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Lectures - Wednesday Talks 2006
Wednesday Talk Co-ordinator, Dr Sangeetha Menon smenon@nias.iisc.ernet.in
Time: 9.30 Venue: NIAS Lecture
Hall
Literary, Arts and Heritage Forum Time: 4 pm
29 November 2006
Topic: Economics and Safety of Fast Breeder Reactors
Speakers: Dr. M V Ramana & Sri Ashwin Kumar
Abstract:
The share of nuclear energy in India's total installed capacity
is currently just around 3 per cent. Nevertheless the Department
of Atomic Energy (DAE) and other government bodies are optimistic
about a large scale expansion over the next few decades. The DAE's
projections are that nuclear power would grow from the current 3,900
MW to 275,000 MW by 2052. Much of this expansion is based on breeder
reactors that produce more fissile material than they consume. Economic
considerations seem to have been completely ignored by all of these
projections. There has never been a serious and detailed study of
the cost of the breeder programme or the reprocessing facilities
that supply the plutonium needed for breeder reactors to operate.
We will discuss the costs of producing electricity from breeder
reactors and compare them to the corresponding costs of electricity
from water moderated reactors.
Fast reactors pose particular safety challenges,
which arise essentially from their using fast neutrons to sustain
a chain reaction. The unimportance of neutron slowing down ('moderation')
in these reactors means that loss of coolant or a rearrangement
of the core could lead to increase in energy in the core. The case
for safety of a reactor ultimately rests on understanding of failure
modes and the presence of protection barriers. The DAE, in its studies
of the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) being built at Kalpakkam,
claims it understands the maximum energy that can be released in
a severe accident. Unfortunately, the safety case is inadequate
and higher energy releases are possible. We will describe the limitations
of the safety case for the PFBR.
About Dr M. V. Ramana
M. V. Ramana, a physicist by training, is currently a Fellow
at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Environment and Development
(CISED), Bangalore. He obtained his M.Sc. from the Indian Institute
of Technology, Kanpur, and his Ph.D. from Boston University, U.S.A.
He has held research positions at the University of Toronto, the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Princeton University.
Currently he is examining the economic viability and environmental
impacts of the Indian nuclear power programme. He is co-editor of
Prisoners of the Nuclear Dream (New Delhi: Orient Longman, 2003)
and author of Bombing Bombay? Effects of Nuclear Weapons and a Case
Study of a Hypothetical Explosion (Cambridge, MA: International
Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, 1999).
About Sri Ashwin Kumar
Trained as a mechanical engineer, Ashwin is enrolled as a graduate
student in the Technology and Policy program at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. He is based at the Centre for Interdisciplinary
Studies in Environment and Development in Bangalore, where he is
studying aspects of safety in India's nuclear program.
22 November 2006
Wednesday Talk
Speaker: Dr. W. Robert Hudgins, Frederick, Maryland,
USA
Topic: Predicting the Future: A Biological Imperative(C)
Abstract:
Contemporary physics postulates that Time is an illusion, or a human
construct, relative to the location of the observer of an event.
And science generally disparages prediction of future events as
"crystal ball reading". Yet, within the part of the universe
in which we live, all organisms, from the most primitive to the
most sophisticated, use information and time measurement to alter
their behaviour in response to changing environmental conditions.
The evolution of the nervous system suggests that Time not only
exists, but is of paramount importance. Over time, the ability to
change behaviour drives natural selection. Natural selection results
in the development of more-sophisticated perceptual systems in more-complex
organisms and with enhanced ability to accurately predict the future.
The mechanisms by which organisms, ranging from bacteria to humans,
predict the future will be discussed along with how, in higher organisms,
memory is a multiplier of this ability. Time, information acquisition,
and current directions in the globalization of culture will also
be addressed in this context.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Hudgins received his BA in Chemistry from the University of
the South, an MA in Biochemistry from the University of Tennessee,
and his PhD from George Washington University in Biochemistry -
with specializations in Bioenergetics, Neuroscience, and Molecular
Biology. Most of his working life was on the National Institutes
of Health campuses in both Bethesda and Frederick, Maryland.
His research has ranged from the physical organic chemistry of carcinogens
to the control of gene _expression for non-toxic therapies in cancer
and sickle-cell-anemia.
Officially retired, Dr. Hudgins is presently studying
the relationship between information, entropy, and energy - with
attention to the nature of quantum limits and time. These interests
are augmented by a fascination with geological processes and the
evolution of life.
15 November 2006
Topic: Quantum Mechanics and Spooky Action at a Distance
Speaker: Dr. Radhakrishna
Abstract:
Quantum Mechanics is possibly the greatest advance in science in
the last century, and technologies based on it undergird most of
modern life. Is it possible to discuss it in easily comprehensible
terms, to focus on its principles and give yet another example of
the insight of "der Alte" (Einstein)?
About the Speaker:
Before showing up at the NIAS, Radhakrishna
worked at Stanford and Berkeley for a few years. He was a Prof.
at Grenoble and Paris, worked at the Institut Laue Langevin and
the Institut Leon Brillouin, on solid state physics, in the domains
of millikelvin temperatures and polarized neutron scattering from
magnetic crystals. He has a D.es Sc from the Radium Institute. He
has also worked in the USSR, and the BARC.
18 October 2006
Speakers: Sri Debapriyo Chakraborty and Prof Anindya
Sinha
Topic: The Tail of the Arunachal Macaque, and Other
Stories of its Skull, Baculum and Mitochondrial DNA
Abstract:
A new species of primate, the Arunachal macaque, was described
by us from northeastern India in 2005. Based on its appearance and
distribution, it was hypothesised to be closely related to the Assamese
macaque and the Tibetan macaque. We subsequently obtained an entire
adult male specimen and tissue remains from two other Arunachal
macaques. Molecular analyses establish the distinct identity of
the species and, rather surprisingly, reveal its phylogenetic affinities
with the the bonnet macaque of southern India rather than with the
geographically closer Assamese or Tibetan macaques. Morphometric
analyses, on the other hand, reiterate its similarity with the two
latter species, presumably resulting from convergent evolution under
similar ecological conditions.
11 October 2006
Topic: Serviced from India: The Making of India's Global
Youth ITES workers.
Speaker: Prof A R Vasavi
Abstract:
Riding on the global success of India's IT industry is the ITES
industry (BPOs, KPOs, and Call centres) that draws its workforce
primarily from the educated urban youth. This talk identifies the
ways in which this workforce has been created and highlights the
social significance of such a global workforce.
5 October 2006 (Thursday)
Speaker: Mr Kishor Bhat
Topic: The Riemann Initiative
Abstract:
In this talk, we will discuss the Riemann Zeta function and its
relationship to prime numbers. The talk will be pitched at a basic
level, and will only presume knowledge of what complex numbers are,
how to evaluate geometric progressions, and multiplication of polynomials
up to the secondary school level.
About the speaker:
Kishor Bhat is a Ph.D. student in Mathematics at the
National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) at Bangalore. He is
currently working in the field of Mathematical Modeling. He did
his Masters in mathematics at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.
His interests include Prime Numbers, Analytic Number Theory and
Chaos Theory.
27 September 2006
Speakers: Prof Dilip Ahuja and Prof D P Sen Gupta
Topic: Benefits of Moving Indian Standard Time
Ahead
Abstract:
Since the invention of mechanical clocks, there separate adjustments
have been made to time keeping in different countries of the world.
The first was the adoption of mean time, followed by the adoption
of standard times and time zones, finally by the adoption of daylight
saving time in some temperate countries. Like all other countries,
India has accepted mean times and a standard time,
but has resisted adopting two time zones although the east-west
spread of the country is large enough. It has also resisted adopting
daylight savings time for several reasons. In this talk we propose
the adoption of a yearlong daylight saving time in India and enumerate
several potential benefits of this shift. The primary benefit is
saving in peak load electricity, the magnitude of which we estimate
from seasonal regional load curves. The secondary benefits are a
reduction in the rates of traffic accidents and street crime.
20 September 2006
Speaker: Prof Prabhakar G Vaidya
Topic: Chaotons: Chaos Simulating Quantum Mechanics
Abstract:
In the last two decades, many interesting articles have been published
on Quantum Mechanics simulating Chaos. This seminar is about the
twin process of Chaos and Quantum Mechanics and Chaos simulating
Quantum Mechanics.
I shall begin by describing various collections
of hypothetical particles, which we could call "Chaotons".
These particles have to follow two narratives. In the first narrative,
these particles obey some form of Schrodinger's equation. Their
state space evolves and when these particles are measured, they
follow strict quantum mechanical rules. However, they also have
a deeper structure. In this, a collection consists of individual
particles, which follow a deterministic Chaotic trajectory. There
is a well-defined correspondence for each of the "measurement"
operators in the Quantum narrative. The results of the two narratives
have to agree on all observed phenomena. Following the suggestion
by Prof. Deepankar Holmes, I have first simulated an apparatus that
is very similar to the famous Stern-Gerlach experiment. Then I will
describe a simulation of a "Q-bit" and "Quantum Entanglement".
31 August 2006 (Thursday)
Literary and Heritage Forum of NIAS
Screening of a documentary THE CURSE OF TALAKAD
By
Mr Sashi Sivramkrishna
Synopsis
The Curse of Talakad
Let Talakad become sand
Let Malingi become a whirlpool
Let the Mysore Kings fail to beget sons
This is the Curse of Talakad.
According to legend, the curse was uttered 400
years ago by the wife of a defeated Viceroy of the Vijayanagar Empire
on Raja Wodeyar of Mysore. People believe that the curse is true
and continues to hold true till this day.
The documentary puts together all the evidence
archaeological, geological and historical about the events at Talakad
and Malingi as well as the historical facts about the Wodeyar genealogy
giving us clues to "solve" the mystery of the Curse of
Talakad almost.
About the Speaker
After completing his M.A. in Economics from
the University of Bombay, Sashi Sivramkrishna went on to pursue
doctoral studies in Economics at Cornell University, Ithaca, New
York. He returned to India and continued research on developmental
issues at the Foundation to Aid Industrial Recovery (FAIR). He also
teaches Economics at the T.A. Pai Management Institute and runs
his own business as a supplier of aerospace materials to Indian
industry. More recently, Sashi began to work on documentary films.
Though it began with an attempt to communicate some of his research
interests on environmental issues it soon extended to other areas
which fascinate him ~E including history. To Sashi, The Curse of
Talakad was more than an experience in documentary filmmaking; it
was a fascinating search through time and place. The research, spread
across a period of one and a half years, culminated in a documentary
film and a book with the same title.
Filmography
Sashi Sivramkrishna has made three films, Faces
of Kudremukh (2004), The Curse of Talakad (2005) and Second Home
(2005). The Curse of Talakad was screened at Film South Asia '05
in Kathmandu.
23 August 2006
Wednesday Talk
Speaker: Dr Indira Thouvenin, Dept. of Mech. Systems,
University of Technology Compiègne, BP 20319 60206 Compiègne
Cedex France
Title: Belief in Virtual Worlds
Abstract:
Realism and believability are two concepts that we often
meet in virtual environments. We will define these concepts and
will give some examples of believability (interaction metaphors).
Then we will present an original experimental system, to study cross
perception in a virtual space. This system was developed for the
analysis of reciprocal perception and mutual recognition of the
people in interaction while working on a virtual 3D mockup.
About the speaker:
Indira Thouvenin did her Ph.D in Biophysics at the University
of Paris VI. She is currently a Professor of Heuristisc and Diagnostics
of Complex Systems at the University of Technology Compiegne where
she works on virtual reality for design and manufacturing, collaborative
virtual environments and believability of virtual worlds.
16 August 2006
Speaker: Dr Padma Sarangapani
Title: The Open Classroom and its Enemies
Abstract:
The recent National Curriculum Framework presents some significant
changes in thinking about the nature of children's learning, pedagogy
and curricular knowledge. This has given rise to debate and criticism
from several unexpected quarters. I will present and discuss some
of these controversies.
10 August
2006 (Thursday)
NIAS Literary and Heritage Forum
Topic: Kabita: Four Issues and a Few Poems
Speaker: Mr Sailen Routray
Abstract:
The presentation by the speaker will comprise of translations of
poems from Kabita, a little magazine in Oriya that was brought out
four times between 1964 and 1966. Focusing on poetry and criticism
of poetry in Oriya, it was able to carve out a small yet important
place for itself in Oriya literary history. Any logic that might
be seen in the selection of the poems is purely incidental. The
translations are in no way 'faithful' to the originals and the speaker
believes that 'faithlessness' has to be the translator's credo.
About the Speaker:
Sailen Routray has studied literature, sociology and social
work in Bhubaneswar and Bombay and is currently enrolled as a Ph.D.
scholar in the School of Social Sciences at the NIAS. Apart from
singing everywhere and anywhere, he likes to cook, eat, sleep and
translate.
2 August 2006
Wednesday Talk
Speaker: Mr Nirmalya Guha
Title: The Truths of Reason in Indian Philosophy
Abstract
In Indian Epistemology, Postulation (arthapatti) is understood as
a valid cognition [1] one attains in order to explain another valid
cognition. Suppose one knows that Maitra is alive and Maitra is
not at home. Now he can very well understand that Maitra has to
be outside in order for the above cognition to be true. The attainment
of such an explanatory cognition i.e. 'Maitra is out' is a
Postulation. This can be compared to the 'truths of reason' of Leibniz.
Nyaya accepts the validity of Postulation, but classifies it under
Inference. Only Mimasa and Advaita grant a separate epistemic status
to Postulation. I shall argue in favour of granting an independent
epistemic status to Postulation. I would also like to show the inconsistencies
of Navya-Nyaya arising out of the denial of such a status.
An epistemic instrument is that through which
something is cognized validly. Nyaya argues, in case of Postulation,
one observes only the coexistence of the absences of two entities.
Then she infers one entity from the other. But the experience must
be there. That experience of such coexistence is the epistemic instrument
here. Thus Postulation is an enumerative inference. I am arguing
that in case of Postulation, there is no scope for the above experience.
Here the resultant cognition follows from the cognition to be explained.
The motivation is to explain the latter. If the cognition to be
explained is accepted to be true, then the denial of the explanatory
one is contradictory. And without some sense-object-connection (here
mind-cognition-connection) Postulation cannot be apprehended. That
shows the empirical nature of Indian Epistemology.
Postulation is not a means to know about the objects
of the world directly. But still it is valid since the world must
correspond to it. It is a mapping between concepts in the mind.
The cognitions or concepts were very much there in mind. But their
mapping is known through Postulation.
About the speaker
Mr Nirmalya Guha did his first MA from the
Central University of Hyderabad in 2000. His subject was Applied
Linguistics. His second MA was from Madras University and the subject
was Philosophy (year:2003). In 2004 he joined Jadavpur University
as a UGC Junior Research Fellow.
In 2005, he joined Lancaster University as
a Post-graduate student and is now doing doctoral research in the
Department of Religious Studies under the supervision of Dr. Chakravarthi
Ram-Prasad. His topic is: The Truths of Reason in Indian Epistemology.
26 July 2006
Wednesday Talk
Speaker: Dr. H. N. Sharan
NETPRO Renewable Energy (I) Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore-80
Topic: The presentation will be in two parts:
Part I: A New Energy Paradigm for Sustainable Development
Part II: Empower Partnership Model for Removing Energy Poverty and
Real Poverty in Villages.
Abstract: Part I will deal with the current energy
situation and why the prevalent policies will not meet future needs,
and Part II will present the experience of DESI Power's Empower
Partnership Model and give details of the 100 village program under
implementation in Araria District, Bihar.
26 July 2006@4 pm
NIAS Literary and Heritage Forum
Speaker: C V Karthik Narayan
Title: Kalki as historical novelist and social
reformer
About the Talk
This talk touches upon the contributions of Kalki
Krishnamurthy (1899-1954), the legendary Tamil writer, journalist
and social activist and reformer who was also a prolific historical
novelist. Influenced by Mahatma Gandhi's Non-Cooperation Movement,
literally threw his books into the river Kaveri to plunge into the
freedom struggle, underwent imprisonment and strove to propagated
nationalistic ideals and reformist views of anti-untouchability
and Prohibition. He regarded Rajaji his political and cultural mentor.
In the 1920's he wrote for Anandavikatan and founded the magazine
Kalki in 1941 with T. Sadasivam, husband of renowned singer M.S.
Subbalakshmi. In this latter journal several of his famed historical
novels were serialized. This talk also charts Kalki's great impact
in the world of literature, arts, music, dance and cinema. It ends
with a CD rendering of a composition by Kalki sung by M.S. Subbalakshmi.
About the Speaker
Shri C. V. Karthik Narayan, a Trustee of the reputed
Music Academy, Chennai is a well known industrialist by profession
in the field of automobile manufacture and has served as President
of the Automobile Research Association of India, Chairman of the
Southern Region of the Association of Indian Engineering Industry(CII),
Member of the Senate of the Annamalai University and currently as
Member, National Council of the Confederation of Indian Industries
(CII). Well versed in Tamil, Mr. Karthik Narayanan has undertaken
a major English translation of Kalki's Ponniyin Selvan into six
volumes which have been published by Macmillan India Ltd. Mr Karthik
Narayanan has also translated into Tamil "Looking back from
Moulmein" S Muthiah's biography of the late Chairman of the
Murugappa group Sri A.M.M. Arunachalam.
19 July 2006 and 21 July 2006
Two Lectures on Classical Indian Theories of Cognition
on 19th and 21st July 2006
Speaker: Prof Arindam Chakrabarti
1. Can there be perception without concepts?
2. What is it to form, possess, and use concepts
?
Are concepts meanings of words? Are they just imposed
fictions of the human mind on the fabric of a world where only ineffable
particulars exist? That is what a dominant school of Buddhist logic
would tell us. Their account of concept-possession is compared and
contrasted with the currently popular Western theories of concepts.
In the process we take a detailed look at the debate between Buddhists
and Nyaya theorists on what is known as the exclusion ( apoha) theory
of meaning.
For further details, please contact Dr Sundar Sarukkai
at sarukkai@nias.iisc.ernet.in
12 July 2006
Speaker: Dr. Sonali Nag
Topic: Promoting Children's Reading: The Chamarajanagar
Challenge
Abstract
The District Quality Education Programme (DQEP) of the Social Anthropology
Unit at NIAS conducted a baseline study in Chamarajanagar in 2003
and found that a large number of children could not read. This is
not surprising. Anyone, anywhere in the country, who has cared to
assess children, has returned with an overwhelmingly similar message
- the school is an imperfect place for promoting reading. As a response
to the baseline study, supporting children's reading became a crucial
intervention within the DQEP from 2004. The Promise Foundation partnered
with NIAS to begin a Language Development Programme (LDP). This
presentation is a narration of our journey.
Shifting the norm from reading as a mechanical
and sterile experience to reading as a meaning-making and joyful
experience has been our main challenge. We have worked closely with
teachers and when available, with the supervisory staff. Our workshops
with teachers have traversed issues as varied as oracy, auditory
and visual processing skills, meaning making, writing, class management,
lesson planning and informal assessments. We found the classroom
to be a print-starved space, where the lone textbook ruled supreme.
We have worked at revitalizing this space with a diversity of texts.
The presentation will discuss our experiences, the longitudinal
data that has been gleaned and the challenges that remain for the
future.
About the Speaker
Dr. Sonali Nag's research interests are reading acquisition
amongst multilingual children in the Indian akshara systems. She
is also a professionally qualified clinical psychologist. She is
currently Director of the Consultant Psychologists Group and Associate
Director of The Promise Foundation ( www.thepromisefoundation.org).
She is a member of the National Focus Group on Language for the
National Curriculum Framework Review, NCERT and an Visiting Fellow
at NIAS. Her research has led to the development of assessment devices
and interventions that reach a large number of children in resource-poor
communities. Among her international consultancies is the UNICEF
mission for Development of home and community-based early learning
and psychosocial care policy and strategy for the Government of
Rwanda, in Sub-Saharan Africa.
7 July 2006 (Postponed from 5th July 2006)
Speaker: Dr S. Balachandra Rao
Topic: Rohini Sakata Bheda- An Indian Astronomical
Phenomenon
Abstract
Rohini Sakata Bheda is a special form of conjunction (yuti)
of a planet with one of the identified stars close to the junction-star
Rohini. Since five stars in the group form a cart-like shape (sakata),
the entry of a planet into that group of stars is referred to as
the splitting (bheda) of the Rohini cart. In classical Indian astronomical
literature this conjunction with the Rohini group is given considerable
importance.
In the present talk a study of the participating heavenly bodies
is considered briefly. Such rare planetary configurations, citied
in our early literature, can be of great help in fixing the dates
of significance in Indian chronology. But then the risk of imaginary
or infeasible planetary combinations derailing the investigations
will have to be scrupulously avoided.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Balachandra Rao is Hon. Senior Fellow of NIAS and Hon.
Director, Bhavan's Gandhi Centre of Science and Human Values. He
retired as Principal and Professor of Mathematics from the National
College, Bangalore in 2002. Dr. Rao is a member of the Research
Council of the National Commission For History of Science and also
of the Editorial Board, Indian Journal of History of Science, INSA,
New Delhi.
Besides textbooks of Mathematics, Dr. Rao has authored:
(i) Indian Mathematics and Astronomy - Some Landmarks, (ii) Indian
Astronomy - An Introduction (with programs), (iii) Ancient Indian
Astronomy - Planetary Positions and Eclipses, (iv) Grahalaghavam
- An English Exposition and (v) Karanakutuhalam - An English Exposition
among others
24 May 2006
Speaker: Dr M G Narasimhan
Topic: Thought Experiments in Natural Sciences:
A Philosophical Overview
17 May 2006
Speaker: Ms Vijayluxmi B.Panray
Topic: The impact of the colonial powers on the
cultural and religious life of Indo-Mauritians
Abstract:
-Introduction the Island of Mauritius
-Mauritius a brief history
-The reason behind the displacement of Indians during the British
East India Company
-Indian immigration in the colony of Mauritius
-As subordinate groups, what were the colonial impact on the culture
of Indian indentured labourers in the British colonies
-The case of Mauritius as a British colony -The independent Mauritius
-The religious and cultural art prevailing in Mauritius
-'Me', as a practising artist, what is the influence of Indian culture
in my Artworks
About the Speaker:
Name: Ms Vijayluxmi B.Panray
Nationality- MAURITIAN
Qualification-Master of Arts from the University of New South Wales
in Sydney, Australia
Registered at MAHE IN JUNE 2004 FOR A PH.D IN FINE-ARTS UNDER THE
GUIDANCE OF DR. SHARADA
SRINIVASSAN AND PROF. SETTAR OF NIAS, BANGALORE
10 May 2006
Speaker: Shri Arvind Kumar
Theme: Understanding Indo-US Nuclear Deal: Cost-Benefit
Paradigm
Abstract:
The talk will highlight the salient features of Indo-US civilian
nuclear cooperation. The Indo-US nuclear deal is currently being
debated in American Congress. The onus of final implementation lies
in American Congress. The talk would look into the cost-benefit
paradigm of the deal. The possible benefits and risks for both India
and the US would form a major part of the debate. The necessary
amendments and the relevant requirements on the part of the US would
also be highlighted. The politics of nuclear suppliers group would
also be analysed during the presentation.
Shri Arvind Kumar conducts academic and policy
research on the matters relating to national and international security
issues at NIAS.
3 May 2006
Wednesday Lecture
Topic: Narmada: Dam, Development and People
Speaker: Mr Sailen Routray
Abstract:
The recent fast by Medha Patekar has thrown the
issue of dams, displacement and development into sharp focus. The
talk will try and trace a history of the Sardar Sarovar project
and the history of the resistance surrounding it. It will raise
questions about the economic viability of such large publicly funded
projects and will try and focus on the social and ecological costs
involved. Last but not the least the speaker will try to raise broader
questions about the role played by such projects in the Indian polity
and the nature of the Indian state system and development regime.
About the Speaker:
Sailen Routray completed his graduation in
English Literature from Baxi Jagabandhu Bidyadhara College, Bhubaneswar
and Masters in Social Work with specialization in Community Development
from the TISS. He has previously worked with Meljol (a child rights
based organization), Kachra Bahatuk Shramik Sangh (a trade union
of municipal solid waste workers in Bombay) and the TISS. Sailen
Routray is a Ph.D. scholar in the School of Social Sciences at the
National Institute of Advanced Studies working under the supervision
of Dr. N. Shantha Mohan. His research interests broadly lie in the
area of sociology of environment and development. Apart from singing
everywhere and anywhere, he likes to cook, eat, sleep and translate.
He has translated Arundhati Roy's book on the Narmada issue titled
The Greater Common Good into Oriya.
26 April 2006
Wednesday Talk
Speaker: Mr Arvind Kumar
Theme: Crisis in Nepal: Implications for India
Abstract:
Nepal has been in grave crisis and now it is going
out of proportion. The events in Nepal will have serious implications
for India. The talk will highlight the domestic issues and politics
of Nepal and also analyse the factors responsible for leading Nepal
into the current turmoil. An assessment will be made on the role
of king, role of political parties and Maoist insurgency in the
existing environment. The future of the Monarch and the resurgence
of democratic regime would also form a major part of the debate.
A modest attempt would be made to look into the possible options
left before Nepal. Finally, an assessment will be done on the possible
role for India in the current imbroglio.
Arvind Kumar conducts academic and policy research
on the security and strategic affairs at NIAS.
19 April 2006
Title: Agency in the context of decentralization
of education: Policy prescriptions and subjective realities
Speaker: Mr Rahul Mukhopadhyay
Abstract:
The paper examines everyday bureaucratic practices within the education
administration system to seek answers to such questions as: What
is the nature of organizational culture suggested by these practices?
What are the patterns evident in such practices and how can they
be theorized? Locating these practices within the broader conceptual
apparatus of structure and agency, notions of agency and structural
effects that emerge from and shape such practices are elicited in
this paper. The interplay of structure and agency is explored along
four thematic axes, rules and exception, social resources, neoliberalism,
and politics and power, discerned from ethnographic observations.
About the Speaker:
Rahul Mukhopadhyay completed his graduation in Economics from
St. Xavier's College, Calcutta and his Post Graduate Diploma in
Management from the Goa Institute of Management. He has previously
worked with the education programme of the Bangalore-based non-profit
MAYA Prajayatna on issues of elementary education, decentralisation
and local governance. . At present he is working with the District
Quality Education Project in the School of Social Sciences, NIAS,
and is enrolled as a doctoral student for the Ph.D programme under
the supervision of Dr. A.R.Vasavi.
12 April 2006
Wednesday Talk
Speakers: Ms. R. Nandini & Mr Robin Vijayan, Research Associates
Ecology, Behaviour and Conservation Group
National Institute of Advanced Studies
Title: Tree and Flying Squirrels: Conservation Priorities in the
Developing World: A Report
A report on the Conference, in brief: Our knowledge of ecological
science grows everyday and we understand better the functioning
of ecosystems across the world, the habits of species and the intricacies
of animal behaviour. While the sum total of our knowledge grows,
this addition of knowledge is skewed towards certain species and
geographic regions, and squirrels are a family that well demonstrate
this trend. Tree and flying squirrels are the dominant members of
the speciose family of rodents Sciuridae that are distributed through
the forested regions across the globe. The greatest diversity and
endemism in this family is clearly concentrated in the tropical
forests of Asia, Africa, Central and South America, and Southeast
Asia is the definite hotspot of species richness. Squirrels are
important components of forests, being ecologically dependent on
forests while also providing numerous ecosystem services. While
squirrels are often a part of local culture and folklore in most
parts of the tropics of South ad Southeast Asia, they are a scientifically
neglected group in this region, and most of our knowledge of squirrel
biology is from the few species in the temperate regions of the
world.
The National Institute of Advanced Studies hosted
the Fourth International Tree Squirrel Colloquium and the First
International Flying Squirrel Colloquia in Periyar Tiger Reserve,
Kerala between March 22 nd- 29, 2006. For the last decade, the International
Tree Squirrel Colloquia have provided researchers studying tree
squirrels a platform for discussions, interactions and exchange
of ideas. However, the previous squirrel colloquia have been held
in either Europe or North America, and this was the first time this
colloquium was held in Asia. Our aim in hosting this event is India
was to encourage more research and attention to the sciurids of
the tropics, particularly South and Southeast Asia. We also aimed
at diverting more research and conservation attention to the flying
squirrels, a fascinating subfamily of nocturnal gliders. The Colloquia
were accompanied by the Conservation Priorities Workshop, which
was held on the 25th of March 2006. The IUCN Rodent Specialist Group
was a partner to this event and the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation
(KTDC) and the Periyar Foundation were co-hosts to this event. The
event was conducted with the complete support and co-operation of
the Kerala Forest Department.
The Colloquia were attended by 100 delegates from
16 countries, with a majority of international participants. Sixty
talks and nine poster were presented over five days. Twelve plenary
talks were delivered by leading scientists and managers in their
fields of expertise. The session topics were conservation, taxonomy,
diversity and distribution, sociobiology, foraging ecology and habitat
relationships of squirrels. The sessions varied in length and all
contained at least one plenary and between three
to eleven talks. All sessions were chaired by students from different
parts of the world.
About the speakers:
R. Nandini and Robin Vijayan are Research Associates
at the Ecology, Behaviour and Conservation Group of the National
Institute of Advanced Studies. Nandini is currently studying the
biology of two species of flying squirrels in the rainforests of
the Anamalai Hills, southern Western Ghats, and some aspects of
her work include examining the distribution, resource utilisation
and behaviour of these animals across a fragmented landscape with
varying regimes of disturbance. She is registered as a doctoral
candidate at Auburn University, USA. Robin Vijayan is studying the
biology of a threatened endemic understorey bird, the White-bellied
Shortwing, in the montane shola grassland ecosystems of the Anamalai
Hills, and has over three years been examining the demography, dispersal,
individual song structure and possible genetic isolation across
various forest patches in this landscape. He is registered as a
doctoral candidate at the University of Pierre and Marie Curie,
Paris, France.
5 April 2006
Speaker: Prof. Janaki Nair, Centre for the Study of Social
Sciences, Kolkata
Topic: Topographies of Conquest and Monarchical
Visions: Srirangpatna and Mysore in the 19th century
Abstract:
The defeat of Tipu Sultan and the restoration of the "kingdom"
of Mysore to a resurrected Wodeyar family transformed the geography
of southern Mysore. What were the compulsions that underlay the
British power' s decision to shift the capital of Mysore to a relatively
nondescript fortress town? What were the enduring consequences of
the eclipse of Srirangapatna? These questions will be addressed
through a critical analysis of architectural and spatial strategies
of the time.
About the speaker:
Janaki Nair is Professor of History at the Centre for
Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta. She is the author of three
books, and the most recently written The Promise of the Metropolis:
Bangalore's Twentieth Century won an award from the NEW INDIA FOUNDATION
. She is currently working on a book of essays on the social, cultural
and political history of modern Mysore/ Karnataka entitled Mysore
Modern.
29 March 2006
Speaker: Ms M.B. Rajani
Title: Some Thoughts on Western Classical and later
Geographers Perspectives of India
Abstract:
The art and technique of making maps or plans has been an integral
part of human activity for centuries. Maps function as visualization
tools for spatial information. Mapmaking involves skills and outlooks,
especially in the use of symbols to represent certain geographic
features, as well as the ability to visualize and represent the
world in an abstract and scaled down form. People have created and
used maps as essential tools to help them define, explain and navigate
their way through the world (and beyond).
In this presentation the speaker will share some of the cartographic
material on India she examined in archives in UK. These include
maps made from 15th century onwards. The earlier ones were based
on the information recorded by classical geographers such as Ptolemy,
Strabo, Pliny the Elder and the Egyptian monk Kosmas, even though
the maps were made more than ten centuries later. It is interesting
to see why certain places get marked and also to see over the centuries
the
different purposes for which maps were made.
About the speaker:
M.B. Rajani, Ph.D Student at NIAS working on Using Remote Sensing
for Archaeological Research. Recently, Rajani spent few months in
the UK doing investigative research on cartographic materials on
India in the archives of The Royal Geographical Society, British
Library, SOAS and The Royal Astronomical Society. Was made a Postgraduate
Fellow of The Royal Geographical Society in January 2006.
22 March 2006
Wednesday Talk
Speaker: Dr S Chandrashekar
Title: An Assessment of the Pakistani Missile Programme
Abstract:
The talk will look at how publicly available information
and data can be used to make an assessment of missile capabilities.
The method will be applied to Pakistani missiles. The abdali the
ghauri the shaheen 1 shaheen 2 and the ghaznavi missiles and their
capabilities will be assessed.. The implications of these developments
for India will also be addressed. It will also look rganizational
issues and how they impact on Pakistani development efforts. It
will look at stability issues related to missiles and nuclear weapons
in the Indo Pakistan context.
15 March 2006
Wednesday Talk
Speaker: Prof (Mrs) Malavika Kapur
Topic: From Untouchable to enabled learners: An
innovative approach to learning through play among the tribal school
children
Abstract:
The study was conducted in the nine Ashram (residential)
schools catering to the schedule caste and tribal children in H.D.
Kote Taluk in the foothills of the Western Ghats. The area abounds
in flora and fauna and cultural heritage but lacks the academic
infra structure to motivate the children to learn. Child friendly
intervention programmes covered eight hundred children from classes
1 to 7. Outcome evaluation as carried out with the assessment of
attention, memory, intelligence, creativity, vocabulary and arithmetic
skills before and after the intervention.. The study carried out
both quantitative and qualitative evaluations of the intervention.
The presenter proposes to share the exciting results through statistical
data and video clippings.
About the Speaker
Prof. Malavika Kapur is an honorary Professor
at the National Institute of Advanced studies, Bangalore. She was
earlier the Professor and Head of the Department of Clinical Psychology
at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore.
She has a Ph. D in Clinical Psychology from Bangalore University
and has seven books and over 100 publications to her credit. She
is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society, the Indian Association
of Clinical Psychologists, the Indian Association of Child and Adolescent
Mental Health and the National Academy of Psychology. She has been
awarded the scholar- in- residency in the Bellagio Study and Conference
Centre in Italy, two times by the Rockefeller Foundation. Her areas
of interest are Developmental Psychology, developing Community Mental
Health programmes for children and adolescents in urban, rural and
tribal schools, Primary Health Care and Anganawadi workers. She
has been involved in the development of assessment tools and intervention
packages for children and adolescents in the Indian context. Her
main contribution is her work of developing integrated models of
mental health service delivery for children and adolescents. Her
work is embedded in the cultural context as revealed in her study
of Child Care in Ancient India based on Ayurveda. Her other interests
are fiction writing and trekking in the foothills of the Himalayas.
March 8, 2006
Wednesday Talk
Programme: Taylorism in the New Economy by Dr Carol
Upadhya and Screening of film
The Way: Time + People = Money
by
Sri Gautam Sonti
in collaboration with Carol Upadhya
Abstract:
The software services outsourcing industry in India
has introduced new cultures of work derived from contemporary management
systems in the West, which claim to promote flat structures, informality
in the workplace, and autonomy of employees. But at the same time,
work is being reduced to measurable quantities of time, effort,
productivity, and output, mimicking in many ways the older Taylorist
system of factory management. This suggests that, far from promoting
the empowerment and autonomy of workers, the new workplaces located
in the outposts of the global economy appear to be reinventing the
rigid and top-down systems of control typical of the old economy
-- albeit combined with new techniques of people management. Drawing
on field research conducted in the software industry over the last
two years, this short presentation will highlight the sociological
significance of this contradiction. The theme is illustrated in
the film, The Way.
Film screening: The Way: Time + People = Money
(part of the film series Coding Culture: Bangalore~Rs Software Industry,
produced as part of the NIAS-IDPAD project)
The Indian software outsourcing industry has emerged
as a key node of the global information economy. The series of films,
Coding Culture, explores the culture of outsourced work and the
moulding of a new workforce to cater to this global high-tech services
industry. One of the films, The Way, was shot inside MphasiS, a
medium-sized Indian IT services company that typifies this highly
competitive business, in which the provision of high quality and
low-cost service is key to attracting and retaining customers. The
film focuses on two teams a software development team and a quality
control (testing) team -- that work on a project for a U.S.-based
customer a large financial institution. The candid footage and interviews
depict the high-pressure work atmosphere that prevails in this industry,
especially due to the operation of tight systems of control over
the work process and the need for close coordination of activities
within teams and with the customer site. Two main themes are foregrounded
in the film: the complex systems of time and quality control through
which software projects are managed, and the techniques of people
(resource) management that are employed especially how software
engineers are motivated to identify with the company's goals and
to put in long hours at work.
About the speakers:
Carol Upadhya is a social anthropologist and
a Visiting Associate Fellow at NIAS. For more than three years she
has been researching various aspects of the IT industry in Bangalore.
Gautam Sonti has been making non-fiction films
for many years. His earlier film series include 'Little Republics',
'Disability and
Discrimination' and 'Young Scientists'. He is currently interested
in visual ethnographies of institutions of science and technology.
1 March 2006
Speaker: Prof Tim Poston
Topic: Three Dimensions from Two: Reinventing the Mouse
Abstract:
Computer mouse input has changed little since today's students were
born. It is often better than keyboard input, but for many tasks
it is horribly inadequate. It demands thought and effort from the
user that not only wastes time, but intellectually disrupts concentration
on the real task, such as designing a drug or an engine, or examing
a 3D brain scan. Interaction with 3D images is so bad that education
still poisons the 3D imagination: just like fifty years ago, 8-year
olds think better in 3D than 18-yr-olds who have had ten years of
mind-flattening diagrams. I will describe and demonstrate a mouse
that provides much better control in an easily learned way (it is
still a mouse: everything you're used to, it still does). I will
show some of the 2D and 3D
things that can be done with it, plans to put numbers behind the
excited claims above, and some of the possibilities opened for cognitive
and gender studies. A recently filed patent will help bring the
new mouse into the marketplace.
About the speaker
Tim Poston is a British geometer with co-authors
from archaeologists to brain surgeons, who moved from Singapore
to GE's lab in Bangalore in 2003, and to NIAS in 2004. He looks
for low-cost ways for computer displays to reach not just the eye,
but the mind.
22 February 2006
Speakers: Prof K Ramachandra, Visiting Professor, NIAS
& Mr Kishor Bhat, Ph.D Student
Topic: Primes, Primes and Primes
Abstract: Mention will be made of large primes
by computers using a method of E.lucas. The theoretical results
by myself and Mr Kishor Bhat will be mentioned.
15 February 2006
Speaker: Mr Kishor Bhat
Title: Bertrand's postulate
Abstract:
Bertrand's postulate states that between any number and its double,
there exists a prime. This was proven by Pafnuty Chebyshev, and
reprooved by Ramnunjan. The proof of this lecture was originally
written by the prolific mathematician Paul Erdos at age 19.
About the speaker
Kishor Bhat is a Ph.D student in the mathematical modeling
unit at NIAS. His research interests include number theory.
1 February 2006
Speaker: Dr. John R. Marr, Hon. General
Secretary, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, UK Centre
Topic: The Tamil Sangam: reality and myth
Abstract: TAMIL SANGAM highlights the whole problem
of myth and reality. The Sangam myth has engendered much in the
iconography of Madurai that is real enough.
The earliest version of the story is probably datable to the ninth
century commentary to KALAVIYAL but the Sangam poems themselves
show not a trace of being intended for anthologies or of being entered
for competition or approbation!
About the Speaker: Dr. Marr's
book The Eight Anthologies (1985) was concerned with early Tamil
Sangam literature. He was lecturer in Tamil at the School of Oriental
and African Studies, London, from 1955 and retired in 1992. Meanwhile,
since his responsibilities had expanded to include South Indian
music and Indian art and Archaeology,his post was changed to that
of South Indian Studies. He came first to India having joined the
Indian Army cadet scheme in 1946 and was stationed in Bangalore
from September of that year, being commissioned at the Infantry
OTS there in February 1947. His exposure to Karnatic music at that
time led to study thereof in 1950 and 1953-4 under Chittoor Subramaniam
at Annamalai University and under Mudikondan Venkatarama Iyer at
the Madras Music Academy. Recently he gave a Karnatic Vocal recital
on January 7th 2006 at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Bangalore. He has
been the Hon. Gen. Sec. of Bhavan~Rs UK Centre since 1983 and he
teaches Karnatic Music theory and Art and Archaeology of the Indian
Sub-continent there. He also teaches the latter at the British Museum.
18 January 2006
Wednesday Talk
Topic: India's long road to partition
Speaker: Prof. Satish Saberwal, Professor of Sociology,
Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi
Abstract:
The historians' interpretations of the Partition concentrate
on the moves and the choices made by leading actors of the British
government, the Congress and the Muslim League during the decade
or two preceding the transfer of power. This presentation will argue
that these actors' options may have been severely limited by the
considerable re-configuration of society over the preceding century
and more. This re-configuration had two principal drivers: the sharply
exclusivist religious ideologies emanating from centres like the
Deoband madrasa and the Arya Samaj since the late nineteenth century;
and the spiral of social conflict - symbolic, societal, and physical
- which had begun to rise since early nineteenth century, and which
served to harden adversarial identities with passing generations.
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