Fw: Fwd: An Invitation to attend National Reconstruction Conference, Chennai, 25/12 - 26/12/2008 (B.C. Venkatakrishnan)

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

I invite you to the First International Conference to be held in Chennai from 25th Dec. 2008 to 28th Dec. 2008. I am first sending for the NRC - 2008 to be held on 25th Dec 2008 and 26th Dec 2008. The details are below attached. Read them and take a printout. Thanking you,

Yours faithfully,

B.C.VENKATAKRISHNAN.

website: www.vedascience.com

 

----- Forwarded Message ----VENKATAKRISHNAN B.CHELLAPPA <bcvk71VENKATAKRISHNAN B.CHELLAPPA <bcvk71; ODDISILAB <oddisilab1Sunday, December 21, 2008 8:06:43 PMFwd: An Invitation to attend National Reconstruction Conference, Chennai, 25/12 - 26/12/2008 (B.C. Venkatakrishnan)

Dear Mr.Deepak Bhbattacharya,

I personally invite you to the First International Conference to be held in Chennai from 25th Dec.2008 to 28th Dec 2008.Iam first sending for the NRC-2008 to be held on 25th Dec 2008 and 26th Dec 2008.The details are bellow attached.Read them and take a print out.Thanking you,

Yours sincerly,

B.C.VENKATAKRISHNAN.

 

---------- Forwarded message ----------VENKATAKRISHNAN B.CHELLAPPA <bcvk712008/12/16Re: An Invitation to attend National Reconstruction Conference, Chennai, 25/12 - 26/12/2008 (B.C. Venkatakrishnan)"R. Ananthanarayana - NRC 2008" <chennai2008

Dear Mr.Ananthanarayanan,

I am very glad to participate in this Conference in every respect.I will certainly be part of it in every manner including organizing.Can I send this invitation to all my contacts world over?Awaiting your approval,I have also sent a mail to MrRajiv and Mr.Shiv Shakti regarding the 27th and28th Dec2008 VHS.Expecting theit reply and yors,

Yours sincerly,

B.C.VENKATAKRISHNAN.

website:

2008/12/16 VENKATAKRISHNAN B.CHELLAPPA <bcvk71

 

 

 

Dear Mr.Ananthanarayanan,

Thank you for inviting me to the NRC2008 to be held in Chennai.

2008/12/16 R. Ananthanarayana - NRC 2008 <chennai2008

 

 

Dear Mr. B.C. Venkatakrishnan ,Greetings You are cordially invited to attend the 1st NationalReconstruction Conference (NRC) to be held in Chennai, from Thursday 9:00AM, 25th December until 9:00 PM, Friday, 26th December, 2008. Alist of conference topics is attached. Upon your affirmative reply to thismail, we will send you further information on how to participate,including conference venue and arrangements. The purpose of the NRC conference is to bring academicians,intellectuals/thinkers, activists and youth in particular to the sameplatform for non-partisan development of public policy positions on issuesof national importance. Such a confluence of heterogenous segments ofexpertise and energy is expected to result in

unprecedented levels ofvoter empowerment, such that the Indian voter is able to make an informedchoice at the polls. One may ask, what is and why do we need non-partisan voterempowerment? Our country faces enormous challenges. Even though we have beenpreparing for our conference for over a year, the recent tragedy in Mumbaiunderscores the need for non-partisanship. While candle-light vigils andhuman chains may be a perfectly legitimate expression of grief and sorrow,they cannot become a panacea for a long-term solution to our problems. Theoverall distrust of politicians is understandable, and we share the same-- however in a democracy, it is only the right kind of policy with theright kind of politician, that will lead us out of the quagmire. We cannotget rid of politicians, so we must strive to enhance the quality of theunderlying pool of

human resources that is available to take up politicsas a matter of public service. At the same time we must strive to deriveconsensual public policy based on objective research. Various topics at the NRC are designed to take up one challenge ata time, and subject-matter experts are invited to share their knowledgewith the aim of consensual public policy development. Our special emphasison youth recruitment and leadership training will lead to the enhancementof political human resource pool. This may sound long and drawn outprocess, but there are no shortcuts to effective solutions. You are invited to be part of this unique experiment in capabilitybuilding, both in terms of policy and leadership, with the aim ofimproving our political process from bottom up, rather than top-downapproach of being fixated on political parties, personalities

andelections. If you wish to discuss this opportunity over the phone, feel freeto give me a call mt my mobile at 099400 25848. We hope to receive a positive response from you.warm regards,R. AnanthanarayanaConference DirectorE-Mail: ananthaTel.: 099400 25848=============== attachment included as plain text ===========+------------------+For better reading please open up the pdf attachment+------------------+ NATIONAL RECONSTRUCTION CONFERENCE Chennai, Tamil Nadu

Thurs., Dec. 25th - Fri., Dec. 26th, 2008 INVITATION AND CONFERENCE PROGRAM PREVIEWIntellectuals, academicians, public service professionals and activistsare invited to participate in the National Reconstruction Conference (NRC)to be held in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, from 9:00 AM, Thu. Dec. 25th until 9:00PM, Fri., Dec. 26th, 2008.The purpose of NRC is to bring intellectuals, academicians, commentators,technocrats, entrepreneurs, journalists, activists, public serviceprofessionals and youth (as potential future leadership) on the sameplatform for exchange of perspective and ideas relating to the health ofour democracy and public institutions, and issues of national importancein political and socio-economic spheres of public life. A tentative

agendafor the conference is attached. Your review of the agenda is requested,based upon which you may decide to attend. Once your affirmative intent isreceived, you will receive further details including conference logistics.This invitation is not transferable to another person. If you have areferral, please send his/her contact details to the Conference e-mailaddress, or call Mr. R. Ananthanarayana, Conference Director, at 09940025848 (mobile). You may also recommend other potential attendees byentering a prospect's name and coordinates at< http://recommend.nrc.org.in >.The conference will provide an opportunity to network with fellowintellectuals and activists in a non- partisan environment. Ideologues andactivists from all political parties and ideological persuasions areinvited to come face to face with each other.

The organisers of thisconference are committed to providing an unbiased and non-partisanplatform to all to come together and work jointly towards attempting tosolve the myriad problems faced by our nation.TRAVEL PLANNINGIf you want to attend, your first step should be to make arrangements foryour travel to Chennai. Please keep the following information in mindbefore making travel arrangements:Destination: ChennaiArrive By: Evening/Night of December 24th, 2008Schedule Return after: 10 p.m. on December 26th, 2008Once you are confirmed for the conference and have made your travelarrangements you will receive all necessary logistics / arrangementsrelated information.COSTParticipants bear all convention related expenses, including the following:1. Travel cost to Chennai2. Mandatory non-refundable registration fee of Rs. 500/- (payable at

thereception)3. Hotel/accommodation in ChennaiMeals: Registration fee includes lunch, dinner, snacks, water andbeverages throughout the duration of the conference (Thursday morning toFriday evening). The registration fee does not include breakfast. Allmeals will be vegetarian.CONFERENCE VENUEExact coordinates of the conference venue will be provided only uponconfirmation of participation. For planning purposes, plan to be in theEgmore area of Chennai (Landmark: Shopper's stop at Harrington Road). Themorning commute to the venue from your hotel should not be more than 20-25mins (via Auto-rickshaw or Taxi). A list of hotels in close proximity(Egmore, Chennai) of the conference venue will be provided.YOUTH LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMDeveloping youth leadership in public affairs is an integral part of theNational Reconstruction mission. We invite high academic

achievers toapply for a grant to attend the NRC 2008. The grant includes all costsincluding train travel by 3rd AC, hotel and other expenses. In return theyouth participant will make a presentation and sign up for prospectivesummer or calendar year Internship. The NRS Internships are designed as anearly intervention program for public leadership and is implemented insuch a way that it remains non-intrusive to a participant's primaryvocation. Qualifying criteria is: (a) Between the ages of 18 and 25 years,(b) 85% or above marks in secondary examination or 80% or above marks in+2 or 60% marks or above at graduation/ Master level examination, and (d)interest in public affairs.FURTHER INFORMATIONR. Ananthanarayana, Conference DirectorE-Mail: < anantha >Tel.: 099400

25848------------------------CONFERENCE PROGRAMMemorial LectureK.S. Lal Memorial Lecture on "Marxist Historiography and Beyond: Exploring History Writing in India"(Prof. Bhagwan Josh, JNU, New Delhi)Seminars{Selected seminars may be conducted in parallel due to the complexity of the subject matter.}1. Assessment of Indian HistorySession Chair: Prof. Bhagwan Josh, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New DelhiSession Coordinator: Mr. Vikas Pathak, Research Scholar and JournalistSynopsis: The research and teaching of Indian history has been a keenlycontested issue. The Marxist School of Historians have interpreted historyfrom a materialistic perspective, being true to their worldview, and overa number of years, have built up quite some serious scholarship to theircredit, signified by giants such as D.D. Kosambi. Till date, there doesnot

exist a serious assessment and evaluation of the materialistframework, as has been the case elsewhere the world, where most Marxistschools of History have been critiqued against a wide variety ofpost-modernist benchmarks. The tragedy of Indian history is that theMarxian pure materialistic interpretation of Indian History seems not tohave been challenged by serious post-modernist professional historians,though plenty of quackery exists in the name of History ("Taj Mahal is aHindu Temple" type pseudo-scholarship). The result is that the researchand teaching of history has become a politically divisive issue where theultimate sufferer is the Indian student. It is incumbent upon professionalhistorians to respectfully critique Marxist School of History, by firstunequivocally rejecting pseudo-scholarship as a pre-requisite, and thenestablishing a post-colonial post-modern framework of re-interpretingIndian

history. This session will focus on current assessment of IndianHistory and explore the possibility of establishment of a new frameworkfor re-interpreting historical events from a post-modern perspective.2. Secularism and Roadblocks to Secularization in India: Theory and PracticeSession Chair: Prof.. Omprakash Mishra, National Law University, JodhpurSession Coordinator: Mr. Rajesh Anand, Esq.Synopsis: India is a secular state both by constitution and law, as wellas most of the times in practice since the time immemorial. Indiccivilisational ethos does not allow for imposition of a way of worship ora certain religious dogma. Yet in our country there are laws and publicpractices that defy the conventional meaning of secularism. The incursionson secular character of the country come from all religious groups withthe complicity of all political parties. Only the type of incursiondiffers with

each party. In no secular country does the state own andoperate places of worship, funds and sponsors religious educationalinstitutions, pays for pilgrimage and discriminates against communitiesbased on religion. If India has to survive as a liberal nation-state, ithas to treat its citizens as atomic individuals, and not as a chattel thatcan be traded on the "electoral stock exchange" for seats in parliamentand assemblies. This session will take up the debate on secularism at thefundamental level and derive a position that will go a long way towardsabsolute secularization of the Indian state, without any favor to anyreligious group or community.3. Educational Reforms (Contents and Pedagogy)Session Chair: Mr. Michel DaninoSynopsis: Curriculum reform in our country has become a political footballwhere changes are brought by one party (often tinged with parochialgoals), only to be undone by

the other party. The ultimate sufferer is theIndian student. The Indian people are fed up with this political footballand partisanship, and are looking for a saner non-parochial non-partisannon-divisive non-ideological approach to curricular reforms. In thissession educators, parents and other experts will come together to discussand debate the pedagogical changes required in the school curricula, anddevelop a blueprint for affecting meaningful curricular reforms in anon-ideological non-partisan manner.4. Educational Reforms (Public Policy and Governance)Session Chair: Prof. C.B. Sharma, IGNOU, New DelhiSynopsis: The existence of elite institutions such as IITs/IIMs is only anillusion in terms of overall educational infrastructure is concerned. Thefact of the matter is that this country does not have a structured secularpublic mass-education system. The "public schools" are actually

privateschools that cater to the English-speaking elites of the society. Thegovernment funds are used for supporting parochial schools while thegovernment owned and operated K-12 schools do not function properly, andtheir teachers often engage in providing private tuitions to double theirpersonal income. The situation becomes farcical and comical when IAS/PCSofficers with no background in education are entrusted the task ofmanaging the educational system. The purpose of this session is to proposeradical reforms in educational infrastructure and governance, and notlimit to patching mechanism. This session will table the gaps that existin terms of educational infrastructure and suggestions will be made on howto remediate those gaps. New models of educational governance may bepresented and evaluated.5. Internal Security Review and Countering TerrorismSession Chair: Lt. Gen. SK Sinha (Retd.),

Former Governor, Jammu & KashmirSession Coordinator: T.K. Singh, Researcher, IDSASynopsis: India has long been a soft state where a number of groups havecommitted grave acts of terror against the common masses. Just about anydisgruntled group (for real or imaginary reason) feels free to explode abomb at will and then get away with it. The terrorists are not limited toany one single community - they come from all communities. The publicdiscourse has increasingly taken partisan tones in debating issues relatedto terrorism. While one political party plays Nero, the other tries toexploit it for electoral gains, while there are fringe groups ready toincite communal passions at every incident. Further, there is a wholeindustry of tacticians (e.g. so called 'Human Rights' activists) who areready with their media blitz, petitions and lawsuits to nullify thecounter-terrorism operations (if any). There

is an urgent need for thecivil society to debate all aspects of terrorism. Further, there arestructural lacunae in the internal security infrastructure that inhibitsthe functioning of security forces. There is no single agency to counterterrorism. By definition, terrorist acts fall under "law and order" whichis on the state list. This lumps acts of common criminality like thieverywith a complex subject such as Internal Security, leaving the state policeto tackle both the subjects. The situation warrants a comprehensive reviewof our Internal Security laws and infrastructure. This session will gointo all aspects of internal security and propose and debate a new modelof internal security infrastructure that can address counter-terrorismeffectively.6. Law Enforcement ReformsSession Chair: Mr. Prakash Singh, ex-Director-General, Border Security ForceSession Coordinator: Dr. Jatin Mohanty,

Researcher, CORDSynopsis: Maintaining law and order is a basic function of the government.In our country the law enforcement machinery has come under enormousstress due to a plethora of factors. In large part it has been compromisedby vested political and economic interests. There is rampant corruptionand misuse of authority amongst its ranks. The law and order situation hascome to such a pass that, first the police fails to file an FIR, second,they fail to catch the right offender, third, they bungle theinvestigation, fourth, they fail to prove the case in a court of law, andlast, they fail to keep the prisoner in prison for long. Thus, the entirelife-cycle of law enforcement has become lifeless. If such a situation isallowed to continue, India will become an anarchy where vigilante justicewill replace the rule of law (if not already there yet). This session willfocus on realistic assessment of

malaise in the law enforcement system,propose comprehensive systemic reforms and debate various issuespertaining to law enforcement.7. Illegal Immigration - Causes and ConsequencesSession Chair: Mr. DC Nath, Former Special Director, Intelligence BureauSession Coordinator: Shreejay Sinha, JournalistSynopsis: By some estimates we have 20 million illegal immigrants in thecountry. As it is we have population explosion, and on top of that if wekeep receiving illegal immigrants unchecked it will add immense pressureto our public services, our economy and even national security. This issuehas become a political football in the hands of politicians, as they havetaken unnecessary adversarial positions on this issue. Predictably, onenational political party defends illegal immigration for the sake of itsvote-bank, while the other uses this to incite communal passions. Thecivil society cannot afford

to get wrangled in partisanship and let thisproblem pose a threat to the integrity of the country. The civil societyneeds to bypass the political parties, and come together to proposeresolution to this issue in a non-partisan manner. This session will gointo all aspects of the issue and will strive to reach a general consensuson a viable set of steps towards a possible solution that does notdiscriminate against any community - religious or linguistic.8. Women's Issues and Integral FeminismSession Chair: Dr. Medha Nanivadekar, Shivaji University, KolhapurSession Coordinator: Ms. Nisha Srivastava, Research Scholar, JNUSynopsis: Though the condition of women has noticeably improved at theupper and upper-middle class levels, a large percentage of femalepopulation is still lagging behind on majority of human developmentindices. Indian women continue to face socio-economic repression in theform

of dowry and family harassment, gender discrimination, femicide andsexual harassment, inspite of existence of a plethora of laws that areseemingly designed to protect them. Laws alone do not seem to be enough,as we have had them for this purpose since the abolishment of Sati andthen later enactment of the Sharda Act. The problem of dowry has becomemore widespread than ever before. What is more disturbing is the fact thatdowry has increasingly been "normalised" and people no longer consider itas an evil practice. Women themselves play a major role in demands ofdowry. On the flip side there have been abuses of the anti- dowry laws byunscrupulous women culminating into human rights violations. Quite oftenthe society uses the adversary principle a priori to enact laws to protectwomen. That these do not always work is self-evident. Thus, there is astructural and doctrinal problem with resolution of such

problems. If wehave to resolve various gender discrimination issues, we have to establishan entirely new framework for women's empowerment. This session will focuson women's issues and will explore constructing a new paradigm relating tofeminism and women empowerment, keeping the adversary principle inperspective and yet not losing sight of the practical realities of sociallife in today's India that will facilitate gender justice and equality,enhancing healthy family life, and catalyzing the healthy organic growthof society.DebateBased on the deliberations of the aforementioned seminars there will be anexpert panel formed that will question and facilitate a debate betweenrepresentatives of major political parties. Select representatives of allmajor political parties will be invited to take questions from the expertpanel. The debate may be canceled if all major political parties are

notrepresented.FellowshipsDeveloping non-partisan youth leadership in public affairs is an integralpart of the National Reconstruction mission. Several fellowships will beawarded to potential youth leaders to pursue one of the several subjectsdiscussed in aforementioned seminars. The fellowships are designed as anearly intervention program for developing public leadership skills. It isimplemented in such a way that it remains non-intrusive to a participant'sprimary vocation. Qualifying criteria is: (a) Between the ages of 18 and25 years, (b) 85% or above marks in secondary examination or 80% or abovemarks in +2 or 60% marks or above at graduation/ Master level examination,and (d) interest in public affairs. The youth will work with panelists andunder the guidance of experts in their respective subject areas. Theleadership development curriculum may include conducting surveys,

libraryresearch, field trips, data collection, and other types of work. Thefellowship work may require visiting rural areas and interacting withcommon people. The fellowship recipients will be compensated by a suitablestipend and a certificate will be awarded at the end of 1 year offellowship.National Reconstruction SocietyNational Reconstruction Society (NRS) facilitates a common platform forintellectuals and activists to work towards the objectives of the NationalReconstruction Mission as outlined above. NRCs are organized by NRS.Further information about NRS can be obtained from:Mr. R. AnanthanarayanaGeneral Secretary, NRSE-Mail: ramakrishna.ananthanarayanaTel.: 099400

25848-- WHAT IS NATIONAL RECONSTRUCTION?BackgroundOur country is going through both challenging and promising times.Challenges come from a plethora of directions. While there is a promise ofa rising India, there are traditional socio- economic challenges relatingto violence, hunger, poverty, disease, and illiteracy. There are alsogigantic challenges being posed from both outside and from within, viz.terrorism, regionalism, casteism, etc. On the other hand the prospect of aRising India that is based on a remarkable economic growth rate in certainsectors of the economy in the last 10 years with its worldwide recognitionas a rising star among the emerging economies, leads to new hopes andaspirations among its citizens in general, and its youth

in particular.The promise of Rising India can be illusionary due to structural problemsin the political and socio- economic spheres of public life. If theseproblems are not addressed India may not realize its full potential, andhence even the recent economic resurgence may slow down and its gains notaccrued to the national prosperity in the long run. The future mayrelegate India into the most fantastic dysfunctional but nominallyoperating democracy and economy in the world.Preamble and Vision StatementIndia must rebuild and reengineer its civil society on the basis of issuesalone in a non- partisan manner, with an Indic civilisational nucleus thatis non-parochial in content and character. The new civil society shallconsider the citizen as an atomic individual and treat all with equalrespect, and where the citizen's caste, religion and community isirrelevant to the Indian state. The new

civil society will bereconstructed by youth who are first trained in political affairs within anon-partisan framework, after which they can join a political party oftheir choice or remain to serve the society in a non-partisan manner. Thereconstruction of the Indian nation will be guided by philosophers,thinkers, writers and poets with an Indic civilisational vision of India,and the public policy to attain that state shall be formulated in anon-partisan manner through praxis by the joint efforts of academicians,thinkers, professionals, public affairs personnel and political and socialactivists.Objectivesa. to facilitate a platform for structured exchange of ideas and debate inmatters of philosophy and doctrine relating to only the temporal affairsof people (political, social, economic and cultural) to build a frameworkof issue-based non-partisan public policy;b. to facilitate a

process of taking the extract of aforementionedphilosophical churning and turning it into practical issue-basednon-partisan public policy;c. to formulate a process of translating the stratospheric intellectualoutput into the ground- level knowledge base for non-partisanvoter-education and voter-empowerment;d. to document and disseminate the extract of philosophical churning andthe derived public policy thereof to the consumer base consisting ofmedia, public commentators and thinkers, public policy activists, youthwith leadership potential, elected representatives, and otherpolicymakers;e. to develop a process of current public policy evaluation and critique,and monitoring public administration;f. to bring representatives of opposing ideological persuasion, andleaders of opposing political parties to a common platform to evaluate anddebate their positions on issues of importance

to the public;g. to develop a Youth Leadership Development program for training youthwith leadership potential in a non-partisan manner;h. to develop a professional human resource base of intellectuals andactivists who can re- organize various instruments of the civil society;andi. to provide a forum to attract and consolidate citizenry from variousfields in public human activity that can contribute to the task ofnational reconstruction in a non-partisan and non- parochial manner.MethodologyIn order to realize the aforementioned objectives a sector-based strategicplan needs to be formulated. The Strategic Plan for each sector of publicactivity may differ in structure, but will be based on similarfundamentals. These fundamentals can be described in the form ofKnowledge-Awareness-Action Continuum where the knowledge formulation needsto precede spreading of awareness, while

action by activists must followthe other two. The process of knowledge to awareness to action cannot becircumvented. Knowledge engineering in public policy is a product ofapplication of intellectual faculties to strong background in thehumanities (history, political science, religion, spirituality, culture,archaeology et al.). The products of development process are knowledgeelements or intellectual building blocks that are relevant to the currentstate of the nation. The knowledge elements are then applied to real-lifechallenges that the country faces to produce a philosophical framework,with a well-defined perimeter, including a strategic vision and directionfor the nation. The theoretical framework developed by intellectuals isutilized by public policy activists in the political, social and economicspheres of human activity to meet the challenges faced by the country, forthe peaceful

existence of its citizenry as an organic whole, with itsdistinct but integral parts at peace and harmony with each other.Voter EmpowermentPublic policy formulation by itself is meaningless, unless and until it ispropagated throughout the general consciousness of the citizenry. To makepublic policy knowledge engineering practical, it must be translated intoa language and form that the voters can understand, and hold their electedrepresentatives accountable to that standard. This calls for structuredand comprehensive voter education and empowerment. Long-term sustainablevoter empowerment will result in meaningful public administration. Theattached diagram summarizes the entity-relationship between variouscomponents and how non- partisan voter empowerment can be attained toresult in a healthy

democracy.=================================================================

[Guest guest]

Dear Sir,

Thanks for your invitation for attending the conference at Chennai on 25-26 Dec.2008. I am going to attend another conference of Indian Archaeological Society at Bhuvaneshvar. I shall accompany you in next one.

Thanks and with warm regards

D.P.Tewari

On Mon, Dec 22, 2008 at 9:00 AM, venkata krishnan <bcvk71 wrote:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear All,

I invite you to the First International Conference to be held in Chennai from 25th Dec. 2008 to 28th Dec. 2008. I am first sending for the NRC - 2008 to be held on 25th Dec 2008 and 26th Dec 2008. The details are below attached. Read them and take a printout. Thanking you,

Yours faithfully,

B.C.VENKATAKRISHNAN.

website: www.vedascience.com

 

----- Forwarded Message ----VENKATAKRISHNAN B.CHELLAPPA <bcvk71

VENKATAKRISHNAN B.CHELLAPPA <bcvk71; ODDISILAB <oddisilab1

Sunday, December 21, 2008 8:06:43 PMFwd: An Invitation to attend National Reconstruction Conference, Chennai, 25/12 - 26/12/2008 (B.C. Venkatakrishnan)

 

Dear Mr.Deepak Bhbattacharya,

I personally invite you to the First International Conference to be held in Chennai from 25th Dec.2008 to 28th Dec 2008.Iam first sending for the NRC-2008 to be held on 25th Dec 2008 and 26th Dec 2008.The details are bellow attached.Read them and take a print out.Thanking you,

Yours sincerly,

B.C.VENKATAKRISHNAN.

 

---------- Forwarded message ----------VENKATAKRISHNAN B.CHELLAPPA <bcvk71

2008/12/16Re: An Invitation to attend National Reconstruction Conference, Chennai, 25/12 - 26/12/2008 (B.C. Venkatakrishnan) " R. Ananthanarayana - NRC 2008 " <chennai2008

 

Dear Mr.Ananthanarayanan,

I am very glad to participate in this Conference in every respect.I will certainly be part of it in every manner including organizing.Can I send this invitation to all my contacts world over?Awaiting your approval,I have also sent a mail to MrRajiv and Mr.Shiv Shakti regarding the 27th and28th Dec2008 VHS.Expecting theit reply and yors,

Yours sincerly,

B.C.VENKATAKRISHNAN.

website:

2008/12/16 VENKATAKRISHNAN B.CHELLAPPA <bcvk71

 

 

 

Dear Mr.Ananthanarayanan,

Thank you for inviting me to the NRC2008 to be held in Chennai.

2008/12/16 R. Ananthanarayana - NRC 2008 <chennai2008

 

 

Dear Mr. B.C. Venkatakrishnan ,Greetings You are cordially invited to attend the 1st NationalReconstruction Conference (NRC) to be held in Chennai, from Thursday 9:00

AM, 25th December until 9:00 PM, Friday, 26th December, 2008. Alist of conference topics is attached. Upon your affirmative reply to thismail, we will send you further information on how to participate,including conference venue and arrangements.

The purpose of the NRC conference is to bring academicians,intellectuals/thinkers, activists and youth in particular to the sameplatform for non-partisan development of public policy positions on issues

of national importance. Such a confluence of heterogenous segments ofexpertise and energy is expected to result in unprecedented levels ofvoter empowerment, such that the Indian voter is able to make an informed

choice at the polls. One may ask, what is and why do we need non-partisan voterempowerment? Our country faces enormous challenges. Even though we have beenpreparing for our conference for over a year, the recent tragedy in Mumbai

underscores the need for non-partisanship. While candle-light vigils andhuman chains may be a perfectly legitimate expression of grief and sorrow,they cannot become a panacea for a long-term solution to our problems. The

overall distrust of politicians is understandable, and we share the same-- however in a democracy, it is only the right kind of policy with theright kind of politician, that will lead us out of the quagmire. We cannot

get rid of politicians, so we must strive to enhance the quality of theunderlying pool of human resources that is available to take up politicsas a matter of public service. At the same time we must strive to derive

consensual public policy based on objective research. Various topics at the NRC are designed to take up one challenge ata time, and subject-matter experts are invited to share their knowledgewith the aim of consensual public policy development. Our special emphasis

on youth recruitment and leadership training will lead to the enhancementof political human resource pool. This may sound long and drawn outprocess, but there are no shortcuts to effective solutions. You are invited to be part of this unique experiment in capability

building, both in terms of policy and leadership, with the aim ofimproving our political process from bottom up, rather than top-downapproach of being fixated on political parties, personalities andelections.

If you wish to discuss this opportunity over the phone, feel freeto give me a call mt my mobile at 099400 25848. We hope to receive a positive response from you.warm regards,R. Ananthanarayana

Conference DirectorE-Mail: ananthaTel.: 099400 25848=============== attachment included as plain text ===========

+------------------+For better reading please open up the pdf attachment+------------------+ NATIONAL RECONSTRUCTION CONFERENCE

Chennai, Tamil Nadu Thurs., Dec. 25th - Fri., Dec. 26th, 2008 INVITATION AND CONFERENCE PROGRAM PREVIEWIntellectuals, academicians, public service professionals and activists

are invited to participate in the National Reconstruction Conference (NRC)to be held in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, from 9:00 AM, Thu. Dec. 25th until 9:00PM, Fri., Dec. 26th, 2008.The purpose of NRC is to bring intellectuals, academicians, commentators,

technocrats, entrepreneurs, journalists, activists, public serviceprofessionals and youth (as potential future leadership) on the sameplatform for exchange of perspective and ideas relating to the health ofour democracy and public institutions, and issues of national importance

in political and socio-economic spheres of public life. A tentative agendafor the conference is attached. Your review of the agenda is requested,based upon which you may decide to attend. Once your affirmative intent is

received, you will receive further details including conference logistics.This invitation is not transferable to another person. If you have areferral, please send his/her contact details to the Conference e-mail

address, or call Mr. R. Ananthanarayana, Conference Director, at 09940025848 (mobile). You may also recommend other potential attendees byentering a prospect's name and coordinates at< http://recommend.nrc.org.in >.

The conference will provide an opportunity to network with fellowintellectuals and activists in a non- partisan environment. Ideologues andactivists from all political parties and ideological persuasions are

invited to come face to face with each other. The organisers of thisconference are committed to providing an unbiased and non-partisanplatform to all to come together and work jointly towards attempting tosolve the myriad problems faced by our nation.

TRAVEL PLANNINGIf you want to attend, your first step should be to make arrangements foryour travel to Chennai. Please keep the following information in mindbefore making travel arrangements:

Destination: ChennaiArrive By: Evening/Night of December 24th, 2008Schedule Return after: 10 p.m. on December 26th, 2008Once you are confirmed for the conference and have made your travelarrangements you will receive all necessary logistics / arrangements

related information.COSTParticipants bear all convention related expenses, including the following:1. Travel cost to Chennai2. Mandatory non-refundable registration fee of Rs. 500/- (payable at the

reception)3. Hotel/accommodation in ChennaiMeals: Registration fee includes lunch, dinner, snacks, water andbeverages throughout the duration of the conference (Thursday morning toFriday evening). The registration fee does not include breakfast. All

meals will be vegetarian.CONFERENCE VENUEExact coordinates of the conference venue will be provided only uponconfirmation of participation. For planning purposes, plan to be in theEgmore area of Chennai (Landmark: Shopper's stop at Harrington Road). The

morning commute to the venue from your hotel should not be more than 20-25mins (via Auto-rickshaw or Taxi). A list of hotels in close proximity(Egmore, Chennai) of the conference venue will be provided.YOUTH LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

Developing youth leadership in public affairs is an integral part of theNational Reconstruction mission. We invite high academic achievers toapply for a grant to attend the NRC 2008. The grant includes all costs

including train travel by 3rd AC, hotel and other expenses. In return theyouth participant will make a presentation and sign up for prospectivesummer or calendar year Internship. The NRS Internships are designed as an

early intervention program for public leadership and is implemented insuch a way that it remains non-intrusive to a participant's primaryvocation. Qualifying criteria is: (a) Between the ages of 18 and 25 years,

(b) 85% or above marks in secondary examination or 80% or above marks in+2 or 60% marks or above at graduation/ Master level examination, and (d)interest in public affairs.FURTHER INFORMATIONR. Ananthanarayana, Conference Director

E-Mail: < anantha >Tel.: 099400 25848------------------------CONFERENCE PROGRAM

Memorial LectureK.S. Lal Memorial Lecture on " Marxist Historiography and Beyond: Exploring History Writing in India " (Prof. Bhagwan Josh, JNU, New Delhi)Seminars{Selected seminars may be conducted in parallel due to the complexity of the subject matter.}

1. Assessment of Indian HistorySession Chair: Prof. Bhagwan Josh, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New DelhiSession Coordinator: Mr. Vikas Pathak, Research Scholar and JournalistSynopsis: The research and teaching of Indian history has been a keenly

contested issue. The Marxist School of Historians have interpreted historyfrom a materialistic perspective, being true to their worldview, and overa number of years, have built up quite some serious scholarship to their

credit, signified by giants such as D.D. Kosambi. Till date, there doesnot exist a serious assessment and evaluation of the materialistframework, as has been the case elsewhere the world, where most Marxistschools of History have been critiqued against a wide variety of

post-modernist benchmarks. The tragedy of Indian history is that theMarxian pure materialistic interpretation of Indian History seems not tohave been challenged by serious post-modernist professional historians,

though plenty of quackery exists in the name of History ( " Taj Mahal is aHindu Temple " type pseudo-scholarship). The result is that the researchand teaching of history has become a politically divisive issue where the

ultimate sufferer is the Indian student. It is incumbent upon professionalhistorians to respectfully critique Marxist School of History, by firstunequivocally rejecting pseudo-scholarship as a pre-requisite, and then

establishing a post-colonial post-modern framework of re-interpretingIndian history. This session will focus on current assessment of IndianHistory and explore the possibility of establishment of a new framework

for re-interpreting historical events from a post-modern perspective.2. Secularism and Roadblocks to Secularization in India: Theory and PracticeSession Chair: Prof.. Omprakash Mishra, National Law University, Jodhpur

Session Coordinator: Mr. Rajesh Anand, Esq.Synopsis: India is a secular state both by constitution and law, as wellas most of the times in practice since the time immemorial. Indiccivilisational ethos does not allow for imposition of a way of worship or

a certain religious dogma. Yet in our country there are laws and publicpractices that defy the conventional meaning of secularism. The incursionson secular character of the country come from all religious groups with

the complicity of all political parties. Only the type of incursiondiffers with each party. In no secular country does the state own andoperate places of worship, funds and sponsors religious educationalinstitutions, pays for pilgrimage and discriminates against communities

based on religion. If India has to survive as a liberal nation-state, ithas to treat its citizens as atomic individuals, and not as a chattel thatcan be traded on the " electoral stock exchange " for seats in parliament

and assemblies. This session will take up the debate on secularism at thefundamental level and derive a position that will go a long way towardsabsolute secularization of the Indian state, without any favor to any

religious group or community.3. Educational Reforms (Contents and Pedagogy)Session Chair: Mr. Michel DaninoSynopsis: Curriculum reform in our country has become a political footballwhere changes are brought by one party (often tinged with parochial

goals), only to be undone by the other party. The ultimate sufferer is theIndian student. The Indian people are fed up with this political footballand partisanship, and are looking for a saner non-parochial non-partisan

non-divisive non-ideological approach to curricular reforms. In thissession educators, parents and other experts will come together to discussand debate the pedagogical changes required in the school curricula, and

develop a blueprint for affecting meaningful curricular reforms in anon-ideological non-partisan manner.4. Educational Reforms (Public Policy and Governance)Session Chair: Prof. C.B. Sharma, IGNOU, New Delhi

Synopsis: The existence of elite institutions such as IITs/IIMs is only anillusion in terms of overall educational infrastructure is concerned. Thefact of the matter is that this country does not have a structured secular

public mass-education system. The " public schools " are actually privateschools that cater to the English-speaking elites of the society. Thegovernment funds are used for supporting parochial schools while the

government owned and operated K-12 schools do not function properly, andtheir teachers often engage in providing private tuitions to double theirpersonal income. The situation becomes farcical and comical when IAS/PCS

officers with no background in education are entrusted the task ofmanaging the educational system. The purpose of this session is to proposeradical reforms in educational infrastructure and governance, and not

limit to patching mechanism. This session will table the gaps that existin terms of educational infrastructure and suggestions will be made on howto remediate those gaps. New models of educational governance may be

presented and evaluated.5. Internal Security Review and Countering TerrorismSession Chair: Lt. Gen. SK Sinha (Retd.), Former Governor, Jammu & KashmirSession Coordinator: T.K. Singh, Researcher, IDSA

Synopsis: India has long been a soft state where a number of groups havecommitted grave acts of terror against the common masses. Just about anydisgruntled group (for real or imaginary reason) feels free to explode a

bomb at will and then get away with it. The terrorists are not limited toany one single community - they come from all communities. The publicdiscourse has increasingly taken partisan tones in debating issues related

to terrorism. While one political party plays Nero, the other tries toexploit it for electoral gains, while there are fringe groups ready toincite communal passions at every incident. Further, there is a whole

industry of tacticians (e.g. so called 'Human Rights' activists) who areready with their media blitz, petitions and lawsuits to nullify thecounter-terrorism operations (if any). There is an urgent need for the

civil society to debate all aspects of terrorism. Further, there arestructural lacunae in the internal security infrastructure that inhibitsthe functioning of security forces. There is no single agency to counter

terrorism. By definition, terrorist acts fall under " law and order " whichis on the state list. This lumps acts of common criminality like thieverywith a complex subject such as Internal Security, leaving the state police

to tackle both the subjects. The situation warrants a comprehensive reviewof our Internal Security laws and infrastructure. This session will gointo all aspects of internal security and propose and debate a new model

of internal security infrastructure that can address counter-terrorismeffectively.6. Law Enforcement ReformsSession Chair: Mr. Prakash Singh, ex-Director-General, Border Security ForceSession Coordinator: Dr. Jatin Mohanty, Researcher, CORD

Synopsis: Maintaining law and order is a basic function of the government.In our country the law enforcement machinery has come under enormousstress due to a plethora of factors. In large part it has been compromised

by vested political and economic interests. There is rampant corruptionand misuse of authority amongst its ranks. The law and order situation hascome to such a pass that, first the police fails to file an FIR, second,

they fail to catch the right offender, third, they bungle theinvestigation, fourth, they fail to prove the case in a court of law, andlast, they fail to keep the prisoner in prison for long. Thus, the entirelife-cycle of law enforcement has become lifeless. If such a situation is

allowed to continue, India will become an anarchy where vigilante justicewill replace the rule of law (if not already there yet). This session willfocus on realistic assessment of malaise in the law enforcement system,

propose comprehensive systemic reforms and debate various issuespertaining to law enforcement.7. Illegal Immigration - Causes and ConsequencesSession Chair: Mr. DC Nath, Former Special Director, Intelligence Bureau

Session Coordinator: Shreejay Sinha, JournalistSynopsis: By some estimates we have 20 million illegal immigrants in thecountry. As it is we have population explosion, and on top of that if wekeep receiving illegal immigrants unchecked it will add immense pressure

to our public services, our economy and even national security. This issuehas become a political football in the hands of politicians, as they havetaken unnecessary adversarial positions on this issue. Predictably, one

national political party defends illegal immigration for the sake of itsvote-bank, while the other uses this to incite communal passions. Thecivil society cannot afford to get wrangled in partisanship and let this

problem pose a threat to the integrity of the country. The civil societyneeds to bypass the political parties, and come together to proposeresolution to this issue in a non-partisan manner. This session will go

into all aspects of the issue and will strive to reach a general consensuson a viable set of steps towards a possible solution that does notdiscriminate against any community - religious or linguistic.8. Women's Issues and Integral Feminism

Session Chair: Dr. Medha Nanivadekar, Shivaji University, KolhapurSession Coordinator: Ms. Nisha Srivastava, Research Scholar, JNUSynopsis: Though the condition of women has noticeably improved at theupper and upper-middle class levels, a large percentage of female

population is still lagging behind on majority of human developmentindices. Indian women continue to face socio-economic repression in theform of dowry and family harassment, gender discrimination, femicide and

sexual harassment, inspite of existence of a plethora of laws that areseemingly designed to protect them. Laws alone do not seem to be enough,as we have had them for this purpose since the abolishment of Sati and

then later enactment of the Sharda Act. The problem of dowry has becomemore widespread than ever before. What is more disturbing is the fact thatdowry has increasingly been " normalised " and people no longer consider it

as an evil practice. Women themselves play a major role in demands ofdowry. On the flip side there have been abuses of the anti- dowry laws byunscrupulous women culminating into human rights violations. Quite often

the society uses the adversary principle a priori to enact laws to protectwomen. That these do not always work is self-evident. Thus, there is astructural and doctrinal problem with resolution of such problems. If we

have to resolve various gender discrimination issues, we have to establishan entirely new framework for women's empowerment. This session will focuson women's issues and will explore constructing a new paradigm relating to

feminism and women empowerment, keeping the adversary principle inperspective and yet not losing sight of the practical realities of sociallife in today's India that will facilitate gender justice and equality,

enhancing healthy family life, and catalyzing the healthy organic growthof society.DebateBased on the deliberations of the aforementioned seminars there will be anexpert panel formed that will question and facilitate a debate between

representatives of major political parties. Select representatives of allmajor political parties will be invited to take questions from the expertpanel. The debate may be canceled if all major political parties are not

represented.FellowshipsDeveloping non-partisan youth leadership in public affairs is an integralpart of the National Reconstruction mission. Several fellowships will beawarded to potential youth leaders to pursue one of the several subjects

discussed in aforementioned seminars. The fellowships are designed as anearly intervention program for developing public leadership skills. It isimplemented in such a way that it remains non-intrusive to a participant's

primary vocation. Qualifying criteria is: (a) Between the ages of 18 and25 years, (b) 85% or above marks in secondary examination or 80% or abovemarks in +2 or 60% marks or above at graduation/ Master level examination,

and (d) interest in public affairs. The youth will work with panelists andunder the guidance of experts in their respective subject areas. Theleadership development curriculum may include conducting surveys, library

research, field trips, data collection, and other types of work. Thefellowship work may require visiting rural areas and interacting withcommon people. The fellowship recipients will be compensated by a suitable

stipend and a certificate will be awarded at the end of 1 year offellowship.National Reconstruction SocietyNational Reconstruction Society (NRS) facilitates a common platform forintellectuals and activists to work towards the objectives of the National

Reconstruction Mission as outlined above. NRCs are organized by NRS.Further information about NRS can be obtained from:Mr. R. AnanthanarayanaGeneral Secretary, NRSE-Mail: ramakrishna.ananthanarayana

Tel.: 099400 25848-- WHAT IS NATIONAL RECONSTRUCTION?BackgroundOur country is going through both challenging and promising times.

Challenges come from a plethora of directions. While there is a promise ofa rising India, there are traditional socio- economic challenges relatingto violence, hunger, poverty, disease, and illiteracy. There are also

gigantic challenges being posed from both outside and from within, viz.terrorism, regionalism, casteism, etc. On the other hand the prospect of aRising India that is based on a remarkable economic growth rate in certain

sectors of the economy in the last 10 years with its worldwide recognitionas a rising star among the emerging economies, leads to new hopes andaspirations among its citizens in general, and its youth in particular.

The promise of Rising India can be illusionary due to structural problemsin the political and socio- economic spheres of public life. If theseproblems are not addressed India may not realize its full potential, and

hence even the recent economic resurgence may slow down and its gains notaccrued to the national prosperity in the long run. The future mayrelegate India into the most fantastic dysfunctional but nominallyoperating democracy and economy in the world.

Preamble and Vision StatementIndia must rebuild and reengineer its civil society on the basis of issuesalone in a non- partisan manner, with an Indic civilisational nucleus thatis non-parochial in content and character. The new civil society shall

consider the citizen as an atomic individual and treat all with equalrespect, and where the citizen's caste, religion and community isirrelevant to the Indian state. The new civil society will bereconstructed by youth who are first trained in political affairs within a

non-partisan framework, after which they can join a political party oftheir choice or remain to serve the society in a non-partisan manner. Thereconstruction of the Indian nation will be guided by philosophers,

thinkers, writers and poets with an Indic civilisational vision of India,and the public policy to attain that state shall be formulated in anon-partisan manner through praxis by the joint efforts of academicians,

thinkers, professionals, public affairs personnel and political and socialactivists.Objectivesa. to facilitate a platform for structured exchange of ideas and debate inmatters of philosophy and doctrine relating to only the temporal affairs

of people (political, social, economic and cultural) to build a frameworkof issue-based non-partisan public policy;b. to facilitate a process of taking the extract of aforementionedphilosophical churning and turning it into practical issue-based

non-partisan public policy;c. to formulate a process of translating the stratospheric intellectualoutput into the ground- level knowledge base for non-partisanvoter-education and voter-empowerment;

d. to document and disseminate the extract of philosophical churning andthe derived public policy thereof to the consumer base consisting ofmedia, public commentators and thinkers, public policy activists, youth

with leadership potential, elected representatives, and otherpolicymakers;e. to develop a process of current public policy evaluation and critique,and monitoring public administration;f. to bring representatives of opposing ideological persuasion, and

leaders of opposing political parties to a common platform to evaluate anddebate their positions on issues of importance to the public;g. to develop a Youth Leadership Development program for training youth

with leadership potential in a non-partisan manner;h. to develop a professional human resource base of intellectuals andactivists who can re- organize various instruments of the civil society;andi. to provide a forum to attract and consolidate citizenry from various

fields in public human activity that can contribute to the task ofnational reconstruction in a non-partisan and non- parochial manner.MethodologyIn order to realize the aforementioned objectives a sector-based strategic

plan needs to be formulated. The Strategic Plan for each sector of publicactivity may differ in structure, but will be based on similarfundamentals. These fundamentals can be described in the form ofKnowledge-Awareness-Action Continuum where the knowledge formulation needs

to precede spreading of awareness, while action by activists must followthe other two. The process of knowledge to awareness to action cannot becircumvented. Knowledge engineering in public policy is a product of

application of intellectual faculties to strong background in thehumanities (history, political science, religion, spirituality, culture,archaeology et al.). The products of development process are knowledgeelements or intellectual building blocks that are relevant to the current

state of the nation. The knowledge elements are then applied to real-lifechallenges that the country faces to produce a philosophical framework,with a well-defined perimeter, including a strategic vision and direction

for the nation. The theoretical framework developed by intellectuals isutilized by public policy activists in the political, social and economicspheres of human activity to meet the challenges faced by the country, for

the peaceful existence of its citizenry as an organic whole, with itsdistinct but integral parts at peace and harmony with each other.Voter EmpowermentPublic policy formulation by itself is meaningless, unless and until it is

propagated throughout the general consciousness of the citizenry. To makepublic policy knowledge engineering practical, it must be translated intoa language and form that the voters can understand, and hold their elected

representatives accountable to that standard. This calls for structuredand comprehensive voter education and empowerment. Long-term sustainablevoter empowerment will result in meaningful public administration. The

attached diagram summarizes the entity-relationship between variouscomponents and how non- partisan voter empowerment can be attained toresult in a healthy democracy.=================================================================