Ananya

It seems that diversity is viewed as a mixed bag in India as it probably
makes goverance more difficult than say in China or Japan which are much
more homogenious societies.

Yet that diversity is what makes the human experience so precious.

So with India's effort to value its cultural heritage and capital could
arise a new model to govern that is inclusive and embracing of the
diversity rather than attempting to create a one size fits all model
within a nation state?

Can the nation state evolve to fit such a approach and if not then what
are our choices as not just national but global citizens in a burgeoning
global economy/society?

And again what is the role of ICT in this process?

Weve heard the term again and again decentralization and in some circles
this idea of P2P convergence, but the issue has to be addressed with
care because the nation state and corporation are all about increased
top down consolidation of power and centralized management and supply
lines. We dont want to bite the hand that feeds us or at least not until
we have established our own independent systems of governance and
economy that operate on a alternative level to the existing
unsustainable ones.

What about the role of technology in the extinction or reduction of
cultural diversity that parallels ecological reductions in diversity
globally in reaction to the rise of the corporate monoculture approach
to development and goverance (MS, Mcdonalds, WalMart, GE, Exxon)?

How can we be sure we are creating an alternative to that model that
will preserve cultural diversity?

Jeff

On Tue, 2008-08-19 at 00:03 +0530, Ananya Guha wrote:
> Dear Edward,
>
> What about the heterogeinity in our country? By this I mean cultural
> and linguistic pluralism? There are 26 ' recognised ' languages as per
> the 8th schedule of the Constitution, and about 100 more clamouring to
> be ' recognised '.We describe them pejoratively as ' bhasa ' or
> dialects!
>
> Ananya S Guha.
>
> --- On Sat, 16/8/08, Edward Cherlin <echerlin@...> wrote:
>
> From: Edward Cherlin <echerlin@...>
> Subject: Re: [bytesforall_readers] Re: All this talk of a $10
> computer, is it practical?
> To: bytesforall_readers@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Saturday, 16 August, 2008, 12:25 PM
>
> On Tue, Aug 12, 2008 at 4:58 AM, Ananya Guha <nnyguha@yahoo.
> co.in> wrote:
> > One laptop per child is ok, and better still if it costs
> only ten dollars.
> > But will be simply leave it like that? We know that
> computers can be
> > misused, especially with internet. Literacy may not come
> that way,
>
> We have borrowed the idea of Same Language Subtitling from
> Bollywood
> musicals and Indian TV for the XO. I am told that this is the
> most
> effective literacy program in India. On the XO, every program
> that
> deals in text will have the option of using a text-to-speech
> engine
> integrated with the ability to mark the spot in the text being
> read. I
> imagine a child sitting on a parent's or other relative's lap
> as they
> both listen to the computer read out a story, and both learn
> to read.
>
> > the
> > thrust should be on integrating it with learning, popularly
> called '
> > education'. First get the child to go to school!
>
> It is reported from a number of countries that putting XOs in
> the
> schools has resulted in significant increases in attendance.
>
> > First ensure that a child
> > gets basic clothing and food!
>
> Is that the problem in India? Are that many children that
> severely
> neglected? Then what are you waiting for?
>
> I would not put computers ahead of these basic needs, but
> neither
> would I put them behind. I know that many of the ills of
> village life
> are due to an inability to communicate with the larger
> society. Ills
> such as those of the Mrtak Sangh, the Society of the Dead,
> people who
> have been declared legally dead by corrupt officials bribed by
> relatives eager to "inherit" from the victims. Thievery by
> those
> charged with delivering aid to the poor, who claim that food
> has not
> arrived when in fact they have sold it elsewhere. Lack of the
> most
> basic health and nutrition information.
>
> > Ananya S Guha.
> >
> > --- On Mon, 11/8/08, Vickram Crishna <v1clist@yahoo. co.uk>
> wrote:
> >
> > From: Vickram Crishna <v1clist@yahoo. co.uk>
> > Subject: Re: [bytesforall_ readers] Re: All this talk of a
> $10 computer, is
> > it practical?
> > To: bytesforall_ readers@yahoogro ups.com
> > Date: Monday, 11 August, 2008, 4:21 PM
> >
> > Sasi said: "There are something like 150 million children in
> India."
>
> I think I said that. It is the number I heard last year.
>
> > Is this possible? Surely that number is far too small?
>
> Yes, you are correct. When I look, it turns out that there are
> nearly
> three times that number.
>
> http://www.unicef. org/infobycountr y/india_statisti cs.html
> Population (thousands), 2006, under 18
> 445361
>
> Population (thousands), 2006, under 5
> 126843
>
> > But if it is correct,
> > we must be on the edge of a 'grey' precipice, with a huge,
> and hugely
> > ageing, population of elders. Meeting the needs of elders
> (who will live on
> > the average, longer than previous generations) will be a
> gigantic task for a
> > country whose social services fall far short of the current
> scope, and where
> > the joint family norm is fast eroding, especially in urban
> areas.
>
> That is not the current problem for India. Japan is there now,
> and the
> US is just coming up to it.
>
> > Vickram
> > http://communicall. wordpress. com
> > http://vvcrishna. wordpress. com
> >
> >> ____________ _________ _________ __
> >> From: "V. Sasi Kumar" <sasi.fsf@gmail. com>
> >> Sent: Saturday, August 09, 2008 11:24 AM
> >> To: bytesforall_ readers@yahoogro ups.com
> >> Subject: Re: [bytesforall_ readers] Re: All this talk of a
> $10 computer,
> >> is
> >> it practical?
> >>
> >> On Tue, 2008-08-05 at 10:20 +0530, Ananya Guha wrote:
> >>> This is no doubt welcome, but the question is: how can
> this be
> >>> achieved uniformly throughout the country?
> >
> > There are something like 150 million children in India.
>
> --
> Silent Thunder [ 默雷 / शब्दगर्ज ] is my name,
> And Children are my nation.
> The Cosmos is my dwelling place,
> And Truth my destination.
>
>
>
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
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>
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