Sanjay Kumar Celebrates One Year as SAI India Country Director
SAI India Country Director Sanjay Kumar is responsible for expanding SAI’s presence in the region. He has initiated a monthly India Seminar Series, beginning in January 2018.
SAI India Country Director Sanjay Kumar is responsible for expanding SAI’s presence in the region. He has initiated a monthly India Seminar Series, beginning in January 2018.
“The first step in making wastewater ‘safe’ is education through scientifically sound studies from reputable sources that prove that wastewater irrigation is not a health hazard. In fact, municipal wastewater is replete with nutrients.” – SAI Research Affiliate and MIT SPURS Fellow, Alka Palrecha Rawal
SAI is one of the partners of the student-run India Conference. Three of the organizers spoke to us about their involvement with the conference and this year’s theme of “Disruptive Innovations.”
Sutopa Dasgupta is part of Sakhi, the team that won SAI’s 2017 Seed For Change competition. She spoke to SAI to update us on the status of Sakhi’s project – the development of high-quality, affordable, and environmentally safe menstrual cups for people in India.
SAI will host dozens of seminars and co-sponsored events in Spring 2018, on topics including the arts and humanities, social sciences, and science. Information on additional events will be updated throughout the semester.
“When I first became a journalist, I did not want to write about celebrities, gossip, and fashion, which many editors would want you to. There is nothing wrong with these topics; however, because a majority of the country does not have access to these lifestyles, it was always on my conscience to bring out untold stories. Journalists are in a position to give voices to a large number of people who otherwise don’t get heard.”
“In January 2017, I received a grant from the South Asia Institute to begin my research in Rakhine and returned in June 2017 to conduct interviews in the Rohingya and Rakhine communities. I gained access to the military encampments and spoke with Rohingya individuals and families who had been displaced during the 2012 riots.”
The deadlines for the 2018-2019 Aman Fellowship, Arvind Raghunathan and Sribala Subramanian South Asia Visiting Fellowship and Babar Ali Fellowship are March 6, 2018.
The following article, originally published in News Karnataka, covers the Lakshmi Mittal South Asia Institute’s Boston Bangalore Biosciences Beginning Program (B4)’s most recent workshop. B4 aims to build a scientific research corridor and will engage scientists from India and Harvard through exchange programs: 1) Science and Technology Fellowships at Harvard and other peer institutions in the Boston area. 2) Two-week courses on Biosciences in Bangalore.
Harvard University will offer many courses with South Asia related content in the Spring 2018 semester.
“The 2014 floods in Pakistan were a haunting demonstration. Hundreds of villages in the northern and eastern parts of the country were flooded, affecting over a million people in all. Many people, including several I knew personally, were unable to send money to their relatives in these villages because they had no means to do so as they relied on informal services, which had broken down. The victims, who desperately needed money for food and shelter, faced great suffering as a result. This left a lasting impression on me and motivated me to study how financial services can help the poor in the face of such aggregate shocks.”