Listen to the Lecture: JNU AlumniAffairs Lecture on "Renewable Energy: A Paradigm Shift in India" delivered by Upendra Tripathy, Secretary, MNRE

Office of the Alumni Affairs cordially invited you to a lecture by 

JNU alumnus, Mr. Upendra Tripathy

Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India 

on

"Renewable Energy: A Paradigm Shift in India"

on Monday 29 August, 2016 at JNU Convention Centre, India

Listen to the Lecture.

NSSO releases "Key Indicators of Household Expenditure on Services and Durable Goods"

NSSO releases "Key Indicators of Household Expenditure on Services and Durable Goods"

The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has released the report titled "Key Indicators of Household Expenditure on Services and Durable Goods" based on the related information collected during July, 2014 to June 2015 as part of NSS 72nd Round.  This survey on household expenditure on services and durable goods was the first focused survey of its kind undertaken by National Sample Survey Office.   
The survey was designed to collect some demographic particulars, detailed information on household expenditure on transport, miscellaneous consumer services, food expenditures incurred in hotel & restaurants, expenditure on repair & maintenance services availed, hotel lodging charges, and on durable goods other than those used exclusively for entrepreneurial activity in India through a nationwide household survey.
As household expenditure on services forms an important part of Private Final Consumption Expenditure (PFCE), this focused survey is expected to provide improved estimates of household expenditure on the services as compared to the same based on data collected through usual Consumer Expenditure Survey. Also, in this survey, an attempt has been made to apportion the expenditure by the households on durable goods, when the durables are used both for household consumptions and enterprises.
The survey covered the whole of the Indian Union. The results of the survey are based on the sample, canvassed by NSSO, consisting of 7,969 villages and 6,048 urban blocks, spread over all States and Union Territories of the country. The schedule was canvassed in 47,535 households in rural areas and 36,065 households in urban areas during the period July, 2014 –June, 2015.
Some key findings on various aspects of Household Expenditure on Services and Durable Goods in the country as obtained from the survey during July, 2014 - June, 2015 are as follows:

I. Transport Services

• Bus / Tram is the most reported means of transport both in rural and urban areas. About 66% households in rural areas and 62% households in urban areas reported expenditure on this particular mode. The next most reported means of transport was Auto Rickshaw (about 38% rural households and about 47% urban households). Taxi, Railways and Rickshaw are the other major modes of transport both in rural and urban areas as reported by the households.
• Expenditures on Bus / Tram, Auto Rickshaw, Taxi and Train account for more than 90% of the total expenditure on Transport both in rural and urban areas.  Expenditure share of railways as mode of transport contributes much higher proportion in urban areas (12.54%) than that in rural areas (4.41%).
• Among different modes of transport, monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE) on Bus/Tram is highest both in rural (₹ 43.43) and urban (₹ 94.89) India.

II. Miscellaneous Consumer Services

• Under this miscellaneous group, 14 broad services were considered.  These included  domestic services, barber & beauty shops, TV & radio services, laundry, dry cleaning, etc., repair & maintenance, communication, religious services, recreational & cultural services, funeral/ burial/ cremation-related services, business services, services incidental to transport, tailoring services and sewage disposal & sanitation, other services not elsewhere covered.
• In both rural and urban areas, about 90% or more households reported expenditure on barber & beauty shops and communication services.  In case of budget-share of different types of miscellaneous services in rural areas, communication services accounted for the highest share (25.33%) followed by barber & beauty shops (11.07%), TV & radio services (10.58%), repair & maintenance (10.27%)  & tailoring services (10.18%).  In urban areas, communication services again accounted for highest share of budget (26.33%) followed by domestic services (12.11 %), TV & radio services (10.22%) and recreational & cultural services (9.95%).
• In terms of monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE) also, highest expenditure was found on communication services amounting to ₹ 36.35 and ₹ 102.46 in rural and urban areas respectively.

III. Other Services

• Certain other services like repairs and maintenance of  some selected items, Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC), hotel lodging and other selected services, which are not covered in the earlier section are considered here under the broad head "repair & maintenance of selected items, hotel lodging charges, etc ". All food expenditures in hotels and restaurants were considered under the broad head "food expenditure in hotels "
• In terms of monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE), expenditure on "repair & maintenance of selected items, hotel lodging charges, etc." was ₹ 55.77 and ₹ 88.28 in rural and urban areas respectively.  On the other hand, the expenditure on "food expenditure in hotels" was ₹ 68.48 and ₹ 178.00 in rural and urban areas respectively.

IV. Durable goods

• The durable goods were grouped into 13 major broad groups, namely, transport equipment, heating, cooling and electricity generation devices, kitchen equipment, equipment for recreation, crockery and utensils, furniture and fixtures, other machines for household work, IT and communication devices, electrical and lighting accessories, productive equipment, sports and medical equipment, miscellaneous durables and jewellery and ornaments.
• The pattern of expenditure on different durable goods and their overall contribution in absolute terms, separately for those purchased for mainly using it for enterprise purpose and domestic purpose in the households having Non-agricultural Enterprise (NAE) was studied.
• In rural area, the share of budget spent on a particular durable group with reference to total expenditure on durables is highest for transport equipment (about 83%), when the purchase was done mainly for using it for enterprise purpose.  The expenditure on each durable group of i) heating, cooling and electricity generation devices ii) IT & communication devices and iii) productive equipment separately accounted for about 4% of budget share.  All other durable groups, except furniture & fixtures (1.6%)   accounted for very little expenditure (each less than 1% in budget share).  When the main purpose of use was for domestic purpose, though the highest budget share was in respect of transport equipment (about 45%), a notably high budget share of about 23% was observed on jewellery and ornaments followed by heating, cooling and electricity generation devices and IT and communication devices (both having a share of about 7% each), and furniture and fixtures (about 5.6%).
• In the urban area, almost similar pattern was observed except the fact that a high share of budget, next to transport equipment, was found for heating, cooling and electricity generation devices (about 7.9%) and for IT and communication devices (7.8%) when the main purpose was for enterprise. When the main purpose was for domestic use, high share of budget, next to transport equipment, was on jewellery and ornaments (18%) followed by IT & Communication (9.9%) and heating, cooling and electricity generation devices (8.1%).
• In terms of absolute values of monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE) on all durable goods by the households having Non Agricultural Enterprise (NAE), a total expenditure of ₹ 436.85 and ₹ 1468.69 were observed for the main purpose of enterprise and domestic use respectively in rural areas.  In urban areas, these values were ₹ 379.63 and ₹ 2601.54 respectively.

The publication based on above cited Key Indicators is available on the website of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
Source: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=146590

Download Full-text PDF (Open Access)

Invitation for Public Comments: Indian National Risk Communication Plan (Draft)

National Risk Communication Plan (Draft)

by National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, 2016.

Preface
The health system faces a challenge of effective communication regarding threats posed by public health emergencies and the actions needed for controlling them. Risk communication plays a vital role in mitigating the adverse impacts of a public health emergency. However, recent events have shown that risk communication is not easy to manage. The International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005) recognizes risk communication as a critical pillar for developing national core capacity during emerging infectious diseases and other IHR (2005) related events. Such communication needs to be carefully planned and implemented as well as properly integrated with emergency management activities and operations. In July 2014, India submitted the new national Action plan on IHR (2005), identifying risk communication as one of the areas where more needs to be done. While complying by IHR(2005) requirements, India needs to have a national risk communication plan for all public health emergencies as well as fundamentals of risk communication well understood by all concerned stakeholders of IHR (2005). Technical knowhow of disease control has been applied for addressing the prevention of importation of Ebola from West African countries. Govt. of India has taken a lead role in control of Influenza pandemic, Ebola screening of travelers returning from West Africa and ongoing outbreak of influenza A/H1N1. Experience from these endeavors have highlighted that risk communication needs to be understood by technical and administrative stakeholders and managed more systematically (Health care workers, Civil society, media, tourism, Points of Entry, MEA, MHA). It is expected that 'Guidance on National Plan on Risk Communication for Public Health Emergencies' shall enhance capacity of IHR (2005) stakeholders for understanding the nuances of risk communication and provide a framework of principles and approaches for the communications of health risk information to diverse audiences. It is intended for all health care staff, stakeholders and personnel from government agencies and private organizations who must respond to public concerns in the event of a Public Health Emergency. Public health professional must understand the needs of the community and be able to facilitate dialogue concerning the technical issues of public health risk and the psychological, political, social, and economic needs of the community. The Guidance document begins with brief descriptive material about guiding principles for communicating health risk followed by details on identification of partners and stakeholders in the country, and functional coordination and communication mechanisms to be established when informing the public and in managing the relations between the authorities and the media. In addition, highlights the principles of the timely release of information with transparency in decision making that is essential for building trust between authorities, populations and partners. Although the Guidance document attempts to identify principles relevant to and consistent with effective health risk communication practice, it is not intended to suggest that a standard of health risk communication effectiveness is measured solely on the number of principles that are employed. Rather, the manner in which the guidance should be applied will vary from case to case, based on needs, priorities, and other considerations.

Table of Contents

1 Understanding Risk Communication
2 Aim of Risk Communication
3 Targeted Audiences and Partners of Risk Communication
4 Risk Communication Plan: Cyclical Process
5 Country Risk Communication Mechanisms
6 Recap for development of Risk Communication Plan
7 Annexures
Annexure 1 Procedures for approvals from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Annexure 2 List of Ministries, their Stakeholders and Partners
Annexure 3A Table depicting target groups, objectives, medium of communication and expected outcomes, and barriers to effective risk communication wrt Ebola
Annexure 3B Guiding principles of Risk Communication
Annexure 4 Tips for handling media
Annexure 5 Decision instrument (Annex 2) of IHR (2005) for assessment and notification

Invitation for Public Comments: NCDC has prepared Draft "National Risk Communication Plan" in consultation with the experts from fields of communication and Medicine. The Central Government is required to enlist all the stakeholders so as to bring about effective prevention & control of emergency situations involving risk to persons/ communities by effective Risk Communication so that the health risk to the communities is minimized. The National Risk Communication Plan is towards fulfilment of compliance to International Health Regulations (2005). The document is placed at the website of NCDC for information of all stakeholders likely to be affected during such emergencies for enlisting their support. Any suggestions/comments/ objection which may be received from any person with respect to the said draft National Risk Communication document before the last date will be considered by National Centre for Disease Control. Suggestions/ comments/ objections, if any, may be submitted either to the Director, National Centre for Disease Control, 22 Shamnath Marg, New Delhi-110054 or through email id: prabhaaroranvbdcp@gmail.com latest by 30 August, 2016.

Download Draft National Plan (Open Access)

NSSO releases "Key Indicators of Domestic Tourism in India"

NSSO releases "Key Indicators of Domestic Tourism in India"

The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has released the report titled "Key Indicators of Domestic Tourism in India" based on the related information collected during July, 2014 to June, 2015 as a part of NSS 72nd Round. Similar survey on the same subject was last conducted by NSSO during July 2008 - June 2009 as part of NSS 65th Round.
The Domestic Tourism Expenditure Survey was designed to collect detailed information on tourism expenditure alongwith some information on household characteristics, visitor characteristics and trip characteristics relating to domestic overnight trips. The information is required inter-alia for preparation of third Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) by Ministry of Tourism. In addition, some information on trips and expenditure were also collected in this survey in connection with domestic same-day trips.
The survey covered the whole of the Indian Union. The results of the survey are based on the sample canvassed by NSSO, consisting of 8,001 villages and 6,061 urban blocks, respectively, spread over all States and Union Territories of the country. The total number of households in which the Schedule was canvassed was 79,497 and 60,191 in rural and urban India respectively during the period July, 2014-June, 2015.

Some key findings on various aspects of Domestic Tourism in the country as obtained from the survey are as follows:
I. Households reporting overnight trip

• During last 365 days from the date of survey, 19% of Indian households reported at least one overnight trip with any one of the leading purposes as holidaying, leisure & recreation, health & medical and shopping.
• During last 30 days from the date of survey, 21% of Indian households reported at least one overnight trip with any one of the leading purposes as business, social, religious & pilgrimage, education & training and others.

II. Characteristics of overnight trips

• Majority of overnight trips at all-India level (287.2 lakhs from rural and 79.2 lakhs from urban areas), completed during last 365 days, were for the leading purpose of health & medical.
• Social trips were the most common ones among the trips completed during last 30 days (501.9 lakhs overnight trips at all-India level) followed by trips for religious & pilgrimage leading purpose (4.85 lakhs trips).

III. Percentage of single female member overnight trips among all single member overnight trips for various leading purposes

• Nearly half (48%) of all single member trips undertaken by members from a particular household were performed by females in both rural and urban areas for leading purpose health & medical.
• For the business purpose trips, the above proportion for female was very low (2%).

IV. Month of visit (starting month)

• Summer season (i.e. May-June) was the peak period for undertaking a trip with leading purpose holidaying, leisure & recreation, whereas, for shopping trips it was winter (December-February).
• Religious & pilgrimage trips were started more frequently during the months of July and August.

V. Visitor-trip characteristics

• Nearly 23% of visitor-trips in rural areas were for holidaying as visitor's purpose, whereas for urban areas this share was about 59%.
• The share of visitor-trips for heath & medical purposes from rural areas (48%) was nearly twice than that from urban areas (25%).
• More than 80% of overnight visitor-trips completed during last 30 days, were for social purpose both in rural and urban areas.

VI. Mode of travel

• Bus was the dominant mode of travel (70% & 55% of visitor-trips in rural and urban areas respectively) for the visitor-trips with any one of the leading purposes being as business, social, religious & pilgrimage, education & training and others, completed during last 30 days.

VII. Trip duration

• Average number of nights spent on overnight visitor-trips during last 365 days with any one of the leading purposes as holidaying, leisure & recreation, health & medical and shopping were 5.4 nights and 6.7 nights in rural and urban areas respectively.

VIII. Main destination

• At all-India level, main destination of most of the overnight visitor-trips (over 80%) was within the States.
• For visitor-trips from outside States with any one of the leading purposes as business, social, religious & pilgrimage, education & training and others, Uttar Pradesh (12.7 lakhs) was the most visited State followed by Andhra Pradesh & Telangana combined (nearly 8.7 lakhs) and Rajasthan (nearly 8.6 lakhs).

IX. Expenditure on overnight trips

• Health & medical trips were the costliest overnight trips with average expenditure per trip of 15,336 followed by trips with leading purpose of shopping (₹ 13,902).

X. Same-day trips

• Shopping (35%) and social (34%) were the two most frequent purposes for same-day trips undertaken by the rural households, whereas, from urban areas nearly half of the trips were for social purposes.
• Average expenditure on same-day trip combining all leading purposes was 620 at all-India level.

The publication based on above cited Key Indicator is available on the website of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
Source: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=146589

Download Full-text PDF (Open Access)

Top Ten Academic Papers written by Ambassador Arundhati Ghose, India's CTBT Durga (1939-2016)

Top Ten Academic Papers written by Ambassador Arundhati Ghose, India's CTBT Durga (1939-2016)

• Ghose, Arundhati (2014). The Road to Nuclear Zero: Rhetoric or Reality? CLAWS Journal, Summer 2014, 36-45. Download
• Ghose, Arundhati (2012). Book Review: Does the Elephant Dance? Contemporary Indian Foreign Policy. India Quarterly: A Journal of International Affairs, 68(2), 195–214. Download.
• Ghose, Arundhati (2011).  Emerging India: Strategic Challenges and Opportunities. K Subrahmanyam Memorial Lecture. National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore. Download
• Ghose, Arundhati (2011). Book Review: Making Sense of Pakistan. India Quarterly: A Journal of International Affairs, 67(4), 373-375. Download.
• Ghose, Arundhati (2010). The Importance of 2010. Strategic Analysis, 34(2), 165-170. Download.
• Ghose, Arundhati (2010). Emerging Markets and Global Governance: An Indian Perspective. The International Spectator, 45(4), 49-61. Download.
• Ghose, Arundhati (2009). Nuclear Weapons, Non-proliferation and Nuclear Disarmament Evolving Policy Challenges. India Quarterly: A Journal of International Affairs, 65(4), 431-440. Download.
• Ghose, Arundhati (2008). Terrorists, Human Rights and the United Nations. South Asia Terrorism Portal. Download.
• Ghose, Arundhati (2008). The Threat of Bio-Terrorism. CBW Magazine, 1(4). Download.
• Ghose, Arundhati (2006). Prospects for Indo-US Cooperation in Civilian Nuclear Energy. IDSA Comment, January 2006. Download.
• Ghose, Arundhati (2006). Maintaining the Moratorium: A De Facto CTBT. Disarmament Forum, Vol. 2. Download.
• Ghose, Arundhati (1997). Negotiating the CTBT: India's Security Concerns and Nuclear Disarmament. Journal of International Affairs, 51(1), 239-261. Download.
• Ghose, Arundhati (1996). Statement made by Ms. Arundhati Ghose, in the Plenary of the Conference on Disarmament on August 8, 1996. FAS.ORG. Download.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

New Book | Sustainable Energy for All: Innovation, Technology and Pro-poor Green Transformations | by David Ockwell & Rob Byrne

Sustainable Energy for All: Innovation, Technology and Pro-poor Green Transformations

by David Ockwell & Rob Byrne. Routledge, 2016, 214 pages, Paperback, ISBN: 9781138656932.

About the Book
Despite decades of effort and billions of dollars spent, two thirds of people in sub-Saharan Africa still lack access to electricity, a vital pre-cursor to economic development and poverty reduction. Ambitious international policy commitments seek to address this, but scholarship has failed to keep pace with policy ambitions, lacking both the empirical basis and the theoretical perspective to inform such transformative policy aims. Sustainable Energy for All aims to fill this gap. Through detailed historical analysis of the Kenyan solar PV market the book demonstrates the value of a new theoretical perspective based on Socio-Technical Innovation System Building. Importantly, the book goes beyond a purely academic critique to detail exactly how a Socio-Technical Innovation System Building approach might be operationalized in practice, facilitating both a detailed plan for future comparative research as well as a clear agenda for policy and practice. These plans are based on a systemic perspective that is more fit for purpose to inform transformative policy ambitions like the UN's Sustainable Energy for All by 2030 initiative and to underpin pro-poor pathways in sustainable energy access. This book will be of interest to academic researchers, policy makers and practitioners in the field of sustainable energy access and low carbon development more broadly.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: Beyond Hardware Financing and Private Sector Entrepreneurship
2. Innovation Systems for Technological Change and Economic Development
3. Innovation in the Context of Social Practices and Socio-Technical Regimes
4. Emergence and Articulation of the Kenyan Solar PV Market
5. Policy Regime Interactions and Emerging Markets
6. Learning from the Kenyan Solar PV Innovation History
7. Conclusions: Towards Socio-Technical Innovation System Building

About the Authors
David Ockwell is Reader in Geography at the University of Sussex, UK, and Deputy Director of Research in the ESRC STEPS Centre. He is also a Senior Research Fellow in the Sussex Energy Group and a Fellow of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. David sits on the board of the Low Carbon Energy for Development Network.
Rob Byrne is Lecturer in SPRU (Science Policy Research Unit) at the University of Sussex, UK. With David, Rob co-convenes the Energy and Climate Research Domain of the ESRC STEPS Centre. He is also a Research Fellow in the Sussex Energy Group and a Fellow of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. Rob sits on the board of the Low Carbon Energy for Development Network and is a member of Climate Strategies.

​Further Details

Call for papers: Citizen Science and Citizen Labs

From: Sarita Albagli <sarita.albagli@gmail.com>

CALL FOR PAPERS Liinc em Revista:  "Citizen Science and Citizen Labs"

 

Liinc em Revista is inviting submission of articles, subject to double-blind evaluation, for publication in Vol. 13, n. 1 (May 2017). We accept unpublished articles in Portuguese, Spanish and English.

 

This issue will present a dossier on "Citizen Science and Citizen Labs", organized by Guest Editors Henrique Parra (Unifesp, São Paulo), Mariano Fressoli (Cenit, Buenos Aires) and Antonio Lafuente (CSIC, Madri), within the theme proposed below.

 

Social studies of science and technology have observed in the last few years the emergence of multiple practices and alternative spaces of knowledge production, redesigning identities and frontiers between scientists and a concerned public, between the scientific laboratory and the citizen laboratory. 

 

Inspired by the more critical tendencies of collaborative science and research "in the wild", of open or citizen science, and by a tense dialogue with the dynamics of biopolitical government and of commodification of knowledge, there are new cognitive and political actors whose practices we wish to investigate.

 

Contributions to this dossier may include topics such as: 

• Open science, citizen science and "common" science
• Science and the production of the common
• Communities of practice, epistemic communities, and counter-expertise
• Citizen labs and political experimentation
• Fablabs, hackerspaces, and the maker movement
• Open science and grassroots innovation movements
• Production of counter-hegemonic scientific knowledge and technological appropriation
• Protocols, infrastructures, technologies and modes of organization for open and collaborative production of knowledge.

The dossier will also include a section for texts recounting innovative experiences within these topics. First authors of the articles should have doctoral or master degrees.  This rule does not apply to accounts of experiences. Other guidelines for authors can be found at: http://liinc.revista.ibict.br/index.php/liinc/about/submissions#authorGuidelines

Apart from the dossier, we also accept articles and reviews on other topics within the range of interest of Liinc em Revista.

PERIOD OF SUBMISSION: FROM SEPTEMBER 15, 2016 TO JANUARY 31, 2017 at http://www.ibict.br/liinc

Fwd: Social Sciences Winter School in Pondicherry on "Mobility and Social Dynamics"| 28 Nov-02 Dec | Pondicherry, India

Social Sciences Winter School in Pondicherry on "Mobility and Social Dynamics"

Dates: 28 November to 2 December 2016
Venue: Pondicherry University and the French Institute of Pondicherry

The Social Sciences Winter School in Pondicherry has been designed as a programme of intensive and multidisciplinary training workshops addressing theoretical and methodological issues in social sciences research.

Themes
Each edition of the Winter School is based on a cross-cutting theme in the field of social sciences, taken as a guideline throughout the training workshop. For the 2016 Edition, the following theme has been chosen: "Mobility and Social Dynamics". The specific topics addressed encompass: spatial and social mobility, circulation, international migration, diaspora and the homeland, gender, survey design, data collection and analysis. Three parallel workshops will be coordinated by international teams of academics, with specific themes:
Workshop 1. Documenting Processes of Spatial Mobility: Qualitative and Ethnographic Approaches
Workshop 2. Using Survey Data to Understand Social and Geographical Mobility
Workshop 3. Social Mobility in its Indian Complexity: Conceptual and Methodological Dynamics

Schedule: During five consecutive days, the Winter School will be organised around two poles:

• plenary sessions (one day, lectures by senior academics) presenting state of the art, overview of theoretical and methodological issues on a particular research topic;
• methodological and disciplinary workshops (three full days, three workshops à la carte for small groups) devoted to tutorials: theoretical models, text analysis, survey methods and data collection, data analysis, etc.

The training will end with a one-day knowledge and project restitutions and the delivery of certificates to participants.

Participants: The Winter School is open to Doctoral and Master Students of all fields in social sciences. Trainees will be selected on the basis of their qualifications, while taking into account the value of the training with regards to their research or professional projects. The teams of trainers will be multidisciplinary and international, composed of young and senior researchers originating from several Indian universities and research centres of excellence, as well as from abroad. It is the result of a long-lasting Indo-French collaboration between Pondicherry University and the French Institute in Pondicherry, as well as with CNRS, IRD and EHESS in France.

Venue: The training will take place at Pondicherry University (School of Social Sciences and International Studies, Silver Jubilee Campus) and at the French Institute of Pondicherry (IFP), from November 28 to December 2, 2016.

Registration

• The deadline for registration is September 30, 2016
• Please fill in and submit the electronic application form via the following link: https://goo.gl/forms/yn00vXjYYnqHbL543

The application should further include:

• Full CV
• Postgraduate degree certificate
• These 2 documents should be sent by email to winterschoolpy@gmail.com
• The registration fees of Rs. 2,000 are payable at Pondicherry University on arrival.
• Selected students will be offered round trip train fare (II Sleeper) and accommodation for the duration of the programme in the University campus.
  

Contact: All correspondence should be addressed to the team of coordinators: winterschoolpy@gmail.com.

​Further Information

New Book | The Global Innovation Index 2016: Winning with Global Innovation | by WIPO and others

The Global Innovation Index 2016: Winning with Global Innovation

edited by Soumitra Dutta, Francis Gurry and Bruno Lanvin. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and others, 2016, e-Book, ISBN 9791095870012.

Preface
We are pleased to present the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2016 on the theme 'Winning with Global Innovation'. The geography and process of innovation have changed considerably since the first GII. Science and research and development (R&D) are now more open, collaborative, and geographically dispersed. R&D efforts are simultaneously more globalized and more localized while an increasing variety of actors in emerging countries contributes to enrich the innovation landscape. Arguably, everyone stands to gain from global innovation. More resources are now spent on innovation and related factors globally than at any other given point in human history. Thus far, however, innovation has sometimes not been portrayed as a global win-win proposition. Two factors explain this state of affairs: First, evidence regarding the organization and outcomes of the new global innovation model is lacking. Second, governments and institutions need to approach global innovation as a positive-sum proposition and tailor policies accordingly. The 2016 edition of the GII is dedicated to this theme. The report aims to contribute an analysis of global innovation as a win-win proposition and so facilitate improved policy making. Over the last nine years, the GII has established itself as both a leading reference on innovation and a 'tool for action' for decision makers. The launch events of the GII rotate across capitals of the world to ensure visibility of this data-driven exercise and a high degree of implementation on the ground. After a launch hosted by the Australian government in 2014, in 2015 the UK's then Minister for Intellectual Property, Baroness Neville-Rolfe, hosted the launch of the GII in London. Following the 2016 global launch, regions and countries will use the GII as a tool for action as in previous years. In addition, the theme chosen for the 2016 edition of the GII and the indicators themselves can make a contribution to the debates on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations in November 2015.
We thank our Knowledge Partners, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), du, and A.T. Kearney and IMP3rove – European Innovation Management Academy for their support of this year's report. Likewise, we thank our prominent Advisory Board, which has been enriched by two new members this year: Fabiola Gianotti, Director-General of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), and Pedro Wongtschowski, Member of the Board of Directors of Ultrapar Participações S.A. and of Embraer S.A.; Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Brazilian Enterprise for Research and Innovation (EMBRAPII) and of the Brazilian Association of Innovative Companies (ANPEI).
We hope that the collective efforts of innovation actors using the GII will continue to pave the way for better innovation policies around the world.

Soumitra Dutta | Dean, College of Business, Cornell University
Francis Gurry | Director General, WIPO

Bruno Lanvin | Executive Director for Global Indices, INSEAD

Table of Contents
Chapter 1: The Global Innovation Index 2016: Winning with Global Innovation
Chapter 2: A Bigger Bang for the Buck: Trends, Causes, and Implications of the Globalization of Science and Technology
Chapter 3: Technology-Driven Foreign Direct Investment within the Global South
Chapter 4: Innovating Together? The Age of Innovation Diplomacy
Chapter 5: Local Needs, Global Challenges: The Meaning of Demand-Side Policies for Innovation and Development
Chapter 6: Becoming a Global Player by Creating a New Market Category: The Case of AMOREPACIFIC
Chapter 7: Radical Innovation Is Collaborative, Disruptive, and Sustainable
Chapter 8: The Management of Global Innovation: Business Expectations for 2020
Chapter 9: Global Corporate R&D to and from Emerging Economies
Chapter 10: From Research to Innovation to Enterprise: The Case of Singapore
Chapter 11: National Innovation Systems Contributing to Global Innovation: The Case of Australia
Chapter 12: Leveraging Talent Globally to Scale Indian Innovation
Chapter 13: How to Design a National Innovation System in a Time of Global Innovation Networks: A Russian Perspective

Download Full-Text PDF (Free Access)

New Book | Grassroots Innovation: Minds on the Margin Are Not Marginal Minds | by Anil K. Gupta

Grassroots Innovation: Minds on the Margin Are Not Marginal Minds

by Anil K. Gupta, Penguin India, New Delhi, 2016. ISBN: 9788184005875.

About the Book
A moral dilemma gripped Professor Gupta when he was invited by the Bangladeshi government to help restructure their agricultural sector in 1985. He noticed how the marginalized farmers were being paid poorly for their otherwise unmatched knowledge. The gross injustice of this constant imbalance led Professor Gupta to found what would turn into a resounding social and ethical movement the Honey Bee Network bringing together and elevating thousands of grassroots innovators. For over two decades, Professor Gupta has travelled through rural lands unearthing innovations by the ranks from the famed Miticool refrigerator to the footbridge of Meghalaya. He insists that to fight the largest and most persistent problems of the world we must eschew expensive research labs and instead, look towards ordinary folk. Innovation that oft-flung around word is stripped to its core in this book. Poignant and personal, Grassroots Innovations is an important treatise from a social crusader of our time.

About the Author
Professor Anil Gupta is the Executive Vice Chair of the National Innovation Foundation, and is also the founder of the Honey Bee Network. He has been a professor at the Centre for Management in Agriculture, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, since 1981. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2004. He won the Asian Innovation Award (Gold) in 2000.

​​​Further Details

New Book | Global Open Data for Agriculture & Nutrition: Success Stories, Issue 1

Global Open Data for Agriculture & Nutrition: Success Stories, Issue 1
by Global Open Data for Agriculture & Nutrition (GODAN), August 2016; written by: Sam Compton, edited by: Diana Szpotowicz and Paul Day.

Table of Contents

1. Land Rights in Rwanda: Transparency, Land Rights, Land Tenure Regularisation
2. Smart Fertilizer Mixer, Global: Agriculture, Innovation, Commercial
3. Copernicus Sentinel: Satellite, Environmental
4. Commodity Exchange, Ethiopia: Pricing and Transparency Of Commodities
5. Orchard Water Management, South Africa: Agriculture, Innovation, Commercial
6. Sharing Crop Insurance Methods, Africa: Agriculture, Insurance
7. CommonSense, Ethiopia: Food Security, Smallholder's Livelihoods
8. Open Data for Insurance, ASTI, Global: Agricultural Research Investment
9. VetAfrica: Mobile App, Animal Care, Rural Development
10. Food and Water Borne Diseases, Global: Sharing Food and Water Safety Data
11. Moisture Reading Sensors, Global: Agriculture, Innovation, Commercial
12. Scaling Up Nutrition Organisation, Global: Nutrition Improvements, National Planning
13. Rice Wheel, Thailand: Converting Open Data to Printed Information
14. Land Portal Foundation: Open Data, Common Land Vocabulary
15. Satellite Data Helping Indonesian Farmers: Agricultural Insurance, Satellite Data

Foreword: The Data Revolution

Today's world never faced so many intense challenges as it does now. Soon the Earth's population will have more than tripled in less than a century, requiring us to increase food production by more than 60% in the next few decades. This comes at a time when major obstacles such a climate change, land degradation and loss of agricultural land, due to the expansion of cities, already make it difficult to maintain our current food production.
Yes, we do live in unprecedented times. Unprecedented times require unprecedented measures. Unprecedented times require change.
We need to change the way we do things. We need to increase food production, yes, but we need to increase quality food production, not just volume. We need to make sure the food produced reaches those that need it, and that it does not go to waste. Moreover, and some say more importantly, the world needs not just to be better fed but it also needs to be safer, wealthier, healthier, happier.
The industrial revolution is long gone. Even the Internet revolution and its extraordinary benefits seem to level off. What is the solution then? How are we going to reach our next level of global efficiency? Through open data.
In 1986, approximately 1% of the world's data production was in a digital format. Twenty years later, in 2007, it was 94%. Today, almost the totality of data generation is digital.
This means that we are now for the first time in the history of humanity, in a position to instantly share, disseminate, send masses of information anywhere around the globe (and beyond) at any time.
Data is knowledge; or rather, data may become knowledge once the concepts, the processes, the ideas, the decisions that led to its generation, are extracted and reformulated in a manner that can be understood, analysed, and accessed by everyone. Then data truly becomes knowledge. In turn, through wide dissemination, knowledge allows leaders and individuals alike to make better facts-based, enlightened decisions, leading to better societies and better individual well-being.
Open data is the next revolution. Humanity will be able to build on the gains made from the series of industrial and intellectual revolutions that has led the world to progress to where it is today. Open data allows governments, private sector and civil society for the first time to work together in a true participative manner.
Yes, we do live in unprecedented times. We also live with unprecedented tools, made largely and widely available through open data, examples of which are illustrated in the following pages.
It is now for us to make use of it, for the benefit of all.

André Laperriere, GODAN Executive Director

Download Full-text PDF (Open Access)

New Report from UNESCAP | Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2016: Nurturing productivity for inclusive growth and sustainable development

Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2016: Nurturing productivity for inclusive growth and sustainable development

by United Naitons Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP), Bangkok, 2016, ISBN: 9789211207156.

Preface
A number of distinct phases of economic growth have occurred in the Asia-Pacific region over the past four decades. In the 1980s and 1990s, when surplus labour in agriculture began to migrate to jobs in manufacturing and services, regional economies underwent major structural changes. With the emergence of China as the "factory of the world" and the currency adjustments following the 1997 Asian financial crisis, regional economic growth became increasingly dependent on the export of merchandise to advanced economies. When external demand collapsed during the global financial and economic crisis that started in 2008, concerns were raised that the Asia-Pacific region would also be severely affected. However, after a brief downturn, the region's economic growth rate recovered on the back of fiscal stimulus programmes and rapid credit growth, demonstrating the dynamism of Asia and the Pacific, which accounted for about two thirds of global growth in the years that followed.
This resilience reflected the region's increased purchasing power, but this was also a time when households and corporates became highly leveraged, despite the existence of excess capacity in certain sectors. Consequently, asset bubbles began to emerge in the context of ample liquidity injected into the global system by the advanced economies. This situation proved unsustainable, and a series of events and trends – sluggish exports, China's policy-led economic growth moderation, commodity price declines, strengthening of the United States dollar and normalization of its monetary policy, growing inequality and demographic challenges – have pushed the region into a low-growth and high-risk scenario.
The next phase of Asia-Pacific economic growth should, therefore, be driven by further rebalancing towards generation of domestic and regional demand, as well as by broad-based productivity gains. Supporting this strategy requires higher and more targeted fiscal spending, enhanced skills for workers and better infrastructure. Improving agricultural productivity and rural industrialization will also be critical, as 55% of the people in the Asia-Pacific region still live in rural areas. Productivity-led growth will, however, need to be accompanied by steady increases in real wages to support domestic demand and implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This approach will improve the quality of growth by making it more inclusive and sustainable.
Recent volatility in financial markets, including exchange rate depreciations, is a reflection of the changing underlying dynamics, which policymakers are finding increasingly challenging to manage. Consumer spending is constrained by high household debt and a declining share of wages in national incomes, while private investment has not been as forthcoming in view of the high levels of corporate debt as well as domestic and global uncertainties. Moreover, despite record low overall inflation in the region, declining global commodity prices have had adverse impacts on commodity exporters, and manoeuvring room for monetary policy has been limited by capital outflow pressures as well as domestic financial stability concerns. Along with the economic slowdown and emerging policy challenges, progress on poverty reduction is slowing, inequalities are rising and prospects of decent employment are weakening.
These are some of the cross-cutting challenges facing the region that are dealt with in this issue of the Survey, which also contains analyses and policy suggestions tailored to specific subregions and countries. These challenges include population ageing and fiscal sustainability issues in East and North-East Asia; economic diversification and development of the services sector in North and Central Asia; natural disasters and risk-sharing mechanisms in the Pacific; female labour force participation in South and South-West Asia; and reforms of tax policy and administration in South-East Asia.
Fiscal policy can play an important role in supporting domestic demand through countercyclical measures and in strengthening the foundations for inclusive and productivity-led growth through better education, health care and infrastructure. A proactive fiscal policy could also alleviate the pressure on public services arising from rapid urbanization and a rising middle class in the region. One caveat is that such fiscal measures should be accompanied by sustained reforms towards achieving an efficient and fair tax system which delivers the necessary revenues.
Active labour market policies are also needed to support employment in times of economic slowdown and to foster a virtuous cycle in which high-quality education and vocational training increase labour productivity and translate into higher wages. At the same time, enhancing social protection for the poor and near-poor is an urgent priority as these groups tend to be highly vulnerable to economic downturns. Regional economic cooperation and integration, particularly in the areas of capital markets, intraregional trade, infrastructure development, and energy and information and communications technology connectivity, are other important avenues to boost domestic and regional demand.
It is also significant that total factor productivity growth has slowed considerably in recent years, as suggested by a sharper decline in output than can be explained by changes in employment and investment. Although cyclical elements may also be in play, fundamental bottlenecks in skills and infrastructure seem to be holding back the productivity potential of the region.
Access to high-quality education and higher research and development spending are important for effective diffusion of technology and innovation. There are also opportunities for productivity gains to be made from agglomeration and scale economies associated with urbanization – for which high-quality infrastructure is critical. At the same time, to ensure that productivity growth is inclusive and broad-based, greater attention needs to be paid to revitalizing agriculture and the rural economy, as well as to enhancing financing for small and medium-sized enterprises. Finally, there is a need to reorient the discussion on productivity to reflect such issues as intensity of resource use − particularly that of energy − and the associated environmental degradation.
All of these issues are closely related to the 2030 Agenda. As the most comprehensive intergovernmental platform for regional cooperation in Asia and the Pacific, ESCAP is strengthening its work in the areas of financing for development, science, technology and innovation, trade facilitation, energy and capacity-building, all of which are critical enablers and means of implementation for sustainable development.
The multidimensional nature of poverty and inequality requires multidimensional solutions. This is why ESCAP is focused on supporting the efforts of member States to revive economic growth across the region and to make it more inclusive, resilient and sustainable.

Shamshad Akhtar | Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations; Executive Secretary, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific

Table of Contents

Executive Summary
Chapter 1. Economic growth outlook and key challenges
Chapter 2. Perspectives from Subregions
Chapter 3. Increasing productivity for reviving economic growth and supporting sustainable development

Download Full-text PDF (Open Access)

New Book | Mapping the Heavens: The Radical Scientific Ideas That Reveal the Cosmos | by Priyamvada Natarajan, HarperCollins, 2016

Mapping the Heavens: The Radical Scientific Ideas That Reveal the Cosmos

by Priyamvada Natarajan, HarperCollins India, New Delhi, 2016. ISBN: 9789350297711.

About the Book
This book provides a tour of the "greatest hits" of cosmological discoveries - the ideas that reshaped our universe over the past century. The cosmos, once understood as a stagnant place, filled with the ordinary, is now a universe that is expanding at an accelerating pace, propelled by dark energy and structured by dark matter. Priyamvada Natarajan, our guide to these ideas, is someone at the forefront of the research - an astrophysicist who literally creates maps of invisible matter in the universe. She not only explains for a wide audience the science behind these essential ideas but also provides an understanding of how radical scientific theories gain acceptance.
The formation and growth of black holes, dark matter halos, the accelerating expansion of the universe, the echo of the big bang, the discovery of exoplanets, and the possibility of other universes - these are some of the puzzling cosmological topics of the early twenty-first century. Natarajan discusses why the acceptance of new ideas about the universe and our place in it has never been linear and always contested even within the scientific community. And she affirms that, shifting and incomplete as science always must be, it offers the best path we have toward making sense of our wondrous, mysterious universe.

About the Author
Priyamvada Natarajan is professor of astronomy and physics at Yale University and holds the Sophie and Tycho Brahe Professorship at the Dark Center, Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen. Her research on dark matter, dark energy and black holes has won her many awards and honors, including Guggenheim and Radcliffe Fellowships. Invested in public dissemination of science and numerical literacy, she is a member of the advisory board of NOVA ScienceNow, participates regularly in the World Science Festival and writes for The New York Review of Books. She was recently elected to chair the Division of Astrophysics of the American Physical Society.

​​Further Details

The Politics of Data: The rising prominence of a data-centric approach to scientific research.

The Politics of Data: The rising prominence of a data-centric approach to scientific research.

LSE Blog launches a series of posts on the politics of data. Big data, small data and data sharing will be critically examined by a range of experts, each exploring the implications of the changing data landscape for research and society. In the first piece, Sabina Leonelli and Louise Bezuidenhout argue the study of data itself is an excellent entry point to reflect on the activities and claims associated to the idea of scientific knowledge. How scientists perceive their research environments, what they recognize as strengths and limitations, and what in these environments pose material or social challenges to data engagement all influence how data travels.
Source: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2015/10/05/politics-of-data-scientific-data-centrism/

Scientific research has long involved efforts to generate, analyse and interpret large masses of data, as illustrated by the major data collection and curation efforts characterising 17th century astronomy and metereology and 18th century natural history. Thus, current big data may well have remarkable volume, velocity, variability, variety and veracity, but they are not a new phenomenon within science, and many disciplines have developed sophisticated strategies to cope with overflows of information. At the same time, contemporary manifestations of big data have distinctive features that relate to the technologies, institutions and governance structures of the contemporary scientific world.

For instance, this approach is typically associated to the emergence of large-scale, multi-national networks of scientists; to a strong emphasis on the importance of sharing data and regarding them as valuable research outputs in and of themselves, regardless of whether or not they have yet been used as evidence for a given discovery; the institutionalization of procedures and norms for data dissemination through the Open Science and Open Data movements, and policies such as those recently adopted by Research Councils UK and key research funders such as the European Research Council, the Wellcome Trust and the Gates Foundation; and the development of instruments, building on digital technologies and web services, that facilitate the production and dissemination of data with a speed and geographical reach as yet unseen in the history of science.

This peculiar conjuncture of institutional, socio-political, economic and technological developments have considerably increased international debate over processes of data production, dissemination and interpretation within science and beyond. This level of reflexivity over data practices is arguably the most novel and interesting aspect of contemporary debates over big data. What we are witnessing is thus not the emergence of a wholly new research paradigm dealing with hitherto unseen types of data, but rather the rising prominence of a data-centric approach to scientific research, where concerns over data sharing and use in the long term take precedence over immediate attempts to analyze data.

Thus conceptualized, data centrism raises fundamental epistemological issues, which are deeply intertwined with the political challenges posed by big data. What are data, and how are they transformed into meaningful information? What is the status of so-called raw data with respect to other sources of evidence? What constitutes good, reliable data, and how can this be assessed? Should there be restrictions to data dissemination, particularly in cases where the ownership of data is disputed? What role do theory and materials play in data-intensive research, and does it make sense to disseminate big data in the absence of information about data provenance and/or the samples on which data were originally obtained? What difference do the scale (itself a multifaceted notion), technological sophistication and institutional sanctioning of widespread data dissemination make to discovery and innovation? Philosophical analysis can help to address these questions in ways that inform both current data practices and the ways in which have been conceptualized within the social science and humanities, as well as by policy bodies and other institutions.

Scientific research is often presented as the most systematic set of efforts in the contemporary world aimed to critically explore and debate what constitutes acceptable and sufficient evidence for any given belief about reality. The very term 'data' comes from the Latin 'given', and indeed data are meant to document as faithfully and objectively as possible whatever entities or processes are being investigated. And yet, data collection is always steeped in a specific way of understanding the world and constrained by given material and social conditions, and the resulting data are therefore marked by the historical circumstances through which they were generated: what constitutes trustworthy or sufficient data changes across time and space, making it impossible to ever assemble a complete and intrinsically reliable dataset. Furthermore, data are valued and used for a variety of reasons, including as sources of evidence, tokens of exchange and personal identity, signifiers of status and markers of intellectual property; and myriads of data types are produced by as many stakeholders, from citizens to industry and governmental agencies, which means that what constitutes data, for whom and for which purposes is constantly at stake.

This landscape makes the study of data into an excellent entry point to reflect on the activities and claims associated to the idea of scientific knowledge, and the implications of existing conceptualisations of various forms of knowledge production and use. This is exemplified by ongoing research at the University of Exeter on data handling practices amongst scientists in both the developed world and Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs). As such research illustrates, what constitutes knowledge, and a 'scientific contribution', varies enormously depending not only on access to data, but also on what is regarded as relevant data in the first place, and what capabilities any research group has to develop, structure and disseminate their ideas. This research has involved a large empirical component involving scientists from a number of laboratories in the UK and in African countries, carried out under the leadership of Professor Brian Rappert and with funding by the Leverhulme Trust.  In interviews, scientists were asked to discuss their research, their management of data, how they disseminated their data, and what online data they re-used.  From these interviews it became evident that there were a range of material and social aspects of their research environment that played significant roles in their overall data engagement activities.

Interviews carried out in sub-saharan Africa yielded particularly significant results in terms of the political and scientific dimensions of big data sharing. In contrast to most current discussions on data, the issues highlighted in these interviews were often the small, innocuous characteristics of laboratory life in low-resource environments. Thus, issues such as teaching loads, availability of up-to-date computers and software, the age of the research equipment used to produce the data and similar issues featured significantly in how scientists talked about their own research – how they conducted their own research, how they viewed the resultant products of this research, and what they recognized as "data" to share and re-use. Such research clearly demonstrates the importance of scrutinizing all processes involved in data engagement and to recognize the role that research environments play in not only the creation of data, but also their selection, presentation and dissemination. How scientists perceive their research environments, what they recognize as strengths and limitations, and what in these environments pose material or social challenges to data engagement all influence what data travels in or out of any research context.

Such observations raise interesting questions for data studies, as the limitations of overarching descriptions of data or data sharing practices become apparent. Indeed, studying how LMIC scientists engage with the data they create and re-use draws considerable attention to both the material and social aspects of data sharing. The types of data shared and valued, the longevity of these data, and the pathways through which they are disseminated and re-used all have complicated relationships to the research environments in which they are utilized.  In consequence, homogenized perceptions of key issues such as what data are, how raw data differs from processed data, and how data ownership can be understood reveal their limitations.

This is part of a wider series on the Politics of Data. For more on this topic, also see Mark Carrigan's Philosophy of Data Science interview series and the Discover Society special issue on the Politics of Data (Science).

BJHS Themes, special issue on "Science of Giants: China and India in the Twentieth Century" | Just Released

BJHS Themes: A Peer-Reviewed, Open Access, Thematic Journal for the History of Science

Special Issue on Science of Giants: China and India in the Twentieth Century

Guest edited by Jahnavi Phalkey and Tong Lam

BJHS Themes,Volume 1 | Table of Contents

• Science of Giants: China and India in the Twentieth Century | Jahnavi Phalkey and Tong Lam | BJHS Themes, Volume 1, January 2016, pp 1-11 | doi: 10.1017/bjt.2016.12
• Accepting difference, seeking common ground: Sino-Indian statistical exchanges 1951–1959 | Arunabh Ghosh | BJHS Themes, Volume 1, January 2016, pp 61-82 | doi: 10.1017/bjt.2016.1
• Another global history of science: making space for India and China | Asif Siddiqi | BJHS Themes, Volume 1, January 2016, pp 115-143 | doi: 10.1017/bjt.2016.4
• Green-revolution epistemologies in China and India: technocracy and revolution in the production of scientific knowledge and peasant identity | Madhumita Saha and Sigrid Schmalzer | BJHS Themes, Volume 1, January 2016, pp 145-167 | doi: 10.1017/bjt.2016.2
• Investigating nature within different discursive and ideological contexts: case studies of Chinese and Indian coal capitals | Pin-Hsien Wu | BJHS Themes, Volume 1, January 2016, pp 199-220 | doi: 10.1017/bjt.2016.3
• Negotiating natural history in transitional China and British India | Fa-Ti Fan and John Mathew | BJHS Themes, Volume 1, January 2016, pp 43-59 | doi: 10.1017/bjt.2016.6
• How deep is love? The engagement with India in Joseph Needham's historiography of China | Leon Antonio Rocha | BJHS Themes, Volume 1, January 2016, pp 13-41 | doi: 10.1017/bjt.2016.5
• The future arrives earlier in Palo Alto (but when it's high noon there, it's already tomorrow in Asia): a conversation about writing science fiction and reimagining histories of science and technology | Anna Greenspan, Anil Menon, Kavita Philip and Jeffrey Wasserstrom | BJHS Themes, Volume 1, January 2016, pp 249-266 | doi: 10.1017/bjt.2016.7
• Planning for science and technology in China and India | Jahnavi Phalkey and Zuoyue Wang | BJHS Themes, Volume 1, January 2016, pp 83-113 | doi: 10.1017/bjt.2016.9
• Studying the snow leopard: reconceptualizing conservation across the China–India border | Michael Lewis and E. Elena Songster | BJHS Themes, Volume 1, January 2016, pp 169-198 | doi: 10.1017/bjt.2016.8
• High-tech utopianism: Chinese and Indian science parks in the neo-liberal turn | Diganta Das and Tong Lam | BJHS Themes, Volume 1, January 2016, pp 221-238 | doi: 10.1017/bjt.2016.11
• Speculative Histories: Photo essay | Kavita Philip | BJHS Themes, Volume 1, January 2016, pp 239-248 | doi: 10.1017/bjt.2016.10

Open Access to Journal Issue: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=BJT   

Annals of Science Student Essay Prize, 2016

Annals of Science Student Essay Prize

by Oliver Hill-Andrews

Submissions are being accepted for the Annals of Science best paper prize 2016. This prize is awarded annually to the author of an original, unpublished essay in the history of science or technology, which is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. The prize, which is supported by Taylor & Francis, is intended for those who are currently doctoral students, or have been awarded their doctorate within the past four years.

Essays should be submitted to the Editor in a form acceptable for publication in Annals of Science. View the Instructions for Authors (http://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?journalCode=tasc20&page=instructions). The winning essay will be published in the Journal, and the author will be awarded US$1000 and a free subscription to Annals of Science.

Papers should be submitted by 30th September 2016, with the winner being notified by 31st December 2016. The Editors' decision is final.

Questions and submissions should be directed to Oliver Hill-Andrews (Editorial Assistant) at annals.science@sussex.ac.uk

CSIR-NISTADS Vitarka/Policy Debate on India's Current Agricultural Trade Policy is not Water Sustainable | 24th August | IIC New Delhi

Vitarka: A CSIR-NISTADS Outreach Programme for Inclusive Policy Debate

Topic: "India's Current Agricultural Trade Policy is not Water Sustainable"

Date: 24th August 2016 at 6:00 PM (Tea: 5:45 pm)

Venue: India International Center, Seminar Hall 1, New Delhi

Online Register Vitarka session at CSIR-NISTADS

NISTADS is planning a small group discussion comprising maximum 30 participants from various section of the society. Participation in Vitarka is by invitation based on direct invitation or selection from requests received through web registration. Kindly register on NISTADS website for participation by 20th August 2016. Email from NISTADS will be sent by 22nd August 2016 to the participants whose participation is confirmed.

About Vitarka

An active and inclusive public debate can make significant contribution to policy formulation and policy advocacy. CSIR National Institute for Science, Technology and Development Studies (NISTADS) is launching a public discussion forum Vitarka. The primary goal of Vitarka is to engage the public in policy debate for techno-socio-economic transformation, especially through S&T intervention.

Vitarka is planned as an open environment platform for informed and participative discussion. Vitarka sessions will be organized at India International Centre (IIC).

CSIR-NISTADS invites public and all stakeholders for their views, contribution and participation in this techno-socio-economic developments initiative. Vitarka will greatly benefit from your contribution and participation. The topics planned under Vitarka can range from Clean Water, Carbon Taxes, Energy, GM Crops, and Stem Cell Research to Space Mission and Nuclear Policy.

Background note

Eliminating hunger and malnutrition has been a pertinent challenge for India since Independence. Despite the tremendous growth and phenomenal industrial and economic performance, India is still home to 190.7 million under nourished people (FAO and UN, 2014, The State of Food Insecurity in the World), a quarter of all undernourished population in the world. Moreover, projections of India's population reaching 1.6 billion by 2050 (UN, Department of Economics and Social Affairs, June 2013, World Population Prospect) shall entail much higher food requirements than today. It is of highest priority for India to ensure secure access to food by every one of its citizens, now and for the future. Climate change, resource constraints, distribution and storage are some concerns that threaten India's food security.

Agriculture, the soul of food security, is a highly intensive resource sector. Agriculture accounts for 70 percent of total global freshwater withdrawals, making it the largest user of water. At the same time, the food production and supply chain consumes about 30 percent of total energy consumed globally (FAO 2011, Issue Paper: Energy-smart Food for People and Climate). Food security is related to the nexus between water and energy, and while water and energy are required for irrigation, energy is vital for water access, and water is critical for energy production. While water scarcity in the region increases, food price hikes and food access become grave concerns for many. A balance is crucial for the nexus approach. Agriculture is undeniably a resource intensive sector and this fact comes along with a need for efficient and effective management of finite resources, in order to ensure long term sustainability of agriculture and thus food security for all.

India is poised to lose its entire available water supply within 500 years if its current food export policy continues, a new method of calculating "virtual water" flow through trade has shown. India, in contrast, is a net exporter of water through agricultural products and the new analysis claims: "This can lead to a slow but irreversible loss of water sustainability". India's main exports are cereals, tea, coffee, cashew nuts and sugar, which all require vast amounts of water. The analysis concludes that the net virtual water export alone can severely impact on a nation's long-term water sustainability.

Water shortage in India is not merely because of bad monsoon. Water is now a policy challenge. Several countries have started analysing water demand and supply in the context of agricultural, trade and industrial policies. India and China are the world's biggest countries (in terms of population) and their water policies are the subject of global studies. Studies of Stockholm Water Institute and International Water Institute (available on the internet) show that China is managing its water resources better. Rainfall in India is 50 per cent higher than that in China, but India's water resources are 67 per cent of those of China's and per capita water availability is declining faster than that in China.

Looking at the exploitation of groundwater, river water and other water resources, India needs a comprehensive policy change on its water usage. This is essential because India hosts a massive virtual water trade at the domestic level, which involves the cultivation of crops like cotton, sugarcane and paddy in low rainfall areas of north-west and their supply to eastern states.
Through this debate, we would like to address the following questions:

• What policy interventions (trade, investment, natural capital, climate) are needed to build co-ordination among water, energy and food sectors to address the issue of resource conflicts?
• What are the technology solutions in agriculture that can support in attaining optimum efficiency and utilisation of resources along with the balance in the nexus? Are there market mechanisms required to mainstream such technologies?
• What are the strategies needed to prevent incoherence of macro policies with local problems of resource availability and usage?
• How can farmer ensure efficient use of resource keeping the Water-Energy-Food nexus in perspective?

 

Further Details

Dr. Mohammad Rais

Coordinator: Vitarka-NISTADS Outreach Programme (NOP)

CSIR-NISTADS, Pusa Gate, K.S. Krishnan Marg, New Delhi 110012, India

T: +91-11-25843052 (office)

E: mohammad_rais[at]hotmail.com; rais[at]nistads.res.in

http://nistads.res.in/index.php/outreach-programme/vitarka

Call for e-Learning Proposals: Open Invitation for Preparing and Offering Courses on SWAYAM MOOC Platform of MHRD India

Call for Proposals: Open Invitation for Preparing and Offering Courses on SWAYAM MOOC Platform of MHRD India

​

CfPs: National Seminar on Integral Humanism in Indian Thought | 19-20 September | New Delhi

National Seminar on "Integral Humanism in Indian Thought"

The Centre for Study of Religion and Society (CSRS) of India Foundation, in association with ICPR, New Delhi and Bharatiya Shikshan Mandal, Nagpur is organizing a two-day National Seminar on "Integral Humanism on Indian Thought" on 19-20 September 2016 in New Delhi, to commemorate Birth Centenary of the great philosopher and political thinker Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay. Integral Humanism advocates integrated development of the body, mind, intellect and soul of each human being. According to Pt. Deendayal Upadhyay, Indian culture is holistic and integral. Integral Humanism has been a guiding force of a holistic model of individual development, social organization and politico-economic governance in Indian thought since ages.

SUB-THEMES

Papers on the following themes are invited from Academicians, Thinkers and other associates of Pt. Deendayal Upadhyay's "Integral Humanism":

1. Human ontology and value-pursuits
2. Metaphysical and ethical thoughts in Integral Humanism
3. Quantum Physics and Integral Humanism
4. Society and social harmony and World order in Integral Humanism
5. Arthayam and sustainable development in Integral Humanism
6. Political ideology of Integral Humanism
7. Ancient Indian thought and Integral Humanism
8. Individualism and Integral Humanism
9. Nationalism, Internationalism and Integral Humanism
10. Gender discourse and Integral Humanism

CALL OF PAPERS

You are invited to submit abstracts on the mentioned sub-themes through email at csrs@indiafoundation.in electronically by August 10, 2016. Please mention your affiliation, mailing address, phone number and e-mail address. Upon acceptance of abstract, you are requested to submit full length paper by August 20, 2016. The deadlines are not to be extended in any circumstances.

KEY DATES

Abstract submission:                                                       August 10, 2016

Abstract acceptance:                                                       August 15, 2016

Full length paper submission:                                         August 20, 2016

Submission Guidelines:

1. Use MS-Word (.docx format) for typing the manuscript in A4 size paper
2. Margins- Left, top, bottom and right – 25mm
3. Spacing – Single line spacing
4. Font Type – Times New Roman; Font Size – 14 for the Title (Bold All CAPS), 12 for the Author's Name/Authors' Names (Bold, Title case), 11 for Designation and the affiliation (Italics), 12 for Abstract heading (Bold All caps) and 11 for abstract text
5. Rules for Title Page

Title: All Caps, bold and centered. Make sure the title is not more than 70 characters in length, including spaces between words.

Author:

• Leave one line blank between the title of the paper and the Author's name / Authors' names and affiliations.
• Leave one line blank between the author(s) affiliation(s) and abstract. Affiliation should consist of the designation and name of the organization(s), city, zip/ postal code, state/province, email address.

Abstract: 

• Abstract should be between 250 and 300 words.
• The abstract should present a concise statement of the scope, and principal findings of the paper.
• The text of the abstract should have font size 11.
• Please include 4 – 5 keywords that describe your study.

References 

• Each reference should be cited in the text by the last name(s) of the author(s) and the year of publication of the reference.
• All references should be listed at the end of the text in alphabetical order, according to the last name of the first named author.
• Reference should include year of publication, full title, name of source, volume and page numbers.
• Fonts and punctuation are given in the enclosed specimen copy of the papers.
• References should be separated by one blank line.

Page numbers | Page numbers should be numbered in Arabic numerals at the center bottom of the page.

Maximum length | Maximum 10 pages (A4 size) including figures, tables and photos.

Note: Submissions should be made in .doc/.docx/.odt formats only. Hindi Abstract should be submitted into both .doc/.docx/.odt & .pdf formats.

Further Details