A whole set of contacts for the Asian Social Forum at Hyderabad in January 2003. Thanks to a friend, Juha Rekola (former journalist in India) from Finland. We *really must* try to have some presence there for the FSF-India. What say? FN

PS: Linking up the Free Software world with NGOs could make for a powerful alliance... The Free Software debate has important implications to currently-accepted (?) norms regarding the ownership of 'intellectual property'....

On Tuesday 26 November 2002 15:08, you wrote:

Hi Fred,

Check http://www.wsfindia.org/ They have an register your event -form at http://www.wsfindia.org/org_RegisterUI.php

WSF Hyderabad 1st Floor, Green Channel opp. Nasar High School, Khairatabad, Hyderabad - 500 007 Andhra Pradesh, India. Ph: 91-40-3392726. Email: wsfhyd@hotmail.com

WSF India Secretariat 204, Elite House, 36 Community Centre, Zamrudpur, New Delhi - 110048 Phones: 91-11-6476580, 6473425 email: wsfindia@vsnl.net

Just got the following invitation from a good friend of mine, JP (Jayaprakash) from Delhi Science Forum, who might be/know a contact in this. jpdsf@hotmail.com

Another friend, Jai Sen, whom you also knew, was in the interim secretariat formed last April. (He will be travelling, and I'll probably meet him on the 4th. Send him e-mail to both jai_sen2000@yahoo.com and jai.sen@vsnl.com ) So was Vijay Pratap of CSDE. Send the same to vijaypratap@vsnl.net

Say Hello from me to all these.

-Juha

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From: WSFINDIA discuss@wsfindia.org Reply-To: WSFINDIA discuss@wsfindia.org Subject: Invitation for Asian Social Forum 2003 Date: 22 Nov 2002 11:18:41 -0000

Dear Friends,

Greetings from WSF-India.

We take great pleasure in inviting you and your organisations to participate in the Asian Social Forum that is being held in Hyderabad from 2nd – 7th January, 2003.As you might be aware, the Asian Social Forum is a follow up of the two successful World Social Forum events organised in Porto Alegre and the decision to have regional and thematic events.

The Asian Social Forum (ASF), being organised by WSF India, will be held in the city of Hyderabad, in the Southern Indian State of Andhra Pradesh between January 2nd to 7th, 2003. It is an open forum: the only criteria is that the participants be opposed to imperialist globalisation as well as religious sectarian violence, and have a commitment to democratic values, plurality and peace.

We hope that the ASF will provide an inspiring space where movements/ organizations/ groups/individuals / will come in from all over India and Asia to carry the message of the World Social Forum. We expect about 7000 delegates to participate in the ASF, out of which about 1000 would be from outside India. Organisations both in India and Asia and also the rest of the world, are invited to participate by organising conferences, seminars and workshops broadly falling under the themes of the ASF.

Main Themes of the ASF are the following: · Peace and Security · Debt, Development and Trade · Nation State, Democracy and Exclusions · Ecology, Culture and Knowledge · Social Infrastructure, Planning and Cooperation · Alternatives and Peoples Movements.

The events that are envisaged over a period of 6 days, from 2nd to 7th January are: · 2 public/ plenary sessions, i.e. opening session on 2nd afternoon/evening and closing session on 7th morning. · 2 conferences daily (total 6-8) · 25 parallel seminars daily (total 50-100) · Up to 50 workshops daily (total 100-200) · Testimonials, and open "spaces" for mass movements · A Youth Camp · Cultural Events · Film Festival

The Opening and Closing plenary session will be open to the public and will be organized on 2nd (afternoon-evening) and 7th (morning) respectively.

We hope that you and your organisation will participate in the Asian Social Forum event. More details of the event including organising seminars and workshops, registration details, etc., cab be found in the website www.wsfindia.org. Please write to us for any further details that you may require. Those who would like to be kept informed about the Asian Social Forum event can do so by going to the website and registering for the Asia Social Forum newsletter or giving a mail to wsfindia@vsnl.net

Do circulate this mail to other organisations or individuals that may be interested in the Asian Social Forum event in Hyderabad.

You can log on to our website <www.wsfindia.org? for delegate registration and other information. The registration fees need to be paid at the conference venue only. The registration amount is Rs.100/- per delegate.

Thanking you

WSF-India Secretariat 204 Elite House 36, Community Centre Zamrudpur, G.K.-I New Delhi-110048 Tel : 011-6221870, 6285744 Email : wsfindia@vsnl.net Url : <www.wsfindia.org>