Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 09:10:31 +0530 From: Subbiah Arunachalam <arun@mssrf.res.in> Alliance for ICTs for Basic Human Needs formed in India We had an excellent meeting here at MSSRF the past two days (19-20 May 2004) and we have now formed a National Alliance for ICTs for Basic Human Needs. More than 50 people were invited to the Consultatiuon - drawn from NGOs, Government departments, Academia, and private sector. Prof. M S Swaminathan is the Chairman of the Alliance. Ms Sukanya Rath, Executive Director of NASSCOM Foundation is the Secretary General. B H Shadrach (Shaddy) of OneWorld South Asia and Subbiah Arunachalam (Arun) of MSSRF are the two Joint Secretaries. There are seven task forces [Connectivity, Content, Policy, Capacity building, Resources, Organization and management, and Programme design]. These will be convened by active partners. For more information, please contact Arun at <arun@mssrf.res.in>. Arun