Call for Participation: CyFy2016: The India Conference on Cyber Security and Internet Governance | 28-30 September, New Delhi

Call for Participation

CyFy2016: The India Conference on Cyber Security and Internet Governance

September 28 to 30, 2016

New Delhi, India

Hello and greetings from New Delhi!

I'm writing to announce CyFy: The India Conference on Cyber Security and Internet Governance — a platform we created four years ago. This edition of CyFy will take place from September 28 to 30, 2016. We would be delighted to host you and believe that the conversation will be enriched by your presence. 

This year, we are hosting national cyber coordinators from over 10 countries (US, Germany, Russia, China, France, India, EU et al) and over 100 speakers and policymakers from nearly 35 countries.

Besides engaging with crucial global questions around managing the digital realm, we will also have focused sessions on digital access and opportunity in Asia and Africa.

The conference flyer that describes in greater detail the five pillars that will be the focus of the conversation at CyFy 2016: digital economy, international cooperation, security, access and inclusion, and capacity building can be accessed here: http://goo.gl/3gsAEk

We have a few travel grants available to support participation of the promising cyber scholars in emerging and developing economies. If you have any questions about the conference please write to me at cyfy@orfonline.org. 

Details regarding event registration can be found at http://cyfy.org/event-registration-form/

Warmly,

Samir Saran, PhD

Founding Chair,

CyFy: The India Conference on Cyber Security and Internet Governance

Sr. Fellow and Vice President

Observer Research Foundation

20 Rouse Avenue, New Delhi - 110002

E: ssaran[@]orfonline.org | www.orfonline.org

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Invitation for Public Comments: Indian National Risk Communication Plan (Draft)

National Risk Communication Plan (Draft)
by National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, 2016.

Preface
The health system faces a challenge of effective communication regarding threats posed by public health emergencies and the actions needed for controlling them. Risk communication plays a vital role in mitigating the adverse impacts of a public health emergency. However, recent events have shown that risk communication is not easy to manage. The International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005) recognizes risk communication as a critical pillar for developing national core capacity during emerging infectious diseases and other IHR (2005) related events. Such communication needs to be carefully planned and implemented as well as properly integrated with emergency management activities and operations. In July 2014, India submitted the new national Action plan on IHR (2005), identifying risk communication as one of the areas where more needs to be done. While complying by IHR(2005) requirements, India needs to have a national risk communication plan for all public health emergencies as well as fundamentals of risk communication well understood by all concerned stakeholders of IHR (2005). Technical knowhow of disease control has been applied for addressing the prevention of importation of Ebola from West African countries. Govt. of India has taken a lead role in control of Influenza pandemic, Ebola screening of travelers returning from West Africa and ongoing outbreak of influenza A/H1N1. Experience from these endeavors have highlighted that risk communication needs to be understood by technical and administrative stakeholders and managed more systematically (Health care workers, Civil society, media, tourism, Points of Entry, MEA, MHA). It is expected that 'Guidance on National Plan on Risk Communication for Public Health Emergencies' shall enhance capacity of IHR (2005) stakeholders for understanding the nuances of risk communication and provide a framework of principles and approaches for the communications of health risk information to diverse audiences. It is intended for all health care staff, stakeholders and personnel from government agencies and private organizations who must respond to public concerns in the event of a Public Health Emergency. Public health professional must understand the needs of the community and be able to facilitate dialogue concerning the technical issues of public health risk and the psychological, political, social, and economic needs of the community. The Guidance document begins with brief descriptive material about guiding principles for communicating health risk followed by details on identification of partners and stakeholders in the country, and functional coordination and communication mechanisms to be established when informing the public and in managing the relations between the authorities and the media. In addition, highlights the principles of the timely release of information with transparency in decision making that is essential for building trust between authorities, populations and partners. Although the Guidance document attempts to identify principles relevant to and consistent with effective health risk communication practice, it is not intended to suggest that a standard of health risk communication effectiveness is measured solely on the number of principles that are employed. Rather, the manner in which the guidance should be applied will vary from case to case, based on needs, priorities, and other considerations.

Table of Contents

1 Understanding Risk Communication
2 Aim of Risk Communication
3 Targeted Audiences and Partners of Risk Communication
4 Risk Communication Plan: Cyclical Process
5 Country Risk Communication Mechanisms
6 Recap for development of Risk Communication Plan
7 Annexures
Annexure 1 Procedures for approvals from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Annexure 2 List of Ministries, their Stakeholders and Partners
Annexure 3A Table depicting target groups, objectives, medium of communication and expected outcomes, and barriers to effective risk communication wrt Ebola
Annexure 3B Guiding principles of Risk Communication
Annexure 4 Tips for handling media
Annexure 5 Decision instrument (Annex 2) of IHR (2005) for assessment and notification

Invitation for Public Comments: NCDC has prepared Draft "National Risk Communication Plan" in consultation with the experts from fields of communication and Medicine. The Central Government is required to enlist all the stakeholders so as to bring about effective prevention & control of emergency situations involving risk to persons/ communities by effective Risk Communication so that the health risk to the communities is minimized. The National Risk Communication Plan is towards fulfilment of compliance to International Health Regulations (2005). The document is placed at the website of NCDC for information of all stakeholders likely to be affected during such emergencies for enlisting their support. Any suggestions/comments/ objection which may be received from any person with respect to the said draft National Risk Communication document before expiry of one month from the date of uploading it on the website of NCDC will be considered by National Centre for Disease Control. Suggestions/ comments/ objections, if any, may be submitted either to the Director, National Centre for Disease Control, 22 Shamnath Marg, New Delhi-110054 or through email id: prabhaaroranvbdcp@gmail.com latest by 30 August, 2016.

Download Draft National Plan (Open Access)

NSSO releases "Key Indicators of Household Expenditure on Services and Durable Goods"

NSSO releases "Key Indicators of Household Expenditure on Services and Durable Goods"

The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has released the report titled "Key Indicators of Household Expenditure on Services and Durable Goods" based on the related information collected during July, 2014 to June 2015 as part of NSS 72nd Round.  This survey on household expenditure on services and durable goods was the first focused survey of its kind undertaken by National Sample Survey Office.   
The survey was designed to collect some demographic particulars, detailed information on household expenditure on transport, miscellaneous consumer services, food expenditures incurred in hotel & restaurants, expenditure on repair & maintenance services availed, hotel lodging charges, and on durable goods other than those used exclusively for entrepreneurial activity in India through a nationwide household survey.
As household expenditure on services forms an important part of Private Final Consumption Expenditure (PFCE), this focused survey is expected to provide improved estimates of household expenditure on the services as compared to the same based on data collected through usual Consumer Expenditure Survey. Also, in this survey, an attempt has been made to apportion the expenditure by the households on durable goods, when the durables are used both for household consumptions and enterprises.
The survey covered the whole of the Indian Union. The results of the survey are based on the sample, canvassed by NSSO, consisting of 7,969 villages and 6,048 urban blocks, spread over all States and Union Territories of the country. The schedule was canvassed in 47,535 households in rural areas and 36,065 households in urban areas during the period July, 2014 –June, 2015.
Some key findings on various aspects of Household Expenditure on Services and Durable Goods in the country as obtained from the survey during July, 2014 - June, 2015 are as follows:

I. Transport Services

• Bus / Tram is the most reported means of transport both in rural and urban areas. About 66% households in rural areas and 62% households in urban areas reported expenditure on this particular mode. The next most reported means of transport was Auto Rickshaw (about 38% rural households and about 47% urban households). Taxi, Railways and Rickshaw are the other major modes of transport both in rural and urban areas as reported by the households.
• Expenditures on Bus / Tram, Auto Rickshaw, Taxi and Train account for more than 90% of the total expenditure on Transport both in rural and urban areas.  Expenditure share of railways as mode of transport contributes much higher proportion in urban areas (12.54%) than that in rural areas (4.41%).
• Among different modes of transport, monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE) on Bus/Tram is highest both in rural (₹ 43.43) and urban (₹ 94.89) India.

II. Miscellaneous Consumer Services

• Under this miscellaneous group, 14 broad services were considered.  These included  domestic services, barber & beauty shops, TV & radio services, laundry, dry cleaning, etc., repair & maintenance, communication, religious services, recreational & cultural services, funeral/ burial/ cremation-related services, business services, services incidental to transport, tailoring services and sewage disposal & sanitation, other services not elsewhere covered.
• In both rural and urban areas, about 90% or more households reported expenditure on barber & beauty shops and communication services.  In case of budget-share of different types of miscellaneous services in rural areas, communication services accounted for the highest share (25.33%) followed by barber & beauty shops (11.07%), TV & radio services (10.58%), repair & maintenance (10.27%)  & tailoring services (10.18%).  In urban areas, communication services again accounted for highest share of budget (26.33%) followed by domestic services (12.11 %), TV & radio services (10.22%) and recreational & cultural services (9.95%).
• In terms of monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE) also, highest expenditure was found on communication services amounting to ₹ 36.35 and ₹ 102.46 in rural and urban areas respectively.

III. Other Services

• Certain other services like repairs and maintenance of  some selected items, Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC), hotel lodging and other selected services, which are not covered in the earlier section are considered here under the broad head "repair & maintenance of selected items, hotel lodging charges, etc ". All food expenditures in hotels and restaurants were considered under the broad head "food expenditure in hotels "
• In terms of monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE), expenditure on "repair & maintenance of selected items, hotel lodging charges, etc." was ₹ 55.77 and ₹ 88.28 in rural and urban areas respectively.  On the other hand, the expenditure on "food expenditure in hotels" was ₹ 68.48 and ₹ 178.00 in rural and urban areas respectively.

IV. Durable goods

• The durable goods were grouped into 13 major broad groups, namely, transport equipment, heating, cooling and electricity generation devices, kitchen equipment, equipment for recreation, crockery and utensils, furniture and fixtures, other machines for household work, IT and communication devices, electrical and lighting accessories, productive equipment, sports and medical equipment, miscellaneous durables and jewellery and ornaments.
• The pattern of expenditure on different durable goods and their overall contribution in absolute terms, separately for those purchased for mainly using it for enterprise purpose and domestic purpose in the households having Non-agricultural Enterprise (NAE) was studied.
• In rural area, the share of budget spent on a particular durable group with reference to total expenditure on durables is highest for transport equipment (about 83%), when the purchase was done mainly for using it for enterprise purpose.  The expenditure on each durable group of i) heating, cooling and electricity generation devices ii) IT & communication devices and iii) productive equipment separately accounted for about 4% of budget share.  All other durable groups, except furniture & fixtures (1.6%)   accounted for very little expenditure (each less than 1% in budget share).  When the main purpose of use was for domestic purpose, though the highest budget share was in respect of transport equipment (about 45%), a notably high budget share of about 23% was observed on jewellery and ornaments followed by heating, cooling and electricity generation devices and IT and communication devices (both having a share of about 7% each), and furniture and fixtures (about 5.6%).
• In the urban area, almost similar pattern was observed except the fact that a high share of budget, next to transport equipment, was found for heating, cooling and electricity generation devices (about 7.9%) and for IT and communication devices (7.8%) when the main purpose was for enterprise. When the main purpose was for domestic use, high share of budget, next to transport equipment, was on jewellery and ornaments (18%) followed by IT & Communication (9.9%) and heating, cooling and electricity generation devices (8.1%).
• In terms of absolute values of monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE) on all durable goods by the households having Non Agricultural Enterprise (NAE), a total expenditure of ₹ 436.85 and ₹ 1468.69 were observed for the main purpose of enterprise and domestic use respectively in rural areas.  In urban areas, these values were ₹ 379.63 and ₹ 2601.54 respectively.

The publication based on above cited Key Indicators is available on the website of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
Source: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=146590

Download Full-text PDF (Open Access)

NSSO releases "Key Indicators of Domestic Tourism in India"

NSSO releases "Key Indicators of Domestic Tourism in India"

The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has released the report titled "Key Indicators of Domestic Tourism in India" based on the related information collected during July, 2014 to June, 2015 as a part of NSS 72nd Round. Similar survey on the same subject was last conducted by NSSO during July 2008 - June 2009 as part of NSS 65th Round.
The Domestic Tourism Expenditure Survey was designed to collect detailed information on tourism expenditure alongwith some information on household characteristics, visitor characteristics and trip characteristics relating to domestic overnight trips. The information is required inter-alia for preparation of third Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) by Ministry of Tourism. In addition, some information on trips and expenditure were also collected in this survey in connection with domestic same-day trips.
The survey covered the whole of the Indian Union. The results of the survey are based on the sample canvassed by NSSO, consisting of 8,001 villages and 6,061 urban blocks, respectively, spread over all States and Union Territories of the country. The total number of households in which the Schedule was canvassed was 79,497 and 60,191 in rural and urban India respectively during the period July, 2014-June, 2015.

Some key findings on various aspects of Domestic Tourism in the country as obtained from the survey are as follows:
I. Households reporting overnight trip

• During last 365 days from the date of survey, 19% of Indian households reported at least one overnight trip with any one of the leading purposes as holidaying, leisure & recreation, health & medical and shopping.
• During last 30 days from the date of survey, 21% of Indian households reported at least one overnight trip with any one of the leading purposes as business, social, religious & pilgrimage, education & training and others.

II. Characteristics of overnight trips

• Majority of overnight trips at all-India level (287.2 lakhs from rural and 79.2 lakhs from urban areas), completed during last 365 days, were for the leading purpose of health & medical.
• Social trips were the most common ones among the trips completed during last 30 days (501.9 lakhs overnight trips at all-India level) followed by trips for religious & pilgrimage leading purpose (4.85 lakhs trips).

III. Percentage of single female member overnight trips among all single member overnight trips for various leading purposes

• Nearly half (48%) of all single member trips undertaken by members from a particular household were performed by females in both rural and urban areas for leading purpose health & medical.
• For the business purpose trips, the above proportion for female was very low (2%).

IV. Month of visit (starting month)

• Summer season (i.e. May-June) was the peak period for undertaking a trip with leading purpose holidaying, leisure & recreation, whereas, for shopping trips it was winter (December-February).
• Religious & pilgrimage trips were started more frequently during the months of July and August.

V. Visitor-trip characteristics

• Nearly 23% of visitor-trips in rural areas were for holidaying as visitor's purpose, whereas for urban areas this share was about 59%.
• The share of visitor-trips for heath & medical purposes from rural areas (48%) was nearly twice than that from urban areas (25%).
• More than 80% of overnight visitor-trips completed during last 30 days, were for social purpose both in rural and urban areas.

VI. Mode of travel

• Bus was the dominant mode of travel (70% & 55% of visitor-trips in rural and urban areas respectively) for the visitor-trips with any one of the leading purposes being as business, social, religious & pilgrimage, education & training and others, completed during last 30 days.

VII. Trip duration

• Average number of nights spent on overnight visitor-trips during last 365 days with any one of the leading purposes as holidaying, leisure & recreation, health & medical and shopping were 5.4 nights and 6.7 nights in rural and urban areas respectively.

VIII. Main destination

• At all-India level, main destination of most of the overnight visitor-trips (over 80%) was within the States.
• For visitor-trips from outside States with any one of the leading purposes as business, social, religious & pilgrimage, education & training and others, Uttar Pradesh (12.7 lakhs) was the most visited State followed by Andhra Pradesh & Telangana combined (nearly 8.7 lakhs) and Rajasthan (nearly 8.6 lakhs).

IX. Expenditure on overnight trips

• Health & medical trips were the costliest overnight trips with average expenditure per trip of 15,336 followed by trips with leading purpose of shopping (₹ 13,902).

X. Same-day trips

• Shopping (35%) and social (34%) were the two most frequent purposes for same-day trips undertaken by the rural households, whereas, from urban areas nearly half of the trips were for social purposes.
• Average expenditure on same-day trip combining all leading purposes was 620 at all-India level.

The publication based on above cited Key Indicator is available on the website of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
Source: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=146589

Download Full-text PDF (Open Access)

Top Ten Academic Papers of Ambassador Arundhati Ghose, India's CTBT Durga (1939-2016)

Top Ten Academic Papers of Ambassador Arundhati Ghose, India's CTBT Durga (1939-2016)

• Ghose, Arundhati (2014). The Road to Nuclear Zero: Rhetoric or Reality? CLAWS Journal, Summer 2014, 36-45. Download
• Ghose, Arundhati (2012). Book Review: Does the Elephant Dance? Contemporary Indian Foreign Policy. India Quarterly: A Journal of International Affairs, 68(2), 195–214. Download.
• Ghose, Arundhati (2011).  Emerging India: Strategic Challenges and Opportunities. K Subrahmanyam Memorial Lecture. National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore. Download
• Ghose, Arundhati (2011). Book Review: Making Sense of Pakistan. India Quarterly: A Journal of International Affairs, 67(4), 373-375. Download.
• Ghose, Arundhati (2010). The Importance of 2010. Strategic Analysis, 34(2), 165-170. Download.
• Ghose, Arundhati (2010). Emerging Markets and Global Governance: An Indian Perspective. The International Spectator, 45(4), 49-61. Download.
• Ghose, Arundhati (2009). Nuclear Weapons, Non-proliferation and Nuclear Disarmament Evolving Policy Challenges. India Quarterly: A Journal of International Affairs, 65(4), 431-440. Download.
• Ghose, Arundhati (2008). Terrorists, Human Rights and the United Nations. South Asia Terrorism Portal. Download.
• Ghose, Arundhati (2008). The Threat of Bio-Terrorism. CBW Magazine, 1(4). Download.
• Ghose, Arundhati (2006). Prospects for Indo-US Cooperation in Civilian Nuclear Energy. IDSA Comment, January 2006. Download.
• Ghose, Arundhati (2006). Maintaining the Moratorium: A De Facto CTBT. Disarmament Forum, Vol. 2. Download.
• Ghose, Arundhati (1997). Negotiating the CTBT: India's Security Concerns and Nuclear Disarmament. Journal of International Affairs, 51(1), 239-261. Download.
• Ghose, Arundhati (1996). Statement made by Ms. Arundhati Ghose, in the Plenary of the Conference on Disarmament on August 8, 1996.  FAS.ORG. Download.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

New Book | Sustainable Energy for All: Innovation, Technology and Pro-poor Green Transformations | by David Ockwell & Rob Byrne

Sustainable Energy for All: Innovation, Technology and Pro-poor Green Transformations
by David Ockwell & Rob Byrne. Routledge, 2016, 214 pages, Paperback, ISBN: 9781138656932.

About the Book
Despite decades of effort and billions of dollars spent, two thirds of people in sub-Saharan Africa still lack access to electricity, a vital pre-cursor to economic development and poverty reduction. Ambitious international policy commitments seek to address this, but scholarship has failed to keep pace with policy ambitions, lacking both the empirical basis and the theoretical perspective to inform such transformative policy aims. Sustainable Energy for All aims to fill this gap. Through detailed historical analysis of the Kenyan solar PV market the book demonstrates the value of a new theoretical perspective based on Socio-Technical Innovation System Building. Importantly, the book goes beyond a purely academic critique to detail exactly how a Socio-Technical Innovation System Building approach might be operationalized in practice, facilitating both a detailed plan for future comparative research as well as a clear agenda for policy and practice. These plans are based on a systemic perspective that is more fit for purpose to inform transformative policy ambitions like the UN's Sustainable Energy for All by 2030 initiative and to underpin pro-poor pathways in sustainable energy access. This book will be of interest to academic researchers, policy makers and practitioners in the field of sustainable energy access and low carbon development more broadly.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: Beyond Hardware Financing and Private Sector Entrepreneurship
2. Innovation Systems for Technological Change and Economic Development
3. Innovation in the Context of Social Practices and Socio-Technical Regimes
4. Emergence and Articulation of the Kenyan Solar PV Market
5. Policy Regime Interactions and Emerging Markets
6. Learning from the Kenyan Solar PV Innovation History
7. Conclusions: Towards Socio-Technical Innovation System Building

About the Authors
David Ockwell is Reader in Geography at the University of Sussex, UK, and Deputy Director of Research in the ESRC STEPS Centre. He is also a Senior Research Fellow in the Sussex Energy Group and a Fellow of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. David sits on the board of the Low Carbon Energy for Development Network.
Rob Byrne is Lecturer in SPRU (Science Policy Research Unit) at the University of Sussex, UK. With David, Rob co-convenes the Energy and Climate Research Domain of the ESRC STEPS Centre. He is also a Research Fellow in the Sussex Energy Group and a Fellow of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. Rob sits on the board of the Low Carbon Energy for Development Network and is a member of Climate Strategies.

​Further Details

Social Sciences Winter School in Pondicherry on "Mobility and Social Dynamics"| 28 Nov-02 Dec | Pondicherry, India

Social Sciences Winter School in Pondicherry on "Mobility and Social Dynamics"
Dates: 28 November to 2 December 2016
Venue: Pondicherry University and the French Institute of Pondicherry

The Social Sciences Winter School in Pondicherry has been designed as a programme of intensive and multidisciplinary training workshops addressing theoretical and methodological issues in social sciences research.

Themes
Each edition of the Winter School is based on a cross-cutting theme in the field of social sciences, taken as a guideline throughout the training workshop. For the 2016 Edition, the following theme has been chosen: "Mobility and Social Dynamics". The specific topics addressed encompass: spatial and social mobility, circulation, international migration, diaspora and the homeland, gender, survey design, data collection and analysis. Three parallel workshops will be coordinated by international teams of academics, with specific themes:
Workshop 1. Documenting Processes of Spatial Mobility: Qualitative and Ethnographic Approaches
Workshop 2. Using Survey Data to Understand Social and Geographical Mobility
Workshop 3. Social Mobility in its Indian Complexity: Conceptual and Methodological Dynamics

Schedule: During five consecutive days, the Winter School will be organised around two poles:

• plenary sessions (one day, lectures by senior academics) presenting state of the art, overview of theoretical and methodological issues on a particular research topic;
• methodological and disciplinary workshops (three full days, three workshops à la carte for small groups) devoted to tutorials: theoretical models, text analysis, survey methods and data collection, data analysis, etc.

The training will end with a one-day knowledge and project restitutions and the delivery of certificates to participants.

Participants: The Winter School is open to Doctoral and Master Students of all fields in social sciences. Trainees will be selected on the basis of their qualifications, while taking into account the value of the training with regards to their research or professional projects. The teams of trainers will be multidisciplinary and international, composed of young and senior researchers originating from several Indian universities and research centres of excellence, as well as from abroad. It is the result of a long-lasting Indo-French collaboration between Pondicherry University and the French Institute in Pondicherry, as well as with CNRS, IRD and EHESS in France.

Venue: The training will take place at Pondicherry University (School of Social Sciences and International Studies, Silver Jubilee Campus) and at the French Institute of Pondicherry (IFP), from November 28 to December 2, 2016.

Registration

• The deadline for registration is September 30, 2016
• Please fill in and submit the electronic application form via the following link: https://goo.gl/forms/yn00vXjYYnqHbL543

The application should further include:

• Full CV
• Postgraduate degree certificate
• These 2 documents should be sent by email to winterschoolpy@gmail.com
• The registration fees of Rs. 2,000 are payable at Pondicherry University on arrival.
• Selected students will be offered round trip train fare (II Sleeper) and accommodation for the duration of the programme in the University campus.
  

Contact: All correspondence should be addressed to the team of coordinators: winterschoolpy@gmail.com.

​Further Information