Saluting Nepali Bloggers
Bloggers have come to play a major role wherever press censorship is imposed or freedom of speech has been curbed. This is what is happening in Nepal. Here is a tribute to Nepali bloggers.
New Media : The Internet bats for Democracy
Dinesh C Sharma
Once again the Internet has proved that it is a great medium of communication in times of crises, be it a natural disaster like the Indian Ocean tsunami or man made one like the press censorship in Nepal. The country with one of the lowest telephone density in the region suddenly emerged on the Internet radar when King Gyanendra imposed media censorship after what has been termed as a Royal coup.The Internet played a key role in keeping the information flow from the Himalayan kingdom to the outside world alive as a Royal decree silenced all free media - newspapers, satellite television and community radio stations. Media watchers the world over were quick to recognize and salute the voices for restoration of democracy in Nepal articulated by the nascent blogosphere of Nepal. Once again, it has been proved that Internet is a powerful platform for free expression for all.In the first week of censorship in Nepal, there was complete clamp down on media and communication, including the Internet.
The King had ordered all inbound and outbound telephone links to be cut off and all Internet service providers were told to shut down their servers. During this period, the only means of communication was the satellite phone, which very few local people could afford. Some journalists could access the Internet from via satellite links available in missions of Western countries and the United Nations. All community radio stations were asked to stop operations.There was a crackdown on the Internet as well, but it was limited to blocking websites run by Maoist supporters and other political groups from abroad like www.newslookmag.com and www.nepalipost.com. Considering that few Nepalese citizens have access to the Internet, the palace has not really bothered to launch a serious crackdown on the net, as done in China.
Full article at the website of Press Institute of India:
http://www.pressinstitute.org/vidura_64.htm
Not-so-sunny side of Indian BPO industry
Here is a piece that I recently wrote for WFS on the condition of women workers in in the Indian BPO industry, an aspect not highlighted so much by the Indian media. Often we read stories about only brighter aspects of this industry in media.India.
BPOs: Not So Sunny for Women Here
By Dinesh C Sharma
Women's Feature Service New Delhi, May 24, (WFS) - Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is one of the hottest career destinations for young Indians, declares the National Association for Software and Service Companies (Nasscom), the trade body for India's information technology industry. The number of Indians working for this sector was about 350,000 by March 2005. This figure is expected to grow to 1.2 million in another three years. The association says the sector is growing at over 50 per cent in terms of job creation. This supersonic growth trajectory is fuelled by the economic compulsions of North American and European corporations to shift their low-end jobs to countries like India. In addition, the unleashing of so-called incentives to this sector by state governments is further boosting this growth. In addition to infrastructure facilities, BPO units have been exempted from several labour laws and environmental regulations.
Full article in Bombay's Mid-Day:
http://ww1.mid-day.com/news/nation/2005/june/110930.htm
A day with Waterman of India at Almora
Had an opportunity to spend a day with Rajendra Singh, popularly known as the water man of India for the path breaking work done by him in Rajasthan. It was interesting to hear the whole story of how he and his organisation, TBS, revived a dead river -Arvari - in Alwar region of the state. The man is a riveting speaker, a down-to-earth man and a simple yet charming soul. While everybody during journey from Delhi to Almora and later on at the seminar (on water and media which he inaugurated) was happily gulping down bottled water, Rajendra Singh chose to remain thirsty, for he does not drink bottled water. All along the way, he pointed to the drried up river beds and streams, saying these are dead rivers, but they can be revived. It was quite a revelation to me that the man has walked along courses of some 140 big and small rivers in India!
Hazardous Waste expose in EHP
Here is a detailed situation paper on hazardous waste situation in India that I have written for Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) published from the US. For a change, this scientific journal is in open source. So the full article is available free.
"India is known for its many man-made splendors, yet a look around this nation also shows a wealth of imported and domestically produced toxic wastes that have been accumulating for decades. In 1995, India’s Supreme Court started taking action to get the country’s hazardous waste situation under control. A series of legislative amendments have brought India’s laws in line with Basel Convention requirements, and local committees are being set up to watch over industry. A monitoring committee established by the Supreme Court has ordered the closure of several polluters and is requiring industries to pay for cleanup of their pollution."
Full article at:
http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2005/113-6/spheres-abs.html
Broadband woes in Delhi
At long lost, I thought I will have a nice, steady broadband connection at home. Having tried out Hotwire and waited for Reliance broadband endlessly, I decided to go in for the much touted MTNL broadband service in Delhi. I dont know why they are advertising it as tri-band. It is actually two-band - phone connection and internet feed. I applied for the service last week (it was a pretty simple form, did not have to pay anything upfront so no hassles of making a DD etc) and got a call two days back that engineers will be coming to set it up. They did come yesterday, with a Dlink router and some Lan cords etc and fixed it up within no time. It worked. I picked up the phone just to see that I was still getting voice line. Just cant forget those dial-up days. I closed my eyes and prayed - hope this works all the time unlike Hotwire that used to go off with every breeze, blinker of lightening and light showers. But my joy seemed short lived. MTNL broadband was 'live' for barely 15 minutes! "sir, there is some problem in conforguration. Actually the router is configured for some other subscriber. If we fix it here, the bill will go to somebody else", explained the MTNL guy. I had no words to speak, my eyes went looking for the Hotwire lead that was just discarded and old IP address that I had just scribbled on my note pad (just in case......). Been 30 hours since then, still waiting for the MTNL man to ring my door bell!!!!
