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New Reality TV Show Proposed: Geopolitical Survivor

Greetings from the National Gallery of Australia, where I am taking part in "Australia 360", a conference on regional security hosted by the Australian National University. The morning had conventional panels of security experts. The afternoon started with Professor Hugh White's provocative views, in his new book "How to Defend Australia". To make it more interactive we are being polled on questions to do with China, Australia, and the region, with the results displayed on a large screen, and Associate Professor Nicholas Farrelly, as the MC, walking around the floor getting the views of delegates. Professor Rory Medcalf quipped the MC could host a game show called "Geopolitical Survivor". My contribution was to suggest a 360 view should also include the role of India.

"Panel 3: How to defend Australia

This session is an interactive, hands-on component delving into the hard choices Australia has to make about its defence as the world rapidly changes.

Chair Associate Professor Nicholas Farrelly
Associate Dean, College of Asia and the Pacific, ANU

With contributions from Emeritus Professor Hugh White, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, ANU
Dr Joanne Wallis, Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, ANU
Dave Curran, Chairman, Westpac Scholars Trust
Professor Rory Medcalf, National Security College, ANU
Katherine Mansted, National Security College, ANU"

From Australia 360 Program

UAVs Over the Indian Ocean

The India and China at Sea: Competition and Coexistence in the Indo-Pacific Conference is underway at the ANU in Canberra. The topic of the role of aircraft carriers and submarines came up in the first session so I asked the panel if Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) would render large vessels obsolete, changing the balance of power in the Indian Ocean.

Within the next ten years, I suggest, countries in the region, including China, will be able to mass produce small, long range, low cost drones on the production lines set up for smart-phones and consumer appliances. India will be able to harness its skilled IT workforce to program their own drones manufactured in the new high hi-tech industrial corridors being built with Japanese funding.

These low cost robot aircraft and submarines will make make aircraft carriers and submarines as useful as the battleship HMS Prince of Wales, was for defending Singapore. This powerful ship was commissioned in January 1941, but sunk by aircraft in December 1941, two days after leaving Singapore.

One of the conference panel thought Chinese anti-ship ballistic missiles more of a threat than drones. The other panelist pointed out that India is the major customer for Israeli UAVs. With the signing of arms limitations agreements, India will be able to acquire armed UAV technology from Israel.

I suggest UAV/AUV technology, unlike ballistic missiles, is not something easily regulated. At the annual Australian UAV Challenge, teams of hobbyists and students test their technology in the field. In last years challenge, teams had to scan for a survivor on the ground and drop supplies to them. In this years challenge, teams had to coordinate two aircraft, with one acting as an airborne communications relay for the other.

Much of the software developed for the UAV Challenge is open source. It is not difficult to imagine the same software being used for a flock of military UAVs to search the ocean for warships,  relaying the coordinates to a flotilla of armed AUVs. This is something a mid-level country, with IT and engineering graduates could implement.

Conference on India and China in the Indo-Pacific

Greetings from the Australian National University in Canberra, where the India and China at Sea: Competition and Coexistence in the Indo-Pacific Conference just opened. This is a welcome change from the events I have attended recently, which have a mid-Atlantic view, that the world revolves around Europe and the USA.

PROGRAM

9.30am Welcome and introduction: Professor Craig Jeffrey, Director and CEO, Australia India Institute.Professor Rory Medcalf, Head, National Security College, Australian National University
9.50am Sino-Indian relations in the Indian Ocean: a contest of status and legitimacy. Dr David Brewster, Senior Research Fellow, National Security College
11.05am Morning tea11.25am China's emerging Indo-Pacific naval strategy:Professor You Ji, University of Macau
12.40pm Lunch
1.40pm New Delhi at Sea:  The China Factor in Indian Ocean Policy under the Modi and Singh governments: Mr Pramit Pal Chaudhuri, Foreign Editor, Hindustan Times
2.55pm Afternoon tea
3.15pm Aspects of India’s evolving naval strategy in the Indian Ocean: Mr Abhijit Singh, Senior Fellow, Observer Research Foundation. Ms Darshana Baruah, Carnegie India
4.30pm Conclusion

The Man Who Knew Infinity

Last night I attended "The Man Who Knew Infinity" a film based on the real life story of Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan FRS, who was admitted to Trinity College at Cambridge University in 1914. A Film Trailer is available.

Dev Patel gives a believable portrayal of a mathematical genius not recognized, Devika Bhise as his devoted but neglected wife and Arundhati Nag as an Indian mother. These relatively unknown actors succeed in being noticed alongside the star power of the movie. Jeremy Irons as Professor Hardy made me think of this as Brideshead Revisited (Revisited), while Stephen Fry as Sir Francis Spring seemed to be reprising his Black-adder role and Kevin McNally as Major MacMahon looked like he was in Dad's Army. But Jeremy Northam steals the show as "Berty" (Bertrand Russell).

The India and Cambridge of the 1914 are lovingly reproduced, with perhaps a little too much sentimentality. India looks too clean, with too many elephants and not enough people. The Cambridge dons are a little too nice.

Filmed on location a Trinity College Cambridge, I was able to relate to the strictures of not walking on the grass (I was invited to by one of the fellows) and the gossip at high table (the food is not that bad).

This film manages to make mathematics interesting (just), but perhaps outstays its welcome and could do with 20 minutes being cut out. The film is based on the book "The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan" by Robert Kanigel (1991).

The Man Who Knew Infinity is on now in cinemas across Australia. My ticket was courtesy of  Nixco.


ps: If visiting Cambridge and not having an academic connection, you can stay in a college through University Rooms.

Indian Smart Village

Microsoft is helping set up the village of Harisal in the Indian state of Maharashtra, as a "smart village". There is a video  and press item about this, but all I could find from the government was a PR newsletter, which says "The technology will make the
delivery of education and health services better". The Harisal "smart village" has the makings for a repeat of the failed "Gungahlin Broadband Project".

In 1993 the ACT Government formed a "Strategic Alliance" with Telecom Australia, which included the "Gungahlin Broadband Project". The University of Canberra were also involved (Balnaves, 2002). The project was abandoned in 1996 and, as the then ACT Government admitted, it was never clear what the project was to accomplish. This came to mind recently, as I am researching e-learning in India. The major impediment is skepticism by Indian academics and government, about the value of on-line learning. Another problem is limited access to the Internet, but the "smart village" approach is not the solution.

Reference

Balnaves, M. (2002). Finding an audience for a new service. In M. Balnaves, J. Sternberg & T. O'Regan (Eds.), Mobilising the audience. (pp. 235-252). Brisbane:The University of Queensland Press.

Open Source Software for Indian Government

The Indian Department Of Electronics and Information Technology issued a “Policy on Adoption of Open Source Software for Government of India” (F. No. 1(3)/2014 – EG II, Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, March 2015). The policy is mandatory for all Central Government Organisations for all new e-Governance applications and new versions of existing systems.

"3. Policy Statement

Government of India shall endeavour to adopt Open Source Software in all e-Governance systems implemented by various Government
organizations, as a preferred option in comparison to Closed Source Software (CSS).
The Open Source Software shall have the following characteristics: 

3.1 The source code shall be available for the community / adopter / end-user to study and modify the software and to redistribute copies of either the original or modified software.

3.2 Source code shall be free from any royalty."

E-waste in India

The Indian state of Puducherry has issued an Order for Management and Handling of E-waste  (16th September 2014). The definition of e-waste includes e-waste’ covers electrical and electronic equipment to be discarded, including computers, laptops, printers, copying
equipment, electrical and electronic typewriters, facsimile, telex, telephones and television sets. Unusually it also includes refrigerators,
washing-machines and air-conditioners, but excludes central air-conditioning plant. E-waste is is to be sent to authorized collection centres, registered recyclers or returned to the manufacturer. This may be of interest to students of "ICT Sustainability", inclduing the course COMP7310, being offed by the Australian National University on-line to all postgraduate students in first semester 2015.

Indian Ocean Security Issues

Greetings from the Australian National University in Canberra, where Clive Williams is speaking on "Security Issues in the Indian Ocean: Maldives Case Study". Professor Williams pointed out that the Maldives is smaller than the ACT and vulnerable to sea level rises. There were 108 people killed in the 2008 tsunami. The RAF had an airbase in the Maldives, but this was moved to Diego Garcia, about 1,000 km south. The Commonwealth suspended the Maldives from its democracy and human rights committee due to suspected violations. The Maldives is a  Sunni Islam state. The defence force has a budget of $45M with some patrol boats, acting essentially as a supplement to the police force, which are essentially water police.

The Chinese Peace Ark hospital ship recently visited the islands. However, the Maldives government is unlikely to permit a permanent PLA Navy presence due to pressure from India. Professor Williams referred to "Indian Ocean : a sea of uncertainty", by Leighton G. Luke (Future Directions International, 2012).

Professor Williams  discussed the idea of an Australian funded police training centre for the Indian Ocean region located in the Maldives. Although I did wonder if Western Australia would be a better location.

The issue of Indian Ocean security is topical with the Australian Prime Minister having just announced that two second hand Bay-class patrol boats would be donated to Sri Lanka. These vessels are used by customs in Australia and so are very lightly armed with one machine gun, but are likely to be up-gunned by Sri Lanka. 

The Centre for Military & Security Law, ANU College of Law invite you to attend a Public Lecture: Security Issues in the Indian Ocean: Maldives Case Study, to be presented by Clive Williams MG, Visiting Professor at the Centre for Military and Security Law, ANU College of Law.

The Maldives is seen by many Australians as a tranquil paradise and ideal holiday destination - but it faces serious security challenges related to growing Islamisation, stymied democracy, political corruption, organised crime, and a subverted judiciary. It also has a constitution that is in breach of human rights law. The Maldives has a range of connections to regional countries and these often affect the Maldives' security situation.

Book About Five Years in Goa

On the new books display at the National Library of Australia today I found "What Westerners Have for Breakfast: Five Years in Goa" by John McBeath (Transit Lounge, 2013). McBeath, partner and dog moved from Melbourne to India in the 1980s with the aim of setting up a guest house. The books recounts the pleasures and frustrations of their time. I  lived in an Indian village in Goa for three weeks, not far from the location of this book and it brought back memories, both good and bad, for me. I have only got as far as chapter three of nineteen, but already I am not sure I like  the author. The story is well told with interesting self-deprecating anecdotes. But it is frustrating to read the problems which the ex-patriots make for themselves, such as in bringing a dog with them.

The book is a little dated, with the description of the scarcity of telephones and difficulty of long distance calls being a thing of the past. Even eight years ago, when I visited, mobile phones were very common, with coverage across Goa (except where screened by the thick walled metal oxide traditional houses).

Security Issues in the Indian Ocean

Clive Williams will speak on "Security Issues in the Indian Ocean: Maldives Case Study", at the Australian National University in Canberra, 5.30 pm 19 November 2013.

The Centre for Military & Security Law, ANU College of Law invite you to attend a Public Lecture: Security Issues in the Indian Ocean: Maldives Case Study, to be presented by Clive Williams MG, Visiting Professor at the Centre for Military and Security Law, ANU College of Law.

The Maldives is seen by many Australians as a tranquil paradise and ideal holiday destination - but it faces serious security challenges related to growing Islamisation, stymied democracy, political corruption, organised crime, and a subverted judiciary. It also has a constitution that is in breach of human rights law. The Maldives has a range of connections to regional countries and these often affect the Maldives' security situation.

Engaging India Through a MOOC to Disrupt the Hegemonic Discourse

Greetings from the University of Canberra, where presenters from Canberra are practicing their presentations for the HERDSA conference in a few weeks time. Dr Lyndsay Agans, Digital Learning Convenor at the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific is describing the background to the development of a new Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) "Engaging India", to be run by Dr McComas Taylor. One feature that sets this course apart is that it will be the first MOOC to be offered in both English and Hindi. This course will be ten weeks long and available free to anyone, anywhere.

Apart from the technical and pedagogical aspects of how to design a MOOC, the is the interesting question of why design a MOOC and why students would enroll in one.

CeBIT Computer Exhibition in Sydney

The CeBIT Computer Exhibition is on a Darling Harbor in Sydney, until 30 May. I went along Tuesday afternoon to see what was new in computer hardware, software, education and management. The exhibition takes up three of the large halls at Darling Harbor and one smaller hall. The layout is themed and as I entered I went through "Security World" with anti-hacking products, then broadband infrastructure (with an NBN Pantechnicon, parked prominently).

At the back of Hall 3 is Skills and eLeanring, with both traditional universities and some new e-learning commercial startups showing their offerings. An unusual entry is the Federal Attorney-General's Department, with their Protective Security Training College (PSTC). The PSTC is a registered training organization offering vocational qualifications for government employees and staff from the private sector who need to know how to protect government information and investigate breeches.

Several Australian federal agencies and state Governments had large booths. The most interesting was NSW, with mini-booths for commercial start-ups, including Open Learning (which offers an on-line platform for free and fee based courses) and Fishburners  Co-working Space (low cost office space for startups).

The one trend from the show was the rise of Asia in IT. There were very large displays from Chinese regions and India.  One surprise was a very strong showing by Sri Lanka, with several companies offering IT outsourcing services.

CeBIT Sydney is worth a visit, provided you have a free ticket. I am not sure it is worth the full $99 entry price.

Indian e-Learning Modules on the Digital Library

India's Consortium For Educational Communication is developing a series of E-learning materials for undergraduate university students. Current topics are: Advertising and Sales Promotion, Botany, Computer Science, Digital Library and Information Services, Fine Arts, History, Mass Communication & Journalism, Physics and Zoology. The materials are publicly available for peer review. I looked at the introductory e-library module "Digital Library and Information Services".

The module consists of a frames based web page (prepared using Microsoft Front Page 5.0), providing:

1. Objectives: A list of seven objectives for the course,
2. Download: A 24 page set of course notes in Microsoft Word format. The notes are well formatted and readable,
   
3. References: A list of 14 references, most of which are to paper based sources. There are some URL (web addresses) provided, but these are not hypertext links and full references are not provided (no title, author, date, just a web address),
   
4. Module: Two videos in Microsoft Media format, which do not plan on my Linux open source computer,
5. Case study: This module has no case study,
6. Glossary: A glossary of terms, equivalent to about two A4 pages, is provided,
7. FAQs: About one page of frequently asked questions is provided. These appear to provide similar explanation of terms as the glossary and do not appear necessary.
8. Quiz: There is a five question, multiple choice answer quiz. This was reasonably challenging and very useful (I did the quiz and got four out of five).
9. Summary: A one paragraph of the course topic is provided. However, this is the right most link on the page and so less likely to be noticved. This would be better near the top right o0f the screen.
   
10. Assignment: The assignment for self assessment consists of two questions. Each question is just one sentence and do not provide sufficient guidance for a student.

The materials in the module are useful, but this appears to be a very early draft of the content. Given that the Indian government's "National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology Project(NME-ICT) talked of open-source software being used, it is not clear why the video in the module requires Microsoft player, or why Microsoft Frontpage was used to create the web pages. The use of frames for the web design may prevent use on modern hand held devices, such as the Indian government's ‘Aakash low cost tablet computer. Content prepared using an open source educational content authoring system, such as AContent, with the content as an IMS Content Package or eBook, would be more sustainable.

Indian $50 Aakash Tablet Computer

The Indian Minister for Human Resources Development, Shri Kapil Sibal, launched the ‘Aakash’ (आकाश), low cost tablet computer on 5 October 2011. The device is intended for educational use, first by university students, at an estimated cost of $50 per unit in bulk to government. The largest cost saving feature is that the device has a resistive, rather than capacitive, touch screen. While described as being developed for Indian educational use, this appears to be Datawind Ltd's Ubislate device. It has a 7 inch 800 x 480 pixel colour LCD screen, Google Android 2.2 operating system, 256 Mb RAM, 2 GB flash memory.

Laptop still a better option for students

Media reports concentrated on the low cost and the poor sensitivity of the touch screen of the Aakash. In my view a laptop with a screen of around 12 inches, such as the Kogan Agora, would be more useful for university students. This is large enough for daily work, but small enough to fit in a school bag (being about the size of an A4 pad of paper). The lowest cost model of the Kogan Agora was sold for $349, but this was with 30GB of flash, 1GB Ram and an Intel SU2700 Pentium Processor. A lower capacity device could be procured in bulk for around $100.

Content Creation and Connectivity

The Indian government plans to trial 100,000 tablet computers. What was not mentioned in most media reports was that the Indian government is also connecting 416 Universities and 20,000 colleges with fiber optics under the "National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology Project: (NME-ICT).

As well as connectivity there are plans for e-content creation. E-learning materials are available for peer review in the categories of Advertising and Sales Promotion, Botany, Computer Science, Digital Library and Information Services, Fine Arts, History, Mass Communication & Journalism, Physics and Zoology. While the materials are being prepared by various institutions, the Indian government will retain ownership, to allow wide distribution. Open-source software is being used.

Global Financial Crisis and India

Greetings from the Australian National University in Canberra, where Dr D. Subbarao (దువ్వూరి సుబ్బారావు), Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), is speaking on "India and the global financial crisis" in the 2011 K R Narayanan Oration. This was preceded by a message from the President of India, about the strength of the Indian economy.

Dr Subbarao started his talk by quoting K R Narayanan commenting that globalisation was not the end of history. He then pointed out that the latest Global Financial Crisis (GFC) was truly global. He humorously pointed out his term as reserve bank governor started just before the GFC, so some blamed him for it. India had a well regulated financial sector but was still hit by the GFC. India had a drop in the Indian Rupee, with overseas investments leaving. Local companies withdrew funds from the local money market, causing a shortage of capital. The RBI reacted by ensuring local liquidity, foreign exchange liquidity and credit flow to "productive" sectors. As a result the economy recovered quickly, but there is inflation the RBI is addressing with interest rate increases. Dr Subbarao commented that it did not so much matter what the RBI did during the GFC, as long as it was seen to be doing something. It was also more important to manage the end of the GFC measures, than their introduction.

Dr Subbarao's Lessons from the GFC:

1. In a globalizing world, decoupling does not work. As an example of this, under conventional economic theory, house prices are a purely local issue, but a collapse in house prices in the USA caused the GFC.
   
2. Global imbalances need to be redressed for the sake of global stability. The GFC was caused by global imbalances, with surpluses in China and Asia and deficits in the USA.
3. Global problems require global coordination.
   Dr Subbarao suggested that the level of agreement by countries during the GFC could not be expected into the future. But global imbalances remain and require coordination.
   
4. Price Stability and Macroeconomic Stability do not guarantee Financial Stability.
5. Micro-prudential supervision is necessary, but not sufficient. Needs to be supplemented by macro-prudential oversight.
6. Capital controls are not only unavoidable, but advisable in certain circumstances. Dr Subbara's law of capital flows is: "You never get capital flows at the level and time you want".
7. Economics is not physics. Dr Subbara pointed out that the GFC was predicted, but its exact manifestation was not.
8. Having a sense of economic history is important to prevent and resolve financial crisis.
   

A podcast of the presentation will be available in the next few days.

Dr Subbarao has earlier been Secretary to the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (2005-2007), lead economist in the World Bank (1999-2004), Finance Secretary to the Government of Andhra Pradesh (1993-98) and Joint Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India (1988-1993).

Dr Subbarao has wide experience in public finance. In the World Bank, he worked on issues of public finance in countries of Africa and East Asia. He managed a flagship study on decentralisation across major countries of East Asia including China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines and Cambodia. Dr Subbarao was also involved in initiation of fiscal reforms at the state level and has written extensively on issues in public finance, decentralisation and political economy of reforms.

Dr D. Subbarao will present the 2011 K R Narayanan Oration - ‘India and the global financial crisis – what have we learnt?’. He is the 22nd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. Prior to this appointment, Dr Subbarao was the Finance Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
...

E-waste Rules from Indian Government

The Indian Ministry of Environment & Forests has announced that "E-waste Management and Handling Rules 2011" (S.O. 1035(E), Government of India Press, 12/05/2011) will come into effect 1 May 2012. These are useful rules for reducing the amount of toxic material from electronic devices polluting the environment, but the Indian government needs an on-line system to make the rules workable.

The rules apply to producers , bulk consumers and recycling centres for electrical and electronic equipment (batteries, small enterprises and radioactive waste are excluded). Under these rules producers are responsible for recycling of e-waste at the "end of life" of their products, including the cost of collection and recycling centres.

The rules are contained in a 23 page, 1.3Mb PDF file (also available in Hindi). Unfortunately the English version of the rules appears to be a poorly scanned facsimile of a paper copy. This will make it difficult for organizations to find the rules and prepare internal documentation in order to comply with them.

Organizations covered by these rules are required to register with their state pollution control board or Pollution Control Committee, keep records of e-waste handling and file annual returns with the government. Unfortunately the forms provided in the rules are poor quality facsimilies of paper copies. It appears that the Government of India's intention is that organizations will fill these forms in on paper and send them through the post. This will create a large administrative burden for the companies and government agencies concerned. It will also create an environmental burden due to the materials and energy consumed in the process. The paper based records produced will be of little value in monitoring e-waste.

I suggest the Government of India produce a central web based registration system for producers to register and enter their annual returns. Responsible agencies can then also register so they can monitor the activities in their region. The e-forms used could be design to be filled in using a smart phone or other low cost low bandwidth device, so minimal burden will be imposed on industry. The system could be self funding by including advertisements on the web site.

Reserve Bank of India Governor on Global Financial Crisis

Dr D. Subbarao (దువ్వూరి సుబ్బారావు), Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, will speak on "India and the global financial crisis – what have we learnt?" at the Austrlaian National Unviersity in Canberra, 23 June 2011. This is the 2011 K R Narayanan Oration.

Dr Subbarao has earlier been Secretary to the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (2005-2007), lead economist in the World Bank (1999-2004), Finance Secretary to the Government of Andhra Pradesh (1993-98) and Joint Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India (1988-1993).

Dr Subbarao has wide experience in public finance. In the World Bank, he worked on issues of public finance in countries of Africa and East Asia. He managed a flagship study on decentralisation across major countries of East Asia including China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines and Cambodia. Dr Subbarao was also involved in initiation of fiscal reforms at the state level and has written extensively on issues in public finance, decentralisation and political economy of reforms.

Dr D. Subbarao will present the 2011 K R Narayanan Oration - ‘India and the global financial crisis – what have we learnt?’. He is the 22nd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. Prior to this appointment, Dr Subbarao was the Finance Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
...

Solar energy for effluent treatment

Greetings from the ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science, where Dr K Srithar, visiting from Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India, is speaking on "Industrial effluent treatment using solar energy". He preceded the talk with some photos of the Meenakshi Amman Temple ( மீனாட்சி அம்மன் கோவில்).

Tanning leather create large quantities of effluent which is traditionally treated by drying in open ponds. These take large amounts of land. Dr. Srithar experimented with running a thin sheet of water over an inclined dark solar plate collector and a spray system. A combination of these were three to four times as effective as ponds for evaporation and used less than half as much land. There was a cost as pumps were needed. The spray system also had the advantage that it would continue to work at night.

Dr. Srithar then discussed how to increase the efficiency of solar stills, to produce fresh water from salty. These use a shallow pond of brackish water with a sheet of glass over it. He found that including sponges, sand, rocks or a roughened surface increased efficiency. The efficiency could be further increased by pre-heating the water in a solar pond, before introducing it to the solar still.

Disaster Management Conference in India

Faisel T Illiyas, Secretary for DRVC 2011, has advised that the School of Environmental Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam is hosting the Disaster, Risk and Vulnerability Conference 2011 (DRVC 2011) from 12-14 March 2011. This in association with the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority, Trivandrum and the Indian Medical Association Disaster Management Cell, Kerala. This timely for Australia, with floods in Queensland.

This conference aims to bring together specialists, practitioners, academics, students and the public to a common platform. Discussions on disaster management, risk and vulnerability reduction can lead to increased awareness of disasters and its various hues, strategies for resiliency and newer technologies for disaster management. The conference could update the knowledge base of disaster management professionals by communicating the latest practices and developments evolved in the country.

It would be great if anybody is interested to participate in the conference and share the experience of using SAHANA in emergencies. The conference would be an ideal venue for promoting SAHANA FOSS among the DM practitioners in India. We invite one or two experts in SAHANA from India to give an initial level operational training to the conference delegates if possible.

Our School has a Masters Degree programme in Disaster Management since 2006. We are thinking to include the SAHANA in our course syllabus. Hence the students can learn and execute it in their field of operation in future. For all these we need the technical help from the user community. Looking for your positive responses

Details of the conference can be seen at http://www.disasterresearch. net