URBIZEN

A new film and book on the slum demolitions in Yamuna Pushta by writer, director, Ruzbeh Barucha www.yamunagentlyweeps.com Yamuna Gently Weeps is a film on the Yamuna Pushta slum demolitions, written and directed by journalist, author, and documentary filmmaker, Ruzbeh N Bharucha. Yamuna Pushta in Delhi was one of the oldest and largest slums inIndia. In reality, a chain of 22 small slums, located on athree-kilometre stretch along the Yamuna River, the settlement was home to 40,000 families, which housed more than 1,50,000 people and was in existence for decades. Yamuna Pushta was virtually a township, where a world within aworld existed. In the guise of resettlement, encroachment, pollution and beautification of the city, in early 2004, in a matter of weeks,40,000 homes were demolished, without any rehabilitation plan andthe past, present, future of 1,50,000 people were bulldozed to the ground. Neither the Judiciary, those in power nor the implementing agencies, had heard of the conce

Demolition of slums and eviction of urban poor have been going on a massive scale all over India. Whether it is Mumbai or Delhi, Lucknow or Chennai or any other city, for that matter- everywhere the poor are being uprooted from their homes and means of livelihood. The progressive, pro-poor interpretation of Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution is giving way to blatant disregard of constitutional provisions by both state agencies as well as the courts. The agencies demolishing these clusters are blaming the courts and the courts blame the agencies for proliferation of slums. In this tug of war, poor slum dwellers are being pushed into a precarious situation. Although all states/ULBs in India have some or the other policy for ameliorative action for slum dwellers, these policies have clearly proved to be inadequate to safeguard the interests of slum dwellers. In fact only the anti-poor provisions of these policies are implemented on a selective basis. Therefore, there has been a strong

The exploding population of the developing nations presents innumerable possibilities for innovative businesses and ideas. Especially in the urban context where needs and demands are changing so rapidly forward thinking investors can tap into this market of "bottom of the pyramid" creating a symbiotic partnership. Design for the Base of the Pyramid (DBOP) is an effort from the Illinois Institute of Technology's Institute of Design . Initiated in 2003, this project explores "human-centered design strategies and concepts for new products, services and businesses capable of generating sustainable economic improvement in the lives of people living in the vast base of the global economic pyramid." The approach is focused on charity-based solutions, but on harnessing the entrepreneurial spirit found in urban slums coupled with the financial support and energy of private investment. You can read the Full report (PDF) here.

Information and telecommunication technology is a key for the development of rural areas in India and other developing nations. It is my opinion that sustainable development, coupled with the right technology can alleviate the living conditions in the rural areas. Though work is being done in the field of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) in rural areas in India at smaller scales, nothing has been achieved that shows substantial effects. The Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) is holding a global international event on Connecting Rural Communities in India in Cochin. With the rapid projected development of rural communications in countries including India and China there has never been a greater opportunity for ICT companies to stake their claim on this lucrative market. The Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) in conjunction with the Department of Telecommunications and the Indian Institute of Management is to hold the timeliest international