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Odia Wikisource Goes Live!
Odia netizens have more than one reason to celebrate this festive season.
Open access platform to save the Odia Indian language
In February 2014, the Government of India declared the South Asian language Odia as the 6th classical language of India which is one among 22 scheduled languages of India and has a literary heritage of more than 5,000 years. There are documents for more than 3,500 years, and the rest are undocumented oral histories.
Letter to the Prime Minister on Indo-US Bilateral Relations on Intellectual Property
This is a letter that many organizations sent to the Prime Minister. The Centre for Internet and Society was one of the signatories.
Odia Littérateur Ramakrushna Nanda's 4 Books Now Available Under a Creative Commons License
Children literature in Odia language went through an ennoblement after the intervention of Ramakrushna Nanda's writings.
Second Draft of Open Access Policy of the Department of Biotechnology and Department of Science released
The Department of Biotechnology and the Department of Science, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India drafted an Open Access Policy (“Policy”) in consultation with several open access experts, government officials and CIS. The second draft of the Policy released last week and is open for comments till 17th November, 2014.
More Than 40 Million People Await the Launch of Odia Wikisource
Speakers of Odia will soon have mountains of books to read online in their mother tongue, following the launch of the Odia Wikisource, which will make accessible many rare books that have entered the public domain.
Rethinking Conditions of Access
P. P. Sneha explores the possibilities of redefining the idea of access through the channels of education and learning.
The Legal Framework for Enforcement of Rights of Persons with Disabilities
In order to get a complete understanding of the legal framework governing the rights of persons with disabilities, we need to understand the several legislations that cover the field. The Constitution of India is the founding legal document guaranteeing fundamental rights to all persons which includes persons with disabilities. The main legislation on disability rights is the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 ("PWD Act") which this chapter will be providing a detailed overview of.
Bharat Majhi Writings Now Available Under a Creative Commons License
Before the advent of Odia Wikisource becoming live, Centre for Internet and Society's Access to Knowledge (CIS-A2K) got in touch with notable Odia author Bharat Majhi for bringing his writings on the Internet.
ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷା ବିକାଶରେ ପ୍ରତିବନ୍ଧକ ଓ ସମ୍ଭାବନା
I authored an editorial in today's Samaja (Odia daily). It talks about the hurdles Odia language has been facing and potential aspects of the language including it being used massively on the Internet in Wikipedia and other platforms.
Big Data and Positive Social Change in the Developing World: A White Paper for Practitioners and Researchers
I was a part of a working group writing a white paper on big data and social change, over the last six months. This white paper was produced by a group of activists, researchers and data experts who met at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Centre to discuss the question of whether, and how, big data is becoming a resource for positive social change in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Developing Digital Open Knowledge Resources in Indian Languages
A two-day workshop for students was organized by Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule Women’s Studies Centre, University of Pune (KSPWSC), Centre for Indian Languages in Higher Education (CILHE), Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai and Access to Knowledge Programme, Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore (CIS-A2K) on September 11 and 12, 2014 in Pune. Tejaswini Niranjana and Tanveer Hasan summarize the developments from the workshop in this report.
Fab to Fabless: Understanding the Process of Chip Manufacturing (Interviews with Semiconductor Industry - Part 2)
This is the second of a four-part blog series highlighting findings from a small sample of interviews with fabless semiconductor industry professionals in Taiwan. These industry insiders was approached for the intent of understanding expert knowledge on the process of integrated circuit design. This post explores the process of chip manufacturing and the foundry business model.
Consultation on Figures of Learning in the Digital Context - Report
The Researchers at Work (RAW) programme at the Centre for Internet and Society organised a consultation on ‘Figures of Learning in the Digital Context’ on September 22, 2014 in Bangalore.
Anvar v. Basheer and the New (Old) Law of Electronic Evidence
The Supreme Court of India revised the law on electronic evidence. The judgment will have an impact on the manner in which wiretap tapes are brought before a court.
Study on Budget Allocation and Expenditure by States on Schemes for Persons with Disabilities
In a follow up to the ongoing project of compiling a National Compendium of Laws, Policies and Programmes for Persons with Disabilities, we are conducting a research to study the allocation in the budget for schemes for persons with disabilities, expenditures incurred for each scheme and total numbers of beneficiaries for all states and union territories.
Changing Usage Models: Desktops to Ubiquitous Cloud-Based Mobile Computing (Interviews with Semiconductor Industry - Part 1)
This is the first of a four-part blog series highlighting findings from a small sample of interviews with fabless semiconductor industry professionals in Taiwan. These industry insiders was approached for the intent of understanding expert knowledge on the process of integrated circuit design. However, the conversations resulted in leanings far beyond that scope. This post explores the trends of personal computing technology, which provides the pretext for the narrowing of the Pervasive Technologies project scope to a focus on the mobile phone.
Centre for Internet and Society joins the Dynamic Coalition for Platform Responsibility
The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) has joined the multistakeholder cooperative engagement amidst stakeholders towards creating Due Diligence Recommendations for online platforms and Model Contractual Provisions to be enshrined in ToS. This blog provides a brief background of the role of dynamic coalitions within the IGF structure, establishes the need for the coalition and provides an update on the action plan and next steps for interested stakeholders.
Report on CIS' Workshop at the IGF:'An Evidence Based Framework for Intermediary Liability'
An evidence based framework for intermediary liability' was organised to present evidence and discuss ongoing research on the changing definition, function and responsibilities of intermediaries across jurisdictions.
Biometrics: An ‘Angootha Chaap’ nation?
This blog post throws light on the inconsistencies in biometric collection under the UID and NPR Schemes.

