Previous meetings
From MIT INDIA READING GROUP
Thirty ninth Meeting
When and Where
Date: 9th August 2007
Time: 7pm
Venue: 1-150
Discussion leader : Taro Muso
Participants: Rohit, Taro, Lavanya
Agenda: Offshoring to India: its past, present, and future
Readings: Ensuring India's offshoring future, article in McKinsey Quaterly 2005 special edition: Fulfilling India's promise.
Presentation: Offshoring to India: its past, present, and future
Proceedings: Offshoring to India: Synopsis
Thirty eighth Meeting
When and Where
Date: 2nd August 2007
Time: 7pm
Venue: 1-150
Discussion leader : Rohit
Participants: Esmeralda, Lavanya, Mythili, Taro, Rohit, Anup
Agenda: Situation of water-related problems and diseases in Mumbai among the urban poor
Readings: Field survey on water supply, sanitation and associated health impacts in urban poor communities – a case from Mumbai City, India by S. Kumar Karn and H. Harada Link to Paper
Presentation: Water Supply, Sanitation, and Public Health in Mumbai
Proceedings:
The discussions revolved around data published in the paper by Kumar and Harada (reading) of a survey of water supply, sanitation and health among the urban poor in four different areas. Mumbai is the world’s 5th largest metro with a population of ~20 million, roughly half of whom live in slums. This poses an enormous problem from the pubic health point of view. Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) provides 3 billion liters of water per day, which is about 65 % of the demand. Per capita water supply is about 145 liters per head per day in urban areas, and 40 liters per head per day in slum areas. Out of the waste water generated, 90% (2.2 billion liters/day) is collected, out of which 0.1 billion is treated, 1 billion is ocean outfall, and the rest is fed to creeks and waterways. The survey was carried out among four different communities- a newer Malad slum, a new Dharavi slum (Rajiv Gandhi Nagar), an old Dharavi slum (Mukund Nagar), and pavement dwellers from various areas. The survey was carried out by house interviews, so reflects the viewpoint of the people, although there may be biases. As far as water supply in houses was concerned, it was found that 41% houses had taps in the older Mukund Nagar, 9-14% in the other slum areas, and only 2% among pavement dwellers. Among houses without a private tap, most people used public taps, and there were 10-30 houses per tap. Tap water was sometimes dirty, but the surrounding water in creeks and waterways had high levels of e coli. Only 5-15% of the people boiled water; no other water treatment methods were used. There was also a lack of sanitation facilities, with there being a huge scarcity of toilets, and no sewerage facilities. The number of people per toilet was in the range of 100. As a result, about 35-45% of all houses had at least one family member ill at the time of the survey. Water-related diseases accounted for about 30% of disease burden, and 2/3rd of the burden was carried by children alone. It was found that pavement dwellers had almost twice the disease burden as compared to slum dwellers, making them the hardest hit among the urban poor. The paper recommended clean water and sanitation facilities, but was criticized in the meeting for not providing any insights into solutions. It seems that the problem lies in the huge slum population, lack of education, and local politics or social issues. Awareness and economic improvements seem to be the best near-term solutions till the economic status is improved.
Thirty seventh Meeting
When and Where
Date: 26th July 2007
Time: 7pm
Venue: 1-150
Discussion leader : Elena
Participants: Elena, Lavanya, Manusheel, Rohit, Esmeralda
Agenda: Technological ways to make water cleaner so as to prevent all the water-borne diseases
Readings:
For the briefest, broadest overviews: Treatment technologies brief overview from the WHO http://www.who.int/household_water/research/technologies_intro/en/index.html Pollutants: http://www.unicef.org/wes/index_water_quality.html
An excellent in-depth clear analysis that lays out the pros and cons of current methods and future work: "Wilson Center report on HWTS options: a review of current implementation practices" on http://www.who.int/household_water/resources/en/
For a (shorter) document about the same methods but without the analysis, see: "Household water treatment and safe storage following emergencies and disasters [pdf 840kb]", which is one of the items in the News section on http://www.who.int/household_water/en/ at the bottom of the page.
Proceedings
The discussion centered on methods of water purification and implementation of measures to purify water and prevent spread of water-borne diseases and effects of chemicals in water. According to WHO, around 1 billion people do not have easy access to clean water. Before the goal of providing clean drinking water to everyone materializes, local or household treatment of water may protect people from disease. The most common methods of water purification are disinfection using chlorine, boiling, flocculation (e.g. alum), filtration, and solar/UV treatment. Chlorine has the advantages that it is inexpensive, potent against many parasites, viruses and bacteria. However, chlorine is not as effective for disinfection of turbid water, and cannot remove chemical contaminants such as arsenic. Another simple method of disinfection is solar disinfection, which involves leaving bottles of a certain size in sunlight for 6 hours, or up to 2 days if sunlight is insufficient. However, this method is difficult to implement as it is not convenient. P&G has developed 3.5 c sachets that can flocculate as well as disinfect. Each sachet can treat 10 liters of water and disinfects it as well as gets rid of heavy metals, arsenic, and pesticides. The discussion also turned to some socio-economic obstacles for implementation of these measures. It seemed like factors such as ignorance, lack of belief in the benefits of water treatment, and more important concerns than purity of drinking water may also play a role in implementation.
Thirty sixth Meeting
When and Where
Date: 14th July 2007
Time: 7pm
Venue: 1-150
Agenda: Designing innovative low-cost solutions for Montessori education in rural India. Anoop will lead the session, and our objectives will be to brainstorm and come up with concepts/ideas for using materials easily available in rural settings to design Montessori kits.
Background:
The Montessori system was developed after observing children and recognizing differences between the way children and adults learn: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori
There is a need for developing low-cost Montessori kits for rural India. Dr Mani (Whitehead Postdoc and Anoop's friend) sponsors a school that follows the Montessori system of education in Sendurai, Madurai district. http://www.sakthischools.org/. This will provide a direct venue for the ideas generated in this session to be put into practice.
Below are excellent videos to familiarize you with the Montessori system: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YwN3N-7SMo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM1Gu9KXVkk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTpAILazPnM
To get you started, the activity session will begin with a brief discussion on the Montessori system and specific kits that need low-cost solutions. Anoop/Mani will also describe the Sakthi Schools Project.
We will provide pages on which you can describe your ideas. These ideas will then be compiled, uploaded on the MIRG wiki, http://india.mit.edu and sent to Sakthi Schools.
Additionally, via the wiki, these ideas can evolve and be used by any school that might want to use these technologies.
Some interesting kits that we could work on are:
1. A kit to develop agility of movement at the wrist and the ability to grasp objects. This is the most fundamental aspect of handwriting.
2. Geometric & 3D perception - Stackable arrangement of objects (integrate language continuity and color along with this task.)
3. Coordinated development of hand movement and sound.
4. A kit to develop sense of symmetry & complementarity of shapes.
Of course, other ideas are very welcome!
Examples of Kits: Some examples of inexpensive Montessori kits, modular enough that the same paraphernalia could be reused in other activities and all levels of education:
1. KG level activity: Pendulums made with stones. Stones could be of different sizes. The stones (held by the thread) need to be dropped into holes that correspond to the size of stones. A 5th-6th Grade level activity with the same kit can be used to demonstrate the concept of pendulums
2. Math Activity: Abacus can be made from beads on a string (i.e. a necklace)
3. KG Level activity: Use old CD-ROMs and a spindle to get kids to pile them up and gain the sense of position and orientation. For a higher level of cognition, you could label or color the CD-ROMs such that they get to correlate number and color sense (for example from a spectrum) along with orientation.
4. Color Cardboard cut outs to demonstrate Pythagorean theorem.
Thirty fifth Meeting
When and Where
Date: 7th July 2007
Time: 7pm
Venue: 1-150
Discussion leader : Vinay
Agenda: Malaria
Readings:
1. The economic and social burden of malaria , Jeffrey Sachs & Pia Malaney, Center for International Development, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
2. Before reading this, it may be worth looking at some background information on the life cycle of the parasite in this animation- http://www.sumanasinc.com/scienceinfocus/sif_malaria.html
3. This feature article from National Geographic on the history and impact of malaria is an excellent read as well: http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0707/feature1/index.html
Presentation: Malaria
Participants: Vinay, Anup, Anoop, Elena, Rohit, Sudipta, Chintan, Taro
Meeting notes [Rohit]
Vinay presented an excellent perspective of malaria, and the issues associated with it. The discussions began with an overview of the life cycle of the parasite in humans and in mosquitoes. Two types of parasites are among the more common malaria parasites- plasmodium falciparum and plasmodium vivax. Of the two, vivax is more common in India, and less deadly, while falciparum is more severe. The parasite undergoes part of its life cycle in humans, where after infection from the anopheles mosquito, sporozites enter the blood stream and grow in the liver. The parasite then infects red blood cells (RBCs) and after a ~3 day cycle ruptures the RBCs. Toxins released due to this cause fever, and the RBCs themselves become sticky and may lead to damage to organs such as brain and spleen.
Malaria is common in tropical regions with mosquitoes, and has resisted eradication efforts. However, the life cycle in mosquitoes is sensitive to temperature, and becomes slow as temperatures fall, and is ineffective below 16C. At lower temperatures, the mosquito may die before sporozites are formed. Therefore, malaria eradication has been effective in temperate zones.
Malaria accounts for ~20% of childhood mortality (below age 5 yrs) and 90% of mortality due to malaria is in children. This is because children are less resistant to malaria, as opposed to people who have already been infected. The consequences of malaria are sever enough to allow for potentially deadly traits such as sickle cell in tropical regions where malaria is widespread. Efforts to control malaria are multi-pronged. There is no effective vaccine, and malaria is developing resistance to cheap drugs that have been used widely. Apart from drugs, preventive measures include using bednets and insecticides against mosquitoes. Insecticide-treated bednets are promising, but need to be treated with insecticide every ~6 months, which is a barrier in their implementation. Different mosquitoes have different habits, and an effective measure is spraying walls with DDT. However, some species like to sit on clothes and curtains, making this treatment ineffective.
Other methods involve releasing mosquito larvae eating fish in ponds. But as noted by Chintan, some people in Gujrat resist this because they are vegetarian! Covering up drains, reducing accumulation of stagnant water, etc. are other measures. In one effective measure, economic incentive was provided to collect coconut shells. When discarded, they accumulated water and allowed mosquitoes to flourish. An interesting high-tech approach is to release parasite resistant genetically modified mosquitoes. Since the parasite results in slightly lower fertility in mosquitoes, the parasite-resistant mosquitoes may replace parasite-carrying mosquitoes! Effective diagnostic tools are also required. Traditional smears look for the parasite in RBCs and need a microscope. An alternative based on centrifugal separation and staining of cells that does not need a microscope was recently developed. Another point covered during the discussions was that projects like dams affect mosquito breeding, and a population that has not seen malaria may be suddenly exposed to it. Better coordination with health agencies is desirable in such cases.
Thirty fourth Meeting
When and Where
Date: 23rd June 2007
Time: 7pm
Venue: 1-150
Discussion leader : Anoop Rao
Agenda: "Neonatal mortality reduction in a community setting; Opportunity for low-cost interventions"
An overview of infant health and care issues, and some examples of which interventions work and which ones don't, and why. In addition, Anoop will tell us about an opportunity to contribute to montessory teaching in rural India using inexpensive kits from readily available material. This project could be an activity session(s) similar to curriculum wiki that we worked on last semester.
Readings:
1. Journal of Perinatology (2005) 25, S51–S61. Reduced Incidence of Neonatal Morbidities: Effect of Home-Based Neonatal Care in Rural Gadchiroli, India. Paper: Link
2. (Abstract only) J Trop Pediatr. 1996 Jun;42(3):146-50 Head and chest circumferences as predictors of low birth weight in Indian babies. Abstract: Link
Participants: Anoop, Vinay, Manas, Ananya, Elena, Rohit, Suvrat, Lavanya, Yogesh (Vinay’s brother).
Presentation: Neonatal Morbidities
Meeting notes [Rohit]
Anoop presented mainly on the status of infant and perinatal issues in rural India, and how efforts led by Abhay Bang in Gadchiroli district in Maharashtra were helping to improve neonatal mortality. Terminology- “peri” is “around”, so perinatal refers to the period around childbirth. “neo” is new, so neonatal refers to the period after birth. In context, neonatal mortality rates (deaths in ~1 month per 1000 babies) are ~1 in Singapore, ~5 in US, and ~45 in India. Village health workers went to households in 39 villages, educating the people for 3 years. Some of the issues they faced were traditional beliefs or practices such as application of mud to the umbilical cord after cutting, or mother eating less food to deliver more easily, etc. were addressed. Mothers and dais were taught simple practices such as wrapping the babies to keep them warm in order to reduce disease in newborns. One of the points raised during the discussions was that the father seemed to play no direct role in the process, and it may help to involve the father. Anoop showed a demo of how disinfectant bleach could be prepared from lime juice and baking soda. Another idea proposed by Anoop was a metric for estimating maternal and baby health or weight before birth. The idea was that some metrics such as distance between specific points on the abdomen of a pregnant woman can be used to estimate weight. Paper tapes could be designed for measurement of such parameters that easily tell the mother how she and her baby are doing.
Thirty third Meeting
When and Where
Date: 16th June 2007
Time: 7pm
Venue: 1-150
Discussion leader : Manas Kaushik
Agenda: What is 'burden of disease' in India?
Participants: Anoop, Manas, Vinay, Rohit, Anup, Lavanya, Manusheel, Anna, Elena
Reading:
Title of readings : Burden of Disease in India
Chapter 1 (pages 1-6) of the following paper.Main reference.
[http://www.who.int/macrohealth/action/NCMH_Burden%20of%20disease_(29%20Sep%202005).pdf ](Warning: Big file,dry statistical reading)
Title of readings: Comparison of India and China:(More accesible)
What's Behind Asia's Gold Rush? (some comparison and challenges in India and China) The Innovation Revolution (optional) (Assesses how people pay for health) Rx for India's Medical Schools (optional) (Assesses the medical education in India)
From [http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/review/rvw_summerfall06/rvwsf06_chinaindia.html ]
Notes on Polio: Workings of the largest health campaign in the World (immensely readable)
[http://www.worldhealthnews.harvard.edu/spotlight/index_gawande.html ]
Meeting notes [Rohit]
This meeting was a discussion lead by Manas on the various diseases and their burden. Several points were discussed, and one of the first ones that came up was how the impact of disease is measured. The commonly used method refers to “DALYS” or disability adjusted life years. This basically means how many productive years are lost to the disease as compared to an “ideal” life. Hence, diseases that kill children are heavily weighted since all the remaining years are lost. Lack of reliable information and statistics seems to be a barrier for quantifying these numbers for India, but the paper discussed at least gives a guideline of the impact of diseases in India. Among non-communicable diseases in India, cardiovascular diseases (31%), mental illnesses (26%) and cancer (10%) were the diseases with top burden. Among communicable diseases, acute respiratory infections (ARI, e.g. pneumonia) (18%), perinatal illnesses (around childbirth) (17%), diarrhoea (16%), tuberculosis (6%), HIV (4%), malaria (3%) were prominent. A potential source of information could be National Family and Health Service (NFHS) department.
Other issues that came up during the discussions were how we should proceed- some ideas were disease specific (take one disease as model and learn about it), group specific (e.g. childhood diseases), or work specific (NGOs). Anoop volunteered for the subsequent discussion on infant diseases and intervention.
One idea proposed by Manas related to education as means of helping in public health. E.g. Indradhanush magazine, where students write articles on science in English, which are then translated in Hindi for rural children.
Post Meeting notes [Manas]
Some of us were discussing the need of affordable technological advances that could speed up diagnosis of major infectious diseases in India (and around the world). Currently, for diagnosis, the blood samples are sent to a central lab for microscopy. Consequently, people treating the patients do not have timely information and have operational hurdles.
Here is some background information to motivate some thoughts.
Malaria lifecyle http://tinyurl.com/3eyggo
filaria lifecycle: http://tinyurl.com/2ks36f
Staining of Malarial parasite (MP): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giemsa Images of Malaria and Filaria:http://tinyurl.com/333dso
Article with graphics etc. on Malaria in recent National Geographic: http://tinyurl.com/35ac2a
Alternate diagnostic techniques yet to percolate to where they are needed: QBC: http://www.mdinventions.com/successes/envtests/qmalaria.html
More detailed explaination and other tests http://www.malariasite.com/malaria/QBC.htm
Thirty second Meeting
When and Where
Date: 12th June 2007
Time: 7pm
Venue: 56-191
Agenda:
Both AID and MIRG have a lot of common aims and we would like to increase the visibility of South Asian development issues on campus. How can we work together to reach a wider audience to describe our work and efforts?
-Discussion of aims of both groups (10 min) -Brainstorm of possibilities for collaboration.(hosting talks, bridging between groups, interaction with other development groups on campus, awareness events, social activities)(40 min) -Other topics (15 min)
Proceedings
[Ramya] :
We began the meeting with an introduction to MIRG and AID.
MIRG: - focussed on reading in-depth on issues (education and innovation system, public health) - foster long-term involvement or attendance in a session
AID: - holistic development projects in India - awareness - fundraising - huge network of partner NGOs working mostly with a rural or village focus
- opened with brief intoduction to frame the meeting (are there ways to collaborate on applications or projects using our skills as engineers/scientists for the benefit of the grassroots in India)
PROJECT IDEAS
- ideas for simple, low-cost technical solutions in public health
- eg: recycle used computer mice for stress relief and limb exercise in stroke patients
- uses for discarded cell phones, radios (use internal hardware)
- convert waste typewriters and computer keyboards to braille printers ($4000 retail)
- use skills of MIRG for internet research, data entry, statistical and quantitative data analysis (Eg Balaji HBP).
- use skills for "consulting" and connecting groups with each other (NGO's and solutions in different geographies).
- LOT of reading and much learning in the get-togethers. Communicate these findings. Create data repository to document the major conclusions of the readings and post online (WIKI)
- solutions can be very simple and should be low or no cost. must be context-driven. need not be scaleable.
PEOPLE-CENTERED PROJECTS
- concerns about ensuring the reception of the technology by the people.
they have to want it and have a use for it.
- don't imagine a need and then meet it. instead use NGO's familiarity with the locale and the people to develop context-driven solutions that are tailored and SPECIFIC. then think about generalizing to other places and *dissemination*.
-
HOW MATCH SKILL WITH NEED
- advertise on wiki/MIRG site the members' skills and technical expertise.
have another page linked where NGOs can visit and post needs/problems (simple, things they have wanted to do for a while but cannot due to lack of time and person power) and proposed solutions if any. AID/MIRG can evaluate and take up.
- keep a list or database of problems or needs so that the group can identify one to work on.
SHORT-TERM ACTION ITEMS:
- have AID-B volunteers speaking on related NGO work or the specific issue (or any topic of interest) at MIRG meeting
LONG-TERM ACTION ITEMS
- choose a simple proposal from database or from ideas at meeting
- have a project day once a month in MIRG to ensure that incremental progress on one idea is made. plan with specific aims for each meeting that are tractable within the meeting (ie curriculum development). have a core group and advertise widely to get the ideas and input of other people on campus at each session even if they do not attend regularly.
- use AID NGO network and visitors (saathis, speakers) to disseminate information on MIRG and its skills and solicit "need"
AWARENESS and WORKING WITH OTHER GROUPS ON CAMPUS
- South Asian Alumni association (email Anoop to brainstorm on ways to leverage their input, ideas, networks to funding agencies, and capital)
- International Development Forum
- Please add notes and edit as you see fit ***
Thirty first Meeting
When and Where
Date: 9th June 2007
Time: 7pm
Venue: 1-150
Discussion leader : Pavithra Harsha
Agenda:
1. What is public health & what are its elements?
2. Public Health in India
Reading: (requested to read before the meeting, and get a hard copy of the paper to the meeting)
1. Public Health in India: An Overview, Monica Das Gupta, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 3787, December 2005,
LINK : [1]
Participants: Amit, Sonal, Anoop, Suvrat, Mythili, Anusha, Vinay, Ramya, Manas, Ananya, Ravikanth, Anup, Ajay, Abhishek, Anna, Pavithra, Rohit.
Presentation : Public Health
Meeting Notes
(Prepared by Rohit)
Pavithra gave an overview of public health and India’s situation in public health. This was the first meeting on public health and many issues were discussed. Important points brought out were that public health includes several aspects that focus on the health of communities as opposed to individuals or groups, and includes prevention as well as treatment. A substantial fraction of increased life expectancy in the past few decades is attributed to public health measures that prevented disease, as opposed to new cures. Now the focus of public health in developed countries is shifting to chronic diseases like cancer, but infectious diseases are still very significant in developing countries. Roles of institutions/government/NGOs were discussed, and it so happens that public health is the responsibility of the state in India, but is not adequately funded. Central govt. emphasizes special programs such as family planning or particular diseases. However, NGOs like the Gates foundation and Clinton foundations are now playing a larger role in public health. Typically, NGOs focus on particular diseases rather than on overall public health. However, an example of a very large NGO involved in public health is BRAC (Bangladesh Rural Action Committee).
Subsequent discussions were based on Monica Gupta’s paper. Manas voiced his strong opinion that the paper was pessimistic, good things have been achieved, and that we all can make a difference. The British had set up public health institutions in India with good systems for vital registration, but did not enforce public health on Indian people. Originally, public health developed due to loss of military personnel to disease. India’s strength has been dealing with epidemics when they occur, rather than prevention. Other issues and questions raised were- what are the actual problems faced by people? What about insurance and costs? What organizations play what roles, and how is the system affected by corruption? What systems does China employ, and how do they compare with India?
In conclusion, there are several aspects of public health. However, following Manas’ lead to present in the next meeting, we decided to first learn about the burden faced by the poor people in India and see what can be done about it.
Some comments and thoughts
Varun
1. Is the excessive heat in India also a factor against public health. Is there evidence that tropical climates make public health requirement higher?
2. Policy Issue includes pollution (slide 9) and traffic rules. Easy pollution regulation policies shall attract industry and benefit enterprises. Interestingly the worse affected due to pollution are the poorest due to lack of proper homes and no assess to curative services. People would argue that stricter norms will curb growth, which would have led to socio-economic developments. Thoughts?
3. Public Health includes education. Are there any studies how much does public health features in the education system in India? how does this compare with other countries.
4. The relation between public health and labour productivity: In developmental economics, it is claimed that the employer pays enough for public health to make sure high productivity of employee (it acts as a threshold amount). This doesnt happen in India, evident from the very low wage labour. Is this due to labour demand elasticity (more supply than demand) or due to some other market inefficiency?
5. Slide 12: I do not agree that the market/private sector doesnt contribute to public health. All MNCs today are providing insurance for its employees in package. Earlier this section of people were not buying insurance.
6. Investing in specialised health care adds towards growth. Today India has a big medical industry with recent trends of people from developed nations coming for health treatment to India. Again, solving problems which the west is interested in attracts FDI and makes India a global player in trade. In trade-off, we do not concentrate on our problems this way. Thoughts?
7. General thought: I think it is a misunderstanding that if there is possible profit in the markets at the bottom-of-pyramid; we would see ventures emerge there leading to solution of social problems. This would happen only if this is the only available market with capacity and there aren't other competing markets, which are not easier to work in. The enterpreneur will position him/herself where he/she can make money most easily. In India, there is still lot of market inefficiency in urban and elite market, which is easier to handle.
Some additional comments:MK
It is hypothesized that tropical countries have greater disease burden (e.g. Malaria and other infectious diseases) compared to subtropical countries. However, it is unclear if this is due to lack of 'development' in tropical countries or if truly due to geography [2].
Since Varun is in India, heat is indeed a common and wide-spread exposure. Some studies have looked at the effect of heat waves in France and they have found heat waves increase mortality especially in vulnerable populations such as elderly. Intense cold is also a common exposure and there is seasonal element in mortality. Unfortunately, since elements can not be controlled, everyone needs to be careful - hydrate, avoid intense heat if possible, rest are common sense measures. What is the role of community, public health services?
Public health is cursorily taught in some schools. Anecdotally, I remember civics textbooks which taught about cleanliness etc. However, I am not sure to what extent they are covered now. However, since public health can play a important role in betterment of households, villages and towns, children should be encouraged to learn about public health. This could be one area in which MIRG can work with AID.
Recent work particularly from David Bloom etc suggest that public health like education is important for development gains. However, 'development' might be a too broad to look for effect of simple interventions [www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2004/03/pdf/bloom.pdf],[3].
Few companies offer there workers health facilities and health insurance to maintain productivity and attract workers. However, it is not clear if private sector would be interested in providing 'public goods'. More on public health and public goods here [4].
I think we should take the the message that people who are poor still buy goods and services from 'bottom of pyramid'. The question are if and how can these goods and services be improved, if these services should be 'profitable' or should be considered part of social investment etc.
Thirtieth Meeting
When and Where
Date: 29th May
Time: 6:30pm
Venue: 1-150
Agenda:
-- Papers on Wiki on Public Health (Ajay, Varun, Anna, 20 minutes)
http://india.mit.edu/~varun_ag/readinggroup/index.php?title=Main_Page#Public_Health_in_India
-- Structuring ideas which got proposed last time (Varun, 20 minutes)
Refer http://india.mit.edu/~varun_ag/readinggroup/index.php?title=Current_events#IDEAS
-- Curriculum wiki: lessons learned (Anna, Mythili, Varun, 5-10 minutes, discretionary)
Participants:Pavithra, Lavanya, Anna, Rohit, Anup, Ajay, Varun, Vikram , Pranesh
Proceedings
Discussion on next topic- Public Health
According to earlier discussions, an agenda for the next meeting was formalized. It was decided to explore aspects of public health (introduction) and India’s status. Aspects of public health could include- nutrition, sanitation, eradication of disease, education/awareness, metrics of health, role of government and institutions, women’s health, etc.
Follow-up on points brought up earlier:
How should we participate in NGO-related activities that are not in line with current topics?
It was decided to decide as the situation arises, depending on group consensus.
Goal-oriented meeting?
The discussion centered on defining goals for the meetings in order to give a coherent structure to the study. The goals would be defined in terms of questions that group members had about the topic. The first couple of meetings would lay the groundwork and frame these questions, giving structure to the following meetings.
Report
At the end of each presentation, the group would spend 10 min summarizing the discussions and presentation. Based on this summary, the presenter would prepare a one-page writeup with references for future use. At the end of the topic discussion (c.a. 10 weeks) the coordinator, webmaster, and any other interested individuals would prepare a report based on all writeups on the topic.
External talks
People expressed that there should be more reading sessions as compared to external talks. Talks are expected to come up as the group proceeds along with the reading.
Dissemination
Once a semester or year, the group could write an article and publish it in places like the Graduate Student Newsletter, Tech Talk, Tech, etc. Articles could be based on reports. The first article may be an introduction to MIRG followed by findings on education and innovation.
This meeting was Varun’s last meeting as coordinator. We wish him good luck in future endeavors and hope that he will be back next semester!
Twenty ninth Meeting
Twenty ninth Meeting
When and Where
Date: 11th May
Time: 7:30pm
Venue: Thai Restaurant
Agenda: MIT India Reading Group: Where we are and where do we go?
Participants: Mythili, Pavithra, Lavanya, Anna, Rohit, Anup, Ajay, Varun
Proceedings
1. Varun presented a report on group activities during June 2006-May 2007
2. Discussion on progress of the group so far and ideas for improvement.
3. Major decisions taken for summers.
Group report: PDF
Major decisions taken
1. The topic for summers will be Public Health in India. Group members will do initial research in the topic and exchange notes on material found over the mailing list. The group members will work on narrowing down the topic as they learn more about it for more focussed discussion.
2. Rohit Karnik will take-over as coordinator for the summers and help 'provide the link between meetings'.The continuing webmaster Anna and outgoing coordinator Varun will back Rohit and provide all possible support for smooth functioning. Note: Rohit will not be solely responsible for the group's functioning, Rohit, Anna and Varun will share responsibility.
3. Varun will work on a constitution for the group for formal induction in Sangam. He invites help for the same. The constitution will be sent to all members for review and suggestions. (Not a decision, since not discussed)
5. We will post on various mailing lists about the new topic in discussion to get more interested people.
6. A number of new ideas were discussed and in one of the upcoming meeting, we will discuss how to institutionalize these ideas and work out the logistics for them. These ideas are documented underneath.
7. MIRG will organize atleast one general Sangam talk every semester under the banner 'Sangam-MIRG Development Talk' (Not a decision, since not discussed)
Previous Year: What we did right and what we did wrong
1. The idea of Wiki and online documentation was appreciated since it helped getting together in a methodical fashion all we had discussed for us and others to use. It also gives longevity to the group.
2. The general feeling was that we learnt a lot during our Study on education, however we couldn't do a very organized study of Indian Innovation System. We did read papers and learn, but it was not structured. Meetings were unconnected. Multiple reasons (some being contradictory) were given by different members:
- Lack of proper literature as opposed to tons of methodical literature on education.
- Too broad a focus and too general. In education, we were looking at primary education in rural areas, which was precise. Probably a more precise topic like research in universities, innovation in industry would have helped to have focus, find material and a structured study.
- We could get speakers on innovation to help, since there wasn't much available material.
- Lack of time for reading and study during semester. Education was discussed during summers which provides a lot more time.
3. In general members felt that the meetings were useful and not a waste of time. The felt they learnt stuff, also met like-minded people, got to know their views and ideas regarding social issues. On the question raised that what
4. Some members strongly voiced that the current model of having some reading in every meeting is very important and a discussion-only meeting will not be helpful.
5. Some people saw the group more as a reading group on topics, while others expressed desire for more action.
IDEAS
A number of new ideas were discussed and old ideas were reiterated. However, given time constraints, the logistics couldn't be worked out. These ideas are summarized here and the members decided to meet again to formalize these ideas. Each question is followed by logistic questions.
- We should act as think-tanks and consultants to organizations: If we get a topic to conduct research from an SE (social enterprise), how do we facilitate consensus in the group to discuss the topic? How to resolve difference of opionion for take-up? How many meetings are spent on it? Who takes leadership? Do we give deadline for deliverables? Do we suspend our current topic?
- For each topic, have a goal-oriented meeting with a list of relevant questions and research their answers?: We did this previously for Indian Innovation System (IIS) and prepared a list of questions? What prevented us from working on them? Is this possible to do given the time resources we have? What lessons can we learn from failure of this approach with IIS and how to correct these issues?
- We should produce a summary report on each topic we read and discuss. This report will 'synthesize' the information we gained over the sessions. This was done for Elementary Education in india at end of summers. Who prepares the report? How many members get involved? When is the report prepared, in group meetings or homework? Who decides who will prepare the report.
One model suggested was that 2-3 people prepare the report and then present it to the group for review, checks and improvement. The group then uses 2-3 meetings to discuss, fine tune and formalize the report. Question remains, will these 2-3 people come forward voluntarily?
- Focal point for interaction with organizations. More interaction with people working at grassroots to learn from on-ground experience. Invite more people for talks. Can be done: We need one person to take responsibility for this. Everyone forwards his/her contacts to this one person. The post can be called 'External Affairs Coordinator' or so. What other kind of interaction are we looking forward to and how can this be institutionalized? What should be the ratio of talks and self-reading?
- Disseminate study and finding through newsletters and other Media at MIT. Can be done, need a person who takes responsibility. Can be called, 'Publicity Coordinator'
Twenty eighth Meeting
Twenty eighth Meeting
When and Where
Date: 21st April
Time: 7 - 8:30 pm
Venue: 1-150
Discussion Leader: Chintan Vaishnav
Reading Material
Please read pages 641-646 of the paper : (before the meeting)
Link: Utterback _ Abernathy - A dynamic model of process and product innovation
The paper is an example of a highly cited work from the innovation management literature.
Agenda:
Ever wonder when you look at an innovation as to whether it should be considered incremental or radical, sustaining or disruptive, modular or architectural and how it will impact existing technological or industrial order?
In this week’s meeting, Chintan will present how the innovation management theorists in business schools try to answer such questions. The hope is that with such a presentation, we create a mental framework for evaluating innovations that we might consider evaluating in the future.
Participants : Anna, Anup, Srikanth, Abhishek, Abhishek's friend, Chintan's wife and friend
Presentation: Link:
Twenty seventh Meeting
Twenty seventh Meeting
When and Where
Date: 7th April
Time: 7 - 8:30 pm
Venue: 1-150
Agenda:
The meeting this week is going to be a HANDS-ON WORKSHOP to design simple science lessons and experiments for school kids in India.
In the spirit of open-knowledge which we have always followed, we decided to setup a wiki for people to contribute experiments from world-over to illustrate science principles/hands-on learning. Any NGO/school interested in teaching hands-on stuff can use this content.
To kick-start this initiative, we are doing a workshop to develop the initial content to be put on the wiki and then will allow it to grow organically on its own.
Lessons designed in the sessions are uploaded at Open Hands-On Education Wiki
Twenty sixth Meeting
Twenty sixth Meeting
When and Where
Date: 22nd March
Time: 7 - 8:30 pm
Venue: 1-150
Guest Speaker:Vidya Jonnalagadda, AID
Agenda:
In this week's reading group meeting, we're going to have a discussion with Vidyaji from AID Hyderabad. After her work with AID-MIT, Vidyaji helped start the Hyderabad chapter of AID 2 years ago and is actively involved in a project to teach Science to Government school kids in Hyderabad. We will have a short talk by her, followed by questions and discussion.
Readings:
1. Report on Science Teaching AID Hyd Report June 2006: available on request, please email about-india-owner[at]mit.edu
2. Link: AID-Hyderabad Annual Report 2006
Participants : Mythili, Anna, Varun, Lavanya, Ramya, Srikanth, Sudipta
Outcomes:
1. Open Hands-On Education Wiki: A opwn-knowledge concept to develop hands-on education curriculum for school children world-wide. A very similar idea to have a wiki to design educational content was suggested one year back by Sayan Mitra in the initial days of MIT India Reading Group.
2. Srikanth raised a point as to whether it is useful to teach science experiments at government schools to underprivileged kids. Whether there is something more useful to give them.
Twenty fifth Meeting
When and Where
Date: 10th March
Time: 7 - 8:30 pm
Venue: 1-150
Discussion Leader: Lavanya, Pavithra, Chintan
Agenda and Readings
1. Honeybee Network and Rural Innovation Fund (Lavanya)
We would be addressing the following questions -
- barriers to rural innovation
- why is rural innovation not popular? In spite of several rural innovators, why are more institutions like HBN not set up?
- can we do something to help?
The following reading (only 5 pages) is a presentation by Dr. Anil Gupta, Founder of the Honey Bee Network. It has some basic information about HBN in a very concise manner.
http://old.developmentgateway.org/download/221028/honey_bee.pdf
This paper (15 pages) talks about knowledge networks in rural areas, and the spread of information about rural innovations - without requiring the users to be literate!
http://www.worldbank.org/wbi/documents/sn37160/Chapter08.pdf :
2. Difference between fundamental & applied research What should govt fund? (Pavithra)
We would be addressing the following questions -
-Difference between fundamental & applied research
-What should govt fund?
-How do we evaluate fundamental research?
http://www.issues.org/16.1/branscomb.htm
3. Some videos of honeybee (Chintan Vaishnav)
Participants: Mythili, Anna, Varun, Lavanya, Abhishek, Pavithra, Ajay D., Chintan
Presentation: Link: Scientific Creativity vs. Utility
Twenty fourth Meeting
When and Where
Date: 24th February
Time: 7 - 8:30 pm
Venue: 1-150
Discussion Leader: Mythili
Agenda: Role of academia in fostering Innovation in India
Participants: Mythili, Rohit, Anup, Anna, Varun, Lavanya, Abhishek, Pavithra, Ajay D.
Presentation
Link: Role of academia in fostering Innovation in India
Some notes and questions:
Twenty third Meeting
When and Where
Date: 13th February
Time: 7:30pm
Venue: 1-150
Discussion Leader: Lavanya
Participants: Mythili, Rohit, Anup, Anna, Varun, Lavanya, Abhishek
Presentation
1. Link: Venture capital Environment in India
2. The meeting also comprised of a discussion on the Tata's CBFL software and proposal of a hand-held to teach a person how to read his native language.
Some notes and questions:
1. Venture companies come up spontaneously. It cannot be structurally built by govt.
2. In USA, Boston, NYC, Silicon valley are examples.
3. Israel is an example and got structured govt-driven VC.
4. What is the China VC situation?
5. Different kind of incorporations in USA and India?
6. How to reduce risk in funding by govt?
Twenty second Meeting
When and Where
Date: 28th January
Time: 7pm - 12am
Venue: Rohit's apartment
DISCUSSION TOPIC: Moving ahead on Indian Innovation System
Attendees: Varun, Rohit, Sriram, Ramesh,
Twenty first Meeting
When and Where
Date: 20th January
Time: 7pm
Venue: Anup's apartment
Discussion Leader: ALL
Reading Material:
http://www.rediff.com/money/2004/aug/10ariban.htm
Attendees: Anup, Rohit, Punyashlok, Anna, Varun
Meeting Notes
Meeting Notes and follow-up points: 01-20-2007 (Varun)
1. We want to understand how exactly the governmental funding system for faculty works in India. This would include: how many proposals are invited, how many grants are given, who is the grant committee, what is the turnout time, what is the total money allocated for each area, what decides success of project, how the feedback cycle works.
We are interested to know how this works for the IITs, RECs and government research labs.
2. What does the MISSION STATEMENT/CHARTER of IITs list as its goal. For instance, MIT is primarily a research institute and teaching is a secondary goal to research. It is so hypothesized, when the IITs started, teaching and producing engineers for industry demand must have been the primary goal. Did IIT revise its charter since then to put forth research goals and how to balance the two goals given the resources. If IITs are not the primary research schools/body, then which are they in India?
3. How do fundamental research and engineering research compare in India? Can we get a statistics on the number of engineering PhDs and basic science PhDs in India?
4. What are the 'only research' or only 'post graduate' programs in India. We think probably DRDO, ISRO, TERI offer MS/PhD options thought they dont run a bachelor's school. Is this correct, which are the others?
5. Reading: The False Dichotomy: Scientific Creativity and Utility by LEWIS M. BRANSCOMB http://www.issues.org/16.1/branscomb.htm
6. In the first presentation on innovation, we saw that IITs have considerably large revenue from consultancy projects. How is this revenue divided between different departments, what kind of projects are coming in, etc.
7. We want to look more into HoneyBee Network and National Innovation Fund. This is the IIM-A initiative which identifies grassroot innovation.
8. There is a need to connect rural innovation with industrial and academic sphere. How to do this, can we help on this from here at MIT?
9. We need to study the US Innovation system to understand what worked in this country. It also gives us a comparison point and take-away lessons.
10. For further discussions, we settled on the definition of INNOVATION as a novel idea/invention/concept which has been put to commercial or social use.
OLDER MEETINGS
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