Thursday, April 30, 2015

New book from CSSP "Diaspora, Culture and Identity: Asian Indians in America" by Poonam Bala

Diaspora, Culture and Identity: Asian Indians in America
by Poonam Bala
Rawat Publications, 2015, 152 pages, ISBN: 9788131607183

About the Book
The recent spur in the literature on various aspects of the Asian community in general and South Asians in particular, has focused largely on either the changing status of Indian women, or on the social and cultural transformations they have undergone as "immigrants" from a vastly different culture, or on a feminist perspective of Indian women in America. Most recently, studies have alluded to the South Asian immigration in the broader context of Asian immigration to the United States. Some studies have focused on the linguistic, cultural, and religious ideologies in view of the 'adopted' socio-cultural values amongst the Hindu diaspora across different cultures. In as much as above perspectives provide answers to various issues about the Indian diaspora, they do not account for issues related to identity, social and cultural adjustments, and perception of parent cultures by second and third generations.
This book is written in the belief that there exists no single work that documents the various issues of the Indian diaspora through their own voices, and through successive generations in Ohio. It is hoped that the proposed work will provide an insight into various issues that have neither been voiced nor documented, yet have played a significant role in the lives of the Asian community in America. The book explores the patterns and the reasons for cultural 'shifts' amongst the Asian Indian community in Ohio. It also provides a platform for further studies and useful comparisons with immigrants from other countries who went through similar trajectories of cultural encounters and changes, much like their South Asian counterparts - trajectories that enabled perpetuation of social and cultural values and a distinct identity necessary for cultural assimilation following their move.

Chapters
1. Reflections on Migration of Asian Indians: An Introduction
2 Travels Across: Asian Indians in America
3 Breaking the Silence: Nostalgia and Memories
4 'New' Identity and 'Old' Institutions: Voices and Viewpoints
5 Understanding the Trajectories of Asian Indians: Concluding Reflections

About the Author
Poonam Bala is currently a Visiting Professor at the Centre for Studies in Science Policy (School of Social Sciences) at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and an affiliated Visiting Scholar at Cleveland State University. She is also the founding member of the Asian Indian Heritage Project in Ohio and has held various national and international scholarships/ fellowships besides holding teaching positions at universities in India, Canada and the US. With a range of research interests and expertise in policies and health/medicine, alternative medicine, history of medicine and society, race and health, she has authored and edited several books and articles. Her select publications include Imperialism and Medicine in Bengal: A Socio-Historical Perspective; Medicine and Medical Policies in India; Biomedicine as a Contested Site: Some Revelations in Imperial Contexts; Contesting Colonial Authority: Medicine and Indigenous Responses in 19th and 20th-century India and Medicine and Colonialism: Historical Perspectives in India and South Africa, with a new project on comparative themes in medicine, race and gender under the British empire.

Further Details: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25460521-diaspora-culture-and-identity

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

JSCIRES article "Ethnobotany genomics research: Status and future prospects" by Franky Varah and Pranav N Desai (of CSSP)

Ethnobotany genomics research: Status and future prospects
by Franky Varah and Pranav N Desai (of CSSP)
Journal of Scientometric Research, 2015, 4(1), 29-39.
Abstract: The present study is an attempt to analyze the world publication of ethnobotany genomics by using "DNA barcoding" and "DNA barcoding plants" as keywords. Some of the parameters used for the analysis include the publication output, countries' performance, the institutions involved, subject areas, authors, and journals distribution. The Scopus International Database is used for this purpose. An evaluating indicator, citations and h-index are applied to characterize the ethnobotany genomic publication output. It is interesting to note that over the past decade, there has been a notable growth in publication output. Moreover, there has been a significant increase in the participation from a number of countries as well as institutions, subject categories, journals, authors, and collaborations. The increasing significance of ethnobotany genomics was analyzed by ranking countries, institutions, subject categories, journals, authors and collaborations in terms the total number of publication, their citations and h-index.
Download: http://jscires.org/article.asp?issn=2320-0057;year=2015;volume=4;issue=1;spage=29;epage=39;aulast=Varah;type=0 ;
http://jscires.org/currentissue.asp

CS commentary "Growth of water purification technologies in the era of 'regulatory vacuum' in India" by Saradindu Bhaduri, Aviram Sharma and Nazia Talat (of CSSP)

Growth of water purification technologies in the era of 'regulatory vacuum' in India
by Saradindu Bhaduri, Aviram Sharma and Nazia Talat (of CSSP)
Current Science, 108(8), 2015, 1421-1423.
Download: http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/108/08/1421.pdf

Related Article:
RO water filters under NGT scanner, Apr 30, 2015 http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/ro-water-filters-under-ngt-scanner/

Journal of Scientometric Research, 4(1) Issue is now online

[Apologies for Cross-Posting]



CoverpageTable of Contents - Journal of Scientometric Research (J Sci Res)
2015 | January-April | Volume 4 | Issue 1


RESEARCH ARTICLES

The growth of Brazilian metrics literature [pg. 1]
Rubén Urbizagástegui Alvarado, Cristina Restrepo Arango
[ABSTRACT]   [HTML FULL TEXT]   [PDF]   [Mobile HTML Full text ]   [EPub]

Reporting quality of statistics in Indian journals: Analysis of articles over a period of two years [pg. 10]
Kannan Sridharan, S Gowri
[ABSTRACT]   [HTML FULL TEXT]   [PDF]   [Mobile HTML Full text ]   [EPub]

Bibliometric observation of publication output of university teachers: A study with special reference to physics [pg. 14]
S Aswathy, A Gopikuttan
[ABSTRACT]   [HTML FULL TEXT]   [PDF]   [Mobile HTML Full text ]   [EPub]

A bibliometric analysis of linguistics in web of science [pg. 20]
Engin Arik
[ABSTRACT]   [HTML FULL TEXT]   [PDF]   [Mobile HTML Full text ]   [EPub]

Ethnobotany genomics research: Status and future prospects [pg. 29]
Franky Varah, Pranav N Desai
[ABSTRACT]   [HTML FULL TEXT]   [PDF]   [Mobile HTML Full text ]   [EPub]

BOOK REVIEW

Beyond bibliometrics: Harnessing multidimensional indicators of scholarly impact [pg. 40]
Robin Haunschild
[ABSTRACT]   [HTML FULL TEXT]   [PDF]   [Mobile HTML Full text ]   [EPub]

RESEARCH IN PROGRESS

Citation pattern of newsworthy research articles [pg. 42]
Manjari Manisha, G Mahesh
[ABSTRACT]   [HTML FULL TEXT]   [PDF]   [Mobile HTML Full text ]   [EPub]

Audio Recording - JNU panel discussion on Science of the Past: Reason, Method and History held on 29 April 2015


Centre for Historical Studies, JNU, India

organized a panel discussion on

Science of the Past: Reason, Method and History

(covering History of Aviation Technologies in India, Vimana Sastra, etc.)

by 
Hanasoge S Mukunda
Former Professor, Aerospace Engineering Department, IISc, Bengaluru
Currently Advisor to Advanced Bioresidue Energy Technology Society at IISc, Bengaluru

Discussant: Dhruv Raina, Professor, ZHCES, SSS, JNU

CHS, Room #326, SSS-3, JNU

 on 29 April 2015

An interesting paper on JC Bose and X Ray Research in India

Early Years of X-Ray Research in India

by S.C. Roy

Science and Culture, March-April 2015, pp. 72-75.

Abstract: X-ray was discovered in 1895 by Wilhelm C Roentgen using Crookes tube. While investigating Xray research work in India immediately after the discovery of X-rays under the project "History of X-ray Research in India" under the sponsorship of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA), we have uncovered some new information in connection with the X-ray apparatus built by Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose (1858-1937) and the research he had done, which, to the best knowledge of the author, has not been presented before. X-ray research in India has a history from the time of the discovery of X-rays. It is known that Jagadish Chandra Bose (JCB) had built an X-ray apparatus in 1897 while he was in Presidency Collge, Calcutta with the help of his assistant in Presidency College. We found out that his X-ray machine was used for clinical diagnostics in patients with broken bones by a physician no less than Sir Nilratan Sircar. However, because of unavailability of his apparatus in Bose Institute or in any museum or any authentic document, it raised some doubts in a section of people about the photographs he had taken using his machine. We have been able to find a press report published in the Calcutta based English daily The Amrita Bazar Patrika in its 5th May edition of 1898 which gives us some idea about his apparatus and the experiment he performed. Using the description available in this document we have tried to come up with a schematic diagram of the apparatus he had used. This report also contradicts the comments made by some authors that JCB had not taken X-ray photograph using Barium Platinocyanide before 1901.

 

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Call for Essays: Studying Internet in India

Call for Essays: Studying Internet in India
As Internet makes itself comfortable amidst everyday lives in India, it becomes everywhere and everyware, it comes in 40 MBPS Unlimited and in chhota recharges – and even in zero flavour – the Researchers at Work (RAW) programme at the Centre for Internet and Society invites abstracts for essays that explore what it means to study Internet(s) in India today.
We are interested in the many experiences of Internet(s) in India; its histories and archaeologies; how we use it to read, write, create, relate, learn, and share; the data that is produced, and the data that is consumed; the spaces that are created, and the spaces that are inhabited; the forms that political expressions take on the Web; and of course, where and how should one be studying Internet(s) in India?
This call is for researchers, workers, and others interested in closely – or from a distance – commenting on these topics and questions.
Please send abstracts (200 words) to raw@cis-india.org by Sunday, April 26, 2015. The subject of the email should be 'Studying Internet in India.'
We will select up to 10 abstracts and announce them on Friday, May 01, 2015.
The selected authors will be asked to submit the final longform essay (2,500-3,000 words) by Sunday, May 31, 2015. The final essays will be published on the RAW Blog. The authors will be offered an honourarium of Rs. 5,000.
We understand that not all essays can be measured in words. The authors are very much welcome to work with text, images, sounds, videos, code, and other mediatic forms that the Internet offers. We will not be running a Word Count on the final 'essay.' The basic requirement is that the 'essay' must offer an argument – through text, or otherwise.

Further Details: http://cis-india.org/raw/call-for-essays-studying-internet-in-india


Vacancy for Policy Associate (Internet Governance)
The Centre for Internet and Society is seeking an individual with a strong background in legal research and policy work to be part of our Internet governance (IG) programme. This position deals with freedom of expression and Internet governance at both the national and international levels.
Note:This is a full-time position, based out of Bangalore (strongly preferred) or New Delhi. There is currently one vacancy for this post.
The candidate must have the following skills:
  •     Knowledge of Indian and international law on freedom of expression and strong background in Internet governance.
  •     Demonstrable research skills.
  •     Strong communication skills and media-savvy, with the ability to convey complex legal issues clearly to a general audience.
  •     Public-speaking skills, and willingness to travel both nationally and internationally.
  •     Ability to lead the programme in setting the goals for the programme, as well as the strategy.
  •     Ability to work independently.
Preferred characteristics:
  •     Educational background in public policy or law.
  •     A pre-existing network of contacts with policymakers, media, etc.
  •     Experience in working with the government.
To apply, please send your résumé to Pranesh Prakash (pranesh@cis-india.org) and Sunil Abraham (sunil@cis-india.org) with two writing samples related to freedom of expression and Internet governance of which at least one demonstrates your analytic skills, and one that shows your ability to simplify complex policy issues. Governmental rules prohibit us from hiring foreigners for this post. The deadline for applications is Sunday, May 10, 2015.

Further Details: http://cis-india.org/jobs/policy-associate-internet-governance

Monday, April 27, 2015

Panel Discussion - Food Security: The Big Question of Resources on April 30, at DA, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi

Panel Discussion - Trialogue 2047- Food Security: The Big Question of Resources
Date: April 30, 2015;
Venue: DA, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi

RSVP: rreen@devalt.org

Monday, April 20, 2015

EPW Article "Cricket-lite: IPL as a Sporting-Entertainment Complex" by Vidya Subramanian

Cricket-lite: IPL as a Sporting-Entertainment Complex
by Vidya Subramanian, CSSP JNU
Economic and Political Weekly (EPW), Web Exclusive series
Vol - L No. 15, April 11, 2015

Abstract: The Indian Premier League is incidentally about cricket. It is a chance for software engineers to design better analytical software, film stars to seek publicity, players looking for better pay packets, businesses to look for better advertising opportunities, and television channels to improve their ratings—all are stakeholders in the game.

Read Online: http://www.epw.in/web-exclusives/cricket-lite.html

3ie invites proposals for systematic reviews that explore the impact of development interventions in the areas of water, sanitation and hygiene; climate change.

Systematic Reviews Call 8
3ie invites proposals for systematic reviews that explore the impact of development interventions in the areas of water, sanitation and hygiene, humanitarian assistance and climate change.
Systematic reviews are an important way of facilitating the widespread use of existing evidence to inform policy and practice. This is the eighth call for proposals under 3ie's systematic reviews programme.
3ie has worked with the Water Supply & Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC), Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of Foreign of Disaster Assistance (OFDA) respectively on four questions for this systematic review call.
Proposals must be submitted through 3ie's online grant management system. The deadline for submission of proposals is 12 noon GMT, 22 May 2015.
For more information on this call please read the  Request for Proposals (RFP) (326.2 KB)
In case of queries, please refer to the frequently asked questions (FAQs). Queries that are unanswered can be sent to sr8@3ieimpact.org by 28 April 2015. We will post the questions and answers here within three working days.

At a glance
    There will be one award for each of these questions, but 3ie and its partners may choose to fund fewer reviews if insufficient proposals of adequate quality are received.
    3ie expects to fund grants of up to US$100,000 for each systematic review. But costs may vary depending on a range of factors, including the scope of the review and methods of synthesis employed.
    Only legally registered organisations and consortia of registered organisations, not individuals, may apply.
    Organisations may only submit one proposal per question (but may submit more than one proposal for different questions) and may be included on more than one proposal.
    The lead grant-holding organisation may be located anywhere in the world.
    3ie encourages proposals and research teams from low- and middle-income countries, and requires proposals include researchers from low- and middle-income countries in the study team.

How to apply
To find out more about the application process, visit the How to apply page
For further clarifications, please refer to the frequently asked questions (FAQs).

Systematic review questions
    To what extent has the sanitation and hygiene sub-sector taken into account the life-cycle approach in the design, implementation, maintenance and use of programmes during the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) period (2000-2015)?
    What is the effectiveness of interventions aiming to promote sanitation and hygiene behaviour change in communities?
    What is the comparative efficiency and effectiveness of providing humanitarian non-food item (NFI) in-kind distributions versus cash and vouchers in the immediate aftermath and recovery period following natural disasters and political instability?
    What are the effects of land use change and forestry sector programmes and policies on greenhouse gas emissions and human welfare outcomes? (Evidence gap map and two systematic reviews)

Further Details: http://www.3ieimpact.org/en/funding/systematic-reviews-grants/systematic-reviews-call-8/

Vacancy – ISSC/IDS Post-Doctoral Fellow

Vacancy – ISSC/IDS Post-Doctoral Fellow

published: April 15, 2015

The ISSC and IDS are seeking a motivated and outstanding post-doctoral researcher to do research and help with the editorial coordination of the 2016 World Social Science Report. We are looking for a talented, early career social scientist with long-term experience and an institutional affiliation in a low or middle income country, and a passion for making knowledge work to help solve global challenges.

The regular preparation of a World Social Science Report on global priority topics is a flagship activity of the ISSC. The Council prepared a first WSSR on Knowledge Divides in 2010. It addressed the numerous divides that characterise the production, dissemination and use of social sciences and aspects that fundamentally undermine their ability to respond to global challenges. In 2013 the ISSC co-published with UNESCO and OECD the second World Social Science Report, on Changing Global Environments. The third World Social Science Report will be published in 2016 and focus on the critical issues of inequalities and social justice. It will be co-directed by a senior research team composed of Melissa Leach, John Gaventa, and Patricia Justino from the Institute of Development Studies in Sussex.

Overall purpose of the role

The ISSC and IDS are seeking a motivated and outstanding post-doctoral researcher to do research and help with the editorial coordination of the 2016 WSSR. We are looking for a talented, early career social scientist with long-term experience and an institutional affiliation in a low or middle income country, and a passion for making knowledge work to help solve global challenges.

The selected person will;

  • Carry out research and co-author specific contributions to the WSSR
  • Undertake literature reviews on specific topics
  • Lead coordination of the contributions to some of the WSSR sections

The role is based at IDS (Sussex, UK) and supervised by the WSSR directors there. They will also work in collaboration with the WSSR team based in the Paris secretariat of the ISSC. The selected candidate will be part of the WSSR editorial team.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

The ISSC/IDS Post-Doctoral Fellow, working under the leadership of the WSSR Directors and in close collaboration with the ISSC, will be part of a small editorial collective of 5/6 people.

They will be tasked to

  • Provide written contributions to the WSSR
  • Undertake literature analyses to assist with the different sections of the Report
  • Participate in selecting contributors
  • Coordinating sections (including liaison with the authors) of the report
  • Draft syntheses, introductions, and conclusions
  • Participate in regular editorial meetings
  • Liaise with the reviewers
  • Undertake language editing

They will also liaise on a regular basis with the Paris based ISSC team: the ISSC Report manager, the WSSR Senior Advisor and the Acting Executive Director for Science.

For more information on the role and how to apply, dowload the job description.

Source: www.worldsocialscience.org/2015/04/vacancy-isscids-post-doctoral-fellow/

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Two Weeks Research Methodology Course in Asian Studies; MAKAIAS, Kolkata; 15 June – 2 July

Two Weeks Research Methodology Course in Asian Studies

Venue: Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies (MAKAIAS), Kolkata

Dates: June 15 – July 2, 2015


MAKAIAS (An Autonomous Body under the Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India) invites applications are for Two Weeks Research Methodology Course in Asian Studies to be held at MAKAIAS, Kolkata from June 15 - July 2, 2015. Interested candidates (MPhil final year/PhD/Research Associates) are requested to send their applications in the prescribed format downloadable from MAKAIAS website (www.makaias.gov.in).

Last date of receiving applications: May 11, 2015.

CSDS Delhi invites applications for its two-month Course on "Researching the Contemporary"

Course on "Researching the Contemporary" 2015

The Centre for the Study of Developing Societies invites applications for its two-month Course on "Researching the Contemporary". This cross-disciplinary Course will critically examine the formation of the contemporary and its multiple histories, ideologies, forms and affects.  The three courses offered will enable participants to familiarize themselves with concepts, theories and methods that help analyse the contemporary.  These include:

Media & Materiality: The Digital Sensorium

The 'digital' has become the lens through which life is increasingly being framed: the personal and the political, money and consumption, memory and distraction: the list is endless. By mobilising media and cultural theory, this course seeks to understand the place of the digital within a larger debate on materiality. Themes include the media event, circulation, memory, the political and violence.

Course Instructor: Ravi Sundaram

The Work of Theory: Thinking Across Traditions

The term 'theory' immediately brings to mind names such as Plato, Kant, Hegel, Husserl, Marx and so on.  That is, theory appears as a particular body of philosophical thought coming to us from Europe and globally relevant in its scope. To us theory therefore comes as a given body of knowledge, as though the essentials have already been settled. In this course, we shift our attention away from western theory as such and ask the prior question – namely, what it is to theorize, what is the work that theorization accomplishes.  We discuss the practice of theorizing by passing through histories and experiences of the global south as well as through alternative theoretical possibilities inherent in other traditions, be they Chinese or Latin American or Arabo-Persian. By using the phrase 'thinking across traditions', we imply that good theory and new theory must shake off its dependence on a single, uncontaminated metaphysical tradition and on a single, dominant historical narrative of modernity.

Course Instructors: Aditya Nigam, Prathama Banerjee, Rakesh Pandey

The Urban Experience

This course shall focus on the making of the urban modern in India and its relationship to theories of global urbanism. Students will be introduced both to the formal dimensions of city making and the unintended consequences of modernist plans and technological transformations. Changing urban spatial imaginaries, as these are inflected by gender, environmental, health and aesthetic concerns, shall be discussed. Attention will be paid to the place of the rural within contemporary urban imaginaries.

Course Instructor: Awadhendra Sharan

This is an intensive Course with compulsory readings and class discussions.  Course materials will be made available. Participants are expected to make presentations and participate in a workshop at the end of the course period.  A participation certificate will be awarded upon successful completion. The Course will be conducted over 8 weeks between 1 July - 31 August 2015.  Classes will be held at CSDS on week-day afternoons, three days a week, from 2.30-5.30 pm.

Applications are invited from M.Phil/Ph.D students as well as independent researchers. As part of your application please submit your C.V. and a 1000-word description of your research question/topic. Selected out-station participants shall be provided with roundtrip travel expenses (3-tier AC) and a stipend of INR 25,000. Please send your applications by email to teaching(at)csds.in

The last date for receiving the applications is 30 April 2015.

Institute of Advanced Study (IAS), Durham University 2016/17 Fellowships


Institute of Advanced Study (IAS), Durham University 2016/17 Fellowships

The Institute of Advanced Study is Durham University's major interdisciplinary research institute, providing a central forum for debate and collaboration across the entire disciplinary spectrum. The Institute seeks to catalyse new thinking on major annual themes by bringing together leading international academics as well as writers, artists and practitioners.
The theme for 2016/17 is 'Scale', interpreted in its broadest sense – scientifically, symbolically, legally, philosophically, literarily, politically, economically, and sociologically. Applications are now invited for up to 20, three-month fellowships (October-December 2016 and January-March 2017), linked to the annual theme. Applicants may be from any academic discipline or professional background involving research, and they may come from anywhere in the world. IAS Fellowships include honorarium, travel, accommodation, subsistence and costs associated with replacement teaching or loss of salary (where appropriate). Further particulars are available from the IAS website www.dur.ac.uk/ias. Further details of the 2016/17
'Scale' theme can also be found here. Informal enquiries with the Directors of the Institute can be made via Linda Crowe, the IAS administrator (Tel: +44 (0) 191 3344686 or email linda.crowe@durham.ac.uk). Closing date for applications is 05 June 2015.
Eligible applicants will be partly funded by the European Union, through the Durham International Fellowships for Research and Enterprise (DIFeREns).

Research
Fellows will contribute to the Institute's annual theme.The Institute provides its Fellows with a setting that offers them time and freedom to think, away from the demands of their everyday professional lives. By recruiting Fellows from all around the world, the IAS also provides an exciting intellectual environment in which thinkers from diverse cultural and disciplinary backgrounds can exchange ideas. Fellows will engage and forge strong links with at least one department at Durham, and be given the opportunity to deliver papers at events organised to coincide with the annual theme.

Theme
The theme for 2016-17 is Scale, interpreted in its broadest sense to be of potential interest to those working in a wide range of disciplines. A number of specific sub-themes have already been identified, including:
    Temporal and Spatial Scales
    Understanding and Representing Scale
    Human Scale
    Scale and Measurement
    Living Scales
    Sustaining Scales
    Governing Scales
    Technological Scale
    Scalability and the effects of Scale
Fellows will be able to engage in these themes or to propose others that are related to the theme of Scale.
Fellowships are available for a 3-month period between October 2016 and March 2017. Applications are considered from researchers or non-academics who have a well-established or strongly emerging international reputation, have made major contributions to their field, and can provide evidence of research leadership and/or public impact. They are expected to have played a significant role in shaping their discipline or field through their outputs, achievements and indicators of esteem. It is expected that the research or professional interests of applicants will complement the 2016/17 annual theme. Up to 20 IAS Fellowships are available each year.

CfPs: 57th ISLE Annual Conference, 10-12 October, Srinagar

Call for Papers

57th ISLE Annual Conference, 10-12 October 2015, Srinagar, India

The 57th Annual Conference of the Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE) will be held during 10-12 October, 2015 at Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir. The Conference is being jointly organised by Central University of Kashmir, Srinagar and S. K. University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Kashmir. Professor Ravi Srivastava, Centre for the Study of Regional Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi is the Conference President.

Conference Themes

1. Unpaid Work

2. Right to Work & Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act

3. Labour and Employment in Manufacturing Sector

Submission of Papers:  Papers along with a summary of 1000 words may be sent to:

Dr. Preet Rustagi, The Hon. Secretary, Indian Society of Labour Economics, NIDM Building, IIPA Campus, I.P. Estate, New Delhi–110002 or emailed to: conference.isle@gmail.com with a copy to 57isleconferencecukmr@gmail.com. Abstracts of papers selected for the Conference will be published and circulated among the Conference participants. Selected revised papers would be considered for publication in the subsequent issues of the Indian Journal of Labour Economics subject to peer review.

Best Paper Awards: Two awards have been instituted for the best paper writers, below 40 years: Ruddar Datt Memorial Award and Sanjay Thakur Young Labour Economist Award (carrying prize money of Rs. 10,000 each). The papers on any of the Conference themes to be considered for the award should be presented by the paper writers themselves. Contributors willing to be considered for the awards are requested to furnish age proof along with the single authored paper before the deadline.

Surjit Singh Fellowship: The ISLE also invites applications from scholars below 40 years of age working on labour and employment issues for the award of one Fellowship of Rs.50, 000/- instituted in the memory of former Secretary of the Society Dr. Surjit Singh. The application should contain a short proposal (about two-three pages) providing details of research objectives, hypotheses, methodology and theoretical framework of the study. The awardee is expected to prepare a comprehensive research paper/monograph by the end of 2015 and also present a paper based on it during the Conference. The last date of submitting the application is 7 May 2015 and the decision of award would be communicated by 20 May 2015. (Visit www.isleijle.org for more details.)

Conference Registration:

 

Conference Registration Fee Structure

Dates to Remember

Category

ISLE
Member
Spouse/
Accompanying
 Person
  • Dates of the Conference: 10-12 October 2015
  • Last Date for Submission of Papers: 31 July 2015
  • Communication from ISLE about acceptance of Papers: 14 August 2015

(Those who would like to receive early communication of the acceptance of their papers should request for early information in this regard while sending their papers).

  • Last date of registration: 15 September 2015

India (Rs.)

2000

1500

Developing countries  (US$)

100

75

Other countries
(US$)

200

150

Note: Participants, who are members of ISLE but have not renewed their membership for the year 2015, or are not members of the Society need to pay the membership fee to be able to attend the Conference. The annual membership fee is Rs. 1000 for those from India, US$ 100 for those from developing countries, and US$ 125 for those from other countries.

Demand draft (DD) drawn in favour of "local organizing secretary ISLE 57", payable at Srinagar, should be sent by 15 September 2015 to the Local Organizing Secretary, Professor. G.M. Bhat, Head, Department of Economics, and  Dean, School of Social Sciences, Central University of Kashmir, Srinagar with soft copy to 57isleconferencecukmr@gmail.com

Besides participation in pre-conference event (planned between3.00 p.m. – 7 p.m. on 9 October 2015) and all the sessions of the conference, registration will entitle the participant to avail modest boarding, lodging, Conference kit and other Conference materials.

INDIAN SOCIETY OF LABOUR ECONOMICS
c/o Institute for Human Development
NIDM Building, 3rd Floor, IIPA Campus
I.P. Estate, Mahatma Gandhi Marg, New Delhi - 110 002
Phones: +91 11 23358166/23321610; Mobile: +91 - +91- 9871177540
Fax: + 91 11 23321610
For further details and updates, please visit: www.isleijle.org or

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

CfPs: APSTSN Biennial Conference on Disasters, Controversy and Public Engagement; Taiwan, 1-4 Oct

Science, Technology and Society Biennial Conference

Disasters, Controversy and Public Engagement

Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Oct 1st~4th, 2015

logo_f

 Conference Website

APSTSN is pleased to announce the Call for Papers for the biennial conference, to be held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Oct 1st~4th, 2015.

DEADLINE EXTENDED: April 30th, 2015

Deadline for submissions of individual papers and session proposals

Conference Website: http://apstsn.tw-sts.org/

Conference Themes

Over the past several years, the Asia-Pacific has experienced disasters on various scales and severity, often compounded by technological system failures, such as the 311 earthquake and the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, the Sowel ferry disaster in Korea, and the propene explosion in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. In addition, recent scandals regarding food safety in Taiwan and China have created a sense of urgency. These disasters and threats have brought major controversies over how to ensure a safe future in a risk society, and they have also drawn people from different sectors to participate in the discussion. Most importantly, the public has become even more critical in shaping the climate of civil and policy making opinions. Confronting these disasters, how do we mobilize and empower the public to engage in the improvement of a technological society in order to increase our resilience in the face of giant disasters?

Confirmed keynote speakers and panelists

Deborah Bird Rose University of New South Wales, Australia
Tadashi Kobayashi Osaka University, Japan
Kuei-Tien Chou National Taiwan University, Taiwan
Hee-Je Bak Kyung Hee University, Korea
Sulfikar Amir Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
 
Science and technology in society has an important role to play in investigating disasters wherever they arise. We would therefore like to invite scholars and activists to exchange ideas and findings on the topic of disasters, controversies and public engagements in the Asia-Pacific region.

All STS topics are welcome, including but not limited to:

BiosciencesFood & AgricultureMedical Care
BusinessFinance & MarketsGender & Technology
Modeling & Numbers-workIndigenous KnowledgeNormativity & Normalization
Citizenship & ActivismInformation & MediaPost Humanities
Science & LawMulti-Species RelationsEnergy
RiskEnvironment & EcologyGovernment, Policy & Politics
Theory & MethodScience CommunicationDisability & Assistive Technology
Post-Colonial ScienceKnowledge & its LimitsAnd more

Important Dates:

February 1st , 2015                         Submission opens
April 30th, 2015                         Deadline for submissions of individual papers, session proposals
May 30th, 2015                               Acceptance Notification
July 31st, 2015                                 Early Bird Registration closes

(All presenters must register to be included in the program. For papers with more than one author, one presenter must register to be included in the final program.)

Proposal Submission:

*Individual submission abstract:

Individual submission abstracts should be up to 250 words. They should include the main arguments, methodology, and their contribution to the STS literature. Paper titles should not exceed 10 words. Please list five key words to assist the program chair to group individual papers into a session. You may choose to submit your paper abstract to one of the topics listed above where you would prefer your paper to be included, or you can leave panel selection to the program chairs.

*Session proposal abstract:

Session proposal abstracts should have a maximum of 200 words. Each session proposal should contain a summary and rationale, including a brief discussion of its contribution to STS. Session proposals should be designed to fit one-and-half-hour time slots. A typical session will contain three papers with a discussant. A maximum of four paper abstracts conforming to the above criteria for abstracts must be submitted for a proposed session.

TO SUBMIT, please visit   http://apstsn.tw-sts.org/

Presentation time: A feature of APSTSN conferences is that adequate space and time is provided for presentations and questions. For each presentation, we will arrange 20 minutes for the delivery of the presentation and 10 minutes for questions as a minimum.

Program Participation: To ensure there is adequate time for the above we request that individuals may be listed for only one paper presentation as the presenter and one other role (such as session chair or discussant but not a second paper) for a maximum of two appearances. That is, we request one single authored paper and one co-authored paper as the limit with regard to abstracts and presentations.

Special Planning:

STS Fair (Oct, 3rd Saturday afternoon 3:00~5:30pm)

Science, Technology and Society (STS) researches have always paid special attention to social involvements of academic findings. The 2015 APSTSN conference will hold an interactive STS FAIR session, to encourage networking between scholars, social activists, policy makers, government agents, industrial managers, designers and representatives from communities, NGOs, NPOs, and more. We hope participants will gain insights for developing projects and future collaborations. This fair is thus intended to nurture STS networking and research that integrates social practices and academic advances.

(Please see website for details - including submission instructions, financial support and registration fees.)

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Dr. Anup Kumar Das
Web: www.anupkumardas.blogspot.com

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Monday, April 13, 2015

CfPs: 10th Annual Conference of Knowledge Forum on Technology, Growth and Sustainability, 27-28 Nov; Bangalore

10th Annual Conference of Knowledge Forum

Conference Theme: Technology, Growth and Sustainability

27-28 November 2015


Host Institution: National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bangalore


Organized by:  Forum for Global Knowledge Sharing [FGKS.in]

Co-organizer: Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE)

Call for Papers
Under this overall theme the following topics would be discussed:
  • Innovations
  • Global business
  • Employment – education and skill
  • Gender issues
  • Demographic dimensions including aging
  • Resources and climate change

Conference Format
The conference will have an introductory session followed by Competitive Sessions and Case Studies. In the competitive sessions all the papers will be refereed before accepted for presentations. Case Studies Session will be mainly organized by INAE.
Last date for submission of title of papers and abstracts May 30, 2015.
Last date for full paper submission July 30,2015
Send the abstracts and paper to fgksindia@gmail.com
Hon. Director: Prof. N. S. Siddharthan, nssiddharthan@gmail.com
Convener of Conferences: Prof. K. Narayanan, E-mail: knn.iitb@gmail.com

Further Details: http://fgks.in/event/index.htm

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Register Now! UNESCO’s Online Media and Information Literacy Course for Youth

Register Now! UNESCO's Online Media and Information Literacy Course for Youth

UNESCO, in partnership with Athabasca University and in cooperation with the UNESCO-UNAOC University Network on Media and Information Literacy and Intercultural Dialogue, opens a third call for registration for online course on media and information literacy (MIL).

This entry-level online course will provide youth with basic media and information competencies to become critical citizens and agents of change. The course is designed to enable youth to:

  • Understand why media and other information providers are important to development and democratic societies;
  • Recognise a need for information and to locate, access, organise and carefully evaluate information and the content of media and other information providers;
  • Use and share information based on moral principles or accepted standards of social behaviour – in light of opportunities and potential risks;
  • Interact with media and other information providers to freely express themselves, share their culture and learn about other cultures, promote gender equality, and participate in democratic and development activities.

The course is based on the MIL Curriculum and the Freedom of Expression (FOE) Toolkit published by UNESCO. A central theme throughout  this 10-week course is how media and information literacy can enable youth to be actively involved in intercultural dialogue, advocating for equality between women/girls and men/boys, and freedom of expression. 

The course is offered through Athabasca University's online e-Lab, using the learning management system, Moodle.  Most sessions will be self-directed, with ongoing interaction with the course presenters in the online space. Athabasca is a Canadian university that holds a UNESCO Chair on open education resources. Athabasca University is an associate member of the UNESCO-UNAOC University Network on Media and Information Literacy and Intercultural Dialogue.

Applicants should be youth (females and males between the ages 15-25). Participants who successfully complete the course will receive a certificate from Athabasca University.

In order to successfully complete this course participants will need regular access to a computer and Internet access to download documents, listen to podcasts and view online videos.

To apply, please click here. Application must be completed by 20 April 2015. There are no associated fees to participants who wish to do this course.

This MIL course includes a research component being carried out by UNESCO.

Online Media and Information Literacy Course Units

Unit 1 – Media and Information Literacy (MIL): An Introduction

Unit 2 – Media and Information Literacy and Intercultural Dialogue

Unit 3 – Media and Information Literacy: Evaluating and Using Information and Media Content

Unit 4 – Media and Information Literacy: Using Research and Analysis to Produce Your Own Information and Media Content

Unit 5 – Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Information, Freedom of the Press

Unit 6 - Representations of Gender in the Media, Books, on the Internet and in History

Unit 7 – Media and Information Ethics in Relation to the Needs of Big Business, Politics and Development

Unit 8 – Understanding and Evaluating the World of Advertising

Unit 9 – The Challenges and Opportunities of Media, Libraries and New Technologies for Youth

Unit 10 – Engaging with Media and Using New Technology and Information for Social Action

 

You can read the article also here: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/resources/news-and-in-focus-articles/all-news/news/register_now_unescos_online_media_and_information_literacy_course_for_youth-1/

 

Sunday, April 5, 2015

IE OpEd "Higher Education, Higher Meddling: No quick fixes can help public universities if successive government exercise power unbridled by reason"

"Higher Education, Higher Meddling: No quick fixes can help public universities if successive government exercise power unbridled by reason"
by Shahid Amin , Shobhit Mahajan | The Indian Express, April 4, 2015


Garib ki joru sab ki bhaujai (A poor man's wife is fair game). If anything captures the goings-on in the HRD ministry since the reign of Kapil Sibal, it is this saucy peasant proverb from the cow belt. Irrespective of the shade of the successive Central governments, the HRD minister and functionaries display a propensity, Alice in wonderland-like, for exercising power unbridled by reason and reasonableness. This has come to the fore most recently in the refusal of Anil Kakodkar, the respected nuclear scientist, to play ball with the minister in arbitrarily overruling an earlier consensus and interviewing no less than 36 candidates for the post of IIT director in a single day. "IITs are centres of excellence. They should be left alone," Kakodkar has responded in defence of having left the important task of choosing heads of these premier institutions to the minister and her epigones.
Six years ago, a UPA minister unrolled a plan to create 14 world-class universities ("universities of innovation") "unencumbered by history or culture of the past" — something that no world-class institution would dare boast. The underlying idea is to build islands of excellence by relying on "the highly skilled Indian diaspora". Now, fast on the heels of a Council of Scientific and Industrial Research's diktat making it mandatory for all research scientists in its employ to put in 12 hours of gyan-daan in educational institutions outside their research labs, comes the news that US President Barack Obama has accepted the GIAN proposal mooted by the Modi government. As with other "smart" acronyms, when unravelled it yields the cumbersome phrase: Global Initiative of Academic Network. Under this programme, top-notch scientists will teach in Indian institutions from between two weeks to 20 days. This is clearly an India-specific movement of global academic talent, following on the heels of Sibal's still-born scheme to invite premier universities from the UK, Europe and the US to set up off-shore subsidiaries in our country.
The normal flow of international and inter-university academic talent is, however, for such outstanding academicians to hold regular joint-appointments for a semester each in two universities. Ronald Dworkin, the late professor of jurisprudence (the US and the UK) and the brilliant social historian Carlo Ginzburg (Italy and the US) are leading examples from the social sciences. We lost one of our most innovative sociologists, Veena Das, the author most recently of Affliction: Health, Disease, Poverty — an ethnographic study of the urban poor, the "aam admi voter" of north Delhi — to the US, as "under the rules" Delhi University could not allow its faculty such intellectual freedom to benefit from and contribute to knowledge globally in a sustained way.  The new fortnightly GIAN idea of the Modi government, by contrast, envisages a veritable "fly-by-night" rapidfire igniting of Indian students' minds. More significantly, there has been no discussion. In fact, an earlier HRD minister was opposed to the idea of enabling India-based academics (Veena Das worked under the legendary sociologist M.N. Srinivas during the golden days of the Delhi School of Economics) to hold joint appointments in "foreign" universities. For its part, the US government allows Indian academics to teach semester- or year-length courses in American universities under a visa regime meant to facilitate "skill development", requiring a time-bound return to the home country for putting the skill gained to domestic use. The visiting Indian academic, one would have thought, gets paid because she contributes value to the particular US university, which invites her, so to speak, for her "skill-imparting" qualities!
The present government is equally keen on pressing the high visibility insta-cook button, while stirring the slow bubbling gruel of higher education with the ladle of ill-thought, top-heavy recipes. A one-size-fits-all uniform course content across the country is to be matched by a single Central Universities Act riding roughshod over historical specificities; students could now move effortlessly, with scant regard for compatibility, from one university to another, as teachers could be shunted out, the intrepid Haryana IAS officer Ashok Khemka way, wherever and how so many times the Indian state deems it fit for them to serve the educational requirements of the nation, and in whichever part of the India that is Bharat it deems fit.
It is interesting that the question of institutional autonomy catches public attention when, as in the case of the Kakodkar story, it concerns flagship institutions such as IITs. By implication, for the rest of us wallowing in the mud of public universities, there seems scant possibility of more than a few stunted lotuses blooming. Equally, due to the structure of almost magisterial authority allowed under the colonial dispensation to vice chancellors, the professoriate in these institutions fails signally in its fiduciary obligation to uphold academic and moral norms. Not for nothing were the fellows and professors of Oxford University able to out vote their VC's attempt to award an honorary degree to a controversial politician from the subcontinent. And some paid a price for it, as when Richard Gombrich, the renowned Indologist, was denied the chair at Oxford that S. Radhakrishnan had once held, as he had successfully opposed the honouring of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto by Oxford University, citing his inglorious role in triggering the 1971 war.
For their part, desi institutions such as Delhi University cannot quite effect Bertolt Brecht's sardonic suggestion — if dissatisfied with the existing lot, "elect another people". For the usual vishwa vidyalayas, the parameters are given: a national intake of students from unequally diverse backgrounds and a sudden doubling of enrolment and influx of first-generation students. And most crucially, a system that gives the faculty no say whatsoever in choosing its own colleagues.
No amount of quick-fixes can help our public universities meet the new challenges as long as the cavalier and top-heavy system of faculty recruitment is allowed to continue.
Amin is a retired professor of history and Shobhit Mahajan is professor of physics, Delhi University.
Source: http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/higher-education-higher-meddling/

Online Comments
Katyal: The article does not make much sense. However, given the fact one of the authors is Shobhit Mahajan, the famous charsi student from St. Stephens, it is no wonder he was able to create such a mishmash of drug induced literature.
Gopal: It's shame for academics to write so poorly. I am inclined to agree with them anyway on this issue but all they done is to offer a few anecdotes. My guess is that the real problem is - balancing of two concerns: the heavy handedness of centralization and the poor quality of management with decentralization. How can we balance one against the other so that we can get good governance? It's a question that bedevils India.
SP: Not sure if author is blowing up some issues or has chosen wrong examples. Sabbaticals are possible for our faculty. Many cases people going to a job with much higher pay at times do not come back. So there may be reasons for existing rules. Nothing wrong if HRD Minister takes a hands on approach in recruitment of IIT directors, as long as it is part of her job. I think we should be hasty in prejudging issues. The GIAN program may be more convenient to international faculty, as many may not want to leave their position in University for a full semester.
Sanket Sudke: There are so many universities in India with millions of students. Why is everybody focussing on IIT's, IIM's etc. ? Better reform the university system instaed of setting new IIT's.
K M: Wonderful point. Every one is obsessed with IITs snd IIMs whose products are ultimately selling syrup water or working in finance markets. The real people who are providing the technical muscle are the students coming out of the second rated and third rate universities. it is the students from private Engg. colleges who migrated to US and other countries and brought laurels to the country. The Govt should concentrate on the other universities where masses are studying.
B. SRIDHAR: It is an undeniable fact that our educational system has been systematically polarized by leftist intellectuals and needs urgent course correction. All the educationalists are leftist liberals mostly from Du or JNU. Anil's resignation was indeed stupid and unnecessarily hyped by the media. He could have sought time to interviewing and the reason cited by him is stupid to say d least. If educationalists seek to do the same things they were doing for the last six decades then the author is living in a fool's paradise. It will be morally correct for people like Romila to keep safe distance because time has come to correct the wrongs
V.S.Malhotra: How can we throw blame for meddling on those in whose make up we all are involved. Were they not at one time sitting in front of us in our class rooms like "clean slates' - to use John Locke's phraseology - on which we could write any thing we wished.
Farhan Ansari: We should educate farming to children in every school in india. America searching these childern to become farmer. The Mechanic
K M: Are you ready to send your son to do farming or to do the job of mechanic?