Full Coverage: Capacity building

29.01.2007 India, which amended its patent laws for TRIPS-compliance in 2005, introduced a clause to ensure that pharmaceuticals did not block the entry of low-cost generic drugs. A year ago this clause blocked NovartisÂ’ patent application for its anti-cancer drug Gleevec. Now, in a major case that will have a profound effect on the affordability of essential medicines in India, Novartis is challenging this unique Indian provision.

22.01.2007 We were told to come for this celebration because it is a celebration to end poverty," Edward Njeru, driver of a tuktuk (a three-wheel vehicle used as a taxi in urban areas), said about the World Social Forum (WSF).

19.01.2007 A five days training programme on computer applications and its effective usage in advocacy and communications at rural level was organised for the filed functionaries of the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) on 13 – 17 January 2007 at Jehangirabad in Barabanki district in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

17.01.2007 Rekha Devi is a reporter for Aangan Ke Paar, a BBC World Service Trust-produced weekly radio programme broadcast from 22 AIR stations and BBC Hindi dealing with issues concerning women, especially HIV/AIDS. But unlike other such shows which rely on interviews with experts, this programme has its ears to the ground. Literally.

16.01.2007 Nicholas B. Dirks, Franz Boas Professor of Anthropology and History and Vice President Arts and Sciences of Columbia University, New York, was in Mumbai this month to enhance the profile of a university that counts Dr. B. R. Ambedkar as one of its distinguished alumni. Professor Dirks, whose work on caste in India under British rule is well respected, express his view in The Hindu about caste, politics and the scandals of empire.

16.01.2007 Civic associations must work continuously to strengthen their capacities for self-sustainability and contribution to reforms. This is the message sent by the closing conference held yesterday (January 15) in Skopje, under the Strengthening of Capacities for Select Civil Society Organizations.

08.01.2007 OneWorld South Asia held a five-day training programme for young people on computer applications and its effective usage in advocacy and communications at the rural level. The capacity building programme was held for the field functionaries of the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS), which is a body of Indian youth, at New Delhi from 18 – 22 December 2006.

08.01.2007 Social Edge, the online community for social entrepreneurs and an initiative of the Skoll Foundation, has given a call for social entrepreneurs to apply for the Global Social Benefit Incubator programme (GSBI). This award provides an intensive two-week residential program at Santa Clara University that enables successful technology innovators to scale their endeavors and achieve sustainability.

04.01.2007 tsunamiindia.org is a knowledge center providing information services to those working to reconstruct the communities of South India that have been devastated by the tsunami.