Centre for Internet & Society

Comments on the Report of the Committee on Digital Payments (December 2016)

The Committee on Digital Payments constituted by the Ministry of Finance and chaired by Ratan P. Watal, Principal Advisor, NITI Aayog, submitted its report on the "Medium Term Recommendations to Strengthen Digital Payments Ecosystem" on December 09, 2016. The report was made public on December 27, and comments were sought from the general public. Here are the comments submitted by the Centre for Internet and Society.

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Telugu Wikipedia stall at Vijayawada Book Festival

Telugu Wikipedia stall at Vijayawada Book Festival

Posted by Pavan Santhosh at Jan 11, 2017 12:00 AM |

The Telugu Wikipedia community put up a stall at the Vijayawada Book Festival in January, in order to increase reach of the regional language encyclopaedia.

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Google-translated Telugu articles prioritisation exercise: January iteration

Posted by Pavan Santhosh at Jan 10, 2017 12:00 AM |

The January iteration of the Google-translated Telugu articles prioritisation exercise took place online.

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Mini TTT and MWT held in Kolkata

Posted by Tito Dutta at Jan 09, 2017 12:00 AM |

A regional version of Train The Trainer and MediaWiki Training was recently conducted in Kolkata.

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Digital Native: The Dream of the Cyborg

Posted by Nishant Shah at Jan 08, 2017 05:00 PM |

We have arrived at hybrid realities, where the technological and the human cannot be separated. The digital future we had once imagined is already here.

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Adikavi Nannaya University Telugu Wikipedia Workshop

Posted by Pavan Santhosh at Jan 08, 2017 12:00 AM |

A Telugu Wikipedia introductory workshop was conducted for the students of Adikavi Nannaya University, Rajahmundry between 6- 7 January, 2017.

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Orientation & Training session of Jalbiradari Activists

Posted by Subodh Kulkarni at Jan 04, 2017 12:00 AM |

An Orientation & Training session of Jalbiradari Activists was held on 4 January, 2017

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New Media, personalisation and the role of algorithms

Posted by Amber Sinha at Jan 02, 2017 10:25 AM |

In his much acclaimed book, The Filter Bubble, Eli Pariser explains how personalisation of services on the web works and laments that they are creating individual bubbles for each user, which run counter to the idea of the Internet as an inherently open place. While Pariser’s book looks at the practices of various large companies providing online services, he briefly touches upon the role of new media such as search engines and social media portals in new curation. Building upon Pariser’s unexplored argument, this article looks at the impact of algorithmic decision-making and Big Data in the context of news reporting and curation.

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Mapping of Sections in India’s MLAT Agreements

Posted by Leilah Elmokadem and Saumyaa Naidu at Dec 31, 2016 06:52 AM |

This set of infographics by Leilah Elmokadem and Saumyaa Naidu maps out and compares the various sections that exist in the 39 MLATs (mutual legal assistance treaty) between India and other countries. An MLAT is an agreement between two or more countries, drafted for the purpose of gathering and exchanging information in an effort to enforce public or criminal laws.

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P.P. Sneha - Mapping Digital Humanities in India

P.P. Sneha - Mapping Digital Humanities in India

It gives us great pleasure to publish the second title of the CIS Papers series. This report by P.P. Sneha comes out of an extended research project supported by the Kusuma Trust. The study undertook a detailed mapping of digital practices in arts and humanities scholarship, both emerging and established, in India. Beginning with an understanding of Digital Humanities as a 'found term' in the Indian context, the study explores the discussion and debate about the changes in humanities practice, scholarship and pedagogy that have come about with the digital turn. Further it inquires about the spaces and roles of digital technologies in the humanities, and by extension in the arts, media, and creative practice today; transformations in the objects and methods of study and practice in these spaces; and the shifts in the imagination of the ‘digital’ itself, and its linkages with humanities practices.

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Ongoing Proof-reading Effort by ALC Student Wikimedians in Telugu Wikisource

Posted by Pavan Santosh & Ting-Yi Chang at Dec 30, 2016 10:55 AM |

Student Wikimedians at Andhra Loyola College, Vijayawada formatted and proof-read more than 1,900 folios in Telugu Wikisource during the last few weeks of November (2016). Each day, a group of twenty students uses the lab facility provided by the college after regular classes to make necessary formatting changes and fix spelling mistakes in the folios of books available in Telugu Wikisource. Till date, the student Wikipedians have proofread eight books.

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Mapping of India’s Cyber Security-Related Bilateral Agreements

Posted by Leilah Elmokadem and Saumyaa Naidu at Dec 29, 2016 01:20 PM |

With the rapid spread of cloud computing and the growth of cyber spaces, large masses of information are now easily transmittable transnationally, necessitating the ratification of new agreements and cooperation efforts amongst states in order to secure cyber spaces and regulate exchanges of information. In an attempt to understand the nature and extent of current international collaborative efforts in cyber security, we have compiled the following data regarding India’s cyber security-related bilateral agreements. The intention of this exercise is to offer a dynamic visualization that demonstrates which countries India has collaborated with on cyber security efforts and initiatives. This is an ongoing map that we will be updating as our research continues.

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Incident Response Requirements in Indian Law

Posted by Vipul Kharbanda at Dec 28, 2016 01:20 AM |

Cyber incidents have serious consequences for societies, nations, and those who are victimised by them. The theft, exploitation, exposure or otherwise damage of private, financial, or other sensitive personal or commercial data and cyber attacks that damage computer systems are capable of causing lasting harm.

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Wikipedia workshop for Konkani students conducted in Mangaluru

Wikipedia workshop for Konkani students conducted in Mangaluru

Posted by Tito Dutta at Dec 19, 2016 06:05 PM |

A two days Wikipedia workshop "introduction to Wikipedia" was conducted at Besant College, Mangaluru. 16 undergraduate and post-graduate students from 3 different colleges participated in the event. Here is a report.

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Pranay Raj record in 100 days-100 articles

Posted by Pavan Santhosh at Dec 18, 2016 03:45 PM |

Telugu Theatre scholar Pranay Raj Vangari from Motkur of Yadadri District, Telangana created record by completing a challenge that is famous worldwide in Wikimedia community - "100 Days-100 Articles". Pranay Raj is a theatre scholar and artist who used to travel length and breadth of Telangana & Andhra Pradesh for research and performances.

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వంద రోజులు.. వంద వ్యాసాలు - తెలుగు వికీపీడియాలో మోత్కూరు యువకుని రికార్డు (100 Days...100 Articles: Wikipedian from Motkur created record in Telugu Wikipedia)

Posted by Pavan Santhosh at Dec 18, 2016 03:09 PM |

Pranay Raj Vangari of Motkur Padmashali colony created record in Telugu Wikipedia. "100 Days- 100 Articles" is already going on in many languages worldwide and Pranay Raj took challenge in Telugu Wikipedia, completed it successfully. Pranay is theatre scholor. He started first article in this challenge on september 8 and continued to write articles on every day till December 16 to complete 100 articles. Pranay said that two other Telugu Wikipedians (Pavan and Meena) successfully completed the challenge and explained that he inspired from them to complete it. Telangana state language & cultural department director Mamidi Harikrishna felicitated Pranay in His chamber on this occasion and appreciated for his work.

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Digital Native: People Like Us

Posted by Nishant Shah at Dec 18, 2016 02:19 PM |

How the algorithm decides what you see on your timeline. If you have been hanging out on social media, there is one thing you can’t have escaped — a filter bubble. Be it demonetisation and its discontents, the fake news stories that seem to have ruined the US election, or the eternal conflict about the nature of Indian politics, your timeline must have been filled largely by people who think like you.

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The Curious Case of Poor Security in the Indian Twitterverse

Posted by Udbhav Tiwari at Dec 17, 2016 12:28 AM |

What are the technical, legal and jurisdictional issues around the recent Twitter and email hacks claimed by the ‘Legion Crew’, and what can targeted entities do to better protect themselves?

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Inputs to the Working Group on Enhanced Cooperation on Public Policy Issues Pertaining to the Internet (WGEC)

Posted by Sunil Abraham and Vidushi Marda, with inputs from Pranesh Prakash at Dec 17, 2016 12:20 AM |
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The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) submitted inputs to the Working Group on Enhanced Cooperation on Public Policy Issues Pertaining to the Internet (WGEC) on 15 December 2016. The WGEC sought inputs on two questions that will guide the next meeting of the Working Group which is scheduled to take place on the 26-27 January 2017.

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ISO/IEC JTC 1 SC 27 Working Group Meetings - A Summary

Posted by Vanya Rakesh at Dec 16, 2016 11:53 PM |

The Centre for Internet & Society attended the ISO/IEC JTC 1 SC 27 Working Group Meetings from 22 to 27 October 2016 in Abu Dhabi at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.

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