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<TITLE>MSSRF, Chennai</TITLE>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Friends:</FONT>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">I am Arun [Full name: Subbiah ARUNACHALAM] and I am a volunteer for the past more than eight years with the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai. Our work in the villages of Pondicherry, 160 km south of Madras (now rechristened Chennai) is well known. The Information Village Research Project, largely supported by IDRC (and CIDA), operates in 12 villages and it is a holistic project, not mere telecentres. Each village has a knowledge centre and these are connected through a variety of technologies. Local people - mostly women - run these centres and provide all kinds of information to trhe local communities. They have formed self-help groups and members run microenterprises. They are supported by microfinancing. We have recently formed a National Alliance so as to create similar centres in everyone of the more than 625,000 villages of India within the next three years. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Apart from ICT-enabled development, I also promote open access to scientific and scholarly literature.</FONT>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Arun</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">[Subbiah Arunachalam]</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Distinguished Fellow</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">MSSRF</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Chennai 600 113, India</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Tel: +91 44 5528 4776, 2254 2791</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Fax: +91 44 2254 1319</FONT>
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