New Book | "The Conflicted Superpower: America's Collaboration with China and India in Global Innovation" | by Andrew B. Kennedy, CUP

The Conflicted Superpower: America's Collaboration with China and India in Global Innovation

by Andrew B. Kennedy, Columbia University Press, 2018, Hardback, ISBN: 9780231546201.

About the Book: Innovation is globalizing. Cross-border flows of brainpower have reached unprecedented heights, while multinationals invest more and more in high-tech facilities abroad. In this new world, the technological leadership of the United States increasingly involves collaboration with other countries. China and India have emerged as particularly prominent partners, unrivaled suppliers of intellectual talent to the United States, and U.S. companies are the largest foreign investors in research and development in both countries. In The Conflicted Superpower, Andrew Kennedy explores how the world's most powerful country navigates the policy of its collaboration with these two rising powers.
Whereas China and India have embraced global innovation, policy in the United States is conflicted. Kennedy explains why, through in-depth case studies of U.S. policies toward skilled immigration, foreign students, and offshoring. These make clear that U.S. policy is not strategic but rather the outcome of domestic battles between competing interests. Pressing for openness is the "high-tech community"--the technology firms and research universities that embody U.S. technological leadership. Yet these pro-globalization forces can face resistance from a range of other interests, including labor and anti-immigration groups, and the nature of this resistance powerfully shapes just how open national policy is. Kennedy concludes by asking whether U.S. policies are accelerating or slowing American decline, and considering the prospects for U.S. policymaking in years to come.  

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. The Rise of Global Innovation

2. Innovation Leadership and Contested Openness

3. The Swinging Door: Skilled Workers

4. The Open Door: Foreign Students

5. The (Mostly) Open Door: Global R&D

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New Book | "Energy Law and Policy" | edited by Usha Tandon, OUP

Energy Law and Policy

Edited by Usha Tandon, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2018, Hardback, ISBN: 9780199482979.

About the Book: Ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all is one of the goals of sustainable development. In order to meet the increasing demand for various forms of energy—whether derived from fossil fuel, nuclear substances, or renewable sources—conservation, equitable use, and efficient management of its usage have gained primacy. Energy Law and Policy provides a constructive understanding of energy law, a relatively new area in the discourse of environmental law. It argues the importance of looking into existing legal imperatives to frame a robust, and comprehensive legal framework on renewable energy at national and international levels. In this volume, leading energy law experts shed light on crucial aspects of energy law, such as the linkages between energy and sustainable development, energy trade, energy tax, and intellectual property rights in clean energy. Providing a comparative perspective, the volume discusses domestic laws of India, China, Mauritius, and Nigeria, and links the legal instruments developed by environmental law to an energy regime where economic motives dominate and differ across nations depending on the availability of their natural resources. 

About the Editor: Usha Tandon is professor of environmental law, population law, and gender justice at Campus Law Centre, University of Delhi, India.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Richard L. Ottinger 

Introduction

Part I International Perspectives 

1. The Atmosphere as a Global Commons and Cleansing It with New Energy Options | Klaus Bosselmann and Pushpa Kumar Lakshmanan 

2. Making Sense of Energy and Natural Resource Law in the Anthropocene Epoch | Upendra Baxi 

3. Regulation of Nuclear Energy for Sustainable Development: A Critical Overview of International Regime with Special Reference to IAEA | Usha Tandon 

4. International Energy Law and WTO: Issues and Challenges | V. Chandralekha 

5. Intellectual Property in the Way of a Clean and Green Environment: Is Licensing the Solution? | Nikita Pattajoshi and Akash Kumar 

Part II National Perspectives 

6. Clean Energy in India: Supply and Prospects | Armin Rosencranz, Rajnish Wadehra, Neelakshi Bhadauria, and Pranay Chitale 

7. Renewable Energy Development in India: The Need for a Robust Legal Framework | Sanjay Upadhyay 

8. Examining the Legal Impediments in the Development of Renewable Energy in Nigeria | Erimma Gloria Orie 

9. Sustainable Energy for Sustainable Development: World View on Nuclear Energy with Special Reference to India | Abdul Haseeb Ansari 

10. The Indian Energy Conservation Law: A Critical Overview | C.M. Jariwala 

11. Information Disclosure: A Policy Tool for Managing Environmental and Energy Challenges | Shivananda Shetty and Surender Kumar 

12. Assessing the Legal Framework of Mauritius on Sustainable Energy: Is It Robust Enough to Achieve the Dream of 'Mauritius: A Sustainable Island'? | Amar Roopanand Mahadew 

13. Eco-Tax on Energy Resources: A Critical Appraisal with Special Reference to India | Neeraj Kumar Gupta and Pratibha Tandon 

14. Humanity, Energy and Law: Urgencies and Challenges | M. Afzal Wani 

15. Achieving Redistributive Energy Justice: A Critical Analysis of Energy Policies of India | Maansi Verma

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New Books | Structural Reforms in India: Achievements of the Modi Government - New Initiatives for Rejuvenating the Indian Economy, Vol. I & II | edited by Shalini Sikka & Pawan Sikka

New Books

Structural Reforms in India: Achievements of the Modi Government - New Initiatives for Rejuvenating the Indian Economy

edited by Shalini Sikka & Pawan Sikka, Volume I, Synergy Books India, 2019, ISBN 9789382059783. 

About the Book

A select few national public policies are incorporated in this book, namely, Juvenile Justice, Skills Development, Aadhaar Card, Patents & IPR, SC/ST Act, eWaste Management, Healthcare, Motor Vehicles Act, etc.

Further Details

Structural Reforms in India: Achievements of the Modi Government - New Initiatives for Rejuvenating the Indian Economy

edited by Shalini Sikka & Pawan Sikka, Volume II, Synergy Books India, 2019, ISBN 9789382059790. 

About the Book

A select few national public policies are incorporated in this book, namely, Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, Medical Devices Bill, the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act, Consumer Protection Bill, etc.

Further Details

New Book | Development and Disaster Management: A study of the Northeastern States of India

Development and Disaster Management: A study of the Northeastern States of India

Edited by Amita Singh,  Milap Punia, Nivedita P. Haran & Thiyam Bharat Singh; Palgrave Macmillan, 2018, ISBN: 9789811084843.

About the Book

This book highlights the relationship between disasters and development through a socio-cultural study of human geography and governance institutions. It studies the cause, context and consequences of disasters in one of the most fragile Himalayan regions in India. The book establishes the fact that disaster management is built within the framework of good governance, without which it has no meaning. For lack of effective and responsive governance, development has lagged behind and even though the frequency of disasters has been increasing, little is being done to redesign developmental frameworks to prevent ensuing losses. Besides, the near absence of governmental support during recurrent disasters, communities have cumulatively become reservoirs of innovations to cope up with disasters. The resilience plans need not follow implanted models but may be cost effective only if they apply a bottom up approach. Just as the region is culturally diverse so are the challenges encountered by local communities in terms of generating resilience to every disaster. Despite more than a decade of the Disaster Management Act (DMA) of 2005, most of the states in this northeastern fringe of India continue to wait for its implementation beyond mere structures and offices. The book suggests that urgent action is required in accordance with the DMA 2005 towards inter-agency coordination, proactive participation of local governance, mobilization of Community based Organizations (CBOs) and curriculum based training in every academic and technical institution. Governments of these northeastern states of India should establish accountability of State Disaster Management Authorities and inspire them to participate proactively with communities for an effective resilience building in the region.

Further Details

New Book | Disaster Risk Reduction: Community Resilience and Responses

Disaster Risk Reduction: Community Resilience and Responses

Edited by Bupinder Zutshi,  Akbaruddin Ahmad, & Ananda Babu Srungarapati; Palgrave Macmillan, 2018, ISBN: 9789811088445.

About the Book

This book discusses the interconnected, complex and emerging risks in today's societies and deliberates on the various aspects of disaster risk reduction strategies especially through community resilience and responses. It consists of selected papers presented at the World Congress on Disaster Management, which focused on community resilience and responses towards disaster risk reduction based on South Asian experiences, and closely examines the coordinated research activities involving all stakeholders, especially the communities at risk. Further, it narrates the experiences of disaster risk-reduction in different communities that have policy implications for mitigation of future disaster risks in the societies affected by these types of disasters. Written from the social science perspective to disasters rather than an engineering approach, the book helps development and governance institutions to prioritize disasters as a problem of development rather than being parallel to it.

Table of Contents (21 chapters)

Law Can Set a Stage for Disaster Risk Reduction: A Study on Nepal | Ahmad, Akbaruddin (et al.)

Coordination Does Matter for Disaster Management in Bangladesh | Marzina Begum, Mst. (et al.)

Integrating Disaster Management Content into Social Work Curriculum-Voices of Social Work Students | Baikady, Rajendra (et al.)

Indigenous Knowledge and Practices in Disaster Management: Experiences of the Coastal People of Bangladesh | Haque, Mahfuzul

Mapping Vulnerable Earthquake Disaster Class-I Cities for Disaster Risk-Reduction and Community Resilience in India | Zutshi, Bupinder (et al.)

Mainstreaming Nuclear Disaster Risk Reduction in India | Kumar, Rajesh

Bridging the Gap Between Academicians and Bureaucrats: The NYSAF Way | Haran, Nivedita

Sustainability of Community Managed Disaster Risk Reduction Projects | Joseph, Neena

Innovative Use of Technology (GIS) for Disaster Risk Reduction: A Case Study | Agrawal, Namrata

A Sociological Perspective on "Institutional Coordination" for Disaster Risk Reduction in India | Nath, Sanghamitra

From Response to Responsibility: An Academe–Industry Partnership on Solid Waste Management in the Philippines | Era, Marlon de Luna

The Struggles of Women: An Experience from the Flood-Prone Area | Yadav, Shishir Kumar

Structural Inequality and Disaster Risk Reduction: An Indian Experience | Kumar, Binod

Linking Gender Vulnerability and Disasters | Sikandar, Rahila (et al.)

Women and the Gaps in Framework of Disaster Risk Reduction | Jha, Priyanka

Post-disaster Economic Vulnerability of Female-Headed Households | Sealza, Isaias S.

Child Centered Disaster Risk Reduction (CC DRR)/Resilience | Kancharla, Ray

Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience Building Among the Coastal Zone Communities in Lakshwadeep and Kerala | Dutta, Mondira

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Depression Among the Survivors of Nepal Earthquake: A Need Assessment Study | Zahir Ahmed, Md

Cyclone Aila: Immediate Challenges and Impact on Socio-economy | Banu, Nasim

Recovery After Disasters—Problems and Prospects: The Case of Koslanda-Meeriyabedda Landslide in Sri Lanka | Fernando, R. Lalitha S. (et al.)

Further Details

New Book | Altmetrics for Research Outputs Measurement and Scholarly Information Management

Altmetrics for Research Outputs Measurement and Scholarly Information Management

Edited by Mojisola Erdt, Aravind Sesagiri Raamkumar, Edie Rasmussen, Yin-Leng Theng; Springer Nature, Singapore, ISBN: 9789811310522.

About the Book: This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the International Workshop on Altmetrics for Research Outputs Measurements and Scholarly Information Management, AROSIM 2018, held in Singapore, in January 2018. The book investigates how social media based metrics along with traditional and non-traditional metrics can advance the state-of-the-art in measuring research outputs.

Table of Contents

• Introduction to the Workshop on Altmetrics for Research Outputs Measurement and Scholarly Information Management (AROSIM 2018) | Mojisola Erdt, Aravind Sesagiri Raamkumar, Edie Rasmussen, Yin-Leng Theng
  
• Using Altmetrics to Support Research Evaluation | Mike Thelwall
  
• Towards Greater Context for Altmetrics | Stacy Konkiel
  
• Monitoring the Broader Impact of the Journal Publication Output on Country Level: A Case Study for Austria | Juan Gorraiz, Benedikt Blahous, Martin Wieland
  
• New Dialog, New Services with Altmetrics: Lingnan University Library Experience | Sheila Cheung, Cindy Kot, Kammy Chan
  
• How Do Scholars Evaluate and Promote Research Outputs? An NTU Case Study | Han Zheng, Mojisola Erdt, Yin-Leng Theng
  
• Scientific vs. Public Attention: A Comparison of Top Cited Papers in WoS and Top Papers by Altmetric Score | Sumit Kumar Banshal, Aparna Basu, Vivek Kumar Singh, Pranab K. Muhuri
  
• Field-Weighting Readership: How Does It Compare to Field-Weighting Citations? | Sarah Huggett, Chris James, Eleonora Palmaro
  
• A Comparative Investigation on Citation Counts and Altmetrics Between Papers Authored by Top Universities and Companies in the Research Field of Artificial Intelligence | Feiheng Luo, Han Zheng, Mojisola Erdt, Aravind Sesagiri Raamkumar, Yin-Leng Theng
  
• Scientometric Analysis of Research Performance of African Countries in Selected Subjects Within the Field of Science and Technology | Yusuff Utieyineshola
  

Further Details

Blogger's Meet on Digital Games for Learning: A Brief Report

Blogger's Meet on Digital Games for Learning: A Brief Report

On 14th September 2018 at New Delhi, UNESCO MGIEP organized a Blogger's Meet on Digital Games for Learning where Chris Crowell, critically acclaimed game designer, shared his philosophy of creating enjoyable and immersive experiences for learners. Chris is a veteran of the video games industry, having over 20 years of experience working with globally known brands such as NASCAR, Tiger Woods, The Sims, and Kung Fu Panda.

This meet was an opportunity for young bloggers to come together for the discussion on how the digital learning space is enriched with the digital games. Games allow a learner to proceed at their own pace, thereby placing the student at the centre of the learning journey. Experts believe that games are an excellent pedagogical tool as they fundamentally encourage project-based learning and decision-making for young learners. With massive growth predicted in education technology, it is time that digital games be taken seriously for the interactive and immersive experience they provide a player.

In his insightful lecture, Chris Crowell argued that digital games always have to be fun. It is possible to make digital games for learning fun as well. He further discussed why Digital Games for Learning are important for the societies in the 21st Century. He also elaborated on how Digital Games for Learning are being developed and deployed globally.

Why

• "Games help you develop critical thinking. It teaches you to get up, go at it and get better at it."
  
• "Games help you take action, determine your success or failure. With this agency, you inculcate the life skill of responsibility".
  
• "Gaming helps you apply the learnings of the virtual world in the real world."
  
• "Gaming is a sure shot way of igniting your grey cells".
  
• "These days our devices give us access to the digital world. In that sense, games have the power to impact education."
  

How

• "My goal when designing a game is to understand how it will benefit educators in a practical way", while discussing his 'To Do' list while designing games.
  
• "Games analyse the happenings of the real world and incorporate it in their mode. We designers often take inspirations from the real world."
  
• "Games are not a joke. They can be implemented as a serious tool for learning but in a fun way."
  
• "Bloggers have the potential to spread their ideas virally in this digital world."
  

The lecture attracted intriguing questions and comments from the learned audience. Some of the pertinent questions asked include: "What kind of thought processes are put in action when creating a game from scratch?", "How to wage the gap between virtual reality and the real world for games?", and "Can traffic violence be reduced through gaming?".

UNESCO MGIEP is organizing the TECH-2018 Conference on theme "From Transmissive to Transformative Pedagogies: Digital Technologies for Fostering 21st Century Competencies" in Visakhapatnam on 15–17 November 2018, where "Digital Games for Learning" will be discussed in great details. 

Inputs & Photos from UNESCO MGIEP Twitter hashtags #GamesforLearning #Tech2018. 

New Book "The Open Revolution: Rewriting the Rules of the Information Age"

The Open Revolution: Rewriting the Rules of the Information Age

by Rufus Pollock, A/E/T Press, June 2018, ISBN: 9781789263428.

About the Book: Will the digital revolution give us digital dictatorships or digital democracies? Forget everything you think you know about the digital age. It's not about privacy, surveillance, AI or blockchain -- it's about ownership. Because, in a digital age, who owns information controls the future. Today, information is everywhere. From your DNA to the latest blockbusters, from lifesaving drugs to the app on your phone, from big data to algorithms. Our entire global economy is built on it and the rules around information affect us all every day. As information continues to move into the digital domain, it can be copied and distributed with ease, making access and control even more important. But the rules we have made for it, derived from how we manage physical property, are hopelessly maladapted to the digital world. In this urgent and provocative book, Rufus Pollock shows that we must make a choice between making information Open, shared by all, or making it Closed, exclusively owned and controlled, and how today's Closed digital economy is the source of problems ranging from growing inequality, to unaffordable medicines, to the power of a handful of tech monopolies to control how we think and vote. Choosing Open is the path to a more equitable, innovative and profitable future for all.

About the Author: Dr Rufus Pollock is a researcher, technologist and entrepreneur. He has been a pioneer in the global Open Data movement, advising national governments, international organisations and industry on how to succeed in the digital world. He is the founder of Open Knowledge, a leading NGO with a presence in over 35 countries, empowering people and organizations with access to information so they can create insight and drive change. Formerly, he was the Mead Fellow in Economics at Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge. He has been the recipient of a $1m Shuttleworth Fellowship and is currently an Ashoka Fellow and Fellow of the RSA. He holds a PhD in Economics and a double first in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge.

Table of Contents

1 Prologue: Monopolies of Attention

2 An Open World

3 Defining Information and Openness

4 Patents and Copyright as "Intellectual Property"

5 Face to Face with Power

6 Triumph over Closed Minds: The Internet

7 Music to our Ears

8 How the Secret of Life Almost Stayed Secret

9 Meet Jamie Love

10 Openness: The Best Medicine

11 Making an Open World

12 Help us Make it Happen

13 Coda: The Original Copyfight

Download Open Access Book

New Book "Journalism, 'Fake News' and Disinformation: A Handbook for Journalism Education and Training"

Journalism, 'Fake News' and Disinformation: A Handbook for Journalism Education and Training

edited by Cherilyn Ireton and Julie Posetti; United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Paris, 2018, ISBN: 9789231002816.

About the Book: This new publication by UNESCO is a timely resource and highly topical subject for all those who practice or teach journalism in this Digital Age. UNESCO's new handbook is an essential addition to teaching syllabi for all journalism educators, as well as practising journalists and editors who are interested in information, how we share it and how we use it. It is mission critical that those who practice journalism understand and report on the new threats to trusted information. Political parties, health professionals, business people, scientists, election monitors and others will also find the handbook useful in navigating the information disorder. Written by experts in the fight against disinformation, this handbook explores the very nature of journalism - with modules on why trust matters; thinking critically about how digital technology and social platforms are conduits of the information disorder; fighting back against disinformation and misinformation through media and information literacy; fact-checking 101; social media verification and combating online abuse. The seven individual modules are available online to download that enables readers to develop their own course relevant to their media environment.

Table of Contents

Module One | Truth, Trust and Journalism: Why it Matters | Cherilyn Ireton

Module Two | Thinking about "Information Disorder": Formats of Misinformation, Disinformation and Mal-Information | Claire Wardle & Hossein Derakshan

Module Three | News Industry Transformation: Digital Technology, Social Platforms and the Spread of Misinformation and Disinformation | Julie Posetti

Module Four | Combatting Disinformation and Misinformation Through Media and Information Literacy (MIL) | Magda Abu-Fadil 

Module Five | Fact-Checking 101 | Alexios Mantzarlis

Module Six | Social Media Verification: Assessing Sources and Visual Content | Tom Trewinnard and Fergus Bell

Module Seven | Combatting Online Abuse: When Journalists and Their Sources are Targeted | Julie Posetti

Download Open Access Book

See Also

• Individual Modules
• Background Information

Journal of Scientometric Research, 7(2) 2018 issue is now online.

Journal of Scientometric Research

Vol 7, Issue 2, May-Aug, 2018

http://jscires.org/v7/i2

Research Articles

• Data-Mining the Foundational Patents of Photovoltaic Materials: An Application of Patent Citation Spectroscopy. by Jordan A. Comins, Loet Leydesdorff. Journal of Scientometric Research,7(2):79-83
  
• Robotics Research in India: A Scientometric Assessment of Indian Publications Output during 2007-16. by B. M. Gupta,S. M. Dhawan. Journal of Scientometric Research,7(2):84-93
  
• Journal Impact Factor Weighted by SJR and 5-Year IF indicators of Citing Sources. by Ramiz M. Aliguliyev,Narmin A. Adigozalova. Journal of Scientometric Research,7(2):94-106
  
• The Slow Progress of Library and Information Science Research in Africa. by Swapan Kumar Patra,G. Mahesh. Journal of Scientometric Research,7(2):107-113.
  

Research Notes

• Use of NoSQL Database and Visualization Techniques to Analyze Massive Scholarly Article Data from Journals. by Gouri Ginde,Snehanshu Saha,Archana Mathur,Harsha Vamsi,Sudeepa Roy Dey,Swati Sampatrao Gambhire. Journal of Scientometric Research,7(2):114-119.
  
• Genealogy Tree: Understanding Academic Lineage of Authors via Algorithmic and Visual Analysis. by Sandra Anil,Abu Kurian,Sudeepa Roy Dey,Snehanshu Saha,Ankit Sinha. Journal of Scientometric Research,7(2):120-124.
  

Commentary

• A.V. Hill and Shaping of Modern Science in India. by Anasua Mukherjee Das. Journal of Scientometric Research,7(2):125-126.
  

Book Reviews

• The Innovation Paradox- Developing-Country Capabilities and the Unrealised Promise of Technological Catch-Up. by Ashish Gosain. Journal of Scientometric Research,7(2):127-129.
  
• Changing Context of Labour from Agro+Industrial Society to Knowledge Society. by Bidyarthi Dutta. Journal of Scientometric Research,7(2):130-132.
  
• Conflicts of Interest: My Journey Through India's Green Movement. by Anwesha Borthakur. Journal of Scientometric Research,7(2):133-135
  
• India as a Pioneer of Innovation. by Ashish Gosain. Journal of Scientometric Research,7(2):136-141.
  
• Data Management: A Practical Guide for Librarians. by Raj Kumar Bhardwaj. Journal of Scientometric Research,7(2):142-144.

Further Details

Science, Technology & Society special issue "Pharmaceutical Industry in the Global South" is now online.

Science, Technology and Society

Volume 23 Issue 3, November 2018

Special Issue "Pharmaceutical Industry in the Global South"

http://journals.sagepub.com/toc/stsa/23/3

Editorial

• Pharmaceutical Industry in the Global South: Introduction to Special Issue. Saradindu Bhaduri; pp. vii–viii. 
  

Articles  

• The Creation and Evolution of the Donor Funded Market for Antimalarials and the Growing Role of Southern Firms | Fabienne Orsi, Sauman Singh, Luis Sagaon-Teyssier | pp. 349–370
  
• Therapies Out of Reach: Anticancer Drugs and Global Trade Regimes | Dwaipayan Banerjee, James Sargent | pp. 371–387
• Why is Growth More Difficult to Achieve for Biopharmaceutical Latecomer Firms? Evidence from Taiwan | Mei-Chih Hu, Wen-Ching Hsu, Ching-Yan Wu | pp. 388–417
• Seizing Opportunities for Markets of Discovery: The Reconfigurations of Value Chains in Pharmaceutical Industry in the Global South | Muriela Hinard De Pádua, Margarida Fontes, Cristina Sousa | pp. 418–443
• 'New Drugs' Approvals in India: An Institutional Perspective | Saradindu Bhaduri, Thangminlen Kipgen | pp. 444–462
• Demythologising the 'Liberalisation' of Clinical Trial Regulations in India: A Practitioner's Perspective | Brijesh Regal | pp. 463–484
• Regulation Multiple: Pharmaceutical Trajectories and Modes of Control in the ASEAN | Mathieu Quet, Laurent Pordié, Audrey Bochaton, Supang Chantavanich, Niyada Kiatying-Angsulee, Marie Lamy, Premjai Vungsiriphisal | pp. 485–503
• Regulating Access and Protecting Traditional Health Knowledge through Intellectual Property Rights? Issues from a Holistic Health Systems Perspective | Ritu Priya, Chris M. Kurian | pp. 504–529.

Further Details

New Book "Many Sparks but Little Light: The Rhetoric and Practice of Electricity Sector Reforms in India"

Many Sparks but Little Light: The Rhetoric and Practice of Electricity Sector Reforms in India

by Prayas (Energy Group), Pune, 2017.

About the Book: 1991 was an inflection point in the history of modern India. The country embarked upon wide-ranging economic reforms in what came to be known as the Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation or LPG era. The electricity sector - indeed, the entire energy sector - has seen multiple waves of reforms since then. It has been a quarter century since the beginning of the reforms and there are indications that a fresh wave of reforms are in the offing in the electricity sector. Over this period, Prayas (Energy Group) has keenly followed and participated in the reforms process as a proactive, independent organisation offering constructive critique and suggestions to further public interest. Prayas (Energy Group) has authored a book born out of this unique engagement and understanding of the sector. The book critically examines many of these reforms and the impacts they have had, to understand if they achieved their expected objectives and if they helped in achieving the desirable socio-environmental outcomes. The in-depth analysis over eight chapters covers thermal, hydropower and renewable generation, electricity distribution, and associated fuel sectors of coal and natural gas. We hope that the book contributes to improve the design and implementation of further reforms, so that the sector overcomes its challenges in an equitable and sustainable manner. The book is dedicated to Girish Sant, founder coordinator of Prayas (Energy Group), who continues to inspire our work. Preview of the book (with details such as index, preface, foreword etc.) is available at http://tinyurl.com/ManySparksButLittleLight.

Table of Contents

The Long and Winding Road of Electricity Sector Reforms in India

Too Good to be True: The Story of Thermal Generation

Reforms in Hydropower: Missing the Woods for the Trees

Renewable Energy: The Imperative for the Future

Electricity Distribution: On Square One, Even with Reforms after Reforms

The Indian Coal Sector: A Black Past and a Grey Future

Natural Gas: Running on Empty

What's Past is Prologue

More About the Book

See Also

• Renewable Energy Data Portal, by Prayas
  

A Draft Strategy for the African Open Science Platform is released

Title: The African Open Science Platform: The Future of Science and the Science of the Future

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.1407488

Authors: Participants of African Open Science Platform Strategy Workshop, March 2018; Advisory Council, African Open Science Platform Project; Technical Advisory Board, African Open Science Platform; Boulton, Geoffrey; Hodson, Simon. 

This document presents a Draft Strategy for the African Open Science Platform, and makes the scientific case for the African Open Science Platform (AOSP). 

Download Full-text PDF (Open Access)