Click to Subscribe & Stay Informed via Email!

India Activities


Constitutional Development, Economic Change, and Democratic Stresses in South Asia

This conference, held in Delhi on May 25th at the Taj Palace Hotel,  focused on law and politics in South Asia, looking at India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. The papers on these countries examined the character of key constitutional developments and persistent themes. Broadly put, there were two themes that emerged from the papers. One theme focused on sources of constitutional instability within these regions – say, for instance, in Nepal, disagreement over the location of sovereignty. The other theme focused on possible responses to such instability. For instance, it was suggested that a pluri-national state might be the answer to Sri Lanka’s continuing power-sharing constitutional crises.

Participants:

Mark Tushnet, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law, Harvard Law School
Madhav Khosla, PhD. Candidate, Political Theory, Harvard University
Rohan Eedrisinha, Professor, University of Colombo
Osama Siddique, Associate Professor, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore
Sudhir Krishnaswamy, Azim Premji University, Bangalore; Visiting Professor, Columbia Law School, Fall 2012
Mahendra Lawoti, Professor, Western Michigan University, MI
M. Jashim Ali Chowdhury, Assistant Professor, University of Chittagong, Bangladesh
Mara Malagodi, Postdoctoral Research Associate, SOAS, University of London
Sara Hossain, Lawyer, Kamal Hossain & Associates, Dhaka*
Asanga Welikala, PhD candidate, University of Edinburg*
Payal Narain,  South Asia Institute

(*Via Skype)

The anticipated outcome is a book of essays on constitutionalism in South Asia, focusing on the above themes. We are still finalizing the details of the book – both its conceptualization, as well as timeline etc.

    IIT Bombay Faculty Recruitment Event at MIT

    There are opportunities in several areas, viz. engineering, science, design, humanities, etc.  If you are a graduate student, Indian or non-Indian, doing your doctoral work (at any stage), come and discuss opportunities, environment, IIT culture with the IIT team.  They will answer your questions and provide all the information.

    Please register at http://www.iitsine.org/ for the Student Meeting.

    Date:    Sunday, June 2, 2013
    Time:    4:30 – 6:00 PM
    Venue:  Room E51-315, MIT Campus (map: http://whereis.mit.edu/)

      Education Reform Measures in India: Lessons from the World

      On May 8, the South Asia Institute at Harvard University (SAI) and the Central Square Foundation (CSF) convened a group of high-level stakeholders for a roundtable discussion to shape and commit on the agenda for forging linkages between education reformers in the US and in India focused on improving learning outcomes for children. The program was part of a multi-year effort to strengthen the linkages between education reformers in both the US, India and other countries working to improve educational outcomes at a systemic level.  Entrepreneurs who are working at the community level, private philanthropists funding innovation and research and the academics performing this research met to establish a framework for learning and building innovative structures.  A central tension in our discussions was: how to achieve excellent learning outcomes at a level of scale that impacts millions of children; how do we balance “excellence” with the pressing need “to scale”?

       

      An Overview of India’s Educational Landscape

      Overview - Karthik Murlidharan, Assistant Professor of Economics at University of California, San Diego

      India’s educational system is failing its children, and the implications for economic development are significant.  In the past ten years Government of India spending on education has grown and the results are discouraging; while enrollment levels have improved, students’ learning outcomes are dismal.  What are the structural changes that might improve learning in both the public sponsored schools and the private sector ones?  How do we frame and sequence the social investment to accomplish this?

       

      What Do We Know and What Do We Need to Know?

      Moderator - Ashish Dhawan, CEO and Founder, Central Square Foundation

      Panel: Abhijit Banerjee, MIT, Abdul Latif Jamal Poverty Action Lab; Fernando Reimers, Ford Foundation Professor of International Education and Director of Global Education and of International Education Policy at the Harvard Graduate School of Education; and Felipe Barrera-Osorio, Assistant Professor of Education and Economics, Harvard Graduate School of Education

      What evidence do we have, and what evidence do we need to generate to inform the design and content of this social investment strategy.  Educators in India have worked on many levels and across many frontiers to promote improved learning outcomes.  Non – profit service providers and philanthropic groups have developed a myriad of interventions; what works and what doesn’t?  Looking ahead, where do we need to place our investments to generate the insights and findings that will influence policy makers? Are there important lessons from outside of India that can be applied?

       

      What Are the Critical Questions We Can Discern from the US Education Reform Movement?

      Moderator - Tarun Khanna, Director, South Asia Institute, Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor, Harvard Business School

      Panel:  Jim Peyser, Partner at New School Venture Fund; Stig Leschly, CEO, Match Education; Jacqueline Bhabha, Executive Director Harvard University Committee on Human Rights Studies

      The education reform movements outside of India have taken different directions and each offers some insight to efforts in India.  The US offers many such important lessons for the emerging education reform movement in India.  As we consider the past 20 years here in the US, can we apply “lessons learned” to the Indian context?  What are the critical questions that we should pursue?:

      What is more important “excellence” or “scale” in program?  What is the best application of philanthropic capital: research, pilot stage intervention or scaling programs with promise? How do you support advocacy efforts?  If you could restart education reform in the US with 20 years of perspective, what would you do differently?

       


        Education Reform Measures in India: Lessons from the World Schedule

        Click here to register for this event. 

         

        2:45-3:00pm       Welcome and Introduction

        3:00- 4:00pm      Understanding the Indian Educational Landscape

        India’s educational system is failing its children, and the implications for economic development are significant.  In the past ten years Government of India’s spending on education has grown and the results are discouraging; while enrollment levels have improved, students’ learning outcomes are dismal.  What are the structural changes that might improve learning in both the public sponsored schools and the private sector ones?  How do we frame and sequence the social investment to accomplish this?

        Speaker – Karthik Muralidharan, Assistant Professor of Economics at University of California, San Diego

        Moderator – Tarun Khanna, Director of SAI; Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor, Harvard Business School

        4:00-5:15pm       What do We Know? What Do We Need to Know?

        What evidence do we have, and what evidence do we need to generate to inform the design and content of this social investment strategy. Educators in India have worked on many levels and across many frontiers to promote improved learning outcomes. Non – profit service providers and philanthropic groups have developed a myriad of interventions; what works and what doesn’t? Looking ahead, where do we need to place our investments to generate the insights and findings that will influence policy makers? Are there important lessons from outside of India that can be applied?

        Panel: Abhijit Banerjee, MIT, Abdul Latif Jamal Poverty Action Lab;

        Felipe Barrera-Osorio, Assistant Professor of Education and Economics, Harvard Graduate School of Education

        Fernando Reimers, Ford Foundation Professor of International Education and Director of Global Education and of International Education Policy at the Harvard Graduate School of Education

        Moderator: Ashish Dhawan, CEO and Founder, Central Square Foundation

        5:30-6:45pm       Critical Questions Unanswered: Funding, Research, and Advocacy in Education Reform        

        The education reform movements outside of India have taken different directions and each offers some insight to efforts in India. The US offers many such important lessons for the emerging education reform movement in India. As we consider the past 20 years here in the US, can we apply “lessons learned” to the Indian context?  What are the critical questions that we should pursue —“excellence” or “scale” in program?  What is the best application of philanthropic capital: research, pilot stage intervention or scaling programs with promise? How do you support advocacy efforts?

        Panel:  Tom Haslett, Senior Advisor, Central Square foundation

        Stig Leschly, CEO, Match Education

        Jacqueline Bhabha, FXB Director of Research; Professor of the Practice of Health and Human Rights, Harvard School of Public Health; Jeremiah Smith, Jr. Lecturer in Law, Harvard Law School; Adjunct Lecturer, Harvard Kennedy School

        Moderator: Tarun Khanna, Director of SAI; Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor, Harvard Business School

        6:45-7:15pm       Reception

        Co-sponsored by the Central Square Foundation

          Finance Minister of India visits Harvard

          Sugata Bose, Homi Bhabha, P. Chidambaram, and Tarun Khanna

          On Tuesday April 16, the Finance Minister of India, P. Chidambaram visited the Harvard campus for a set of events sponsored by the South Asia Institute and the Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard.

          Finance Minister Chidambaram first attended a luncheon with members of the Harvard community and then spoke to a packed room about the opportunities and challenges facing India as the center of economic power shifts to the East. Much of his comments and questions from the audience focused on the need for India to foster more inclusive growth. The Finance Minister discussed how much of India’s potential  among women, Dalits, and other minorities went untapped due to a lack of support and inclusion of those individuals in India’s growth. In fact, the Finance Minister went so far as to say that non-inclusive growth was a significant factor holding down India’s growth rate.

          The Finance Minister also drew a geopolitical distinction between India’s rise and that of other countries in the region stating that India had no desire to become an imperial or a regional power. Instead, India’s focus was on helping other countries catch up to the rest of the world. Citing Afghanistan as an example, Minister Chidambaram pointed out that none of the $1 billion in aid being given to Afghanistan was military related. The Finance Minister’s visit was part of a week-long visit to Canada and the U.S.A. that will culminate at the IMF/World Bank spring meetings and the G-20 Finance Ministers’ meetings that will take place on the sidelines of the IMF/World Bank meetings in Washington DC.

            Teaching India in the high school classroom

            Educators for Teaching India welcomed high school teachers from around the country to their fifth annual conference “Democracy in India: Past, Present, Future,” on April 12. Since it’s founding five years ago, EFTI’s primary goal has been to build a network of enthusiastic and knowledgeable teachers who understand the complexities of teaching India.

            Ananya Vajpeyi (left) and Amy Enright, EFTI organizer and chair of the history department at the Rivers School.

            The aim of the day’s conference was to explore India’s commitment to pluralist democracy and the myriad forces – including religious nationalism, socio-economic inequality, and endemic corruption – that threaten it. They also considered why the lessons learned in India are important ones for America’s own pluralist democracy and for newly established democracies around the world.

            Ananya Vajpeyi, Associate Fellow with the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi; Senior Fellow with the American Institute of Indian Studies, delivered the keynote address. Her first book Righteous Republic: The Political Foundations of Modern India, was published in October 2012 by Harvard University Press.

            During the day, Primary Source and SAGE: Studies Abroad in Global Education were on hand to promote their programs on and about India for students and teachers, alike.

            EFTI is sponsored in conjunction The Winsor School, Phillips Academy, and the Groton School. SAI is proud to host EFTI’s annual conferences at Harvard University.

            Learn more about EFTI at www.teachingindia.org

              Mapping the Ephemeral City

              The GSD Urban India project invited the community to participate of the event “KUMBH MELA: Mapping the Ephemeral City. Presentation of a work in progress”…The presentation will include the many schools and teams from Harvard University that participated in the interdisciplinary mapping project at the Kumbh Mela 2013. Diana L. Eck (HDS), Gregg Greenough (HSPH), Satchit Balsari (HSPH), Tarun Khanna (HBS) and the GSD Urban India team led by Rahul Mehrotra (GSD)..

              The research analyzes this ephemeral city from different perspectives. Being the biggest public gathering in the world , the Kumbh Mela deploys a pop-up city comprising of roads, pontoon bridges, tents of different sizes and an array of social infrastructure like clinics, hospitals, and social centers – all replicating the functioning of an actual city. The disposition of the city seamlessly articulates various layers of infrastructure and urban flows, serving apron 3 million people who gather for fifty five days and an additional  10 to 20 million people who come for cycles of twenty four hours on the main bathing dates. From the Kumbh we can learn about planning and design, reflect on flow management and infrastructural deployment but also about cultural identity and adjustment or elasticity in an urban condition of flux.

              Lian Chikako Chang,  a M.Arch.I student at Harvard Graduate School of Design, live blogged the event for Archinet Blog. Check it out here. 

                Harvard South Asia Week, April 8-12

                The India & South Asia Program at Harvard Kennedy School announces the Harvard South Asia week from April 8 to 12. Speakers include Cameron Munter, former U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan, Shyam Saran, Former Foreign Secretary to India, Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Senior Correspondent and Associate Editor, Washington Post, Ashok Gadgil, University of California, Berkeley, and Robert Blake, U.S. Assistant Secretary, South and Central Asian Affairs.

                SAI will cosponsor the lecture with Ashok Gadgil on ‘Solutions for the Bottom 2 Billion‘ as part of our Social Enterprise Seminar Series.

                  Harvard Club of Chennai Event with Lant Pritchett

                  Lant Pritchett, HKS Professor

                  The Harvard University South Asia Institute (SAI), in collaboration with the Harvard Club of Chennai (HCC), hosted an interactive discussion with Harvard Kennedy School Professor Lant Pritchett on March 19th at the Taj Coromandel in Chennai.  This was SAI’s first collaboration with the HCC and its first event in Chennai.

                  At the dinner event, Namrata Arora, Associate Director of SAI’s India office, spoke about SAI’s mission and gave an overview of SAI’s activities in India,

                  including the recent Kumbh Mela Project.  Lant then spoke about international development, building on his experience of living and traveling in 40 countries worldwide. He opened his talk by saying that there are three main ways in which he thinks about development- what he writes about (research), what he thinks about (ideating) and what he worries about.  His discussion focused on the ‘worry’ side of his thoughts where he spoke about the three main concerns that he had about India and its development:

                  Namrata Arora, Associate Director of SAI India Office

                  1. The downward spiral of Indian public services and how most Indians have removed themselves entirely from public sector services including hospitals and schools
                  2. How India’s double-digit growth process has been mainly driven by ‘deal-based’ growth which inevitably leads to corruption and finally to rapid economic slowdown
                  3. India today has majority of its people living in the 17th century and a minority living in the 21st century – co-existing ‘cheek by jowl.’  Which of these Indians is really represented to the rest of the world in international dialogue and in international forums?  Lant feels that often times the powerful and affluent modernized Indian is over-represented and someone needs to start standing up for the average Indian whose basic needs for health, education, sanitation and consumption are being overlooked.     

                  Lant spoke in detail about these three main worries and then opened up the conversation to the audience for their reactions and comments.  The event was attended by over 20 Chennai-based Harvard Alumni.

                   

                    “Sacrifice is important. Do your homework and learn about your country”

                    Mr. Sam Pitroda Advisor to the Prime Minister on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovation was the Keynote Speaker on the first day of the Harvard India Conference 2013 held jointly at the Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School. He was in Conversation with Professor Tarun Khanna, Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor, Harvard Business School.

                     

                    Mr. Pitroda gave an overview of his personal journey towards taking up the challenge of helping create an institutional structure to spark innovation across the public sector in India by utilizing enabling technology that gives citizens greater access to and say in government processes and decision making. In the course of a fascinating and wide-ranging address the one thing he advised students to take seriously is to become respected professionals in their chosen careers first before thinking of becoming advisors to governments and prime ministers!

                      Peabody Essex Museum’s “Midnight to the Boom: Painting in India after Independence”

                      Where: Peabody Essex Museum, Salem

                      When: April 19, 12:00pm-6:00pm

                      Cost: $11 (student ticket price)

                      On April 19, the South Asia Institute will host a student trip to historic Salem’s Peabody Essex Museum to view its exhibition “Midnight to the Boom: Painting in India after Independence.” The exhibition, on display from February 21 to April 21, showcases the three generations of artists who shaped India’s golden age of modernist painting. Susan Bean, who recently retired as the museum’s senior curator of South Asian and Korean art, will lead a tour of the exhibition, which draws on the Peabody Essex Museum’s Chester and Davida Herwitz Collection of modern and contemporary Indian art and includes important loaned works.

                      The cost of attendance for this SAI event is $7 for admission to the museum. SAI will provide group transportation to and from the museum. All Harvard students are welcome to attend! The bus will pick up at CGIS South, 1730 Cambridge Street at 12:00pm and return to the Harvard campus at 6:00pm. E-mail Nora Maginn at maginn@fas.harvard.edu to sign up for this trip.

                      View more information about the museum and exhibition here.

                        Understanding the Story behind the News: Harvard Panel Addresses Implications of the Delhi Rape Incident

                        When a 23-year old woman, accompanied by a friend with whom she had just watched the movie Life of Pi, was brutally raped and fatally assaulted by a group of five men in Delhi this past December, the resulting media frenzy and outpouring of emotion at an international level was unprecedented. The galvanization across sectors of Indian society in the aftermath of this high-profile incident, while promising in some ways, raises issues of potentially treacherous complexity.

                        In an effort to analyze the context of this case, explore pathways for change, and contemplate on strategies for making the most of the current window of opportunity, an interdisciplinary and pan-South Asian panel of Harvard students convened on February 20, moderated by Jacqueline Bhabha, Jeremiah Smith, Jr. Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School, University Advisor on Human Rights and Director of Research at the FXB Center and Carr Center. The two-hour discussion painted a multi-faceted, nuanced perspective on the issue of sexual assault and gender-related violence in the South Asia region, addressing notions of national and social identity, sexual norms and ethics, and the role of the media and education sectors.

                        Nur Ibrahim, a college senior from Lahore, highlighted the history of mass sexual violence by discussing the high rates of rape in the region during partition, 1971 and amidst the 2002 Gujarat riots. This history, she argued, shows how battles for political and cultural supremacy between different groups flow into a war on women’s bodies themselves. While this history might seem removed from the Delhi incident, Ibrahim suggested that the fact that much of this past violence has been overlooked in the public sphere is not disconnected with contemporary attitudes.

                        Abbas Jaffer, a doctoral student specializing in research on masculinity in South Asia, then addressed popular notions of male insecurity as a cause for sexual aggression, and invited the audience to consider the idea that “masculinity and gender violence are not isomorphic”, and that de-link masculinity and violence can and ought to be de-linked through grassroots efforts. He also highlighted the disparity in attention given to cases of violence amidst different classes and marginalized communities.

                        HKS students Sabrin Chowdhury and Litcy Kurisinkal both highlighted the persistence of shame and taboos around sexuality in many South Asian families. Chowdhury also suggested the importance of getting faith-based organizations more actively involved in awareness and prevention, citing their powerful role as cultural brokers, while Kurisinkal highlighted the economic inequities that play a role in the upbringing of street children and juvenile delinquents (one of the accused in the trial of the Delhi victim was 17).

                        Mariam Chughtai of HGSE reflected on some recent high-profile cases of violence against females in Pakistan, and shared some of her observations and lessons learned. These included a need for awareness around how victims can become exploited by even civil society for their own aims; the need to address a culture of discomfort in showing sympathy for victims of violence; that ultimately change must occur at the local level, and that the media’s fickleness necessitates committed perseverance by those who work for change.

                        In an especially interesting moment, moderator Bhabha acknowledged some international controversy generated in the blogosphere by the furor of some colleagues in India and elsewhere at the establishment of a Harvard committee that is being put together to craft a working paper for action around the issue of gender-based violence. While recognizing that the work for change is being carried out and has been carried out by generations of activists, men and women, on the ground in South Asia, Bhabha cautioned against a stance that would silence ideas from an institution in the United States, regardless of its distance from South Asia or the elite reputation of a place like Harvard. Besides being invited to participate in the working paper committee, audience members at the end were also encouraged to share and document their reflections and thoughts after the panel on paper provided by the South Asia Institute.  - Nabil Khan Vice-President Communications, Harvard Pakistan Student Group
                        ▶

                        India Rape Trial Starts With Renewed Ban on Media Coverage, NYTimes, Jan. 24, 2013

                        Full text: Justice JS Verma Committee Report on Amendments to Criminal Law, IBN Live, Jan. 23, 2013

                        Afghan rape victim ‘attacked again by government workers protecting her’, The Guardian, Jan. 23, 2013

                        How do you learn grit? Video, The Economist.com, Jan. 22, 2013

                        Bolivian State Politician Caught on Video Allegedly Raping Unconscious Woman on Parliament Floor, Jezebel, Jan. 18, 2013

                        Reflections of a sorry repatriate, India Today, Jan. 18, 2013

                        Nigeria has a rape culture too, The Guardian, Jan. 14, 2013

                        Amid rape fiasco, India’s leaders keep up insensitive remarks, The Washington Post, Jan. 4, 2013

                        The Delhi student movement, The Express Tribune, Jan 8, 2012

                        Changing attitudes towards women, The Express Tribune, Dec. 31, 2012

                        Mukhtar Mai – the gang rape victim who defied her attackers, New Statesman, Oct. 19, 2012

                        Harvard College Women’s Center – A History of Violence

                        Some thoughts on rape, sexual violence and protest - Devika Narayan

                        America’s Rape Problem: We Refuse to Admit That There Is One – The Nation, Jan. 4 2013

                        No Shortcuts on Rape – Economic and Political Weekly, Jan. 12, 2013

                        Let’s ask how we contribute to rape – The Hindu, Dec. 25, 2012

                        Rape and the crisis of Indian masculinity – The Hindu, Dec. 19, 2012

                        A moment of triumph for women – The Hindu, Jan. 25, 2013

                        Alchemizing anger to hope – The Hindu, Jan. 25, 2013

                        The rapist in the mirror – The Hindu, Jan. 11, 2013

                          Shiv Nadar University seeks founding faculty for its School of Education.

                          The Shiv Nadar University is a research-led, interdisciplinary, private philanthropic university set up by HCL founder, Mr. Shiv Nadar, in 2011. The University is looking for a Director to lead the School of Education as well as Professors, Associate Professors and Assistant Professors across the full range of specializations necessary for a School of Education. Candidates should submit a statement of research plans, a CV which includes a list of publications and details of teaching experience, and three letters of reference. Please send your applications to: careers@snu.edu.in. The job description is available here. For any queries, contact Garima Batra at +91 9818310952.

                            Best of Harvard in India Round Table on Accountability and Governance

                            The South Asia Institute, in collaboration with the Harvard Business School India Research Centre, as part of the ‘Best of Harvard in India’ series of round tables on “Accountability & Governance” hosted a second roundtable entitled ”Transparency to Address Corruption and Lobbying in India,” on Thursday, November 22 in Mumbai. The roundtable was be chaired by Karthik Ramanna, Associate Professor of Business Administration and the Henry B. Arthur Fellow at the Harvard Business School.

                            Click here to read the white paper of this event.

                            The first roundtable in the series, titled “Transparency, Awareness, and Action – Understanding the Landscape of Accountability in India,” was held in July 2012 and was led by Tarun Khanna, Director of the South Asia Institute at Harvard University and the Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor at the Harvard Business School.  A white paper created for the July roundtable as well as other details can be accessed here.

                              TiE Delhi-NCR and Omidyar Network Host Affordable Healthcare Summit

                              November 30, 2012 – Speakers include David Bangsberg, Director of International Programs at the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Director of the International Program for the Harvard University Center for AIDS Research and Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Global Health, Asif Saleh, Senior Director of Strategy, Communications and Capacity Division at SAI’s partner BRAC and BRAC International, and Maria May, Program Consultant, SAI Dhaka. Learn more here.

                                “State, private property and the Supreme Court”

                                SAI Graduate Student and SJD candidate at Harvard Law School Associate Namita Wahi‘s article on reinstatement of the right to property in the Indian Constitution was published in the magazine Frontline. In the article, Wahi argues that the right to property will not in itself protect the interests of the poor, who are often displaced from their land by the state in the name of infrastructure or industry.

                                 

                                  Attention Organizations in South Asia!

                                  Are you interested in providing an internship opportunity for a Harvard student?

                                  Please considering becoming a SAI partnered organization to offer summer internships to Harvard undergraduate and graduate students. Organizations in various sectors, (health, government, education, microfinance, social enterprise, etc.) are welcome to fill out this survey. SAI will advertise these opportunities on our website, newsletter, and through outreach events on Harvard’s campus.

                                  Please contact us if you have questions about the SAI Internship program!