The success of India's export-oriented software industry is well known. Whether information technology (IT) can contribute to development beyond the obvious income effects generated by software exports depends on how pervasive are IT's impacts on the economy, ranging from improving the efficiency of existing businesses, to enabling new kinds of goods and services. In a developing country such as India, it is of particular interest whether such benefits can reach the poor, and even help in directly reducing the deprivations associated with poverty. Professor Singh's talk and paper will examine two ongoing experiments that aim to provide IT-based services to rural populations in India. Several features distinguish these experiments from others: a combination of public and private efforts, with "nonprofit" organizations acting as catalysts; goals of commercial sustainability, both for the local entrepreneurs and the nonprofits; and an eclectic approach to the services that are sought to be provided. The paper's main contribution is to draw some preliminary lessons from comparing two different approaches in localities that are geographically close and economically similar. While the ultimate goals of the two organizations studied are quite similar, he identifies some important differences in implementation that may have more general implications for the success of such experiments. Nirvikar Singh is currently Director of the Business Management Economics Program at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he is Professor of Economics. He teaches courses on business strategy, technology and innovation, and electronic commerce, as well as graduate microeconomic theory. He has consulted for the World Bank and for high-tech start-ups in Silicon Valley. Professor Singh's current research topics are electronic commerce, business strategy, technology and innovation, governance and economic reform in India, federalism, international water disputes, and economic growth.

The United States' strategic interests in Asia must account for the concerns of its two rising powers, China and India. Each has a population of over a billion people, nuclear weapons, and among the fastest growing economies in the world. Clearly, relations among these three countries will to a large extent influence the course of events within Asia in the 21st century. This seminar seeks to explore some aspects of the India - China - U.S. triangle and identify the broad direction in which relations appear to be moving. Venu Rajamony is currently the Counselor at the Embassy of India in Beijing, China. He is a member of the Indian delegation to the Commission on Human Rights and was Chairman/Coordinator of informal consultations during sessions of the Working Group in Human Rights Defenders in 1996 and 1997. Now on sabbatical with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC, he has been working on India and Pakistan, and on their relations with the U.S. and China.

Dr. Chowdhury is a vascular surgeon and pioneering public health leader from Bangladesh who wrote "The Politics of Essential Drugs: The Makings of a Successful Health Strategy: Lessons from Bangladesh." In 1971, Dr. Chowdhury left England to return to what was then East Pakistan and join the war of liberation for Bangladesh. He helped establish a field hospital for freedom fighters and refugees, which lead to the development Gonoshasthaya Kendra (GK) or "The People's Health Center." GK has trained more than 7,000 barefoot doctors, and serves 1,000 villages in 14 Bangladeshi districts. A pharmaceutical factory was established by GK in 1981 which produces medicines on the World Health Organization's essential medicines list; employs 1,500 people and has an $11 million annual budget. One-half of its profits are reinvested and the other half go to GK's other projects. In 1985, Dr. Chowdhury and GK were awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award (sometimes called the Asian Nobel Peace Prize) and in 1992, the Right Livelihood Award (also known as the alternative Nobel Prize). Dr. Chowdhury was instrumental in convincing the Bangladesh government to adopt a National Drug Policy in 1982. This controversial policy promotes essential medicines and discourages the use of drugs with little therapeutic value. GK hosted the People's Health Assembly in December 2000, which challenged global health organizations to improve public health care for the poor. Dr. Chowdhury is this year's International Honoree of the UC Berkeley School of Public Health Heroes.

Son of a prominent Philadelphia family, Stokes left for India at age 20 to work in a leper colony, and later created a new religious order, married a village girl and lived as an Indian householder, fought injustices (including British rule) with Gandhi and others, and was jailed by the British for his political activity. Stokes is best remembered now for transforming the regional economy by introducing the American Delicious apple. "...the story of the commitment to India that prompted Gandhi to describe (Stokes) as a foreigner who had made India his home in a manner in which perhaps no other American or Englishman has'" -- Mark Tully, India Today Asha Sharma's biography of Sam Stokes was introduced at the American Embassy in New Delhi, and has been a best seller in India. Sharma holds a degree in Journalism from Columbia University. She was a fellow of the Indian Council of Historical Research and a Research Associate at the University of California at Berkeley. She has taught at a university and has worked as a correspondent.

The emergence of global information society changes the nature of the relationship between society, knowledge, and technology. This affects in a fundamental way the role of ICTs (Information and Communication Technology) for the distribution of knowledge, the development of network economies, networks of social innovation and networks of co-development. Knowledge networking is seen here in terms of creating cross-cultural alliances among the university, enterprise, and the media, through creating symbiotic relationships between local and global knowledge resources. The focus is on promoting a culture of shared communication, values and knowledge, seeking cooperation through valorization of diversity, social cohesion and subsidiarity. This focus is informed by the human centered vision of Information Society, which moves the digital divide discourse beyond the technocentric agenda toward a human centered agenda that recognizes the purpose of ICT as promoter of social cohesion in which shared communication and shared knowledge drive cohesion, and cohesion generates shared communication and an increase in shared knowledge. The discussion will be illustrated by an example of the European - India Cross Cultural Innovation Network, a unique project of the European Commission that promotes cross-cultural cooperation, action research and knowledge networking.

While Islam is commonly portrayed as a Middle Eastern religion, the majority of the world's Muslims reside in Asia. Indonesia is home to the world's largest Muslim population, with India following close behind. Millions of Muslims are scattered throughout South, Southeast, Central and Northeast Asia. In the wake of the horrific terrorists attacks on September 11th, many non-Muslims have mistakenly identified Islam with political violence. The need to distinguish moderate Islam practiced by the Muslim majority in Asia and the radical extremism used by terrorists has never been greater. In an effort to create a more comprehensive understanding of these complex issues and address misconceptions linking Islam and terrorism, the Asia Society and the Shorenstein Forum will convene a panel of experts to explore Muslim thought and practice in several key Asian countries, namely Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia and China. Among the questions that will be addressed by the panel is how recent events will impact the future of Islam in Asia and what role extremist and other groups may play in this process.

Anand Patwardhan's latest film, a work in progress (180 min.), shot in India, Pakistan, and Japan The director will be present for discussion after the screening. Starting with the outbreak of jingoism that marked the 1998 series of nuclear tests by India and Pakistan, Patwardhan creates a road movie that vivifies the human and historical realities of this new leap in the world's nuclearization. We visit test sites with politicians, watch urban sound-and-light spectacles glorifying the military, hear the stories of suffering villagers near the test site, travel with peace marchers who confront furious pro-bomb crowds, join a conference of Indian and Pakistani peace activists, and go to Japan to hear testimony from survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear attacks. In the style that has distinguished his earlier films, Patwardhan brilliantly captures individual voices, gestures, facial expressions, and public dramas that simultaneously reveal intimate human experience and the sweep of history. India's most controversial and renowned documentary producer, Patwardhan has won numerous Indian and international prizes during his career as a filmmaker, which spans more than a quarter of a century. While his films cover a wide variety of subjects, regions, and social groups, his central interests have been human rights, communalism, and violence. For information, see . Further questions? Contact , , or 650-725-9732.

As President George W. Bush faces the hardest days of his presidency, issues like terrorism, missile defense, and overall national security will be major issues of discussion in the upcoming months. How will the world cope with the global war on terrorism? How will our reactions to what happened on September 11th affect the rest of the world and vice versa? Hear what the Consul Generals of the Russian Federation and India have to say as they discuss the economic, political, and military concerns in their countries. For reservations please call 1-800-847-7730 or register on line at www.commonwealthclub.org.

Press reports of rising anti-Americanism and Muslim militance in several Southeast Asian countries have fueled speculation that the United States may be planning to intervene against terrorist groups in that part of the world. How credible are these reports? In Indonesia, which has more Muslim citizens than any country with the possible exception of India, Islamist activists have demanded the severing of U.S.-Indonesian relations and threatened to expel Americans. There has been speculation that American advisers may soon arrive in the southern Philippines to help Manila root out ostensibly Islamist rebels operating there. While criticizing the bombing of Afghanistan, Malaysian Premier Mahathir Mohamad has accused his Muslim opposition of links to Islamist subversion. Meanwhile, Malaysian jihadist elements are alleged to have been in touch with Osama bin Laden's network. How real are these perceived dangers? What do they imply for stability and democracy in Southeast Asia, and for the future of America's global coalition against terror? Bambang Harymurti has long been associated with Tempo, the leading newsweekly in Indonesia. He served on its editorial board from 1987. When the magazine was banned in 1994, he moved to the daily newspaper Media Indonesia. He returned to Tempo following its reappearance in printed form in 1998. He has held fellowships at Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and the East-West Center, among other institutions. He was also a finalist in Indonesia's astronaut program. Fortunately for journalism, he did not make the cut. Don Emmerson convenes the Southeast Asia Forum in the Asia/Pacific Research Center, a unit of Stanford's Institute for International Studies.