Besides the normal collation of information into subject files, CED's documentation lead to several books and Reports, Video documentaries, Monograph series like Factsheets, Counterfact, Documentation Compilations including Critical Concerns, Development Digest.
CED has also documented on video, oral histories, interviews and workshops, and archived them for use as educational resources for development actors.
The constant attack on the secular fabric of the Indian society in the last two decades has been raising a fundamental issue about the concept of secularism - its alien-ness to India.
This little booklet is a modest attempt to trace the concept of secularism, and to touch upon related debates surrounding the issue. It also tries to look at the element of the rationality of the concept as being a tool for organizing society in times of crisis; especially, in the case of India, it focuses on the freedom movement and the rise of the concept of secularism.
It finally looks at the various attempts made by civil society organizations and institutions to restore the secular fabric of our society.
Shweta Damle is a Mumbai based activist.
DEVELOPMENT GOVERNANCE : Dynamics of Panchayat Raj in a Tribal Areas
,
[order a copy]
Adivasi communities have historically been self-governing societies. Community affairs, including major issues like regulation of access to natural resources and dispute settlements were regulated by the village community. While the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act 1996 (PESA) does provide for some of these functions, Gram Panchayats have been traditionally viewed by village communities as an extension of the state government rather than as a vehicle for empowerment of the community.
The study attempts to examine both these aspects of Panchayati Raj – whether the Gram Sabha and Gram Panchayats really function as agencies for the upliftment of the depressed classes or whether they serves as a vehicle for the realisation of genuine self-governance.
Meena Dhodade is an adivasi activist associated with the Bhoomi Sena and Kashtakari Sangatna, mass organisations active among the adivasi people of Thane district in Maharashtra. She was recently elected as the first woman Sarpanch of Kondhan Village in Palghar, Thane.
Your Money or Your Right to Rehabilitation
The idea of this backgrounder, is to highlight some of the ways in which “our money” (that is money that has been collected in our name, either in the form of taxes, relief funds, or immediate post disaster contributions from the public) have been mis-utilised, diverted, non-utilized, and denied to disaster victims. This relies on newspaper and CAG reports on the last few disasters: such as floods in Maharashtra 2004-2005, Tsunami that affected coastal states on 26 December 2004, Earthquake in Bhuj on 26 January 2001 and Super Cyclone in Orrisa on 11 October 1999. All the disasters have one common tragedy that is misappropriation of funds.
Also available in Tamil
Re-building Our Lives :
A Backgrounder on the Right to Work in the Context of Post Tsunami Reconstruction
Also available in Tamil
[order a copy]
What our Brightest Youngsters think !In the Year 2006
A selection
of Projects done by students
write to CED for copies
Fishing in Troubled Waters
[order a copy]
Developed around the adaption of an interview of John Kurien [professor, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala]
This is a Docpost Special on the livelihood issues of the traditional fishing communities. It contains a collection of articles and reports which have been organised and pieced together with a narrative.
The document may appear to be disjointed at times. This is a characteristic of such an output, since it contains materials needed by activists and communities, but is not in the nature of an academic research.
Also available in Tamil
Net-working Together
A Companion volume to the film on the livelihoods of the Coastal communities and their fight against the global market hegemony
Our Coast Our Right
[order a copy]
* Government is the biggest violator
* Coast is used as a free resource to increase private profit
* Salient features of the M.S. SwaArticleminathan Committee report
Missing the Community for the Woods: Forests, Communities and Climate change In India.
After the Cancun COP where the REDD proposal were put-together, CED revised its Climate Education Booklet on Forestry to include a critique of the REDD proposals and the Indian government's policy approach to forestry development.
Table of Contents
I) Basics of Climate Change
II) Politics of Climate Change
III) Forests
IV) Western Ghats
V) What is to be Done
Also available in Kannada: 'VanagaLigaagi Samudaayagala Upekshe '
Proceedings & Papers: 3rd and 4th August 2007, School of Social Sciences, University of Hyderabad.
Aspects of Drug Industry In India
Published in 1982, this report attempts to highlight some of the central issues involved in the important areas of health and drugs in the developing worlld, primarily in the context of Indian experience.
Beginning with a brief description and analysis of the current health scene in India and the formidable obstacles in the path of altering the current health-care status quo, the report goes on to examine the role of drugs and the drugs industry in the developing world vis-a-vis the commonly accepted objective of providing health for all by the year 2000 AD.
Communalism:The Razor's Edge: a FactSheet
Though each communal riot is a retrograde expression it also signifies that Indian society is rapidly being transformed. While this does not imply that we condone communalism, we do believe that the peculiar nature of Indian capitalist development has legitimised communal heirarchies. Thus the problem cannot be wished away; it will remain an integral part of Indian politics and society until the path of economic development itself undergoes a national change.
Contraception As if Women Mattered
Patriarchy and oppressive living conditions inhibit women's access to birth control. No Family Planning Programme imposed from above can help unless there is fundamental social change. Abuses have crept in, precisely because FP personnel seek to control women's reproduction while leaving other aspects of their lives unchanged.
Contents:
I. From the User's end
II. Ideology of Population Control
III Women as targets
IV Women & FP: Further Issues
V Do Women want FP
Factsheet: The 10th Month: Bombay's Historic Textile Strike, A chronology of events.
The ongoing textile strike in Bombay represent a watershed in the history of Indian labour. The ten month long struggle of the textile workers has, once again re-established their credentials as a workforce that has stayed at the forefront of industrial unionism in the country and has in fact even dictated its course.It was their pioneering efforts in the early years of this century that determined the scope and nature of all legislation pertaining to industrial relations. After a virtually dormant decade, two-and-a-half lakh workers are now threatening to breakdown the carefully-designed, repressive structures that had straitjacketed them for over thirty years, particularly the INTUC-affiliated Rastriya Mill Mazdoor Sangh which has been the sole bargaining agent for the cotton textile industry under the provisions of the Bombay Industrial Relations Act since 1946.
Operation Flood: Development or Dependence?
by Centre for Education & Documentation, April 1982.
In this study we are concerned with the implications of Operation Flood, a dairy development project based on foreign funds and the capital raised from sales of imported butter oil and skimmed milk powder gifted by surplus stock with the European Economic Community. The study concentrates on evaluating the performance of OF and examining whether it will help in making India self-sufficient in dairying or if it will pull the country further into the vortex of aided development that stems from the developed world and threatens to engulf the Third World.
Health Sans Multinationals:The Bangladesh Crusade
Post-Disaster: Challenges to Change
Hardy Options: Eco-regional Notes on Climate Change and semi-arid Regions.
Small and marginal farmers, with land holdings below two hectares,constitute almost 80% of all Indian farmers and more than 90% of them are dependent on rain for their crops. Modernity has looked at this dependence as backward and has promoted and subsidised irrigation, green revolution, genetically modified crops etc. Despite the thousands of crores spent on fertilizer and other subsidies, farmers are increasingly in debt and despair. Now we learn that the method of cultivation promoted has increased carbon emissions which have led to climate change-one of whose impacts is the further reduction in availability of water, besides erratic rainfall.
I) Basics of Climate Change
II) Politics of Climate Change
III) Semi Arid Regions
IV) Case : Anantapur
V) What is to be Done
Also available in Telugu: 'Balamaina Nirnayaalu'
As we take a look closer at the coastal regions, one realizes that it is the
marginalised populations that are directly affected by sea-level rise, storm
surges, environmental damage and diminishing marine bio-resources. It is
then that the ethical implications of the choices of the paths of development
(and consequent climate change) become clear. This also raises ethical
questions for those who are at the doorstep of the same paths of
development. Is there another door?
Table of Contents
I) About Climate Change 1
II) Climate Change and World Politics
III) The Indian Response
IV) A View from the Coast
V) The Indian Coast
VI) What is to be done
VII) Information
A Marathi Version of this booklet - Havaman Badal Aani Kinaarpattivaril Vasti: is also available
Balavanta NirNayaalu: Eco-regional Notes on Climate Change and Semi Arid Regions- A climate Education Booklet (Telugu), 2011.
a
Small and marginal farmers, with land holdings below two hectares,constitute almost 80% of all Indian farmers and more than 90% of them are dependent on rain for their crops. Modernity has looked at this dependence as backward and has promoted and subsidised irrigation, green revolution, genetically modified crops etc. Despite the thousands of crores spent on fertilizer and other subsidies, farmers are increasingly in debt and despair. Now we learn that the method of cultivation promoted has increased carbon emissions which have led to climate change-one of whose impacts is the further reduction in availability of water, besides erratic rainfall.
Laurie Baker: The Gandhi of Architecture
Democratising the Science and Technology of Climate Change: a case study on Indian Network for Ethics in Climate Change
by Walter Mendoza & John D'Souza.
This study under the SETDEV programme. It traces the involvement of civil society in the science and the politics of climate change and the kind of dichotomy between mainstream policy and the issues faced by the marginalised who are most impacted by development. It also examines how INECC partners at different places are involved in education on the science of climate change, engaged in policy, as well as demonstrating alternatives at the ground level. These alternatives, into order to be mainstreamed need an alternative science and technology to thrive.
This study was done by CED as part of the SETDEV (Science, Ethics and Technology in Developing and Emerging countries) project which KICS took part in. Our Built Environment is a symbol of the current paradigm of development involving control over knowledge and resources, furthering social inequalities environmental degradation and cultural displacement. Post-disaster, the built environment assumes the form of reconstruction where some of these dimensions are enhanced within a narrow bandwidth of space time and resources. This study traces these dimensions in the reconstruction efforts after the Bhuj earthquakes, the Bihar floods and Tsunami.
Market Access and Fair Trade for Producer Groups from Marginalised Communities
Outcome of a workshop organised by Marketing Support Groups from South India August 21-23, 2003.
Workshop Curator : Walter Mendoza
Documentation & Report :Centre for Education & Documentation
Supported by Oxfam.
Table of Contents:
- Dimensions of NGO intervention in The Market
- Market Access and Artisan Communities
- Market Control & Traditional Fishing Communities
- Markets & Forest Communities
- Marketing for Small and Marginal Farmers
- Issues along the whole Commodity Chain: Cotton
- Structural Alternatives: Local Markets, Horizontal Marketing
- Global Issues on Market Access & Fair Trade
- Understanding the Modern Market
From Economies of Scale to Emissions Economy
Table of Contents
Introduction
I) Understanding Climate Change
II) Climate Change & the City
III) Politics of Climate Change
IV) Sustainable Development Climate Change & Inclusion
V) What is to be done!
To be available in HINDI(draft version)
Climate Education series of booklets are aimed at explaining the basic concepts of Climate Change, and the politics around the climate change debate and action. It examines the issues faced by us in the eco-regions of India and looksat the options before us.
CED has brought out these booklets in collaboration with INECC.
Sanitation for you & Me (A Post-Tsunami Technical Overview
by Centre for Education & Documentation & Architecture & Development, 2008
ORT And the Credibility Gap, Counterfact No.8, A CED Health Feature, October 1984.
Late 1982 and early 1983 saw the launching of massive publicity on the theme of oral rehydration therapy (ORT), timed with the release of the UNICEF report on the State of the World's children (1983). Since then the press has been flooded with news items and feature articles on ORT the miracle cure for preventing dehydration and diarrhoes deaths, with potential to revolutionise the child health scene.
Pills For All, Counterfact No.7, January 2984
In November 1982, the Union Health Ministry announced its intention to allow distribution of the Oral Contraceptive pill through village level health workers and to introduce "Social Marketing" or over-the-counter sale so as to raise the number of OC users in this country from the present 1.1 lakh to two million in future.
Asbestos:the dust that kills, Counterfact No.5, July 1983.
The killer fibre had penetrated the very essence of his being. His cough was more painful than ever. Each successive breath was a harsher rasp than the previous one.
The City Calling (PAL 6’ 35”, English Subtitles)
I am the drum that will be heard (PAL 5’ 27”, English Subtitles)
“The City Calling” :-impact of rising sea levels on high tides which affect the slum communities living on the shoreline. The City to which ragpickers and hawkers come to provide cheap ecological services while living with low carbon footprints are often marginalised and displaced in modernisation drives, road widening etc. which increase the carbon footprints of the consumer classes.
The film has been uploaded on Youtube (duration: 96 mins). Trigger film prepared for Public Hearings on the Climate Crisis New Delhi, Nov 11-13, 2009, held under the aegis of A Civil Society Coalition for Climate Justice and Equitable Development as a run-up to the 15th Conference of the Parties meet on climate change at Copenhagen in December 2009.
(order a copy)
Seeding a New Knowledge Movement : a film on Non-Pesticidal Management revolution in Andhra Pradesh, by John D'Souza & Shruti Kulkarni. DVD: Eng, PAL Dur. 26' 7".
In the seventies, most Indians were awe-struck with the success of the Green Revolution, that we just did not question the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers. The film is evidence that we were grossly mistaken.
Farmers in villages of Anantapur and Warangal districts have adopted NPM or Non Pesticidal Management practices and have grown food successfully without using pesticides.
What started as an effort to curb the devastating impacts of the Red Headed Hairy Caterpillar in the early 80s, is now a movement. Farmers have taken the control of their agricultural knowledge based on their traditional wisdom and local, indigenous solutions combined with farmer-friendly modern technologies and scientific intervention.
At the international negotiations, the hitherto polluting developed countries need to take deep, mandatory, emissions reductions. At the same time, at home, the Government of India needs to focus on the development needs of the poor in a low-carbon path through Sustainable Agriculture, Sustainable Industry, and Sustainable Energy.
(Along with the film, we also have a CD of a wide variety of documents, articles, manuals etc. We also have DVD of the full interviews with each of the protagonists and experts featured in the film. These too are available on request. The aim is to enable social workers and activists to enhance their understanding as well as provide resource material for training. Some of the interviews and literature is in Telugu as well)
What song shall I sing today?
It’s nigh onto 3 years after the Tsunami. Yet some people continue to live in temporary settlements, in deplorable conditions, with no proper water supply and toilet facilities.
What song shall I sing today? journeys through the process of rebuilding of lives in the various phases of emergency relief to temporary shelters,and then on to permanent houses. It highlights the plight of those in temporary shelters hoping to get permanent houses; and of those in permanent settlements, awaiting the arrival of basic amenities - especially the hurdles placed by mindless application of regulatory provisions of the CRZ and the many other practical problems faced, that still keep some in temporary shelters.
The irony is that sanitation conditions in some permanent settlements are far worse than what obtains in the temporary shelters.
Let's clean up this mess
This is what the women at the East Devadhanam in Trichy decided. And they succeeded. Simple methods, collective awareness, commitment and action brought about good sanitation. The women’s self-help groups in this slum are operating the first ever community-based DEWATS system in Tamil Nadu. A “pay and use” toilet complex, the income is being used for maintenance and the treated water is being used for growing vegetables.
In Madhuranthaganalore village, Cuddalore, enthusiastic school children participate in a Sanitation Parliament. The young social reformers from the Panchayat Union Middle School (the first school to have an ECOSAN toilet in Tamil Nadu) have taken the onus of maintaining toilets and general hygiene in the school. They not only spread the message within the school, but also take it to their families, the community and to nearby villages.
Shanthi…Century Not Out
A film on a striking example of community awareness efforts by Shanti, which led to the construction of 200 Ecosan toilets in a tsunami affected village in South India.
In one rare case of tsunami-affected Kameshwaram village, in Nagapattinam district, the experiment with toilets has been immensely successful due to one woman's initiative. In spite of being a tsunami victim, Shanti was not bogged down by her circumstances. Instead she chose to start a revolution of sorts. She constructed the first ever Ecosan toilet in her house. Thanks to her efforts, now there are about 200 Ecosan toilets in the village, the highest in the entire Nagapattinam district. The film showcases how the construction of Ecosan toilets has changed the lives of many villagers and how it has also strengthened the process of Shanti's empowerment.
Landscape for Rainwater
A huge and beautiful archaeological site in Hampi, Karnataka, shows aspects of Indian cities in late 15th early 16th centuries, It shows ruins of tanks, water channels and aqueduct show how Indian people succeeded in using a passive and complex system so that rainwater was sufficient for all their water needs.
(order a copy)
Threading the cross section journeys into the other paradigm in architecture and examines the values and underlying commonsense of the vernacular in shaping our built environment. In this film the philosopher in R L Kumar, a trained accountant reflects on his attempts to build houses differently with a passion for the earth and the people he is working with. This exploration has made kumar an architect, builder, comrade to his workers and philosopher to some of his NGO friends and chief haranguer to others.
Also available at youTube : http://youtu.be/4sNqk7WUQJ0
A Farm Garden in a Dryland of Tamil Nadu
A landscape architect, Mohan S. Rao, explains using the example of a farm garden how to conserve and reuse rainwater as much as possible with sensitive and sustainable methods. The basic principles of this kind of work are explained in a simple way and in a quiet rhythm.
City Farming
Dr. R.T. Doshi was one of the early adaptors of city farming. It also connects with a group of women in Pune, who took to waste re-cyling very early, and helped themselves to nutrition for their urban farms (click for your copy)
Build Simply
A film on the approach to ‘built environment’ adopted by Timbaktu
The film explores Timbaktu’s experiment, which sat a meeting point between forests, agriculture and the built environment. It narrates how a small group of development activists, committed to developmental and ecological regeneration, found ways to heal and regenerate a piece of dry, degraded land, and create an agro forest habitat. Protecting the land, revitalising natural resources and traditional genetic base were the key elements involved.
(order a copy)
"Namma Kadalkarai - Namma Urimal"(Our Coast-Our Right)
A film explaining the Coastal Regulation Zone, and the Economics and Politics of its Implementation from the point of view of Local Community Rights.
Inayand Seyal Peduttal ("Net-working" Together )
This film tries to address few such concerns related to reconstruction of livelihoods of the coastal communities post-tsunami. It covers a gamut of issues varying from alternative employment, educating the coastal communities to the global market hegemony and modernization of traditional fishing. How to make the local economy self-sustainable and how to ensure its continual growth? How can the NGOs and the local people take up this mammoth task of keeping the traditional economy alive and growing? "Net-working" Together talks about these and many more issues.
Veerabagupathy : A Community in Transition
A film showcases tsunami affected Veerabagupathy village in Kanyakumari District.
The pala-pitta sings no more :
film on climate change issues facing people from semi-arid regions featuring the People's Tribunal on livelihoods and climate change, in South India
DVD PAL, 8’22” min.
Telugu with English sub-titles ,
22nd October 2010.
( for full resolution DVD contact CEDBAN AT DOCCENTRE DOT NET ).
A short trigger version of this Script can be viewed at youtube.. ((http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjCto1pE_Nk)
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(Script: http://el.doccentre.info/eldoc1/INECC/ppt/The_Palapittasingsnomore.pdf)
“I am the Drum” starts with the sudden floods in North Karnataka which is a semi-arid region, and the understanding of the people in terms of its causes and unpredictability of weather that they have observed. The effects of these extreme events is exacerbated by modern monoculture and quarrying, and some of the options open to people in these regions is to adapt to these changes.
Singing out of time: (DVD Telugu with English subtitles), Dur. 26.22 Min, June 2011.
Not so long ago we used to
get this flower called Moti.
We used to make colours from these to celebrate Holi
Now the Moti blooms,but at the wrong time, after Holi..
- Shiva Prasad Madhavi, Adivasi Aikya Vedika, Adilabad at the People's Tribunal on livelihoods and Climate Change (South India), 22 October 2010.
PAL, 26.22mins, Telugu with English
The pala-pitta sings no more
PAL, 8.22mins, Telugu with English subtitles. Highlights of the People's Tribunal on livelihoods and Climate Change (South India), 22 October 2010.
In season, the bird called pala-pitta arrives. When the pala-pitta sings it means that the rains are coming. It is a sign which says get your plough in shape...
Seeding a New Knowledge Movement:
A film on Non-Pesticidal Management revolution in Andhra Pradesh.
by John'Souza & Shruti Kulkarni. (ENG) PAL Dur. 26'7".
Farmers in villages of Anantapur and Warangal districts have adopted NPM or Non Pesticidal Management practices and have grown food successfully without using pesticides.
What started as an effort to curb the devastating impacts of the Red Headed Hairy Caterpillar in the early 80s, is now a movement. Farmers have taken the control of their agricultural knowledge based on their traditional wisdom and local, indigenous solutions combined with farmer-friendly modern technologies and scientific intervention.
This video is an educational and motivational effort. You may use it freely. For full resolution DVD, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Along with the film, we also have a CD of a wide variety of documents, articles, manuals etc.
Economics of Happiness Conference
Key Note Address: By Samdhong Rinpoche at EOH Conference
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Other AV Links:
Introductory Lecture & Q & A: Helena Norberg-Norge at EOH coference
Community Learning Movement: a Session with Dilip Kamat
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Rajni Bakshi at Civil Society in the Marketplace of Social Business.
| Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 |
| {youtube}rNls-o565WE| 100|100{/youtube} | {youtube}bOp1BuvGwms| 100|100{/youtube} | {youtube}ZUX-XeDU0ok| 100|100{/youtube} |
If some of you are interested in the whole CD please write to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for copies.
Rethinking Universities for Development Intermediaries, Innovation & Inclusion,
JNU Convention Centre, New Delhi.
Presentations, Papers & Videos of Proceedings papers of research meeting January 8-9, 2013.
" Toilets, toilets everywhere|full of shit and pee"
,
A lot has been written about the achievements of tsunami rehabilitationand reconstruction work. But what is the ground reality?
In an interview V Ganapathy brings to the forefront the gruesome situation in some of the so-called tsunami settlements.
The tale of dried up river beds!
,
In the interview Chitra Shekhar talks about the importance of "˜rainwater harvesting"™. He also explains the economics and politics of rivers and water.
"Ecological Sanitation" Eat, Excrete, Compost !
"As per the Millennium Development Goals, by 2015, at least 50% of the Indian population should have toilets in their own households. This roughly translates into construction of 6000, 7000 toilets per second. In order to achieve this goal we have the responsibility of creating awareness among the people and preparing them to accept something new. Ecosan will work once the people are educated about the gravity of the situation."
In the interview Subburaman tells about SCOPE"™s experiment in building Ecosan toilets in the tsunami affected village Kameshwaram. Subburaman believes that Ecosan toilets will prove to be very useful particularly in the future when water will be a limited resource.
Shanthi Century, Not Out
Shanthi, an ordinary SHG member (in Kameshwaram) has 100 Ecosan toilets to her credit. Today Kameshwaram has the highest number of Ecosan toilets in the entire Nagapattinam district and thanks to Shanthi many more Ecosan toilets are going to be constructed.
Fisherfolk have the right to the coast
SNEHA is one of the local organisations working for the tsunami relief and long term rehabilitation
Government's hidden agenda and abuse of the CRZ law
The Government is trying to relocate the fisherfolk villages to areas off the seashore. At the same time it is also cordoning off these area for projects such as aquaculture and hotel industry. It is not taking any action against the violations.
“Instead, they are using fear and vulnerability of the people on the coast after the tsunami, who are now living in fear. The intention seems to be the following: if fishermen’s rights on the coast are weakened or destroyed, there will be complete freedom for the tourism industry and other industries.”
Fishermen's struggle
An interview with T Mohan, Chennai who along with several activists has been struggling for fishermen’s right under the banner of Coastal Action Network (CAN). He’s been associated with CAN for more than 10 years.
The Government did not respect the CRZ law. CRZ law was formed in 1991 but then no one respected this law. Several groups approached the Supreme Court. Following demands made by several groups in 1995 the Supreme Court ordered all the states with coastline to protect fisherfolks’ livelihood and the coast.
Audio
How intervention of foreign companies has affected the CRZ law
and the fishing community
Very systematic interventions have been made to politically do away with the CRZ Act. Who are ones who are intervening? Major politicians and bureaucrats. These people are supposed to be the servants of the people and they are supposed to respect and take care of the interests of the people. They are the ones who are now infringing upon the right and the ownership of people in the coastal area. Hence intention of the CRZ is now being systematically endangered by those who propelled the whole process.
India can play an important role in holding the world together";
"India is an environmentally stressed country. It is going to become more environmentally stressed overtime. Most governments are not well prepared to face these issues even at scientific level. Look at my own country. The White House is completely divorced from the signs and its not understood the gravity of the situation at all. Therefore it is acting quite irresponsibly. I think India is going to need to be a leading advocate for environmental sustainability. And its going to need to become, quite soon, a leading player in energy sustainability.â€; Prof. Jeffery Sachs believes that matters are coming upon us with great urgency even before we have any clear answers.
The Essence of Asset Management
If your bus is never on time, don't blame the bus…is what K C Leong will tell you. He will also tell you that your home is the most dangerous place on earth? He will introduce you to a lot more SHOCKING details!
Leong, who was trained as an architect, took to Asset Management, which he believes is the solution to most of our mundane problems. He draws immense inspiration from the master builder and the greatest painter ever- Leonardo Da Vinci.
Audio
Disaster Rehabilitation, giving direction to Sustainable Development
Sandeep Virmani shares his experiences on the rehabilitation and reconstruction work done after the Gujarat earthquake in 2001, Kashmir earthquake in 2005 and after Tsunami in 2004 (in Aceh). Involving people in decision- making and the entire process of rehabilitation was a milestone in all three cases. Virmani believes that disaster can be used as an opportunity to re-fabricate cities and their structures with sustainable practices. 
Video
Read more: Disaster Rehabilitation, giving direction to Sustainable Development
Water infrastructure in Urban India: commodify or communitize?
Green Homes: Sustainable Living
Part I- From mineral water to packaged drinking water, water has come a long way from being freely available to a commodity with a brand name. However several attempts are being made to change this trend and to communitize water. BCIL has taken one such initiative to communitize water.
Part II- Heard of an entire community dedicated to sustainability?
"Sustainable practices begin at home" and what better could it be if you had the option of building your home keeping the principles of sustainable livelihood in view! From eco-friendly ACs to specially designed "sustainable refrigerators;it's all possible! BCIL is building communities through some simple and adoptable sustainable practices.
Chandrashekar Hariharan, Director, Biodiversity Conservation India Limited & Alternate Technology Foundation, Bangalore
Community Economy Development
Thomas H Greco shares his ideas on why money needs to be reinvented. One is the politicization and privatisation of money. Secondly, manipulation of money and banking for limited private interests and thirdly the exploitative and undemocratic nature of political money. The talk highlights ideas and information on how to transcend these limitations of conventional structures of money and banking. (website: reinventingmoney.com)
Thomas H Greco Jr. is a community economist, writer, consultant and educator. He is also the founder- Director of the Community Information Resource Center (CIRC), Arizona
Interview with Dr R T Doshi
Dr R.T. Doshi experimented with an innovative package of workable farming practices that enables city dwellers to grow their own food on every available square inch of urban space, including terraces and balconies. Dr Doshi narrates his interesting journey into growing vegetables and fruits in the Doshi way.
Interview with Mr. Bablu Ganguly
Interview with R L Kumar, a philosopher, an architect with passion for the earth
Kumar reflects on his attempt to build houses differently. On a journey with Kumar where he explains how it all started-
* The birth of Center for Vernacular Architecture
* Housing Rights and Policies
* Mainstream Architecture and Vernacular Architecture
* On why he objects his style of architecture being called unconventional
* On projects undertaken by CIEDS
* Anecdote
Livelihood restoration after tsunami and the market economy
"Livelihood restoration of the fishing community after tsunami "
(Interviewed by Priya C Nair and Shruti Kulkarni in Thiruvananthapuram, 27 April 2006 )
| Blame it On Rio |
|
The Green Economy approach, with its focus on growth, techno fixes and marketisation of nature has the
full support of a large section of the business sector and governments. The EU environment
Commissioner Potocnik summed up the thinking, “We need to move from protecting the environment
from business to using business to protect the environment”. The Rio+20 campaign website speaks of this
approach as the solution to problems/issues such as jobs, energy, cities, food, water, oceans and
disasters and then calls for an Institutional Framework.
| BT BRINJAL: ON HOLD FOR NOW |
|
GM technology, in which a gene is transferred from a different species to imbibe a desirable trait, is touted as a long-term solution to the problems of pests, hunger, drought and even climate change. Though the
technology warrants serious consideration, the uproar over Bt brinjal has served to highlight a very important issue of public interest.
| Copenhagen and Beyond |
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The `Accord' that emerged out of the Copenhagen Conference is a slim document - it in only two and half pages long. What is more significant is that it did not come out of the two weeks of multilateral negotiation process of the Conference of Parties to the UNFCC (COP 15 as the Copenhagen Conference is known) but from a backroom parley between the US and the BASIC bloc of countries.
Though the chairman of the COP tried to push it through the conference, the majority of the delegates refused to be cowed down. Decisions at the COP are made by consensus, and objections from several developing countries first to the undemocratic process and second to the content of the Accord, meant that the COP only "took note" of the document, and did not "adopt" it. In UN terms, taking note of a document gives it a low status. It means that the meeting did not approve or pass it, and did not view it either positively or negatively.
This is a sad reflection of the Copenhagen conference and the 17 years of negotiations since the Rio Summit in 1992 that this fraudulent document is being held up as its main achievement - an agreement that was not acceptable to the majority of the UNFCCC's membership.
Critical Concerns(CC) are review of clippings on Critical Issues & Concerns for NGOs, Activists and others concerned with Justice & Social Change.
| Deciphering Gujarat’s Development |
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Gujarat is projected as the darling of industry and a pioneer of efficient governance and infrastructure. The hype around Gujarat's economy has suggested that it is the favourite destination of foreign investors.
Development is the bell that makes corporate groups salivate and the middle class feel that progress is around the corner. Modi knows he is Mr Development, inviting investment, turning Gujarat into the new Detroit. But this raises a new set of ethical questions. The short run has been captured by the language of growth and the corporation.
| Durban: Negotiating To Nowhere |
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The 17th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 17) met in Durban in December 2011 to negotiate ways to drastically reduce emissions to keep the world safe from a catastrophic collapse. What they achieved at the end of several days of protracted negotiations was to push the world to yet another round of torturous and messy negotiations for a new treaty, protocol or legal instrument.
| To GM or not to Gm: That is the Big Question? |
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On 1 May 2009 a Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, Justices P Sathasivam and J M Panchal made a startling observation [C.eldoc1/g74a/01may09toi1.html]. The apex court in the matter of PILs seeking stringent regulatory mechanism and advanced testing for the toxicity of the genetically modified organisms (GMOs) said that' " GM seeds could possibly be a means to eradicate hunger and poverty. Poverty is probably more dangerous than the side effects of GM seeds".
| Wheeling and Dealing:From Rio to Copenhagen |
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In June, 1992 world leaders gathered at Rio de Janeiro in Brazil for the Earth Summit (The United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development – UNCED), to give themselves - as they
proclaimed - “the last chance to save the world” from an impending environmental crisis. Seventeen
years down the line, and after several more world summits, they are still at it. In December 2009
they will meet again at Copenhagen to negotiate a treaty that aims to save the world from the most
cataclysmic threat to its existence - the threat of climate change.
| Single Largest Internal Security Threat or The Biggest Land Grab since Columbus. |
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"Once upon a time "the temples of modern India reduced millions of tribal people to ecological refugees"; now "the minerals seen as the building blocks of modern India" are putting them "at risk of losing their land through acquisition and further disruption of their societies and economies"
No, that's no dire warning from some rights activist but, significantly, a part of a government report, 'State Agrarian Relations and Unfinished Task of Land Reforms', by a 15-member committee of the Union Ministry for Rural Development ministry in January 2008.
| Uttarakhand: Disaster as a Tragedy? | |
When Rivers speak, listen!
For who Knows what the voice will be?
“Food security is a human right which must take precedence over macroeconomic and trade concerns, militarism and the dictates of the marketplace.” And that achieving food security for all demands the “full engagement of all stakeholders”—civil society, governments, international organizations and multilateral institutions.
Vulnerability to Climate Change-Mumbai Thane Coast.
A Pilot Workshop between Fisherfolk, Coastal Communities, Scientists, Researchers and Activists
Notes on Work, Workers and Workers Organisations
The nation is halfway through the elections to the parliament and most parties have ignored the legitimate concerns of labour, except to chorus the need for `labour reforms' or `flexible labour markets'. It is time to remember the on going struggle of the workers at Maruti's `fastest car producing facility in the world at Manesar for their right to organise and strive for human working conditions and just wages'.
(this publication has been suspended due to non-availability of funding)
DEVELOPMENT DIGEST
A state of the art series of carefully selected articles on issues of development, social justice and structural transformation, compiled from newspapers, journals, reports, newsletters, books, magazines and the Internet, put together because of their relevance and public importance.
BUILD A DOCUMENTATION CENTRE OF YOUR OWN!
In the development digest, each article is independent and they are separately folded. The independent articles in one issue are loosely bound so that you can carry each article around... read it when convenient.
The articles also come pre-punched, with distinct subject classifications, so you can file articles from one subject together over a period of time. Voila! You have your own documentation centre !
Below are contents of each issue of DD!
Seeding a New Knowledge Movement: A film on Non-Pesticidal Management revolution in Andhra Pradesh. by John D'Souza & Shruti Kulkarni. (ENG) PAL Dur. 26' 7".
In the seventies, most Indians were awe-struck with the success of the Green Revolution, that we just did not question the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers. The film is evidence that we were grossly mistaken.
Farmers in villages of Anantapur and Warangal districts have adopted NPM or Non Pesticidal Management practices and have grown food successfully without using pesticides.
What started as an effort to curb the devastating impacts of the Red Headed Hairy Caterpillar in the early 80s, is now a movement. Farmers have taken the control of their agricultural knowledge based on their traditional wisdom and local, indigenous solutions combined with farmer-friendly modern technologies and scientific intervention.
Right to Work & NREGA:
Re-building our lives: A Backgrounder on the Right to work in the context of Post Tsunami Reconstruction.
Posters in Tamil and English:
Audio
Video
Audio
