From yanivbin at gmail.com Sat Oct 13 20:14:18 2007 From: yanivbin at gmail.com (Vinay Baindur) Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2007 20:14:18 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] ENCOURAGE PRIVATE SECTOR TO INVEST THROUGH PPP: PM Message-ID: <86b8a7050710130744u7e5c61c5ke556c88b3247dbac@mail.gmail.com> ENCOURAGE PRIVATE SECTOR TO INVEST IN URBAN DEVELOPMENT THROUGH PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS: PM ------------------------------ PM'S ADDRESS AT THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON JAWAHARLAL NEHRU NATIONAL URBAN RENEWAL MISSION ** * if this is not based on ideology then is it a necessity?. How do the calculations for the cost estimates of proposals get justified if many of them were done in 1996 as part of the Rakesh Mohan committee report.................* *Vinay* The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, said that today, our policies are better informed and we have begun to see urbanization as an opportunity. All projections of the coming decade indicate that the process of urbanization would accelerate rapidly. If we can manage this transformation effectively, the physical and economic regeneration of urban India is well within our reach. While inaugurating the National Conference on Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission here today, the Prime Minister said that India no longer lives only in its villages but increasingly in its small towns and cities and that the process of economic growth has unleashed dramatic changes in our cities. 'Cities have become major growth engines of our economy opening up unprecedented opportunities', he added. The Prime Minister also hoped that the National Urban Renewal Mission will help realize the dream of making urbanization ecologically sustainable, economically productive and socially equitable. Following is the text of the Prime Minister's address on the occasion: "I am happy to be present at this National Conference of Leaders of Local Bodies and State Governments to take stock of the work we began some 22 months ago through the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. I compliment the Minister of Urban Development Shri Jaipal Reddyji and the Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Seljaji for taking the initiative in this matter and also leading from the front this major initiative for urban transformation in our country. At the outset, I wish to say that a systematic effort to improve our cities has been long overdue. India no longer lives only in its villages but increasingly in its small towns and mega cities. The process of economic growth has unleashed dramatic changes in our cities. Cities have become major growth engines of our economy opening up unprecedented opportunities. ** At the same time, this rapid urbanization has spawned its own set of problems. A large proportion of our urban population still lives in slums in unacceptable conditions. Urban housing stock, especially housing for the poor, has not kept pace with the expanding demand. As much as 30% of urban households live in single room units. This creates social and health problems. It affects the education of young children. The demand for civic services has shot up exponentially. We, therefore, need to facilitate and respond to this transformation through effective measures for improvement of city services, proactive creation of urban infrastructure and improved systems of public governance to match the requirements of the situation. Since its launch, the JNNURM has come to signify the agenda for urban transformation all over the country. It has brought about a uniformity of approach and strategy creating an umbrella framework involving almost all the stakeholders. Our approach of accelerating the implementation of urban sector reforms by linking these to support for large-scale capital investment for urban infrastructure, has been widely accepted. I sincerely hope the National Urban Renewal Mission will help us realize the dream of making urbanization in our country ecologically sustainable, economically productive and socially equitable. I commend both the Ministries as well as the representatives of the State Governments and Mayors of Municipal Corporations present here for their enthusiastic response to this initiative. 63 cities have already developed their "City Development Plans" and are in the process of preparing Detailed Project Reports to access funds. One positive feature observed in these plans is that about 60 per cent of the investment is going for improvement of essential basic services like water supply, sanitation and sewerage. We should ensure that those localities that today have minimal services gain the maximum from the new investments proposed. In fact, internal earmarking in city budgets for basic services to the urban poor has been made an important reform conditionality. I would urge the local bodies and the state governments to give this area priority attention to ensure that we do develop inclusive cities where every citizen has an entitlement to basic services. We are all agreed that governance reform is the cornerstone of urban renewal. Such reforms would ensure the long-term sustainability of the investments and greater transparency and accountability in urban planning and development. Hence the link between investment and reform. This will also be the approach to be adopted in the XIth Five Year Plan, which will further strengthen the JNNURM. Our Government stands committed to providing the requisite budgetary support to States and cities. I urge State and Local Governments to advance the timelines for implementation of these reforms so that the Mission's objectives are met within the specified time period. For example, the reforms pertaining to improving Urban Local Body finances could be completed within the first three years of the Mission. This will enable these bodies to become more viable and eligible to enlist institutional finance. We are considering the idea of offering further incentives to States and cities that implement reforms on a faster track. I have been continuously reviewing the progress of this very important flagship programme of our government with my cabinet colleagues. We find differential performance in its implementation across States, with some doing well and others lagging behind. Cities that lag behind will find it increasingly difficult to catch up. Time is of the essence and I therefore urge States to work closely with the two Central Ministries to monitor and enforce early implementation. Another important issue that has arisen relates to leveraging of JNNURM funds. The sum of Rs. 50,000 crore provided by the Government is hardly adequate for meeting the infrastructure investment needs of JNNURM cities and towns. States must, therefore, leverage these funds and raise more from the market. To do so, we must improve the quality of projects and the fiscal health of Urban Local Bodies. The private sector can be encouraged to invest in urban development through public-private partnerships. Urban infrastructure and services and low-cost housing offer huge potential for such partnerships. State Governments and cities must provide the enabling environment for the private sector to participate and for public private partnership to take roots in our country. We need urgent capacity building within urban local bodies to enable them to design projects, undertake reforms and raise adequate resources. The 74th Amendment was a pioneering initiative of the late Shri Rajiv Gandhi conceptualizing Urban Local Bodies as important developmental entities. However, in practice their capacity to undertake economic and social planning and address issues of poverty, environment and the like is limited. This must change and change for the better. The JNNURM expects these local bodies to become participatory, transparent, and accountable. All these challenges call for immediate attention to the issue of managing and enhancing human capital of our urban management institutions. State Governments should look at innovative ways to professionalise urban management. In the final analysis, it is the residents of the cities themselves who must come forward and take ownership of this very ambitious programme. There are a large number of civic minded and talented professionals in all our cities and towns. It is precisely to tap this valuable resource that the Mission has suggested the creation of a "Voluntary Technical Corps" for Urban Local Bodies. Given the right opportunities, I am sure that the beneficiaries themselves will volunteer their time and expertise for the betterment of their cities. Apart from addressing the needs of large Mission cities, we must also focus on improving basic services in other non-Mission cities and towns. Given the level of interest exhibited by small and medium towns, we do now recognize that the financial allocations made for them are not adequate. I am, therefore, asking the Planning Commission to look into the feasibility of providing additional assistance to small and medium town. There was a time policy planners in India thought that our effort should be to limit the growth of the cities and prevent people from migrating into them. Today, our policies are better informed and we have begun to see urbanization as an opportunity. All projections of the coming decade indicate that the process of urbanization would accelerate rapidly. If we can manage this transformation effectively, the physical and economic regeneration of urban India is well within our reach. * * The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, to my mind, is an immense opportunity for our country to create livable, just and inclusive habitats through responsive and transparent local government systems. Let us, therefore, pledge to work together to add greater vigor and energy to JNNURM and realize our common goal of humane and efficient urbanization. As leaders of this Mission, in the cities you come from, the success of this bold new initiative for urban renewal depends critically on your commitment and on your efforts. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20071013/870a4906/attachment-0001.html From sebydesiolim at hotmail.com Mon Oct 15 20:33:10 2007 From: sebydesiolim at hotmail.com (sebastian Rodrigues) Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2007 20:33:10 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] =?windows-1252?q?_Solidarity_with_Kujanga_People=92s?= =?windows-1252?q?_Movement_against_POSCO_invasion_of_Orissa?= Message-ID: Just yesterday newspapers in India carried news item - some on the front page about abduction of South Korean company Pohang Steel Company (POSCO) in Orissa that is seeking to invest single largest foreign direct investments (FDI) in India at Rs.54,000 crores. The abductions that took place included that of the Managing director, a Korean national, another Korean official of the company and the Indian hired by the foreign firm, on 13th October 2007. It was however not the first time the abductions taking place. In April 2007 too POSCO officials were abducted and released. I was part of the group put together by The Other Media, New Delhi to visit Dinkiya village – one of the richest villages of Orissa and now target of the POSCO investments - and have first hand exposure to investments that threaten to trample Peoples rights. Here are some of my observations after interacting with POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) Chairman Abhai Sahu on 28th September 2007. MoU POSCO and Orissa government signed Memorandum of Understanding to this project near Paradeep Port on 22nd November 2005. Soon the protests began in the form Court arrests, awareness campaigns in the three villages that are likely to get wiped off in the project comes through – Dhinkia, Nuaga and Godokujong Panchayats. The MoU is for setting up of Steel plant and construction of captive port for the company 7 kilometers away from the Paradeep Port at the Zatadhar Sea bed covering 519 acres of space. Government is trying to hand over nearly 500 acres of legally government land to the Korean transnational corporation for the purpose of its project. This land originally b belonged to the people who cultivate but thanks to the process of state formations it was transferred to king Vardhaman from West Bengal who in turned leased it out to the private parties, and ultimately Indira Gandhi government nationalized these land in the mid of 1970s decade. PPSS ground of Objections PPSS objects to the projects on many grounds: Firstly, it is opposed to Industrialization at the cost established agricultural economy. Any attempts to do this will be opposed. Secondly, it is opposed to location of Industry at the dense forest area. The POSCO plant is capital intensive and not labour intensive. The current beetle nut cultivation in the village creates employment not only to the villagers but also for those in the neighboring villages ranging from 9-90 in age. Its existing agrarian economy is employment generating industry that POSCO is hardly a match. Poorest family in these villages is the one earns Rs.10,000/- per month! Its beetle nut leaves are not only through out India but also exported to Middle East Asia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. This conducive natural atmosphere is what is needed for this cultivation is prevailing in this Kujanga region of Jagansinghpur district of Orissa. In the face of such a prosperous local economy with global ties one questions the logic of getting POSCO to invest here. Cashew, coconut, Pisciculture is economies of these villages under people’s control. Rights violations There have been several instances of terror unleashed due to opposition to the POSCO project. Police, Company officials have created nexus to administer repressive measures. Bombings were carried on at check gates created by the PPSS, beating up of the people opposed to the project, and of course, the unleashing of goodas on the protestors. For nearly two weeks villagers were not a District collector suspended the supply of control commodities and the Old age pensions to the villages protesting the project! Once the suspension was revoked after the press and public opinion turned against the State, villagers were denied access on the public roads by the hired goons of the Korean corporate. It was only when the villagers showed unity and counter attacked the goons that they were able to reclaim the right over the public road. Nearly 130 criminal cases have been registered against the members of the PPSS that includes its Chairman Abhai Sahoo and its secretary Sisir Mahapatra. Spirited Protests However police have not been able to affect the arrests because the villagers have organized themselves and blocked all the roads to their villages. Check gates are created, 24 hours patrolling is carried on, every vehicle passing into the village is checked, interrogated and if it belonged to the State government or to the POSCO company is denied entry to the village. Daily meetings of the villagers and those offering solidarity are held near the Dinkiya village market and well attended and addressed by Women many of them from tribal groups. The road blockades according to PPSS will continue till POSCO lays its hands off their villages. The protests are likely to be intensified further as other Corporate in the State are putting Orissa government under pressure to invoke repression and hand over the necessary land to POSCO. The movements in Orissa of course has Kalinganagar massacre as backgrounder – a symbol of anti-corporate movement of common People of India. Land titles It is very important for the movement while continue to fight POSCO also gradually take up the question of land tittles. While it is advantageous on the one hand that the land under dispute is government lands, on the other hands villagers legally are illegal occupants of the lands. The possibilities must be worked out to get the land titles in the name Peoples’ organization and no longer it must be let alone as government lands. It requires deeper reflections as how to achieve this in the months ahead – once POSCO goes away abandoning their project. Appeal for Solidarity Do get in touch with the movements in Orissa and offer your solidarity. You may also inquire about the kind of solidarity required. You may contact Abhai Sahoo at his mobile no. 09938425210, e-mail: abhaiorissa at yahoo.co.in. You may also contact Nikunj Bhai at his mobile 09937364401, email: nikunj45 at yahoo.co.in. Sebastian Rodrigues 15th October 2007 _________________________________________________________________ Call friends with PC-to-PC calling -- FREE http://get.live.com/messenger/overview From sebydesiolim at hotmail.com Thu Oct 18 15:34:56 2007 From: sebydesiolim at hotmail.com (sebastian Rodrigues) Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2007 15:34:56 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] Fomentos flexes State power to bulldoze livelihoods with its mines in Sanguem Message-ID: October 18, 2007 Hello! Here are the minutes of a meeting called by Quepem Sub-divisional Magistrate to clear way for the Fomento mining group that operates mine in Colamb, Sanguem. This meeting gains significance as it demonstrates the power of the corporate to flex and get into motion the State administration for its private interest of mining of ore and gaining huge profits. Mining companies have been doing this over the past five decades and this is one more example as to demonstrate how deep is our quasi-judicial, judicial, executive, police, are co-opted and hell bent on destroying people’s livelihood of agriculture, destroy forests, convert forest areas into rice plantations and then use the forest lands as mining dumps, pollute and suck dry our natural water sources, silt flowing water bodies, mobilize scientific opinions and manufacture reports to repeat the story of three wise monkeys to say ‘here no truth, speak no truth and see no truth’, mining companies are the truth. Magistrate discloses that he has powers only as far as maintaining law and order yet he goes on does something more suggests formation of CORE Committee that would composed of government representatives and three members vetted by the Rivona Panchayat whose elected members have deep rooted interests in the continuation mining and whole scale ruining of agriculture. The government scientists that gave clean cheat to SDM are indeed an object of ridicule and betray even the common sense. Of course it is a common knowledge that scientists are rarely stick to their ethics and more often than not have betrayed the very people who through their taxes pays their salaries and these scientist have been indulging in complete unethical practices. They have done again while choosing soil samples and its testing. One lawyer representing mining companies is quoted in the minutes as proudly declaring that mining lease has not been challenged for the past 5 decades. Perhaps as practice goes lawyers take the side of one who pays them; he shrewdly overlooks the facts that the lease was granted by the erstwhile Portuguese colonial State, and by overlooking this fact he shamefully celebrates imperialism. And why he should not all the mining companies have accumulated the huge surplus to divert their profits in wide range of business ventures including Cidade de Goa thanks to this mischief during the Portuguese Colonial era. He also overlooks the fact that judiciary has been dominated by the interests hostile to the people at the receiving end of mining tyranny. The demand for stopping of mines in Goa will not succeed in the Palaces that are full of scandals but this demand will succeed when discussed and debated in the people’s parliament – the streets where the affected people themselves are going to be the judges and not the professional lawyers that are sucking their clients at a mass scale. Our judiciary is blood sucking institution meant to tire out generate and intensify injustice through the rule of law that is also rule of the rich for the rich. The law is conceptualized, drafted, executed by the powerful sections of the society that does not what the sufferings are all about. The laws are formulated to further disempower common people and snatch their livelihoods and mining laws, Forest laws, pollution laws in Goa and India are excellent examples to this. Through this order Fomentos have mobilized State coercive agency – the Police who are also paid by the public exchequer to arrests, harass and inflict innumerable repressive measures as it has been happening in Colamb, Sanguem for those villagers protesting against mining companies. Of course SDM considers minerals as national wealth and it cannot be stopped from exploitation. But nowhere he mentions and take note about the fact that people’s houses have developed crack not only due to rippers but also though blasting carried out by the Fomentos. Devki Katu Velip’s residence is an example to this. Why overlook? Nowhere he has developed understanding of the scenario as to what is going to happen to this village of Colamb if mining leases get activated? What will be the remains of the village that has total area 1929 hectares and out of which 1524 hectares are under mining leases? And not the SDM knows about from the remainder how much land is forest land under the control of the Forest department that operates in tyrannical fashion chiefly because it behaves as lackey of the forest department to make more land available to mining industry? It is indeed strange that what is common knowledge does not reach the ears of the SDM. We can only guess why! These valuable aspects he missed out completely before designing his methodology. His methodology is designed to wipe the tears of the crying children. It pays lip service towards any genuine attempts to find out the root cause of the pain that releases tears from the farmers eyes. The situation is serious, if people don’t have space to cultivate paddy then very soon they have to adopt going hungry or eating mining silt. Or become laborers on mines and depend at the mercy of the mining company for their livelihood. SDM order has given the stamp of legitimacy to the mining loot in a fantastic theatrics’ style: mining company will continue its loot caring dam for all the dissent in the world and State is going to supplement mining company with additional police re-enforcements whenever necessary. Already police have filed cases against the villagers and some have even been arrested. Worse Police goes on random picking of the villagers take them to Police station for harassment purpose. Egypt Dias and Manuel Dias were picked up in this fashion on October 14, 2007. Rama Velip and Motesh Antao were also targeted by Police earlier through arrests. It was surprising that SDM had no means of verifying as to who tarred the road under reference. His analysis relies upon assumptive word ‘Perhaps’. This is speculation and not analysis. And subsequently your conclusions are erroneous to the core. Colamb struggling People have got nothing to do with law and order problem. They are acting in collective defense of their agriculture from mining invasion backed by State power. It is mining company that is creating law and order problem. It is mining company that is snatching the peoples’ means of livelihood by various means including co-ersion. And these affected villagers are declared as Scheduled Tribes and this is chosen reward from the mining industry-State nexus. I understand the phrase ‘Private-Public Participation’ meaning of ‘Private’ in SDMs opinion as Fomento mining group. I failed to understand the meaning of ‘Public’ is. Does that mean participative and joyful tolerance of nuisance of Fomentos though its mining mischief? Or does ‘Public’ means likes of the SDM, Police, Water Resource Department Officials, Forest Department officials, Mining Department officials, and the like ‘Public’ officials? It would be nice if SDM clarifies what if the composition of the word ‘Public’ in participation is. The compensation as way of compromise is not workable at all. Rs.400/- per month per person that Fomentos have been going about making agreements is a nasty fraud on the lives of the common people that will have consequences of its own. This of course is not mentioned in the minutes but derived logically from the utterances of the lawyer that majority of people supports mining in Colamb, Sanguem. In any case compensation is like ‘I give you one slap and then pay Rs.10/- and logically I can give you any amount of slaps and go on paying proportionately.’ I go on doing this because I have money to do so. Subsequently if I have to go on leaving I have to go on taking selling myself for more and more slaps, my hands are now accustomed to taking slaps and more slaps and more importantly I can not do without slaps. For I have no land left to cultivate. This is an ideology of compensation. Again mining company manager pulled smart one over the shoulders of SDM or rather that’s how the whole show was organized; mining manager is quoted as saying that they have taken precautions against wash over of mining silt into the nallah and they subsequent preventions of washing the same into agricultural lands. Of course this is bullshit. And do note the hilarious explanation of executive engineer who is also canal officer. According his logic there could be not siltation of Paddy fields till the nallah – flowing fresh water body is complexly buried with silt and silt them will have to overflow and find its way into agricultural lands. Of course he dished out the logic and scenario as desired by his bosses in the fomento mining company. There are plenty of officers like him who have sold their ethics for a brief case or two. Other wise you as members of public go and inspect the paddy field, meet up the affected people yourself and arrive at your own conclusions and your conclusions. If you have not taken briefcases from Fomentos will be opposite to the conclusion in this report. However he admitted that there is already siltation caused and he does not talk of it irreversible impacts on ecology. The geologist at the mining department who was also present at this meeting agrees with me that his department is impotent to discipline mining companies as the companies over the period of time have become the Princes of Goa through 5 decades of loot and have enormous power at all level of Judiciary, Legislature and Executive. With mining loot going at this scale there is hardly any hope of preserving Goa’s identity as its majestic Western Ghats Mountains are slaughtered daily. It is only struggling people like that of Colamb that can contribute towards creating new identity for Goa in the face of State – Corporate nefarious nexus in place. These minutes are shining example of the way this nexus is operating inside the veins of Goa. Sebastian Rodrigues MINUTES OF THE MEETING CONVENED BY THE SUB DIVISIONAL MAGISTRATE (SDM) OF QUEPEM SUB-DIVISION QUEPEM GOA ON 13/10/2007 TO TAKE STOCK OF THE LAW & ORDER PROBLEM PERTAINING TO OPERATION OF MINE BY HIRALAL KHODIDAS & COMPANY PRESENTLY OPERATED BY FOMENTO MINING GROUP The following members were for the meeting 1. Shri Parag Nagarssekar, Mamlatdar of Sanguem. 2. Shri Sudin Natu, Mamlatdar of Quepem 3. Shri Hector Fernandes, Asstt. Geologist, Director of Mines & Geology, Panaji 4. Shri S.M. Rangaraju, Exe. Engineer, Water Resource Department (WRD) 5. Shri Paily P., A.E. Water Resource Department 6. Shri B.S. Prabhu, Zonal Agriculture Officer(ZAO), Sanguem 7. Shri P.B.Shirvoikar, Police Inspector(PI), Quepem Police Station 8. Shri Gajanan Harihar Karkare, Sr. Manager 9. Shri Atul V. Makode, Mines Manager 10. Shri P.T. Naidu 11. Shri Vijay D. Kerker 12. Shri Gokuldas K Naik 13. Shri Sandeep Gaonkar 14. Shri V.K. Prabhu Dessai 15. Shri Rama L. Velip 16. Shri Egypt D’Souza 17. Shri Telu Dias 18. Shri Rajanikant Velip 19. Shri Ramchandra Velip 20. Shri Sebastiao D’Souza 21. Shri Ajai N. Naik 22. Shri Gaurish Naik At the outset the SDM Quepem welcomed the gathering & disclosed that the meeting was convened in order to tackle the law and order problem which has been constantly taking place at the site of the operation of mine by Hiralal Khodidas & company which is presently operated by Fomento Mining Group. The main issue which the villagers were concerned of is about adjoining nallah which is passing on the peripheri of the mining activity & secondly about the run-offs of the mines getting accumulated in the adjoining agricultural lands The villager named Rama Ladu Velip addressed to say that the sludge of the mine is affecting the paddy fields and the lands which are being cultivated by the Schedule Tribes is getting destroyed due to the silt. The land which is classified as forest land is also being surreptitiously utilized for mining activity & the forest resources is getting depleted day by day, has developed cracks to the households of the inhabitants who reside in the vicinity of the mining area and that the water table of the land has been substantially reduced. Shri Venkatesh Keshav Prabhu Dessai, another villager pointed out to say that the agricultural lands in the vicinity of the mining area are giving a double yield-kharif & Rabi type due to the availability of water source from the nallah. He also stated that the plateau used for mining acts as a reservoir for harvesting water during monsoon due to its capillary action and that protective measures taken by the mining company serve no purpose and that the operation of mines be stopped. Shri Salvador Dias, a villager submitted that the Government is encouraging agricultural activity by giving various types of subsidies, but on account of the operation of the mines the doles dished out by the Government would serve no purpose. He also stated that there would be no grazing ground left of available for the cattle and prayed that the mines be stopped from conducting any of its operation. Shri Hector Fernanades was representing the Director of Mines & Geology. He stated that the mining concession was in existence since 1949 by the virtue of Title of Concession No.6 for Iron and Manganese. The activities were going on manually for extracting Manganese ore and since the past 18 months this activity is controlled by the Central Government and the monitoring aspect is done by the Directorate of Mines, is what Mr. Hector had to say. The approvals for the operating of mine have been given by the Indian Bereau of Mines (IBM) after studying the mining plan which is accompanied by the study of Environment Impact Assessment. The concerns of the environment are looked after and taken care of by the IBM. The environment clearance of the present mine was given bye the Ministry of Environment and Forest on 12/3/2007 and is valid till date. Mr. Fernandes also stated that the area of lease given to the mine is 70,1870 sq.mts and he feigned ignorance as private forest. The usage of machinery on the mines is also subject to the Mines Safety Act is what Mr. Hector had to say. The Executive Engineer Mr. Ranga Raju who is also a canal Officer attached the Water Resources Department was present and he placed on record the series of reports which he has made from time to time alongwith photographical evidence of the nallah. The said correspondence and measures suggested by the canal Officer the average depth of the nallah is 2 mts. He submitted that only when the nallah is completely filled with silt, than and only than it would start overflowing and accumulating in the properties. He stated that due to precautionary measures adopted by the mining firm, the silt accumulated in the nallah is less for which measures could be taken for desiltation. He also submitted that the various barriers put across by the mining firm arrests the sludege/run-offs to a great extent. According to the Zonal agricultural Officer Shri Babal S. Prabhu, he stated that the only if the nallah is completely filled up than only the damage would start accruing in the paddy fields. He also pointed out to his report submitted to the collector in April 2007, whereby he has highlighted the ill effects that would plague the agricultural sector in the years to come. The representative of the mining company i.e. the Senior Manager Mines Shri Gajanand karkare submitted that all precautionary measures have been adhered to by the firm as per the directions given by the Chief Secretary of Goa. He also submitted that the mining company is always open for suggestions which are constructive in nature and that the activities carried out are legal in nature. Adv. Hemkant Bhangui, pointed out to say that out of entire village only a handful villagers were opposed towards the project and a majority of them ar for it. He stated to say that the nallah is clear from all respect and the activity cannot be halted inspite of having valid legal permissions. He also stressed on the report of EIA which was banked upon by the Indian bureau of Mines whilst granting the permission. He also pointed out to say that when the mining concession has not been challenged since the past 5 decades, the question of stopping any activity of mining does not arise. Some truck owners from the locality namely Shri Suryakant Naik and Shashikant Devidas submitted that the activity should be permitted for the employment and for doing ancillary business activities connected with mining. A person named Arun Vijay Madgaonkar who is a resident of Marcel, khandola under the banner of Gram Vikas Kendra spoke on the ill-effects of mining activities ranging from the issues of water depletion to overloading of trucks. He also stated that the mining companies have not adhered to the norms laid to re-do the earth and bring it back to its original position by planting of trees. He also raised apprehensions and concerns for the village of Rivona, Colomba and surrounding areas by bringing it to the fore that some two more mining companies are likely to surface in the locality, which according to him would add more misery than any good to the local populace. Another person by name of Shri Narayan Colambkar stated that the road which is presently used by the mining firm is his personal private land and he stated that the road cannot be put to use for mining operations. BRIEF ANALYSIS After hearing all the parties present i.e. the various agencies of the Government, the agitators and the representatives of the mining firm. It has been made crystal clear to one and all, that the jurisdictional limits of the SDM are minimal and that it is not clothed with powers to order stoppage of the mining activity considering the valid permissions which the mining firm has with them. Although the agitators have raised a cloud of suspicion in their minds about the grant of permissions, as an SDM, the office cannot go into the merits of each and every permission granted to the firm. All what the SDM would want is maintenance of peace and tranquility in the society and if there is any contravention on this count, than the SDM would have to step in and take adequate measures to maintain the peace and tranquility. On the personal visit and inspection of the mining area on 9/10/2007 the SDM had collected soil samples for testing from two different sites i.e. one from the area which was alleged to have deposits of mining silts. The soil testing was carried out by the South Goa Branch of Agriculture Department and the reports which arrived today disclosed that both the soils had similar readings, which means to say that the fertility count of the soil has not been disturbed. The report too was tabled today for scrutiny before the meeting. So also the personal Inspection of nallah did not show the SDM the presence of alluvial deposits from the mines. The core issue being that of deposits in the nallah and damage to agricultural lands has been properly answered by the Canal officer and the report of soil testing by the Agricultural Department. As regards the Issue of road, although a hue and cry has been raised by the alleged property owner, this office opines that for all purposes the said road has to be treated as a public road. The road is pucca in nature and perhaps the PWD or the local authority must have tarred the same. Considering the fact of monies being pumped in for construction of the road from the exchequer, preferential right of use of the road would obviously be for the public and hence it is deemed to be considered as public road. However, if Shri Colombkar has a better title over the said road to the mines, he is at liberty to knock the doors of the forum having Civil jurisdiction. Preventing usage of the said road by using muscle power or by illegally blocking the same through other means is not a healthy sign and no law of the land would permit any person to do such and act. METHODOLOGY TO ADOPT PREVENTIVE MEASURES TO CURB ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION Degradation of Environment especially due to mining has been an issue which has from time to time being raised before for various reasons including in the Honourable High Court and Honourable Supreme Court. On every given occasion it has been a practice to issue directives to prevent environmental degradation as mining reserves cannot be stopped from being explored and exploited as it is part and parcel of national wealth. Public Private Participation (PPP) is the need of the hour to bring about transparency in the adoption of preventive measures to curb environmental degradation. This proposal was put forth to the public which has been readily accepted, the committee members shall visit mining area every month and suggest measures from time to time. The committee should chalk out its own programme of field visit preferably in the first week of every month and within the first ten days of every month should submit a report to the mining firm and the collector(s) with a copy endorsed to the SDM of the Sub Division of Quepem. The mining firm should adopt the preventive measures in the same month itself and when the Committee members pay their field visit in the ensuing month they should assess the measures so adopted by the firm. In the set up of PPP the degradation of environment which is at its optimum would get reduced to great extent and finally there would be a day where there would be zero tolerance to environmental degradation. At any given time, if there are any deposits in the nallah the mining company should bear the total cost of desiltation by taking the technical know-how from the Canal Officer. The run-offs from the mine in the agricultural properties could also be properly channelised through the tailing ponds by way of which the paddy field would not get destroyed. The committee should comprise of three villagers the names of which has to be vetted by the Village Panchayat of Rivaona, the Mines Manager & Mining Engineer, Officials from each departments i.e. The Zonal Agricultural Office, Forest Department, Directorate of Mines and Canal Officer from WRD. CONCLUSION Under the above premises which has been espoused in the methodology part, the SDM called upon the parties present to maintain peace, tranquility and decorum and if need be to knock the doors of the appropriate forum to stop the operations of the mines, if they are insisting on the same. The SDM also called upon the gathering that the mines would start operating from 15/10/2007 and if there is any law and order problems than action would be initiated against them as per the law in force. The meeting thereafter ended with these directives. Sd/- on 13/10/2007 (Johnson Bedy Fernandes) Deputy Collector & S.D.M., Quepem – Goa. C.C. For Information to: 1. The Collector and District Magistrate (S),Margao-Goa, with a request to kindly initiate steps to form a core committee as espoused in the methodology part of the minutes drawn and forwarded herein. Visit my blog at http://www.openspaceforum.net/twiki/tiki-view_blog.php?blogId=17 _________________________________________________________________ Search from any Web page with powerful protection. Get the FREE Windows Live Toolbar Today! http://toolbar.live.com/?mkt=en-in From bdasgupta at gmail.com Sun Oct 21 13:04:45 2007 From: bdasgupta at gmail.com (Bhaskar Dasgupta) Date: Sun, 21 Oct 2007 08:34:45 +0100 Subject: [Urbanstudy] FW: Welcome to the "Urbanstudygroup" mailing list Message-ID: <86A20675E288462CA150E9FD8B63A338@bdPC> Hello there to everybody, Just joined on the recommendation of Anant M (thanks, mate!). I live and work in London and am interested in various aspects of economics and technologies, banking and mathematics, politics and history, etc. Cheers bd -------------------------- Bhaskar Dasgupta http://dailysalty.blogspot.com/ (for shorter daily comments) http://piquancy.blogspot.com/ (for longer weekly essays) --------------------------- -----Original Message----- From: urbanstudygroup-bounces at sarai.net [mailto:urbanstudygroup-bounces at sarai.net] On Behalf Of urbanstudygroup-request at sarai.net Sent: 21 October 2007 08:26 To: bdasgupta at gmail.com Subject: Welcome to the "Urbanstudygroup" mailing list Welcome to the Urbanstudygroup at sarai.net mailing list! Dear friends, the Urban Study Group list intends to explore issues of emerging forms of urbanism. The Indian metropolis, like many other global cities, has been rapidly remade in the past fifteen years. The urban environment has experienced dizzying shifts in regimes of property, notions of citizenship/urban politics, and the very physical familiarity of the street or neighborhood. Just as we witness the new elite urbanism of malls, multiplex cinemas, and gated residential communities, we also observe growing counter claims to urban territory in a politics that is rooted in daily life. In what ways do people make claims to the city? What challenges do new forms of urbanism and urban politics pose to existing understandings of the city? Recently, there has been a growing interest in how cities work at the street level. Discussions of the daily life of the Indian city have included analyses of urban festivals, local economic networks, politics, the growth of the media industry, the emergence of sexual identities, architectural transformations, representations of urban life in the cinema, literature, and the news media, and other related subjects. Given these many perspectives on the urban experience, what new questions will guide our theorization of the Indian metropolis? We hope this list will intensify a passion for understanding and observing the city. There are many forums of discussion currently taking place in India and abroad on the city and its many processes. We hope to build on these existing local networks of researchers, students and practitioners. We encourage list members to post papers, research in progress, proposals, online articles, links to visual media, informal thoughts and discussions, and personal narratives. It is this interdisciplinary diversity and energy that will enrich our understanding and theorization of the city. Curt Gambetta and Solomon Benjamin, list administrators To post to this list, send your email to: urbanstudygroup at sarai.net General information about the mailing list is at: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/urbanstudygroup If you ever want to unsubscribe or change your options (eg, switch to or from digest mode, change your password, etc.), visit your subscription page at: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/options/urbanstudygroup/bdasgupta%40gmail.com You can also make such adjustments via email by sending a message to: Urbanstudygroup-request at sarai.net with the word `help' in the subject or body (don't include the quotes), and you will get back a message with instructions. You must know your password to change your options (including changing the password, itself) or to unsubscribe. It is: suinboak Normally, Mailman will remind you of your sarai.net mailing list passwords once every month, although you can disable this if you prefer. This reminder will also include instructions on how to unsubscribe or change your account options. There is also a button on your options page that will email your current password to you. From sollybenj at yahoo.co.in Sun Oct 21 19:21:13 2007 From: sollybenj at yahoo.co.in (solomon benjamin) Date: Sun, 21 Oct 2007 14:51:13 +0100 (BST) Subject: [Urbanstudy] FW: Welcome to the "Urbanstudygroup" mailing list In-Reply-To: <86A20675E288462CA150E9FD8B63A338@bdPC> Message-ID: <281283.78682.qm@web8908.mail.in.yahoo.com> Dear Bhaskar, Anant, welcome, and looking forward to your postings. my own have been pending now and hope to hget back on board . One area, shared with Anant, is on how there are distinctive and substantive economic circuits that underpin what I call for the lack of a better word, Occupant Urbansim. for instance, if you walk down a street in bangaore, say shivaji nager or then any small town too, what seems like not just mixed land use or the informal sector, or a third world exotic bazzar, can be re-read as layers of occoupancy that is mostly incremental, constituted by multiple land tenures (leaseing arrangements, but also claims established via civic authotities for electical power, water, taxes etc). these in turn re-constitute real estate surpluses when there are new commers or people moving on. most is upgrading and densification hense unlike western city gentrificaton. I have a peice on this in the sarai Frontiers reader forthcomming in dec, but the main reason why I find Anant's work on finance really central is that it helps to point to a very different read of cities that goes beyond developmentalism, modernity, and other oppressive forms located in a dirgisme of either having the nation state to bank on (oops a freudian slip?) or then the inevitability of the Globalized homogenized market. Instead what is revealed are much more complex territories of economy and poliitca l claims. what is central in all this, like Walter Benjamin's arcades and Naples writings, is to locate the materailities in a central way as these re-constitute political conciousness. I keep thinking that if he was alive, and majgically able to walk down the crowded bangalore streets, and in particular shivaji nager, SJP Road in bangalore, or Lamington road in Bombay (the electronic bazzar) he would really freak out! so we have much to talk on all this cheers Solly --- Bhaskar Dasgupta wrote: > Hello there to everybody, > > Just joined on the recommendation of Anant M > (thanks, mate!). I live and > work in London and am interested in various aspects > of economics and > technologies, banking and mathematics, politics and > history, etc. > > Cheers > > bd > > -------------------------- > Bhaskar Dasgupta > http://dailysalty.blogspot.com/ (for shorter daily > comments) > http://piquancy.blogspot.com/ (for longer weekly > essays) > --------------------------- > > -----Original Message----- > From: urbanstudygroup-bounces at sarai.net > [mailto:urbanstudygroup-bounces at sarai.net] On Behalf > Of > urbanstudygroup-request at sarai.net > Sent: 21 October 2007 08:26 > To: bdasgupta at gmail.com > Subject: Welcome to the "Urbanstudygroup" mailing > list > > Welcome to the Urbanstudygroup at sarai.net mailing > list! Dear friends, > the Urban Study Group list intends to explore issues > of emerging forms > of urbanism. The Indian metropolis, like many other > global cities, has > been rapidly remade in the past fifteen years. The > urban environment > has experienced dizzying shifts in regimes of > property, notions of > citizenship/urban politics, and the very physical > familiarity of the > street or neighborhood. Just as we witness the new > elite urbanism of > malls, multiplex cinemas, and gated residential > communities, we also > observe growing counter claims to urban territory in > a politics that > is rooted in daily life. In what ways do people make > claims to the > city? What challenges do new forms of urbanism and > urban politics pose > to existing understandings of the city? > > Recently, there has been a growing interest in how > cities work at the > street level. Discussions of the daily life of the > Indian city have > included analyses of urban festivals, local economic > networks, > politics, the growth of the media industry, the > emergence of sexual > identities, architectural transformations, > representations of urban > life in the cinema, literature, and the news media, > and other related > subjects. Given these many perspectives on the urban > experience, what > new questions will guide our theorization of the > Indian metropolis? > > We hope this list will intensify a passion for > understanding and > observing the city. There are many forums of > discussion currently > taking place in India and abroad on the city and its > many processes. > We hope to build on these existing local networks of > researchers, > students and practitioners. We encourage list > members to post papers, > research in progress, proposals, online articles, > links to visual > media, informal thoughts and discussions, and > personal narratives. It > is this interdisciplinary diversity and energy that > will enrich our > understanding and theorization of the city. > > Curt Gambetta and Solomon Benjamin, list > administrators > > To post to this list, send your email to: > > urbanstudygroup at sarai.net > > General information about the mailing list is at: > > > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/urbanstudygroup > > If you ever want to unsubscribe or change your > options (eg, switch to > or from digest mode, change your password, etc.), > visit your > subscription page at: > > > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/options/urbanstudygroup/bdasgupta%40gmail.com > > > You can also make such adjustments via email by > sending a message to: > > Urbanstudygroup-request at sarai.net > > with the word `help' in the subject or body (don't > include the > quotes), and you will get back a message with > instructions. > > You must know your password to change your options > (including changing > the password, itself) or to unsubscribe. It is: > > suinboak > > Normally, Mailman will remind you of your sarai.net > mailing list > passwords once every month, although you can disable > this if you > prefer. This reminder will also include > instructions on how to > unsubscribe or change your account options. There > is also a button on > your options page that will email your current > password to you. > > _______________________________________________ > Urbanstudygroup mailing list > Urban Study Group: Reading the South Asian City > > To subscribe or browse the Urban Study Group > archives, please visit > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/urbanstudygroup > Bring your gang together - do your thing. Go to http://in.promos.yahoo.com/groups From yanivbin at gmail.com Sun Oct 21 19:23:02 2007 From: yanivbin at gmail.com (Vinay Baindur) Date: Sun, 21 Oct 2007 19:23:02 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] Fwd: Invitation to National Seminar on JNNURM In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <86b8a7050710210653q46f60bb5g56c5f83c33329d7b@mail.gmail.com> FWDING FYI.... ...................................................................................... Dear friends, On behalf of CIVIC Bangalore and INHAF, I would like to invite you to participate in the National Seminar on JNNURM to be held at United Theological College, Bangalore, on 26th and 27th October, 2007. A brief outline of the seminar and agenda is given below. Since limited seats are available, we await your early confirmation. Please copy your email response to harish at civicspace.in. Thanks. Cordially, Padmini Trustee, CIVIC & Governing Council Member, INHAF OUTLINE: *National Seminar on Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM): * *Theme: **The Shape of Our Cities and Towns - **Socially Inclusive & Economically Productive?*** *PARTNERS*: CIVIC Bangalore and INHAF *PLACE*: United Theological College, 63 Miller Road (Behind Bangalore Cantonment Railway Station), Bangalore 560046. Tel: 080 - 2333 2844 / 2333 0015 *DATES*: 26th and 27th October, 2007. JNNURM's basic premise is that the growth and development of urban centres is constrained by the indifferent implementation of the 74 th Amendment and outmoded statutes. Its primary objectives include economic productivity, efficiency, equity and responsiveness. With NURM entering its third year, CIVIC and INHAF feel that there is a need to take stock of its progress, process and impact, based on its policies. They are agreed that a broad spectrum of views be considered and ideas for further improving or adapting NURM and related policies and programmes be discussed. The outcome of the seminar is envisaged as a set of recommendations to governments at the centre, state and local levels. Resource persons with experience in NURM, the 74th Amendment and decentralisation issues, from both Government and civil society, are being invited to present papers. The papers will include reviews of policies and their translation into reality; case studies on specific cities that are covered by JNNURM and studies on impact on various sections of the public. Each presentation will be followed by discussion; the concluding session will seek to consolidate the ideas that emanate from these discussions and to formulate a set of recommendations. The seminar agenda will allow for discussion after each set of papers and during the final session before formulation of conclusions and recommendations. Agenda: Time Session Topic & Resource Person Day 1 Friday, 26th Oct 07 9.00 AM to 9.30 AM Registration Session 1 9.30 A.M. to 11.15 AM Inaugural Session Chair: Dr. A Ravindra, IAS (Retd.) 9.30 AM – 9.40 AM Welcome & objectives: Dr. R. Padmini, CIVIC 9.40 AM – 10.00 AM Introductory remarks: Mr. Kirtee Shah, INHAF 10.00 AM – 10.20 AM Keynote Address: Dr. P. K.Mohanty, Joint Secretary (JNNURM), Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation 10.20 AM – 10.35 AM Initial responses from participants 10.35 AM – 10.55 AM Documentary on JNNURM from Bangalore's slums – Slum Jagatthu 10.55 AM – 11.15 AM Chairperson's remarks: Dr. A. Ravindra, IAS (Retd.), Deputy Chairperson of Karnataka State Planning Board 11.15 to 11.30 AM Tea-break Session 2 11.30 A.M to 1.00 PM. Overview of JNNURM objectives and implementation 11.30 AM – 11.50 AM Review of implementation of JNNURM in some cities: Mr. Dunu Roy, Hazards Centre 11.50 – 12.10 PM To be confirmed 12.10 PM - 12.45 PM Open discussion 12.45 PM – 1.00 PM Chairperson's remarks: 1.00 – 2.00 PM Lunch-break Session 3 2.00 PM to 3.30 PM Review of JNNURM process 2.00 PM – 2.20 PM Review of CDPs of some cities: Ms Harini Narayanan 2.20 PM – 2.40 PM Presentation on process of implementation of JNNURM in Karnataka Mr. Jawaid Akhtar, IAS, MD, KUIDFC 2.40 PM – 3.15 PM Open discussion 3.15 PM – 3.30 PM Chairperson's remarks: Dr. Sreekant Gupta* *to be confirmed 3.30 to 3.45 PM Tea-break Session 4 3.45 PM – 5.15 PM JNNURM & governance priorities 3.45 PM – 4.05 PM NURM, 11th FYP (MDGs), NCMP, Bharat Nirman & gender: Ms Lysa John, Waada na thodo abhiyaan 4.05 PM – 4.25 PM Situation of the urban family and implications for JNNURM: Dr. R. Padmini, CIVIC 4.25 PM – 5.00 PM Open discussion 5.00 PM – 5.15 PM Chairperson's remarks: Dr. Amita Bhide, TISS Day 2 – Saturday, 27th October 2007 Session 5 9.30 to 11.00 AM Urban finances and JNNURM 9.30 AM – 9.50 AM JNNURM and its impact on financial restructuring of urban infrastructure and service delivery: Dr. Lalitha Kamath, CASUM-M 9.50 AM – 10.10 AM Dr. S. Subramanya, BBMP Commissioner* *To be confirmed 10.10 AM – 10.45 AM Open discussion 10.45 AM – 11.00 AM Chairperson's remarks: Ravikant Joshi 11.00 -11.15 AM Tea-break Session 6 11.15 AM to 1.15 PM JNNURM & urban poor 11.15 AM – 11.35 AM JNNURM and the Urban Poor: Some Suggestions: Dr. N. C. Saxena 11.35 AM – 11. 55 AM JNNURM & urban poor in Bangalore: Dr. Kshitij Urs, Regional Director, Action Aid 11.55 AM – 12.15 PM JNNURM & child friendly cities: Ms Victoria Rialp, UNICEF 12.15 PM – 1.00 PM Open discussion 1.00 PM – 1.15 PM Chairperson's remarks: Ms Shameem Banu, Secretary, Dept. of Housing, GoK* *To be confirmed 1.15 PM to 2.00 PM Lunch break Session 7 2.00 to 3.30 P.M. JNNURM and democratic processes 2.00 PM – 2.20 PM Relationship of NURM to the 74th Constitutional Amendment and institutions under it: Ms Kathyayini Chamaraj, CIVIC 2.20 – 2.40 Nagararaj Bill: Ms Nandana Reddy*, CWC, 2.40 – 3.15 PM Open discussion 3.15 PM – 3.30 PM Chairperson's remarks: Mr. K. Jothiramalingam,* IAS, Principal Secretary, UD, GoK 3.30 to 3.45 PM Tea break Session 8 3.45 to 5.00 PM Conclusions & recommendations 3.45 PM – 4.25 PM Key Issues and Recommendations: Participants' panel of 4 to sum up 4.25 PM – 4.45 PM Concluding remarks by participants 4.45 PM – 5.00 PM Chairperson's remarks: Dr. P. K. Mohanty, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Topics to be confirmed by following resource persons: Mr. Sanjay Vijayvergiya, Mr. Pon Chandran, Mr. Sreekant Gupta, Mr. K. C. Sivaramakrishnan*, * To be confirmed -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20071021/984bd6e0/attachment-0001.html From ava at inthefield.info Mon Oct 22 00:19:41 2007 From: ava at inthefield.info (Ava Bromberg) Date: Sun, 21 Oct 2007 11:49:41 -0700 Subject: [Urbanstudy] CFP: CRITICAL PLANNING, UCLA URBAN PLANNING JOURNAL: VOLUME 15, 2008 Message-ID: <471B9F45.2010103@inthefield.info> Dear Colleagues, Please forward to interested students, faculty, scholars, artists, activists, and practitioners of all sorts. For a pdf version of the call for papers, please see our website: www.spa.ucla.edu/critplan many thanks, Ava Bromberg Managing Editor, Critical Planning PhD Candidate, UCLA Urban Planning *** CRITICAL PLANNING UCLA Journal of Urban Planning CALL FOR PAPERS: Volume 15, Summer 2008 In honor of our 15th anniversary, this year's volume of Critical Planning is devoted to identifying and highlighting the most current critical approaches to urban theory, research and practice. We seek submissions that 1) address the challenges confronting the present and future of cities and regions in the U.S. and around the world and, 2) display an original and critical perspective on recent theoretical developments, policies and practices. We invite submissions from all disciplines as well as the use of various methodologies. We encourage cross-disciplinary, multi-scalar and mixed-method approaches. Critical Planning is a double-blind peer-reviewed publication. Feature articles are generally between 5,000 and 7,000 words, while shorter articles are between 1,000 and 3,000. All submissions should be written according to the standards of the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th Edition. Footnotes should be placed at the end of the document. Please double-space all parts of the manuscript and leave one-inch margins on all sides. Tables and images should be separated from the text. Images should be provided in .tif format, not exceeding a width of five inches and a resolution of 600 dpi (a width of 3000 pixels). Include a cover sheet with the article's title; the author's name, phone number, email address; and a two-sentence biographical statement. Please do not put identifying information (name or affiliation) anywhere but the cover sheet. Submissions will be accepted on a rolling basis. Feel free to contact us by email to discuss your ideas. Manuscripts should be submitted by 5pm on December 15, 2007 as .doc attachments via email to: critplan at ucla.edu and two hardcopies (postmarked by Dec. 15) should be mailed to: Critical Planning C/O Ava Bromberg, Managing Editor UCLA Department of Urban Planning School of Public Affairs 3250 Public Policy Building Los Angeles, CA 90095-1656 Email: critplan at ucla.edu Website: http://www.spa.ucla.edu/critplan/ For pdf version of call please see our website. From elkamath at yahoo.com Mon Oct 22 08:57:03 2007 From: elkamath at yahoo.com (lalitha kamath) Date: Sun, 21 Oct 2007 20:27:03 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Urbanstudy] interview of sheila dikshit in McKinsey Quuarterly Message-ID: <203104.60346.qm@web53605.mail.re2.yahoo.com> >From the Mckinsey Quarterly: Interview Creating a modern Indian city: An interview with Delhi’s chief minister Sheila Dikshit discusses the challenge of urban development in India. Shirish Sankhe Web exclusive, October 2007 Delhi is a rarity on the Indian landscape: a symbol of urban progress rather than urban decay. And for almost a decade, Sheila Dikshit has presided over the nation’s capital as its chief minister. Dikshit, nearing the end of an unprecedented second term, has helped guide an array of economic and political changes. Under her watch, the first phase of the Delhi Metro was completed on budget and on time—a feat heralded as belying the stereotype of the Indian government’s inefficiency. The second phase is on track to be completed in time for the Commonwealth Games, scheduled to take place in the city in 2010. Also during her tenure, power distribution has been privatized, pollution reduced, and green areas throughout the city increased. Students at government schools are performing better. In addition, Dikshit has attempted to lessen the tensions between the bureaucracy and citizens through an initiative that brings both sides together for regular discussions. Bhagidari, as it is called, has been held up as an international model of good governance. Yet Dikshit would be among the first to acknowledge that progress has not come fast enough or without snags. Delhi is straining under the weight of a vast and growing population. More than 13 million1 people live there, and half a million more move in every year. Decision making can be excruciatingly slow, especially since her administration shares authority in the city with elected municipal leaders and a lieutenant governor appointed by India’s president. Recently, Shirish Sankhe, a director in McKinsey’s Delhi office, met with Dikshit in her residence and discussed the challenges of urban development in India, as well as some of her successes. The Quarterly: Have India’s recent economic gains surprised you? Sheila Dikshit: I think we stopped being surprised a while back. There is a lot of confidence throughout India regarding Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s economic capabilities, his understanding of the Indian economy, and how you integrate the Indian economy into the world economy. It also helps that the government is growth oriented and is moving toward a more open economy. Many current policy makers understand economics and have tried to take the economy out of the shackles where everything had to be cleared by the government before anything could take place. People are feeling very comfortable with the growth. It’s amazing how the buoyancy comes in. You see it in art, you see it in culture, in our theater, in our films. And among the youth there is the recognition: I am proud of my country. They no longer feel they have to go abroad for better opportunities. They’re getting very good salaries here. SHIELA DIKSHIT Vital statistics Born March 31, 1938, in Kapurthala, Punjab Wife of the late Mr. Vinod Dikshit, a widely respected member of Indian Administrative Service, she has two children Education Received her MA in history from Miranda House, University of Delhi, after schooling at Convent of Jesus and Mary Career highlights Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Chief minister (1998–present) Government of India Union minister of state for parliamentary affairs (1986–89)Minister of state in prime minister’s office (1986–89)Member of Lower House of Parliament, representing Kannauj (1984–89) Fast facts Serves as secretary of Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust, which awards Indira Gandhi Prize for efforts in international peace Launched Stree Shakti in Delhi, a program which aims to empower women by providing employment training, financial aid, and access to health care and medicine Represented India on UN Commission on Status of Women (1984–89) The Quarterly: What can slow down India’s growth? Sheila Dikshit: We have people with outstanding and very innovative minds. This country is not short of wealth. This country is not short of skills. This country is not short of brains. What we lack, and I think what we always have lacked in this country, is effective management in the government. I can give you a very interesting example. Government schools in Delhi were performing very badly. The pass percentage on standardized tests was 35 to 37 percent. We looked into it and found that the government spent 900 rupees per child per month, while nongovernment schools, which were performing better, were spending a maximum of 700 to 800 rupees per child. We brought the teachers together and asked, “Obviously, you are the best paid, so why are you not delivering? What do we need to do to motivate you?” And when the teachers got motivated, children performed better. Today the pass percentage has risen to 82 percent, half a percentage point more than nongovernment schools. I can give you another example concerning the problem of exporting. There were 17 different forms that had to be filled out to export something. So we had a talk with the relevant authorities and said, “Please, let’s reduce this.” Other countries have 2 or 3 forms, and it’s done with. So they set up this committee, and when they came back with a solution, instead of 17 forms, 25 forms had to be filled out. So you see it’s the mind-set, especially in administration, that needs to be changed. We are addressing it, but I don’t think we are addressing it seriously enough. There is also a feeling of mistrust between government and nongovernment sectors. The bureaucrat always presumes that the person coming to him for help must be a crook, that he wants me to do something against the rules. But that poor person doesn’t know the rules. That fellow sitting across the table has come in for help or information, and he’s just wished away or told 100 reasons why he cannot be given what he wants. The Right to Information Act2 is helping by making things more transparent. When we started it in Delhi, we found a lot of skepticism about it. But now the people are starting to get used to that power. Also, I started an unusual program in Delhi called Bhagidari, which focuses on governance through partnership and received a best-practice award from the United Nations. Citizens’ groups and the government interact with each other every week or every month in little groups. We train the citizens in what governance is about, since not all of them understand governing institutions. And the bureaucrats come to understand citizens better, that a citizen comes to you only because he is in some distress or needs something. This coming together has helped us a lot. The Quarterly: Is social disparity becoming a bigger problem? Sheila Dikshit: Yes, social disparity is there, perhaps not as much in the cities, which attract migration, as in the divide felt between the agrarian areas and the cities. Growth seems to have ignited in services and industry, but in the beginning that growth was not paying much attention to agriculture. That aberration has now been corrected, and it will come naturally. I was in Himachal3 just about four weeks ago. One panchayat,4 which is the lowest level of government, told me that several years ago they were poverty stricken. They couldn’t get even two square meals a day. In the past three years they made nine crores5 exporting flowers. So they’re beginning to learn. Where the income of 60 to 80 families was virtually zero it came up to nine crores. They’ve tasted it. And there’s going to be no stopping them from becoming role models for the rest of the panchayat—year round. The Quarterly: How has Delhi changed during your two terms in office? Sheila Dikshit: If you look at the physical achievements, the infrastructure is much better, the power is much better, water is much better, and transport is better because of the Metro, although not terribly so. I would say it needs another two to three years to put it right. When I look at human development, I think Delhi has changed from a cynical city to a city of hope. And it attracts not just people who seek jobs but also culture now. Almost the entire television industry, for instance, is located in Delhi, whereas Bombay6 used to be the top city. That infrastructure—the dozens and dozens and dozens of flyovers that have come up, the underpasses that have come up—has attracted a lot of labor from outside. Meanwhile, those who were living here were not terribly interested in doing manual labor. So the labor came in, and those who are local have become better educated and are looking for jobs in the service sector. A bit more economic growth has meant more migration, and more migration has meant that we almost keep standing where we are. The Quarterly: Has infrastructure been able to keep pace with growth in the city? Sheila Dikshit: It is keeping pace now, but we should be ahead. The fact that we have been able to cater to the half million people coming into the city each year in everything except housing is the good point. The bad point is that it’s slow. For me, it’s not fast enough. With the technologies we have today, we should be able to build infrastructure much faster. Archaic systems and a great multiplicity of authorities in Delhi are slowing us down. You have the federal government. You have my government. You have the municipality. We are a state government without, for instance, the power of owning land. It’s a great problem. We have a lieutenant governor here representing the government of India, which no other state has. We work with our hands tied. It’s very unique. The Quarterly: Yet Delhi was able to complete the first phase of its subway on time and on budget. How do you explain that? Sheila Dikshit: First, there’s Sreedharan.7 He’s a good manager, a good conceptualizer, and a good implementer. You can have and you will probably have lots and lots of Sreedharans in India, but they are unable to get the kind of freedom he was given to operate. We gave him that space. For example, nothing that concerned the Metro was negotiable in a court of law, so it could not get stuck. Take land, for instance. Subways need land for stations, and you have to shift a lot of buildings, a lot of shops, and a lot of people. And when the Metro said, “We need land,” and we said, “All right, this land you will get.” And whatever else was reasonably asked for by them—for instance, not to pay excise, not to pay VAT,8 et cetera—we gave them that because it was important to complete this project. Also, to this day we have not taken a single person to the Metro and said, “Please employ him.” There was no pressure at all, and they were totally on their own. Now I can say to my other departments, if Mr. Sreedharan can do it, and if I promise I won’t interfere, you do it. It was important to make the Metro project a role model, so that others would feel that they could get projects done too. The Quarterly: Housing, especially low-income housing, has been less successful. Why? Sheila Dikshit: Part of the problem with housing stems from the strict land laws that we have, and the very strict, archaic usage of land. Go to any European country, and you’ll find a road and buildings right against the pavement. We say, if you have a plotted piece of land, set your building back 30 feet or 20 feet or whatever. These are luxuries which we cannot afford anymore—the FSI law, the FAR law, and all that.9 But what we are doing now, and what I hope to be able to complete before we go into the next election, is to bring in more housing for the poor. This means building 200,000-plus units for the poorer people. This could be a two-room tenement with a washroom for 2 lakh10 that would be subsidized. We will divide these tenements into communities that have their own little shopping area, a school, and little gardens in between. We’ll have to change some laws, and we are working on that. But that is not stopping me at least from starting to build the houses. I’m also very keen on what they call holding areas, which are kind of like dormitories, for migrant workers. The labor that comes in here could stay in those holding areas and go back to their villages if they want to. They do not own the place, but they do have the right to live there for a certain rent that can get transferred from mother to child and child to child. Unfortunately, the Indian political mind-set is still not able to accept this. It’s still not sinking in, but I want it to sink in and will keep on singing until my voice is heard. The Quarterly: How did public transportation in Delhi move to compressed natural gas (CNG) as an alternative-fuel source? Sheila Dikshit: In 2001 we were facing a very peculiar situation where the courts said to start using CNG, but there was no CNG available and no vehicles were prepared to use CNG. We spoke to all the bus producers in Delhi, all the scooter producers, car producers. All public transport would be on CNG. So the changes that had to be made in the vehicles’ mechanics were made. Then they would test it: could they go over flyovers? Would they be able to take the extreme weather we have—too much rain, too little rain, too hot, too cold, all that? We also had a massive publicity campaign. I personally went to each and every person I could reach out to, as many as I could, to tell them it was good for the common health. We also gave them an economic packet because a CNG bus costs more than a normal bus, even though the recurring expenses are less. Then for about eight months we had queues as long as five kilometers of people waiting for a cylinder of CNG. But there were no riots, and the people were patient. I am eternally grateful to the people of Delhi for having understood, and now they are reaping the benefits. But it wasn’t just the courts. I am a citizen before I am chief minister, and I’m going to remain a citizen. I grew up here, and I’ve seen this city suffer on account of a poor environmental record. In the past five years we’ve increased the green cover from 36 square kilometers to 350 square kilometers. Now we are growing 19 city forests of 10,000 to 20,000 trees. We also passed a law that says if you cut 1 tree, for whatever purpose, you plant 10 others somewhere else. It doesn’t matter where you do it, but you do it. The Quarterly: Is funding a critical constraint? Sheila Dikshit: No, funding is not a constraint. We have very good tax collection and have urged the people not to avoid taxes. We gave concessions where we thought we should, but we were also one of the first states to impose the VAT. Since things are happening here, the central government has been very kind to give us funds. So we are never short of funds. The Quarterly: How can other Indian cities follow Delhi’s example? Sheila Dikshit: They should be made into city-states,11 and we should start with five cities: Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, and so on. I am sure politically no one would agree with this, but I think administratively it would be good for the country’s development. Create city-states and give them the power to undertake development. They should not be under the state governments but rather under their own chief minister or chief administrator or whatever you want to call the position. They would collect their own revenues, maybe sharing a percentage with the other states. You have to develop your cities, especially if you’re envisaging that in the next 20 years 55 to 60 percent of India’s population will be urban. You just can’t do it with the same old administration where you’re dependent on various constituents for every penny. The Quarterly: Do you think Delhi can become a world-class city or, for instance, play host to the Olympics? Sheila Dikshit: That’s my dream. But one of the real problems we have is the density of the population. It’s one of the highest in the world. And there is a paucity of land. Every other city the size that we are has a hinterland to spread into. We don’t. We can only go higher. And that is not always easy, because we want to see the blue sky. But I am confident in the next eight or ten years that if we change people’s attitudes—make everybody proud of the fact it’s our city and we have to keep it clean and make it pollution free—we will do it. It will still take five or six years to put the city on a course on which it can’t go back. Today it can go back, but once it crosses the hump it can’t slide back. That hump has yet to be reached. We’re close, but we haven’t reached it. As for the Olympics, let us wait for the Commonwealth Games first. Then there would be not just the temptation to bid for the Olympics from our side but also a feeling in the world that Delhi could do it, that India could do it, and therefore deserves it. About the Author Shirish Sankhe is a director in McKinsey’s Mumbai office. Notes 1 Census of India 2001. 2 An act that allows citizens to secure access to information under the control of public authorities, with the goal of promoting transparency and accountability. 3 Himachal Pradesh is a state in northern India. 4 Village council. 5 Ninety million rupees, or about $2.2 million. 6 Mumbai. 7 E. Sreedharan, the managing director of Delhi Metro. 8 Value-added tax. 9 The Floor Space Index (FSI) and Floor Area Ratio (FAR) are among regulations that restrict land use on a given plot. 10 Two hundred thousand rupees, or about $5,000. 11 Delhi, as the national capital territory, is not part of a larger state, a unique position in India. The country’s other big cities are part of larger states that often use taxes raised in these cities for projects outside the urban areas. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20071021/2741121c/attachment-0001.html From estrangedstrings at gmail.com Mon Oct 22 10:30:52 2007 From: estrangedstrings at gmail.com (priyanka gupta) Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:30:52 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] Graffiti and kolkatascape; a discourse of conflicting rights, class and citizenship[2nd and third post] Message-ID: <23c04dc60710212200q689b7e07q4889e676842210e5@mail.gmail.com> Much has changed since my last post…lines have been drawn …opinions have changed…pages have turned… my research project started with certain blatant presumptions ,analysis of which now seems pertinent to construe the vicious collocation of rights that I had sought to explore previously. A] That scribbles on walls is a complete infringement of personal rights. Splashing colors on private walls is wrong. It tantamounts to sheer vandalism. It's a blow not only to our better aesthetic judgment but also to us as individuals and our space fiercely protected as intensely private and personal. the knell had its first echoes years back when my mother cowering with fear gave in to the Para goons signing a paper stating she has no objections to have her freshly painted walls smeared with colors to help save our party lords few seats.…. as I stood appalled and visibly perturbed I knew we were as helpless as our neighbors, to dare to appeal against this rampant abuse of political power.. However the paper had a clause that the party concerned would be as diligent about restoring the walls to its previous state as they had been in accosting us. And this went on year after year with our protest muffled in the clamor of loud speakers and rallies. our walls changed colors with years and sometimes if they are lucky enough they would be smeared with an ugly patch of lime was as a half forgotten symbol of truce for the next elections. Our inability to rouse ourselves to contingent actions against the concerned parties was as inexcusable as these elaborate rituals of the Maha elections. So complete neutrality in my approach in the research was a little hard to achieve. But after a series of interviews I was half bought into the idea that graffiti is an essential part of the political culture in Bengal and what is popularly conceived as an extension of Bengaliness. If the larger than life gigantic cut outs down south ubiquitous flags on the roofs on almost every house up north adds to the intensely complicated and wildly exciting disparate hues of Indian poetics then our humble walls cast in different colors did as well. In conversations… 'If somebody falls on the road in Delhi or Bombay nobody will pick him up but here dozens of men will rush to help. Our culture is a culture of sympathy.' The snippets of most of the interviews taken over the lat couple of months, revealed new aspects of Bengalines to me, fantastic insights of my city kolkata. Although my entire deduction for now rests on the perception of a chosen few yet they seem to encapsulate the way in which the city largely exists in our imagination. Kolkata…' the city of protest, the city of politics…' the city of sympathy' which would therefore bear graffiti in her arms with perfect élan, adding a stark shade to her brilliant hues. But it is also interesting to note that these ideas are always constructed in opposition to something….for example the city of protest typically stands in opposition or negation to the lack of it. The oft repeated self -congratulatory burden – the Gokhlaen dictum that we Bengalis have been carrying around for centuries is hammered hard through decades. The Bengali renaissance often deemed synonymous to the Indian renaissance where a new breed if intelligentsia a new clan of the 'Bhodrolok' was created, a class of intermediaries between those vested with political power and liberties and those who don't. Doomed to be pinioned in the interminate grayness of frustrated aspirations and thwarted egotism this class is created out of an ambiguous state of in-betweeness, created out of clerks and bureaucrats, doctors and lawyers trading degrees for social worth and prestige. This slowly disappearing Bhodrlok class stepping out of the giant corridors of presidency and Hindu college lingers in faint traces of careful observation of certain rituals certain ethos, fractured yet alive desperately maintained for the sole preservation of the nostalgia that is Bengaliness. Bengaliness as exists in our imagination is constructed out of stereotypes of Macher Jhol and Mishti Doi of Rabindro Sangeet and Satyajit Ray...Bengalis 'the intellectuals, the devoutly political' now stand at the crossroads of half forgotten fantasies and nostalgia that is bengaliness. Graffiti in Kolkata doesn't merely act is a potent and immediate form of political expression and propaganda but also as mark of essential difference. Difference constructed out of a faithful performance of a fantasy conjured for the creation and perpetuation of a self image distinct from the rest. The acceptability and legitimacy of graffiti can thus also be seen as one of the arbiters of the difference conjured. One can also see the roaring footsteps of the mighty state in this fantasy of difference. It is interesting to find the extent in which these ideas have now been normalized and echoed in fear and forced consent as can be seen among people countless like me and neighbors. A sharp divide thus naturally arises out of those who genuinely try and participate actively in the public / political domain using their walls as an emblem of their political participation and allegiances and those for whom coercion IS a reality. Walls bulletins of the masses? There is a change in the city, in its skies, in its breath as it is shoved now through the riven lines where life acquires a new dimension as we all now have become children of globalization. The bhodrolok now becomes a new brand of people with jobs which can be threatened by a minor upheaval somewhere in the US in a world where one can almost smell the stench of the next country in one's guts. A proximity ensured, accepted and understood as indispensable for a world order based on the creed of mutual cooperation for better trade prospects. Historical moves between countries are now initiated; agreements are breached between states to resolve political tensions in any part of the world which can threaten the precariously poised world on the perceived commonality of interests resting on the citadel of globalization. The middle class, a class defined by its consumption capacity, the mainbeneficiaries of the neo liberal reforms in the world of market economy based on fear and competition where class structures and limits are getting increasingly fluid,engendering a fragile sense of selfhood shattered further by this perceived threat of the mighty state through graffiti right into its very thresholds- its walls. Walls slipping out into the narrow space between individuals is set on the principle of acquisition and proprietorship, the infringement of which threatens the sanctity of the personal rights of the individual. Walls stand on the basic premise of exclusion and segregation, as a mark of difference from the others. They are used chiefly for containment, for distinction and for privation to sustain the impression of a mutually exclusive space within. The insidious operations of power can be seen in the way in which the legitimacy of the political rights of the parties exercised through wall writing remain unquestioned and unchallenged and deemed natural. If the political rights of the individual and various political parties seem to assume such a natural credence then why does a substantial half [if such segregation] can be achieved seem to view graffiti going against the very idea of the city perceived in today's context. This new breed of middle class almost stands as distinct from the post independence pre liberlisation, Nehruvian precept of self effacing, self abnegating class ,associated chiefly with the idea of community, family solidarity with a deep seated sense of communal and moral obligation. And thus the acceptance of graffiti in today's context seem quite problematic. In the later half of my project I would like to focus increasingly on this issue. The role of the media here is also important in the way in which this class and its interests are granted legitimacy. The city grinding through time The idea of the city, the way in which we perceive ourselves as individuals in both public and private domain have transformed radically over the years. Yes the city had changed and so have the people and incidentally so has the party which has been ruling us over the past three decades, Despite the anti incumbency factor. The change is reflected everywhere in i6ts spatial structure its dingy lanes its broad flyovers its closed shutters of local supermarkets to the glittering mirrorscapes of malls and the designer gods. From the bustling para to closed windows and high walls. from a pujo with larger than life idols and the deafening roar of drums and conch shells n to today's god's smaller than the brand lords flapping its wings in every Mandap standing tall and proud. A city of a state no longer 'the graveyard for industries', but graveyards for farmers instead. But then there is a change and it's everywhere. Hope and promise for a renewal stirs in the rusty cogs of our machines. The state has witnessed an unprecedented growth in reality. The growth in terms of per capita income till 2005 has been 5.72% as opposed to the national average of 5.2%. The annual report says the FDI in the fiscal 2005-06 was worth 119 million. The state has seen a massive growth in the educational system. The census report of 200 estimates west Bengal's literacy rate to be 6.9% as opposed to the national average of 6.5%. 'We are now at the transitional stage …agriculture alone cannot create new job opportunities and move the economy further. So it is imperative to move from agriculture to industry'. Buddhadeb Bhattacharya the man with a vision vision of booming industries, thriving retail and real estate with the loud jangle of foreign investment, vision of classical hubs and the foresight of Singur and Nandigram. The city has borne these visions in her arms and has felt the changes in her belly. To me it is a city of acute inbetweenenss almost a no city, confused and puzzled with its responsibilities and changing definitions. Rapid industrialization and market growth has spurred a new kind of urban growth ubiquitous and consistent. From new town, a project spread over 300 acres repeating the immense success of other planned cities like salt lake, nager bazaar. Areas to curb the unwanted encroachment of the fetid filth and squalor of the larger Calcutta, certain zones for certain people with cleaner streets, better drainage away from the clamor of slums,hawkers and trams. The morphology of the city is slowly evolving from a city which had once embraced massive infiltration of refugees post independence , migrant laborers, an all inclusive city now trying to segregate itself into zones for a select few. This sudden hastiness with Kolkata as a clean city with its multiplexes and malls exist at the exclusion of others. The notion of Kolkata as a global city now slowly emerges as it becomes the emblem of the new global economy with an increasing income divide. A planning structure adopted to benefit the thriving middle class. Concerted efforts have been made to clean up the city off its hawkers squatters and creating segregated exclusive units in an attempt to reclaim space for those deemed after legitimate and rightful constituents. The rapid urbanization the curious interpenetration of economy and government policies in smaller spatial units. The city and its spaces thus constitute an extremely arena for the articulation of these perceptions. The city thus acts as a commodity to promote the growing demands of the state in the new globalized economy. Walls for the masses: The word graffiti comes from the Italian word graffito which means to scribble/scrawl. It offered an easy accessible interactional space necessary for a peaceful coexistence in the society. For archeologists and epigraphologists they offer a useful insight into the social customs, attitudinal patterns and territoriality of the constituents of the community. The crucial delineation of space afforded by graffiti offers a separate domain for the assertion of active citizenship. >From ancient city walls of Pompei to sub ways of New York graffiti has come a long way. Right from the time where its origins can be traced, graffiti has always been an indispensable part of social expression. >From the advertisements of prostitutes to sexually explicit lines scrawled on public walls in ancient city Rome graffiti always seems to articulate the subliminal inexpressible desires and truths of humanity for the expression of the aberrant. Later it attained a more subversive dimension in opposition to the mainstream socio political culture in America of the 60's to the modern day freedom tunnel till it acquired legitimacy as a separate art form. In most of the countries in the west graffiti is and has been a cognizable offense and is deemed equivalent to vandalism and punished accordingly it is purported to go against sanctity of property rights. Splashes from Kolkata Graffiti in Kolkata was ushered typically as a left phenomenon essentially a part of a political subculture. Slowly it made its slow trepid incursion into all the spatial domains… varied yet ubiquitous. The 60 s witnessed a massive proliferation of wall writing in Kolkata and gained as a legitimate tool of political expression during the Naxalite era in opposition to the ruling congress. The left hadn't gained ground then and was a party with few resources and petty funds. Wall writing therefore seemed to be a potent tool to gain visibility more immediate and localized like graffiti. Armed with catchy slogans with easels made of branches chiseled from palm trees and tar they trooped down the streets with 'shogothito jonotar hate bonduker noli bipolober prodhan utso[citizens must be roused with guns in their hands for revolution]…..ringing in the air. And then the famous anti defacement law by Siddhartha Shankar Ray in a desperate attempt to muffle the dissenting voices of the naxalites and the moderate leftists. But the Anti Defacement Law[ the West Bengal prevention of defacement of property act,1976 though chiefly starting in west Bengal had never gained grounds at large till the election commissioner exhumed it in its full severity in the state during the 2006 elections. Graffiti has always been a collaborative attempt of the party workers. The presence of the party is explicitly projected with a certain image circulated among the masses through slogans and colors-a crucial and colorful way of making their presence felt. Like most of the other political practices graffiti also has a number of rituals surrounding it, one of them being occupation of walls. This elaborate preamble to the election process starts with the party cadres seizing walls popularly known as deyal dokhol. Here each party assumes absolute monopoly over certain walls for a certain number of years thereby demarcating their domain and establishing the spatial distribution of graffiti, a process adopted to establish a disciplined, structural uniformity, although does containing certain implicit connotations of political hegemony. In 2006, Bengal saw a colorless state election. After the strict directive issued by the election commissioner, unfazed and undeterred the ruling party CPIML as well as the parties in opposition came out with innovative techniques to lure the electorate through the use of electronic media, leaflets, rickshaw danglers, saris with party motifs all over it, banners, posters and an intense door to door campaigning. A budget of 6 lakh is normally allotted to each party. The total budget of 6 laksh normally allotted naturally saw a rise with the ban on wall writing, leading to various ingenuous reallocation of money for other means of propaganda. One of the many problems that I am trying to negotiate with in my research, is my inability to reach a conclusive closure as far as the collocation of the right to freedom of speech guaranteed by the constitution and individual right to property is concerned, which seem equally pressing as well in spite of its lack of constitutional validity as a fundamental right. The state control is implicated deep within the discourse of wall writing for the ways in which the private realm of the individual is seized and appropriated with laws amended to perpetuate the state's control thereby subordinating the rights and the legitimacy of plurality of existence. It also profoundly changes the spatial dynamics of the city by acutely problematising the definitive and well-articulated spheres of the public and the private, along with a curious overturning of spatial hierarchy, by the rampant appropriation of the state of any private as well as public space. It also shows the inherent contradictions embedded in the policies of the left desperate to negotiate its way through its staunchly conservative anti consumerist party edicts and the new pro market, liberal reforms effected by the government with increasing privatization and deregulation of economy, inviting foreign investments in its land and resources, pandering largely to the growing self-image of the upwardly mobile middle class. It also runs counter to the newly emergent notion of Kolkata as a global city on an international arena. The city becomes a symbolic arena of the struggle between the insistent claims of the market and the need to refashion the image of the city and the political needs of the party. Banning graffiti would be to deny the smaller parties with insufficient funds and smaller network a powerful tool guaranteeing visibility and legitimacy. The public political rights and needs of the individual will be muffled.so a rich closure seems a slightly hard to achieve... I -- Priyanka Gupta From estrangedstrings at gmail.com Mon Oct 22 10:41:47 2007 From: estrangedstrings at gmail.com (priyanka gupta) Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:41:47 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] Graffiti and kolkatascape; a discourse of conflicting rights, class and citizenship[2nd and third postings] Message-ID: <23c04dc60710212211s787fcfaeqfcb59a37766aa43e@mail.gmail.com> Much has changed since my last post…lines have been drawn …opinions have changed…pages have turned… my research project started with certain blatant presumptions ,analysis of which now seems pertinent to construe the vicious collocation of rights that I had sought to explore previously. A] That scribbles on walls is a complete infringement of personal rights. Splashing colors on private walls is wrong. It tantamounts to sheer vandalism. It's a blow not only to our better aesthetic judgment but also to us as individuals and our space fiercely protected as intensely private and personal. the knell had its first echoes years back when my mother cowering with fear gave in to the Para goons signing a paper stating she has no objections to have her freshly painted walls smeared with colors to help save our party lords few seats.…. as I stood appalled and visibly perturbed I knew we were as helpless as our neighbors, to dare to appeal against this rampant abuse of political power.. However the paper had a clause that the party concerned would be as diligent about restoring the walls to its previous state as they had been in accosting us. And this went on year after year with our protest muffled in the clamor of loud speakers and rallies. our walls changed colors with years and sometimes if they are lucky enough they would be smeared with an ugly patch of lime was as a half forgotten symbol of truce for the next elections. Our inability to rouse ourselves to contingent actions against the concerned parties was as inexcusable as these elaborate rituals of the Maha elections. So complete neutrality in my approach in the research was a little hard to achieve. But after a series of interviews I was half bought into the idea that graffiti is an essential part of the political culture in Bengal and what is popularly conceived as an extension of Bengaliness. If the larger than life gigantic cut outs down south ubiquitous flags on the roofs on almost every house up north adds to the intensely complicated and wildly exciting disparate hues of Indian poetics then our humble walls cast in different colors did as well. In conversations… 'If somebody falls on the road in Delhi or Bombay nobody will pick him up but here dozens of men will rush to help. Our culture is a culture of sympathy.' The snippets of most of the interviews taken over the lat couple of months, revealed new aspects of Bengalines to me, fantastic insights of my city kolkata. Although my entire deduction for now rests on the perception of a chosen few yet they seem to encapsulate the way in which the city largely exists in our imagination. Kolkata…' the city of protest, the city of politics…' the city of sympathy' which would therefore bear graffiti in her arms with perfect élan, adding a stark shade to her brilliant hues. But it is also interesting to note that these ideas are always constructed in opposition to something….for example the city of protest typically stands in opposition or negation to the lack of it. The oft repeated self -congratulatory burden – the Gokhlaen dictum that we Bengalis have been carrying around for centuries is hammered hard through decades. The Bengali renaissance often deemed synonymous to the Indian renaissance where a new breed if intelligentsia a new clan of the 'Bhodrolok' was created, a class of intermediaries between those vested with political power and liberties and those who don't. Doomed to be pinioned in the interminate grayness of frustrated aspirations and thwarted egotism this class is created out of an ambiguous state of in-betweeness, created out of clerks and bureaucrats, doctors and lawyers trading degrees for social worth and prestige. This slowly disappearing Bhodrlok class stepping out of the giant corridors of presidency and Hindu college lingers in faint traces of careful observation of certain rituals certain ethos, fractured yet alive desperately maintained for the sole preservation of the nostalgia that is Bengaliness. Bengaliness as exists in our imagination is constructed out of stereotypes of Macher Jhol and Mishti Doi of Rabindro Sangeet and Satyajit Ray...Bengalis 'the intellectuals, the devoutly political' now stand at the crossroads of half forgotten fantasies and nostalgia that is bengaliness. Graffiti in Kolkata doesn't merely act is a potent and immediate form of political expression and propaganda but also as mark of essential difference. Difference constructed out of a faithful performance of a fantasy conjured for the creation and perpetuation of a self image distinct from the rest. The acceptability and legitimacy of graffiti can thus also be seen as one of the arbiters of the difference conjured. One can also see the roaring footsteps of the mighty state in this fantasy of difference. It is interesting to find the extent in which these ideas have now been normalized and echoed in fear and forced consent as can be seen among people countless like me and neighbors. A sharp divide thus naturally arises out of those who genuinely try and participate actively in the public / political domain using their walls as an emblem of their political participation and allegiances and those for whom coercion IS a reality. Walls bulletins of the masses? There is a change in the city, in its skies, in its breath as it is shoved now through the riven lines where life acquires a new dimension as we all now have become children of globalization. The bhodrolok now becomes a new brand of people with jobs which can be threatened by a minor upheaval somewhere in the US in a world where one can almost smell the stench of the next country in one's guts. A proximity ensured, accepted and understood as indispensable for a world order based on the creed of mutual cooperation for better trade prospects. Historical moves between countries are now initiated; agreements are breached between states to resolve political tensions in any part of the world which can threaten the precariously poised world on the perceived commonality of interests resting on the citadel of globalization. The middle class, a class defined by its consumption capacity, the main beneficiaries of the neo liberal reforms in the world of market economy based on fear and competition where class structures and limits are getting increasingly fluid,engendering a fragile sense of selfhood shattered further by this perceived threat of the mighty state through graffiti right into its very thresholds- its walls. Walls slipping out into the narrow space between individuals is set on the principle of acquisition and proprietorship, the infringement of which threatens the sanctity of the personal rights of the individual. Walls stand on the basic premise of exclusion and segregation, as a mark of difference from the others. They are used chiefly for containment, for distinction and for privation to sustain the impression of a mutually exclusive space within. The insidious operations of power can be seen in the way in which the legitimacy of the political rights of the parties exercised through wall writing remain unquestioned and unchallenged and deemed natural. If the political rights of the individual and various political parties seem to assume such a natural credence then why does a substantial half [if such segregation] can be achieved seem to view graffiti going against the very idea of the city perceived in today's context. This new breed of middle class almost stands as distinct from the post independence pre liberlisation, Nehruvian precept of self effacing, self abnegating class ,associated chiefly with the idea of community, family solidarity with a deep seated sense of communal and moral obligation. And thus the acceptance of graffiti in today's context seem quite problematic. In the later half of my project I would like to focus increasingly on this issue. The role of the media here is also important in the way in which this class and its interests are granted legitimacy. The city grinding through time The idea of the city, the way in which we perceive ourselves as individuals in both public and private domain have transformed radically over the years. Yes the city had changed and so have the people and incidentally so has the party which has been ruling us over the past three decades, Despite the anti incumbency factor. The change is reflected everywhere in i6ts spatial structure its dingy lanes its broad flyovers its closed shutters of local supermarkets to the glittering mirrorscapes of malls and the designer gods. From the bustling para to closed windows and high walls. from a pujo with larger than life idols and the deafening roar of drums and conch shells n to today's god's smaller than the brand lords flapping its wings in every Mandap standing tall and proud. A city of a state no longer 'the graveyard for industries', but graveyards for farmers instead. But then there is a change and it's everywhere. Hope and promise for a renewal stirs in the rusty cogs of our machines. The state has witnessed an unprecedented growth in reality. The growth in terms of per capita income till 2005 has been 5.72% as opposed to the national average of 5.2%. The annual report says the FDI in the fiscal 2005-06 was worth 119 million. The state has seen a massive growth in the educational system. The census report of 200 estimates west Bengal's literacy rate to be 6.9% as opposed to the national average of 6.5%. 'We are now at the transitional stage …agriculture alone cannot create new job opportunities and move the economy further. So it is imperative to move from agriculture to industry'. Buddhadeb Bhattacharya the man with a vision vision of booming industries, thriving retail and real estate with the loud jangle of foreign investment, vision of classical hubs and the foresight of Singur and Nandigram. The city has borne these visions in her arms and has felt the changes in her belly. To me it is a city of acute inbetweenenss almost a no city, confused and puzzled with its responsibilities and changing definitions. Rapid industrialization and market growth has spurred a new kind of urban growth ubiquitous and consistent. From new town, a project spread over 300 acres repeating the immense success of other planned cities like salt lake, nager bazaar. Areas to curb the unwanted encroachment of the fetid filth and squalor of the larger Calcutta, certain zones for certain people with cleaner streets, better drainage away from the clamor of slums,hawkers and trams. The morphology of the city is slowly evolving from a city which had once embraced massive infiltration of refugees post independence , migrant laborers, an all inclusive city now trying to segregate itself into zones for a select few. This sudden hastiness with Kolkata as a clean city with its multiplexes and malls exist at the exclusion of others. The notion of Kolkata as a global city now slowly emerges as it becomes the emblem of the new global economy with an increasing income divide. A planning structure adopted to benefit the thriving middle class. Concerted efforts have been made to clean up the city off its hawkers squatters and creating segregated exclusive units in an attempt to reclaim space for those deemed after legitimate and rightful constituents. The rapid urbanization the curious interpenetration of economy and government policies in smaller spatial units. The city and its spaces thus constitute an extremely arena for the articulation of these perceptions. The city thus acts as a commodity to promote the growing demands of the state in the new globalized economy. Walls for the masses: The word graffiti comes from the Italian word graffito which means to scribble/scrawl. It offered an easy accessible interactional space necessary for a peaceful coexistence in the society. For archeologists and epigraphologists they offer a useful insight into the social customs, attitudinal patterns and territoriality of the constituents of the community. The crucial delineation of space afforded by graffiti offers a separate domain for the assertion of active citizenship. >From ancient city walls of Pompei to sub ways of New York graffiti has come a long way. Right from the time where its origins can be traced, graffiti has always been an indispensable part of social expression. >From the advertisements of prostitutes to sexually explicit lines scrawled on public walls in ancient city Rome graffiti always seems to articulate the subliminal inexpressible desires and truths of humanity for the expression of the aberrant. Later it attained a more subversive dimension in opposition to the mainstream socio political culture in America of the 60's to the modern day freedom tunnel till it acquired legitimacy as a separate art form. In most of the countries in the west graffiti is and has been a cognizable offense and is deemed equivalent to vandalism and punished accordingly it is purported to go against sanctity of property rights. Splashes from Kolkata Graffiti in Kolkata was ushered typically as a left phenomenon essentially a part of a political subculture. Slowly it made its slow trepid incursion into all the spatial domains… varied yet ubiquitous. The 60 s witnessed a massive proliferation of wall writing in Kolkata and gained as a legitimate tool of political expression during the Naxalite era in opposition to the ruling congress. The left hadn't gained ground then and was a party with few resources and petty funds. Wall writing therefore seemed to be a potent tool to gain visibility more immediate and localized like graffiti. Armed with catchy slogans with easels made of branches chiseled from palm trees and tar they trooped down the streets with 'shogothito jonotar hate bonduker noli bipolober prodhan utso[citizens must be roused with guns in their hands for revolution]…..ringing in the air. And then the famous anti defacement law by Siddhartha Shankar Ray in a desperate attempt to muffle the dissenting voices of the naxalites and the moderate leftists. But the Anti Defacement Law[ the West Bengal prevention of defacement of property act,1976 though chiefly starting in west Bengal had never gained grounds at large till the election commissioner exhumed it in its full severity in the state during the 2006 elections. Graffiti has always been a collaborative attempt of the party workers. The presence of the party is explicitly projected with a certain image circulated among the masses through slogans and colors-a crucial and colorful way of making their presence felt. Like most of the other political practices graffiti also has a number of rituals surrounding it, one of them being occupation of walls. This elaborate preamble to the election process starts with the party cadres seizing walls popularly known as deyal dokhol. Here each party assumes absolute monopoly over certain walls for a certain number of years thereby demarcating their domain and establishing the spatial distribution of graffiti, a process adopted to establish a disciplined, structural uniformity, although does containing certain implicit connotations of political hegemony. In 2006, Bengal saw a colorless state election. After the strict directive issued by the election commissioner, unfazed and undeterred the ruling party CPIML as well as the parties in opposition came out with innovative techniques to lure the electorate through the use of electronic media, leaflets, rickshaw danglers, saris with party motifs all over it, banners, posters and an intense door to door campaigning. A budget of 6 lakh is normally allotted to each party. The total budget of 6 laksh normally allotted naturally saw a rise with the ban on wall writing, leading to various ingenuous reallocation of money for other means of propaganda. One of the many problems that I am trying to negotiate with in my research, is my inability to reach a conclusive closure as far as the collocation of the right to freedom of speech guaranteed by the constitution and individual right to property is concerned, which seem equally pressing as well in spite of its lack of constitutional validity as a fundamental right. The state control is implicated deep within the discourse of wall writing for the ways in which the private realm of the individual is seized and appropriated with laws amended to perpetuate the state's control thereby subordinating the rights and the legitimacy of plurality of existence. It also profoundly changes the spatial dynamics of the city by acutely problematising the definitive and well-articulated spheres of the public and the private, along with a curious overturning of spatial hierarchy, by the rampant appropriation of the state of any private as well as public space. It also shows the inherent contradictions embedded in the policies of the left desperate to negotiate its way through its staunchly conservative anti consumerist party edicts and the new pro market, liberal reforms effected by the government with increasing privatization and deregulation of economy, inviting foreign investments in its land and resources, pandering largely to the growing self-image of the upwardly mobile middle class. It runs counter to the newly emergent notion of Kolkata as a global city on an international arena. The city thus becomes a symbolic arena of the struggle between the insistent claims of the market and the need to refashion the image of the city and the political needs of the party. Banning graffiti would be to deny the smaller parties with insufficient funds and smaller network a powerful tool guaranteeing visibility and legitimacy. The public political rights and needs of the individual will be muffled.So a rich closure is a little hard to achieve for now.... -- Priyanka Gupta From anilaemmanuel at gmail.com Mon Oct 22 12:59:19 2007 From: anilaemmanuel at gmail.com (anila emmanuel) Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:59:19 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] Ajalaa.. towards humane, world class cities. Message-ID: <59ead66c0710220029o6297ca45wadeceaf04143f9f4@mail.gmail.com> -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/defanged-7908 Size: 1 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20071022/b720fc2c/attachment-0001.bin -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Smt SHEILA DIXIT 22.10.07.doc Type: application/msword Size: 43520 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20071022/b720fc2c/attachment-0001.doc From mansilight at gmail.com Mon Oct 22 13:04:57 2007 From: mansilight at gmail.com (Meera (Mansi) Baindur) Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:04:57 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] posting 5: Lake chronicles Message-ID: <998c34570710220034p5cd7b4femb60714fbbd622d87@mail.gmail.com> Bodies engineered to perfection. Perfection is planned, never an accident. Every line curves in and out bounded while the, Empty innards of the lake lie naked, gaping at the sky. That soon clothed in fresh lifeless waters, People may gaze on the sky reflected in the still sterile waters There will be much to see, Much more to eat than fish or Bhel. Much more to see than water. Now we stare at the empty innards of the lake that lie naked, gaping at the sky. - Meera, the day the Hebbal lake was drained. The final interviews with people over the last few months are bringing our project to a close. As one of the final postings we bring you the reactions of people as the Hebbal Lake was being dredged. On our own side we were saddened to watch the water disappear and the physical structure of the lake being modified. Familiar paths banks and waterscapes were altered and as Sreeja aptly put it the lake was getting an amoeba – like. Some of the gates had been replaced by swank token gates but we were still using the side gate. Many visitors were not aware of any other change in the park area but the vendors outside knew. Inside the Hebbal lake Sreeja and Sowjanya talked to the contractor who was in charge of "Civil works" in the Lake. Contractor: Subramanyam, Kannadiga (interview notes) (Wearing Gold chain, gold rings, gold bracelet) He comes in the morning, oversees till 10, then comes back again n the evening to oversee the diesel. An engineer from Oberoi always around and sometimes he has to oversee requirements for the nights. He owns a JCB (poclain), 7 tipper Lorries, 3 small trucks. He also hired 6 JCBs, from Nellore, Gulbarga, who oversee their own work. He pays workers according to time wage, he has a 16 crores contract. A part of this is for a water filter (treatment) plant for the lake. He has spent12 lakhs for digging holes to drain the water. It took a month of draining, 24 hours each day. A motor was specifically installed for this purpose. There is a planned 50 meter walkway around the lake. He does not know what to do with extra soil coming up from the lake bed. He has been excavating at a depth of 3 feet. He felt that work might finish in a month and a half if it does not rain. On fishing he did not think the fishing would be allowed anymore. He estimated the whole expenditure to be around 30 crores. He pointed out that the Oberoi hotel was coming up on the Lake bank. He said that there were less than 50 people working and the island was being filled with mud. He was of the opinion that fish pollutes the water. So since so much is getting spent on purification of the lake he speculated that they will definitely not allow fishes. He estimated that since they were putting in so much money, they will make it up like Nagwara. Bhelwala: Tiger Khaja Building Demolisher He used to demolish buildings earlier. This was a risky job, sometimes buildings would collapses dangerously close, they had printed a visiting card for him by that name. He was also having a cloth business in Shivajinagar but sad he grew tired of it. He said his sons manage it now. He sells bhel on the service road near ring road entrance of the lake. He says he makes good amount of money. Better than building demolishing, he said as his hands still hurt from the previous times. If the Oberoi comes will they allow him to continue to sell Bhel? We ask. He thinks not. Since they are investing so much they won't allow him to be there. Then he might go back to building demolition or do something else. Watchman: Jaya Kumar and ticket booth attender. Working from a year, assuring that lake will have lot to see once they develop it…..the ticket seller said charge increased to 10 from 5 as so much investment is taking place. Automatic gates installed to zap ticket with bar code so that the security need not check the ticket. A group of young boys and girls practiced martial arts on the lawns oblivious to the violence of JCBs in front of them. We moved on to Nagvara for a visit. From leofsaldanha at gmail.com Thu Oct 25 07:04:55 2007 From: leofsaldanha at gmail.com (Leo Saldanha) Date: Thu, 25 Oct 2007 07:04:55 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] On business and caste in India Message-ID: <471FF2BF.3020900@gmail.com> Please find enclosed a note on an interesting study recently conducted on caste in India. Leo Saldanha http://economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9983028 On business and caste in India Oct 18th 2007 From /The Economist/ print edition India's labour divisions SIR -- Your briefing on business and caste in India claims there is "no strong evidence" that companies discriminate against /dalits/ and other members of the lower castes ("With reservations ", October 6th). Our two-year study, which we will soon present, found widespread discrimination against highly qualified low-caste individuals. We sent out 4,800 applications in response to advertisements for graduate jobs in Indian and multinational companies. These applicants bore distinctively upper-caste names, Muslim names and /dalit/ surnames, but were otherwise identical in educational qualifications and work experience. The odds of a /dalit/ being invited for an interview were about two-thirds of the odds of a high-caste applicant with the same qualifications. The odds of a Muslim applicant being invited to an interview were even worse: only one-third as often as the high-caste Hindu counterpart. The evidence is solid. Serious policies, coupled with an overhaul of India's education system, are required to overcome this pernicious form of social exclusion. Maybe then the widespread relegation to the bottom of the barrel of India's poorest castes will begin to diminish. Paul Attewell Professor of sociology City University of New York New York Katherine Newman Professor of sociology Princeton University Princeton, New Jersey -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20071025/d8335f50/attachment.html From cugambetta at yahoo.com Sat Oct 27 00:30:40 2007 From: cugambetta at yahoo.com (Curt Gambetta) Date: Fri, 26 Oct 2007 12:00:40 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Urbanstudy] Fw: Lecture by Saskia Sassen: Sunday, 4th November 2007 Message-ID: <661049.44120.qm@web56808.mail.re3.yahoo.com> From: PUKAR To: cugambetta at yahoo.com Sent: Friday, October 26, 2007 12:44:35 PM Subject: Lecture by Saskia Sassen: Sunday, 4th November 2007 New Page 2 PUKAR is very pleased to host a lecture by Professor Saskia Sassen Lynd Professor of Sociology at Columbia University On The Global City: Power, Inequality & Politics Sunday, November 4, 2007 12 noon to 2:00 PM Venue: British Council Auditorium, C Wing, Second Floor, Mittal Tower, Nariman Point One of the most renowned Urban Sociologists of current times, Professor Saskia Sassen is often quoted for her landmark research on transnationalism, denationalization and impact of globalization on the movement of labour, capital and urban life. A prolific author and a sought-after speaker, Professor Sassen spent a decade at the University of Chicago and London School of Economics. Her recent books are Territory, Authority, Rights : From Medieval to Global Assemblages (Princeton University Press, 2006) and A Sociology of Globalization (Norton 2007). She has recently completed for UNESCO a five-year project on sustainable human settlements for which she set up reserachers and activists in 30 countries. It is published as one of the volumes of the Encyclopedia of Life Support Sysytems (Oxford, UK: ELOSS Publishers). Her books are traslated into 16 langauhges and she writes for newspapers and weeklies such as The Guradian, New York Times, Le Monde Diplomatique, Newsweek and Financial Times among others. PUKAR (Partners for Urban Knowledge Action and Research) Address:: 1-4, 2nd Floor, Kamanwala Chambers, Sir P. M. Road, Fort, Mumbai 400 001 Telephone:: +91 (22) 6574 8152 Fax:: +91 (22) 6664 0561 Email:: pukar at pukar.org.in Website:: www.pukar.org.in PUKAR is an innovative and experimental initiative that aims to contribute to a global debate about urbanization and globalization Change email address / Leave mailing list __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com DEFANGED.113569> ----- Forwarded Message ---- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20071026/e7c71fa8/attachment.html From leofsaldanha at gmail.com Sat Oct 27 10:37:30 2007 From: leofsaldanha at gmail.com (Leo Saldanha) Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2007 10:37:30 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] =?windows-1252?q?=91Assault=92_on_environmentalist?= =?windows-1252?q?=22_and_=22NICE_workers_not_so_nice=22=5D?= Message-ID: <4722C792.5060005@gmail.com> Hi For those interested in the details of this attack, pl request a copy of my FIR and I will email the scans to you. I find this assault absolutely unbelievable, as it was based on contested notions of privatising the commons. Roads, as much as waterbodies, are commons and should always be. In this particular case, we were merely travellers on a highway that ESG has systematically opposed on environmental and social justice grounds. All our efforts have been peaceful and employing a range of campaign and litigation tactics. And, as it stands, the company in question does not have any rights to block access or employ private security forces to selectively target anyone. At no time have we made this issue personal in any manner. The response, as is to be expected, has almost always been personal. When one engages in such issues, one is aware these are the risks involved, and utilises whatever resources are at command to constantly clarify the purpose of a challenge. The media and police are major players in such causes, and of course the wider network of support. In this instant case we were attacked by the MD of M/s NICE. This is clearly an indication of the extent to which the law is taken for granted by corporate India. This is a growing menace in India, and we have not even started worrying about the implications of such forces. These types of violent attacks are bound to grow unless we collectively address such situations constantly, effectively and collectively. The violent attacks did not injure me critically. But that it was at all employed so brazenly and in the presence of police, is in fact a serious issue. Especially because it was used against a group which mainly consisted of women, and students (most being foreign nationals, who had no conception of what was going on till much later). Sincerely Leo Saldanha PS; The complaint provides an accurate description of what happened. It is to be expected that the press has to also carry what the company claims to be their version. Walter Fernandes wrote: > I condemn this attack > > Walter Fernandes > ----- Original Message ----- From: "ESG India" > To: "ECwatch" ; "Pucl" > ; "Invites" ; > "Pfaadb-Oc" ; "Bangaloresolidarity" > > Sent: Friday, October 26, 2007 2:39 PM > Subject: [invites] :‘Assault’ on environmentalist" and "NICE workers > not so nice" > > >> >> >> >> >> *Date:26/10/2007* *URL: >> http://www.thehindu.com/2007/10/26/stories/2007102664050400.htm* >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> >> Karnataka - Bangalore >> >> * ‘Assault’ on environmentalist * >> >> Staff Reporter >> >> BANGALORE: Leo Saldanha of thye Environment Support Group was assaulted >> allegedly by security personnel of Nandi Infrastructure Corridor >> Enterprises (NICE) on Thursday. >> >> Mr. Saldanha said that he was on a study tour with American students to >> explain to them the impact of urban growth on tanks and lakes when the >> security personnel got into an argument with him and beat him up. A >> complaint has been filed at the Talaghattapura police station, Bangalore >> Rural district. >> >> A NICE spokesperson, however, denied the allegations. He said that Mr. >> Saldanha and his team were asked to leave the area as they were blocking >> the road. >> >> “Villagers in the area whom Mr. Saldanha abused had beaten him up. We >> went there to rescue him,” he added. >> >> / / >> >> © Copyright 2000 - 2007 The Hindu >> >> >> http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Oct262007/city2007102632422.asp >> NICE workers not so nice >> >> DH News Service,Bangalore: >> >> >> >> Tense situation prevailed in front of Nandi Infrastructure Corridor >> Enterprise (NICE) office on peripheral ring road on Thursday evening. >> Some students and faculty members of Environment Support Group (ESG), >> led by its coordinator Leo Saldanha staged a snap protest alleging that >> NICE workers tried to assault faculty members and students when they >> were on a study trip. >> >> Police rushed to the spot and pacified the group. The incident did not >> affect the traffic flow in anyway and complaint and counter complaint >> were registered following the incident, Talaghattapura police said. >> ESG chief Leo Saldanha said that eight American students and a faculty >> member and two faculty members and two students, who were travelling in >> a tempo traveller and a car respectively, got down near the NICE office. >> The faculty members were explaining to the students, who were studying >> townships under a project entitled ‘Cities in 21st Century.’ The NICE >> workers objected. >> >> They misbehaved with a woman faculty and girl students besides using >> abusive language. There was no proper response from the police and >> Talaghattapura police, who came to the spot late, also behaved rudely, >> he claimed. >> NICE PRO Manjunath refuted the allegations. “It’s a private road. They >> did not take prior permission to study the project. Moreover, they >> parked the vehicles right in middle of the road hampering vehicular >> movement. Saldanha is a known opponent of NICE. None of the NICE workers >> either manhandled or misbehaved with woman faculty and girl students,” >> he added. >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Talaghattapura police station sub inspector Manjunath also refuted the >> charges of Saldanha. The police rushed to the spot as soon as they were >> informed about the incident, he said. >> >> >> >> >> Please ensure that this information is used. Share it widely... and >> ALWAYS check before you go. >> >> Ask others to join by sending a mail to >> invites-subscribe at yahoogroups.com >> Post your information directly to invites at yahoogroups.com (no >> attachments) >> >> Status:: 1 October 2007:: 2260 subscribers, 171 bouncing (most >> bounces: yahoo.com, yahoo.co.in, hotmail.com and rediffmail.com) >> Average 10 messages per day. >> >> And the yahooman says: >> Yahoo! Groups Links >> >> <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: >> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/invites/ >> >> <*> Your email settings: >> Individual Email | Traditional >> >> <*> To change settings online go to: >> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/invites/join >> (Yahoo! ID required) >> >> <*> To change settings via email: >> mailto:invites-digest at yahoogroups.com >> mailto:invites-fullfeatured at yahoogroups.com >> >> <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: >> invites-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com >> >> <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: >> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ >> > > > _______________________________________________ Pfaadb-oc mailing list Pfaadb-oc at asianpeoplesforum.net http://mail.asianpeoplesforum.net/mailman/listinfo/pfaadb-oc_asianpeoplesforum.net From sebydesiolim at hotmail.com Sat Oct 27 19:36:02 2007 From: sebydesiolim at hotmail.com (sebastian Rodrigues) Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2007 19:36:02 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] =?windows-1252?q?_RE=3A__=91Assault=92_on_environmen?= =?windows-1252?q?talist=22_and_=22NICE_workers_not_so_nice=22=5D?= In-Reply-To: <4722C792.5060005@gmail.com> References: <4722C792.5060005@gmail.com> Message-ID: Dear Leo, Please send me the copy of FIR. It is a trend all over India that we need to address on priority basis. Goa is getting into this corporate India trend too, too fast. We need to put together our forces quikly on this. I strongly condemn this assault on you and the student. In Solidarity, Seby

Visit my blog at

http://www.openspaceforum.net/twiki/tiki-view_blog.php?blogId=17

> Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2007 10:37:30 +0530> From: leofsaldanha at gmail.com> To: urbanstudygroup at sarai.net> Subject: [Urbanstudy] ‘Assault’ on environmentalist" and "NICE workers not so nice"]> > > Hi> > For those interested in the details of this attack, pl request a copy of > my FIR and I will email the scans to you. > > I find this assault absolutely unbelievable, as it was based on > contested notions of privatising the commons. Roads, as much as > waterbodies, are commons and should always be. > > In this particular case, we were merely travellers on a highway that ESG > has systematically opposed on environmental and social justice grounds. > All our efforts have been peaceful and employing a range of campaign and > litigation tactics. And, as it stands, the company in question does > not have any rights to block access or employ private security forces to > selectively target anyone.> > At no time have we made this issue personal in any manner. The response, > as is to be expected, has almost always been personal. When one engages > in such issues, one is aware these are the risks involved, and utilises > whatever resources are at command to constantly clarify the purpose of a > challenge. The media and police are major players in such causes, and > of course the wider network of support.> > In this instant case we were attacked by the MD of M/s NICE. This is > clearly an indication of the extent to which the law is taken for > granted by corporate India. This is a growing menace in India, and we > have not even started worrying about the implications of such forces. > These types of violent attacks are bound to grow unless we collectively > address such situations constantly, effectively and collectively.> > The violent attacks did not injure me critically. But that it was at > all employed so brazenly and in the presence of police, is in fact a > serious issue. Especially because it was used against a group which > mainly consisted of women, and students (most being foreign nationals, > who had no conception of what was going on till much later).> > Sincerely> > Leo Saldanha> > PS; The complaint provides an accurate description of what happened. > It is to be expected that the press has to also carry what the company > claims to be their version.> > Walter Fernandes wrote:> > I condemn this attack> >> > Walter Fernandes> > ----- Original Message ----- From: "ESG India" > > To: "ECwatch" ; "Pucl" > > ; "Invites" ; > > "Pfaadb-Oc" ; "Bangaloresolidarity" > > > > Sent: Friday, October 26, 2007 2:39 PM> > Subject: [invites] :‘Assault’ on environmentalist" and "NICE workers > > not so nice"> >> >> >>> >>> >>> >>> >> *Date:26/10/2007* *URL:> >> http://www.thehindu.com/2007/10/26/stories/2007102664050400.htm*> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------> >>> >> Karnataka - Bangalore> >>> >> * ‘Assault’ on environmentalist *> >>> >> Staff Reporter> >>> >> BANGALORE: Leo Saldanha of thye Environment Support Group was assaulted> >> allegedly by security personnel of Nandi Infrastructure Corridor> >> Enterprises (NICE) on Thursday.> >>> >> Mr. Saldanha said that he was on a study tour with American students to> >> explain to them the impact of urban growth on tanks and lakes when the> >> security personnel got into an argument with him and beat him up. A> >> complaint has been filed at the Talaghattapura police station, Bangalore> >> Rural district.> >>> >> A NICE spokesperson, however, denied the allegations. He said that Mr.> >> Saldanha and his team were asked to leave the area as they were blocking> >> the road.> >>> >> “Villagers in the area whom Mr. Saldanha abused had beaten him up. We> >> went there to rescue him,” he added.> >>> >> / /> >>> >> © Copyright 2000 - 2007 The Hindu> >>> >>> >> http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Oct262007/city2007102632422.asp> >> NICE workers not so nice> >>> >> DH News Service,Bangalore:> >>> >>> >>> >> Tense situation prevailed in front of Nandi Infrastructure Corridor> >> Enterprise (NICE) office on peripheral ring road on Thursday evening.> >> Some students and faculty members of Environment Support Group (ESG),> >> led by its coordinator Leo Saldanha staged a snap protest alleging that> >> NICE workers tried to assault faculty members and students when they> >> were on a study trip.> >>> >> Police rushed to the spot and pacified the group. The incident did not> >> affect the traffic flow in anyway and complaint and counter complaint> >> were registered following the incident, Talaghattapura police said.> >> ESG chief Leo Saldanha said that eight American students and a faculty> >> member and two faculty members and two students, who were travelling in> >> a tempo traveller and a car respectively, got down near the NICE office.> >> The faculty members were explaining to the students, who were studying> >> townships under a project entitled ‘Cities in 21st Century.’ The NICE> >> workers objected.> >>> >> They misbehaved with a woman faculty and girl students besides using> >> abusive language. There was no proper response from the police and> >> Talaghattapura police, who came to the spot late, also behaved rudely,> >> he claimed.> >> NICE PRO Manjunath refuted the allegations. “It’s a private road. They> >> did not take prior permission to study the project. Moreover, they> >> parked the vehicles right in middle of the road hampering vehicular> >> movement. Saldanha is a known opponent of NICE. None of the NICE workers> >> either manhandled or misbehaved with woman faculty and girl students,”> >> he added.> >>> >>> >> > >>> >>> >>> >> Talaghattapura police station sub inspector Manjunath also refuted the> >> charges of Saldanha. The police rushed to the spot as soon as they were> >> informed about the incident, he said.> >>> >>> >>> >>> >> Please ensure that this information is used. Share it widely... and> >> ALWAYS check before you go.> >>> >> Ask others to join by sending a mail to > >> invites-subscribe at yahoogroups.com> >> Post your information directly to invites at yahoogroups.com (no > >> attachments)> >>> >> Status:: 1 October 2007:: 2260 subscribers, 171 bouncing (most > >> bounces: yahoo.com, yahoo.co.in, hotmail.com and rediffmail.com)> >> Average 10 messages per day.> >>> >> And the yahooman says:> >> Yahoo! Groups Links> >>> >> <*> To visit your group on the web, go to:> >> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/invites/> >>> >> <*> Your email settings:> >> Individual Email | Traditional> >>> >> <*> To change settings online go to:> >> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/invites/join> >> (Yahoo! ID required)> >>> >> <*> To change settings via email:> >> mailto:invites-digest at yahoogroups.com> >> mailto:invites-fullfeatured at yahoogroups.com> >>> >> <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:> >> invites-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com> >>> >> <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:> >> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> >>> >> >> >> > > _______________________________________________> Pfaadb-oc mailing list> Pfaadb-oc at asianpeoplesforum.net> http://mail.asianpeoplesforum.net/mailman/listinfo/pfaadb-oc_asianpeoplesforum.net> > > > _______________________________________________> Urbanstudygroup mailing list> Urban Study Group: Reading the South Asian City> > To subscribe or browse the Urban Study Group archives, please visit https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/urbanstudygroup _________________________________________________________________ Call friends with PC-to-PC calling -- FREE http://get.live.com/messenger/overview -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20071027/d8bf0ea9/attachment.html From leofsaldanha at gmail.com Sat Oct 27 22:32:18 2007 From: leofsaldanha at gmail.com (Leo Saldanha) Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2007 22:32:18 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] =?windows-1252?q?=91Assault=92_on_environmentalist?= =?windows-1252?q?=22_and_=22NICE_workers_not_so_nice=22=5D?= In-Reply-To: References: <4722C792.5060005@gmail.com> Message-ID: <47236F1A.9000609@gmail.com> Hi Sebastian thanks for your words of support. The FIR scans and some pictures are online at: *http://esgindia.org/campaigns/bmic/bmic.html Leo * sebastian Rodrigues wrote: > Dear Leo, > > Please send me the copy of FIR. It is a trend all over India that we > need to address on priority basis. Goa is getting into this corporate > India trend too, too fast. We need to put together our forces quikly > on this. I strongly condemn this assault on you and the student. > > In Solidarity, > Seby > >

>

Visit my blog at

>

href="http://www.openspaceforum.net/twiki/tiki-view_blog.php?blogId=17">http://www.openspaceforum.net/twiki/tiki-view_blog.php?blogId=17

> > > Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2007 10:37:30 +0530 > > From: leofsaldanha at gmail.com > > To: urbanstudygroup at sarai.net > > Subject: [Urbanstudy] ‘Assault’ on environmentalist" and "NICE > workers not so nice"] > > > > > > Hi > > > > For those interested in the details of this attack, pl request a > copy of > > my FIR and I will email the scans to you. > > > > I find this assault absolutely unbelievable, as it was based on > > contested notions of privatising the commons. Roads, as much as > > waterbodies, are commons and should always be. > > > > In this particular case, we were merely travellers on a highway that > ESG > > has systematically opposed on environmental and social justice grounds. > > All our efforts have been peaceful and employing a range of campaign > and > > litigation tactics. And, as it stands, the company in question does > > not have any rights to block access or employ private security > forces to > > selectively target anyone. > > > > At no time have we made this issue personal in any manner. The > response, > > as is to be expected, has almost always been personal. When one engages > > in such issues, one is aware these are the risks involved, and utilises > > whatever resources are at command to constantly clarify the purpose > of a > > challenge. The media and police are major players in such causes, and > > of course the wider network of support. > > > > In this instant case we were attacked by the MD of M/s NICE. This is > > clearly an indication of the extent to which the law is taken for > > granted by corporate India. This is a growing menace in India, and we > > have not even started worrying about the implications of such forces. > > These types of violent attacks are bound to grow unless we collectively > > address such situations constantly, effectively and collectively. > > > > The violent attacks did not injure me critically. But that it was at > > all employed so brazenly and in the presence of police, is in fact a > > serious issue. Especially because it was used against a group which > > mainly consisted of women, and students (most being foreign nationals, > > who had no conception of what was going on till much later). > > > > Sincerely > > > > Leo Saldanha > > > > PS; The complaint provides an accurate description of what happened. > > It is to be expected that the press has to also carry what the company > > claims to be their version. > > > > Walter Fernandes wrote: > > > I condemn this attack > > > > > > Walter Fernandes > > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "ESG India" > > > To: "ECwatch" ; "Pucl" > > > ; "Invites" ; > > > "Pfaadb-Oc" ; "Bangaloresolidarity" > > > > > > Sent: Friday, October 26, 2007 2:39 PM > > > Subject: [invites] :‘Assault’ on environmentalist" and "NICE workers > > > not so nice" > > > > > > > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> *Date:26/10/2007* *URL: > > >> http://www.thehindu.com/2007/10/26/stories/2007102664050400.htm* > > >> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > >> > > >> Karnataka - > Bangalore > > >> > > >> * ‘Assault’ on environmentalist * > > >> > > >> Staff Reporter > > >> > > >> BANGALORE: Leo Saldanha of thye Environment Support Group was > assaulted > > >> allegedly by security personnel of Nandi Infrastructure Corridor > > >> Enterprises (NICE) on Thursday. > > >> > > >> Mr. Saldanha said that he was on a study tour with American > students to > > >> explain to them the impact of urban growth on tanks and lakes > when the > > >> security personnel got into an argument with him and beat him up. A > > >> complaint has been filed at the Talaghattapura police station, > Bangalore > > >> Rural district. > > >> > > >> A NICE spokesperson, however, denied the allegations. He said > that Mr. > > >> Saldanha and his team were asked to leave the area as they were > blocking > > >> the road. > > >> > > >> “Villagers in the area whom Mr. Saldanha abused had beaten him up. We > > >> went there to rescue him,” he added. > > >> > > >> / / > > >> > > >> © Copyright 2000 - 2007 The Hindu > > >> > > >> > > >> http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Oct262007/city2007102632422.asp > > >> NICE workers not so nice > > >> > > >> DH News Service,Bangalore: > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> Tense situation prevailed in front of Nandi Infrastructure Corridor > > >> Enterprise (NICE) office on peripheral ring road on Thursday evening. > > >> Some students and faculty members of Environment Support Group (ESG), > > >> led by its coordinator Leo Saldanha staged a snap protest > alleging that > > >> NICE workers tried to assault faculty members and students when they > > >> were on a study trip. > > >> > > >> Police rushed to the spot and pacified the group. The incident > did not > > >> affect the traffic flow in anyway and complaint and counter complaint > > >> were registered following the incident, Talaghattapura police said. > > >> ESG chief Leo Saldanha said that eight American students and a > faculty > > >> member and two faculty members and two students, who were > travelling in > > >> a tempo traveller and a car respectively, got down near the NICE > office. > > >> The faculty members were explaining to the students, who were > studying > > >> townships under a project entitled ‘Cities in 21st Century.’ The NICE > > >> workers objected. > > >> > > >> They misbehaved with a woman faculty and girl students besides using > > >> abusive language. There was no proper response from the police and > > >> Talaghattapura police, who came to the spot late, also behaved > rudely, > > >> he claimed. > > >> NICE PRO Manjunath refuted the allegations. “It’s a private road. > They > > >> did not take prior permission to study the project. Moreover, they > > >> parked the vehicles right in middle of the road hampering vehicular > > >> movement. Saldanha is a known opponent of NICE. None of the NICE > workers > > >> either manhandled or misbehaved with woman faculty and girl > students,” > > >> he added. > > >> > > >> > > >> > > > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> Talaghattapura police station sub inspector Manjunath also > refuted the > > >> charges of Saldanha. The police rushed to the spot as soon as > they were > > >> informed about the incident, he said. > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> Please ensure that this information is used. Share it widely... and > > >> ALWAYS check before you go. > > >> > > >> Ask others to join by sending a mail to > > >> invites-subscribe at yahoogroups.com > > >> Post your information directly to invites at yahoogroups.com (no > > >> attachments) > > >> > > >> Status:: 1 October 2007:: 2260 subscribers, 171 bouncing (most > > >> bounces: yahoo.com, yahoo.co.in, hotmail.com and rediffmail.com) > > >> Average 10 messages per day. > > >> > > >> And the yahooman says: > > >> Yahoo! Groups Links > > >> > > >> <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: > > >> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/invites/ > > >> > > >> <*> Your email settings: > > >> Individual Email | Traditional > > >> > > >> <*> To change settings online go to: > > >> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/invites/join > > >> (Yahoo! ID required) > > >> > > >> <*> To change settings via email: > > >> mailto:invites-digest at yahoogroups.com > > >> mailto:invites-fullfeatured at yahoogroups.com > > >> > > >> <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > > >> invites-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com > > >> > > >> <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: > > >> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > >> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Pfaadb-oc mailing list > > Pfaadb-oc at asianpeoplesforum.net > > > http://mail.asianpeoplesforum.net/mailman/listinfo/pfaadb-oc_asianpeoplesforum.net > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Urbanstudygroup mailing list > > Urban Study Group: Reading the South Asian City > > > > To subscribe or browse the Urban Study Group archives, please visit > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/urbanstudygroup > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Call friends with PC-to-PC calling -- FREE Try it now! > From cugambetta at yahoo.com Sat Oct 27 23:21:04 2007 From: cugambetta at yahoo.com (Curt Gambetta) Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2007 10:51:04 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Urbanstudy] Fw: CAMP Mumbai Launch Event Message-ID: <427657.37064.qm@web56804.mail.re3.yahoo.com> From: shaina anand To: info at camputer.org Sent: Saturday, October 27, 2007 10:09:48 AM Subject: CAMP Mumbai Launch Event Announcing the Launch Event of CAMP, Mumbai. Friday, November 2, 2007. 6:00 pm. at Jnanapravaha, 3rd floor Queens mansion, (opp. new Chemould), G. Talwatkar Marg Fort, Mumbai.-1 CAMP is a new city-based initiative around art, media and technology practices, in collaboration with the Khoj International Artists Association. www.camputer.org CAMP's founding members are: Shaina Anand, filmmaker, artist and media activist, founder of www.chitrakarkhana.net Sanjay Bhangar, who trained in indymedia and urban studies, now works as an independent web developer and technology writer. Ashok Sukumaran, who trained as an architect and artist, and now develops speculative technical and conceptual projects. http://0ut.in The evening consists of an extended screening-cum-talk by the CAMP initiators, as an introduction to the context, politics and practices that CAMP will promote. This includes a discussion of Chitrakarkhana's ongoing work with alternative cable TV and CCTV systems, a social history of the internet in Bombay as told by Sanjay Bhangar, and Ashok Sukumaran's recent projects around electrical redistribution, and design. They will also discuss the CAMP program for this year, and invite participation in various forms. The program will be interrupted by refreshments. ______________ About CAMP: CAMP is a platform to organise, and then to do, things that are critical, egalitarian and inspirational, within the city. It seeks to promote such artistic and media practices that build interfaces between themselves and urban activities at various scales. This project is being undertaken with a broad shared experience (among CAMP members, its advisors and peers) of the "digital moment" of the past decade. CAMP promises bold interpretations of current socio-economic and technology contexts, and their various micro-political implications. CAMP will begin its relationship with various Mumbai publics through 'weekends', fortnightly events that look intensively at specific histories, futures, and areas of multi-disciplinary collaboration. For example there are planned weekends around the history of broadcast as an artistic medium, on the art market, on building technological "confidence", on censorship, on local-area networks, on various kinds of maps, rooftop "real-estate" surveys and so on, mostly with an orientation towards practitioners and projects. While CAMP is beginning with such small-scale activities, it also seeds two long term projects: a) New Documentary: On the future of the documentary image, in times of video's material abundance.To produce, receive and redistribute video by adopting a range of existing technigues and technologies. This is related to chitrakarkhana's ongoing work, and will address a range of artistic, ethical and pragmatic questions around video. b) On Design: on what "making things for others" means now, when you- and i- can both seemingly contribute. The project will engage with questions of "participation" and of how knowledge moves across different forms, through institutional and pedagogic interventions into the broad field of activity presently known as Design. And finally, on its name: CAMP has various possible "backronyms", a large number in fact. This came from our inability to claim a singular identity within a field of ideas, to say that this and not that, is what will actually happen with CAMP. For more see www.camputer.org/?acronyms=many -- chitrakarkhana.net __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com DEFANGED.2268> ----- Forwarded Message ---- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20071027/6a56c7ef/attachment.html -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20071027/6a56c7ef/attachment-0001.html From bdasgupta at gmail.com Sun Oct 28 06:06:15 2007 From: bdasgupta at gmail.com (Bhaskar Dasgupta) Date: Sun, 28 Oct 2007 01:36:15 +0100 Subject: [Urbanstudy] rural urban divide on schooling Message-ID: I came across this rather interesting paper and have posted extracts on my blog. Happy to share the paper if you send me a direct post (for copywrite reasons, I can't post it on this list). http://dailysalty.blogspot.com/2007/10/difference-between-rural-urban.html -------------------------- Bhaskar Dasgupta http://dailysalty.blogspot.com/ (for shorter daily comments) http://piquancy.blogspot.com/ (for longer weekly essays) --------------------------- From leofsaldanha at gmail.com Tue Oct 30 05:52:47 2007 From: leofsaldanha at gmail.com (Leo Saldanha) Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2007 05:52:47 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] Mumbai City briefs Message-ID: <47267957.9050006@gmail.com> * From The Economist, Mumbai City Guide, Nov 07 News this month* AFP AFP *Planes and slums don't mix* *Moving out* A Mumbai developer, Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL), has won a contract to resettle people living in *slums on the edge of Mumbai's international airport*. As many as 80,000 families live crammed onto 276 acres, which belong to the airport and might otherwise be used to help it expand. HDIL is to build new homes into which the slumdwellers can be moved, freeing up land for development. The government will allow those who can prove that they have lived in the slum since before 2000 to qualify for resettlement (those who arrived later will have to fend for themselves). The resettlement is expected to take about two years. *Disgraceful* Four *cricket fans* were evicted from a stadium in Mumbai for taunting Andrew Symonds, an Australian cricketer of mixed race, with racist abuse. The spectators were caught on camera making offensive gestures as Mr Symonds walked out to bat during a one-day match on October 17th. Not the first incident to mar Australia’s tour of India, the antics were censured by Malcolm Speed, the head of the International Cricket Council, the game’s governing body. Sharad Pawar, chairman of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, has promised to investigate the incident. *River or sewer?* Federal and state authorities are locked in disagreement over the funds needed to clean up Mumbai’s *Mithi river*. The 9.7 billion-rupee ($240m) project was started in March 2006 after it was discovered that encroachments on the river were largely to blame for the floods that devastated the city in July 2005. Federal officials had promised to supply around one-third of the costs from an urban-renewal fund. But they now say that since the Mithi is technically a river, and not a sewer, the state of Maharashtra must seek the funds needed for its clean-up from the water-resources ministry. State officials counter that whatever its status the Mithi is very much an open sewer into which Mumbai’s waste is emptied, and so should qualify for urban-renewal funding. From kalakamra at gmail.com Tue Oct 30 12:23:12 2007 From: kalakamra at gmail.com (shaina a) Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2007 12:23:12 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] CAMP Mumbai on FRIDAY Message-ID: <33eee40c0710292353u4b4f52abnfa58b64ff0949627@mail.gmail.com> Dear readers, The usual apologies for cross-posting. Announcing the launch of CAMP Friday, November 2, 2007. 6:00 pm. at Jnanapravaha, 3rd floor Queens mansion, (opp. new Chemould), G. Talwatkar Marg Fort, Mumbai.-1 CAMP is a new city-based initiative around art, media and technology practices, in collaboration with the Khoj International Artists Association. www.camputer.org CAMP's founding members are: Shaina Anand, filmmaker, artist and media activist, founder of www.chitrakarkhana.net Sanjay Bhangar, who trained in indymedia and urban studies, now works as an independent web developer and technology writer. Ashok Sukumaran, who trained as an architect and artist, and now develops speculative technical and conceptual projects. http://0ut.in The evening consists of an extended screening-cum-talk by the CAMP initiators, as an introduction to the context, politics and practices that CAMP will promote. This includes a discussion of Chitrakarkhana's ongoing work with alternative cable TV and CCTV systems, a social history of the internet in Bombay as told by Sanjay Bhangar, and Ashok Sukumaran's recent projects around electrical redistribution, and design. They will also discuss the CAMP program for this year, and invite participation in various forms. The program will be interrupted by refreshments. ______________ About CAMP: CAMP is a platform to organise, and then to do, things that are critical, egalitarian and inspirational, within the city. It seeks to promote such artistic and media practices that build interfaces between themselves and urban activities at various scales. This project is being undertaken with a broad shared experience (among CAMP members, its advisors and peers) of the "digital moment" of the past decade. CAMP promises bold interpretations of current socio-economic and technology contexts, and their various micro-political implications. CAMP will begin its relationship with various Mumbai publics through 'weekends', fortnightly events that look intensively at specific histories, futures, and areas of multi-disciplinary collaboration. For example there are planned weekends around the history of broadcast as an artistic medium, on the art market, on building technological "confidence", on censorship, on local-area networks, on various kinds of maps, rooftop "real-estate" surveys and so on, mostly with an orientation towards practitioners and projects. While CAMP is beginning with such small-scale activities, it also seeds two long term projects: a) New Documentary: On the future of the documentary image, in times of video's material abundance.To produce, receive and redistribute video by adopting a range of existing technigues and technologies. This is related to chitrakarkhana's ongoing work, and will address a range of artistic, ethical and pragmatic questions around video. b) On Design: on what "making things for others" means now, when you- and i- can both seemingly contribute. The project will engage with questions of "participation" and of how knowledge moves across different forms, through institutional and pedagogic interventions into the broad field of activity presently known as Design. And finally, on its name: CAMP has various possible "backronyms", a large number in fact. This came from our inability to claim a singular identity within a field of ideas, to say that this and not that, is what will actually happen with CAMP. For more see www.camputer.org/?acronyms=many -- chitrakarkhana.net camputer.org From yanivbin at gmail.com Sat Oct 13 20:14:18 2007 From: yanivbin at gmail.com (Vinay Baindur) Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2007 20:14:18 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] ENCOURAGE PRIVATE SECTOR TO INVEST THROUGH PPP: PM Message-ID: <86b8a7050710130744u7e5c61c5ke556c88b3247dbac@mail.gmail.com> ENCOURAGE PRIVATE SECTOR TO INVEST IN URBAN DEVELOPMENT THROUGH PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS: PM ------------------------------ PM'S ADDRESS AT THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON JAWAHARLAL NEHRU NATIONAL URBAN RENEWAL MISSION ** * if this is not based on ideology then is it a necessity?. How do the calculations for the cost estimates of proposals get justified if many of them were done in 1996 as part of the Rakesh Mohan committee report.................* *Vinay* The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, said that today, our policies are better informed and we have begun to see urbanization as an opportunity. All projections of the coming decade indicate that the process of urbanization would accelerate rapidly. If we can manage this transformation effectively, the physical and economic regeneration of urban India is well within our reach. While inaugurating the National Conference on Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission here today, the Prime Minister said that India no longer lives only in its villages but increasingly in its small towns and cities and that the process of economic growth has unleashed dramatic changes in our cities. 'Cities have become major growth engines of our economy opening up unprecedented opportunities', he added. The Prime Minister also hoped that the National Urban Renewal Mission will help realize the dream of making urbanization ecologically sustainable, economically productive and socially equitable. Following is the text of the Prime Minister's address on the occasion: "I am happy to be present at this National Conference of Leaders of Local Bodies and State Governments to take stock of the work we began some 22 months ago through the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. I compliment the Minister of Urban Development Shri Jaipal Reddyji and the Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Seljaji for taking the initiative in this matter and also leading from the front this major initiative for urban transformation in our country. At the outset, I wish to say that a systematic effort to improve our cities has been long overdue. India no longer lives only in its villages but increasingly in its small towns and mega cities. The process of economic growth has unleashed dramatic changes in our cities. Cities have become major growth engines of our economy opening up unprecedented opportunities. ** At the same time, this rapid urbanization has spawned its own set of problems. A large proportion of our urban population still lives in slums in unacceptable conditions. Urban housing stock, especially housing for the poor, has not kept pace with the expanding demand. As much as 30% of urban households live in single room units. This creates social and health problems. It affects the education of young children. The demand for civic services has shot up exponentially. We, therefore, need to facilitate and respond to this transformation through effective measures for improvement of city services, proactive creation of urban infrastructure and improved systems of public governance to match the requirements of the situation. Since its launch, the JNNURM has come to signify the agenda for urban transformation all over the country. It has brought about a uniformity of approach and strategy creating an umbrella framework involving almost all the stakeholders. Our approach of accelerating the implementation of urban sector reforms by linking these to support for large-scale capital investment for urban infrastructure, has been widely accepted. I sincerely hope the National Urban Renewal Mission will help us realize the dream of making urbanization in our country ecologically sustainable, economically productive and socially equitable. I commend both the Ministries as well as the representatives of the State Governments and Mayors of Municipal Corporations present here for their enthusiastic response to this initiative. 63 cities have already developed their "City Development Plans" and are in the process of preparing Detailed Project Reports to access funds. One positive feature observed in these plans is that about 60 per cent of the investment is going for improvement of essential basic services like water supply, sanitation and sewerage. We should ensure that those localities that today have minimal services gain the maximum from the new investments proposed. In fact, internal earmarking in city budgets for basic services to the urban poor has been made an important reform conditionality. I would urge the local bodies and the state governments to give this area priority attention to ensure that we do develop inclusive cities where every citizen has an entitlement to basic services. We are all agreed that governance reform is the cornerstone of urban renewal. Such reforms would ensure the long-term sustainability of the investments and greater transparency and accountability in urban planning and development. Hence the link between investment and reform. This will also be the approach to be adopted in the XIth Five Year Plan, which will further strengthen the JNNURM. Our Government stands committed to providing the requisite budgetary support to States and cities. I urge State and Local Governments to advance the timelines for implementation of these reforms so that the Mission's objectives are met within the specified time period. For example, the reforms pertaining to improving Urban Local Body finances could be completed within the first three years of the Mission. This will enable these bodies to become more viable and eligible to enlist institutional finance. We are considering the idea of offering further incentives to States and cities that implement reforms on a faster track. I have been continuously reviewing the progress of this very important flagship programme of our government with my cabinet colleagues. We find differential performance in its implementation across States, with some doing well and others lagging behind. Cities that lag behind will find it increasingly difficult to catch up. Time is of the essence and I therefore urge States to work closely with the two Central Ministries to monitor and enforce early implementation. Another important issue that has arisen relates to leveraging of JNNURM funds. The sum of Rs. 50,000 crore provided by the Government is hardly adequate for meeting the infrastructure investment needs of JNNURM cities and towns. States must, therefore, leverage these funds and raise more from the market. To do so, we must improve the quality of projects and the fiscal health of Urban Local Bodies. The private sector can be encouraged to invest in urban development through public-private partnerships. Urban infrastructure and services and low-cost housing offer huge potential for such partnerships. State Governments and cities must provide the enabling environment for the private sector to participate and for public private partnership to take roots in our country. We need urgent capacity building within urban local bodies to enable them to design projects, undertake reforms and raise adequate resources. The 74th Amendment was a pioneering initiative of the late Shri Rajiv Gandhi conceptualizing Urban Local Bodies as important developmental entities. However, in practice their capacity to undertake economic and social planning and address issues of poverty, environment and the like is limited. This must change and change for the better. The JNNURM expects these local bodies to become participatory, transparent, and accountable. All these challenges call for immediate attention to the issue of managing and enhancing human capital of our urban management institutions. State Governments should look at innovative ways to professionalise urban management. In the final analysis, it is the residents of the cities themselves who must come forward and take ownership of this very ambitious programme. There are a large number of civic minded and talented professionals in all our cities and towns. It is precisely to tap this valuable resource that the Mission has suggested the creation of a "Voluntary Technical Corps" for Urban Local Bodies. Given the right opportunities, I am sure that the beneficiaries themselves will volunteer their time and expertise for the betterment of their cities. Apart from addressing the needs of large Mission cities, we must also focus on improving basic services in other non-Mission cities and towns. Given the level of interest exhibited by small and medium towns, we do now recognize that the financial allocations made for them are not adequate. I am, therefore, asking the Planning Commission to look into the feasibility of providing additional assistance to small and medium town. There was a time policy planners in India thought that our effort should be to limit the growth of the cities and prevent people from migrating into them. Today, our policies are better informed and we have begun to see urbanization as an opportunity. All projections of the coming decade indicate that the process of urbanization would accelerate rapidly. If we can manage this transformation effectively, the physical and economic regeneration of urban India is well within our reach. * * The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, to my mind, is an immense opportunity for our country to create livable, just and inclusive habitats through responsive and transparent local government systems. Let us, therefore, pledge to work together to add greater vigor and energy to JNNURM and realize our common goal of humane and efficient urbanization. As leaders of this Mission, in the cities you come from, the success of this bold new initiative for urban renewal depends critically on your commitment and on your efforts. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20071013/870a4906/attachment-0002.html From sebydesiolim at hotmail.com Mon Oct 15 20:33:10 2007 From: sebydesiolim at hotmail.com (sebastian Rodrigues) Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2007 20:33:10 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] =?windows-1252?q?_Solidarity_with_Kujanga_People=92s?= =?windows-1252?q?_Movement_against_POSCO_invasion_of_Orissa?= Message-ID: Just yesterday newspapers in India carried news item - some on the front page about abduction of South Korean company Pohang Steel Company (POSCO) in Orissa that is seeking to invest single largest foreign direct investments (FDI) in India at Rs.54,000 crores. The abductions that took place included that of the Managing director, a Korean national, another Korean official of the company and the Indian hired by the foreign firm, on 13th October 2007. It was however not the first time the abductions taking place. In April 2007 too POSCO officials were abducted and released. I was part of the group put together by The Other Media, New Delhi to visit Dinkiya village – one of the richest villages of Orissa and now target of the POSCO investments - and have first hand exposure to investments that threaten to trample Peoples rights. Here are some of my observations after interacting with POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) Chairman Abhai Sahu on 28th September 2007. MoU POSCO and Orissa government signed Memorandum of Understanding to this project near Paradeep Port on 22nd November 2005. Soon the protests began in the form Court arrests, awareness campaigns in the three villages that are likely to get wiped off in the project comes through – Dhinkia, Nuaga and Godokujong Panchayats. The MoU is for setting up of Steel plant and construction of captive port for the company 7 kilometers away from the Paradeep Port at the Zatadhar Sea bed covering 519 acres of space. Government is trying to hand over nearly 500 acres of legally government land to the Korean transnational corporation for the purpose of its project. This land originally b belonged to the people who cultivate but thanks to the process of state formations it was transferred to king Vardhaman from West Bengal who in turned leased it out to the private parties, and ultimately Indira Gandhi government nationalized these land in the mid of 1970s decade. PPSS ground of Objections PPSS objects to the projects on many grounds: Firstly, it is opposed to Industrialization at the cost established agricultural economy. Any attempts to do this will be opposed. Secondly, it is opposed to location of Industry at the dense forest area. The POSCO plant is capital intensive and not labour intensive. The current beetle nut cultivation in the village creates employment not only to the villagers but also for those in the neighboring villages ranging from 9-90 in age. Its existing agrarian economy is employment generating industry that POSCO is hardly a match. Poorest family in these villages is the one earns Rs.10,000/- per month! Its beetle nut leaves are not only through out India but also exported to Middle East Asia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. This conducive natural atmosphere is what is needed for this cultivation is prevailing in this Kujanga region of Jagansinghpur district of Orissa. In the face of such a prosperous local economy with global ties one questions the logic of getting POSCO to invest here. Cashew, coconut, Pisciculture is economies of these villages under people’s control. Rights violations There have been several instances of terror unleashed due to opposition to the POSCO project. Police, Company officials have created nexus to administer repressive measures. Bombings were carried on at check gates created by the PPSS, beating up of the people opposed to the project, and of course, the unleashing of goodas on the protestors. For nearly two weeks villagers were not a District collector suspended the supply of control commodities and the Old age pensions to the villages protesting the project! Once the suspension was revoked after the press and public opinion turned against the State, villagers were denied access on the public roads by the hired goons of the Korean corporate. It was only when the villagers showed unity and counter attacked the goons that they were able to reclaim the right over the public road. Nearly 130 criminal cases have been registered against the members of the PPSS that includes its Chairman Abhai Sahoo and its secretary Sisir Mahapatra. Spirited Protests However police have not been able to affect the arrests because the villagers have organized themselves and blocked all the roads to their villages. Check gates are created, 24 hours patrolling is carried on, every vehicle passing into the village is checked, interrogated and if it belonged to the State government or to the POSCO company is denied entry to the village. Daily meetings of the villagers and those offering solidarity are held near the Dinkiya village market and well attended and addressed by Women many of them from tribal groups. The road blockades according to PPSS will continue till POSCO lays its hands off their villages. The protests are likely to be intensified further as other Corporate in the State are putting Orissa government under pressure to invoke repression and hand over the necessary land to POSCO. The movements in Orissa of course has Kalinganagar massacre as backgrounder – a symbol of anti-corporate movement of common People of India. Land titles It is very important for the movement while continue to fight POSCO also gradually take up the question of land tittles. While it is advantageous on the one hand that the land under dispute is government lands, on the other hands villagers legally are illegal occupants of the lands. The possibilities must be worked out to get the land titles in the name Peoples’ organization and no longer it must be let alone as government lands. It requires deeper reflections as how to achieve this in the months ahead – once POSCO goes away abandoning their project. Appeal for Solidarity Do get in touch with the movements in Orissa and offer your solidarity. You may also inquire about the kind of solidarity required. You may contact Abhai Sahoo at his mobile no. 09938425210, e-mail: abhaiorissa at yahoo.co.in. You may also contact Nikunj Bhai at his mobile 09937364401, email: nikunj45 at yahoo.co.in. Sebastian Rodrigues 15th October 2007 _________________________________________________________________ Call friends with PC-to-PC calling -- FREE http://get.live.com/messenger/overview From sebydesiolim at hotmail.com Thu Oct 18 15:34:56 2007 From: sebydesiolim at hotmail.com (sebastian Rodrigues) Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2007 15:34:56 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] Fomentos flexes State power to bulldoze livelihoods with its mines in Sanguem Message-ID: October 18, 2007 Hello! Here are the minutes of a meeting called by Quepem Sub-divisional Magistrate to clear way for the Fomento mining group that operates mine in Colamb, Sanguem. This meeting gains significance as it demonstrates the power of the corporate to flex and get into motion the State administration for its private interest of mining of ore and gaining huge profits. Mining companies have been doing this over the past five decades and this is one more example as to demonstrate how deep is our quasi-judicial, judicial, executive, police, are co-opted and hell bent on destroying people’s livelihood of agriculture, destroy forests, convert forest areas into rice plantations and then use the forest lands as mining dumps, pollute and suck dry our natural water sources, silt flowing water bodies, mobilize scientific opinions and manufacture reports to repeat the story of three wise monkeys to say ‘here no truth, speak no truth and see no truth’, mining companies are the truth. Magistrate discloses that he has powers only as far as maintaining law and order yet he goes on does something more suggests formation of CORE Committee that would composed of government representatives and three members vetted by the Rivona Panchayat whose elected members have deep rooted interests in the continuation mining and whole scale ruining of agriculture. The government scientists that gave clean cheat to SDM are indeed an object of ridicule and betray even the common sense. Of course it is a common knowledge that scientists are rarely stick to their ethics and more often than not have betrayed the very people who through their taxes pays their salaries and these scientist have been indulging in complete unethical practices. They have done again while choosing soil samples and its testing. One lawyer representing mining companies is quoted in the minutes as proudly declaring that mining lease has not been challenged for the past 5 decades. Perhaps as practice goes lawyers take the side of one who pays them; he shrewdly overlooks the facts that the lease was granted by the erstwhile Portuguese colonial State, and by overlooking this fact he shamefully celebrates imperialism. And why he should not all the mining companies have accumulated the huge surplus to divert their profits in wide range of business ventures including Cidade de Goa thanks to this mischief during the Portuguese Colonial era. He also overlooks the fact that judiciary has been dominated by the interests hostile to the people at the receiving end of mining tyranny. The demand for stopping of mines in Goa will not succeed in the Palaces that are full of scandals but this demand will succeed when discussed and debated in the people’s parliament – the streets where the affected people themselves are going to be the judges and not the professional lawyers that are sucking their clients at a mass scale. Our judiciary is blood sucking institution meant to tire out generate and intensify injustice through the rule of law that is also rule of the rich for the rich. The law is conceptualized, drafted, executed by the powerful sections of the society that does not what the sufferings are all about. The laws are formulated to further disempower common people and snatch their livelihoods and mining laws, Forest laws, pollution laws in Goa and India are excellent examples to this. Through this order Fomentos have mobilized State coercive agency – the Police who are also paid by the public exchequer to arrests, harass and inflict innumerable repressive measures as it has been happening in Colamb, Sanguem for those villagers protesting against mining companies. Of course SDM considers minerals as national wealth and it cannot be stopped from exploitation. But nowhere he mentions and take note about the fact that people’s houses have developed crack not only due to rippers but also though blasting carried out by the Fomentos. Devki Katu Velip’s residence is an example to this. Why overlook? Nowhere he has developed understanding of the scenario as to what is going to happen to this village of Colamb if mining leases get activated? What will be the remains of the village that has total area 1929 hectares and out of which 1524 hectares are under mining leases? And not the SDM knows about from the remainder how much land is forest land under the control of the Forest department that operates in tyrannical fashion chiefly because it behaves as lackey of the forest department to make more land available to mining industry? It is indeed strange that what is common knowledge does not reach the ears of the SDM. We can only guess why! These valuable aspects he missed out completely before designing his methodology. His methodology is designed to wipe the tears of the crying children. It pays lip service towards any genuine attempts to find out the root cause of the pain that releases tears from the farmers eyes. The situation is serious, if people don’t have space to cultivate paddy then very soon they have to adopt going hungry or eating mining silt. Or become laborers on mines and depend at the mercy of the mining company for their livelihood. SDM order has given the stamp of legitimacy to the mining loot in a fantastic theatrics’ style: mining company will continue its loot caring dam for all the dissent in the world and State is going to supplement mining company with additional police re-enforcements whenever necessary. Already police have filed cases against the villagers and some have even been arrested. Worse Police goes on random picking of the villagers take them to Police station for harassment purpose. Egypt Dias and Manuel Dias were picked up in this fashion on October 14, 2007. Rama Velip and Motesh Antao were also targeted by Police earlier through arrests. It was surprising that SDM had no means of verifying as to who tarred the road under reference. His analysis relies upon assumptive word ‘Perhaps’. This is speculation and not analysis. And subsequently your conclusions are erroneous to the core. Colamb struggling People have got nothing to do with law and order problem. They are acting in collective defense of their agriculture from mining invasion backed by State power. It is mining company that is creating law and order problem. It is mining company that is snatching the peoples’ means of livelihood by various means including co-ersion. And these affected villagers are declared as Scheduled Tribes and this is chosen reward from the mining industry-State nexus. I understand the phrase ‘Private-Public Participation’ meaning of ‘Private’ in SDMs opinion as Fomento mining group. I failed to understand the meaning of ‘Public’ is. Does that mean participative and joyful tolerance of nuisance of Fomentos though its mining mischief? Or does ‘Public’ means likes of the SDM, Police, Water Resource Department Officials, Forest Department officials, Mining Department officials, and the like ‘Public’ officials? It would be nice if SDM clarifies what if the composition of the word ‘Public’ in participation is. The compensation as way of compromise is not workable at all. Rs.400/- per month per person that Fomentos have been going about making agreements is a nasty fraud on the lives of the common people that will have consequences of its own. This of course is not mentioned in the minutes but derived logically from the utterances of the lawyer that majority of people supports mining in Colamb, Sanguem. In any case compensation is like ‘I give you one slap and then pay Rs.10/- and logically I can give you any amount of slaps and go on paying proportionately.’ I go on doing this because I have money to do so. Subsequently if I have to go on leaving I have to go on taking selling myself for more and more slaps, my hands are now accustomed to taking slaps and more slaps and more importantly I can not do without slaps. For I have no land left to cultivate. This is an ideology of compensation. Again mining company manager pulled smart one over the shoulders of SDM or rather that’s how the whole show was organized; mining manager is quoted as saying that they have taken precautions against wash over of mining silt into the nallah and they subsequent preventions of washing the same into agricultural lands. Of course this is bullshit. And do note the hilarious explanation of executive engineer who is also canal officer. According his logic there could be not siltation of Paddy fields till the nallah – flowing fresh water body is complexly buried with silt and silt them will have to overflow and find its way into agricultural lands. Of course he dished out the logic and scenario as desired by his bosses in the fomento mining company. There are plenty of officers like him who have sold their ethics for a brief case or two. Other wise you as members of public go and inspect the paddy field, meet up the affected people yourself and arrive at your own conclusions and your conclusions. If you have not taken briefcases from Fomentos will be opposite to the conclusion in this report. However he admitted that there is already siltation caused and he does not talk of it irreversible impacts on ecology. The geologist at the mining department who was also present at this meeting agrees with me that his department is impotent to discipline mining companies as the companies over the period of time have become the Princes of Goa through 5 decades of loot and have enormous power at all level of Judiciary, Legislature and Executive. With mining loot going at this scale there is hardly any hope of preserving Goa’s identity as its majestic Western Ghats Mountains are slaughtered daily. It is only struggling people like that of Colamb that can contribute towards creating new identity for Goa in the face of State – Corporate nefarious nexus in place. These minutes are shining example of the way this nexus is operating inside the veins of Goa. Sebastian Rodrigues MINUTES OF THE MEETING CONVENED BY THE SUB DIVISIONAL MAGISTRATE (SDM) OF QUEPEM SUB-DIVISION QUEPEM GOA ON 13/10/2007 TO TAKE STOCK OF THE LAW & ORDER PROBLEM PERTAINING TO OPERATION OF MINE BY HIRALAL KHODIDAS & COMPANY PRESENTLY OPERATED BY FOMENTO MINING GROUP The following members were for the meeting 1. Shri Parag Nagarssekar, Mamlatdar of Sanguem. 2. Shri Sudin Natu, Mamlatdar of Quepem 3. Shri Hector Fernandes, Asstt. Geologist, Director of Mines & Geology, Panaji 4. Shri S.M. Rangaraju, Exe. Engineer, Water Resource Department (WRD) 5. Shri Paily P., A.E. Water Resource Department 6. Shri B.S. Prabhu, Zonal Agriculture Officer(ZAO), Sanguem 7. Shri P.B.Shirvoikar, Police Inspector(PI), Quepem Police Station 8. Shri Gajanan Harihar Karkare, Sr. Manager 9. Shri Atul V. Makode, Mines Manager 10. Shri P.T. Naidu 11. Shri Vijay D. Kerker 12. Shri Gokuldas K Naik 13. Shri Sandeep Gaonkar 14. Shri V.K. Prabhu Dessai 15. Shri Rama L. Velip 16. Shri Egypt D’Souza 17. Shri Telu Dias 18. Shri Rajanikant Velip 19. Shri Ramchandra Velip 20. Shri Sebastiao D’Souza 21. Shri Ajai N. Naik 22. Shri Gaurish Naik At the outset the SDM Quepem welcomed the gathering & disclosed that the meeting was convened in order to tackle the law and order problem which has been constantly taking place at the site of the operation of mine by Hiralal Khodidas & company which is presently operated by Fomento Mining Group. The main issue which the villagers were concerned of is about adjoining nallah which is passing on the peripheri of the mining activity & secondly about the run-offs of the mines getting accumulated in the adjoining agricultural lands The villager named Rama Ladu Velip addressed to say that the sludge of the mine is affecting the paddy fields and the lands which are being cultivated by the Schedule Tribes is getting destroyed due to the silt. The land which is classified as forest land is also being surreptitiously utilized for mining activity & the forest resources is getting depleted day by day, has developed cracks to the households of the inhabitants who reside in the vicinity of the mining area and that the water table of the land has been substantially reduced. Shri Venkatesh Keshav Prabhu Dessai, another villager pointed out to say that the agricultural lands in the vicinity of the mining area are giving a double yield-kharif & Rabi type due to the availability of water source from the nallah. He also stated that the plateau used for mining acts as a reservoir for harvesting water during monsoon due to its capillary action and that protective measures taken by the mining company serve no purpose and that the operation of mines be stopped. Shri Salvador Dias, a villager submitted that the Government is encouraging agricultural activity by giving various types of subsidies, but on account of the operation of the mines the doles dished out by the Government would serve no purpose. He also stated that there would be no grazing ground left of available for the cattle and prayed that the mines be stopped from conducting any of its operation. Shri Hector Fernanades was representing the Director of Mines & Geology. He stated that the mining concession was in existence since 1949 by the virtue of Title of Concession No.6 for Iron and Manganese. The activities were going on manually for extracting Manganese ore and since the past 18 months this activity is controlled by the Central Government and the monitoring aspect is done by the Directorate of Mines, is what Mr. Hector had to say. The approvals for the operating of mine have been given by the Indian Bereau of Mines (IBM) after studying the mining plan which is accompanied by the study of Environment Impact Assessment. The concerns of the environment are looked after and taken care of by the IBM. The environment clearance of the present mine was given bye the Ministry of Environment and Forest on 12/3/2007 and is valid till date. Mr. Fernandes also stated that the area of lease given to the mine is 70,1870 sq.mts and he feigned ignorance as private forest. The usage of machinery on the mines is also subject to the Mines Safety Act is what Mr. Hector had to say. The Executive Engineer Mr. Ranga Raju who is also a canal Officer attached the Water Resources Department was present and he placed on record the series of reports which he has made from time to time alongwith photographical evidence of the nallah. The said correspondence and measures suggested by the canal Officer the average depth of the nallah is 2 mts. He submitted that only when the nallah is completely filled with silt, than and only than it would start overflowing and accumulating in the properties. He stated that due to precautionary measures adopted by the mining firm, the silt accumulated in the nallah is less for which measures could be taken for desiltation. He also submitted that the various barriers put across by the mining firm arrests the sludege/run-offs to a great extent. According to the Zonal agricultural Officer Shri Babal S. Prabhu, he stated that the only if the nallah is completely filled up than only the damage would start accruing in the paddy fields. He also pointed out to his report submitted to the collector in April 2007, whereby he has highlighted the ill effects that would plague the agricultural sector in the years to come. The representative of the mining company i.e. the Senior Manager Mines Shri Gajanand karkare submitted that all precautionary measures have been adhered to by the firm as per the directions given by the Chief Secretary of Goa. He also submitted that the mining company is always open for suggestions which are constructive in nature and that the activities carried out are legal in nature. Adv. Hemkant Bhangui, pointed out to say that out of entire village only a handful villagers were opposed towards the project and a majority of them ar for it. He stated to say that the nallah is clear from all respect and the activity cannot be halted inspite of having valid legal permissions. He also stressed on the report of EIA which was banked upon by the Indian bureau of Mines whilst granting the permission. He also pointed out to say that when the mining concession has not been challenged since the past 5 decades, the question of stopping any activity of mining does not arise. Some truck owners from the locality namely Shri Suryakant Naik and Shashikant Devidas submitted that the activity should be permitted for the employment and for doing ancillary business activities connected with mining. A person named Arun Vijay Madgaonkar who is a resident of Marcel, khandola under the banner of Gram Vikas Kendra spoke on the ill-effects of mining activities ranging from the issues of water depletion to overloading of trucks. He also stated that the mining companies have not adhered to the norms laid to re-do the earth and bring it back to its original position by planting of trees. He also raised apprehensions and concerns for the village of Rivona, Colomba and surrounding areas by bringing it to the fore that some two more mining companies are likely to surface in the locality, which according to him would add more misery than any good to the local populace. Another person by name of Shri Narayan Colambkar stated that the road which is presently used by the mining firm is his personal private land and he stated that the road cannot be put to use for mining operations. BRIEF ANALYSIS After hearing all the parties present i.e. the various agencies of the Government, the agitators and the representatives of the mining firm. It has been made crystal clear to one and all, that the jurisdictional limits of the SDM are minimal and that it is not clothed with powers to order stoppage of the mining activity considering the valid permissions which the mining firm has with them. Although the agitators have raised a cloud of suspicion in their minds about the grant of permissions, as an SDM, the office cannot go into the merits of each and every permission granted to the firm. All what the SDM would want is maintenance of peace and tranquility in the society and if there is any contravention on this count, than the SDM would have to step in and take adequate measures to maintain the peace and tranquility. On the personal visit and inspection of the mining area on 9/10/2007 the SDM had collected soil samples for testing from two different sites i.e. one from the area which was alleged to have deposits of mining silts. The soil testing was carried out by the South Goa Branch of Agriculture Department and the reports which arrived today disclosed that both the soils had similar readings, which means to say that the fertility count of the soil has not been disturbed. The report too was tabled today for scrutiny before the meeting. So also the personal Inspection of nallah did not show the SDM the presence of alluvial deposits from the mines. The core issue being that of deposits in the nallah and damage to agricultural lands has been properly answered by the Canal officer and the report of soil testing by the Agricultural Department. As regards the Issue of road, although a hue and cry has been raised by the alleged property owner, this office opines that for all purposes the said road has to be treated as a public road. The road is pucca in nature and perhaps the PWD or the local authority must have tarred the same. Considering the fact of monies being pumped in for construction of the road from the exchequer, preferential right of use of the road would obviously be for the public and hence it is deemed to be considered as public road. However, if Shri Colombkar has a better title over the said road to the mines, he is at liberty to knock the doors of the forum having Civil jurisdiction. Preventing usage of the said road by using muscle power or by illegally blocking the same through other means is not a healthy sign and no law of the land would permit any person to do such and act. METHODOLOGY TO ADOPT PREVENTIVE MEASURES TO CURB ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION Degradation of Environment especially due to mining has been an issue which has from time to time being raised before for various reasons including in the Honourable High Court and Honourable Supreme Court. On every given occasion it has been a practice to issue directives to prevent environmental degradation as mining reserves cannot be stopped from being explored and exploited as it is part and parcel of national wealth. Public Private Participation (PPP) is the need of the hour to bring about transparency in the adoption of preventive measures to curb environmental degradation. This proposal was put forth to the public which has been readily accepted, the committee members shall visit mining area every month and suggest measures from time to time. The committee should chalk out its own programme of field visit preferably in the first week of every month and within the first ten days of every month should submit a report to the mining firm and the collector(s) with a copy endorsed to the SDM of the Sub Division of Quepem. The mining firm should adopt the preventive measures in the same month itself and when the Committee members pay their field visit in the ensuing month they should assess the measures so adopted by the firm. In the set up of PPP the degradation of environment which is at its optimum would get reduced to great extent and finally there would be a day where there would be zero tolerance to environmental degradation. At any given time, if there are any deposits in the nallah the mining company should bear the total cost of desiltation by taking the technical know-how from the Canal Officer. The run-offs from the mine in the agricultural properties could also be properly channelised through the tailing ponds by way of which the paddy field would not get destroyed. The committee should comprise of three villagers the names of which has to be vetted by the Village Panchayat of Rivaona, the Mines Manager & Mining Engineer, Officials from each departments i.e. The Zonal Agricultural Office, Forest Department, Directorate of Mines and Canal Officer from WRD. CONCLUSION Under the above premises which has been espoused in the methodology part, the SDM called upon the parties present to maintain peace, tranquility and decorum and if need be to knock the doors of the appropriate forum to stop the operations of the mines, if they are insisting on the same. The SDM also called upon the gathering that the mines would start operating from 15/10/2007 and if there is any law and order problems than action would be initiated against them as per the law in force. The meeting thereafter ended with these directives. Sd/- on 13/10/2007 (Johnson Bedy Fernandes) Deputy Collector & S.D.M., Quepem – Goa. C.C. For Information to: 1. The Collector and District Magistrate (S),Margao-Goa, with a request to kindly initiate steps to form a core committee as espoused in the methodology part of the minutes drawn and forwarded herein. Visit my blog at http://www.openspaceforum.net/twiki/tiki-view_blog.php?blogId=17 _________________________________________________________________ Search from any Web page with powerful protection. Get the FREE Windows Live Toolbar Today! http://toolbar.live.com/?mkt=en-in From bdasgupta at gmail.com Sun Oct 21 13:04:45 2007 From: bdasgupta at gmail.com (Bhaskar Dasgupta) Date: Sun, 21 Oct 2007 08:34:45 +0100 Subject: [Urbanstudy] FW: Welcome to the "Urbanstudygroup" mailing list Message-ID: <86A20675E288462CA150E9FD8B63A338@bdPC> Hello there to everybody, Just joined on the recommendation of Anant M (thanks, mate!). I live and work in London and am interested in various aspects of economics and technologies, banking and mathematics, politics and history, etc. Cheers bd -------------------------- Bhaskar Dasgupta http://dailysalty.blogspot.com/ (for shorter daily comments) http://piquancy.blogspot.com/ (for longer weekly essays) --------------------------- -----Original Message----- From: urbanstudygroup-bounces at sarai.net [mailto:urbanstudygroup-bounces at sarai.net] On Behalf Of urbanstudygroup-request at sarai.net Sent: 21 October 2007 08:26 To: bdasgupta at gmail.com Subject: Welcome to the "Urbanstudygroup" mailing list Welcome to the Urbanstudygroup at sarai.net mailing list! Dear friends, the Urban Study Group list intends to explore issues of emerging forms of urbanism. The Indian metropolis, like many other global cities, has been rapidly remade in the past fifteen years. The urban environment has experienced dizzying shifts in regimes of property, notions of citizenship/urban politics, and the very physical familiarity of the street or neighborhood. Just as we witness the new elite urbanism of malls, multiplex cinemas, and gated residential communities, we also observe growing counter claims to urban territory in a politics that is rooted in daily life. In what ways do people make claims to the city? What challenges do new forms of urbanism and urban politics pose to existing understandings of the city? Recently, there has been a growing interest in how cities work at the street level. Discussions of the daily life of the Indian city have included analyses of urban festivals, local economic networks, politics, the growth of the media industry, the emergence of sexual identities, architectural transformations, representations of urban life in the cinema, literature, and the news media, and other related subjects. Given these many perspectives on the urban experience, what new questions will guide our theorization of the Indian metropolis? We hope this list will intensify a passion for understanding and observing the city. There are many forums of discussion currently taking place in India and abroad on the city and its many processes. We hope to build on these existing local networks of researchers, students and practitioners. We encourage list members to post papers, research in progress, proposals, online articles, links to visual media, informal thoughts and discussions, and personal narratives. It is this interdisciplinary diversity and energy that will enrich our understanding and theorization of the city. Curt Gambetta and Solomon Benjamin, list administrators To post to this list, send your email to: urbanstudygroup at sarai.net General information about the mailing list is at: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/urbanstudygroup If you ever want to unsubscribe or change your options (eg, switch to or from digest mode, change your password, etc.), visit your subscription page at: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/options/urbanstudygroup/bdasgupta%40gmail.com You can also make such adjustments via email by sending a message to: Urbanstudygroup-request at sarai.net with the word `help' in the subject or body (don't include the quotes), and you will get back a message with instructions. You must know your password to change your options (including changing the password, itself) or to unsubscribe. It is: suinboak Normally, Mailman will remind you of your sarai.net mailing list passwords once every month, although you can disable this if you prefer. This reminder will also include instructions on how to unsubscribe or change your account options. There is also a button on your options page that will email your current password to you. From sollybenj at yahoo.co.in Sun Oct 21 19:21:13 2007 From: sollybenj at yahoo.co.in (solomon benjamin) Date: Sun, 21 Oct 2007 14:51:13 +0100 (BST) Subject: [Urbanstudy] FW: Welcome to the "Urbanstudygroup" mailing list In-Reply-To: <86A20675E288462CA150E9FD8B63A338@bdPC> Message-ID: <281283.78682.qm@web8908.mail.in.yahoo.com> Dear Bhaskar, Anant, welcome, and looking forward to your postings. my own have been pending now and hope to hget back on board . One area, shared with Anant, is on how there are distinctive and substantive economic circuits that underpin what I call for the lack of a better word, Occupant Urbansim. for instance, if you walk down a street in bangaore, say shivaji nager or then any small town too, what seems like not just mixed land use or the informal sector, or a third world exotic bazzar, can be re-read as layers of occoupancy that is mostly incremental, constituted by multiple land tenures (leaseing arrangements, but also claims established via civic authotities for electical power, water, taxes etc). these in turn re-constitute real estate surpluses when there are new commers or people moving on. most is upgrading and densification hense unlike western city gentrificaton. I have a peice on this in the sarai Frontiers reader forthcomming in dec, but the main reason why I find Anant's work on finance really central is that it helps to point to a very different read of cities that goes beyond developmentalism, modernity, and other oppressive forms located in a dirgisme of either having the nation state to bank on (oops a freudian slip?) or then the inevitability of the Globalized homogenized market. Instead what is revealed are much more complex territories of economy and poliitca l claims. what is central in all this, like Walter Benjamin's arcades and Naples writings, is to locate the materailities in a central way as these re-constitute political conciousness. I keep thinking that if he was alive, and majgically able to walk down the crowded bangalore streets, and in particular shivaji nager, SJP Road in bangalore, or Lamington road in Bombay (the electronic bazzar) he would really freak out! so we have much to talk on all this cheers Solly --- Bhaskar Dasgupta wrote: > Hello there to everybody, > > Just joined on the recommendation of Anant M > (thanks, mate!). I live and > work in London and am interested in various aspects > of economics and > technologies, banking and mathematics, politics and > history, etc. > > Cheers > > bd > > -------------------------- > Bhaskar Dasgupta > http://dailysalty.blogspot.com/ (for shorter daily > comments) > http://piquancy.blogspot.com/ (for longer weekly > essays) > --------------------------- > > -----Original Message----- > From: urbanstudygroup-bounces at sarai.net > [mailto:urbanstudygroup-bounces at sarai.net] On Behalf > Of > urbanstudygroup-request at sarai.net > Sent: 21 October 2007 08:26 > To: bdasgupta at gmail.com > Subject: Welcome to the "Urbanstudygroup" mailing > list > > Welcome to the Urbanstudygroup at sarai.net mailing > list! Dear friends, > the Urban Study Group list intends to explore issues > of emerging forms > of urbanism. The Indian metropolis, like many other > global cities, has > been rapidly remade in the past fifteen years. The > urban environment > has experienced dizzying shifts in regimes of > property, notions of > citizenship/urban politics, and the very physical > familiarity of the > street or neighborhood. Just as we witness the new > elite urbanism of > malls, multiplex cinemas, and gated residential > communities, we also > observe growing counter claims to urban territory in > a politics that > is rooted in daily life. In what ways do people make > claims to the > city? What challenges do new forms of urbanism and > urban politics pose > to existing understandings of the city? > > Recently, there has been a growing interest in how > cities work at the > street level. Discussions of the daily life of the > Indian city have > included analyses of urban festivals, local economic > networks, > politics, the growth of the media industry, the > emergence of sexual > identities, architectural transformations, > representations of urban > life in the cinema, literature, and the news media, > and other related > subjects. Given these many perspectives on the urban > experience, what > new questions will guide our theorization of the > Indian metropolis? > > We hope this list will intensify a passion for > understanding and > observing the city. There are many forums of > discussion currently > taking place in India and abroad on the city and its > many processes. > We hope to build on these existing local networks of > researchers, > students and practitioners. We encourage list > members to post papers, > research in progress, proposals, online articles, > links to visual > media, informal thoughts and discussions, and > personal narratives. It > is this interdisciplinary diversity and energy that > will enrich our > understanding and theorization of the city. > > Curt Gambetta and Solomon Benjamin, list > administrators > > To post to this list, send your email to: > > urbanstudygroup at sarai.net > > General information about the mailing list is at: > > > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/urbanstudygroup > > If you ever want to unsubscribe or change your > options (eg, switch to > or from digest mode, change your password, etc.), > visit your > subscription page at: > > > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/options/urbanstudygroup/bdasgupta%40gmail.com > > > You can also make such adjustments via email by > sending a message to: > > Urbanstudygroup-request at sarai.net > > with the word `help' in the subject or body (don't > include the > quotes), and you will get back a message with > instructions. > > You must know your password to change your options > (including changing > the password, itself) or to unsubscribe. It is: > > suinboak > > Normally, Mailman will remind you of your sarai.net > mailing list > passwords once every month, although you can disable > this if you > prefer. This reminder will also include > instructions on how to > unsubscribe or change your account options. There > is also a button on > your options page that will email your current > password to you. > > _______________________________________________ > Urbanstudygroup mailing list > Urban Study Group: Reading the South Asian City > > To subscribe or browse the Urban Study Group > archives, please visit > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/urbanstudygroup > Bring your gang together - do your thing. Go to http://in.promos.yahoo.com/groups From yanivbin at gmail.com Sun Oct 21 19:23:02 2007 From: yanivbin at gmail.com (Vinay Baindur) Date: Sun, 21 Oct 2007 19:23:02 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] Fwd: Invitation to National Seminar on JNNURM In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <86b8a7050710210653q46f60bb5g56c5f83c33329d7b@mail.gmail.com> FWDING FYI.... ...................................................................................... Dear friends, On behalf of CIVIC Bangalore and INHAF, I would like to invite you to participate in the National Seminar on JNNURM to be held at United Theological College, Bangalore, on 26th and 27th October, 2007. A brief outline of the seminar and agenda is given below. Since limited seats are available, we await your early confirmation. Please copy your email response to harish at civicspace.in. Thanks. Cordially, Padmini Trustee, CIVIC & Governing Council Member, INHAF OUTLINE: *National Seminar on Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM): * *Theme: **The Shape of Our Cities and Towns - **Socially Inclusive & Economically Productive?*** *PARTNERS*: CIVIC Bangalore and INHAF *PLACE*: United Theological College, 63 Miller Road (Behind Bangalore Cantonment Railway Station), Bangalore 560046. Tel: 080 - 2333 2844 / 2333 0015 *DATES*: 26th and 27th October, 2007. JNNURM's basic premise is that the growth and development of urban centres is constrained by the indifferent implementation of the 74 th Amendment and outmoded statutes. Its primary objectives include economic productivity, efficiency, equity and responsiveness. With NURM entering its third year, CIVIC and INHAF feel that there is a need to take stock of its progress, process and impact, based on its policies. They are agreed that a broad spectrum of views be considered and ideas for further improving or adapting NURM and related policies and programmes be discussed. The outcome of the seminar is envisaged as a set of recommendations to governments at the centre, state and local levels. Resource persons with experience in NURM, the 74th Amendment and decentralisation issues, from both Government and civil society, are being invited to present papers. The papers will include reviews of policies and their translation into reality; case studies on specific cities that are covered by JNNURM and studies on impact on various sections of the public. Each presentation will be followed by discussion; the concluding session will seek to consolidate the ideas that emanate from these discussions and to formulate a set of recommendations. The seminar agenda will allow for discussion after each set of papers and during the final session before formulation of conclusions and recommendations. Agenda: Time Session Topic & Resource Person Day 1 Friday, 26th Oct 07 9.00 AM to 9.30 AM Registration Session 1 9.30 A.M. to 11.15 AM Inaugural Session Chair: Dr. A Ravindra, IAS (Retd.) 9.30 AM – 9.40 AM Welcome & objectives: Dr. R. Padmini, CIVIC 9.40 AM – 10.00 AM Introductory remarks: Mr. Kirtee Shah, INHAF 10.00 AM – 10.20 AM Keynote Address: Dr. P. K.Mohanty, Joint Secretary (JNNURM), Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation 10.20 AM – 10.35 AM Initial responses from participants 10.35 AM – 10.55 AM Documentary on JNNURM from Bangalore's slums – Slum Jagatthu 10.55 AM – 11.15 AM Chairperson's remarks: Dr. A. Ravindra, IAS (Retd.), Deputy Chairperson of Karnataka State Planning Board 11.15 to 11.30 AM Tea-break Session 2 11.30 A.M to 1.00 PM. Overview of JNNURM objectives and implementation 11.30 AM – 11.50 AM Review of implementation of JNNURM in some cities: Mr. Dunu Roy, Hazards Centre 11.50 – 12.10 PM To be confirmed 12.10 PM - 12.45 PM Open discussion 12.45 PM – 1.00 PM Chairperson's remarks: 1.00 – 2.00 PM Lunch-break Session 3 2.00 PM to 3.30 PM Review of JNNURM process 2.00 PM – 2.20 PM Review of CDPs of some cities: Ms Harini Narayanan 2.20 PM – 2.40 PM Presentation on process of implementation of JNNURM in Karnataka Mr. Jawaid Akhtar, IAS, MD, KUIDFC 2.40 PM – 3.15 PM Open discussion 3.15 PM – 3.30 PM Chairperson's remarks: Dr. Sreekant Gupta* *to be confirmed 3.30 to 3.45 PM Tea-break Session 4 3.45 PM – 5.15 PM JNNURM & governance priorities 3.45 PM – 4.05 PM NURM, 11th FYP (MDGs), NCMP, Bharat Nirman & gender: Ms Lysa John, Waada na thodo abhiyaan 4.05 PM – 4.25 PM Situation of the urban family and implications for JNNURM: Dr. R. Padmini, CIVIC 4.25 PM – 5.00 PM Open discussion 5.00 PM – 5.15 PM Chairperson's remarks: Dr. Amita Bhide, TISS Day 2 – Saturday, 27th October 2007 Session 5 9.30 to 11.00 AM Urban finances and JNNURM 9.30 AM – 9.50 AM JNNURM and its impact on financial restructuring of urban infrastructure and service delivery: Dr. Lalitha Kamath, CASUM-M 9.50 AM – 10.10 AM Dr. S. Subramanya, BBMP Commissioner* *To be confirmed 10.10 AM – 10.45 AM Open discussion 10.45 AM – 11.00 AM Chairperson's remarks: Ravikant Joshi 11.00 -11.15 AM Tea-break Session 6 11.15 AM to 1.15 PM JNNURM & urban poor 11.15 AM – 11.35 AM JNNURM and the Urban Poor: Some Suggestions: Dr. N. C. Saxena 11.35 AM – 11. 55 AM JNNURM & urban poor in Bangalore: Dr. Kshitij Urs, Regional Director, Action Aid 11.55 AM – 12.15 PM JNNURM & child friendly cities: Ms Victoria Rialp, UNICEF 12.15 PM – 1.00 PM Open discussion 1.00 PM – 1.15 PM Chairperson's remarks: Ms Shameem Banu, Secretary, Dept. of Housing, GoK* *To be confirmed 1.15 PM to 2.00 PM Lunch break Session 7 2.00 to 3.30 P.M. JNNURM and democratic processes 2.00 PM – 2.20 PM Relationship of NURM to the 74th Constitutional Amendment and institutions under it: Ms Kathyayini Chamaraj, CIVIC 2.20 – 2.40 Nagararaj Bill: Ms Nandana Reddy*, CWC, 2.40 – 3.15 PM Open discussion 3.15 PM – 3.30 PM Chairperson's remarks: Mr. K. Jothiramalingam,* IAS, Principal Secretary, UD, GoK 3.30 to 3.45 PM Tea break Session 8 3.45 to 5.00 PM Conclusions & recommendations 3.45 PM – 4.25 PM Key Issues and Recommendations: Participants' panel of 4 to sum up 4.25 PM – 4.45 PM Concluding remarks by participants 4.45 PM – 5.00 PM Chairperson's remarks: Dr. P. K. Mohanty, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Topics to be confirmed by following resource persons: Mr. Sanjay Vijayvergiya, Mr. Pon Chandran, Mr. Sreekant Gupta, Mr. K. C. Sivaramakrishnan*, * To be confirmed -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20071021/984bd6e0/attachment-0002.html From ava at inthefield.info Mon Oct 22 00:19:41 2007 From: ava at inthefield.info (Ava Bromberg) Date: Sun, 21 Oct 2007 11:49:41 -0700 Subject: [Urbanstudy] CFP: CRITICAL PLANNING, UCLA URBAN PLANNING JOURNAL: VOLUME 15, 2008 Message-ID: <471B9F45.2010103@inthefield.info> Dear Colleagues, Please forward to interested students, faculty, scholars, artists, activists, and practitioners of all sorts. For a pdf version of the call for papers, please see our website: www.spa.ucla.edu/critplan many thanks, Ava Bromberg Managing Editor, Critical Planning PhD Candidate, UCLA Urban Planning *** CRITICAL PLANNING UCLA Journal of Urban Planning CALL FOR PAPERS: Volume 15, Summer 2008 In honor of our 15th anniversary, this year's volume of Critical Planning is devoted to identifying and highlighting the most current critical approaches to urban theory, research and practice. We seek submissions that 1) address the challenges confronting the present and future of cities and regions in the U.S. and around the world and, 2) display an original and critical perspective on recent theoretical developments, policies and practices. We invite submissions from all disciplines as well as the use of various methodologies. We encourage cross-disciplinary, multi-scalar and mixed-method approaches. Critical Planning is a double-blind peer-reviewed publication. Feature articles are generally between 5,000 and 7,000 words, while shorter articles are between 1,000 and 3,000. All submissions should be written according to the standards of the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th Edition. Footnotes should be placed at the end of the document. Please double-space all parts of the manuscript and leave one-inch margins on all sides. Tables and images should be separated from the text. Images should be provided in .tif format, not exceeding a width of five inches and a resolution of 600 dpi (a width of 3000 pixels). Include a cover sheet with the article's title; the author's name, phone number, email address; and a two-sentence biographical statement. Please do not put identifying information (name or affiliation) anywhere but the cover sheet. Submissions will be accepted on a rolling basis. Feel free to contact us by email to discuss your ideas. Manuscripts should be submitted by 5pm on December 15, 2007 as .doc attachments via email to: critplan at ucla.edu and two hardcopies (postmarked by Dec. 15) should be mailed to: Critical Planning C/O Ava Bromberg, Managing Editor UCLA Department of Urban Planning School of Public Affairs 3250 Public Policy Building Los Angeles, CA 90095-1656 Email: critplan at ucla.edu Website: http://www.spa.ucla.edu/critplan/ For pdf version of call please see our website. From elkamath at yahoo.com Mon Oct 22 08:57:03 2007 From: elkamath at yahoo.com (lalitha kamath) Date: Sun, 21 Oct 2007 20:27:03 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Urbanstudy] interview of sheila dikshit in McKinsey Quuarterly Message-ID: <203104.60346.qm@web53605.mail.re2.yahoo.com> >From the Mckinsey Quarterly: Interview Creating a modern Indian city: An interview with Delhi’s chief minister Sheila Dikshit discusses the challenge of urban development in India. Shirish Sankhe Web exclusive, October 2007 Delhi is a rarity on the Indian landscape: a symbol of urban progress rather than urban decay. And for almost a decade, Sheila Dikshit has presided over the nation’s capital as its chief minister. Dikshit, nearing the end of an unprecedented second term, has helped guide an array of economic and political changes. Under her watch, the first phase of the Delhi Metro was completed on budget and on time—a feat heralded as belying the stereotype of the Indian government’s inefficiency. The second phase is on track to be completed in time for the Commonwealth Games, scheduled to take place in the city in 2010. Also during her tenure, power distribution has been privatized, pollution reduced, and green areas throughout the city increased. Students at government schools are performing better. In addition, Dikshit has attempted to lessen the tensions between the bureaucracy and citizens through an initiative that brings both sides together for regular discussions. Bhagidari, as it is called, has been held up as an international model of good governance. Yet Dikshit would be among the first to acknowledge that progress has not come fast enough or without snags. Delhi is straining under the weight of a vast and growing population. More than 13 million1 people live there, and half a million more move in every year. Decision making can be excruciatingly slow, especially since her administration shares authority in the city with elected municipal leaders and a lieutenant governor appointed by India’s president. Recently, Shirish Sankhe, a director in McKinsey’s Delhi office, met with Dikshit in her residence and discussed the challenges of urban development in India, as well as some of her successes. The Quarterly: Have India’s recent economic gains surprised you? Sheila Dikshit: I think we stopped being surprised a while back. There is a lot of confidence throughout India regarding Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s economic capabilities, his understanding of the Indian economy, and how you integrate the Indian economy into the world economy. It also helps that the government is growth oriented and is moving toward a more open economy. Many current policy makers understand economics and have tried to take the economy out of the shackles where everything had to be cleared by the government before anything could take place. People are feeling very comfortable with the growth. It’s amazing how the buoyancy comes in. You see it in art, you see it in culture, in our theater, in our films. And among the youth there is the recognition: I am proud of my country. They no longer feel they have to go abroad for better opportunities. They’re getting very good salaries here. SHIELA DIKSHIT Vital statistics Born March 31, 1938, in Kapurthala, Punjab Wife of the late Mr. Vinod Dikshit, a widely respected member of Indian Administrative Service, she has two children Education Received her MA in history from Miranda House, University of Delhi, after schooling at Convent of Jesus and Mary Career highlights Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Chief minister (1998–present) Government of India Union minister of state for parliamentary affairs (1986–89)Minister of state in prime minister’s office (1986–89)Member of Lower House of Parliament, representing Kannauj (1984–89) Fast facts Serves as secretary of Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust, which awards Indira Gandhi Prize for efforts in international peace Launched Stree Shakti in Delhi, a program which aims to empower women by providing employment training, financial aid, and access to health care and medicine Represented India on UN Commission on Status of Women (1984–89) The Quarterly: What can slow down India’s growth? Sheila Dikshit: We have people with outstanding and very innovative minds. This country is not short of wealth. This country is not short of skills. This country is not short of brains. What we lack, and I think what we always have lacked in this country, is effective management in the government. I can give you a very interesting example. Government schools in Delhi were performing very badly. The pass percentage on standardized tests was 35 to 37 percent. We looked into it and found that the government spent 900 rupees per child per month, while nongovernment schools, which were performing better, were spending a maximum of 700 to 800 rupees per child. We brought the teachers together and asked, “Obviously, you are the best paid, so why are you not delivering? What do we need to do to motivate you?” And when the teachers got motivated, children performed better. Today the pass percentage has risen to 82 percent, half a percentage point more than nongovernment schools. I can give you another example concerning the problem of exporting. There were 17 different forms that had to be filled out to export something. So we had a talk with the relevant authorities and said, “Please, let’s reduce this.” Other countries have 2 or 3 forms, and it’s done with. So they set up this committee, and when they came back with a solution, instead of 17 forms, 25 forms had to be filled out. So you see it’s the mind-set, especially in administration, that needs to be changed. We are addressing it, but I don’t think we are addressing it seriously enough. There is also a feeling of mistrust between government and nongovernment sectors. The bureaucrat always presumes that the person coming to him for help must be a crook, that he wants me to do something against the rules. But that poor person doesn’t know the rules. That fellow sitting across the table has come in for help or information, and he’s just wished away or told 100 reasons why he cannot be given what he wants. The Right to Information Act2 is helping by making things more transparent. When we started it in Delhi, we found a lot of skepticism about it. But now the people are starting to get used to that power. Also, I started an unusual program in Delhi called Bhagidari, which focuses on governance through partnership and received a best-practice award from the United Nations. Citizens’ groups and the government interact with each other every week or every month in little groups. We train the citizens in what governance is about, since not all of them understand governing institutions. And the bureaucrats come to understand citizens better, that a citizen comes to you only because he is in some distress or needs something. This coming together has helped us a lot. The Quarterly: Is social disparity becoming a bigger problem? Sheila Dikshit: Yes, social disparity is there, perhaps not as much in the cities, which attract migration, as in the divide felt between the agrarian areas and the cities. Growth seems to have ignited in services and industry, but in the beginning that growth was not paying much attention to agriculture. That aberration has now been corrected, and it will come naturally. I was in Himachal3 just about four weeks ago. One panchayat,4 which is the lowest level of government, told me that several years ago they were poverty stricken. They couldn’t get even two square meals a day. In the past three years they made nine crores5 exporting flowers. So they’re beginning to learn. Where the income of 60 to 80 families was virtually zero it came up to nine crores. They’ve tasted it. And there’s going to be no stopping them from becoming role models for the rest of the panchayat—year round. The Quarterly: How has Delhi changed during your two terms in office? Sheila Dikshit: If you look at the physical achievements, the infrastructure is much better, the power is much better, water is much better, and transport is better because of the Metro, although not terribly so. I would say it needs another two to three years to put it right. When I look at human development, I think Delhi has changed from a cynical city to a city of hope. And it attracts not just people who seek jobs but also culture now. Almost the entire television industry, for instance, is located in Delhi, whereas Bombay6 used to be the top city. That infrastructure—the dozens and dozens and dozens of flyovers that have come up, the underpasses that have come up—has attracted a lot of labor from outside. Meanwhile, those who were living here were not terribly interested in doing manual labor. So the labor came in, and those who are local have become better educated and are looking for jobs in the service sector. A bit more economic growth has meant more migration, and more migration has meant that we almost keep standing where we are. The Quarterly: Has infrastructure been able to keep pace with growth in the city? Sheila Dikshit: It is keeping pace now, but we should be ahead. The fact that we have been able to cater to the half million people coming into the city each year in everything except housing is the good point. The bad point is that it’s slow. For me, it’s not fast enough. With the technologies we have today, we should be able to build infrastructure much faster. Archaic systems and a great multiplicity of authorities in Delhi are slowing us down. You have the federal government. You have my government. You have the municipality. We are a state government without, for instance, the power of owning land. It’s a great problem. We have a lieutenant governor here representing the government of India, which no other state has. We work with our hands tied. It’s very unique. The Quarterly: Yet Delhi was able to complete the first phase of its subway on time and on budget. How do you explain that? Sheila Dikshit: First, there’s Sreedharan.7 He’s a good manager, a good conceptualizer, and a good implementer. You can have and you will probably have lots and lots of Sreedharans in India, but they are unable to get the kind of freedom he was given to operate. We gave him that space. For example, nothing that concerned the Metro was negotiable in a court of law, so it could not get stuck. Take land, for instance. Subways need land for stations, and you have to shift a lot of buildings, a lot of shops, and a lot of people. And when the Metro said, “We need land,” and we said, “All right, this land you will get.” And whatever else was reasonably asked for by them—for instance, not to pay excise, not to pay VAT,8 et cetera—we gave them that because it was important to complete this project. Also, to this day we have not taken a single person to the Metro and said, “Please employ him.” There was no pressure at all, and they were totally on their own. Now I can say to my other departments, if Mr. Sreedharan can do it, and if I promise I won’t interfere, you do it. It was important to make the Metro project a role model, so that others would feel that they could get projects done too. The Quarterly: Housing, especially low-income housing, has been less successful. Why? Sheila Dikshit: Part of the problem with housing stems from the strict land laws that we have, and the very strict, archaic usage of land. Go to any European country, and you’ll find a road and buildings right against the pavement. We say, if you have a plotted piece of land, set your building back 30 feet or 20 feet or whatever. These are luxuries which we cannot afford anymore—the FSI law, the FAR law, and all that.9 But what we are doing now, and what I hope to be able to complete before we go into the next election, is to bring in more housing for the poor. This means building 200,000-plus units for the poorer people. This could be a two-room tenement with a washroom for 2 lakh10 that would be subsidized. We will divide these tenements into communities that have their own little shopping area, a school, and little gardens in between. We’ll have to change some laws, and we are working on that. But that is not stopping me at least from starting to build the houses. I’m also very keen on what they call holding areas, which are kind of like dormitories, for migrant workers. The labor that comes in here could stay in those holding areas and go back to their villages if they want to. They do not own the place, but they do have the right to live there for a certain rent that can get transferred from mother to child and child to child. Unfortunately, the Indian political mind-set is still not able to accept this. It’s still not sinking in, but I want it to sink in and will keep on singing until my voice is heard. The Quarterly: How did public transportation in Delhi move to compressed natural gas (CNG) as an alternative-fuel source? Sheila Dikshit: In 2001 we were facing a very peculiar situation where the courts said to start using CNG, but there was no CNG available and no vehicles were prepared to use CNG. We spoke to all the bus producers in Delhi, all the scooter producers, car producers. All public transport would be on CNG. So the changes that had to be made in the vehicles’ mechanics were made. Then they would test it: could they go over flyovers? Would they be able to take the extreme weather we have—too much rain, too little rain, too hot, too cold, all that? We also had a massive publicity campaign. I personally went to each and every person I could reach out to, as many as I could, to tell them it was good for the common health. We also gave them an economic packet because a CNG bus costs more than a normal bus, even though the recurring expenses are less. Then for about eight months we had queues as long as five kilometers of people waiting for a cylinder of CNG. But there were no riots, and the people were patient. I am eternally grateful to the people of Delhi for having understood, and now they are reaping the benefits. But it wasn’t just the courts. I am a citizen before I am chief minister, and I’m going to remain a citizen. I grew up here, and I’ve seen this city suffer on account of a poor environmental record. In the past five years we’ve increased the green cover from 36 square kilometers to 350 square kilometers. Now we are growing 19 city forests of 10,000 to 20,000 trees. We also passed a law that says if you cut 1 tree, for whatever purpose, you plant 10 others somewhere else. It doesn’t matter where you do it, but you do it. The Quarterly: Is funding a critical constraint? Sheila Dikshit: No, funding is not a constraint. We have very good tax collection and have urged the people not to avoid taxes. We gave concessions where we thought we should, but we were also one of the first states to impose the VAT. Since things are happening here, the central government has been very kind to give us funds. So we are never short of funds. The Quarterly: How can other Indian cities follow Delhi’s example? Sheila Dikshit: They should be made into city-states,11 and we should start with five cities: Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, and so on. I am sure politically no one would agree with this, but I think administratively it would be good for the country’s development. Create city-states and give them the power to undertake development. They should not be under the state governments but rather under their own chief minister or chief administrator or whatever you want to call the position. They would collect their own revenues, maybe sharing a percentage with the other states. You have to develop your cities, especially if you’re envisaging that in the next 20 years 55 to 60 percent of India’s population will be urban. You just can’t do it with the same old administration where you’re dependent on various constituents for every penny. The Quarterly: Do you think Delhi can become a world-class city or, for instance, play host to the Olympics? Sheila Dikshit: That’s my dream. But one of the real problems we have is the density of the population. It’s one of the highest in the world. And there is a paucity of land. Every other city the size that we are has a hinterland to spread into. We don’t. We can only go higher. And that is not always easy, because we want to see the blue sky. But I am confident in the next eight or ten years that if we change people’s attitudes—make everybody proud of the fact it’s our city and we have to keep it clean and make it pollution free—we will do it. It will still take five or six years to put the city on a course on which it can’t go back. Today it can go back, but once it crosses the hump it can’t slide back. That hump has yet to be reached. We’re close, but we haven’t reached it. As for the Olympics, let us wait for the Commonwealth Games first. Then there would be not just the temptation to bid for the Olympics from our side but also a feeling in the world that Delhi could do it, that India could do it, and therefore deserves it. About the Author Shirish Sankhe is a director in McKinsey’s Mumbai office. Notes 1 Census of India 2001. 2 An act that allows citizens to secure access to information under the control of public authorities, with the goal of promoting transparency and accountability. 3 Himachal Pradesh is a state in northern India. 4 Village council. 5 Ninety million rupees, or about $2.2 million. 6 Mumbai. 7 E. Sreedharan, the managing director of Delhi Metro. 8 Value-added tax. 9 The Floor Space Index (FSI) and Floor Area Ratio (FAR) are among regulations that restrict land use on a given plot. 10 Two hundred thousand rupees, or about $5,000. 11 Delhi, as the national capital territory, is not part of a larger state, a unique position in India. The country’s other big cities are part of larger states that often use taxes raised in these cities for projects outside the urban areas. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20071021/2741121c/attachment-0002.html From estrangedstrings at gmail.com Mon Oct 22 10:30:52 2007 From: estrangedstrings at gmail.com (priyanka gupta) Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:30:52 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] Graffiti and kolkatascape; a discourse of conflicting rights, class and citizenship[2nd and third post] Message-ID: <23c04dc60710212200q689b7e07q4889e676842210e5@mail.gmail.com> Much has changed since my last post…lines have been drawn …opinions have changed…pages have turned… my research project started with certain blatant presumptions ,analysis of which now seems pertinent to construe the vicious collocation of rights that I had sought to explore previously. A] That scribbles on walls is a complete infringement of personal rights. Splashing colors on private walls is wrong. It tantamounts to sheer vandalism. It's a blow not only to our better aesthetic judgment but also to us as individuals and our space fiercely protected as intensely private and personal. the knell had its first echoes years back when my mother cowering with fear gave in to the Para goons signing a paper stating she has no objections to have her freshly painted walls smeared with colors to help save our party lords few seats.…. as I stood appalled and visibly perturbed I knew we were as helpless as our neighbors, to dare to appeal against this rampant abuse of political power.. However the paper had a clause that the party concerned would be as diligent about restoring the walls to its previous state as they had been in accosting us. And this went on year after year with our protest muffled in the clamor of loud speakers and rallies. our walls changed colors with years and sometimes if they are lucky enough they would be smeared with an ugly patch of lime was as a half forgotten symbol of truce for the next elections. Our inability to rouse ourselves to contingent actions against the concerned parties was as inexcusable as these elaborate rituals of the Maha elections. So complete neutrality in my approach in the research was a little hard to achieve. But after a series of interviews I was half bought into the idea that graffiti is an essential part of the political culture in Bengal and what is popularly conceived as an extension of Bengaliness. If the larger than life gigantic cut outs down south ubiquitous flags on the roofs on almost every house up north adds to the intensely complicated and wildly exciting disparate hues of Indian poetics then our humble walls cast in different colors did as well. In conversations… 'If somebody falls on the road in Delhi or Bombay nobody will pick him up but here dozens of men will rush to help. Our culture is a culture of sympathy.' The snippets of most of the interviews taken over the lat couple of months, revealed new aspects of Bengalines to me, fantastic insights of my city kolkata. Although my entire deduction for now rests on the perception of a chosen few yet they seem to encapsulate the way in which the city largely exists in our imagination. Kolkata…' the city of protest, the city of politics…' the city of sympathy' which would therefore bear graffiti in her arms with perfect élan, adding a stark shade to her brilliant hues. But it is also interesting to note that these ideas are always constructed in opposition to something….for example the city of protest typically stands in opposition or negation to the lack of it. The oft repeated self -congratulatory burden – the Gokhlaen dictum that we Bengalis have been carrying around for centuries is hammered hard through decades. The Bengali renaissance often deemed synonymous to the Indian renaissance where a new breed if intelligentsia a new clan of the 'Bhodrolok' was created, a class of intermediaries between those vested with political power and liberties and those who don't. Doomed to be pinioned in the interminate grayness of frustrated aspirations and thwarted egotism this class is created out of an ambiguous state of in-betweeness, created out of clerks and bureaucrats, doctors and lawyers trading degrees for social worth and prestige. This slowly disappearing Bhodrlok class stepping out of the giant corridors of presidency and Hindu college lingers in faint traces of careful observation of certain rituals certain ethos, fractured yet alive desperately maintained for the sole preservation of the nostalgia that is Bengaliness. Bengaliness as exists in our imagination is constructed out of stereotypes of Macher Jhol and Mishti Doi of Rabindro Sangeet and Satyajit Ray...Bengalis 'the intellectuals, the devoutly political' now stand at the crossroads of half forgotten fantasies and nostalgia that is bengaliness. Graffiti in Kolkata doesn't merely act is a potent and immediate form of political expression and propaganda but also as mark of essential difference. Difference constructed out of a faithful performance of a fantasy conjured for the creation and perpetuation of a self image distinct from the rest. The acceptability and legitimacy of graffiti can thus also be seen as one of the arbiters of the difference conjured. One can also see the roaring footsteps of the mighty state in this fantasy of difference. It is interesting to find the extent in which these ideas have now been normalized and echoed in fear and forced consent as can be seen among people countless like me and neighbors. A sharp divide thus naturally arises out of those who genuinely try and participate actively in the public / political domain using their walls as an emblem of their political participation and allegiances and those for whom coercion IS a reality. Walls bulletins of the masses? There is a change in the city, in its skies, in its breath as it is shoved now through the riven lines where life acquires a new dimension as we all now have become children of globalization. The bhodrolok now becomes a new brand of people with jobs which can be threatened by a minor upheaval somewhere in the US in a world where one can almost smell the stench of the next country in one's guts. A proximity ensured, accepted and understood as indispensable for a world order based on the creed of mutual cooperation for better trade prospects. Historical moves between countries are now initiated; agreements are breached between states to resolve political tensions in any part of the world which can threaten the precariously poised world on the perceived commonality of interests resting on the citadel of globalization. The middle class, a class defined by its consumption capacity, the mainbeneficiaries of the neo liberal reforms in the world of market economy based on fear and competition where class structures and limits are getting increasingly fluid,engendering a fragile sense of selfhood shattered further by this perceived threat of the mighty state through graffiti right into its very thresholds- its walls. Walls slipping out into the narrow space between individuals is set on the principle of acquisition and proprietorship, the infringement of which threatens the sanctity of the personal rights of the individual. Walls stand on the basic premise of exclusion and segregation, as a mark of difference from the others. They are used chiefly for containment, for distinction and for privation to sustain the impression of a mutually exclusive space within. The insidious operations of power can be seen in the way in which the legitimacy of the political rights of the parties exercised through wall writing remain unquestioned and unchallenged and deemed natural. If the political rights of the individual and various political parties seem to assume such a natural credence then why does a substantial half [if such segregation] can be achieved seem to view graffiti going against the very idea of the city perceived in today's context. This new breed of middle class almost stands as distinct from the post independence pre liberlisation, Nehruvian precept of self effacing, self abnegating class ,associated chiefly with the idea of community, family solidarity with a deep seated sense of communal and moral obligation. And thus the acceptance of graffiti in today's context seem quite problematic. In the later half of my project I would like to focus increasingly on this issue. The role of the media here is also important in the way in which this class and its interests are granted legitimacy. The city grinding through time The idea of the city, the way in which we perceive ourselves as individuals in both public and private domain have transformed radically over the years. Yes the city had changed and so have the people and incidentally so has the party which has been ruling us over the past three decades, Despite the anti incumbency factor. The change is reflected everywhere in i6ts spatial structure its dingy lanes its broad flyovers its closed shutters of local supermarkets to the glittering mirrorscapes of malls and the designer gods. From the bustling para to closed windows and high walls. from a pujo with larger than life idols and the deafening roar of drums and conch shells n to today's god's smaller than the brand lords flapping its wings in every Mandap standing tall and proud. A city of a state no longer 'the graveyard for industries', but graveyards for farmers instead. But then there is a change and it's everywhere. Hope and promise for a renewal stirs in the rusty cogs of our machines. The state has witnessed an unprecedented growth in reality. The growth in terms of per capita income till 2005 has been 5.72% as opposed to the national average of 5.2%. The annual report says the FDI in the fiscal 2005-06 was worth 119 million. The state has seen a massive growth in the educational system. The census report of 200 estimates west Bengal's literacy rate to be 6.9% as opposed to the national average of 6.5%. 'We are now at the transitional stage …agriculture alone cannot create new job opportunities and move the economy further. So it is imperative to move from agriculture to industry'. Buddhadeb Bhattacharya the man with a vision vision of booming industries, thriving retail and real estate with the loud jangle of foreign investment, vision of classical hubs and the foresight of Singur and Nandigram. The city has borne these visions in her arms and has felt the changes in her belly. To me it is a city of acute inbetweenenss almost a no city, confused and puzzled with its responsibilities and changing definitions. Rapid industrialization and market growth has spurred a new kind of urban growth ubiquitous and consistent. From new town, a project spread over 300 acres repeating the immense success of other planned cities like salt lake, nager bazaar. Areas to curb the unwanted encroachment of the fetid filth and squalor of the larger Calcutta, certain zones for certain people with cleaner streets, better drainage away from the clamor of slums,hawkers and trams. The morphology of the city is slowly evolving from a city which had once embraced massive infiltration of refugees post independence , migrant laborers, an all inclusive city now trying to segregate itself into zones for a select few. This sudden hastiness with Kolkata as a clean city with its multiplexes and malls exist at the exclusion of others. The notion of Kolkata as a global city now slowly emerges as it becomes the emblem of the new global economy with an increasing income divide. A planning structure adopted to benefit the thriving middle class. Concerted efforts have been made to clean up the city off its hawkers squatters and creating segregated exclusive units in an attempt to reclaim space for those deemed after legitimate and rightful constituents. The rapid urbanization the curious interpenetration of economy and government policies in smaller spatial units. The city and its spaces thus constitute an extremely arena for the articulation of these perceptions. The city thus acts as a commodity to promote the growing demands of the state in the new globalized economy. Walls for the masses: The word graffiti comes from the Italian word graffito which means to scribble/scrawl. It offered an easy accessible interactional space necessary for a peaceful coexistence in the society. For archeologists and epigraphologists they offer a useful insight into the social customs, attitudinal patterns and territoriality of the constituents of the community. The crucial delineation of space afforded by graffiti offers a separate domain for the assertion of active citizenship. >From ancient city walls of Pompei to sub ways of New York graffiti has come a long way. Right from the time where its origins can be traced, graffiti has always been an indispensable part of social expression. >From the advertisements of prostitutes to sexually explicit lines scrawled on public walls in ancient city Rome graffiti always seems to articulate the subliminal inexpressible desires and truths of humanity for the expression of the aberrant. Later it attained a more subversive dimension in opposition to the mainstream socio political culture in America of the 60's to the modern day freedom tunnel till it acquired legitimacy as a separate art form. In most of the countries in the west graffiti is and has been a cognizable offense and is deemed equivalent to vandalism and punished accordingly it is purported to go against sanctity of property rights. Splashes from Kolkata Graffiti in Kolkata was ushered typically as a left phenomenon essentially a part of a political subculture. Slowly it made its slow trepid incursion into all the spatial domains… varied yet ubiquitous. The 60 s witnessed a massive proliferation of wall writing in Kolkata and gained as a legitimate tool of political expression during the Naxalite era in opposition to the ruling congress. The left hadn't gained ground then and was a party with few resources and petty funds. Wall writing therefore seemed to be a potent tool to gain visibility more immediate and localized like graffiti. Armed with catchy slogans with easels made of branches chiseled from palm trees and tar they trooped down the streets with 'shogothito jonotar hate bonduker noli bipolober prodhan utso[citizens must be roused with guns in their hands for revolution]…..ringing in the air. And then the famous anti defacement law by Siddhartha Shankar Ray in a desperate attempt to muffle the dissenting voices of the naxalites and the moderate leftists. But the Anti Defacement Law[ the West Bengal prevention of defacement of property act,1976 though chiefly starting in west Bengal had never gained grounds at large till the election commissioner exhumed it in its full severity in the state during the 2006 elections. Graffiti has always been a collaborative attempt of the party workers. The presence of the party is explicitly projected with a certain image circulated among the masses through slogans and colors-a crucial and colorful way of making their presence felt. Like most of the other political practices graffiti also has a number of rituals surrounding it, one of them being occupation of walls. This elaborate preamble to the election process starts with the party cadres seizing walls popularly known as deyal dokhol. Here each party assumes absolute monopoly over certain walls for a certain number of years thereby demarcating their domain and establishing the spatial distribution of graffiti, a process adopted to establish a disciplined, structural uniformity, although does containing certain implicit connotations of political hegemony. In 2006, Bengal saw a colorless state election. After the strict directive issued by the election commissioner, unfazed and undeterred the ruling party CPIML as well as the parties in opposition came out with innovative techniques to lure the electorate through the use of electronic media, leaflets, rickshaw danglers, saris with party motifs all over it, banners, posters and an intense door to door campaigning. A budget of 6 lakh is normally allotted to each party. The total budget of 6 laksh normally allotted naturally saw a rise with the ban on wall writing, leading to various ingenuous reallocation of money for other means of propaganda. One of the many problems that I am trying to negotiate with in my research, is my inability to reach a conclusive closure as far as the collocation of the right to freedom of speech guaranteed by the constitution and individual right to property is concerned, which seem equally pressing as well in spite of its lack of constitutional validity as a fundamental right. The state control is implicated deep within the discourse of wall writing for the ways in which the private realm of the individual is seized and appropriated with laws amended to perpetuate the state's control thereby subordinating the rights and the legitimacy of plurality of existence. It also profoundly changes the spatial dynamics of the city by acutely problematising the definitive and well-articulated spheres of the public and the private, along with a curious overturning of spatial hierarchy, by the rampant appropriation of the state of any private as well as public space. It also shows the inherent contradictions embedded in the policies of the left desperate to negotiate its way through its staunchly conservative anti consumerist party edicts and the new pro market, liberal reforms effected by the government with increasing privatization and deregulation of economy, inviting foreign investments in its land and resources, pandering largely to the growing self-image of the upwardly mobile middle class. It also runs counter to the newly emergent notion of Kolkata as a global city on an international arena. The city becomes a symbolic arena of the struggle between the insistent claims of the market and the need to refashion the image of the city and the political needs of the party. Banning graffiti would be to deny the smaller parties with insufficient funds and smaller network a powerful tool guaranteeing visibility and legitimacy. The public political rights and needs of the individual will be muffled.so a rich closure seems a slightly hard to achieve... I -- Priyanka Gupta From estrangedstrings at gmail.com Mon Oct 22 10:41:47 2007 From: estrangedstrings at gmail.com (priyanka gupta) Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:41:47 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] Graffiti and kolkatascape; a discourse of conflicting rights, class and citizenship[2nd and third postings] Message-ID: <23c04dc60710212211s787fcfaeqfcb59a37766aa43e@mail.gmail.com> Much has changed since my last post…lines have been drawn …opinions have changed…pages have turned… my research project started with certain blatant presumptions ,analysis of which now seems pertinent to construe the vicious collocation of rights that I had sought to explore previously. A] That scribbles on walls is a complete infringement of personal rights. Splashing colors on private walls is wrong. It tantamounts to sheer vandalism. It's a blow not only to our better aesthetic judgment but also to us as individuals and our space fiercely protected as intensely private and personal. the knell had its first echoes years back when my mother cowering with fear gave in to the Para goons signing a paper stating she has no objections to have her freshly painted walls smeared with colors to help save our party lords few seats.…. as I stood appalled and visibly perturbed I knew we were as helpless as our neighbors, to dare to appeal against this rampant abuse of political power.. However the paper had a clause that the party concerned would be as diligent about restoring the walls to its previous state as they had been in accosting us. And this went on year after year with our protest muffled in the clamor of loud speakers and rallies. our walls changed colors with years and sometimes if they are lucky enough they would be smeared with an ugly patch of lime was as a half forgotten symbol of truce for the next elections. Our inability to rouse ourselves to contingent actions against the concerned parties was as inexcusable as these elaborate rituals of the Maha elections. So complete neutrality in my approach in the research was a little hard to achieve. But after a series of interviews I was half bought into the idea that graffiti is an essential part of the political culture in Bengal and what is popularly conceived as an extension of Bengaliness. If the larger than life gigantic cut outs down south ubiquitous flags on the roofs on almost every house up north adds to the intensely complicated and wildly exciting disparate hues of Indian poetics then our humble walls cast in different colors did as well. In conversations… 'If somebody falls on the road in Delhi or Bombay nobody will pick him up but here dozens of men will rush to help. Our culture is a culture of sympathy.' The snippets of most of the interviews taken over the lat couple of months, revealed new aspects of Bengalines to me, fantastic insights of my city kolkata. Although my entire deduction for now rests on the perception of a chosen few yet they seem to encapsulate the way in which the city largely exists in our imagination. Kolkata…' the city of protest, the city of politics…' the city of sympathy' which would therefore bear graffiti in her arms with perfect élan, adding a stark shade to her brilliant hues. But it is also interesting to note that these ideas are always constructed in opposition to something….for example the city of protest typically stands in opposition or negation to the lack of it. The oft repeated self -congratulatory burden – the Gokhlaen dictum that we Bengalis have been carrying around for centuries is hammered hard through decades. The Bengali renaissance often deemed synonymous to the Indian renaissance where a new breed if intelligentsia a new clan of the 'Bhodrolok' was created, a class of intermediaries between those vested with political power and liberties and those who don't. Doomed to be pinioned in the interminate grayness of frustrated aspirations and thwarted egotism this class is created out of an ambiguous state of in-betweeness, created out of clerks and bureaucrats, doctors and lawyers trading degrees for social worth and prestige. This slowly disappearing Bhodrlok class stepping out of the giant corridors of presidency and Hindu college lingers in faint traces of careful observation of certain rituals certain ethos, fractured yet alive desperately maintained for the sole preservation of the nostalgia that is Bengaliness. Bengaliness as exists in our imagination is constructed out of stereotypes of Macher Jhol and Mishti Doi of Rabindro Sangeet and Satyajit Ray...Bengalis 'the intellectuals, the devoutly political' now stand at the crossroads of half forgotten fantasies and nostalgia that is bengaliness. Graffiti in Kolkata doesn't merely act is a potent and immediate form of political expression and propaganda but also as mark of essential difference. Difference constructed out of a faithful performance of a fantasy conjured for the creation and perpetuation of a self image distinct from the rest. The acceptability and legitimacy of graffiti can thus also be seen as one of the arbiters of the difference conjured. One can also see the roaring footsteps of the mighty state in this fantasy of difference. It is interesting to find the extent in which these ideas have now been normalized and echoed in fear and forced consent as can be seen among people countless like me and neighbors. A sharp divide thus naturally arises out of those who genuinely try and participate actively in the public / political domain using their walls as an emblem of their political participation and allegiances and those for whom coercion IS a reality. Walls bulletins of the masses? There is a change in the city, in its skies, in its breath as it is shoved now through the riven lines where life acquires a new dimension as we all now have become children of globalization. The bhodrolok now becomes a new brand of people with jobs which can be threatened by a minor upheaval somewhere in the US in a world where one can almost smell the stench of the next country in one's guts. A proximity ensured, accepted and understood as indispensable for a world order based on the creed of mutual cooperation for better trade prospects. Historical moves between countries are now initiated; agreements are breached between states to resolve political tensions in any part of the world which can threaten the precariously poised world on the perceived commonality of interests resting on the citadel of globalization. The middle class, a class defined by its consumption capacity, the main beneficiaries of the neo liberal reforms in the world of market economy based on fear and competition where class structures and limits are getting increasingly fluid,engendering a fragile sense of selfhood shattered further by this perceived threat of the mighty state through graffiti right into its very thresholds- its walls. Walls slipping out into the narrow space between individuals is set on the principle of acquisition and proprietorship, the infringement of which threatens the sanctity of the personal rights of the individual. Walls stand on the basic premise of exclusion and segregation, as a mark of difference from the others. They are used chiefly for containment, for distinction and for privation to sustain the impression of a mutually exclusive space within. The insidious operations of power can be seen in the way in which the legitimacy of the political rights of the parties exercised through wall writing remain unquestioned and unchallenged and deemed natural. If the political rights of the individual and various political parties seem to assume such a natural credence then why does a substantial half [if such segregation] can be achieved seem to view graffiti going against the very idea of the city perceived in today's context. This new breed of middle class almost stands as distinct from the post independence pre liberlisation, Nehruvian precept of self effacing, self abnegating class ,associated chiefly with the idea of community, family solidarity with a deep seated sense of communal and moral obligation. And thus the acceptance of graffiti in today's context seem quite problematic. In the later half of my project I would like to focus increasingly on this issue. The role of the media here is also important in the way in which this class and its interests are granted legitimacy. The city grinding through time The idea of the city, the way in which we perceive ourselves as individuals in both public and private domain have transformed radically over the years. Yes the city had changed and so have the people and incidentally so has the party which has been ruling us over the past three decades, Despite the anti incumbency factor. The change is reflected everywhere in i6ts spatial structure its dingy lanes its broad flyovers its closed shutters of local supermarkets to the glittering mirrorscapes of malls and the designer gods. From the bustling para to closed windows and high walls. from a pujo with larger than life idols and the deafening roar of drums and conch shells n to today's god's smaller than the brand lords flapping its wings in every Mandap standing tall and proud. A city of a state no longer 'the graveyard for industries', but graveyards for farmers instead. But then there is a change and it's everywhere. Hope and promise for a renewal stirs in the rusty cogs of our machines. The state has witnessed an unprecedented growth in reality. The growth in terms of per capita income till 2005 has been 5.72% as opposed to the national average of 5.2%. The annual report says the FDI in the fiscal 2005-06 was worth 119 million. The state has seen a massive growth in the educational system. The census report of 200 estimates west Bengal's literacy rate to be 6.9% as opposed to the national average of 6.5%. 'We are now at the transitional stage …agriculture alone cannot create new job opportunities and move the economy further. So it is imperative to move from agriculture to industry'. Buddhadeb Bhattacharya the man with a vision vision of booming industries, thriving retail and real estate with the loud jangle of foreign investment, vision of classical hubs and the foresight of Singur and Nandigram. The city has borne these visions in her arms and has felt the changes in her belly. To me it is a city of acute inbetweenenss almost a no city, confused and puzzled with its responsibilities and changing definitions. Rapid industrialization and market growth has spurred a new kind of urban growth ubiquitous and consistent. From new town, a project spread over 300 acres repeating the immense success of other planned cities like salt lake, nager bazaar. Areas to curb the unwanted encroachment of the fetid filth and squalor of the larger Calcutta, certain zones for certain people with cleaner streets, better drainage away from the clamor of slums,hawkers and trams. The morphology of the city is slowly evolving from a city which had once embraced massive infiltration of refugees post independence , migrant laborers, an all inclusive city now trying to segregate itself into zones for a select few. This sudden hastiness with Kolkata as a clean city with its multiplexes and malls exist at the exclusion of others. The notion of Kolkata as a global city now slowly emerges as it becomes the emblem of the new global economy with an increasing income divide. A planning structure adopted to benefit the thriving middle class. Concerted efforts have been made to clean up the city off its hawkers squatters and creating segregated exclusive units in an attempt to reclaim space for those deemed after legitimate and rightful constituents. The rapid urbanization the curious interpenetration of economy and government policies in smaller spatial units. The city and its spaces thus constitute an extremely arena for the articulation of these perceptions. The city thus acts as a commodity to promote the growing demands of the state in the new globalized economy. Walls for the masses: The word graffiti comes from the Italian word graffito which means to scribble/scrawl. It offered an easy accessible interactional space necessary for a peaceful coexistence in the society. For archeologists and epigraphologists they offer a useful insight into the social customs, attitudinal patterns and territoriality of the constituents of the community. The crucial delineation of space afforded by graffiti offers a separate domain for the assertion of active citizenship. >From ancient city walls of Pompei to sub ways of New York graffiti has come a long way. Right from the time where its origins can be traced, graffiti has always been an indispensable part of social expression. >From the advertisements of prostitutes to sexually explicit lines scrawled on public walls in ancient city Rome graffiti always seems to articulate the subliminal inexpressible desires and truths of humanity for the expression of the aberrant. Later it attained a more subversive dimension in opposition to the mainstream socio political culture in America of the 60's to the modern day freedom tunnel till it acquired legitimacy as a separate art form. In most of the countries in the west graffiti is and has been a cognizable offense and is deemed equivalent to vandalism and punished accordingly it is purported to go against sanctity of property rights. Splashes from Kolkata Graffiti in Kolkata was ushered typically as a left phenomenon essentially a part of a political subculture. Slowly it made its slow trepid incursion into all the spatial domains… varied yet ubiquitous. The 60 s witnessed a massive proliferation of wall writing in Kolkata and gained as a legitimate tool of political expression during the Naxalite era in opposition to the ruling congress. The left hadn't gained ground then and was a party with few resources and petty funds. Wall writing therefore seemed to be a potent tool to gain visibility more immediate and localized like graffiti. Armed with catchy slogans with easels made of branches chiseled from palm trees and tar they trooped down the streets with 'shogothito jonotar hate bonduker noli bipolober prodhan utso[citizens must be roused with guns in their hands for revolution]…..ringing in the air. And then the famous anti defacement law by Siddhartha Shankar Ray in a desperate attempt to muffle the dissenting voices of the naxalites and the moderate leftists. But the Anti Defacement Law[ the West Bengal prevention of defacement of property act,1976 though chiefly starting in west Bengal had never gained grounds at large till the election commissioner exhumed it in its full severity in the state during the 2006 elections. Graffiti has always been a collaborative attempt of the party workers. The presence of the party is explicitly projected with a certain image circulated among the masses through slogans and colors-a crucial and colorful way of making their presence felt. Like most of the other political practices graffiti also has a number of rituals surrounding it, one of them being occupation of walls. This elaborate preamble to the election process starts with the party cadres seizing walls popularly known as deyal dokhol. Here each party assumes absolute monopoly over certain walls for a certain number of years thereby demarcating their domain and establishing the spatial distribution of graffiti, a process adopted to establish a disciplined, structural uniformity, although does containing certain implicit connotations of political hegemony. In 2006, Bengal saw a colorless state election. After the strict directive issued by the election commissioner, unfazed and undeterred the ruling party CPIML as well as the parties in opposition came out with innovative techniques to lure the electorate through the use of electronic media, leaflets, rickshaw danglers, saris with party motifs all over it, banners, posters and an intense door to door campaigning. A budget of 6 lakh is normally allotted to each party. The total budget of 6 laksh normally allotted naturally saw a rise with the ban on wall writing, leading to various ingenuous reallocation of money for other means of propaganda. One of the many problems that I am trying to negotiate with in my research, is my inability to reach a conclusive closure as far as the collocation of the right to freedom of speech guaranteed by the constitution and individual right to property is concerned, which seem equally pressing as well in spite of its lack of constitutional validity as a fundamental right. The state control is implicated deep within the discourse of wall writing for the ways in which the private realm of the individual is seized and appropriated with laws amended to perpetuate the state's control thereby subordinating the rights and the legitimacy of plurality of existence. It also profoundly changes the spatial dynamics of the city by acutely problematising the definitive and well-articulated spheres of the public and the private, along with a curious overturning of spatial hierarchy, by the rampant appropriation of the state of any private as well as public space. It also shows the inherent contradictions embedded in the policies of the left desperate to negotiate its way through its staunchly conservative anti consumerist party edicts and the new pro market, liberal reforms effected by the government with increasing privatization and deregulation of economy, inviting foreign investments in its land and resources, pandering largely to the growing self-image of the upwardly mobile middle class. It runs counter to the newly emergent notion of Kolkata as a global city on an international arena. The city thus becomes a symbolic arena of the struggle between the insistent claims of the market and the need to refashion the image of the city and the political needs of the party. Banning graffiti would be to deny the smaller parties with insufficient funds and smaller network a powerful tool guaranteeing visibility and legitimacy. The public political rights and needs of the individual will be muffled.So a rich closure is a little hard to achieve for now.... -- Priyanka Gupta From anilaemmanuel at gmail.com Mon Oct 22 12:59:19 2007 From: anilaemmanuel at gmail.com (anila emmanuel) Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:59:19 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] Ajalaa.. towards humane, world class cities. Message-ID: <59ead66c0710220029o6297ca45wadeceaf04143f9f4@mail.gmail.com> -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: application/defanged-7908 Size: 1 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20071022/b720fc2c/attachment-0002.bin -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Smt SHEILA DIXIT 22.10.07.doc Type: application/msword Size: 43520 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20071022/b720fc2c/attachment-0002.doc From mansilight at gmail.com Mon Oct 22 13:04:57 2007 From: mansilight at gmail.com (Meera (Mansi) Baindur) Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:04:57 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] posting 5: Lake chronicles Message-ID: <998c34570710220034p5cd7b4femb60714fbbd622d87@mail.gmail.com> Bodies engineered to perfection. Perfection is planned, never an accident. Every line curves in and out bounded while the, Empty innards of the lake lie naked, gaping at the sky. That soon clothed in fresh lifeless waters, People may gaze on the sky reflected in the still sterile waters There will be much to see, Much more to eat than fish or Bhel. Much more to see than water. Now we stare at the empty innards of the lake that lie naked, gaping at the sky. - Meera, the day the Hebbal lake was drained. The final interviews with people over the last few months are bringing our project to a close. As one of the final postings we bring you the reactions of people as the Hebbal Lake was being dredged. On our own side we were saddened to watch the water disappear and the physical structure of the lake being modified. Familiar paths banks and waterscapes were altered and as Sreeja aptly put it the lake was getting an amoeba – like. Some of the gates had been replaced by swank token gates but we were still using the side gate. Many visitors were not aware of any other change in the park area but the vendors outside knew. Inside the Hebbal lake Sreeja and Sowjanya talked to the contractor who was in charge of "Civil works" in the Lake. Contractor: Subramanyam, Kannadiga (interview notes) (Wearing Gold chain, gold rings, gold bracelet) He comes in the morning, oversees till 10, then comes back again n the evening to oversee the diesel. An engineer from Oberoi always around and sometimes he has to oversee requirements for the nights. He owns a JCB (poclain), 7 tipper Lorries, 3 small trucks. He also hired 6 JCBs, from Nellore, Gulbarga, who oversee their own work. He pays workers according to time wage, he has a 16 crores contract. A part of this is for a water filter (treatment) plant for the lake. He has spent12 lakhs for digging holes to drain the water. It took a month of draining, 24 hours each day. A motor was specifically installed for this purpose. There is a planned 50 meter walkway around the lake. He does not know what to do with extra soil coming up from the lake bed. He has been excavating at a depth of 3 feet. He felt that work might finish in a month and a half if it does not rain. On fishing he did not think the fishing would be allowed anymore. He estimated the whole expenditure to be around 30 crores. He pointed out that the Oberoi hotel was coming up on the Lake bank. He said that there were less than 50 people working and the island was being filled with mud. He was of the opinion that fish pollutes the water. So since so much is getting spent on purification of the lake he speculated that they will definitely not allow fishes. He estimated that since they were putting in so much money, they will make it up like Nagwara. Bhelwala: Tiger Khaja Building Demolisher He used to demolish buildings earlier. This was a risky job, sometimes buildings would collapses dangerously close, they had printed a visiting card for him by that name. He was also having a cloth business in Shivajinagar but sad he grew tired of it. He said his sons manage it now. He sells bhel on the service road near ring road entrance of the lake. He says he makes good amount of money. Better than building demolishing, he said as his hands still hurt from the previous times. If the Oberoi comes will they allow him to continue to sell Bhel? We ask. He thinks not. Since they are investing so much they won't allow him to be there. Then he might go back to building demolition or do something else. Watchman: Jaya Kumar and ticket booth attender. Working from a year, assuring that lake will have lot to see once they develop it…..the ticket seller said charge increased to 10 from 5 as so much investment is taking place. Automatic gates installed to zap ticket with bar code so that the security need not check the ticket. A group of young boys and girls practiced martial arts on the lawns oblivious to the violence of JCBs in front of them. We moved on to Nagvara for a visit. From leofsaldanha at gmail.com Thu Oct 25 07:04:55 2007 From: leofsaldanha at gmail.com (Leo Saldanha) Date: Thu, 25 Oct 2007 07:04:55 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] On business and caste in India Message-ID: <471FF2BF.3020900@gmail.com> Please find enclosed a note on an interesting study recently conducted on caste in India. Leo Saldanha http://economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9983028 On business and caste in India Oct 18th 2007 From /The Economist/ print edition India's labour divisions SIR -- Your briefing on business and caste in India claims there is "no strong evidence" that companies discriminate against /dalits/ and other members of the lower castes ("With reservations ", October 6th). Our two-year study, which we will soon present, found widespread discrimination against highly qualified low-caste individuals. We sent out 4,800 applications in response to advertisements for graduate jobs in Indian and multinational companies. These applicants bore distinctively upper-caste names, Muslim names and /dalit/ surnames, but were otherwise identical in educational qualifications and work experience. The odds of a /dalit/ being invited for an interview were about two-thirds of the odds of a high-caste applicant with the same qualifications. The odds of a Muslim applicant being invited to an interview were even worse: only one-third as often as the high-caste Hindu counterpart. The evidence is solid. Serious policies, coupled with an overhaul of India's education system, are required to overcome this pernicious form of social exclusion. Maybe then the widespread relegation to the bottom of the barrel of India's poorest castes will begin to diminish. Paul Attewell Professor of sociology City University of New York New York Katherine Newman Professor of sociology Princeton University Princeton, New Jersey -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20071025/d8335f50/attachment-0002.html From cugambetta at yahoo.com Sat Oct 27 00:30:40 2007 From: cugambetta at yahoo.com (Curt Gambetta) Date: Fri, 26 Oct 2007 12:00:40 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Urbanstudy] Fw: Lecture by Saskia Sassen: Sunday, 4th November 2007 Message-ID: <661049.44120.qm@web56808.mail.re3.yahoo.com> From: PUKAR To: cugambetta at yahoo.com Sent: Friday, October 26, 2007 12:44:35 PM Subject: Lecture by Saskia Sassen: Sunday, 4th November 2007 New Page 2 PUKAR is very pleased to host a lecture by Professor Saskia Sassen Lynd Professor of Sociology at Columbia University On The Global City: Power, Inequality & Politics Sunday, November 4, 2007 12 noon to 2:00 PM Venue: British Council Auditorium, C Wing, Second Floor, Mittal Tower, Nariman Point One of the most renowned Urban Sociologists of current times, Professor Saskia Sassen is often quoted for her landmark research on transnationalism, denationalization and impact of globalization on the movement of labour, capital and urban life. A prolific author and a sought-after speaker, Professor Sassen spent a decade at the University of Chicago and London School of Economics. Her recent books are Territory, Authority, Rights : From Medieval to Global Assemblages (Princeton University Press, 2006) and A Sociology of Globalization (Norton 2007). She has recently completed for UNESCO a five-year project on sustainable human settlements for which she set up reserachers and activists in 30 countries. It is published as one of the volumes of the Encyclopedia of Life Support Sysytems (Oxford, UK: ELOSS Publishers). Her books are traslated into 16 langauhges and she writes for newspapers and weeklies such as The Guradian, New York Times, Le Monde Diplomatique, Newsweek and Financial Times among others. PUKAR (Partners for Urban Knowledge Action and Research) Address:: 1-4, 2nd Floor, Kamanwala Chambers, Sir P. M. Road, Fort, Mumbai 400 001 Telephone:: +91 (22) 6574 8152 Fax:: +91 (22) 6664 0561 Email:: pukar at pukar.org.in Website:: www.pukar.org.in PUKAR is an innovative and experimental initiative that aims to contribute to a global debate about urbanization and globalization Change email address / Leave mailing list __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com DEFANGED.113569> ----- Forwarded Message ---- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20071026/e7c71fa8/attachment-0002.html From leofsaldanha at gmail.com Sat Oct 27 10:37:30 2007 From: leofsaldanha at gmail.com (Leo Saldanha) Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2007 10:37:30 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] =?windows-1252?q?=91Assault=92_on_environmentalist?= =?windows-1252?q?=22_and_=22NICE_workers_not_so_nice=22=5D?= Message-ID: <4722C792.5060005@gmail.com> Hi For those interested in the details of this attack, pl request a copy of my FIR and I will email the scans to you. I find this assault absolutely unbelievable, as it was based on contested notions of privatising the commons. Roads, as much as waterbodies, are commons and should always be. In this particular case, we were merely travellers on a highway that ESG has systematically opposed on environmental and social justice grounds. All our efforts have been peaceful and employing a range of campaign and litigation tactics. And, as it stands, the company in question does not have any rights to block access or employ private security forces to selectively target anyone. At no time have we made this issue personal in any manner. The response, as is to be expected, has almost always been personal. When one engages in such issues, one is aware these are the risks involved, and utilises whatever resources are at command to constantly clarify the purpose of a challenge. The media and police are major players in such causes, and of course the wider network of support. In this instant case we were attacked by the MD of M/s NICE. This is clearly an indication of the extent to which the law is taken for granted by corporate India. This is a growing menace in India, and we have not even started worrying about the implications of such forces. These types of violent attacks are bound to grow unless we collectively address such situations constantly, effectively and collectively. The violent attacks did not injure me critically. But that it was at all employed so brazenly and in the presence of police, is in fact a serious issue. Especially because it was used against a group which mainly consisted of women, and students (most being foreign nationals, who had no conception of what was going on till much later). Sincerely Leo Saldanha PS; The complaint provides an accurate description of what happened. It is to be expected that the press has to also carry what the company claims to be their version. Walter Fernandes wrote: > I condemn this attack > > Walter Fernandes > ----- Original Message ----- From: "ESG India" > To: "ECwatch" ; "Pucl" > ; "Invites" ; > "Pfaadb-Oc" ; "Bangaloresolidarity" > > Sent: Friday, October 26, 2007 2:39 PM > Subject: [invites] :‘Assault’ on environmentalist" and "NICE workers > not so nice" > > >> >> >> >> >> *Date:26/10/2007* *URL: >> http://www.thehindu.com/2007/10/26/stories/2007102664050400.htm* >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> >> Karnataka - Bangalore >> >> * ‘Assault’ on environmentalist * >> >> Staff Reporter >> >> BANGALORE: Leo Saldanha of thye Environment Support Group was assaulted >> allegedly by security personnel of Nandi Infrastructure Corridor >> Enterprises (NICE) on Thursday. >> >> Mr. Saldanha said that he was on a study tour with American students to >> explain to them the impact of urban growth on tanks and lakes when the >> security personnel got into an argument with him and beat him up. A >> complaint has been filed at the Talaghattapura police station, Bangalore >> Rural district. >> >> A NICE spokesperson, however, denied the allegations. He said that Mr. >> Saldanha and his team were asked to leave the area as they were blocking >> the road. >> >> “Villagers in the area whom Mr. Saldanha abused had beaten him up. We >> went there to rescue him,” he added. >> >> / / >> >> © Copyright 2000 - 2007 The Hindu >> >> >> http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Oct262007/city2007102632422.asp >> NICE workers not so nice >> >> DH News Service,Bangalore: >> >> >> >> Tense situation prevailed in front of Nandi Infrastructure Corridor >> Enterprise (NICE) office on peripheral ring road on Thursday evening. >> Some students and faculty members of Environment Support Group (ESG), >> led by its coordinator Leo Saldanha staged a snap protest alleging that >> NICE workers tried to assault faculty members and students when they >> were on a study trip. >> >> Police rushed to the spot and pacified the group. The incident did not >> affect the traffic flow in anyway and complaint and counter complaint >> were registered following the incident, Talaghattapura police said. >> ESG chief Leo Saldanha said that eight American students and a faculty >> member and two faculty members and two students, who were travelling in >> a tempo traveller and a car respectively, got down near the NICE office. >> The faculty members were explaining to the students, who were studying >> townships under a project entitled ‘Cities in 21st Century.’ The NICE >> workers objected. >> >> They misbehaved with a woman faculty and girl students besides using >> abusive language. There was no proper response from the police and >> Talaghattapura police, who came to the spot late, also behaved rudely, >> he claimed. >> NICE PRO Manjunath refuted the allegations. “It’s a private road. They >> did not take prior permission to study the project. Moreover, they >> parked the vehicles right in middle of the road hampering vehicular >> movement. Saldanha is a known opponent of NICE. None of the NICE workers >> either manhandled or misbehaved with woman faculty and girl students,” >> he added. >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Talaghattapura police station sub inspector Manjunath also refuted the >> charges of Saldanha. The police rushed to the spot as soon as they were >> informed about the incident, he said. >> >> >> >> >> Please ensure that this information is used. Share it widely... and >> ALWAYS check before you go. >> >> Ask others to join by sending a mail to >> invites-subscribe at yahoogroups.com >> Post your information directly to invites at yahoogroups.com (no >> attachments) >> >> Status:: 1 October 2007:: 2260 subscribers, 171 bouncing (most >> bounces: yahoo.com, yahoo.co.in, hotmail.com and rediffmail.com) >> Average 10 messages per day. >> >> And the yahooman says: >> Yahoo! Groups Links >> >> <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: >> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/invites/ >> >> <*> Your email settings: >> Individual Email | Traditional >> >> <*> To change settings online go to: >> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/invites/join >> (Yahoo! ID required) >> >> <*> To change settings via email: >> mailto:invites-digest at yahoogroups.com >> mailto:invites-fullfeatured at yahoogroups.com >> >> <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: >> invites-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com >> >> <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: >> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ >> > > > _______________________________________________ Pfaadb-oc mailing list Pfaadb-oc at asianpeoplesforum.net http://mail.asianpeoplesforum.net/mailman/listinfo/pfaadb-oc_asianpeoplesforum.net From sebydesiolim at hotmail.com Sat Oct 27 19:36:02 2007 From: sebydesiolim at hotmail.com (sebastian Rodrigues) Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2007 19:36:02 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] =?windows-1252?q?_RE=3A__=91Assault=92_on_environmen?= =?windows-1252?q?talist=22_and_=22NICE_workers_not_so_nice=22=5D?= In-Reply-To: <4722C792.5060005@gmail.com> References: <4722C792.5060005@gmail.com> Message-ID: Dear Leo, Please send me the copy of FIR. It is a trend all over India that we need to address on priority basis. Goa is getting into this corporate India trend too, too fast. We need to put together our forces quikly on this. I strongly condemn this assault on you and the student. In Solidarity, Seby

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> Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2007 10:37:30 +0530> From: leofsaldanha at gmail.com> To: urbanstudygroup at sarai.net> Subject: [Urbanstudy] ‘Assault’ on environmentalist" and "NICE workers not so nice"]> > > Hi> > For those interested in the details of this attack, pl request a copy of > my FIR and I will email the scans to you. > > I find this assault absolutely unbelievable, as it was based on > contested notions of privatising the commons. Roads, as much as > waterbodies, are commons and should always be. > > In this particular case, we were merely travellers on a highway that ESG > has systematically opposed on environmental and social justice grounds. > All our efforts have been peaceful and employing a range of campaign and > litigation tactics. And, as it stands, the company in question does > not have any rights to block access or employ private security forces to > selectively target anyone.> > At no time have we made this issue personal in any manner. The response, > as is to be expected, has almost always been personal. When one engages > in such issues, one is aware these are the risks involved, and utilises > whatever resources are at command to constantly clarify the purpose of a > challenge. The media and police are major players in such causes, and > of course the wider network of support.> > In this instant case we were attacked by the MD of M/s NICE. This is > clearly an indication of the extent to which the law is taken for > granted by corporate India. This is a growing menace in India, and we > have not even started worrying about the implications of such forces. > These types of violent attacks are bound to grow unless we collectively > address such situations constantly, effectively and collectively.> > The violent attacks did not injure me critically. But that it was at > all employed so brazenly and in the presence of police, is in fact a > serious issue. Especially because it was used against a group which > mainly consisted of women, and students (most being foreign nationals, > who had no conception of what was going on till much later).> > Sincerely> > Leo Saldanha> > PS; The complaint provides an accurate description of what happened. > It is to be expected that the press has to also carry what the company > claims to be their version.> > Walter Fernandes wrote:> > I condemn this attack> >> > Walter Fernandes> > ----- Original Message ----- From: "ESG India" > > To: "ECwatch" ; "Pucl" > > ; "Invites" ; > > "Pfaadb-Oc" ; "Bangaloresolidarity" > > > > Sent: Friday, October 26, 2007 2:39 PM> > Subject: [invites] :‘Assault’ on environmentalist" and "NICE workers > > not so nice"> >> >> >>> >>> >>> >>> >> *Date:26/10/2007* *URL:> >> http://www.thehindu.com/2007/10/26/stories/2007102664050400.htm*> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------> >>> >> Karnataka - Bangalore> >>> >> * ‘Assault’ on environmentalist *> >>> >> Staff Reporter> >>> >> BANGALORE: Leo Saldanha of thye Environment Support Group was assaulted> >> allegedly by security personnel of Nandi Infrastructure Corridor> >> Enterprises (NICE) on Thursday.> >>> >> Mr. Saldanha said that he was on a study tour with American students to> >> explain to them the impact of urban growth on tanks and lakes when the> >> security personnel got into an argument with him and beat him up. A> >> complaint has been filed at the Talaghattapura police station, Bangalore> >> Rural district.> >>> >> A NICE spokesperson, however, denied the allegations. He said that Mr.> >> Saldanha and his team were asked to leave the area as they were blocking> >> the road.> >>> >> “Villagers in the area whom Mr. Saldanha abused had beaten him up. We> >> went there to rescue him,” he added.> >>> >> / /> >>> >> © Copyright 2000 - 2007 The Hindu> >>> >>> >> http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Oct262007/city2007102632422.asp> >> NICE workers not so nice> >>> >> DH News Service,Bangalore:> >>> >>> >>> >> Tense situation prevailed in front of Nandi Infrastructure Corridor> >> Enterprise (NICE) office on peripheral ring road on Thursday evening.> >> Some students and faculty members of Environment Support Group (ESG),> >> led by its coordinator Leo Saldanha staged a snap protest alleging that> >> NICE workers tried to assault faculty members and students when they> >> were on a study trip.> >>> >> Police rushed to the spot and pacified the group. The incident did not> >> affect the traffic flow in anyway and complaint and counter complaint> >> were registered following the incident, Talaghattapura police said.> >> ESG chief Leo Saldanha said that eight American students and a faculty> >> member and two faculty members and two students, who were travelling in> >> a tempo traveller and a car respectively, got down near the NICE office.> >> The faculty members were explaining to the students, who were studying> >> townships under a project entitled ‘Cities in 21st Century.’ The NICE> >> workers objected.> >>> >> They misbehaved with a woman faculty and girl students besides using> >> abusive language. There was no proper response from the police and> >> Talaghattapura police, who came to the spot late, also behaved rudely,> >> he claimed.> >> NICE PRO Manjunath refuted the allegations. “It’s a private road. They> >> did not take prior permission to study the project. Moreover, they> >> parked the vehicles right in middle of the road hampering vehicular> >> movement. Saldanha is a known opponent of NICE. None of the NICE workers> >> either manhandled or misbehaved with woman faculty and girl students,”> >> he added.> >>> >>> >> > >>> >>> >>> >> Talaghattapura police station sub inspector Manjunath also refuted the> >> charges of Saldanha. The police rushed to the spot as soon as they were> >> informed about the incident, he said.> >>> >>> >>> >>> >> Please ensure that this information is used. Share it widely... and> >> ALWAYS check before you go.> >>> >> Ask others to join by sending a mail to > >> invites-subscribe at yahoogroups.com> >> Post your information directly to invites at yahoogroups.com (no > >> attachments)> >>> >> Status:: 1 October 2007:: 2260 subscribers, 171 bouncing (most > >> bounces: yahoo.com, yahoo.co.in, hotmail.com and rediffmail.com)> >> Average 10 messages per day.> >>> >> And the yahooman says:> >> Yahoo! Groups Links> >>> >> <*> To visit your group on the web, go to:> >> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/invites/> >>> >> <*> Your email settings:> >> Individual Email | Traditional> >>> >> <*> To change settings online go to:> >> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/invites/join> >> (Yahoo! ID required)> >>> >> <*> To change settings via email:> >> mailto:invites-digest at yahoogroups.com> >> mailto:invites-fullfeatured at yahoogroups.com> >>> >> <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:> >> invites-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com> >>> >> <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:> >> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> >>> >> >> >> > > _______________________________________________> Pfaadb-oc mailing list> Pfaadb-oc at asianpeoplesforum.net> http://mail.asianpeoplesforum.net/mailman/listinfo/pfaadb-oc_asianpeoplesforum.net> > > > _______________________________________________> Urbanstudygroup mailing list> Urban Study Group: Reading the South Asian City> > To subscribe or browse the Urban Study Group archives, please visit https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/urbanstudygroup _________________________________________________________________ Call friends with PC-to-PC calling -- FREE http://get.live.com/messenger/overview -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20071027/d8bf0ea9/attachment-0002.html From leofsaldanha at gmail.com Sat Oct 27 22:32:18 2007 From: leofsaldanha at gmail.com (Leo Saldanha) Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2007 22:32:18 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] =?windows-1252?q?=91Assault=92_on_environmentalist?= =?windows-1252?q?=22_and_=22NICE_workers_not_so_nice=22=5D?= In-Reply-To: References: <4722C792.5060005@gmail.com> Message-ID: <47236F1A.9000609@gmail.com> Hi Sebastian thanks for your words of support. The FIR scans and some pictures are online at: *http://esgindia.org/campaigns/bmic/bmic.html Leo * sebastian Rodrigues wrote: > Dear Leo, > > Please send me the copy of FIR. It is a trend all over India that we > need to address on priority basis. Goa is getting into this corporate > India trend too, too fast. We need to put together our forces quikly > on this. I strongly condemn this assault on you and the student. > > In Solidarity, > Seby > >

>

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> > > Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2007 10:37:30 +0530 > > From: leofsaldanha at gmail.com > > To: urbanstudygroup at sarai.net > > Subject: [Urbanstudy] ‘Assault’ on environmentalist" and "NICE > workers not so nice"] > > > > > > Hi > > > > For those interested in the details of this attack, pl request a > copy of > > my FIR and I will email the scans to you. > > > > I find this assault absolutely unbelievable, as it was based on > > contested notions of privatising the commons. Roads, as much as > > waterbodies, are commons and should always be. > > > > In this particular case, we were merely travellers on a highway that > ESG > > has systematically opposed on environmental and social justice grounds. > > All our efforts have been peaceful and employing a range of campaign > and > > litigation tactics. And, as it stands, the company in question does > > not have any rights to block access or employ private security > forces to > > selectively target anyone. > > > > At no time have we made this issue personal in any manner. The > response, > > as is to be expected, has almost always been personal. When one engages > > in such issues, one is aware these are the risks involved, and utilises > > whatever resources are at command to constantly clarify the purpose > of a > > challenge. The media and police are major players in such causes, and > > of course the wider network of support. > > > > In this instant case we were attacked by the MD of M/s NICE. This is > > clearly an indication of the extent to which the law is taken for > > granted by corporate India. This is a growing menace in India, and we > > have not even started worrying about the implications of such forces. > > These types of violent attacks are bound to grow unless we collectively > > address such situations constantly, effectively and collectively. > > > > The violent attacks did not injure me critically. But that it was at > > all employed so brazenly and in the presence of police, is in fact a > > serious issue. Especially because it was used against a group which > > mainly consisted of women, and students (most being foreign nationals, > > who had no conception of what was going on till much later). > > > > Sincerely > > > > Leo Saldanha > > > > PS; The complaint provides an accurate description of what happened. > > It is to be expected that the press has to also carry what the company > > claims to be their version. > > > > Walter Fernandes wrote: > > > I condemn this attack > > > > > > Walter Fernandes > > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "ESG India" > > > To: "ECwatch" ; "Pucl" > > > ; "Invites" ; > > > "Pfaadb-Oc" ; "Bangaloresolidarity" > > > > > > Sent: Friday, October 26, 2007 2:39 PM > > > Subject: [invites] :‘Assault’ on environmentalist" and "NICE workers > > > not so nice" > > > > > > > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> *Date:26/10/2007* *URL: > > >> http://www.thehindu.com/2007/10/26/stories/2007102664050400.htm* > > >> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > >> > > >> Karnataka - > Bangalore > > >> > > >> * ‘Assault’ on environmentalist * > > >> > > >> Staff Reporter > > >> > > >> BANGALORE: Leo Saldanha of thye Environment Support Group was > assaulted > > >> allegedly by security personnel of Nandi Infrastructure Corridor > > >> Enterprises (NICE) on Thursday. > > >> > > >> Mr. Saldanha said that he was on a study tour with American > students to > > >> explain to them the impact of urban growth on tanks and lakes > when the > > >> security personnel got into an argument with him and beat him up. A > > >> complaint has been filed at the Talaghattapura police station, > Bangalore > > >> Rural district. > > >> > > >> A NICE spokesperson, however, denied the allegations. He said > that Mr. > > >> Saldanha and his team were asked to leave the area as they were > blocking > > >> the road. > > >> > > >> “Villagers in the area whom Mr. Saldanha abused had beaten him up. We > > >> went there to rescue him,” he added. > > >> > > >> / / > > >> > > >> © Copyright 2000 - 2007 The Hindu > > >> > > >> > > >> http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Oct262007/city2007102632422.asp > > >> NICE workers not so nice > > >> > > >> DH News Service,Bangalore: > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> Tense situation prevailed in front of Nandi Infrastructure Corridor > > >> Enterprise (NICE) office on peripheral ring road on Thursday evening. > > >> Some students and faculty members of Environment Support Group (ESG), > > >> led by its coordinator Leo Saldanha staged a snap protest > alleging that > > >> NICE workers tried to assault faculty members and students when they > > >> were on a study trip. > > >> > > >> Police rushed to the spot and pacified the group. The incident > did not > > >> affect the traffic flow in anyway and complaint and counter complaint > > >> were registered following the incident, Talaghattapura police said. > > >> ESG chief Leo Saldanha said that eight American students and a > faculty > > >> member and two faculty members and two students, who were > travelling in > > >> a tempo traveller and a car respectively, got down near the NICE > office. > > >> The faculty members were explaining to the students, who were > studying > > >> townships under a project entitled ‘Cities in 21st Century.’ The NICE > > >> workers objected. > > >> > > >> They misbehaved with a woman faculty and girl students besides using > > >> abusive language. There was no proper response from the police and > > >> Talaghattapura police, who came to the spot late, also behaved > rudely, > > >> he claimed. > > >> NICE PRO Manjunath refuted the allegations. “It’s a private road. > They > > >> did not take prior permission to study the project. Moreover, they > > >> parked the vehicles right in middle of the road hampering vehicular > > >> movement. Saldanha is a known opponent of NICE. None of the NICE > workers > > >> either manhandled or misbehaved with woman faculty and girl > students,” > > >> he added. > > >> > > >> > > >> > > > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> Talaghattapura police station sub inspector Manjunath also > refuted the > > >> charges of Saldanha. The police rushed to the spot as soon as > they were > > >> informed about the incident, he said. > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> Please ensure that this information is used. Share it widely... and > > >> ALWAYS check before you go. > > >> > > >> Ask others to join by sending a mail to > > >> invites-subscribe at yahoogroups.com > > >> Post your information directly to invites at yahoogroups.com (no > > >> attachments) > > >> > > >> Status:: 1 October 2007:: 2260 subscribers, 171 bouncing (most > > >> bounces: yahoo.com, yahoo.co.in, hotmail.com and rediffmail.com) > > >> Average 10 messages per day. > > >> > > >> And the yahooman says: > > >> Yahoo! Groups Links > > >> > > >> <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: > > >> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/invites/ > > >> > > >> <*> Your email settings: > > >> Individual Email | Traditional > > >> > > >> <*> To change settings online go to: > > >> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/invites/join > > >> (Yahoo! ID required) > > >> > > >> <*> To change settings via email: > > >> mailto:invites-digest at yahoogroups.com > > >> mailto:invites-fullfeatured at yahoogroups.com > > >> > > >> <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > > >> invites-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com > > >> > > >> <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: > > >> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > >> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Pfaadb-oc mailing list > > Pfaadb-oc at asianpeoplesforum.net > > > http://mail.asianpeoplesforum.net/mailman/listinfo/pfaadb-oc_asianpeoplesforum.net > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Urbanstudygroup mailing list > > Urban Study Group: Reading the South Asian City > > > > To subscribe or browse the Urban Study Group archives, please visit > https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/urbanstudygroup > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Call friends with PC-to-PC calling -- FREE Try it now! > From cugambetta at yahoo.com Sat Oct 27 23:21:04 2007 From: cugambetta at yahoo.com (Curt Gambetta) Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2007 10:51:04 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Urbanstudy] Fw: CAMP Mumbai Launch Event Message-ID: <427657.37064.qm@web56804.mail.re3.yahoo.com> From: shaina anand To: info at camputer.org Sent: Saturday, October 27, 2007 10:09:48 AM Subject: CAMP Mumbai Launch Event Announcing the Launch Event of CAMP, Mumbai. Friday, November 2, 2007. 6:00 pm. at Jnanapravaha, 3rd floor Queens mansion, (opp. new Chemould), G. Talwatkar Marg Fort, Mumbai.-1 CAMP is a new city-based initiative around art, media and technology practices, in collaboration with the Khoj International Artists Association. www.camputer.org CAMP's founding members are: Shaina Anand, filmmaker, artist and media activist, founder of www.chitrakarkhana.net Sanjay Bhangar, who trained in indymedia and urban studies, now works as an independent web developer and technology writer. Ashok Sukumaran, who trained as an architect and artist, and now develops speculative technical and conceptual projects. http://0ut.in The evening consists of an extended screening-cum-talk by the CAMP initiators, as an introduction to the context, politics and practices that CAMP will promote. This includes a discussion of Chitrakarkhana's ongoing work with alternative cable TV and CCTV systems, a social history of the internet in Bombay as told by Sanjay Bhangar, and Ashok Sukumaran's recent projects around electrical redistribution, and design. They will also discuss the CAMP program for this year, and invite participation in various forms. The program will be interrupted by refreshments. ______________ About CAMP: CAMP is a platform to organise, and then to do, things that are critical, egalitarian and inspirational, within the city. It seeks to promote such artistic and media practices that build interfaces between themselves and urban activities at various scales. This project is being undertaken with a broad shared experience (among CAMP members, its advisors and peers) of the "digital moment" of the past decade. CAMP promises bold interpretations of current socio-economic and technology contexts, and their various micro-political implications. CAMP will begin its relationship with various Mumbai publics through 'weekends', fortnightly events that look intensively at specific histories, futures, and areas of multi-disciplinary collaboration. For example there are planned weekends around the history of broadcast as an artistic medium, on the art market, on building technological "confidence", on censorship, on local-area networks, on various kinds of maps, rooftop "real-estate" surveys and so on, mostly with an orientation towards practitioners and projects. While CAMP is beginning with such small-scale activities, it also seeds two long term projects: a) New Documentary: On the future of the documentary image, in times of video's material abundance.To produce, receive and redistribute video by adopting a range of existing technigues and technologies. This is related to chitrakarkhana's ongoing work, and will address a range of artistic, ethical and pragmatic questions around video. b) On Design: on what "making things for others" means now, when you- and i- can both seemingly contribute. The project will engage with questions of "participation" and of how knowledge moves across different forms, through institutional and pedagogic interventions into the broad field of activity presently known as Design. And finally, on its name: CAMP has various possible "backronyms", a large number in fact. This came from our inability to claim a singular identity within a field of ideas, to say that this and not that, is what will actually happen with CAMP. For more see www.camputer.org/?acronyms=many -- chitrakarkhana.net __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com DEFANGED.2268> ----- Forwarded Message ---- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20071027/6a56c7ef/attachment-0004.html -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup/attachments/20071027/6a56c7ef/attachment-0005.html From bdasgupta at gmail.com Sun Oct 28 06:06:15 2007 From: bdasgupta at gmail.com (Bhaskar Dasgupta) Date: Sun, 28 Oct 2007 01:36:15 +0100 Subject: [Urbanstudy] rural urban divide on schooling Message-ID: I came across this rather interesting paper and have posted extracts on my blog. Happy to share the paper if you send me a direct post (for copywrite reasons, I can't post it on this list). http://dailysalty.blogspot.com/2007/10/difference-between-rural-urban.html -------------------------- Bhaskar Dasgupta http://dailysalty.blogspot.com/ (for shorter daily comments) http://piquancy.blogspot.com/ (for longer weekly essays) --------------------------- From leofsaldanha at gmail.com Tue Oct 30 05:52:47 2007 From: leofsaldanha at gmail.com (Leo Saldanha) Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2007 05:52:47 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] Mumbai City briefs Message-ID: <47267957.9050006@gmail.com> * From The Economist, Mumbai City Guide, Nov 07 News this month* AFP AFP *Planes and slums don't mix* *Moving out* A Mumbai developer, Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL), has won a contract to resettle people living in *slums on the edge of Mumbai's international airport*. As many as 80,000 families live crammed onto 276 acres, which belong to the airport and might otherwise be used to help it expand. HDIL is to build new homes into which the slumdwellers can be moved, freeing up land for development. The government will allow those who can prove that they have lived in the slum since before 2000 to qualify for resettlement (those who arrived later will have to fend for themselves). The resettlement is expected to take about two years. *Disgraceful* Four *cricket fans* were evicted from a stadium in Mumbai for taunting Andrew Symonds, an Australian cricketer of mixed race, with racist abuse. The spectators were caught on camera making offensive gestures as Mr Symonds walked out to bat during a one-day match on October 17th. Not the first incident to mar Australia’s tour of India, the antics were censured by Malcolm Speed, the head of the International Cricket Council, the game’s governing body. Sharad Pawar, chairman of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, has promised to investigate the incident. *River or sewer?* Federal and state authorities are locked in disagreement over the funds needed to clean up Mumbai’s *Mithi river*. The 9.7 billion-rupee ($240m) project was started in March 2006 after it was discovered that encroachments on the river were largely to blame for the floods that devastated the city in July 2005. Federal officials had promised to supply around one-third of the costs from an urban-renewal fund. But they now say that since the Mithi is technically a river, and not a sewer, the state of Maharashtra must seek the funds needed for its clean-up from the water-resources ministry. State officials counter that whatever its status the Mithi is very much an open sewer into which Mumbai’s waste is emptied, and so should qualify for urban-renewal funding. From kalakamra at gmail.com Tue Oct 30 12:23:12 2007 From: kalakamra at gmail.com (shaina a) Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2007 12:23:12 +0530 Subject: [Urbanstudy] CAMP Mumbai on FRIDAY Message-ID: <33eee40c0710292353u4b4f52abnfa58b64ff0949627@mail.gmail.com> Dear readers, The usual apologies for cross-posting. Announcing the launch of CAMP Friday, November 2, 2007. 6:00 pm. at Jnanapravaha, 3rd floor Queens mansion, (opp. new Chemould), G. Talwatkar Marg Fort, Mumbai.-1 CAMP is a new city-based initiative around art, media and technology practices, in collaboration with the Khoj International Artists Association. www.camputer.org CAMP's founding members are: Shaina Anand, filmmaker, artist and media activist, founder of www.chitrakarkhana.net Sanjay Bhangar, who trained in indymedia and urban studies, now works as an independent web developer and technology writer. Ashok Sukumaran, who trained as an architect and artist, and now develops speculative technical and conceptual projects. http://0ut.in The evening consists of an extended screening-cum-talk by the CAMP initiators, as an introduction to the context, politics and practices that CAMP will promote. This includes a discussion of Chitrakarkhana's ongoing work with alternative cable TV and CCTV systems, a social history of the internet in Bombay as told by Sanjay Bhangar, and Ashok Sukumaran's recent projects around electrical redistribution, and design. They will also discuss the CAMP program for this year, and invite participation in various forms. The program will be interrupted by refreshments. ______________ About CAMP: CAMP is a platform to organise, and then to do, things that are critical, egalitarian and inspirational, within the city. It seeks to promote such artistic and media practices that build interfaces between themselves and urban activities at various scales. This project is being undertaken with a broad shared experience (among CAMP members, its advisors and peers) of the "digital moment" of the past decade. CAMP promises bold interpretations of current socio-economic and technology contexts, and their various micro-political implications. CAMP will begin its relationship with various Mumbai publics through 'weekends', fortnightly events that look intensively at specific histories, futures, and areas of multi-disciplinary collaboration. For example there are planned weekends around the history of broadcast as an artistic medium, on the art market, on building technological "confidence", on censorship, on local-area networks, on various kinds of maps, rooftop "real-estate" surveys and so on, mostly with an orientation towards practitioners and projects. While CAMP is beginning with such small-scale activities, it also seeds two long term projects: a) New Documentary: On the future of the documentary image, in times of video's material abundance.To produce, receive and redistribute video by adopting a range of existing technigues and technologies. This is related to chitrakarkhana's ongoing work, and will address a range of artistic, ethical and pragmatic questions around video. b) On Design: on what "making things for others" means now, when you- and i- can both seemingly contribute. The project will engage with questions of "participation" and of how knowledge moves across different forms, through institutional and pedagogic interventions into the broad field of activity presently known as Design. And finally, on its name: CAMP has various possible "backronyms", a large number in fact. This came from our inability to claim a singular identity within a field of ideas, to say that this and not that, is what will actually happen with CAMP. For more see www.camputer.org/?acronyms=many -- chitrakarkhana.net camputer.org