ART & HANDICRAFTS

DIGITAL IMAGING

Digital painting (such as the above image) that uses a digitizing tablet and software to implement any kind of brush or painting media, or the use of digital cameras to acquire images, or the use of optical scanners to digitize information are all techniques and applications of digital imaging technologies.

Today, it may seem that acquiring the capacity for digital imaging content management is an overkill for rural systems. However, that is what even knowledgeable people in the late 1980s said about rural people and telephones. Today, nobody would question the need for telephone services in even remote villages. The vision of Sankalp and ARTS is: ten years from now, there would be a similar need for visual communications. Hence the need to educate our rural stakeholders in the nuances of digital imaging processes, NOW - so that they will have first-mover advantages.

Implementing a state-of-the-art digital imaging content management is not easy. A common problem is that IT technology is evolving so rapidly that the systems may become obsolete prior to the media reaching its life expectancy. The other problem is acquiring an in-depth knowledge of imaging systems and devoting resources to a long and difficult period of research and training to determine what is needed and why.

SANKALP PUBLICATIONS

A dream project of our Poet Laureate Founder President, the Late Subhas Mukhopadhyay was to start a Writers’ Guild - which will protect imaginative and revolutionary writers from the clutches of unscrupulous publishers.

It is not easy for creative people who happen to be ordinary to be able to publish their work and get them independently and impartially critiqued. How else can we judge the quality of our output? And yet, there are thousands of bright, young creative minds languishing in the cities such as Calcutta and throughout the region including the rural villages of India, whose genius cannot find expression, because the system is stacked against them ...

The primary objective of Sankalp Publications is to provide a platform, particularly on the internet, for anybody who has something worthwhile to say, to come right out and publish their thoughts and work, unencumbered by protocol and free of economic concerns. Now, anyone who has heard of Sankalpa can send their work to us at and it will be published on the internet, for the whole world to see and appreciate! Owzat!
Viva la vox populi

Sankalp Publications specializes in the following electronic media:

§     eBooks: We design and produce eBooks for publishing on the Internet, primarily, and also for the mass dissemination of these products physically using CD-ROM technology as the medium

§     Multimedia Center: As part of the ‘IT Center’, we will develop the capability to produce multimedia products, programs and entertainment products.

§     Online Publishing: Electronic and Internet-based publications.

§     Offline Publishing: Conventional books, newsletters and commercial publications

We will also produce audio-visual promotional materials that will help us to distribute and disseminate the rural marketing of our ideas, products and services, in the form of audio and video tapes to begin with, and any other form that becomes available in due course of time

DOCUMENTATION CENTER

The Sankalp Documentation Center was conceived to provide wide range of digital content in the field of Information & Communication Technologies (ICT), including:

§     High-quality digital content for the learning environment: Advice, guidance, products and services relating to the use of ICT in any area of education and lifelong learning, including:

§     Innovative, interactive CD-ROMs for use in pre-school and primary education.

§     Exciting, participative online activities and events for use in the classroom.

§     Innovative applications/action research into the effective use of ICT in the context of pre-school and primary education.

§     Generic educational online resources for use by either teachers or pupils across the pre-school and primary sectors of education.

§     Educational consultancy across all subject areas and across all age ranges to support the development of CD-ROMs, online activities and online resources.

§     Content management Systems (CMS): A wide range of digital resources for customisable and scalable solutions for commercial applications (e.g. internet, CD-ROM), including:

§     Creative writing (including 'ghost' writing - collaborating with a Firm or Individual)

§     Technical writing (including 'White Papers' and researched materials)

§     Copy editing (General, Business-to-Business, Corporate and Scientific)

§     Proofreading (General, Corporate and Scientific)

§     Grant writing

§     Screen writing and story board preparation

§     Desktop publishing

§     Pre-press content generation, including advertising and publicity/promotional materials

§     CD-ROM corporate presentations and publications

Specific functionalities would include interfaces with other ICT systems, workflow and process facilities, templates, user registration and personalised user web pages.

TECHNICAL SERVICES

ARTS Technical Services provide rural entrepreneurs and anyone interested in rural development to come forward and work with Sankalpa and ARTS for realization of ‘Sustainable Development’ and ‘Sustainable Livelihood’ projects in general, and for rural development in particular. At present, we are working in the following areas:

§     Sankalp Projects: We provide a platform for rural entrepreneurs and anybody else to develop their ideas and translate their projects into reality. At present, we have developed linkages with external bodies in the following areas:

§     VSBK: Partner Development Alternatives in the dissemination of VSBK technology

§     Pot-in-Pot Project: Disseminate our proprietary ‘Pot-in-pot’ pottery project for rural refrigeration technologies, that do not consume electricity or conventional fuels for refrigeration of food products

§     MCR Tiles: Partner Development Alternatives in the dissemination of MCR technology

§     Solar Energy: Partner TATA BP Solar for the dissemination of a wide range of Solar Photovoltaics and solar thermal products

§     Handmade Paper Products: Disseminate our proprietary handmade paper products manufacturing technology

§     Consultancy Services: Our consultancy services promote the free and fair dissemination of information for ‘Sustainable Development’ in general, and for rural development in particular.

§     Quality Management Systems: ISO 9000 Standards, Statistical Process Control, Quality Function Deployment, KAIZEN

§     Documentation Services: Content management, design and implementation

§     Imaging Services: Design and implementation of imaging products and services

§     Engineering Technology: Research and Development, design, engineering technology management.