Thursday, June 30, 2011

CfAs: Lok Sabha Internship Programme 2011

PARLIAMENT OF INDIA, LOK SABHA SECRETARIAT
(Bureau of Parliamentary Studies and Training)

LOK SABHA INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME

Applications are invited in the prescribed format for five Internship Positions for a one-year Internship Programme in the Lok Sabha. The Internship Programme is aimed to provide an opportunity to young men and women with outstanding academic and extracurricular achievements to acquaint themselves with the working of parliamentary democracy and democratic institutions in general and specifically about the Indian parliamentary system. The Programme also aims at imparting requisite skills and knowledge to enable the Interns to develop a proper perspective about the role of Legislature in the parliamentary system which, in turn, would help them while working in their own chosen fields in future.

Duration: The duration of the Internship Programme will be one year.

Eligibility:
Age:
The Internship shall be open to Indian citizens between 21 and 28 years of age as on 31st December 2011.
Qualifications: The applicant should have completed a two-year Post-Graduate Degree from a recognised Indian or Foreign University with 55% marks in any of the areas/disciplines such as Social Sciences, Law, Journalism, Finance, Management, etc.
 
The applicant should submit a recommendation letter from the Principal of College/Head of the Institution he/she last attended or is enrolled in to pursue higher studies along with the completed application form. The applicant must also submit a brief statement in 250 words which should inter alia state why he/she intends to join the Internship Programme; his/her career goals; and how the Internship will help him/her in achieving those goals. The short listed applicants will be called to appear for an Interview.

Reservation for Candidates belonging to SC, ST and OBC: Reservation of Internship positions belonging to the category of SC, ST and OBC will be made as per Government of India policy. Candidates belonging to the above categories should attach requisite certificate in support of their claim issued by the Competent Authority.

Stipend and Other Facilities: The Interns will be paid a consolidated stipend of Rs. 20,000/- per month during the Internship period. In addition, a sum of Rs. 10,000/- shall be given as a one-time expenditure towards stationery and typing expenses. Expenses on accommodation, travelling, etc. shall be borne by the Interns themselves.

The selected Interns will have to sign a Memorandum of Undertaking and conditions attached thereto separately. The Lok Sabha Secretariat shall have all right to cancel the Internship awarded to any Intern, without stating any reason, during the course of the Programme at any point of time. The Lok Sabha Secretariat shall issue a Certificate to the Interns on the successful completion of the Internship Programme.

The completed application in the enclosed format should reach the Additional Director, Bureau of Parliamentary Studies and Training (BPST), Lok Sabha Secretariat, Room No. F-077, 'J' Block, Parliament Library Building, New Delhi-110001, latest by 15 July 2011.

Further Details

"Knowledge Swaraj: An Indian Manifesto on Science and Technology" by Knowledge in Civil Society

Knowledge Swaraj: An Indian Manifesto on Science and Technology

by Knowledge in Civil Society (KICS), India

This is a HindSwaraj-inspired document for the 21t Century. It asks what "self-rule (swaraj) for India" can mean, one century after Mohandas Gandhi wrote his manifesto for an independent India on board a ship from Europe to Africa. Swaraj today in the 21st century has to include the important domain of self-rule in science and technology too. If Mahatma Gandhi gave prominence to science and technology in the form of law, medicine and railways in the original Hind Swaraj, for the 21st century we see on centre stage: biotechnologies, tribal knowledge, space technology, hand-loom, information and communication technologies, and ayurvedic medicine. This Indian Manifesto on Science and Technology argues for Indian self-rule of its science and technology, for a knowledge democracy that draws its agenda for research and technology on the richness of Indian culture and the needs of the Indian people. more...

Download Full-text PDF http://kicsforum.net/kics/kicsmatters/Knowledge-swaraj-an-Indian-S&T-manifesto.pdf

KICS welcomes comments on manifesto at scienceswaraj@gmail.com

CfAs:: Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral and Professional Research Fellowships

Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral and Professional Research Fellowships

These research fellowships, for a maximum period of nine months, are designed for scholars who are registered for a Ph.D. at an Indian institution and also for professionals with significant work experience and accomplishments.

Applications from all disciplines will be considered. Priority fields are: Agricultural Sciences; Economics; Education; Energy, Sustainable Development and Climate Change; Environment; International Relations; Management and Leadership Development; Media and Communications with focus on Public Service Broadcasting; Public Administration; Public Health; Science and Technology; Study of India with focus on contemporary issues; and Study of the United States. For Study of India or the Study of the United States (American Studies) the areas could include: language and literature, history, government, economics, society and culture, religion, and film studies.

Grant Benefits
These fellowships provide a monthly stipend, Accident and Sickness Program for Exchanges per US Government guidelines, round-trip economy class air travel, applicable allowances and modest affiliation fees, if any. Selected scholars will have opportunities to audit non-degree courses, conduct research and gain practical work experience in suitable settings in the US. No allowances are provided for dependents. The grant is not sufficient to support family members.

Eligibility Requirements

In addition to the General Prerequisites, the applicants:
* who are working on their Ph.D.s should have done adequate research in the relevant field, especially in the identification of resources in India and the U.S. They should be registered for their Ph.D.s at an Indian institution at least one year prior to the date of application and should enclose a certificate from their Ph.D. supervisor commenting on their research work and the usefulness of the fellowship, and indicating the Ph.D. registration date;
  • who are professionals should have a master's degree and substantive professional experience in the proposed field;
  • should apply through proper channel, if employed;
  • should enclose a 'writing sample' which could be a copy of an article or paper published/presented or extracts from the M.Phil. thesis; and
  • should preferably be 45 years of age or under

Note: These fellowships are for pre-doctoral level research. Applications from scholars/professionals with Ph.D. degrees or at the final stage of thesis submission will not be considered.

How to Apply
Please refer to Application Procedure and Guidelines and download Application Material:

Application Due Date: July 15, 2011

Sunday, June 26, 2011

LSE releases "Maximizing the Impacts of Your Research: A Handbook for Social Scientists"

Maximizing the Impacts of Your Research: A Handbook for Social Scientists
 
by  The London School of Economics, Public Policy Group, 2011

 
About this Handbook
There are few academics who are interested in doing research that simply has no influence on anyone else in academia or outside. Some perhaps will be content to produce 'shelf-bending' work that goes into a library (included in a published journal or book), and then over the next decades ever-so-slightly bends the shelf it sits on. But we believe that they are in a small minority. The whole point of social science research is to achieve academic impact by advancing your discipline, and (where possible) by having some positive influence also on external audiences – in business, government, the media or civil society.
For the past year a team of academics based at the London School of Economics, the University of Leeds and Imperial College have been working on a 'Research Impacts' project aimed at developing precise methods for measuring and evaluating the impact of research in the public sphere. We believe the our data will be of interest to all UK universities how to better capture and track the impacts of their social science research and applications work.
Part of our task is to develop guidance for colleagues interested in this field. In the past, there has been no one source of systematic advice on how to maximize the academic impacts of your research in terms of citations and other measures of influence. And almost no sources at all have helped researchers to achieve greater visibility and impacts with audiences outside the university. Instead researchers have had to rely on informal knowledge and picking up random hints and tips here and there from colleagues, and from their own personal experience.
This Handbook remedies this key gap and opens the door to researchers achieving a more professional and focused approach to their research from the outset. It provides a large menu of sound and evidence-based advice and guidance on how to ensure that your work achieves its maximum visibility and influence with both academic and external audiences. As with any menu, readers need to pick and choose the elements that are relevant for them. We provide detailed information on what constitutes good practice in expanding the impact of social science research. We also survey a wide range of new developments, new tools and new techniques that can help make sense of a rapidly changing field.
We hope that this Handbook will be of immediate practical value for academics, lead researchers, research staff, academic mentors, research lab leaders, chairs and research directors of academic departments, and administrative staff assisting researchers or faculty team leaders in their work.
 

Australia India Institute Emerging Leaders Fellowships 2011-2012

Australia India Institute Emerging Leaders Fellowships 2011-2012

The Australia India Institute, based at the University of Melbourne, is offering a series of 8 week residential fellowships to emerging leaders from India from a variety of fields including media, the arts, academia, the civil service and public life.

The AII encourages distinguished mid-career Indian professionals, who have already demonstrated excellence in their chosen professions, to apply for these Fellowships.

The Fellowships are for truly exceptional individuals who are expected to occupy leadership positions in India in the future.

The Fellowship programme allows time for quiet reflection as well as stimulating interaction with peers in an idyllic University environment. Melbourne has been consistently rated as amongst the most liveable cities in the world and the University of Melbourne is ranked in the top 40 universities of the world.

The Fellows will be expected to deliver a public lecture on a subject of international significance and produce an extended essay of approximately 5,000 words on the same theme, which will be published and widely disseminated by the Institute. Fellows are free to choose any theme, but it is expected that the topic would be of interest to policy audiences in India and Australia.

The Fellowship includes airfares, residential accommodation, office space and a payment of $10,000 (AUD).  Fellows will be housed in a self-contained studio apartment in the University of Melbourne and will be provided office space in the Australia India Institute's premises.

The Fellows are also expected to contribute to the regular programme of the Australia India Institute and it is envisioned that their presence will enrich the Institute and the University of Melbourne. The Australia India Institute will endeavour to customise each Fellowship to maximise interaction with peers across Australia. The Fellows should expect to travel interstate once or twice during their tenure at the University of Melbourne.

The Australia India Institute was launched in Delhi in 2009 by the then Australian Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard and it has recently appointed Professor Amitabh Mattoo as the Director. The Australia India Institute was established to contribute to greater understanding, cooperation and partnership between India and Australia.  In 2010, the Australia India Institute provided grants of nearly one million dollars to collaborative research projects between India and Australia. The Australia India Institute sees itself as a bridge between nations by creating strong academic, professional and cultural links.

How to Apply:
* Download and complete the Application Form* Secure three references. Include at least one academic reference.
* Prepare a 400 word statement identifying the theme of the public lecture and essay, and why this topic was chosen.
* Prepare a detailed Curriculum Vitae.

Scan the Application Form, attach the references, the CV, and the 400-word statement and email as an attachment to aii-fellowships@unimelb.edu.au  by Monday 11 July 2011, 4PM (EST). The selection will be made by a specially constituted jury and successful applicants will be notified by 1 August 2011.  Only electronic applications will be accepted.

Further Details

National Essay Competition on Abundant Foodgrain Stocks, Ample Foreign Exchange Reserves and Poverty...

Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, GoI

announces

National Essay Competition

Topic of the essay
"Abundant Foodgrain Stocks, Ample Foreign Exchange Reserves and Poverty: Addressing the Challenges of India's Development Story"

Last Date of Submission: 31st August 2011

Who Can Participate?
The Competition is open to students who are registered for Ph D/ M.Phil/ Master Course and any undergraduate course in any university or deemed university in India. The participants must submit an attested copy of their student Identity Card along with the essay. The participant must also send a certificate from the Head of the Institution certifying that the candidate is a bonafide student of the university.

Prizes
The Department of Economic Affairs would honour the winners of the competition as under;
 First prize: 1,00,000/-
 Two second prizes: 50,000/- each
The written submissions may be sent to either as hard copy to the following address:
 Director(IES)
 Room no 59, North Block,
 Department of Economic Affairs,
 Ministry of Finance
 New Delhi
 Or in electronic format to ies.essay@nic.in
Length of the essay: The essay shall be no longer than 3000 words.


Rules and Guidelines of the National Essay Competition: http://finmin.nic.in/the_ministry/dept_eco_affairs/ies/Rules_Guideline_Essay_Comp.pdf

Monday, June 20, 2011

Roadmap Draft of Centre for Media Research, JNU

Centre for Media Research, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University

Considering the very significant space media occupies in contemporary Indian life, the study of media requires all the analytical rigour that can be brought into it. It provides both information and ideas across time and space, and the conceptual tools to process them. The influence of the information and ideas flowing from the media is far-reaching, and perhaps materially and conceptually instrumental in the creation of the frames of understanding within which we live our lives. This is true of all media that surrounds us; the more traditional forms of print, television, film and radio, and the newer ones dealing with computers and the internet.

The twin-fold project of research and pedagogy in the area of media in India is a complex enterprise, that needs to keep multiple factors in focus. A meeting was held on the 24th of March, 2011, at JNU under the chairmanship of the Hon'ble Vice-Chancellor. It  discussed the planned Centre for Media Research at JNU, pointing to the significant research issues in Indian media, and bringing forward the concerns, in the current environment, that any informed engagement with an understanding of media must take into account.

  • Media plays a very important part in a democracy, being part of the fabric of decision-making in the public sphere. Both mainstream and alternate points of view come to us through the media.  A centre of study for media in contemporary India needs to have a critical-analytical focus, in order to be able interrogate each kind of approach on its own merits.

  •  This would also be in keeping with the tradition in JNU to conduct high-quality critical-analytical research.

  • The central problem in the field of media studies in India is that it is viewed as a vocational field. Concomitantly, research in the field tends to be both descriptive and fragmented. So while there exist excellent centres to learn specific praxis-oriented skills, there is no centre of higher learning in the country that approaches the study of media from an analytical point of view, with a focus on original research.

  • The very factors that make media a watchdog of democracy, are also those that make it vulnerable to cooption by various interests that compete for a good word in the ears of the consuming world. Therefore it is necessary and important to conduct empirical and text-based studies of the multiple factors that influence the production, dissemination, and consumption of media. This could range from micro-studies about news stories, to macro-studies about the multiple factors that influence the narrative. The Centre was advised to focus on meta analysis rather than on skill-based journalism.

  • A centre such as the proposed CMR at JNU should be able to train people to conduct research in these fields, and hence has to focus on the learning of methodologies and theoretical orientations that can be used to conduct research in the area.

  • The actors, institutions and networks that make up the media exist in a complex web of interests and competing understandings of the role of human beings as the co- producers and co-receivers of communication in the world. These have to be studied, not just as cases or individual practices, but as larger patterns across regional, national and international barriers. The capacity to conduct comparative studies in the media is necessary for any centre for inquiry into media processes and outcomes.

  • Media is a vibrant field of research internationally, and understandings of media's role in, response to, and effects on the world are being thought and written about in cultures and contexts across the globe. CMR should engage with these frameworks of understanding from around the world, in order to draw from them theoretical approaches, methodological innovations and informational comparison points. All these kinds of knowledge are necessary.

  • Because media is a subject of such immediate concern, it is sometimes easy to forget that the study of media needs a sense of historicity. Communication, and the use of media to communicate have been around a very long time. Contemporary understandings of media need to be placed in this historical-theoretical context. It is important that CMR keep this in mind, both in terms of teaching and the designing of syllabus, and research goals.

  • The study of media has used concepts, theories, methodologies and methods from fields such as communication, sociology, anthropology, linguistics and psychology, among others. The study of media in India should keep this in mind, and draw on all these fields, as well as others that would seem relevant in the Indian context. The balance of humanities and social science approaches is important, as is the ability to flexibly use the methods and toolkits of related fields. Interdisciplinarity should be an important feature of the study of the media, and such collaborations could take place within JNU, with other schools and centres, such as sociology or languages.

  • Areas specifically pointed to for study include: Ideology and journalism; Traditional media; Understanding the role of technology in media; Understanding the role of policy in media; The ethics of media; Media and state policy; A series of studies on the role of class, caste, gender and nation, as they play out in the media;  media and science; media and sports; Electronic media: blogging,  social networking, and the entertainment industry.

  • The study of communication/s is regarded as a macro-field from which the study of media  draws materially. Orientations and approaches used in the field of communication also cross over into the study of the media. CMR at JNU would need to draw from these orientations and approaches, used in the field of communication/s

  • This connection is considered to be close enough that there were two suggestions for renaming the proposed CMR – 'Centre for Media and Communications Research' (CMCR), and 'Centre for Media and Mass Communication' (CMMC). The latter was judged to suggest too narrow a focus, for a proposed centre taking a critical-analytical approach to the study of media.

  • An important task CMR could take on would be to build an archive or documentation unit on media related research in India. The area is very fragmented in this country, and no one has had the wherewithal or scholarly orientation to gather together existent work in the area, archive it, and make it available to scholars in this and other fields. Considering the newness of the field in India, it would be a good idea to start such an exercise now, and have it grow over the years.

  • Should also look for sources of external funding, to support various activities. Possible funders would possibly be interested in different aspects of CMR interest, so for example, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting may be interested in funding a particular kind of project, while projects investigating the role of technology in media would have other funders. It may take a while to build capacity to the point that external projects can be solicited.

  • In terms of timeline, take time to build resources and capacity, could start in 2012.

  • Later, as resources permit, it could: (a) start a working paper series; (b) Initiate a journal, setting certain standards; (c) Conduct short-term workshops on specific aspects of the study of media; (d) provide fellowships and grants to individuals to study aspects of the media, with written deliverables.

  • Students of this centre could be drawn from master's programmes in parallel fields like sociology, anthropology, linguistics, psychology and communication, depending on the degree of their interest in the field of media. Individuals who have been working in media could also apply for the M.Phil-Ph.D. programme. Students from other areas like science and technology could also apply, but would be accepted into the programme based on their level of knowledge of and interest in media. This would be gauged on the basis of an entrance examination.

  • The Centre can begin with a direct Ph.D. admission in 2012. One year professional experience in journalism may be given preference.
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Sunday, June 19, 2011

Launching INDIALICS (Indian Network for Learning about Innovation and Competence Building Systems) during International Seminar on Innovation, Sustainability and Development at NISTADS; June 28-30

International Seminar on Innovation, Sustainability and Development

June 28-30, 2011

Organised by:

NISTADS, New Delhi; Centre for Development Studies (CDS), Trivandrum; and STEPS Centre, University of Sussex, UK

Venue: Conference Hall, NISTADS, New Delhi, India

NISTADS, New Delhi; Centre for Development Studies (CDS), Trivandrum and STEPS Centre, University of Sussex, UK invite you to participate in the International Seminar on Innovation, Sustainability and Development to be held from June 28-30, 2011 in NISTADS Delhi in India. All of you are well aware about the Prime Ministerial declaration on the current decade as the decade for innovation, and the Government's strong policy thrust on innovation for inclusive growth. This seminar will provide a structured process for undertaking the state of the art thinking on the theme of innovation and sustainable development to the Indian policy makers, civil society, scientific and technological communities and users in all spheres. Through this seminar we wish to propose that the thinking on innovation should go beyond growth in India. In the past the innovation making processes have revealed insufficient concern about sustainability and development within the contents of S&T and development policy.

In this seminar we also wish to take advantage of the network under development in the name of INDIALICS (Indian Network for Learning about Innovation and Competence Building Systems) as a part of the international Global Network of Economics of Learning, Innovation and competence Building Systems (GLOBELICS). This network would be launched in the concluding session of this seminar. The proposed platform of INDIALICS and the seminar planned by NISTADS in collaboration with CDS and STEPS on innovation, sustainability and development are a step in the direction to find out not only where we stand with regard to the thinking within the community of practitioners of innovation but also a platform for interaction with them to propose solutions on these concerns in the area of implementation of innovation.

We believe that the initiatives being proposed on governance of innovation activity in India should be widely discussed among the academics, S&T leaders, civil society organizations and policy makers. Academic and policy developments in this sphere at the international and national level have also intensified. Innovation surveys, acts and policies, mechanisms for governance and manifestos are being formulated, conducted and implemented. Conventional approaches of translating research results in to innovation are clearly inadequate. Actors involved with innovative activities are dispersed entities and demand efforts for the establishment of appropriate mechanisms for governance.

The organizers wish to contribute through this conference to the development of proper understanding and address the challenge of sustainability and development in innovation. Based on the inputs that we will receive in this conference we propose to put out ultimately a report on the state of thinking on innovation in India as a key deliverable. See the enclosed tentative programme.

Contact for Further Details:

Dinesh Abrol, Sr. Scientist, NISTADS, New Delhi

Email dinesh.abrol@gmail.com, rajeswari.raina@gmail.com. Mobile +91-9868242691.


Tentative Programme

বর্ষার চিঠি : রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর

বর্ষার চিঠি : রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর
সুহৃদ্‌বর, আপনি তো সিন্ধুদেশের মরুভূমির মধ্যে বাস করছেন। সেই অনাবৃষ্টির দেশে বসে একবার কলকাতার বাদলাটা কল্পনা করুন।

এবারকার চিঠিতে আপনাকে কেবল বাংলার বর্ষাটা স্মরণ করিয়ে দিলুম— আপনি বসে বসে ভাবুন। ভরা পুকুর, আমবাগান, ভিজে কাক ও আষাঢ়ে গল্প মনে করুন। আর যদি গঙ্গার তীর মনে পড়ে, তবে সেই স্রোতের উপর মেঘের ছায়া, জলের উপর জলবিন্দুর নৃত্য, ওপারের বনের শিয়রে মেঘের উপর মেঘের ঘটা, মেঘের তলে অশথগাছের মধ্যে শিবের দ্বাদশ মন্দির স্মরণ করুন। মনে করুন পিছল ঘাটে ভিজে ঘোমটায় বধূ জল তুলছে; বাঁশঝাড়ের তলা দিয়ে, পাঠশাল ও গয়লাবাড়ির সামনে দিয়ে সংকীর্ণ পথে ভিজতে ভিজতে জলের কলস নিয়ে তারা ঘরে ফিরে যাচ্ছে; খুঁটিতে বাঁধা গোরু গোয়ালে যাবার জন্যে হাম্বারবে চিৎকার করছে; আর মনে করুন, বিস্তীর্ণ মাঠে তরঙ্গায়িত শস্যের উপর পা ফেলে ফেলে বৃষ্টিধারা দূর থেকে কেমন ধীরে ধীরে চলে আসছে; প্রথমে মাঠের সীমান্তস্থিত মেঘের মতো আমবাগান, তার পরে এক-একটি করে বাঁশঝাড়, এক-একটি করে কুটির, এক-একটি করে গ্রাম বর্ষার শুভ্র আঁচলের আড়ালে ঝাপসা হয়ে মিলিয়ে আসছে, কুটিরের দুয়ারে বসে ছোটো ছোটো মেয়েরা হাততালি দিয়ে ডাকছে 'আয় বৃষ্টি হেনে, ছাগল দেব মেনে'— অবশেষে বর্ষা আপনার জালের মধ্যে সমস্ত মাঠ, সমস্ত বন, সমস্ত গ্রাম ঘিরে ফেলেছে; কেবল অবিশ্রান্ত বৃষ্টি— বাঁশঝাড়ে, আমবাগানে, কুঁড়ে ঘরে, নদীর জলে, নৌকোর হালের নিকটে আসীন গুটিসুটি জড়োসড়ো কম্বলমোড়া মাঝির মাথায় অবিশ্রাম ঝরঝর বৃষ্টি পড়ছে। আর কলকাতায় বৃষ্টি পড়ছে আহিরিটোলায়, কাঁশারিপাড়ায়, টেরিটির বাজারে, বড়বাজারে, শোভাবাজারে, হরিকৃষ্ণর গলি, মতিকৃষ্ণর গলি, রামকৃষ্ণর গলিতে, জিগ্‌জ্যাগ্‌ লেনে— খোলার চালে, কোঠার ছাতে, দোকানে, ট্রামের গাড়িতে, ছ্যাকরা গাড়ির গাড়োয়ানের মাথায় ইত্যাদি।

কিন্তু আজকাল ব্যাঙ ডাকে না কেন? আমি কলকাতার কথা বলছি। ছেলেবেলায় মেঘের ঘটা হলেই ব্যাঙের ডাক শুনতুম— কিন্তু আজকাল পাশ্চাত্য সভ্যতা এল, সার্বভৌমিকতা এবং 'ঊনবিংশ শতাব্দী' এল, পোলিটিকল্‌ অ্যাজিটেশন, খোলা ভাঁটি এবং স্বায়ত্তশাসন এল, কিন্তু ব্যাঙ গেল কোথায়? হায় হায়, কোথায় ব্যাস বশিষ্ঠ, কোথায় গৌতম শাক্যসিংহ, কোথায় ব্যাঙের ডাক!

ছেলেবেলায় যেমন বর্ষা দেখতেম, তেমন ঘনিয়ে বর্ষাও এখন হয় না। বর্ষার তেমন সমারোহ নেই যেন, বর্ষা এখন যেন ইকনমিতে মন দিয়েছে— নমোনমো করে জল ছিটিয়ে চলে যায়— কেবল খানিকটা কাদা, খানিকটা ছাঁট, খানিকটা অসুবিধে মাত্র— একখানা ছেঁড়া ছাতা ও চীনে বাজারের জুতোয় বর্ষা কাটানো যায়— কিন্তু আগেকার মতো সে বজ্র বিদ্যুৎ বৃষ্টি বাতাসের মাতামাতি দেখি নে। আগেকার বর্ষার একটা নৃত্য ও গান ছিল, একটা ছন্দ ও তাল ছিল— এখন যেন প্রকৃতির বর্ষার মধ্যেও বয়স প্রবেশ করেছে, হিসাব কিতাব ও ভাবনা ঢুকেছে, শ্লেষ্মা শঙ্কা ও সাবধানের প্রাদুর্ভাব হয়েছে। লোকে বলছে, সে আমারই বয়সের দোষ।

তা হবে! সকল বয়সেরই একটা কাল আছে,আমার সে বয়স গেছে হয়তো। যৌবনের যেমন বসন্ত, বার্ধক্যের যেমন শরৎ, বাল্যকালের তেমনি বর্ষা। ছেলেবেলায় আমরা যেমন গৃহ ভালোবাসি এমন আর কোনো কালেই নয়। বর্ষাকাল ঘরে থাকবার কাল, কল্পনা করবার কাল, গল্প শোনবার কাল,ভাইবোনে মিলে খেলা করবার কাল। বর্ষার অন্ধকারের মধ্যে অসম্ভব উপকথাগুলো কেমন যেন সত্যি হয়ে দাঁড়ায়। ঘনবৃষ্টিধারার আবরণে পৃথিবীর আপিসের কাজগুলো সমস্ত ঢাকা পড়ে যায়। রাস্তায় পথিক কম, ভিড় কম, হাটে ঘাটে কাজের লোকের ঘোরতর ব্যস্ত ভাব আর দেখা যায় না— ঘরে ঘরে দ্বাররুদ্ধ, দোকানপসারের উপর আচ্ছাদন পড়েছে— উদরানলের ইস্টিম প্রভাবে মনুষ্যসমাজ যে রকম হাঁসফাঁস ক'রে কাজ করে সেই হাঁসফাঁসানি বর্ষাকালে চোখে পড়ে না এইজন্যে মনুষ্যসমাজের সাংসারিক আবর্তের বাইরে বসে উপকথাগুলিকে সহজেই সত্য মনে করা যায়, কেউ তার ব্যাঘাত করে না। বিশেষত মেঘ বৃষ্টি বিদ্যুতের মধ্যে উপকথার উপকরণ আছে যেন। যেমন মেঘ ও বৃষ্টিধারা আবরণের কাজ করে— তেমনি বৃষ্টির ক্রমিক একঘেয়ে শব্দও একপ্রকার আবরণ। আমরা আপনার মনে যখন থাকি তখন অনেক কথা বিশ্বাস করি— তখন আমরা নির্বোধ, আমরা পাগল, আমরা শিশু; সংসারের সংস্রবে আসলেই তবে আমরা সম্ভব-অসম্ভব বিচার করি, আমাদের বুদ্ধি জেগে ওঠে, আমাদের বয়স ফিরে পাই। আমরা অবসর পেলেই আপনার সঙ্গে পাগলামি করি, আপনাকে নিয়ে খেলা করি— তাতে আমাদের কেউ পাগল বলে না, শিশু বলে না— সংসারের সঙ্গে পাগলামি বা খেলা করলেই আমাদের নাম খারাপ হয়ে যায়। একটু ভেবে দেখলেই দেখা যায় বুদ্ধি বিচার তর্ক বা চিন্তার শৃঙ্খলা— এ আমাদের সহজ ভাব নয়, এ আমাদের যেন সংসারে বেরোবার আপিসের কাপড়— দ্বিতীয় ব্যক্তির সঙ্গে দেখা করবার সময়েই তার আবশ্যক— আপনার ঘরে এলেই ছেড়ে ফেলি। আমরা স্বভাব-শিশু, স্বভাব-পাগল, বুদ্ধিমান সেজে সংসারে বিচরণ করি। আমরা আপনার মনে বসে যা ভাবি— অলক্ষ্যে আমাদের মনের উপর অহরহ যে-সকল চিন্তা ভিড় করে— সেগুলো যদি কোনো উপায়ে প্রকাশ পেত! সংসারের একটু সাড়া পেয়েছি কী, একটু পায়ের শব্দ শুনেছি কী অমনি চকিতের মধ্যে বেশ পরিবর্তন করে নিই— এত দ্রুত যে আমরা নিজেও এ পরিবর্তনপ্রণালী দেখতে পাই নে! তাই বলছিলেম যদি কোনোমতে আমরা আপনার মনে থাকতে পাই তা হলে আমরা অনেক অসম্ভবকে বিশ্বাস করতে পারি। সেইজন্যে গভীর অন্ধকার রাত্রে যা সম্ভব বলে বোধ হয় দিনের আলোতে তার অনেকগুলি কোনোমতে সম্ভব বোধ হয় না— কিন্তু এমনি আমাদের ভোলা মন যে, রোজ দিনের বেলায় যা অবিশ্বাস করি রোজ রাত্রে তাই বিশ্বাস করি। রাত্রিকে রোজ সকালে অবিশ্বাস করি, সকালকে রোজ রাত্রে অবিশ্বাস করি! আসল কথা এই, আমাদের বিশ্বাস স্বাধীন, সংসারের মধ্যে পড়ে সে বাঁধা পড়েছে— আমরা দায়ে পড়েই অবিশ্বাস করি— একটু আড়াল পেলে, একটু ছুটি পেলে, একটু সুবিধা পেলেই আমরা যা-তা বিশ্বাস করে বসি, আবার তাড়া খেলেই গণ্ডির মধ্যে প্রবেশ করি। নিতান্ত আপনার কাছে থাকলে তাড়া দেবার লোক কেউ থাকে না। বর্ষাধারার ক্রমিক ঝর্ঝর শব্দ সংসারের সহস্র শব্দ হতে আমাদের ঢেকে রাখে— আমরা অবিশ্রাম ঝর্ঝর শব্দের আচ্ছাদনের মধ্যে নিশ্চিন্ত হয়ে বসে বিশ্রাম করবার স্বাধীনততা উপভোগ করি। এইজন্যেই বর্ষাকাল উপকথার কাল। এইজন্য আষাঢ় মাসের সঙ্গেই আষাঢ়ে গল্পের যোগ। এইজন্যই বলছিলাম, বর্ষাকাল বালকের কাল— বর্ষাকালে তরুলতার শ্যামল কোমলতার মতো আমাদের স্বাভাবিক শৈশব স্ফূর্তি পেয়ে ওঠে— বর্ষার দিনে আমাদের ছেলেবেলার কথাই মনে পড়ে।

তাই মনে পড়ে, বর্ষার দিন আমাদের দীর্ঘ বারান্দায় আমরা ছুটে বেড়াতেম— বাতাসে দুমদাম করে দরজা পড়ত, প্রকাণ্ড তেঁতুলগাছ তার সমস্ত অন্ধকার নিয়ে নড়ত, উঠোনে একহাঁটু জল দাঁড়াত, ছাতের উপরকার চারটে টিনের নল থেকে স্থূল জলধারা উঠোনের জলের উপর প্রচণ্ড শব্দে পড়ত ও ফেনিয়ে উঠত, চারটে জলধারাকে দিক্‌হস্তীর শূঁড় বলে বনে হত। তখন আমাদের পুকুরের ধারের কেয়াগাছে ফুল ফুটত। (এখন সে গাছ আর নেই)। বৃষ্টিতে ক্রমে পুকুরের ঘাটের এক-এক সিঁড়ি যখন অদৃশ্য হয়ে যেত ও অবশেষে পুকুর ভেসে গিয়ে বাগানে জল দাঁড়াত— বাগানের মাঝে মাঝে বেলফুলের গাছের ঝাঁকড়া মাথাগুলো জলের উপর জেগে থাকত এবং পুকুরের বড়ো বড়ো মাছ পালিয়ে এসে বাগানের জলমগ্ন গাছের মধ্যে খেলিয়ে বেড়াত, তখন হাঁটুর কাপড় তুলে কল্পনায় বাগানময় জলে দাপাদাপি করে বেড়াতেম। বর্ষার দিনে ইস্কুলের কথা মনে হলে প্রাণ কী অন্ধকারই হয়ে যেত, এবং বর্ষাকালের সন্ধেবেলায় যখন বারান্দা থেকে সহসা গলির মোড়ে মাস্টার মহাশয়ের ছাতা দেখা দিত তখন যা মনে হত তা যদি মাস্টারমশায় টের পেতেন তা হলে—। শুনেছি এখনকার অনেক ছেলে মাস্টারমশায়কে প্রিয়তম বন্ধুর মতো জ্ঞান করে, এবং ইস্কুলে যাবার নাম শুনে নেচে ওঠে। শুভলক্ষণ বোধ হয়। কিন্তু তাই বলে যে ছেলে খেলা ভালোবাসে না, বর্ষা ভালোবাসে না, গৃহ ভালোবাসে না এবং ছুটি একেবারেই ভালোবাসে না—অর্থাৎ ব্যাকরণ ও ভূগোলবিবরণ ছাড়া এই বিশাল বিশ্বসংসারে আর কিছুই ভালোবাসে না, তেমন ছেলের সংখ্যা বৃদ্ধি হওয়াও কিছু নয়। তেমন ছেলে আজকাল অনেক দেখা যাচ্ছে। তবে হয়তো প্রখর সভ্যতা, বুদ্ধি ও বিদ্যার তাত লেগে ছেলেমানুষের সংখ্যা আমাদের দেশে কমে এসেছে, পরিপক্কতার প্রাদুর্ভাব বেড়ে উঠেছে। আমাদেরই কেউ কেউ ইঁচড়ে-পাকা বলত, এখন যে-রকম দেখছি তাতে ইঁচড়ের চিহ্নও দেখা যায় না, গোড়াগুড়িই কাঁঠাল।



IIPA Annual Essay Prize Competition 2011

Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi
 
IIPA Annual Essay Prize Competition-2011

Entries are invited for the Annual Essay Prize Competition-2011. The value of the prize for the competition will be as under:
First Prize Rs.5,000/-
Second Prize Rs.3,000/-
Third Prize Rs.2,000/-

Any competitor who has got a prize on one occasion will not, on any subsequent occasion, be eligible for an equivalent or lower prize. The joint authorship of essays shall not be allowed and any essay under joint authorship shall not be considered for competition.

The following subjects have been prescribed and it is open to competitors to choose any of them.
1. Role of Audit in Democratic India
2. Judicial Accountability and Democracy
3. Food Security, Food Inflation and the Public Distribution System
4. What the Next Five Year Plan should Focus upon – Five Priority Items
5. Information Technology for the Masses: Bridging the Digital Divide

The essay should be in English or Hindi. The length of an essay should approximately be 5000 words and the competitors must indicate the totalo number of words of the essay contributed by them. Essay exceeding 5500 words will not be accepted. The contestants must indicate the total number of words of the failing which it will not be accepted. All essays must be typed in double space on one side of the paper only and those entries which do not adhere to the stipulation can be rejected. It should be submitted in triplicate under a "nom-de-plume or alias. The full name and address of the competitor should be given on a separate sheet and enclosed in a sealed envelope bearing the nom-de-plume on the outer cover with the following inscription.

All essays should be sent to the Director, Indian Institute of Public Administration, Indraprastha Estate, Ring Road, New Delhi-110002, by Registered Post, so as to reach him not later than the 31st August, 2011. The envelope should be marked "Annual Essay Prize Competition 2011". The entries received after the due date may not be entertained.

The essays will be adjudged by a body of judges selected by the Executive Council of the institute and the award of the judges shall be final. The institute reserves the right not to make any award if none of the essays submitted meets the necessary standard. Any essay which receives an award shall become the joint intellectual property of the author and IIPA.

Last Date: 31st August 2011

Further Details: http://www.iipa.org.in/upload/Notification.pdf

Locating Internets: Histories of the Internet(s) in India — Research Training and Curriculum Workshop: Call for Participation

Locating Internets: Histories of the Internet(s) in India — Research Training and Curriculum Workshop: Call for Participation

Deadline for submission: 15th July 2011-06-08;

When: 19th - 22nd August, 2011;

Where: Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT) University, Ahmedabad;

Organised by: Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore and CEPT University, Ahmedabad.

Please Note: Travel support is only available for domestic travel within India.
 
LOCATING INTERNETS is an innovative, multi-disciplinary, workshop that engages with some of the most crucial debates around Internet and Society within academic scholarship, discourse and practice in India. It explores Where, When, How and What has changed with the emergence of Internet and Digital Technologies in the country. The Internet is not a singular monolithic entity but is articulated in various forms – sometimes materially, through accessing the web; at others, through our experiences; and yet others through imaginations of policy and law. Internets have become a part of our everyday practice, from museums and archives, to school and university programmes, living rooms and public spaces, relationships and our bodily lived realities. It becomes necessary to reconfigure our existing concepts, frameworks and ideas to make sense of the rapidly digitising world around us. The Internet is no longer contained in niche disciplines or specialised everyday practices.
 
LOCATING INTERNETS invites scholars, teachers, researchers, advanced research students and educationalists from any discipline to learn and discuss how to ask new questions and design innovative curricula in their discipline by introducing concepts and ideas from path-breaking research in India.

Comprised of training, public lectures, open discussion spaces, and hands-on curriculum building exercises, this workshop will introduce the participants to contemporary debates, help them articulate concerns and problems from their own research and practice, and build knowledge clusters to develop innovative and open curricula which can be implemented in interdisciplinary undergraduate spaces in the country. It showcases the research outputs produced by the Centre for Internet and Society's Researchers @ Work Programme, and brings together nine researchers to talk about alternative histories, processes, and bodies of the Internets, and how they can be integrated into mainstream pedagogic practices and teaching environments.

Knowledge Clusters for the Workshop
LOCATING INTERNETS is designed innovatively to accommodate for various intellectual and practice based needs of the participants. While the aim is to introduce the participants to a wide interdisciplinary range of scholarship, we also hope to address particular disciplinary and scholarly concerns of the participants. The workshop is further divided into three knowledge clusters which help the participants to focus their energies and ideas in the course of the four days.

Bridging the Gap: This workshop seeks to break away from the utopian public discourse of the Internets as a-historical and completely dis-attached from existing technology ecologies in the country. This knowledge cluster intends to produce frameworks that help us contextualize the contemporary internet policy, discourse and practice within larger geo-political and socio-historical flows and continuities in Modern India. The first cluster chartsdifferent pre-histories of the Internets, mapping the continuities and ruptures through philosophy of techno-science, archiving practices, and electronifcation of governments,to develop new technology-society perspectives.
Paradigms of Practice:One of the biggest concerns about Internet studies in India and other similar developed contexts is the object oriented approach that looks largely at specific usages, access, infrastructure, etc. However, it is necessary to understand that the Internet is not merely a tool or a gadget. The growth of Internets produces systemic changes at the level of process and thought. The technologies often get appropriated for governance both by the state and the civil society, producing new processes and dissonances which need to be charted. The second cluster looks at certain contemporary processes that the digital and Internet technologies change drastically in order to recalibrate the relationship between the state, the market and the citizen.
Feet on the Ground: The third cluster looks at contemporary practices of the Internet to understand the recent histories of movements, activism and cultural practices online. It offers an innovative way of understanding the physical objects and bodies that undergo dramatic transitions as digital technologies become pervasive, persuasive and ubiquitous. It draws upon historical discourse, everyday practices and cultural performances to form new ways of formulating and articulating the shapes and forms of social and cultural structures.

Workshop Outcomes
The participants are expected to engage with issue of Internet and it various systemic processes through their own disciplinary interests. Apart from lectures and orientation sessions, the participants will actively work on their own project ideas during the period in groups and will be guided by experts. The final outcome of the workshops would be curriculum for undergraduate and graduate teaching space of various disciplines in the country.

Participation Guidelines
LOCATING INTERNETS is now accepting submissions from interested participants in the following format:
1.Name:
2.Institutional affiliation and title:
3.Address:
4.Email address:
5.Phone number:
6.A brief resume of work experience (max. 350 words)
7.Statement of interest (max. 350 words)
8.Key concerns you want to address in the Internet and Society field (max. 350 words)
9.Identification with one Knowledge-cluster of the workshop and a proposal for integrating it in your research/teaching practice (max. 500 words)
10.Current interface with technologies in your pedagogic practices (max. 350 words)
11.Additional information or relevant hyperlinks you might want to add (Max. 10 lines)

Notes:Submissions will be accepted only from participants in India, as attachments in .doc, .docx or .odt formats at locatingInternets@cis-india.org

Submissions made beyond 15th July 2011 may not be considered for participation.

Submissions will be scrutinized by the organisers and selected participants will be informed by the 20th July 2011, about their participation.

Selected participants will be required to make their own travel arrangements to the workshop. A 2nd A.C. train return fare will be reimbursed to the participants.  Shared accommodation and selected meals will be provided at the workshop.

A limited number of air-fare reimbursements will be available to participants in extraordinary circumstances. All travel support is only available for domestic travel in the country.

Chairs: Nishant Shah, Director-Research, Centre for Internet and Society Bangalore;

Pratyush Shankar, Associate Professor & Head of Undergraduate Program, Faculty of Architecture, CEPT University

Supported by: Kusuma Foundation, Hyderabad

Experts:Anja Kovacs, Arun Menon, Asha Achuthan, Ashish Rajadhykasha, Aparna Balachandran, Namita Malhotra, Nithin Manayath, Nithya Vasudevan, Pratyush Shankar, Rochelle Pinto and Zainab Bawa

Further Details: http://cis-india.org/research/conferences/conference-blogs/workshop