From mjnorth@ix.netcom.com Mon Dec 11 15:40:01 2000
Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2000 08:34:19 -0500
From: Michael North 
Reply-To: gkd@phoenix.edc.org
To: gkd@phoenix.edc.org
Subject: [GKD] India Solar Community Launch

Dear Members of GKD,

I would like to update you about Greenstar's work in India. In October,
Greenstar India announced that we will build 50 solar-powered community
and e-commerce centres in remote villages throughout India over the next
three years. As part of the celebration of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi,
the first site was dedicated on 2 October in Parvatapur village, about
150 km from the Andhra Pradesh capital of Hyderabad in southern India.
This community has a deep tradition of music and art, and has been
pioneering natural agricultural practices.

Mr. Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, connected
through the Internet with the dedication events in Paravatapur, where
the first Indian "digital culture" products will be produced, and
offered to the world. The Chief Minister placed an order for the music
and art created by villagers hosting the inaugural ceremony; he visited
a Greenstar website at http://www.e-greenstar.com/India/

Charles Gay of Greenstar sent an email by solar-powered satellite from
Paravatapur. He said:

"At 10:02 a.m. today in Parvatapur, Greenstar went live on the internet,
and simultaneously began recording music for a digital culture program.
We used a high-speed portable satellite terminal from Inmarsat, to
connect to the Internet through space, powered solely by a portable
solar power panel.

"Dedicating the village on Gandhi's birthday was just the right touch.

"A large solar power array was used to power the computers and recording
equipment, and also ran the public address system for the launch
ceremonies. All green electrons powered the village today.

"Simultaneously, at a press conference in Hyderabad, Chief Minister
Chandrababu Naidu, one of India's leading lights in the technology
field, delivered a powerful speech about Greenstar. He was joined by
K.L.Chugh, a highly- respected businessman, and Ms. Rajeswari of
Greenstar India.

"Mr. Naidu actually ordered his own Greenstar India CD from the
Greenstar website - projected onto a large screen in front of 200
observers and media.  In addition, the CM committed to providing
whatever government resources are necessary to implement 50 Greenstar
villages in Andhra Pradesh.

"The scene in the small, isolated village of Parvatapur, 120 miles away,
was incredible. About 300 people attended four hours of speeches, in
which the Greenstar vision was compared to Gandhi's vision. The talks
were interspersed with music, dance and poetry -- all of which were part
of the solar-powered recording sessions, conducted by local student
technicians."


To generate income through e-commerce, Greenstar villages focus on
India's vivid traditional culture -- authentic art, music, legends,
literature, history and sacred way of life, long a source of fascination
by people everywhere in the world. Greenstar is employing a team of
artists and teachers to record elements of rural Indian culture, working
closely with the people of each village. This original concept is
already working in the Palestinian Authority and Jamaica. The result
will be a powerful, unique collection of "digital culture" -- a gallery
of music, artwork, photographs, video, poetry and other arts, which can
be distributed in high-resolution digital form throughout the world,
instantly and efficiently.

The revenues from digital culture will be used to fund basic needs of
each village for its future, as decided by the people themselves --
deploying tools that include clean solar power, telemedicine and
vaccination resources, basic education, micro-credit, community
organizing, and a high-speed, two-way connection to the world through
the Internet.

Greenstar India is a new consortium of companies from India and the
United States. Stakeholders include Capital Fortunes, a Hyderabad-based
financial and business advisory consultancy, the Jindal Organization
based in Delhi with operations throughout India and America, and
Greenstar USA, which has pioneered the solar-powered ecommerce and
digital culture concept. The participating companies are providing
capital, technology and resources. Other key players are Indian
government agencies and private participants including the Ekalavya
Vidayalya Foundation, Ikisan, Kinera Object Connect, and the Renewable
Energy Office at the Centre for Scientific Research of Auroville.

Major support for Greenstar India comes from The Sterling Group, a
company that has led the way in providing high- speed Internet access in
India. Through its subsidiary, Dishnet/DSL (http://www.dishnetdsl.com/),
Sterling will provide all the internet connections for Greenstar
villages, including free Web hosting, and will sponsor a village
demonstration in the Chennai region in the near future. Digital culture
techniques will provide the only feasible means for preserving the
intricate colored chalk art practiced in Paravatapur, and the
spontaneous drumming and storytelling of the Telugu people.

For further information, contact:
Dr. Charles F. Gay of Greenstar
in the United States at:
1-323-936-9602, toll-free in the US: 1-877-282-9900
by email: cgay@e-greenstar.com

Also see the Greenstar websites at
http://www.e-greenstar.com
and http://www.greenstar.org

Ms. Pingali Rao Rajeswari
Director - Greenstar India
in India at:
91-40-3310560; 3316083; 3397279
by email: rajeswari@e-greenstar.com


To order a copy of "The Sacred Voice of India",
the multimedia and audio CD produced in Parvatapur,
go to:
http://www.e-greenstar.com/India/launch/buymain.htm

For a detailed background on this project, see
http://www.e-greenstar.com/India/launch/backgrounder.htm

Your comments and ideas are always welcome, addressed
to editor@greenstar.org.

An archive of all Greenstar newsletters to date may be
seen at:
http://www.greenstar.org/pressroom/newsletterindex.htm




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