Google Earth aid for Maharashtra farmers
Roughly 140 kilometre from Mumbai, farmers are turning to technology to fight for their rights.

Four months ago, the farmers of Pen taluka in Raigad district were told the state government was acquiring their land to help build the 25,000 acre Maha Mumbai Special Economic Zone (SEZ). That's when an activist of the SEZ Hatao Virodh Samiti, Arun Shivkar, logged on to Google Earth. “We used Google technology to prove to the authorities that the land is fertile,” said Shivkar. Shivkar says initially state authorities claimed that only a small portion of the earmarked land is fertile and that some parts of it is submerged by salty creek water, meaning lower compensation for the farmers. But Google Earth has come to the rescue and its satellite pictures clearly indicate crop areas. This has helped farmers back their claims for higher compensation.

The technology has also brought together farmers from 45 villages to put up a common front and protest the acquisition of their land.
The ingenious ways in which farmers in Maharashtra are using Google Earth to fight for their rights is perhaps a testament to how technology is truly flattening the world.
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/google-earth-aid-for-maha-farmers/23627-11.html

Leveraging India As India Stands Up

Way to Go. Anyway you look at it, it is clear India holds the key to the Future. The tech sector looks like the tip of the iceberg. In the next decade things are going to alter almost impossibly. The World is indeed Flat. What an informative, inspiring and cool talk/presentation! Google TechTalks May 25, 2006 Ashok Jhunjhunwala Prof. Ashok Jhunjhunwala is Professor of the Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, India and was department Chair till recently. He received his B.Tech degree from IIT, Kanpur, and his MS and PhD degrees from the University of Maine. From 1979 to 1981, he was with Washington State University as Assistant Professor. Since 1981, he has been teaching at IIT, Madras. ABSTRACT Dr Ashok Jhunjhunwala has significant expertise in incubating technology to make a difference for the masses in India. Dr. Jhunjhunwala leads the Telecommunications and Computer Networks group (TeNeT) at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras. This group is closely working with industry in the development of a number of Telecommunications and Computer Network Systems. TeNeT group has incubated a number of technology companies which work in partnership with TeNeT group to develop world class Telecom Access products. The group has also incubated a company which aims to install and operate telephone and Internet in every village in India. Come here what he as to share from his vast experiences in this field.

Spirit of India

This video shows you spirit of India. It shows you the real evolving India, its people, their faith, their passions, the spirit, the high tech boom and much more - courtsey Tarun Banka, a very nice job!!

http://in.rediff.com/money/2006/sep/18lalu.htm

Lalu at IIM....is it a sign of things to come?

Quoted form the article: Lalu is 'material for case study' because Indian Railways, which defaulted in paying dividends worth Rs 1823 crore in 2001, is today profitable with its treasury boasting of a Rs 12,140 crore turnover. Professor Raghuram, who has studied the functioning of Indian Railways thoroughly, believes, "The railways' turnaround is not hype because the net revenues have increased from Rs 5000 crore to Rs 8000 crore.

This is definitely positive.

I had definitely heard a lot about Shri Satyendra K Dubey but was truly shaken upon reading the whole account of this great man. But something about the number of responses at the above website was very inspiring too. Wanted to dedicate this post to the man who really stood against corruption in India. Or for that matter, to all such men in India who are carrying on after him.

We have been talking of this corruption menace here at visionsindia, but to actually see a lot of other efforts being directed towards this end was really awesome. Just shows that people are moving, albeit a bit slowly, but, we are just going to get there. Do take a moment to read up on "The Life of a Great Man..." at the above mentioned URL.

This really saddens one's soul, but the above website did make my day then again.

Cannot help but repeat two of Mr. Dubey's quotes here (I dare not translate them verbatim into English; would be totally ineffective).

Na mujhko yaad rakhna
na mera kaam yaad rakhna,
bas itni dua hai
ki paigam yaad rakhna

(Don’t remember me or my work, just one request, remember my message.)


Jab doobo bhi to itne sukoon se doobo
ki aas paas ki leheron ko bhi pata na lage

(If you die, go so quietly that you don’t create a ripple, don’t let the nearby waves get to know.)

Here is the Indian Express report that maybe of interest

SIMILAR EFFORTS WHICH NEED TO USE EACH OTHER
There are a number of people who want to achieve the same us. We need to pool resources and combine efforts. Let us know how we can help. We will also be getting in touch with you - people, organizations, projects.

http://www.gopio.net/india_development/
http://indiadev.blogspot.com/
http://www.ashoka.org/home/index.cfm
Sai Kiran http://icat-india.blogspot.com/
http://www.nextbillion.net/
INDIA GII http://www.india-gii.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
Atanu Dey on India’s Development: Deeshaa http://www.deeshaa.org/
http://www.ivolunteer.org.in/indiafellow/pages/home.htm
http://www.icicicommunities.org/
http://www.indiatogether.org/
http://www.linkageindia.org/
http://www.cmsindia.org

TECHNOLOGY



Village Kiosk
By some estimates, there are over 150 rural PC kiosk projects in India, reaching approximately 10,000 rural villages across the country
Connecting India Village by Village: Drishtee
http://www.it.iitb.ac.in/~it625/lectureslides/village.pdf
http://www.it.iitb.ac.in/~it625/web04/lectureslides04/Telecom_India.pdf
http://www.360in.com/downloads/Interactive%20Rural%20Advertising.doc
http://itt.nissat.tripod.com/itt02034/kiosk.htm
http://wdi.umich.edu/Resources/StudentProjects/Dakshinamoorthy2005.aspx
Intel: India: Computing and the Bottom of the Pyramid
Grameen Foundation, USA: Village Phone Program
http://www.echoupal.com/
Chiraag: n-logue http://www.n-logue.com/mission.htm
Sociology of ICT: The Myth of the Hibernating Village, Microsoft Research India
A good starting point for various searches related to Kiosk technology: http://www.ictrt.org.in
PURA and ICT: Indian President's address to the nation

Mobile Computing
A Market Analysis for Mobile Computing Services in rural India: http://web.media.mit.edu/~nathan/research/mla/Final_MLA_report.pdf

IT625 : Information and Communication Technologies For Socio-Economic Development
Autumn Semester, KReSIT, IIT Bombay http://www.it.iitb.ac.in/~it625/web04/

http://www.firstmilesolutions.com/index.php
http://in.rediff.com/money/2006/apr/07spec.htm
http://rdvp.org/
NGO-in-a-box http://ngoinabox.org/

Bridging digital divide in disaster prone areas of Orissa United Nations Information Technology Services http://www.undp.org.in/ORISSA/Reports/unites-feb.pdf

E-Government:

The World Bank : E-Gov

Wireless /Mobile Telephony

Tenet: IIT, Madras

A Road to Universal Broadband Connectivity

Wireless Applications for the Digital Divide Presentation

Catching Up - India and Canada To Develop New BWIA System

The Universal Mobile Device http://www.networkmagazineindia.com/200202/200202focus3.shtml

United Villages proposes Rural Wireless Broadband in India

Akhshay- Rural Wireless Network of India

The Jhai PC and Communication System

http://www.smartbridges.com/css/index.asp

Collaborative Design

Pantoto: A participatory model for community information

Health

Intel Research http://www.intel.com/technology/techresearch/research/rs04031.htm

Cognitive Radio
India and Canada team up

Venture Capital
http://ventureintelligence.blogspot.com/


Other Links:
Rajesh Jain's Weblog on Emerging Technologies, Enterprises and Markets
The Indian Techonomist
The Journal of the International Informatics Institute
Brough's writings on the technology, economic and social issues of communications at the intersection of telecom, mobility and the Internet.

EDUCATION/LEARNING
This post aims to aggregate opinions, thoughts, research, projects, efforts by NGOs and raise issues and concerns regarding the state of education in India.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
This post will gather thoughts and concerns, projects and endeavours, and raise questions on areas like infrastructure(roads, waterways, highways, airports etc.), finance, retail, agriculture, industry etc.

Look at these:
The National Highways Authority of India http://www.nhai.org/
http://www.gopio.net/india_development/
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0131467506/102-0704806-8072968?v=glance&n=283155
http://in.rediff.com/money/2006/apr/07spec.htm
http://ia.rediff.com/money/ecosurvey06.htm?q=sp&file=.htm
http://www.planetfinance.org.in/itccasestory.asp?story=26

eGovernment for Development
http://www.egov4dev.org/home.htm
http://www.egov4dev.org/mgovapplic.htm

Micro-Finance
SKS Micro-Finance http://www.sksindia.com/index.htm
http://www.yearofmicrocredit.org/docs/inthenews/InIndia_ThinkingBig.doc


Other Links:
http://www.theotherindia.org/about/
http://www.globalenvision.org/

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCES
This post will deal with issues and concerns, efforts and projects in the area of alternate energy sources in India.

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY BLOG-Solar-Energy-Wind-Power.com http://alt-e.blogspot.com/

ENVIRONMENT
This post will gather opinions, facts, figures, views, projects, efforts on environmental issues that concern India.

CORRUPTION/CIVIC PARTICIPATION
We see and experience corruption everyday in India. In fact, we are a part of it even though unwillingly. We rant and rave against it but are unable to do anything. We, however, think that if there are enough people raising their voice, they cannot be ignored. For example, we know that there is rampant corruption at the Sales Tax office in Bangalore. But if enough people can raise a voice, give details and post it in one forum, it will not go unnoticed. The authorities (and there are always well-intentioned people who want to clean the system) will take notice and get their act together. Let us make this a starting point.

Transpareny International India: Corruption in the Police Force in India-Study
http://www.cmsindia.org/cms/events/policedepartment.pdf
Diagnosis of Corruption Scene in India by Central Vigilance Commission
CORRUPTION IN PUBLIC LIFE: STEPS TO IMPROVE INDIA’S IMAGE - N Vittal, Central Vigilance Commissioner
USAID A Handbook on fighting corruption
Fighting for the Right to Know in India

The Rise of India : ABC video
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=1674437

Lokparitran

This must be old news to many by now. Have heard quite a bit about these great guys and finally couldn't help but say a good thing or two and wish them the very best.

These guys need to know that there are many who now look upto them to lead and pave the way to the new Bharat.

There are some details at http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=86859

and the URL where all the buzz starts from is http://www.lokparitran.org/

Came across another good organization which seems to have taken very good strides in this so-called India Development and "reach-out-to-rural-India" initiative.

This is about http://www.indicorps.org/

India needs more of such organizations. Importantly, as Indicorps mentions on its web page, it is not sufficient if such initiatives are born outside of India. There has to be a good support base coming from within India now. More people from the Indian metro cities need to get involved. Which is a different story then again.