In memory of Dr.C.V.Seshadri, a maverick scientist and a social change agent, it is suggested that a new model for sustainable livelihoods is followed. The ex-ante and ex-post transaction costs of innovators, investors and entrepreneurs will have to be reduced if the new paradigm has to work....

The institutional pathways through which grassroots struggles and initiatives can not only be articulated but also nurtured are crucial for inclusive development. It has been noted earlier that to institutionalize even a small change, multiple interventions are required at different levels and...

It is ironic that while searching for models that promote excellence, we have not made the outstanding teachers and researchers the hub of future reforms. The fact that in any field of social investigation or higher education, the top few ranks are always occupied by public institutions has not...

India has used science and technology for social development right from the beginning of planned development. The first time when television programmes were beamed through satellite, it was for education and not just entertainment. No other country perhaps began the satellite-based transmission...

There is a huge crisis for water all around the world, certainly in India with groundwater table going down and drinking water selling almost at the rate of toned milk. Who would have imagined two decades ago that a very large number of people in the country would be paying about Rs.15 a litre...

The food and beverages industry has not yet established strong and vibrant linkages with the local communities to develop value added products and share the benefits. The paper lists seven models for building such linkages. The models range from mass sourcing the ideas and rewarding the selected...

Society for Research and Initiatives for Technologies and Institutions [SRISTI] has pioneered a knowledge intensive model for transforming institutional context of problem solving at community level. In this paper, the building blocks of a sustainable innovation eco system have been identified....

Given the inter-relationship of different agro ecological sub-systems in any country, success of the strategy of diffusion of varieties invariably adversely affects the conservation of agro biodiversity. At the same time, given the climate change and other fluctuations in the environment,...

Several motivations may guide quest of a creative person for solving real life problems either faced by oneself or by others. Honey Bee Network has been documenting and valorizing grassroots innovations and traditional knowledge practices for over two decades. In this paper, I review some of the...

The concern for making services of public systems accessible, accountable and affordable for the disadvantaged people has been there since independence of the country. However, after recognising the limitations of trickle down theory despite witnessing economic growth for a decade, government...