NGO to Help Nurture Women Entrepreneurs

BENGALURU: The Anita Borg Institute (ABI), a non-profit organisation, announced its partnership with the National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF). The partnership will create an ecosystem for women entrepreneurs in India.

The ecosystem will be established through the Women Entrepreneurship Quest (WEQ) Programme.

Under the programme, selected women entrepreneurs will be provided with extensive mentoring, networking opportunities and access to capital. The announcement was made on Friday during the WEQ 2014 contest finals, an innovative technology business plan competition designed ensure support for aspiring Indian women entrepreneurs.

Source: http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bangalore/2014/11/22/NGO-to-Help-Nurture-Women-Entrepreneurs/article2535410.ece

14th edition of 'Oz Haat' mela to be held on Dec. 6

New Delhi, Nov. 24 (ANI): The14th edition of Australian High Commission's popular 'Oz Haat' mela will be held on December 6 this year, from 11 am to 5 pm on the lawns of the Australian High Commission.

Oz Haat this year will feature a wide range of fabulous products including hand printed textiles and art, fashion, toys, soft furnishings, paper products, pottery, jewellery, handicrafts, and Christmas decorations .

Few activities have also been organised for kids including treasure hunt, magic shows, art corner, balloons, cricket bowling competition and more so that the younger visitors can have a great time as well.

"Oz Haat is an annual community-focused event that provides a great platform to NGOs in India to showcase and sell their innovative products. I am pleased to see that so many NGOs all over the country are enthusiastically taking part in Oz Haat," said Australia's High Commissioner to India Patrick Suckling.

Running since 2000, this years' mela will see participation from 44 NGOs from various cities in India.

Oz Haat is organised by the Australian High Commission as part of its Direct Aid Program (DAP), which provides small grants to NGOs across India. All proceeds from the sales will go directly to the charities represented. Entry is free. (ANI)

Source: http://www.aninews.in/newsdetail2/story193080/14th-edition-of-039-oz-haat-039-mela-to-be-held-on-dec-6.html

Dentsu partners UNFPA to launch CSR advisory services

The provisions of the CSR Policy promises to be a historic milestone as India becomes the first country to bring social responsibility to the centrestage of corporate reporting framework

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | November 24, 2014

Dentsu India’s social and development sector communication division, Citizen Dentsu, in partnership with UNFPA India, has launched CSR advisory services to assist companies with their CSR planning and implementation. With this initiative, Dentsu India will be the first ad and communications firm to offer CSR services along with a reputed implementation and monitoring partner.

The provisions of CSR Policy, notified under the Companies Act 2013, promises to be a historic milestone as India becomes the first country in the world to bring social responsibility to the centrestage of corporate reporting framework. The real challenge, however, for the 6,000-odd companies above a certain size, who now will be required to plan, implement and report their CSR activities annually to their stakeholders, is really coming out of a familiar domain and diving deep into a much-talked-about but fairly unchartered CSR territory.

It is precisely to assist companies to negotiate these challenges, that Citizen Dentsu and UNFPA have come together to launch the Citizen Dentsu-UNFPA CSR Advisory, a partnership uniquely poised to help create an ecosystem where CSR efforts will eventually benefit the client’s brands.

Citizen Dentsu, manned by a team of professionals, has years of experience in strategic communications for numerous development sector issues like child survival and safe motherhood, immunization, HIV and AIDS, education, water and sanitation and environment. Besides, Dentsu companies all over the world work on CSR initiatives for many of their global and local clients.

UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) is a leading United Nations agency working across 155 countries. It has decades of experience in policy and projects linked to gender, health and human rights. In India, where over 50 per cent of the population is below 25 years of age, UNFPA strategically focuses on youth, especially adolescent girls and young women.

Both organisations will draw upon their local experiences as well as global repositories of iconic CSR case studies and expertise, for their clients here.

Emphasising the respective roles of the two partners, Rohit Ohri, Executive Chairman, Dentsu India Group and CEO, Dentsu APAC, said, “While Citizen Dentsu will work closely with clients in strategizing and planning their CSR initiatives, helping clients extract the maximum through brand-CSR synergy, which we think company heads will be greatly interested in, UNFPA will provide technical support for projects undertaken by pre-evaluated and approved set of NGOs.”

Frederika Meijer, Representative, UNFPA India, commented, “We have a range of CSR-ready projects that companies can partner on to meet their CSR commitments in India. More importantly, with UNFPA employing globally certified protocols to monitor and evaluate non-government and civil society organizations (NGOs) as well as their work, the CSR projects can be expected to be far more efficient and effective.”

Meijer believes that while there are thousands of field-level organizations ready to take up CSR projects, Citizen Dentsu’s experience with social and developmental projects in India and UNFPA’s inputs in terms of NGO selection and planning, monitoring and evaluation of projects, would be a clear and unique differentiator.

Rajendra Singh from Citizen Dentsu and Rajat Ray from UNFPA India will be steering the partnership. With both being seasoned hands in brand and corporate advertising, as well as in handling development-led projects, it is easy to understand why they have been picked for the task.

Setting up and managing in-house CSR divisions will require investments by companies in specialised skills, time and infrastructure. This unique and first-of-its-kind partnership can help companies with faster and customized solutions, without them requiring to make huge initial investments, while in the long run, passing on expertise to them through capacity building.

Source: http://www.bestmediainfo.com/2014/11/dentsu-partners-unfpa-to-launch-csr-advisory-services

Health and community development in India

New Delhi, 18 November: For profit-making companies grappling with the problem of finding suitable welfare projects under the new CSR regime, HLFPPT, one of India’s largest Non Government Organisation (NGO), offers a cut-and-dried solution in its domain areas of health and community development. 

“With India becoming the first country to make Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) mandatory for profit-making companies, a vast corpus of funds has become available that can be effectively channelised for healthcare projects,” said Mr. Sharad Agarwal, CEO of HLFPPT.
Hindustan Latex Family Planning Promotion Trust (HLFPPT) is a not for profit organisation promoted by HLL Lifecare Limited (HLL), a ‘Mini Ratna’ PSU of Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. 

Reports indicate that around 16,000 companies operating in India are likely to spend around Rs 20,000 crore in a year on CSR activities. 

“The unlocking of large amounts of CSR funding needs professional guidance and support for its utilization in a manner that is consistent with the spirit and the intent of the Act,” Mr. Agarwal said, adding: “HLFPPT has both the expertise and credibility to meet the CSR requirements of companies. It can plan, strategise, implement and monitor large-scale social welfare projects on their behalf and ensure value for money.” 

HLFPPT is a one-stop destination providing end- to-end CSR solutions to corporates on a range of development issues in the areas of reproductive health, maternal and child healthcare, family planning, adolescent health and nutrition, livelihood and sanitation, besides HIV/AIDS prevention and care.
It has supported several corporates and PSUs in conceptualising and implementing their CSR projects, such as Merck for Mothers, CAIRN India, Essar, HLL, EdCIL and National Fertilizers Ltd. Several other CSR partnerships are in the pipeline. 

The enormous funds to be released under CSR offer both opportunities and challenges for companies. The challenge mostly lies in using the funds efficiently to promote social welfare. 

“Companies are willing to roll out CSR activities, but they need clarity. HLFPPT is keen to extend its expertise, ranging from technical consultancy to direct implementation, to support corporate houses in designing and executing need-based and community-driven health intervention projects that are efficient, impactful and sustainable,” Mr. Agarwal said. 

There are various successful high impact models that HLFPPT is keen to scale up and replicate in different geographies aimed at benefitting the under-privileged, vulnerable and hard to reach population in the country. Some of these standard CSR models are Mobile Medical Unit, promotion of institutional delivery, care of people living with HIV/AIDS, school health programme and voluntary blood donations. 

HLFPPT, which has been working in the area of public health for the last 22 years and is a pioneer of Social Marketing and Social Franchising in India, has created a separate vertical for CSR within the organization
“We can customise CSR strategies aligned with the company’s values, expectations, expertise, geography and products and also ensure effective implementation,” Mr. Agarwal said

Source: http://www.southasiamail.com/news.php?id=117062

Social NGOs will get funding from new Premji wing

BENGALURU: Wipro chairman Azim Premji has established a new philanthropic venture with focus on awarding grants to non-profits working in socially important areas like nutrition, disabilities, support for the marginalized, and governance.

This initiative is distinct from Azim Premji Foundation which will continue to focus on education.

"The Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiatives is also focused on the same purpose of contributing towards building a just, equitable, humane and sustainable society. As of now, we are building a team, with expertise in relevant areas, and developing a strategy," Azim Premji Foundation CEO Anurag Behar said

With a net worth of $16.4 billion, Premji is India's biggest philanthropist. Since 2010, he has transferred more than $4 billion to a trust that controls the Foundation. It's not clear how much of this will be earmarked for the new initiative, or whether a fresh allocation will be made.

The Foundation works across seven states in the country that has 350,000 schools, to improve the quality and equity in government school education. It has also established the Azim Premji University in Bengaluru to develop talent and research for the education and broader social sector. It currently has about 1,200 people.

Behar said that while the Foundation does most work by itself, and the new entity will be a "grant-making" entity. "It will make grants to various not-for-profit organizations," he said.

Premji, whose family owns 75% stake in Wipro, was the first Indian to sign up for the Giving Pledge initiative started by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and billionaire investor Warren Buffett. The pledge obliges the person to donate a majority of wealth to philanthropy. Three Indian-Americans — Vinod Khosla, Manoj Bhargava and Romesh Wadhwani — are also among the signatories.

In his letter to the Giving Pledge, Premji had said: "I strongly believe those of us privileged to have wealth should contribute significantly to try and create a better world for the millions who are far less privileged. I will continue to act on this belief."

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Social-NGOs-will-get-funding-from-new-Premji-wing/articleshow/45253333.cms

Water supply works must under CSR

NAGPUR: In view of importance of water supply and sanitation works in the state, the government has made it compulsory for big companies to undertake these works under corporate social responsibility (CSR). It has formed committees at state, revenue division and district levels to achieve the objective. All committees will have a representative of Bombay Chamber of Commerce to present industries' viewpoint. A single window system will be started for industries requiring clearances for such works.

The works include rain water harvesting, undertaking various works to increase ground water level, providing technology that helps in supplying drinking water at minimum cost, installing meters in villages to measure its water consumption, etc.

The 17-member state-level committee headed by principal secretary (water supply and sanitation) will decide the type of works that are to be executed under CSR and fix a timetable for that. It will monitor the working of divisional and district level committees and hold monthly or tri-monthly meetings.

The committee will discuss the hurdles being faced in execution of CSR works and if necessary modify the scope of work accordingly. The state committee will help the middle and junior level officers in selecting non-governmental organizations (NGOs), instructors, etc for executing the works.

The division level committee will be headed by the divisional commissioner and will have total eleven members. Its main job will be to regularly take feedback from district level committees and pass it on to state-level committees. It will approve all the CSR plans prepared by district committees and ensure that they are implemented.

The committee members will interact with industries having units in the districts of the division and ask them the type of work they would like to undertake. They will collect information and pass it on to the state committee. They will also facilitate the industries in getting permits for CSR work or help the district committees in getting them.

The district level committee will be headed by chief executive officer (CEO) of zilla parishad and will have nine members. The committee will upload the requirements of gram panchayats and municipal councils on the district's CSR portal. This will enable industries to know the requirements of the area and they will accordingly plan their CSR activities.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Nagpur/Water-supply-works-must-under-CSR/articleshow/45244531.cms

IndiaCSR Releases Hindi Logo of India Sanitation Summit Sanitation for All-Toilet First

New Delhi: IndiaCSR group today released logo in Hindi for its India Sanitation Summit ‘Sanitation for All-Toilet First’ scheduled on 6 Feb 2015 at PHD Chamber House, August Kranti Marg, New Delhi. “We love Hindi. Hindi makes easier to communicate things. We believe that Hindi logo will create mass awareness towards the summit mission. Our Hindi language is one of the most spoken languages in the world. The importance of Hindi is one of the many languages in our country that is considered to be the national and official language of the many states.”, Rusen Kumar, Founder, IndiaCSR said. “We have tried to make the look and feel of the summit logo more youthful, colourful, premium, and global, to inject some enthusiasm around IndiaCSR,” he added. Aligned to ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ (Clean India Initiative) Summit is an active participant of this noble mission to support and create national level forum to discuss various issues related to the toilet and sanitation. Detailed information can be found at www.indiasanitationsummit.indiacsr.in The summit would highlight the opportunities and challenges allied with sanitation facilities and toilets and would close with meaningful resolutions which would become a suggestive document to support achieve National Sanitation Goals by 2019 as a tribute to the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, by eliminating the unhealthy practice of open defecation. Indian Government has envisioned a great mission to develop separate toilets for boys and girls in every school in the country, by 15th of August 2015. The India Sanitation Summit will involve some of the most reputed and competent Indian and International speakers from government and private sectors, research agencies, innovators, social scientists and thought leaders dealing in sanitation and toiletries industries in the country. There will be 30 speakers and more than 200 participants projected in this exclusive summit. The summit will provide excellent networking opportunities with leading professionals from Govt. Corporate Social Responsibility professionals, NGOs leaders, corporate professionals and other experts. Cartoon Exhibition of Sanitation, Toilet and Women Empowerment IndiaCSR, the pioneer Indian CSR News Network in collaboration with Cartoon Watch, the monthly cartoon magazine included in Limca Book, is going to organize countries first Cartoon Exhibition on Sanitation and Toilet at PHD Chamber House, August Kranti Marg, New Delhi on 6 Feb 2014 during India Sanitation Summit ‘Sanitation for All – Toilet First’. Cartoon Watch, in its 19th year of publication, will conduct a pan India cartoon competition to gather best cartoons focused on sanitation, hygiene, toilet, behavior change, woman empowerment etc. Best cartoons to be awarded with cash prizes at the summit. There is no age limit and no medium barrier to take part in this cartoon competition. Cartoonists can express their views either in Hindi or in English. A participant can send maximum three entries, each of A4 size via mail to cartoonwatch@gmail.com and for more details they can visit www.cartoonwatchindia.com or www.indiasanitationsummit.indiacsr.in Triambak Sharma, Renowned Cartoonist and Editor of Cartoon Watch said, “Cartoon is the most effective tool of communication and the best medium to create awareness. Earlier Cartoon Watch has conducted numbers of Pan India cartoon competitions on various issues. As we have entered in 19th year of publication and 19th November is World Toilet Day, we decided to announce this competition on this Eve.” Rusen Kumar, Founder and Director, IndiaCSR said, “We can communicate a lot through cartoons and thus resolute to organize this exhibition with the support of cartoon magazine. This exhibition will be the major attraction of India Sanitation Summit 2015 as cartoons associates with humor, happiness and fun, and can serve to relax the audiences in the summit.” Rusen Kumar further added. “My mission is to use cartoon for constructive communication to communicate great things at Summit. We believe that cartoons can play important role in creating awareness on sanitation and women empowerment related issues and behavior change for betterment of society. Cartoon exhibition to add values to the achieve summit goal.”

Sorce: http://www.orissadiary.com/CurrentNews.asp?id=55098

Welcome

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We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone

Internship Opportunity at UN ESCAP

Deadline: December 31, 2014

50 internship position in UN ESCAP’s different departments located at Thailand, Republic of Korea, China, India.

ESCAP provides opportunities for students enrolled in graduate school/PhD programme, students enrolled in the final year of a first university degree, students having graduated with a university degree less than one year ago to undertake an internship with one of its diverse range of divisions and agencies, most of which are located at its Bangkok headquarters.

The programme aims to expose the intern to the day-to-day work and special missions of ESCAP, promote a better understanding of international problems, and to introduce the intern to the unique and multinational work environment of the UN organization.

The programme will enhance the intern’s educational experience through practical work and/or research, along with providing the host division at ESCAP with able assistance in various specialized professional fields.

Departments:
Office of the Executive Secretary
Division of Administration
Environment and Development Division
Information and Communications Technology and Disaster Risk Reduction Division
Macroeconomic Policy and Development Division
Programme Planning and Partnerships Division
Social Development Division
Statistics Division
Trade and Investment Division
Transport Division
ESCAP Subregional Office for East and North-East Asia
ESCAP Subregional Office for South and South-West Asia
Asian and Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
United Nations Centre for Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization
Office of Human Resource Management

How to Apply:

Interested graduate students who meet the Eligibility Criteria should submit their application through an online system: Careers portal, after reading the Job Openings of the Internship Programme. Please note the varied deadlines for submitting applications as indicated in each internship announcement, which is generally one and a half months prior to the start of the Programme.

Eligibility and Conditions:

Applicants to the United Nations internship programme must at the time of application meet one of the following requirements:

Eligibility:
be enrolled in a graduate school programme (second university degree or equivalent, or higher);
be enrolled in the final academic year of a first university degree programme (minimum Bachelor’s level or equivalent); or
have graduated with a university degree (first university degree, or second university degree or equivalent, or higher) and, if selected, must commence the internship within a one year period of graduation.

Conditions:
The internship should not exceed six months, with a minimum period of two months.
The intern will not be paid by the United Nations and, will not be considered a staff member, hence, he/she will not be entitled to the privileges and immunities accorded to staff members of the United Nations.
All expenses connected with the internship, such as travel costs, travel arrangements, living accommodation, are the responsibility of the intern or the sponsoring institution.
The intern is responsible for obtaining any necessary visas.
The United Nations will not accept any responsibility for costs arising from accidents and/or illness incurred during an internship and the intern, therefore, should have a health insurance coverage.
There is no expectancy of employment at the end of the internship and the intern is not entitled to apply for a regular position at the Professional or higher level with the United Nations during the period of the internship and for six months immediately following the expiration date thereof.
The intern undertakes to conduct himself/herself at all times in a manner compatible with his/her responsibilities as a participant in a United Nations internship programme.
The intern must keep confidential any and all unpublished information made known during the course of the internship and not publish any reports or paper on the basis of information obtained except with the authorization of the United Nations
The intern will provide written notice in case of illness or other unavoidable circumstances which might prevent him/her from fulfilling the internship.

For more information please visit: http://www.youthop.com

Source: http://www.youthop.com/internships/internship-opportunity-at-un-escap-724

Filing your FCRA renewals on time

VANI's advisory at; http://vaniindia.org/download/sept2014eng.pdf

 

Human Living with Dignity

LET US WORK TO PROMOTE PEACE

“Making peace is difficult but living without peace is a torment.” Pope Francis. 

World Peace

"The hungry ask us for dignity, not for charity."

Multi Sectorial Interventions in the Context of Maternal & Child Health "ALL CHILDREN THRIVING"

Multi Sectorial Interventions in the Context of Maternal & Child Health "ALL CHILDREN THRIVING"Delegates from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) The Grand Challenges India initiative was launched
to support innovations in vaccines, drugs, agricultural products, and interventions related to malnutrition, family and child health. ‘All Children Thriving’. Undertaken in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), The program aims to ensure that all children not only survive, but also remain on the trajectory of healthy and productive lives.Eligible participants: Organizations – Academic Institutions, research institutions, medical research institutions, for-profit companies, not-for-profit organizations, trusts and foundations. Individuals – Agriculturist, nutritionist, agronomist, biotechnologist, clinicians, pediatrician, dieticians, ethnographers, biochemist, microbiologist, market analyst etc. http://www.birac.nic.in/index.php

Arghyam’s Grants for Sanitation Projects

Deadline: Ongoing

Arghyam accepts concept proposals from organisations aimed to implement and manage groundwater and sanitation projects in India. Organisations with small, medium and large projects in India that meet its vision of safe, sustainable, water and sanitation for all can apply for the grants.

The Foundation supports sustainable water management towards meeting the basic water needs of all citizens, especially those from vulnerable communities. Yet the focus is basically laid on domestic water, it also takes into consideration agricultural, industrial and environmental aspects. Arghyam also occasionally funds part of expenses for workshops or conferences, training programmes, awareness creation campaigns etc. relevant to water and sanitation.

The Foundation has made grants to recipients in 22 states of India since 2005, the year of its founding.

Focus Areas

1. Water Security

2. Water Quality

3. Participatory Groundwater Management (PGWM)

4. Sanitation

5. Urban Initiatives

Arghyam considers support for activities and interventions in the following areas-

1. Groundwater and sanitation focus projects that are aligned with Arghyam’s programmatic approach.

2. Projects that work with marginalised communities in rural and urban areas.

3. Capacity building of communities to understand and respond to their local water and sanitation needs.

4. Innovative projects that have potential for scale and knowledge improvement.

5. Projects that demonstrate efficiency in cost per beneficiary, last mile reach, sustainability of outcome over time, institutionalization of successful efforts, etc.

Eligibility Criteria

• Charitable organisation registered under Trusts Act, Society’s Act or as a section 25 Company is eligible to apply.
• The participating organisation must possess:
• Certificate of registration
• 12 A certificate and 80 G certificate from the Income Tax Department
•  Individuals or for-profit companies are ineligible to apply.
•  Organisations with innovative project proposals are encouraged to apply.
• Participating Organisation’s project must ensure principles of equal access, inclusivity and display gender sensitivity.
• Organisations ensuring social, institutional, environmental, technological and financial sustainability in their work and to the communities they work with are also eligible to apply.

How to apply?

•  Fill in your project idea in the concept note form available on the website.
• Submit the duly completed concept note form via email or regular mail.
• The applicant will be informed of Arghyam’s interest within 3 weeks.
• If required, a visit may be made to the organization and/or project location.

For more information, visit Arghyam Concept Proposals.: http://arghyam.org/grant-seekers

Youth getting addicted to internet porn, says NGO

HYDERABAD, NOV. 20:

Watching porn on the web could result in sex offences, non-governmental organisation Rescue says. The NGO, which is conducting awareness programmes, has conducted a survey in colleges that shows increasing addiction to porn content on the net.

The survey was carried out in 13 colleges, covering 350 male students. “We have noticed that 21 per cent of these students watch violent porn,” Abhishek Clifford, Chief Executive Officer of Rescue, said.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, he said the youth in the age group of 18-21 were falling prey to the addiction and each year the number of youth hooked on to the Internet for watching the sexually explosive content.

“About 70 per cent of them are watching four hours of sex videos per week, which is very alarming. Watching such content would drive them to sexual acts quite early,” he said.

The NGO wanted the Government to set up an exclusive cyber police division to tackle the Internet pornography. “The existing cyber police cells are busy dealing with hacking, terrorism and Internet fraud. There are about two crore porn websites. We need to have software to identify them,” he said

Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/features/smartbuy/tech-news/youth-getting-addicted-to-internet-porn-says-ngo/article6618557.ece

Keep tabs on refugees living in Hyderabad, cops tell NGO

HYDERABAD: In no mood to take chances with Myanmarese refugees after the recent arrest of Mohammed Khalid by the National Investigation Agency for alleged links to the Burdwan blast case, the police came knocking on the doors of Cova, an NGO to examine if they have processes to monitor their movement.

Officials of Cova, which is an implementing partner of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and coordinates with asylum seekers of various nationalities, said that police from both Cyberabad and Hyderabad, in deliberations held on Wednesday, asked the NGO to devise strong tracking mechanisms, which is not in place. The thrust of the meeting was on community-based monitoring.

It was also decided that the asylum seekers and refugees living in various parts of the city would be divided into clusters. A "reliable" person of each cluster would be appointed as a "cluster head". Cluster members can report any suspicious activity or person to the cluster head. The cluster head in turn would appraise Cova and police, sources privy to the meeting said.

Admitting that it is difficult to keep a watch on "migrant" refugees, those who move from city to city, a Cova official, who did not wish to be identified, said: "In case any Myanmarese wants to leave the city, he or she will now have to provide details of their destination, including the address where they will be living, and also the purpose of leaving the city. The refugees are afraid of being profiled and do not want any trouble with police, which is why they have assured us of their full cooperation."

Registration of refugees is an international United Nations convention and does not give asylum seekers special privileges, the source clarifed.

The refugees and asylum seekers were asked to submit copies of documents such as proof of identity and also their application for refugee status filed at the UNHCR office in New Delhi with Cova.

The NGO estimates the number of asylum seekers and refugees in the city to over 2,000 living in Balapur, from where Khalid was arrested, Barkas, Shaheen Nagar, Shastri Puram, Hafeez Baba Nagar and Kishan Bagh.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Keep-tabs-on-refugees-living-in-Hyderabad-cops-tell-NGO/articleshow/45223555.cms

Tribal Maharashtra scores high on child sex ratio

No. of girls per 1,000 boys between 950 and 966; overall, overall figure for state is 894; at 913, Mumbai no better Is impoverished and illiterate tribal Maharashtra more gender sensitive than upscale and educated Mumbai and Urban Maharashtra? According to latestgovernment data, the answer is yes.

Away from glitzy cities and towns, tribals areas of the state continue to maintain a healthy child sex ratio – 950 to 966 girlsper 1,000 boys. However, in Mumbai and its suburbs, the number stands at 914 and 913 respectively, with adjacent Thane registering 924.

These are the findings of child sex ratio (CSR) Census 2011, released by the Census Commissioner of India in a report titled "Missing - Mapping the adverse child sex ratio in India".

The scene in Mumbai is appalling as the ratio has declined by eight points in the past decade. As a state, Maharashtra too has attained the dubious distinction of having less than 900 girls per 1,000 boys in the age group of zero to six (894), along with Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Delhi, J&K and Gujarat.

The report says that the CSR in almost all districts of Maharashtra is now below 950, with most districts entering the range of 850-900.

Beed has emerged as the red zone by registering a drastic decline of 87 points from 894 girls per 1000 boys in 2001 to 807 in 2011. Apart from Beed, Jalgaon also enters the 'red zone' with CSR below 850. In recent years, Beed and Jalgon have hit headlines for sharp rise in female foeticide and infanticide.

However, here's a silver lining. CSR in remote eastern tribal districts of Gondiya, Gadchiroli, and Chandrapur is equal to 950 or more. Chandrapur in the east, and the cluster of Satara, Sangli and Kolhapur in the south, have seen child sex ratio heading north in last decade.

The report attributes the grim picture to discriminatory practice of gender-biased sex selection, result of a complex web of factors like "patriarchal mindsets that lead families to value sons over daughters, the need for small families, but with sons, and commercialisation and misuse of medical technology".

"The findings clearly indicate that the practice of female foeticide has increased in the last one decade, especially among educated and better-off classes," said an official, who was associated with the study.

The story of CSR does not augur well for a "resurgent India" as it continues to grapple with heavily skewed gender ratio. The child sex ratio has fallen to 918 from 927 in 2001.

The report has warned of serious socio-demographic consequences, further reinforcing the subordination of girls and women, if urgent action is not taken the arrest the trend.

Grim picture

Child sex ratio 2011 2001

Mumbai 914 922

Suburbs 913 923

Maharashtra 894 913

(The figure was 946 in 1991)

Rural Maha sliding
A distressing point of the report is that the Rural Maharashtra, which had earlier showed better gender ratio than urban pockets, has lost to the social evil and for the first time has a CSR of 890, much worse than urban CSR of 899. In 2001, CSR in rural Maharashtra was 916 compared to urban CSR of 908.

Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-tribal-maharashtra-scores-high-on-child-sex-ratio-2037030

Where Do All Our Girls Go? Report Shows Disturbing Trend

NEW DELHI: The Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India’s latest report on Child Sex Ratio (CSR) reveals a very disturbing trend. The report “Missing...” as titled by the RGI, which comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), says the CSR in India has declined from 927 girls per 1,000 boys in 2001 to 918 during census 2011. If the figures are embarrassing, the analysis of the RGI on different regions is even more disturbing.

The report says out of total 640 districts surveyed, 429 districts have experienced a decline in CSR. Of these, 26 districts had recorded a drastic decline while 52 districts reported a sharp decline.

The CSR ranged from a maximum of 972 in Arunachal Pradesh to a minimum of 834 in Haryana. Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Maharashtra have recorded lower than 900 girls per 1,000 boys. In the South, Kerala recorded an increase in CSR between 2001 and 2011 to reach 964 girls per 1,000 boys. The figure in 2001 was 960 girls per 1,000 boys. Karnataka also registered a marginal increase from 946 in 2001 to 948 girls per 1,000 boys. At 943 girls for every 1,000 boys, Tamil Nadu recorded a one point increase in CSR between 2001 and 2011.

During this period, while rural CSR registered a marginal increase, urban CSR declined from 955 in 2001 to 952 in 2011. Rural CSR, however, continued to lag urban CSR by 16 points indicating a predominantly rural nature of the problem in Tamil Nadu.

Although, the CSR of undivided Andhra Pradesh is not as low as the other states, it has consistently declined from 975 in 1991 to 939 in 2011. Both rural and urban ratios in undivided Andhra Pradesh had registered a downward slide at 950.

Jammu and Kashmir recorded the highest decline in CSR in the country from 941 girls per 1,000 boys in 2001 to 862 in 2011 while Punjab has shown a positive change. From 798 in 2001 Punjab made a recovery in 2011 with an increase to reach 846 girls per 1,000 boys. Haryana, which was placed at the bottom of the CSR tally, recorded some improvement with 834 girls for 1,000 boys, up from 819 in 2001. Even Gujarat recorded a marginal increase in CSR from 883 girls to 1,000 boys in 2001 to 890 in 2011,though, it is still significantly lower than the desirable level.

Pointing out a complex web of factors behind the sharp decline in CSR, RGI said that the deep-seated patriarchal mindset leading to families preferring sons over daughters, the need for small families but with sons, and commercialisation and misuse of medical technology that enables illegal sex selection, resulted in the skewed CSR.

“Sex ratio imbalances are expected to have serious socio-demographic consequences, further reinforcing the subordination of girls and women. The issue therefore requires a multi-faceted response to enhance the value of girls, as well as legal measures to curb misuse of medical technology,” the RGI report stated.

Source: http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/Where-Do-All-Our-Girls-Go-Report-Shows-Disturbing-Trend/2014/11/21/article2534025.ece

Cartoon Exhibition on Sanitation and Toilet in Delhi on 6 Feb 2015

New Delhi: IndiaCSR, the pioneer Indian CSR News Network in colaboration with Cartoon Watch, the monthly cartoon magazine included in Limca Book, is going to organize countries first Cartoon Exhibition on Sanitation and Toilet at PHD Chamber House, August Kranti Marg, New Delhi on 6 Feb 2014 during India Sanitation Summit ‘Sanitation for All – Toilet First’.

Cartoon Watch, in its 19th year of publication, will conduct a pan India cartoon competition to gather best cartoons focused on sanitation, hygiene, toilet, behavior change, woman empowerment etc. Best cartoons to be awarded with cash prizes at the summit. There is no age limit and no medium barrier to take part in this cartoon competition. Cartoonists can express their views either in Hindi or in English. A participant can send maximum three entries, each of A4 size via mail to cartoonwatch@gmail.com and for more details they can visit http://www.cartoonwatchindia.com or http://www.indiasanitationsummit.indiacsr.in

Rusen Kumar, Founder and Director, IndiaCSR said, “We can communicate a lot through cartoons and thus resolute to organize this exhibition with the support of cartoon magazine. This exhibition will be the major attraction of India Sanitation Summit 2015 as cartoons associates with humor, happiness and fun, and can serve to relax the audiences in the summit.” Rusen Kumar further added. “My mission is to use cartoon for constructive communication to communicate great things at Summit. We believe that cartoons can play important role in creating awareness on sanitation and women empowerment related issues and behavior change for betterment of society. Cartoon exhibition to add values to the achieve summit goal."

Triambak Sharma, Renowned Cartoonist and Editor of Cartoon Watch said, “Cartoon is the most effective tool of communication and the best medium to create awareness. Earlier Cartoon Watch has conducted numbers of Pan India cartoon competitions on various issues. As we have entered in 19th year of publication and 19th November is World Toilet Day, we decided to announce this competition on this Eve.”

Source: http://www.orissadiary.com/CurrentNews.asp?id=55027

Call for proposals under NNRMS programme

CALL FOR PROPOSALS FOR FINANCIAL SUPPORT

DURING THE FINANCIAL YEAR 2014-15 UNDER

National Natural Resources Management SYSTEM (NNRMS) PROGRAMME

The Ministry of Environment & Forests invites research proposals for financial support in prescribed format under its NNRMS Programme. The NNRMS Programme supports research projects aimed at optimal utilization of remote sensing techniques along with conventional methods for addressing key environmental and ecological issues such as management of forests, grasslands, faunal resources, wetlands, coastal areas management including conservation of mangroves and coral resources, land degradation, impact of developmental activities on environment.

Priority will be given to the areas relating to Monitoring of Ecologically Sensitive Areas, Establishment of Himalayan Snow and Glaciers Monitoring System, time series analysis of data for different ecological & environmental variables of various bio-resources and environment covering the specific proposals:

- Ecologically Compatible land use planning in the notified Eco-sensitive Zones through Remote Sensing and GIS Technologies.

- Long term ecological research for biodiversity assessment and Monitoring in biodiversity hot-spots of the country.

- Time series analysis of data for a minimum period of four to five years for different ecological and environmental variables in respect of Snow and Glaciers, Wetlands, Coastal Zones and Forest types of India.

Eligibility:

All Academic institutions, Universities, National Institutes, recognized R&D institutions, reputed non-governmental organizations and voluntary bodies as well as private organizations including industry through scientists and technologists working in them (both NGOs, voluntary bodies and private organizations including industry have to be registered as a research institution with the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India) are eligible to submit the proposals.

Guidelines for applications:

The “Guidelines for Support to Environmental Research - 2012” inter alia which provides details on the scope and coverage of research grants, concept of public private partnership in research projects, procedure for invitation, submission, appraisal, monitoring and review of research projects along with norms for funding, terms and conditions governing research grants and prescribed proformas are available on the website (www.envfor.nic.in) of the Ministry under the link http://moef.nic.in/assets/re_guidelines_f_indd.pdf.

Submission of proposals

The research proposals should be submitted/prepared by the Principal Investigator (PI) in the prescribed proforma given in the “Guidelines for Support to Environmental Research - 2012” and forwarded to this Ministry alongwith Fifteen (15) hard copies of the proposal and a soft copy in CD form by the Head of the Institution. If the project is a joint venture then it should be explicitly mentioned.

The proposal completed in all respects should be sent by Registered/Speed Post in a confidential sealed envelope during the current Financial Year 2014-2015 on the address given below. The research proposals not evaluated in the financial year (2014-2015) would be considered in the next financial year.

For further details please contact:

Dr. G.V. Subrahmanyam,

Adviser (RE)

Ministry of Environment and Forests,
Room No. 548, Paryavaran Bhawan,
CGO Complex, Lodi Road,
New Delhi-110 003.
Tele-fax: 91-11-24364594.
E-mail: sv.godavarthi@nic.in

PACS EOI for Indian NGOs

Closing date for EOIs is 25th November 2015

Format for Expression of Interest

https://app.box.com/s/fcovcom2lw6kwljxsvh2

Terms of Reference

https://app.box.com/s/do43boaerjigv9mrjucw

Three day Capacity Building program for NGOs across India on “Result Based Management – A strategic Management Approach” from 11 – 13 December, 2014

Bala Vikasa is pleased to organize Three day Capacity Building program for NGOs across India on “Result Based Management – A strategic Management Approach” from 11 – 13 December, 2014.

Introduction

RBM is a participatory and Team-based approach to management designed to improve program delivery, effectiveness, efficiency and accountability that focuses on achieving defined results.

In order to aim at improving program management effectiveness a major shift is required in the program management culture. This implies a change in the way the Organization develops its strategy, designs its programs, monitors, implements, evaluates and reports on program execution placing the focus on results rather than on activities.

The RBM principles are to be applied to all activities, at the various stages of the program cycle, from programming, implementation and monitoring to evaluation and reporting. This enables a process through which results are formulated, program achievements are monitored, decision-making is better informed, reporting is facilitated and transparency and accountability are ensured.

Objective of the Training

· To familiarize participants with the concepts and methodology of RBM
To familiarize the participants on application of RBM strategy in their organizations for achieving the clearly stated results.

Course Contents
Policy, principles and characteristics of RBM.
Resource vs Result Based Management
RBM: a Management Approach
What is a Result? Types of Results
Result Chain: Inputs, Activities, Outputs, Outcomes & Impact
Identifying Assumptions, Risk Analysis
Results: Operational & Developmental
Indicators: Qualitative & Quantitative
Developing RBM Performance Measurement Framework.
Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation

Award of Certificate

The participants will be awarded a certificate of participation on conclusion of the course.

Scholarship

The total program cost is Rs.5000 which includes food and accommodation (non A/C rooms on 3 sharing basis). But in order to encourage the small and the grassroots NGOs we provide upto 50% scholarship which means each participant will pay only INR 2500.

Contact

Ms. Sunitha Reddy on 91-98498 44868 / 98491 65890 or 91-870-2453255.

Please fill the attached application form and send it to pdtc@balavikasa.org to register for this training.

For information on our other National and International Capacity Building programs kindly refer to our website: www.balavikasa.org.

Apply for Recognition and Funding Through Dasra Girl Power Awards

GuideStar India is pleased to introduce the second edition of the prestigious Dasra Girl Power Awards, an initiative of Dasra in collaboration with the Hindustan Times. The Dasra Girl Power Awards 2014-15 will recognize impactful and innovative programs that work with adolescent girls in three distinct areas of intervention – Sanitation, Employability, and Safety & Mobility. The winner in each category will receive a cash prize of Rs.5 lakh each, along with capacity building support from Dasra.

We encourage eligible organisations to apply IMMEDIATELY without waiting for the last date (December 12, 2014).

About the Awards:

The first edition of the Awards in 2013-14 focused on organizations working in the areas of Education, Health and Life Skills, and received 200 applications from across India.

· The Awards and the capacity building provided by Dasra enabled 60% of the finalists to reach out to more donors, and helped 90% of them to realize the value of forging collaborations

· The exposure from the Awards (including coverage from Hindustan Times) and the training provided by Dasra enabled 30% of the finalists to attract more funding for their operations

“Institute of Health Management, Pachod was awarded the Dasra Girl Power Award in the health sector. The award has resulted in increased visibility, both nationally and internationally, for IHMP and its project. The award changed the institutes narrative in the way it communicates with the world, in our fund raising strategy and capability and above all else in our belief in what we are doing” – Dr. Ashok Dyalchand, Director, Institute of Health Management, Pachod

The Awards will recognize impactful and innovative programs that work with adolescent girls in three distinct areas of interventions – Sanitation, Employability and Safety & Mobility.

What are the benefits for NGOs/ Why you should apply:
1. The three final winners (one in each category) will receive a cash prize of INR 5 lakhs each. They will also gain access to Dasra’s network of philanthropists and funding organizations.

2. The top 15 finalists (top 5 in each category) will be invited to be a part of a 3-day workshop in March 2015, where Dasra will help them build capacity, develop funding pitches, build effective communications and enable peer-learning.

3. Dasra will also work with the top 15 finalists to create 2-page summary assessments for each of them, which will be compiled and published as a resource for stakeholders including media, philanthropists and funders.

4. The three final winners will be felicitated during a special panel at the Dasra Philanthropy Week in March 2015, in front of an audience consisting of high net worth individuals, foundations, philanthropists and media.

Who can apply:
NGOs (trusts, societies and sec 25 companies) registered under the relevant act in India and currently functioning in India with adolescent girls in programs related to Sanitation, Employability and Safety & Mobility. In order to apply for the Dasra Girl Power Awards, an organization must fulfill the following conditions:

· It must be registered as a non-profit in India

· It must have operations in India

· It should not have a combined budget greater than Rs 75 lakhs for all its programs on adolescent girls

· It must have been in operation for at least 2 years at the time of application

What is the application process:
The application process for the Dasra Girl Power Awards 2014-15 is a two-stage process:

Stage 1: This stage requires completing a brief ONLINE preliminary application.
First of all, Download the Reference Form available at

http://www.guidestarindia.org/SiteImages/DGPAFormforReference.doc and collect information so that when you start filling the online form, you have all the information readily available.

To fill the ONLINE application form for the award, please click this link
http://fluidsurveys.com/s/guidestarindia-dasragirlpoweraward2014-15/. You need to complete this form in one sitting.

The last date for this stage is December 12, 2014. Please start the process right away as you need to collect information internally before you start filling the ONLINE application form.

Stage 2: The application will be accompanied by a rolling shortlisting process, wherein only shortlisted organisations will be contacted to submit further required information. This can include a comprehensive budget and a project plan if required. This phase will happen between November 2014 and January 2015.

How will you know about your application status:
When you submit the completed form, you will see a message on your screen that you have successfully submitted the form. If your form is incomplete, you will see a message asking you to answer omitted questions.

Only shortlisted organizations will be contacted by Dasra to submit further required information. If you do not hear from Dasra till December end, it would mean that your organisation did not move to stage 2.

Closing date:
The last date for submitting the application (stage 1) is December 12, 2014. We encourage you to submit as early as possible so that you have more time for the second stage.

For details/ clarifications:
Please download and read Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and if you still have questions, write to register@guidestarindia.org or call Analka/ Lathika of GuideStar India at 022-26856900/ 98/ 99

If you know of other NGOs who are likely to be eligible, please forward this mail to them with a copy to register@guidestarindia.org and encourage them to apply.

Organization: Scottish Government

Deadline: See Website
Interest Area(s): Children & Young People, Community, Education, Health, Human
Rights, NGO Capacity Bldg and Social & Human Services

Scottish International Development Organisations can now apply for funding through the Scottish Government's International Development Small Grants Programme. This will distribute approximately £500,000 in 2015 to support projects that help some of the world's poorest countries and fit within the Scottish Government's International Development Policy. Eligible projects must be focused in one of the Scottish Government's priority countries, contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, and the alleviation of poverty and economic growth in the priority countries. These are: Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Indian States of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa. Incorporated not-for-profit organisations which have a presence in Scotland and an annual turnover of less than £150,000 are eligible to apply. The Programme
is specifically intended to accommodate smaller requests for funding to contribute to current International Development policy and outcomes and to overarching Scottish Government outcomes.

Read more at; http://www.scotland.gov.uk/topics/international/int-dev

Website: http://www.scotland.gov.uk

Organization: John D & Catherine T MacArthur Foundation

Deadline: See Website
Interest Area(s): Community, Conservation, Education, Environment, and Health

The MacArthur Foundation is one of the United States largest independent foundations. Through the support it provides, the Foundation fosters the development of knowledge, nurtures individual creativity, strengthens institutions, helps improve public policy, and provides information to the public, primarily through support for public interest media. The Foundation makes grants and loans
through various programs. The International Programs focus on international issues, including human rights and international justice, peace and security, conservation and sustainable development, girls' secondary education in developing countries, migration, and population and reproductive health.
MacArthur grantees work in about 60 countries; the Foundation has offices in India, Mexico, Nigeria, and Russia.

Website: http://www.macarthur.org

Organization: The Ford Foundation

Deadline: See Website
Interest Area(s): Children & Young People, Community, Education, Environment, Health,
Human Rights, Social & Human Services and Science & Technology

The Ford Foundation is committed to achieving lasting change that transforms people's lives. Through their grant making, they support innovative thinkers, leaders and organizations that are working to reduce poverty and injustice and to promote democratic values, free expression and human achievement. When making grants, they think about long-term strategies, knowing that lasting social change requires decades of effort. And because their mission is broad and resources are limited, they carefully target support so it can be used most effectively and leverage the greatest amount of impact. To that end, program teams working on each of their initiatives consult with practitioners, researchers, policy makers, current and potential grantees, and others to identify areas where the foundation's resources are needed most. The teams then pinpoint specific approaches grantees might undertake—
program exploration, advocacy, litigation or capacity building, to name just a few—to help achieve the social change they have identified. The teams also determine key benchmarks for progress and the amount of funding to be dedicated to each approach. The broad headings under which they make grants are: Democratic and Accountable Government; Economic Fairness; Educational Opportunity and Scholarship; Freedom of Expression; Gender, Sexuality and Reproductice Justice; Metropolitan Opportunity; and Sustainable Development. The have offices throughout the world specialising in some or all of these areas. Theire offices are in: North America, Chile, Brazil, Mexico, Nairobi, Cairo, South Africa, Nigeria, China, India and Indonesia.

Website: http://www.fordfoundation.org

The German Embassy Call for Small Scale Projects in the field of Development Cooperation (Special focus on Women and Girls)

Deadline: 31 December 2014

The German Embassy in India operate a programme that enables to provide direct financial assistance to Indian NGOs and religious institutions for the implementation of small-scale projects in the field of Development Cooperation benefiting disadvantaged groups of society.

The programme is funded by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Berlin and is implemented through German Diplomatic and Consular Missions abroad.

Small, self-contained projects in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, New Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand are provided with the grants by The German Embassy, New Delhi. Other states seeking grants can contact the German Consulates offices in Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata or Mumbai.

Past Projects

1. Tubewells for drinking water for poor tribal community

2. Toilets for slum population

3. Improvement of medical facilities for underprivileged communities, especially for maternal health and well-baby programmes

4. School furniture and equipment for rural, non formal girls’ schools

5. Installation of solar lantern charging stations for rural women self help groups, etc.

Eligibility Criteria

§ Applicant must be an experienced, qualified and reliable organisation, preferably a non-governmental organization (NGO) registered under the Societies Registration Act or a religious institution.

§ Project proposals must be from any sectors of poverty reduction, public health & sanitation improvement, income generation, basic education or any other related to women/girls.

§ Special preference will be given to the projects with a focus on women and girl’s empowerment.

§ Project proposals must be accompanied by at least 3 competitive quotations/ cost estimates (in Rupees) for each item to be purchased /constructed from the grant.

§ The applicant must have to contribute financially to the project and has to be in a position to financeall upcoming follow-up/ running costs for a period of at least 2 years.

§ Overhead costs (personnel, administrative and other running costs) of the organization applying or the project itself cannot be supported.

§ Project co-sponsored by any other organisation that already receives contributions from the German Federal Budget (e.g. European Union, United Nations etc.) will not be financed.

§ The applicant is further required to submit a final report on the project and its impacts on the beneficiaries, as well as a breakdown of expenses immediately after conclusion of the project.

How to apply?

Project proposals should be submitted to the Embassy before deadline. Eligible projects will be selected for promotion with regard to the focus areas of development cooperation mentioned above.

After a decision in favour of a project, an allocation agreement will have to be concluded and signed between German Embassy and the implementing agency/NGO.

For more information, visit Projects for Development Cooperation.: http://www.india.diplo.de/Vertretung/indien/en/12__Climate__Development__Cooperation/PPP/Small__Scale__Projects__Delhi.html

Supreme Court grants four weeks' time to CBI to furnish details of all registered NGOs

he Supreme Court on Monday granted four more weeks' time to the CBI to collect details about all registered NGOs in the country and whether they file balance sheets before the authorities.

A bench comprising Chief Justice HL Dattuand Justice AK Sikri asked the probe agency to write to the chief secretaries of the states which are not providing the details despite the court order in this regard.
"We will direct the CBI to take appropriate steps," the bench said during the brief hearing of the 2011 PIL filed by lawyer ML Sharma.

The counsel for the CBI informed the court that various states like Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi and Punjab have so far not responded to its queries. The court in July had granted three more months to CBI to provide details about all registered NGOs.

The agency, however, had submitted that most of the NGOs are not filing IT returns. It had said that Gujarat and Tamil Nadu have not given information about the NGOs working in their states and Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Odishaand Maharashtra provided only partial inputs.

NGOs have come under judicial scrutiny with the Supreme Court on September 2, 2013 asking the CBI to provide details about such registered organisations and their financial statements on a PIL seeking probe into alleged embezzlement of funds.

The apex court had expanded the scope of the PIL which was filed in 2011 against an NGO, Hind Swaraj Trust, run by anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare. Earlier, the agency had expressed difficulty in probing and collecting information on NGOs and had pleaded that the task be handed over to states, but the plea was summarily rejected by the court which directed the agency to comply with its order.

"If CBI can probe murder cases then why not probe against NGOs? You can do so many things, you do it also," the bench had said.

Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-supreme-court-grants-four-weeks-time-to-cbi-to-furnish-details-of-all-registered-ngos-2036069

SC grants four weeks time to CBI to furnish details of NGOs

The Supreme Court today granted four more weeks' time to the CBI to collect details about all registered NGOs in the country and whether they file balance sheets before the authorities.

A bench comprising Chief Justice H L Dattu and Justice A K Sikri asked the probe agency to write to the chief secretaries of the states which are not providing the details despite the court order in this regard.

"We will direct the CBI to take appropriate steps," the bench said during the brief hearing of the 2011 PIL filed by lawyer M L Sharma.

The counsel for the CBI informed the court that various states like Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi and Punjab have so far not responded to its queries.

The court in July had granted three more months to CBI to provide details about all registered NGOs.

The agency, however, had submitted that most of the NGOs are not filing IT returns.

It had said that Gujarat and Tamil Nadu have not given information about the NGOs working in their states and Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha and Maharashtra provided only partial inputs.

NGOs have come under judicial scrutiny with the Supreme Court on September 2, 2013 asking the CBI to provide details about such registered organisations and their financial statements on a PIL seeking probe into alleged embezzlement of funds.

The apex court had expanded the scope of the PIL which was filed in 2011 against an NGO, Hind Swaraj Trust, run by anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare.

Earlier, the agency had expressed difficulty in probing and collecting information on NGOs and had pleaded that the task be handed over to states, but the plea was summarily rejected by the court which directed the agency to comply with its order.

"If CBI can probe murder cases then why not probe against NGOs? You can do so many things, you do it also," the bench had said.

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/sc-grants-four-weeks-time-to-cbi-to-furnish-details-of-ngos-114111701156_1.html

Tweaking The FCRA To Enable CSR Funding

By: Gerald Manoharan, Partner - JSA

In India, it is mandatory for large companies to spend on social welfare activities. With effect from April 1, 2014, every company, private limited or public limited, which either has a net worth of Rs 500 crore or a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore or net profit of Rs 5 crore, needs to spend at least 2% of its average net profit for the immediately preceding three financial years on corporate social responsibility activities (‘CSR’). India’s charity laws, however, have made it quite difficult for companies to fulfill their CSR obligations.

The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 (‘FCRA’) regulates foreign contributions to non-profit organizations (‘NPO’s). Under the FCRA, NPOs can only accept contributions from a foreign source once they register with or obtain prior permission from the Central Government. Without FCRA approval, grantee organizations in India may not legally receive foreign contributions from any donor.

The issues with the FCRA stem from the definition of ‘foreign source’, provided in Section 2(j) of the FCRA. Under this definition, an Indian subsidiary of a foreign company is deemed to be a foreign company, and consequently, a foreign source. Additionally, Indian companies which have foreign ownership of more than 50% are also treated as foreign sources. With liberalized FDI norms and foreign investment limits, several Indian companies have foreign holding of more than 50%. Therefore, this definition complicates the funding process by encumbering the flow of money from such companies to various NPOs.

Thus, due to this provision, if an Indian subsidiary or Indian company with substantial foreign ownership wants to create a foundation for undertaking charity work and fulfilling its CSR obligation, it will have to obtain FCRA registration before doing so. The Companies Act, however, doesn’t insist that CSR activities be carried out only through a company’s own foundation; companies can also choose to do so on their own or in partnership with NPOs. But NPOs will likewise have to register in order to receive contributions from such foreign-owned or foreign-controlled entities.

While this sounds simple enough, the problem is that the process of registration is stringent and fraught with bureaucratic process. Firstly, all FCRA applications from across the country are processed only by the central office based in New Delhi, making this registration process one of the most difficult in the country. Next, the NPO must be at least three years old to even qualify for registration. Thus, the only way for a new foundation to accept foreign contributions is to obtain prior permission from the government. This permission is applicable to a specific project and specific amount, which means that the NPO cannot use it for a different project or for additional funding for the same project. Third, before granting registration or approval, the Central Government verifies whether the NPO has undertaken reasonable activity in its chosen field for the benefit of society; however, the term ‘reasonable activity’ has not been defined and is open to selective interpretation.

To further complicate the registration process, the Act states that the application for registration or prior permission should ordinarily be granted within 90 days. No specific consequences are provided for not processing the application within the 90 days, and hence it is unlikely that the sanctity of the time frame will be observed. Registration once granted is only valid for a period of five years and must be renewed thereafter. Getting this stamp of approval, however, has proven arduous because of the longstanding suspicion regarded to the overseas funding of non-business activities.

A common sentiment prevailing among companies and NPO’s is that the government shouldn’t lose sleep over who funds whom and why, so long as the activities on the ground don’t jeopardize national security. From their perspective the FCRA is itself archaic, unsuitable for a modern regulatory environment where foreign companies can easily bring money to India without government scrutiny. Particularly after the introduction of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in 2002, it has been felt that the FCRA serves no meaningful purpose.

Indian NPOs netted a little above Rs. 80,000 crore through foreign funding in the past ten years, twice as much of what the central government allocates per year for NREGA, its flagship poverty alleviation program. Instead of making it easier for NPOs to receive contributions, the FCRA has in fact hindered the process by mandating registration as a prerequisite for receiving grants from a foreign-owned or foreign-controlled Indian company. As discussed above, the broad definition of the term ‘foreign source’ combined with the cumbersome registration process has also frustrated companies in their CSR efforts. If the CSR obligations placed on companies are to be met in letter and spirit, Indian regulators need to act swiftly to dissolve the existing dichotomy and suitably amend onerous FCRA norms.

Source: http://thefirm.moneycontrol.com/story_page.php?autono=1230820

Introducing OnGood(TM): Public Interest Registry's New Brand Identity for .ngo|.ong

The Nonprofit Organisation Unveils OnGood as the Official Name for the Soon-to-be-Launched Domains and Suite of Services

RESTON, Virgina, Nov. 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Public Interest Registry, the not-for-profit operator of the .org domain, today unveiled "OnGood" – the new brand identity for the upcoming .ngo & .ong domains and their accompanying suite of services. Set to launch in early 2015, OnGood is an online community designed with and for NGOs and nonprofits worldwide, providing them with a suite of online services to help raise funds, build awareness and support for their missions.

After conducting extensive research and in-person workshops with NGOs worldwide, Public Interest Registry landed upon the name OnGood to reflect a full suite of services that complements the .ngo & .ong domain names. As an online community helping to garner greater visibility for nonprofits and NGOs worldwide, OnGood embodies the spirit of Public Interest Registry and the organisation's continued commitment to empowering nonprofits and NGOs worldwide by helping them tell their story online.

"OnGood goes beyond traditional domain name services; we're launching an online community," said Brian Cute, CEO of Public Interest Registry. "When we began developing the .ngo & .ong domains, we knew there was an opportunity to create a dedicated online space for nonprofits and NGOs around the globe. Our team has poured their heart and soul into OnGood, and after two years of hard work, we're excited to see it launch in the new year."

OnGood is exclusively for NGOs and nonprofits of all sizes and reach. By joining the community, OnGood members are able to create a unique profile page that is featured in the searchable directory open to the public through the OnGood community website. Members will be able to showcase causes, share activities and information, and collect donations. OnGood's validation process reassures Internet users worldwide that website addresses owned by OnGood members ending in .ngo and .ong represent genuine NGOs.

NGOs and nonprofits interested in joining the OnGood community are encouraged to submit an Expression of Interest online atglobalngo.org.

To learn more about Public Interest Registry, please visit www.pir.org

About Public Interest Registry
Public Interest Registry is a nonprofit corporation that operates the .org top-level domain — the world's third largest "generic" top-level domain with more than 10 million domain names registered worldwide. As an advocate for collaboration, safety and security on the Internet, Public Interest Registry's mission is to empower the global noncommercial community to use the Internet more effectively, and to take a leadership position among Internet stakeholders on policy and other issues relating to the domain naming system. Public Interest Registry was founded by the Internet Society (internetsociety.org) in 2002 and is based inReston, Virginia, USA.

Contact:
Lindsay Hyman/Bridget Nolan
+1-202-223-9260
pir@allisonpr.com

SOURCE Public Interest Registry

Source: http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/introducing-ongoodtm-public-interest-registrys-new-brand-identity-for-ngoong-283007261.html

PIR Operator Of .Org Reveals Its OnGood Campaign For The New gTLD’s .NGO & .ONG

Public Interest Registry, the not-for-profit operator of the .org extension, today unveiled “OnGood” – the new brand identity for the upcoming .ngo & .ong domain extensions along with their accompanying suite of services.

Set to launch in early 2015, OnGood is an online community designed with and for NGOs and nonprofits worldwide, providing them with a suite of online services to help raise funds, build awareness and support for their missions.

After conducting extensive research and in-person workshops with NGOs worldwide, Public Interest Registry landed upon the name OnGood to reflect a full suite of services that complements the .ngo & .ong domain names.

As an online community helping to garner greater visibility for nonprofits and NGOs worldwide, OnGood embodies the spirit of Public Interest Registry and the organisation’s continued commitment to empowering nonprofits and NGOs worldwide by helping them tell their story online.

Brian Cute, CEO of Public Interest Registry is quoted as saying:

“OnGood goes beyond traditional domain name services; we’re launching an online community. When we began developing the .ngo & .ong domains, we knew there was an opportunity to create a dedicated online space for nonprofits and NGOs around the globe. Our team has poured their heart and soul into OnGood, and after two years of hard work, we’re excited to see it launch in the new year.”

OnGood is exclusively for NGOs and nonprofits of all sizes and reach.

By joining the community, OnGood members are able to create a unique profile page that is featured in the searchable directory open to the public through the OnGood community website.

Members will be able to showcase causes, share activities and information, and collect donations.

OnGood’s validation process reassures Internet users worldwide that website addresses owned by OnGood members ending in .ngo and .ong represent genuine NGOs.

NGOs and nonprofits interested in joining the OnGood community are encouraged to submit an Expression of Interest online at globalngo.org.”

Source: http://www.thedomains.com/2014/11/14/pir-operator-of-org-reveals-its-ongood-campaign-for-the-new-gtlds-ngo-ong

CSR in India: Mercer reports findings from limited sample

Just before the beginning of the weekend last Friday, leading national dailies published findings of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) report by one of the known consultancy firms. While most news stories carried exact abstracts either from the report or from the media release, CauseBecause read all reports thoroughly and brought together this quick review.

The findings, probably the first of their kind, are quite interesting as they throw light on the sectors where the majority of CSR investments are going. However, considering that the report is based on responses from a mere 40 organizations, it does not seem to have covered an adequate number of samples, especially because about 14,000 companies are mandated to spend towards CSR as per the Companies Act 2013. The Mercer report also does not say if the companies surveyed fall in the ambit of the CSR law and hence are mandated to spend two per cent of their net profits after tax towards CSR.

Secondly, as the new law has just begun to be implemented in this financial year and most organizations are in preparation mode – wherein many are either formalizing their new CSR policy or are revisiting and modifying their existing policy or guidelines – the findings cannot possibly be relevant for a long time. The scenario may be significantly different when all the companies share their first annual CSR report, which is expected to happen in financial year ending March 2015.

The report by Mercer, which is part of Marsh & McLennan Companies in India, says that education is the most favoured area for CSR investments, followed by community-based development and environment sustainability. As per the report, 81 per cent of companies spend their CSR fund on activities concerning education, 64 per cent on community development, and 61 per cent on environment sustainability. It further says that these spends vary between Rs 9 lakh and Rs 25 crore annually. Mercer however has not shared any example of such ongoing projects in the public domain. Hence, the micro details such as what is being done by the companies for education or community development is not yet clear.

Interestingly, about 78 per cent companies who participated in the survey claimed that they implemented their CSR projects by partnering with non-profit organizations, which seems to be the way ahead for credible partnerships. Some 17 per cent organizations say that they work with their ‘own’ non-government organizations. This, however, is not really permitted by the law as it clearly states that the companies should not invest monies in a foundation or other social organization that has the investing company’s director as its founder or trustee.

The report did not carry any significant message either and was released with a most-heard comment in the form of a statement from Shanthi Naresh, business leader, Information Solutions, Mercer India. He said, ‘The importance of CSR/sustainability is seeping deep into Indian companies as three out of four companies in India already have or are planning to form a core team dedicated to CSR/sustainability within the next one to two years.’

Source; http://causebecause.com/news-detail.php?NewsID=670

Education tops corporate social responsibility spends, community development next

MUMBAI: With corporate social responsibility (CSR) becoming a legal mandate, a study has found that a large majority (81 per cent) of domestic companies identify education as the top core area for their sustainability activities.

Three out of four domestic companies already have a core CSR team in place or plan to have one in the next couple of years, while 58 per cent of them have an annual centralised budget for sustainability activities, says a survey conducted by Mercer, a global consulting leader in talent, health, retirement and investments.


"Among the CSR activities education tops the chart with 81 per cent adopting this as their mandate, followed by 64 per cent focusing on community-based developmental activities and 61 per cent adopting environmental sustainability within their own companies," says the Mercer survey.

According to the findings, as much as 78 per cent conduct their CSR by partnering with a local, independent NGOs, and only 17 percent work with their own NGOs.

As part of its law-based affirmative action, the previous UPA government had included a clause in the Companies Act of 2013 which mandated a compulsory two per cent of a company's net income being spent on CSR.

The recent survey was conducted among top 40 companies and found that 81 per cent of the polled companies feel that CSR is an extremely important component for business strategy.

The survey has found 17 per cent have been running CSR activities even before the law mandated them to do so, while 10 per cent of respondents do not undertake any CSR activities.

Of those conducting CSR activities, 54 per cent have a CSR/sustainability policy for a period of up to five years and 46 per cent have CSR policy of longer period.

"With dedicated CSR teams in place and companies stating that employee volunteering will be involved in their corporate citizenship projects, India is surely striding in the right direction down the sustainability path," says Mercer India business leader Shanthi Naresh said.

The survey also finds that unlike their global peers, more (44 per cent) of the polled domestic firms have dedicated CSR teams in place, while the global average is only under 25 per cent. Again, 90 per cent of these companies hold HR responsible for CSR against the global average of 69 per cent.

But when it comes to reporting on CSR, domestic companies lag with only about one-third of them issuing an integrated annual report on their CSR activities compared to the global average of nearly 50 per cent.

On CSR spends, the survey finds that the budget ranges from Rs 9,00,000 to Rs 25 crore per annum with the average being Rs 5,8,128,571, which is more than double the median of Rs 2.5 crore, Mercer regional CSR head Cindy Arkin said.

Banks and financial institutions lead in having a centralised CSR budget with their average annual budget of Rs 4.5 crore, while the highest budget of Rs 25 crore has come from the IT sector.

Source: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-11-16/news/56137152_1_sustainability-activities-csr-activities-corporate-social-responsibility