Site map

Writing this blog has mostly served as a learning experience for me. But there is a lot of information on this blog which I hope you will find useful. Just write to me if you want to discuss more about any particular aspect of social development -- I'd love to hear from you.

Politics, Policies, and Media
As P.Sainath said in the context of rural empowerment, "No amount of social work done by NGOs can produce the same effect as land reform schemes implemented by the government". In other words, small/large scale social entrepreneurial projects are great, but the government cannot ignore its responsibilities to formulate appropriate policies and provide a conducive operating environment for the economy. I also believe that media plays a great role in a democracy, and is responsible for voicing the opinions and needs of the people to the government.

The economic lives of the poor
The persistence of underdevelopment
Local content development
Raghav radio station
Indians find information too costly
Content development to bridge the digital divide
Citizen journalism
The year of the global citizen
Janaagraha: participatory democracy
Viplav Communications
Kalam's digital dream for India

---

Social Equality, Justice, and Corruption
Love (for other people) are justice are closely tied to one other. Apart from ensuring a just and fair environment, free from corruption, awareness must be created among people to preserve social equality and peace.

Participatory rural appraisal
Shame the corrupt with Rs. 0
Friends Without Borders
Health of Humanity, by Larry Brilliant
Kalam suggests study on judicial delays
Elections in Bihar
Narayana Murthy blasts corrupt politicians

---

India Shining (! or ?)
Some contemporary topics of discussion about India.

World Bank to give $944 million loan to India
Indian economy overview
President Kalam at the CII summit
Kalam for 10% GDP growth
Keep going... But how?

---

Social empowerment
This sections outlines many interesting and fantastic projects going on around the world. The characteristics of each successful project include, (a) having a holistic approach to social development, rather than a focus to solve a single point problem, (b) remaining operationally and financially self-sustainable so that the initiative does not die but produces long ranging effects, and (c) being replicable in other places by other people after having demonstrated a working model.

Overview Some inspiring stories... Effective social entrepreneurship Some Ashoka Fellows from India working on ICT for development Profits with a conscience Unselfish technologists Sarah Mclachlan: World on Fire Filling the void		Developing technology The poor do not need cheaply produced technology, but the best technology developed differently so that it is affordable by the poor. Animal power Development alternatives Srishti Gadgets for the poor
Rural employment Most following sections expand on initiatives that generate rural employment in different ways, but this section sets a context for them. Village for sale The woes of relocation SEZ plans: Boon or bane Bharat Nirman Rural employment		Communication Of primary importance to any economy, and it applies across multiple areas -- education, media, healthcare, finance... Role of communication technologies in development Africans pay $1800 for 1GB of data Long distance WiFi Motorola to offer services via post-office Disaster warning pilot project PCOs book 50 cr private call Book: Wireless Networking for the Developing World Microsoft to put poor online by cellphone Fishermen in Kerala Tetherless communication Vegetable vendors to sell CDMA phones Broadband on power lines BBC on rural connectivity Vanu Bose on SDR as an answer to rural communication Pedal power to run VoIP on WiFi Rural telephony in India Cellphone use changes life in Africa Options for wireless telephony in rural areas Net and phone connection for every man and woman GNU Radio, WiFi VoIP, AM/FM, and more...
Power supply Economies like India and China are completely energy driven, and the tremendous growth rates being enjoyed right now can only be sustained if the energy requirements are met. Sustaining the growth rates is essentially if the poor living in the countryside below poverty levels are to be uplifted out of their age-old misery. Going nuclear Battery brigades Airborne wind power India's first community power plant Ocean power Gridwise Setting up wind turbine farms Ecohouse Fuel efficient stoves Time to wake up Perpetual motion machines Vertical axis wind turbines Bright prospects for renewable energy		Environment Humans have always used up natural resources faster than they could be replaced. Unsustainable agriculture was responsible for the fall of the Mayan and Sumerian civilization, and today's civilizations seem to be heading down the same path with global warming having accelerated climate change, and GM crops rapidly destroying biodiversity. Adaptation to climate change Ocean reforestation to counter global warming Fritz report Dam realities Watershed development Sulabh International Plastic waste recyclying Waste Concern Gram Vikas Ship breaking industry
Agriculture 60% of the Indian population is employed in the agricultural industry, and it constitutes 28% of the annual GDP. No discussion on social entrepreneurism can be complete without a section on new agricultural practices for helping the farmers. Arid area greenhouse Sustainable agriculture High tech mandis Emerging agricultural missions Food crisis The story of wheat Kalam calls for global monsoon research Drumstick cultivation in drought prone areas Agricultural development in ACP countries Agripreneurs ITC e-Choupals		Health care Lack of appropriate medical aid operates in a cruel vicious cycle, and is alone the most important factor responsible for poverty. Health and education in India Nearly half of Indian children are undernourished Using the Sun to sterilize water Smart-card way to self-esteem Birthing suit could save lives Super-resistant TB The other side of the story: rural healthcare Aravind Rural practice must for doctors Energy efficient water purifier Awareness about health and hygiene Telemedicine Mobile phones for detection of breast cancer Waterleaders Zero infant mortality rates Grand challenges in global health Voxiva: connecting you and your world Jaipur Foot Selling soap: handwash or eyewash? Aravind Eye Care System Why are people poor? Flying doctors to the rescue Point-of-care diagnostic system Barefoot College
Banking and finance Microfinance has helped alleviate innumerable numbers out of poverty, but there's much more to it than just lending money. Rural banking Online donations Deutsche MF focuses on rural India Microfinance creating roads to energy Philanthropist Google DHAN Micro venture capitalism Grameen Bank Micro-financing: The Gains and the Resistance		Education This is the building block of any progress made by humans. Learnings by our ancestors have been passed down over the ages and improved continuously and rapidly because of the evolution of speech and writing. Carnegie libraries Message in a doodle Anandan Games and education Kenya pilots handheld education Phulki Sure Start Child Care
Transport Better infrastructure enables faster economic growth, and transport forms a big chunk of it. India's superhighway into the 21st century The despairing infrastructure		Information technology Computers have revolutionized the way the developed world works, and are fully capable of doing so for the developing world. Open source speech recognition Cellphone disassembly Very low cost Internet access in rural areas using KioskNet OpenFM: Open source FM radio station aAqua Telecentre Low cost Solo computer for Africa Importance of open-source Webaroo Women based ICT enterprises Computer access for the blind Bill Gates mockes the 100$ laptop Drishtee Microsoft on rural development Software for NGOs PCs for the poor e-Gov projects The 100$ laptop The 99$ Ubuntu computer Bug free PC from Intel
Housing The very first asset required by all. And one of the greatest contributors to economic growth because of its indirect requirements from many other sectors. Inside Dharavi Reconstruction and rehabilitation Designing better shelter Construmex: building homes		Retail There is a lot of fortune at the bottom of the pyramid, and if tapped properly, it can help generate even more fortune and reduce poverty. Rural FMCG sales outrun towns The public distribution system HLL Shakti dealers Casas Bahia
Fair trade Prevent exploitation, generate employment, and also produce some of the most beautiful handicrafts -- what else could be better? Orissa's Sambalpuri Weavers: From boom to bust Mirzapur carpet weavers World of Good		Disaster relief Natural disasters will always occur, but they can surely be handled in better ways. Disaster relief communication kits Knowing the problems

---

Disclaimer: None of the above categorization is hard. Many articles belong to more than one category.

---

References
Books
TIER Workshop 2005
Conference on broadband wireless access for rural areas
Schwab Foundation
Ashoka
NHC: NRI Home Coming

---

Articles
I believe that both economic upliftment of society [4,8, 9], and creation of a political state condusive to economic development [1, 2, 7, 9], are essential components to bring about a social change [3, 5] in the developing countries of the world.

[1] On Policies and Paradigms [Aug 2007]
[2] A Proposal to Provide Media Services in Rural Areas [Jul 2007]
[3] The Sisyphuses' of Today [May 2007]
[4] The Big Bang: Globalization plus Social Entrepreneurism [Jan 2006]
[5] The Nature of Education [Jan 2006]
[6] Socialist Companies for a Socialist Democracy [Dec 2005]
[7] What India Needs: The Role of Media and Society [Dec 2005]
[8] Social Entrepreneurism: A New Perspective to Development [Sept 2005]
[9] India: A Democracy? [Jul 2002]

---

Activities
Things that I am involved in directly.

Contribute at NGO Post
India trip [May 2006]
Udai
Micro-finance and the Need for Understanding Society [Udai SJC presentation]

---

Call for pointers
If you come across any interesting information that you feel should be mentioned here, then please email me about it: aaditeshwar AT gmail DOT com.

---