CED Newsletter - June 2006

NEWS FROM CED: JUNE 2006

THANKS

We would like to say a very special thank you to Dr. Ramchandra Guha, who has very kindly donated about 500 books and some rare journals on Indian politics and development post-independence to our library. At present these are in our library in Bangalore but we will of course be sending some to our library in Bombay so that all our users can share in this rich treat. Again thanks.. it is through kind donations like this that we are able to expand our library and share with so many people.

CED SCHOLARSHIPS

CED still has a limited number of outreach scholarships on offer to Students & Activists. If you are looking to take a few months break from your routine, to do documentation and information packages at, please check out our website for more information.

THE TOPICS
* New Economics, Fair Trade, Developing Local economies and Markets.
* Habitat Approach to Disasters and Reconstruction.
* Long Term Perspectives among NGOs and Civil Society Organisations.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Meeting of National Urban Development Struggle and action committee, 7-8 July, Bhopal

The urban poor across the country are facing an unprecedented onslaught, of the capitalist and consumerist forces and undemocratically imposed plans. The resultant eviction is brutal and unconstitutional. The Right to Shelter, livelihood and every constitutional right is being violated, and the people are denied even a basic support and citizen's right to democratic participation. The toiling, unorganised working class that builds and runs the city, beyond caste and creed, class and community is excluded from the development benefits and instead, are compelled to face the backlash in the form of displacement to destitution. The urban poor in action can and will join the rural poor their counterparts in the regions, they themselves were thrown out of. It is towards this end that a major plan with humble aim of a national challenge to the state and its investor-lender allies is planned under the banner of the National Urban Development Struggle and Action Committee formed during the national convention held in Mumbai.

We intend to hold a meeting on July 7th and 8th night, during and as a part of the National Meeting on Displacement and Development to be conveyed by NAPM at Gandhi Bhavan, Shyamala Hills, Near Polytechnic Chauraha, Bhopal.

For more information please contact: E-mail: rajendra_ravi@idsindia.net, mumbainapm@gmail.com

Demostration outside the Supreme Court, 3rd July, 2006, New Delhi

Demolition of informal settlements and displacement of the working poor have long been a feature of urban 'development' in India, but the last two years have seen a massive increase in the scale and brutality of evictions while the State washes its hands of any responsibility for resettlement and rehabilitation. Bulldozers have become the preferred instruments of urban planning and governance in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Lucknow, Chennai - as well as in an increasing number of our smaller cities. Cities are being redesigned primarily to meet the needs and demands of corporations rather than citizens.

Lawyers, community activists and organizations working against evictions, organized by Hazards called for a One-day meeting on 15 June 2006 at Indian Social Institute (ISI) to discuss the launch of a campaign, starting with a demonstration outside the Supreme Court on 3rd July 2006 (the day the Court opens after the summer recess). A signature campaign and a postcard campaign will also be initiated to build pressure on the government and Courts and to take the issues to a wider public.

For more information please contact: 9811118651, 9818205234, 9811137421, 9811607990

Discussion Forum

REDS takes another leap towards Dalit emanicipation for which they have started a Discussion forum. For this process they need a lot of intelligenstia and grass root experience, as they are fighting a falsified intelligenstia called Brahminism.
Share your thoughts, experiences, ideas and startegies for this true emanicipation and intelligenstia.
Just click and register at http://www.dalitreds.in/phpbb and contribute.

BOOKS FOR MEMBERS

We have two books on offer to our members this month:

1. Privatization of Water Supply - A Study on the Process of Privatization of Water Supply in K (East) Ward, Mumbai - by Singh, Arun Kumar. Price Rs.75/-
2. Youth for Peace - Training Manual for Youth Animators for Communal Harmony - by Salokha. Price Rs.35/- .

Those who want to avail of either of these at the special price, please contact jacintha@doccentre.net by 1 July 2006.

NEW BOOKS AND REPORTS IN THE LIBRARY

As well as the books kindly donated by Dr Guha, we have many new reports and have some great new books in the Bombay library.

Books

Violence in Urban India: Identity Politics, Mumbai and the Postcolonial City by Thomas Blom Hansen.
Identity and Violence - The Illusion of Destiny by Sen, Amartya
Big Pharma - How the Worlds Biggest Drug Companies Control Illness by Law, Jacky
Personal Law Reforms and Gender Empowerment - A Debate on Uniform Civil Code by Chavan, Nandini and Kidwai, Qutub Jehan
Charting A New Course - A Strategy for Sustainable Management of India's Water Resources in the 21st Century by Kathpalia, G N and Kapoor, Rakesh Prophets Facing Backward - Postmodernism, Science, and Hindu Nationalism by Nanda, Meera
Who Wants Democracy? By Alam, Javeed
Governance of School Education in India by Mukhopadhyay, Marmar and Tyagi, R S
Muslims, Dalits, and the Fabrications of History by Mayaram, Shail, Pandian, M S S and Skaria, Ajay
Tribal Customs, Law and Justice - A Teleological Study of Adis by Pathak, Manjushree.
Gendered Citizenship - Historical and Conceptual Explorations by Roy, Anupama
Rethinking Democracy by Kothari, Rajni
Flowing Upstream Empowering Women through Water Management Initiatives in India by Ahmed, Sara
Decentralisation and Local Governance - Essays for George Mathew by Jain, L C
Sustaining River Linking by Jauhari, V P
Regional Rural Banks in Liberalized Environment - With Special Reference to North-East India by Pati, A P
Environmental Perception of Slum Dwellers by Hema, B and Jamal, Shagufta
Post Disaster Management of Super Cyclone - A Case Study of Orissa by Sahu, Bishnu Prasad and Mahapatra, S
Biology as Politics - The Evolution of a Concept in Modern Society by Zutshi, Somnath

REPORTS

Seminar the Reservation Conundrum by Indian Liberal Group
India's Changing Relations with China by Seminar
Quotas and Reservations - Imperatives of Affirmative Action by Manohar, Sujata
Casting the net Wider! The Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act 2006 by Peoples Union for Democratic Rights.
The Best Bakery Case - And Justice for all by Thipsay, A M
Trapped to Death - Deaths from Fire at a Garment Factory in Vishwas Nagar by Peoples Union for Democratic Rights.
The Risks and Prospects of Nuclear Power by Rosenkranz, Gerd
Do Not Forget Land Reforms by Dogra, Bharat
Elementary Education in India - Where do we stand? by Mehta, Arun C
... For They Have Their Own Thoughts by Taleemnet
The Delhi Ridge Forest - Decline and Conservation by Kalpavriksh