AID News for Mar 18 2004

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AID News for Thu Mar 18 2004

AID News for Thu Mar 18, 2004
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AID News for Thu Mar 18, 2004
Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening,
Today's Headlines
1) Chapter News :AID Bangalore
2) Ramdas Padhye puppet show schedule
3) NGOs supported by AID - in the news
- Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS)
- Gram Ganarajya Vedike (GGV)
4) Development news from India
5) Job postings & Fellowships
6) India Shining? A compilation of views
1) Joy of Learning sessions at AID Bangalore

The Bangalore chapter of AID essentially consists of volunteers from
the various IT companies in the area. Over the last year and a half we
have been focusing on a program called Joy of Learning, which is an
attempt to make learning, especially science and math, as much fun as
it iseducative. Practical experiments and demonstrations are used to
inculcate a thorough understanding of a subject.
Joy of Learning sessions have been conducted at various schools in
Bangalore and one of them, Nammane, a school run by Association for
Promotion of Social Action (APSA), has formed a science club called
``Gravity'' and is holding an inaugural science exhibition at their
school premises on Saturday, March 13th. Neither the school, nor the
students are your ordinary variety and hence we are eager that the
public be aware of this event and provide the much needed support and
encouragement. Nammane is a residential school for children in acute
distress. Begun in 1991 as a night shelter, by APSA, it has over the
years become a haven for child laborers, runaways, the abandoned,
victims of physical and sexual abuse and in general children from
difficult backgrounds.
In addition to being a crisis support center, Nammane, provides middle
school and high school dropouts with transition training so that they
can appear for the seventh and tenth standard exams. It also offers
non-formal education alternatives to equip the children with the
necessary confidence and ability to join the mainstream. The science
exhibition, mentioned earlier, is an initiative by the children, most
of who are dropouts and socially disadvantaged, as a demonstration of
both their understanding of scientific topics and their organizational
capabilities.
contributed by Aradhana Janga
[This event has already taken place on March 13, but I included this
because of it's general interest to readers - Ed]
2) Ramdas padhye puppet show schedule
*****************************************
*RAMDAS PADHYE SHOW*
*****************************************
A Show Full of Fun, Fantasy & Ribtickling Humor
.....with Ever Hilarious Talking dolls
........................... Naughty Puppets
..........................................& Music!
Presented by Renowned Puppeteer & Ventriloquist
*Ramdas Padhye* & His Wife *Aparna Ramdas*.
"Lijjat papad" - exactly! From the creators of the
"Lijjat papad bunny"
Experience an evening of fun with your family and kids! Many
of us in our childhood watched Ramdas on TV and were enthralled
by his puppets! Relive and share the fun with friends and
family!
AID Inc. hereby invites you and your family members and your
friends to "*The Puppet Show*"!
An evening full of Indian Puppetry and Ventriloquism!
Share the magic!
Show schedule ==============
3rd April, 2004 4:00 PM Physics Auditorium,
University of Maryland, College Park
4th April, 2004 4:00 PM Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
Lecture Hall,
Pittsburgh PA
10th April,2004 3:00 PM Westhall Auditorium,
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY
17th April,2004 4:00 PM Hindu Bhavan, Durham NC
24th April,2004 5:00 PM Mira Mesa High School, San Diego, CA
1st May, 2004 6:30 PM CET Performing Arts Center, San Jose, CA
2nd May, 2004 5:30 PM Cubberley Auditorium, Palo Alto, CA
9th May, 2004 5:00 PM University of Missouri-KC
Kansas City, MO
15th May, 2004 2:00 PM Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
Event URL: www.aidpuppetshow.org
Proceeds from the event will benefit developmental projects supported
by AID Inc.
3) NGOs supported by AID, in the news
*** Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS)
Freedom of Information Laws Slowly Change a Culture of Secrecy : By
Rama Lakshmi
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41489-2004Mar8.html
As ration shopkeepers tried in vain to disrupt the public hearing
convened by the Workers and Peasants Empowerment Organization, a
grass-roots advocacy group, the names of 30 more impoverished
villagers who had been cheated out of their wheat entitlements were
read out.
Contributed by Aniruddha Vaidya
*** Gram Ganarajya Vedike (GGV)
AID Cincinnati chapter is supporting Samaj Parivartana Samudaya (SPS)
since Jan 2003 towards management of common lands and forests for the
empowerment of poor through strengthening organizations such as
village forest committees and panchayats. Our chapter is interacting
with SR Hiremath, founder of IDS in US and SPS in karnataka, regarding
their activities. S.R. Hiremath is also spearheading the campaign of
Gram Ganarajya Vedike (GGV) towards the implementation panchayati Raj
institutions, self rule of panchayats, in India. The following links
from the newspaper ``The Hindu'' describes the movement and campaigns
that are taking place currently.
http://www.hindu.com/2004/01/04/stories/2004010409040300.htm
http://www.hindu.com/2004/01/26/stories/2004012607410300.htm
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/gallery/0070/007011.htm
Contributed by Malolan Chetlur
4) Development news from India
*** For Rs 3,000, Mushtaq Mohammed walked free, barely six hours after
he was arrested by the Shahu Nagar Police. The employer of 91 children
at two zari embroidery units at Dharavi, Mushtaq was released on bail
by the Bandra magistrate court. Meanwhile, 12 more kids aged 9 to
12--all from Sitamarhi and Purnea in Bihar--were rescued in another
raid by the police in Govandi on Monday.
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=78324
*** Why laws can't rescue a child
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=78344
Contributed by Uma Asher
5) Job postings and fellowships
Job with Campaign for justice in Bhopal
As some of you know, the campaign for justice in Bhopal
http://www.bhopal.net
is picking up speed again, with a whole series of activities planned
for this year, which includes the 20th anniversary of the disaster. It
has joined forces with many other activists working on anti-Dow
activities (Dow chemical, makers of Agent Orange and leaking silicon
breast implants, among other marvels of the modern era, has bought
Union Carbide). There's a very exciting job available to work on this
campaign. Although the job is housed with PANNA, you'd be working
with all the great Bhopal activists in Bhopal, the US and elsewhere.
http://www.idealist.org/en/jobs/11388:243/110843:263
Contributed by Tarun Jain
Columbia Human Rights Fellowships
Excerpt: The initiative seeks to integrate grassroots human rights
leaders and activists into national and international policy-making
discussions and processes related to globalization, in order to
influence global economic decision-making in favor of more effective
and rights-responsive policies. In addition to completing a tailored
academic and skill-building program at Columbia, participants engage
in dialogue with key figures leading debates on globalization in
government, business and the NGO sector. They also share insights and
strategies with one another, creating lasting partnerships with
counterparts from other regions. At the conclusion of the US-based
program, the Center continues to partner with these grassroots leaders
and their organizations to further the development of research and
advocacy strategies as well as new intellectual paradigms in human
rights.
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/humanrights
Contributed by Pervin Jahangir
6) India shining? A compilation
The feel good factory : Most of the India Shining claims are true as
long as we are talking about 10 per cent of the population. But true
credit belongs to the media as well. India Shines best when they apply
the polish. P Sainath calls the campaign a government-media joint
venture.
http://www.indiatogether.org/2004/mar/psa-shining.htm
Progress by any other measure : For long the GDP has been identified
as the standard for a country's economic advance, but in reality, it
is little more than a relic of an earlier era. The ``Genuine Progress
Indicator'' or GPI is a better balance sheet of the costs and benefits
of growth, says Dilip D'Souza.
http://www.indiatogether.org/2004/mar/ddz-gdpgpi.htm
Articles in Rediff
http://www.rediff.com/money/shining.htm
http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_5624.shtml
Contributed by Pervin Jahangir
That's all folks & May the fun be with you.
With regards
Arvind R
Just Another Quote
If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?
-Abraham Lincoln
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