SWEDISH SOUTH ASIAN STUDIES NETWORK

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Newsletter 78:

9 October 2007

SASNET News

• SASNET seminar on Global Terrorism: Myth or Reality
A seminar on ”Global Terrorism: Myth or Reality” will be held in Lund on Wednesday 10 October 2007, 19.30–21.15. The seminar is organised by SASNET in collaboration with the Centre for Middle Eastern Studies and the Association of Foreign Affairs at Lund University.
The Ambassador of Pakistan to Sweden, H.E. Mr. Shaheen A. Gillani (photo to the right), will be the key speaker to talk about the theme for the evening. The other invited participants are: Prof. Bo Huldt from the Swedish National Defence College in Stockholm, who will talk about ”Is Terrorism the Model for Warfare in the New Millennium?”, Dr. Maria Bjernevi, former Senior Analyst at the Swedish Security Service (Säpo), who will talk about ”Global Jihad, Local Terrorism”, and Iram Asif from the University of Copenhagen, who will talk about ”Behind the Screen: Young Women of Jamia Hafsa”. Venue: Auditorium, SOL-Centrum (Lund University’s Centre for Languages and Literature), Helgonabacken 12/Finngatan 1, Lund. More information.

Dr. J.B. Prajapati, Anand Agricultural University, Prof. Baboo Nair, Lund University, Dr. A.K. Pathak, Anand Agricultural University, and Dr. M. Abdulla, UNESCO Institute of Trace Elements, Lyon, France, during their visit to the SASNET office in Lund.

• Anand Agricultural University delegation visited SASNET
A delegation from Anand Agricultural University, consisting of Dr. A.K. Pathak, Director of Research at AAU, and Dr. J.B. Prajapati who is Coordinator of the so-called SASNET Fermented Foods project, visited SASNET on 2 October 2007. It was made in connection to a visit to Lund University, where an extensive programme had been prepared for them to visit several departments, but also including an important meeting with representatives for the Rector’s office, Lund Institute of Technology. This meeting was aimed at facilitating a long-term collaboration between the Food departments of LTH/LU and related faculties of Anand Agricultural University.
The Ambassador of India to Sweden, Ms. Deepa Gopalan Wadhwa, and the First Secretary, Mr. Rajesh Vaishnaw, came to Lund to participate in this meeting, that was being organised by Prof. Baboo Nair, Dept. of Applied nutrition, LTH. Since SASNET was instrumental in the creation of the SASNET Fermented Foods Network, giving initial funding, the delegation also made a courtesy call to the SASNET office on Tuesday 2 October. An informal meeting was organised by SASNET (Anna Lindberg and Lars Eklund) in the conference room at the Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies (ACE), Scheelevägen 15 D. More information.

• Sunandan Roy Chowdhury holds SASNET lecture on Indian Educational Policy
Mr. Sunandan Roy Chowdhury (photo to the right), Editor-Publisher of the Sampark Journal of Global Understanding in Kolkata, India, will give a SASNET lecture on ”Ideology of Nation State and Educational Policy”, focusing on Indian Higher education since 1947, at Lund University on Tuesday 23 October 2007, 15.15–17.00. Mr. Roy Chowdhury, who is also a researcher in didactics and participated as a key speaker at SASNET’s workshop on ”The Role of South Asia in the Internationalisation of Higher Education in Sweden” (held at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, November 2006, more information) critiques the skewed elitist development of higher education and shows how various policy options that could have created a more equitable and just society fell by the wayside as India rushed towards modernity.

• More information about SASNET and its activities
See SASNET’s page, http://www.sasnet.lu.se/sasnet.html

Research Community News

• 2007 Right Livelihood Awards to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh
Two of the four recipients of the 2007 Right Livelihood Awards (commonly known as the Alternative Nobel Prize, highlighting solutions to global challenges) goes to South Asia. Christopher Weeramantry (photo to the right) from Sri Lanka, a world-renowned legal scholar, best known for his landmark International Court opinion on the threat and use of nuclear weapons, will receive the award for ”his lifetime of groundbreaking work to strengthen and expand the rule of international law”. The Bangladeshi company Grameen Shakti is also honoured with a Right Livelihood Award for its efforts to show that solar energy applications can be scaled up massively and rapidly to provide an affordable and climate-friendly energy option for the rural poor. The Jury commends Grameen Shakti ”for bringing sustainable light and power to thousands of Bangladeshi villages, promoting health, education and productivity”. The award presentation ceremony will be held in the Swedish Parliament on Thursday 7 December 2007, at 18.00. More information about the 2007 Right Livelihood Awards.

• Umeå University and Karolinska Institutet to run Research School for Global Health
The Swedish Research Council has decided to award SEK 11.5 million to Umeå University and its International School for Public Health (UISPH) to administer a new Research School for Global Health during a period of five years. The research school will be run in collaboration with Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, and focus on global diseases like HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria. The goal is to find strategies to obtain improvements in sexual and reproductive health, and to study rights issues such as health systems and health economics. Ill-health among children will also become an important issue, and include studies of nutrition, immunisation programmes and other preventive measures. 20 PhD Candidates will be accepted to participate in the research school, announcements will soon be made. More information (in Swedish only)

• Institutional Grants to Chalmers and Sahlgrenska for collaboration with South Asia
On 12 April 2007, the Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education (STINT) decided to award Institutional Grants, in support of long-term collaboration between Swedish and foreign research groups, to 17 new projects. Two of the projects to be funded relate to collaboration with partners in South Asia. Dr. Devdatt Dubhashi (photo to the right) at the Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg, was awarded SEK 800 000 to establish research collaboration with Prof. Krithi Ramamritham at the Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Mumbai; and Dr. Gunilla Krantz, Dept. of Social Medicine, Institute of Medicine, The Sahlgrenska Academy, Göteborg University, was awarded SEK 600 000 to establish research collaboration with Dr. Tazeen Saeed Ali, School of Nursing, Aga Khan University, Pakistan.

• World Bank blog on poverty eradication in South Asia
The World Bank has launched a blog to discuss and share information on how South Asia has an unprecedented opportunity to end poverty in a generation. It is hosted by Shanta Devarajan, the World Bank's Chief Economist for the region. The blog has information on: • Economic analysis; • Priorities to eradicate poverty in the region in a generation; • Poverty data for all South Asia countries; and • Commentary on current economic developments in South Asia. Please visit the End Poverty in South Asia blog and share your comments.

• Nepal opens up its first Scandinavian Embassy in Denmark
On 1 September 2007, Nepal opened its first embassy in a Scandinavian country – in Denmark. The Nepalese Embassy in Copenhagen, located at Svanemøllevej 92 in Hellerup, is headed by a Charge d’Affaires, Mr. Dhananjay Jha.

• Time to apply for funding from the Endangered Archives Programme
The Endangered Archives Programme, based at the British Library in London, UK, now accepts applications for the next round of funding, with the deadline for applications being 2 November 2007. The programme distributes grants to individual researchers within the fields of humanities and social science, in order for them to identify collections that can be preserved for fruitful use. The Programme has funded nearly 70 projects in 37 countries, totalling £1.7 million, since its establishment three years ago. The Programme is funded by Arcadia, in pursuit of its general aim to support fundamental research into important issues in the humanities and social science. The focus of the Programme is on the preservation and copying of important but vulnerable archives throughout the world. In South Asia, currently 11 projects in Bhutan, India and Nepal are supported by the Endangered Archives Programme. They include collections at the Drametse Monastery (photo). More information with links to the South Asian projects (as a pdf-file).

• Working Paper on India’s Emergence as a Global R&D Center
On 3 September 2007, the Swedish Institute for Growth Policy Studies (ITPS) published a Working Paper on ”India’s Emergence as a Global R&D Center – an overview of the Indian R&D system and potential”. The report has been written by Raja Mikael Mitra, since 1989 working as an adviser and analyst with the World Bank Group in Washington DC. He graduated from Harvard University and the University of Stockholm. The report is rather unique and comprehensive and includes specific sections on Indo-Swedish business and R&D developments. Read the full report (as a pdf-file)

• 2007 Rafto Prize to The National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights
The Board of the Norwegian Thorolf Rafto Foundation for Human Rights awards the 2007 Rafto Prize to the Indian organisation The National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR), and its General Secretary, Vincent Manoharan (photo to the right, by Jacob Carlsen). The NCDHR receives the 2007 Rafto Prize for its struggle to promote Dalit rights, and for its efforts to emphasise that the discrimination and oppression resulting from caste prejudice is a serious violation of international human rights. The 2007 Rafto Prize will be awarded at Den Nationale Scene in Bergen on Sunday 4 November 2007, at 18.00. More information about the 2007 Rafto Prize.
The media coverage of the RAFTO Prize to NCDHR has received massive coverage in Norway – at least 70 electronic media have taken it up. See an interview with Vincent, from Norwegian TV 2.

• More information about South Asia related research at Swedish and Nordic universities
See SASNET’s page, http://www.sasnet.lu.se/research.html

Educational News

• Time to apply for Linnaeus Palme international exchange programme grants
Applications for the Linnaeus Palme programme for the period 1 July 2008 – 30 June 2009 has to be delivered to the International Office or equivalent authority at the local Swedish university not later than 15 November 2007. Decisions are taken by the International Programme Office for Education and Training in the middle of May, 2008. More information about the programme, and previous South Asia related collaboration projects.

• Time to apply for Minor Field Study (MFS) grants
The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency offers Minor Field Study (MFS) grants to Swedish students at Swedish universities and colleges. MFS grants aim to provide students at C or D level programmes with the opportunity to carry out minor field studies in developing countries, including South Asia. The stipend programme is handled by the International Programme Office for Education and Training (Internationella Programkontoret). Applications should be made through the students own departments. Deadline for applications regarding 2008: 1 November 2007. More information.

• American Institute of Bangladesh Studies offers Bangla language training in Dhaka
The American Institute of Bangladesh Studies (AIBS), now offers intensive beginning, intermediate, and advanced instruction in Bangla language during the academic year at its facilities in Dhaka on the campus of Independent University, Bangladesh, located in Baridhara. Classes are led by master teacher Farrah Sattar and her regular AIBS language teaching staff, utilizing syllabi developed for the Bangla Summer Institute and in conjunction with the Bangla teaching staff at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of the University of London. The Fall 2007 courses started on 2 September and last until 6 December, and the Spring 2008 courses will start on 6 January and last until 3 April. AIBS is an association with 18 US universities being members (including Columbia, Chicago, Berkeley, University of Texas at Austin, University of Washington, and University of Wisconsin, Madison). The application deadline for the Spring Term 2008 is 3 December 2007. More information.

• Apply for scholarship to study at an Indian university
Scholarships for studies at Indian universities are offered on a reciprocal basis for two Swedish students every year by the Indian government through the Council of Cultural Relations in New Delhi. Applications for scholarships are managed through the Swedish Institute in Stockholm, who pass them on to the Indian Embassy in Stockholm. Last date for applications for the year 2008/09 is 1 November 2007. More information on the scholarships, and application forms (only in Swedish).

Important lectures and seminars

• Robert Eric Frykenberg lectures in Uppsala, Oslo and Copenhagen
Professor Emeritus Robert Eric Frykenberg (photo) from University of Wisconsin, Madison, will lecture in Uppsala on ”Hindutva as a Political Religion: An Historical Perspective”, on Tuesday 9 October 2007, 14.15–16.00. The lecture is part of a seminar series organised by the Forum for Advanced Studies in Arts, Languages and Theology (SALT) at Uppsala University in collaboration with the South Asia Seminar at the university. Venue: Room 1-0062, English Park Campus, Uppsala. More information about the South Asia Seminars at Uppsala University in the Fall 2007 (as a pdf-file).
He will also lecture in Oslo on the same subject, on Monday 15 October 2007, 14.15–16.00. Venue: Georg Sverdrups hus, room BL27, Blindern, Oslo. More information (as a pdf-file).
From Oslo he goes to Copenhagen. On Wednesday 17 October 2007, 11.00–13.00, he will lecture about ”Roads, Riots, and Ritual Space: Civil Violence in Tirunelveli in South India, 1859”. This lecture is organised by the Institute for Cross Cultural and Regional Studies, in collaboration with the Nordic Instute for Asian Studies, NIAS. Venue: Room: 036, 1st floor, Artillerivej 86, Copenhagen.

• Tor Aase lectures in Oslo about Conflict zones in the Pakistani Society
Professor Tor Halfdan Aase, Dept. of Geography, University of Bergen, holds a guest lecture in Oslo on Wednesday 10 October 2007, 13.15–15.00. Prof. Aase will lecture about ”Conflict zones in the Pakistani Society”. The lecture is organised by the Norwegian Asia Network (Asianettverket). Venue: Seminar room, Centre for Development and Environment (SUM), Sognsveien 68, Oslo. More information.

• Stockholm seminar on Improving Coastal Environment and Livelihoods in India
A seminar on ”Improving Coastal Environment and Livelihoods in India” will be held in Stockholm on Friday 19 October 2007, 13.15–14.45. The seminar deals with the many fisher families in Tuticorin, India, who are solely dependant on fishery on and around a number of heavily exploited coral reef fringed islands. These essential fish habitats and fishing grounds are seriously threatened by over fishing, dynamite fishing, and coral mining. In response to this, Sughanthi Devadason Marine Research Institute (SDMRI), since five years back, implements a research and management program supported by the Coral Reef Degradation in the Indian Ocean programme CORDIO (coordinated by the School of Pure and Applied Natural Sciences at the University of Kalmar); the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency Sida; the Swedish Program for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Developing Regions, Spider; and others. Dr. Dan Wilhelmsson from the Dept. of Zoology, Stockholm University, will introduce the seminar and give a short presentation about the CORDIO South Asia activities. Venue: Stockholm Resilience Centre, Kräftriket 2B, Roslagsvägen 101, Stockholm. More information (as a pdf-file)

• Bangladeshi speakers at Lund seminar on food supply, power and transnational struggle
The Swallows India-Bangladesh Section in Lund invites to a seminar on ”Food supply, power and transnational struggle”, on Saturday 20 October 2007, 10.00–12.00. The two key speakers are Natasha Ahmad from the Bangladeshi network ASIA, working against industrial aquaculture; and Deb Kumar Nath from Thanapara in western Bangladesh, working with ecological farming. The moderator for the discussions will be Pär Lindqvist, in charge of the eco-certification work in Sweden. The seminar, co-organised by Framttidsjorden and Studiefrämjandet Lund, is part of the so-called Skåne Sociala Forum 2007, a three-day event carried out 19–21 October by a large number of organisations in Malmö and Lund. Venue for the seminar on Bangladesh: Smålands Nation, Kastanjegatan 7, Lund.

• Lund seminar on Child labour, trafficking and HIV/aids in India
A seminar on ”Child labour, trafficking and HIV/aids in India” will be held in Lund on Saturday 20 October 2007, 10.00–11.45. Invited speakers for the seminar, also being part of the Skåne Sociala Forum 2007 event, are Ms Priyanka Jain, Programme coordinator for the New Delhi based organisation STOP; and Ms. Aparna Bhat, Advocate in the Indian Supreme Court, and Director for the Human Rights Law Network in New Delhi. They will discusss issues like how Indian children are treated during the rise of the ”Indian miracle economy”, and what can be done to tackle the growing problems of HIV/aids and trafficking. Håkan Hermansson from LO-distriktet Skåne will be the moderator.

• Prem Shankar Jha lectures in Stockholm
The Indian journalist and political commentator Prem Shankar Jha will lecture in Stockholm on Thursday 25 October 2007, 18.30. He will talk about ”The Indian Miracle – can it endure”. Mr. Jha is originally an economist and statistician, but is mostly known for his articles in papers like The Times of India, Hindustan Times, The Economist, and Outlook. He has also written nine books, the latest from 2006 was titled ”Twilight of the Nation State: Globalisation, Chaos and War”. The seminar is organised by Svensk-Indiska Föreningen in Stockholm. Venue: Restaurang Maharaja, Timmermansgatan 35, Stockholm. More information.

• Uppsala seminar to discuss Sudipta Kaviraj’s book ”An Outline of a Revisionist Theory of Modernity”
The South Asia Seminar at Uppsala University arranges a Literature Seminar, discussing Professor Sudipta Kaviraj’s book ”An Outline of a Revisionist Theory of Modernity” on Thursday 25 October 2007, 14.15–16.00. Prof. Kaviraj is based at the Dept. of Politics and International Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, UK. Her book deals with Modernization, that according to Kaviraj does not follow a uniform path. The diversity of the historical experiences in the Third World countries imposes a severe revision of the theory. The case of India is taken as a good example. It helps the author to declare that there are two theorical lines which must be at the same time divided and connected. The first is functionalist, the second sequentiel, including contradictions and break thoughts. Venue: Room 1-1042, English Park Campus, Uppsala. More information about the South Asia Seminars at Uppsala University in the Fall 2007 (as a pdf-file).

• Seminar in Lund about Pakistan and the radicalization of Islam and the upcoming election
Muhammad Amir Rana, Director of the Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS) in Lahore, Pakistan will lecture at Lund University on Friday 26 October 2007, 12.15–14.00. He will talk about 'Pakistan and the radicalization of Islam and the upcoming election'. Mr. Rana, who is a renowned expert on terrorism and regional strategic issues, and in 2004 wrote the book "A to Z of Jihad organizations in Pakistan", has been invited to Sweden by the Dept. of Political Science, Lund University. The department is currently establishing a collaboration with PIPS. Venue for the seminar: Dept. of Political Science, Paradisgatan 5, Lund.

• R. Vidyasagar lectures in Lund about Child Labour in India
Dr. R. Vidyasagar from the Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai, India, holds a guest lecture at Lund University on Monday 29 October, 15.15–17. Dr. Vidyasagar will talk about ”Child Labour in India. Present Situation and Future Prospects in the Era of Globalisation”. The lecture is organised by the Research Group on Society, Development, Environment, at the Department of Sociology. R. Vidyasagar is a senior researcher who has specialised in the Indian labour market, especially on child labour issues, on which he has written extensively. Currently he is engaged in a Panel study of 25 years of change in rural Tamil Nadu (with G. Djurfeldt, S. Lindberg, A. Rajagopal and V. B. Athreya). He has been invited on a SASNET guest lecture travel grant and will during his stay in Sweden also give a lecture/seminar at the Department of Economic History at Stockholm University on Wednesday 31 October. Venue: Conference Room 1 (335), Dept. of Sociology, Paradisgatan 5, House G, Lund.

• Tone Bleie lectures about Rights-based Approaches to Exclusion in Bangladesh
Dr. Tone Bleie, Professor, Institute of Planning and Community Studies, University of Tromsö, Norway, will lecture at a Poverty and Development Seminar in Oslo on Wednesday 7 November 2007, 10.00–12.00. The theme for the seminar will be ”Living where the Birds no longer sing: Rights-based Approaches to Exclusion in Bangladesh”. It is organised by the Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM), University of Oslo. Venue: SUM, 4th floor seminar room, Sognsveien 68, Oslo.

• David Hardiman lectures in Uppsala on Agendas for Subaltern Studies
seminar with Prof. David Hardiman from Warwick University, UK, lectures at Uppsala University on Friday 9 November 2007, 14.15–16.00. Prof. Hardiman, who is historian and a founding member of the Subaltern Studies group, will talk about ”Agendas for Subaltern Studies: Trajectories for Writing Histories from Below”. Among his recent publications are "Histories of the Subordinated" (2006) and "Gandhi in his Time and Ours" (2003). The lecture is part of a seminar series organised by the South Asia Seminar at Uppsala University. Venue: Room 1-0062, English Park Campus, Uppsala. More information about Prof. Hardiman.

• 2007 Iqbal Day celebrated with seminar in Denmark
The Iqbal Academy Scandinavia (IAS) based in Denmark, will celebrate the 2007 Iqbal Day on the 10 November, 15.00, with a symposium entitled ”Actuality of Religious Thought in a Modern Multicultural Society”. The symposium is aimed at promoting understanding and harmony among the people belonging to different schools of thought. The main speaker will be Professor Mustansir Mir, Director of the Dept. of Philosophy and Religions at the Youngstown State University, Ohio, USA. Other speakers are Ellen Wulff, who has recently translated the Qur'an into Danish language, and the Danish philosopher Peter Tudvad, who has supervised the Danish translation of the IAS chairman G. Sabir’s book on "Kierkegaard and Iqbal". The symposium will be held at Medborgerhuset, ground floor, Hovedgade 71 (Kægevej) in Taastrup, 20 km west of Copenhagen. More information about IAS.

Conferences and workshops

• Uppsala research course on Mission Archives and Approaches to the Study of the Christian Churches in India
A Research course on ”Mission Archives and Approaches to the Study of the Christian Churches in India” is held at Uppsala University 9–11 October 2007. The course, equivalent of 7.5 ECTS, is organised by Dr. Gunnel Cederlöf, Dept. of History, Uppsala University; and Dr. Peter B. Andersen, Dept. of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen, with financial support from Uppsala University and the Asian Century Research School Network (ACRSN), a Nordic research networking initiative. The key speaker will be Prof. Em. Robert Eric Frykenberg from University of Wisconsin, Madison. He will present papers about ”Mission and mission archive related research in India”, and "Hindutva as a political religion". Peter B. Andersen will talk about “TELC (Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church) among Catholics, Pentacostals and Hindus”. The participants are also given a chance to visit the Church of Sweden archives, and other similar archives in Uppsala. Venue: English Park Campus. Centre for the Humanities, Thunbergsvägen 3, Uppsala. See the preliminary programme (as a pdf-file).

• Essen seminar/film festival on India, its People and Traditions
An intensive-bloc seminar/film festival on ”India, its People and Traditions” will be held at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, 19–20 October 2007. Dr. Marc Katz from the Dept. of Religious Studies and Theology, University of Karlstad, has been invited to present his documentary films on Indian religious life. Three films will be shown during the seminar, namely 'Banaras Muharram and the Coals of Karbala', 'Tulsidas and the Fire of the Veda', and 'Holi Hey: A Festival of Love, Color, and Life. More information about the Essen seminar.

• Copenhagen seminar on Freedom from Torture. Challenges for Rehabilitation and Prevention
The Danish Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims (RCT) holds its 25th Anniversary Seminar in Copenhagen on Tuesday 30 October 2007. The theme for the seminar will be ”Freedom from Torture. Challenges for Rehabilitation and Prevention”. The seminar is divide into two sessions, the morning session focuses on Trauma and Rehabilitation, whereas the afternoon session deals with Prevention of Torture. Basil Fernando, Executive Director for the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), is one of the key speakers. He will talk about ”Torture in Context – Perspectives of the Global South. What are the future opportunities for the eradication of torture and the proliferation of universal human rights within the current global discourse?” Registration is required for the seminar, it should be submitted to kg@rct.dk. Venue: Danish Design Centre, HC Andersens Boulevard 27,Copenhagen. More information (as a pdf-file)

• Nordic NIAS Council (NNC) Conference on Culture and the Configuring of Security
The Second Annual Nordic NIAS Council (NNC) Conference, titled ”Culture and the Configuring of Security: Using Asian Perspectives to Inform Theoretical Direction”, will be held in Höör, north of Lund, 6–9 November 2007. Researchers (including doctoral students) and other specialists with particular interest and insights into Asian security aspects are invited to participate in the conference, that aims to break new theoretical ground by exploring a plurality of discourses and practices of security, and discussing ways of theorizing their embeddedness in social and cultural matrices. It is organised by the Nordic NIAS Council (NNC), a Nordic network comprising of universities and research institutions working on Asia, in partnership with Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen University and Lund University. More information.

• Stockholm conference on the War in Afghanistan – Local, Regional and Global Aspects
An International two-day conference on ”the War in Afghanistan. Local, Regional and Global Aspects” will be held in Stockholm, 8–9 November 2007. It is organised by the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA), and will feature some of the World’s leading authorities on the situation in Afghanistan and the role of its neighbouring countries. In order to participate, please send a mail to seminar@sak.se. The invited speakers include Hanif Atmar, Minister of Education in Afghanistan; Horia Mosadiq, Director of Human Rights Research and Advocacy Consortium, Kabul; Research Director Svante Cornell, Silk Road Studies Program, Uppsala University; Aziz Rafiee, Director of Afghanistan Civil Society Forum, Kabul; and the well-renowned journalist/writer Ahmed Rashid. Venue: Polstjärnan Konferens, Sveavägen 77, Stockholm. More information (as a pdf-file)

• Ruth Manorama participates in seminars at Swedish Human Rights Forum in Stockholm
The largest Nordic forum for Human Rights, MR-dagarna, will be held in Stockholm 19–20 November 2007. The theme for the 2007 Human Rights Forum, organised by Föreningen Ordfront, DemokratiAkademin, Fonden för mänskliga rättigheter, Teologiska högskolan i Stockholm och Utrikespolitiska institutet, will be ”War and Peace”. Among the large number of programmes, two focus on the problems for Dalit women in India. Ruth Manorama (photo) from the Indian National Federation of Dalit Women, and one of the recipients of the 2006 Right Livelihood Award (widely known as the ”alternative Nobel Price”), will participate in a seminar on Monday 19 November, 10.00–10.45. The seminar is called ”Dalitkvinnor – de mest förtryckta” (Dalit women – the most opressed). The same day, a seminar entitled ”Försoning” (Reconciliation), will be held 16.45–18.15, with Ruth Manorama participating along with Aloysius Irudayam, Programme Director, Institute of Development, Education and Studies in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India (more information). The seminar will be moderated by Hans Magnusson, Dalit Solidarity Network – Sweden. Venue: Stockholmsmässan, Mässvägen 1, Älvsjö. More information about the 2007 Human Rights Forum in Stockholm.
On Tuesday 20 November, Ruth Manorama will also participate in a seminar at Stockholm University, organised by the Dept. of Social Anthropology, and and on Wednesday 21 November, she will meet Sten Widmalm, assistant professor in Political Science at Uppsala University, a researcher involved in studies on Panchayati Raj.

• South Asian particioants for the Sixth Kalmar ECO-TECH Conference
The Sixth Kalmar ECO-TECH Conference (International Conference on the Establishment of Cooperation Between Companies and Institutions in the Nordic Countries, the Baltic Sea Region, and the World) will be held in Kalmar 26–28 November 2007. As part of the ECO-TECH 07 conference, a special section will be devoted to the issue of ”Waste and Waste Water Management in Tropical Climate”. This section will be jointly organised by the Dept. of Technology, University of Kalmar, and the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok. Other highlighted scientific topics during Kalmar ECO-TECH 07 will be • Waste to Energy; • Remediation of Contaminated Sites and Landfill Mining; • Leachate, Stormwater and Industrial Wastewater Treatment; • Landfill Fires and Fires in Storages of Waste for Energy Recovery; • Air Pollution and Emissions from Treatment Facilities; • Waste and Wastewater Treatment Economics; • Environmental Economics, Awareness and Education; • Climate Effects; and • Phytotechnologies applied to pollution control. Another special section will be arranged about ”Wetlands and Wetland components: The use of prevegetated floating elements for water purification with focus on practical applicability”, a section being organised by the University of Kalmar and the European Soil and Water Engineering Group (EEIG). A number of South Asian lecturers have been invited, with support from SASNET. More information about ECO-TECH 07.

• Pune conference on Biotechnology for Sustainable Development
An International conference on ”Biotechnology for Sustainable Development”, will be held 7–9 January 2008 in Pune, India. The conference, named BSD – 2008, is organised by the Chemical Engineering and Process Development Division at the National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) in Pune, in collaboration with the Dept. of Biotechnology, Lund University, Sweden. It is supported by the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research (Mistra) and the Indian Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Mr. Sanjay Nene from NCL convenes the conference, that will highlight the latest developments areas such as • Biotechnology for production of green chemicals; • Biorefinery – Use of plantation crops for production of Chemicals; • Bioremediation of solid, gaseous and liquid wastes; and • Waste water treatment and recycle using clean technologies. Abstracts should be submitted before 15 November 2007.

• Fifth annual South Asia Graduate Student Conference in Chicago
The fifth annual South Asia Graduate Student Conference at the University of Chicago will be held 11–12 April 2008. The aim of this conference is to encourage discussion regarding the current state and future trajectories of South Asian studies, particularly in the wake of interventions made by the Subaltern Studies group. To this end, the diverse range of concepts and themes that are being investigated by current South Asianist graduate students in both the Humanities and the Social Sciences suggest some broader questions: South Asianist graduate students working on any period, on any theme, and any Humanities or Social sciences discipline, are invited to consider how their work contributes to a conversation on new perspectives in South Asian research. Presentations should not exceed 20 minutes in length. Please send abstracts and/or proposals of no longer than 250 words to Dwaipayan Sen by November 15th, 2007. Please include the following details: department, university, and status in respective doctoral programs. Students will be notified regarding the outcome of their applications by February 1st, 2008. More information.

• 14th World Sanskrit Conference to be held in Kyoto
The 14th World Sanskrit Conference will be held in Kyoto, Japan on 1–5 September 2009. It is hosted jointly by the International Association of Sanskrit Studies (IASS), and the Graduate School of Letters (Department of Indological Studies), Kyoto University. The conference will operate in 15 parallel sections (with five sessions running concurrently) chaired by the conveners specializing in their respective fields. Scholars are invited to submit titles for papers. Abstracts must be submitted by the end of December 2008. Venue: Yoshida Campus of Kyoto University, Japan. More information.

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

Business and Politics

• Sweden-India Business Council seminar on Cross-Cultural Communication
The Sweden-India Business Council (SIBC) arranges a halfday seminar/course in Stockholm on ”Cross-Cultural Communication – Swedes and Indians in Business ” on Tuesday 23 October 23 2007, 08.30–13.00. Anne-Charlotte Sukhia, ACS Interkulturell Utbildning, will lead the seminar, that will focus on issues like ”What is Swedish culture? – some common values, attitudes, and behaviour styles – how is it perceived by Indians?”; and ”What is Indian culture? India – background and present - some values, attitudes, and behaviour styles.”

• Sweden-Bangladesh IT Bridge to be established
Ten Bangladeshi ICT companies will be in Stockholm 1–2 November 2007 to explore long-term partnership opportunities – joint ventures, offshore outsourcing contracts and technical collaboration – with Swedish companies. Such partnerships will allow the Swedish companies to lower their production costs, increase competitiveness and expand their business. Local Enterprise Investment Centre (LEIC), in cooperation with Bangladesh Embassy in Sweden and Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), is arranging this event. More information.

South Asia related culture in Scandinavia

• Indian performances at dance festival in Stockholm
A dance festival with a touch of India will be held in Stockholm 26–30 October 2007. The festival, entitled ”Movement in Exile” focuses on dance in exile, promoting and staging professional productions in per definition non-western dance. The festival opens with ”Chamat Carmen!”, a new production of the Indian/Oriental dance company Videshi (Anna Bolmström, Sophia Ström, Ulrika Anoukha Larsen, and Doris Straihamer). The festival also includes ”Madhu’s Dream”, a performance for children by Odissi Dansproduktion. Ulrika Anoukha Larsen is dancing, and Moa Danielson and Stian Grimstad plays the music. Workshops on Bharatanatyam – Indian classical dance – is also included in the festival programme. Venue: Teatertre, Rosenlundsgatan 12, Stockholm. More information.

• Information about South Asia related culture in Scandinavia
See SASNET’s page, http://www.sasnet.lu.se/culture.html

New and updated items on SASNET web site

• Swedish departments where research on South Asia is going on:
Constantly added to the list of research environments at Swedish universities, presented by SASNET. The full list now includes 214 departments, with detailed descriptions of the South Asia related research and education taking place! Go to http://www.sasnet.lu.se/environment.html

ƒ Section of Social Medicine, Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Institute of Medicine at Sahlgrenska Academy, Göteborg University

• Useful travelling information
Look at http://www.sasnet.lu.se/travelling.html. Updated travel advises from the The British Foreign & Commonwealth Office about safety aspects on travelling to the countries of South Asia.

 Best regards,

       Anna Lindberg           Lars Eklund

 SASNET/ Swedish South Asian Studies Network

SASNET is a national network for research, education, and information about South Asia, based at Lund University. The aim is to encourage and promote an open and dynamic networking process, in which Swedish researchers co-operate with researchers in South Asia and globally.
The network is open to all sciences. Priority is given to co-operation between disciplines and across faculties, as well as institutions in the Nordic countries and in South Asia. The basic idea is that South Asian studies will be most fruitfully pursued in co-operation between researchers, working in different institutions with a solid base in their mother disciplines.
The network is financed by Sida (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency) and by Lund University.

Postal address: SASNET – Swedish South Asian Studies Network, Scheelevägen 15 D, SE-223 70 Lund, Sweden
Visiting address: Ideon Research Park, House Alpha 1 (first floor, room no. 2040 & 2041), in the premises of the Centre for East and South East Asian Studies at Lund University (ACE).
Phones: + 46 46 222 73 40 and +46 46 222 36 06
Fax: + 46 46 222 30 41
E-mail: sasnet@sasnet.lu.se
Web site: http://www.sasnet.lu.se
Staff: Anna Lindberg, director/coordinator & Lars Eklund, webmaster/deputy director