Open Mike 8: Open (topic)

Thursday Open Mike 8 (now on Tuesday)
Topic: Open
March 25, 2008 [Tuesday]
@ 8PM in Arvind & Ashwini's House.
4201 Monterey Oaks Blvd #1911
Austin TX 78749

Open Mike 7: Microfinance (links)

Posting this here for Savi:

What is Micro-finance?

Refers to a movement that envisions "a world in which as many poor and near-poor households as possible" have permanent access to an appropriate range of high quality financial services, including not just credit but also savings, insurance, and fund transfers.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microfinance

[2] http://www.developmentgateway.com.au/jahia/Jahia/pid/2701

Difference between Microfinance and Microcredit

[1] http://www.microfinancegateway.com/section/faq#Q2

[2] http://library.thinkquest.org/05aug/00282/econ_finance.htm

More on micro-credit : http://library.thinkquest.org/05aug/00282/econ_credit.htm

What are the services offered by Microfinance??

[1] Saving (Pension plan, deposits )

[2] Insurance

[3] Fund transfer or remittance from abroad

[4] Loans (Emergency , short-term , long-term)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Needs_and_Services.jpg

A few Micro-finance Models (courtesy Sanjeev Ranganathan)

1) Creation of SHGs generally involves a savings group this in turn give out loans to their members e.g. MATS (Mutually Aided Thrift Society - Timbaktu). The funds are that of the group and there is a clear incentive in ensuring that the loans (their money) is repaid by other members of the group. All account keeping is done by the group that elects it's own leaders and organizations have a person only overlooking the accounts and giving training (neither are full time jobs).

While some local politics can exist e.g. the wife of the panchayat leader taking more loans than others, etc. But, a few rules, e.g. no loan without returning 75% of current loan and a small amount of account keeping can keep things fair.

2) Anawim had implemented the SHG concept in the following fashion. Creation of womens groups (6 months to 1 yr of running weekly meetings – there act as a platform for discussing issues faced by women in the community, maintaining minutes and if possible savings. But, the savings was not necessary). Next a loan was given to the entire group to maintain. They also ran an evening center for the children in the community and the interest generated from the loans would help run the center. The interest in maintaining proper accounts was in the interest in the education of their children.http://www.paadhai.org/First%20Year%20of%20PAADHAI-India.pdf

3) Timbaktu Organic (TC) has a micro-finance program for encouraging farmers to take up organic/low-cost farming. TC also serves as a link to market the goods if they do not get utilized locally. The reason to mention TC is their approach to raise the capital – they reach out to socially responsible individuals to fund their initiatives. A nominal 4% interest is available to the individuals on request, further if it is a really bad year, they commit to take care of the principal if not the interest. http://www.dorabjitatatrust.org/annual_rep/pdf/mnr_livelihood.pdf

4) Geneva-Global

Microfinances and Women Empowerment (Keeping Project Freedom in mind)

[1] http://www.kiva.org/about/microfinance/ (Question 9) [2] http://www.genfinance.info/

Microfinance: The Downside

[1] http://blog.perfectspace.com/2008/01/19/starting-your-own-microcredit-or-microfinance-franchise/#mf-problem

[2] When is microfinance NOT an appropiate tool?http://www.microfinancegateway.com/section/faq#Q5

[3] Why do MFIs charge such high interest rates to poor people? http://www.microfinancegateway.com/section/faq#Q6

[4] Chances of poverty alleviation: http://books.google.com/books?id=RvcMNBYvMnMC&pg=PA4&lpg=PA4&dq=downside+of+microfinance&source=web&ots=o2nx0UON0T&sig=zWlgZz2m-qSMeBFUE3BZuWOXdNQ&hl=en#PPA4,M1

[5] Link to NYT article on problems for microfinancing in Mexico

Open Mike 7: Microfinance (topic)

Thursday Open Mike 7 (now on Tuesday)
Topic: Microfinance
March 18, 2008 [Tuesday]
@ 8PM in Arvind & Ashwini's House.
4201 Monterey Oaks Blvd #1911
Austin TX 78749

Open Mike 6: Free Press in India (links)

We'll be continuing our Racist India discussion from last week, since we came no where close to finishing anything. However, since at the end of the discussion (and as it happens, in many discussions), we were discussing freedom of press, I've titled the topic as Free Press in India.

Rajaram Mohan Roy, back in 1823, explained the importance of freedom of the press with extreme clarity, while protesting the British ruling to clamp down on local publications:

“….. a free press has never yet caused a revolution in any part of the world …….. whereas, where no freedom of the press existed and grievances consequently remained unrepresented, innumerable revolutions have taken place in all parts of the globe.”

“……..ever since the art of printing has become generally known among the Natives of Calcutta numerous Publications have been circulated in the Bengalee Language which by introducing free discussion among the Natives and inducing them to reflect and inquire after knowledge, have already served greatly to improve their minds and ameliorate their condition”.

Freedom of Press is supposed to be sine qua non for a democratic society. The question is how true is that in actuality? Adding a few links here related to freedom of press. Please add more.

[1] The Hindu, one of the few family owned papers still remaining so in India, published this article Kudos to Tata Motors in October 2004, blasting Mahindra & Mahindra. After the furore raised by the article, N Ram, the editor-in-chief, wrote an apology. Now, both the article and the apology are on the website and if you read the article, there is no link whatsoever to the apology.

[2] Krishnaprasad, a journalist, blogs on how the New Indian Express does not need old hands. Particularly interesting in this link is a scathing open letter from a former IE editor P. Venugopal to the editor-in-chief of the IE group Aditya Sinha.

[3] This is from Wikipedia:

The Indian Constitution, while not mentioning the word "press", provides for "the right to freedom of speech and expression" (Article 19(1) a). However this right is subject to restrictions under subclause (2), whereby this freedom can be restricted for reasons of "sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, preserving decency, preserving morality, in relation to contempt of court, defamation, or incitement to an offence". Laws such as the Official Secrets Act and Prevention of Terrorism Act ^[2] (PoTA) have been used to limit press freedom. Under PoTA, person could be detained for up to six months for being in contact with a terrorist or terrorist group. PoTA was repealed in 2006, but the Official Secrets Act 1923 continues.

For the first half-century of independence, media control by the state was the major constraint on press freedom. Indira Gandhi famously stated in 1975 that All India Radio is "a Government organ, it is going to remain a Government organ..." ^[3] With the liberalization starting in the 1990s, private control of media has burgeoned, leading to increasing independence and greater scrutiny of government. Organizations like Tehelka and NDTV have been particularly influential, e.g. in bringing about the resignation of powerful Haryana minister Venod Sharma.

[4] A TheHindu report on a BBC finding that Indians prefer "peace and stability" over "free press".

[5] An interesting article titled One Way Street by Arvind Lavakare in Rediff.

[6] An explanation of Freedom of Press, who threatens it, what are the arguments, etc. in the context of India, from People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL).

[7] Article on Democracy and Freedom of Press in India from Project Monitor.

[8] Links from India Together:
(a) Media barons and press freedoms -- How relevant is the argument of a threat to freedom of the press in cases where the financial interests of a media baron could ostensibly conflict with that of the public? The question resurfaced recently in Andhra Pradesh over the Eenadu-Margadarsi controversy, writes B P Sanjay.

(b) Plight of the vulnerable -- Legislatures around the country are invoking privilege on all sorts of issues, even as the political parties condemn each other's actions to limit press freedom. Sevanti Ninan reports.

(c) An Interview on the Indian Press with Veerendrakumar -- M P Veerendrakumar is a staunch opponent of FDI. He predicts that the new deals signed in the Indian media will hit small and medium newspapers and open the floodgates to foreign control.

(d) Articles on the role of the press, and trends in media -- there are many articles of interest in this link.

Moving the link from Murali's comment into the post itself:

[9] Press Freedom Index: India's Rank
I guess it depends on how press freedom is defined: is it how much is available, or how much is availed of? India is ranked 120th in the world in press freedom in 2007 (down from rank 105 in 2006), so we know what the current trend is. http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=24025

Open Mike 6: Free Press in India (topic)

We are changing the day of the OpenMike. Moving to Tuesdays to accommodate interested members. Looking forward to an increased participation now.

Thursday Open Mike 6 (now on Tuesday)
Topic: Free Press in India & Racist India Contd...
March 11, 2008 [Tuesday]
@ 8PM in Arvind & Ashwini's House.
4201 Monterey Oaks Blvd #1911
Austin TX 78749

Open Mike 5: Racist India (links)

Many links. Many perspectives. Not endorsing one over the other. Read away. We can discuss one or the other or all.

[1] Discrimination by caste is outlawed in India, but it is a part of daily life
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1495052.stm

[2] Symonds racially abused by monkey chants in Vadodara?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/7039776.stm
[3] and in Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai? (good picture, this one)
http://mksviews.files.wordpress.com/2007/10/wankers_wankhede_stadium.jpg
[4] apparently he just mistook antics for racism
http://cricket.expressindia.com/news/Symonds-mistook-antics-for-racism-Pawar/230126/
[5] India blast latest Harbhajan racism claims
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2008/03/03/ucharb103.xml

[6] and India does get offended by racism towards herself -- Shilpa Shetty in Big Brother
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/archives/2007/01/19/big_brother_racism_debate_rages_in_india.html

[7] Caste and Racial Discrimination in India - Can the UN Help?
http://india_resource.tripod.com/caste.html

[8] The Stain that just wont wash, an article by Shivam Vij
http://www.shivamvij.com/2007/02/the-stain-that-just-wont-wash.html

[9] Does bollywood prefer fair women?
http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/001945.html

[10] Fair=Lovely?
http://vsequeira.blogspot.com/2005/07/fair-lovely.html

[11] Remote Racism to counter Bangalore-d jobs?
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/987643.cms

[12] India does not believe caste discrimination is racism
http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/sep/02caste.htm

[13] An Untouchable subject -- NPR on caste systems
http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/racism/010828.caste.html

[14] Dalit Freedom Network -- many interesting posts here
http://www.dalitnetwork.org/

[15] Casteism as Raceism and Is Caste Racism or what?
http://ambedkar.org/WCAR/Casteismas.htm
http://ambedkar.org/WCAR/IsCaste.htm

[16] Racism in North India?
http://www.boloji.com/wfs5/wfs677.htm

[17] On Racism and Censorhip, an article by Shashi Tharoor in TOI
http://www.shashitharoor.com/articles/toi/racism.php

[18] Racism in India: The arrogance of Power
http://www.ndtv.com/debate/showdebate.asp?show=1&archive=yes&story_id=197&template=&category=Humanstory

[19] Post-Colonial Racism in India
http://baltimorechronicle.com/052404RacisminIndia.shtml

[20] UPA govt. no less racist -- providing the other perspective
http://www.ivarta.com/columns/OL_070210.htm

Phew! There is no shortage of links! But I did have a great time researching this set.

Open Mike 5: Racist India (topic)

Thursday Open Mike 5
Topic: Racist India
March 06, 2008 [Thursday]
@ 8PM in Arvind & Ashwini's House.
4201 Monterey Oaks Blvd #1911
Austin TX 78749

Open Mike 4: Westernization of India (collected links)

Collecting links that folks have been sending around by email --

Savitha:

The topic for next week's discussion in TOM is : Westernization of India in all its flavors ranging from native customs, religion , social structure, literature , art , food habits , human conditions , work, etc.

Ponder about this for a bit over the weekend....More related material soon!

Santhosh:

For a different twist - we often hear the "westernization" leading to "immodest" dressing styles of women. Here is an article on the dual standards of the morality police and the heavy gender bias underlying many cases where the victims are blamed for the crime.
http://www.indiatogether.com/2008/feb/wom-dress.htm

Vinod:

and these men were arrested for "indecent clothing"!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7260314.stm

Santhosh:

Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, delivered a lecture at an UNESCO convention, titled "AN ASSESSMENT OF THE MILLENNIUM" - It addresses two myths :
1. The "pure" homogeneous pre-islamic culture in India - He analyzes historical events to show how Islam was integrated into Indian culture and what was the situation before the advent of Islam in India.
2. The idea of 'westernization' - He questions the basic idea of questioning 'westernization' :) - he attacks generalizations, he believes there should be more emphasis for the thought as such rather than its origins.

Part 1 - http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Pantheon/4789/India/Amratya1.htm
Part 2 - http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Pantheon/4789/India/Amratya2.htm

Increased Divorce rates - western influence on Indian 'culture' or more freedom for women ?
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2002/09/23/stories/2002092300290200.htm

Morality codes have been espoused as part of religion in all corners of the world. It is rather sad when the 'state' curtails the freedom in the name of protecting 'morals' :
http://www.indiatogether.org/2007/aug/ksh-dont.htm - Delhi police on increased rape of women from north-eastern India
http://www.indiatogether.org/2006/jul/soc-dancebar.htm - Dance bar ban and the State of Maharashtra
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/1166055.stm - Cultural policing of valentine's day in India
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2749667.stm - Hindu extremists and Islamist extremists against 'westernization' in different regions.

Open Mike 4: Westernization of India (topic)

Details:
Thursday Open Mike
Topic: Westernization of India
February 28, 2008 [Thursday]
@ 8PM in Arvind & Ashwini's House.
4201 Monterey Oaks Blvd #1911
Austin TX 78749

Open Mike 3: Health Care (more links)

Santhosh:

Its kind of interesting that a major player in the health insurance
industry is closely covering the presidential debates on health care
and providing 'insight'/'analysis' - http://www.health08.org/index.cfm

Ganesh:

One more...to some extent informative
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/aboutus/mission/haveyouheard/medicine-costs-11-06/overview/1106_have-you-heard_ov.htm

Open Mike 3: Health Care (links)

This Wikipedia article gives some background information about the health care systems in various countries, how much countries spend on health care, etc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care

We can broadly discuss

- Universal health care vs. private health care
Arguing for universal health care in India - http://indiatogether.org/2005/oct/ksh-health.htm

- Role of the insurance companies in providing health-care
An article in yesterday's NYTimes - http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/19/business/19health.html

- High cost of medicines vs. funding for future research

- Is it okay to market drugs directly to consumers/patients?
http://www.pbs.org/now/science/scienceforsale.html
http://www.pbs.org/now/science/drugads.html

- Franchise model to provide health care
Link to such an enterprise in Kenya - http://www.pbs.org/now/enterprisingideas/cfw.html

- and since it is open mike.....anything else that comes up

Some more links to a lot more useful links -

http://www.pbs.org/now/classroom/healthcare.html#sites
http://www.pbs.org/now/classroom/medicare.html#sites

Couple of articles on state of healthcare in India
http://www.indiatogether.org/2006/oct/hlt-nocare.htm
http://indiatogether.com/2006/jan/psa-health.htm

Open Mike 3: Health Care (topic)

Details:
Thursday Open Mike
Topic: Health Care
February 21, 2008 [Thursday]
@ 8PM in Gaurav's House.
1781 Spyglass Drive #244
Austin TX 78746

Open Mike 2 : Uniform Civil Code etc. (a comment republished)

I'm creating a new post of one of Santhosh's comments since the comments are hidden away from the main page. Lots of relevant points and interesting links in this comment post. Hence putting this up here.

Hi All,

In last TOM, one discussion led to another and we reached a point
where we talked about 'Religion and State' in the US. So, the general
thought was that religion and state are sufficiently separated in at
least how laws are formed. I was not so sure about it. Did some more
research to find that -

1. Legal cases regarding interpretation of laws and separating the
bible from rights/laws -
http://www.pbs.org/flashpointsusa/20040127/infocus/topic_02/

2. While its generally true that the federal constitution is free from
the mention of 'god', state constitutions are not -
http://www.usconstitution.net/states_god.html
( In fact, in Arkansas and maryland, if you don't believe in God, you
are constitutionally forbidden from being witnesses in a trial.)

3. When presidents form opinions on aspects like abortion or gay
marriage based on their faith or bible
(http://www.pbs.org/flashpointsusa/20040127/infocus/topic_03/index.html
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=33837), it
does mean that religion could play a role in the direction of law
making process.

4. If a presidential nominee can put an 'advtmt' mentioning himself as
a 'Christian Leader' (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjtGgfhKIvo
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/27/us/politics/27adbox.html?_r=3&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1203354583-04/njadOVSrhAAvZSuRbkA&oref=slogin).
it again shows the belief of the nominee who is not hesitant to admit
most of his thought process would be based of what his faith taught
him. If elected, this faith could play a role in law making process.

Now, I sent these links to not discuss the merit vs demerits of
religion in state - but, just to understand that religion does
influence policies and law making process in many countries including
the US.

Thanks,
Santhosh.

Open Mike 2 : Uniform Civil Code etc. (minutes)

We started the discussion with Uniform Civil Code and then it meandered after a rather desultory fashion.


* Discussion on Uniform Civil Code. Details of what is legal, and what is open to social interpretation. When is human rights violated and the law should step in, and when is the local community law applicable? Specifically talked about the details in issues of:
-- land holdings and property acquisition
-- marriages and divorces
-- inheritance and bequeaths

* Discussion on Prison systems, and death penalty. Should we ever have death penalties? What is the motivation of a prison system? Is it to isolate the bad elements of society (hide the problem) or is it to reform the harmful-non-conformists to become either conformists or harmless?

* Discussion on the freedom of press, and what level of personal privacy is legally considered okay to invade.

Open Mike 2 : Uniform Civil Code etc. (links)

[1]Winds of change : The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) recently suggested that the custom of the man declaring "talaq" at one go and divorcing his wife should be discouraged. It stopped short of drafting further reform to the marriage contract, but this decade is seeing muslim women asserting for more, says Kalpana Sharma.

[2] Obscuring the real issues : Opinion piece by Pratap Bhanu Mehta on Supreme Court judgement/recommendation related to Uniform Civil Code

[3]Unifying Personal Laws: By V.R.Krishna Iyer, retired supreme court justice

[4]Supreme Court Ruling that commented on UCC

[5]Open page on 'Hindu' : UCC and national integration

[6]Dissecting a directive : Book review

[7]India succession act amendments proposed by the NCW - National Commission for Women

[8]Hindu Code Bill

Open Mike 2 : Uniform Civil Code etc. (topic)

Details:
Thursday Open Mike 2
Topic: Uniform Civil Code and other topics
February 14, 2008 [Thursday]
@ 8PM in Gaurav's House.
1781 Spyglass Drive #244
Austin TX 78746

No session today

Everyone seems to be at the Team Asha pre-race dinner at Bombay Express tonight. So no Thursday Open Mike session today. Potentially we'll have an informal version of it at Bombay Express itself.

Open Mike 1 : Land Acquisition and Land Reforms (minutes)

Session I - Minutes/areas of discussion

Land Acquisition and Land Reforms

* Discussion on wall street journal article

* Land reforms turned into land acquisition.
- Zamindari system pre-independence was the reason for land reforms
- Land reforms were not implemented and land redistribution did not
happen to a large extent
- Now government uses the same laws and eminent domain to confiscate land

* Brief discussion on Land issues in other parts of the world - South africa and Brazil - implementation of Land reforms. India and China - Land acquisition by State.

* We moved on to discussion legal frameworks and what could be a possible solution in the case of SEZs. One suggestion was to repeal law that made sale of agricultural land impossible.

* Discussion led to forms of governance - how communities can have more say - more power/finances to local governments with a federal framework ?

* Discussion on corruption - why its most in India. Comparision to US. Why do we accept it as part of life ? - What is the solution - incentives - to be not corrupt and punishment when corrupt - Does the society need to encourage questioning of such corruption in the system, or will the solution actually cause such questioning to happen ?

* Discussion on the 9th Schedule - Tug of war for more power between Supreme court and legislative body. Discussion on how Supreme court can question any law and interpret the constitution and what constitutes a fundamental right. some discussion on judicial activism and specifics

Open Mike 1 : Land Acquisition and Land Reforms (links)

[1] Shruti Rajagopalan's article "India's Property Wrongs" in The Wall Street Journal. This article gives a history behind how India came to have its current version of land laws in the constitution, and presents an interesting viewpoint into the Singur and Nandigram scenario. Shruti is a former research associate of the Public Interest Legal Support and Research Center.

[2] Land Research Action Network's backgrounder on India's Land Reforms. LRAN is a network of researchers and social movements that work towards promoting the right of individuals and communities to land. The backgrounder (in two parts online, or a single PDF) details the history of India's land reforms and its various issues and challenges. LRAN has studies on many countries. Links here to Brazil, South Africa, and Venezuela. This page has link to all the countries they've researched on.

[3] The Great Betrayal: Indian Land Reforms by Venu Govindu. Venu Govindu reviews Siddharth Dube's Words Like Freedom : Memoirs of an Impoverished Indian Family 1947-1997. Artcile in India Together. Other articles in India Together related to land issues are here.

[4] "Give me Land" is a BBC four-part series on struggles for land - it covers South Africa, India, China and Brazil.

[5] "Ninth Schedule: What the Supreme Court judgement means" an article by Indira Jaising in Rediff on the January 11, 2007 Supreme Court judgement. Indira Jaising is a senior Supreme Court lawyer.

[6] Agrarian Reform for a Liberal Pattern of Society? Karnataka's Land Policy and the New Dispensation. By Ronald Herring of Cornell University. (pdf link) To quote from the Abstract of the article:

It is puzzling how much the discourse of development has backed away from the seemingly central question of rural poverty: land. Elaborate rules concerning its distribution, rights, regulation, protection, utilities have multiple development objectives, but poverty alleviation, individual liberty and community revitalization have long been on the stated agenda throughout India -- with radically varying levels of effort and effect. The Karnataka Land Reforms Act [Amended] that came into force on March 1, l974, is in line with the vision of the founders. Its pattern reflects -- more so than in West Bengal, which is widely lauded for its agrarian reforms -- the conclusions of the Congress Agrarian Reforms Committee of l949 and promoted over time with variable enthusiasm by Union governments. Such agrarian reforms have been considered among the most important mechanisms for achieving a socialist pattern of society as indicated in the Preamble and Directive Principles of State Policy (Part IV) of the Constitution. Elaborate and careful policy thinking by the founders connected classic agrarian reforms with poverty alleviation. What happens to land policy as liberal economic policy replaces “socialism” as directive principle? There are widespread claims -- both normative and empirical -- of "reversal of land reforms" in various parts of India under pressure of new export strategies, globalization, and multiplication of sub-subsistence holdings over time. What are the implications of reforming the reforms for poverty alleviation under new conditions?

[7] Various articles on Land Tenure, Agrarian Structure, and Land Reform by Professor Frithjof Kuhnen. (html and pdf links to the articles on the page.) Dr. Kuhnen is a professor of Rural Development at the University of Göttingen.

[8] Impact of Agrarian Reform on Poverty by Celia M. Reyes on the reforms in the Philippines. (pdf link)

[9] World Forum on Agrarian Reform

[10]India together articles on Land Reforms and acquisition

Open Mike 1 : Land Acquisition and Land Reforms (topic)

Details:
Thursday Open Mike
Topic: Land Acquisition and Land Reforms
January 31, 2008 [Thursday]
@ 8PM in Gaurav's House.
1781 Spyglass Drive #244
Austin TX 78746

Tonight's open mike will center around "Land Acquisition and Land Reforms". Just because that was the first topic I received. Anyway its open mike, so the discussions can go anywhere. I'll try to gather some information about this in different countries and such before the session.

Thursday Open Mike -- First Announcement

Starting this thursday, we'll begin a series of "Thursday Open Mike" sessions. The idea behind this is to have dedicated time to discuss what folks think are important issues that need discussion to further understanding. There is no compulsion on the discussions at these sessions to have any practical outcomes in the immediate or any future, although it would be nice if it did. The primary motivation is purely selfish, its to further one's personal understanding on different issues. Lets plan on a 90 minute session, starting at 8PM. Please try to come by 7:45, so that we actually spend all the 90 minutes on the discussion.

A note on topics. There is no restriction on the topic, except that it needs to be something that folks can think about and formulate their own thoughts about it. For example, we could learn the history of nation boundaries, starting from a society where tribes demarcated their territories from neighboring tribes to the current day nation states and discuss what the use of nation boundaries really are. Another example could be how would you organize Indian govt. political system for maximum democratic participation. These are just examples. Please send me an email about what you would like to discuss and I'll send an announcement out on Wednesday as to what we will be discussing.

I am hoping this will be well attended. The more folks we have, the more inputs and varied viewpoints we will be able to gather. Please come, and please bring forward what you would like to discuss. Please forward this email to anyone you think will be interested in this. Looking forward to the first meeting this Thursday.