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Media Fellowships Renuka Dam

Kurush Canteenwalla's documentary made as part of the Infochange Media Fellowship 2009 starts in thirsty Delhi and travels to the lush, green Renuka valley in Himachal Pradesh where families in 17 panchayats will be thrown off their fertile picture-postcard land to make way for the Renuka dam that will supply water to Delhi. Those living in the area -mostly farmers - point to the many crops they grow and from which they make a decent living, and ask what they can do and where they can go when their land is taken away. The documentary highlights the powerlessness of ordinary people in a democracy and skewed city development that has destroyed Delhi's own water resources and causes it to prey on the resources of people 300 miles away.

UNFPA award

Announcement

UNFPA-Laadli Media Award for Infochange

Anosh Malekar of www.infochangeindia.org was awarded the UNFPA-Laadli Media Award for Gender Sensitive Reporting in the Web category on December 9, 2009. Anosh won the award for his story entitled Battling the Triple Burden of Poverty, Religion and Gender, which reports on the 97 women’s education centres that are slowly beginning to transform the lives of the impoverished and illiterate women of the Meo Muslim community in Mewat district of UP.  Read the story here http://infochangeindia.org/Agenda/Against-exclusion/Battling-the-triple-burden-of-poverty-religion-and-gender.html.

Award CCDS film

Award for Goa, Goa, Gone, a CCDS film

Kurush Canteenwalla's film on the destruction wrought by the mining industry in Goa, produced by CCDS, has won the Delhi Chief Minister's Environment Conservation Award at the CMS Vatavaran Environment and Wildlife Film Festival that concluded on October 31, 2009.

The Jury Citation states: "The film amazingly captures the real-life drama of the people of Goa -- from old people to children -- battling for the rich but threatened biodiversity of the forests of the Western Ghats against the all-powerful, unthinking mining lobby."

To watch the film, click here

Infochange Media Fellowships 2009

Infochange Media Fellowships 2009

November 1-December 31, 2009 

www.infochangeindia.org invites applications for its 2009 Media Fellowships. These fellowships will be awarded to journalists, filmmakers and researchers reporting on a selected topic of research. The topic chosen must be related to social justice/sustainable development in India.

www.infochangeindia.org (managed by the Centre for Communication and Development Studies) covers a diverse range of issues in the social sector – from environment, poverty, livelihoods, public health, women and child rights, social exclusion, displacement, migration, gender and sexuality to globalisation, trade and development, intellectual property rights, social entrepreneurship and much more. We welcome proposals that uncover and illustrate topical issues and contemporary debates in any of these fields. The final output must combine research and reportage with background, perspective, analysis and, when appropriate, views and information from experts.

The fellowship must result in any one of the following outputs:

1. A series of five or more original articles (preferably with photographic documentation) on the proposed subject of research, totalling 7,500 words or more. These are to be submitted and uploaded on www.infochangeindia.org.
2. A series of three or more audio documentaries – each less than 20 mins in duration -- on the proposed subject of research, to be featured in the Audio section of infochangeindia.org. If the documentaries are in a regional Indian language they must be subtitled in English.
3. One documentary film (not exceeding 30 mins duration) or a series of shorts (of broadcast quality, submitted in avi or mpeg formats) on the proposed subject of research, for upload in the Documentary section of infochangeindia.org. If the documentary is in a regional Indian language it must be subtitled in English.

(All content researched and uploaded on www.infochangeindia.org may be submitted for publication/dissemination elsewhere one month after upload on our site, provided due credit is given to CCDS and infochangeindia.org as the supporting institution and the website where the material first appeared respectively. Films and audio stories produced as part of the fellowship must likewise carry the required credits to CCDS and infochangeindia)

Duration

The fellowships will be announced end-October. Fellows are expected to begin work by the first week of November 2009 and complete it by the first week of January 2010. All outputs are required to reach infochangeindia by January 10, 2010.

Eligibility

The fellowship is open to independent journalists, filmmakers and researchers living in India only. Working journalists may also apply, provided their organisations endorse their application and allow them time off for this fellowship If selected.

Last date for submission of applications

All applications must be received by September 30, 2009.

Funding support

The infochangeindia fellowships carry a grant amount of Rs 50,000 (subject to TDS as applicable). 50% of this amount will be disbursed on selection, to fund travel and research expenses. The balance will be released on successful completion of the project, submission and acceptance of stories/films. Infochangeindia reserves the right to ask for revisions in articles/documentaries submitted until its standards for upload are met. 

Grants will be withdrawn and the advance refunded by the fellow if the fellow fails to complete and submit her/his project on deadline or if the quality of the work submitted is not acceptable. The decision of the editors/editorial board of www.infochangeindia.org on the quality of submissions will be final.

Application procedure

All applications must be accompanied by

1. A detailed proposal (not exceeding 1,000 words) clearly stating the subject to be researched, the applicant’s perspective on this subject, and expected output in terms of X number of articles etc.
2. Travel likely to be undertaken for the research, with an estimated budget.
3. CV of the applicant.
4. Three samples of published work by applicants from the print media. At least one sample of broadcast/telecast work on CD by applicants from the electronic media. If any of these are in regional languages, they must be accompanied by a summary of their contents in English.
5. Working journalists submitting applications must enclose a letter from their editor stating that they endorse the application and will allow the fellow time off for the research if selected.
6. One letter of recommendation from a writer/editor/academician or other appropriate referee endorsing the applicant’s interest/expertise in the chosen subject of research and the candidate’s ability to successfully complete the project.

Address to send applications to

Applications may be addressed to

Infochangeindia Media Fellowships
Centre for Communication and Development Studies (CCDS)
301, Kanchanjunga Building, Kanchan Gully
Off Law College Road,
Pune 411 004

Telephone: 020-26852845/25457371 

Applications not accompanied by CDs may be sent by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and CC to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. provided all scanned material is clearly legible and all attachments are zipped into a single file.  

Sangam House Announcement

ANNOUNCEMENT

SANGAM HOUSE International Writers' Residency invites applications for the 2009-2010 season which runs for 10 weeks between November 2009 and February 2010.

Deadine for applications, July 31, 2009

Sangam House is located outside Pondicherry, India. The intention of Sangam House is to bring together writers from around the world to live and work in a safe, peaceful setting.

The residency program is designed for writers who have published to some acclaim but not yet enjoyed substantial commercial success. Sangam House seeks to give writers (and we include here translators, poets, playwrights and those involved in creating fiction and non-fiction works) a chance to build a substantial and influential network of personal and professional relationships that can deepen their own work, in effect, expanding and diversifying literature.

We invite applications from writers working in any and all languages.

For more information and application procedures, please visit www.sangamhouse.org

Media Fellowship Waste

Santosh, Sameer and Salman - three real-life 'slumdogs' - live in Dharavi, Mumbai's biggest slum. They are among thousands of child ragpickers in the city, making a vital contribution to Mumbai's recycling industry, based largely in Dharavi. The boys comb through mountains of rubbish on the outskirts of the Indian metropolis that generates 8,000 metric tonnes of waste every day. They have no protection against the dangerous toxins that surround them. But for them, they say, waste is gold. Who recognises the value of their contribution to waste management in the city? What will happen to them and to the waste recycling industry of Dharavi when the slum redevelopment plan ousts them from here? Parasher Baruah won the Infochange Media Fellowship 2008 to make this film.

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Contributions by cheque/DD

Contributions can also be made by cheque/demand draft in favour of Centre for Communication and Development Studies, posted to the address provided below.

Dwarkanath KC
Centre for Communication and Development Studies
301, Kanchanjunga Building, Kanchan Lane
Off Law College Road, Next to Krishna Dining Hall
Pune 411004

Tel: 020-25457371

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You could also make direct bank transfers to the accounts specified below. Please send us an email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. when you make a remittance, giving your name and postal address so that we can send you a receipt and an 80G certificate if required. If you are making a remittance from abroad, please indicate whether you are an Indian or foreign passport holder.

Infochange Media Fellowship Video

CCDS presents its latest documentary film, directed by Soumitra Bhattacharya, on the child rights movement building up in more than 60 villages in Latur district of Maharashtra. These are drought-prone villages from where dalit labour migrate to the lush green sugarcane fields of western Maharashtra. Often, the dalits take their children with them to work the fields. But not any more. Now the children are demanding that they be allowed to go to school. They are asking why the entitled scholarships are not being granted to them, why they cannot eat the midday meal alongside the rest of the children.