Posted by
Susan Sharma
on
September 29, 2011
Awaaz.De
Problem: Rural people in developing regions lack access to on-demand localized information sources and a platform to “give their voice,” to share what they know.
Solution: An interactive, voice-based platform supporting knowledge sharing over phones. Offers high-quality, relevant information in any language.
Impact: Used in India by social development organizations in agriculture, labor rights, education, and women’s empowerment
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Posted by
BABIT GURUNG
on
August 20, 2011
Aadma - An unveiled abode of nature
NATURE TREK, CULTURAL HERITAGE TREK, BUTTERFLY AND BIRD WATCHING TREK
Rajabhatkhawa / Jayanti - Buxa Tiger reserve
14 kms of wavy terrains filled with green lusciousness of Buxa Tiger Reserve forest, with the murmur of sweet chants of the streams, chirps of birds and flash
of butterfly will reach you to one of the most remote in-habitations on earth - Aadma. The place reminds us of the ancient lifestyle of nomadic cultures. The most attractive and also the most pitiful thing of these
unknown paradise are the smiling and innocent faces of this place. The tribe 'Dukpa' of these places live a nomadic life with their families.
  Most
of the months are spent in forest for cattle grazing and when the rainy season approaches, they all gather in the village to share their wild experience. The place is isolated from all the rightful facilities of health, education, sanitation, transportation
and every basic needs a community requires in today's age. It sounds quiet absurd knowing that the place is under the jurisdiction of Indian Govt. Precisely, if asked, hardly any one would give you the name of the country and state they live in. The thatched
roofs, and huge wooden houses prove their sole reliability to the natural resources they live in.
They hardly care about the concerning issue of ecological imbalance and live in a world of their own. The innocent wrinkled faces of experienced villagers recite the
way of their livelihood which will certainly bring the fact of globalized world into the circle of doubtful impressions. A couple may have children more than 12 in numbers.India is taking strict measure on population control but it's centralized policies hardly
reach to the senses of these innocent people who are scared to face the reality of civilized world. People die like their cattle, hats off to their positive attitude, hardly a mark of complain is seen on their faces. Their hearts are as big as their houses
which have been built by the processed wood.
 As
the people practice Jhoom farming, a method of farming mainly practiced by the nomadic people as they do not stay in one place, they do require some knowledge regarding farming to make them settle at one place.We the intellectuals, philosophers , nature conservationists, boast about our works and complain about our unsatisfied demands to the whole world, whole life. These
chastened smiles have no complains as they are thankful to the nature who provide them with all the minimum requirement of necessities of life.
 It's
a call for all the nature lovers to raise hands to support these community which will also save the nature. The main objective should be to provide a sustainable livelihood to these people along with the provision of education and health benefits. These areas
are full of resources to be utilized, with its incredible beauty of flora and fauna. The rest can only be experienced by availing their warm hospitality and cozy shelter.
The nature lovers can go for a short moderate trek through Santal Barie, a forest village inRajabhatkhawa, all the arrangements can be availed at theSantal barie village
with experience guide and potters. The trip will certainly leave you with unforgettable memories of the colourful butterflies, medicinal plants, birds and if lucky enough, the sight of a wild animal and above all the smiling faces of Dukpas of these remote
places.
 The
tariff details:
The prices below includes ;
1.Transportation (pick and drop from the desired nearest railway station)
2. One night's food and lodging at Santalbarieforest village
 3.
Trekking expenses including porter, guide and food
4. Home stay at Aadma along with food.
5. Local tea garden sight seeing through vehicle.
2 person ( 2nights three days)
= Rs 8000 (4000X 2 )
4 peson ( 2 nights three days)
= Rs 12000 ( 3000x 2)
(special concession will be given for the students, scholars and researchers and also to the group with more than 4 person)
( It is an endless effort of our group - Samsing Chauthary in collaboration with Yuganter parivar to promote this place initially under the concept of social eco tourism, whatever the revenue generated from you contributions
as a traveler will be utilized for the economic benefit of these communities)
A SOCIAL WELFARE GROUP OF NATURE CONSERVATIONIST
SAMSING FARI, NEAR SUNTALEY KHOLA, DISTT. DARJEELING
Phone: 9475332231, 7384083137
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Posted by
Susan Sharma
on
October 29, 2010
Need to conserve water to save wildlife and stop desertification-Listen to an audio clip by clicking on the link.
Mansoor Khan from Bilaspur is talking about the need of wildlife conservation. He says water is the most important link for it. We need to save water. If we allow the rain water to flow to sea and continue to take out ground water at such a speed then we are
inviting deserts. We need to stop cutting of trees. If you want to save tiger then you will also have to save sambar, its prey, he says, who is dependent on trees and entire nature and environment.
http://cgnetswara.org/index.php?id=1840
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Posted by
Susan Sharma
on
October 12, 2009
Economic governance: the organization of cooperation
Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson win Nobel Prize for Economics 2009 on Monday.
http://news.cnpanyu.com/2009/1012/6856.html
Elinor Ostrom has challenged the conventional wisdom that common property is poorly managed and should be either regulated by central authorities or privatized. Based on numerous studies of user-managed fish stocks, pastures, woods, lakes, and groundwater
basins, Ostrom concludes that the outcomes are, more often than not, better than predicted by standard theories. She observes that resource users frequently develop sophisticated mechanisms for decision-making and rule enforcement to handle conflicts of interest,
and she characterizes the rules that promote successful outcomes.
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Posted by
Susan Sharma
on
February 07, 2008
This forum seems to be the right platform to share some of the comments made by ICSSR(Indian Council of Social Science Research) on my report "E-governance for conservation" This report formed a part of my thesis submitted to ICSSR titled’Growth of entrepreneurship
in the Country with the growth of Information Systems’.
The report is available online and can be read at the following link.
http://www.indianwildlifeclub.com/ResearchPapers/Governance-For-Conservation.aspx
Comments and Review by ICSSR
"The proposed model for e-Governance for the Ministry of Environment and Forest is one of the major dimensions of the thesis, which merits commendation and makes the thesis a qualitative work. Cost-Benefit analysis for the suggested model will further enhance
the quality of the thesis.
A public project analysis considers the worthiness of shifting resources from the private sector to the public sector and the extent to which a public project should be pursued when its benefits exceed the cost. Many other factors besides a benefit/cost
analysis influence the final decision about funding public projects.
The model recommended to generate entrepreneurship in the rural area can also be evaluated by cost-effective analysis. The measure of effectiveness which is non-monetary in character can be judged taking into account the reduction in rural unemployment,
increase in the wildlife, decline in deforestation and criminal activities and improvement in the environment-Jaan, Jal, Janwar, Jungle, Jameen.
Further , it has been proposed that the model can be worked out by public private paertnership. The model on application needs a good amount of investment. Basically it is an economic decision, which is usually subject to an environment of uncontrollable
influences. The longer the planning horizon, the greater the exposure to chance events. Inputs and outputs for short-term investment alternatives are usually subject to less variability than the long- term investment proposals. Risk anlysis is a mechanism,
which can be used fruitfully when significant outcome variations are likely for different future states and meanigful probabilities can be assigned to these states. The time to consider risk is before one makes a commitment to a course of action. Perhaps
a portion of the potential profit should be traded for partial immunity to risk. The rural people and the people of the nearby villages of jungle are to be ducated to develop individual skills and temperaments and the only way they can behave impetuously
when exposed to the demands of such situations. The properties of materials vary over time. environmental factors are never constant and economic conditions change irregularly.
Natural resources are threatened by the demand placed on them by the poor. Despite several efforts aimed at addressing the problem, environmental degradation continues. Hence, the goal is to achieve poverty reduction through wise, sustainable and economic
use of natural resources and the environment. Strategies include strengthening the legal and institutional framework to encourage local communities to control and sustainaby manage natural resources, develop alternative livelihood strategies and create environmental
awareness."
I request the esteemed members of this community to respond and add your comments to finally arrive at a workable model for E-governance for conservation.
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Posted by
Susan Sharma
on
February 04, 2008
Web 2.0 technologies
Web 2.0 technologies are creating a revolution in specialised groups of activists, NGOs and social changemakers.
The utility will be more in specialised and thematic groups as it is much easier to handle information overload in such communities.
Online interactive quiz programs, chat programs and games can add stickiness to the website and also promote discussion and debate on issues usually marginalised or ignored.
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Posted by
Susan Sharma
on
September 24, 2007
A sixty year old uneducated woman at the helm of e-governance in an Ajmer Panchayat?
The "Manthan "award for e- content given to Noorani Bai brought to the digital world this unsung heroine of Ajmer. Noorani keeps records of the Panchayat Raj in her village, helps keep tables of data and even taps out reports on projects. Both in English
and Hindi. For a woman who never went to school, Noorani’s education has leapfrogged into the digtal world.
Source: The Indian Express dated 25 Sep 2007.
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Posted by
Susan Sharma
on
February 13, 2007
Nova NetTV
When one talks about E-governance for conservation, most of us dismiss the idea as one whose time has not come.
But an article I read at the following link called
the 100 dollar un-pc
http://jasonoverdorf.blogspot.com/
reassures me that the day is not far when we can achieve that.
The article talks about the revolutionary product Nova net tv which is a PC costing less than Rs 5000/-
Rajesh Jain, co-founder of Novatium
says that in India’s PC market there are 10 million relatively wealthy Indians at the "top of the pyramid" who buy computers just like consumers in developed countries. There are an additional 30 million urban Indians at the "middle of the pyramid" and
100 million very poor Indians at the "bottom of the pyramid." "What we are saying is how can you dramatically bring down the entry levels for computing in this country and make it accessible to the middle of the pyramid?" he says.
Novatium’s approach has been to completely redesign the computer, slashing costs while keeping the form and functions typical
of a top-end PC. Once it’s set up, it doesn’t look all that different from a conventional PC—the basic box plus a keyboard and monitor. It installs and operates as simply as a television—you plug it in and switch it on. And the money doesn’t come from government
budgets or philanthropic largesse, but from Jain’s profit-oriented business model.
The concept owner and cofounder Prof. Jhunjhunwala and researchers at IIT came up with a plan that builds on the "thin client" concept
that has been popular in the West for years, but only for business applications. It uses a cheap microprocessor and removes the hard disk, CD/DVD drive and other costly and problem-prone components, leaving the keyboard, screen and USB port. Easier to maintain
than regular PCs, sales of thin-client PCs to businesses are growing at about 20 percent a year in developed nations, even as sales of regular PCs flatten. Instead of working backward from the PC, Jhunjhunwala pioneered a new architecture from the ground up,
replacing the expensive microprocessor with the guts of a mobile phone—thus tapping a supercompetitive industry with enormous economies of scale. In 2003, Jain and Jhunjhunwala cofounded Novatium, along with Analog Devices Chairman Ray Stata, with the aim
of taking thin-client computers into the home market.
Read the full article which appeared in News Week International at
http://jasonoverdorf.blogspot.com/
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Posted by
Susan Sharma
on
May 23, 2006
Ashok Jhunjhunwala of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras, is the key expert behind innovation of cordDECT technology,a low-cost advanced Wireless Access System.
What is CorDECT Technology?
It is a wireless in a local loop (WiLL) technology. What it means is that the connection from an exchange to any home is on wireless, very much like mobile, instead of copper wires. It is a fixed wireless connection, which can be used not only for telephony
but also for Internet connectivity. It is tailor-made for broadband deployment and for rural areas.
Read more about it at
http://www.egovonline.net/interview/interview-details.asp?interviewid=42
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Posted by
Susan Sharma
on
March 08, 2006
This article appeared in http://www.thinkcycle.org
The article details an initiative launched in February 2003 in Phon Kham, a village in the jungles of northern Laos: a human-powered computer called the Jhai Computer (Jhai means hearts and minds working together in Laotian).
A villager on a stationary bicycle will make it possible for the village to connect to the Internet via wireless remote. The idea is to provide communication, because every day they sell their ducks, rice, weaving and chickens, and sell for less money than
they should because they can't know the real price down in the towns.
Organisers claim that this project is unique in that it relies on simple materials like foot pedals and wireless antennas rather than high-tech devices (or even electricity). All 200 residents of Phon Kham live in bamboo houses with thatch roofs, none of
which have electricity or telephone access.
Laos is the 10th-poorest country worldwide. The bike-pedaled generator will power a battery that in turn runs the computer, which sits in an 8-by-10-inch box. The computer will run on only 12 watts (compared to a typical computer's 90 watts). A wireless
card (an 802.11b, the current industry standard) will be hooked up to an antenna bolted on the roof of a bamboo house; the signal will be beamed from there to an antenna nailed to a tree on top of a mountain. The signal will be bounced to Phon Hong, which
sits 25 miles from Phon Kham and is the nearest big village with phone lines. The phone lines then hook to an Internet service provider. The Jhai runs on Linux software.
A Laotian IBM engineer in New York to customised the software to the Lao language. The Internet connection will enable the Jhai Computer to be used not only for e-mail, but also as a two-way telephone system (through Voice Over Internet Protocol, or VOIP).
It has no moving parts, the lid seals up tight, and you can dunk it in water and it will still run...
The idea is to be rugged, last at least 10 years and run in both the monsoon season and the dry season.
http://www.comminit.com/ctrends2003/sld-7550.html
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