Newsletter 51 - 19 April 2005

SWEDISH SOUTH ASIAN STUDIES NETWORK

Subscribe to the newsletter by sending an e-mail to sasnet@sasnet.lu.se!

Contents:

SASNET News Research Community News Educational News Conferences and workshops Lectures and seminars Business and Politics South Asia related Culture New and updated information

SASNET News:

• Tsunami catastrophe seminar covered by media
In collaboration with Lund University’s Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies (ACE), and AGESI (a Lund University network dealing with global equity and sustainability issues) SASNET organised a public seminar on ”Beyond Control – Risk and Learning after the Tsunami” on Monday 11 April 2005, 13.00–21.00. The seminar was inaugurated by the Vice-Chancellor of Lund University, Prof. Göran Bexell, and was followed by afternoon lectures focusing on different aspects of risk and disaster management.
Among the lecturers were Dr. Simron Jit Singh (photo to the left) from the University of Vienna (who defended his dissertation on trade relations in the Nicobar Islands, at Lund University in December 2003), and Dr Camilla Orjuela, Dept. of Peace and Development Research, Göteborg University. The seminar rounded up with a panel discussion with researchers, a student and a journalist with experiences of the tsunami catastrophe, in an evening session. Prof. Staffan Lindberg, SASNET, was the moderator. Venue: Edens hörsal, Paradisgatan 5, Lund. More information with full programme (only in Swedish).
The journalist Stig Larsén wrote an article on the seminar in Sydsvenskan, 12 april 2005. Read the article, called ”Tsunamihjälp får skarp kritik” (as a pdf-file). Sören Sommelius, journalist and a participant in the seminar himself, also wrote an article, in Helsingborgs Dagblad 13 April 2005. Read the article, called ”Hur länge varar vårt intresse för offren?”

• Minutes from SASNET’s February 2005 board meeting
The SASNET Board met on Tuesday 15 February 2005, discussed the ongoing self-evaluation, approved of eight new planning grants, and decided about the budget for 2005. Besides praising the Internet gateway the board strongly emphasised the priority SASNET should set to reserve half of its budget for distribution of planning grants. The planned contact journey to South Asia should be accommodated within a revised budget. Bangladesh was suggested as one of the countries to be visited. Read the minutes of the meeting.

• External experts to evaluate SASNET in May 2005
SASNET has now completed its self-evaluation. The root node staff, assisted by the board, has documented the networking and other activities that SASNET has carried out since the start in January 2001. It includes a follow-up study of the 56 planning grants distributed so far – see the planning grants follow-up report. This self-evaluation will now be followed by an external expert evaluation in May 2005, when a team of evaluators will visit the SASNET root node at Lund; Sida/SAREC and the Foreign Ministry in Stockholm, and whichever SASNET partners they would like to meet with (the universities of Uppsala, Karlstad, Göteborg, etc.). The evaluation group consists of Prof. Ghanshyam Shah, Political Scientist from Ahmedabad, India; Prof. Carla Risseeuw, Dept. of Anthropology and Development Sociology, University of Leiden, The Netherlands; and Mr. Lennart Wohlgemut, Director of the Nordic Africa Institute  in Uppsala (team leader). A joint consultation between SASNET personnel, external experts, Lund University and Sida SAREC should then take place in June 2005, before a final report will be submitted to SASNET, Sida/SAREC and Lund University. The report will be the basis for SASNET’s application for renewed funding from Sida/SAREC and Lund University for the period 2006–2008.

• Geshe Pema Dorje holds SASNET lecture at Lund University
Geshe Pema Dorje, Director of Sarah College for Higher Tibetan Studies in Dharamsala, India, holds a SASNET lecture on ”Tibetan Education in Exile” at Lund University on Tuesday 10 May 2005, 10.15–12.00. Dorje who is a Buddhist monk will lecture on the organization and development of educational institutions in the Tibetan refugee community in India and Nepal. With a Geshe degree from the Tibetan monastic educational system, Pema Dorje has been Principal of Tibetan Children’s Village School as well as School of Buddhist Dialectics in Dharamsala. He has been a driving force in the establishment of schools for teacher training and higher education in the refugee community, travelling extensively and co-operating with schools and universities all over the world. In Sweden he has a long-standing relationship with Karlstad University. Venue: Conference Room, Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University, Alfa 1, Scheelevägen 15 D, first floor.

• SASNET lecture with Professor Venkatesh B. Athreya
Professor Venkatesh B. Athreya, Economics Department at Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirapalli, India, holds a SASNET lecture at Lund University, the following day, on Wednesday 11 May 2005, 13.15–15.00. Athreya, who is specialised in the political economy of development, agricultural and social development, will lecture on ”Indian Development under the Neoliberal Reforms, 1991-2005”. Among his most well-known publications are ”Literacy and Empowerment” (with Sheela Rani Chunk, Sage Publications, 1996) and ”Barriers Broken” (with G. Djurfeldt and S. Lindberg, Sage Publications, 1990). Currently he is co-operating with the sociologists Göran Djurfeldt and Staffan Lindberg at Lund University in a restudy of 300 agricultural households in Tiruchirapalli District, Tamil Nadu, which originally were interviewed in 1979/80. Venue: Conference Room 1, Department of Sociology, Paradisgatan 5, Lund. More information (as a pdf-file)

• Contemporary Dramas of South Asia theme for NASA conference in Aarhus
After a gap of four years the Nordic Association for South Asian Studies, NASA, arranges a conference 3–5 June 2005 in Aarhus, Denmark. The theme for the conference will be ”Contemporary Dramas of South Asia: Economic, Social, Political and Cultural Changes/Upheavals”, and it is organised by the University of Aarhus. Keynote speakers are Dr. Christophe Jaffrelot, director of the Centre d’Etudes et Recherches Internationales (CERI), Paris; Professor Zoya Hasan, Centre for Political Studies, Jawarharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; Professor Martin Sökefeld, Dept. of Anthropology, Hamburg University; and Professor Isabelle Clark-Deces, Department of Anthropology, Princeton University. SASNET is partly involved in the conference’s workshop panel no 7 on ”Health, Globalization and Marginalization in South Asia", by funding a couple of participants from South Asia. More information on the NASA conference in Aarhus.

• Applications for the next round of SASNET planning grants
are now invited. Closing date for applications is 15 June, 2005. More information.

• SASNET Work Reports available on the Internet
All Administrative reports regarding SASNET’s work from the first planning process in 1999 till 2004 are available at SASNET’s web site (as pdf-files). The latest report to be added was the Administrative report no. 5, for the period 1 January 2004– 31 december 2004. Go for the SASNET Work Reports.

Research News

• Beppe Karlsson appointed new Director for Nordic Centre in India
The Nordic Centre in India (NCI) university consortium has decided to appoint Dr. Bengt G. (Beppe) Karlsson, Uppsala, new Director for NCI. Beppe Karlsson (photo to the left) is at present a Research Fellow at the Department of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology, Uppsala University. He will take over charge from the current Director Arild Engelsen Ruud on 1 May 2005. With this, the Nordic Centre in India will move, from Oslo to Uppsala. Another significant change is that the director's position is much enhanced and is now a half time position. The position will initially be limited to a three-year period. More information on the Nordic Centre in India (NCI).

• Swedish government adopts new land strategy plan for development cooperation with India
On Thursday 31 March 2005 the Swedish government adopted a new land strategy plan for development cooperation with India. The strategy plan deals with the period 2005–2009, and sets the overall goal of development co-operation with India to be helping create conditions that will enable poor people to improve their situation. This should be realised through the promotion of • respect for democracy and human rights, • poverty-oriented environmental protection, and • processes of pro-poor innovative research and development (in selected areas such as poverty related programmes within Biotechnology, ICT, environment, and health issues including hiv/aids).

• Eight Erasmus Mundus programmes at Swedish universities
Swedish universities are involved in eight out of the 36 Erasmus Mundus programmes selected by the European Commission (EC) so far. The Erasmus Mundus programmes, providing scholarships for graduate students from third countries to study in Europe, has a budget for 230 Million Euros for the period up to 2008. In 2004 the EC selected the first 19 Erasmus Mundus masters courses, involving 82 European universities, to start at the beginning of the academic year 2004-2005, and in February 2005 the EC selected a further 17 Erasmus Mundus master’s courses, involving 69 European universities new to the scheme for courses will start at the beginning of the next academic year (2005-2006). More information on the Erasmus Mundus programmes available at Swedish universities.

• 900 scholarships offered to Indian graduate students at European universities
The European Commission and the Government of India has signed an agreement through which 900 scholarships will be offered for Indian graduate students to study at Europe's finest universities. The EC will provide Euros 33 Million to finance the scholarship programme, that is part of the Erasmus Mundus programme, providing scholarships for graduate students from third countries to study in Europe. Graduate students can apply for a scholarship directly to the European Erasmus Mundus Degree which interests them, a number of which includes Swedish universities, see above. More information.

• The 2005 Stockholm Water Prize to be given to CSE in New Delhi
The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) based in New Delhi, India, led by Ms. Sunita Narain, will receive the 2005 Stockholm Water Prize. The award has been given by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) to CSE for its efforts to build a new paradigm of water management, which uses the traditional wisdom of rainwater harvesting and advocates the role of communities in managing their local water systems. Sunita Narain herself (photo to the left) is a dynamic advocate for water, environment, human rights, democracy and health, and has previously served as a member of the board for the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI). CSE will receive the $150,000 Prize from HM King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden during the Stockholm Water Week in August. More information.

• SARTrain part of Asian Century Research School of Nordic countries
A joint Nordic research school on Asia is currently being established by the Nordic Institute for Asian Studies in Copenhagen (NIAS) in collaboration with Nordic partners. The so called ”Asian Century Research School” is envisioned as a “network research school”, based on the exchange of teachers, students, and other research resources at a Nordic level to facilitate a much-needed “critical mass”, and ensuring a better education and training of future scholars in the Asian fields. The planning was initiated at a meeting in September 2004 by a Nordic working group, consisting of representatives from universities in Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark (including SASNET’s Director, Prof. Staffan Lindberg).
Within the framework of the Asian Century Research School the intention is to facilitate creation of a number of research clusters, accommodating the different needs and interests in research and research training of Nordic scholars and students. The Gendering Asia Network and the South Asia Research Training (SARTrain) are examples of research clusters that are in the process of being organised. The Swedish School for Advanced Asia-Pacific Studies (SSAAPS) has offered to fund the first meetings of another three research clusters in Sweden, concerning “Economic Studies in Asia” (Thommy Svensson, SSAAPS), “Technological Innovation in Asia” (Anders Törnvall, Linköping University) and “Democratisation and Political Change in Asia” (Hans Blomkvist, Uppsala University). Jan Kanne Petersen works as the project coordinator of the research school, and as such he will work closely together with the working group to organise research clusters, and prepare applications to attract funding for training activities. More information on the Asian Century Research School.

• The Lancet’s Neonatal Survival series free of charge at the Internet
The Lancet, the world's leading independent general medical journal (1.1 million registered users), has introduced a new series called Neonatal Survival, focusing on the issue of child survival. The aim behind Neonatal Survival is to erase the excuse of ignorance for public and political inaction once and for all. The series is the product of a partnership between scientists, health workers, and journal editors. The Lancet has decided to support this important public health campaign by making this special issue available through the Internet at no cost. Professor Zulfiqar Bhutta, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan, is one of the main contributors to Neonatal Survival. Go for the digital edition of the 56 page special issue of the Lancet.

• Digital Library cornerstone of new Pakistani university strategy
The Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) has entered into a collaborative programme with the National Academy of Sciences (USA) to enhance the content of the Digital Library resources. The project involves the negotiation and acquisition of scientific literature and academic (journal) databases from selected American Scientific Societies to meet the specific information requirements of the research sector in Universities in Pakistan. The project is part of the Digital Library Program launched by Pakistan in January 2004, and is considered to beone of the cornerstones of a strategy to capitalize on the potential of ICT to turn the universities of Pakistan into world-class seats of learning. It is a parallell project to the collaboration agreements on research training that Pakistan recently signed with Sweden and other countries (more information on this agreement). LiveWire, a journal published by the American Chemical Society, in March 2005 made an interview with Kamran Naim (photo to the right), coordinator for Pakistan’s Digital Library project. Read the article (as a pdf-file).

• Critique by Professor Pervez Hoodbhoy on the educational situation in Pakistan
Pervez Hoodbhoy, professor of physics at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, is one of the leading intellectual front figures in Pakistan. In January 2005 he published two articles in the newspaper Dawn that were higly critical of the situation for higher education in his country. In the articles, called ”Reforming our Universities” he writes that Pakistan ”has almost a hundred universities now, but not one of them is world class”. Go for the article. In a second article, called ”Controversy on HEC measures: Reforming our universities” Hoodbhoy critisises the way the Higher Education Commission, HEC, tries to handle the problems. Go for the article.

• Observations by Professor Hoodbhoy on science and society in India
In 2003 Professor Pervez Hoodbhoy received the award of UNESCO's Kalinga Prize for the popularization of science. One part of the Prize included a four-week lecture tour to India. In January-February 2005 he finally took off and toured India, visiting Delhi, Pune, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bhubaneshwar, Cuttack and Kolkata before returning back to Islamabad. See photo from Bhubaneshwar The tour resulted in a lengthy article, called ”India Through Pakistani Eyes. Observations on science and society in India”, that was published in the Sunday Magazine of Dawn on 19 February 2005. Go for the article.

• Report from Lund workshop on Sikh and Punjab Studies
On March 19 2005 a one-day workshop on Sikh and Punjab Studies was arranged at the Centre for Theology and Religious Studies at Lund University. The workshop was attended by about 60 people, including students and teachers from various universities in Scandinavia, as well as members of the Sikh communities in Sweden and Denmark. The key speakers were internationally renowned experts from Germany, Sweden, UK and USA, who are working within the interdisciplinary field of Sikh and Punjab Studies. Read Kristina Myrvold’s conference report.

• Indic Studies Network based at CSDS in New Delhi
The Indic Studies Network (IsNew) was established at the Conference on Religions in the Indic Civilisation, held in New Delhi in December 2003. This nascent organization aims to bring together individual scholars and academicians from the fields of religious and cultural studies of the region, providing linkages and a forum for vibrant intellectual study. IsNew is based at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in New Delhi, India. More information.

• Fellowships available at the Library of Congress John W. Kluge Center
Fellowships are available at the Library of Congress John W. Kluge Center. The Library of Congress in Washington D.C, USA, invites qualified scholars to conduct research in the Center using the Library of Congress collections and resources for a period of up to eleven months. The Kluge Center especially encourages humanistic and social science research that makes use of the Library's large and varied collections. More information.

• Five out of 30 Asia-Link projecs include South Asian partners
EU’s Asia-Link programme fosters regional and multilateral networking between higher education institutions in Europe, and those in developing countries in Asia. Asia-Link does this in three ways: (a) It provides funding for partnerships between European and Asian higher education institutions (HEIs) to carry out specific projects, aimed at developing human resources and new curricula, and at improving administration within institutions. (b) It also provides support for capacity-building actions to improve knowledge and skills in project design and management among higher education institution staff. (c) It carries out a range of programme support activities, including the development of information and studies, promotional activities, consultation of stakeholders, networking of benefi ciaries and the dissemination of results. The first phase of the Programme was launched in 2002. As of February 2005, the Asia-Link Programme had granted over EUR 36.6 million in co-funding to support 126 projects, which together involved 550 higher education institutions. The EuropeAid Co-operation Office has published a fourth Call for Proposals for the Asia-Link Programme, with two deadlines in 2005: 10 February 2005 and 19 May 2005. Guidelines for applicants and application form available on the Asia-Link Programme web page.
59 project proposals arrived at EuropeAid in time for the 10 February 2005 deadline, the first under the 2005 Call for Proposals. These will now be checked for administrative compliance and eligibility before technical evaluation during March.
At the same time 30 projects have been recommended for funding under the second deadline of the Third Call for Proposals (September 2004 deadline). Out of these 30 projecs five include South Asian partners. More information on the latest South Asia related projects recommended for funding.

Educational News

• Nordic MA students and PhD candidates offered NIAS SUPRA scholarships
The Nordic Institute for Asian Studies (NIAS) offers scholarships for visiting Nordic MA students and PhD candidates to its research centre and library in Copenhagen, through the so called NIAS SUPRA programme (Support Programme for Asian Studies). Students affiliated with institutions that are members of the Nordic NIAS Council (see www.nias.ku.dk) are offered full scholarships that cover travel expenses, accommodation and full board at the ”Nordisk Kollegium”, whereas students from non-members of Nordic NIAS Council will have to pay for accommodation and transportation themselves. For students from Lund University there is also an alternative, namely Öresund Scholarships. In this case NIAS reimburses daily commuting costs to/from Copenhagen. NIAS SUPRA received 47 students in 2004. Application deadlines for SUPRA scholarships are three times a year. In 2005: 4 April, 5 September and 28 November. More information with application forms.

• Masters level course on Histories of Colonial Experience at Uppsala University
The Department of History at Uppsala University organises a 5 credits Masters level course on ”Histories of Colonial Experience” during the period April–June 2005. The course provides an overview of debates, interpretations and perspectives in colonial history in contemporary debates. It focuses mainly on the inner socio-economic and political dynamics of regions under late colonial rule within the British Empire, i.e. 1750-1950. More information.

• Masters level courses in the field of Environmental history and political ecology at Uppsala University
The Department of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology offers two 5 credits Masters level courses in the field of Environmental history and political ecology in the Fall 2005. Courses drawing much from south Asian experiences. The first course is titled ”Postcolonial Natures”, and will run during September-October. Teacher: K. Sivaramakrishnan, Professor of Anthropology and International Studies, University of Washington, Seattle, USA (photo to the left). Preliminary arrangements have been made to also include Arun Bandopadhyay, Nurul Hasan professor of history, Calcutta University, and Dr. Suparna Gooptu, reader, Department of History, Calcutta University, as teachers in the course. The second course is titled ”Political Ecology”, and will run from November to January 2006.

• Master’s Programme in Development Studies at Uppsala University
The Department of Government at Uppsala University introduced a 60 ECTS-credits (40 Swedish points) Master’s Programme in Development Studies in September 2003. The programme, partly focusing on South Asia, has been designed to attract students with a special interest in development issues, and might be useful for personnel working in the foreign services, aid organisations, the UN, and non-governmental organisations. The teachers are Shirin Ahlbäck-Öberg, Mattias Burell, Magdalena Inkinen and Sten Widmalm. A new programme starts in September 2005. More information on the programme.

• Independent course on Global Health at Karolinska Institutet Medical University
The Department of Nursing, The Division of International Health, IHCAR, and the Department of Public Health Sciences, every semester arranges a 5 credits independent course on Global Health. The course is open to students at Karolinska Institutet in the Medical programme, Midwifery programme, Nursing programme, Dental programme, Biomedical laboratory programme, Physiotherapy programme, Occupational therapy programme, and the Biomedical programme. The students can choose to do the field work at Karolinska’s two collaboration partner institutions in South Asia: The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan; and Trivandrum Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, India. More information on the Global Health course.

• KI organises courses in Global Medicine for Junior Hospital Doctors in Madhya Pradesh
The Center for Public Health, CeFAM (a collaboration between Karolinska Institutet and the county council of Stockholm) organises courses in Global Medicine for Junior Hospital Doctors (ST-läkare). The Sida funded courses deal with diseases like malaria, TB and AIDS, and take place either in Ethiopia or in India (four months at R.D.Gardi Medical College, in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh. More information.

• Engineering students run Project India 2005 at KTH
Project India 2005 is the fourth international engineering project. It is a one-year project-based course initiated and run by KTH students. The aim of the project is to analyse the potential of the Indian market and to investigate its affect on Swedish companies. The results will be presented to the companies involved, as well as to students and staff of KTH in the form of seminars and a published report.

• Time to apply for World course on Justice, Peace and Environment at Ljungskile Folkhögskola
A new ”World course on Justice, Peace and Environment is arranged at Ljungskile Folk High school during August–December 2005, including a three weeks stay at the village folk high school Jagriti Vihara in Ranchi, Jharkhand. Last date for applications: 3 May 2005. More information.

• Time to apply for Ecology and Global Solidarity course on Nordens Folkhögskola Biskops-Arnö
A 36 weeks course on Ecology and Global Solidarity, is arranged every year. The next course starts in August 2005, and includes a two months stay in India in January–February 2006, where the students will study local projects working against the globalisation and for an ecologically and socially sustainable society. Last date for applications: 24 April 2005. More information.

Conferences and courses

• Alumni conference at Lund University on sustainable development
Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies (LUCSUS) organises a so-called Lund Sustainability Forum 2005, 20–21 April 2005. The conference is organised as a reunion for alumnis from LUMES (Masters Programme in Environmental Science) run at Lund University since 1997. Some 300 students from some 70 countries are then reassembling in Lund to share their experiences. The conference will be open to public and consists of key note addresses, panel discussions and a number of parallel sessions related to Third World development. Ola Rosling will lecture on ”Global Health – what's at stake and what's our response?”, Lennart Olsson on ”What is the Concensus in Climate Change in Science, Politics and Implementation?” and Annica Young Kronsell on ”Gender in the Development Discourse”. Venue: Kårhuset, John Ericssons väg 3, Lund. More information on Lund Sustainability Forum 2005.

• Lillehammer conference on Indo-Scandinavian collaboration within higher education
The International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE)/Network Scandinavia organises a conference in Lillehammer 25–26 April 2005. The conference is titled ”From the local to the global – Collaboration within higher education between India and the Scandinavian Countries”. A few selected institutions from both India and the Scandinavian countries have been invited to discuss topics such as student exchange, study program development and research, and development collaboration within the use of ICT and New Media in education. ICDE is approved and authorized by the United Nations (UNESCO) to serve as the Global Institutional Membership Organization in Online, Flexible and Blended Learning, including e-learning and distance education.

• Dubrovnik course on etnography, aid and development
Postgraduate students from any discipline who are currently engaged in work on any aspect of aid and development, and who are committed to utilising ethnographic methods and approaches, are invited to a five-days course at he Inter-University Centre Dubrovnik, Croatia, 25–29 April 2005. Aid and development practioners and researchers with an interest in these themes are also welcome to apply for the course that is planned by researchers from different European countries. The course lecturer will be Steven Sampson, University of Lund, Sweden.

• Alliances and boundaries in focus for Pakistan Workshop 2005
The Pakistan Workshop 2005 with the theme ”Building Alliances and Blurring Boundaries” will be held at Rook How, in the English Lake District 6–8 May 2005. The focus of the workshop will be on different types of alliances and those who engage in them. The Pakistan Workshop has been held regularly in the idyllic country setting of the Lake District since 1986. It was formed to provide anthropologists and other social scientist with a venue to meet and discuss ongoing research. The Workshop has always maintained a relaxed atmosphere for exchanging ideas and meeting people.

• Gendering Asia Conference to be held in Kungälv
The first Gendering Asia Conference, organised by the Nordic Research Network Gendering Asia and the Centre for Asian Studies, Göteborg University, is held at Kungälv, north of Göteborg, 19–21 May 2005. The conference is planned to be an annual event highlighting recent Nordic developments in research on gender in Asia. Scholars and PhD students from any discipline working with topics related to the overall theme of Gendering Asia are invited to take part. Even though the conference especially addresses Nordic scholars and students or scholars based at Nordic institutes, non-Nordic scholars interested in this conference also are most welcome to submit an abstract. More information.

• Amsterdam conference/workshop on Music and the Art of Seduction
An International conference/workshop on ”Music and the Art of Seduction” is held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 19–22 May 2005. The conference, hosted by the Music Department of the University of Amsterdam, in co-operation with the Bake Society and the Amsterdam School of Cultural Analysis (ASCA), includes a separate panel on ”Courtesans in North India: Past and Present”, convened by Lalita du Perron, SOAS, University of London, UK. Venue: Royal Tropical Institute (KIT), Amsterdam. Besides paper presentations and discussion panels the workshop will also feature a number of musical concerts.

• 2005 Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE) in Amsterdam
The 2005 Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics (ABCDE) is held 23–24 May 2005 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. ABCDE is one of the world’s best known series of conferences on development, first organized in Washington DC in 1988. Each year the ABCDE brings together leading policy-makers, academics, civil society representatives, journalists and students, fostering dialogue and contributing new knowledge on development issues. ABCDE 2005, organised by the World Bank in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Development Cooperation and the Ministry of Finance of The Netherlands, will be the first global ABCDE held in Europe. The theme of the conference will be ”Securing Development in an Unstable World”. Deadline for applications is April 23, 2005. The organizers offer a limited number of Support Grants for participants coming from and based in developing or transition countries. Researchers, journalists, civil society representatives and students alike are invited to apply for the grant. Venue: The Royal Tropical Institute (KIT, Mauritskade 63, Amsterdam. More information.

• SASNET–Fermented Foods networking project workshop to be held in Anand
The SASNET–Fermented Foods networking project organises a workshop highlighting the health benefits of fermented foods in Anand, Gujarat, India, 26–27 May 2005. This is the first in a series of three workshops planned for 2005 by the EU-funded networking project, and it will be devoted to informing South Asian policy makers of institutions of higher education and research, in order to encourage a dialogue to define the role of such institutions in activating a network of information on fermented foods. More information.

• Oslo conference on Women's Rights, Racism and Religion
The Nordic Institute for Women’s Studies and Gender Research at the University of Oslo arranges a conference on ”Crossroads: Debating Women's Rights, Racism and Religion”, 31 May–1 June 2005. A principal aim of the conference is to initiate dialogue between minority and majority feminist researchers, and be a forum for discussion on issues like what anti-racist feminism is, and how solidarity politics can be expressed? Other themes to be brought up during workshops include ”Gender, Citizenship and Politics” and ”Theorizing the Diaspora in Literary and Cultural Studies”. One keynote speaker is Uma Narayan, Professor in Philosophy at Vassar College, USA. Her book ”Dislocating Cultures” discusses Third world feminism, including different understandings of violence against women. Venue: Helga Eng's house, at the University of Oslo, Blindern. More information

• Roskilde University organises PhD workshop on Fieldwork
IDS, International Development Studies, at Roskilde University Centre, Denmark, holds a PhD workshop on Fieldwork, 16–17 June 2005. The workshop is organised by PhD candidates Rikke Brogaard, Jakob Trane Ibsen and Helene Kyed, and has Professor Christian Lund from IDS, as key resource person. The themes for the workshop are ”Studying institutions and politics as social fields” and ”Conflicts and conflict ridden settings – moving in the field”. It is open to all PhD students upon application by April 20th.

• WIDER conference on the future of Development Economics
The World Institute for Development Economics Research of the United Nations University (UNU-WIDER) invites for a Jubilee Conference on 'WIDER Thinking Ahead: the Future of Development Economics', in Helsinki, Finland, 17–18 June 2005. Leading International researchers and policymakers will meet at the conference to mark UNU-WIDER's jubilee anniversary, and to reflect upon where we now stand in development economics and what the next two decades might hold. Applications to participate should be sent before 14 February 2005. More information.

• Poverty, equity and health research theme for Mumbai workshop
The ninth Annual Global Forum for Health Research will be held in Mumbai, India. 12–16 September 2005. The theme for the forum, that usually gathers around 700 participants from a broad range of constituencies, will be ”Poverty, equity and health research”. The Global Forum for Health Research was established as an independent international foundation in Switzerland in 1998. The annual Forum meeting is one of its most prominent activities to focus attention on the neglected health research needs of developing countries. It is widely recognized as ”the” annual gathering on health research.

• Kathmandu conference on Solid Waste Management
An International Conference on Sustainable Solid Waste Management in Developing Countries, called ”For a Better Tomorrow” is held in Kathmandu, Nepal, 8–12 January 2006 (Note: changed date). The conference – the first one to focus on local waste management issues in Nepal – is organized by DNet, an organization involved in the issue in Kathmandu, on behalf of Kathmandu University and the Swedish LAQUA group (involving the three universities of Kalmar, Lund and Kristianstad). Some regional institutes from other South Asian countries, as well as from Thailand and Europe will also take part. More information.

• 19th European Conference of Modern South Asian Studies to be held at Leiden
The 19th European Conference of Modern South Asian Studies (ECMSAS) will be held at Leiden University, the Netherlands, 27–30 June 2006. Panel suggestions are now invited, and should be given before 1 June 2005. More information on the 19th ECMSAS conference.

• Other conferences connected to South Asian studies arranged all over the World
See SASNET’s page, http://www.sasnet.lu.se/conferences.html#conf

Cultural News

• Georg Morgenstierne’s Afghanistan collection available through the Internet
The National Library of Norway has a vast material on Afghanistan collected during the period 1923–1971 by Georg Morgenstierne, Professor of Indo-Iranian languages at the University of Oslo (photo to the right). His archive, now kept at the National Library of Norway, consists of unique photographs, sound recordings from now almost extinct languages, and silent movies (e g from pre-Islamic ritual dances in the Kalash valleys). Morgenstierne’s pioneer contribution in Afghanistan today raises international interest, and a multimedia database consisting of original sources has recently been published on the Internet. More information on the Georg Morgenstierne database.

• Indian films shown at the 2005 Natfilm Festival in Denmark
Five Indian films were shown at the 2005 Natfilm Festival, the biggest International film event in Denmark, where very single cinema in Copenhagen participated in the festival. Parts of the programme was also screened in three other cities in Denmark: Odense, Aalborg and Århus, as well as in Malmö and Lund in neighbouring Sweden. The Indian films shown included Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s excellent movie 'Chased By Dreams', Rituparno Ghosh’s 'Raincoat', Ganapathy Bharatbala’s first ever Indian road movie 'Hari Om' (photo from this film to the left), Mani Ratnam’s crimi movie based in Kolkata 'Yuva', and Yash Chopra’s 'Veer-Zaara'. More information on the festival and the films (in Danish only).

• Colourful dance performance and seminar in Stockholm
A group of ten folk musicians, dancers and singers from Purulia, in the western part of the Indian state of West Bengal, visited Sweden in the middle of March 2005. A performance called ”Bengali Night” featuring suggestive so-called jhumu music and nachni dance (by Shonda Rani), was given at Södra Teatern in Stockholm on Friday 11 March. A group of baul singers from the same region also took part in the show. The Purulia folk artists’ tour to Sweden was initiated by Associate Professor Christina Nygren, Dept. of Musicology and Theatre Studies, Stockholm University. She is presently completing an extensive research project on popular forms of theatre in Bangladesh and West Bengal. The day before the performance in Strockholm, on Thursday 10 March 2005 she organised a seminar on ”Traditional Bengali theatre, culture and music” with the ten artists from Purulia. The seminar was held at Tonsalen in the Slava Theatre in Huddinge, south of Stockholm. Read Lars Eklund’s report from the Huddinge seminar.

New and updated items on SASNET web site

• More Swedish departments where research on South Asia is going on:
Added to the list of research environments at Swedish universities, presented by SASNET. The full list now includes 148 departments. Go to the presentation page.

ƒ Institute of Conservation, Department of Environmental Science and Conservation, Göteborg University

• Several new articles recommended for reading
Look at http://www.sasnet.lu.se/recreading.html for suggestions on interesting new articles on South Asia in International media. New items added.