Posted by
Susan Sharma
on
April 17, 2006
Dear Susan,
Yes, thank you, we have received the film To Corbett with Love.
It was a present from me to my wife for Christmas and we have already watched it and found it very interesting. We have only recently returned home to Canterbury after 3 weeks in India, where we spent several nights at Corbett (staying at Claridges Hideaway)
- and saw wild elephants, deer, monkeys and many birds.
We saw no tigers, alas, but had previously seen five at Bandhavgarh NP so we were OK about that! We loved Corbett and hope to return one day, so your film brought back happy memories for us.
Thank you - and a happy New Year to you, too.
Best wishes,
Andrew (and Ros) Rootes
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Posted by
Susan Sharma
on
April 17, 2006
Dear Susan Sharma
Last week I got a copy of film "Living With the Park-Ranthambore National Park". This is a good effort made in showing what is going on in Ranthambore. I would like to thank you for making such a good short film wherein we involved in wild life conservation
can get the insight of what is going on and then make a effort to set right the problems.
I hope you will come out with more such films. I by judging quality of photography, I was able to make this film is made in handy cam; there is no that you have choosen the best company i.e. is excel video for duplicating the video. I suggest that you can
use professional equipment to make these films.
Keep up the good work.
Regards
Manohar
Caring for Creation
39, 1st Cross C.S.I. Compound Mission Road
Bangalore 560 027
M No 9448272978
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Posted by
Susan Sharma
on
April 17, 2006
The salient features of the Ministerial Report on Narmada Dam can be read at the following link
http://www.hindu.com/2006/04/17/stories/2006041705231100.htm
The three member team was deputed by Dr. Manmohan Singh to visit rehabilitation sites and submergence villages consequent upon the Dam height is being raised from 110 meters to 122 meters.
Salient features
- Project affected families, under no circumstances can be settled before July, that is, before arrival of monsoon.
- Complaint about bribery in cash compensation system
- No infrastructure facilities in resettlement areas
- "Gram Sabhas not consulted, everything is happening by force."
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Posted by
Susan Sharma
on
April 06, 2006
IndianWildlifeClub.com has produced five short films under the banner “Wildbytes.tv”.
- Sarang-The Peacock
- To Corbett With Love
- Wilderness Nepal
- Seoul-Where Modernity bows to Tradition
- Living With the Park-Ranthambore National Park
You can have a preview of the films at
http://video.google.com
where trailers of the films have been uploaded and can be viewed on your desktop. To view the film you need to have a broad band connection on your computer.
Please write the name of the film in the search button on the main page at
http://video.google.com
Alternately, write Susan Sharma in the search box and all the five films will appear. Click on the play button and you can see a trailer of about two and a half minutes long, on each of the five films.
All the five shorts are available for purchase online at
http://www.wildscapes.net
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Posted by
Susan Sharma
on
April 05, 2006
"Despite its overwhelming biological diversity and tropical ecosystems, Malaysia lacks lakes. There are only two natural freshwater bodies in the entire country: Tasik Bera and Tasik Chini. Most of the others are the result of manmade dams and former tin
mine pools……………………..
In 1995, Tasik Chini was dealt a near fatal blow in an attempt to increase tourism. This oxymoronic consequence illustrates the failure of consultants to recognize the delicate nature of lake ecosystems and the often-indelicate decisions of bureaucrats.
Sediments from logging and oil palm estate clearance ended up in the lake, causing some sections to become too shallow to ferry tourists during the two-month dry season. Thus, boatmen requested a rise in the water level by building a dam. One year after dam
construction, thousands of trees rimming the lake died due to inundation. Fish that used the lake to nest and breed were cut off; hence species such as arowana and the giant featherback were exhausted………………………..
Bishan Singh, a tireless activist in his sixties, sits on a stump in front of seventy school children seated on reed mats in the compound of a Jakun village in Kampung Putut. He has several messages for the youngsters. "Everyday we are confronted with ecological
destruction," he tells the attentive faces before they embark on a tour of the lake. "Every campaign needs a hero, someone who is brave enough to take action." After 20 years of teaching and decades more working with grassroots community groups, Bishan has
seen many heroes emerge. "You can do ordinary things and become extraordinary."…………….
Read the full article at
http://wildasia.net/main/article.cfm?articleID=271
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Posted by
Susan Sharma
on
April 03, 2006
http://petitions.aidindia.org/narmada/
Above is a site where you may send a free fax to the Prime Minister to save 35,000 families from submergence without rehabilitation in the coming monsoon by STOPPING the SSP dam from going up to 121 m as passed by the Narmada Control Authority in March.
NOTE PLEASE SIGN AND IF POSSIBLE SEND A PERSONAL FAX.
http://petitions.aidindia.org/narmada/
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Posted by
Jason Anthony Fisher
on
March 30, 2006
Thanks so much to Raghavendra Rao for the insight about my questions on Lions and Tigers. I'm sorry I haven't been back on this site for months, but I greatly appreciate the answer. Many thanks to you.
I think it's awesome that both Tigers and Lions have great respect and religious reverence there in India. I hope in your country that wildlife habitat and all the wonderful species can be saved and some like the Cheetah can be reintroduced.
Your nation has the tough task of keeping the economy going and providing needs for the growing population. I see similar conflicts of interest in the United States. In our world there seems to be more people with respect to money ($$$) than the environment.
And my country has done more than it's share of destruction of natural areas.
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Posted by
Susan Sharma
on
March 17, 2006
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Posted by
Susan Sharma
on
March 08, 2006
This article appeared in http://www.thinkcycle.org
The article details an initiative launched in February 2003 in Phon Kham, a village in the jungles of northern Laos: a human-powered computer called the Jhai Computer (Jhai means hearts and minds working together in Laotian).
A villager on a stationary bicycle will make it possible for the village to connect to the Internet via wireless remote. The idea is to provide communication, because every day they sell their ducks, rice, weaving and chickens, and sell for less money than
they should because they can't know the real price down in the towns.
Organisers claim that this project is unique in that it relies on simple materials like foot pedals and wireless antennas rather than high-tech devices (or even electricity). All 200 residents of Phon Kham live in bamboo houses with thatch roofs, none of
which have electricity or telephone access.
Laos is the 10th-poorest country worldwide. The bike-pedaled generator will power a battery that in turn runs the computer, which sits in an 8-by-10-inch box. The computer will run on only 12 watts (compared to a typical computer's 90 watts). A wireless
card (an 802.11b, the current industry standard) will be hooked up to an antenna bolted on the roof of a bamboo house; the signal will be beamed from there to an antenna nailed to a tree on top of a mountain. The signal will be bounced to Phon Hong, which
sits 25 miles from Phon Kham and is the nearest big village with phone lines. The phone lines then hook to an Internet service provider. The Jhai runs on Linux software.
A Laotian IBM engineer in New York to customised the software to the Lao language. The Internet connection will enable the Jhai Computer to be used not only for e-mail, but also as a two-way telephone system (through Voice Over Internet Protocol, or VOIP).
It has no moving parts, the lid seals up tight, and you can dunk it in water and it will still run...
The idea is to be rugged, last at least 10 years and run in both the monsoon season and the dry season.
http://www.comminit.com/ctrends2003/sld-7550.html
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Posted by
Susan Sharma
on
March 08, 2006
‘IT for Social Change’ (IT4SC), a network idea by Anil Shaligram who used to run a DTP centre in Maharashtra, is being implemented by him in the State.
His strategy is to conduct community IT literacy campaigns, set up IT Centers in localities. Through village network he plans to collect basic relevant data and contents on various issues, computerize these and use it for analysis, dissemination and broadcasting.
The first Social Process Software that uses these data for analysis and resolution of community problems has been developed called
Domestic Women Workers’ Software Tool and it is being used by domestic worker's unions. In addition to employment issues and domestic women workers from cities and towns, they have also taken up the issues of sanitation and water conservation
in villages, public distribution system, public health, poverty related issues, destitute people's pensions etc.in the next software application.
Anil also writes about how the grass root movement is being led by youth. In Beed District youth lead IT driven rainwater harvesting and water management. In Parbhani they use IT to guarantee employment to communities. In New Mumbai, they are exercising
right to information and communication using internet to win a participation in developmental process. In Satara, IT has become integral part of their education and cultural activism.
Anil envisages that the concept of IT for Social Change (IT4SC) will become a major Social Sectoral concept and 21st century is going to be a Networking Society and Knowledge Society. This IT enabled community based concept is going to play a major role
in the formation and constitution of that society. It can also be a CONVERGING SOCIETY in which organizational solutions like IT4SC will emerge by which backward communities can catch up with the advanced communities by using advance knowledge and technologies
to usher into an egalitarian world community.
Anil can be contacted at anilshaligram@yahoo.com
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