Mumbai: It was the time of the year when the Government and the bureaucrats talk of Vigilance. Nov. 1 is the beginning of Vigilance Week and if government departments observe it in denial, there are some departments whose job it is to make it work through the year!

The PCGT (Public Concern for Governance Trust) whose mission is to work towards a fair, just and equitable society in India decided to celebrate vigilance week by making citizens of Bombay- particularly children aware of the moral degradation that corruption entails. In a week-long programme began on October 29 at the SNDT where a Youth Parliament was held on the issue of tainted ministers. On Oct 31 Worli Seaface was a chain of joined Hands Against Corruption as citizens turned out to show their support of the cause. From Worli the chain moved to Dadar Parsi Colony and with Oasis to the SP Jain Management Institute where the Official Opening ceremony of Vigilance week was launched. The chain turned into a walk by the time it reached Borivali. OnNov, 1 students of the Patuck School marched with their band from SNDT to the Gandhi Statue at Juhu. On Nov 3 volunteers joined hands at the Shirodkar Hall in Parel where students and citizens took a vow against corruption. On Nov.4, there were skit and presentations by the Nursing students of SNDT followed by a workshop on the Right to Information Campaign in the evening.

The Zahira affair

Mumbai: Probably nothing has shaken the confidence of NGOs as has the Zahira case. When a human rights victim makes a statement that has led to the Supreme Court take an unprecedented step and transfers a case, if the main witness turns hostile it can shatter the bonafides of the NGO. In this case, the CM of Gujarat even went so far as to say that the work of NGOs needs to be investigated, throwing up all kinds of insinuations about NGOs working in Gujarat.

Kerala: State Government employees getting married will henceforth be required To furnish a declaration to his head of the department after marriage that he has not taken any dowry. The declaration would have to be signed by his wife, father and father-in-law. The government notification making such a declaration mandatory has come into effect as part of the new Kerala Dowry Prohibition Rules, 2004.

The 2004 rules have been framed incorporating some of the long-standing demands of the National and State Women's Commission. Under the amended rules, three Regional Dowry Prohibition Officers (RDP) will be appointed at Thrivanthapuram, Ernakulam and Kozhikode, with independent charge. The Director of Social Welfare will be the Chief Dowry Prohibition Officer, to whom the RDP officers will report.

The complaints regarding dowry may be filed by the party herself, a Parent, a relative or any recognized welfare institution/ organization in writing to the RDP officer. Who has to record the finding within a month. When there is a prima facie finding that there is commission of an offence, the report shall be submitted to the competent magistrate for prosecuting the offenders. It shall be deemed to be a report under Section173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, say the new rules.(Source: Rashtra Mahila. August, 2004.p4)

*Economic and Political Weekly*, Oct 2, 2004. It says: "The time has come to seriously examine the approach of historians to cinema in general and the historical film in particular. Since history itself has proved to be a dynamic discipline, the habit of viewing films with an eye to 'facility' should give way to a nuanced understanding of the historical potential of cinema. This paper argues for a new relationship between visual and written history in the interest of both public memory and a socially relevant history.

"If historians want to bridge the widening chasm between public and academic histories they have no choice but to take relatively new forms of knowledge like films seriously. On the other hand, film-makers cannot, and should not, ignore the context of literacy informing their work. Given the will and ample opportunity to collaborate, historians and film-makers, operating in a heterogeneous field of post-literacy, literacy and pre-literacy, can learn a lot from each other."

Mumbai, Oct. 7: The Censor Board made a complete turnaround today and cleared Final Solution, a film on the aftermath of the Gujarat riots, without any cuts.

In August, the board had rejected the internationally acclaimed film, made by Rakesh Sharma, on the ground that it could incite communal flare-ups. Sharma had appealed to the Board to send the film for a review.

The film was shown today to the high-profile revising committee comprising Censor Board chairperson Anupam Kher, filmmaker Shyam Benegal, activist Teesta Setalvad, theatre personality Dolly Thakore and filmmaker Ashok Pandit, who said it could be released without any change.

Kher said the documentary was a "testament of history" and "a very well-made film". It was passed unanimously by the revising committee.

Rejecting the documentary, the Censor Board had previously said "the film promotes communal disharmony among Hindu and Muslim groups and presents the picture of Gujarat riots in a way that may arouse communal feelings and clashes. Certain dialogues involve defamation of individuals. The entire picturisation is highly provocative".

Final Solution shows Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and VHP leader Praveen Togadia campaigning before the Assembly polls, inciting Hindu crowds with inflammatory speeches against Muslims.

The film has won the prestigious Wolfgang Staudte Award at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it also won the Special Jury Award. But the Censor Board took more than a year in arranging for the screening of the film to one of its committees, then refused to give it a censor certificate.

Sharma said it was major victory for his film and the battle against censorship. "Documentaries should not require censor certificates at all."

Delhi: Accusing it of a marked pro-industry bias, nearly 70 leading Indian environmental organizations and campaigners launched a nation-wide drive in Sept to pressure the Indian government to adhere to environmental norms before clearing projects which are damaging the country's fragile ecology.

The petitioners including Sunderlal Bahugana and Medha Patkar, launched their campaign by petitioning Pres. APJ Abdul Kalam and PM Manmohan Singh. They also sent a statement of concern to India's federal Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoeF), as well as chief ministers and bureaucrats across India.

In particular, the activists have targeted the MoeF, alleging it is a clearing agency for unsustainable and destructive economic and commercial activities….for giving clearance to dams, mines, roads, ports, industries, and other projects, without adequate
environmental clearances.

Himanshu Thakkar of South Asia Network on Dams Rivers and People (SANDRP) says, "The Lower Subansiri hydro-power project in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh has not been granted a forest clearance”. His organization is currently lobbying against another controversial project --the 192 megawatt Allain-Duhangan hydroelectric project, proposed to be constructed on the tributaries of the Beas river in HP.

Ravi Agarwal from Toxics Link,alleges the government is diluting the public participation process."The government seems to be favoring the construction lobby instead of protecting the forests." Kanchi Kohli from Kalpavriksh confirms that the government puts up drafts only after civil society makes a noise

Devinder Sharma, of the Forum For Biotechnology and Food Security, says thanks to economic liberalization, the government is increasingly taking the side of the industry, which is only interested in exploiting the resources.

Dr. S.Y. Quraishi, has taken over as Additional Secretary (Health) & Project Director of the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO).

Dr. Quraishi, is a 1971 batch officer of the Indian Administrative Service, who has held several key positions in the Government including that of Director General, Doordarshan, Director General of Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan, Joint Secretary, Youth Affairs and many youth organisations previous to this assignment.

He founded the Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development at Sriperumbudur (TN) and was its Director between 1993-97. Dr. Quraishi is known for his extensive work in the field of Population, Women & Child Development, particularly ICDS, Youth, Adolescent and Health-related issues. UN and other international organizations have availed the expertise of Dr. Quraishi in these fields. He has major achievements to his credit in the areas of Communication and Social Marketing in which he has been conferred a Doctorate. His book `Social Marketing for Social Change' has broken new ground in the field of Development Communication.

An alumnus of St. Stephens College, Delhi, he has had active association with HIV/AIDS related issues especially its awareness aspects. He pioneered the biggest AIDS awareness programme called `Universities Talk AIDS' (UTA) in 159 Universities in India,
even before NACO was set up. In his earlier capacity as Director General, Doordarshan, he has been instrumental in putting in place the crucial tripartite partnership between NACO BBC-WST Doordarshan on HIV/AIDS prevention. He has authored two path-
breaking-papers namely Islam Muslims and Family Planning in India, and Islam & AIDS.

Kolkata: The Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (Kolkata) an organisation
of 60,000 sex workers and their children who run the Sonagachi Project, is in the process of starting a library and resource centre, the "Manadasundari Gronthagar o Gobeshonagar". A large section of their library will be devoted to writings on sex work, sex workers and writings by sex workers on various topics including biographies, sex work and rights issues, reminiscences, sociological and anthropological studies and different training modules and toolkits on sex work, STIs, HIV/AIDS and PLWHA.

They have appealed to individuals, publishers and organisations to share their materials and resources on the above subject(s). - copies of reports and toolkits and/or information regarding any such works. Contact: Tel:033-25437560/25306619 Email: sonagachi@sify.com,

Bangalore: An awareness campaign on the harmful effects, management and safe disposal of hazardous wastes, or e-waste took off with a 3-day seminar at the Max Mueller Bhavan in August.

An exhibition of the kinds of electronic waste which companies accumulate was designed with NGOs working in that area including Hazardous Waste Management Karnataka (HAWA)- a project of the Dept of Forest, Ecology and Environment (GoK) and KSPCB (Karnataka State Pollution Control Board for Prevention); e-Waste Action Group (eWAG)’s project Agastya for better, water resources management; Eco Watch- the Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development and Saahas –implementation of solid waste management solutions. Saahas has been instrumental in designing and implementing an e-waste management project within the large SBI campus in Bangalore. Contact: response@saahas.org

Court sentences two for raping eunuch.

Madhya Pradesh In a landmark order, a court in Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh, on Thursday awarded separate sentences of rigorous imprisonment to two persons for raping a eunuch.The court observed that no person could be differentiated on basis of sex and that a eunuch could also be raped.

Sending copies of the order to the Madhya Pradesh high court, law ministry and the chief justice of India, Special District and Sessions Judge Renu Sharma pronounced that forced entry into any aperture found in place of vagina, or into any woman who does not have a natural vagina or her sexual organs are irregular due to some reasons, should be considered a "rape".And that not having ovaries and uterus this does not mean that the victim is not a woman.

Legal Literacy workshop for HIV positive women

Gujarat: GSNP+ (Gujarat State Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS) organized a four days ‘Legal Literacy Workshop’ with support of PWN+ (Positive Women Network) and UNIFEM (United Nations Federation for Empowerment).
Thirty women from nine districts of Gujarat participated, MARG, Delhi was the resource organization. The objective of the workshop was to create awareness among women living with HIV about their rights, and existing laws and policies, enabling them to empower themselves and other women to fight against discrimination

The following issues were identified in the workshop• Widowed HIV positive women do not get share in property; WLHA are either sent out of the in-laws homes, or treated very badly in them; If the woman is first diagnosed as HIV positive, then her husband divorces her; When a PLWHA goes for treatment to a Government hospital, every body
comes to know about his/her HIV status, as the bed of the person is marked as ‘HIV POSITIVE’; if women practicing commercial sex work are found to be HIV positive, they are thrown out; there is nobody to perform the last rites of people who die due to HIV- related illnesses: Contact Umesh Patel (President, GSNP+) E-mail: gsnpplus@yahoo.co.in

Justice in Bhopal

Delhi: It promises to be an eventful year finally for those involved in the Bhopal tragedy. Close on the heels of the Courts ordering the government to pay the victims families, on the 20th anniversary of the tragedy, Greenpeace held a planning meeting on October 16 in Bangalore to plan ways and means of keeping public interest alive in the topic. Contact Divya email draghuna@dialb.greenpeace.org

Books-

Invisible Hands

Pages:119
By Damayanti Bhattacharya
Publ. Women Networking, DRTC.

The book discusses the Status of Women’s Work in India. As Jaya Menon states in the preface, “The past decade has witnessed rapid changes in the socio-economic area and social change in the status of women” Although on one hand more women are in the top slots of business, the reality is different for the majority of women. Anti-women’s policies, globalisation have led to discriminatory social attitudes that have denied women steady employment, basic health etc. Women Networking is a group of women who felt the need to address these issues and since 2001 they have had many discussions and on May 1 every year they honour the everyday heroine- a worker. Contact: drtc@vsnl.com Tel.28749023

The Ripped Chest- Public policy and the poor in India (pix)
Author Harsh Mander
Pages327
Published by BooksforChange
Price: Rs 350/- (USD 20)

The first section attempts a critical appraisal of the dominant notions of good governance in India…the stories are prefaced by life histories of people living in poverty relevant to the theme of the chapters. The author has selected two of the most discriminated classes in Indian society – the dalits and the tribals- for examination and concludes that they continue to subsist (not live) in conditions of abject poverty and illiteracy and are victims of untouchability and atrocities in large parts of the country. The third part of the book looks closely at official programmes that are designed to address rural and urban poverty. “The shortcomings of government policies and programmes designed to help and uplift the poor have been exposed before. What is new here is the cumulative effect of authoritative evidence from such a wide range of programmes and conditions. This is a serious book and although the answers he suggests are well known: participatory governance and self help groups, the right to information and access to legal spaces—those who care for the poor would do well to read the book to understand the reality of governance from a man who has been in the government and in the NGO sector.

Queer- despised sexuality, law and social change
Author: Arvind Narrain
Pages: 136
Published by BooksforChange
Price: Rs.150 (USD 10)

There are not too many books detailing the struggles of the “queer” and Narain’s book is “based on the belief that the struggle for a better world for queer people has to be based not just on questioning the larger frameworks of legal injustice, state intolerance and societal indifference, but also questioning and challenging ignorance, misconceptions and hatred in our families, schools and workplaces.”

Narrain, a human rights lawyer activist discusses the historical context of human rights of queer people and also in Indian law and society from the ancient to the colonial periods. And then he discusses the Struggles around the Law in the contemporary context. That the struggle has become irrevocably politicised is what Narrain concludes and you don’t have to go farther than the marriage of gays laws that was first announced in the California and this month cancelled. Thus with one stroke of the pen the marriages of hundreds of queer couples was suddenly declared null and void. To identify as queer is really to begin the ‘struggle’, Narrain says in his preface where he declares that he is queer.

FILMS
Random Voices in Kashmir
Directed by Dr. Parvez Imam, this film was screened at the Charkha Sanjoy Ghose Fellowship Awards Ceremony. The film was funded by National Foundation for India.


*Price to be provided on request

Spinning action into words
Directed by Anindya Roy, this 15-minute film captures Charkhas process of empowering village communities in such locations as Pithoragarh (Uttaranchal) and Dumka (Jharkhand).

Telugu music video album on HIV/AIDS

Nrityanjali Academy is a socio cultural voluntary organization working with Children affected and infected with HIV/AIDS in 41 Secunderabad urban slums.

For the first time in Andhra Pradesh a TELUGU MUSIC VIDEO ALBUM ON HIV/AIDS has been prepared but its field staff in simple Telugu covering the four transmission modes, Treatment for STD, Care for PLHA & Care for children infected with HIV/AIDs is the main topics are addressed in this music Telugu HIV/AIDS album.

The music is very catchy, is field-tested, and has got a 90% success rate. Contact P.Srinivas Nrityanjali academy Phone: 91-40-27705032.

Against Close Encounters
Jaico Publishers
Arvind Khaire, a black-belt karate teacher from Mumbai who has been conducting workshops organized by Men Against Violence and Abuse (MAVA) on self-defence for girls and women, has written a book on Self-Defence for women.

The book was launched at a function at Oxford Book-Store by Dr. Nandini Sardesai, Head, Deptt. Of Sociology, St. Xavier’s College followed by a panel discussion on Empowering Women in Self-Defence'. The panelists were Kalindi Muzumdar (former Vice-Principal,College of Social Work, Nirmala Niketan), Geeta Seshu (Journalist), Harish Sadani, Hon. Secretary, Men Against Violence and Abuse (MAVA) and Dr. Nandini Sardesai. Prior to the panel discussion, there will be a few demonstrations on the simple self-defence techniques and sharings by a few women participants who have trained in Self-Defence.

Contact 24360631.Harish Sadani harsh267@rediffmail.com

'From Thought to Action: Building Strategies on Violence Against Women' by Aanchal Kapur, Sanjay Muttoo and Suman Bisht
Published by : Kriti, New Delhi
Price: Rs. 200

The book presents a comprehensive conceptual framework within which to understand gender-based violence, especially physical violence. It also suggests strategies that can be used by NGO fieldworkers/activists to prevent and eliminate this form of violence at home, at workplaces, on the streets and society in general.

Based on exhaustive research over two years, including detailed interviews with individuals, communities and institutions, spread over eight states of India, the book interrogates the ways in which women themselves, local communities, NGOs and institutions of the State (police, health centres, educational institutes) and community institutions (panchayats, youth groups, men and women's groups, SHGs), understand and respond to violence against women. The book argues that violence has usually been understood only in its manifest forms, as an `act' (its more extreme forms like murder, severe physical abuse and rape) and not as a `process'. This has led to a `normalising' of many other forms of violence that women face daily. This perception, in turn, determines the kind of interventions that are made by different institutions, some of which are usually reactive to a 'case' and not responsive to the context, continuity and consequence of the act.

The book also contains some important information on organizations and institutions working in this area, existing laws etc

Contact Tel. 011-26477845 Email: kritidpc@vsnl.com

Free video of your org
VIDEO VOLUNTEERS is a new program dedicated to spreading the use of video as a tool to alleviate poverty in the developing world. Volunteer filmmakers join non-governmental organizations (NGOs), initially in India, for two months to write, shoot and edit one short film for the NGO. They also train the NGO staff to make their own small videos and to use video to give a voice to the poor. Through the Video Volunteers Program, NGOs have a powerful tool for promoting their work and spreading their messages.

VIDEO VOLUNTEER PROJECTS
In autumn 2003, Video Volunteers successfully piloted the program at the NGOs of two Indian Ashoka Fellows (see www.ashoka.org .) VV made one promotional film for Akanksha, the Bombay slum children's supplementary education program. They also made an advocacy film for I-CARD, an Assamese NGO working to strengthen the cultural identity of the Mising tribe who live along the banks of the Brahmaputra. I-CARD was given video training and is now working on its own productions.
email videovolunteers@yahoo.com. http://www.creativevisions.org/videovols.htm

Papers:
Implementing vishaka: a status report on the implementation of the Supreme Court guidelines on sexual harassment at workplace in West Bengal Government Departments, Directorates and Institutions.
20pages.
(Surveys conducted by West Bengal Commission for Women with Sanhita. )

The purple book: a guide to prevent sexual harassment at workplace.
2004.
12pages.

Contact Sanhita 033-22161471, 22845525 Email: sanhita@cal.vsnl.net.in

STI/RTI research methods in India: Problems and Solutions:

Sangath, a centre for child development and family guidance in Goa and the Population Council, New Delhi recently organised a three day workshop of Reproductive tract and sexually transmitted Infection researchers, in order to identify the research capacity, options for improving the comparability and quality of research in India as well as exploring the possibility of setting up a network of RTI/STI researchers in India.

The proceeds of this workshop are now available with specific recommendations on the above as well as a list of recommended tests, an RTI/STI research directory, and a cross sectional over view of the common research methods and practical issues faced in the field.

Contact: bamaryjoon@yahoo.co.uk or anilp@sangath.com

'Who's Who in CSR in India'
Pages: 160
INR Rs 200 (plus postage and packaging)
Publ: Centre for Social Markets, India
Av: CSM 39 Hindusthan Park, Kolkata 700 029, India
Tel: +91-33-2465 5898/ 2465 5711/2/3

A practical guide to the key players and institutions in the emerging field of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in India, the book is a great reference for those who wish the navigate the CSR terrain in India. Organised in five sections, the book provides a listing of key corporates, civil society groups and government agencies providing vital statistics such as annual turnover, gender ratio, internal and external CSR policies, publications, and full contact details. It also contains a summary of CSR surveys conducted in the country, a matrix of different examples of corporate engagement, a bibliography of relevant literature, websites, journals and case studies. Published with support from the Heinrich Boell Foundation, the resource guide will be updated annually and is the first of a series of country-specific 'Who's Who in CSR' to be published by CSM. Contact: info@csmworld.org

Let's Talk Woman!
As part of its Free Speech month of September, Films for Freedom in partnership with the students of Kamla Nehru College, Delhi University, south campus, held a two day festival of films by women, on women, for women - Lets's Talk Woman! –in September 2004.

After an Introduction to Films for Freedom: gender and censorship. The films shown were Girl Song by Vasudha Joshi; Pyramid of Women by Cheryl Kanekar On my own by Anupama Srinivasan; Sharira - Chandrelekha's exploration in dance by Ein Lall; In the flesh by Bishakha dutta;- Manjuben Truckdriver by Sherna Dastur; Sita's Family by Saba Dewan; Unlimited Girls by Paromita Vohra

FILMS
Committedly fighting the censorship battle, Docu film-makers have been fighting a lonely battle, against another kind of censorship, the censorship of monopoly market.

However "Swaraaj - The LittleRepublic" has made a small dent. It was slated for popular release, from October 15, starting from Kolkatta, at the "89 Cinemas" in the evening shows. " Swaraaj The Little Republic" is a 90 minute feature film on dalit women's experience in grass roots democracy produced by Institute of Social Sciences and directed by Anwar Jamal, and written by Sehjo Singh. It has won the National Award for the Best film on Social Issues, and has travelled to twenty seven international festivals including Palm Springs (Audience Award), Munich (Special Jury Commendation), and Dhaka (Best Director). Jeevika 2004

National Livelihood Documentary Competition

The Centre for Civil Society invites documentaries for its JEEVIKA 2004: A National Livelihood Documentary Competition. It is the first national level documentary Competition focusing on livelihood-an issue that affects us all.

This Competition is open to all: students, development practitioners, amateur and professional filmmakers-anyone who want to capture the struggle and triumphs of earning a living.For further information, please contact: Manali Shah, 011-26537456, 26521882 Email: mana@ccsindia.org

Aanchal seminar to sensitise MHP
Mumbai: The Aanchal Trust, organized a seminar with Mental Health Practitioners on Nov 6 and 7 to make lesbians in India a more visible group to mental health practitioners. The seminar aimed to sensitize mental health practitioners to the issues confronted by their lesbian clients, so that they are able to help them in a more effective and non-judgmental manner. The 2-day seminar was addressed by Dr Harish Shetty, Dr Bharat Shah, Dr Dyal Mirchandani, Dr. Shubhangi Parkar, Dr Anjali Chhabria, Dr Vani Kulhalli and included many observations made by counselors and people from sexual minorities from all over the country and from rural and urban India. Contact aanchal69@hotmail.com

CCF launches new Bihar initiative
Patna: Recently a baseline study to assess the reproductive health needs of women and children was undertaken by CCF to form a model programme. The survey held in 182 villages of Banka and Jamui Districts if Bihar through a random survey showed that infant mortality was extremely high, 30% of girls married by 14 years , condom using couples -20% and most alarmingly 90% of deliveries were conducted at home and only 7% attended by trained personnel. Four NGO partners began working in the villages identified in July 2004 focusing on promoting child survival and safe motherhood, reducing child marriages and promoting small family norm. These would be carried out in close collaboration with the Government to strengthen the existing health delivery system. Contact ccfindia@ccfindia.com

(box)Global Protest week: VAW
The calendar of events Nov 25-Dec 10
Nov 25 5 pm Shades of Courage: a protest in memory of women who have suffered from violence—VT-Hutatma Chowk-Churchgate Stn
6.30 pm Concert- Gateway of India
8.30 pm Reclaim the Night- Chowpatty

Nov 27 Public meeting on rights of Muslim Women- Organised by WRAG and Awaz-e-Niswan
Dec. 3-5 Film Festival- Bhupesh Gupta Bhavan: org by Vikalp and MAVA
Dec. 6-9 Film Festival on Human Rights- YBChavan and Fame Adlabs: Org by Breakthrough
Dec.7 Railway campaign_ Stalls at VT/Churchgate: Org by Stree Mukti Sanghatna
Dec 10 10 am -1 pm Human Rights Rally- Thane
7 pm Play- Four Seasons by Mita Vashisht –Convocation Hall, Mumbai Uvty.

Contact : akshara
The US-based Center for Women's Global Leadership has just put out a kit of information about gender and HIV, geared toward the annual celebration of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence campaign (November 25 - December 10).

You can contact them at cwgl@igc.org, or go to the website at www.cwgl.rutgers.edu.

(box)A Special time (pix)
Bangalore: Shristhi Special Academy celebrated Sports Day and had a cultural programme-Sadhana in September. They also participated in the HSBC Helping Hands campaign where they exhibited the work of their members. Contact info@shristi-special-academy.org

(Rising Rhythms (pix)
Bangalore: It was an evening of different kinds of rhythm as dandia, bhangra and pop split the air at the Palace Grounds with DJ TT programming the beats o the day. The fund-raiser by the Richmond Fellowship Society (India) will go towards training and rehabilitation work in the area of mental health and their Post graduate college which offers an M.Sc in Psycho social Rehabilitation. Contact 080-26645583, rfsindia@vsnl.com

India Foundation for the Arts (box)
Arts Research and Documentation Programme 2005
Request for Proposals

IFA, an independent grant-making institution, invites applications from individuals and organisations for grants to be made under its arts research and documentation programme. This programme funds research and documentation projects located in the field of the arts in general - that is, in areas like the visual and performing arts, cinema, literature, folklore, architecture and crafts.
The programme is aimed at both scholarly and practice-oriented projects; it supports attempts to develop new modes of inquiry as well as the exploration of fresh ideas for arts practice.

Deadline: January 31, 2005.
Grant awards: October 30, 2005.

Send all communication to : The Executive Director, India Foundation for the Arts, Tel/fax: 080 - 2361-0584 / 2361-0583 E-mail: ifabang@vsnl.com .Check www.indiaifa.org

Bal Vividha time (pix)
Mumbai: As part of its communication activities, Comet Media Foundation has been conducting Bal Vividha, an educational resource festival celebrating alternative approaches to learning. The idea behind this effort is to change the way the public and education professionals, look at education.

Bal Vividha 2004, will be held in Mumbai from Dec. 3-6 at Mahatma Gandhi Vidya Mandir, JL Shivsekar Marg, Govt Colony, Bandra east (next to Chetna College, 10-8 pm. This year's Bal Vividha theme is Environment.

The highlights of the festival are: a mela, an open platform exhibiting children's literature, innovative toys, games and ideas with interactive corners put up by various organisations working innovatively in education; experiential learning workshops targeting balwadi and other teachers, policy makers in the field of education; A rangmanch featuring puppet shows, street plays, storytelling sessions and other performances; a film festival featuring a selection of award-winning films for children; a Colloquium on Education providing a platform for those involved with thinking on education.
Contact: Puja Tel. 23869052 23826674

Mahila Pragati Mela

Mumbai: the Konkan Mahila Co-op. Credit Society Ltd organized a Mahila Pragati Mela on Oct. 9 and 10 for the upliftment of the poor, downtrodden and women of the minority class at Mazgaon .Contact Dadan Sajida" <dadansaju@yahoo.com>

WSF 2005 Registration is now open!!!

Delhi: The registrations for WSF 2005, to be held in Porto Alegre (Brazil) from January 26 to 31, 2005, are opened for organisations and individuals. World Social Forum 2005 will be made up of a new perspective and of a new methodology, aims to enlarge the possibility of convergences, increase dialogues during the event and avoid different activities on same issue that have been developed repetitively and without dialogue between them. This initiative starts from the premise that it's not possible to Build another world without adding efforts, building alternatives and Interlinking common actions and campaigns.

Individual and organisation registration deadline is Nov. 30. There is a specific form for cultural activities registration. You can address your questions to fsmcultura@forumsocialmundial.org.br. Deadlines for registration fees payment are: Nov 30, 2004 - if the organisation proposes an activity or Dec.05, 2004 - if organisation is just sending participants. The Indian contact is discuss@wsfindia.org Website: www.worldsocialforum.org

Kanya Vidya Scheme
U.P. The Uttar Pradesh government has amended its recently launched 'Kanya Vidya Dhan' scheme. Under this, about one lakh intermediate pass girls will be given Rs.20,000 each as an education intensive. Last month the state had announced the scheme for high school pass girls.

Officials said that initially female students from families living below the poverty line will be identified. The second round will include students from other economically weaker sections.

Box WANTED
Truckers/migrants project for exposure cum experience sharing visit.

We are implementing a project for truckers and migrants in Bikaner District, Rajasthan. The project is eight months old and we have been successful in identifying and training various groups viz: Peer Educators, Community stakeholders group, Condom Depot holders, Folk Media groups. The members of these groups have been working in close coordination with each other. I wanted to take the representatives to an exposure cum experience sharing visit. Wanted : Help in identifying the projects where we can learn more towards strengthening our project. Contact: Vijay K Rai NGO Coordinator E-mail: vrai@careindiarj.org

New Delhi :IIC and Anhad held a seminar on September 29, 2004 at the Main Auditorium, IIC Delhi, on: Towards An Agenda For Secular Education

The details: Welcome address by Harsh Mander on behalf of Anhad, Moderator : Prof. Mridula Mukherjee; Key Note Address by Prof. Satish Chandra; Secular Values and Curriculum: Prof Arjun Dev; The Assault on Institutions of Learning and Tasks Ahead:
Prof. Mushirul Hasan; Erosion of Democratic Expression in Institutions of Higher Learning by Prof Rizwan Qaiser, Aditya Nigam, and Apoorvanand. Text Books and Pedagogy- Prof. Krishan Kumar, Assault on Science Education and the Tasks Ahead-Prof. T Jayaraman. Vote of Thanks was given by Gauhar Raza on behalf of Anhad. Contact ANHAD, Tel: 23327366/23327367

LEGAL ISSUES
Legal Service centre
Mumbai: A centre for legal services is being set up in the western suburbs (Goregaon West) of Mumbai. The centre will offer legal counselling, para legal training and arbitration services.

Ms Jaya Menon, who was earlier in charge of the Legal Aid Cell of the Documentation, Research and Training Centre (DRTC, Mumbai) is taking up the initiative to set up this centre. Individuals or organisations which would like to support or sponsor the centre or its programmes may please contact her on telephone 022- 2879 3294 or e-mail prabhakarn@vsnl.net A model care and support prog.

Andhra Pradesh St. Paul's Trust, reaches out to 3360 People Living with HIV/AIDS including 146 infected children. Our Care and Support model is innovative, cost effective, replicable and sustainable because it is community based. We have shown to the world that it is possible to address stigma and discrimination. We could improve the quality of life of all our PLHA and they are able to live a life in dignity with out stigma and discrimination.

PLHA in our project area sell all kinds of eatables including milk, milk products with out any stigma and discrimination. 60 of our HIV infected school children are able go to Government and private educational institutions from 1st class to 10+ with out stigma and discrimination. On the I.E.C (Information Education and Communication) & B.C.C (Behavioral Change Communication) front so far we have produced more than 1112 varieties of I.E.C and B.C.C materials.

Do contact us if you would like more information: Contact .N.Murthy, E-mail: murthy_acfi@yahoo.com

Girl Child Day-Sept. 24
Mumbai: As a part of their ongoing campaign to celebrate girl child CEHAT- Centre for Enquiry into Health and Allied Themes- had a public debate on Sept. 25 at the Vanmali Hall, Dadar on the issue of two child norm and the declining sex ratio.

The event was followed by the Hindi Play Beti aayi hai' written by Jyoti Mhapsekar- a leader in the women's movement and part of the Kruti Samity, The panelists were Ms Anna Dani- Principal Secretary, Family Welfare Maharashtra; Dr Vibhuti Patel- Associate Professor - Mumbai University; Dr Sayeed Unisa- Reader - International Institute of Population Studies (IIPS); Dr Mandakini Parihar- Chairperson, Family Welfare Committee, The Federation Of Obstetric & Gynecological Societies of India ( FOGSI). Later as part of the Abortion assessment Project, Cehat and Health Watch Trust reviewed the government policy towards abortion care and mapping of abortion care provider related issues, study aspects of quality and confidentially and the decision-making factors. The study covered the states of Rajasthan, Haryana, MP, Orissa, Kerala and Mizoram. Community based studies were done in Maharashtra and TN Contact: Kamayani 9820749204, kamayani_@yahoo.com

BSE’s Micro-credit seminar
Mumbai: The BSE's CSR projects are woven around the theme "Economic Empowerment through Education", In line with its objectives, the Exchange had two seminars for NGOs: “NGOs - A Strategic perspective", and "A Rethinking-Corporate Fund-Raising" earlier this year.

The 3rd Corporate Social Responsibility programme for NGOs titled " Micro-Credit - A positive hope for Self Help Groups " was held on Sept. 25 at the BSE and covered Introduction of Micro Credit; . Introduction of Self Help Group Development Scheme; Definition of SHG & its functions;. Formation of SHG and Role of NGOs;. Micro-Credit : A detailed analysis. The workshop was conducted by Sweta Singh of Gyan Vikas Public Charitable Trust which has worked towards several SHG groups.

Launch of Intl year of micro-credit
The United Nations has designated the year 2005 as the International Year of Micro Credit. It has invited Governments, Non-Governmental Institutions and the private sector to help capacity building in micro finance and create more awareness on the subject. A team of alumni and students of Harvard and other business schools is working with the U.N. to coordinate Stock Exchanges worldwide to allow micro entrepreneurs to ring their opening or closing bells on Nov 18th, the launch of the Year
of Microcredit.

Bombay Stock Exchange has been chosen as the Stock Exchange for celebration of this event in India. The bell ringing ceremony will be done by a group of microfinance entrepreneurs recognized for their success. The participants in this launch are BSE, Citigroup, PlanetFinance and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development.

Contact: hema@bse.com
Caption: A view of the participants at the BSE seminar on Micro-credit.

Box: Websites
www.childraise.com a website committed to the welfare of Special Children. R is for Rehabilitation, A for Awareness, I for Information, S for Support & E for Education .At present it focuses resources for persons with disabilities(PWD) in Mumbai , Pune & general guidelines to parents.

The NACO website had a major make over to make it better organized. Some of the highlights of the website http://www.nacoonline.org. It has links to Details on National AIDS Control Programme Phase - I and II, Contact details of all NACO officials, SACS official, National AIDS Control Board and National AIDS Committee; Facts and figures; Programs; State aids control society contacts; Directory of NACO sponsored HIV/AIDS services and programs; State wide lists of STI clinics, VCTC clinics, PPCT clinics, ARV Clinics, CD4 and CD8 centers, NACO funded NGOs, registered blanks and National referral centers external quality for HIV testing; Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS; Information resource list of links to various websites.

The Newsletter of Naz Foundation International, ‘PUKAAR” is now available online. This is a free distribution and can be downloaded by anyone with the necessary internet connectivity. The latest edition can be downloaded at "http://www.nfi.net/Pukaar-Newsletters.htm"

“On the Horizon" is an electronic news capsule from the Horizons Program(http://www.popcouncil.org/horizons), a global operations research
initiative designed to: Identify and test strategies to improve HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and care services; Disseminate research findings and promote their utilization with the aim of replicating and scaling up successful interventions.

Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health (ARSH) http://www.unescobkk.org/ips/arh-web/- This website is maintained by UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau For Education, Bangkok to inform of the various programmes/projects on ARSH in the region. Valuable information on adolescent sexuality and reproductive health include Demographic Profiles, IEC/ Advocacy, Education, Resources and News, as well as ARSH Projects, Organisations and Resources, can also be found on this site

Contacts:UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education
Email: ips@unescobkk.org ,Aditya Bondyopadhyay adit@bamon.org

Intersect workshops on HIV/AIDS and VAW (pix)

Jaipur: NGOs from 13 districts of Rajasthan decided to launch campaign collectively in the state to eradicate HIV/AIDS and Violence Against Women and Girls (VAW&G). Sixty delegates participated in a 2 day state-level workshop organized in Amber under the auspices of Gram Bharati Samiti and decided unanimously to establish the state chapter of Intersect in Rajasthan.
INTERSECT is not another organisation but a network of already existing networks and organisations who after working extensively independently have now decided to come together and pool in their resources and efforts collectively

Ravindra Singh Choudhary of AIESEC, the international students organization ,Harshwardhan Agarwal, and Kusum Jain, of, GBS, Dr. Rajkamal Pareek, S.D. Singh, P.K. Bhargava, Rajesh Agarwal, Pradeep Poonia, Vani Tiwari spoke. The participants from 28 NGOs came from 13 districts of the state including Jaipur, Ajmer, Tonk, Karauli, Dausa, Sawai Madhopur, Pali, Jodhpur, Sirohi, Jhunjhunu, Churu, Alwar and Kota.

Mumbai: Subsequently under the auspices of WISE and Shakti, an introductory workshop was held in Mumbai which was attended by representatives from PSI, Asha Mahila Sanstha, Cehat, Mava, Prem Fdt., Vikalp, Snehalaya and others.

Sally Fisher founder President of Intersect recounted that Intersect was established 2 years ago in South Africa and is presently active in 3 states there and going to be established soon Iraq, Egypt, Kenya, Mexico, Brazil, North Africa and Soviet Union.

Fisher explained that the literal meaning of Intersect is to establish Inter relationship with each other. It is a unique kind of international organization impelling individuals and groups and NGOs/CBOs working on HIV/AIDS, VAW&G and other related issues to work together towards the same goal. New methods and approaches are required to bring together the Women’s movement as well as organizations and individual men and women working in HIV/AIDS and important related fields such as Rights of the Child, Substance Abuse, Human Rights, Sex Trafficking, Reproductive Health, Sex Work, Education, Economic and Political Empowerment, etc
The next meeting of Intersect Bombay is on Nov 22. Contact Tel 2658 0071/2 vkadri@vsnl.net

Global Fund meets NGOs
New Delhi, INP+, vice-chair of the Global Fund's Country Coordination Mechanism (CCM), together with UNAIDS, organized a meeting of Dr. Richard Feacham, Executive Director of the Global Fund, with members of civil society on Sept 16, to discuss priorities for India, and the functioning and future of the Global Fund.

The event began with Dr. Kenneth Wind-Anderson, Country Coordinator of UNAIDS India, noting that they had organized three meetings with civil society in the last year, to facilitate dialogue and raise additional funds from civil society sources. He commended the quality of India's proposal, which had been approved in the 4th round of funding . He explained the role of the GFATM, and said he was aware the government was not the solution to the problem of HIV/AIDS in India. According to him, the GFATM was designed to maximize and facilitate involvement of non-governmental sectors. He noted that though the CCM started out being government-dominated, at the present time there is more pluralism and representation of other voices.

The meeting was attended by representatives from UNAIDS (N. Delhi),INP+ (Chennai),Sahas (Surat),Christian Medical Association of India (N. Delhi),Voluntary Health Association of India (N. Delhi),Humana-India People to People (N. Delhi),Humsafar Trust (Mumbai), Massive Effort Campaign India (Pune),MAMATA Health Institute for Mother and Child (N.Delhi),Child Survival India (Delhi),Catholic Health Association of India Secunderabad),Child in Need Institute (Calcutta),Positive Women's Network of South India PWN+(Chennai),Salaam Balak Trust (N. Delhi),ARCON (Mumbai),Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement (Mysore),Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (Sonagachi Project, Calcutta),Society for Promotion of Youth and Masses (N. Delhi), NIPASHA+ (Mumbai),India HIV/AIDS Alliance (N.Delhi),Population Foundation of India (N. Delhi),YRG Care (Chennai) and SAATHII (Chennai, Calcutta).

Until Round 4, the government was the principal recipient of GFATM funding. But in Round 4, GFATM funding to India had become separate from Ministry of Finance processes. Contact; L Ramakrishnan, SAATHII: Chennai

CSM News
Kolkata: CSM (Centre for Social Markets) had a Brainstorming Workshop on 15 Oct: West Bengal Forum on Business Partnerships for Sustainable Development –“SME initiative” followed by a Brainstorming Workshop on 16 Oct -“ICT initiative”, as follow-ups on previous international conferences.

London: CSM hosted a fundraising evening for Ankur Kala, a Kolkata-based women's enterprise centre, on Wednesday 3rd November 2004 in London. Ms Annie Joseph, director of Ankur Kala will be the guest of honour at the evening designed to introduce people in the UK to the excellent work being done by Ankur Kala, contact: info@csmworld.org

Delhi: A Panel Debate: 'CSR in India: Coming of age, or barely off the starting blocks?' was held on Oct 5 to mark the launch of CSM's resource guide. Moderated by Coen Kompier, a specialist from the International Labour Organisation, panelists included Mr Tarun Tejpal, editor-in-chief of Tehelka; Ms Amita Joseph, director-general, Business & Community Foundation; Dr Veena Jha, UNCTAD India co-ordinator, and Ms Amanda Greene, Principal, Corporate Philanthropy Services of the GIVE Foundation. The debate concluded that while CSR was visibly off the starting blocks, INDIA Inc. had to work hard for the rhetoric to catch up with the reality.

Contact: Ms Karabi Basu Tel: +91-33-2465 5898/ 2465 5711/2/3

New Delhi on October 5. CSM photo

Dhoom macha de at Humsafar
Mumbai: Navratri was celebrated at the Humsafar Trust with more than 225 midnight's children spruced up in their designer ethnicity, speeding around the specially erected chandelier to twirl and swirl to the tune of disco beats. The Dandiya night marked the commencement of the HST annual fest "UTSAV 2004", on Oct 15 followed by Dassehra Day on Oct. 22. It was time for “Games Queers Play-time” on Oct 29 and to show off the creative effors of its members a Flower decoration, Rangoli and Mehndi competition was held on Nov. 5…and with the traditional Divali party on Nov. 12. the Utsav festival comes to an end on Nov. 20. But it’s been work as usual and in September a month long training of community counselors was completed and new community counselors posted in three new health delivery systems in Mumbai. The Safe Sailors Club has been renovated and now will be kept open for six days a week for 8 hours a day by mid October A New MSM group from Nagpur “SAARTHI” an INFOSEM member visited HST Contact: Vivek Anand Chief Executive avivekr@rediffmail.com

SUCCESS
Responding to discrimination

Warangal: An article( Deccan Herald, Aug.26.) reporting that two women were boycotted by their community because they were found helping an HIV+ woman came to the attention of a group in Australia which promised support to any group at would undertake help to the ostracized women.

Freedom Foundation and Nrityanjali Academy promptly responded and with the local police conducted an awareness programme on October 6 at Anduku-TANDA, a tribal hamlet of 300 agricultural people 220 km from Hyderabad and a strong fort for the Peoples War Group-"The Naxals".

The Sub Divisional Police Officer, integrated child developmental officer,the Revenue officer the Sub Divisional Police Officer Mr.Veerabhadra Rao, the Mandal Development Officer Mr. Vidyasagar all highlighted the role of Govt Officers and civil societies to promote advocacy and educate society in an endeavor to reduce spread of the pandemic.

A woman living with HIV/AIDS who was a member of the cultural team from Nrityanjali academy gave a very vivid presentation on the legal issues of HIV/AIDS, and her first hand experience on how her life is now steering the positive way of living.

The cultural team of Nrityanjali Academy presented awareness messages through songs, skits and lectures. Contact P.Narsingrao,Project Director, Nrityanjali academy Tel 040-27705032, 55289641. pnarsingrao@yahoo.com

AIDS network-centre inaugurated
Patna: Justice Rama Jois Governor of Bihar, formally inaugurated RATNEI "Regional AIDS Training Center and Network in India" (R.A.T.N.E.I.). on Oct 11 at the Indira Gandhi Planetarium in Patna.

An initiative of the Boston-based International Health Organization (IHO) RATNEI is the first comprehensive network-center in the world which will train up to 5,000 physicians and other health care providers in the multiple disciplines of AIDS surveillance, prevention, treatment and human rights. RATNEI's unique strength lies in the fact that it will provide capacity development at all levels- medical, paramedical and non-medical personnel, in all the major program areas: AIDS Project Planning and Management; Health Promotion and Social Marketing; HIV/AIDS Prophylaxis, Treatment and Support; Voluntary Counseling & Testing and Laboratory Services; AIDS Advocacy, Activism, Coalitions, Communications, & Human Rights; and HIV/AIDS Anti-Retroviral Therapy.

RATNEI has been made possible by a generous matching grant from Sir Elton John AIDS Foundation. Contact: Joseph D'Amour, Email: joe1852@aol.com http://www.ihousa.org

Jan Sunwai programme
'Mumbai: National Alliance of People's Movements, National Fish Workers Forum, Narmda Bachao Andolan, and many other organizations will hold a 'Jan Sunwai '(Public Hearing) on the plight of ''Displaced Communities" on Nov. 21 (World Fisheries Day) to mark the Birth Centenary of renowned socialist thinker SM Joshi. About 100 organizations are planning the celebration. which will conclude at Shivaji Park Mumbai, with a massive rally to oppose 'globalization ' and 'communalism'.
Before the rally, during the day there will be several parallel workshops, conferences, cultural events etc. organized by various groups and People's movements all over Mumbai. Contact NAPM ., Ph.No-2415 0529 E-mail: napm@riseup.net ---Medha Patkar ND Koli, Rambhau Patil (National Coordinator, NAPM) (General Secretary, NFF) (President, Maharashtra Machimar Krutii Samiti)

The Kriti Diary 2005
New Delhi: The 6th edition of the Kriti Diary is back sharing news, views and images from the journey's of people 's movements from different parts of the country and the world 'Our Diary', brings together images of struggle, dissenting voices, strength of collective energy, an era of revolution! To place order send a cheque/ demand draft/ money order for Kriti, to :KRITI: S-35 Tara Apartments, Alaknanda,New Delhi 110 019 Phone: 011-26477845/ 26213088 mail: kritidpc@vsnl.com

Deepalaya seeks partners
Delhi: Deepalaya has been awarded the Reach India Capacity Building Support Grant for 'Building Capacity of NGOs to educate disadvantaged children in North, North West, West & South West Delhi'. Under this project Deepalaya would support, with training & grants, 6 NGOs of North, North West, West & South West Delhi'.

NGOs who have operational projects in the above mentioned locations and who have got FCRA certificate may contact Rtn. T. K. Mathew, Secretary & CE, Deepalaya (tkmathew@deepalaya.org, 25590348, 9868144844). Details of the grant and application forms etc. available on http://www.deepalaya.org/ricbp/application Contact Ritwik Patra Dy. Director – Programmes

Seminar on Gandhi Jayanti
Mumbai: ANHAD & Coalition for Secular Democracy held a Seminar, “Why Remember Gandhi Today?” on October 4 evening at the Y.B. Chavan Center Moderated by Harsh Mander, the Keynote Address was given by Prof. KN Panikkar. Others who spoke were – Ram Das Bhatkal, Dr.Ram Puniyani (: Religion in Gandhi’s Thought & Practice); Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer on “ Gandhi’s Mode of Conflict Resolution”; Justice Dharmadhikari on “Morality in Politics” ; - Kumar Ketkar on “Secularism & Civil Society”;

The Marathi & Hindi Translations of Dr.Ram Puniyani’s book 'The Second Assasination of Gandhi' was also released on the day.

Contact: Anhad, 9819235134

ISSUES
Blood banks to inform HIV donors

Hyderabad: Until recently, blood banks used to discard HIV-infected blood and never bothered to inform donors about their HIV positive status. But, now blood banks are contacting donors whose blood tests positive for HIV and asking them to go for a confirmatory test and and to the voluntary counselling and testing centres of the Andhra Pradesh State Aids Control Society (APSACS). They realise that the same donors may infect more people if they are not informed of their HIV status Officials of APSACS say that the practise is being followed for almost three years now.

The Central government through a notification last year had allowed blood banks to disclose a donor's HIV status. In June this year, NACO too issued strict guidelines similar to the central directive.

Fighting oral cancer
Mumbai: The Sangeeta Darvekar Charitable Trust has dedicated itself to creating awareness on mouth cancer . Their website www.oralcancerawareness.org displays photos and information on mouth cancer. They are hoping to bring out a VCD with interviews of leading oncologist and patients to create awareness on evils of tobacco consumption…filmwallahs please note. They are doing presentations at colleges, and to patients in Dental Clinics, since they began a year back. The Trust runs a charitable dental clinic at Bhayandar. Contact :Tel: 28162440 email: sndarvekar@rediffmail.com

some NGO's in USA for India
Rejuvenate India Movement (www.indiamovement.org) is a network of organizations and individuals working together for India's development. RIM works by sponsoring volunteers who work full-time in a village on the felt needs of the villagers. Serve India Forum (www.serveindiaforum.net) is a forum or a network for building relationships, awareness and partnerships amongst all non-profit organizations (NPOs) registered in the US that are supporting development projects in India http://www.serveindiaforum.net/sif2002/index.html#about-npos Asha for Education (www.ashanet.org) focuses on basic education. Started in 1991 at the University of California at Berkeley by V. J. P. Srivatsavoy, Sandeep Pandey, Deepak Gupta, Asha has grown into a 35 chapter organization committed towards 'Universal Primary Education in India by 2050'. Association for India's Development (www.aidindia.org) AID, like Asha, is one of the big organizations with 36 USA chapters and working in 18 different states of India with over 100 projects supported in the past.

AGM of INP+
Hyderabad:Indian Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS had its Annual General Body meeting on Sept 18 with 120 people living with HIV from 16 states in India attending. New networks of people living with HIV were from Mizoram Haryana, Pondichery and Orissa.

Workshops followed the AGM for four days to look at issues faced by individual networks and their capacity needs.

Indian Network for people living with HIV/AIDS along with the Telugu Network for People living with HIV/AIDS organized a Treatment Rally with the theme ` Access for all' on Sept 19. Around 200 people participated in the rally through Hyderabad. Contact"INP+" inpplus@vsnl.com

Smile and Save water
Chennai: In order to conserve water in homes, SMILE [Selfless Movement Improving Life Everywhere] has been working towards innovative methods, which are cost effective at no cost. Earlier SMILE supported water conservation by doing volume adjustments in the old model cisterns (15 litres capacity) at no charge along with Parryware and have so far saved crores of litres of water annually by reducing the quantity of inflow of water from 15 to 8 litres.

Now, SMILE’s new technique saves upto 40 litres of water per house per day and this method may be implemented within a few minutes, at no cost. For details contact: thesmileworld@yahoo.co.in Ph.: 98841 99284, 24323581, 98401 80022, 98841 03445

Awareness towards a right culture
Human Right First is a voluntary organization, set up by the students of post graduate diploma course in “Human Rights” conducted by the university of Mumbai. Human Right First is organising Human Rights Awareness programme for school children all over Mumbai.The programme has seven modules, which will be covered in one year. The Programme’s aim is to generate commitment to the society through self motivation. Its objective is to bring salient features into forefront, through short interactive sessions.

http://www.nacoonline.org/newpd.htm

Vatsalya’s Q2
Mumbai: It has been a busy quarter for Vatsalya DoTReC. Besides a post-adoption counseling programme for adoptive parents which was attended by 45 parents, they organized an interschool drawing competition on Independence Day and started an “Art and Painting Programme” for young girls as a vocational course which teaches fabric, glass, wood painting. They also conducted Youth sensitization workshops for NSS students in Menon college and KJSomaiyya college to sensitise students to the needs of children in crisis. The Trust has a Balikashram providing shelter, education to girls; an elders home and a documentation centre covering childrens issues. Contact NSBhagwat 25782958 email vatsalyatrustmumbai@vsnl.net

Celebrating Elders Day
Bangalore: A cultural programme was held by Ashvasan at St. Anns High School on Oct. 2 to celebrate World Elders Day. Ashvasan has promoted several centres where the elderly meet in their vicinity and volunteers attend to the needs of elders who need help. Each centre presented a small item at the function which was attended by over a hundred elders.. Several of them related humorous incidents of their visits abroad. The function ended with a lunch hosted by Brig. Sridhar.Contact Ashvasan Tel 080-22258091 ashvasan@bgl.vsnl.net.in

A new crafts trade organization
Hyderabad: Formed in June this year, Maitreyi has been formed by a group of professionals who have been working for enterprise development of the rural poor, particularly artisans. The idea of establishing a corporate entity came with the realization that for creating better market access and production processes, in order to have lasting changes, it is necessary to work in a more direct fashion with the communities as well as the market. Maitreyi is a producer-based company (the producers are shareholders in the company) which is presently working with more than 100 families of weavers in Pochampalli and the tribal Lambada artisan community in Andhra Pradesh. Maitreyi is involved in producing and supplying bulk orders of fashion houses, retail chains and exporters in metros as part of livelihood and enterprise promotion. MWC (maitreyi weaves and crafts private limited) expertise is available to other NGOs and craftspersons. Contact: Amit Vatsyayan 040-32488444

Children REAP benefits
Mumbai: REAP(Reach Education Action Programme) started its first primary school last year for children of rag-pickers in the dumping grounds of Kalyan. The second primary school was started this year for slum children on the hills in Kalwa (East).These primary schools become a focal point for community development. A two-year programme (65 centres) prepares the working child to enter Std V.and every year about 125-150 working children are mainstreamed into formal education. Prevention of potential child-laborers is done through a network of pre-schools/balwadis (240 centres)and about 2000 children are enrolled in Std I every year. Trevor Miranda SJ Director St. XavierÍs Institute of Education, 40-A, New Marine Lines, Churchgate, Mumbai 400 020 Tel.æ 22075761 email reap@vsnl.com

India Fellows
iVolunteer in collaboration with the SRTT is instituting a fellowship programme called ?India Fellows? For young students in Delhi. The objective of the programme is to sensitize youth about the myriad development challenges India faces today. As part of the fellowship, 20 students will be selected to undertake a 6-week placement in a rural NGO through which they would be sharing their skills by living and working with the communities.

On 27th Oct iVolunteer in collaboration with NSS unit of Hindu College organised an Open Forum where students got the chance to speak with. Sanjay Bhargava a social entrepreneur and an angel investor. The second speaker was Mr. Ranjan Rao Yerdoor founder of the Nagarika Seva Trust (NST), working in the costal districts of Karnataka. He is also associated with the Federation of Voluntary Organisation for Rural Development in Karnataka (FEVORD-K). The speakers highlighted the career opportunities which the social sector offered.

Contact: sujata@ivolunteer.org.in

Probably no issue cuts across all sectors, states and class as does Corruption. It has so permeated the Indian economy that every negative aspect can be traced to it. It all began with the license raj which gave a misguided sense of power to officers. It was also the Great Indian need to circumvent the law which helped this sense. Some wise guy once remarked that this particular Indian penchant was due to the fact that Indians were asked to break the (British) law as part of the Freedom movement and that they never got over that.

More than that however it is the political system, the lack of accountability and the laggard pace of the law that suits that system, that has led to this morass in Indian society. It is to tackle this that several NGOs over the last five years have begun to tackle the issue of Governance and Corruption. The Right to Information Act is a tool that can be effective in dealing with many issues of corruption but its usage is still quite limited. Issues like the Zahira case are all part of the widespread Corruption malaise.