard him live before?’ I said no but in that question of hers I knew > that I had failed to access the 500-year old poet who I had only > encountered > in school text books, on thin shabby pages. He had survived the oral and > written traditions and has existed alive and available to us. Now the > question was what route should I take to access him? > > I heard Shabnam thrice before her festival in Bangalore in 2009. But it is > at that festival when she sang *Munn mast huaa re phir kyaa bole* ... that > I > closed my eyes. Now I tend to close my eyes every time I listen to music. > It > does hamper my work or even life at home. But it happens and I lose myself. > Then I saw the documentaries Shabnam had made through her *Kabir > Project*and picked up Kumar Gandharv’s > *Avdhoot.* Since then, in the last two years, every morning I have listened > to any one of the Kabir singers collected in Shabnam’s *Project* or to > Kumar > Gandharv and I just recently discovered MS Subbalaxmi. I do not have any > knowledge of the terms of music. It helps me that Shabnam claims even she > had never sang before she got onto the *Kabir Project*. I, in fact, know > nothing about what has invaded me so beautifully for the last two years > that > now I have found newer loves – classical music. > > Yet, through all the music and the films I learnt something that comes up > fairly early in *Had-Unhad* when Prahladji asks a young man who hates > idolatry and leans towards the formless to explain if his own body is not a > form and towards the end of *Koi Sunta Hai* when singer Dhulichand, a > rustic > villager, flips his hand and says that what we are all looking for, the > ‘word’ that denotes it, can only be found if one turns one’s focus to the > inside rather than looking for it outside. > > This was my conflict. Until then I had looked at events and phenomena > through the labels I had learnt. When they clashed with each other I felt > the fires burning me. I learnt that not knowing that these are mere labels > makes the fires blaze and knowing that these are ‘mere’ labels gives you a > sense of being able to harness the fires, channelise the self. In my case, > finish my second book, which again opens with a couplet by Kabir. > > My journey led me to Kumarji’s home in Dewas in 2010. I had learnt of > the *Kabir > Mahaotsav* in Lunyakhedi, Prahladji’s village near Ujjain. Nilanjana had > once said that thousands gather for the festival. I wanted to be there and > I > had wanted to see Ujjain. I was experiencing the ease of the state without > external labels *(Nirgun*) but I was still interested in *Matsyandar > Nath*and the > *Mahakaal* temple (*Sagun).* The temptation to see Kumarji’s home where he > had lain for many years, stricken by Tuberculosis, and listened to beggars > sing Kabir and wanting to see the *Sheel Nath Dhooni* where Kumarji had > seen > written on a mirror *Ud jayega hans akela*... pulled me to the festival. > > The festival was a miracle of sorts. Lunyakedi did not have metalled roads > yet people from nearby villages and far off cities had gathered and with > them had gathered the modern power paraphernalia: IAS and IPS officers, and > politicians and Kabir Panthis. This was realpolitik. Through all this, > cutting through symbolism and iconography, one singer after another touched > our hearts. This was *Sat Sang*, the concept that is a recurrent motif in > all of Kabir’s and Shabnam’s work, as Shafi Mohammad Faqir, from (now) > Pakistan says: *mil baithna, saat suron ka sangam*. > > After the night long singing I went to Kumarji’s house and was admitted to > the room where he lay ill and where he regained his voice and sang so > wondrously. Coming out of the room I spotted a tobacco box and asked how it > had reached the pious room. Kumarji’s grandson replied: ‘Kumarji kept > chewing until the end.’ So this was how the great singer who dealt with TB > and kept feeding himself the poison that caused the mighty illness and who > was once a patient and then a healthy body found and sang the essences. He > once said: ‘*jo sunta hoon, who gaata hoon*.’ He did it by seeing what each > state was and then by going beyond them. > > That evening, behind a tent, in the light of one yellow bulb at Lunyakhedi, > I told Shabnam, ‘Seven times I have heard you sing a song about a forest on > fire in which a bird keeps going back to sprinkle water on a burning tree > that has earlier housed her. Each time I listen to it, it reconfigures my > associations. The characters in the song: the tree, the bird, the fire, the > lake take on ever shifting personas in my personal life. Sometimes I feel I > am the bird, sometimes I am the tree, at other times I am the fire and I > look for the lake.’ > > If I am rooted in the tree I find myself burning and if I fly like the bird > I feel self-righteous. Both of them are ego states. Beyond the forest and > the lake lies the experience of the story. That experience is beyond words. > It can be found, as the singer-villager said, when you turn the knowledge > of > the story inwards. I now recognise that my own experience is ever changing, > ever informing. This knowledge liberates me from the explicit need to label > it. What right do I have on an emotion I feel in a moment which the next > moment will alter? My journey with Kabir has been one of recognising the > value of the markers of my identity, questioning them, and then stripping > down these markers and finding myself shorn of them. I try to walk this > path > with my mind aware and my eyes closed, in faith. > > > --- > > Amandeep Sandhu has no permanent address. These days he is a neighbour of > Amir Khusro in New Delhi where he feeds birds on his terrace. He is the > author of *Sepia Leaves* (Rupa, 2008) and a to-be-published novel *Roll of > Honour. * > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From oishiksircar at gmail.com Thu Mar 3 01:46:25 2011 From: oishiksircar at gmail.com (OISHIK SIRCAR) Date: Thu, 3 Mar 2011 01:46:25 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Asylum Seekers, Hunger Strikes in Greece Message-ID: These hunger strikers are the martyrs of Greece Asylum seekers willing to die in the face of expulsion after shame and exploitation bear witness to a higher truth than life - Costas Douzinas - guardian.co.uk , Monday 28 February 2011 17.25 GMT - Article history As the world follows the north African revolutions with bated breath, a less public north African revolt and tragedy is taking place in Athens and Thessaloniki. Three hundred non-documented migrants, mostly from the Maghreb, have entered the 35th day of a hunger strike. Many have been taken to hospital in pre-comatose condition and are reaching a state of non-reversible organ failure and subsequent death. These are people who have lived and worked in Greece for up to seven years. They picked olives and oranges, they looked after the old and the sick, they worked on building sites and orchards for a fraction of the minimum wage. After years of exploitation and humiliation, they are now told they are no longer wanted because of the economic crisis. They must go back voluntarily or be deported. Immigrants are the double victims of boom and bust in Greece. Now they are deemed to be surplus to requirements, to be disposed of like refuse. What do the hunger strikers want? To make Greeks notice their meagre existence, to ask for basic labour protections and minimum living conditions. They ask at least for the recognition that they live and work in Greece but are treated worse than convicts on chain gangs. They are saying: "We the invisible, uncounted and undocumented are next to you, we worked for pennies and are part of who you are and what your government is doing to you." They are people punished not for what they have done (criminality or illegality) but for who they are. They are*homines sacri* – legally nonexistent and therefore non-persons, meaning they can be treated in the most cruel way by the state, employers, landlords and the xenophobic minority. The Greek government rejects their demands but claims that it fully respects human rights. Rights belong to humans, we are told, on account of their humanity and not of narrower memberships such as nation, state or group. This is a comforting thought. But the treatment of the *sans papiers* shows these claims to be ideological half-truths. In theory, human rights are given to all humans, in practice only to citizens. This is further confirmed by the treatment of asylum seekers. In January, the European court of human rights held that sending refugees back to Greece amounted to torture and inhuman and degrading treatment because of the appalling conditions of detention in immigration camps. Greece virtually never gives political asylum to refugees. Other European states, including Britain, will no longer return asylum seekers to Greece. The Greek government has been condemned as a violator of the basic dignity of the wretched of the Earth. This is a sad conclusion for a country last condemned for systemic torture in the 60s during thedictatorship of the colonels. Many of the governing party members, including the prime minister, George Papandreou, found refuge during that dark period in foreign countries. The hunger strikers are martyrs in a double sense. In Greek, martyr means both witness and sacrificial victim. They bear witness to higher truths than life, they state that life is worth living if it is worth dying for. In this sense, the strikers are exercising what philosophers from Rousseau to Derrida consider as the essence of freedom: acting against biological and social determinations in the name of a higher truth. Sacrifice means*sacrum facere*, making the ordinary sacred. It bridges everyday life with what transcends it. The truth the hunger strikers defend at the personal level is dignity – what makes each person unique in our common humanity. Individual identity is built through the reciprocal recognition others give to self and self to others. I feel good to the extent that my intimate and remote friends consider me such. The absence of basic rights of work and life for the *sans papiers* leads to absence of all recognition making them less than human. What is justice? We are surrounded by injustice but we don't often know wherein justice lies. In Greece, justice has miscarried in the IMF measures and the Athens ghettos, in the unemployed and the salary cuts for the low-paid and pensioners, in the treatment of the refugees and the wall built to keep the poor out and the Greeks in . Protesting against the worst injustice and abuse, asking to be seen, heard and acknowledged in a minimal way, even if they need to go to death for that, is the greatest service the *sans papiers* offer to Greece. By resisting their dehumanisation, they become free and fight for the honour of Greeks against the iniquities of their government. They also remind the millions of *sans papiers* around Europe that after Tahrir Square they can also take their fate in their hands and resist the racist policies of European governments. • Hara Kouki helped in the development of this article Intellectuals and academics from all over the world have written in solidarity. It is important that many more write now. Their website where you can send messages of support is at http://hungerstrike300.espivblogs.net/category/γλώσσες/english/ More info available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/07/greece-protest-democracy-government?INTCMP=SRCH http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/31/europe-depends-shared-humanity-culture http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2010/jan/01/goodby-noughties-radical-change?INTCMP=SRCH http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jul/24/open-left-ideas?INTCMP=SRCH http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/may/21/hay-festival-equality-freedom -- OISHIK SIRCAR oishiksircar at gmail.com oishik.sircar at utoronto.ca From ysaeed7 at yahoo.com Thu Mar 3 09:27:21 2011 From: ysaeed7 at yahoo.com (Yousuf) Date: Wed, 2 Mar 2011 19:57:21 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Opposing reservation doesn't mean opposing progress of Muslims Message-ID: <183576.77017.qm@web161206.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> Opposing reservation doesn’t mean opposing progress of Muslims When I wrote why I am opposed to Jamia Millia’s Minority status, many friends liked my frank opinions but a lot of them also got angry with me, thinking that I am against the progress of the underprivileged Muslims who are not well equipped to compete in entrance exams and job interviews. Some friends also said that my views are coming from an elite Muslim who can afford to reject the minority status. Some mentioned that the Hindustan Times could happily carry my article since it served their “majoritarian” purpose, and the mainstream media always ignores the point of view of those who are campaigning for minority status. I respect all these opinions and would like to clarify my position here: Firstly, I am not an elite Muslim - I come from an orthodox family living in a typical Muslim neighbourhood of Jamia Nagar with mosques around me and hundreds of newly migrated underprivileged Muslims as my neighbours. I received my entire education at Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University, the two institutions seeking minority status. Secondly, I am fully aware of the difficulties the Muslims, especially from poor or lower middle class families find in getting admissions or jobs in mainstream institutions. I fully agree that a large number of Muslims need support and special advantage to get ahead in life – the families and surroundings they come from do not provide them the opportunities to get ahead in life. There are also complaints about some mainstream institutions being biased against Muslims – they deliberately prevent the entry of Muslims and so on. All this has also been proven by the Sachar Committee Report hence I do not need to repeat it. My point was that only Jamia Millia getting a blanket 50 percent reservation is not the best solution to uplift the condition of Muslims; and some Muslims celebrating its announcement should not project that all Muslims have readily welcomed it. A public debate is probably required before it can be implemented. Blanket reservations are easy and short-cut methods of a community’s progress, but do not address many other complex issues. I would like to show what problems I find with this special status, and what alternatives could have been tried: - Demand for a quota/reservation for Muslims only in Jamia shows that we want all Muslims to remain limited only to Jamia and not try other institutions. If minority status is given to Jamia, will Muslim candidates be readily welcomed in other mainstream institutions? Won’t other institutions (like Delhi University) argue that now that Jamia has a 50% quota for Muslims, why should we prefer Muslims students in our institution? - If the recommendations of Sachar Committee have to be implemented, why shouldn’t we seek a small (say 5 percent) quota for Muslims in all institutions for a better representation all over the country? Won’t that be a better solution than seeking a 50% quota only in Jamia? Why do all Muslims from the length and breadth of the country have to converge only at Jamia? Why shouldn’t we decentralize our demand for a quota? - Demand for a 50% Muslim quota in Jamia does not address the problem of the Muslim OBCs, which is a major issue raised by the Sachar Committee. If the minority status is given to Jamia, will it have any special sub-quota for the Muslim OBCs? I know many of our friends will say that there are no Muslim OBCs since Islam doesn’t believe in caste system. - I agree that some people cannot progress without reservation. But as a student I also know what kind of social stigma or label you can acquire if you get admission or appointment in an institution through a quota. In your class or department, everyone who got admission through their merit always give you a different look. They may not say it in front of you, but in your absence they always refer to you as a boy or girl who came “via the quota.” This stigma can last your entire lifetime, and it is one of the biggest reasons why I hate to be called a “minority.” Of course, if I got admission through my merit, I can always be much more proud of my worth, and socialize more confidently. Why should we not be a part of the majority and lead more confident lives? - In hushed conversations at Jamia, I overheard people saying that a Muslim quota is urgently required because “a large number of non-Muslims have recently been appointed as Jamia’s staff (especially in the previous VC’s tenure), and they will soon erase Jamia’s Muslim character.” I would like to make two points about this. (1) If you do a random count of the teaching staff in Jamia’s various departments today (see for instance the faculty lists supplied on JMI website) you will find as much as 76 percent staff with Muslim sounding names (some departments have up to 99 or 100 percent Muslims)! This is already way above the 50% quota being demanded. But a more important point is (2) why do we always look at non-Muslims as some kind of threat? And why is a competition with them always seen in communal terms? (Yes, the same questions can also be applied in some mainstream institutions outside Jamia where Muslims are seen as a “threat”). If a meritorious non-Muslim, being a great expert in his/her field, is appointed in Jamia, isn’t that a boon for Jamia’s students? - I have often found this scenario in JMI as well as AMU: if a non-Muslim teacher tries to be hard or strict with the students in order to raise their quality of education, to get them to work harder or be punctual in the class etc., some Muslim students see his/her strictness as a communal attitude towards Muslims. I know such sensitive issues never get discussed. My point is that Muslim or non-Muslim, whenever a competent teacher is employed in Jamia, he/she may be genuinely interested in improving the condition of students here. Why do we always have to doubt their intentions if they are not Muslim? If we do find a specific problem we can always make a complaint. - I have always felt that instead of reservation what Muslims need is better preparation and coaching to get admission and jobs. I wonder why all the people who are crying about the plight of poor Muslims and campaigning for minority status cannot get together and start high standard coaching centres where underprivileged Muslims are given free or inexpensive training? Some efforts have been tried in this direction and have shown great results, such as the Hamdard Study Circle (Delhi) or even the Super 30 group in Patna from which one can learn so much. A much smaller example is a charity-based centre started in Zakir Nagar (near Jamia) by the alumni of Darul Uloom Deoband where a small group of graduates of the madrasa are trained each year, and manage to get admissions into many prime institutions and have even got jobs abroad. Why couldn’t Jamia Teachers Association or Jamia Old Boys Association concentrate their efforts in this direction? There can be hundreds of other innovative ideas and affirmative actions one could take to uplift the community instead of only demanding a minority status. - Let us also not forget that the issue of reservation is used by all political parties to create their votebanks. Whether Congress, BJP, SP or whatever, some body will get political mileage out of Jamia’s minority status, and though they may not be interested in the long term development of Muslims. Let us not get fooled by them. The above are my personal opinions and anyone is free to challenge them. I have no intentions of appealing in a court to impose my views on anyone, but would be happy if a healthy and productive dialogue could start. I would also be happy to take part in any affirmative action that allows Muslims to improve themselves. But I am still not convinced about demanding a quota as their birthright. Thanks Yousuf Saeed http://iamnotaminority.blogspot.com/2011/03/opposing-reservation-doesnt-mean.html From logos.theword at gmail.com Thu Mar 3 11:06:49 2011 From: logos.theword at gmail.com (Logos Theatre) Date: Thu, 3 Mar 2011 11:06:49 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Open Letter About A Proposed Rock Concert in the Sunderbans District In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Arka Mukhopadhyay Date: 3 March 2011 11:01 Subject: Open Letter About A Proposed Rock Concert in the Sunderbans District To: Dear Friends, My name is Arka Mukhopadhyay and I am a theatre practitioner and poet. I am writing this open letter, not as a member of any organization or partisan agendum, but as an individual, to share my grave concerns about a rock concert called Ujaan which is scheduled to be held in Frazerganj, which lies in the Sunderbans district in West Bengal from March 10th to 12th. As per the website (ujaanfestival.org) and their facebook page ( facebook.com/ujaanfestival), they claim that it is a festival for the Sunderbans. They also talk about some developmental projects that the concert will directly or indirectly lead on to - http://www.ujaanfestival.org/projects.html. They even seem to have WWF and Earth Hour as partners, as per the website. However, I have very grave concerns about this venture because: 1. It involves a rock-concert involving some twenty bands and some more solo acts, and most of them will be playing electrically amplified music, which is likely to be very loud. So I have concerns about noise pollution, especially in a place like Frazerganj which is not too far away from the Sunderbans proper, and is itself a sensitive and ecologically threatened place. From what I gather, at least some part of the concert will be at night, which increases the noise-pollution issues, especially because the Higher Secondary exams start from the 16th. 2. This concert will involve the active participation of several hundred people, which I fear will be a huge burden on the natural and social fabric of Frazerganj, in terms of where so many people will stay, eat, their toilet facilities, etc.. The concert itself might cause a lot of environmental damage - at the least littering up the place, and I fear it will disturb local people. The venue will be on the Frazerganj beach, which will be quite catastrophic, and apart from the concert itself, their website talks about plans of camping accommodation on the beach, which seems like madness. 3. The passes for the concert are priced at 2,000/- per head, which puts it completely out of reach of the local populace. In fact, as the organizers themselves say on their facebook page, it is not meant for the local population. So effectively we are talking about a big-ticket event in which the community does not have a stake and from they are completely shut off, although it is being held in their name. In fact, the concerns become graver when we read through some of the proposed developmental projects, because we can see that there's nothing concrete their, only a wish-list. There's not even a clear plan of how the ticket money will be used - whether it'll be donated to some local organization or not. In fact, from what I could gather from a conversation with one of the organizers, the concert will pay for itself. The concerns become graver when one goes through what the organizers have to say on their facebook site ( http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=1978336135689240): Ujaan wishes to attract an audience from all over India and enable sustainable community development in the Bakkhali-Frazergunj area. *We do not wish to hold a concert for the locals, but for an urban, educated audience* *(Italics mine - notice how the locals are necessarily 'uneducated') *who can well afford to pay for passes (thus enabling us to raise funds for the cause) as well as the hotel rooms, food and other tourist facilities that hold up the areas economy. This is also the portion of the population that will be able to influence the changes required at the very top. And also this: Bakkhali is a tourist spot with over 40 hotels, a government tourist lodge and many government guest houses, with many rooms going vacant most of the year because of lack of awareness and infrastructure in the area. *The Bakkhali Hoteliers As**sociation (*www.bakkhalihoteliers.com*) have been participating in trade and tourist fairs to increase the tourist inflow.* *Ujaan is one such platform aiming to promote sustainable development through eco-tourism. **(Italics mine)* What cant be ignored is that the area is likely to develop anyway - Ujaan aims to give this growth a green direction so it can be sustained. For this we shall be conducting clean up drives and awareness and training campaigns for waste and plastic management, apart from our other campaign activities, enabling the locals to deal with tourist-generated waste themselves. I'm afraid that really exposes the concert as nothing but a tourism promotion exercise, something which the Sunderbans do not need. We do not need to make local communities dependent on tourism, or make them accept the 'inevitability' of tourist generated waste and then train them on 'waste-management'. I'm sorry, but that's just completely mindless, to say the least, and actually rather sinister. If the idea is to do a concert to raise awareness about the Sunderbans and not for the local community, which in itself is fairly condescending and misguided, then my question is why do it there? Why descend on the local community with a huge rock-carnival? Have they asked for this? Do they want to be 'sustainably developed', whatever definition of that the organizers have? On the other hand, if the idea is to have a rock concert, why tag it to the Sunderbans? This looks like a way of legitimizing one's beach party in the name of a cause, at perhaps a great environmental cost to the local ecology and community. A couple of more quotes from the website that substantiates the misguided and even sinister nature of this effort: "....and we hope to demonstrate to the locals the values of sustainable development and eco-tourism " And this: "Well, about Frasergunj. We were scouring Google maps, looking for an ideal place, and the moment we spotted bakkhali-frasergunj we decided to give it a go." My plea to all members of the public: 1. If you are planning to attend this yourself, please re-consider. Think about all the implications. If you know others who are planning to attend - please share these concerns with them. 2. Please contact the organizers to get their side of the story, and if you share my concerns, please tell them to call it off, think of shifting to Calcutta, or making the concert acoustic and smaller in scale. According to their website/ facebook page, you can write to tamseel at ujaanfestival.org, or magicwallrush at ujaanfestival.org, or call 09830770960 3. Those of you who are in/ have contacts with the print/electronic media, kindly forward this. You do not need to mention my name as this is not about me seeking publicity. However, I have no problems with my contacts being made public either. My ID is arka.mukhopadhyay at gmail.com and my number is 9831731422. 4. If you can highlight this to the ministry of environement, please do so. 5. Lastly, those who are willing to put their names on a PIL to get a stay order against this, please let me know. I am speaking with some lawyers, and though I am all for dialogue and engagement, given the paucity of time and the improbability of the organizers willing to reconsider, I think a stay order may be the only option In solidarity, warmth and peace, Arka Warmth and peace, Arka -- *Stat rosa pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus* -- Logos Theatre In the beginning was the word No. 126, 3rd Main Road, Jayamahal Extension, Bangalore 560046 -------------------------------------------------------- If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all. Since no man has aught of what he leaves, what is't to leave betimes? Let be. From jeebesh at sarai.net Thu Mar 3 14:53:05 2011 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh) Date: Thu, 3 Mar 2011 14:53:05 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The Politics of Contemporanising: some notes Message-ID: dear all, recently i heard Prathama, a fellow in CSDS give this talk in a workshop on "Rising Powers". Thought that this list will benefit from it. warmly jeebesh The Politics of Contemporanising: some notes Prathama Banerjee In this presentation, I try to set up the contemporary – as idea, subjectivity, time – against the modern. I do so because modernity – with its discourses of progress, modernization, development and transition – has historically established non-contemporaneity as the mode of being of peoples. As different peoples were discursively and materially constituted as different moments of the same historical time – some primitive, some backward, some modern – life-in-common became unimaginable, except via re-presentation, literally, of the non-present. In other words, by feigning that different entities cannot meet each other in a critical, indeed explosive, encounter of difference – because they do not appear in the same instance in time – modernity sought to insert representation as the necessary mediating moment between different peoples, societies, world views. This has led, we know, to an unprecedented dominance, in modern times, of representation in the domains of both politics and knowledge. In other words, historically, modernity can be seen as seeking to tame the recalcitrance of the contemporary under the regime of time as succession and politics as representation. For that reason, mobilizing the contemporary can work as a political act of disruption of the modern. I say disrupting the modern, because, by its very linguistic constitution and temporal intent, modernity seeks to perpetuate itself ad infinitum. It makes out as if everything that is and everything that is to come (including utopian futures) is always already modern. Formally, the modern appears to be just another historical period, analogous to the ancient or the medieval. And yet, in our historical imagination, there is a before but no after modernity. We have imagined the end of capitalism, the end of history, the end of the subject, indeed the end of the world in nuclear holocaust and environmental cataclysm. But the modern has remained constant, as the sign under which time and human history unfold. Perhaps, this is why the non-modern has been derivatively named postmodern, in an ironic analytical symmetry to pasts and presents being rendered, across the non-West, as premodern. In face of this unrelenting modern, then, there might be a point in arguing that the contemporary throws up elements and moments which are indifferent to and irrespective of the story of modernity. While the modern is very much part of the genealogy of our present, the contemporary is by no means another empirical instant in the mutating career of the modern – however uncertain, decentred, provincialised, hybridized, differed and so on, we may take modernity to be. The contemporary may be another, not- quite-modern time. Perhaps if we can force the contemporary out of the premodern, modern, postmodern transitional narrative, we may notice that the contemporary falls at an angle to the modern. One way of mobilizing the contemporary may simply be to admit that the modern has been, even in recent times, only one amongst many possible ways of being contemporary. This was the way of valourizing the present by setting up a favourable contrast with the past, and more importantly, by refiguring the present as the necessary and logical future of the past. This present was then made (a) self- identical by exporting differences to the past and/or the periphery and (b) eternal by making all times to come appear always already modern. Contrast this mode of setting up the present to other possible modes. Santals, a tribal people in Bengal and Bihar, argued in the latter half of the 19th century that familiar causalities no longer worked in their present, because this present no longer seemed have a simple relation of succession to their past. The modern, they said, was then nothing other than utter contingency and must be engaged as such. The point I am trying to make is that if the modern is seen as only one, particular, historical way of grasping the contemporary, it becomes possible for us to imagine other ways contemporanising too, which are not necessarily exhausted by modernities and their afterlives. Now, the modern and the contemporary belong to the same field of intelligibility, they are neighbouring times, at least apparently. This to my mind is important. Because this enables us to rethink the modern without necessarily setting up a relationship of negation with it, in the way of other temporal categories like the primordial, the archaic, the traditional, the pastoral and so on. For relationships of negation, while sometimes enabling anti-modern ideologising such as in the south Asian Gandhian or the German romantic moment, fail to effect a division within the modern and end up as the ‘external’ ground for modernity itself. Thus, it is not accidental that categories of temporal otherness such as the primordial and the classical have founded modern Western metaphysics, just as the category of tradition and/or culture have grounded modern social sciences and their imagination of transition towards a potentially global, even though heterogeneous, modernity. The contemporary, on the other hand, does not necessarily bolster the idea of modernity, because it is not quite oppositional to it in a dichotomous sense. It is in a way aside of it. The modern and the contemporary can be made to compete to claim the present, as it were. What it means to mobilize the contemporary is however not obvious in any manner. This much seems clear to me though that we should guard against seeing the contemporary as an ‘objective’ condition out there – a new real to be grasped through new knowledges and reformed institutions. I say this for two reasons. One, casting the contemporary as chronologically our recent-most condition is to fall into the transition narrative once again, and thus remain within the conceptual ambit of modernity. And two, it is also to disregard the fact that the contemporary, because of its excessive proximity and lack of form, does not present itself as an ‘object’ of study in any self-evident way. The contemporary is not accomplished, in the way of facticity, and does not lend itself to either realism or empiricism or even ethnographic description in familiar ways. To me, then, mobilizing the contemporary would mean contemporanising, not a description or explanation of contemporary times but an active intellectual-political exercise that seeks to reconfigure and recompose the world, often against the grain of histories, genealogies and narratives of succession and inheritance. In other words, contemporanising is an act that seeks to set up unlikely relationships, alignments and exchanges across what conventionally appear as parallel histories, distant lands, mismatched times and mutually untranslatable languages. Such contemporanising is not easy, and not only because our existing knowledge-forms and disciplinary training militate against it. It is not easy also because we could easily slip into the colonial-modern framework of ‘comparativism’ that once mapped the world in terms of a temporal hierarchy and a spatial enclosure of nations, civilizations and cultures, a comparativism that produced what we today know as the geopolitical map of the world. We should therefore be wary before we take nations – India, China, south Africa and so on – as our units of analysis. We should perhaps seek out, as part of our act of contemporanising, possible conduits and passages that bring us together spatially – not just those pathways that seem to exist out there as ‘real’, such as the ones charted by mobile capital, labour, faiths and identities, but also those novel ones which can lead to unprecedented spatial proximities and assemblies, however ephemeral or virtual, cutting across the erstwhile three worlds and across the current academic separation of postcolonial and postsocialist studies. Contemporanising is not easy also because we could just as easily slip into the capitalist mode of instituting an apparent temporal simultaneity across the globe, through designs of perfect equivalence and universal exchange across life-worlds, rendered for that purpose into ‘cultures’ and ‘brands’. In face of this dream of capitalist globalization, then, we need to recover, as part of the act of contemporanising, imaginations of temporal heterogeneity, which goes beyond merely stating that in real life, people live in multiple times. One possible move in the direction of conceptualizing temporal heterogeneity could be to disentangle the distinct histories that appear to come together to constitute the modern – such as the history of democracy, the history of capital, the history of public sphere, the history of the self, and so on. Hitherto we have worked with the presumption that these different histories necessarily articulate without surplus under the name of the modern. And yet we are not entirely clear about the nature of these articulations. We almost always work by using epochal signifiers such as modernity, capitalism and democracy interchangeably or at most through hyphenated concepts such as capitalist modernity, colonial modernity, capitalist democracy and so on. This, however, is not for lack of theoretical rigour amongst us. In fact, this is in the nature of how modernity itself operates, in the nature of the modernity-effect as it were. Modernity, after all, is a unique name, in that it function simultaneously as one and many, proper and common – now a set of ideas (reason, enlightenment, progress), now a set of norms (equality, liberty, secularity), now an orientation of the self (secular, rational, individual, modernist, schizophrenic), now institutions and technologies (public sphere, governmentality, democracy), now capital, now an epoch (with a beginning but no end), and now an empty place- holder (filled with content by various peoples in various times and places). In other words, the modern works precisely by subsuming all histories and all subjectivities of the present under its sign. So whether we write the story of capital or of democracy or of the public sphere or of faith or of the self, they all seem to flow into the singular and capacious story of the modern. This is the self- perpetuating technique of the modern as idea and as performance. If, however, we imagine all these histories – of the state, of the demos, of self, of capital, of gods, of work, of the modern itself – to be distinct or sometimes even contrary histories which nevertheless can and do interesect, it becomes possible for us to disarticulate the present, open it up to recomposition. The other possible move towards recovering temporal heterogeneity is to actively reconvene the past – not through the language of inheritance but through the admission of the impossibility of inheritance. In the colony, as we know, the modern appeared as a time which did not and could not succeed the past, i.e. as an external even though inescapable contingency. In face of such a disruption of the past-present relationship, colonial-modern acts of engaging pasts and traditions came to be pitched as acts of culture rather than acts of intellection, quite unlike the way in which, for instance, modern European philosophers habitually engage their own antiquity contemporaneously. For culture is precisely that which is meant to persist irrespective of the contingencies of time and vagrancies of consciousness, both being the predicament of the colonial and the postcolonial subject. To my mind, then, acts of contemporanising would involve breaking out of the framework of culture and re- establishing connections with past traditions, where indeed no connections exist, through intellectual and political maneouvres. Such acts of temporal recompositions would be utterly distinct from and irrespective of what we know as genealogies of the present, because the presumption here is that in the postcolony, the modern can claim no obvious relationship to the non-modern in the mode of genealogy and succession. Contemporanising would then mean the owning up of temporal heterogeneities, and a laborious and fragile suturing of fissured times. Finally, a few words in conclusion. When we set up a transnational and interdisciplinary event such as this, we could see ourselves as seeking to contemporanise – rather than merely compare or connect or converse. By emphasizing the active voice, as I have tried to do throughout, I wanted to flag the artificial and artistic nature of the enterprise. I wanted to say that there is nothing natural or obvious in a south-south alignment – for colonial modernity has turned us into incommensurable cultures and mismatched times, forced to talk through the translating and regulatory mechanisms of universal language and global currency. These mechanisms are best exemplified by the working of terms such as culture and nation on the one hand, and economy and democracy on the other. Terms such as culture and nation ascribe a universal form to the singular while terms such as economy and democracy render it abstract and ideal. Non-contemporaries are then set to talk under the global, sense-making regimes of culture, economy, nation, democracy. Such has been the ruse of modernity and its rhetoric. If we seek to contemporanise, both intellectually and politically, instead of seeking merely to globalise, we need to disrupt the apparently easy availability and seamless usage of terms such as culture, nation and economy. From shahzulf at yahoo.com Thu Mar 3 19:21:40 2011 From: shahzulf at yahoo.com (Zulfiqar Shah) Date: Thu, 3 Mar 2011 05:51:40 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] =?utf-8?q?Protest_Marches_against_Shahbaz_Bhatti?= =?utf-8?q?=E2=80=99s_Murder_in_Hyderabad_and_Mirpurkhas?= Message-ID: <256679.43297.qm@web38803.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Dear All:    Protest marches were organized against brutal murder of Pakistan Federal Minister for Minority Affairs today in Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas (Sindh - Pakistan) on the call of Movement for Peace and Tolerance.   A protest march against brutal murder of Shahbaz Bhatti held today. A large number of civil society, women rights and political activists and writers attended the march. The marchers walked through Miran Mohammad shah road and gave sit-in at the gate of High Court of Sindh and demanded immediate detention of the killers. The charged participants chanted slogans against fundamentalism and killing in the name of religions.    Those who participated included Suleman G. Abro (SAFWCO), Mustafa Baloch (SPO), Ms. Amar Sindhu (WAF), Dr, Ashothama (HRCP), Zulfiqar Shah (ISM), Punhal Sariyo (SHPC), Zulfiqar Halepoto (PPC), Jabbar Bhatti (IIRE), Mr. Shams (Caritas), Dr. Dodo Maheri (Sindh United Party), Nisar Leghari (Labor party Pakistan / Left Unity), Zahid Meso (Awami party), Prof. Ejaz Qureshi (SDF), Hafeez Kumbhar (writer), Jaffer memon (We Journalists / Writers), Amir Memon (CPCS) and others.     Whereas, another march was organized by MPT in Mirpurkhas against the murder of Shahbaz Bhatti, which was also participated by Muslim, Christian and Hindu community, representatives of civil society organizations, lawyers, activists that included Wajid Leghari (SNSS), Dominic Stephan (PVDP), Ashraf Mall  (SEWA Pak), Obhayo Junejo, Dr. Jaccob, Khalid Babar, Sharwan Kumar, Shahmji and others. The protesters marched on the various roads of the city and chanted slogans against the religious extremism.     In solidarity,   Zulfiqar Shah Hyderabad From Image.Science at donau-uni.ac.at Thu Mar 3 20:38:53 2011 From: Image.Science at donau-uni.ac.at (Image Science) Date: Thu, 03 Mar 2011 16:08:53 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] Scholarship Reminder for Exhibition Design and Management Message-ID: <4D6FBD150200007D00021BD0@gwgwia.donau-uni.ac.at> Scholarship Reminder A friendly reminder on the March 13th deadline for the half tuition scholarships for the Department for Image Science's courses "Exhibition Design". All nationalities can apply. ************************************************************************************** Half-tuition scholarship Museum Association Austria for Exhibition Design and Management International experts like Dieter BOGNER, Christiane PAUL, Jorge WAGENSBERG, Audrey O'CONNELL, Dieter RONTE, Lutz ENGELKE, Frank den OUDSTEN, Becky GILBERT or Gerfried STOCKER are brought together through this singular program - a network that combines historic vision with the latest knowledge about current developments and trends on a high level. The certified program is a part of the post-graduate masters program at the Department for Image Science, under the direction of the American exhibition developer Wendy Jo Coones, M.Ed., who has been a part of the realization of 60 international exhibitions. Based on the needs and schedules of the students, the credits earned in Exhibition Design and Management can be combined with other programs to upgrade to an academic expert or masters degree. Modules: Module 1: From Theory to Practice: competent planning and organization of exhibitions April 16-24, 2011 Module 2: From the Practice to Preparation: professional realization of exhibitions November 5-17, 2011 Further information on the program: www.donau-uni.ac.at/exhibit ************************************************************************************** Contact: Andrea Haberson Department for Image Science Danube-University Krems Dr.-Karl-Dorrek-Str. 30, A-3500 Krems Tel: +43(0)2732 893-2569 andrea.haberson at donau-uni.ac.at www.donau-uni.ac.at/dis From the-network at koeln.de Thu Mar 3 20:42:07 2011 From: the-network at koeln.de (CologneOFF) Date: Thu, 03 Mar 2011 16:12:07 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] =?iso-8859-1?q?Press_Release=3A_CologneOFF_2011_-_U?= =?iso-8859-1?q?KRAINE?= Message-ID: <20110303161207.CD4ABFDB.6C432F4C@192.168.0.4> CologneOFF 2011 - videoart in a global context nomadic festival project 1 January - 31 December 2011 [Focus in March: Germany & Austria] returns in March 2011 from India back to Europe precisely to Ukraine, where CologneOFF 2011 UKRAINE is taking place between 14 and 20 March 2011 in Kiev & Kharkiv, a collaboration with the Goethe Institut Ukraine Kiev, the Center for Contemporary Art Foundation Kiev, Media Lab Kiev, Kharkiv City Art Gallery, Nuremberg House Kharkiv, and Kharkiv National University. The detailed program is available as PDF for download http://downloads.nmartproject.net/CologneOFF2011_UKRAINE.pdf On 14 March 2011, the Center for Contemporary Art Kiev is organising between 14h and 18h a series of videoart screenings featuring also the internationally reknwon German videoartist Johanna Reich in a solo at the Goethe Institute Ukraine Kiev, at 19h the lecture by Agricola de Cologne is scheduled, entitled: "CologneOFF 2011 - a festival as a creative tool", followed by a special screening at 20h, entitled "Corporate I" consisting of a selection of the basic festival program CologneOFF VI and afterwards a discussion with local artists, curators and the audience. http://www.cca.kiev.ua/catalog/?id=213 On 15 March 2011, the Center for Contemporary Art Kiev is organising at Media Art Lab Kiev a workshop with Agricola de Cologne, a pioneer on the field of art and new media, entitled: "artONLINE" between 10h and 17h - http://www.cca.kiev.ua/catalog/?id=208 The 2nd event place in Ukraine is the second largest city Kharkiv, where the prestigeous City Art Gallery is organising "CologneOFF 2011" as a three days festival between 17 and 20 March, starting on Thursday, 17 March at 17h with a lecture by Agricola de Cologne, a special screening of Corporate II, followed by a meeting and discussions with students of the local art school and university - http://www.mgallery.kharkov.ua/galery-e.php The actual screenings take place on 18 and 19 March presenting 12 hours different screenings programs, including about 190 videos by 180 artists from 60 countries, featuring in a solo presentation "Henry Gwiazda (USA) videoartist of the month February 2011. CologneOFF 2011 UKRAINE is very proud to present in Kiev and Kharkiv a wide range of different aspects of video as a global art medium, which is underlined by numerous contributions by corporate or curatorial partners like Athens Video Art Festival, Videoart Festival Miden Kalamata/Griechenland, Oslo Screen Festival, City Breath Festival Cape Town (RSA), Ventianale - International Film Festival Vientiane/Laos, Kisito Assangni - curator from Togo, Nicole Rademacher - curator from Chile, Abir Boukhari - curator from Syria, Silvio de Gracia - curator from Argentina, Evelin Stermitz - curator from Austria, Yarina Butkovska - curator from Ukraine and Jonas Nilsson & Eva Olsson - curators from Sweden. The diversity of the video creation is manifesting itself also in several thematic programs, like "Performance in Videoart", "Digitalis - aspects of digital video", or "The Female Eye" - videoart by young female artists, all in total a celebration of videoart in a global context. In the framework of these events and days in Ukraine, the meetings, discussions and exchange with local artists, students and the interested audience has a special relevance. ---------------------------------------------- CologneOFF 2011 - videoart in a global context nomadic festival project 1 January - 31 December 2011 http://coff.newmediafest.org Blog (Deutsch) http://coff2011.newmediafest.org Blog (English) http://coff.newmediafest.org/blog/ initiated by Cologne International Videoart Festival http://coff.newmediafest.org artvideoKOELN - curatorial initiative "art & moving images" http://video.mediaartcologne.org and Le Musee di-visionsite - the new museum of networked art http://www.le-musee-divisioniste.org is designed, curated, coordinated and directed by Agricola de Cologne - http://www.agricola-de-cologne.de CologneOFF 2011 Ukraine is funded by Goethe Institut Ukraine Kiev http://www.goethe.de/ins/ua/kie/deindex.htm 2011 (at) coff.newmediafest.org -------------------------------- From rohitrellan at aol.in Fri Mar 4 07:45:08 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Thu, 03 Mar 2011 21:15:08 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Annual Theatre Production, 'The Medea in my Mirror', on Friday, the 4th of March 2011 at 6.45 p.m, Delhi/ Jaaga: Sound & Lights + Exploring the New | March 4th, 8pm, Bangalore Message-ID: <8CDA8291E15702B-ECC-20178@webmail-m016.sysops.aol.com> Annual Theatre Production, 'The Medea in my Mirror', on Friday, the 4th of March 2011 at 6.45 p.m in the Shooting Range, New Delhi Indraprastha College for Women is staging its Annual Theatre Production, 'The Medea in my Mirror', on Friday, the 4th of March 2011 at 6.45 p.m in the Shooting Range on its campus. We invite you for the same. ABOUT OUR PLAY After a gap of 13 years, a few friends who were in the Dramatics society together in college meet again. They decide to take up a play a play that they had left unfinished during their college days, Medea. For about a week they practice, taking a few hours out of their busy schedules for this play during which they realize that somehow, in some ways, they relate to Medea in their own lives. When this self realization starts, they are unable to control the internal storm that has now started. ABOUT THE DIRECTOR Graduated from Delhi University (M.H.), Swati Mittal has been actively involved in campus theatre. She has done her Diploma in Theatre Design & Stage Techniques from the National School of Drama. She has also taken play-oriented workshops with different teams comprising of artists from Lalit Kala Academy, An Actor Prepares and FTII-Pune. FROM THE DIRECTOR The play ‘Medea’ has been one of the most controversial, much read and debated over text ever produced by Euripides. It is considered to be one of the most powerful and horrific of all the Greek tragedies. Ever disturbing and questioning, it urges one to reflect and re-think about several aspects of an individual in direct confrontation with the norms set by power and politics. ------------------------------------------------------------ Jaaga: Sound & Lights + Exploring the New | March 4th, 8pm, Bangalore Dearest Friends, Many new things are in store for Jaaga in the next few months. Some planned and some yet unplanned. It will be lovely to have you today evening (Friday the 4th) at 8pm To meet, celebrate, discuss and dream... Meet our Artists-in-Residence Tobias Rosenberg from Germany & Agnese Mosconi, from Italy. See their previous work and discuss with them the Jaaga Sound & Lights Project. Supported by Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore http://www.jaaga.in/sound-lights ++ A demo of new technology hacks of sound, light and Kinect by the Jaaga Team +++ Help us envision and engage in Jaaga’s future direction and location...we move in June... With Hope and Love, Archana -- Archana Prasad Co-Founder & Director www.jaaga.in From chintan.backups at gmail.com Fri Mar 4 10:50:13 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Fri, 4 Mar 2011 10:50:13 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Students in the Ozarks help kids in Haiti read Message-ID: From http://www.ky3.com/news/ky3-students-in-the-ozarks-help-haiti-20110216,0,3514845.story *Students in the Ozarks help kids in Haiti read* by Jay Scherder, KY3 News BOLIVAR, Mo. -- Students in Ozark and Bolivar are educating children in a country that has had its share of troubles in recent years. They're helping Haitian children learn to read. Most Haitians don't speak English but students from the Ozarks are writing and translating books in a language that they can understand. Fourth grade students at Bolivar Intermediate have technology at their fingertips. They use Skype, Smart Boards and computers as part of everyday life. Meanwhile, some 1,500 miles away, it's a much different situation. "The teachers in Haiti go through very little high school, college, any sort of training," said Bolivar Technology Integration Specialist Lisa Berg. Students in Haiti get by with the bare minimum if anything at all. "I asked them what they have there, as far as teaching supplies, and they have nothing," Berg said, "They have no books, they have very little paper, no crayons no markers." Berg is trying to change that. She's on a mission to educate the children and teachers of Haiti. "We kept saying we're coming to train teachers and they couldn't grasp that." Berg has been to Haiti since the earthquake once before. She took supplies, knowledge, and books. "With copyrights, I can't get books translated, so I knew we had to write our own stories to get it translated," she said. That's where the students come in. The fourth grade students write the books using online storyboard program Storybird. The books are then edited and translated into French by Ozark high schoolers. It's a language required by law for students in Haiti to learn. Berg is making the trip once again in March with a new supply of books, thanks to students in the Ozarks. "Everybody wants to do something and a lot of times they're giving up their money," Berg said. "These kids are giving up their time, giving up their knowledge." Berg's church, Wells Spring Baptist Fellowship, pays for most of the trip. She still has to raise some funds on her own. The school helped pay for the books the last time that she went, but she isn't sure whether it will be able to do that this time. One way or another, even if she has to pay for it herself, the books will be going to Haiti. From goodmash.me at gmail.com Fri Mar 4 12:30:49 2011 From: goodmash.me at gmail.com (Cheri) Date: Fri, 4 Mar 2011 12:30:49 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Help needed on RTI activist killings Message-ID: Hello, could someone tell me how many anti-corruption activists have been killed so far? Is there any data on this? It's for a piece I'm thinking of writing, so any help will be much appreciated. Thanks, Cheri. --- "... being ahead of your time / means much suffering from it. / But it's beautiful to love the world / with eyes / that have not yet / been born." -- Otto Rene Castillo. From chintan.backups at gmail.com Fri Mar 4 13:09:33 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Fri, 4 Mar 2011 13:09:33 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Nasreen's Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan Message-ID: From http://www.amazon.com/Nasreens-Secret-School-Story-Afghanistan/dp/1416994378/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b This story begins with an author's note that succinctly explains the drastic changes that occurred when the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan in 1996. The focus is primarily on the regime's impact on women, who were no longer allowed to attend school or leave home without a male chaperone, and had to cover their heads and bodies with a burqa. After Nasreen's parents disappeared, the child neither spoke nor smiled. Her grandmother, the story's narrator, took her to a secret school, where she slowly discovered a world of art, literature, and history obscured by the harsh prohibitions of the Taliban. As she did in The Librarian of Basra (Harcourt, 2005), Winter manages to achieve that delicate balance that is respectful of the seriousness of the experience, yet presents it in a way that is appropriate for young children. Winter's acrylic paintings make effective use of color, with dramatic purples and grays, with clouds and shadows dominating the scenes in which the Taliban are featured, and light, hopeful pinks both framing and featured in the scenes at school. This is an important book that makes events in a faraway place immediate and real. It is a true testament to the remarkable, inspiring courage of individuals when placed in such dire circumstances.—Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ From ashokansuku at gmail.com Fri Mar 4 01:33:37 2011 From: ashokansuku at gmail.com (ashok sukumaran) Date: Fri, 4 Mar 2011 01:33:37 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Thoughts on Flat Ontology In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hi jeebesh, at some point I had unsubscribed from reader-list as I found it hard to be part of the discussion, but feel free to post this note there. I dont know if ill be able to respond in more detail, but heres a few points/ resources. So the way in which flat ontology "clicked" for me was by way of Latour, and his most beautiful term, Irreduction. There is a detailed discussion of this in Harman's book on Latour, the Prince of Networks, see the link below. But the key point in Latours irreductions book is that: "nothing can be reduced to anything else... everything may be allied to everything else." This is a big door-opener, because it asks us to do the opposite of a lot of usual disciplinary and scholarly work. Because everything can count, in its own way, and in surprising ways. Further, not only in terms of entities but in terms of their relations or difference, is only one set of relations or differences mpiortant (for ex. between human and world) while another set (between entities in the world that meet without us) is irrelevant, or has to be reduced to what we know, or want, or fear or desire? As many may know, Meillassoux coined a term for such reduction-to- human-access tendencies in philosophy a few years ago, naming it "correlationism". (This is another non-DeLanda source for the idea of flat-ontology). Correlationalism is basically the idea that nothing can be, without our thinking it, which creates the subject-object pair as a vicious circle that cannot be broken out of. Anti-correlationist philosophies can open up on the other hand a "great outdoors", an exciting and quite unexplored territory. Which contains a number of political and ethical challenges, such as the question not only of the "rights" of birds, animals, natural resources, artworks, computer programs and other "subalterns", but of their agency, how they actually act in the world, and amongst each other. Now to the question of "depth" in such ontology, which was a doubt jeebesh you had in the conference. I think the confusion arises if you see depth as a spatial thing, because you then end up with a kind of materialism of depth, an object made up of its parts. Depth is a metaphor here, just as "object" itself is, because stories and families are also objects, not only tables and chairs. An object is exactly that which is greater than its parts. You cant reduce a story to its words, something will be lost. This doesn't mean that you cant enjoy or cherish each word, you can, since it is an object in turn, and something is lost if you now look at the letters alone. To look at this another way, here is something from what you posted: "There is no reason why flat ontologies have to be individualist or object-oriented". That is actually correct, and IS the major difference between Latour and Harman's ontology, a difference which is laid out in detail in the second half of the book on Latour. For Latour, ontology is flat, but for Harman ontology is object-oriented, flat with respect to our usual categories of culture, nature, imagination, etc., but split between the real and sensual realms, and differentiated into objects. For Harman, unlike Latour, depth or what he calls withdrawal is a nuclear, rumbling, core feature of objects. More background, and what this leads to is here, in a useful glossary of Harmanian terms. Simply put, withdrawal means that a tree or a sculpture is not exhausted by what you and me think of it, how the earth or fertiliser or curators effect it, or any relation at all. Because otherwise, everything is this play of what you think and what I think, and there is no tree left. Harman and other object-oriented ontologists such as Levi Bryant actually disagree on whether this withdrawn realm is a kind of Deluezian virtual or something else. For me, a flat ontology without some kind of withdrawal is "too flat" simply because it suggests an impoverished world that is only made of relations and events, which I think also proclaims a kind of victory of the most-connected or most eventful, without giving us actual and persistent fish, fireworks, films or fantasies in return. Object-oriented ontology does give us these actual entities, the object being a kind of firewall between an inaccessible core and radiant sensual effects. For a practical example, do see the object-oriented ecologist Tim Morton's great riffs on climate and global warming as the real, withdrawn, massive, hyper-objective depth of what we perceive as weather. For ex. here: http://ecologywithoutnature.blogspot.com/2011/02/sizewell-b-nuclear-power-station.html Now, its possible open up climate's black box by measuring devices, satellites etc. And you find things like the ozone hole, trade winds, polluting industries, icebergs, etc. which each have sensible qualities, their capacity to exert forces, but also withdraw in their own way. And so on... objects are found "all the way down" to the raindrops or atoms, but not "all the way up" since reality cannot be constructed deterministically. Another thing about depth is that if you don't attempt this opening up at all, you are stuck with only weather as the perceivable, and the thinkable, as a false immediacy, hamare yahan to koi garmi nahin hai. And then you cannot really deal with something like global warming. For me, objects in a flat ontology are more chunky, sticky, deep and at the same more open way or thinking than is described by recent metaphors of "networks" or digital-this or that (with a greater opportunity of describing or working with specific mediations). It is also nice that it doesnt depend on any kind of technological metaphor, even though "objects" still makes many people freak out. Heres harman: " objects themselves, far from the insipid physical bulks that one imagines, are already aflame with ambiguity, torn by vibrations and insurgencies equaling those found in the most conflicted human moods." As a total amateur in this philosophy, I am not involved in "proving" if this ontology correct one, or not. But it seems to offer the possibility of thinking differently. I have many questions about how such ontology can be related to practices, which are often about constructing relations, in our case "infrastructures", ways to connect ideas or things. Which is why, my proposal in the conference was actually called "modes of existence" or modes of operation, which is an idea related to Latour's own new yet-unpublished work, and his essay in Speculations below. It was also to suggest modes of practice that come from such a flat orientation. But to give concrete examples from our own work, flat ontology with some depth allows for a fresh way of understanding the interactions between for ex. electricity, people, and the contingency and chunkiness of systems (in my own "early work") , between information, commodities, communities, taxation and nation states (see wharfage), across footage, films and software (see pad.ma), or between a few bamboos, sunlight, a common space and a practice (see camp roof) all of these as forces and entities in their own right, arrayed in a non- heirarchical way. And art, as an entity greater than these parts and more beautiful (or troubling, or evocative, or creating its own time) is also perhaps the art of creating or inventing objects. Drawing from and lighting up relations, but at the same time alluding to the further depths of objects it touches (such as a material, or a sea, or certain people, or a politics) whose entirety is not, cannot be, housed in or literally linked to the artwork. One of the great things about this branch of philosophy is that a lot of the primary and secondary materials are available online, for free. So interested people should look at. The Prince of Networks, Harman on Latour http://www.re-press.org/content/view/63/38/ (entire book pdf) The Speculative Turn http://www.re-press.org/content/view/64/38/ (entire book pdf, see Levi's "Flat Ontology", pg 269) And many blogs including: http://doctorzamalek2.wordpress.com/category/oop-classic/ (Grahams blog posts in the category OOP classic) The density and overall generosity of the blogging being done here really produces another kind of "flat ontology" that gives outsiders like me an unprecedented level of access. The amount of philosophy and philosophical debate being done on blogs such as below is quite incredible. See the many critical conversations with relationists, Derrideans, etc that have already taken place. From the self-described marxist Levi Bryant: http://larvalsubjects.wordpress.com/ And Morton here: http://ecologywithoutnature.blogspot.com/ among many others, see the side links, part of a broader family which could include Stengers, Haraway and even Deleuze. Graham's talk at CAMP in bombay and the questions that came from it are being transcribed and will be shortly available on pad.ma. To return to briefly to the archive conference, a couple of points: In the archive, human memory is only one of the residues. Moreover a fetishised object transforms and obscures not only its "social relations" but all kinds of relations, including how it was made, accidents, technical or ecological ancestry. This object in the archive, carrying some traces and radiating or suggesting other new ones, can be a very fertile thing, and fetish can be quite profound. (see Laruelle in speculations) Imaginations, multiplications, modes of access, in short the future, is created in the archive in ways in which neither God nor the Subject is master. The important thing I guess is that we shouldn't confuse the latter two anymore ;) This doesnt mean a removal or erasure of the human, far from it. Like going to space didnt erase the earth. It tends to make life and all the dimensions of earth all the more precious, if a bit unfamiliar, like in a new light. Hope this helps, warmly, ashok On 2 March 2011 18:45, shaina a wrote: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Jeebesh Date: 2 March 2011 17:32 Subject: [Reader-list] Thoughts on Flat Ontology To: reader-list list dear all, recently in an conference on archiving ashok sukumaran argued that we need to seriously consider the "flat ontology" philosophy. it led to some interesting confusion. here is an interesting blog posting that i found furthering the confusion in my head :) warmly jeebesh http://enemyindustry.net/blog/?p=168 Thoughts on Flat Ontology On September 15, 2010, The term ‘flat ontology’ was coined by Manuel DeLanda in his book Intensive Science and Virtual Philosophy. Flat ontologies are opposed there to hierarchical ontologies in which the structure and evolution of reality is explained by transcendent organizing principles such as essences, organizing categories or natural states: [While] an ontology based on relations between general types and particular instances is hierarchical, each level representing a different ontological category (organism, species, genera), an approach in terms of interacting parts and emergent wholes leads to a flat ontology, one made exclusively of unique, singular individuals, differing in spatio-temporal scale but not in ontological status (DeLanda 2004, p. 58). In a flat ontology the organization of entities is explained with reference to interactions between particular, historically locatable entities. It is never the result of entities of one ontological kind being related to an utterly different order of being like a God, a transcendental subject, a natural state or its associated species essences (Sober 1980). For flat ontologies, the factors which motivate macro-level change are always emergent from and ‘immanent’ to the systems in which the change occurs. DeLanda’s characterization of flat ontology comes during a discussion of the ontological status of species in which he sides with philosophers of biology like David Hull and Elliot Sober who hold that species are differentiated populations that emerge from variations among organisms and the evolutionary feedback processes these drive (DeLanda 2004, 60). For DeLanda, evolutionary feedback instances a universal tendency for identifiable things and their properties to emerge from intensive or (or productive) differences such as variations in heritable adaptive differences or chemical concentrations (Ibid., 58-9; 70). Thus the formation of soap bubbles depends on the tendency of component molecules to assume a lower a state of free energy, minimizing inter-molecular distances and cancelling the forces exerted on individual molecules by their neighbors (Ibid., 15). The process instantiates an abstract tendency for near-equilibrium systems with free energy to ‘roll down’ to a macrostate attractor. Thus for DeLanda’s ontology (following Deleuze) individuals are not products of the operations of a Kantian/Husserlian transcendental subject but of the cancellation of intensive differences and the generative processes they drive. These processes are governed by mathematical structures – e.g. ‘virtual’ attractors or ‘singularities’ – which are ‘quasi-causal’ influences on their trajectory through a particular state space (Ibid., 14). How do we reconcile this second ontological claim (which I will refer to as ‘transcendental materialism’) with an adherence to a flat ontology of individuals. Is ontological flatness merely a regional principle applying to the ‘bits’ of the universe where differentiated particulars have alreadyemerged from intensive processes, rendering their generative mechanisms irrelevant to understanding or categorizing the entities they have become? Moreover, if these processes are explained in terms of the virtual structures they exhibit, such as their singularities, doesn’t TM just reintroduce an ontological hierarchy between particular and universal?* Graham Harman argues that the quasi-causal role of the abstract or virtual in DeLanda’s thought vitiates its commitment to a flat ontology for which “atoms have no more reality than grain markets or sports franchises” (Harman 2008, 370). Thus while depriving species and kinds of any distinctive organizing role, DeLanda inflates the role of the ‘genus’ in the form of virtual patterns (such as the relationship between the topology of systems and their capacity for autocatalysis explored of Stuart Kauffman and others). Secondly, subordinating individuals to their historical generative processes is seen by Harman as a way of ‘undermining’ the status of the particular or individual, which – against the letter of flat ontology – is somehow less real or effective than the intensive processes that produce it. I think Harman does contemporary philosophers a favour by anatomizing these tensions within DeLanda’s materialism. However, it is far from clear to me that the regulative ideal of ontological flatness necessitates an ontology in which deep individuals and their (largely non-manifest) capacities play the central organizing role. It may be that the generative histories of particulars are relevant only insofar as they leave ”lasting fingerprints” on the particulars they generate, making DeLanda’s proposal that we categorize particulars by way of the generative processes that produce them potentially problematic in some cases (Ibid.,374; DeLanda 2004, 50). However, if DeLanda’s (and Deleuze’s) transcendental materialism is correct, then any entity generated as a result of these processes will always be – as Iain Grant emphasizes – a fragile achievement, fatally involved in the play of further intensities (for example, at certain temperature thresholds, the lipid layers dividing biological cells from their watery milieu will simply melt, their ‘cohesion’ as individuals breaks down). The question of typing by generative process is thus an empirical matter of the causal relevance of such processes to the maintenance of individuals at all scales. There is no reason why flat ontologies have to be individualist or object-oriented. The concept of the ‘individual’ and the wider category of the ‘particular’ are often conflated. The latter category may contain events, ‘diffusions’ or collectives: each of which may be insufficiently differentiated to qualify for objecthood (Roden 2004, p. 204). The cancellation of intensive quantities can certainly be accommodated within the category of particular events without threatening flatness (whether this is an orthodox Deleuzean solution doesn’t concern me). Secondly, insofar as the virtual laws of form which DeLanda describes reflect the mathematical structure of morphogenetic processes or systems, then their ontological autonomy need not violate the autonomy of the particular. Rather, morphogenetic structures reflect substrate neutral or formal constraints on the behavior of material systems whose effects are entirely produced by those systems. Quasi-causes do not preempt causes proper but reflect structural similarities between systems with otherwise distinct components. For example, Stuart Kaufmann has used computer simulation of so called ‘NK Boolean Netoworks’ to argue that the capacity of systems of mutually interacting parts to generate stable auto-catalytic cycles is sensitive to the number of inter-connections between those parts. If the number of connections is large (that is, if the number of connections K to a given component approximates to the number of components N) the system behaves in a random, disordered way. However, for smaller values of K (e.g. K=2) the system settles down to exploring a relatively small number of ‘attractor’ sequences. Kaufmann speculates that this relationship is substrate-neutral - independent of nature of the system components (they could be nodes in an NK boolean simulation or chemical substances in a solution). So a provisional conclusion, here, is that we can retain the role of structural ‘quasi-causes’ and reject the primacy of individuals without compromising the regulative ideal of ontological flatness. DeLanda, Manuel. (2004), Intensive Science and Virtual Philosophy. London: Continuum. ___(2006), A New Philosophy of Society. London: Continuum. Harman, Graham (2008), ‘Delanda’s Ontology: assemblage and realism’, Continental Philosophy Review 41, 367-383. Roden, David. (2004), ‘Radical Quotation and Real Repetition’, Ratio: An international journal of analytic philosophy, XVII/2 (2004), pp. 191–206. Sober, Elliot (1980) ‘Evolution, Population Thinking and Essentialism’, Philosophy of Science 47(3), pp. 350-383. *We could also ask: is the cancellation of intensive difference merely a regional principle applying to various kinds of thermodynamic systems rather than, say, to more fundamental physical entities or structures? _________________________________________ 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. To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> -- camputer.org pad.ma chitrakarkhana.net -- http://camputer.org http://pad.ma http://0ut.in From jeebesh at sarai.net Fri Mar 4 14:12:49 2011 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh) Date: Fri, 4 Mar 2011 14:12:49 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Erasing Signatures From History Message-ID: There is something poignant and absurd in this report. it may unravel in discussion. warmly jeebesh MARCH 2, 2011 Erasing Signatures From History By JEFFREY ZASLOW http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703409904576174300274052230.html?mod=WSJINDIA_hpp_sections_lifestyle In his 35 years as a high school English teacher in suburban Philadelphia, Thom Williams often encouraged his students to splash their most creative thoughts on the walls of his classroom. Hundreds of students embraced his invitation, covering those painted cinderblocks with original art, quotes from favorite books, and deep thoughts born from teenaged angst. "I looked to those walls for inspiration," says 18-year-old Lauren Silvestri, a student of Mr. Williams's at Marple Newtown High School in Newtown Square, Pa. Before graduating last year, she signed her name and a quote she loves. "It felt good to know I'd come back someday and my words on the wall would be there." Her words won't remain for long, however. Mr. Williams died of cancer in December at age 63, and now the school is being renovated. That classroom's walls are set to be demolished or painted over. "Thom was a free spirit who encouraged his students to be free spirits," says Raymond McFall, the school's principal. Still, "I can't have everybody painting on the walls of the school." It is a human impulse to want to sign our names or scribble comments on the walls of places that have meaning for us—from the Berlin Wall to the walls of Graceland to the paneling in favorite bars. By tradition, actors sign their names backstage in theaters where they've performed. Soldiers scratch their marks in barracks before heading overseas. Athletes scribble their names and jersey numbers in clubhouses. These messages left behind can feel sacred. Especially in our digital age, when signing someone's Facebook "wall" feels so transitory, there's something alluring about markings with more permanence. But what happens when the buildings that house old autographs must be razed, or new owners want the walls painted over, or school principals worry about the fine line between creativity and graffiti? It's a delicate question, and many people these days are answering it passionately—by rallying to save the signatures. About 2,000 people signed the walls of the Italian House Restaurant in Janesville, Wis., over the past quarter-century. But in 2008, the restaurant announced it was relocating to a building with more glass than solid walls. After word spread that the signatures would be thrown away, radio hosts in Janesville took to the airwaves to strategize with listeners about ways to retain them. Suggestions included laminating the 35 fake-brick panels of signatures onto tabletops at the new restaurant. "I saw that people felt an emotional bond with those walls," says Edmund Halabi, the restaurant's owner, who found space to display 600 signatures at his new location. In the building that housed the Air Force ROTC at the University of Texas at Austin, visiting former prisoners of war from World War II and the Vietnam War were asked to sign a special wall on the third floor. Last year, after the building was scheduled to be demolished, ROTC cadets vowed to save the signatures. That required slicing a 900- pound chunk of the exterior wall, and using a crane to maneuver the slab three stories to the ground. It will be imbedded in the drywall of the new ROTC building. "Preserving the autographs is part of our promise to all former POWs and those missing in action," says Col. Christopher Bowman, the unit's commanding officer. "We won't forget them." Civil War soldiers often signed their names at mustering sites before heading off to fight. Countless signatures have been painted over. But on a plaster wall at the courthouse in Gates County, N.C., you can still see signatures dated June 12, 1861. One signer was 18-year-old John Gatling, who survived the war and returned to the courthouse in 1915, at age 72, to speak at a ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of the war's conclusion. "Those signatures are a momentary record, captured in time," says Josh Howard, research historian with the North Carolina Office of Archives and History. "If you touch their names, you're literally touching history." Some preservationists have come to see graffiti as a reminder of the human spirit. At New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, the 82-foot- long Egyptian Temple of Dendur dates to 15 B.C. From 10 B.C. to the mid-1800s, about 100 people—Arab passersby, British explorers, Italian tourists—carved their names on the temple. "We can't take it off. It's part of the temple's history," says Dorothea Arnold, chairwoman of the Met's Department of Egyptian Art. People who sign their names—whether at ancient temples or in wet cement on their back patios—are looking for a measure of immortality. But they can't assume their signatures will outlast them. Joey Lawrence, 76, is now facing this reality. Starting in 1965, Mr. Lawrence asked every person who entered his home in Hampton, Va., to sign the white-plaster wall in his sitting room. A retired shipyard supervisor, he has collected more than 1,000 signatures—from friends, TV repairmen, plumbers, even Jehovah's Witnesses who knocked on his door. "Some were friends who are now dead, and others were just here for a moment, like the postman or newspaper boy. But all of them were part of my life," he says. When pro athletes came to town for appearances, Mr. Lawrence would show up and ask them to drive to his house and sign. Some agreed to do it, including baseball stars Brooks Robinson in 1982 and Bob Feller in 1986. Neighborhood kids would stop by asking to add their names. Some have returned decades later to revisit their signatures. As Mr. Lawrence ages, he's aware that someday he'll die and the house will be sold. He may instruct his heirs to lower the asking price if buyers agree to keep the signatures. Mr. Williams, the English teacher who died, knew his students' heartfelt wall musings would not last forever. He had arrived at the school in 1974 as a bearded, long-haired 27-year-old, helping kids find meaning in Shakespeare and the Beatles. He taught them haiku—the perfect short poetry for wall graffiti. Inspired, 600 of his students filled his walls with Hamlet soliloquies, Beatles lyrics and their own haiku. On his last day as a teacher, much older, with a white beard, Mr. Williams finally signed the wall himself. "Go to your destiny," he wrote. "Goodbye." Since his death, former students have made a pilgrimage to the classroom to visit their markings and pay their respects. They say that room was their sanctuary. In 2007, her senior year, Laura Kopervos had scrawled an Albert Camus quote under a window in the classroom: "In the depths of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer." She'd often look out that window on ugly winter days, contemplating those words. Understandably, she's sorry that her quote may soon be gone. "But it's OK," she says. "If it's painted over, I'm going to write it somewhere else." From kalakamra at gmail.com Fri Mar 4 18:11:24 2011 From: kalakamra at gmail.com (shaina a) Date: Fri, 4 Mar 2011 18:11:24 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Thoughts on Flat Ontology In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: re-forwarding the mail from ashok, since a few of the imp. links were stripped. sorry for the repetition. x shaina So the way in which flat ontology "clicked" for me was by way of Latour, and his most beautiful term, Irreduction. There is a detailed discussion of this in Harman's book on Latour, the Prince of Networks, see the link below. But the key point in Latours irreductions book is that: "nothing can be reduced to anything else... everything may be allied to everything else."  This is a big door-opener, because it asks us to do the opposite of a lot of usual disciplinary and scholarly work. Because everything can count, in its own way, and in surprising ways. Further, not only in terms of entities but in terms of their relations or difference, is only one set of relations or differences mpiortant (for ex. between human and world) while another set (between entities in the world that meet without us) is irrelevant, or has to be reduced to what we know, or want, or fear or desire? As many may know, Meillassoux coined a term for such reduction-to-human-access tendencies in philosophy a few years ago, naming it "correlationism" http://larvalsubjects.wordpress.com/2008/06/13/correlationism-and-the-fate-of-philosophy/ (This is another non-DeLanda source for the idea of flat-ontology). Correlationalism is basically the Kantian idea that nothing can be, without our thinking it, which creates the subject-object pair as a vicious circle that cannot be broken out of.  Anti-correlationist philosophies can open up on the other hand a "great outdoors", an exciting and quite unexplored territory. Which contains a number of political and ethical challenges, such as the question not only of the "rights" of birds, animals, natural resources, artworks, computer programs and other "subalterns", but of their agency, how they actually act in the world, and amongst each other. Now to the question of "depth" in such ontology, which was a doubt jeebesh you had in the conference. I think the confusion arises if you see depth as a spatial thing, because you then end up with a kind of materialism of depth, an object made up of its parts. Depth is a metaphor here, just as "object" itself is, because stories and families are also objects, not only tables and chairs. An object is exactly that which is greater than its parts. You cant reduce a story to its words, something will be lost.  This doesn't mean that you cant enjoy or cherish each word, you can, since it is an object in turn, and something is lost if you now look at the letters alone. To look at this another way, here is something from what you posted: "There is no reason why flat ontologies have to be individualist or object-oriented".  That is actually correct, and IS the major difference between Latour and Harman's ontology, a difference which is laid out in detail in the second half of the book on Latour. For Latour, ontology is flat, but for Harman ontology is object-oriented, flat with respect to our usual categories of culture, nature, imagination, etc., but split between the real and sensual realms, and differentiated into objects. For Harman, unlike Latour, depth or what he calls withdrawal is a nuclear, rumbling, core feature of objects. More background, and what this leads to is here, http://avoidingthevoid.wordpress.com/dictionary-of-concepts-for-graham-harmans-object-oriented-philosophy-draft-work-in-progress/ a useful glossary of Harmanian terms. Simply put, withdrawal means that a tree or a sculpture is not exhausted by what you and me think of it, how the earth or fertiliser or curators effect it, or any relation at all. Because otherwise, everything is this play of what you think and what I think, and there is no tree left. Harman and other object-oriented ontologists such as Levi Bryant actually disagree on whether this withdrawn realm is a kind of Deluezian virtual or something else. For me, a flat ontology without some kind of withdrawal is "too flat" simply because it suggests an impoverished world that is only made of relations and events, which I think also proclaims a kind of victory of the most-connected or most eventful, without giving us actual and persistent fish, fireworks, films or fantasies in return. Object-oriented ontology does give us these actual entities, the object being a kind of firewall between an inaccessible core and radiant sensual effects. For a practical example, do see the object-oriented ecologist Tim Morton's great riffs on climate and global warming as the real, withdrawn, massive, hyper-objective depth of what we perceive as weather. For ex. here: http://ecologywithoutnature.blogspot.com/2011/02/sizewell-b-nuclear-power-station.html Now, its possible open up climate's black box by measuring devices, satellites etc. And you find things like the ozone hole, trade winds, polluting industries, icebergs, etc. which each have sensible qualities, their capacity to exert forces, but also withdraw in their own way. And so on... objects are found "all the way down" to the raindrops or atoms, but not "all the way up" since reality cannot be constructed deterministically. Another thing about depth is  that if you don't attempt this opening up at all, you are stuck with only weather as the perceivable, and the thinkable, as a false immediacy, hamare yahan to koi garmi nahin hai.  And then you cannot really deal with something like global warming. For me, objects in a flat ontology are more chunky, sticky, deep and at the same more open way of thinking than is described by recent metaphors of "networks" or digital-this or that (with a greater opportunity of describing or working with specific mediations). It is also nice that it doesnt depend on any kind of technological metaphor, even though "objects" still makes many people freak out. Heres harman: "... objects themselves, far from the insipid physical bulks that one imagines, are already aflame with ambiguity, torn by vibrations and insurgencies equaling those found in the most conflicted human moods." As a total amateur in this philosophy, I am not involved in "proving" if this ontology correct one, or not. But it seems to offer the possibility of thinking differently. I have many questions about how such ontology can be related to practices, which are often about constructing relations, in our case "infrastructures", ways to connect ideas or things. Which is why, my proposal in the conference was actually called "modes of existence" or modes of operation, which is an idea related to Latour's own new yet-unpublished work, and his essay in Speculative Turn below. It was also to suggest modes of practice that come from such a flat orientation. But to give concrete examples from our own work, flat ontology with some depth allows for a fresh way of understanding the interactions between for ex. electricity, people, and the contingency and chunkiness of systems (in my own "early work") , between information, commodities, communities, taxation and nation states (see wharfage http://www.camputer.org/event.php?id=77), across footage, films and software (see pad.ma), or between a few bamboos, sunlight, a common space and a practice (see camp roof http://camputer.org/event.php?id=91)  all of these as forces and entities in their own right, arrayed in a non-heirarchical way. And art, as an entity greater than these parts and more beautiful (or troubling, or evocative, or creating its own time) also can be seen as the art of creating or inventing objects. Drawing from and lighting up relations, but at the same time alluding to the further depths of objects it touches (such as a material, or a sea, or certain people, or a politics) whose entirety is not, cannot be, housed in or literally linked to the artwork. One of the great things about this branch of philosophy is that a lot of the primary and secondary materials are available online, for free. So interested people should look at. The Prince of Networks, Harman on Latour http://www.re-press.org/content/view/63/38/  (entire book pdf) The Speculative Turn http://www.re-press.org/content/view/64/38/   (entire book pdf, see Levi's "Flat Ontology", pg 269) And many blogs including: http://doctorzamalek2.wordpress.com/category/oop-classic/   (Grahams blog posts in the category OOP classic) The density and overall generosity of the blogging being done here really produces another kind of "flat ontology" that gives outsiders like me an unprecedented level of access. The amount of philosophy and philosophical debate being done on blogs such as below is quite incredible. See the many critical conversations with relationists, Derrideans, etc that have already taken place. >From the self-described marxist Levi Bryant: http://larvalsubjects.wordpress.com/ And Morton here: http://ecologywithoutnature.blogspot.com/ among many others, see the side links, part of a broader family which could include Stengers, Haraway and even Deleuze.  Graham's talk at CAMP in bombay and the questions that came from it are being transcribed and will be shortly available on pad.ma. To return to briefly to the archive conference, a couple of points: In the archive, human memory is only one of the residues. Moreover a fetishised object transforms and obscures not only its "social relations" but all kinds of relations, including how it was made, accidents, technical or ecological ancestry. This object in the archive, carrying some traces and radiating or suggesting other new ones, can be a very fertile thing, and even fetish can be quite profound. (see Laruelle in speculative turn) Imaginations, multiplications, modes of access, in short the future, is created in the archive in ways in which neither God nor the Subject is master. The important thing I guess is that we shouldn't confuse the latter two anymore ;) This doesnt mean a removal or erasure of the human, far from it. Like going to space didnt erase the earth. It tends to make life and all the dimensions of earth all the more precious, if a bit unfamiliar, like in a new light. Hope this helps, warmly, ashok From a.mani.cms at gmail.com Fri Mar 4 21:07:04 2011 From: a.mani.cms at gmail.com (A. Mani) Date: Fri, 4 Mar 2011 21:07:04 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Corruption and Forbearance under Neoliberalism Message-ID: http://www.pragoti.org/node/4321 "But who is basically responsible for this malignant growth of corruption in our polity? Where lies the root of the problem? This crucial question is by and large evaded, not only by those in the ruling circles whose direct interest lies in covering up their misdeeds, but also the teeming crusaders in the mainstream media, who are busy expressing empty oppositional rage or ruing over the generic venality of politicians. The reason behind evading fundamental questions on corruption is simple. There is a wide-ranging consensus today cutting across the political establishment as well as the mainstream corporate media, that corruption is an inescapable facet of India’s growth process – a fait accompli, which we have to learn to live with. This implicit forbearance towards corruption is ingrained in the ethics of a neoliberal bourgeois order, where selfish moneymaking is not only considered respectable, but also essential for ushering economic prosperity." _________________________________________________________ Best A. Mani -- A. Mani ASL, CLC,  AMS, CMS http://www.logicamani.co.cc From a.mani.cms at gmail.com Fri Mar 4 21:38:46 2011 From: a.mani.cms at gmail.com (A. Mani) Date: Fri, 4 Mar 2011 21:38:46 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Day of Pink Message-ID: http://www.dayofpink.org/infozone/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhYyAa0VnyY Best A. Mani -- A. Mani ASL, CLC,  AMS, CMS http://www.logicamani.co.cc From a.mani.cms at gmail.com Fri Mar 4 22:11:43 2011 From: a.mani.cms at gmail.com (A. Mani) Date: Fri, 4 Mar 2011 22:11:43 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] War against Libya? Message-ID: Mainstream media has been dishing out insane illogical garbage about Libya .... it is a clear case of US interference. http://www.countercurrents.org/bowles030311.htm Best A. Mani -- A. Mani ASL, CLC,  AMS, CMS http://www.logicamani.co.cc From rohitrellan at aol.in Fri Mar 4 22:25:19 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Fri, 04 Mar 2011 11:55:19 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Essay contest - Women and climate change (GGEP) In-Reply-To: <8CDA8A330E178A1-1514-69E4@Webmail-m114.sysops.aol.com> References: <8A7DB5726FCD144F8BED719D041066E7CD06C8@mail.boell.org> <8CDA8A330E178A1-1514-69E4@Webmail-m114.sysops.aol.com> Message-ID: <8CDA8A413EFC0C1-1514-6C06@Webmail-m114.sysops.aol.com> Dear friends&colleagues,    please find below/attached a call from the Greens in the European Parliament (GGEP) for an essay contest on women and climate challenge. The three winners of the competition will be invited to come to the European Summer University on the German/Polish border this summer. The best essays will be printed and published.  Best greetings from Dupont Circle,  Arne       Link: http://www.greens-efa.eu/cms/default/dok/372/372963.essay_contest_women_and_climate_change at en.htm         Essay contest - Women and climate change     Call for papers    The role of human activity in accelerating climate change is beyond doubt. The fourth assessment report (4AR) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), confirmed that overwhelming scientific evidence links impact of human activity to climate change and unless action to significantly reduce emissions of greenhouse gases is taken, the world is on a path to runaway warming.     Why is it so important to integrate gender aspects into debates on climate change?     Climate change and climate impacts are not gender neutral.  Gender equality is a critical component of responses to climate change at all levels - it should be integrated in all aspects of climate change planning and decision making.     At first glance, it might seem unintuitive to link climate change and gender issues. However, since societies still largely rely on gendered roles and responsibilities, both sexes do not have the same impact on climate change, and perhaps more importantly, are differently affected by it.     Women are disproportionately affected     Gender aspects of climate change are a matter of justice, human rights, and human security. Women are the poorest people in the poorest areas. Moreover, several studies indicate that the death rate in natural disasters can be four times higher for women. We have compelling data on how women are more vulnerable to climate change. It is thus important to be committed to gender sensitive approaches. We must adapt the mechanisms in place so that they reduce, or at least do not increase the gender issues.     Women empowerment and women's role     Women are change agents on both household and community levels with regard to natural resource management. Women are long-time leaders on poverty eradication and sustainability, and gender equality is a key issue in the climate change debate. If we do not implement gender-sensitive policies to fight the climate change, it will have disastrous consequences on the gender balance.  On the other hand, if we include and empower women, who are often responsible for agriculture, food and water supply, as well as first education of the next generation, we will do a better job in addressing the climate change and its consequences.  Mainstreaming the gender perspective is not only a sensible choice for our societies; it is a better, more efficient way to reach our goals.     Because this subject is at the very core of our preoccupations as members of the Green Party, we need to have better information and understanding on this subject, and answer these questions:  How can we counteract the disproportionate burden of climate change on women? How to empower women so that they become a key partner in reducing climate change?  How can gender equality be fully integrated into climate policies?     We encourage everyone to send us a paper with ideas and propositions on these issues.        TERMS OF PARTICIPATION    By taking part in the contest, participants agree on the terms of participation.     How and when to hand in my paper?  All papers have to be sent per e-mail to Greens.essaycontest at europarl.europa.eu before 1 June 2011, midnight. Papers sent after the deadline will not be accepted.     Who can apply?  Everyone.     Do I have to be a European citizen?  No, contributions from around the world are welcome.     About languages  Papers can be written in one of the four following languages: English, French, German and Spanish.     What kind of paper?  Papers should have the written form of an essay.     How long should the paper be?  Papers should be between 20.000 and 28.000 characters (with spaces) long.     How should it be presented?  Papers should be typed. No handwritten paper will be accepted.     What will happen next?  A jury made up of Green Members of the European Parliament, representatives of the European Green Party, the Federation of Young European Greens, Green Foundations, EGGO (European Green Gender Observatory) and NGOs will select the best essays.  Depending on the number of papers submitted, a pre-jury might do a pre-selection for the final jury.     What is the prize for the winner?  First of all, the best three essay writers will be invited to the Green Summer University in Frankfurt (Oder) and Slubice (1). This invitation includes transportation costs, hotel room for three nights and meals for the four days     The best essays will also be published in their original language and English, with a preface from Members of the Parliament and members of the jury. This book will be printed out and distributed during the University (to be confirmed depending on printing delays). The winners will get 10 copies each.     An event will be organised for the winners to read their essays to a selected audience, followed by a private dinner with members of the jury.     (1) The Summer University is an annual European event organized by the Green Party. Last year, it brought together almost 1000 people from all walks of life. Greens and non-Greens, NGO representatives, scientists, managers and trade unionists, intellectuals and artists, students and other young people attended 4 plenary sessions and 46 workshops, 10 cultural events and 10 excursions.       _______________________________    Georg P. Kössler    Referent für Klima- und Energiepolitik         Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung e.V.  Schumannstraße 8  D-10117 Berlin  T +49 (0)30-285 34 319  F +49-(0)30 28534 5319  M: +49 (0)176 620 50750  koessler at boell.de    http://www.boell.de    Qà4àÊ Save trees - think twice before printing              Diese E-Mail und ihre Dateianhänge sind für den/die angegebenen Empfänger/in oder die Empfängergruppe bestimmt. Wenn Sie diese E-Mail versehentlich erhalten haben, setzen Sie sich bitte mit dem/der Absender/in oder Ihrer Systembetreuung in Verbindung.        From rohitrellan at aol.in Sat Mar 5 18:33:18 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Sat, 05 Mar 2011 08:03:18 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] 16TH EUROPEAN UNION FILM FESTIVAL: MARCH - MAY 2011 Message-ID: <8CDA94CD51294F5-1BA4-147A2@webmail-m138.sysops.aol.com> THEME: COMEDY LAUGH LIKE A EUROPEAN!!! The EUROPEAN UNION FILM FESTIVAL IN INDIA IS BACK. The 16th edition of European Union film festival will be held from March to May 2011 in seven cities covering all regions of India: Mumbai, New Delhi, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai and Thrissur. There will be 19 films mainly focusing on the theme of comedy, with the slogan Laugh Like a European!!! Within this theme, we have made a selection of films that provides something for everybody, from situational comedies, films on relationship faux pas, animation, children's films to musicals and comic action thrillers!! SHORT SYNOPSES OF FILMS : http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/india/documents/more_info/eu_cultural_events/sort_synopsis_en.pdf NEW!!! FILM FESTIVAL BROCHURE! [2 MB] : http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/india/documents/more_info/euff_2011_booklet_en.pdf From chintan.backups at gmail.com Sun Mar 6 00:18:39 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Sun, 6 Mar 2011 00:18:39 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Yousuf Saeed's talk: Appropriating Amir Khusrau to create versions of cultural identity in India and Pakistan, March 11, Delhi Message-ID: >From http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=196047143750781 "Appropriating Amir Khusrau to create versions of cultural identity in India and Pakistan" A talk by Yousuf Saeed Chaired by Prof. Sunil Kumar (Deptt. of History, Delhi University) ... at 6:30 pm, on 11th March 2011 (Friday), in Seminar Hall (above IIC library) India International Centre, New Delhi The name of Amir Khusrau, a 14th century poet-composer employed with several rulers of the Delhi Sultanate has liberally been used by the practitioners of a variety of fields such as music, literature, history and religion to generate a sense of cultural identity both in India as well as Pakistan, often using rather improbable claims. This illustrated talk explores some examples from the classical music and popular literature that have been attributed over the years to Khusrau but also contested by the historians, especially through recent research. What are the factors that created the cultural legend about the poet and how his name still inspires the artistic creation for a large number of musicians all over south Asia? The talk uses audio and video clips besides readings from Khusrau’s poetry. Yousuf Saeed, a Delhi-based independent researcher and filmmaker, has been exploring the legend of Amir Khusrau in south Asia since 1995 through his documentary films as well as a website dedicated to his works. Entry is free. For details about the venue, see http://www.iicdelhi.nic.in/. For more on Amir Khusrau, see www.alif-india.com India International Centre 40, Max Mueller Marg, New Delhi - 110003 Tel.: 011 - 24619431 011 - 24619431 From rohitrellan at aol.in Mon Mar 7 11:15:47 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Mon, 07 Mar 2011 00:45:47 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Screening of film: Peepli [Live] Followed by a discussion with Anusha Rizvi, Mahmood Farooqui and Danish Hussain In-Reply-To: <4D74B7CF020000400004153C@mail.jnu.ac.in> References: <4D74B7CF020000400004153C@mail.jnu.ac.in> Message-ID: <8CDAAA20B35C8DE-1BC8-22DCE@webmail-d084.sysops.aol.com> The School of Arts and Aesthetics, JNU Presents Anusha Rizvi  & Mahmood Farooqui   In   The Director in the Chair Series    With a Screening of their film   Peepli [Live]    Followed by a discussion with Anusha Rizvi, Mahmood Farooqui and Danish Hussain At The SAA Auditorium   At 4.00 pm On 8th March, 2011     Tea will be served from 3.30 pm onwards From rohitrellan at aol.in Mon Mar 7 12:26:13 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Mon, 07 Mar 2011 01:56:13 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] INTERSECTIONS - A Seminar on Design, Architecture & Art, Mumbai In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <8CDAAABE1FE9783-1BC8-2333E@webmail-d084.sysops.aol.com> Dr. Bhau Daji Lad MumbaiCity Museum incollaborations with V&A, London and British Council   Presents   INTERSECTIONS Design|| Art || Architecture A Dayof Deliberation on Design for Art March 12th, 2011   Museums and galleries areconceived to collect and exhibit objects of culture.  They are built expressly for the purpose ofcontaining art and their formal and material aspects reflect this intention inthe language of the architects, designers and curators.   Temporary and permanentexhibitions of art are produced for the showcasing of art in a varietylocations and contexts. Space and design describe the various relationshipswithin a particular cultural practice to the viewing public.   The INTERSECTIONS seminarwill discuss the relationships between the art and the space  which contains it. It will seek to understandhow architects and designers interpret the curatorial program and thestrategies they employ to translate curatorial trajectories and theories intoengaging exhibitions.  The seminar willexplore the intersections between the disciplines of design, art andarchitecture, and their particular demands and rewards.   The program for the daywill involve a presentation on the manner in which the delicate negotiationsbetween each constituency is managed. It will consider how decisions are takento foreground one or another. It will examine the relationships between thefreedom and constraints posed by art and its curators to designers andarchitects. Speakers will share their experience of working within and betweenthe worlds of art and design, and the methodologies they employ in carrying theirwork from concept to completion.   VENUE - Dr. Bhau Daji Lad MumbaiCity Museum, Mumbai DATE – 12thMarch 2011 TIME – 10:30 am to 5:30 pm REGISTRATION – Rs 500 forProfessionals Rs 100 for Students , toregister please contact Himanshu Kadam on  hkadam at bdlmuseum.orgor 022-23731234     SPEAKERS:   DESIGN §  ANNABEL JUDD, Head of Design,  V&A Museum §  SUMANT JAYAKRISHNAN,Exhibition Designer, Art Summit, New Delhi §  SURANJANA SATWALEKAR FormerHead Exhibition Design NID §  DIVIA THAKUR DesignerMumbai     ARCHITECTURE: §  ANIKET BHAGWAT, Architect,Devi Foundation Museum, New Delhi §      SEN KAPADIA, Architect, Mumbai §      ANURADHA BENEGAL, Architect, Mumbai      CURATING: §  BOSE KRISHNAMACHARI, President,Kochi Muziris Biennale  §  GHISLAINE WOOD, V&A,Curator, and of the British   Galleriesat the V&A §  RANJIT HOSKOTE, CuratorIndia Pavilion Venice Biennale 2011 §  TASNEEM MEHTA, Director,Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Mumbai     ART: § ATUL DODIYA, Artist, Mumbai § JITISH KALLAT Artist,Mumbai § RANJANA STEINRUCKE,Gallerist, Mumbai      MODERATORS:   GIRISHSHAHANE, Art critic and curator Mumbai RADHIKADESAI, Editor, Domus India       From chintan.backups at gmail.com Mon Mar 7 13:44:26 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Mon, 7 Mar 2011 13:44:26 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Opening at Prajnya: Programme Assistant, Education for Peace Initiative Message-ID: From http://prajnyaforpeace.wordpress.com/2011/03/04/vacancy-programme-assistant-position/ *Opening at Prajnya: Programme Assistant, Education for Peace Initiative* The Prajnya Trust is looking to appoint a Programme Assistant for its Education for Peace Initiative. * This is a Chennai-based, part-time (20 hours a week), short-term (4 month) position with research and logistical responsibilities. * The tenure of the position is from April to July 2011, with the possibility of extension. * The work-schedule is flexible; however the person must be available to meet and report to the EPI director once a week and must meet the required weekly work targets. The work associated with this appointment primarily, but not exclusively, involves: * Research in Indian mythology/ folklore; * Project-related documentation; * Organization of project-related meetings and programmes, as necessary. Necessary skills: * Research experience, especially in library use; * Ready access to a computer with Internet, and proficiency in using the Internet for communication and some research; * Excellent communication skills in English; * Mobility within Chennai; * Basic administrative skills and proven organizational ability. Desirable skills: * Ability to read and write other Indian languages. This position is ideal for: * Persons with an interest in reading and interest in children’s literature; * Chennai-based candidates; * Persons seeking flexi-work options in literary and education-related areas. Interested candidates may submit their resumé and a brief covering note to < jobs.prajnya at gmail.com> by March 1, 2011. Please note we may request a writing sample as well from shortlisted candidates. To learn more about Prajnya, please see: http://www.prajnya.in/ From ujwalasam at gmail.com Mon Mar 7 15:09:32 2011 From: ujwalasam at gmail.com (Ujwala Samarth) Date: Mon, 7 Mar 2011 15:09:32 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The Mother Tour Message-ID: *Press Release:* * * *‘Mother: Caring Our Way Out of the Population Dilemma’* In partnership with Appropriate Rural Technology Institute (ARTI), we invite you to a screening of the film ‘*Mother: Caring Our Way Out of the Population Dilemma’ *and an interaction with *Dr Beth Osnes*,*, *co-founder of *Mothers Acting Up,** *an international movement to mobilize mothers to act on behalf of the world’s children.* *In the film, we follow Beth, an American mother, theater professor and children-rights activist, as she helps the audience navigate the thorny complexities of the population issue. Beth – who comes from a Catholic family of 12 and has adopted an African-born daughter – travels to Ethiopia where she meets Zinet, the oldest daughter of a desperately poor family of 12. Zinet has found the courage to break free from thousand-year-old-cultural barriers, and their encounter will change Beth forever. Grounded in the theories of social scientist Riane Eisler, the film strives not to blame but to educate, to highlight a different path for humanity. Overpopulation is merely a symptom of an even larger problem – a "domination system" that for most of human history has glorified the domination of man over nature, man over child and man over woman. To break this pattern, the film demonstrates that we must change our conquering mindset into a nurturing one. And the first step is to raise the status of women worldwide. * * *Venue:* Open Space, 301, 2nd floor, Kanchanjunga Bldg, Kanchan Lane, Near Krishna Dining Hall (Off Law College Road), Pune - 411 004 * * *Date & Time **: *March 10, 6pm-8pm *About **Prof. Beth Osnes*: Beth Osnes is a professor of Theatre at the University of Colorado in the US and Co-founder of *Mothers Acting Up* (an international movement to mobilize mothers to act on behalf of the world’s children, www.mothersactingup.org). She will be bringing her *‘Mother Tour’*(a programme funded through a partnership with the Philanthropic Foundation) to Pune during March 9 to 16, 2011, at the invitation of Appropriate Rural Technology Institute (ARTI). The *Mother Tour* has traveled around North America and internationally with the performance ‘*M-other’* and the ‘*Empowering Mother Voices **workshop’* to create a global community of mothers all moving from concern to *action* on behalf of the world’s children. Beth has shared the *Vocal Empowerment Workshop* she developed in cities across North America and to many areas of the world through her *MOTHER tour.* The intention of both the performance and the workshop is to inspire mothers (and others) to find their full-embodied voice, and spark conversations and actions. Please take a look at: http://vimeo.com/16482993 for a better understanding of Beth’s work For more details about the screening, please contact: ujwala at openspace.org* * For more details about the Mother Tour, please contact: geeta.poptani at gmail.com** * * * * * * -- Ujwala Samarth (Programme Coordinator, Open Space) www.openspaceindia.org www.infochangeindia.org http://www.facebook.com/pages/Open-Space/116557125037041 B-301, Kanchanjunga Building, Kanchan Lane, Off Law College Rd,, Pune 411004 (020-25457371) -- Ujwala Samarth (Programme Coordinator, Open Space) www.openspaceindia.org www.infochangeindia.org http://www.facebook.com/pages/Open-Space/116557125037041 B-301, Kanchanjunga Building, Kanchan Lane, Off Law College Rd,, Pune 411004 (020-25457371) -- Ujwala Samarth (Programme Coordinator, Open Space) www.openspaceindia.org www.infochangeindia.org http://www.facebook.com/pages/Open-Space/116557125037041 B-301, Kanchanjunga Building, Kanchan Lane, Off Law College Rd,, Pune 411004 (020-25457371) -- Ujwala Samarth (Programme Coordinator, Open Space) www.openspaceindia.org www.infochangeindia.org http://www.facebook.com/pages/Open-Space/116557125037041 B-301, Kanchanjunga Building, Kanchan Lane, Off Law College Rd,, Pune 411004 (020-25457371) From lawrence at altlawforum.org Mon Mar 7 22:09:39 2011 From: lawrence at altlawforum.org (Lawrence Liang) Date: Mon, 7 Mar 2011 11:39:39 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Launch of report on "Media Piracy in Emerging Economies" Message-ID: Hi all We are happy to announce the launch of the first independent study of music and film piracy which attempts to move beyond the discourse of criminalization, and looks at the social life of media piracy in different countries. The report attempts to reframe the piracy debate away from criminality into an issue of development, access, pricing and creativity. It is available at http://piracy.ssrc.org/ The report is licensed under a "Consumer's dilemma" license that replicates the pricing structure of existing media businesses which are not alert to differential income, .so it is free to download in developing countries, $8 for non commercial use in high income countries, and $2000 for commercial use by any copyright profiting businesses. About the Report Media Piracy in Emerging Economies is the first independent, large-scale study of music, film and software piracy in emerging economies, with a focus on Brazil, India, Russia, South Africa, Mexico and Bolivia. Based on three years of work by some thirty-five researchers, Media Piracy in Emerging Economies tells two overarching stories: one tracing the explosive growth of piracy as digital technologies became cheap and ubiquitous around the world, and another following the growth of industry lobbies that have reshaped laws and law enforcement around copyright protection. The report argues that these efforts have largely failed, and that the problem of piracy is better conceived as a failure of affordable access to media in legal markets. “The choice,” said Joe Karaganis, director of the project, “isn’t between high piracy and low piracy in most media markets. The choice, rather, is between high-piracy, high-price markets and high-piracy, low price markets. Our work shows that media businesses can survive in both environments, and that developing countries have a strong interest in promoting the latter. This problem has little to do with enforcement and a lot to do with fostering competition.” Major Findings Prices are too high. High prices for media goods, low incomes, and cheap digital technologies are the main ingredients of global media piracy. Relative to local incomes in Brazil, Russia, or South Africa, the retail price of a CD, DVD, or copy of MS Office is five to ten times higher than in the US or Europe. Legal media markets are correspondingly tiny and underdeveloped. Competition is good. The chief predictor of low prices in legal media markets is the presence of strong domestic companies that compete for local audiences and consumers. In the developing world, where global film, music, and software companies dominate the market, such conditions are largely absent. Antipiracy education has failed. The authors find no significant stigma attached to piracy in any of the countries examined. Rather, piracy is part of the daily media practices of large and growing portions of the population. Changing the law is easy. Changing the practice is hard. Industry lobbies have been very successful at changing laws to criminalize these practices, but largely unsuccessful at getting governments to apply them. There is, the authors argue, no realistic way to reconcile mass enforcement and due process, especially in countries with severely overburdened legal systems. Criminals can’t compete with free. The study finds no systematic links between media piracy and organized crime or terrorism in any of the countries examined. Today, commercial pirates and transnational smugglers face the same dilemma as the legal industry: how to compete with free. Enforcement hasn’t worked. After a decade of ramped up enforcement, the authors can find no impact on the overall supply of pirated goods. Lawrence From chintan.backups at gmail.com Tue Mar 8 01:36:04 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2011 01:36:04 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] A librarian writes of her card-carrying craze Message-ID: >From http://www.teacherplus.org/last-word/the-card-carrying-craze *The card-carrying craze* By Usha Mukunda Some people carry credit cards in their wallets for a sense of security. But I carry library cards, past and present. They can’t buy me objects but they do trigger memories which are priceless. Since they range over a time span of fifty years, they also convey the state of libraries across time, space, and cultures. Recently, I was thumbing through my cache and discovered that each card had a tale to tell, which, well, may not curl your hair but might make you sit up and wonder! The earliest one I have is from the Oxford Book Store in Calcutta, which in those ancient days, had a circulating library on Park Street along with the bookshop. One had to go to the deep end of the shop to a darkish corner where the treasures were kept, for so they were to me. This is where I discovered Georgette Heyer and romance of a harmless and literary kind! The next card I see has a more serious and scholarly tone. It is that of the National Library, again in Calcutta. My friends and I would make the long trip to Alipore with a list of reference books we hoped to find. It seemed as if the books we sought were all buried under the ground, because one first had to enter the details of the book on a small chit at the counter. Then that piece of paper would go into a basket which was lowered into a deep well. Sometimes we would sneak a peek down this rabbit hole to try and spot anyone from wonderland! We would be told to return in an hour or so to get the answer, which time we spent pleasurably in the spacious grounds of the library. Upon returning we would be shown our note with a scribble on it, “Book damaged” or “Book not traceable.” Rarely did we get the book we had asked for. If by a miracle we did, carrying it lovingly to a nearby table, we would try our best to cull the gems it had. No question of borrowing it, you see. Years later, when I visited the British Library in London, I realized where this system had been borrowed from. The next set of cards plots my life thereafter. I see cards from Rochester, Princeton, and Syracuse Universities, all of which came by way of my husband. I spent many happy hours in each of these libraries. One of them had intricate passages and the story was that you could traverse the entire centre of the campus from the inside! I never had the courage to try. The next stage seems to have been cards from the public libraries of all the places we visited. The Gothenberg Public Library in Sweden was ready to give me a card just for a week’s stay and let me take books home! It was almost as good as being given the Nobel Prize! Back to India and my first foray into public libraries began at Bombay. The British Library had an eclectic collection in those days and just wandering around the shelves was a joy. Unlike nowadays, the literature and fiction racks were overflowing with wondrous books and I could easily get lost as I sat browsing between the spacious shelves. The USIS too helped me discover a plethora of American writers whom I would never have known otherwise. So many cards and so many memories, but let me move forward quickly and share the story of a few recent encounters. The Bodleian library in Oxford will give you a reader’s card along with an oath you have to memorize and recite when asked. The oath which is in Latin asks you to swear that you will not deface, mutilate, or otherwise harm the material nor will you bring in food, drink, or flammable stuff! Imagine sitting reading when suddenly there is a tap on your shoulder and you have to reel off this oath. The public library in Merthyr Tydwil in Wales gave me a card for the day! Not only that, the librarian was also the friendliest person I have met. She also gave me booklets, picture post cards, and photographs depicting the mining history of that region. The card from the Vancouver Public Library gave me the freedom to take as many books, CDs, and DVDs as I could carry from any branch in the city. It also enabled me to just hang around there rubbing shoulders with scholars, senior citizens, and even vagrants. Just for the record, I do still have my cards for the local public library. But after encountering shelves and shelves of the SAME book by the SAME author, I retired these cards to my desk drawer! For me, the card is an entry not just to the library, but to a quiet space, a refuge, a home away from home where I can read, think, work, and even take forty winks. Now, with entire libraries being taken over digitally, my card carrying days are numbered. Or are they? The author has a post graduate degree in Library Science from Bangalore University. She is deeply interested in nurturing discerning readers and users of the library in all places where children abide. She can be reached at usha.mukunda at gmail.com From chintan.backups at gmail.com Tue Mar 8 01:47:47 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2011 01:47:47 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] My personal and political Kabir - excerpts from Purushottam Agarwal's talk Message-ID: From http://www.openspaceindia.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=630&Itemid=232 * My personal and political Kabir * I came to Delhi as a student in JNU way back in 1977. Before that, I was reasonably exposed to Kabir. I am not one of those who discovered Kabir in M.A Hindi literature, or due to some politically correct film or slogan. I am one of those humble Hindi-speaking Indians, who grow up with Tulsidas and Kabir and Mira Bai, who learn a *sakhi* (couplet) or two of Kabir before they learn writing their names. But I started studying Kabir and other * bhakti* poets in a more systematic and academic way only as a student of literature, and the question which I have been asking myself, for many years now is: how did my engagement with Kabir become more than academic? It also became, over the last thirty years or so, more than something merely academic, and also more than merely political. In a very deep sense, my engagement with Kabir has turned into a very personal experience. Since I started reading Kabir seriously -- and this I have been doing for the last twenty or twenty five years after my MA. I did my PhD work on Kabir and then went on writing, thinking, traveling, meeting Kabir *panthis*, critics of Kabir, admirers of Kabir and all that -- I have been always wondering: who is this man, Kabir? And I sometimes find him resembling myself so much, and yet at others, I fail to recognize him... The question which I have been asking is: why? Why do I fail to recognize Kabir, why do I want him to be confined to a certain set of situations? How does it happen that when Kabir is ridiculing or caricaturing a *pundit* or a *maulana*, I prefer to identify with Kabir and not with the *maulana or pundit*?** I might have many things in common with the *maulana* or *pundit!* I am part of the culture that goes on producing bookish knowledge in this country and throughout the world, without bothering to associate with the life out there. Even in a university like JNU, which is known to be a very progressive, democratic and forward-looking university, I do not think someone like Prahlad Singh Tipanya performed in JNU before 2003 or 2002, nobody knew about Tipanya before 2002, and we all were studying Kabir and * bhakti* traditions. We were studying Kabir through the printed word, not the living word. Because Kabir in the universities is one thing; Kabir in the political life is another thing. And Kabir in the life of people like Tipanya and Kabir in the life of so many Kabir *panthis* spread from Bihar to Gujarat is quite another. And we, the academia, are hardly bothered with any of the readings and images of Kabir which are relevant to so many people. So this has been one question in my mind: Why? How we have failed, how have I failed to see someone who resembles me so much? Kabir resembles me not because I am unique or I am great or I am a prophet in the making, but because he is an extremely ordinary person. It is remarkable to note that Kabir never claimed to be a *dharm*. I can say this with some authority. Kabir never claimed to be an avatar of any god or God with a capital G. Kabir always claimed to be a humble *julaha* from Banaras, and that is it. And sometimes he was quite ironic and satirical when referring to his social origins: *“Aaye hamare kaha kahoge hum to jaat kameena, * *tahain jao jahain agar, path patambar agar chandan kasbina * *Aye hamare kaha kahoge hum to jaat kameena*”. So he was quite aware of the fact that he is supposed to belong to a "*kameena jaat*". He always claimed to be a humble person, and with this humility, he also claimed to be a person who dared to question. This is true of any one of us. Only if we allow our real, to use the *Kabir-ian* expression, if we allow our *sahaj* self to speak out. *Sahaj* literally means something, which is given to you at your birth, and you do not allow it to speak out and that is why this question becomes pertinent. Secondly, I also realized over the last so many years that Kabir also is not unique in the sense of being an aberration; he is unique precisely because of being situated; because of being a very striking presence in a continuous tradition. It is not as if Kabir one fine morning dropped from the sky, and then nothing happened. Before Kabir there was a living tradition of interrogation, a living tradition of emphasizing love as the primary moving force of life, and this tradition continued after Kabir. In our university curriculum, we do not even know the names of people like Dariya Sahib of Bihar or Paltu Das of Awadh or Akha of Gujarat, and people like them. So Kabir is important or Kabir is unique, not because of being something out of this world but precisely because of being very much of this world, and also because of being part of a continuous tradition which continues even today. And I consider it to be extremely significant that Acharya Param Chaturvedi, one of the greatest scholars of *bhakti* tradition writing in Hindi has written a book called "*Uttar Bharat Ki Sant Parampara*" (Northern India’s Saint Tradition). This book starts with Gorakh Nath and the last *sant* about whom Chaturvediji has chosen to write is Mahatma Gandhi. According to Param Chaturvedi, Mahatma Gandhi is the last link in the chain of *uttari bharat ki sant parampara*. So that is the second question I have been asking myself: Why we have made Kabir unique in the sense of being an aberration? He is unique, but not in the sense that there was nobody before him, and there was nobody after him. Thirdly, I have been wondering, do we, the modern admirers of Kabir really try to understand? I am not saying appreciate, it is not necessary to appreciate, not necessary to agree with everything even Kabir stood for -- I do not agree with many things he stood for -- but do we try to understand the totality of Kabir? This is a question, which becomes pertinent particularly when we talk of Kabir as political. Kabir is sometimes projected as the great champion of Hindu-Muslim unity. To put it quite bluntly, the Hindu-Muslim unity as we know it today, Kabir has nothing to do with, because the Hindu-Muslim unity of today, implies acceptance of things as they are, without being critical of anything, and certainly without being critical of a tradition which is not yours. I, being a Hindu, am not expected to be critical of anything of Islam, and a Muslim is not expected to be critical of anything Hindu, and then we continue to be united in our acceptance of things as they are. Any reading of Kabir would reveal that, in this sense, he never stood for the so-called Hindu-Muslim or Hindu-Isai (Christian) or Hindu-Sikh or Sikh-Isai unity, no. He actually stood for an interrogation of all kinds of rituals, all kinds of formalism, including his own. In fact in one of his poems, he comments on people like himself. Tipanyaji would recollect that * sakhi:* *Shabad keh keh phoole * *Aatam khabar nahin jana re!* This includes people like Kabir himself, like *Nirgun* *Panthis. “Shabad keh keh”* is associated with *Nirgun* *panthis*. So even if those people who claim to be *Nirgun* *Panthis*are not aware of certain things, Kabir will have no hesitation in critiquing them with equal vehemence. So, friends, Kabir's criticism of Hinduism or Islam, or any religious tradition available to you including *Nath Panthis*, and in an indirect way, even the Buddhist and Jain traditions, to my mind, actually reflects a search for a fundamental connection with the cosmos without the mediation of organized religion. That is what Shabnam (Virmani) was talking about - spirituality without religion. Let me however add that spirituality is an extremely inadequate translation of what I believe. In Hindi I use the expression *adhyaatma*, and spirituality is an extremely inadequate translation of *adhyaatma*. *Adhyaatma* in Indian tradition does not mean things pertaining to the other world. It certainly does not mean the spirits with whom you could talk with through the help of a preacher. *Adhyaatma* etymologically means to go beyond yourself. In the eighth chapter of Gita, the question is put to Lord Krishna: what is *adhyaatma*, what is Brahma, please tell me? The answer, which is given by Krishna is actually a quintessential understanding of the entire Indian tradition. Krishna says: *swabhavo adhyaatmo muchayate -* your very nature is known as *adhyaatma*. And this, quite interestingly, takes my mind to two nineteenth century European philosophers. One is Feuerbach and the other one is rather unexpected, to many of his admirers, Karl Marx. You don't associate Karl Marx with anything spiritual, but then again that is our problem, not Karl Marx's. In 1844, Karl Marx wrote certain things which were published very late, in the early twentieth century only, under the title *"Economical and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844”*. Marx was under the influence of Feuerbach those days, and in that manuscript Marx makes some observations which are strikingly similar to this definition that your very nature is spiritual: *swabhavo adhyaatmo muchayate*. Marx says in the manuscript that just as your physical activity gets alienated and becomes labour, becomes a commodity to be sold and purchased in the market, similarly, your basic essence, the essence of your being human becomes alienated in the form of religion and becomes a commodity, becomes an activity imposed upon you from an outside agency, divine or diabolical. This is Karl Marx in *“Economical and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844”*. Again, in the same manuscript, Marx goes along to point out that the essential difference between animal and human is precisely this, that a human being is conscious of ‘being’. An animal is not conscious of its own being. Therefore the relationship with cosmos on the part of the animal is organic but unconscious. The human relationship with the cosmos is inorganic because it is part of the cosmos and yet aware of the difference, and therefore this relation to use Marx's own expression is ‘spiritual’, and it is this spiritual essence which gets alienated through the agency of organized religion, and man gets alienated from his own nature. You see, when I was a Marxist I never bothered to read the *“Economical and Philosophical Manuscripts” *because when you follow a certain ideology, you do not bother to read the seminal texts. The interpretations given by the authorized interpreters are sufficient. If you are a good Hindu, you should never bother to read the Gita yourself. Whatever *swamiji* says is fine. Similarly if you are a good Kabir Panthi, never bother to read the *Bijak*hymns yourself, just follow what Tipanyaji says. After all he is the guru, whatever he is saying must be true of the *Bijak*. So, similarly, when I was a Marxist formerly, I never bothered to read the *“Economical and Philosophical Manuscripts”.* But when I read it, I realized that here is the crux, the key to understand not only Kabir, and I repeat, not only Kabir, but many like him, and not only in India, but throughout the experience of human civilization. People like Kabir are making a fundamental statement through their poetic praxis. I reiterate the words: poetic praxis. People like Kabir are re-making essential points through their poetic praxis. The point is this, very simply, that you cannot be spiritual if you are not at the same time human in the sense of being laborious. Labour and spirituality, your physical and mental activity, they must complement each other, neither is the alternative of the other. And this comes out so clearly in Kabir. Basically the point he is making throughout his poetic praxis is this - that, in the first place, you have a certain universal notion of value. Certain values are universal despite the fact that because of the colonial modernity, and because of various problems of modernity, the expression, the term “universal” has become universally suspect these days. The moment you talk of something universal, you are being something rather unacceptable. This is postmodern identity politics - nothing is universal. But I think there is something universal. The very fact that I am concerned with something taking place in the Middle East -- I'm not a Palestinian, I have never visited Gaza, and I do not think that I will ever visit Gaza in my life but there is something which pains me there. That is universal. My friend Lorenzen has written about a singer in 1930s, a Christian singer, singing in the churches of South Carolina, Blind Willy. David Lorenzen has actually compared the compositions of Blind Willy with Kabir line by line, and they seem to be translations of each other... “God is not there on the pulpit, he is out there, outside the church, go and find him.” This is Blind Willy singing in the thirties in South Carolina, and he obviously had not even heard of Kabir. There are many like him. Kabir has a most poignant line, which I think expresses his fundamental concern as a poet: *Bhitar kahuo to jag mei laje, bahar kahoon to jhoota,* *bhitar bahar sabar nirantar, mein ke vidhi ke to ghambira* If I describe Him as residing within myself, then I am dismissing the existence of everything which is outside, so I cannot say this. If I say that He is outside, that He is residing outside, then I am denying my own experience. I know I am telling a lie, so *bahar kaho to jhoota*... How to describe that indescribable: *bhitar bahar sabar nirantar, mein ke vidhi ke to ghambira*? The profound truth which I want to convey to you is this -- that He actually resides in the continuum of inside and outside. In our own idiom, in our own political idiom we can say that the profundity of our modern concerns, actually reside in the continuum of personal and political. It is very easy to condemn every political thing or every discourse of power or everything connected with power. The point is, am I part of that discourse, that structure in a personal capacity or not? If something is to be done, if some moral position is to be taken, it has to be taken consistently both in the *bhitar *and* bahar*. Most of our young friends get attracted to Kabir because of his supposedly iconoclastic views. Yes, of course, he was very iconoclastic and he was very aggressive and sometimes he could express things in a most satirical and almost in a manner which would hurt the sentiments of all and sundry in today’s India. And sometimes I feel very, very happy for Kabir, and I thank God that he was not writing in the twentieth or twenty first century characterized by backwardness, by all kinds of sectarianism, all kinds of violence. Kabir was of course forced to leave Banaras for some time. Had he been writing in 1920 or 1990 or 2009, he would have met a more severe punishment for hurting sentiments. So sometimes I feel very happy for Kabir that he died five hundred years ago. What actually attracts most of us to him is his so-called iconoclasm. This iconoclasm would not have been possible at all in the absence of a very, very humble search for love. Kabir is basically searching for love. Kabir's fundamental concern is love not demolition. He should not be read as some kind of demolition expert or bulldozer let loose. He criticizes people quite categorically, absolutely, but if you read him in totality, he is a poet who brings tears to your eyes, Because of his yearning, because of his agony. And what is he looking for? He calls it *Ram*, he calls it *Govind*, he calls it *Karim*, he calls it *Madhav*, *Keshav* and what not. All the names of God, employed by Kabir in his poems are actually nothing but an attempt to name love, and nothing else. And while I read Kabir, I am always reminded, in fact, that there was another remarkable discovery or route to discovery. Roland Barthes, the famous structuralist philosopher, is known as the father, one of the fathers, of what we call post-modernism and post-structuralism today. Roland Barthes, has written a most moving book. In fact it is not a book, rather fragments or jottings which have been published, put together, called *“The Lover's Discourse”.* And the opening sentence of that book really strikes you like a bolt, the opening sentence of the book is: "*The lovers’ discourse is spoken by many in this world, but warranted by none*." Everybody wants to talk of love, nobody wants to hear the talk of love, and nobody wants to act on the talk of love. Everybody wants to talk of love: I love my motherland, I love my religion, I love my faith, I love my ideology, and therefore I am willing to die and I am willing to kill. So this discourse is spoken by many and warranted by none... I request you - go through Kabir, in his own words, and his most moving English translation is available by our common friend Linda, which is also important because Linda is the only Kabir scholar so far who has taken Kabir the poet seriously. Otherwise Kabir has been reduced to a social reformer, a revolutionary. Sometimes I fear that the revolutionaries of the twenty first century do not have faith in their own resources, therefore they sometimes turn Jesus into a revolutionary, they sometimes turn somebody else into a revolutionary and sometimes they turn Kabir into a revolutionary. If you want to do revolution, you should do it on your own premises after your own resources instead of appropriating the popular figures from the past. Anyway, so if you read Kabir through translation or Kabir in his original, basically he is a poet of love. And if you read you will find his logic is very simple. It is a *sahaj* logic, commonsensical logic. Common sense not in the philosophical sense of the word, but in our very general sense of the word. If I can relate with my Ram through love, if my Ram has no problem in talking to me with love, or through love, why the hell in this world can I not relate to my fellow human beings in the same way? That is the fundamental question Kabir poses to himself, that is the most fundamental question. If you look at the work, it will be very, very difficult - to my mind it will be impossible - to make a distinction between a spiritual and political Kabir. Spiritual in the sense of *adhyaatmik*. When I say the word “spiritual”, please first translate that in your mind to Hindi, Sanskrit, Kannada, whatever, into *adyaatmik*. Don’t take it in the sense in which it is used in contemporary English. So this is, to my mind, my way of approaching Kabir, my way of reaching Kabir, that you cannot really make a distinction between spiritual and political, you cannot make a distinction between universal and specific. You can be conscious of the specific manifestations of the universal. You can be conscious of political moments. But you cannot say, like I find many of my friends telling me, that look here, we are interested in Kabir only so far as he is critical of Hindu bigotry or Muslim bigotry or of caste order or of Brahminism or of Brahmin supremacy and all that and the rest of Kabir we are not concerned with. Of course you can do that. I mean nobody can stop you from doing that but I think you would be doing a bit of injustice to the poetic praxis of Kabir. Last point, friends, I would like to make is about this poetic praxis itself. You see we have to distinguish between those who want to use poetry or any creative expression in order to create a political message, and such people certainly have also created great poetry, no doubt about it. But then there are people whose political or social message is almost a by product of their poetic, their creative concerns. They are not doing it deliberately. They are not doing it with a kind of pre-determined agenda. Kabir is not criticizing all kinds of organized religions in order to create a religion himself, in order to create a separate *panth* himself. I'm sure Tipanyaji will not agree with me, but as a student of history I have to say that Kabir's *panth* was established at least a hundred years after Kabir's death. Kabir never established a *panth*. In fact in one of the most moving biographies of Kabir written by Anantha Das at the turn of the sixteenth century, which is supposed to be the earliest biography of Kabir, Anantha Das records an incident which is indicative of Kabir's nature. Because of his poetic performances and because, Anantha Das informs us, because of his miracles, Kabir became very popular, very revered in the city of Banaras and people used to throng his residence throughout the day, and he got fed up. He did not get sufficient time for his music and or for composing poetry or sufficient time for having dialogue with his Ram. He got fed up with the popularity. He was getting a lot of press, so he was not very happy with it. So, how to get rid of it? Anantha Das informs us that Kabir took some water in a bottle and joined the company of the most famous, the most well-known prostitute of the town, took her around and wandered with her in the city of Banares throughout the day, behaving like a drunkard. By evening the entire town was convinced that he was a rascal not a godly man, and people stopped bothering Kabir and Kabir was extremely happy after that. So such a man is a most unlikely candidate for establishing a cult or a sect or whatever, and that is why to my mind he could speak the truth. You see I realized that if you are too popular you cannot speak the truth. If you have a following to maintain, then you cannot speak many truths. If you have a position to maintain you cannot speak many truths. I cannot speak many truths today, which I could have spoken two years before. It is as simple as that and Kabir realized it in his own way. Friends, if you read Kabir as a poet you will realize that he talks about poetry himself. *Updesh* (teaching) is only a byproduct of his engagement with his Ram. He is basically trying to talk to his Ram. He is basically trying to live out his idea of love in his relationship with Ram and his relationship with the world. Whatever comes out has a certain component which is attractive to us because we are beset with some problems in which we find Kabir can be used as an associate or as a tool. Let me repeat I have nothing against that. My only point is that please do not reduce Kabir only to a social reformer or only to a prop in our political activity. Kabir is, and many poets for that matter are, much bigger and much more complex than that. Kabir makes some very interesting moral statements as well, which are the statements of his self-confidence and which are the statements of his method. I would just like to quote two *sakhis* to you and that is it. One is about his understanding of his poetry and his *bhakti *and his social location and his social vocation. In one of the *sakhis* he says: *“Pinjar prem prakasheya, antar bhaya ujaas,* *Mrig kasturi mahi base, bani phooti bas"* *I had the illumination of love within and it illuminates my outside as well. * *It makes my words, my poetry, as fragrant as musk.* *“Pinjar prem prakasheya, antar bhaya ujaas,* *Mrig kasturi mahi base, bani phooti bas"* So it is the love that makes it possible... The second *sakhi* I would like to read before you is about his notion of the relationship between him and his God. As you know we are supposed to follow God. We are supposed to worship God and we are supposed toplacate God in many ways. Here is a person, who, in his very humble, confident and almost defiant way, says: *"Kabir man nirmal bhaya, jaise Ganga neer.* *Peechhey laga Hari phire, kahat Kabir Kabir".* *My mind has become as pure as the water of Ganga. * *I do not go after God anymore, he comes after me. * I do not say “*Ram* *Ram**!” or “Hari Hari!” or “Krishna Krishna!”* or whatever. He says “Kabir Kabir!” because I have turned my mind as pure as Ganga jal. *"Kabir man nirmal bhaya, jaise Ganga neer.* *Peechhey laga Hari phire, kahat Kabir Kabir".* Friends, I have great faith that all of us, if we take it seriously and strive hard, I am absolutely sure, in personal as well as political terms of our life and activities, all of us can force God to follow after us. The only thing is that we turn our minds as pure as Ganga *jal*. Ganga *jal* not of today, but of fifteenth century...! *(These are excerpts from a transcript of a talk given by Prof. Purushottam Agarwal on 28 Feb 2009 at “Koi Sunta Hai – A Festival of Kabir in Bengaluru”, organized by the Kabir Project at Srishti School of Art Design and Technology along with the support of several partner organizations in Bangalore) * *-- Prof. Purushottam Agarwal is a renowned scholar and has written extensively on Kabir, including a book *‘Kabir: Sakhi Aur Shabd’* and an essay* ‘In Search of Ramanand: The Guru of Kabir and Others’*. As a consultant to Oxfam he has organized several interfaces of scholars, artists and activists, including one between Kabir Panthis (followers of a Kabir sect) and scholars of Kabir. These events probed the question of social identities and a dialogue on “spirituality without religion”. Prof. Agrawal is former chairperson of the School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, and visiting professor at the Faculty of Oriental Studies, Cambridge University. * *Prof Agarwal, along with Dr Linda Hess (several references to whom are made in this talk) and others, is an advisor to the Kabir Project. Other references are to Prahlad Tipanya, a renowned folk singer of Kabir from Malwa, Madhya Pradesh, who features extensively in the four Kabir films, and is a close friend of the Kabir Project. * From tasveerghar at gmail.com Tue Mar 8 09:56:34 2011 From: tasveerghar at gmail.com (Tasveer Ghar) Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2011 09:56:34 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] New Essay: Artful Mapping in Bazaar India Message-ID: Dear friends of Tasveer Ghar As part of our series of visual essays exploring the Priya Paul collection of popular Indian art, we present a new exciting essay on maps of India: Artful Mapping in Bazaar India: Cartographic Reflections on the Priya Paul Collection By Sumathi Ramaswamy http://tasveerghar.net/cmsdesk/essay/116/ "The mapped form of the nation is one of the more intriguing of presences among the ubiquitous mass-produced prints that grace public and private spaces in India. Intriguing, because as historians of cartography assure us, the national map is a highly specialized product and possession of the modern state and modern science. Its knowledge, they tell us, is “hard-won,” generated by experts in the science of cartography and related disciplines, learned through formal schooling in classrooms, and disseminated through the work of modern bureaucracies and agents of the state. As such, one would not expect it to proliferate as it does in everyday, demotic, and mundane contexts, especially since access to the knowledge that undergirds it is often highly guarded and policed by the state, and even more so in contexts where borders and boundaries are in question and hence not to be trifled with." Please visit the website of Tasveer Ghar for more exciting essays, images and features on India's popular visual culture The Tasveer Ghar team -- http://www.tasveerghar.net From jeebesh at sarai.net Tue Mar 8 14:43:14 2011 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh) Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2011 14:43:14 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Thoughts on Flat Ontology In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <062873A0-541A-43B7-9A04-C6A409B1D8C8@sarai.net> dear Ashok and Shaina, Thanks for the extended posting on links to readings on flat ontology. Its really exciting. > Now to the question of "depth" in such ontology, which was a doubt > jeebesh you had in the conference. I think the confusion arises if you > see depth as a spatial thing, because you then end up with a kind of > materialism of depth, an object made up of its parts. Depth is a > metaphor here, just as "object" itself is, because stories and > families are also objects, not only tables and chairs. An object is > exactly that which is greater than its parts. You cant reduce a story > to its words, something will be lost. This doesn't mean that you cant > enjoy or cherish each word, you can, since it is an object in turn, > and something is lost if you now look at the letters alone. After Ashok's presentation i was doubtful about the usage of the term "depth". Object and depth are related problematic within long tradition of philosophical thinking, that flat ontology wants to displace. Was wondering why would flat ontology need depth if it wants to supersede the subject / object duality. A running cheetah. The swimming shark. P.T.Usha flying through her lane. How does depth helps us in thinking through these situations? Neither onion or earth reveals itself more with depth. each layer has it's own enigma. To me depth sounded too close to a metaphysics of essences. Many of my writer, artists and scholar friends (from Cybermohalla to higher academia to art world) faces a problem with building an adequate language (vocabulary) for movement. A sense of unfurling as a way of seeing the world around. Here world involves an ensemble of things, fluids, states of being, energies, emotions, collisions, structures, materials, animals, ground, sky etc. Was trying to understand if "depth" dislodges movement and bring in a stability to an otherwise extremely convulsive and agile world that we inhabit. warmly jeebesh From rohitrellan at aol.in Tue Mar 8 23:53:59 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Tue, 08 Mar 2011 13:23:59 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Thursday Movie Nights @ CMYK Bookstore, New Delhi/ SUMMERTIME - CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS, Mumbai Message-ID: <8CDABD520995378-1FF8-B757@webmail-d074.sysops.aol.com> Thursday Movie Nights @ CMYK Bookstore Dear Friends, CMYK Movie Nights are back! Join us every Thursday from March 10th - 31st at 7pm for a month long movie festival on visionary artists, musicians and designers. First up : Exit Through the Gift Shop - a Banksy Film The story of how an eccentric French shop-keeper turned amateur film-maker attempts to locate and befriend Banksy, only to have the artist turn the camera back on its owner. The film contains footage of Banksy, Shephard Fairey, Invader and many of the world's most infamous graffiti artists at work. Banksy is a graffiti artist with a global reputation whose work can be seen on walls from post-hurricane New Orleans to the separation barrier on the Palestinian West Bank. Venue : CMYK Bookstore. Date & Time : 10th March, 2011 @ 7 pm onwards. Cover Charge : RS.150 per person ( includes popcorn & pepsi ). RSVP sarita at rolibooks.com to confirm seats. Look forward to seeing you. Thanks & Regards CMYK Bookstore 011-24641881 ----------------------------------------------- SUMMERTIME - CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS,Mumbai CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS for SUMMERTIME with PRITHVI 2011 Would you like to assist in a range of workshops in poetry, making masks, acting, creative writing, pottery, puppetry and so much more? Would you like to be part of establishing a season of children’s plays – over 80 shows over 2 months – with Prithvi and other venues across Mumbai. Come to the VOLUNTEER MEETING Saturday 19th March 11 am Prithvi Café Bring anyone you think might be interested. SEE YOU THERE! From rohitrellan at aol.in Wed Mar 9 00:20:27 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Tue, 08 Mar 2011 13:50:27 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Film Making for Tribal Research and Training Institute Message-ID: <8CDABD8D30430AF-1FF8-BDF8@webmail-d074.sysops.aol.com> FTII invites proposals for the films to be made for Tribal Research and Training Institute (TRTI) The interested alumni of FTII may submit their proposals with the budget break up of the film to be produced for TRTI. The Film makers may choose any one subject of the following - Naikpod Tribes Halbi Tribes Oraon, Dhangad Tribe Kawar Tribe Devarai in Maharashtra Tribal Museum Norms of the Films a) Format - DVCAM b) Duration - 20 - 22 minutes. c) After getting the approval of the film from TRTI an MOU will be signed among the filmmaker, FTII and TRTI to safeguard the interest of the concerned parties. Budget for each of the film : Rs. 2.75 Lakhs (approx.) Mode of Payment - The payment will be released to the Film makers as follows - 50% on approval of Script by TRTI 20% on approval of rough cut 30% after the supply of final Master Copy in DVCAM with 10 DVDs & 10 CDs along with the total shooting of entire film in DV format and censorship script. Last date for receiving the proposals : March 14th, 2011 The proposal with proper budget break-up should reach to the Director, FTII, Pune. Contact: Film and Television Institute of India Law College Road, Pune - 411 004, (Maharashtra) INDIA. Tel No.: +91 - 020- 25431817 / 25433016 / 25430017 E-mail : Tutorial Section: tutorial_sec at ftiindia.com Short Courses: shortcourse at ftiindia.com Computer Section: helpdesk at ftiindia.com From chintan.backups at gmail.com Wed Mar 9 08:56:15 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Wed, 9 Mar 2011 08:56:15 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Call for Volunteers for Summertime with Prithvi 2011 - a season of children's plays and workshops Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: prithvi theatre Date: Tue, Mar 8, 2011 at 4:53 PM Subject: SUMMERTIME - CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS To: Prithvi Updates *CALL FOR* * * *VOLUNTEERS*** * * *for* * * *SUMMERTIME with PRITHVI 2011*** Would you like to assist in a range of workshops in poetry, making masks, acting, creative writing, pottery, puppetry and so much more? Would you like to be part of establishing a season of children’s plays – over 80 shows over 2 months – with Prithvi and other venues across Mumbai. Come to the *VOLUNTEER MEETING*** Saturday 19th March 11 am Prithvi Café Bring anyone you think might be interested. *SEE YOU THERE!* -- Prithvi Theatre Janki Kutir Juhu Church Road Mumbai 400 049 Box Office: +91 22 2614 9546 Fax: +91 22 2617 5775 www.prithvitheatre.org From chintan.backups at gmail.com Wed Mar 9 09:27:18 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Wed, 9 Mar 2011 09:27:18 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Amaranta Nehru's graphic novel 'Where is Ulat Bansi?' Message-ID: Some of you may have already seen this. In case you haven't, well, now! :) Visit the link mentioned below to download the graphic novel. --- From http://www.openspaceindia.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=631&Itemid=232 Ulat Bansi, a form of poetry used by Kabir and other mystics, forces us to re-think everyday conventions... *Where is Ulat Bansi?,* is a graphic novel by Amaranta Nehru. Here is what Amaranta says about it: The poet saint, Kabir has left us words from the 15th century. Most of us have heard or read some of them. The poetry we are less likely to have to come across is a category called 'Ulat Bansi'. 'Ulat Bansi' literally means 'upside-down' language. It has similarities in structure with 'nonsense verse' and the absurd and paradoxical nature of 'zen riddles'. To me, the world of Ulat Bansi seems like a melting pot of wit, humor, absurdity, unpredictability, wonder and joy. It's more likely area to find subtle truths than the sanest philosophies and theories. It's always refreshing, surprising and the possibilities of what you can imagine with the words is endless. The brief given to me was to make an introductory booklet to Ulat Bansi. I designed the book as a ride with a playful, song-like narrative of a girl, Satli Banu, in a way that echoes the strange logic of an Ulat Bansi. The book begins with the impossible question of 'Where is Ulat Bansi?' and points at the futility of the human mind beyond a point. This is something i awakened to in my interaction with this peculiar poetry and reading Linda Hess' book 'The Bijak of Kabir'. In the end, the Simpleton/fool is wiser than the wise and what Satli Banu is looking for is within her own self. *-- Amaranta Nehru is an illustrator and animator who also does graphic design, story writing and graphic novels. With her work she hopes to make her environment more 'wonder'-full, interesting and imaginative. Her work can be viewed at http://amarantanehru.wordpress.com/ She created Where is Ulat Bansi? during her time as a student at the Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology in Bangalore. * From rohitrellan at aol.in Wed Mar 9 13:07:56 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Wed, 09 Mar 2011 02:37:56 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] =?utf-8?q?A_Workshop_by_Richard_Allen_on_Hitchcock?= =?utf-8?b?4oCZcyBDaW5lbWE=?= In-Reply-To: <4D776FB00200004000042AE6@mail.jnu.ac.in> References: <4D776FB00200004000042AE6@mail.jnu.ac.in> Message-ID: <8CDAC440A692FDE-1DE4-1E2AF@webmail-m143.sysops.aol.com> The School of Arts and Aesthetics Jawaharlal Nehru University Presents Hitchcock’s Cinema   A Workshop by   Richard Allen    (Professor of Cinema Studies, Tisch School of the Arts,  New York University)   With a Screening of The Birds At The Auditorium of The School of Arts and Aesthetics 2.00 - 7.00 pm On 10th March, 2011     Refreshments will be served during the Workshop   From rohitrellan at aol.in Wed Mar 9 15:22:06 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Wed, 09 Mar 2011 04:52:06 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Filmi Chashma - An Exciting Festival-and-Roadshow Film Programme , Mumbai In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <8CDAC56C8974B35-1DE4-202C1@webmail-m143.sysops.aol.com> Filmi Chashma I am writing to you about a great film and media based programme that we are implementing across the country forteachers, parents, children and the community. This is an endeavour that will help create a film and media inclusive environment that is meaningful,appropriate and relevant for all of us - and in particular, for our engagementwith our children.   Our Filmi Chashma Children's Film Festival is to be held between 15-30 April in venues across Bombay city. This event is being designed and organised by CometMedia Foundation (CMF). It is supported by the Children's Film Society,India.   This is the first edition of the festival.The larger purpose of this festival is to have an annual event followed up by many little roadshows across the city to encourage schools,children and the community to watch good cinema, understand the new media and use these to create vibrant learning environments. The creation of a film and media inclusive environment in schools is a primary driver of the endeavour. The current demand from schools for our roadshows has nearly reacheda figure of 7,000 children.That's how fast the Filmi Chashma spirit is spreading.   Currently we receive supportfrom NID, the Prix Jeunesse Festival, Max Muller Bhavan, Russian Cultural Center,Iran Culture House and the French Consulate.  jalebiink.com is a partner - we work with children to create a community of critical thinkers who will research and review films, visit studios in their mohallas and interview people who have worked in films - old and new!   Wewould like schools to come to us for block bookings for the festival as well as for our roadshows and exciting teacher workshops. Children and media students can send their films to the competitive section and other film makers are most welcome to contact us to offer their films for the festival and other events. We are also looking for volunteers for the festival and roadshows.   For more details email ramakrishnan.geeta at gmail.com. From rohitrellan at aol.in Wed Mar 9 16:51:09 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Wed, 09 Mar 2011 06:21:09 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Premiere of a Documentary Film on S.H. Raza, New Delhi/ The Shakespeare Society presents play "Othello", March 9-10, 6:45pm Message-ID: <8CDAC63393B5653-1DE4-292@webmail-m143.sysops.aol.com> Premiere of a Documentary Film on S.H. Raza Time: Wednesday, March 16 · 6:00pm - 8:00pm Location : Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi Lalit Kala Akademi New Delhi Cordially invites you to attend the premiere of a documentary film S.H.RAZA: THE VERY ESSENCE from the series of "Living Legends of Indian Contemporary Art" Directed by Laurent Bregeat in presence of S.H. Raza on Wednesday, 16 March 2011 at 6.00 p.m. at Kaustubh Auditorium, Rabindra Bhavan, 35, Ferozeshah Road, New Delhi-110001 R.S.V.P.: 011-23009200 ---------------------------------------------------------------- The Shakespeare Society at St. Stephen's College presents play "Othello", March 9-10,6:45pm About the Production When Dr. Roy asked some of us to work on Othello as the annual production, the most important question was: what in Othello would we enact and then, only then, how will we do that? There were many interpretations for the play, self assured and theoretically sound they were, but safely covered within bound volumes (yes, we mean, the notion of justice, community, race, body, insider-outsider, and sexuality and more than a dozen other things). Giving life to them on stage, embodying the conflicts of the texts and interpretations, was a different, far more difficult task. Initiated and organized by Mr. N.P. Ashley, we went for a devising process in which what we said was exactly in the how of saying it (from acting, lights, music to property and costumes everything got developed through little platforms of brainstorming, and, we are told, a lot of it before and outside, as discussions between the designers on the conceptual aspect). We added to and subtracted from Shakespeare, a process not as coldly mathematical as it sounds – for the cast and crew were integral to the devising (sometimes, quite unaware of their own roles in the process and almost always lost, more than understandably!). We can’t say who among us began it or led it, for it has all disappeared into the collective product by now. It may be that there are no originators, heroes or villains for any of these. . . . A play, like life, just is? Or is it that every play needs its Iago? Someone directing its ‘fate’ from within! For the Othello team, Tanima Sharma and Rajiv Naresh. The Play Desdemona, the daughter of the Venetian senator Brabantio elopes with the Moor of Venice, Othello the Moor, general of the Venetian state. A Turkish fleet has been launched to attack the island of Cyprus, a Venetian possession and the Duke of Venice appoints Othello as the general to encounter them. Othello appoints Cassio as the lieutenant, preferring him over Iago, his ancient or ensign. This angers Iago, who vouches to Roderigo, a disappointed suitor of Desdemona, that he would revenge himself on the Moor. The Duke supports the marriage of Othello and Desdemona and blesses them, (effectively contemporary European suspicions about a ‘black’ outsider), Othello. Othello and Desdemona, along with Iago and his wife Emilia arrive at Cyprus, but the Turkish fleet has perished in a sea storm by then. Othello announces city-wide festivities to celebrate the victory and Iago uses the opportunity to egg Roderigo off to fight with Cassio. Seeing his lieutenant involved in a street brawl, Othello dismisses Cassio. Iago advises Cassio to approach Desdemona with the request to amend the relationship between himself and Othello. Desdemona’s attempt to persuade Othello to take back Cassio is projected by Iago as Desdemona’s secret lover.. Othello starts believing Iago but maintains that he needs “ocular proof.” Iago gets Emilia to give him Desdemona’s hand kerchief which was a gift from Othello and puts it in Cassio’s chamber. The Duke sends an envoy to Cyprus, Ludovico, Desdemona’s uncle, asking Othello to return to Venice, handing over the military charge to Cassio. Desdemona is happy about returning home but Othello sees this as another instance of her interest in Cassio and strikes her. Later, seeing Cassio give the handkerchief to his lover Bianca, Othello is convinced of the relationship between Cassio and Desdemona. Agitated, he smothers and kills her. Emilia unravels the conspiracy behind the handkerchief and realizing his mistake, Othello commits suicide. Iago is identified as the villain. From chintan.backups at gmail.com Wed Mar 9 17:58:26 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Wed, 9 Mar 2011 17:58:26 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Seeking information about creative engagements in disaster relief and psychosocial support Message-ID: Mail jamuna.inamdar at gmail.com if you have any help to offer. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Jamuna Inamdar Date: Thu, Mar 3, 2011 at 7:14 PM Dear All, I am in need of some direction here. I am looking for some information. Apart from surfing and searching myself may I please request you to look out for stuff that you may come across and be so awesome as to forward it to me? :) I am looking for: - Information on NGOs in India and abroad that have worked/work for psychosocial support and care to victims of disasters (natural and man made) - Individuals who have shown creative contributions towards rehabilitation and relief of victims of disasters? - Interesting projects new or old run across the world or India that helped rehabilitation, relief and psychosocial care of victims? (Tsunamika example) - Any research papers, publications etc. on mental health and disasters or psychosocial support and care during disasters? - Any UN funded, run projects for disaster relief with emphasis on psychosocial support and care? Jamuna From chintan.backups at gmail.com Wed Mar 9 22:21:18 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Wed, 9 Mar 2011 22:21:18 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Navayana needs a paid intern/editorial trainee Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: S. Anand Date: Wed, Mar 9, 2011 at 7:28 PM Circulate widely now.. http://navayana.org/?p=1396 Navayana is a looking for a paid intern/ editorial trainee who can assist with proof-reading, fact-checking, coordination between editorial and administration, organising book launches and discussions. The person should also have skills in creating and updating content on Navayana’s Wordpress-driven site and promote Navayana’s activities on social networking sites. A passion for books, familiarity with Navayana’s work, and an anticaste perspective would be mandatory. The job is to be based in Delhi and will provide an opportunity to learn publishing at one of India’s most radical and exciting publishing houses. Remuneration shall depend on aptitude, experience and skills. Preference shall be given to dalit/ women/ OBC candidates. Applicants may send in their CV and write 500 words on their passion for books and why they would like to work for Navayana. Send your applications to anand at navayana.org. www.navayana.org From nagraj.adve at gmail.com Thu Mar 10 09:15:04 2011 From: nagraj.adve at gmail.com (Nagraj Adve) Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2011 09:15:04 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] points of meeting on Nuclear Energy in India and People's Struggles Message-ID: Delhi Platform has been organizing a series of discussion meetings on various issues related to climate change. The latest was on 4 March, on Nuclear Energy and People's Struggles. Copied below are the brief points from the discussion. DELHI PLATFORM Points of Discussion meeting on Nuclear Energy in India and People’s Struggles, Delhi University, 4 March 2011 Praful Bidwai, Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP): The nuclear project started out with the development of nuclear weapons under the Manhattan Project. But with the end of the 2nd World War, the garb used was of nuclear power, the myth that nuclear power would mean abundant and cheap power. President Eisenhower made the famous statement in a speech, referring to ‘Atoms for Peace’. That nuclear energy technology was then transferred to private companies, particularly General Electric and Westinghouse. Over time, the Soviet Union, France and China acquired nuclear weapons. The US and others laid down two conditions to other aspiring nuclear powers: that they remain without nuclear weapons/ disarm, and that they subject their nuclear programme to external/ international scrutiny. The myth propagated at the time was that nuclear power was abundant and that it was cheap. The reality has been very different. It has not even met 1 per cent of the targets claimed or set. And it has existed at all only due to an enormous subsidy, of over US$ 1 trillion (1,000 billion dollars). It has been a disaster at two levels: a public safety disaster, and a financial disaster. There are four assumptions/ myths about nuclear power: safety; costs; that it is clean and green, and will help combat climate change; and that it is needed to solve energy shortages. The reality has been quite different. 1. The question of Safety: Nuclear power is inherently hazardous. Its radiation is invisible and it kills even in extremely tiny doses. Also, the radiation is not only from a nuclear reactor. It emanates from every stage in the process, from the mining of the uranium ore, from the transport of the ore, from the processing, from the handling of the waste, every stage of the fuel cycle has a radiation exposure and a danger. It has been shown that for every 1,000 REM, there are six cancer deaths. The nuclear plant at Tarapore outside Mumbai for instance has 4,000 REM every year; this translates to about 25 deaths every year from the Tarapore plant alone. Nuclear power is the only form of electricity generation that can cause serious illnesses and deaths. To have a basic understanding of the process in a nuclear reactor, it involves the splitting of atoms. In a nuclear reactor, the process is controlled, in a nuclear bomb the process is not and it involves the release of a massive amount of energy. But even in a nuclear reactor, a small imbalance can adversely affect the process. That was what happened at Chernobyl in the Ukraine, in 1986. The biggest industrial accident in the world so far was not Bhopal, it was Chernobyl. The government claimed that few thousand deaths had taken place, in actual fact over 65,000 people died at the time, and that number has increased to 1,10,000 now. The numbers are rising with each passing month, as people die of cancers and other serious illnesses. Children are born with serious deformities. People as far as western Europe have been show to have been affected by the Chernobyl disaster. Yet another aspect of safety is the nuclear waste that gets generated. Nuclear waste has an incredibly long lifespan. Plutonium 239 has a half-life of 24,000 years. It is ten half-lives before material is safe, which means 2,40,000 years or almost a quarter of a million years before it is safe. And U-235 has a half life of 710 million years. For all our technological development, absolutely no solution has been found to this problem of nuclear waste. Also, the decommissioning of a nuclear plant, even that has low-level radiation that is hazardous, that persists in workers’ clothing, shoes, etc. India: does not have an independent regulatory authority, on the lines, say of the US National Regulatory Commission. India’s AERB is not an independent body. There’s little transparency of the functioning of nuclear reactors or of accidents. In 1993, there was an accident at Narora plant at Bulandshahr in UP. Fire spread to the turbine. We could easily have had another Chernobyl. Fact is that the procedures were not in place to prevent this from happening. More recently, in the Keyla (spelling?) plant, a worker spiked the water of a water cooler, put tritium into the water cooler. Hundreds of workers drank the water before it was discovered in their urine sample. That is something that can easily happen elsewhere. 2. Costs: Nuclear power is 2-3 times costlier than conventional electricity, per unit power. Part of the reason for that is that the time it takes to build a nuclear reaction has lengthened. It used to take 5-6 years to build a reactor in the 1960s, nowadays it takes 10-15 years, resulting in huge cost over-runs. Also, in most technologies, costs tend to fall 30-50% when capacity is raised. In nuclear power, the cost curve is upward. Areva – the French company that is contracted to build the nuclear reactor at Jaitapur, Maharashtra – has had huge over-run issues in Finland. The Areva EPR there is 42 months behind schedule, it was due to cost 3 billion euros, costs have reached 5-7 billion euros. The German company Siemens has walked out of the project. In the US, not a single reactor has been built since 1973. President Bush tried to push it ten years ago but has had little success. The main countries where nuclear power is expanding are: China and India, and to a lesser degree, South Korea and Indonesia. Another aspect of costs (not that commonly considered) is the costs to decommission an old nuclear plant, it’s as much as 1/3rd to half of what it takes to build it, which is huge. 3. Nuclear power and climate change: Ten years ago, climate change became a big issue, this began to be used for nuclear power to be pushed as the solution, claiming that nuclear power has no or little carbon emissions. This is totally fraudulent. Nuclear fission is only one element of the process. There are CO2 emissions at every stage of the process – in the mining, from the building of the nuclear plant, reprocessing, etc. Take Japan, which added 40,000 MW of nuclear power between the 1960s and the 1980s. It tripled its carbon dioxide emissions at the same time. Fact is, nuclear power can only replace centralized electricity generation, where energy use has many other forms, such as in transport etc. Wind and solar will give you three times the cuts in emissions. What’s more, nuclear power has a long gestation period, it is not appropriate for the deep and urgent cuts necessary in CO2 emissions, not only 80% or more cuts needed by 2050, we need 40% cuts by 2020, nuclear power cannot do that. If one looks at nuclear plants worldwide, there are roughly 420 functioning nuclear plants; they provide 12% of the world’s electricity generation, only 5% of its energy use, and barely 2% of final use. 1/3rd of these number would retire in the next decade, and only 18 plants are under construction. Fact is that nobody wants plants in their neighbourhood. 4. Meeting energy needs: The fourth assumption is that nuclear power is needed because energy needs have to be met, particularly since fossil fuels may run out. Fact is that in India, other energy forms have a much higher potential. India’s current nuclear power generation is barely 4,200 MW, and its potential is merely 9,000 MW. In comparison, wind power is 45,000 MW, probably higher. Concentrated solar power (CSP), hydro all have potential, the latter is 80,000 MW in the Northeastern states alone. Actually, what we need is decentralized energy generation. Nuclear power is inherently too centralized and can only feed into a centralized power grid. . Nuclear power is not flexible, unlike, say, hydro power and wind. Bear in mind that 40% villages/ people have no access to energy in India and decentralized power would be essential for them. Electricity after all is only the most refined and expensive form of energy. Generally, two thirds is lost as heat. Amulya Reddy, one of the world’s foremost authorities on energy, particularly decentralized energy forms that are both ecologically benign and less costly, studied the issue in detail for over 25 years. He concluded that micro and hydel were much more benign. State’s repressive role: Since no one wants nuclear plants in their vicinity, the state plays a repressive role in pushing plants through. In Jaitapur, on the Konkan coast in Maharashtra, one day after the chief minister visited and failed to convince local people, the arrest of activists began, to date 22 people have been arrested. Admiral Ramdas, and others have been prevented from entering the area. A number of plants are being planned, two in Andhra, one in West Bengal, in Jabalpur in MP, in Haryana (the movement my fellow speaker Yashbir Arya is from), etc. There is resistance everywhere. In Haripur in West Bengal, local people have cordoned off the area and not a single government official has been allowed to enter to conduct a survey. V. T. Padmanabhan, activist and independent researcher (he had a slide show, sketchy points only here): >From nuclear tests, we have to date exploded 440 million tonnes of TNT. This is several thousands of times those of the atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There have been 540 bomb tests since the mid 20th century. Caused the release of hazardous particulate matter to the extent of 2.9 E +29 (or 2.9x 10 to the power 28, or 2.9 followed by 28 zeros). It is equivalent to 600 trillion particles per square metre of land. In a reactor core, 99.999% gets contained, 0.001% gets released into air and water. That is sufficient, releases 10E+19 atoms a day. Pico particles. These spread around with the wind. Since plants have a high ‘exhaust chimney’, more than the workers in the plant, it is the villagers around who get affected. We did a study of three villages/ village clusters at varying distances from the Kalkpakkam nuclear plant – 6 km away, ?? km away and 1,642 km away. We found unacceptably high levels of goiter, autoimmune thyroidism, thyroid cancers in all three places, even several hundred kms away. Thyroid cancers, women tend to get more affected. Yashbir Arya, activist with the anti-nuclear plant movement in Fatehabad, Haryana. The government is planning a nuclear power plant at Fatehabad, Haryana. It is a 2,800 MW plant that has been planned. We have been sitting on dharna non-stop since 17 August 2010. People sit there night and day. We sat even through the cold of winter. One farmer died due to the cold. People protested and did not allow his cremation to take place for 3 days. Despite all this, there has been no response from the government/ authorities. Kumharia, Nehla etc are among the 8 villages that will be directly affected/ displaced. The effects would be over a much wider area. Why is located at this precise spot? Because the Bhakra canal flows nearby and the plant needs 300 cusecs of water every single day. The plant was supposed to be in Punjab but was taken away from there because of ‘security’ reasons, because it was deemed too close to the border. This is an ecologically rich area, particularly with species of deer. The region grows three crops and the main crops are wheat, rice and Bt Cotton. So far, no one from the government no official has come to us for any dialogue. They have not begun talking of cases and FIRs. The issue is also steeped in local party politics. Chautala’s party and the BJP and the Congress are all only for more compensation. No one is saying don’t take away the land. Farmers are leading the struggle by themselves (to a question, during the discussion that followed, he later said that the mass base/ those leading the struggle are large farmers with over 10-20 acres of land) Some points of the discussion that followed: Praful’s responses. - The jaitapur struggle is not against displacement alone but also against nuclear power per se. Besides the local population, there are a whole range of professionals, teachers, lawyers who are active in or support the struggle and are very aware of Chernobyl or the general dangers of nuclear power. - India’s entire nuclear power set up is based on imports not indigenous technologies. The 1974 Sirius plant was built by the Canadians, and the US gave the heavy water needed - (There was a question to Praful, about his statement that wind or hydel preferable. There have been opposition to run of the river projects in Himachal and elsewhere, that one needs to argue against energy consumption per se not just the forms of energy. To which Praful responded that the hazards of hydel, micro and pico and wind power are not comparable to the dangers of nuclear power, to a Chernobyl. Wind farms take over small plots. Key is how much should be used for local needs. Micro and mini hydel power based on streams. - Re international finance, international finance institutions (IFIs) don’t fund nuclear projects. Also, nuclear power not covered under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol. There are powerful lobbies in the atomic energy establishment and the nuclear industry pushing for nuclear power. The Dept of Atomic Energy gets subsidies to the tune of 1 billion dollars a year, it had promised 43,000 MW of power by 2000. Currently it is a mere 4,200 MW! But they got a big funding boost after the nuclear tests of the late 1990s. In Mumbai for instance, they have the plushest housing etc. - the entire nuclear power/ arms industry and process is opaque. Under the Atomic Energy Act of 1962, they can withhold information from the public. - of India’s 22 plants, 14 are covered under the deal with the US, 8 are not. They are reserved for weapons production in India. - Mines in East Singhbhum, in West Khasi Hills in Meghalaya, etc. In Meghalaya, the government itself is divided over uranium mining there. India’s ore very low uranium content - In India, electricity is less than one-fifth of total energy use, particularly since Indians use a lot of non-commercial energy. In the world in general, nuclear energy less than 5%. - (Yashbir Arya): The movement in Fatehabad are of mostly large farmers, who own 20 acres of land and more, there are few with 1-2 acres. It is a relatively prosperous agriculture: a farmer gets Rs 60,000 an acre for rice. The government is promising all kinds of jobs at the plant but what kind of jobs will a local get, other than as a chaparasi? The electricity itself that may be generated will be sent to SEZs and to industry does not help local people. Industry wants 24 hours power. - VT Padmanabhan: Chernobyl affected people not only in western Europe. The key factors are wind direction and rainfall at the time. There is thyroid cancer corridor in India. The accident happened on 26 April, when the rains came, there was a corridor from Kanyakumari to the Konkan with very high rates of thyroid cancer. In Kerala, well water is used a lot for drinking which had got contaminated. --------------------------------------------------------------- NB: This is only the gist of the meeting, to convey to those who were not present and those outside Delhi what was covered and discussed. Speakers should not be held accountable based on these notes. Delhi Platform is a non-funded organization that works on issues related to global warming. We stand for and support struggles for equity and sustainability. This meeting was part of a regular series of meetings that Delhi Platform has been organizing on various issues related to global warming. The next meeting will be on 17 March, on Food Security, Peak Oil and Urban Agriculture. In case you wish to informed about future such meetings or participate in our work, you can contact us at delhiplatform at gmail.com, or preferably at the following numbers: 9213763756 (Soumya Dutta), 9818065092 (Kiran Shaheen), 011-43098327 (Arun Bidani), or 9910476553 (Nagraj Adve). From ysaeed7 at yahoo.com Thu Mar 10 11:30:09 2011 From: ysaeed7 at yahoo.com (Yousuf) Date: Wed, 9 Mar 2011 22:00:09 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Reader-list] Why analog may still be better than digital Message-ID: <140542.81714.qm@web161201.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> All Hail ... Analog? When it comes to the quality of photos and music, the digital revolution may be failing us By FRANCIS FUKUYAMA On Dec. 30, Dwayne's Photo in Parsons, Kan., stopped processing Kodachrome film and the world passed an important if little-heralded milestone: the end of Kodachrome, a beautifully saturated color transparency film that was immortalized by Paul Simon in his 1973 song ("Mama don't take my Kodachrome away"). Kodak had long since ceased its manufacture and the lab shutdown was yet another stage in the slow death of chemical, film-based photography. Visual and audio reproduction have undergone massive changes as their underlying technologies shifted from analog to digital over the past two decades. It's clear that it is far more convenient to snap photos with a digital point-and-shoot or listen to music on an iPod. But whether the quality of images or music has improved is, however, a highly debatable proposition, one that is contested by legions of enthusiasts who have continued to cling to older technologies not out of Luddite resistance to change, but because they believe the shift to 1's and 0's is actually making things worse. Photography and music have been hobbies of mine ever since I was a child when I built Dynakits and had my own darkroom. I was introduced to high-end audio by the political theorist Allan Bloom, who back in the early 1980s had what seemed to me a crazily expensive Linn Sondek turntable and a collection of over 2,000 records. I started collecting historical Nikons when I inherited an F2A from my father, and these days I seem to spend as much time thinking about gear as I do analyzing politics for my day job. Let's begin with how photography has changed. Ansel Adams's iconic images of the Sierras were taken with an 8-inch-by-10-inch view camera, a wooden contraption with bellows in which the photographer saw his subject upside-down and reversed under a black cloth. Joel Meyerowitz's stunning photographs of Cape Cod were taken with a similar mahogany Deardorff view camera manufactured in the 1930s. These cameras produce negatives that contain up to 100 times the amount of information produced by a contemporary top-of-the-line digital SLR like a Canon EOS 5D or a Nikon D3. View cameras allow photographers to shift and tilt the lens relative to the film plane, which is why they continue to be used by architectural photographers who want to avoid photos of buildings with the converging vertical lines caused by the upward tilt of the lens on a normal camera. And their lenses can be stopped down to f/64 or even f/96, which allows everything to be in crystalline focus from 3 inches away to infinity. (Ansel Adams, Edward Weston and Imogen Cunningham were part of a group called "f/64" in celebration of this characteristic.) Perhaps the most important feature of these older film cameras was their lack of convenience. They had to be mounted on tripods; it took many minutes to shoot a single frame; and they were hardly inconspicuous. In contrast to contemporary digital photographers who snap a zillion photos of the same subject and hope that one will turn out well composed, view camera photography is a more painterly activity that forces the photographer to slow down and think ahead carefully about subject, light, framing, time of day, and the like. These skills are in short supply among digital photographers. Older cameras were far better built. A few years ago I was given a Leica M3 once owned by my uncle, who joined the U.S. Army to get out of an internment camp for Japanese-Americans during World War II. He was sent to Germany where he acquired the Leica around the time I was born. This camera, with its f/2 Summicron, a classic, fast, tack-sharp lens, still takes beautiful pictures. How many digital cameras will still be functioning five years from now, much less 50? Where are you going to buy new batteries and the media to store your photos in 2061? The digital revolution produced even worse consequences for music reproduction. When the digital compact disc was introduced in the early 1980s, the marketing types heralded this as "perfect sound forever." The only problem was that early CDs simply didn't sound good: They were thin, harsh and unpleasant to listen to. It turns out that old-fashioned vinyl records, like photographic film, are actually a pretty good way of storing information. Sound is inherently analog; converting sound waves to grooves on a record does not involve the same loss of information as their conversion to digital data. If you don't believe this, you've probably never listened to a good-quality record on a high-end turntable. By high-end, we're talking about turntable-tonearm-needle combinations that cost upward of $10,000—that's right, five figures—from manufacturers like VPI, Basis or SME. The highest-priced table currently on the market is the Clearaudio Statement, which retails for $150,000. On such devices, there is hardly any background noise; sound is three-dimensional, detailed and has a liveness that most mass-market CD players or iPods cannot begin to match. [Gadgets] The Heads of State There is no inherent reason why digital music has to sound worse than analog; the problem was all in implementation and standards. About 10 years ago Sony introduced a new digital format, the Super Audio Compact Disc, that could finally hold its own against good quality vinyl records. But SACDs never caught on, and the mass market moved in exactly the opposite direction with the spread of MP3s and iPods. The MP3 is a digital compression technology that throws away a lot of information in order to reduce file size. It's quantity over quality, essentially. Listening to an iPod through a high-end audio system is a painful experience and a big step backward even from the Red Book CD standard by which all musical compact discs have been encoded since the 1980s. Today, I've made peace with the digital revolution. There is a company called GigaPan that makes a device that pans a digital camera and stitches together large numbers of images to produce monster photographs with far more resolution than a view camera. A couple of years ago I built myself a music server—a computer dedicated to playing music that currently stores more than 300 gigabytes of losslessly compressed music (that is, better than your average MP3s), which it outputs through a high-quality Benchmark digital-to-analog converter. I can flip through five versions of a Mahler symphony with a mouse click, and honestly find it a lot more convenient and often better-sounding than spinning vinyl on my Oracle turntable. Still—while I can now download high-resolution digital music from a company called HDtracks, the experience doesn't begin to compare with shopping at Serenade Records in Washington, a music emporium owned by a pair of brothers from Turkey who knew everything there was to know about historical recordings of classical music. When they retired and Serenade closed, my quality of life took a nose dive. Don't believe the marketing hype of the techie types who tell you that newer is always better. Sometimes in technology, as in politics, we regress. This point will be brought home to lots of people when their hard disks crash and they find they've lost all of their photos of baby Tiffany forever. Photos of my children, by contrast, are safely stored in the closet in boxes of Kodachrome slides. —Mr. Fukuyama is a senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University and author of "The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution" (forthcoming from Farrar, Straus & Giroux). Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703529004576160300649048270.html#ixzz1GAo98hD7 From chintan.backups at gmail.com Thu Mar 10 12:18:02 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2011 12:18:02 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?Court_clears_way_for_release_of_Sh?= =?windows-1252?q?abnam_Virmani=27s_=91Had_Anhad=92?= Message-ID: >From http://www.pravasitoday.com/court-clears-way-for-release-of-had-anhad Court clears way for release of ‘Had Anhad’ The Delhi High Court Wednesday paved the way for the release of a 100-minute documentary film “Had Anhad”, based on poet Kabir, asking the censor board to give it appropriate certification. The court also told the central government to pay Rs 10,000 as litigation costs to the film maker. Praising the hard work of makers of “Had Anhad”, Justice S. Muralidhar said: “Consequently, the impugned orders dated May 28, 2010 of the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) and the order of Nov 5, 2009 of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) are hereby set aside.” “The film ‘Had Anhad’ will forthwith be granted a ‘V/U’ certificate of unrestricted viewing by the CBFC without any of the excisions directed in terms of the impugned orders of the CBFC and the FCAT. The writ petition is allowed with costs of Rs.10,000 which will be paid by Union of India to the petitioner within four weeks,” said the court. The court was hearing the petition filed by Srishti school of art, design and technology that had challenged the order of the FCAT upholding three of the four excisions ordered by the CBFC while granting the film a “V/U” Certificate. The documentary demonstrates how the barriers of regions, borders, languages, religions, nationalities and nations melt away in Kabir’s universal message of love and compassion. “A viewer who stays to see the film till its end is unlikely to be left feeling hateful or vengeful towards any religion or community. The viewer might be impelled to contemplate on the futility of bigotry and violence,” said the court. The film is part of the Kabir Project, which was started in 2003 by award-winning film-maker Shabnam Virmani. The project brings together the experiences of a series of journeys in quest of this 15th century mystic poet in our contemporary world. It provides an insight into Kabir’s poetry, capturing its intensity primarily through enthralling music. Journeys to central and western India and across the border to Pakistan reveal an interesting tale. The film opens a door to the world of Kabir, through the public and private lives of folk singers of central India, Rajasthan and Pakistan. From chintan.backups at gmail.com Thu Mar 10 12:18:30 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2011 12:18:30 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?Court_clears_way_for_release_of_Sh?= =?windows-1252?q?abnam_Virmani=27s_=91Had_Anhad=92?= In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: To read a copy of the High Court judgement, check http://lobis.nic.in/dhc/SM D/judgement/09-03-2011/SMD09032011CW68062010.pdf On Thu, Mar 10, 2011 at 12:18 PM, Chintan Girish Modi < chintan.backups at gmail.com> wrote: > From http://www.pravasitoday.com/court-clears-way-for-release-of-had-anhad > > Court clears way for release of ‘Had Anhad’ > > The Delhi High Court Wednesday paved the way for the release of a > 100-minute documentary film “Had Anhad”, based on poet Kabir, asking the > censor board to give it appropriate certification. The court also told the > central government to pay Rs 10,000 as litigation costs to the film maker. > > Praising the hard work of makers of “Had Anhad”, Justice S. Muralidhar > said: “Consequently, the impugned orders dated May 28, 2010 of the Film > Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) and the order of Nov 5, 2009 of the > Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) are hereby set aside.” > > “The film ‘Had Anhad’ will forthwith be granted a ‘V/U’ certificate of > unrestricted viewing by the CBFC without any of the excisions directed in > terms of the impugned orders of the CBFC and the FCAT. The writ petition is > allowed with costs of Rs.10,000 which will be paid by Union of India to the > petitioner within four weeks,” said the court. > > The court was hearing the petition filed by Srishti school of art, design > and technology that had challenged the order of the FCAT upholding three of > the four excisions ordered by the CBFC while granting the film a “V/U” > Certificate. > > The documentary demonstrates how the barriers of regions, borders, > languages, religions, nationalities and nations melt away in Kabir’s > universal message of love and compassion. > > “A viewer who stays to see the film till its end is unlikely to be left > feeling hateful or vengeful towards any religion or community. The viewer > might be impelled to contemplate on the futility of bigotry and violence,” > said the court. > > The film is part of the Kabir Project, which was started in 2003 by > award-winning film-maker Shabnam Virmani. > > The project brings together the experiences of a series of journeys in > quest of this 15th century mystic poet in our contemporary world. > > It provides an insight into Kabir’s poetry, capturing its intensity > primarily through enthralling music. Journeys to central and western India > and across the border to Pakistan reveal an interesting tale. > > The film opens a door to the world of Kabir, through the public and private > lives of folk singers of central India, Rajasthan and Pakistan. > From the-network at koeln.de Thu Mar 10 13:46:54 2011 From: the-network at koeln.de (CologneOFF2011) Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2011 09:16:54 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] =?iso-8859-1?q?CologneOFF_2011=3A_Focus_in_March_--?= =?iso-8859-1?q?=3E_Germany_and_Austria?= Message-ID: <20110310091655.F9748456.CE3B71B3@192.168.0.4> CologneOFF 2011 - videoart in a global context nomadic festival project 1 January - 31 December 2011 http://coff.newmediafest.org ---------------------------------------------- CologneOFF 2011 in March is marked by two outstanding screening events CologneOFF 2011 UKRAINE - 14-20 March - in Kiev and Kharkiv http://downloads.nmartproject.net/CologneOFF2011_UKRAINE.pdf - and CologneOFF 2011 ARAD - 31 March - 2 April 2011 at Art Museum of Arad (Romania) http://downloads.nmartproject.net/CologneOFF2011_ARAD.pdf In March 2011, the geographic focus is directed on Germany and Austria featuring online and in solo screenings in Kiev and Kharkiv --> Videoartist of the Month March 2011, the Cologne based Johanna Reich, born in Minden/Germany, Johanna Reich lives and works currently in Cologne, after her studies at Academy of Fine Arts Muenster , Academy of Fine Arts in Hamburg (HfbK Hamburg)and Academy of Media Arts Cologne, Germany. She participates in all major festivals and received prestigeous prizes and awards. Her video work is visualizing artistic processes via the moving images in a very origial way. Her solo feature can be acessed directly via http://www.newmediafest.org & http://vad.nmartproject.net/?p=2288 The second German feature to be screened in Kiev and Kharkiv is entitled "Enigmatic" including videos by Daniel Lo iocono, Alfred Banze, Boris Eldagsen, Philipp Matousek, The Ebert Brothers & Ascan Breuer. More videoart from Germany on http://videochannel.newmediafest.org/2009/german-index.html The Austrian part of CologneOFF March 2011 consists of sceeening programs contributed by MACHFELD (Vienna) presenting Austrian videoart http://coff.newmediafest.org/blog/?page_id=911 featuring videos by Eva Ursprung, Florian Kmet, Birgit Graschopf Christoph Freidhöfer, Karin Fisslthaler, Thomas Fürhapter Philipp Hauss, elffried interdisziplinäre aufzeichnensysteme Johann Lurf, Eva Brunner-Szabo , Hans Nevídal, Joel Curtz , Martin Krenn, Gerald Zahn to be screened at Arad Art Museum on 2 April 2011 & Evelin Stermitz curating "Contextual Face" - a selection from a feminist point of view. http://coff.newmediafest.org/blog/?page_id=803 featuring videos by Duba Sambolec, Michelle Handelman (USA Evelin Stermitz (Austria) , Ana Grobler (Slovenia) Liana Zanfrisco (Italy), Kika Nicolela (Brazil) Vesna Bukovec (Slovenia), Alison Williams (South Africa) Angelika Rinnhofer (Germany, Grace Graupe Pillard (USA) Dominique Buchtala (Germany) to be presented at Kharkiv City Art Gallery on 18 March 2011. CologneOFF 2011 UKRAINE - 14-20 March 2011 http://coff.newmediafest.org/blog/?page_id=924 is a collaboration between Cologne International Videoart Festival, artvideoKOEL , Le Musee di-visioniste - the new museum of networked art and Goethe Institute Ukraine Kiev, CCA - Center for Contemporary Art Foundation Kiev, MediaArt Lab Kiev, Kharkiv City Art Gallery, Nuremberg House Kharkiv and Kharkiv National University. CologneOFF ARAD - 31 March - 2 April 2011 http://coff.newmediafest.org/blog/?p=953 is a collaboration between Cologne International Videoart Festival, artvideoKOELN, Le Musee -divisioniste - the new museum of networked art and ARAD Art Museum & Kinema Ikon Arad (Romania) curated by Calin Man - Arad Art Museum ------------------------------------------------- CologneOFF 2011 - videoart in a global context nomadic festival project 1 January - 31 December 2011 http:// coff.newmediafest.org is a media art project context desiged, curated, coordinated and directed by Agricola de Cologne, the only true encoded and virtual artist & new media curator http://www.agricola-de-cologne.de 2011 (at) newmediafest.org ------------------------------------------------- From downdiown at gmx.com Fri Mar 4 02:05:44 2011 From: downdiown at gmx.com (downdiown at gmx.com) Date: Thu, 03 Mar 2011 20:35:44 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] =?utf-8?q?12-13_March=3A_A_Weekend_of_Ideas_and_Mak?= =?utf-8?q?ing_for_26_March_TUC_Demo=E2=80=A6?= Message-ID: <20110303203544.214590@gmx.com> Please publicise this event: *THE MARCH WEEKEND* *A weekend of new ideas, discussion and making in preparation for 26th March TUC demo…* Sat 12 – Sun 13 March, 11am – 7pm, ULU, Malet St., London WC1 (Russell Sq.tube)* /Arts Against Cuts /are hosting a weekend of collaborative action and discussion focusing on the upcoming 26th March demo. The event is a two-day collective exercise in creative resistance against /all /public sector cuts. *The weekend is free. We want to make sure as best as we can that this is a child friendly space. We are working with a broad range of groups including; A.I.R, Artists of the Resistance, Battle of Britain, BECTU, Coalition of Resistance, Feminist Fightback, Laboratory of Insurrectionary Imagination, Precarious Workers Brigade, Resist26.org, Space Hijackers, UKUncut, University of Strategic Optimism and many others. Check the website for the programme and more details: http://artsagainstcuts.wordpress.com/ http://artsagainstcuts.wordpress.com/%20%20%20 email: artsagainstcuts at gmail.com (seehttp://www.resist26.org/ for other ideas and events for enlivening the March 26 demo.) From rohitrellan at aol.in Fri Mar 11 10:13:05 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2011 23:43:05 -0500 Subject: [Reader-list] An evening of brilliant English Comedy by some of the best comedians in Delhi. Message-ID: <8CDADBDF270024A-1FF8-15473@webmail-d063.sysops.aol.com> Comedy for a Cause: PROTSAHAN FUNDRAISER for Street Kids March 11, 2011 Cafe Morrison, South Extension – II, New Delhi, India What your presence at the fundraiser will mean for some little children, you don’t know about. Meet 8 year old Sony from Protsahan. She loves to laugh. Well..unlike most of us. Within 6 months of starting to read & write, she has written a letter to me. A beautiful letter, that says…well.. read it for urself. [in the slideshow above] She is weaving a life and is starting to dream about it. She understands alphabets and knows what will they create once they string up together. She knows how to express. Honestly, how many of us, do? She might be ordering me to get married (oops!), but somewhere the little child in her is scared, that what will happen, once I go away. Will Protsahan go away too? She might be too little to understand that Protsahan has become a movement now, and that our team at Delhi, is trying our level best to get the fundraiser in place, to collect funds for children like her. Should we let that dream die? Or may be water it a little, so that more Soni’s can grow, EDUCATED..AWARE & AS GIRLS WHO WILL NOT BE EXPLOITED ANYMORE. WE NEED YOU TO MAKE THIS FUNDRAISER SUCCESSFUL. JOIN US/ BLOG/ TWEET/ SHARE IT ACROSS YOUR FACEBOOK WALLS, spread the word, anyway you can. It will all add up to the ocean’s entirety. We invite you for an evening of brilliant English Comedy by some of the best comedians in Delhi. There’ll be an entry cover charge of Rs 250/ person against which you get a complimentary beer/IMFL drink. This cover charge will help us raise funds for our Educating India project. We want to see you there for a lovely evening, with all of your friends. Plan your long pending reunion with Protsahan’s comedy night this 11th. You might just be giving yourself the best evening of your life! Will you join us for a comedy night in Delhi on March 11th, this Friday? RSVP here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=166285950089425 - Sonal Kapoor Founder Director/ Volunteer Protsahan India Foundation www.protsahanindiafoundation.org From chintan.backups at gmail.com Fri Mar 11 12:11:44 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Fri, 11 Mar 2011 12:11:44 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Author Philip Pullman lays down moral challenge for writers Message-ID: From http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2002/aug/12/books.humanities?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487 *Pullman lays down moral challenge for writers*By Angelique Chrisafis, arts correspondent The Guardian, Monday 12 August 2002 11.58 BST With the death of organised religion, British writers have a new moral burden. Philip Pullman, the award-winning children's author, yesterday urged writers to tackle the great moral issues of life and death or risk becoming trivial and unreadable. Pullman, 55, won this year's Whitbread book award for the final instalment of the His Dark Materials trilogy, in which he created a parallel universe ruled by a senile, viciously sadistic deity who has to be deposed in battle so the inhabitants can join with angels in creating a "republic of heaven". The Catholic Herald called his books "the stuff of nightmares" and "worthy of the bonfire". Another critic cautioned: "Christian parents beware." Pullman, who writes for children but shuns the category, "children's author", is only outsold by JK Rowling's Harry Potter series and has a vast adult readership. Keen to tackle received ideas on religion, he recently called CS Lewis's highly Christian Narnia books "blatantly racist" and "monumentally disparaging of children". Such is his hatred of domineering, organised religion, he has become something of an evangelical atheist. During a debate on morality in fiction at the Edinburgh international books festival at the weekend, Pullman warned that in the climate of threatened attacks on Iraq and the crisis in the Middle East, we live in a Godless and uncertain age, and unless writers wrestled with the larger questions of moral conduct, they would become useless and irrelevant. The author, who writes from his garden shed, said he did not like to be called a fantasy writer because fantasy was a disappointment. "It is not that I don't like fantasy, I don't like what it does. Fantasy, and fiction in general, is failing to do what it might be doing. It has unlimited potential to explore all sorts of metaphysical and moral questions, but it is not ... My quarrel with fantasy writing is that it is such a rich seam to be mined, such a versatile mode, that is not always being used to explore bigger ideas." Fiction must return to carrying a "moral punch", unless literature is to become petty and worthless. This meant examining issues of good and evil, power, death, paradise and hell. If a book did not deal with death, "to me it is trivial". Citing Jane Austen's Emma as a masterpiece of the literary examination of morality, Pullman said: "Try as hard as you can, you can't leave out morality from a book. Everything we do, however small, has consequences. The greatest fiction always has a sequence of actions followed by reactions, followed by consequences. "You can't leave morality out unless your work is so stupid and trivial and so worthless that [nobody] would want to read it anyway." Pullman, whose grandfather was an Anglican priest, and who stopped believing in God as a teenager, said: "I am all for the death of God." But his real bugbear was with the "propensity of human nature" to use politics or religion to set up one unquestionable truth - "it could be the Bible, it could be the Communist Manifesto" - and to then knock down all that went against it. "This is what I am against. Not Christianity, but every religion and fundamental organisation where there is one truth and they will kill you if you don't believe it." Pullman has previously warned that the English literary novel - since the deaths of William Golding and Graham Greene - has been too queasy about tackling issues of moral conduct and life and death, leaving the work to children's fiction. Richard Holloway, the former bishop of Edinburgh, and once considered Britain's most controversial church leader, appeared with Pullman to debate fiction's role in the discussion of good and evil. He said politicians were abusing their power to create hellish scenarios on earth and it was right for novelists to explore the concepts of death, hell and the afterlife. He said: "In the Middle East, we are delivering each other to hell. If President Bush unleashes hell on Iraq in the next weeks, it will tell us something about human nature's capacity for monstrous wrongs. Hell is our own creation. If we are not careful, we will allow our brothers to deliver hell on earth to us." Speaking later at the festival, the author Fay Weldon said younger readers no longer needed the black and white moral bounds that were imposed on their parents. "Children today know they are not in the safe environment that all children's books used to be." * Will, hero of The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman, talks to an angel called Baruch* "And what happens in the world of the dead?" Will went on. "It's impossible to say," said Baruch. "Everything about it is secret. Even the churches don't know; they tell their believers that they'll live in Heaven, but that's a lie. If people really knew ..." "And my father's ghost has gone there." "Without a doubt, and so have the countless millions who died before him." Will found his imagination trembling. From chintan.backups at gmail.com Fri Mar 11 14:05:18 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Fri, 11 Mar 2011 14:05:18 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] A book introducing kids to "a food culture outside urban consumerist lifestyles" Message-ID: >From *http://timeoutbengaluru.net/kids/kids_preview_details.asp?code=129* A young designer is attempting to get kids to think about the food they eat, finds *Priya George.* Mahua Mukherjee still remembers the first time her five-year-old son Antariksh saw potatoes growing in the ground. The family was at a resort in Hessarghatta when they came across a vegetable patch, and from Antariksh’s reaction, Mukherjee realised that the idea of a potato in its natural environment was utterly alien to her son. “He kept telling us that potatoes come from supermarkets and not the ground,” she said. “He was really confused, and was not able to make the connection between food, its source and agriculture.” Not long after this incident, Mukherjee was sought out by Pushpi Bagchi, then a student at the Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, who was working on a thesis project about children and their relationship with the food they eat. As part of her research, Bagchi was meeting and talking to parents like Mukherjee, who were concerned about the lack of such a relationship. Bagchi’s thesis finally took the form of a book titled *A Garrulous Gastronaut’s Guide*, which attempts to educate kids about a food culture outside urban consumerist lifestyles. “I wanted to design a product that would get kids and their parents to re-evaluate their food choices, food habits and consumption patterns,” Bagchi said. Bagchi first began thinking about the project when she noticed that her young cousins, aged between four and six years, had very little respect for food, and that they usually got whatever they demanded, which was usually processed food. She soon began to develop her idea for a book which would aim to encourage both parents and children to appreciate food more holistically. “There’s more value to food than the money spent on it,” said Bagchi. “It’s important to keep in mind that a farmer has grown it over time and with effort, and that it has been transported to several places before finally reaching one’s table.” The book’s protagonist is six-year-old Cheeku, who starts off wanting to be an explorer. Since he loves eating, he is guided by his grandfather into an exploration of food. As a first step, they go out into their garden, where Cheeku learns how to plant seeds. The narrative that follows is a lively mix of storytelling and information with each section attempting to deepen the reader’s understanding of food. In the course of his explorations, Cheeku encounters concepts such as recycling, farmers’ markets and food miles, and by the end of it, he and his friends set up a Gastronaut’s Club, dedicated to the understanding of food. “I wanted to introduce ideas like food sustainability through a character who is a child, who is also learning these things for the first time, as opposed to somebody older teaching the principles,” Bagchi said. Bagchi’s efforts are not limited to merely producing the book, however. Since completing work on it, she has been assessing reactions to it by giving it to parents, as well as by holding readings (at Mallya Aditi International School). The response has been encouraging. Mukherjee, one of the parents to whom Bagchi gave a copy of the book, said she left it lying around in her home, and that her son picked it up and was soon absorbed in it. As for the readings at the school, their success is perhaps best evinced in the fact that in some of the interactions that followed, children asked Bagchi where the nearest farmers’ market was. Bagchi aims to sell the book at places like Namdhari and Mother Earth – stores that believe in organic and sustainable living principles. She also plans on going to schools to do book readings, and is holding activity classes which get children involved in the activities that Cheeku undertakes in the story. “I plan on organising events like a planting party, where kids can sow seeds together,” said Bagchi. “I also want to organise what I call a tasting club for children, where they can learn to cook with only fresh, local or organic produce.” *Source : Time Out Bengaluru VOL. 3 ISSUE 16, February 18 -March 3 2011.* From nagraj.adve at gmail.com Fri Mar 11 16:21:37 2011 From: nagraj.adve at gmail.com (Nagraj Adve) Date: Fri, 11 Mar 2011 16:21:37 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] request re organizations/ individuals working on urban food production Message-ID: Dear Dipu, Jeebesh, Shudda, Lalit, others, We are planning a meeting on urban food production next Thursday (please see the invite below). We are also trying to contact organizations or individuals who may be working/ engaged with the issue in any way. Would any of you or anyone on this list know of any such, and contact details? If so, please email me urgently. Hope to see you at the meeting. warmly, Naga DELHI PLATFORM invites you to a discussion on FOOD SECURITY, PEAK OIL AND URBAN AGRICULTURE Access of the poor in India to the most basic foods has deteriorated in recent months. This is due to a sharp rise in the prices of dals, rice and wheat, because of a combination of commodity speculation, hoarding, rising crude oil prices, and climate change induced weather disruptions. An extraordinarily high proportion of rural and urban poor faces serious food insecurity. Peak oil – the plateauing and then decline of crude oil production, worldwide – will sharply worsen the situation, as even in India agriculture is getting increasingly dependent on fossil fuels, used in agricultural inputs, in diesel for pumps and in transporting food to cities. Some experts believe that production of conventional crude oils has already peaked worldwide. It is becoming increasingly essential for communities in urban areas to come together to engage in urban agriculture, particularly urban food production. This is however linked to a range of equity issues in urban areas, particularly security of tenure and housing for the poor, and equitable access to water. To discuss the various facets of urban food production – what is feasible, what needs to be done, the remarkable Cuban experience with urban agriculture since the early 1990s, etc, Delhi Platform is organizing this discussion with T. Vijayendra of Hyderabad Platform. Vijayendra is also part of a small collective that has been practising alternative agriculture in Nakre Village, in South Karnataka. This meeting is part of a series of discussions that we have been organizing on issues related to global warming. Past meetings have been on Water; Energy; Coal and its social costs, and most recently on Nuclear Energy and People’s Struggles. The key aims of these discussion meetings are to promote deeper understanding of and engagement with these issues and struggles around them. We urge discussion at such meetings. Do attend and also tell other interested people. Date: 17 March (Thursday) Venue: 196, SFS Hauz Khas, Aurobindo Marg (Focus office) (nearest Metro: Green Park) Time: 5.30-8 pm Delhi Platform For any further information, please contact us at the following numbers: 9213763756 (Soumya Dutta), 9818065092 (Kiran Shaheen), or 9910476553 (Nagraj Adve) From yasir.media at gmail.com Fri Mar 11 18:02:04 2011 From: yasir.media at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?B?IHlhc2lyIH7ZitinINiz2LE=?=) Date: Fri, 11 Mar 2011 17:32:04 +0500 Subject: [Reader-list] Pakistan: Not quite a 'deathly silence' In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Murder of Shahbaz Bhatti, Minister for Minorities Murder of Salmaan Taseer, Governor Punjab Blasphemy Laws From: beena sarwar Posted to my blog with a photo of one of the rallies in Hyderabad - Email to Gwynne Dyer, March 10, 2011: Dear Mr Dyer: Regarding your article ‘Deathly Silence Prevails in Pakistan’ published in several newspapers and reproduced by NewAgeIslam website ( http://bit.ly/h3QzeT) where I saw it - you make some valid comments but to say that there is a deathly silence is untrue and unfair. Many people in Pakistan have been raising a voice, fighting for their rights and against vigilante violence and unjust laws even before the murder of Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer. The murder of Federal Minister Shahbaz Bhatti was a huge blow, but they are still speaking out. Here are some instances: Please visit the Citizens for Democracy (CFD) blog http://www.citizensfordemocracy.wordpress.com to get an idea of some of the public statements and rallies that have been made over the last two months. Also see this moving video of a rally in Lahore after Mr Bhatti’s murder http://youtu.be/77Rn9Mb9MGI - and this one in Islamabad- (BBC Urdu video report). There have been several public rallies for Shahbaz Bhatti around the country (some are mentioned in the CFD blog). A major Reference is being planned in his honour in Karachi on March 20 (CFD organised one for Salmaan Taseer also. The country’s most widely watched television channel, Geo TV broadcast a tribute to Shahbaz Bhatti - "Na Tera Khuda Koi Aur Hai, Na Mera Khuda Koi Aur Hai..." (which translates essentially to: ‘we have the same God’) - http://youtu.be/2mUHvRj87SM Hundreds of prominent people, as well as students, have endorsed an open letter about these murders – you can see the list at the CFD blog - http://bit.ly/gEo6n1. A mass public signature campaign aiming for thousands of signatures is starting on Saturday March 12 in Karachi (11.00 am-7.00 pm opposite Park Towers. People are requested to bring some postage stamps and lots of friends). To dismiss all these voices, people coming out in public at the risk of their lives, as 'deathly silence' and to say that Sherry Rehman is the 'last woman standing' is to do a grave injustice to all those who are coming out in public and speaking up. Sincerely Beena Sarwar p.s. Forgot to add this: In addition, please see Gawaahi.com (Witness) which is also compiling voices speaking out; Naveen Naqvi's latest post:Your silence can mean more murders - http://bit.ly/e9L4AU __._,_.___ Reply to sender| Reply to group| Reply via web post| Start a New Topic Messages in this topic( 1) Recent Activity: - New Photos 1 Visit Your Group [image: Yahoo! Groups] Switch to: Text-Only, Daily Digest• Unsubscribe • Terms of Use . __,_._,___ From a at 3kta.net Sat Mar 12 05:02:08 2011 From: a at 3kta.net (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Andr=E9_Rangel?=) Date: Fri, 11 Mar 2011 23:32:08 +0000 Subject: [Reader-list] SyndynConcept Message-ID: <244048B3-3C4C-40C9-B4F7-9C6EA4EBAF1E@3kta.net> Hi, We published Syndyn yesterday. Audiovisual report from proof of concept is accessible at http://syndyn.net Report: http://3kta.net/syndyn Video report: http://vimeo.com/20859799 Image Gallery: http://3kta.net/syndyn/gallery.html Greetings,  ANDRÉ RANGEL Scholarship Fellow FCT, 2009 Science and Technology of Art Researcher, UCP 2008 PhD Student, UCP 2008 MFA, UCP 2002 http://andrerangel.pt ........................................................................ ...... Guest Assistant FBAUP - University of Porto, School of Arts http://fba.up.pt/ ........................................................................ ...... Art Director - 3kta Custom Software and Intermedia Concepts http://3kta.net ........................................................................ ...... From a.mani.cms at gmail.com Sat Mar 12 20:08:09 2011 From: a.mani.cms at gmail.com (A. Mani) Date: Sat, 12 Mar 2011 20:08:09 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Farmer Suicide -near Mandya - Driven by the Budget In-Reply-To: <272333.21886.qm@web94713.mail.in2.yahoo.com> References: <272333.21886.qm@web94713.mail.in2.yahoo.com> Message-ID: ___________ Forwarded message ________________ From: Senthil S Date: Thu, Mar 10, 2011 at 5:20 AM Subject: [Pragoti] Farmer Suicide -near Mandya - Driven by the Budget To: pragoti at yahoogroups.com local media is covering it..but no news really in bangalore. see background in : http://farmer-suicide-and-it.wikispaces.com/ if anybody can help pushing the issue forward please let us know. a team is visiting the family on friday and should have a report. Update : A reporter visited the family yesterday. this is what i hear 1) The family apparently committed suicide just for 80,000 Rs( 120 000 Rs with interest) 2) Only routine visit by some official 3) No compensation 4) More sad and horrible - the people are resigning that this is a fact of life around the village are considering compensation to a matter of luck and fate. _____________________________________________________ Best A. Mani -- A. Mani ASL, CLC,  AMS, CMS http://www.logicamani.co.cc From chandan at sarai.net Sat Mar 12 23:31:24 2011 From: chandan at sarai.net (chandan at sarai.net) Date: Sat, 12 Mar 2011 23:31:24 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fw: Fwd: Programme Message-ID: <3883d4caca7a0e24fa053cd24a4c32a2@mail.sarai.net> Original Message ---------------- Subject: Fwd: Programme From: rachna mehra Date: Sat, 12 Mar 2011 16:30:46 +0530 ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: JANAKI NAIR Date: Wed, Mar 9, 2011 at 11:42 AM Subject: Programme To: anupama prasad , rachna mehra , preeti rani , yagyaseni bareth , khekali zhimo , Divya Kannan , sourav mahanta Links: ------ [1] mailto:vadasserijanaki at gmail.com [2] mailto:anupama19852008 at gmail.com [3] mailto:rachu.mehra at gmail.com [4] mailto:preeti1286 at gmail.com [5] mailto:yagyaseni07 at yahoo.co.in [6] mailto:khekali23 at gmail.com [7] mailto:divya2423 at gmail.com [8] mailto:sourav.mahanta18 at gmail.com -------------- next part -------------- An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: message_1.1.txt URL: From chandan at sarai.net Sat Mar 12 23:34:07 2011 From: chandan at sarai.net (chandan at sarai.net) Date: Sat, 12 Mar 2011 23:34:07 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fw: Fwd: Programme Message-ID: <38000825c2606d1ab344b36333ba4fef@mail.sarai.net> Original Message ---------------- Subject: Fwd: Programme From: rachna mehra Date: Sat, 12 Mar 2011 16:30:46 +0530 ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: JANAKI NAIR Date: Wed, Mar 9, 2011 at 11:42 AM Subject: Programme To: anupama prasad , rachna mehra , preeti rani , yagyaseni bareth , khekali zhimo , Divya Kannan , sourav mahanta Links: ------ [1] mailto:vadasserijanaki at gmail.com [2] mailto:anupama19852008 at gmail.com [3] mailto:rachu.mehra at gmail.com [4] mailto:preeti1286 at gmail.com [5] mailto:yagyaseni07 at yahoo.co.in [6] mailto:khekali23 at gmail.com [7] mailto:divya2423 at gmail.com [8] mailto:sourav.mahanta18 at gmail.com -------------- next part -------------- An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: message_1.1.txt URL: From chandan at sarai.net Sat Mar 12 23:42:16 2011 From: chandan at sarai.net (chandan at sarai.net) Date: Sat, 12 Mar 2011 23:42:16 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] For : Programme Message-ID: <57036245ee133893d2bd39ef7576fdd2@mail.sarai.net> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: JANAKI NAIR Date: Wed, Mar 9, 2011 at 11:42 AM Subject: Programme To: anupama prasad , rachna mehra , preeti rani , yagyaseni bareth , khekali zhimo , Divya Kannan , sourav mahanta From rohitrellan at aol.in Sun Mar 13 21:09:04 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Sun, 13 Mar 2011 11:39:04 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] Call for Entry - 6th Biennial CMS VATAVARAN - Environment and Wildlife Film Festival In-Reply-To: References: <37e28408111d503015d11ed854ab4f86@s2.hansindia.co.in> Message-ID: <8CDAFABEAC032B3-1CC4-476E8@webmail-d098.sysops.aol.com> Dear EnvironmentalEnthusiast,                                                    Greetings from CMS Environment!   The Call for Entry for the 6thbiennial edition of CMS VATAVARAN ? Environment and WildlifeFilm Festival is ON till May 31, 2011. Please send yourentry before this date to become part of the festival. Thefestival will be organised in New Delhi, INDIA, from December06-10, 2011.   You may submit your film onenvironmental issues, made on or after January 1, 2009, online by visiting our website www.cmsvatavaran,org or http://www.withoutabox.com/login/5855. Click here to download the form.   HIGHLIGHTS OF CMSVATAVARAN 2011 ?         Total prize money:INR 15,00,000 ?        Prize money ranging from: INR 50,000-INR 150,000 ?        Sixteen Indian Awards in 10 categories ?        Eleven International Awards in 10 categories ?        Travel and accommodation support to all nominated Indian filmmakers ?        Accommodation support to all nominated international filmmakers   ABOUT THE ORGANISERS CMS VATAVARAN is a visionary initiativeof CMS, a Delhi-based, nationally-functioning independentmultidisciplinary organization, engaged for the past two decades in research, policy advocacy, advisory services and programme evaluation in the domain of environment, social issues, public health, governance, development communications and transparency.   MORE ABOUT US CMS VATAVARAN, today, is considered aprestigious international green film fest in India. The festival follows the format of being competitive one year and travelling the next. The 5th edition of the festival, held in 2009, attracted 366 entries from 20 Indian states and 23 foreign countries. The year 2010 was a travelling year in which the festival reached out to 75,000 people across eight cities in India at 82 venues.   WHY PARTICIPATE Win awards. Let your green film travelfar and wide and make an impact through screenings at engrossing travelling film festivals, theaters and multiplexes, legislatures, via telecast on prime channels, and be an environmental education tool in universities, colleges, institutions and schools and civil society groups.   We look forward to receiving yourentries and your overwhelming participation.   For submissions related enquiry, pleasefeel free to contact me.   Thanking you   Sundeep Srivastav CMS VATAVARAN RESEARCH HOUSE Saket Community Centre, New Delhi 110017 INDIA P: 91-11-2499 597, 2652 2244; F:91-11-2696 8282 M: 098999 79169 submission at cmsvatavaran.org www.cmsvatavaran.org         From nagraj.adve at gmail.com Mon Mar 14 08:50:42 2011 From: nagraj.adve at gmail.com (Nagraj Adve) Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2011 08:50:42 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] TODAY: CNDP- Press conference invitation Message-ID: >From Praful. Naga On 13 March 2011 14:21, CNDP CNDP wrote: > > The Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP) > > invites you to a > > > > Press Conference > > 14 March, 2011 (Monday), from 3 pm onwards > > > > On the > > Fukushima Nuclear Plant Crisis in Japan and its Implications for India > > > > At > > Press Club of India, > > 1, Raisina Road, New Delhi-110001 > > > > The interactive conference will be initiated by physicist Suvrat Raju, independent nuclear analyst Praful Bidwai, and CNDP’s Wilfred D’Costa > > > > > > Anil Chaudhary > > > -- > Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP) > > A 124/6 Katwaria Sarai, New Delhi-16 > > Telefax: 011-26517814, 65663958, E-mail: cndpindia at gmail.com > > Web : www.cndpindia.org > > From rohitrellan at aol.in Mon Mar 14 10:25:08 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2011 00:55:08 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] =?utf-8?q?THE_1_ST__ANNUAL_SLR_=E2=80=93_SAGE_ESSAY?= =?utf-8?q?_COMPETITION?= Message-ID: <8CDB01B204A7418-2280-4A460@webmail-d138.sysops.aol.com> Socio-Legal Review (SLR), the inter-disciplinary, peer-reviewed and student edited journal published by the National Law School of India University (NLSIU) and Sage Publications, the independent international publisher of books, journal and international media, proudly announce: THE 1ST ANNUAL SLR – SAGE ESSAY COMPETITION TOPICS Participants have to write the essay on any one of the following: 1. John Milbank argues that, "Liberal principles will always ensure that the rights of the individual override those of the group.” For this reason, he concludes, “liberalism cannot defend corporate religious freedom.” Discuss the 2010 Babri Masjid verdict in light of this statement. 2. The Bhopal Gas Tragedy: On Whether and How the Indian Companies Act, 1956 can be used to make a case for imposing social responsibility on corporations? 3. Are Whistleblowers the New Age Journalists? Critique in Light of WikiLeaks. PRIZES First Prize: 10000 INR Second Prize: 5000 INR Third Prize: 2500 INR All three essays will be published on SLR’s website: www.sociolegalreview.in. SUBMISSION DETAILS 1.Submissions should be sent as soft copies to "essay at sociolegalreview.in " in .doc or docx format only. Please state your name and contact information, including your university and year of study,on a separate page and not in the text of the essay. The title of the mail should be “Essay Submission 2011”. The deadline for submissions is 1st April, 2011. 2. The length of the essay should be between 2500 and 3000 words. 3. Any clarifications should be sent with the title “Essay Competition Query” to essay @sociolegalreview.in. Joint submissions are not permitted. 4. The competition is open to any student anywhere in the world pursuing an undergraduate degree during the course of this event. It is open to students from all streams, including law. From rohitrellan at aol.in Mon Mar 14 15:25:33 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2011 05:55:33 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] =?utf-8?q?FICCI_Frames_2011=2CMarch_23-25_2011=2CMu?= =?utf-8?q?mbai_/__80th_Anniversary_of_Indian_Talkies/The_YouTube_Creator_?= =?utf-8?q?Institute=E2=80=99s_inaugural_class?= Message-ID: <8CDB045188316C7-2280-4C163@webmail-d138.sysops.aol.com> ABOUT FICCI FRAMES CONVENTION FRAMES is a three day global convention covering the entire gamut of Media & Entertainment like Films, Broadcast (TV & Radio), Digital Entertainment, Animation, Gaming, Visual Effects, etc. with nearly 2000 Indian and 800 foreign delegates encompassing the entire universe of media and entertainment expected to attend the event. In the past, FRAMES has been addressed by eminent personalities such as - Paolo Gentiloni Silveri, Hon'ble Minister of Communications, Government of Italy, Phillip Graf, CBE, Deputy Chairman - OFCOM, Rt Hon'ble Tessa Jowell, Secretary of State, Government of UK; Dan Glickman, President & CEO, MPAA; Barrie Osborne, Producer Lord of the Rings-Triology; Tom Freston, President & CEO, Viacom; James Murdoch, Chairman, STAR Group; Michael Grindon, President, Sony Pictures International Television, Mark Zoradi, President, Buena Vista International; Andy Bird, President, Walt Disney International; Stewart Till, Chairman, United International Pictures; Sir Martin Sorrell, Chairman WPP group ; James Nicholas Gianopulos, Chairman & CEO, Fox Filmed Entertainment; Darren Childs, MD, BBC Worldwide and others. Highlights Focussed Sessions Renowned Speakers Structured One-on-One Business Meetings Technology Showcase Dedicated Exhibition Space BEST ANIMATED FRAMES (BAF) Awards Entertainment Evenings Creative Workshops Networking lunches and dinners & cocktails Country Specific delegations PROGRAMME Download E-Brochure with Programme: http://ficci-frames.com/e_brochure.pdf Major highlights of 2011 a) Roundtable on European Film Financing & Co Production A two hour in depth presentation , consultancy & analysis by Finance Consultant Juliane Schulze, Peacefulfish, Germany . The session will include detailed presentation on European markets (Treaties , EU funding , National & Regional Funding , Specialized Fund & Cash Rebates etc.) b) David Freeman Masterclass on Live Action Films & Animation i) The Secret Behind Pixar's Magic : The 11 techniques that make Pixar films successful. ii) The 6 Layers of a Great Film Character : This presentation contains precise techniques to make your characters unforgettable , realistic & emotinally layered . This can be used for Live Action also. c) FICCI - NASSCOM Game Developers Conference (GDC) on Day 3 (25th March 2011) : We are proud to present the first ever FICCI - NASSCOM Game Developers Conference as a part of Frames 2011 . This one day conference on Game development will include power packed CEO's panel discussion and tracks on game programming , design & art. ----------------------------------------------- 80th Anniversary of Indian Talkies Exactly at 5 pm on Saturday, the 14th March 1931 at Majestic Cinema  with the showing of ALAM ARA, Indian Talkies was born !   Let us remember with pride The pioneer of Talkie films in India KHAN BAHADUR ARDESHIR IRANI     Monday, the 14th March 2011 marks the 80th Anniversary of Talkies in India     Let's celebrate the 80th Anniversary of Indian Talkie Films (1931-2011) with retrospectives of films, directors, actors, studios and New Film waves (1970-1986). Also writing books, seminars and conferences, in Universities and Film Festivals in India and abroad. Film Critic  /  FIPRESCI (INDIA) Convener of Press Club Film Study Group Rafique Baghdadi A-Block, Floor 1 Khan Building Nawab Tank Bridge Mazagon Bombay 400 010. India. Tel: 91-22-23735367 Fax: 91-22-22883940 E-mail: rafiquebaghdadi at hotmail.com ------------------------------------------ The YouTube Creator Institute’s inaugural class People who create content for YouTube today come from all walks of life: aspiring filmmakers, moms with cooking shows, teenage gossip vloggers, fantasy football commentators, ironing skydivers—the list goes on and on. Very often, these dedicated YouTubers wear several hats at once: actor, writer, director, producer, cinematographer, studio head, and lead marketer—in other words, to get their videos to the world, they need to know how to do it all. But we figure there are people out there who’ve always wanted to express themselves through video, but may be limited by funding, video-making skills, insufficient tools, or just knowing where to start. That’s why today we’re establishing the YouTube Creator Institute - the first initiative from YouTube Next - to help nurture these content creators, existing YouTube partners, and the next generation of stellar YouTube talent with the skills they need to thrive online and offline. We’ve worked with some of the world’s leading film and television schools to put together the YouTube Creator Institute. Based both at YouTube and onsite at the campuses of our institutional partners, participants will learn from a unique new media curriculum, apply new media tools, find out how to build their audiences, be promoted globally on the YouTube platform, and engage with industry leaders and experts. Participants will learn everything from story arcing to cinematography, money-making strategies to social media tactics. The wider YouTube community will be able to learn along the way, too, by following the rise of the YouTube Creator Institute’s inaugural class on YouTube this summer. The inaugural YouTube Creator Institute programs begin in the United States in May this year. The University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts is the country’s first film school and regarded as one of the leading schools in the world, with an alumni base of industry leaders and an array of notable accolades. The YouTube-USC Creator Institute takes place from May 25 until June 22 in Los Angeles, CA. Columbia College Chicago’s Television Department has been innovating around new online media strategies for years, with students creating award-winning web-isodes while investigating new opportunities in the online space. The YouTube-Columbia College Chicago Creator Institute begins on May 31 and ends on July 22 in Chicago, IL. Any U.S. citizen over 18 is welcome to apply, and candidates may apply online at www.youtube.com/creatorinstitute from now until March 25. Applications include two short answer questions and a maximum two-minute demonstration of the creator’s craft, whether it be a short film, a clip of a personal cooking show, or a snapshot of a nature expedition. Afterwards, the YouTube community will vote for two weeks between March 28 and April 8 for their favorite creators. The top voted candidates will move on to the final round, where our film and television school partners will choose the inaugural class for each of their programs, which will be announced on April 20. Learn more about the application and judging criteria. Stay tuned for more YouTube Creator Institute and creator opportunities in the near future. From gora at sarai.net Mon Mar 14 21:21:55 2011 From: gora at sarai.net (Gora Mohanty) Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2011 21:21:55 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Why analog may still be better than digital In-Reply-To: <140542.81714.qm@web161201.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> References: <140542.81714.qm@web161201.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: Hi, Not to be snarky, but seems like a pretty run-of-the-mill Luddite diatribe against the technology du jour. Albeit from a famous name with a stellar record of understanding and prognostication :-) Why exactly should one care? Regards, Gora From jeebesh at sarai.net Tue Mar 15 12:21:39 2011 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh) Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2011 12:21:39 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Chernobyl 25 years later Message-ID: <7AB9DC84-3969-4C30-81C2-254B0F307D94@sarai.net> > http://totallycoolpix.com/2011/01/chernobyl-25-years-later/ In a strange coincidence i found this in my mailbox a few days before the tsunami in Japan sent by a friend who keeps looking at photographs of the world(s) in her free time. From prem.cnt at gmail.com Tue Mar 15 12:38:55 2011 From: prem.cnt at gmail.com (Prem Chandavarkar) Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2011 12:38:55 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Erasing Signatures From History In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Dear Jeebesh, You are right - both poignant and absurd, but perhaps more poignant than absurd. Connects to some thoughts buzzing in my head on the impulse to define modernity. When we seek to do so we lose sight of the original struggle to emancipate the autonomy of individual will and reduce modernity to spectacle. Perhaps we need to turn our attention to constructing inclusive spaces of engagement. Thom Williams wall is a space of engagement, whereas the clean walls the principal wants are spaces of spectacle. Regards, Prem On 4 March 2011 14:12, Jeebesh wrote: > There is something poignant and absurd in this report. it may unravel in > discussion. warmly jeebesh > > > MARCH 2, 2011 > Erasing Signatures From History > By JEFFREY ZASLOW > > http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703409904576174300274052230.html?mod=WSJINDIA_hpp_sections_lifestyle > In his 35 years as a high school English teacher in suburban Philadelphia, > Thom Williams often encouraged his students to splash their most creative > thoughts on the walls of his classroom. > > Hundreds of students embraced his invitation, covering those painted > cinderblocks with original art, quotes from favorite books, and deep > thoughts born from teenaged angst. > > "I looked to those walls for inspiration," says 18-year-old Lauren > Silvestri, a student of Mr. Williams's at Marple Newtown High School in > Newtown Square, Pa. Before graduating last year, she signed her name and a > quote she loves. "It felt good to know I'd come back someday and my words on > the wall would be there." > > Her words won't remain for long, however. Mr. Williams died of cancer in > December at age 63, and now the school is being renovated. That classroom's > walls are set to be demolished or painted over. "Thom was a free spirit who > encouraged his students to be free spirits," says Raymond McFall, the > school's principal. Still, "I can't have everybody painting on the walls of > the school." > > It is a human impulse to want to sign our names or scribble comments on the > walls of places that have meaning for us—from the Berlin Wall to the walls > of Graceland to the paneling in favorite bars. By tradition, actors sign > their names backstage in theaters where they've performed. Soldiers scratch > their marks in barracks before heading overseas. Athletes scribble their > names and jersey numbers in clubhouses. > > These messages left behind can feel sacred. Especially in our digital age, > when signing someone's Facebook "wall" feels so transitory, there's > something alluring about markings with more permanence. But what happens > when the buildings that house old autographs must be razed, or new owners > want the walls painted over, or school principals worry about the fine line > between creativity and graffiti? > > It's a delicate question, and many people these days are answering it > passionately—by rallying to save the signatures. > > About 2,000 people signed the walls of the Italian House Restaurant in > Janesville, Wis., over the past quarter-century. But in 2008, the restaurant > announced it was relocating to a building with more glass than solid walls. > After word spread that the signatures would be thrown away, radio hosts in > Janesville took to the airwaves to strategize with listeners about ways to > retain them. Suggestions included laminating the 35 fake-brick panels of > signatures onto tabletops at the new restaurant. > > "I saw that people felt an emotional bond with those walls," says Edmund > Halabi, the restaurant's owner, who found space to display 600 signatures at > his new location. > > In the building that housed the Air Force ROTC at the University of Texas > at Austin, visiting former prisoners of war from World War II and the > Vietnam War were asked to sign a special wall on the third floor. Last year, > after the building was scheduled to be demolished, ROTC cadets vowed to save > the signatures. That required slicing a 900-pound chunk of the exterior > wall, and using a crane to maneuver the slab three stories to the ground. It > will be imbedded in the drywall of the new ROTC building. > > "Preserving the autographs is part of our promise to all former POWs and > those missing in action," says Col. Christopher Bowman, the unit's > commanding officer. "We won't forget them." > > Civil War soldiers often signed their names at mustering sites before > heading off to fight. Countless signatures have been painted over. But on a > plaster wall at the courthouse in Gates County, N.C., you can still see > signatures dated June 12, 1861. One signer was 18-year-old John Gatling, who > survived the war and returned to the courthouse in 1915, at age 72, to speak > at a ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of the war's conclusion. > > "Those signatures are a momentary record, captured in time," says Josh > Howard, research historian with the North Carolina Office of Archives and > History. "If you touch their names, you're literally touching history." > > Some preservationists have come to see graffiti as a reminder of the human > spirit. At New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, the 82-foot-long Egyptian > Temple of Dendur dates to 15 B.C. From 10 B.C. to the mid-1800s, about 100 > people—Arab passersby, British explorers, Italian tourists—carved their > names on the temple. > > "We can't take it off. It's part of the temple's history," says Dorothea > Arnold, chairwoman of the Met's Department of Egyptian Art. > > People who sign their names—whether at ancient temples or in wet cement on > their back patios—are looking for a measure of immortality. But they can't > assume their signatures will outlast them. > > Joey Lawrence, 76, is now facing this reality. > > Starting in 1965, Mr. Lawrence asked every person who entered his home in > Hampton, Va., to sign the white-plaster wall in his sitting room. A retired > shipyard supervisor, he has collected more than 1,000 signatures—from > friends, TV repairmen, plumbers, even Jehovah's Witnesses who knocked on his > door. "Some were friends who are now dead, and others were just here for a > moment, like the postman or newspaper boy. But all of them were part of my > life," he says. > > When pro athletes came to town for appearances, Mr. Lawrence would show up > and ask them to drive to his house and sign. Some agreed to do it, including > baseball stars Brooks Robinson in 1982 and Bob Feller in 1986. > > Neighborhood kids would stop by asking to add their names. Some have > returned decades later to revisit their signatures. > > As Mr. Lawrence ages, he's aware that someday he'll die and the house will > be sold. He may instruct his heirs to lower the asking price if buyers agree > to keep the signatures. > > Mr. Williams, the English teacher who died, knew his students' heartfelt > wall musings would not last forever. He had arrived at the school in 1974 as > a bearded, long-haired 27-year-old, helping kids find meaning in Shakespeare > and the Beatles. He taught them haiku—the perfect short poetry for wall > graffiti. > > Inspired, 600 of his students filled his walls with Hamlet soliloquies, > Beatles lyrics and their own haiku. > > On his last day as a teacher, much older, with a white beard, Mr. Williams > finally signed the wall himself. "Go to your destiny," he wrote. "Goodbye." > > Since his death, former students have made a pilgrimage to the classroom to > visit their markings and pay their respects. They say that room was their > sanctuary. > > In 2007, her senior year, Laura Kopervos had scrawled an Albert Camus quote > under a window in the classroom: "In the depths of winter, I finally learned > that within me there lay an invincible summer." > > She'd often look out that window on ugly winter days, contemplating those > words. Understandably, she's sorry that her quote may soon be gone. "But > it's OK," she says. "If it's painted over, I'm going to write it somewhere > else." > > > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From chintan.backups at gmail.com Tue Mar 15 15:52:08 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2011 15:52:08 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Buy second hand books to support film on construction workers Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Zainab Bawa Date: Tue, Mar 15, 2011 at 9:10 AM Subject: Re: Hi To: Chintan Girish Modi Dear Chintan, Writing to you for some help. Please help me in circulating this appeal for funds for Ekta Mittal (of Mara) and her colleague Yashu to complete their film “Behind the Tin Sheets”. Gratitude, Zainab Dear all, Ekta and Yashu are trying to complete their film "Behind the Tin Sheets". The film documents the lives of the workers who are involved in building the Bangalore Metro Rail. The film narrates the transformations that the city has undergone through the lives of the workers and the process of construction of the metro rail system. A sneak preview of the movie is available on http://www.tinsheets.in/ Currently, Ekta and Yashu need Rs. 1,00,000 (one lakh) to finish the post-production work including sound, editing, etc. They have run out of the fellowship amount they had received for making the film. You can help them finish this movie by directly contributing money - http://www.tinsheets.in/appeal On my part, in an effort to help them raise money for their film, I would like to sell some of the following books and things: 1. Helen Todd's "Women at the Center" - Grameen Bank Borrowers after one decade - Rs. 200 2. Joseph Heller's "Catch 22" - Rs. 100 3. The Granta Book of Travel with essays by Marquez, Rushdie, Theroux, etc - Rs. 200 4. R M Lala's "Beyond the Last Blue Mountain" - Rs. 150 5. Bimal Jalan's "India's Politics - a View from the Back Bench" - Rs. 250 6. Sean Covey's "Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens" - Rs. 150 7. Frank Herbert's "Dune Messaiah" - Rs. 150 8. Frank Herbert's "Children of the Dune" - Rs. 150 9. Stephen Covey's "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" - Rs. 150 10. Vikram Kapadia's "Black with Equal" - Rs. 65 11. Jeffrey Archer's "To Cut a Long Story Short" - Rs. 100 12. O'Reilly's "Managing IMAP" - Rs. 100 13. Shiv Khera's "You can Win" - Rs. 100 14. Pocket Edition of Companies Act 2002 - Rs. 100 15. Pure Leather Travel Bag - Rs. 800 16. Football - Rs. 300 17. Lantern - Rs. 400 Please circulate this appeal to more friends and people. Every small amount will help Ekta and Yashu to complete their film. Warmly, Zainab > > From bangalorefilmsociety at gmail.com Tue Mar 15 17:16:01 2011 From: bangalorefilmsociety at gmail.com (Bangalore Film Society ,) Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2011 04:46:01 -0700 Subject: [Reader-list] call for entry voices from the water 2011 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: *Voices from the Waters- 2011* *The 6th International Film Festival on Water* *CALL FOR ENTRIES* Bangalore Film Society in collaboration with Alliance Francaise de Bangalore, SVARAJ, Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival, Ithaca College, USA (FLEFF), Christ University, Bangalore, VISTHAR, Charter of Human Responsibilities, SAMVADA, Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy, YWCA Bangalore and Water Journeys - Campaign for Fundamental Right to Water are organizing the 6th edition of the biggest international film festival on water- *Voices from the Waters 2011*. This festival has established its relevance over the last five years and we have consistently been receiving entries from over 30 countries across the world underlining the global concern for water. The festival is growing in stature year after year with more and more institutions coming forward to collaborate with us and take the festival across India and abroad through the year giving the film makers chance to exhibit their works to a broader and diverse audience to enhance water and environmental consciousness. 2011 does not present a rosy picture at the water front in India. There is pronounced water scarcity. This may as well be the case across the developing world. What is hopeful though is the increasing ‘green consciousness’ across the country to reconstruct a sustainable environment by rethinking development. ‘Voices from the Waters’ add to this consciousness on the whole as the thoughts and concerns regarding the existence and well-being of our rivers and streams are now being voiced in the mainstream. Now more than ever, there is a call for awareness, dialogue and debate to inform the actions on which the future of our life worlds depends. ‘Voices from the Waters 2011 - the 6th International Film Festival on Water’ invites you to be a part of the festival by contributing short, documentary, animation and feature films on water and related issues. If you have a film in under any of the following categories: *Water Scarcity,* *The Dams and the Displaced,* *Water Harvest/conservation* *Water Struggles/Conflicts,* *Floods and Droughts,* *Global Warming and Climate Change,* *Impact of Deforestation on Water Bodies,* *Water, Sanitation and Health,* *River Pollution,* *The Holistic Revival of Water Bodies,* *Water and Life,* You can consider sending it to us. Please note that the categories are loosely conceived and your film does not have to necessarily adhere to them while focusing on the larger theme of water. Guidelines: Entries to the Film Festival must include: 1. Two DVDs of the film (*with English subtitles, if required*) 2. A completed and signed copy of the entry form 3. Three high-resolution stills of the film (*can be sent via email*) 4. A high-resolution photograph of the director (*can be sent via email*) Promotional materials are welcome *There is no entry fee. * All submitted films will be subject to a selection process by eminent members of the festival jury. Applicant must pay for shipment of films to Voices from the Waters. Submitted films will not be returned but will be part of Voices from the Waters library, one of the largest resources in the world for films on water. Voices from the Waters is conceived as a travelling film festival. The selected films after being premiered in Bangalore at the main event will be taken across to educational institutions, non governmental organizations, small towns and villages across India for non commercial exhibition and discussions. Last date for submissions: June 15th 2011 Address: Bangalore Film Society No.33/1-9, N. Thygaraju Layout, 4th Cross Jaibharath Nagar, M.S. Nagar P.O Bangalore 560 033 Karnataka/India Mobile:+91-80-9448064513 www.voicesfromthewaters.com From nagraj.adve at gmail.com Tue Mar 15 18:37:35 2011 From: nagraj.adve at gmail.com (Nagraj Adve) Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2011 18:37:35 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] IAEA scale Message-ID: I hear the nuclear crisis in Japan has been categorized as six on a scale of 1-7. The only example of 7 is Chernobyl 25 years ago. IAEA scale with examples, below. Naga http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Factsheets/English/ines.pdf From ram at maraa.in Tue Mar 15 19:00:37 2011 From: ram at maraa.in (Ram Bhat) Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2011 19:00:37 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Why censor the internet? Message-ID: Dear all, As you know our government has sought to amend the IT Act 2000, with new rules, and one of them is particularly interesting, and disturbing to say the least. It is titled "Information Technology (Due diligence observed by intermediaries guidelines) Rules, 2011." You can read the proposed amendment here: http://www.mit.gov.in/sites/upload_files/dit/files/due_dilligance4intermediary07_02_11.pdf Section 3 of the proposed rules, particularly point (g) should be of interest: *"causes annoyance or inconvenience or deceives or misleads the addressee about the origin of such messages or communicates any **information which is grossly offensive or menacing in nature;"* In essence, the proposed amendment concerns Intermediaries, and the IT Act defines them under clause (w) of Sub-Section (1) of Section 2 of the Act. The definition is given below: *"intermediary" with respect to any particular electronic message means any person who * *on behalf of another person receives, stores or transmits that message or provides any service * *with respect to that message* * * Consider a group like the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti or HJS ( http://www.hindujagruti.org/news/11491.html), who decide that an ad on the internet is hurting sentiments of Hindus. They will not only resort to publishing details of the publisher (As they already have), they can now, under the new rules (if passed), move the government to remove this content under point (g) mentioned above. Annoyance and inconvenience has been caused! Until now, these battles have been fought on the internet itself...abuses exchanges, debates self-organised. Remember the case of Pink Chaddi where pink underwear, pink sarees and bangles were all exchanged and sent across the length and breadth of the country with gleeful abandon. Facebook groups were started, clicked on, hacked, and then ignored. That was, and currently is the preferred mode of expressing - freedom and difference of opinion on the internet. Ocassionally things do get out of hand, when our friends, people like HJS start publishing details like office locations, numbers, start calling ad companies and threaten to burn offices etc. But I digress. The point is that we need to sit up and take notice of this proposed amendment. It will affect not only the Facebooks and Googles of the world, but also our own humble efforts on Wordpress and other such platforms. Because anyone who has a blog or a site, becomes an intermediary. Through this comment on intermediary, our government also has seen it fit to decide what are the categories under which content can be censored..where are these words coming from - annoying, inconvenience etc ? Will the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) decide what is annoying? We cannot rely merely on the present argument of "don't punish the messenger". Efforts to hamper the messenger don't happen in vacuum. It implies that the message which is being carried might be of some discomfort. Otherwise why simply attack the messenger. You and I and many many people currently are in the business of sending and receiving messages on the internet today. To be more specific, 100 million users. Internet growth does not hold a candle to mobile phone, but in less than 3-5 years, there will not be much of a difference between the latter and the former. Current rural teledensity is somewhere between 26-29%. Most of the people living in rural India, who will probably access mobile phones (over the next few years) will probably access it over 3G standards, with data access assured. So that's close to 600-700 million people experiencing internet for the first time on a mobile phone. There is bound to be an explosion of internet based content. The new Telecom policy 2011 is set for a release in April. The government knows what is coming ahead, and these kind of amendments are just growing signs of nervousness when it knows that it needs to control the rural population. The government doesn't care much for how the urban population responds or what information it accesses. Cable TV, print etc, is largely unregulated. Can't be regulated - for the sheer volume of content which passes through daily. However, please note no news on radio - community radio or private FM. Why? Because FM is free to air, and even the lowest income groups can access it, either directly or through group listening. Now that can be dangerous. With the impending growth of telecom, the same situation looms silently. On one hand, our government wants to create a rapid growth in internet access and peer-to-peer content exchange amongst people who have no access (no doubt this will be written in new telecom policy), but on the other hand, it wants to create restrictive and disabling conditions even before people get widespread access. This paradoxical nature has to be brought out in to the open and fought for what its worth. I hope that you find the time to go through the amendments, and post in your thoughts. Unfortunately, the last date for comments has already passed (28th Feb) but please continue to absolutely flood the gates at this contact : grai AT mit.gov.in Complete tamasha can be seen at http://www.mit.gov.in/content/cyber-laws Would love to hear your thoughts and comments on this issue as well. best, Ram From geetaseshu at gmail.com Tue Mar 15 22:47:56 2011 From: geetaseshu at gmail.com (geeta seshu) Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2011 22:47:56 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Why censor the internet? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: well, these are draft rules - but they are as good as final - in any case, blogs have already been under scrutiny and over the last two months, a few blogs were blocked for a while - its still unclear who ordered the blocking and why... And there has been a distressing lack of discussion except for a few sites and blogs... http://www.thehoot.org/web/freetracker/story.php?storyid=251§ionId=6 Centre for Internet and Society has filed an RTI for more info too: http://www.cis-india.org/advocacy/igov/blog/rtis-on-website-blocking geeta On Tue, Mar 15, 2011 at 7:00 PM, Ram Bhat wrote: > Dear all, > > As you know our government has sought to amend the IT Act 2000, with new > rules, > and one of them is particularly interesting, and disturbing to say the > least. > It is titled "Information Technology (Due diligence observed by > intermediaries guidelines) Rules, 2011." > > You can read the proposed amendment here: > > http://www.mit.gov.in/sites/upload_files/dit/files/due_dilligance4intermediary07_02_11.pdf > > Section 3 of the proposed rules, particularly point (g) should be of > interest: > > *"causes annoyance or inconvenience or deceives or misleads the addressee > about the origin of such messages or communicates any **information which > is > grossly offensive or menacing in nature;"* > > < > http://www.mit.gov.in/sites/upload_files/dit/files/due_dilligance4intermediary07_02_11.pdf > >In > essence, the proposed amendment concerns Intermediaries, and the IT Act > defines them under clause (w) of Sub-Section (1) of Section 2 of the Act. > The definition is given below: > > *"intermediary" with respect to any particular electronic message means any > person who * > *on behalf of another person receives, stores or transmits that message or > provides any service * > *with respect to that message* > * > * > Consider a group like the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti or HJS ( > http://www.hindujagruti.org/news/11491.html), who decide that an ad on the > internet is hurting sentiments of Hindus. They will not only resort to > publishing details of the publisher (As they already have), they can now, > under the new rules (if passed), move the government to remove this content > under point (g) mentioned above. Annoyance and inconvenience has been > caused! > > Until now, these battles have been fought on the internet itself...abuses > exchanges, debates self-organised. Remember the case of Pink Chaddi where > pink underwear, pink sarees and bangles were all exchanged and sent across > the length and breadth of the country with gleeful abandon. Facebook groups > were started, clicked on, hacked, and then ignored. That was, and currently > is the preferred mode of expressing - freedom and difference of opinion on > the internet. Ocassionally things do get out of hand, when our friends, > people like HJS start publishing details like office locations, numbers, > start calling ad companies and threaten to burn offices etc. But I digress. > > The point is that we need to sit up and take notice of this proposed > amendment. It will affect not only the Facebooks and Googles of the world, > but also our own humble efforts on Wordpress and other such platforms. > Because anyone who has a blog or a site, becomes an intermediary. Through > this comment on intermediary, our government also has seen it fit to decide > what are the categories under which content can be censored..where are > these > words coming from - annoying, inconvenience etc ? Will the Computer > Emergency Response Team (CERT) decide what is annoying? > > We cannot rely merely on the present argument of "don't punish the > messenger". Efforts to hamper the messenger don't happen in vacuum. It > implies that the message which is being carried might be of some > discomfort. > Otherwise why simply attack the messenger. You and I and many many people > currently are in the business of sending and receiving messages on the > internet today. To be more specific, 100 million users. Internet growth > does > not hold a candle to mobile phone, but in less than 3-5 years, there will > not be much of a difference between the latter and the former. Current > rural > teledensity is somewhere between 26-29%. Most of the people living in rural > India, who will probably access mobile phones (over the next few years) > will > probably access it over 3G standards, with data access assured. So that's > close to 600-700 million people experiencing internet for the first time on > a mobile phone. There is bound to be an explosion of internet based > content. > The new Telecom policy 2011 is set for a release in April. The government > knows what is coming ahead, and these kind of amendments are just growing > signs of nervousness when it knows that it needs to control the rural > population. > > The government doesn't care much for how the urban population responds or > what information it accesses. Cable TV, print etc, is largely unregulated. > Can't be regulated - for the sheer volume of content which passes through > daily. However, please note no news on radio - community radio or private > FM. Why? Because FM is free to air, and even the lowest income groups can > access it, either directly or through group listening. Now that can be > dangerous. > > With the impending growth of telecom, the same situation looms silently. On > one hand, our government wants to create a rapid growth in internet access > and peer-to-peer content exchange amongst people who have no access (no > doubt this will be written in new telecom policy), but on the other hand, > it > wants to create restrictive and disabling conditions even before people get > widespread access. > > This paradoxical nature has to be brought out in to the open and fought for > what its worth. I hope that you find the time to go through the amendments, > and post in your thoughts. > Unfortunately, the last date for comments has already passed (28th Feb) but > please continue to absolutely flood the gates at this contact : grai AT > mit.gov.in > > Complete tamasha can be seen at http://www.mit.gov.in/content/cyber-laws > > Would love to hear your thoughts and comments on this issue as well. > > best, > Ram > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From rohitrellan at aol.in Wed Mar 16 09:48:06 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2011 00:18:06 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] Remembering Pina Bausch with Anne Linsel, Max Mueller Bhavan, New Delhi In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <8CDB1A846254A6B-207C-90F8@webmail-m142.sysops.aol.com> Remembering Pina Bausch with Anne Linsel March 17, 7pm: film screening followed by Q&A March 18, 7pm: film screening followed by discussion PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE OF DATE! Library, Goethe-Institut/ Max Mueller Bhavan Entry free. All are welcome. Film / Discussion Remembering Pina Bausch with Anne Linsel Pina Bausch died on June 30, 2009 - but her visionary work as dancer, choreographer and creator of the Tanztheater Wuppertal had a reach way, way beyond the confines of the German town where she worked. Drawing deeply on the violence in male-female relationships, often with mordantly witty texts and fantastical sets, Pina Bausch crossed the borders between dance and theatre. She has also had an enormous influence on visual art and cinema. Remembering Pina Bausch with Anne Linsel is an attempt to understand Pina Bausch’s work and life through the eyes of Anne Linsel (film-maker, journalist and publicist) who followed her for many years. photo credit: Ursula Kaufmann, Germany Anne Linsel was born in Wuppertal/Germany and studied art as well as art history. She works as a journalist and publicist within the fields of culture. From 1984 until 1989 she worked with the German television channels “ZDF” and “WDR” as well as for newspapers and magazines such as “Die Zeit” and “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. For “ZDF” she conceptualised and took on the moderation of several issues of “Aspekte” which is a regular broadcast on cultural themes. She currently lives in Wuppertal and is a member of the International Arts Critic Federation (AICA). Thursday March 17, 7pm Films followed by a Q&A session with Anne Linsel. Ladies and Gentlemen (Damen und Herren ab 65) - Director: Lilo Mangelsdorff, 70 min., 2002 Tanzträume - Director: Anne Linsel und Rainer Hoffmann, 89 min., 2009 Friday March 18, 7pm Films followed by a discussion on what fascinated Anne Linsel about Pina Bausch and her work. Pina Bausch - Director: Anne Linsel, 40 min., 2006 In Search of Dance - Pina Bausch's Other Theatre (Auf der Suche nach Tanz - Das andere Theater der Pina Bausch) Director: Patricia Corboud, 29 min., 1993 From kiccovich at yahoo.com Wed Mar 16 14:22:49 2011 From: kiccovich at yahoo.com (francesca recchia) Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2011 01:52:49 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Support Behind the Tin Sheet: Garage Sale in Bangalore In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <956690.67911.qm@web113204.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Dear all, Ekta and Yashu are trying to complete their film "Behind the Tin Sheets". The film documents the lives of the workers who are involved in building the Bangalore Metro Rail. The film narrates the transformations that the city has undergone through the lives of the workers and the process of construction of the metro rail system. A sneak preview of the movie is available on http://www.tinsheets.in/ Currently, Ekta and Yashu need Rs. 1,00,000 (one lakh) to finish the post-production work including sound, editing, etc. They have run out of the fellowship amount they had received for making the film. In an effort to raise funds to help them complete the film, we are organizing a Garage Sale in Bangalore featuring books, paintings, CDs, DVDs and many other knick-knacks. The items in the sale have been contributed by people who want to support the fund raising effort. We are all keen and passionate that Ekta and Yashu complete this film. So come one, come all and take your pick from the Garage Sale! And, pass this information to your friends, acquaintances and near and dear ones! And, if you want to send in money directly to Ekta and Yashu for helping them complete their film, see details on http://www.tinsheets.in/appeal Date: Saturday, 26th March Time: 4 PM to 9 PM Venue: Church Street / M G Road, outside Premier Bookshop For more details, write to Ekta Mittal on forekta at gmail.com and Zainab Bawa on bawazainab79 at gmail.com P.S. People who want to contribute items for sale, please write to us individually. From nagraj.adve at gmail.com Wed Mar 16 16:10:41 2011 From: nagraj.adve at gmail.com (Nagraj Adve) Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2011 16:10:41 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Libya and the World Left By Immanuel Wallerstein Message-ID: Libya and the World Left March 15, 2011 By Immanuel Wallerstein Immanuel Wallerstein's ZSpace Page / ZSpace There is so much hypocrisy and so much confused analysis about what is going on in Libya that one hardly knows where to begin. The most neglected aspect of the situation is the deep division in the world left. Several left Latin American states, and most notably Venezuela, are fulsome in their support of Colonel Qaddafi. But the spokespersons of the world left in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Europe, and indeed North America, decidedly don't agree. Hugo Chavez's analysis seems to focus primarily, indeed exclusively, on the fact that the United States and western Europe have been issuing threats and condemnations of the Qaddafi regime. Qaddafi, Chavez, and some others insist that the western world wishes to invade Libya and "steal" Libya's oil. The whole analysis misses entirely what has been happening, and reflects badly on Chavez’s judgment - and indeed on his reputation with the rest of the world left. First of all, for the last decade and up to a few weeks ago, Qaddafi had nothing but good press in the western world. He was trying in every way to prove that he was in no way a supporter of "terrorism" and wished only to be fully integrated into the geopolitical and world-economic mainstream. Libya and the western world have been entering into one profitable arrangement after another. It is hard for me to see Qaddafi as a hero of the world anti-imperialist movement, at least in the last decade. The second point missed by Hugo Chavez’s analysis is that there is not going to be any significant military involvement of the western world in Libya. The public statements are all huff and puff, designed to impress local opinion at home. There will be no Security Council resolution because Russia and China won't go along. There will be no NATO resolution because Germany and some others won't go along. Even Sarkozy's militant anti-Qaddafi stance is meeting resistance within France. And above all, the opposition in the United States to military action is coming both from the public and more importantly from the military. The Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mullen, have very publicly stated their opposition to instituting a no-fly zone. Indeed, Secretary Gates went further. On Feb. 25, he addressed the cadets at West Point, saying to them: "In my opinion, any future defense secretary who advises the president again to send a big American land army into Asia or the Middle East or Africa should have his head examined." To underline this view of the military, retired General Wesley Clark, the former commander of NATO forces, wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post on Mar. 11, under the heading, "Libya doesn't meet the test for U.S. military action." So, despite the call of the hawks for U.S. involvement, President Obama will resist. The issue therefore is not Western military intervention or not. The issue is the consequence of Qaddafi's attempt to suppress all opposition in the most brutal fashion for the second Arab revolt. Libya is in turmoil because of the successful uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. And if there is any conspiracy, it is one between Qaddafi and the West to slow down, even quash, the Arab revolt. To the extent that Qaddafi succeeds, he sends a message to all the other threatened despots of the region that harsh repression rather than concessions is the way to go. This is what the left in the rest of the world sees, if some left governments in Latin America do not. As Samir Amin points out in his analysis of the Egyptian uprising, there were four distinct components among the protestors - the youth, the radical left, middle-class democrats, and Islamists. The radical left is composed of suppressed left parties and revitalized trade-union movements. There is no doubt a much, much smaller radical left in Libya, and a much weaker army (because of Qaddafi's deliberate policy). The outcome there is therefore very uncertain. The assembled leaders of the Arab League may condemn Qaddafi publicly, but many, even most, may be applauding him privately - and copying from him. It might be useful to end with two pieces of testimony from the world left. Helena Sheeham, an Irish Marxist activist, well-known in Africa for her solidarity work there with the most radical movements, was invited by the Qaddafi regime to come to Libya to lecture at the university. She arrived as turmoil broke out. The lectures at the university were cancelled, and she was finally simply abandoned by her hosts, and had to make her way out by herself. She wrote a daily diary in which, on the last day, Mar. 8, she wrote: "Any ambivalence about that regime, gone, gone, gone. It is brutal, corrupt, deceitful, delusional." We might also see the statement of South Africa's major trade-union federation and voice of the left, COSATU. After praising the social achievements of the Libyan regime, COSATU said: “COSATU does not accept however that these achievements in any way excuse the slaughter of those protesting against the oppressive dictatorship of Colonel Gaddafi and reaffirms its support for democracy and human rights in Libya and throughout the continent." Let us keep our eye on the ball. The key struggle worldwide right now is the second Arab revolt. It will be hard enough to obtain a truly radical outcome in this struggle. Qaddafi is a major obstacle for the Arab, and indeed the world, left. Perhaps we should all remember Simone de Beauvoir's maxim: "Wanting to be free yourself means wanting that others be free." by Immanuel Wallerstein [Copyright by Immanuel Wallerstein, distributed by Agence Global. For rights and permissions, including translations and posting to non-commercial sites, and contact: rights at agenceglobal.com, 1.336.686.9002 or 1.336.286.6606. Permission is granted to download, forward electronically, or e-mail to others, provided the essay remains intact and the copyright note is displayed. To contact author, write: immanuel.wallerstein at yale.edu. These commentaries, published twice monthly, are intended to be reflections on the contemporary world scene, as seen from the perspective not of the immediate headlines but of the long term.] ________________________________ From: Z Net - The Spirit Of Resistance Lives From jeebesh at sarai.net Wed Mar 16 18:56:49 2011 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh) Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2011 18:56:49 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?Japan=92s_Reactor_Risk_Foretold_20?= =?windows-1252?q?_Years_Ago_in_U=2ES=2E_Agency_Report?= Message-ID: <205CEF2F-9715-4035-8205-41F0B41B2CF1@sarai.net> Japan’s Reactor Risk Foretold 20 Years Ago in U.S. Agency Report By Makiko Kitamura and Maki Shiraki - Mar 16, 2011 7:56 AM GMT+0530 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-16/japan-s-reactor-risk-foretold-20-years-ago-in-u-s-nuclear-agency-s-report.html The earthquake disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant north of Tokyo was foretold in a report published two decades ago by a U.S. regulatory agency. In a 1990 report, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, an independent agency responsible for ensuring the safety of the country’s power plants, identified earthquake-induced diesel generator failure and power outage leading to failure of cooling systems as one of the “most likely causes” of nuclear accidents from an external event. While the report was cited in a 2004 statement by Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, adequate measures to address the risk were not taken by Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the plant in Fukushima prefecture, said Jun Tateno, a former researcher at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency and professor at Chuo University. “It’s questionable whether Tokyo Electric really studied the risks outlined in the report,” Tateno said in an interview. “That they weren’t prepared for a once in a thousand year occurrence will not go over as an acceptable excuse.” Hajime Motojuku, a spokesman for Tokyo Electric, said today he couldn’t immediately confirm whether or not the company was aware of the report. The 40-year-old Fukushima plant was hit by Japan’s strongest earthquake on record March 11 only to have its power and cooling systems knocked out by the 7-meter (23-foot) tsunami that followed. Radioactive Steam Lacking power to cool reactors, engineers vented radioactive steam to release pressure, leading to as many as four explosions that blew out containment walls at the plant 135 miles (220 kilometers) north of the capital. While the appropriate measures that should have been implemented are still to be evaluated, more extensive waterproofing of the underground portion of the reactor could have helped prevent the cooling systems’ failure, said Tateno, who questions the use of nuclear power in Japan because of its seismic activity. Engineering of the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant or its age are unlikely causes of the problem, said Tateno, author of a book titled “The Coming Age of Scrapping Nuclear Plants.” While nuclear power has been supported as a way of producing vast quantities of energy compared with other sources, “it will be difficult to get any more nuclear plants built going forward” in Japan, Tateno said. From ah at kein.org Mon Mar 14 12:02:11 2011 From: ah at kein.org (Ayesha Hameed) Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2011 02:32:11 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] MONITOR 7: New South Asian Short Film and Video: Toronto 24 March 2011 Message-ID: Please forward widely SAVAC (South Asian Visual Arts Centre) presents MONITOR 7: New South Asian Short Film and Video Programmed by Ayesha Hameed Featuring works by Nabil Ahmed (UK), Karen Mirza and Brad Butler (UK), Smriti Mehra and Tahireh Lal (India), Nahed Mansour (Canada), Jane Chang Mi (USA), Md Hasan Morshed (Bangladesh), Sharmila Samant (India), Vivek Shraya (Canada), Ambereen Siddiqui (Pakistan/ Canada), Asim Waqif (India) and The Torontonians (Canada). Monitor 7: New South Asian Short Film and Video is an annual experimental short film and video screening program that showcases independent work by South Asian artists from Canada and around the world. Monitor 7 brings together 12 new works that explore the relationship between everyday objects and the moving image in our rapidly changing global society. The films and videos included in Monitor 7 use playful, personal and creative strategies of coping with shrinking public space and growing economic disparities. Monitor 7: New South Asian Short Film and Video was programmed by performance and video artist Ayesha Hameed, who is also a Postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for Research Architecture at Goldsmiths University of London, UK. Highlights of Monitor 7 include a joyous performance video by a local artist collective called The Torontonians in How to Be a Brown Teen (2010). Indian artistSharmila Samant, examines fear and longing of birth and destruction in her uncanny video The Dilemma (2010) and award-winning duo Karen Mirza and Brad Butler examine everyday activities in Karachi during a period of civil unrest, developing a resonant critique of traditional documentary practices in The Exception and The Rule (2009). Dinesh Sachdev, Founder of Filmi, Toronto’s South Asian Film Festival and member of the Monitor 7 jury says: “Monitor 7 audiences can expect to be surprised and moved by cheeky, smart and poetic films this year, which resonate with the pulse of the global South Asian diaspora. I think Toronto audiences should always be aware of the ever evolving identity of the Global South asian diaspsora.” Pablo de Ocampo, Artistic Director of Images Festival adds, “Taking part in the Monitor 7 jury this year was a real treat for me—a chance to see a really wide ranging selection of South Asian artists from across the globe and each of those works representing a different perspective and voice. As a collection of short work, the program shows the many ways in which questions of cultural identities and experiences can be addressed through film and video. Having seen several editions of Monitor over the past few years, I'm always impressed with the diversity of talent represented in these screenings, and this year was no exception.” Sanjay Ratnam and Ahash Jeevakanthan from the artist collective The Torontonians are thrilled about the world premiere of How to be a Brown Teen: “"It feels good to be part Monitor 7; some brown adults can finally see the basic truth about how their kids see them. Brown kids have rights; we can be white if we want to." Artist Biographies Nabil Ahmed is an artist and musician living and working in London. His practice involves working with people, software, video, audio and text to form critical responses to relevant political questions. He is the co-founder of Call & Response, for London’s Research Architecture at Goldsmiths, University of London. Karen Mirza and Brad Butler have been actively involved in the London art scene for over thirteen years. They received the 2009 production grant from the Museum of Contemporary Cinema Foundation Madrid, they were Festival Award winners at The 2010 Chicago Film and Video Festival and were nominated for the 2010 Transmediale Award Berlin. Smriti Mehra and Tahireh Lal are Bangalore-based video artists. Mehra completed her MFA in Media Art from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design at Halifax, Canada. She is the artist-in-residence at the Centre for Experimental Media (CEMA) and also teaches at Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, where Lal completed her BFA from in 2008. Since then she works at CEMA and makes experimental videos. Nahed Mansour completed her MFA at Concordia University in 2010. She works in performance, video and installations. Her interest around the representations of gender and racial relationships draw her to personal and historic archives. Her work has been presented widely including: Nuit Blanche (Toronto 2009 and 2006), DSVM + Festival (Quebec City, 2006) and 7a*11d (Toronto, 2006). Jane Chang Mi is concerned with the intersections and boundaries between her cross-cultural of her Asian heritage and American identity. Her work explores the tensions between culturally specific symbols and those that are generic and part of our popular culture. Jane divides her time between Los Angeles and Honolulu. MD Hasan Morshed is in the process of completing his Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Dhaka. He works in painting, installations and video. His work have been exhibited widely in Dhaka. Sharmila Samant is a work deals with issues of globalisation, identity and consumer culture. She has been awarded residencies at the Rijksakademie, Amsterdam and Gasworks, London. Recent exhibitions include Against the Grain at the Biennial of Sydney (2008), Things and Stuff at the 2nd Johannesburg Art Fair (2009) andSez Who?, Experimenter Art Gallery, Kolkata (2010). Vivek Shraya is a Toronto-based artist. Winner of the We Are Listening International Singer/Songwriter Award, Vivek has released albums ranging from acoustic folk-rock to electro synth pop, driven by powerful vocals, incisive lyrics, and tight pop hooks. God Loves Hair, his first collection of short stories, won the Applied Arts Award for Illustration. Seeking Single White Male is his first short film. Ambereen Siddiqui works in photography, video and animation to explore the personal and political characteristics of being a part of large and diverse South Asian diaspora in North America. She is currently completing her MFA in photography at the Rhode Island School of Design. Shereen Soliman is a new media artist working in single channel video and video installation. Her work investigates the disconnections of family and cultural history in contemporary society. Capsule is her most recent video, which premiered in November as part of the 27th Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival in Germany. The Torontonians are a Parkdale-based art collective, working in collaboration with research-art atelier Mammalian Diving Reflex. They create performance, give lectures, make videos, dance on the street, hassle drunk guys, take photographs, check cell phones, sing songs, play cellos, draw bunnies, take the TTC, ride bmx and do volunteer hours. Asim Waqif graduated from the School of Planning and Architecture and currently works in their faculty. He has worked as a production designer for films and television. His artwork combines his interests in architecture, art and design and often deal with concerns in ecology and anthropology. Please join us for Monitor 7: New South Asian Short Film and Video on 24 March 2011 at Innis Town Hall (2 Sussex Avenue), Toronto, 7.30pm. For more information on Monitor 7, please contact Srimoyee Mitra, Programming Co-ordinator at info at savac.net or call: 415-542-1661 SAVAC (South Asian Visual Arts Centre) 450-401 Richmond Street West, Toronto, Ontario, M5V3A8 E: info at savac.net/ T: 416-542-1661. ________________________________### _____________________________ From turbulence at turbulence.org Mon Mar 14 22:03:17 2011 From: turbulence at turbulence.org (Turbulence) Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2011 12:33:17 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Turbulence Commission: "Quartet With Pyramid Scheme" by Jordan Topiel Paul, Eric Laska, Richard Kamerman, Reed Evan Rosenberg Message-ID: March 14, 2011 Turbulence Commission: "Quartet With Pyramid Scheme" by Jordan Topiel Paul, Eric Laska, Richard Kamerman, and Reed Evan Rosenberg http://turbulence.org/works/quartet "Quartet With Pyramid Scheme" is a streaming online sound installation whose audio content is collected through a sixteen-week pyramid scheme structure. Every two weeks, a new set of participants (recruited by prior participants) submits sound samples that the quartet will selectively work into the stream. The samples are played continuously in unpredictable variations through a Max/MSP patch. By the end of the process, 512 participants will have been asked to contribute. "Quartet With Pyramid Scheme" is a 2011 commission of New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc. for its Turbulence website. It was made possible with funding from the Jerome Foundation. BIOGRAPHIES JORDAN TOPIEL PAUL is a musician, artist and elementary educator based out of Queens, NY. Originally an improvising percussionist, he continues to explore improvisation in his current work with sound installation and electronic media. His recent pieces have involved collaborative planning and production, field recordings, site- specificity, FM and Internet transmission, Max/MSP programming and indeterminate processes. ERIC LASKA is a New York-based musician. Examples from recent work focus on the proliferation of sounds from localized material processes, the arrangement of improvised music for extended periods of time, and composing for electro-acoustic music based on "back-end" principles such as power consumption. In addition he is part of the Internet surf club "Double Happiness." RICHARD KAMERMAN'S artistic interest is aimed foremost on the task of magnification. Small sounds, small gestures -- made large. Inconsequential events -- made important. The vast difference made to a narrative by a small change in focus. Room acoustics, microphone/ pickup placement, and amplification are often very important to his live construction of sound, where he places great weight on the embracing of unintended consequences - e.g. errors in translation/ format conversion, bursts of feedback, power supply failures. REED EVAN ROSENBERG is an American multidisciplinary artist working primarily in sound. He programs various digital instruments for each specific project on which he embarks, encompassing the areas of improvised electronic music, extreme computer music, and installation art. Recent projects include an in depth study of chaotic synthesis using Boris Chirikov's "Standard Map," systems that hack and trouble auto-tune and phase vocoding, and a musical system using the boids algorithm which simulates the flocking patterns of birds and was most famously implemented in the CG of Jurassic Park. "Like" us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/nrpa.org http://facebook.com/turbulence.org Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/turbulenceorg Please support the Turbulence Commissions Program. See http:// turbulence.org for details. Jo-Anne Green Co-Director New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc. 917.548.7780 or 617.522.3856 Turbulence: http://turbulence.org Networked_Performance: http://turbulence.org/blog Networked_Music_Review: http://turbulence.org/networked_music_review Networked: http://networkedbook.org New American Radio: http://somewhere.org Upgrade! Boston: http://turbulence.org/upgrade_boston -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From nilankur at sarai.net Tue Mar 15 12:23:39 2011 From: nilankur at sarai.net (nilankur at sarai.net) Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2011 12:23:39 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Three Post-Doctoral Research Assistants in Social Anthropology Message-ID: SCHOOL OF ORIENTAL AND AFRICAN STUDIES University of London Three Post-Doctoral Research Assistants in Social Anthropology ESRC Funded Project: RURAL CHANGE AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE IN POST-COLONIAL INDIA: A COMPARATIVE 'RESTUDY' OF F.G. BAILEY, ADRIAN C. MAYER AND DAVID F. POCOCK £29,562 p.a. inclusive of London Allowance Fixed Term (32 months): 1st September 2011 to 30th April 2014 Vacancy Nos: 000282 / 000283 / 000284 SOAS invites applications for three full-time fixed-term post-doctoral Research Assistants to work on an ESRC-funded project (RES 062-23-3052) examining social and economic change in post-colonial Indian villages. Through intensive new ethnographic fieldwork, the post-doctoral researchers will ‘restudy’ one of three villages originally studied independently in the early 1950s by F.G. Bailey, Adrian C. Mayer and David F. Pocock (deceased) in Orissa (Odisha), Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat respectively. Bailey and Mayer – both now in their late 80s – will contribute their field materials and experience to the research. Vacancy 000282: Orissa The successful applicant will lead the project’s re-analysis of the published work and unpublished field materials of F.G. Bailey; along with Dr Edward Simpson will interview Bailey about his life and work; will assist in the digitization and analysis of Bailey’s primary research materials; will conduct 14 months fieldwork in Orissa; and contribute to the writing up of the research for publication. Knowledge of Oriya and other relevant languages will be an advantage. Vacancy 000283: Madhya Pradesh The successful applicant for this post will lead the project’s re-analysis of the published work of Adrian C. Mayer; along with Dr Edward Simpson will interview Mayer about his life and work; will assist in the digitization and analysis of Mayer’s primary research materials; will conduct 14 months of fieldwork in Madhya Pradesh and contribute to the writing up of the research for publication. Knowledge of Hindi and other relevant languages will be an advantage. Vacancy 000284: Gujarat The successful applicant will lead the project’s re-analysis of the published work of David F. Pocock; will conduct 14 months of fieldwork in Gujarat; and contribute to the writing up of the research for publication. Knowledge of Gujarati will be an advantage. The project has been designed as a collaborative exercise at all stages: planning, fieldwork and writing. The Researchers will work as a team under the guidance of Dr Edward Simpson and Professor Patricia Jeffery. Therefore, applicants should be willing to co-ordinate research schedules, to agree topics to be explored, to share findings and to develop co-authored publications. The Researchers will participate in research training and design seminars at SOAS, conduct 14 months fieldwork in rural India, and collaborate in a further series of post-fieldwork writing seminars at SOAS. In the final phase of the project, duties will include the preparation of research findings for publication and the co-ordination of other dissemination activities (a film and photographic exhibition). Applicants should have a doctoral degree in Social Anthropology or a very closely related discipline. They should have a proven academic interest in the anthropology of South Asia and relevant linguistic and field experience. They should be willing to work as part of a team. An interest in the use of photography and film in anthropology would be an advantage, but is not essential. For an informal discussion of the requirements of these positions please contact Dr Edward Simpson, Senior Lecturer in Social Anthropology: email: es7 at soas.ac.uk website: http://www.soas.ac.uk/staff/staff36082.php FULL DETAILS OF THESE POSITIONS AND CAN BE FOUND ON THE SOAS WEBSITE: www.soas.ac.uk/jobs. No agencies. Closing date: ­­­­­­21st March 2011 Interviews will be held on the 7th and 8th April 2011 SOAS values diversity and aims to be an equal opportunities employer _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From jeebesh at sarai.net Thu Mar 17 14:58:42 2011 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh) Date: Thu, 17 Mar 2011 14:58:42 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Radiation levels scare Message-ID: If the American analysis is accurate and emergency crews at the plant have been unable to keep the spent fuel at that inoperative reactor properly cooled — it needs to remain covered with water at all times — radiation levels could make it difficult not only to fix the problem at reactor No. 4, but to keep servicing any of the other problem reactors at the plant. In the worst case, experts say, workers could be forced to vacate the plant altogether, and the fuel rods in reactors and spent fuel pools would be left to meltdown, leading to much larger releases of radioactive materials. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/17/world/asia/17nuclear.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2 From a.mani.cms at gmail.com Fri Mar 18 19:51:14 2011 From: a.mani.cms at gmail.com (A. Mani) Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2011 19:51:14 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] small scale industries in WB Message-ID: ___________________________________ Pioneer in Small Scale Sector Manab Mukherjee The industrial scenario of West Bengal, often a topic for debate, has become much brighter in recent period. While the focus of discussions mainly centres round big industries, the state has gained a very strong ground in small scale sector. This is particularly noteworthy as a counter current in the era of neo-liberalism. The factors on which the development of Small Scale Industries depends are universal. One of them is definitely the demand generated by the large and medium scale industries in the state. But this is not the only source from where the demand is coming. Even small scale industries can flourish to cater the commodity demands of the local market. In this sector, West Bengal is pioneer in the country because all of these factors are very strong in the State. West Bengal is one of the oldest industrial belts in the country. Geographically it was extended from Kolkata to Asansol on one hand and with huge number of industries in the both banks of Hugli in other direction. Unfortunately, after the 60’s due to indifferent and negative attitude of the Central Government ruled by Congress, a good number of industries left the State and industrial investment amount recorded a net outflow. In 1977 when the Left Front Government first came into power, the industrial scenario in general in the State was in a very bad shape. The Left Front Government took the historic initiative to implement Land Reforms. It was followed by consorted efforts to rejuvenate the industrial scenario of the State. The initiatives for Land Reform and the demand for Haldia Petro-Chemicals were almost simultaneous. The thrust on industrialization under leadership of Jyoti Basu was severely jolted by the step-motherly attitude of the Central Government. It was only after de-regularization, ending of the era of Industrial Licence Raj and freight equalization policy which the Central Congress government was forced to do to introduce new economic policy in 1991, that the large industries with remarkable investments started poring in the State. But it was a different case with respect to Small Scale Industries. There was no scope for the Central Government to impose regulation and so they grew up steadily since 1977. But neo-liberalism, in its inherent character, strongly stood in the way of development of SSEs. The reserved list, which existed prior to 1991 for the SSEs, was radically reduced and ultimately erased step by step. Liberalization made the SSEs to face the extreme uneven competitions from the National and International Corporate and thereby staking their existence. A good number of the Large Central PSUs which formed the backbone of the industrial scenario in West Bengal were either closed or privatized. This created additional negative effect in the State. A huge number of Small Scale Industries which were dependent on those large PSUs had to be closed. Even some part of the traditional industrial belt from Kolkata-Howrah to Durgapur-Asansol looked extremely deserted. To protect the industries in West Bengal, a defensive struggle started which culminated to a glorious come back. Some long term and short term initiatives taken by the Left Front Government countered these negative factors. The most important factor was successful implementation of Land Reforms which gave rise to economic empowerment to the poor rural people. Slowly but steadily purchasing power capacity of rural people increased uniformly. The rural income distribution comparatively became more equitable. As for example, during last year rural Bengal purchased industrial commodities worth Rs. 26,500 crore. A part of this amount has gone to the sales proceeds of Small Scale Industries through local market. Some portion has gone to savings which is also invested in the Small Units locally. After 1991, opportunities for investments on large and medium industries were opened. This resulted in automatic development of the ancillary and downstream Small industries. The traditional industrial belts became rejuvenated and new industrial outlets were formed like Haldia, Kharagpur and Siliguri. As already stated, the growth of Small Scale Industries does not exclusively depend on investments in large industries. The new SSI are not only geographically concentrated around the industrial belts but it has been more or less uniformly distributed in all the 19 districts of the State. These are the SSIs who are mostly dependent on the demands created from the local market and supported by the local investment. The rise in the figures of Small Scale Industries in West Bengal in recent period is really unprecedented. According to report of SSI Census conducted by the Government of India. 1st SSI 2nd SSI 3rd SSI 4th SSI Census Census Census Census 1972 1987-88 2001-02 2006-07 ___________________________________________________ No. of Units 26,522 94,362 7,71,388 25,13,303 Employment 1,76,198 3,11,838 21,69,106 58,31,566 Comparatively the no of SSI units is highest in UP (slightly over 31lakhs) followed by West Bengal, Maharashtra, Tamilnadu which all register the number in the range of 25 lakhs. But only the number of SSIs cannot give the total picture of small scale industries in the state. Equally important is the rate of survival of these SSIs. Nationally the percentage of closed SSI is 21.47%, for UP it is 25.35%, Tamilnadu 25.08%, Maharashtra 24.85%. But for West Bengal the figure is only 14.68%, which is one of the lowest in the country. SSIs are adequately protected here.( Source: 4th SSI Census Report). It is a product of State Government’s long term policy and short term initiatives. For example, the monetary incentives of the Government in different sectors, the Micro sector (i.e. less than Rs 25 lakh investment in plant and machinery) is prioritized and has the largest share, with focus on backward areas, women entrepreneurs and marginalized section of the society. Preference is also accorded to this sector in Government procurements and consumptions. The laborers of this sector get the highest social securities. However the principal obstacle for the progress in this sector is institutional financing. The attitude of the Public Sector Banks has been traditionally negative in West Bengal and the credit-deposit ratio has been consistently below the national average. This has severely hit the weakest section of the industries. Keeping these parameters in view, the State Government has put much stress on the programme of Self Employment. West Bengal is much ahead of the remaining States in India in this respect also. Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) is the flagship employment generation programme in the country. The programme has been running for the last three years. Since inception, in terms of number of cases, West Bengal has been heading the performance across states in India and from the trend of progress there is enough reason to be confident that the state will continue to maintain its position this year also. In the last year the total no of approved units in the state was 8610, and total employment generated was 81,241. Among these small entrepreneurs 32.56% is from Minority section, 20.42% is from backward community and 22.56% are women ( Source: Reports on PMEGP, Ministry of Micrao, Small and Medium Enterprises). The state also registered highest success across the state for the nationwide Special Self employed Scheme of Minorities. Along with these, State Government in its own initiative provided huge financial support and introduced Bangla Swanibhar Karma Sansthan Prakalpa (BSKP) which received tremendous response from the people. REPORT ON BSKP Year No of cases Project Subsidy Sanctioned cost involved involved 2008-09 22315 Rs.46325 lakh Rs.8836 lakh 2009-10 24691 Rs 8200 lakh Rs.12848lakh 2010-11 16321 Rs.36648lakh Rs.7329lakh (Up to 31.12.10) The Self Employment Schemes are also the other way of setting up SSEs with the support of the state. So, the Banks are compelled to extend financial resources to some extent . This is one of the most prioritized area in the programme of the Left Front Government and in this sense West Bengal stands as an example in the whole country. In spite of the difference in the origin of philosophy of Khadi & Village Industries, under the stewardship of the State Government, the West Bengal Khadi & Village Industries Board has been formally recognized as the best performing Khadi Organization by the Central Government. It is extending continuous help for promoting other Khadi activities including village industries throughout the State. In West Bengal, there are few traditional sectors which create huge employment. Handicrafts is one of them. More than 5.52 lakh artisans are engaged in this activity. Here not only quantity but also quality is a challenge to this sector. The State Government continuously helps these artisans by way of giving financial and marketing support. The Left Front Government has been promoting their artifacts not only in India but in the international market and met huge success. Encouraged with the additional support from the Government, the artisans have formed Self-Help Groups. Besides these, the Government provides Special Welfare Schemes for them. They have been receiving State sponsored Old Age Pension Provident Fund facilities. The West Bengal Handicrafts Development Corporation (Manjusha), a State Government Undertaking, works for the development and, promotion and marketing of the products of the artisans. West Bengal has been traditionally rich in another allied sector which is the Handloom sector. Although this sector is passing through severe distress in the period of neo-liberalisation, still there are signs of reversal in West Bengal. The figure of the last Handloom Census shows that though the no of handloom weavers are reducing nationally, in West Bengal it is the reverse, the number of weavers is now 6.66 lakh which is second in rank across states in the country. State government has also taken adequate steps to place the handloom products in the National and International market and for production of diversified handloom articles. Already 3 lakh weavers are covered under Health Insurance Scheme and more that 25% of them have been covered by Life Insurance Scheme. Old Age Pension for Handloom weavers has been introduced. The West Bengal State Handloom Co-operative Society (Tantuja), a State Government Undertaking, is primarily engaged in organizing and developing markets for handloom products. Another traditional sector, which has been protected and developed by the Government is Sericulture. Sericulture is a combination of both agriculture and industrial activities. The total Sericulture production in the State secured third position among the states in the country. The total number of people earning their livelihood from this sector is 3.26 lakh. Not only adequate social security measures, Government provides huge subsidies in inputs and infrastructure. To protect the Small Industry sector from the grab of the uneven competition of the large industries, the Left Front Government has put much emphasis on the Cluster Development Programme(CDP) for the same kind of industries. The groups may consist of high-end production or very small productions of cottage scales. Composite infrastructure, latest technology, marketing openings, guaranteed supply of raw materials is the key components for this programme. To create the physical infrastructure, 90% finance is provided by the Govt. and the rest by the Industry Association or by the Special purpose Vehicle formed therein. In CDP some are Exclusively State Government’s initiative and some are done jointly with the Central Government. The number of CDPs in joint venture with the Central Govt. in West Bengal also ranks second across states in the list after Uttar Pradesh in Micro and Small Scale sector. Besides, huge number of Clusters has been developed in the Handloom sector. A Mega Handloom Cluster, one of the largest in the country, is being set up in the districts of Murshidabad and Nadia with Joint participation of the Central and State Governments. A total of 103 Clusters are being set up in the State in various sectors. The Left Government believes that the Cluster Development Programme could be used as an important tool for catering to the uneven competition from the large industries faced by the Small ones. In the industrial scenario in West Bengal, the Left Front Government has indicated drive and policy thrust in the development of Small Scale Industries. According to the last NSS data, there are 27.5 lakh unorganized industrial units in West Bengal with the employment generation for 55 lakh people which is the highest in the country. After the promulgation of MSME act in October, 2006 the total set up has been restructured. During the period from 2006-2010, it is seen that 45,495 Micro and Small Scale Units have started operation with employment for 4, 65,704 persons and investment of about Rs.3, 882 crores. We are certain to keep this trend in the days to come. The reported data make it visible that the Left Front Government in the state is aware of the threats and challenges posed against the Small Scale Industries in the era of neo-liberalism and is committed not only to protect these sectors from the threats, but also has a vision to create an alternative model of industrial development in the country. ___________________________________________ -- A. Mani ASL, CLC,  AMS, CMS http://www.logicamani.co.cc From a.mani.cms at gmail.com Sat Mar 19 02:23:39 2011 From: a.mani.cms at gmail.com (A. Mani) Date: Sat, 19 Mar 2011 02:23:39 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: Latest issue of the Corporate Watch Magazine - The cost of free papers In-Reply-To: <20110318203852.DBEA44E6DE2@cedar.tincan.co.uk> References: <20110318203852.DBEA44E6DE2@cedar.tincan.co.uk> Message-ID: ____________ Forwarded message________________________ From: Date: Sat, Mar 19, 2011 at 2:08 AM Subject: Latest issue of the Corporate Watch Magazine - The cost of free papers  **Editorial **  So the Corporate Watch Newsletter is late again! But we're back, having transformed the Newsletter into a quarterly Magazine. The main reason for this, as indicated in the reader survey in the last issue, is to make space for more in-depth analysis of the themes dealt with in each issue. This double issue on so-called free newspapers will hopefully demonstrate this is a change for the better.  **Free papers: Some history **  Free daily newspapers have, in the past decade, been heralded as a wholly new model for the modern newspaper, one which 'challenges' the 'traditional' business model, but which also holds the potential to 'save' an ailing industry beset with falling readership and circulation figures in the age of online news content. However, the history of free papers is longer than that presented by many of the scholars and journalists commenting on their current manifestation, Hannah Schling writes.  **Business as usual: The economics of 'free' dailies **  The proliferation of free daily newspapers over the last decade has triggered wide-spread fears that newspapers as we know them are dying and being replaced by low-standard freesheets. Many scholars and commentators have argued that free papers represent a 'new business model'. Shiar Youssef argues that such claims are exaggerated and that the dichotomy created between free and paid-for papers is a false one.  **The cost of free: What's wrong with free dailies **  Free daily newspapers may provide easily acquired basic news and information for free, but the social, political, journalistic and other costs are too high to overlook. From limited original content and lack of investigative journalism to environmental impact, everything is sacrificed for the maximisation of profits.  ** **  **Newspapers or Free Papers? **  Newspapers can never be free in a society that really values democracy. Propaganda rag sheets that actively undermine democracy, however, can be, and are, distributed for free or for next to nothing. This, of course, speaks volumes to the antidemocratic nature of the times we live in, as newspapers have the potential to serve as a priceless ally in the daily struggle for justice and equality. Yet, paradoxically, this is exactly what they have become: priceless, not to the public, but to the ruling elites attempting to profitably manage us. By Michael Barker.  ** **  **More than a spoof **  Spoofs are nothing new. As a form of parody, they are works created to mock or poke fun at an original work, its subject, author or style by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation. The word 'parody' derives from the Greek parodia, which was a narrative poem imitating the style of epics but dealing with light or satirical subjects. Russian literary critic Mikhail Bakhtin argued, eight decades ago, that parody has a “carnival sense of the world” as opposed to “that one-sided and gloomy official seriousness which is dogmatic and hostile to evolution and change.”  **Corporate media and the intellectual cleansing of journalists **  In the article below, a version of which was first published by MediaLens in October 2008, Jonathan Cook describes his experience of 'intellectual cleansing' while working as a journalist for free and paid-for papers.  **News Corporation: A profile **  The story of News Corporation is equally the story of its CEO and founder, Australian-born Rupert Murdoch and his family. News Corp was created from wealth Rupert Murdoch inherited from his father. News Corporation is Murdoch's life, and he runs it with a 'passionate interest'. Richard Searby, Murdoch's school friend and later a director of the company, once said: “Most boards meet to make decisions. News Corp's board meets to ratify Murdoch's.”  **Campaign Spotlight: MediaLens **  MediaLens is a media-monitoring project, or campaign, that grew out of a frustration with the unwillingness, or inability, of the mainstream media to tell the truth about the real causes and extent of many of the problems facing us, such as human rights abuses, poverty, pollution and climate change. In this interview, we ask its editors, David Edwards and David Cromwell, about their work, successes and the challenges they face.  **Are radical, collective, independent media projects still possible? **  With the aim of exploring the present pitfalls, and potential future directions, of radical, anti-corporate media projects, Corporate Watch have put three virtual Independent Media Centre (Indymedia) volunteers (IMCers) into a virtual pub, i.e. an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) room names 'pub', to see what our imaginations could produce.  **Babylonian Times **  - Hooray! We have a global deal!  - The unpublic inquiry into the public bank  - Rent a cop  - Portaloo shortage in 2012  **DIY Research Contest 2011 **  In our ever-determined efforts to seek and destroy corporate power in all its manifestations, Corporate Watch is turning to you, our ever-determined readers, to become our ever-determined contributors. Corporate Watch is on the look out for DIY researchers close on the heels of destructive corporations: Here's your opportunity to submit your work into a brand new DIY research competition and win publication on the Corporate Watch website and/or magazine, and a free book of your choice from Freedom bookshop. There's everything to play for! __________________________________________________________ -- A. Mani ASL, CLC,  AMS, CMS http://www.logicamani.co.cc From nagraj.adve at gmail.com Sun Mar 20 00:58:05 2011 From: nagraj.adve at gmail.com (Nagraj Adve) Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2011 00:58:05 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] =?windows-1252?q?Japan=92s_Nuclear_Crisis_and_The_I?= =?windows-1252?q?ndian_Bureaucrat-Scientist_=96_A_Very_Modest_Note?= =?windows-1252?q?_at_Sanhati?= In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Date: 19 March 2011 Subject: Japan’s Nuclear Crisis and The Indian Bureaucrat-Scientist – A Very Modest Note at Sanhati Japan’s Nuclear Crisis and The Indian Bureaucrat-Scientist – A Very Modest Note at Sanhati Japan’s Nuclear Crisis and The Indian Bureaucrat-Scientist – A Very Modest Note March 18, 2011 By Kuver Sinha As Japan’s nuclear crisis continues, the reaction of top officials of India’s nuclear establishment makes for interesting reading. “There is no nuclear accident or incident in Japan’s Fukushima plants…It was purely a chemical reaction and not a nuclear emergency as described by some section of media” - Dr. Srikumar Banerjee, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. Dr. Banerjee has evidently been living under a rock – in the outside world, the fact that Japan is facing a nuclear emergency is not a conspiracy theory created by “some sections of media”. It is the truth. Japan itself acknowledges that it is on the brink of a very much nuclear disaster, and the real time updates on Google News get refreshed every minute as the world watches. To my knowledge, Dr. Banerjee is the only public official till now who has dismissed Fukushima as a chemical glitch. One can debate about how exactly the explosions happened, but when a radius of dozens of miles has been cleared due to radiation threats and people in faraway Tokyo are locking themselves up inside, the word “chemical” is just plain mischievous. How does one explain this ridiculous statement coming from a top bureaucrat-scientist? These days one finds several newly minted capitalized words which, Atlas-like, carry the weight of the nation. India Inc., Indian Culture – these words carry the hopes and aspirations of the future generation, the generation that will leave its mark on the world stage. To these, one may add the thundering authority of Indian Science. The bureaucrat-scientists are the high priests of this edifice. They are an exceptional group of people. For some among them, acronyms of academies and honours voted in by other top dogs in the old boys’ club keep accumulating at the end of their names, till one gets lost in the maze of letters and deciphers only a single word - “Entitlement”. Amply entitled, these Very Important Persons sometimes descend from the Chairs of their Academies and Agencies, to pronounce the final word on scientific policy. The nation needs a report on GM crops? Give the fools a copied out version of a cobwebbed layman’s report typed up in a hurry by some arbitrary person a few years ago. Just make sure it toes the correct line. If the media calls you out, who cares – the Academies wrote it – They define Science. Japan’s nuclear plants face meltdown? Who cares – just call it a “chemical reaction” failure or something. Tell the public that what’s happening there doesn’t fall in the category of a “nuclear incident” – after all, nobody got nuked, did they? Tell them that India’s nuclear industry doesn’t even need to think twice about such trivial “chemical failures”. This is not the place to enter into a debate on nuclear power or the politics (or even bribes) behind treaties. It is not the place to point out the conditions in Jadugoda, or the fact that India has seen devastating earthquakes, tsunamis, and cyclones recently, or even to point out the fact that our greatest industrial disaster, Bhopal, didn’t need an earthquake or a tsunami. The mere presence of the plant in a third world country, where the lives of workers have no value, was enough. One may argue that that’s the way political economy works, the assurances of the Banerjees and Andersons notwithstanding. We will not debate these things, because one cannot debate in the face of diktats. The bureaucrat-scientist doesn’t even engage with the question seriously. He has two methods of dealing with evolving questions. First – there is no question. Second – in the remote possibility that there is a question, it is trivial. “There is no nuclear incident” – “There is no debate about GM crops”. In our country, the bureaucrats of the nuclear establishment don’t even pretend to play anymore. This is remarkable, because in the sciences one is generally taught to question authority and pursue logic ruthlessly. Oracles die hard. The fact that there has been very little criticism of the ridiculous statements emanating from the Entitled is ominous. Ominous, but not surprising. One has to step back, and remember that there is a difference between science and Science. The first, science, deals with the way Nature behaves. The second, Science, is a class-construct to push agendas that make money and create power. It deals with the way classes behave. In Science, two and two can make four, six, or eight, depending on the class alliances. The Very Important Persons of Indian Science are actually not all that important, since ultimately they are beholden to class dynamics. If one gets the impression that they are sometimes cavalier in their methods – after all, nobody else, absolutely nobody, has called Japan’s crisis a “chemical reaction” – it is because the game has already been fixed. The game has been so overwhelmingly fixed that the bureaucrat-scientist doesn’t even have to pretend to play. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Free Binayak Sen" group. To post to this group, send an email to free-binayaksen at googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to free-binayaksen+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/free-binayaksen?hl=en-GB. From chintan.backups at gmail.com Sun Mar 20 06:50:40 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2011 06:50:40 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Spare the rod and spare the child - Rethinking corporal punishment in schools Message-ID: From http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report_spare-the-rod-and-spare-the-child_1503782 * Spare the rod and spare the child* Published: Sunday, Feb 6, 2011, 4:49 IST By Kareena N Gianani | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA Last week, a Kolkata civil court ruled that the principal of one of the most sought-after schools in the city, La Martiniere, along with three teachers, could be tried for abetment of suicide in the case of 13-year-old Rouvanjit Rawla, who killed himself in February last year after being caned. Rawla, it emerged, was frequently humiliated in the name of discipline. Ask 13-year-old Om Laud, a student of Shishuvan School, Matunga, about the case, and he shakes his head. “I’ve heard of such punishment, but it makes no sense at all,” says the teenager. Laud should know. He is the deputy external affairs minister in the school parliament, and his opinion is sought in matters of discipline. Recently, a fourth-grader at his school tore his classmate’s pants in anger. Surprisingly, none of the teachers came to know of the incident. The boys called Laud to intervene. “The act was humiliating, but I could see it was done because there was hurt involved on both sides. I didn’t demand embarrassing details — it was important to understand why it happened, and I asked them to suggest solutions. They argued bitterly, but when they realised that the answers had to come from them, not from me or a teacher, they began looking at a practical, long-term solution.” This is the sort of mediation advice that one seldom hears from 13-year-olds. Laud, however, says that ‘dialogue’ is the only solution. “I’ve not seen my friends change after a spanking; they end up carrying so much baggage…” At his school, there are regular parliament meetings to address nagging concerns. A teacher oversees the proceedings, as children engage in ‘dialogue’. There are rewards and sanctions that students decide on. Failure to complete homework isn’t met with pointed questions and punishment, only a firm request to stay back after school and finish it. After receiving two warning cards by a teacher for distracting a class, a middle school Shishuvan student is expected to go outside the class not to be exhibited as a wrong-doer, but to write a reflective essay explaining his behaviour, and suggesting what the teacher could do to hold his attention. If that too does not make a difference, the child is denied access to at least a part of his favourite lessons. Shishuvan School adopted the more liberal ways of disciplining children after much deliberation with child counsellors. The school’s principal, Neha Chheda, says, “Newer and more thoughtful methods of discipline demand that we put a ‘why’ to a child’s behaviour — ‘why’ is s/he undisciplined in class, and so on. Corporal punishment never demands that. And can we cite instances of children being reformed by being humiliated?” In a recent case in Karnataka, a 14-year-old boy recuperating from an illness requested to be excused from physical training. His teacher, however, punished him for his ‘laziness’ and made him jog around the school. The boy collapsed and died. The Right To Education Act, 2009, bans corporal punishment, mental harassment, detention and expulsion. While the law is welcome, it takes more than legislation to change the culture of schools. Maya Menon, director, The Teacher Foundation (TTF), who started a project called Safe And Sensitive Schools (SASS) last year, says, “Any change in the culture of the school must start with the teacher, not the student. Look at most curricula across the country — the idea that tolerance and gentleness are important is just not on the teacher’s mind.” Menon, a teacher trainer, talks of the efficacy of Quality Circle Time (QCT) in enforcing discipline, a method first introduced in the UK by educationist Jenny Mosley. QCT sees teachers and students sit in a circle. Anything that comes to the students’ mind is open for discussion. “One student revealed how he needed help because he was lonely. Before the teacher could intervene, another student piped up, asking whether it would help if they had lunch together!” At one QCT, a child admitted to stealing. That wouldn’t have been possible in an atmosphere where children are usually punished. Sujatha Mohandas, principal of Sishu Griha, Bangalore, has been a teacher for 32 years. She too has good reason to sign up for the TTF programme. “Twenty years ago, a teacher may have reprimanded a child for not saying ‘Good Morning’. Now, my students say “Hi!” breezily. Does that mean I pull them aside and teach them ‘manners’?” she asks. A decade ago, parents would question her ‘soft’ approach and demand more firmness. These days, however, parents seem to have greater appreciation. “We should be concentrating on larger issues. How, for instance, to draw out the child who might be an introvert, and allow him or her expression in a class full of extroverts? These are the questions that techniques like the QCT help us tackle,” she says. Muktangan, an educational programme that offers alternatives to orthodox teaching methods, trains women from poorer backgrounds to conduct the education process without recourse to harsh punishment. “Many of those who undergo the training find jobs at municipality-run schools, where their own children may be studying,” says Sunil Mehta, a trustee. “We once asked trainees to define a teacher. They responded that a teacher was like a potter, who moulds children, who are like clay. We asked what might happen if the clay was too hard. We were told that the teacher could beat the child to the right consistency!” says Mehta, who underlines the fact that a new way at looking at the teacher-student relationship and notions of discipline also involves a great deal of unlearning. There are now five such state-run schools in Mumbai, up to grade 7, which are run by teachers trained at Muktangan. From nagraj.adve at gmail.com Fri Mar 18 15:58:23 2011 From: nagraj.adve at gmail.com (Nagraj Adve) Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2011 15:58:23 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: [Delhi Platform:1317] Fwd: After the Deluge Short and Medium-term Impacts of the Reactor Damage Caused by the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hi, Forwarding you the most comprehensive assessment so far: It has lot of useful charts/maps/info as appendices. *After the Deluge: Short and Medium-term Impacts of the Reactor Damage Caused by the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami* by *Nautilus Institute* http://www.nautilus.org/publications/essays/napsnet/reports/SRJapanReactors.pdf with best regards, Sundaram -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Delhi Platform" group. To post to this group, send email to delhi-platform at googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to delhi-platform+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/delhi-platform?hl=en. From logos.theword at gmail.com Sat Mar 19 09:43:10 2011 From: logos.theword at gmail.com (Logos Theatre) Date: Sat, 19 Mar 2011 09:43:10 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] [Announcements] Fwd: Hu - Voicing our Selves : Workshop in Delhi In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Arka Mukhopadhyay Date: 17 March 2011 15:50 Subject: Hu - Voicing our Selves : Workshop in Delhi To: *Hu - Voicing our Selves* * * "...where ritual and artistic creation were seamless. Where poetry was song, song was incantation, movement was dance." - J. Grotowski. A Workshop facilitated by Arka Mukhopadhyay and Saqlain Nizami, with Sibtain Nizami and Jamal Nizami. Dates : April 4th to 10th. Time : evening Venue : A 105, Defence Colony, New Delhi "Hu" means 'to be'. But to be what? This workshop is an attempt to ask that question by engaging with our many bodies - physical, social, erotic, ecological, theatrical and spiritual. The workshop is built around the fundamentals of breath, sound and rhythm. It also makes use of text, theatrical expression, performance, self-work, ritual and group discussions. Some aspects of the workshop utilize structured learning and precise, do-able acts, while other aspects are intentionally unstructured. Greater awareness of one's breath, voice, and body may and should result from the workshop, but the purpose of the workshop is not to teach communication or presentation skills in their functional sense, nor to train participants to be theatrical performers. Work on breath, voice and body are used as take-off points for engagements with the Self. At the heart of the workshop lies an immersion in Sufi Qawwali, as practised and transmitted by the hereditary Qawwals of the Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah in Delhi. This immersion in Qawwali, and physical movements associated with it, are intended to take us to a heightened state of awareness, where we might engage with notions of tradition, change, Self and identity in their personal, spiritual, ecological and socio-political dimensions, to essentially be able to ask the question, 'who owns my body?'. In response to this question, though not in an attempt to find an answer, we will travel through the territories of freedom, choice, responsibility, tolerance and diversity, through movement, meditation, breath, sound, body-work, theatre and cultural exchanges, taking a detour through a country called Rabindranath Tagore. Fees : A contribution of Rs. 4,000/- is suggested. However, this is flexible and reductions/waivers are possible. No one who is genuinely interested will be turned away for financial reasons. Contributions above the stipulated fee are also welcome from those who are able and willing to pay, to ensure the work can reach everyone irrespective of financial ability. For registrations, please contact Arka on 9311689319 or 09831731422 or mail arka.mukhopadhyay at gmail.com, by the 3rd of March. About the facilitators : Arka Mukhopadhyay is a performer and writer. Saqlain Nizami, Sibtain Nizami and Jamaal Nizami are hereditary Qawwals belonging to the Hzt. Nizamuddin Dargah. A video from the last edition of this workshop, courtesy Aditya Pathak, one of the particpants : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cYzvPKJ3AI Warmth and peace, Arka -- *Stat rosa pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus* -- Logos Theatre In the beginning was the word No. 126, 3rd Main Road, Jayamahal Extension, Bangalore 560046 -------------------------------------------------------- If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all. Since no man has aught of what he leaves, what is't to leave betimes? Let be. -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ announcements mailing list announcements at sarai.net http://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/announcements From jeebesh at sarai.net Sun Mar 20 12:43:38 2011 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh) Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2011 12:43:38 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The persistent fear base of authoritarianism Message-ID: <08D41C68-5738-4617-8387-215DF8EAB3AF@sarai.net> http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/03/2011316122450195659.html The persistent fear base of authoritarianism Social media sites have become conduits for real political change where censorship is prevalent. Leila Hudson In her initial call for the January 25th demonstration, Asmaa Mahfouz used Facebook and YouTube as the conduits for a message that went viral, but the jist of her call to action was for the youth of Egypt to tear themselves away from their Facebook accounts and take to the streets. While this rapidly growing and ever more youthful population, compressed by rigid national and international structures has found itself energised by every new communicative technology, turning them in to forms of public expression, new social media certainly were not sufficient in themselves to spark an awakening or bring about real political change. I suggest that perhaps it is the pulsating effect of an entire media ecology faced with inconsistent and stuttering state censorship that has driven people into the streets. Mubarak’s surprising success in turning off the Internet as the protests built up, and Gaddafi’s successful jamming of Al-Jazeera did not help them; on the contrary they took the media seriously enough to give the opposition a critical momentum. Media Ecology The current media ecosystem is composed of a number of complementary elements, which permeated the Middle East over the last two decades. The overall effect is the emergence of an interactive and dynamic transnational media infrastructure that is beyond the reach of most Middle East governments, but not for want of trying. First, transnational satellite television has near total reach in Arab and Middle Eastern societies. Channels like Al Jazeera and BBC Persian TV deliver relevant reporting in the language that hundreds of millions of ordinary people can understand, but which also remain independent of most governments. The Internet now embraces a host of powerful services; Youtube serves as a public record of far more than dogs on skateboards, documenting everything from state torture to demonstrations of every size. Facebook serves as a place to gather, rally, memorialize while WikiLeaks shed light on the very specific and colorful minutiae of the ruling class’s MO and lifestyles described with sardonic understatement by US diplomats whose cynicism added insult to injury. Twitter serves as the gateway to the new, more fluid incarnation of the blogosphere, both feeding and circulating mainstream reporting. Mobile telephony with its camera phones, texting, and now increasingly, internet access serves as the most versatile and pervasive bi-directional gateway to this ever-expanding digital sphere, allowing people to consume and produce and circulate information both publicly and privately. Each and every element in this ecology has faced repeated attempts at suppression by Middle Eastern governments in the years prior to 2011, but most failed for a variety of reasons. For the most part bans driven by political concerns highlighted the vulnerability, Luddism and a general lack of strategic vision of the regimes in question. Gulf states like Saudi Arabia and the UAE filtered the internet for sexual content on the other hand found a much greater level of social and religious consensus backing such policies. This is not to say that such this ecology can not be tamed or neutralised; the Iranian Green Movement brought millions out on to the streets in 2009 and was literally beaten back, while Syria and China have yet to see substantial disturbances thanks to a combination of fear and isolation that has kept millions censoring themselves. Listening autocrats versus stone deaf dictators Just as the new popular mobilisation involves decentralised deployment of television and internet resources, defensive state anti-coup, anti- revolution drills all revolve around taking control of key physical infrastructure and expelling challengers from public spaces - squares, streets, but also TV, computer and mobile phone screens. Trying to kill the internet and the mobile phone networks is like putting tanks on the street - it is a drastic move that tells everyone just how threatened a government feels and is. All authoritarian regimes require control over telecom infrastructure to be able to hit the 'kill switch' on the internet. Governments still think (and they may be right) that beating up, expelling or killing foreign journalists like murdered Al-Jazeera photojournalist Ali Hassan al-Jaber is part of the key to nipping revolt in the bud. 'Old media' is still media to the mobilisation of hundreds of thousands or millions on the street, as opposed to hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands. The majority of the Middle East is not on the web; they are watching television. Television and newswire reporters also generate content that feeds new media. For fifteen years Middle Eastern states and the US have tried to control Al-Jazeera. They have jailed bloggers. They have blocked Youtube. But ISP based shutdowns and slowdowns in the uprisings of 2011 in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Bahrain were clear “supersignals” and reminders of the fundamental weakness and fear base of authoritarian states. My argument is that a harsh state response to popular mobilisation in the new public spheres created by communicative technology evolution is part of the “recipe” that gets real segments of the people into the real streets. The fitful and mistimed attacks on noisy, fun but elitist and politically ineffective public fora like Facebook actually mobilize the medium and puts it on political high alert by sending a “supersignal” of regime fear and weakness. An effective shutdown using a kill switch pushes people into faintly remembered old style mass politics as in Egypt this January 25th. Interestingly a hardline “internet enemy” like Syria, with a much more sensitive internet policy finds itself in a better position than more liberal but tone deaf Egypt in controlling the cascade of events by through more sophisticated manipulation of the new social media and the use of old survival tactics. From rohitrellan at aol.in Sun Mar 20 14:03:09 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2011 04:33:09 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] Voices from the Waters- 2011 The 6th International Film Festival on Water CALL FOR ENTRIES In-Reply-To: <474021.55436.qm@web30007.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <8CDB4F092A9170D-1598-1F3A9@webmail-m048.sysops.aol.com> Voices from the Waters- 2011 The 6th International Film Festival on Water CALL FOR ENTRIES Bangalore Film Society in collaboration with Alliance Francaise de Bangalore, SVARAJ, Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival, Ithaca College, USA (FLEFF), Christ University, Bangalore, VISTHAR, Charter of Human Responsibilities, SAMVADA, Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy, YWCA Bangalore and Water Journeys - Campaign for Fundamental Right to Water are organizing the 6thedition of the biggest international film festival on water- Voices from the Waters 2011. This festival has established its relevance over the last five years and we have consistently been receiving entries from over 30 countries across the world underlining the global concern for water. The festival is growing in stature year after year with more and more institutions coming forward to collaborate with us and take the festival across India and abroad through the year giving the film makers chance to exhibit their works to a broader and diverse audience to enhance water and environmental consciousness. 2011 does not present a rosy picture at the water front in India. There is pronounced water scarcity. This may as well be the case across the developing world. What is hopeful though is the increasing ‘green consciousness’ across the country to reconstruct a sustainable environment by rethinking development. ‘Voices from the Waters’ add to this consciousness on the whole as the thoughts and concerns regarding the existence and well-being of our rivers and streams are now being voiced in the mainstream. Now more than ever, there is a call for awareness, dialogue and debate to inform the actions on which the future of our life worlds depends. ‘Voices from the Waters 2011 - the 6thInternational Film Festival on Water’ invites you to be a part of the festival by contributing short, documentary, animation and feature films on water and related issues. If you have a film in under any of the following categories: Water Scarcity, The Dams and the Displaced, Water Harvest/conservation Water Struggles/Conflicts, Floods and Droughts, Global Warming and Climate Change, Impact of Deforestation on Water Bodies, Water, Sanitation and Health, River Pollution, The Holistic Revival of Water Bodies, Water and Life, You can consider sending it to us. Please note that the categories are loosely conceived and your film does not have to necessarily adhere to them while focusing on the larger theme of water. Guidelines: Entries to the Film Festival must include: 1. Two DVDs of the film (with English subtitles, if required) 2. A completed and signed copy of the entry form 3. Three high-resolution stills of the film (can be sent via email) 4. A high-resolution photograph of the director (can be sent via email) Promotional materials are welcome There is no entry fee. All submitted films will be subject to a selection process by eminent members of the festival jury. Applicant must pay for shipment of films to Voices from the Waters. Submitted films will not be returned but will be part of Voices from the Waters library, one of the largest resources in the world for films on water. Voices from the Waters is conceived as a travelling film festival. The selected films after being premiered in Bangalore at the main event will be taken across to educational institutions, non governmental organizations, small towns and villages across India for non commercial exhibition and discussions. Last date for submissions: June 15th 2011 Address: Bangalore Film Society No.33/1-9, N. Thygaraju Layout, 4th Cross Jaibharath Nagar, M.S. Nagar P.O Bangalore 560 033 Karnataka/India Mobile:+91-80-9448064513 www.voicesfromthewaters.com RR Srinivasan, OHO PRODUCTIONS 106/2 First floor,Kanaga durga complex, Gangai Amman koil street, Vadapalani, Chennai - 600 026.Tamilnadu India. PH-094440-65336 , 044-42874434 Mail: rr18srinivasan at yahoo.com From chintan.backups at gmail.com Sun Mar 20 20:06:08 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2011 20:06:08 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Staff needed for research project on education of children with special needs Message-ID: >From http://www.cometmedia.org/requirement-staff-research-project Requirement for staff for research project Comet Media Foundation is doing a project on the education of Children with Special Needs. The audience for these educational materials will be parents, teachers and other caregivers. The research towards this project runs from the beginning of April till the end of July 2011. It involves the detailed study and evaluation of materials already in use in India, field visits to two locations to observe the actual use of the materials and to obtain information on their effectiveness from field workers and other users. This will be followed by further interactions in Mumbai and a report will be prepared providing an assessment of the effectiveness of the various materials used with recommendations for adding new ones and dropping or modifying the materials in use at present, if required. We require a team of two for this phase of the project: *1. Researcher and Project Manager* She or he will be responsible for detailed design of the study, planning and coordination of the field visits, data collection and validation, report preparation and presentation with the help of a research assistant. The ideal candidate would be in his/her 20s with at least three years of relevant work experience including projects involving disability issues and other social research. A degree or diploma in social work from a reputed institution would be an added benefit. The person selected would be paid a consolidated amount of Rs. 30,000 per month for four months in addition to travel and other work related expenses. *2. Research Assistant* The Research Assistant would assist the project manager in coordination, obtaining documents, data collection (both in the field and the office) and analysis, data entry and report preparation. Any relevant qualification and at least a year of work experience in this field would be preferable. The incumbent will be paid a consolidated amount of Rs. 15,000 per month for four months in addition to travel and other work related expenses. Two friends with similar qualifications who like working as a team could also apply and we could share the amount between the two of you. We look forward to hearing from interested people at cometmediafdn at gmail.com. If you feel like asking anything, please call +91 22 2386 9052 and ask for Chandran or Chandita. From indersalim at gmail.com Mon Mar 21 06:52:38 2011 From: indersalim at gmail.com (Inder Salim) Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2011 06:52:38 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: for japan In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: >From a journalist freind, here is a link for an NGO to support their action straightly on the spot http://www.peace-winds.org/ --------- Hi Nourit, There is an NGO called Peace Winds Japan ( en/) that is doing great things in the area. You might want to contact them about helping. The journalists, including myself are so busy covering the news. No time to organize among ourselves. Yes, the situation is so tragic. But it's helping unite Japan and motivating young people to get into action -- finally! So great things are already coming out of this tragedy. Lot's of love, Lucy -- http://indersalim.livejournal.com From javedmasoo at gmail.com Mon Mar 21 08:36:57 2011 From: javedmasoo at gmail.com (Javed) Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2011 08:36:57 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] CIA supporting Taliban in Pak? Message-ID: The US national Davis who has been released by paying blood-money had been in regular touch with Tahreek-e Taliban-e Pakistan and Lashkar etc. More proof that CIA is still supporting the Taliban in Pakistan. ------- Raymond Davis's Cell Phone Had Calls Placed to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi Eurasia Review Pakistani and Indian newspapers are reporting that Raymond Davis, the CIA contractor in jail in Lahore facing murder charges for the execution-slayings of two young men believed to by Pakistani intelligence operatives, was actually involved in organizing terrorist activities in Pakistan. “The Lahore killings were a blessing in disguise for our security agencies who suspected that Davis was masterminding terrorist activities in Lahore and other parts of Punjab,” a senior official in the Punjab Police claimed. “His close ties with the TTP [the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan] were revealed during the investigations,” he added. “Davis was instrumental in recruiting young people from Punjab for the Taliban to fuel the bloody insurgency.” Call records of the cellphones recovered from Davis have established his links with 33 Pakistanis, including 27 militants from the TTP and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi sectarian outfit, sources said. The article goes on to explain a motive for why the US, which on the one hand has been openly pressing Pakistan to move militarily against Taliban forces in the border regions abutting Afghanistan, would have a contract agent actively encouraging terrorist acts within Pakistan, saying: Davis was also said to be working on a plan to give credence to the American notion that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are not safe. For this purpose, he was setting up a group of the Taliban which would do his bidding. According to a report in the Economic Times of India, a review by police investigators of calls placed by Davis on some of the cell phones found on his person and in his rented Honda Civic after the shooting showed calls to 33 Pakistanis, including 27 militants from the banned Pakistani Taliban, and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, an group identified as terrorist organization by both the US and Pakistan, which has been blamed for the assassination of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, and to the brutal slaying of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Meanwhile, while the US continues to claim that Davis was “defending himself” against two armed robbers, the Associated Press is reporting that its sources in Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI), are telling them that Davis “knew both men he killed.” The AP report, which was run in Thursday’s Washington Post, claims the ISI says it “had no idea who Davis was or what he was doing when he was arrested,” that he had contacts in Pakistan’s tribal regions, and that his visa applications contained “bogus references and phone numbers.” The article quotes a “senior Pakistani intelligence official” as saying the ISI “fears there are hundreds of CIA contractors presently operating in Pakistan without the knowledge of the Pakistan government or the intelligence agency.” In an indication that Pakistan is hardening its stance against caving to US pressure to spring Davis from jail, the Express Tribune quotes sources in the Pakistani Foreign Office as saying that the US has been pressing them to forge backdated documents that would allow the US to claim that Davis worked for the US Embassy. President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other top US officials have been trying to claim Davis was an Embassy employee, and not, as they originally stated, and as he himself told arresting police officers, just a contractor working out of the Lahore Consulate. The difference is critical, since most Embassy employees get blanket immunity for their activities, while consular employees, under the Vienna Conventions, only are given immunity for things done during and in the course of their official duties. The US had submitted a list of its Embassy workers to the Foreign Office on Jan. 20, a week before the shooting. That list had 48 names on it, and Davis was not one of them. A day after the shooting, the Embassy submitted a “revised” list, claiming rather improbably that it had “overlooked” Davis. At the time of his arrest, Davis was carrying a regular passport, not a diplomatic one, though the Consulate in Lahore rushed over the following day and tried to get police to let them swap his well-worn regular passport for a shiny new diplomatic one (they were rebuffed). Davis was also carrying a Department of Defense contractor ID when he was arrested, further complicating the picture of who his real employer might be. http://weeklyintercept.blogspot.com/2011/03/raymond-daviss-cell-phone-had-calls.html From rohitrellan at aol.in Mon Mar 21 10:31:06 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2011 01:01:06 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] INVITE :We Care Filmfest on disability issue at Zakir Husain College, New Delhi In-Reply-To: <8CDB59BE86C87C2-E48-1499D@webmail-m084.sysops.aol.com> References: <8CDB59BE86C87C2-E48-1499D@webmail-m084.sysops.aol.com> Message-ID: <8CDB59C1E8A60FE-E48-149CF@webmail-m084.sysops.aol.com> Dear friends, Brotherhood and Bio-Scope Film Society of Zakir Husain College, Delhi University in association with the United Nation Information Centre for India and Bhutan, the UNESCO, the Natiional Trust and the Asian Academy of Film & Television is organizing We Care Filmfest on disability issue at Safdar G Hashmi Auditorium of Zakir Husain College, Jawahar Lal Nehru Marg,New Delhi on March 22 and 23 from 10 am to 3 pm. This will be 60th venue.     Regards   Satish Kapoor Director We Care Filmfest Rohit Rellan Vice President We Care Filmfest For any further info CALL 9899472065 OR mail at wecarefilmfest at gmail.com OR Log on to http://www.wecarefilmfest.net/ From chintan.backups at gmail.com Mon Mar 21 11:11:41 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2011 11:11:41 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Pratham Books needs Telugu, Tamil and Kannada proofreaders for children's story books Message-ID: From http://blog.prathambooks.org/2011/03/can-you-read-telugu-volunteer-or-work.html The bane of multilingual publishing is to get the language right when stories are translated. Translation is a creative, difficult and time-consuming task in itself. To get the translations reviewed and to get the final copy proof-read and sent to the printing press is an even more daunting job. If you have the time, inclination and expertise to proof-read hard copies or pdf in Tamil, Telugu or Kannada, do write to info at prathambooks.org with the subject line Telugu Proof-reader, Tamil Proof-reader or Kannada Proof-reader. Note about Pratham Books: Pratham Books is a not-for-profit trust that seeks to publish high-quality books for children at a affordable cost in multiple Indian languages. Pratham Books is trying to create a shift in the paradigm for publishing children’s books in India. The low cost model proves that children’s literature can be attractive and affordable and therefore more accessible. (Source: http://www.prathambooks.org/aboutus.htm) From asit1917 at gmail.com Mon Mar 21 14:36:04 2011 From: asit1917 at gmail.com (asit das) Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2011 14:36:04 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] meeting on fatehabad anti nuclear strugge Message-ID: Dear Friends, The unfolding disaster in Japan brings home forcefully the point that the production of Nuclear Energy is inherently extremely dangerous and so the trajectory the Indian State is taking on Nuclear Energy is horribly wrong. But to address the core issues, we have to confront the entire context and the way in which energy choices, energy production & wasteful consumption is being organized even as the basic and direct energy needs of the people are not met. Even in the narrower context, the ongoing Japanese nightmare should, at a minimum, pose a serious question mark against all the nuclear programmes being pursued in India. But the Indian state is determined to shamelessly and ruthlessly push ahead with its aggressive programs. The affected people in different proposed Nuclear Power Plant sites are struggling against the imposition of such plants in their locality which will take away their land and livelihoods and expose all those living around to high levels of health damaging ionizing radiation. The struggles are only getting stronger against plants to establish NPPs in Jaita Pur - Maharashtra, Hari Pur - West Bengal, Mithi Virdi - Gujarat, Pitti Sonapur - Orissa, Chutka – Madhya Pradesh, Kovada – Andhra Pradesh and Fatehabad in Haryana. In our own vicinity, Fatehabad, Haryana, the farmers and their supporters have been sitting in a Dharna for the last 220 days. The anti Nuclear plant struggle committee, Haryana is planning a massive rally at Fatehabad on 28th March, Monday. We therefore invite all like minded organizations, activist groups and individuals to come together and forge a large united front to campaign against the Indian State’s Nuclear Power Programmes at the various levels on which we can find convergence, from the general to the particular. Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament & Peace (CNDP) Delhi Platform (DP) Parmanu Sanyantra Virodhi Sangharsh Samity - Haryana DATE : 22nd March, Tuesday, 4.30 pm VENUE : INSAAF OFFICE A124/6, Katwariya Sarai, New Delhi (Opposite to Indian Statistical Institute) For more information, you can contact : Rakesh Bhardwaj : 9968561421 Asit Das : 9873748177 From jeebesh at sarai.net Mon Mar 21 16:54:28 2011 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh) Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2011 16:54:28 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The Moral Underground: How Ordinary Americans Subvert an Unfair Economy Message-ID: <89B5E832-8435-4F8D-97BD-9DCE1F2C22D3@sarai.net> The Moral Underground: How Ordinary Americans Subvert an Unfair Economy All around you are everyday heroes who refuse to be complicit in the economic mistreatment of other people. "Work is a core class intersection in American life." Bea, a manager at a big-box chain store in Maine, likes to keep a professional atmosphere in the store. But with a staff struggling to get by on $6 to $8 an hour, sometimes things get messy. When one of her employees couldn’t afford to buy her daughter a prom dress, Bea couldn’t shake the feeling that she was implicated by the injustice. “Let’s just say ... we made some mistakes with our prom dress orders last year,” she told me. “Too many were ordered, some went back. It got pretty confusing.” And Edy? “She knocked them dead” at the prom. Andrew, a manager in a large food business in the Midwest, told me about the moral dilemma of employing people who can’t take care of their families even though they are working hard. This was something that he couldn’t pretend was okay. He came to the decision to “do what [he] can” even at the risk of being accused of stealing. “I pad their paychecks because you can’t live on what they make. I punch them out after they have left for a doctor’s appointment or to take care of someone ... And I give them food to take home....” He described how it changed his job, tainted it, to be supervising people who couldn’t get by on what he paid them. Ned, who works in a chain grocery store, detours some of the “product” that doesn’t quite pass muster—dented cans, not-quite-fresh produce—to his low-wage employees. “I guess you could say I make the most of that,” he said. “I make the most of it. I don’t see it as a scam. It’s not for me, it’s for them. ... At the end of the month ... that’s all they have.” Paycheck inequalities Today, one in four U.S. workers earns less than $9 an hour—about $19,000 per year. Thirty-nine percent of the nation’s children live in low-income households. And African-American and Latino families are much more likely to be poor or low-income and are less likely to have assets or home equity to offset low wages. Between 2001 and 2008, I spoke with hundreds of lower- and middle- income people about the economy, work, schools, health care, and what they saw happening around them. When this research began, I was focusing on parents in low-wage families, documenting their accounts of working, being poor, and trying to keep children safe. But that changed when I spoke with Jonathan, a middle-aged “top manager” in a chain of grocery stores in the Midwest. I was asking him about the stresses of running a business that employed lots of low-wage parents. He acknowledged there were plenty. I was getting toward the end of the interview and he seemed to sense that, so he stopped me and asked, “Don’t you want to know what this is doing to me, too?” At first I thought he was going to tell me his own financial problems. But he wanted to talk about being someone who makes enough to live “fairly comfortably” while having authority over hardworking parents who do not. He spoke of parents whom he got to know pretty well, who headed home each week with less than they needed to feed their families. Yes, he said, it is the “going wage”—America’s “market wage”— that doesn’t cover the market cost of basic human needs. Still, it didn’t seem right to Jonathan. He described how it changed his job, tainted it, to be supervising people who couldn’t get by on what he paid them. In the tradition of civil disobedience that marks the nation’s history, often unassuming but morally clear-eyed people refuse, every day, to go along with the economic mistreatment of other people. Like Andrew and many others, Jonathan looked beyond the fact that it was legal for the market to set wages below what families need to survive. Does that make it right? Yes, of course it is lawful and “good for business,” and thus enthusiastically endorsed by a government increasingly run by corporate interests and their lobbyists. But when you look into the faces of people who are doing their work and trying to take care of their families, is it decent? And if not, who do you have to become to obediently go along with impoverishing workers and their families? Very different people from across the country told me that when you ignore injustice embedded in your society, you become part of it, complicit with what you consider immoral. And for some, this changed how they saw their role in the world and the work that they did. Building a Solidarity Economy How can one small childcare cooperative help create an economy founded on teamwork, social justice, and democracy? Work is a core class intersection in American life because, every day, millions of low-wage and middle-income people come together to do their jobs. They often get to know each other, their family concerns, hopes, and plans. Some of the people I interviewed said they had no interest in low-wage workers and others said that low-wage people have only themselves to blame for being poor. But most employers thought that working people should get a fair day’s pay and be able to keep their families fed and housed. A few went beyond concern. They found a little opening, a little chink in the system, and used it to treat working people better. Even if they had to break company rules, they were determined totreat people as though their survival mattered in a business environment that valued nothing but bottom-line profitability. I spoke to many people who, like other regular Americans in the past, decided that when you see people being treated unfairly and, worse still, you realize you play a direct role in that unfairness, the right thing to do is to act against it. In the tradition of civil disobedience that marks the nation’s history, often unassuming but morally clear-eyed people refuse, every day, to go along with the economic mistreatment of other people. Andrew, Ned, and Bea were some of the people who showed me how profound unfairness will give rise to a people’s moral underground, but they were certainly not alone. http://www.yesmagazine.org/happiness/the-moral-underground?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=socmed&utm_content=DodsonL_MoralUnderground&utm_campaign=110318_Happiness The Moral Underground: How Ordinary Americans Subvert an Unfair Economy By Lisa Dodson The New Press, 2009, 240 pages, $24.95. Support YES! when you buy here from an independent bookstore. The talk about the economy is now very different from when I began this research years ago. The malignant effects of unregulated market rule are being exposed as economic damage spreads beyond millions of working poor families. But I found that long before the press and politicians became riveted by an economic “meltdown,” plenty of ordinary people had been grappling with an unjust economy. Far away from debates about Wall Street and Main Street, in the side streets, byways, and common corners of the nation, where most Americans live, some have been staking out different moral terrain. There is a tale that has always emerged in America when business has free rein, can freely undermine the public good, and can freely buy and sell political will. Today’s is a contemporary version, but it is one that recalls a history when market rule could justify almost anything—buying and selling human beings, sending children into coal mines, denying people the right to organize, gutting whole communities to take jobs to a cheaper elsewhere, or leaving people who have labored their long lives without a pension or a home. But there is also a parallel story, the one about resistance. It is a new chapter in the proud history of how people will refuse to go along with economic abuse—and not just the few heroes we recall. Heroes alone don’t shift the ground. Deep change comes only when regular people start naming what is happening, talking to one another, and, inevitably, some of them decide that they can’t accept such injustice. Occasionally, they move a nation. From chintan.backups at gmail.com Mon Mar 21 18:30:56 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2011 18:30:56 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Homi Bhabha Centre's PhD Programme in Science Education - 2011 Message-ID: >From http://www.hbcse.tifr.res.in/graduate-school/gradschool PhD Programme in Science Education – 2011 *Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education* *Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (A Deemed University)* *V. N. Purav Marg, Mankhurd, Mumbai 400 088* * * *Do you have a* - Flair for teaching and writing? - Curiosity about how children learn? - Concern to improve science and maths education? - Interest in design and technology education for children? - Wish to do research in science, maths or design and technology education? *We are looking for young people who combine a basic training in the natural sciences with a lively interest in society, technology or the arts, to explore issues in school and college education.* HBCSE carries out research and development in *education* in science, technology and mathematics from primary school up to undergraduate level. This research is informed by current perspectives in cognitive science, developmental psychology, history and philosophy of science and socio-cultural aspects of science and education. Pre-Ph.D. programs in these areas serve to orient students who may enter with varied backgrounds. *Science and maths teachers and educators are welcome to apply. They would spend a minimum of two years at HBCSE to complete their course work and initiate their research work*. *Areas of research* - Development of scientific and mathematical thinking in children - Design and technology in the school curriculum - Visual and spatial modes in learning - Socio-cultural and gender factors in learning - Structure and dynamics of knowledge - Environment education - Innovative curricula, laboratories and teaching methods *Eligibility* B.Sc. in any subject followed by M.Sc./ M.A./ M.S.W. or B.Tech./B.E./ M.B.B.S. or equivalent *Important Dates* Application request deadline: April 1, 2011 Submission deadline: April 15, 2011 Written test: May 22, 2011 Interview: June 3rd week, 2011 *Note*: This is a programme in education. It is *not* a pure or applied science research programme. Admissions are made initially for one year, renewable annually up to a maximum of five years. Students receive a monthly scholarship of Rs. 16,000/- (enhanced to Rs. 18,000/- after registration) and an annual contingency grant of Rs. 20,000/-. Accommodation may be provided on campus at nominal cost. In lieu of accommodation HRA amounting to 30% of the fellowship will be paid. For application forms write, enclosing a 25.5 cm x 15.5 cm self-addressed envelope with stamps worth Rs.10/- to The Dean, Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, TIFR, V. N. Purav Marg, Mankhurd, Mumbai 400 088. Alternatively, you may download the form from http://www.hbcse.tifr.res.in/downloads Completed forms should be sent latest by April 15, 2011 with two passport size photographs along with a demand draft for Rs. 350/- (non-refundable) payable at Mumbai in favour of *Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education.* A written test for eligible applicants will be held at six Centres around the country: Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. For information see http://www.hbcse.tifr.res.in/graduate-school/examinfo . Those who qualify will be called for an interview. *Phones*:(022) 25580036/25072230; *Fax*: (022) 25566803; *email*: hbcdean at hbcse.tifr.res.in From rohitrellan at aol.in Tue Mar 22 06:59:22 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2011 21:29:22 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] Francophonie Week 2011, Delhi/ Calling All Filmmakers and Scriptwriters:Bahamas International Film Festival (BIFF) Message-ID: <8CDB647B4EB2252-F74-4750@webmail-d041.sysops.aol.com> Francophonie Week 2011 Time: Monday, March 21 at 4:00pm - March 25 at 9:30pm Location : M.L Bhartia Auditorium 72 Lodi Estate, New Delhi New Delhi, India Francophonie Festival at Alliance Française de Delhi M.L Bhartia Auditorium, 72 Lodi Estate, New Delhi Free admission open to all PROGRAM Monday 21st March : 4.00 pm : Le Destin/The Destiny (Movie presented by the Embassy of Egypt) 7.00 pm : Home (Movie presented by the Embassy of Switzerland) Tuesday 22nd March : 5.00 pm : Forecast (Movie presented by the Embassy of Bulgaria) 7.00 pm : Bon Cop/ Bad Cop (Movie presented by the Embassy of Canada) Wednesday 23rd March : 5.30 pm : Elevator (Movie presented by the Embassy of Romania) 7.00 pm : Nuits d’Arabie/ Arabian Nights (Movie presented by the Embassy of Luxembourg) Tuesday 24th March : 4.30 pm : Rouzblezonnver (Movie presented by the Embassy of Mauritius) 7.00 pm : La Vie au Village Molokaï/ Life in Village Molokaï (Theater presented by the Embassy of Republique démocratique du Congo) Friday 25th March : 4.30 pm : Le Cœur des Hommes/ The Heart of Men (Movie presented by the Embassy of France) 7.00 pm : Vers une autre destinée/ To another destiny (Theater presented by the Embassy of Belgium) ---------------------------------------------------- Calling All Filmmakers and Scriptwriters:Bahamas International Film Festival (BIFF) Time: Monday, March 21 at 12:00am - July 18 at 12:00am Many thanks for your submissions to the Bahamas International Film Festival (BIFF). We know that you have a choice to apply to over 6,000 film festivals around the world and we appreciate your interest. Bahamas International Film Festival (BIFF) prefers online entries submitted via Withoutabox.com, which provides cost-saving, paperless submission to film festivals around the world. Withoutabox’s internet-only submission platform features online applications via one master entry form, online fee payments, press kits, and the option to use Secure Online Screeners, an economical, eco-friendly, and secure alternative to traditional hard-copy DVD submissions. Fill out one master entry form and take advantage of quick entry, extended deadlines, and powerful submission management tools. There’s no extra cost to you, and by submitting, you’ll join Withoutabox’s global filmmaker community and stay in the loop about international exhibition opportunities. For information on how to submit your film visit www.bintlfilmfest.com From rohitrellan at aol.in Tue Mar 22 12:31:08 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Tue, 22 Mar 2011 03:01:08 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] Open Air Film Night, Max Mueller Bhavan,New Delhi In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <8CDB6760B4653A4-C28-33DB@webmail-m142.sysops.aol.com> In keeping with the tradition of Open Air Film Night, Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan presents a new range of German films - this time about friendships... 26 March, 5.30pm onwards, Siddhartha-Hall and Lawns, Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan All films shown in German language with English subtitles. Entry free. Seats limited. Open Air Film Night: FRIENDSHIP Friendship can take many forms… In the course of the night you will encounter a fast-track clash of opposites, two seamen in a desperate situation that puts their friendship to the test, a world-wary loner who is saved by a puppy and two strangers changed by a shared journey… 5.30 p.m. - A Friend of Mine (Ein Freund von mir) - Feature - Director: Sebastian Schipper, 84 min, 2006 7.00 p.m. - The Raft (Das Floß) - Short - Director: Jan Thüring, 10 min, 2004 7.20 p.m. - Underdogs (Schwere Jungs Habens Echt Nicht Leicht) - Feature - Director: Jan Hinrik Drevs, 94 min, 2007 9.10 p.m. - Sheep and Chips (Die Schimmelreiter) - Feature - Director: Lars Jessen, 94 min., 2009 A Friend of Mine (Ein Freund von mir) Director: Sebastian Schipper, 2006 Karl and Hans are like fire and water – or accelerating and braking… It’s hard to imagine two guys having less in common… but sometimes, an unlikely friendship is all it takes to change the world. The Raft (Das Floß) Director: Jan Thüring, 2004 After a bad storm, seafarers Marty and Ernest are drifting on the ocean on a raft. Together they fight to survive, but when they catch a small fish, it becomes evident what true friendship really means. Underdogs (Schwere Jungs Habens Echt Nicht Leicht) Director: Jan Hinrik Drevs, 2007 Mosk is a violent and unpredictable offender who, against his will, finds himself enrolled in a program for training guide dogs for the blind. Sheep and Chips (Die Schimmelreiter) Director: Lars Jessen, 2009 Northern Germany can be so beautiful... some say. Others are dying of boredom there and want nothing more than to get the hell out of there. Die Schimmelreiter is a classic buddy movie, a tour-de-force through the provincial wastelands of Northern Germany. From chintan.backups at gmail.com Tue Mar 22 13:24:39 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Tue, 22 Mar 2011 13:24:39 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Tana Bana, the Kabir Project's new collaboration with Open Space In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: *“There is a community of the spirit. Join it, and feel the delight of walking in the noisy street…”* urges the mystic Rumi. *Tana Bana* (warp and weft, the threads of diversity) leads you along the “noisy street” of multiculturalism – come, explore India’s diverse traditions through art, music, video and word. *Tana Bana* has been built in collaboration with the Kabir Project (www.kabirproject.org) * To read, watch, listen, visit http://www.openspaceindia.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=itemlist&layout=category&task=category&id=165&Itemid=233 * From nagraj.adve at gmail.com Tue Mar 22 14:54:30 2011 From: nagraj.adve at gmail.com (Nagraj Adve) Date: Tue, 22 Mar 2011 14:54:30 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fwd: (indiaclimatejustice) Petition to decommission Japan's Nuc plants In-Reply-To: <20110322062141.41899.qmail@f5mail-236-239.rediffmail.com> References: <20110322062141.41899.qmail@f5mail-236-239.rediffmail.com> Message-ID: dear all, here is a quick translation of the urgent appeal sent from our friends in japan. It would be great if you could sign on as individual. The petition is copied below and attached to this email. Pls help disseminate. To sign on this petition, please send your name and address to fukushima.hairo at gmail.com Please put “endorsement” on the title of your email. --------------- Urgent petition --------------- Naoto Kan, Prime Minister of Japan Katsumata Tsunehisa, Board chairperson, Tokyo Electric Power Company, Accept the request made by the Mayor of Koriyama city and decide to decommission the Fukushima nuclear power plants! Appeal: Immediately decide to decommission all of the 10 reactors of the first and second Fukushima nuclear power plants. Background of the appeal: Masao Hara, the Mayor of Koriyama city, at the press conference in the afternoon on March 19, 2011, said, it was the outrageous mistake that the Japanese government turned down the support offered by the United States which suggested decommissioning the nuclear plants. He announced that he made a request to the Tokyo Electric Power Company and Mr. Kaieda, the Minister of economy, trade and industry to immediately take measures to control the nuclear accidents towards decommissioning the plants. We urge the State and the Tokyo Electric Power Company to accept the request made by the Mayor of Koriyama city and decide to decommission the Fukushima nuclear power plants. We are worried about the workers who have been courageously engaging in the operations day and night to suppress the reactors and avert the worst-case scenario at their peril of being exposed to the radiation at the Fukushima nuclear power plants which were affected by the recent and continuing earth quakes. It has become clear to everyone that as long as the nuclear plants run, people are affected by the radiation. So many nuclear plant workers have been exposed to the radiation and some died from the radiation exposure even when the plants were running “safe”. The people are little known who died after a long suffering, when the causal link between the death and the radiation exposure became difficult to establish. We must now stop our practice: enjoying the “safe” electricity from the nuclear power plants at the expense of the people exposed to the radiation. Voluntary group calling for decommissioning the Fukushima nuclear plants (Japan) ********* To sign on this petition, please send your name and address to fukushima.hairo at gmail.com Please put “endorsement” on the title of your email. 1st deadline: end of March 2011; 2nd deadline: end of April 2011 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "indiaclimatejustice" group. To post to this group, send email to indiaclimatejustice at googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to indiaclimatejustice+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/indiaclimatejustice?hl=en. From vseksaria at hotmail.com Tue Mar 22 15:55:53 2011 From: vseksaria at hotmail.com (vrinda seksaria) Date: Tue, 22 Mar 2011 15:55:53 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] ASI Report - Ayodhya In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hi Would anyone know where I can access the ASI Reports that were submitted for the disputed site at Ayodhya. This is for an academic essay I am writing. Thank you. Regards, Vrinda Seksaria Conflicts and Negotiations MA Research Architecture Goldsmiths, University of London. From tapasrayx at gmail.com Wed Mar 23 05:16:33 2011 From: tapasrayx at gmail.com (Tapas Ray [Gmail]) Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2011 05:16:33 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Background on nuclear industry in Japan Message-ID: Forwarding from the Netttime list -- ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Krystian Woznicki Date: 22 March 2011 19:12 Subject: Background on nuclear industry in Japan To: nettime-l at kein.org Dear nettimers, today the Berliner Gazette (berlinergazette.de) published a text by historian Yuki Tanaka on the nuclear industry in Japan, embedding the Fukushima in a historical context as well as in the context of world economy. Here the link: http://berlinergazette.de/atomkraft-japan-gegnerinnen-lobby-und-die-ueberlebenden-von-hiroshima-und-fukushima/ Since this text is an original contribution to the Berliner Gazette the English version (see below) has not been published yet. Therefore I would like to share it with you. If you have any ideas, where it might get published, please get in touch with the author (yjtanaka68[at]yahoo.co.jp) Best wishes, Krystian - berlinergazette.de The Atomic Bomb and "Peaceful Use of Nuclear Energy" Yuki Tanaka Research Professor Hiroshima Peace Institute, Hiroshima City University The devastating earthquake registering 9.0 on the Richter scale that hit Japan on March 11, together with the following massive tsunami, completely destroyed the picturesque northeast coast of Japan's main island, taking tens of thousands of lives and creating hundreds of thousands of refugees. Along this stretch of utter destruction, four nuclear power stations comprising a total of 15 reactors are placed within a distance of about 200km. Of these, the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power station, operated by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), is the largest, comprising six nuclear reactors. Until now, TEPCO has been proud of the robustness of the containment vessels of these reactors. It has claimed that they were made utilizing the brilliant technology originally developed to produce the main battery of the world-largest naval artillery ever produced, mounted on the gigantic battleship, Yamato, of the Japanese Imperial Navy, which U.S. forces destroyed towards the end of the Asia-Pacific War. TEPCO claimed that the nuclear reactors would safely stop, then automatically cool down and tightly contain the radiation in the event of an earthquake, and that there would therefore be no danger that earthquakes would cause any serious nuclear accident. The vulnerability of nuclear reactors to earthquakes was already evident, however, when TEPCO's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant on Japan's northwest coast caused several malfunctions, including a fire in a transformer, and a small quantity of radiation leaked into the ocean and the atmosphere following a magnitude 6.8 earthquake that hit this region in July 2007. In spite of this serious accident, TEPCO still arrogantly overrated their "world best nuclear power technology." Yet, immediately after the March 11 earthquake violently shook these reactors and the towering waves of a tsunami surged and damaged many buildings of the power station, the myth of the "safe and durable reactor," a myth promulgated by TEPCO, was immediately shattered. At this writing, half of the six reactors seem to be on the verge of melting down, and one of the containment buildings has caught fire due to spent fuel rods combusting. The radiation level in the vicinity of the power station is extremely high, and it is spreading as far as Tokyo and Yokohama. Thus, as every day passes, an unprecedented scale of nuclear disaster is unfolding, making it more and more difficult to arrest the multiple problems of radioactivity. What went wrong with Japan's nuclear industry? It is often said that the Japanese are hyper-sensitive about nuclear issues because of the experience of nuclear holocaust in August 1945. On the morning of August 6, an atomic bomb instantly killed 70,000 to 80,000 civilian residents of Hiroshima city and by the end of 1945, 140,000 residents of that city had died as a result of the bombing. Three days later, another atomic bomb killed about 40,000 civilians in Nagasaki and 70,000 had died by the end of that year. Many others have subsequently died, often after experiencing a lifetime of suffering, or are still suffering from various diseases caused by the blast, fire and radiation. It is true that the Japanese, in particular the citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, are highly conscious of the danger of nuclear weapons, the most lethal weapons of mass destruction. A-bomb survivors, who know well the terror of the bomb and who are fearful of the long-lasting effects of radiation, have therefore been the vanguard of the anti-nuclear weapon campaign. Despite this, however, many A-bomb survivors and anti-nuclear weapon activists have so far been indifferent to the nuclear energy issue. Anti-nuclear energy campaigners have long been marginalized in Japan. For example, a small group of anti-nuclear energy activists in Hiroshima have been actively involved in the movement against the Chugoku Electric Power Company's (CEPCO) plan to build a nuclear power station near Kaminoseki, a beautiful fishing village on Japan's Inland Sea, about 80km away from Hiroshima City. However they have had virtually no support from any A-bomb survivors' organizations. Nor have either the former or current mayors of Hiroshima, who are widely known as strong advocates for the abolishment of nuclear weapons, ever supported this local anti-nuclear power movement. Indeed they never expressed concern about the danger of nuclear power accidents. Despite strong opposition by this group of anti-nuclear energy activists in solidarity with fishermen of Kaminoseki, CEPCO started construction work early this year. (However, CEPCO temporarily stopped construction work on this site on the day of the earthquake, perhaps indicative of the very great difficulty the nuclear power industry and the government will have in resuming work on nuclear plants following the disasters.) There are many reasons for this peculiar dichotomy in the anti-nuclear movement in Japan. One reason is that nuclear science was strongly promoted in post-war Japan, in particular after the new American policy of "peaceful use of nuclear energy" was initiated under President Eisenhower in 1953. This was mainly due to Japanese self-reflection about having neglected scientific research during the war. In particular, contemporary Japanese politicians and scientists strongly believed that their nation was defeated in WW2 by American technological science, exemplified by nuclear physics. This attitude, together with a deep anxiety about the lack of natural energy resources in a nation that relies on imports for 100% of its oil and is the world's largest importer of coal, overtly encouraged Japanese adoption of nuclear energy. Particularly from the late 1960s the Japanese government engaged in pork barrel policies to secure approval of local communities in remote areas for the construction of nuclear power plants in their regions. The government allocated huge sums to build public facilities such as libraries, hospitals, recreation centers, gymnasiums and swimming pools in areas where local councils accepted a nuclear power station. Power companies paid large sums of money to landowners and fishermen to force them to give up their properties and fishing rights. Political corruption soon became part and parcel of the development of this industry. At the same time, the government and power companies promoted the myth that nuclear power is clean and safe, thereby marginalizing the anti-nuclear energy movement. Although for a short period following the Chernobyl accident in 1986, the anti-nuclear power movement in Japan gained nation-wide support, this quickly subsided following campaigns by the government and the power companies. Despite many accidents since, the seriousness of these incidents was effectively covered up. Consequently there are now 17 nuclear power stations around the earthquake prone Japanese Archipelago, comprising 54 nuclear reactors which provide thirty percent of Japan's electricity is generated. The anti-nuclear movement has been warning of the dangers of a devastating nuclear accident for years, but this has always been met with dismissive assurances of the safety of the reactors. The Fukushima accident has brought to fruition all the fears and predictions previously expressed. In the same way that the atomic bomb indiscriminately killed tens of thousands of civilians, this nuclear reactor accident is likely to be responsible for indiscriminate suffering and death of numbers which cannot at this time be foreseen but are likely to play out over the next several decades as a consequence of radiation pollution. For this reason, a nuclear power accident can be called an "act of indiscriminate mass destruction," and in this sense, it appears that Japan and Japanese people twice in 65 years will become the victims of "nuclear mass destruction." Australia and Canada are the two largest uranium suppliers for Japan. Thirty three percent of Japan's uranium import comes from Australia and twenty seven percent from Canada. Australia is faced with the decision of whether to continue exporting uranium even as certain politicians insist that we cannot afford to risk introduction of nuclear power. Surely it is hypocritical to avoid the dangers at home, while benefitting from the export of the cause of this disaster. In the same vein, these politicians advocate the need to abolish nuclear weapons, but refuse to ban the mining of uranium. Japan is not the sole nation responsible for the current nuclear disaster. From the manufacture of the reactors by GE to provision of uranium by Canada, Australia and others, many nations are implicated. We all should learn from this tragic accident that human beings cannot co-exist with nuclear power, whether it in the form of weapons or electricity.  The risks and the costs, in dollar terms and above in terms of the destruction of human beings and the environment are excessive. This catastrophic event could potentially be the catalyst needed to drastically reform Japan's existing socio-economic structure and way of living. As a positive outcome, it could provide the wake-up call and opportunity to redirect the nation on a new course that emphasizes green energy development. In the same way that Japan's unique Peace Constitution evolved from the ruins of World War II, this calamity could be used to initiate a hitherto impossible, totally new, peaceful and environmentally harmonious society. Such an optimistic outcome is dependent on the determination and actions of the Japanese people, supported by the whole-hearted assistance of those outside Japan. End -- (March 19, 2011) #  distributed via : no commercial use without permission #    is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, #  collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets #  more info: http://mail.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l #  archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime at kein.org From naresh.rhythm at gmail.com Wed Mar 23 13:05:28 2011 From: naresh.rhythm at gmail.com (Naresh Kumar) Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2011 13:05:28 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] KNC celebrates centenary of Faiz Message-ID: ZIKR-E-FAIZ KAMALA NEHRU COLLEGE (History Society and Indian Music Society) Presents Renditions by MAHMOOD FAROOQUI And Dr. MADAN GOPAL SINGH DATE: MARCH 28th, 2011 TIME: 11.30 AM onwards VENUE: COLLEGE AUDITORIUMM PROGRAM: Mahmood Farooqui and Danish Husain: Zikr-e-Faiz Followed by Dr. madan Gopal Singh and Friends: musical Performance Cordially Dr. Minoti Chatterjee, Principal. Ph.: +9111-26494881. -- Naresh Kumar Assistant Professor Department of History Kamala Nehru College (University of Delhi) From ravikant at sarai.net Wed Mar 23 14:25:05 2011 From: ravikant at sarai.net (ravikant) Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2011 14:25:05 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Politics as Pathetic Performance: 24th March, CSDS, by SV Srinivas Message-ID: <4D89B569.7030005@sarai.net> *Centre for the Study of Developing Societies* *Programme for Social & Political Theory* /(Rethinking the Political Series)/ invites you to a lecture by Professor S V Srinivas on *'Politics as Pathetic Performance' * The lecture is scheduled to be held on March 24, 2011, 3.00 PM at CSDS Conference Hall. *Abstract* In 1983 the Telugu film star N.T. Rama Rao (NTR) became the first non-Congress chief minister of Andhra Pradesh after a nine-month long election campaign. I revisit the moment of the star’s crossover to politics to ask what it might tell us about the relationship between the mobilizer and the mobilized. NTR’s campaign style was marked by a high-sounding Telugu that was directly traceable to mythological films while his exaggerated body language and accompanying histrionics at election rallies were typical of his screen appearances in general. So striking was the recall of his film career during the campaign that political opponents called him Drama Rao and claimed he attracted crowds of /cinema janam/, film buffs, who would never vote for him. NTR staked his political future on his /pathetic performance/, one that was highly emotional and laughable at the same time. This singular campaign was mediated by saturation newspaper coverage by the standards of the day, anticipating the transformation of Indian elections into entertaining media events. A re-examination of the equivalences the ageing actor set up—between an ‘excessive’ performance typical of popular Indian cinema, a media-consuming public and its purportedly timeless cultural affinities—offers insights into the dynamics of contemporary mass mobilisation, whether or not these are centred on film stars and linguistic identity. _*Bio-sketch – Professor S.V. Srinivas*_ Professor S.V. Srinivas is a Senior Fellow at Centre for the Study of Culture and Society, Bangalore. He works on popular cinema, its markets and constituencies. A key focus of his research has been the social and political contexts of film exhibition, in particular the linkages between film consumption and democracy in southern India. He is the author of /Megastar Chiranjeevi: Telugu Cinema after N.T. Rama Rao/ (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2009). He has published essays on Telugu cinema, south Indian stars and the circulation of Hong Kong cinema in India. This lecture is a part of a book project on the social and political history of Telugu cinema supported by New India Foundation. *You are cordially invited to attend the Lecture.* Praveen Rai Academic Secretary Centre for the Study of Developing Societies 29, Rajpur Road Delhi - 110054 Phone: 91-11-23942199 Fax: 91-11-23943450 www.csds.in From peter.ksmtf at gmail.com Wed Mar 23 15:28:09 2011 From: peter.ksmtf at gmail.com (T Peter) Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2011 15:28:09 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Koodamkulam Nuclear Plant: A Threat to Kerala In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Press Release March 23, 2011 Koodamkulam Nuclear Plant: A Threat to Kerala We would like to express our great concern and deep anxiety about the deadly radioactive explosion that has happened at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan (some 150 miles north of Tokyo). Both online and television images of the thick white smoke hovering over the exploded nuclear power plant have come to haunt the world public opinion. The Japanese authorities have extended the evacuation zone to 20 kms. Thre are reports that people even beyond the 20 km radius are fleeing to save the lives of their own and their near and dear ones. The dangerous explosion is said to have blown the roof off the reactor building, brought down walls and caused a very heavy radiation leak. Even after the plant’s chain reaction was stopped, the fuel rods continue to produce heat and must be cooled in order to avoid the meltdown of the fuel. The plant needs a continuous supply of electricity to run the water pumps and the instruments. Since the emergency diesel generators at the Daiichi plant failed, pressure mounted in the reactor, the normal cooling function stopped and resulted in the explosion. As the world is gearing up to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the deadly nuclear power plant accident at Chernobyl on April 26, 2011, another calamity has stuck the humanity. Chernobyl accident released 1000 times more radiation than Hiroshima bomb and the effects of radiation reached up to Holland. It is understood today that the nuclear disaster in Japan is close to the scale of Chernobyl. Hence, we should be informed about the ways in which radiation canreach our own home lands. The Fukushima accident establishes that nobody can assure us total safety with regards to nuclear power technology. If Fukushima radiation can end up in Sacramento, California, Kerala will not be spared. While the nuclear power is getting promoted in a major way in India the resistance to the plants are also grooming in many parts. Kerala is the only state which has stopped two nuclear power plants with public protests. However, it is important to realize that the Koodamkulam nuclear power plant which is very close to Kerala is also a big threat to Kerala, especially to southern Kerala. Recently Dr. A. N. Prasad, an important nuclear department official, has given an interview to rediff.com that mega nuclear power plants are not safe. One immediate effect could be the torurism industry. They are building two 1000 MW Russian nuclear power plants there and are going to add four more. The sham public hearing took place on June 2, 2007. With six 1000 MW nuclear power plants, a reprocessing plant, dangerous nuclear waste, and a weapons facility (just because Koodankulam is far away from Pakistan and China), we can be sure that tourism will dwindle gradually. The sea water is going to be contaminated; fish is going to be contaminated; the air, food, water and everything will be polluted. Both Indian and foreign tourists will avoid our sea and sea food. Even if these accidents and attacks do not happen, the daily intake of radionuclides and low-level radiation will do enough damage to our people in Trivandrum, Kollam, Pathanamthitta and Alleppey districts. Tourism Department in Kerala will have to redefine the slogan of Kerala from ‘God’s Own Country’ to ‘Devil’s own country’. In the light of the above situation, we demand that the Koodankulam nuclear power plant be shut down immediately. Common sense would instruct us not to tread this path of Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima but generate energy from safe and sustainable sources. A protest in front of the secretariat with a poster campaign will take place at 10.30 am on 24th March. A public meeting and a film screening will follow at 5PM at the press club, Tvm. Dr.S.P.Udayakumar -National Alliance of Anti-Nuclear Movements (NAAM), T.Peter, Kerala Swatantra Matsyathozhilali Federation (KSMTF), R.Biju- SUCI, V.Harilal - KSSP, Sudheer.A. - Solidarity Youth Movement,Baburaj - Pedestrian Pictures,Sajeer.A.R. - Kerala Tourism Watch, Pushparayan - Coastal Peoples Federation (Tamilnadu), K.P.Sasi - Documentary Film Maker Contact : T. Peter, President, KSMTF (09447429243) From aliens at dataone.in Wed Mar 23 21:03:13 2011 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2011 21:03:13 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] CONGRESS PREJUDICES HIT ECONOMICS FEDERALISM Message-ID: <000601cbe96f$a08e8ed0$e1abac70$@in> Missing at Vibrant Gujarat was the Indian public sector, those companies owned by the Union government. ICICI Bank signed a deal with Gujarat promising credit to developers and users of infrastructure projects. At least six Indian public sector banks had negotiated similar arrangements but were prevented from finalising these following instructions from the finance ministry in New Delhi. http://www.dnaindia.com/india/analysis_cong-prejudices-hit-economic-federali sm_1522711 The fifth Vibrant Gujarat summit this January saw 7,936 memoranda of understanding (MoUs) announced, committing to invest $462 billion. The cream of Indian business was in Gandhinagar for the summit, as were business delegations from as far apart as Japan, the United States and Brazil. Forty-five countries and 19 other (non-Gujarat) Indian states made presentations and solicited business opportunities at an event that has established itself as India's premier investor conference. Missing at Vibrant Gujarat was the Indian public sector, those companies owned by the Union government. ICICI Bank signed a deal with Gujarat promising credit to developers and users of infrastructure projects. At least six Indian public sector banks had negotiated similar arrangements but were prevented from finalising these following instructions from the finance ministry in New Delhi. Last week, the income-tax (I-T) department, acting on a vague complaint by Congress politicians in Gujarat, asked the Narendra Modi government to furnish details of all investors and companies that had agreed to put in at least Rs1,000 crore. These would be investigated for possible tax evasion. It was clear the UPA government was out to sabotage Vibrant Gujarat and send a menacing signal to business groups that had flocked there. There are three issues worth noting here. First, the I-T department's notice to Gujarat is not just blatantly political but also illogical. If X buys a house from Y and pays Y with money that has been earned illegally, the tax authorities need to serve a notice on X, not on Y. That apart, investment coming into Gujarat, whether from Mauritius or Mumbai or Manhattan, is being routed through banking channels and not arriving in suitcases. If the finance ministry and its agencies want to scrutinise these channels, they can do so even without telling the Gujarat administration. So what explains this sledgehammer message to the Modi government? Second, it is possible - though of course improbable - that the Congress-led government in New Delhi has decided upon a crusade against black money, and that it believes corporate India (as well as foreign entities investing in Gujarat/India) are awash in ill-gotten wealth, in profits from the narcotics trade and organised crime and so on. It may even believe Vibrant Gujarat has become a rendezvous of such evil money. If so, why did Congress-run states such as Andhra Pradesh participate in Vibrant Gujarat, and attempt to persuade the same companies that were investing in Modi territory to pour funds in their direction as well? Should the I-T department send a notice to the Andhra Pradesh government as well, asking it why it is soliciting investment from suspected tax evaders and sources of criminal capital? Alternatively, does the colour of money change (from black to white or maybe 'communal' to 'secular') when it leaves Gujarat and enters, for example, Maharashtra? Third, the Gujarat episode only affirms the need to redefine the contours of economic federalism. In Gujarat, the Congress tells public sector companies to stay away and blackmails the private sector. In Orissa, the BJD government's efforts to revolutionise the economy, by getting Posco to set up a giant steel facility and Vedanta to build an aluminium plant, are tripped by a prejudiced environment ministry and its handpicked committees. In Uttar Pradesh, the BSP government's proposal to host a new airport in the western part of the state - bordering the national capital, in the region between Greater Noida and Aligarh - is cussedly denied the green signal. The Congress wants to wait till the 2012 state election so that Rahul Gandhi can make the new airport a poll promise and deprive Mayawati of credit. India has moved enormously since 1991 and states have far greater economic and financial autonomy today. Even so, the residual powers that remain with the Union government can be leveraged to lethal effect by a bloody-minded ruling party. This is exactly what is happening in state after state ruled by non-UPA parties, particularly those showing business potential. In the 1980s, an underlying principle of non-Congress unity was political federalism and the need to guard against misuse of Article 356, which allowed the Union government to dismiss state governments at whim. Today, economic federalism is under siege. The NDA needs to make greater freedom for the states in economic policy, decision-making and regulation one of its core goals. After the UPA experience, New Delhi can't be trusted. Ask Gandhinagar, Bhubaneswar, Lucknow. From rohitrellan at aol.in Thu Mar 24 08:16:23 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2011 22:46:23 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] It's about 6 critical requirements of GOONJ .. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <8CDB7E4CB891217-498-C221@webmail-m008.sysops.aol.com> Dear Friends, This mail, may be firstof its kind in the last 12 years of our work, is not about what we aredoing or plan to do. (Please refer www.goonj.orgfor regular updates) Here are 6 criticalrequirements, ways to engage to strengthen the work. Do read, revert, actand pass on the message to your friends, colleagues and relatives if youthink they can also join this movement!! 1. TEAM2000: It’s about bringing together a strong team of 2000people who contribute a sum of Rs. 10,000/- or more in a year.  (About$ 250 or just about Rs. 800/- a month) It’s NOT like an EMI or alifelong commitment. Give till you feel comfortable or trust thework.  Commit less or more…although we are looking for 2000people to commit Rs. 10,000/- or more... Apart from taking care of majorregular expenses, the money will be used for growth, expansion and widerreplication. We are sure that it isachievable and like all other initiatives of GOONJ, we want TEAM 2000 alsoto be driven by the volunteers.. do sign up, spread the word, talk topeople to join TEAM 2000.A simple form is enclosed giving the moneytransfer options. Contributions in India are tax exempted u/s 80G of ITact. 2.Vehicles: With the spread, transport cost has gone up and materialinflow at GOONJ is increasing. Pick up vans are an immediate need in Delhi,Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Kolkata & Jalandhar (@ approx 4.5 lakhrupees). An Informal group, Focus India Forum from Singapore has just takencare of the vehicle in Chennai. Possible contacts with vehicle companies orto get the discounted rates are welcome. 3.Computers/laptops: For the past many years we havesomehow managed with the used lot of computers. Now when we are focusing onMIS, trying to use technology to maximize the potential, we need high end,good systems. Laptops are preferred as most team members spend a lot oftime in the field. Our requirement is of 25 Computers/laptops and 7printers/photocopy machines . 4.Transport support: or linkages with transport companies to reachout material to hundreds of towns/villages across the country. 5. Space:We are looking for about 2000 sq. ft. space for a processingcenters/storage in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Jalandhar, Chennai and Hyderabadeither pro-bono or on minimum possible rent. Chennai and Hyderabad are mosturgent. 6. Linkages withgarment industry people: primarily dealing with cotton and hosierysurplus, under/non utilized material.We are producing about 2,00,000 (2lakh) sanitary pads and undergarments for women right now and the demand ismuch more !! Feel free to write backwith your queries/suggestions/comments. Do send out this message to as manypeople as you can. A form to join ‘Team 2000’ enclosedbelow… Lookingforward… With best Anshu TEAM2000 form and options for transferring contributions Download- http://www.goonj.org/Team%202000%20form.doc Anshu Gupta ( AshokaFellow) FounderDirector GOONJ.. www.goonj.org http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=603740952 From sanjaykhak at gmail.com Thu Mar 24 16:18:36 2011 From: sanjaykhak at gmail.com (Sanjay Khak) Date: Thu, 24 Mar 2011 16:18:36 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Geelani - Among the Civilised! Message-ID: Geelani - Among the Civilised! *Sorry for cross posting from - http://kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com/2011/03/geelani-among-civilised.html* There is an interesting take away from the following press report (on Geelani at the recently concluded India Today Conclave) of a gentleman called Arpit Parashar in the Tehelka.It nomenclates Syed Ali Shah Geelani as Chairman of the Hurriyat Conference but prefers to call us as a right wing Kashmiri group.Even by my own godless ways of life and belief in the Nietzschean ideology of a dead god I wouldn’t be apologetic to call Geelani an Islamic Bigot. Look at the inverse logic that our journos including Arpit use.Geelani to them needs no affirmative fixing label irrespective of his regular pronouncements that Kashmir should merge into Pakistan because it is a muslim majority area.That he believes Islam is the glue between Kashmiris and Pakistan obviously isn’t feeding any frenzy at all,right or left.That he got Abdul Ghani Lone killed because Lone had apparently looked towards India for a solution doesn’t set any alarm bells ringing into our friend Arpit or the likes of many such apologists of hate.That Geelani invokes religion (Islam here) to drive mobs and to frenzy is pious and just because we protest against such ideologues of hate is being right wing. I wouldn’t mind being branded a radical Hindu provided I was one. In 22 years of our exile Kashmiri Pandits have not killed, maimed or even injured one Muslim. They have not brought down,burnt,ransacked or even partially destroyed the properties of any Muslims despite the fact their own houses lie destroyed and their places of worship desecrated.Yet Arpit and likes have a nomenclature for us. *But humko kahein kafir, Allah ki marzi Hain* The idols nomenclate me as the infidel,there must be God’s will in this. That brings us back to the India Today Conclave. We at Roots in Kashmir do believe that we must be statesmanlike when it comes to finding solutions to issues as vexed as Kashmir. Neither is it our argument not to involve people who differ with our viewpoint on Kashmir.Infact we would welcome every move that would result in a solution to the Kashmir issue. What we all need to decide is whether people like Geelani are or can actually pave the way forward for any kind of solution at all, or are they a part of the problem itself. Before a reputed media organization like India Today decided to call Geelani(unless they wanted to call his bluff, which I do not rule out) to address the conclave don’t they believe that it is necessary to do a basic background check on the man who is a sworn Islamist and known fascist even by the most liberal standards. It is not for nothing that even NDTV calls him a hardliner. Not the first time though has India Today invited a killer of humanity to its Conclave.Earlier in 2008 they had Yasin Malik to address a session on Youth.Yasin Malik is to Geelani what Chemical Ali was to Saddam Hussein.So it wouldn’t be entirely wrong to expect the Burmese dictator or even a Qadafi next year. If India Today believes that such people could be a part of the solution then either they are too naïve or too conspiring. Now that he was allowed rather graciously to be a part of the Aroon Puri’s solution to Kashmir let us see what he brought to the table. He looked sheepish from the word go. Clearly this wasn’t his territory.There weren’t many in the crowd albeit some Pakistani diplomats and was Nayeem Khan there too, who would purchase his blood red wares. He was incoherent, gone was his nonchalant way with which he dismisses opponents in Kashmir.The village boy looked clearly like a cat on a hot tin roof that too in a huge city. Obviously he had nothing new to say. He mumbled the usual stuff but had neatly packaged it, though he couldn’t deliver it well. He spoke of “human rights violations” and the” brutality” of the Indian State the same state that paid his medical bills and appealed to the US government to grant him a visa. Haven’t we heard that before? He didn’t explain why it took him a week despite huge public pressure to announce a hartal when two girls in his hometown were recently murdered by forces loyal to His Master’s Voice. He tried to his best evoke some sympathy among his listeners and was getting exasperated by the second because people could see through his spiel. Though he was the last speaker of the session and thus had the opportunity to reply to Arif Mohammed Khan’s fervent, logical and passionate speech but it seemed Geelani had clearly lost it. Seemed someone had understood the essence of Holy Koran better than Geelani and obviously had more to do with Kashmir’s glorious but pre-islamic or even secular past. He was stumped by Arif Mohammed’s references to Kalhan, Lalleshwari and Nund Rishi.Arif Mohammed had his day.But the worst for Geelani was yet to come.It was left to a young exiled Pandit to tell the audience how his mother wrapped him in a cloth to escape death at the hands of Geelani’s zealots when he was barely nine months old.The more inconvenient question was why Geelani had Abdul Ghani Lone(one of his own Hurriyat members killed). Aditya Raj Kaul had the audience cheering and when Geelani tom tommed the usual conspiracy by Jagmohan it was received by jeers from the crowd. (Conclave Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGxT646o4CA ) It is well known that people with dictatorial tendencies brook no opposition and therefore are not used to civil means. They are at their wits ends when questioned about their ideology or the means that they use to achieve their ends.No one in Kashmir dares ask Geelani such questions. That person would be history. Pity Ghani Loni made that mistake. best Sanjay From navayana at gmail.com Fri Mar 25 08:48:49 2011 From: navayana at gmail.com (Navayana Publishing) Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2011 08:48:49 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Angela Y. Davis lectures in Delhi, Pune Message-ID: The Second Navayana Annual Lecture ANGELA YVONNE DAVIS 5 April 2011, 7 p.m. "Contemporary Quests for Social Justice," followed by a dialogue with Gail Omvedt at Stein Auditorium, India Habitat Centre Lodi Road, Delhi Entry only by invitation for the 5 April 2011 Navayana lecture Collect cards from 25 March 2011 from Navayana: 26494795 IHC Program Desk: 43663090 IPDA: 26402040 The Caravan: 9873338291 CWDS: 23345530 Scholars Without Borders: 9971763322 1 April, 7 p.m. A Place for Rage, screening of documentary by Pratibha Parmar featuring Angela Davis, June Jordan and Alice Walker 52 min, Gulmohar, India Habitat Centre, Delhi 4 April, 3.30 p.m. "Prison Abolitionand the Challenges of Feminism". J.P. Naik Memorial Lecture, Convention Centre (Opp. Arts Faculty), Delhi University, Chhatra Marg, New Delhi-7, Delhi Univ/CWDS 6 April, 3 p.m. Prison Abolition and the Challenges of Feminism Namdeo Hall, KSPWSC, Pune University Angela Davis is Professor Emerita at the History of Consciousness Department, University of California, Santa Cruz. She is the author of seven books, including Angela Davis: An Autobiography. Women, Race & Class 284 pages | Rs 295 Are Prisons Obsolete? 128pages | Rs 150 For more details on the events please see http://navayana.org/?p=1363 -- www.navayana.org To reach Navayana use this map: http://navayana.org/?page_id=8 Navayana 155, Second Floor Shahpur Jat New Delhi 110049 Landline: +91-11-26494795 Mobile: +91-9971433117 From chintan.backups at gmail.com Fri Mar 25 12:54:11 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2011 12:54:11 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Journal of the Krishnamurti Schools, January 2011, Issue 15 + Fear resource pack Message-ID: From http://www.journal.kfionline.org/article.asp?issue=15&article=1 Editorial P. Ramesh *Rishi Valley School, Chittoor District, India* *Journal of the Krishnamurti Schools, January 2011, Issue 15 * Quick Link to all Issues Issue No.1 - July 1997 Issue No.2 - July 1998 Issue No.3 - March 1999 Issue No.4 - May 2000 Issue No.5 - May 2001 Issue No.6 - July 2002 Issue No.7 - July 2003 Issue No.8 - July 2004 Issue No.9 - July 2005 Issue No.10 - July 2006 Issue No.11 - July 2007 Issue No.12 - January 2008 Issue No.13 - January 2009 Issue No.14 - March 2010 Issue No.15 - January 2011 True to its eclectic character, this fifteenth issue of the Journal of Krishnamurti Schools has a collection of articles on diverse subjects and topics. The fate of the earth is a constant source of anxiety to mankind. While we all seem to agree that we have done harm to the earth in which we live, we do not know how to educate ourselves as to what is exactly happening to us and the earth, let alone as to what is to be done about it. Gary Primrose points out the limits of environmental education and shows us how to learn from nature by taking up one specific activity, gardening, and doing it with all our hearts and minds. Shailesh Shirali asks the intriguing question: ‘Is man part of, or is he different from, nature?’ For him, nature is a metaphor for life itself, hence one can indeed learn a great deal from it. Four pieces talk about the school as such. Mark Lee movingly evokes the golden first decade of the Oak Grove School and how much of a moving force Krishnamurti was during this period and beyond, in helping the school find its feet. Anant Mahajan gives a charming little primer on setting up an astronomy kit in the school. While Gurvinder (Neetu) Singh gives an account of the programme of the Bangalore Study Centre in integrating its activities with the children of the school, Shagufta Siddhi reveals the inward life of a high school teacher through the format of diary entries stretching over an academic year and more, in her role as a teacher of History. Raji Swaminathan examines a facet of education that is rarely explored by educators—the role of the parent in the education of the child. Gerard Bayle tries to evoke, in his interview, his work in the theatre. Acting is essentially movement and communication and, the best way to go about teaching it ‘would be to develop in children an aesthetic sense, a sense of what is beautiful’. Lionel Claris takes us through the thicket of twentieth century models of learning, essentially the behaviorist and the constructivist ones. He shows us the need go beyond them if we are ever to get to the ‘total insight’ that Krishnamurti spoke about. The general section winds up with a piece by OR Rao written on the larger canvas. It explores the very depths of human consciousness, what distinguishes us humans from the animals, the origins of fear and the essential condition of modern man—truly a psychological panorama, if one may be permitted to call it. This issue contains a special feature: a section in the main Journal on the theme of Fear, as also a separate ‘resource pack’ that accompanies it. This part of the Journal, together with the contents of the pack, is introduced at the beginning of the section. Fear is a dominant factor in the life of the schoolgoing child, and we decided to examine for ourselves its various contours. The material in the pack is based on responses received from children to a questionnaire that was sent to a range of schools. It was fascinating to come upon the true voices of children on what they are really afraid of and how they meet their fears. Our intention in including a special feature in this issue on a significant emotion such as Fear was to sensitize teachers and parents as to what is actually happening within children, so as to enable them to establish a rapport with them both at school and home, talk to them, draw them out and create an ambience of trust and openness. Learning can take place only when there is no fear. Contents page here: http://www.journal.kfionline.org/toc.asp?issue=15 From chintan.backups at gmail.com Fri Mar 25 16:07:31 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:07:31 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Dharavi in Fashion: An article by Smita Mitra, Outlook magazine Message-ID: *From http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?270932 The Slum Of All Parts * Artistes of the world are converging on a much-bemused Dharavi By Smita Mitra When well-heeled Mumbaikars stride into Dharavi, you know something odd is afoot. And sure enough, there they were on a January morning to take in the “buzz” generated by Artefacting Mumbai, Dharavi’s first “art residency”, for which artist Alex Mazarella White, videographer Casey Nolan and photographer Arne de Knegt had “immersed” themselves in Dharavi for three months. Given the language barrier and their lack of engagement with the locals, the trio’s “artistic interventions” had left Dharavians feeling rattled. They wondered why these “foreigners” had made gigantic murals (“Christian paintings?” they asked), why their own mugshots were up on large posters; why their children had been made to pelt a tin sheet with dripping red wax that got their clothes awfully messed up (apparently to recreate Anish Kapoor’s *Shooting Into a Corner *installation!). But for the chic Mumbaikars chattering excitedly as they viewed the artwork in Dharavi’s snaking alleyways, none of that was particularly relevant. Nor the fact that the huge multicoloured ‘Welcome’ sign greeting them was painted by outsiders, not Dharavians. Welcome, indeed, to the new Dharavi, dismissed for years as an eyesore but now the muse of artists, writers, filmmakers and academicians. Two reasons shape this meteoric rise of Mumbai’s, and India’s, biggest slum in popular consciousness. The first, and obvious one, is *Slumdog Millionaire*, the urban fairytale that exoticised its garbage piles and bustling alleyways, and went on to trigger a flood of documentaries capturing the “real Dharavi”. Since the movie hit Oscar glory in 2009, film crews from Discovery, Nat Geo and BBC’s Channel Four have come and gone. With real-time “casting” by the likes of Dharavi resident Rajesh Prabhakar, who earns between 250 and 300 dollars a day finding “characters” in his neighbourhood—from ragpickers to super-rich entrepreneurs to rap singers—they are able to wrap up their shoots fast, and go back with a made-in-Dharavi tale. The second, more subtle reason for Dharavi’s new, “hip” turn is that it’s the ‘ideal’ slum, and one threatened by redevelopment to boot, at a time when urbanists across the world are looking at slums with new respect as industrious, dynamic, sustainable, eco-friendly urban settlements. That Dharavi, home to about a million people from all over India, sits bang in the middle of the city, flanked by five train stations, only adds to its allure. More than one Dharavi-trawler, camera in hand, is well-versed in ‘slum aesthetics’, a term that has found its niche in cinematic idiom and popular culture in the last decade. “Slums are used as dramatic backdrops to tell stories like in *City of God* or *District 9*,” says Mathias Echanove, founding member of Urbz, an organisation that works on alternate ideas of urban development. While *City of God* was set in the favelas or slums of Rio de Janeiro, a film called Tsotsi, set in Johannesburg’s Soweto slum, won the 2006 Oscar for Best Foreign Language film. And so, while Rio now has favela tours, Dharavi has Reality Tours and Be the Local tours, plus an unending stream of foreign researchers, architects, planners, design students, artists, musicians and photographers from across the world making their way here to see, observe, research, write and conduct workshops. Their route into Dharavi is usually via organisations like Urbz and SPARC (Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres), who make no secret of their passion for Dharavi, through essays, cultural and design workshops and websites like dharavi.org and urbz.net. But how do locals themselves react to seeing their own lives repeatedly documented via art, design and research? At least some are openly sceptical. Bhau Korde, now over 70 years old, is dismissive of “intellectuals” who love to comment on Dharavi without really engaging with it. “On any day, at any hour, there are at least 10 foreigners walking around with cameras. Most are interested in only capturing the poverty of the place,” he says sardonically. Anjum, another resident, is just as cynical. “The numbers of visitors have shot up in the last two years. Most of us just ignore them and carry on with our work,” he shrugs. Richa Hushing, an independent filmmaker who made a series of short films on Dharavi’s communities, admits to hearing a common complaint here. “They say, ‘you come with your cameras, make films but we never know for what’,” she says. It made her think, and eventually decide, to screen films, her own and those of others on Dharavi, for residents. Similarly, Lutz Konermann also screened his documentary *Dharavi: Slum for Sale* in Dharavi, attracting strong reactions, both positive and negative, from residents since it dealt with a subject uppermost in their minds—redevelopment. Dharavi’s children, the most favoured subjects of photo essays on the place, have come up with their own unique reaction to the invasion of visitors. “They want to take pictures too. They want to play at becoming surveywallahs and photographers,” says artist Himanshu S., who interacts with the kids who come to The Shelter, supported by Urbz, for art and other classes. This has had a positive spin-off. The children were able to document their neighbourhood like no outsider could, and their photographs, priced at between Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,500, were exhibited at the Kala Ghoda Festival, held this February. Only two were sold, but the exhibition did attract volunteers eager to work in Dharavi. Such engagement is exactly what Vinod Shetty of Acorn Foundation, which works with Dharavi’s ragpicker community, is aiming for too, despite fumbles like Artefacting Mumbai. He has tied up with a theatre director to create a play with Dharavi’s children. They will pen the dialogues and also act in the play, portraying their realities. Blue Frog, the hip “live music” club, has also become an unlikely entrant into Dharavi’s world—its visiting foreign artistes hold music workshops for Dharavi’s kids through Acorn. Not all such interventions are sustained and it’s this lack of consistency that feeds the scepticism of Dharavians like Bhau Korde. The photography workshops are sporadic, and as Emanuelle de Decker of Blue Frog herself admits, some older kids question the point of music workshops that let them “have fun for just a day where they get to perform with the artiste”. She rues how there’s “always a long wait for the next interested artiste”. How great a cultural interaction can be, when it actually works, is encapsulated by the experiences of HeRa aka Netarpal Singh in Dharavi. This hip-hop dancer, who grew up in the ghettos of Queens, New York, visited Dharavi to see French graffiti artists work. Spontaneously, he began B-boying, an acrobatic version of hip-hop dancing, and was soon joined by enthusiastic Dharavi kids. “Hip hop came naturally to them. It connects us people from the street, in South Africa, Korea, Palestine, the US and India,” says HeRa, who was so charged with this encounter that he decided to start a hip-hop centre, Tiny Drops, on the slum’s outskirts. Now Dharavi kids like Akash, Rashid and Faizal come here whenever they can, practising for hours to get their moves right. On discovering that the kids he was teaching hated the term “slum dog”, he turned it around, starting an artists’ collective called Slumgods with his Indian-American rapper friend Mandeep Sethi and Dharavi’s dancers. “It makes these kids redefine their identity by connecting to an international hip hop culture. They become empowered,” he says. Creative or jarring, sincere or exploitative, loved or hated, there is no doubt about one thing: the invaders are changing Dharavi. *Dharavi In Fashion* *TV shows* *Slumdog Secret Millionaire* and *Kevin McCloud: Slumming It* on Channel 4, *The Real Slumdogs* on Nat Geo; documentary on Discovery Channel; another on human drug trials in Dharavi by Al Jazeera TV and a third on the area’s recycling units by Sky News *Independent films:* *Dharavi: Slum for Sale*, directed by Lutz Konermann, Canadian film *Slum of Millionaires*; audio-visual series on Dharavi by Richa Hushing *Online projects* dharavi.blogspot.com and dharavi.org *Books* *Dharavi: Documenting Informalities*, ed. Jonathan Habib Engqvist and Maria Lantz; *Dharavi Anthlogy* (forthcoming) by HarperCollins, compiled by Joseph Campana *Exhibitions* ‘Artefacting Mumbai’, a 3-month artistic exploration of Dharavi; ‘Places We Live’, a multimedia exhibition by Norwegian photographer Jonas Bendiksen *Tours* Reality Tours, Be the Local From oishiksircar at gmail.com Fri Mar 25 16:20:01 2011 From: oishiksircar at gmail.com (OISHIK SIRCAR) Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:20:01 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] April 2: 'The Perversity of National Security'/ 2nd Violent Modernities Workshop @ JGLS, Sonipat, India Message-ID: Apologies for cross-posting/ Please do circulate widely The Centre for Penology, Criminal Justice and Police Studies and the Collaborative Research Programme on Law, Postcoloniality and Culture at the Jindal Global Law School (JGLS), Sonipat with JGLS Student Coalition Against Sedition present THE PERVERSITY OF NATIONAL SECURITY Workshop 2 of the Violent Modernities Project April 2, 2011, Saturday | Public Lecture Hall, T1 | 9.30am-5.00pm Schedule 9.30-9.45am Tea 9.45-10.00am Introduction to the ‘Violent Modernities’ Project and Workshop 2 10.00am-12.00pm Session I – MEMORIES AND HISTORIES OF IMPUNITY Chair: Ratna Kapur, Visiting Professor, JGLS Gujarat 2002: Impunity and the Legal Imagination / Teesta Setalvad, Citizens for Peace and Democracy, Mumbai Operation Green Hunt: Past Continuous / Nandini Sundar, Professor of Sociology, Delhi University The Cartography of Impunity in Kashmir / Vrinda Grover, Human Rights Lawyer, New Delhi Impunity and the Erosion of the Rule of Law / Ravi Nair, South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre, New Delhi 12.00-12.15pm Tea and Heavy Snacks 12.15-2.00pm Session II – CONTOURS OF DISSENT Frames in Search of Freedom: Hashimpura and Beyond (Illustrated talk) / Parthiv Shah, Centre for Media and Alternative Communication, New Delhi I Have Not Booked My Face Yet: A Tribute to Aga Shahid Ali (Installation performance) / JGLS Student Coalition on Sedition Faces in the Dark: Curating in Such Times of Sedition (A talk with installed exhibits) / Parnab Mukherjee, Third Theatre Activist (with Dhrupadi Ghosh and Manas Acharya) 2.00-2.45pm Lunch 2.45-4.45pm Session III – CULTURES OF THE EXTRAORDINARY Chair: Vik Kanwar, Assistant Director, Centre for Public Law and Jurisprudence, JGLS 1984: Monologue as Evidence / Jarnail Singh, Journalist and Author of ‘I Accuse...: The Anti-Sikh Violence of 1984’ What does the AFSPA got to do with peace? / Bimol Akoijam, Professor, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University The Curious Case of the Batla House Encounter and other Strange Stories of Suspicion / Manisha Sethi, President, Jamia Teachers Solidarity Association, New Delhi 4.45-5.00pm Closing Statement by JGLS Student Coalition against Sedition For more information, and if you like to attend and require transportation from Delhi please contact: OISHIK SIRCAR oishiksircar at gmail.com oishik.sircar at utoronto.ca +91 8930110702 From the-network at koeln.de Fri Mar 25 17:02:25 2011 From: the-network at koeln.de (CologneOFF2011) Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2011 12:32:25 +0100 Subject: [Reader-list] =?iso-8859-1?q?CologneOFF_2011_ARAD_-_videoart_in_a?= =?iso-8859-1?q?_global_context?= Message-ID: <20110325123225.E148F75E.B8F1D0DB@192.168.0.4> CologneOFF 2011 - videoart in a global context nomadic festival project 1 January - 31 December 2011 http://coff.newmediafest.org ---------------------------------------------- After the most successful event series recently in Ukraine Kiev (14 & 15 March) and Kharkiv (16-20 March), CologneOFF 2011 is making the next stop on its global tour in Romanania, where the Art Museum of Arad is hosting CologneOFF 2011 ARAD between 31 March and 2 April 2011. CologneOFF 2011 ARAD is a collaboration between Cologne International Videoart Festival, artvideoKOELN & Le Musee di-visioniste - the new museum of networked art directed & coordinated by Wilfried Agricola de Cologne and Art Museum of Arad and Kinema Ikon Arad (Romania) curated by Calin Man presenting in total 21 programs featuring "art and moving images". This is the event schedule --------------------------- 31 March - Thursday Opening 18h lecture screening - special selection Cologne OFF VI - "Corporate III" 1 April - Friday 15h- -20h video art screenings 15h - 16h UK & Ireland: Occasionally Unusual 16h - 17h ASIA: Hongkong curated by Alvis Choi & Ellen Pau 17h - 18h Latin America: Mexico - Resistance & Burning Desire 18h - 19h Asia: Near West/Near East 19h - 20h Digitalis I - aspects of digital art Projections/installations 1. Balkan countries: A very loud voice - Boris Sribar - solo (Serbia) 2. Mediterranean: France: Frank Gatti - Slapstick Social 3. Baltic Sea: Finland curated by Pekka Ruuska 4. Baltic Sea: Russia/ curated by Vika Ilyushkina/ 5. Balkan countries: Croatia I curated by Darko Fritz & Croatia II by VideoChannel 6. Mediterranean: Italy curated by Giorgio Fedeli & Mario Gorni 7. Baltic Sea: Estonia - Estonian Art Academy curated by Raivo Kelomees 2 April - Saturday 15h-20h screenings 15h - 16h Mediterranean: Spain curated by Maite Camacho & Mario Gutierrez Cru 16h - 17h Balkan countries: Romania - Kinema Ikon curated by Calin Man 17h - 18h Baltic Sea: Latvia: Waterpieces Videoart Festival Riga 18h - 19h Asia.: Iran: "Close to My Heart" curated Alysse Stepanian 19h - 20h Balkan Countries: Slovenia curated by Kolektiva /Ljubljana Projections/installations 1 Asia: Fear West/Far East - Laos 2 SFC - Shoah Film Collection (selection I) 3 Figure it out! - performance in video art 4 Africa: Still Fighting curated by Kisito Assangni (Togo) 5 Baltic Sea: Poland I curated by Antoni Karwowski 6 Austria: curated by MACHFELD 7 Australia: Jamil Yamani - All Quiet on the Western Front A detailed PDF catalogue is available for download http://downloads.nmartproject.net/CologneOFF2011_ARAD.pdf The poster is also available as PDF http://downloads.nmartproject.net/CologneOFF2011_Arad_poster.pdf See you in Arad or in virtual space online, since the entire basic festival program of CologneOFF 2011 presenting all videos in full length is available 24h a day online via http://coff.newmediafest.org ----------------------------------------- CologneOFF 2011 - videoart in a global context nomadic festival project 1 January - 31 December 2011 A media art project culturally designed (c) by AGRICOLA de Cologne http://coff.newmediafest.org 2011 (at) coff.newmediafest.org ----------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------- From jeebesh at sarai.net Fri Mar 25 18:06:02 2011 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh) Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2011 18:06:02 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] The Atomic Bomb and "Peaceful Use of Nuclear Energy" Message-ID: <8C93179F-7CFE-4382-9B47-4878E0105CAC@sarai.net> The Atomic Bomb and "Peaceful Use of Nuclear Energy" Yuki Tanaka Research Professor Hiroshima Peace Institute, Hiroshima City University The devastating earthquake registering 9.0 on the Richter scale that hit Japan on March 11, together with the following massive tsunami, completely destroyed the picturesque northeast coast of Japan's main island, taking tens of thousands of lives and creating hundreds of thousands of refugees. Along this stretch of utter destruction, four nuclear power stations comprising a total of 15 reactors are placed within a distance of about 200km. Of these, the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power station, operated by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), is the largest, comprising six nuclear reactors. Until now, TEPCO has been proud of the robustness of the containment vessels of these reactors. It has claimed that they were made utilizing the brilliant technology originally developed to produce the main battery of the world-largest naval artillery ever produced, mounted on the gigantic battleship, Yamato, of the Japanese Imperial Navy, which U.S. forces destroyed towards the end of the Asia-Pacific War. TEPCO claimed that the nuclear reactors would safely stop, then automatically cool down and tightly contain the radiation in the event of an earthquake, and that there would therefore be no danger that earthquakes would cause any serious nuclear accident. The vulnerability of nuclear reactors to earthquakes was already evident, however, when TEPCO's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant on Japan's northwest coast caused several malfunctions, including a fire in a transformer, and a small quantity of radiation leaked into the ocean and the atmosphere following a magnitude 6.8 earthquake that hit this region in July 2007. In spite of this serious accident, TEPCO still arrogantly overrated their "world best nuclear power technology." Yet, immediately after the March 11 earthquake violently shook these reactors and the towering waves of a tsunami surged and damaged many buildings of the power station, the myth of the "safe and durable reactor," a myth promulgated by TEPCO, was immediately shattered. At this writing, half of the six reactors seem to be on the verge of melting down, and one of the containment buildings has caught fire due to spent fuel rods combusting. The radiation level in the vicinity of the power station is extremely high, and it is spreading as far as Tokyo and Yokohama. Thus, as every day passes, an unprecedented scale of nuclear disaster is unfolding, making it more and more difficult to arrest the multiple problems of radioactivity. What went wrong with Japan's nuclear industry? It is often said that the Japanese are hyper-sensitive about nuclear issues because of the experience of nuclear holocaust in August 1945. On the morning of August 6, an atomic bomb instantly killed 70,000 to 80,000 civilian residents of Hiroshima city and by the end of 1945, 140,000 residents of that city had died as a result of the bombing. Three days later, another atomic bomb killed about 40,000 civilians in Nagasaki and 70,000 had died by the end of that year. Many others have subsequently died, often after experiencing a lifetime of suffering, or are still suffering from various diseases caused by the blast, fire and radiation. It is true that the Japanese, in particular the citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, are highly conscious of the danger of nuclear weapons, the most lethal weapons of mass destruction. A-bomb survivors, who know well the terror of the bomb and who are fearful of the long-lasting effects of radiation, have therefore been the vanguard of the anti-nuclear weapon campaign. Despite this, however, many A-bomb survivors and anti-nuclear weapon activists have so far been indifferent to the nuclear energy issue. Anti-nuclear energy campaigners have long been marginalized in Japan. For example, a small group of anti-nuclear energy activists in Hiroshima have been actively involved in the movement against the Chugoku Electric Power Company's (CEPCO) plan to build a nuclear power station near Kaminoseki, a beautiful fishing village on Japan's Inland Sea, about 80km away from Hiroshima City. However they have had virtually no support from any A-bomb survivors' organizations. Nor have either the former or current mayors of Hiroshima, who are widely known as strong advocates for the abolishment of nuclear weapons, ever supported this local anti-nuclear power movement. Indeed they never expressed concern about the danger of nuclear power accidents. Despite strong opposition by this group of anti-nuclear energy activists in solidarity with fishermen of Kaminoseki, CEPCO started construction work early this year. (However, CEPCO temporarily stopped construction work on this site on the day of the earthquake, perhaps indicative of the very great difficulty the nuclear power industry and the government will have in resuming work on nuclear plants following the disasters.) There are many reasons for this peculiar dichotomy in the anti-nuclear movement in Japan. One reason is that nuclear science was strongly promoted in post-war Japan, in particular after the new American policy of "peaceful use of nuclear energy" was initiated under President Eisenhower in 1953. This was mainly due to Japanese self-reflection about having neglected scientific research during the war. In particular, contemporary Japanese politicians and scientists strongly believed that their nation was defeated in WW2 by American technological science, exemplified by nuclear physics. This attitude, together with a deep anxiety about the lack of natural energy resources in a nation that relies on imports for 100% of its oil and is the world's largest importer of coal, overtly encouraged Japanese adoption of nuclear energy. Particularly from the late 1960s the Japanese government engaged in pork barrel policies to secure approval of local communities in remote areas for the construction of nuclear power plants in their regions. The government allocated huge sums to build public facilities such as libraries, hospitals, recreation centers, gymnasiums and swimming pools in areas where local councils accepted a nuclear power station. Power companies paid large sums of money to landowners and fishermen to force them to give up their properties and fishing rights. Political corruption soon became part and parcel of the development of this industry. At the same time, the government and power companies promoted the myth that nuclear power is clean and safe, thereby marginalizing the anti-nuclear energy movement. Although for a short period following the Chernobyl accident in 1986, the anti-nuclear power movement in Japan gained nation-wide support, this quickly subsided following campaigns by the government and the power companies. Despite many accidents since, the seriousness of these incidents was effectively covered up. Consequently there are now 17 nuclear power stations around the earthquake prone Japanese Archipelago, comprising 54 nuclear reactors which provide thirty percent of Japan's electricity is generated. The anti-nuclear movement has been warning of the dangers of a devastating nuclear accident for years, but this has always been met with dismissive assurances of the safety of the reactors. The Fukushima accident has brought to fruition all the fears and predictions previously expressed. In the same way that the atomic bomb indiscriminately killed tens of thousands of civilians, this nuclear reactor accident is likely to be responsible for indiscriminate suffering and death of numbers which cannot at this time be foreseen but are likely to play out over the next several decades as a consequence of radiation pollution. For this reason, a nuclear power accident can be called an "act of indiscriminate mass destruction," and in this sense, it appears that Japan and Japanese people twice in 65 years will become the victims of "nuclear mass destruction." Australia and Canada are the two largest uranium suppliers for Japan. Thirty three percent of Japan's uranium import comes from Australia and twenty seven percent from Canada. Australia is faced with the decision of whether to continue exporting uranium even as certain politicians insist that we cannot afford to risk introduction of nuclear power. Surely it is hypocritical to avoid the dangers at home, while benefitting from the export of the cause of this disaster. In the same vein, these politicians advocate the need to abolish nuclear weapons, but refuse to ban the mining of uranium. Japan is not the sole nation responsible for the current nuclear disaster. From the manufacture of the reactors by GE to provision of uranium by Canada, Australia and others, many nations are implicated. We all should learn from this tragic accident that human beings cannot co-exist with nuclear power, whether it in the form of weapons or electricity. The risks and the costs, in dollar terms and above in terms of the destruction of human beings and the environment are excessive. This catastrophic event could potentially be the catalyst needed to drastically reform Japan's existing socio-economic structure and way of living. As a positive outcome, it could provide the wake-up call and opportunity to redirect the nation on a new course that emphasizes green energy development. In the same way that Japan's unique Peace Constitution evolved from the ruins of World War II, this calamity could be used to initiate a hitherto impossible, totally new, peaceful and environmentally harmonious society. Such an optimistic outcome is dependent on the determination and actions of the Japanese people, supported by the whole-hearted assistance of those outside Japan. End -- (March 19, 2011) From rohitrellan at aol.in Fri Mar 25 22:14:57 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2011 12:44:57 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] Invitation: Screening of Film Wiz Kids and discussion with the director of the film on March 30, 2011 at 10:00 a.m.New Delhi In-Reply-To: <919F6DC550E3A844960997555742D9540471EA97@NEWDELHIMB04.neasa.state.sbu> References: <919F6DC550E3A844960997555742D9540471EA97@NEWDELHIMB04.neasa.state.sbu> Message-ID: <8CDB9231A3A1F00-1598-C854@webmail-d036.sysops.aol.com> American Center   & Space cordially invite you for a screening of the film   Wiz Kids   followed by discussion with the film’s Director Tom Shephard   Wednesday, March 30, 2011, 10:00 a.m.   24 Kasturba Gandhi Marg Connaught Place, New Delhi 110001     At a time when American teens lag far behind other countries in math and science, WHIZ KIDS is a coming-of-age film that tells the story of three remarkably different yet equally passionate 17-year-old scientists who vie to compete in the nation's oldest, most prestigious science competition. Win or lose, these ‘whiz kids’ raise questions about class, courage, personal sacrifice, success and failure, and in the process, learn as much about themselves as they do about science.   Tom Shepard, director + co-producer, was a Science Talent Search finalist in 1987. He has directed and produced documentaries for over 12 years. His film SCOUT’S HONOR won the Audience Award for Best Documentary and Freedom of Expression Award at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival. SCOUT'S HONOR was broadcast nationally on PBS when it opened POV's 14th season. In 2006, he co-directed and produced KNOCKING, a film about Jehovah’s Witnesses, which broadcast nationally on the PBS program Independent Lens and has garnered several national awards. He also has produced, directed and edited shorter films for the public television series VOTING IN AMERICA and SPARK.  Previously, Shepard worked as an editor at National Public Radio for Linda Wertheimer. At NPR, he co-produced LISTENING TO AMERICA, an audio documentary on the history of public radio in America. He graduated from Stanford University, where he majored in biology and film.   * Please carry a photo identity card with you to enter the American Center. * Mobile phones and laptops are allowed in the American Center.  However, photography is prohibited. * For more details please contact 2347-2290.           From rohitrellan at aol.in Fri Mar 25 22:57:21 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2011 13:27:21 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] NATIONAL SCHOOL OF DRAMA, NEW DELHI:THREE YEAR DIPLOMA IN DRAMATIC ARTS(2011-2014) ADMISSION NOTICE/ INVITING APPLICATIONS FOR THEATRE GARAGE PROJECT in APRIL 2011 Message-ID: <8CDB92908A84826-17C8-946@webmail-d036.sysops.aol.com> The National School of Drama, a central autonomous institution, fully funded by the Government of India Ministry of Culture, invites applications for admission to its three year diploma course (full time-residential) in Dramatic Arts. The course starts from July 2010 and aims at training students to become professionals in the area of acting, design and other theatre related disciplines. ELIGIBILITY: Essential Qualifications: 1. Graduation in any subject from a recognized University in India & abroad. 2. Participation in at least 6 theatre productions. 3. Working knowledge of Hindi & English. AGE LIMIT as on 1.7.2011 Minimum 20 years Maximum 30 years The upper age limit is relaxable by 5 years for SC / ST candidates only. RESERVATION FOR SC/ST/OBC: Out of 26 seats, 4 seats are reserved for candidates belonging to the scheduled castes; 1 seat is reserved for scheduled tribes and 5 seats are reserved for OBC (except Creamy Layer as notified by the Government) as per Govt. of India rules. SELECTION: An Expert Committee constituted by the School will assess the aptitude and talent of the candidates & its decision will be final. Any CANVASSING in this regard will be treated as a disqualification. MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION: Hindi / English CENTRES FOR PRELIMINARY TEST: A preliminary test will be conducted at five centres i.e. Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Mumbai & Guwahati. The candidates qualifying in this test will have to attend a workshop of 4 or 5 days in the School premises for their final selection for which they will be paid D.A. and II class train / bus fare from the place of their residence to Delhi & back by the shortest route on submission of ticket / cash receipt. The candidates will also be provided accommodation on a modest sharing basis during the workshop. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE: All selected students will be given a monthly scholarship of Rs. 6000/- to meet their academic and other expenses. PHYSICAL FITNESS: The students selected for admission will be required to undergo a medical test for physical fitness. The preliminary selection is subject to clearance of the fitness test. HOW TO APPLY: To receive the application form and prospectus (in English & Hindi) by post, please write to The Academics Department, National School of Drama, Bahawalpur House, Bhagwandas Road, New Delhi-1 with a crossed Demand Draft /Pay Order, payable at Delhi, of Rs. 225/- (Rupees two hundred twenty five only) including postal charges, in favour of The Director, National School of Drama, New Delhi. All requests for receiving the form by post should reach the school by 31.03.11. The application form & prospectus will also be available from the Book Shop of the National School of Drama from 25.03.11 to 20.04.10 on cash payment of Rs. 150/- between 10.00 A.M. to 1.00 P.M. & 2.00 P.M. to 5.00 P.M. on working days. The application form can also be downloaded from the school website www.nsd.gov.in. The downloaded application form should be sent alongwith a Demand Draft of Rs. 150/- in favour of The Director, National School of Drama, New Delhi in an envelope titled 'Application for Admission-2011-2014'. Forms sent in envelopes without this will not be entertained. Application forms dully filled in must reach The Assistant Registrar (Academics) National School of Drama, Bahawalpur House, Bhagwandas Road, New Delhi-1 on or before 25.04.11. No application will be entertained after this date. Applicants who have been applying for the last 3 years but did not qualify in the preliminary interview need not apply. However, applicants who qualified in the preliminary interview but could not clear the final interview for the last 2 years may apply. Download Application form: http://web706.246.new.ocpwebserver.com/App_submit.aspx Download Prospectus: http://nsd.gov.in/NSD_prospectus_spread_%20for_web_2011.pdf ----------------------------------------- INVITING APPLICATIONS FOR THEATRE GARAGE PROJECT in APRIL 2011 VISION STATEMENT: Theatre Garage Project aims to contribute to Indian Theatre by establishing ‘Red Nose Clowning’ as a liberating tool of expression for society and creating spaces to explore, experiment and synthesize Red Nose Clowning with all art streams MISSION: Establishing the Red Nose Clowning form in India that will take the concept to different regions and stimulate other art practitioners. It will create physical spaces for artistic collaboration INTRODUCTION: Theatre Garage Project is brainchid of NSD & LAMDA graduate Ashwath Bhatt. This project started in 2007 with support of Ashish Arora/ Himalayan Village Sonapani. The philosophy behind this work is 'Finding something in nothing'. People from various places in India have flocked to this 'empty space' to redefine and rediscover themselves. The aim to have four garages in a year with different themes. The whole team of TGP is working towards RAISING FUNDS FOR CONSTRUCTION OF A WORKING HALL Through LAUGH 1000 campaign. TEAM: Rohit Sharma Malvika Vazalwar Vivek Kumar Natraj Hasrat Titas Dutta Sagnik Chakrobarty Richi Agarwal Chandrashekhar Sharma Contact Info Email:sagnik1987chakrabarty at gmail.com, ashwathbhatt at yahoo.co.inOffice:0120-2691491 / 6517593 Mask Players announces 7th edition of ‘Theatre Garage Project'. Theatre Garage Project 2011 will be conducted in April with focus on Voice/Body (based on Alexander Technique), Theatre Clowning and Acting. The aim of this workshop is to work intensely for two weeks, away from the distractions of city life. It will be run in the format of a theatre camp, deep inside Himalayan forest near Ramgarh- Uttarakhand which is eight hours from Delhi. Theatre Garage was conceived in 2007 by NSD & LAMDA (London) graduate Ashwath Bhatt with the sole aim of strengthening theatre training in India. Its essence lies in breaking patterns, observing life, understanding self & human processes coupled with intensive voice/body and performance training. Earlier 'Garages' have seen a fusion of cultures – enthusiasts have flocked from places like Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Siliguri, Lucknow, Assam, Kashmir and so on. Registrations are open for amateurs as well as professionals. Maximum participants will be 10. You pay for workshop, accommodation and food - Rs. 9000/- Facilities are basic so people with passion for acting and explorative work apply. Contact: Ashwath Bhatt- 09819678577 (Mumbai) Vivek- 08010004096 (Delhi) ashwathbhatt at yahoo.co.in Limited places. Rush!!! From shahzulf at yahoo.com Sat Mar 26 01:24:34 2011 From: shahzulf at yahoo.com (Zulfiqar Shah) Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2011 12:54:34 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] Residential Short Course Workshop on Social Movements Studies Message-ID: <714195.75759.qm@web38801.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Dear All:   The Institute for Social Movements Pakistan (ISM) Hyderabad and Sami Foundation (SF) Umerkot are jointly organizing a 10 days Residential Short Course Workshop on Social Movements Studies in April – May 2011. The course will be based on the various tools and methods including lectures, discussions, presentations, readings, case studies, video screening and short thesis submission.   The course will be followed by the periodical engagement of participants with the various social movements of the country.   During the course, the participants will be facilitated with the excess to in-house library, internet services and computers, boarding and lodging facilities. The participants will only pay Rs. 500 as a token amount for the short course stuff and materials.   Those who are willing to apply for the course need to qualify the following:   Age: 22 -27 Years Education: Graduation preferably in social sciences Languages: English Reading Skills Commitment: Interested / committed to engage with various social movements of the country Availability: Can be available at the Campus at least in one weeks notice  Travelling and Stay: Those who can travel and stay at the considerable distance from home Date of Applying / Nominating: April 15, 2011 Date of Interviews and Scrutiny:  April 20, 2011   ISM and SF believe and promote the equal participation of women in the initiatives.     Applications / Letters of Interests or queries can be sent to following address:   Email: info at ismpak.org / info at samifoundation.org Address: A – 1, Hyderabad Town Extention, Qasimabad, Hyderabad 71000, Sindh, Pakistan Phone: +92 22 2654905        Kind Regards,     Zulfiqar Shah The Institute for Social Movements, Pakistan A – 1, Hyderabad Town Ext. Qasimabad, Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan Ph: +92 22 2654905  Cell: +92 + 92 464 888 1 Email: zulfiqar at ismpak.org / ismpak at live.com www.ismpak.org     Ghulam Mustafa Khoso Sami Foundation Akbar-e-Azam road, Umerkot, Sindh, Pakistan Ph: +92, 238571593, 571895 Email: info at samifoundation.org.pk www.samifoundation.org.pk From a.mani.cms at gmail.com Sun Mar 27 02:44:21 2011 From: a.mani.cms at gmail.com (A. Mani) Date: Sun, 27 Mar 2011 02:44:21 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] State and Central Univ in WB Message-ID: Some interesting statistics http://www.cpimwb.org.in/cpim/?q=node/208 Best A. Mani -- A. Mani ASL, CLC,  AMS, CMS http://www.logicamani.co.cc From aliens at dataone.in Sun Mar 27 11:49:09 2011 From: aliens at dataone.in (Bipin Trivedi) Date: Sun, 27 Mar 2011 11:49:09 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] INDIA COULD INDEED BECOME A SUPERPOWER WITH SOME CLEAR GOAL Message-ID: <000001cbec46$e34273c0$a9c75b40$@in> ‘Can our country become one of the world’s superpowers?’ Narendra Modi answered the question himself by saying that his experience in Gujarat had led him to believe that India could indeed become one of the world’s most powerful countries if it set itself some clear goals. He said the ‘Gujarat model’ was proof that the cynical, defeated mood that prevailed in the country about our political leaders and governance in general was wrong. ‘In Gujarat we have shown that those same government offices, those same government officials and those same old laws and regulations can be used to bring about development and change.’ http://www.dnaindia.com/india/analysis_cong-prejudices-hit-economic-federali sm_1522711 Even before Narendra Modi arrived for his session at last week’s India Today conclave, there was a buzz of excitement about his presence. Opinion in this gathering of liberal opinion makers was heavily weighted against him. The journalists were all implacably hostile and spent their time preparing questions on the violence that swept through Gujarat in February 2002 and that continues to haunt him wherever he goes. The drawing room intellectuals in the audience were prepared to have a more open mind on the Chief Minister of India’s fastest growing state, but admitted that there was something about him that continued to give them the creeps. All in all, there was a hornets’ nest awaiting him and this is why the speed with which he disarmed the stings was so impressive. The Aaj Tak anchor, Ajay Kumar, who introduced him made no effort to conceal his hostility and although he admitted that Gujarat was making remarkable economic gains under Modi, tempered this praise by adding that the chief minister was a ‘cunning and clever’ politician. The implication was clear: no matter how impressive this man may seem, remember what he did after Godhra. Modi ignored the implication and began his address with this question. India, a superpower ‘Can our country become one of the world’s superpowers?’ He answered the question himself by saying that his experience in Gujarat had led him to believe that India could indeed become one of the world’s most powerful countries if it set itself some clear goals. He said the ‘Gujarat model’ was proof that the cynical, defeated mood that prevailed in the country about our political leaders and governance in general was wrong. ‘In Gujarat we have shown that those same government offices, those same government officials and those same old laws and regulations can be used to bring about development and change.’ By the time he got to pointing out that the 21st century was widely acknowledged as Asia’s century and that the race was between China and India he had everybody’s attention.  He then listed what he considered India’s three advantages over China. Democracy, youth power, and a judicial system that worked. It was on these three strengths, he said, that India needed to build.  In the rest of his speech he explained what he had done in Gujarat to bring about the changes that even his worst critics admit have happened. His secret, he admitted, was that he had emulated another famous Gujarati politician, Mahatma Gandhi, by copying how the Mahatma had enlisted the masses into the movement for India’s freedom. There had been other leaders before him who had made their contribution to the cause of freedom but they had failed to build a mass movement. In Gujarat all the changes that have happened since Modi became chief minister ten years ago were made possible because he made ordinary people participate in them through campaigns to gain popular support. He called it his ‘jan andalon’ method which he said he used for every change from rural healthcare to agricultural productivity. When he finished speaking the drawing room liberals in my vicinity whispered among themselves about how wonderful it would be if Modi became prime minister. The questions were, as usual, about the violence he had presided over but they failed to deflect from the general sense of hope and optimism that Modi had succeeded in creating. Everyone I spoke to agreed that what India needed was a leader like Modi. What made this opinion even more pervasive was that Modi made such a vibrant contrast to the lackluster performance we had witnessed earlier from the Prime Minister. He addressed the first session of the conclave and said nothing new. In the monotone we have become accustomed to he gave us a catalogue of his government’s ‘achievements’. The Right to Information law, the Right to Education act, the rural employment guarantee scheme, the rural health mission the list was long. When questioned about failures to deal with corruption, child malnutrition and black money he gave a series of bland answers and banalities. SRK and Modi In a conclave glittering with stars, the two that shone brightest on the first day of the conclave were Shahrukh Khan, for obvious reasons, and Modi, for making people believe in the possibility that there could one day be real change in politics and governance in India. If we had taken a referendum that morning I am prepared to bet that more than 80% of the audience would have voted in favour of a man they usually love to loathe. Now for a few words about the India Today conclave. As someone who regularly attends this sort of conclave and who has for more than fifteen years gone every year to the greatest of them all in Davos, I have to say that last week’s conclave was the best I have attended in years. Aroon Purie has modeled his conclave on the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos but so have many others. In Delhi there is a surfeit of Davos imitators and most of them are so dull that after the first couple of sessions most people start to flee. At the India Today conclave the sessions were so good that it was hard to miss any. What made the sessions riveting was that almost none of them were politically correct. So in a session on whether religion had destabilized the sub-continent, Subramaniam Swamy was allowed to express the view that there had been no religious problems in India until Islam and Christianity came along and demanded that everyone accept that their religion was the only way to God. He was allowed even to state that if Islam stopped declaring itself to be God’s last message, half the sub-continent’s religious problems would sort themselves out. In a session on Kashmir, the secessionist leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, was allowed to state his well known view that India had no right to Kashmir and that it belonged to Pakistan. He may have been booed afterwards but he was allowed to make his point. But, among the stars who glittered at the conclave, and there were many, I have to admit without any concession to political correctness, that Narendra Modi shone brighter than all the others. Even those who came prepared to hate him left with a very different view. This is because he spoke, not of his personal ‘achievements’ but about the country India could become if we work towards a higher goal. From tasveerghar at gmail.com Sun Mar 27 14:30:17 2011 From: tasveerghar at gmail.com (Tasveer Ghar) Date: Sun, 27 Mar 2011 14:30:17 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Eid Mubarak: Cross-cultural Image Exchange in Muslim South Asia Message-ID: Dear friends The festival of Eid may still be a few months away, but as they say, “May everyday of your life be the day of Eid, and every night, the night of Divali.” Happy Eid! Tasveer Ghar is excited to present a new visual essay about the circulation of images through the Eid greeting cards in India and Pakistan since the early 20th century till now. “Eid Mubarak: Cross-cultural Image Exchange in Muslim South Asia” By Yousuf Saeed http://tasveerghar.net/cmsdesk/essay/117/ While Eid greeting cards have existed in most Muslim societies, this essay looks at the production and use of picture postcards of Eid in South Asia since their early days, to see how they emerged as popular vehicles of iconography across cultures via the postal networks, especially defying many stereotypes about Muslims and Islam as they are prevalent today. The author, Yousuf Saeed, has been archiving and writing about South Asia’s Islamic popular culture since many years. We hope that you have been enjoying the various visual essays appearing on Tasveer Ghar website so far. Very soon we are bringing out an edited and illustrated volume of selected essays from Tasveer Ghar with contributions from many well known authors from all over the world. Looking forward to your visits to our website. The Tasveer Ghar team -- http://www.tasveerghar.net From rohitrellan at aol.in Sun Mar 27 19:27:51 2011 From: rohitrellan at aol.in (rohitrellan at aol.in) Date: Sun, 27 Mar 2011 09:57:51 -0400 Subject: [Reader-list] SUMMER COURSE IN FILM APPRECIATION 16th May, 2011 to 11th June, 2011/ INTERNATIONAL DANSEUSE IN DELHI/ Filmi Chashma screenings, Mumbai Message-ID: <8CDBA9E18BF4130-1FDC-432BC@angweb-usd022.sysops.aol.com> SUMMER COURSE IN FILM APPRECIATION 16th May, 2011 to 11th June, 2011 A four-week full-time course in FILM APPRECIATION will be held at Pune from 16th May to 11th June, 2011 under the joint auspices of National Film Archive of India and Film & Television Institute of India. The course is primarily designed to meet the needs of teachers interested in introducing film study activities in educational institutions, film society organisers, film critics, journalists, film researchers, Govt. officials handling films and others interested in films. The curriculum includes theoretical and practical study of the art and history of film and the development of cinema as a medium of art and communication. Film classics both Indian and International will be used for critical analysis and study. 1. The medium of instruction would be English. 2. The applicant should have completed 21 years of age as on 01.04.2011 3. The course fee of Rs.7,500/- should be remitted by Demand Draft in favour of "Accounts Officer, Film & Television Institute of India, Pune" only after the confirmation of selection. Fees once paid will not be refunded. 4. This is a non-Residential Course. However, participants will be assisted in availing of boarding facilities in nearby hotels or lodges at concessional rates. Advance copy of the duly filled in application in the prescribed format can be submitted through e-mail to nfaipune at gmail.com. Hard copy of the application alongwith administrative fee of Rs.200/- (Rupees two hundred only) by Crossed Demand Draft payable to Accounts Officer, FTII, Pune should reach the following address on or before 04.04.2011 : The Director, National Film Archive of India, Law College Road, Pune - 411 004. N.B. - The prescribed format of the application is also available on the website : http://www.nfaipune.gov.in The application will be considered only on receipt of Administrative fee. DOWNLOAD FORMS: APPLICATION FORM: http://www.ftiindia.com/forms/FORMFAC2011.pdf FORMAT OF APPLICATION: http://www.ftiindia.com/forms/FORMATFAC2011.pdf --------------------------------------------------- INTERNATIONAL DANSEUSE IN DELHI Sheela Raj, the internationally acknowledged Indo -British -French choreographer, long time associate of Merce Cunningham, trainer to Bhoomika and Gati students, talks about her work to Sohaila Kapur and showcases her latest production, premiered in New Delhi. In `State of Culture' , Lok Sabha Television, 6:30 p.m. & 12 midnight, Monday, March 28. -------------------------------------- Filmi Chashma screenings Filmi Chashma Children's Film Festival presents two exciting children's films at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya Date: 29 April 2011 11 AM to 1 PM Film 1 - Alladin's Magic Lamp (80 mins) at 11 AM- A digitally restored grand Russian classic plus a short film 2.30-4.30PM - Film 2: Champions: unreleased new film (105 mins ) at 2.30 PM- A story about how two young boys fight circumstances and get an education.Plus a short film From iram at sarai.net Mon Mar 28 01:49:53 2011 From: iram at sarai.net (Iram Ghufran) Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2011 02:19:53 +0600 Subject: [Reader-list] An Evening of Performance and Live Art @Sarai Message-ID: <4D8F9BE9.7040106@sarai.net> Sarai CSDS kindly invites: Open Mind - Open Gates An Evening of Performance and Live Art at Sarai- CSDS 29, Rajpur Road | Civil Lines, New Delhi Saturday, April 23, 2011 | 6:30 pm European Performance Artist duo VestAndPage (Verena Stenke & Andrea Pagnes) finishes their 2 months Artist-in-Residency at SARAI Media Lab with the exclusive screening of their movie sin ? fin - Performances at the Holy Center, realized during their residency in Dehli and Uttarakhand. The evening program of Open Mind - Open Gates will be rounded by a virbant series of Live Performance Art by VestAndPage and Inder Salim and experimental music performances by Ish S and Lionelbaba in collaboration with sound designer Vinny Bhagat. : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : About VestAndPage's movie project sin ? fin - Performances at the Holy Centre: sin?fin The Movie is a work in progress on various 'stages'. Verena Stenke (D) and Andrea Pagnes (I) develop live performance actions in various outstanding locations around the world, analyzing artistically the subject of spheres. The final result of each 'stage' is a hybrid film as part of the sin ? fin movie series. Here, two 'Jedermann' humans, a male and a female, are lost within the absurdness of the quotidian. They try to perceive and define spheres and sanctums: encounters and collisions, creation, destruction and transformation of inner, private, social and universal spheres around the world. At each 'stage', installations and performances are developed in situ. VestAndPage work together with the hosting community, to explore the culture and sphere of each single 'stage'. sin ? fin is a movie series on Performance Art, out of any filmic genre, an art project set between reality and vision. *http://www.sarai.net* *http://www.sinfin-themovie.de* *http://www.vest-and-page.de* From a.mani.cms at gmail.com Mon Mar 28 08:44:58 2011 From: a.mani.cms at gmail.com (A. Mani) Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2011 08:44:58 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fukushima Cover Up Message-ID: Alert: Fukushima Coverup, 40 Years of Spent Nuclear Rods Blown Sky High by Paul Joseph Watson and Kurt Nimmo http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=23848 http://www.infowars.com/fukushima-reactor-2-radiation-10-million-times-above-safe-level/ http://www.infowars.com/japanese-authorities-admit-deadly-mox-plutonium-reactor-is-leaking/ _________________________________________________________________ Best A. Mani -- A. Mani ASL, CLC,  AMS, CMS http://www.logicamani.co.cc From chintan.backups at gmail.com Mon Mar 28 11:24:58 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2011 11:24:58 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Stirring Up Justice: Adolescents reading, writing, and changing the world Message-ID: *Stirring Up Justice: Adolescents reading, writing, and changing the world* * * By Jessica Singer and Ruth Shagoury Teaching a diverse population of adolescents to be writers, readers, and active citizens requires fundamental changes in how we approach curriculum development, teaching strategies, and student roles in the classroom. Our goal as educators is to create classrooms where students learn to ask critical questions, support one another, and work toward positive social change. These kinds of learning communities form when students are taught direct skills and strategies and when they are provided with creative invitations to become educated and actively participating citizens. Literacy and individual action are at the heart of this curriculum; as Christensen (2000) wrote, “reading and writing are ultimately political acts” (p. vi).When the relevance of reading and writing is demystified for students, they begin to understand its power in their lives. Jessie Singer (first author) taught adolescent writers at a public urban high school located in the heart of southeast Portland, Oregon, in the United States. The high school’s student population is just under 1,400, and 20% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-cost lunch. Jessie’s students drew from a mostly working class population, with about 25% speaking a language other than English as their first language. The school’s student makeup, much like the state of Oregon, is predominately Caucasian (77%). In her English classes, Jessie works to teach her students literacy skills so that they may begin to see themselves as serious writers and readers (e.g., Christensen, 2000; Fletcher, 1993; Harvey, 2002; Zemelman & Daniels, 1998). Students do not just write to complete tests or to fill pages; instead, they engage in the pursuit of writing for authentic purposes and public audiences.For two years (2000–2002), Ruth Shagoury (second author) from Lewis & Clark College was a resident researcher in Jessie’s class for one to two mornings each week. Ruth participated in the activities of the classroom and assisted in creating the curriculum. She took field notes, interviewed students, and collected samples of their work. As coresearchers and coauthors, we (Jessie and Ruth) collaborated on this project with two ninth-grade classes to study how the creation and completion of a unit on social activism could become a study of literacy in action. Students were key informants in this process. In order to take a close look at students working toward positive change, we framed research questions to help document our findings and notice patterns in student outcomes. The following were our research questions: • How can adolescents use literacy practices to have agency in their world? • How do students define social activism? • What teaching practices support a diverse student population to expand their reading and writing abilities? • How do we differentiate instruction while keeping high expectations for all students? This article describes a high school curriculum that encourages students to explore issues of activism and progressive social change. We share our work with a reading and writing community that used skills, creativity, rigor, and community building to create meaningful and relevant outcomes. The names of all students in this article are pseudonyms. (From the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy 49:4 December 2005/January 2006) To download the entire article, visit http://people.stfx.ca/aorr/538%20Winter%202008/Course%20readings/Stirring%20up%20justice%20Adolescents%20reading,%20writing,%20and%20changing%20the%20world.pdf From chintan.backups at gmail.com Mon Mar 28 11:39:45 2011 From: chintan.backups at gmail.com (Chintan Girish Modi) Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2011 11:39:45 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Fighting Prejudice and Discrimination Against People With Learning Disabilities Message-ID: Excerpts from http://www.tolerance.org/activity/fighting-prejudice-and-discrimination-against-people-learnin In these lessons, students will work toward understanding what it means to have a learning disability. The goal is make them aware of prejudice and discrimination aimed at those with learning disabilities. *Framework* In any educational context, there is a wide range of interests as well as learning strengths and areas of difficulty. A specific learning disability can stand in the way of a student’s positive experience of school and learning. And, if the student does not receive necessary support, it can hamper academic achievement. Moreover, even when learning disabilities are diagnosed and children receive help, these students may face discrimination by teachers and their peers due to underlying assumptions regarding the meaning of intelligence. In these lessons, students will work toward understanding what it means to have a learning disability. The goal is make them aware of prejudice and discrimination aimed at those with learning disabilities. *Objectives* *Activities for the lower grades (3-5) will help students:* * understand the meaning of the term “learning disability” * consider their own, their school’s and society’s biases related to learning disabilities * discuss ways in which labels about intelligence are used to inculcate prejudice and lead to discrimination against people, and develop more constructive, specific vocabulary for discussing learning needs * consider ways to fight prejudice and discrimination against those with learning disabilities * make a graphic ‘zine about fighting prejudice and discrimination against those with learning disabilities *Activities for the middle grades (6-8) and high school (9-12) will help students:* * understand the meaning of the term “learning disability” * learn about important characters in history who struggled with learning disabilities and succeeded despite their difficulties * consider their own, their school’s, and society’s biases related to learning disabilities * discuss ways in which labels about intelligence are used to inculcate prejudice and perpetuate discrimination against people for reasons relating to race and culture as well as learning, and develop more constructive, specific vocabulary for discussing learning needs * consider ways to fight prejudice and discrimination against those with learning disabilities * make a graphic ‘zine about fighting prejudice and discrimination against those with learning disabilities *Essential Questions* * What is a learning disability? * How can learning disabilities affect students’ experiences at school? How can they affect life outside school? * What prejudices have caused schools and society to discriminate against people with learning disabilities, and how can we fight this discrimination? * How does prejudice and discrimination against people with learning disabilities connect to other forms of prejudice and discrimination, and what can we do to fight against these biases? * What are some advantages of living in a world in which people learn in different ways? For more, read http://www.tolerance.org/activity/fighting-prejudice-and-discrimination-against-people-learnin From the-network at koeln.de Mon Mar 28 15:33:49 2011 From: the-network at koeln.de (netEX) Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:03:49 +0200 Subject: [Reader-list] =?iso-8859-1?q?netEX=3A_calls_=26_deadlines_--=3E_A?= =?iso-8859-1?q?pril_2011?= Message-ID: <20110328120349.C3E92244.43613F59@192.168.0.4> netEX: calls & deadlines --> April 2011 ------------------------------------- ------------------------------------- newsletter contents *news *calls & deadlines --> 01 Call: 2011 deadlines internal 19 Calls: April 2011 deadlines external 12 Calls: ongoing external/internal ------------------------------------------------ News CologneOFF 2011 - videoart in a global context nomadic festival project 1 January - 31 December 2011 launched on 1 January 2011, countinues its global tour in April 2011 in Romania where CologneoFF 2011 ARAD - 31 March 2 April is taking place at Art Museum of Arad (Romania) a collaboration with Art Museum of Arad & Kinema Ikon Arad More info on http://coff.newmediafest.org/blog/?page_id=953 PDF catalogue for free download http://downloads.nmartproject.net/CologneOFF2011_ARAD.pdf There will be just a short jump from Arad to Timisoara/Ro where the German Cultural Center is organising a CologneOFF 2011 screening in the week 11-17 April 2011. More info to come, yet. All details on CologneOFF 2011 - videoart in a global context http://coff.newmediafest.org http://coff.newmediafest.org/blog/ ------------------------------------------------ Calls & deadlines ---> ------------------------------------------------ Deadlines internal ------------------------------------------------ Call for 2011 CologneOFF 2011 - videoart in a global context artists are invited to submit experimental film and videoart extended deadline: 1 May 2011 http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=2729 ------------------------------------------------ April 2011 deadlines: external ------------------------------------------------ 30 April Aesthetica Short Film Festival http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=3023 30 April Kratkofil 2011 Banja Luka/Bosnia-Herzegovina http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=2763 30 April (for artists) Abraaj Capital Art Prize Dubai http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=2907 29 April Avanca Festival of Cinema & Multimedia http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=2958 19 April Pixilarations Festival - Providence/Rhode Island/USA http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=3175 15 April Festival Images Vevey/CH http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=3080 15 April New Media Art Residency on a Farm in USA http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=3172 15 April Lenola Film Festival Italy http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=2910 15 April Werkkamp 01 - Antwerp/Belgium http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=3135 15 April The Power of Self http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=3166 15 April 2 Minutes Film Festival Cincinatti/USA http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=3164 15 April Onion City Experimental Film & Video Festival Chicago/USA http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=3133 14 April Rhizome Commissions http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=3077 10 April ACM Siggraph http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=3127 9 April FILMIDEO Screenings - Newark/USA http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=3155 8 April Art By Chance Film Festival http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=3053 1 April West Virginia Mounteneer Film Festival http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=3121 1 April Electron Festival Geneva/CH http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=3161 1 Apil Ambience' 2011 - conference & exhibition http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?p=2845 ----------------------------------------------- Ongoing calls: external/internal ----------------------------------------------- ---> Artsit Residency in Alaska ---> SFC - Shoah Film Collection by VideoChannel & A Virtual Memorial Foundation ---> Selfshadows 2.= - net based project by Javier Bedrina -->Videos for Bivouac Projects Sumter/USA -->OUTCASTING - web based screenings -->Films and video screenings Sioux City (USA) -->Laisle screenings Rio de Janeiro/Brazil -->Videos for Helsinki based video gallery - 00130 Gallery -->Web based works for 00130 Gallery Helsinki/Finland -->Project: Repetition as a Model for Progression by Marianne Holm Hansen -->US webjournal Atomic Unicorn seeks netart and video art for coming editions -->TAGallery and more deadlines on http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?page_id=4 ----------------------------------------------- NetEX - networked experience http://netex.nmartproject.net # calls in the external section--> http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?cat=3 # calls in the internal section--> http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?cat=1 ----------------------------------------------- # This newsletter is also released on http://www.nmartproject.net/netex/?cat=9 # netEX - networked experiences is a free information service powered by [NewMediaArtProjectNetwork]:||cologne http://www.nmartproject.net - the experimental platform for art and new media from Cologne/Germany # info & contact: info (at) nmartproject.net From jeebesh at sarai.net Mon Mar 28 19:43:17 2011 From: jeebesh at sarai.net (Jeebesh) Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2011 19:43:17 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Alert: Fukushima Coverup, 40 Years of Spent Nuclear Rods Blown Sky High Message-ID: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=23848 Alert: Fukushima Coverup, 40 Years of Spent Nuclear Rods Blown Sky High by Paul Joseph Watson and Kurt Nimmo In addition to under reporting the fires at Fukushima, the Japanese government has not told the people about the ominous fact that the nuclear plant site is a hellish repository where a staggering number of spent fuel rods have accumulated for 40 years. A contributor to the Occupational and Environmental Medicine list who once worked on nuclear waste issues provided additional information about Fukushima’s spent fuel rod assemblies, according to a post on the FDL website. “NIRS has a Nov 2010 powerpoint from Tokyo Electric Power Company (in English) detailing the modes and quantities of spent fuel stored at the Fukushima Daiichi plant where containment buildings #1 and #3 have exploded,” he wrote on March 14. The Powerpoint is entitled Integrity Inspection of Dry Storage Casks and Spent Fuels at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station and can be read in full here. The document adds a new and frightening dimension to the unfolding disaster. The Fukushima Daiichi plant has seven pools dedicated to spent fuel rods. These are located at the top of six reactor buildings - or were until explosions and fires ravaged the plant. On the ground level there is a common pool in a separate building that was critically damaged by the tsunami. Each reactor building pool holds 3,450 fuel rod assemblies and the common pool holds 6,291 fuel rod assemblies. Each assembly holds sixty-three fuel rods. In short, the Fukushima Daiichi plant contains over 600,000 spent fuel rods - a massive amount of radiation that will soon be released into the atmosphere. It should be obvious by now that the authorities in Japan are lying about the effort to contain the situation in order to mollify the public. It is highly likely there are no workers on the site attempting to contain the disaster. Earlier today, a report was issued indicating that over 70% of these spent fuel rods are now damaged - in other words, they are emitting radiation or will soon. The disclosure reveals that authorities in Japan - who have consistently played down the danger and issued conflicting information - are guilty of criminal behavior and endangering the lives of countless people. On Tuesday, it was finally admitted that meltdowns of the No. 1 and No. 2 reactor cores are responsible for the release of a massive amount of radiation. After reporting that a fire at the No. 4 reactor was contained, the media is reporting this evening that it has resumed. The media predictably does not bother to point out why the fire is uncontainable - the fuel rods are no longer submerged in water and are exposed to the atmosphere and that is why they are burning and cannot be extinguished. It cannot be stressed enough that the situation at Fukushima represents the greatest environmental disaster in the history of humanity, far more dangerous that Chernobyl, and the government of that country is responsible. Perhaps the most underreported and deadliest aspect of the three explosions and numerous fires to hit the stricken Fukushima nuclear reactor since Saturday is the fact that highly radioactive spent fuel rods which are stored outside of the active nuclear rod containment facility are likely to have been massively compromised by the blasts, an elevation in the crisis that would represent “Chernobyl on steroids,” according to nuclear engineer Arnie Gundersen. As you can see from the NPR graphic below, the spent fuel rods are stored outside of the active nuclear rod containment casing and close to the roof of the reactor complex. Video from Saturday’s explosion and subsequent images clearly indicate that the spent fuel rods at Fukushima unit number one could easily have been compromised by the blast. According to Arnie Gundersen, a nuclear engineer at Fairewinds Associates and a member of the public oversight panel for the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, which is identical to the Fukushima Daiichi unit 1, the failure to maintain pools of water that keep the 20 years worth of spent fuel rods cool could cause “catastrophic fires” and turn the crisis into “Chernobyl on steroids.” The BBC is now reporting that “spent fuel rods in reactors five and six are also now believed to be heating up,” with a new fire at reactor 4, where more spent rods are stored, causing smoke to pour from the facility. “Japanese news agency Kyodo reports that the storage pool in reactor four - where the spent fuel rods are kept - may be boiling. Tepco says readings are showing high levels of radiation in the building, so it is inaccessible,” adds the report. “At the 40-year-old Fukushima Daiichi unit 1, where an explosion Saturday destroyed a building housing the reactor, the spent fuel pool, in accordance with General Electric’s design, is placed above the reactor. Tokyo Electric said it was trying to figure out how to maintain water levels in the pools, indicating that the normal safety systems there had failed, too. Failure to keep adequate water levels in a pool would lead to a catastrophic fire, said nuclear experts, some of whom think that unit 1’s pool may now be outside,” reports the Washington Post. The rods must be kept cool because otherwise they start to burn and, in the case of reactor number 3, would release plutonium and uranium in the form of vapor into the atmosphere. “That’s bad news, because plutonium scattered into the atmosphere is even more dangerous that the combustion products of rods without plutonium,” writes Kirk James Murphy. “We’d be lucky if we only had to worry about the spent fuel rods from a single holding pool. We’re not that lucky. The Fukushima Daiichi plant has seven pools for spent fuel rods. Six of these are (or were) located at the top of six reactor buildings. nulle “common pool” is at ground level in a separate building. Each “reactor top” pool holds 3450 fuel rod assemblies. The common pool holds 6291 fuel rod assemblies. [The common pool has windows on one wall which were almost certainly destroyed by the tsunami.] Each assembly holds sixty-three fuel rods. This means the Fukushima Daiichi plant may contain over 600,000 spent fuel rods.” There have been massive design issues with the Mark 1 nuclear reactor stretching back three decades. As ABC News reports today, “Thirty-five years ago, Dale G. Bridenbaugh and two of his colleagues at General Electric resigned from their jobs after becoming increasingly convinced that the nuclear reactor design they were reviewing — the Mark 1 — was so flawed it could lead to a devastating accident.” The problems we identified in 1975 were that, in doing the design of the containment, they did not take into account the dynamic loads that could be experienced with a loss of coolant,” Bridenbaugh told ABC News in an interview. “The impact loads the containment would receive by this very rapid release of energy could tear the containment apart and create an uncontrolled release.” From ravig64 at gmail.com Mon Mar 28 20:35:15 2011 From: ravig64 at gmail.com (Ravi Agarwal) Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2011 20:35:15 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Alert: Fukushima Coverup, 40 Years of Spent Nuclear Rods Blown Sky High In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Interesting Jeebesh, As per the 2009 Toxics Link Study - Half Life, which studied the entire fuel cycle in India great detail (for the first time), all spent material is stored on site of reactors in India. There is no information provided of even 'how much' spent fuel is stored, or what is the level of it. When the report was released, in the presence of BARC officials, they refused to say how much has been generated so far. Infact it is not called 'waste,' by them and hence no information is provided of storage conditions. The only estimates for how much spent fuel is as made by academic papers. Transparency is a major issue, maybe official secrets is fine for 'defence reactors,' but with 40,000 mega watt proposed in India through 35 reactors over the next decade, for civilian nuclear energy, opaqueness can hardly even attempt at public safety. best ravi agarwal On Mon, Mar 28, 2011 at 7:43 PM, Jeebesh wrote: > http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=23848 > > Alert: Fukushima Coverup, 40 Years of Spent Nuclear Rods Blown Sky High > > by Paul Joseph Watson and Kurt Nimmo > > In addition to under reporting the fires at Fukushima, the Japanese > government has not told the people about the ominous fact that the nuclear > plant site is a hellish repository where a staggering number of spent fuel > rods have accumulated for 40 years. > > A contributor to the Occupational and Environmental Medicine list who once > worked on nuclear waste issues provided additional information about > Fukushima’s spent fuel rod assemblies, according to a post on the FDL > website. > > “NIRS has a Nov 2010 powerpoint from Tokyo Electric Power Company (in > English) detailing the modes and quantities of spent fuel stored at the > Fukushima Daiichi plant where containment buildings #1 and #3 have > exploded,” he wrote on March 14. > > The Powerpoint is entitled Integrity Inspection of Dry Storage Casks and > Spent Fuels at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station and can be read in > full here. > The document adds a new and frightening dimension to the unfolding > disaster. > > The Fukushima Daiichi plant has seven pools dedicated to spent fuel rods. > These are located at the top of six reactor buildings - or were until > explosions and fires ravaged the plant. > > On the ground level there is a common pool in a separate building that was > critically damaged by the tsunami. Each reactor building pool holds 3,450 > fuel rod assemblies and the common pool holds 6,291 fuel rod assemblies. > Each assembly holds sixty-three fuel rods. In short, the Fukushima Daiichi > plant contains over 600,000 spent fuel rods - a massive amount of radiation > that will soon be released into the atmosphere. > > It should be obvious by now that the authorities in Japan are lying about > the effort to contain the situation in order to mollify the public. It is > highly likely there are no workers on the site attempting to contain the > disaster. > Earlier today, a report was issued indicating that over 70% of these spent > fuel rods are now damaged - in other words, they are emitting radiation or > will soon. The disclosure reveals that authorities in Japan - who have > consistently played down the danger and issued conflicting information - are > guilty of criminal behavior and endangering the lives of countless people. > > On Tuesday, it was finally admitted that meltdowns of the No. 1 and No. 2 > reactor cores are responsible for the release of a massive amount of > radiation. > > After reporting that a fire at the No. 4 reactor was contained, the media > is reporting this evening that it has resumed. The media predictably does > not bother to point out why the fire is uncontainable - the fuel rods are no > longer submerged in water and are exposed to the atmosphere and that is why > they are burning and cannot be extinguished. > > It cannot be stressed enough that the situation at Fukushima represents the > greatest environmental disaster in the history of humanity, far more > dangerous that Chernobyl, and the government of that country is responsible. > Perhaps the most underreported and deadliest aspect of the three explosions > and numerous fires to hit the stricken Fukushima nuclear reactor since > Saturday is the fact that highly radioactive spent fuel rods which are > stored outside of the active nuclear rod containment facility are likely to > have been massively compromised by the blasts, an elevation in the crisis > that would represent “Chernobyl on steroids,” according to nuclear engineer > Arnie Gundersen. > > As you can see from the NPR graphic below, the spent fuel rods are stored > outside of the active nuclear rod containment casing and close to the roof > of the reactor complex. Video from Saturday’s explosion and subsequent > images clearly indicate that the spent fuel rods at Fukushima unit number > one could easily have been compromised by the blast. > > According to Arnie Gundersen, a nuclear engineer at Fairewinds Associates > and a member of the public oversight panel for the Vermont Yankee nuclear > plant, which is identical to the Fukushima Daiichi unit 1, the failure to > maintain pools of water that keep the 20 years worth of spent fuel rods cool > could cause “catastrophic fires” and turn the crisis into “Chernobyl on > steroids.” > > The BBC is now reporting that “spent fuel rods in reactors five and six are > also now believed to be heating up,” with a new fire at reactor 4, where > more spent rods are stored, causing smoke to pour from the facility. > > “Japanese news agency Kyodo reports that the storage pool in reactor four - > where the spent fuel rods are kept - may be boiling. Tepco says readings are > showing high levels of radiation in the building, so it is inaccessible,” > adds the report. > > “At the 40-year-old Fukushima Daiichi unit 1, where an explosion Saturday > destroyed a building housing the reactor, the spent fuel pool, in accordance > with General Electric’s design, is placed above the reactor. Tokyo Electric > said it was trying to figure out how to maintain water levels in the pools, > indicating that the normal safety systems there had failed, too. Failure to > keep adequate water levels in a pool would lead to a catastrophic fire, said > nuclear experts, some of whom think that unit 1’s pool may now be outside,” > reports the Washington Post. > > The rods must be kept cool because otherwise they start to burn and, in the > case of reactor number 3, would release plutonium and uranium in the form of > vapor into the atmosphere. > > “That’s bad news, because plutonium scattered into the atmosphere is even > more dangerous that the combustion products of rods without plutonium,” > writes Kirk James Murphy. > > “We’d be lucky if we only had to worry about the spent fuel rods from a > single holding pool. > > We’re not that lucky. The Fukushima Daiichi plant has seven pools for spent > fuel rods. Six of these are (or were) located at the top of six reactor > buildings. nulle “common pool” is at ground level in a separate building. > Each “reactor top” pool holds 3450 fuel rod assemblies. The common pool > holds 6291 fuel rod assemblies. [The common pool has windows on one wall > which were almost certainly destroyed by the tsunami.] Each assembly holds > sixty-three fuel rods. This means the Fukushima Daiichi plant may contain > over 600,000 spent fuel rods.” > > There have been massive design issues with the Mark 1 nuclear reactor > stretching back three decades. > > As ABC News reports today, “Thirty-five years ago, Dale G. Bridenbaugh and > two of his colleagues at General Electric resigned from their jobs after > becoming increasingly convinced that the nuclear reactor design they were > reviewing — the Mark 1 — was so flawed it could lead to a devastating > accident.” > > The problems we identified in 1975 were that, in doing the design of the > containment, they did not take into account the dynamic loads that could be > experienced with a loss of coolant,” Bridenbaugh told ABC News in an > interview. “The impact loads the containment would receive by this very > rapid release of energy could tear the containment apart and create an > uncontrolled release.” > _________________________________________ > 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. > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/> From kiccovich at yahoo.com Mon Mar 28 20:43:02 2011 From: kiccovich at yahoo.com (francesca recchia) Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2011 08:13:02 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Reader-list] help on etymology In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <134003.83740.qm@web113210.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> Dear all Could anybody help me on the etymological history of the word azadi? I know the "political" implications of the word, I am trying to trace back it's history, but unfortunately I speak neither Farsi nor Urdu or Hindi. Any help will be greatly appreciated - and properly ackowledged in the book I am finishing (which is the reason why I need this bit of info) Thanks francesca francesca recchia it +39 338 166 3648 uk +44 7866477605 travel-snippets.tumblr.com http://www.veleno.tv/bollettini/?lang=en From kalakamra at gmail.com Tue Mar 29 00:23:02 2011 From: kalakamra at gmail.com (shaina a) Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2011 00:23:02 +0530 Subject: [Reader-list] Pad.ma News March 2011: Poets and Dancers in the Archive In-Reply-To: <55838.202.177.254.179.1301328234.squirrel@mailb.org> References: <55838.202.177.254.179.1301328234.squirrel@mailb.org> Message-ID: Dear all, After a winter-long break Pad.ma restarts its regular updates about collections, videos in the archive and new writings by Pad.ma fellows. http://pad.ma/news/ This month's featured essay is on bar dancers in Mumbai, by Shrimoyee Nandini Ghosh (lawyer, researcher and writer) and our featured collection showcases footage from Odissi dancer Kumkum Lal's personal archive annotated in conversation with Ranjana Dave (dancer, researcher and writer). We are keen to encourage writing in the archive, and invite anybody with research ideas around archival material in Pad.ma, to contact us at http://pad.ma/contact These essays are showcased in the beta version of a video-essay platform that links video and text and provokes new ways of writing in the archive and thinking about video (functional in Firefox and Chrome). The platform allows for essays to be linked to video clips that appear upon clicking in the right-hand side bar, along with transcripts and annotations drawn from Pad.ma. These video clips can elucidate, illustrate or show that which is elided in the process of writing. For the month of March, the archive bustles with poets and dancers, speaking about body, labour, tradition and the city of Mumbai. Namdeo Dhasal, the poet and politician, describes the city of Mumbai as his beloved whore, and the many interviews of bar dancers in the archive speak up against the oppressive ban on dancing imposed by the city's keepers of morality and Indian culture. The dubiously famous Radia tapes that include conversations largely to do with the 2G scam and spectrum allocation, have been transcribed and made searchable on Pad.ma. The conversations reveal the grimy nexus between lobbyists, politicians, industrialists and the media that plays a role in major government decisions. We also point you to 'A Little Justice Goes a Long Way', Philip Rizk's short film on labour movements in Mahalla and Cairo, Egypt in 2010. Also included are new texts from Pad.ma on the politics of archiving - an ongoing series of questions about the naming of something (an activity, a social setting, a website or online tool) as archive, or exhibition, or infrastructure. <> The Bombay Bargirl: An Archival Adventure by Shrimoyee Nandini Ghosh Ghosh's essay on bar dancers traverses the archive in the search of the elusive bar dancer not imprisoned by tropes and stereotypes - the victim of circumstance as she is narrated in the law, the vamp of popular culture, Shantaram's desultory Monalisa (in the novel by Gregory David Roberts) or the radical reactionary heroine for activists and feminists. The essay is structured as fragments and annotations on different aspects of the bar dancer's life (see list of headings). The video material is largely referenced from the Majlis archive of conversations with bar dancers, television programs and debates, interviews with leading politicians, union heads and others. Ghosh says - "In the hands of an epistemological adventurer, the archive becomes a transgressive mode of knowing that rescues the plenitude of experience from the structuring order of the law and historical narrative" http://essays.pad.ma/bombay-bargirl-archival-adventure Narayan Surve - A Tribute by Anjali Monteiro and K.P. Jayasankar Filmmakers Monteiro and Jayashankar remember the revolutionary poet who chronicled working class life in Mumbai, in his poems. Surve appeared in Saacha (2000), their film about Mumbai's working class, but more significantly, inspired them with his unbounded optimism. http://essays.pad.ma/narayan-surve-tribute Writing Over A Hundred Cups Of Tea by Ranjana Dave In 1986, at her temporary home in Tokyo, Kumkum Lal hosted Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra and a group of musicians including the composer Pt. Bhubaneswar Mishra, for a month. Twenty five years later, Kumkum Lal revisits the Japan tour through recordings made by her husband Ashok with his first video camera. While watching Kelucharan Mohapatra outside the performance space makes everything about the footage seem out of the ordinary, Kumkum makes her way through days and nights spent choreographing, cooking, teaching, drinking tea, dancing, stopping, to take in the ephemeral, scattered moments that are windows into other lives and other stories. http://essays.pad.ma/writing-over-hundred-cups-tea A pad.ma workshop in Cairo last year, titled "Don't wait for the Archive: Part 2" gathered together artists, activists, amateur collectors and those working for government museums and institutional archives in Cairo and Beirut. The workshop was followed by a conference titled 'Speak, Memory' on the politics of archiving and (re)activation of cultural memory. At the conference, different visions and stratagems of archiving were discussed including open or closed, institutional or radical, private or government. Here we share four texts that elaborate on certain issues around archiving that interest us, including the problem of displaying the archive, legal edifice for archives, politics of technology and notes on collaboration. Outlawed or Gair Kanooni - Namita A. Malhotra http://pad.ma/texts/Cairo_Texts.html#namita Exhibition and Archive - Ashok Sukumaran http://pad.ma/texts/Cairo_Texts.html#ashok Don't Wait for the Archive - Sanjay Bhangar http://pad.ma/texts/Cairo_Texts.html#sanjay Notes on Collaboration - Sebastian Lütgert http://pad.ma/texts/Cairo_Texts.html#sebastian <