International Conference on Media Engagements in Contemporary Times; 4-5 Nov, at India international Centre

Media Engagements in Contemporary Times

International Conference to mark the Birth Centenary of

Nikhil Chakravartty (1913- 1998)

 4-5 November 2013

Conference Hall - II, India international Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi

 Organized by Centre for Media Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University

 In association with India International Centre; Editors' Guild of India; & Nikhil Chakravartty Memorial Foundation

 

Inauguration: 10.00am to 11.00am:

Welcome Note: Dean, School of Social Sciences, JNU

About the Conference: Rakesh Batabyal, Convenor of the Conference, Centre for Media Studies, JNU

Inaugural Address: NC's World: The Universe of Nikhil Chakravartty

By Dr. Syeda Hameed (Member, Planning Commission, GOI)

Chair: Prof. Muchkund Dube, Chair, Nikhil Charkaravartty Memorial Foundation

Vote of Thanks: Chairperson, Centre for Media Studies, SSS, JNU

Session II (11.15 to 1.00 pm)

Nationalist intelligentsia and the Evolution of Indian Media,

J.V. Naik, Former Prof. of History, Bombay University and President, Indian History Congress

Chair: Prof. C.P. Bhambhri, Distinguished Scholar, JNU

Session III (2.00 P.M. 5.00 P.M.)    Media Engagements in Social Movements

Nature of Peoples' Movement in Post Independent India, T.K. Oommen, Prof. Emeritus, JNU &President International Sociological Association (1990-1994)

The Transmogrification of Indian Media Scene: From Lofty Mission to Common Market Place, Rami Chaabra, Senior Journalist.

Session IV

India: the Nation and the Agents of Change

Speaker: Prof. Amit Bhaduri, Professor Emeritus, JNU

 

Day Two: 5 November 2013

Session V (10.00 - 10.45am) Democracy and Information: Famine of 1943 to Right to Information and Food Security Bill

Keynote Address:  Smt. Aruna Roy, Social activist& founder member of MKSS, Rajasthan

Chair: Shri Kuldeep Nayar, Senior Journalist

11.00 to 12.30 p.m.   

Chair: Prof.  K.B. Saxena

Famine of 1943: The Enduring Features, Rakesh Batabyal, Centre for Media Studies, author of 'Communalism in Bengal from Famine to Noakhali 1943-47'

Food crisis of 1965-67: Politics of Food Aid and Self Reliance, K.R. Venugopal, Former, Secretary GoI in charge of Poverty Alleviation

The Movement for Right to Food and Information, Bharat Dogra, Senior Journalist

12. 30 to 1.30pm

From Freedom Movement to Peoples' Movement

Speaker: Medha Patkar, Social Activist and Founder of Narmada Bachao Andolan

Session VI (2.30- 3.30pm)

India, the Non Aligned Movement, Quest for a New International Order and South Asian regional Cooperation

Keynote Address: Professor Muchkund Dube, Former Foreign Secretary, GOI and Professor, JNU; President, Council for Social Development, New Delhi

Chair: Dr. Kamal Hossain, Former Foreign Minister, Bangladesh.

3.45 – 5.30pm Panel Discussion

Chair: Shri S. Nihal Singh, Distinguished Journalist and Editor of the Statesman, Indian Express and Independent.

Fehmida Riaz, Writer and Poet, Pakistan

Kamal Hossain, Former Foreign Minister, Bangladesh

Badrul Ehsan, Executive Editor, The Daily Star, Dhaka

Mohan Tikku, Distinguished Journalist, Author of Sri Lanka, NBT, 2004

Qamar Agha, Distinguished Journalist, Foreign Affairs

Award of Fellowship 2014 for Tagore Centre for the Study of Culture and Civilization, at IIAS Shimla

Tagore Centre for the Study of Culture and Civilization

Advertisement

Award of Fellowship 2014 for Tagore Centre for the Study of Culture and Civilization at Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla
1. Applications are invited for award of Fellowships in the Tagore Centre for the Study of Culture and Civilization.
2. The Tagore Centre is not a Tagore Study Centre which aims at studying just Tagore's work and thoughts though such a study is one of its important activities.
3. The Centre provides research opportunities to the practitioners of culture and civilization who are engaged with concerns similar to those which preoccupied Tagore such as education, environment, artistic and literary imagination, participatory development, nationalism, cultural influences, reconciliation, philosophy and humanism, science and society. Such engagement may involve textual study of his work, or a creative engagement with his literary imagination or with his experiments in music, dance, and painting, or practicing innovative ideas in education and environment in the urban and rural context, or simply with larger implications and possibilities of his vision.
4. The Centre allows for reflective and creative engagement with the human condition by exploring new idiom of art, poetry and music. It thus provides space to scholars as well as the practicing artists/artistes to signal Tagore's deep engagement with culture and civilization founded on his belief in the oneness of his world.
5. The Centre aims to initiate South-South intellectual and cultural exchange and has, therefore, been set up with the objective of serving as a site for dialogue between India and the world.
6. In all four Fellowships will be awarded out of which one is for either a poet, or a writer, or an artist-in-residence; one for a scholar from outside India; while the remaining two are general.

The application on the prescribed form may reach the Secretary, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla 171005 by 30 November 2013.

Further Details: http://iias.org/Advertisement_Fellowship_2013.pdf

CfPs: Conference for E-Democracy and Open Government CeDEM 2014; 21-23 May; at Danube University Krems, Austria

Conference for E-Democracy and Open Government CeDEM 2014
21-23 May 2014
Danube University Krems, Austria
www.donau-uni.ac.at/cedem

Call for Papers
The international Conference for e-Democracy and Open Government (CeDEM) brings together e-democracy, e-participation and open government specialists working in academia, politics, government and business to critically analyse the innovations, issues, ideas and challenges in the networked societies of the digital age.
Since 2007, the Centre for E-Governance at the Danube University Krems has been organising conferences on e-democracy and public administration. The E-democracy Conferences began in 2007, and the CeDEM, first presented in 2011, represents the development and continuation of the conference series. In the meantime, the CeDEM also boasts a spin-off in Asia, held for the first time in November 2012.
Papers submitted are peer-reviewed in a double-blind process (with a 50% rejection rate) and if accepted, are published in the proceedings (Edition Donau-Universität Krems), both in paper format and online according to Open Access principles. Workshops proposals, PhD colloquium papers and reflections that have been submitted are selected by the chairs and also published in the proceedings. Authors of the best peer-reviewed papers will be asked to re-submit their revised and extended papers for the autumn issue of the Centre for E-Governance's Open Access eJournal of eDemocracy and Open Government (www.jedem.org).
The CeDEM offers a PhD Colloquium in cooperation with the Danube University Krems' Platform for Political Communication and netPOL (www.netpol.at). The PhD Colloquium provides PhD students the opportunity to present their work and gain feedback from experts as well as meet other PhD students. Students from any stage of their PhD are invited to submit their work.
The CeDEM also provides an Open Space on 23 May, where participants can democratically choose and organise in barcamp style their own presentations, workshops, birds of a feather, events, meetings etc..

Important Dates

• Deadline for the submission of all papers, workshop proposals, reflections: 6 December 2013
• Notification of acceptance: 7 February 2014
• Camera-ready paper submission: 28 February 2014
• Pre-conference event: 20 May 2014
• Conference: 21-22 May 2014
• Open Space, PhD colloquium: 23 May 2014

CeDEM14 Tracks

• E-Democracy and E-Participation
• E-Voting
• Bottom-Up Movements
• Social and Mobile Media for Public Administration
• Open Collaborative Government
• Democracy, Globalization and Migration
• Connected Smart City
• Open Data, Transparency and Open Innovation
• Technology and Architecture
• Self-governance in Complex Networks
• Rethinking Information Visualization for the People
• Freedom and Ethics in Digital Societies
• Design and Co-creation for E-democracy
• Citizen's Participation in Democratic Governance Processes through ICT in Africa
• PhD Colloquium

PhD Colloquium:
Chairs: Peter Parycek (Danube University Krems, AT) and Christina Hainzl (netPOL, Danube University Krems, AT)
The CeDEM offers a PhD Colloquium in cooperation with the Danube University Krems' Platform for Political Communication and netPOL (www.netpol.at). The Doctoral Colloquium provides PhD students the opportunity to present their work and gain feedback from experts as well as meet other PhD students. Students from any stage of their PhD are invited to submit their work in relation to any of the conference topics.

Submissions
We invite individuals from academic and applied backgrounds as well as business, public authorities, NGOs, NPOs and education institutions to submit their papers, reflections as well as workshop proposals to the topics addressed in the tracks. We welcome interdisciplinary approaches to the conference topics.

• Research papers: 12 pages maximum (double-blind peer-reviewed);
• Case studies / Project papers: 12 pages maximum (double-blind peer-reviewed);
• Reflections: 6 pages maximum (selected by the chairs);
• Workshops: 4 pages maximum (selected by the chairs);
• PhD Colloquium papers: 3 pages maximum (excluding literature list; selected by the organisers of the colloquium);

Conference Chairs
Noella Edelmann & Peter Parycek (Danube University Krems, AT) noella.edelmann@donau-uni.ac.at, peter.parycek@donau-uni.ac.at


Further Details: http://www.donau-uni.ac.at/imperia/md/content/department/gpa/zeg/bilder/cedem/cfp_2014.pdf

New Article "Export Innovation System: Changing Structure of India’s Technology-Intensive Exports" by Pranav N. Desai, CSSP, JNU

Export Innovation System: Changing Structure of India's Technology-Intensive Exports
Pranav N. Desai
Institutions and Economies, Vol. 5, No. 3, October 2013, pp. 21-52

Abstract:
This paper attempts to analyse India's changing structure of technology-intensive exports using a systemic perspective. In doing so, it explores the increasing significance of linkages between National and International System of Innovation. Technology-intensive exports from the developing economies have witnessed rapid growth and an increase in their share compared with low-tech or medium tech exports in international trade in the last two decades. India is no exception to this and has demonstrated a sharp increase in the manufactured exports of technology-intensive products. The paper examines the changing structure of exports and its link with economic development and whether technological learning affects low, medium and high-tech differently. Findings reveal that export performance can be enhanced through improving technological capabilities. However, it is not only codified knowledge in R&D output such as publications, patents and designs that influence technological learning and innovation process. Interactive processes of international collaboration, inward and outward foreign direct investments also contribute significantly towards this process.

Download Full-text PDF: http://e-journal.um.edu.my/filebank/published_article/5806/IE%202.pdf

STEPS Centre Summer School 2014: Apply now!

STEPS Centre Summer School
University of Sussex, U.K.
12-23 May 2014

The STEPS Centre invites applications to take part in its third annual Summer School.
 
Applications are invited from highly-motivated doctoral and postdoctoral researchers or those with equivalent experience, working in fields around development studies, science and technology studies, innovation and policy studies, and across agricultural, health, water or energy issues.
 
Participants will explore the theme of pathways to sustainability through a mixture of workshops, lectures, outdoor events and focused interaction with STEPS Centre members. The Summer School takes place on the Sussex University campus, near Brighton, UK.
 
The deadline for applications is 31 January 2014. There is a fee to attend, but scholarships are available. For details of how to apply, financial support, programme information, and materials from the last two years' events, visit the STEPS website: http://www.steps-centre.org/summerschool
 
Summer school film: Watch our film with STEPS Centre directors Melissa Leach and Andy Stirling talking what the Summer School is about, why we do it and what to expect.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQzfBwtAUlA
 
Video testimonials: Watch a video of some of last year's participants talking about their experiences at the Summer School.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czI96kovAR0

Further Details: www.steps-centre.org/summerschool 

EPW Article "The Case of Sacred Groves in India" by Anwesha Borthakur of CSSP

The Case of Sacred Groves in India
by Anwesha Borthakur
Economic & Political Weekly, 2013, 48(41): 25-27.
Abstract: Sacred groves have survived very long without human interference, and thus are of anthropological, cultural, economic, and ecological significance. In India, these groves are concentrated in the North-East and along the Western Ghats, both globally recognised hotspots of biodiversity. Unfortunately, their size and number are now shrinking at an alarming rate, and it is high time a workable solution is found to sustain them.
Download Full-text PDF

CfPs: International Conference on State and Society in North East India; 26-28 Feb; JNU

International Conference on State and Society in North East India
Organised by North East India Studies Programme, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
26-28 February 2014
Venue: Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Call for Papers
Academic and everyday debates on North East India have generally been dominated by themes on ethnicity, tribe and nation.
For many scholars working on North East India, these themes have been major academic research areas from around the 1980s. While one may consider this as the reflection of embeddedness of the people around such categories, the role of the state with regard to these categories of tribe, ethnicity,
nation, civic institutions and everyday civil society spaces has been less explored. One such area of exploration could be the relationship between the state and society. A state-society analytical framework may help to understand historically the location of state as a political unit and practices in North East India.
This also opens the scope to investigate state representing society as its integral part or the society as resisting or autonomous spaces to the state.
Pre-colonial states of the present North East either had the organic model of state and society or the model of state where society evaded state making processes or remained autonomous from the state. Comprising the state making experiences in both hills and valleys, while the organic model involved a system of clans and chiefs' representation in state making, in the latter model, state making was through military expeditions, mobilisation of labour, classification of people, etc. These models of state- society were historically co-existent. However, under the colonial regime the state - society relations were reframed to construct the empire's frontier and territorial enclaves. After Independence, the new nation state of India then further reconstructed these polities and societies in new frames of state- society relations.
The conference also seeks to explore how the modern Indian state as legal - rational authority transforms, develops and governs polities and societies of North East India. It is equally necessary to explore how the people of the region experience and interpret the state in this regard. For this, the discussion on state needs a distinction between state as the 'structure of practices' and the 'effects of the structure of state' on the lives of people.
In other words, while one may look at state as the legal-rational entity, there is further scope for understanding state through the everyday experiences. The conference wishes to emphasize on the latter.
An additional focus of the conference would be on state practices and reactions or resistances of the people to these state - making practices.
While the process of resistant nationalisms in the region has continued, in recent times, the processes of electoral democracy, neoliberal economic policies, and rural developmental schemes have brought different dynamics to the state - society relations. Increasing demands for reservation, autonomy and alternative arrangements under the Constitution of India are parts of these changes and contestations.
The conference invites papers on the following broad themes:

• State formation and society
• Writing histories of state and society
• Social imaginaries and politics of nationalism
• State's classification of people
• Religion and state
• Technology, state and people
• Civil society and state
• Demand for reservation and autonomy
• Electoral politics, developmental schemes and power politics
• Militarism, violence and cultures of impunity
• Art practices
• Media, state and people
• Diary, biography and autobiography as sites of people's experiences

Interested researchers are invited to submit an abstract of 200–300 words along with a brief CV latest by 25 November 2013. Selected abstracts will be informed by 5 December 2013. Full papers are to be submitted by 31 January, 2014.
All communications should be addressed to: G. Amarjit Sharma, Convener, at neispjnu@gmail.com or g.amarjit@gmail.com.
Co-conveners: Lipokmar Dzuvichu, Manjeet Baruah, Kh. Bijoykumar Singh

Just Released -- India's Research and Development Statistics at a Glance 2011-12 & Science & Technology Indicators 2011-12

Just Released

• Research and Development Statistics at a Glance 2011-12: http://www.nstmis-dst.org/PDF/FINALRnDStatisticsataGlance2011121.pdf

• Science & Technology Indicators 2011-12: http://www.nstmis-dst.org/SnT-Indicators2011-12.aspx 

Published by National Science and Technology Management Information System (NSTMIS), Department of Science & Technology, Government of India; September 2013.

CfPs: International conference "Technology, accountability and democracy in South Asia and beyond"; 17-18 Jan; Mumbai

International conference "Technology, accountability and democracy in South Asia and beyond"

17-18 January 2014

Venue: University of Mumbai, India

The Stanford University is hosting an conference entitled "Technology, accountability and democracy in South Asia and beyond" on the 17-18 January 2014. Location: University of Mumbai, India. The conference is organised by the Center for South Asia, and the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) – both at Stanford University, in partnership with Department of Civics and Politics, University of Mumbai, and the Stanford Alumni Association of India.
Over the last few years, there has been unprecedented focus on corruption and accountability across South Asia.  Accountability movements have resulted in a variety of initiatives including special monitoring bodies, transparency laws, monitoring mechanisms, judicial reforms and refining government processes.  These initiatives bring different understandings of problems and approaches, with varied strengths and weaknesses. Despite these differences, they are increasingly converging on the use of technology to augment a growing set of accountability strategies. This conference proposes to bring together people who are engaged in these questions as activists, officials, academics and innovators to examine how technology is currently being used for accountability projects and to build meaningful platforms for the future. We specifically seek to bring together people with experience in accountability movements (with or without the use of technology), young innovators and researchers in order to promote rich multidisciplinary conversation and to build new collaborations.

More information and registration. 

The Conference invites papers on relevant themes, see the the call for papers.

CfPs: Second International Seminar on Philosophy of Education, Azim Premji University, Bangalore, 12-14 May

Second International Seminar on Philosophy of Education
Azim Premji University, Bangalore, India.
May 12-14, 2014

Call for Papers
Azim Premji University, Bangalore announces its Second International Seminar on Philosophy of Education to be organized from May 12 to May 14, 2014 in Bangalore.
The First International Seminar on Philosophy of Education in January 2013 witnessed the participation of philosophers and scholars of education from across India, Europe, and North America and presentations on a range of philosophical issues in education. The Second International Seminar on Philosophy of Education is proposed to deliberate on the following themes.

Themes of the Seminar

• Social Justice and Education: Social justice has always been an important concern in philosophy of education. In India cultural, ethnic and religious diversity coupled with socio-economic disparities makes it especially relevant at present times when privatisation of education is on an ascending curve. This theme seeks to explore the questions pertaining to the social role of education and equality.
• Indian Philosophical Thoughts/ Thinkers and Education: This theme seeks to establish dialogues between Indian philosophical traditions and modern concerns of philosophy of education. Such an engagement promises to enrich philosophy of education through the infusion of fresh philosophical perspectives. The dialogue could also pertain to Indian thinkers/philosophers (both ancient and modern) and their take on education. Further, the elements of Philosophy of Education could be explored in the traditions of Indian Philosophy.
• Nature of Educational Studies : Curricular and Pedagogic Issues: Many universities in India now are offering Master of Arts in Education or Master of Arts in Educational Studies. These programmes are different from traditional Master of Education (M.Ed.) programmes. The nature and scope of curricula for MA in Education or MA in Educational Studies programmes give rise to many questions that need philosophical considerations For instance, the characterisation of educational studies as a field of liberal study requires resolution before a curriculum with reasonably clear principles of unity can be formulated. This theme is an invitation to explore these and similar questions.
• Policy Issues in Education: Measurement and Assessment, Accountability, Quality in Education: Educational policies in recent times have shown an unprecedented tilt towards nurturing certain kinds of regimes with a claim to ensure better provision and outcomes of education. Some examples are teacher accountability, quality as placement opportunities in higher education and securing admission in college education for school education. Moreover, we are witnessing a refinement of the social purposes of education under the pressure of a globalised economy. Exploration of aims of education in the emerging reform and policy initiatives is itself an important subtheme under the overall theme of policy issues. It is worthwhile to examine the interplay of these issues in education. It is important to examine these concepts from the perspective of what implications they will have on education.

We invite papers on any of the above mentioned themes. Contributions are expected to explore the philosophical significance of the questions emerging within the scope of each theme. However, good quality philosophical papers not falling under any of the above mentioned themes are also welcome.
Papers are invited from philosophers of education, philosophers, educationists, practitioners in education and students of education. Authors are advised to limit their contributions to 4500-6000 words. Papers should be prepared for blind review, and sent along with a 300-words abstract on or before January 1, 2014. The papers may be sent through email to poe.seminar@apu.edu.in.

A top sheet containing the following information must be affixed to each contribution:
(i) Author Name(s)
(ii) Title of the Paper
(iii) Designation and Institutional Affiliation
(iv) E-mail ID.

The document should be saved in the name of the author (first author's name in case of joint authors). Please send the documents either in Windows or Linux Open Office format.

Important Dates
Paper Submission: January 1, 2014
Communication for acceptance of the paper: February 15, 2014
International Seminar: May 12-14, 2014

Publication Policy
Efforts will be made to publish the papers either in internationally noted journal(s) on education as seminar proceedings or as an edited book. The final decision on the issue will be made at the conclusion of the seminar. Authors would therefore be required to submit the final and publishable version of their paper within three months after the conclusion of the Seminar. In view of this policy, authors will be required to provide written consent to submitting the final papers within three months of the conclusion of the seminar, and to allowing publication of their papers either as proceedings in journal(s) or as an edited book.

Travel Policy
It may also be noted that the expenses related to travel and accommodation during the Seminar will be borne by the Azim Premji University. This facility will only be available to those whose papers are accepted for presentation.

Further Details: http://azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/PoE