R@D for bamboo: issues for unfolding future potential It is ironic that communities that grow or conserve Bamboo diversity in our country are among the poorest. One of the key reasons could be lack of adequate R@D support, tools and techniques for in situ value addition, characterization of Bamboo diversity for multiple high-value products like…
More than a dozen states are suffering from drought including Gujarat. What one hears is that since good rains are expected, it is really a short term miserly and after a few weeks everything will be ok. Will it? What will happen to the people whose savings of last five or more years have been…
Affirmative action: Do we need a new scissors? Recent agitation by the young leaders of one of the most affluent communities in Gujarat has revived the debate about affirmative action and the need for sharpening our tools. To cut this problem differently, maybe we need a new scissors of different criteria and…
How Syrians Saved an Ancient Seedbank From Civil War http://www.wired.com/2015/04/syrians-saved-ancient-seedbank-civil-war/?mbid=nl_041715 for those who may not know, it is useful to also recall Cambodian war and how Pol Pot, the dictator had banned cultivation of local varieties and thus tried to destroy the in situ genetic diversity. http://dlc.dlib.indiana.edu/dlc/bitstream/handle/10535/4637/Encounter%20of%20Cambodian%20rice%20farmers%20with%20war%20and%20rice%20diversity.pdf?sequence=1 (author of this paper not yet known, inform…
Redirecting development: Some Lessons from 33rd Shodhyatra Walking through the villages in Mahendragadh district, Haryana was very reassuring in certain aspects and bewildering in other. We did not come across even a single malnourished child in the villages during the walk. How could ithappen when many other states and regions of Haryana…
French Announcement Invitation for the Third International Conference on Creativity and Innovations at Grassroots [ICCIG], January 19-22, 2015 Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad Giving voice, visibility and velocity to creativity and innovative potential of common people at grassroots has been the key goal of inclusive development. Honey Bee Network has emerged as a committed new…
Ahmedabad Declaration Second International Conference on Creativity and Innovation at Grassroots December 2012, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India Grassroots innovations evolve in response to local problems but not always the ones faced by the innovators themselves. Many times, third party problems inspire the innovators to attempt solutions. Thus, these unaided, self-triggered and self-inspired solutions…
SRISTI SRISTI (Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions www.sristi.org), which means creation, was born in 1993, essentially to support the activities of the Honey Bee Network to recognize, respect and reward creativity at the grassroots. The objectives were: systematic documentation, dissemination of, and value addition in grassroots green innovations, providing them…
My manifesto: not that it matters………… vyakti ( individual), vichar ( idea), vyavahar ( practice) and sanskar (embedded values). The Dissent lies at the heart of democracy: great leaders are judged by the extent to which they brook diversity of views and then try to recognize the value of climbing ladder: vyakti ( individual), vichar…
Ten policies that must change soon: Agenda for new government – part 1 With different parties vying for voters support, it is paradoxical that the debate on policies is so feeble or confusing. There is not a strong critique being presented by any party either to herald an incremental change or complete overhaul. Let me…