Vasant Vyakhanmala (Spring time Lecture series) is a most remarkable undertaking. It’s an annual event that was first held in 1875 in Pune by social reformer Justice Ranade and is being held every year since. Many of India’s top leaders & visionaries have spoken at the event and I am told that it was especially popular in the pre-independence era, with 1000s attending the lectures. Read the rest of this entry »
From the IndicThreads Education Press Release. You are welcome to link – share >>
IndicThreads, a technology media pioneer, creators of the IndicThreads.com software developer portal & the IndicThreads Technology Conferences, announces the launch of ‘IndicThreads Education‘ a novel initiative in business & technology education. The courses are path-breaking in their content & way ahead of their time as compared to curriculum of traditional education courses in India.
IndicThreads Education kicks off with three courses, all of which are a first for education in India – 1) Internet For Business & Development 2) Internet Entrepreneurship 3) Information Technology Security & Compliance
My presentation on ‘Internet For Business Development’ at Barcamp Pune, Nov 2009. The learning was part of my preparations while designing the Internet For Business Development & Internet Entrepreneurship course for IndicThreads Education.The session gives an overview of how the Internet has changed business and business development activities forever & how today’s entrepreneurs & business development professionals need to harness the power of technology and the Internet to deliver better sales, stronger brands & a larger customer base for the enterprise.
The 4th IndicThreads.com Conference On Java Technology is scheduled for 11 – 12 Dec 2009 and will be held in Pune, India. The call for papers is now open. Read the rest of this entry »
Every year lakhs of pilgrims walk for over 3 weeks to Pandharpur, driven solely by devotion and faith. A mass of humanity at one place at one time, however also offers a unique opportunity for the government as well as non-government organizations to get across social messages to the people at the grass roots, the ones who matter most for any long lasting social impact.
I was fortunate to be part of one such undertaking this year. Hariyali is an NGO that has been working actively in the field of eco-conservation for over a decade. Most of its work has been in the Thane area. However for the past 3 years it has been conducting a novel campaign of seed distribution amongst warkaris on the pilgrimage to Pandharpur.
The modus operandi of the campaign is quite simple. Mobilize school children in the city to collect seeds of various trees and to pack them into small brown paper packets, each packet carrying about a 100 seeds. Next, utilize the services of volunteers and school children in towns on the pilgrimage route, to spread awareness amongst the warkaris and to distribute the seed packets….
(Cont…Click the scanned article image on the left). Published as part of my column for the Maharashtra Herald that’s published on alternate Saturdays.
Ever wondered why apart from a handful of open-source events, no learning-oriented technology conferences happen in India?
We are mostly stuck with conferences that are promotional events or marketing shows with free 5-star lunch, goodies and t-shirts in return for spending hours listening to why company X’s product Y is the best and how company X’s products are changing the world.
A clarification before I get into the subject: I am not against IITs and IIMs. They are wonderful institutions and I respect the handful who get into these institutions. The IITs and IIMs have not failed the nation. It’s the nation that has failed the core idea behind these institutions.
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