The Centre for Internet and Society
https://cis-india.org
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Typography Day 2016
https://cis-india.org/a2k/news/typography-day-2016
<b>Typography Day was organized for the 9th time at Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore in collaboration with the Industrial Design Centre (IDC), Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) with support from India Design Association (InDeAs) and Aksharaya.
</b>
<p>Subhashish Panigrahi was a speaker at the event. He along with Pooja Saxena made a presentation on <a class="external-link" href="http://www.slideshare.net/psubhashish/typoday-2016-presentation-by-pooja-saxena-and-subhashish-panigrahi">Bringing Ol Chiki to the Digital World</a>.</p>
<hr />
<p><iframe width="595" frameborder="0" height="485" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/key/M9afQdv5t5PW3k"> </iframe></p>
<div><strong> <a title="Typoday 2016: Presentation by Pooja Saxena and Subhashish Panigrahi" href="http://www.slideshare.net/psubhashish/typoday-2016-presentation-by-pooja-saxena-and-subhashish-panigrahi" target="_blank">Typoday 2016: Presentation by Pooja Saxena and Subhashish Panigrahi</a> </strong> from <strong><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/psubhashish" target="_blank">Subhashish Panigrahi</a></strong></div>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/news/typography-day-2016'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/news/typography-day-2016</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaCIS-A2KOdia WikipediaAccess to Knowledge2016-04-24T15:16:04ZNews ItemOdia gets more space in e-world
https://cis-india.org/a2k/news/the-telegraph-april-7-2016-anwesha-ambaly-odia-gets-more-space-in-e-world
<b>A survey conducted by the Odia Wikipedia community and the Centre for Internet and Society reveals that the online presence of Odia language is gradually increasing.</b>
<p>The article by Anwesha Ambaly was <a class="external-link" href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1160407/jsp/odisha/story_78701.jsp#.VxzS3c5OL4h">published in the Telegraph</a> on April 7, 2016. Subhashish Panigrahi was quoted.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The survey, conducted last month, found nearly 61 per cent online users active on social media to be using the universal web-compatible Unicode font for Odia. Using the Unicode ensures it is searchable, sharable and reusable on the Internet, thus making its presence bigger.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">"The survey results show that more people are typing in the native script. And the use is increasing at a fast pace," said Subhashish Panigrahi, the programme officer at the Centre for Internet and Society, adding that there had been a 20 per cent rise in the number of Unicode users for Odia over the past two years.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Most people share quotes, personal opinions and news on social media in Unicode. In the first phase, the survey was conducted among 500 active social media users. More such surveys will be conducted within six months. The survey was conducted on Facebook, Twitter and some other popular social networking sites.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The survey results are particularly significant since the two other fonts used for writing Odia in the computer - Akruti and Sreelipi - are not compatible for use on the Internet.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">"Based on these survey responses, we will customise several projects so that more people join in this free and collaborative knowledge sharing movement," said Mrutyunjaya Kar, an administrator of the Odia Wikipedia Community.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Unicode font for Odia was introduced in 1991. Earlier, many people were not even aware of its existence in their personal and office computers. Unicode-compliant fonts now come preloaded in all computers across Linux, Windows and Mac operating systems. And many mobile companies also have Unicode fonts installed, especially in systems such as Android 5.0 and later versions."</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Medical student Nasim Ali said: "Apple iOS devices have Odia support to the display level where one needs to download apps to type in Odia."</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The survey also mentions that around 30.4 per cent use the Latin script to write Odia.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">However, while explaining why there was not much Odia content on the Internet, Kar said: "There is no government initiative to promote Unicode in Odia. There is a need for more initiative to implement Unicode at all levels, such as government websites, web versions of school textbooks, government circulars and other publications."</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">"We have written several letters to the state government requesting them to start using Unicode while uploading documents in government websites. But, there has been no response or action from the government's side," Kar added.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Culture secretary Manoranjan Panigrahi, however, said: "We are taking a lot of initiatives to promote Odia language at the international level. We are trying to make use of technology to make sure that its presence increase on the web platform."</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/news/the-telegraph-april-7-2016-anwesha-ambaly-odia-gets-more-space-in-e-world'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/news/the-telegraph-april-7-2016-anwesha-ambaly-odia-gets-more-space-in-e-world</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaCIS-A2KOdia WikipediaAccess to Knowledge2016-04-24T14:57:56ZNews ItemBHASHA - Indian Languages Digital Festival
https://cis-india.org/a2k/news/bhasha-indian-languages-digital-festival
<b>Subhashish Panigrahi gave a talk at the Bhasha- India Languages Digital Festival a conference organized by news media YourStory, at New Delhi on March 11, 2016. In the panel "The challenges of making regional language content available on the Web and on mobiles" Panigrahi spoke about some of the challenges in growing the Indian-language Wikipedia projects and the communities. </b>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The notes for the talk are below:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Wikipedia, that exists in many Indian languages are not known to masses. I personally did not know about the <a title="w:or:Main page" class="extiw" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/or:Main_page">Odia Wikipedia</a> until 2011 when a friend told me about its existence. Back then the project was completely inactive. And then a couple of friends and I started contributing, more contributors joined and the project grew up to what it is today. The site now has over 300,000 visitors every month and it is the largest visited site in Odia language on the Internet. This could probably be the same case for your language.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">It has been quite challenging in the past to grow the Indian-language Wikipedia projects. There are many challenges and I would talk about eight of them:</p>
<dl style="text-align: justify;"><dt>1. Language communities</dt></dl>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The language communities of many of the Indian languages are such that many of them even do no know how to search any information online in their language typed in their script. Some even share that because Google's home page does not have their script means that their language does not exist on the Internet. There exist a large gap of ignorance.</p>
<dl style="text-align: justify;"><dt>2. Wikipedia's editor community</dt></dl>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Wikipedia, as you all know, is written by people like you and me. And from writing to editing everything happens voluntarily. As many people do not probably know or do not try to learn that they themselves can correct the mistakes and inaccuracy that exist in many Wikipedia articles. The Wikipedia editor communities for several Indian languages are really small. When these languages are spoken by millions of people, only a handful editors contribute in editing the Wikipedia in these languages.</p>
<dl style="text-align: justify;"><dt>3. Language input</dt></dl>
<p style="text-align: justify;">There is a vast majority of people in this country that do not know how to type in their own language.</p>
<dl style="text-align: justify;"><dt>4. Low availability of Indian-language content on the Internet</dt></dl>
<p style="text-align: justify;">There are two stages to the lack of Open Access to information. First, lack of native language content on the Internet bars many to access knowledge. Take the example of my state. When the Kerala government's official tourism portal is available in Odia and other Indian languages, my state, the Odisha government's tourism portal has no information in Odia-language. Our languages are neglected largely in our own states.</p>
<dl style="text-align: justify;"><dt>5. Mismatch of conventional and new media</dt></dl>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Many conventional have still been using non-standard variants of ASCII/ISCII script encoding systems instead of adopting the Unicode standard. Unicode being a global standard and having the advantage of unifying the world has been available for Indian languages about 25 years now.<sup class="reference"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Subhashish_Panigrahi_speaking_at_%22BHASHA-Indian_Languages_Digital_Festival%22,_New_Delhi,_11_March_2016.ogg#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup> But many of our traditional media has failed to adopt this. Malayala Manorama, one of the most circulated dailies in Malayalam languages and one of the oldest Indian newspaper still has not started using Unicode on their website. Same is the case for many other newspapers in India.</p>
<dl style="text-align: justify;"><dt>6. Lack of Open Access</dt></dl>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The information produced on the Internet in general and by the government, in particular, are mostly copyrighted. The paywalled garden of copyright restrictions keeps the information closed and stop people from sharing and learning more. On the contrary, Wikipedia is available under a Creative Commons Share-Alike license which allows anyone to make use of the content and even distribute commercial copies of its content. The idea of opening up information for masses in a free license could make the information reach to millions of people.</p>
<dl style="text-align: justify;"><dt>7. Mobile input</dt></dl>
<p style="text-align: justify;">With over 1 billion people with mobile phones, the 15% internet penetration rate will soon grow meaning lot many Indians will have access to the Internet. If these people are not educated about native language input then they will be victims of the English-centric Internet rather than being able to enjoy the virtue of the same. Many Indians that have smartphones need pre-built input methods to be able to contribute in their own language Wikipedia.</p>
<dl style="text-align: justify;"><dt>8. People with disabilities</dt></dl>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Many cannot read, speak and write. India has over 60 million people with hearing impairment.<sup class="reference"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Subhashish_Panigrahi_speaking_at_%22BHASHA-Indian_Languages_Digital_Festival%22,_New_Delhi,_11_March_2016.ogg#cite_note-2">[2]</a></sup> There is a need for good quality text to and speech to text engine for these languages. Also, these software products have to be free software so common people, that cannot afford to buy expensive proprietary software like <a title="w:JAWS (screen reader)" class="extiw" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JAWS_(screen_reader)">JAWS</a>, can contribute to Wikipedia in their language. Many text-to-speech engines that are available today for Indian languages sound so mechanical that it is way hard for common speakers to use them.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/news/bhasha-indian-languages-digital-festival'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/news/bhasha-indian-languages-digital-festival</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaWikimediaCIS-A2KWikipediaAccess to Knowledge2016-06-18T17:14:37ZNews ItemMarch 2016 Bulletin
https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/march-2016-bulletin
<b>CIS Newsletter for the month of March 2016 is here.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) is happy to share its March 2016 newsletter. Previous issues of the newsletters can be accessed at <a href="http://cis-india.org/about/newsletters">http://cis-india.org/about/newsletters</a>.</p>
<hr style="text-align: justify;" />
<table style="text-align: justify;" class="grid listing">
<tbody>
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<th>Highlights</th>
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<td>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">CIS published and circulated two press releases on March 11 and 15, 2016, as the Lok Sabha passed the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Bill, 2016: '<a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/press-release-aadhaar-11032016-the-law-cannot-fix-what-technology-has-broken">The Law cannot Fix what Technology has Broken!</a>' and '<a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/press-release-aadhaar-15032016-the-new-bill-makes-aadhaar-compulsory">The New Bill Makes Aadhaar Compulsory!</a>'</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">CIS submitted <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/list-of-recommendations-on-the-aadhaar-bill-2016">an initial list of recommendations to the Members of Parliaments</a> to highlight the aspects of the Bill that require immediate attention. The recommendations were prepared by Amber Sinha, Sumandro Chattapadhyay, Sunil Abraham, and Vanya Rakesh.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">In an article titled <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/epw-27-february-2016-hans-varghese-mathews-flaws-in-uidai-process">Flaws in the UIDAI Process published in the Economic and Political Weekly</a>, Hans Varghese Mathews. He stated that the Government of India is engaged upon biometrically identifying the entire population of India. An experiment performed at an early stage of the programme has allowed us to estimate the chance of a false positive: and from that to estimate the proportion of duplicands. For the current population of 1.2 billion the expected proportion of duplicands is 1/121, a ratio which is far too high.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Vipul Kharbanda <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/analysis-of-aadhaar-act-in-context-of-shah-committee-principles">wrote an analysis of Aadhaar Act in the context of Justice A.P. Shah Committee Principles</a>. The analysis has thrown light on the substantial aspects of the Act in relation to privacy concerns which have been raised by a number of experts.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Pooja Saxena and Amber Sinha produced two infographics that 1) <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/aadhaar-bill-2016-evaluated-against-the-national-privacy-principles">evaluate the Aadhaar Bill 2016 against the National Privacy Principles</a>, and 2) <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/vulnerabilities-in-the-uidai-implementation-not-addressed-by-the-aadhaar-bill-2016">highlight the vulnerabilities in the UIDAI implementation process not addressed by the Aadhaar Bill, 2016</a>.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">CIS has initiated the CIS Papers series with a fascinating exploration of <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/papers/ebola-a-big-data-disaster">humanitarian use of big data and its discontents</a> by Sean McDonald, FrontlineSMS, in the context of utilisation of Call Detail Records for public health response during the Ebola crisis in Liberia.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">With the objective to sensitize and impart the skillset in handling NVDA – the Screen Reader and the usage of BookShare Online Library for the print disabled to the Special Educators, Karna Vidya Technology Centre in collaboration with Computer and Internet Society <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/report-on-nvda-with-e-speak-and-bookshare-online-library">conducted a one-day workshop</a> on February 27, 2016. 48 special educators participated and benefited from the workshop.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">An article titled 8 Challenges In Growing Indian-Language Wikipedias by Subhashish Panigrahi was first published in <a class="external-link" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.in/subhashish-panigrahi-/8-of-many-challenges-in-g_b_9457704.html">Huffington Post</a> on March 19, 2016. This was cross-posted in <a class="external-link" href="http://www.medianama.com/2016/03/223-indic-wikipedia-growth-slow-subhashish-panigrahi/">Medianama</a> titled as Multiple key factors preventing Indic Wikipedia growth on March 21, 2016.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">CIS has published a <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/report-of-the-30th-session-of-the-wipo-sccr-by-the-centre-for-internet-society">report on the 30th Session of WIPO-SCCR</a> giving an analysis of the Broadcast Treaty Negotiations and the Negotiations on International Instrument for Exceptions and Limitations for Libraries and Archives. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Anubha Sinha wrote an essay titled <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/digital-asia-hub-the-good-life-in-asias-21-st-century-anubha-sinha-fueling-the-affordable-smartphone-revolution-in-india">Fueling the Affordable Smartphone Revolution in India</a> as part of the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.digitalasiahub.org/thegoodlife/">The Good Life in Asia's Digital 21st Century essay collection</a>. She stated that smartphones have emerged as the exemplar of mankind's quest for shrinking technologies. They embody the realization of a simple premise – that computing devices would do more and cost less. This realization has been responsible for modern society's profound transformations in communication, governance, and knowledge distribution. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Rohini Lakshané wrote an analysis of the patent landscape in a research paper titled <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/patents-and-mobile-devices-in-india-an-empirical-survey">Patents and Mobile Devices in India: An Empirical Survey</a>. The paper has indicated that although India has the second-largest wireless subscriber base in the world, with more than 150 mobile device vendors, it has, until recently, remained relatively unaffected by the global smartphone wars.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, has constituted a National Expert Committee for developing a draft National Geospatial Policy (NGP) to provide appropriate guidelines for collection, analysis, use, and distribution of geospatial information across India, and to assure data availability, accessibility and quality. A pre-drafting consultation meeting for the NGP was organised in Delhi on February 3, 2016. <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/openness/consultation-on-national-geospatial-policy-03022016">Anubha Sinha attended the meeting</a>. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The glue that allows infrastructures to link and operate efficiently is standards as they make technologies interoperable and efficient tells Vanya Rakesh in a blog entry titled <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/adoption-of-standards-in-smart-cities-way-forward-for-india">Adoption of Standards in Smart Cities - Way Forward for India</a>.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">P.P. Sneha <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/raw/studying-digital-creative-industries-in-india-initial-questions">wrote a blog post </a> which <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/raw/studying-digital-creative-industries-in-india-initial-questions">studies the digital creative industries in India</a> while examining some initial questions. She stated that the term ‘creative industries’ has been around for a while now, but with the advent of the digital, and with interest from different sectors, especially with a focus on policy and economic development, it would be essential to critically examine the discourse around the term, and see where it may be changing to open up new possibilities, particularly for the arts, humanities and design.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">CIS strongly <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/cis-statement-on-sexual-harrasment-at-icann55">condemns the acts of sexual harassment that took place against one of its representatives</a> Padmini Baruah during ICANN 55 in Marrakech. It is completely unacceptable that an event the scale of an ICANN meeting does not have in place a formal redressal system, a neutral point of contact or even a policy for complainants who have been put through the ordeal of sexual harassment. ICANN cannot claim to be inclusive or diverse if it does not formally recognise a specific procedure or recourse under such instances. </li></ul>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p style="text-align: justify;">-------------------------------------- <br /><strong><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility">Accessibility & Inclusion</a></strong> <br /> ------------------------------------- <br /> India has an estimated 70 million persons with disabilities who don't have access to read printed materials due to some form of physical, sensory, cognitive or other disability. As part of our endeavour to make available accessible content for persons with disabilities we are developing a text-to-speech software in 15 languages with support from the Hans Foundation. The progress made so far in the project can be accessed <a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/resources/nvda-text-to-speech-synthesizer">here</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">►NVDA and eSpeak</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The workshops were conducted earlier but published recently on our website:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/report-on-espeak-with-nvda-screen-reader-and-assistive-technology-for-visually-challenged">Report on eSpeak with NVDA Screen Reader and Assistive Technology for Visually Challenged</a> (Organized by National Association for the Blind, New Delhi, Centre for Differently Abled Persons, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, and CIS; January 21, 2016; Tiruchirappalli).</div>
</li>
<li>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/report-on-nvda-with-e-speak-and-bookshare-online-library">Report on NVDA with E-Speak and BookShare Online Library</a> (Organized by Karna Vidya Technology Centre, Computer and Internet Society, and CIS; February 27, 2016; Chennai).</div>
</li></ul>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>----------------------------------- <br /><a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k">Access to Knowledge</a> <br /> ----------------------------------- <br /></strong>As part of the Access to Knowledge programme we are doing two projects. The first one (Pervasive Technologies) under a grant from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is for research on the complex interplay between pervasive technologies and intellectual property to support intellectual property norms that encourage the proliferation and development of such technologies as a social good. The second one (Wikipedia) under a grant from the Wikimedia Foundation is for the growth of Indic language communities and projects by designing community collaborations and partnerships that recruit and cultivate new editors and explore innovative approaches to building projects.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">►Pervasive Technologies</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Article</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/digital-asia-hub-the-good-life-in-asias-21-st-century-anubha-sinha-fueling-the-affordable-smartphone-revolution-in-india">Fueling the Affordable Smartphone Revolution in India</a> (Anubha Sinha; The Good Life in Asia's 21st Century Essay Collection; March 16, 2016).</div>
</li></ul>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Blog Entries</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/report-of-the-30th-session-of-the-wipo-sccr-by-the-centre-for-internet-society">Report of the 30th Session of the WIPO SCCR by the Centre for Internet & Society</a> (edited by Nehaa Chaudhari with assistance from Nisha S.K., Aarushi Bansal, Amulya P., and Saahil Dama; March 16, 2016).</div>
</li>
<li>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/dataset-patent-landscape-of-mobile-device-technologies-in-india">Dataset: Patent Landscape of Mobile Device Technologies in India</a> (Rohini Lakshané; March 31, 2016).</div>
</li></ul>
<ul>
<li>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/patents-and-mobile-devices-in-india-an-empirical-survey">Patents and Mobile Devices in India: An Empirical Survey </a>(Rohini Lakshané; March 31, 2016)</div>
</li></ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<p style="text-align: justify;">►Wikipedia</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">As part of the <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/access-to-knowledge-program-plan">project grant from the Wikimedia Foundation</a> we have reached out to more than 3500 people across India by organizing more than 100 outreach events and catalysed the release of encyclopaedic and other content under the Creative Commons (CC-BY-3.0) license in four Indian languages (21 books in Telugu, 13 in Odia, 4 volumes of encyclopaedia in Konkani and 6 volumes in Kannada, and 1 book on Odia language history in English).</p>
<p><strong>Articles</strong></p>
<ul>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/the-wire-march-17-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-eight-challenges-that-indian-language-wikipedias-need-to-overcome">Eight Challenges That Indian-Language Wikipedias Need to Overcome</a> (Subhashish Panigrahi; The Wire; March 17, 2016). A version of the article was also mirrored by <a href="https://opensource.com/life/16/3/8-challenges-improving-indian-language-wikipedias">Opensource.com </a>on March 28, 2016.</li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/huffington-post-march-19-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-8-challenges-in-growing-indian-language-wikipedias">8 Challenges In Growing Indian-Language Wikipedias</a> (Subhashish Panigrahi; Huffington Post; March 19, 2016). This was cross-posted in Medianama titled as <a href="http://www.medianama.com/2016/03/223-indic-wikipedia-growth-slow-subhashish-panigrahi/">Multiple key factors preventing Indic Wikipedia growth</a> on March 21, 2016.</li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/open-source-march-28-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-8-challenges-for-improving-indian-language-wikipedias">8 Challenges for Improving Indian Language Wikipedias</a> (Subhashish Panigrahi; Opensource.com; March 28, 2016). The article was originally published in <a href="http://thewire.in/2016/03/17/eight-challenges-that-indian-language-wikipedias-need-to-overcome-25062/">the Wire</a> on March 17, 2016 and later mirrored on <a href="https://opensource.com/life/16/3/8-challenges-improving-indian-language-wikipedias">Opensource.com </a>on March 28, 2016.</li></ul>
<p><strong>Participation in Event</strong></p>
<ul>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/news/bhasha-indian-languages-digital-festival">BHASHA-Indian Languages Digital Festival</a> (Organized by news media YourStory; March 11, 2016; New Delhi). Subhashish Panigrahi gave a talk in the panel “The challenges of making regional language content available on the Web and on mobiles.</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/news/8th-iba-international-conference">8th IBA International Conference</a> (Organized by Indus Business Academy; March 24 - 26, 2016; Bangalore). Dr. U.B. Pavanaja gave a talk on Democratizing of Knowledge Access- Case of Regional Language Wikipedia.</li></ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>----------------------------------- <br /></strong> <strong><a href="http://cis-india.org/openness">Openness</a> <br /> -----------------------------------</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">Our work in the Openness programme focuses on open data, especially open government data, open access, open education resources, open knowledge in Indic languages, open media, and open technologies and standards - hardware and software. We approach openness as a cross-cutting principle for knowledge production and distribution, and not as a thing-in-itself.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Submission</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/openness/consultation-on-national-geospatial-policy-03022016">Consultation on 'National Geospatial Policy' - Notes and Submission</a> (Anubha Sinha; March 29, 2016)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>----------------------------------- <br /></strong> <strong><a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance">Internet Governance</a> <br /> -----------------------------------</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">As part of its research on privacy and free speech, CIS is engaged with two different projects. The first one (under a grant from Privacy International and International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is on surveillance and freedom of expression (SAFEGUARDS). The second one (under a grant from MacArthur Foundation) is on studying the restrictions placed on freedom of expression online by the Indian government.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">►Big Data</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Article</strong></div>
<ul>
<li>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/the-wire-march-21-2016-vanya-rakesh-too-clever-by-half-strengthening-indias-smart-cities-plan-with-human-rights-protection">Too Clever By Half: Strengthening India’s Smart Cities Plan with Human Rights Protection</a> (Vanya Rakesh; The Wire; March 22, 2016).</div>
</li></ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Blog Entry</strong></div>
<ul>
<li>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/adoption-of-standards-in-smart-cities-way-forward-for-india">Adoption of Standards in Smart Cities - Way Forward for India</a> (Vanya Rakesh; March 19, 2016).</div>
</li></ul>
<div><br />►Freedom of Expression</div>
<div><strong>Statements</strong></div>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/sexual-harassment-at-icann">Sexual Harassment at ICANN</a> (Padmini Baruah; March 18, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/cis-statement-on-sexual-harrasment-at-icann55">CIS' Statement on Sexual Harassment at ICANN55 </a>(Vidushi Marda; March 21, 2016).</li></ul>
<div> </div>
<div>►Privacy</div>
<div><strong>Submission</strong></div>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/list-of-recommendations-on-the-aadhaar-bill-2016">List of Recommendations on the Aadhaar Bill, 2016 - Letter Submitted to the Members of Parliament </a>(Amber Sinha, Sumandro Chattapadhyay, Sunil Abraham, and Vanya Rakesh; March 16, 2016).</li></ul>
<div><strong>Articles</strong></div>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/epw-27-february-2016-hans-varghese-mathews-flaws-in-uidai-process">Flaws in the UIDAI Process</a> (Hans Varghese Mathews; Economic & Political Weekly, Journal, Vol. 51, Issue No. 9, February 27, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/livemint-march-7-2016-pranesh-prakash-aadhaar-still-too-many-problems">Aadhaar: Still Too Many Problems</a> (Pranesh Prakash; Livemint; March 7, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/aadhaar-bill-fails-to-incorporate-suggestions-by-the-standing-committee">Aadhaar Bill fails to incorporate suggestions by the Standing Committee </a>(Amber Sinha; The Wire; March 10, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/dna-amber-sinha-march-10-2016-are-we-losing-right-to-privacy-and-freedom-of-speech-on-indian-internet">Are we Losing the Right to Privacy and Freedom of Speech on Indian Internet?</a> (Amber Sinha; March 10, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/hindustan-times-amber-sinha-pranesh-prakash-march-12-2016-privacy-concerns-overshadow-monetary-benefits-of-aadhaar-scheme">Privacy Concerns Overshadow Monetary Benefits of Aadhaar Scheme </a>(Pranesh Prakash and Amber Sinha; Hindustan Times; March 12, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/the-quint-march-31-2016-nehaa-chaudhari-will-aadhaar-act-address-indias-dire-need-for-a-privacy-law">Will Aadhaar Act Address India’s Dire Need For a Privacy Law?</a> (Nehaa Chaudhari; Quint; March 31, 2016).</li></ul>
<div> </div>
<div><strong>Blog Entries</strong></div>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/a-comparison-of-the-2016-aadhaar-bill-and-the-2010-nidai-bill">A comparison of the 2016 Aadhaar Bill, and the 2010 NIDAI Bill</a> (Vanya Rakesh; March 9, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/aadhaar-bill-2016-niai-bill-2010-text-comparison">Aadhaar Bill 2016 & NIAI Bill 2010 - Comparing the Texts</a> (Sumandro Chattapadhyay; March 9, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/the-new-aadhaar-bill-in-plain-english">The New Aadhaar Bill in Plain English</a> (Amber Sinha, Vanya Rakesh and Vipul Kharbanda; March 11, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/an-urgent-need-for-the-right-to-privacy">An Urgent Need for the Right to Privacy</a> (Sumandro Chattapadhyay; March 16, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/press-release-aadhaar-11032016-the-law-cannot-fix-what-technology-has-broken">The Law cannot Fix what Technology has Broken!</a> (Japreet Grewal and Sunil Abraham; March 16, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/press-release-aadhaar-15032016-the-new-bill-makes-aadhaar-compulsory">The New Bill Makes Aadhaar Compulsory!</a> (Amber Sinha; March 16, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/analysis-of-aadhaar-act-in-context-of-shah-committee-principles">Analysis of Aadhaar Act in the Context of A.P. Shah Committee Principles </a>(Vipul Kharbanda; March 17, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/vulnerabilities-in-the-uidai-implementation-not-addressed-by-the-aadhaar-bill-2016">Vulnerabilities in the UIDAI Implementation Not Addressed by the Aadhaar Bill, 2016</a> (Pooja Saxena and Vipul Kharbanda; March 21, 2016).</li></ul>
<p><strong>Participation in Events</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/gni-industry-dialogue-learning-session-human-rights-impact-assessments-and-due-diligence-in-the-ict-sector">GNI-Industry Dialogue Learning Session: Human Rights Impact Assessments and Due Diligence in the ICT sector</a> (Organized by Global Network Initiative; March 11, 2016; Washington D.C.). Elonnai Hickok attended the event.</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/rightscon-silicon-valley-2016">RightsCon Silicon Valley 2016</a> (Organized by RightsCon; Mission Bay Conference Center in San Francisco, California; March 30 - April 1, 2016).</li></ul>
<div> </div>
<div><strong> </strong></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>----------------------------------- <br /></strong><a href="http://cis-india.org/telecom"><strong>Telecom</strong></a><strong> <br /> ----------------------------------- <br /></strong> CIS is involved in promoting access and accessibility to telecommunications services and resources and has provided inputs to ongoing policy discussions and consultation papers published by TRAI. It has prepared reports on unlicensed spectrum and accessibility of mobile phones for persons with disabilities and also works with the USOF to include funding projects for persons with disabilities in its mandate:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> </div>
<ul></ul>
<div><strong>Op-ed</strong></div>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/connectivity-lets-apply-what-we-know">Connectivity: Let's Apply What We Know</a> (Shyam Ponappa; Business Standard; March 2, 2016).</li></ul>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div><strong>Submission</strong></div>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/trai-consultation-on-differential-pricing-for-data-services">TRAI Consultation on Differential Pricing for Data Services - Post-Open House Discussion Submission</a> (Sumandro Chattapadhyay; March 30, 2016). </li></ul>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>----------------------------------- <br /></strong><a href="http://cis-india.org/raw"><strong>Researchers at Work</strong></a><strong> <br /> ----------------------------------- <br /></strong> The Researchers at Work (RAW) programme is an interdisciplinary research initiative driven by contemporary concerns to understand the reconfigurations of social practices and structures through the Internet and digital media technologies, and vice versa. It is interested in producing local and contextual accounts of interactions, negotiations, and resolutions between the Internet, and socio-material and geo-political processes:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Blog Entry</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/raw/studying-digital-creative-industries-in-india-initial-questions">Studying Digital Creative Industries in India: Initial Questions</a> (P.P. Sneha; March 17, 2016).</div>
</li></ul>
<p style="text-align: justify;">----------------------------------- <br /><a href="http://cis-india.org/news">News & Media Coverage</a> <br /> -----------------------------------</p>
<div style="text-align: justify;">CIS gave inputs to the following media coverage:</div>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/motherboard-march-4-2016-joseph-cox-crypto-wars-are-global">The Crypto Wars Are Global </a>(Joseph Cox; Motherboard; March 4, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/livemint-march-8-2016-shreeja-sen-govt-narrative-on-aadhaar-has-not-changed-in-last-six-years-sunil-abraham">Govt narrative on Aadhaar has not changed in the last six years: Sunil Abraham </a>(Shreeja Sen; Livemint; March 8, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/livemint-march-9-2016-shreeja-sen-aadhaar-govt-will-not-compromise-on-national-security">Aadhaar: Govt will not compromise on national security</a> (Shreeja Sen; Livemint; March 9, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/governance-now-march-9-2016-taru-bhatia-hard-to-broad-ban">Hard to broad ban! </a>(Taru Bhatia; Governance Now; March 9, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/scroll.in-anumeha-yadav-march-24-2016-seven-reasons-why-parliament-should-debate-the-aadhaar-bill-and-not-pass-it-in-a-rush">Seven reasons why Parliament should debate the Aadhaar bill </a>(and not pass it in a rush) (Anumeha Yadav; March 11, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/business-standard-sahil-makkar-march-12-2016-aadhaar-is-actually-surveillance-tech-sunil-abraham">Aadhaar is actually surveillance tech: Sunil Abraham</a> (Sahil Makkar; Business Standard; March 12, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/new-indian-express-march-14-2016-will-only-legal-backing-for-aadhaar-suffice">Will Only Legal Backing For Aadhaar Suffice?</a> (Indian Express; March 14, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/reuters-march-16-2016-sanjeev-miglani-and-manoj-kumar-indias-billion-member-biometric-database-raises-privacy-fears">India's billion-member biometric database raises privacy fears </a>(Sanjeev Miglani and Manoj Kumar; March 16, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/a-scheme-in-india-to-help-the-poor-raises-privacy-concerns">A scheme in India to help the poor raises privacy concerns </a>(John Ribeiro; IDG News Service and CSO; March 16, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/gov-now-pratap-vikram-singh-17032016-why-aadhaar-is-baseless">Pratap Vikram Singh - Why Aadhaar is Baseless?</a> (Governance Now; March 17, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/hindustan-times-march-17-2016-aloke-tikku-forget-privacy-aadhaar-bill-gives-too-much-power-to-the-executive">Forget privacy, Aadhaar Bill gives too much power to the executive </a>(Aloke Tikku; Sunil Abraham; March 17, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/voice-of-america-anjana-pasricha-march-18-2016-in-india-biometric-data-storage-sparks-demands-for-privacy-laws">In India, Biometric Data Storage Sparks Demands for Privacy Laws</a> (Anjana Pasricha; Voice of America; March 18, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/bangalore-mirror-jayanthi-madhukar-sowmya-rajaram-march-20-2016-dead-and-clicking">Dead and Clicking</a> (Jayanthi Madhukar and Sowmya Rajaram; Bangalore Mirror; March 20, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/tech-dirt-march-22-2016-india-still-trying-to-turn-optional-aadhaar-identification-number-into-mandatory-national-identity-system">India Still Trying To Turn Optional Aadhaar Identification Number Into A Mandatory National Identity System</a> (TechDirt; March 22, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-wire-march-23-2016-reetika-khera-debate-five-aadhaar-myths-that-dont-stand-up-to-scrutiny">Debate: Five Aadhaar Myths that Don’t Stand Up to Scrutiny </a>(Reetika Khera; March 23, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/scroll.in-march-24-2016-rajshekhar-anumeha-yadav-how-the-govt-gains-when-private-companies-use-aadhaar">How the government gains when private companies use Aadhaar</a> (M. Rajshekhar and Anumeha Yadav; March 24, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/ndtv-march-20-2016-making-aadhaar-mandatory-gamechanger-for-governance">Making Aadhaar Mandatory: Gamechanger For Governance?</a> (NDTV; March 24, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-wire-march-24-2016-icann-sexual-harassment-case-highlights-lack-of-procedure-at-global-internet-body">ICANN Sexual Harassment </a>Case Highlights Lack of Procedure at Global Internet Body (Wire; March 24, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-hindu-business-line-march-25-2016-bhavya-dore-securing-internets-future">Securing the internet’s future</a> (Hindu Businessline; March 25, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-times-of-india-march-25-2016-kim-arora-on-google-maps-jnu-top-result-in-search-for-anti-national">On Google Maps, JNU top result in search for 'anti-national'</a> (Kim Arora; The Times of India; March 25, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/bangalore-mirror-march-30-2016-kavita-patil-woman-alleges-harassment-at-major-international-conference">Woman Alleges Harassment at Major International Conference </a>(Kavita Patil; Bangalore Mirror; March 30, 2016).</li></ul>
<p><strong>----------------------------------- <br /><a href="http://cis-india.org/">About CIS</a> <br /> ----------------------------------- </strong><br /> The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) is a non-profit organisation that undertakes interdisciplinary research on internet and digital technologies from policy and academic perspectives. The areas of focus include digital accessibility for persons with diverse abilities, access to knowledge, intellectual property rights, openness (including open data, free and open source software, open standards, open access, open educational resources, and open video), internet governance, telecommunication reform, digital privacy, and cyber-security. The academic research at CIS seeks to understand the reconfigurations of social and cultural processes and structures as mediated through the internet and digital media technologies.</p>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">We invite researchers, practitioners, artists, and theoreticians, both organisationally and as individuals, to engage with us on topics related internet and society, and improve our collective understanding of this field. To discuss such possibilities, please write to Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, at sunil@cis-india.org (for policy research), or Sumandro Chattapadhyay, Research Director, at sumandro@cis-india.org (for academic research), with an indication of the form and the content of the collaboration you might be interested in. To discuss collaborations on Indic language Wikipedia projects, write to Tanveer Hasan, Programme Officer, at <a>tanveer@cis-india.org</a>.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><em>CIS is grateful to its primary donor the Kusuma Trust founded by Anurag Dikshit and Soma Pujari, philanthropists of Indian origin for its core funding and support for most of its projects. CIS is also grateful to its other donors, Wikimedia Foundation, Ford Foundation, Privacy International, UK, Hans Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and IDRC for funding its various projects</em>.</div>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong> </strong></p>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><strong><strong> </strong></strong></div>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/march-2016-bulletin'>https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/march-2016-bulletin</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaNewsletter2016-04-13T08:05:42ZPage8 Challenges In Growing Indian-Language Wikipedias
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/huffington-post-march-19-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-8-challenges-in-growing-indian-language-wikipedias
<b>While speaking at BHASHA: Indian Languages Digital Festival, a day-long discourse at New Delhi on Indian languages and their state in new media, especially digital platforms, I touched upon Wikipedia in Indian languages. Most people, in fact, do not even know that Wikipedia exists in many Indian languages. </b>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The article was first published in <a class="external-link" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.in/subhashish-panigrahi-/8-of-many-challenges-in-g_b_9457704.html">Huffington Post</a> on March 19, 2016. This was cross-posted in <a class="external-link" href="http://www.medianama.com/2016/03/223-indic-wikipedia-growth-slow-subhashish-panigrahi/">Medianama</a> titled as Multiple key factors preventing Indic Wikipedia growth on March 21, 2016.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify;">I personally did not know about the <a href="https://or.wikipedia.org/" target="_hplink">Odia Wikipedia</a> until 2011 when a friend told me about its existence. Back then the project was completely inactive. And then a couple of friends and I started contributing, and the project grew to what it is today. The site now has more than <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Odia_Wikipedia_stats_(January_2016).png" target="_hplink">300,000 visitors</a> every month and it is the most-visited Odia language site on the internet. Other languages, I believe, could follow a similar trajectory on Wikipedia, but there are several challenges along the way.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Many people do not even know how to search for information online in their own language, typed in its script.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>1. Ignorance of language communities</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" class="callout">Many people do not even know how to search for information online in their own language, typed in its script. Some even share that because Google's home page does not have their script it means that their language does not exist on the internet. This ignorance perpetuates the gap.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>2.Wikipedia's editor community</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Wikipedia, as you all know, is written and edited by people like you and me who volunteer their efforts. Many people probably do not know or do not try to learn that they themselves can correct the mistakes and inaccuracies that exist in many Wikipedia articles and become editors. The Wikipedia editor communities for several Indian languages are really small. When these languages are spoken by millions of people, only a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.in/subhashish-panigrahi-/when-wikipedia-is-turning_b_9025690.html" target="_hplink">handful of editors</a> contribute in editing the Wikipedia in these languages.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>3.Language input in computers</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">A vast majority of people in this country <a href="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-01-17/news/30635792_1_indian-languages-indic-computer" target="_hplink">do not</a> know <a href="https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Universal_Language_Selector" target="_hplink">how to type</a> in their own language. There is also little documentation for users to learn about language input. Even though many government-run schools in India are seeing more computers and internet, native language input is not widely. However, there is a lot of free software for language input and the <a href="https://www.aclweb.org/anthology/W/W11/W11-3501.pdf" target="_hplink">challenges</a> of typing in Indian language that existed a few years back have almost gone. You just have to look for the right tools.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>4. Language input in mobile devices</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">With over <a href="http://www.trai.gov.in/WriteReadData/PressRealease/Document/PR-TeleSubData_Oct_2015.pdf" target="_hplink">1 billion</a> people with mobile phones, the 15% internet penetration rate will soon grow. This in turn will help a lot many Indians to get access to the internet. If these people are not educated about native language input then they will be unnecessarily constricted by the English-centric internet. Many Indians that have smartphones need inbuilt input methods to be able to contribute in their own language Wikipedia.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" class="callout">Many Indians that have smartphones need inbuilt input methods to be able to contribute in their own language Wikipedia.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>5. Low availability of Indian-language content on the Internet</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Lack of native language content on the Internet bars many from accessing knowledge. As per the Internet and Mobile Association of India survey conducted in 2012, over 6% of the population is deterred from going online because of lack of content in their languages. Take the example of my state. When the Kerala government's <a href="https://www.keralatourism.org/languages/" target="_hplink">official tourism portal</a> is available in Odia and other Indian languages, the Odisha government's tourism portal has <a href="http://www.odishatourism.gov.in/" target="_hplink">no information</a> in Odia language today. Our languages are neglected in our own states.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>6. Mismatch of conventional and new media</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Many conventional media houses still use non-standard variants of ASCII/ISCII script encoding systems instead of adopting the Unicode standard. Unicode being a global standard and having the advantage of unifying the world has been available for Indian languages for about <a href="http://www.unicode.org/Public/reconstructed/1.0.0/UnicodeData.txt" target="_hplink">25 years</a> now. But many of our traditional media have failed to adopt this. Many popular Indian-language newspapers are yet to become available in Unicode.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>7. Lack of open access</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Most of the information produced on the internet in general and by the <a href="http://www.bits-pilani.ac.in/uploads/Patent_ManualOct_25th_07.pdf" target="_hplink">government</a>, in particular, is copyrighted. The paywalled garden of copyright restrictions keeps the information closed and stops people from sharing and learning more. On the contrary, Wikipedia is available under a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_3.0_Unported_License" target="_hplink">Creative Commons Share-Alike license</a> which allows anyone to make use of the content and even distribute commercial copies of it. The idea of opening up information for the masses in a free license could make the information reach millions of people.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" class="callout">Many conventional media houses still use non-standard variants of ASCII/ISCII script encoding systems instead of adopting the Unicode standard.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>8. People with disabilities</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Many people cannot read, speak and write. India has over <a href="http://www.entwb.com/public-patients/general-information/deafness" target="_hplink">60 million people</a> with hearing impairment. There is a need for a good quality text-to-speech and speech-to-text engine for people with physical disabilities. Also, these software products have to be free so that common people who cannot afford to buy expensive proprietary software like JAWS can contribute to Wikipedia in their language. Many text-to-speech engines that are available today for Indian languages sound so mechanical that it is tough for common speakers to use them.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/huffington-post-march-19-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-8-challenges-in-growing-indian-language-wikipedias'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/huffington-post-march-19-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-8-challenges-in-growing-indian-language-wikipedias</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaWikimediaCIS-A2KWikipediaAccess to Knowledge2016-06-18T17:11:05ZBlog EntryEight Challenges That Indian-Language Wikipedias Need to Overcome
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/the-wire-march-17-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-eight-challenges-that-indian-language-wikipedias-need-to-overcome
<b>Even after a decade of existence, Indian language Wikipedias are not yet known to many Indian language speakers. Wikipedia, being the largest available encyclopedia made in the human history, it what it is today because of the hundreds and thousands of volunteer-editors. But while native-language Wikipedias are becoming game-changers in other corners of the world, the scenario in India is skewed. In my experience, here are a number of challenges that Indian-language Wikipedias are currently facing.</b>
<p>The article was published in <a class="external-link" href="http://thewire.in/2016/03/17/eight-challenges-that-indian-language-wikipedias-need-to-overcome-25062/">the Wire </a>on March 17, 2016. A version of the article was also mirrored by <a class="external-link" href="https://opensource.com/life/16/3/8-challenges-improving-indian-language-wikipedias">Opensource.com </a>on March 28, 2016.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>1. Language communities:</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The language communities of many of the Indian languages are such that many of them do not know how to search for information online, in their language typed in their script. Some of these communities even believe that because Google’s home page does not have their script, their language does not exist on the Internet. Starting with<a href="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-06-22/news/29689671_1_languages-machine-translation-indic" target="_blank"> five Indian languages</a> as the language of its interface, Google now has has nine Indian languages. But this does not stop a Santali or Manipuri user to search in Unicode Ol chiki (script for Santali) or in Unicode Meithei (script for Manipuri). Google or any search engine for that matter will display anything available in any script on the Internet. But the lack of this very thing is keeping many people away from being connected to the Internet in general and Wikipedia in particular.\</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>2. Wikipedia’s editor community:</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Wikipedia is written by people like you and me. And from writing to editing everything happens voluntarily. As many people do not probably know, or do not try to learn, anybody can correct the mistakes and inaccuracies that exist in many Wikipedia articles. The Wikipedia editor communities for several Indian languages are really small. While these languages are spoken by millions of people, only a<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.in/subhashish-panigrahi-/when-wikipedia-is-turning_b_9025690.html" target="_blank"> handful editors</a> contribute in editing the Wikipedia in these languages. In January this year, the <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hindi_Wikipedia_stats_January_2016.png" target="_blank">Hindi Wikipedia</a>, for instance, had only 89 editors while the total number of Hindi speakers would be over 550 million.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>3. Language input in computers:</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">A vast majority of people in this country <a href="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-01-17/news/30635792_1_indian-languages-indic-computer" target="_blank">do not</a> know<a href="https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Universal_Language_Selector" target="_blank"> how to type</a> in their own language.. There is also little documentation for users to learn about language input. Even though many <a href="http://mhrd.gov.in/ict_overview">government-run schools</a> in India are seeing a proliferation of more computers and Internet access, native language input and several other <a href="http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bengaluru/Government-Schools-Fail-to-Log-into-Computers/2015/11/17/article3132258.ece" target="_blank">essential training of basic computing</a> are not widely taught in schools in all states. What is sad is that there is a wide variety of free software for native-language input and the<a href="https://www.aclweb.org/anthology/W/W11/W11-3501.pdf"> challenges</a> of typing in Indian languages that existed a few years back has almost gone.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>4. Language input in mobile devices:</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">With over<a href="http://www.trai.gov.in/WriteReadData/PressRealease/Document/PR-TeleSubData_Oct_2015.pdf" target="_blank"> 1 billion</a> people with mobile phones, the 15% internet penetration rate will soon grow at a faster pace. This in turn — and also tough competition that compel TSPs to<a href="http://www.mobiletor.com/bsnl-to-drop-3g-internet-rates-by-50-percent-the-tariff-wars-continue/"> drop data charges</a> — will help many Indians get access to the Internet . If these people are not educated about native language input then they will be <a href="http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/Nz7KxIkmUJdacebMwzzcOJ/English-the-Web-and-digital-caste.html" target="_blank">victims</a> of the <a href="https://books.google.co.in/books?id=8CM68DP6dWcC&lpg=PA234&ots=5SsRhkCvJk&dq=English-centric%20Internet&pg=PA234#v=onepage&q=English-centric%20Internet&f=false" target="_blank">English-centric Internet</a> rather than being able to enjoy the virtue of the same. Many Indians that have smartphones need full Indian language support and especially inbuilt input methods to be able to contribute in their own language Wikipedia.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>5. Low availability of Indian-language content on the Internet:</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2015/02/13-digital-divide-developing-world-west/west_internet-access.pdf" target="_blank">Lack of native language content on the Internet</a> is another major factor in the low adoption of Indian language Wikpedias. As per an Internet and Mobile Association of India survey conducted in 2012, over 6% of the population is left behind from joining the online sphere simply because of lack of content in their languages. Take, for instance, my state odisha.While the Kerala government’s<a href="https://www.keralatourism.org/languages/" target="_blank"> official tourism portal</a> is available in Odia and other Indian languages, the Odisha government’s tourism portal itself has<a href="http://www.odishatourism.gov.in/" target="_blank"> no information</a> in Odia-language today. Our languages are neglected largely in our own states.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>6. Mismatch of conventional and new media:</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Many conventional media houses still continue to use non-standard variants of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASCII" target="_blank">ASCII</a>/<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Script_Code_for_Information_Interchange">ISCII</a> script encoding systems, instead of adopting the <a href="http://unicode.org/faq/indic.html">Unicode</a> standard. Unicode being a global standard, and having the advantage of unifying the world, has been available for Indian languages for almost<a href="http://www.unicode.org/Public/reconstructed/1.0.0/UnicodeData.txt"> 25 years</a> now. But much of our vernacular print media has failed to adopt this. Consequently, many popular Indian-language newspapers are yet to become available in Unicode on the open Internet.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>7. Lack of Open Access: </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Majority of the information produced on the Internet in general and by the<a href="http://www.bits-pilani.ac.in/uploads/Patent_ManualOct_25th_07.pdf" target="_blank"> government</a>, in particular, are mostly copyrighted. The paywalled garden of copyright restrictions keeps the information closed and stop people from sharing and learning more. On the contrary, Wikipedia is available under a<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_3.0_Unported_License"> Creative Commons Share-Alike license</a> which allows anyone to make use of the content and even distribute commercial copies of its content. The idea of opening up information for masses in a free license could make information reach millions of people.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>8. People with disabilities:</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Many people cannot read, speak and write. India has over<a href="http://www.entwb.com/public-patients/general-information/deafness" target="_blank"> 60 million people</a> with some form of hearing impairment. There is a desperate need for a high-quality <a href="http://www.nvaccess.org/" target="_blank">text-to-speech</a> and speech-to-text engine for people with physical disabilities. Also, these software products have to be free software so that common people, that cannot afford to buy expensive proprietary software like JAWS, can contribute to Wikipedia in their language. Many text-to-speech engines that are available today for Indian languages sound so mechanical that it is difficult for common speakers to use them.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em>Subhashish Panigrahi is an educator and free knowledge evangelist, and currently works for Communications, Program Capacity & Learning at Wikimedia Foundation, and Access to Knowledge at the Centre for Internet and Society. Portions of this article came from a speech that Panigrahi gave at BHASHA: Indian Languages Digital Festival in New Delhi. </em></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/the-wire-march-17-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-eight-challenges-that-indian-language-wikipedias-need-to-overcome'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/the-wire-march-17-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-eight-challenges-that-indian-language-wikipedias-need-to-overcome</a>
</p>
No publishersubhaWikimediaCIS-A2KWikipediaAccess to Knowledge2016-03-29T17:05:36ZBlog Entry8 Challenges for Improving Indian Language Wikipedias
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/open-source-march-28-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-8-challenges-for-improving-indian-language-wikipedias
<b>After more than 10 years in existence, the Indian-language Wikipedias still are not known to many Indian language speakers. Wikipedia became the largest encyclopedia in history as a result of thousands of volunteer editors.</b>
<p>The article was originally published in <a class="external-link" href="http://thewire.in/2016/03/17/eight-challenges-that-indian-language-wikipedias-need-to-overcome-25062/">the Wire</a> on March 17, 2016 and later mirrored on <a class="external-link" href="https://opensource.com/life/16/3/8-challenges-improving-indian-language-wikipedias">Opensource.com </a>on March 28, 2016.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify;">Whereas native-language Wikipedias are becoming game changers in other corners of the world, the scenario in India is skewed. While speaking at the "<a href="http://indianlanguagefestival.com/2016/#event-agenda">BHASHA: Indian Languages Digital Festival</a>," a day-long discourse at New Delhi on Indian languages and their state in the new media (especially on the digital platforms), I <a href="https://soundcloud.com/psubhashish/bhasha-indian-languages-digital-festival">shared</a> challenges that Indian language Wikipedias are facing.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">1. Language communities</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Many native Indian language speakers do not know how to search online using language typed in their script. Because Google's home page does not display their language script as an option, people often think that their language does not exist on the Internet. Google now has nine Indian languages. But this does not stop a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santali_language">Santali</a> or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meithei_language">Manipuri</a> speaker from searching in Unicode <a href="http://www.alanwood.net/unicode/ol-chiki.html">Ol chiki</a> (script for Santali) or in <a href="http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Meithei_script">Unicode Meithei</a> (script for Manipuri). Google and other search engines will display content in any script on the Internet, but not knowing this keeps many people off the Internet, which also means off of Wikipedia.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">2. Wikipedia's editor community</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Wikipedia is created by people like you and me. From writing to editing, everything happens voluntarily. Many people do not understand that they can correct mistakes and help improve Wikipedia articles. The Wikipedia editor communities for several Indian languages are really small. Although these languages are spoken by millions of people, only a <a href="https://opensource.com/life/16/2/why-its-essential-grow-indian-language-wikipedias">handful of editors</a> contribute in editing the Wikipedia in these languages. As of January 2016, the <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hindi_Wikipedia_stats_January_2016.png">Hindi Wikipedia</a> had only 89 editors, whereas Hindi falls right behind English on the list of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_native_speakers">top languages by number of native speakers</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">3. Language input in computer</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">A majority of people in India <a href="http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-01-17/news/30635792_1_indian-languages-indic-computer">do not</a> know <a href="https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Universal_Language_Selector">how to type</a> in their own language. Also, there is little documentation for users to learn about language input. Even though many government-run schools in India are seeing more computers and have Internet access, native language input and several other <a href="http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bengaluru/Government-Schools-Fail-to-Log-into-Computers/2015/11/17/article3132258.ece">basic computer training</a> are not widely taught in schools in all states. Free software for language input is available, and the <a href="https://www.aclweb.org/anthology/W/W11/W11-3501.pdf">challenges of typing in Indian languages</a> (PDF) that existed in the past are mostly resolved.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">4. Language input in mobile devices</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">With more than <a href="http://www.trai.gov.in/WriteReadData/PressRealease/Document/PR-TeleSubData_Oct_2015.pdf">1 billion people in India</a> (PDF) with mobile phones, the 15% Internet penetration rate will soon grow at a faster pace. This growth and tough competition is compelling telecom service providers to <a href="http://www.mobiletor.com/bsnl-to-drop-3g-internet-rates-by-50-percent-the-tariff-wars-continue/">drop data charges</a>, which will help more Indians get access to the Internet. If these people are not educated about native language input, then they will be <a href="http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/Nz7KxIkmUJdacebMwzzcOJ/English-the-Web-and-digital-caste.html">stuck inside an English-centric Internet</a> rather than being able to navigate in their own languages. Many Indians who have smartphones need full Indian language support—and especially built-in input methods—to contribute in their own language Wikipedia.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">5. Low availability of Indian-language content on the Internet</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2015/02/13-digital-divide-developing-world-west/west_internet-access.pdf">Lack of native language content on the Internet</a> is a barrier to accessing knowledge. For example, let's look at my state Odisha. The Kerala (Indian state) government's <a href="https://www.keralatourism.org/languages/">official tourism portal</a> is available in Odia and other Indian languages, but the Odisha government's tourism portal has <a href="http://www.odishatourism.gov.in/">no information</a> in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odia_language">Odia language</a> today. Our languages are largely neglected <em>in our own states</em>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">6. Mismatch of conventional and new media</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Many conventional media houses still use non-standard variants of ASCII/ISCII script encoding systems instead of adopting the <a href="http://unicode.org/faq/indic.html">Unicode</a> standard. As a global standard, Unicode can help unify the world and has been available for Indian languages for almost 25 years. But many of our print media have failed to adopt this, and many popular Indian-language newspapers still aren't available in Unicode.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">7. Lack of open access</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Much information online, including content created by the government, is under copyright licensing. The pay-wall gardens and copyright restrictions keep information closed and prevents people from sharing content. Wikipedia content, on the other hand, is available under <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_3.0_Unported_License">Creative Commons Share-Alike licensing</a>, which allows anyone to use the content (and even distribute commercial copies of it). The idea of opening up content under free licenses can help information reach countless additional people.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">8. Accessibility</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">India has more than <a href="http://www.entwb.com/public-patients/general-information/deafness">60-million people</a> with hearing impairments. Many people with physical disabilities need good <a href="http://www.nvaccess.org/">text-to-speech</a> and speech-to-text engines. And these software solutions must be free, so that anyone, regardless of their finances, can contribute to Wikipedia in their own languages.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/open-source-march-28-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-8-challenges-for-improving-indian-language-wikipedias'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/open-source-march-28-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-8-challenges-for-improving-indian-language-wikipedias</a>
</p>
No publishersubhaWikimediaCIS-A2KWikipediaAccess to Knowledge2016-03-29T17:05:15ZBlog EntryFebruary 2016 Bulletin
https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/february-2016-bulletin
<b></b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Centre for Internet & Society is happy to share its February 2016 newsletter. Previous issues of the newsletters can be accessed at <a href="http://cis-india.org/about/newsletters">http://cis-india.org/about/newsletters</a>.</p>
<hr />
<table class="grid listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center; ">Highlights</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The Researchers at Work programme organised the <a href="http://cis-india.org/raw/irc16">Internet Researchers' Conference 2016 (IRC16)</a> on February 26-28. It was hosted by the Centre for Political Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, and was generously supported by the CSCS Digital Innovation Fund.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Subhashish Panigrahi won the <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/news/odisha-news-february-22-2016-intellects-holds-second-international-conclave-of-odia-language">Yuva Prerana Samman award</a>. The award was conferred during the 2nd International Conclave of Odia Language (organized by Intellects, a Delhi-based progressive forum of intellectuals) at the India International Centre in New Delhi on February 20, 2016. <a class="external-link" href="http://www.odishanewsinsight.com/events/the-intellects-holds-2nd-international-conclave-of-odia-language/">Odisha News</a> covered the event.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Subhashish Panigrahi <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/the-hoot-feburay-19-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-can-wikipedia-revive-dying-indian-languages">wrote an article for the Hoot</a> on whether Wikipedia could revive dying Indian languages. Panigrahi stated that by encouraging content and involvement languages could be kept relevant. The article was republished by Pratham Books.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Kannada Wikipedia just celebrated its 13th anniversary. As part of the <a class="external-link" href="https://blog.wikimedia.org/tag/wikipediansspeak/">WikipediansSpeak</a> series Subhashish Panigrahi caught up with <a class="external-link" href="https://kn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B2%B8%E0%B2%A6%E0%B2%B8%E0%B3%8D%E0%B2%AF:VASANTH_S.N">Vasanth</a> to learn about his contributions to the Kannada Wikipedia. <a class="external-link" href="http://blog.wikimedia.org/2016/02/28/kannada-wikipedia-vasanth-sn/">In the discussion</a> Vasanth shared his long time involvement in the Wikimedia movement, and spoke about what drove him every day to edit Wikipedia and helping other fellow Wikimedians.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Sunil Abraham's <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/first-post-february-9-2016-sunil-abraham-facebook-fall-from-grace-arab-spring-to-indian-winter">article on Facebook's Free Basics</a> was published by First Post. He stated that there is more to come from TRAI in terms of net neutrality regulations especially for throttling and blocking.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Nehaa Chaudhari <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/the-socio-legal-review-nehaa-chaudhari-standard-essential-patent-on-low-cost-mobile-phones-in-india">wrote an article</a> for the Socio Legal Review (National Law School of India University). The article seeks to examine legal and policy lever and the role of regulator in the development of an enabling environment for access to sub-hundred dollar mobile devices.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">In a <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/raw/aakash-tablet-and-technological-imaginaries-of-education-in-india-excerpt">recently published paper</a>, Jahnavi Phalkey and Sumandro Chattapadhyay explore public initiatives in technological solutions for educating the poor and the disadvantaged in independent India.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) had published a book in 2014 that examines free speech, expression and media development. The chapter contains a Foreword by Irina Bokova, Director General, UNESCO. Pranesh Prakash <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/unesco-world-trends-in-freedom-of-expression-and-media-development">contributed to the Independence: Introduction - Global Media Chapter</a>. The book was edited by Courtney C. Radsch.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">India should apply electronic toll collection systems to roads, and adapt road network concepts in organizing and managing communications networks wrote Shyam Ponappa <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/shyam-ponappa-business-standard-february-3-2016-bottled-up-national-assets">in an Op-Ed published by the Business Standard</a>.</li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">-------------------------------------- <br /><strong><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility">Accessibility & Inclusion</a></strong> <br /> ------------------------------------- <br /> India has an estimated 70 million persons with disabilities who don't have access to read printed materials due to some form of physical, sensory, cognitive or other disability. As part of our endeavour to make available accessible content for persons with disabilities we are developing a text-to-speech software in 15 languages with support from the Hans Foundation. The progress made so far in the project can be accessed <a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/resources/nvda-text-to-speech-synthesizer">here</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►NVDA and eSpeak</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Report</p>
<ul>
<li>
<div style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/february-2016-report.pdf">February 2016</a> (Suman Dogra; February 28, 2016).</div>
</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>----------------------------------- <br /><a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k">Access to Knowledge</a> <br /> ----------------------------------- <br /></strong>As part of the Access to Knowledge programme we are doing two projects. The first one (Pervasive Technologies) under a grant from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is for research on the complex interplay between pervasive technologies and intellectual property to support intellectual property norms that encourage the proliferation and development of such technologies as a social good. The second one (Wikipedia) under a grant from the Wikimedia Foundation is for the growth of Indic language communities and projects by designing community collaborations and partnerships that recruit and cultivate new editors and explore innovative approaches to building projects.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Pervasive Technologies</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Article</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>
<div style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/the-socio-legal-review-nehaa-chaudhari-standard-essential-patent-on-low-cost-mobile-phones-in-india">Standard Essential Patents on Low-Cost Mobile Phones in India: A Case to Strengthen Competition Regulation?</a> (Nehaa Chaudhari; Socio Legal Review, National Law School of India University; February 25, 2016).</div>
</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Participation in Event</strong></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/news/2016-works-in-progress-intellectual-property-wipip-colloquium">2016 Works-in-Progress Intellectual Property ("WIPIP") Colloquium</a> (Organized by School of Law, University of Washington; Washington D.C.; February 19 - 20, 2016). Prof. Jorge Contreras presented a paper co-authored by Rohini Lakshané on the patent landscape conducted for the Pervasive Technologies project.</li>
</ul>
<p>► Copyright and Patent</p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/mhrd-ipr-chair-series-information-received-from-university-of-madras">MHRD IPR Chair Series: Information Received from University of Madras</a> (Karan Tripathi; February 19, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/mhrd-ipr-chair-series-information-received-from-cochin-university-of-science-and-technology">MHRD IPR Chair Series: Information Received from Cochin University of Science and Technology</a> (Karan Tripathi; February 21, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/mhrd-ipr-chair-series-information-received-from-iit-bombay">MHRD IPR Chair Series: Information Received from IIT, Bombay</a> (Karan Tripathi; February 22, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/mhrd-ipr-chair-series-information-received-from-iit-delhi">MHRD IPR Chair Series: Information Received from IIT, Delhi</a> (Karan Tripathi; February 22, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/the-new-guidelines-for-computer-related-inventions-are-a-big-win-for-foss-in-india">The new Guidelines for Computer Related Inventions are a big win for FOSS in India!</a> (Anubha Sinha; February 23, 2016).</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Event Organized</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>
<div style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/events/ip-meetup-01-prof-biswajit-dhar-on-intellectual-property-issues-the-way-forward-post-nairobi-wto-ministerial">IP Meetup #01: Prof. Biswajit Dhar on 'Intellectual Property issues: The Way Forward post Nairobi WTO Ministerial'</a> (CIS, New Delhi; February 7, 2016). Prof. Dhar gave a talk.</div>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify; "></div>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Wikipedia</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As part of the <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/access-to-knowledge-program-plan">project grant from the Wikimedia Foundation</a> we have reached out to more than 3500 people across India by organizing more than 100 outreach events and catalysed the release of encyclopaedic and other content under the Creative Commons (CC-BY-3.0) license in four Indian languages (21 books in Telugu, 13 in Odia, 4 volumes of encyclopaedia in Konkani and 6 volumes in Kannada, and 1 book on Odia language history in English).</p>
<p><strong>Articles</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/the-hoot-feburay-19-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-can-wikipedia-revive-dying-indian-languages">Can Wikipedia revive dying Indian languages?</a> (Subhashish Panigrahi; The <a class="external-link" href="http://www.thehoot.org/media-watch/digital-media/can-wikipedia-revive-dying-indian-languages-9186">Hoot</a>; February 19, 2016 and mirrored by <a class="external-link" href="http://blog.prathambooks.org/2016/02/can-wikipedia-revive-dying-indian.html">Pratham Books</a>; February 22, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wikimedia-blog-subhashish-panigrahi-community-digest-estonians-working-on-new-feedback-system-for-wikipedia-articles">Community Digest—Estonians working on a new feedback system for Wikipedia articles</a> (Subhashish Panigrahi; Wikimedia Blog; February 27, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wikimedia-blog-february-28-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-looking-ahead-to-future-of-kannada-wikipedia">Looking ahead to the future of the Kannada Wikipedia: Vasanth S.N.</a> (Subhashish Panigrahi; Wikimedia Blog; February 29, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/suryaprava-subhashish-panigrahi-february-22-2016-article">ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷା ପାଇଁ ଏକ ଅନୁଶୀଳନ</a> (Subhashish Panigrahi; Suryaprava; February 22, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/b13b21b3cb3fb06-b2db3eb37b3e-b2ab3eb07b01-b0fb15-b05b28b41b36b40b33b28">ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷା ପାଇଁ ଏକ ଅନୁଶୀଳନ</a> (Subhashish Panigrahi; Samaja; February 21, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/b2eb3eb24b43b2db3eb37b3e-b26b3fb2cb38-b06b1cb3fb30-b38b2eb38b4db5fb3e-b13-b06b39b4db71b3eb28">ମାତୃଭାଷା ଦିବସ: ଆଜିର ସମସ୍ୟା ଓ ଆହ୍ୱାନ</a> (Subhashish Panigrahi; Sambad; February 21, 2016).</li>
</ul>
<div><strong>Submission</strong></div>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/cultural-institution-aka-glam-for-more-oer">Cultural institution AKA GLAM for more OER</a> (Subhashish Panigrahi; February 27, 2016). Subhashish's submission under the theme of "Innovative approaches to opening up cultural heritage collections for education" has been selected for the OER16 conference to be held in Edinburg, Scotland from 19 to 20 April 2016.</li>
</ul>
<div><strong>Media Coverage</strong></div>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/news/eenadu-telugu-wikipedia-january-14-2016-youth-responsible-for-protecting-telugu">Youth is responsible for protecting Telugu</a> (Eenadu; January 14, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/news/scroll.in-february-6-2016-madhav-gadgil-why-arent-indians-using-wikipedia-to-hold-the-government-to-account">Why aren’t Indians using Wikipedia to hold the government to account?</a> (Madhav Gadgil; Scroll.in; February 6, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/news/hindustan-times-kanika-sharma-february-14-2016-now-trending-regional-indian-language-social-media-networks">Now trending: Regional Indian language social media networks</a> (Kanika Sharma; Hindustan Times; February 14, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/news/eenadu-february-21-2016-international-mother-language-day">International Mother Language Day</a> (Eenadu; February 21, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/news/caaccdcb0cb6cbec82ca4cb5ca8">ಪ್ರಶಾಂತವನ</a> (Prashasti Prashantavanam; February 21, 2016).</li>
</ul>
<div><strong>Award</strong></div>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The Intellects, a Delhi-based progressive forum of intellectuals, held the 2nd International Conclave of Odia Language at the India International Centre in New Delhi on February 20, 2016. Subhashish Panigrahi participated in the event and won the <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/news/odisha-news-february-22-2016-intellects-holds-second-international-conclave-of-odia-language">Yuva Prerana Samman award</a>. <a class="external-link" href="http://www.odishanewsinsight.com/events/the-intellects-holds-2nd-international-conclave-of-odia-language/">Odisha News</a> covered the event.</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Event Organized</strong></div>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/openness/events/digitisation-sprint-at-andhra-loyola-college-vijayawada-to-bring-more-books-on-telugu-wikisource">Digitisation sprint at Andhra Loyola College Vijayawada to bring more books on Telugu Wikisource</a> (Andhra Loyola College, Off Eluru Road, Behind Vinayak Theater, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh; February 12 to 14, 2016).<strong> </strong></li>
</ul>
<div><strong>----------------------------------- <br /></strong> <strong><a href="http://cis-india.org/openness">Openness</a> <br /> -----------------------------------</strong></div>
<div>Our work in the Openness programme focuses on open data, especially open government data, open access, open education resources, open knowledge in Indic languages, open media, and open technologies and standards - hardware and software. We approach openness as a cross-cutting principle for knowledge production and distribution, and not as a thing-in-itself.</div>
<p><strong>Articles</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>
<div style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/openness/monitoring-sustainable-development-goals-in-india-availability-and-openness-01">Monitoring Sustainable Development Goals in India: Availability and Openness of Data (Part I)</a> (Kiran AB, Openness Blog, February 22, 2016)</div>
</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Submission</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>
<div style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/openness/open-data-hackathons-are-great-but-address-privacy-and-license-concerns">Open Data Hackathons are Great, but Address Privacy and License Concerns</a> (Nisha Thompson, Cross-posted from DataMeet, February 05, 2016)</div>
</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Participation in Event</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>
<div style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/openness/news/national-koha-conclave"></a><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/openness/news/national-koha-conclave">National Koha Conclave</a> (Organized by Informatics Publishing; Fortune Park JP Celestial; Bangalore; February 17, 2016). Sunil Abraham delivered the inaugural address on the occasion.</div>
</li>
</ul>
<div><strong>----------------------------------- <br /></strong> <strong><a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance">Internet Governance</a> <br /> -----------------------------------</strong></div>
<div>As part of its research on privacy and free speech, CIS is engaged with two different projects. The first one (under a grant from Privacy International and International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is on surveillance and freedom of expression (SAFEGUARDS). The second one (under a grant from MacArthur Foundation) is on studying the restrictions placed on freedom of expression online by the Indian government.</div>
<div>►Big Data</div>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/database-on-big-data-and-smart-cities-international-standards">Database on Big Data and Smart Cities International Standards</a> (Vanya Rakesh; February 11, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/papers/ebola-a-big-data-disaster">Sean McDonald - Ebola: A Big Data Disaster</a> (Sumandro Chattapadhyay; February 29, 2016).</li>
</ul>
<div></div>
<div>►Freedom of Expression</div>
<div><strong>Articles</strong></div>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/global-voices-subhashish-panigrahi-february-9-2016-a-good-day-for-the-internet-everywhere">‘A Good Day for the Internet Everywhere': India Bans Differential Data Pricing</a> (Subhashish Panigrahi; Global Voices; February 9, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/odisha-tv-february-9-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-net-neutrality-advocates-rejoice-as-trai-bans-differential-pricing">Net Neutrality Advocates Rejoice As TRAI Bans Differential Pricing</a> (Subhashish Panigrahi; Odisha TV; February 9, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/first-post-february-9-2016-sunil-abraham-facebook-fall-from-grace-arab-spring-to-indian-winter">Facebook's Fall from Grace: Arab Spring to Indian Winter</a> (Sunil Abraham; First Post; February 11, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/asian-age-february-14-2016-sunil-abraham-vidushi-marda-internet-freedom">Internet Freedom</a> (Sunil Abraham and Vidushi Marda; Asian Age; February 14, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/bangalore-mirror-subhashish-panigrahi-february-9-2016-there-is-no-such-thing-as-free-basics">There is No Such Thing as Free Basics</a> (Subhashish Panigrahi; February 14, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/unesco-world-trends-in-freedom-of-expression-and-media-development">World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development</a> (Pranesh Prakash; United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation; February 17, 2016). Pranesh Prakash contributed to Independence: Introduction - Global Media Chapter.</li>
</ul>
<div>Event Organized</div>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/a-series-of-public-debates-on-differential-pricing-series-1">Public Debate on 'Differential Pricing': Series 1</a> (Co-organized by CIS, ICRIER and the Department of Civics and Politics, University of Mumbai; CIS, Bangalore; February 1, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/public-debate-on-differential-pricing-series-2">Public Debate on 'Differential Pricing': Series 2</a> (Co-organized by CIS, ICRIER and the Department of Civics and Politics, University of Mumbai; Pherozeshah Mehta Bhavan, Vidyanagari, Kalina, Mumbai; February 3, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/public-debate-on-differential-pricing-series-3">Public Debate on 'Differential Pricing': Series 3</a> (Co-organized by CIS, ICRIER and the Department of Civics and Politics, University of Mumbai; India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road near Air Force Bal Bharti School, New Delhi; February 5, 2016).</li>
</ul>
<div><strong>Participation in Event</strong></div>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/unicef-nasscom-foundation-workshop-on-child-online-protection">UNICEF & Nasscom Foundation Workshop on Child Online Protection</a> (Organized by United Nations Children's International Education Fund; Hotel Claridges; New Delhi; February 8, 2016). Jyoti Panday attended the event.</li>
</ul>
<div></div>
<div>►Privacy</div>
<div><strong>Submission</strong></div>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/comments-by-the-centre-for-internet-and-society-on-the-report-of-the-committee-on-medium-term-path-on-financial-inclusion">Comments by the Centre for Internet and Society on the Report of the Committee on Medium Term Path on Financial Inclusion </a>(Vipul Kharbanda; February 27, 2016).</li>
</ul>
<div>Blog Entry</div>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/a-case-for-greater-privacy-paternalism">A Case for Greater Privacy Paternalism?</a> (Amber Sinha; February 14, 2016).</li>
</ul>
<div><strong>----------------------------------- <br /></strong><a href="http://cis-india.org/telecom"><strong>Telecom</strong></a><strong> <br /> ----------------------------------- <br /></strong> CIS is involved in promoting access and accessibility to telecommunications services and resources and has provided inputs to ongoing policy discussions and consultation papers published by TRAI. It has prepared reports on unlicensed spectrum and accessibility of mobile phones for persons with disabilities and also works with the USOF to include funding projects for persons with disabilities in its mandate:</div>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/telecom/blog/shyam-ponappa-business-standard-february-3-2016-bottled-up-national-assets">Bottled-Up National Assets</a> (Shyam Ponappa; Business Standard and Organizing India BlogSpot; February 3, 2016).</li>
</ul>
<div><strong>----------------------------------- <br /></strong><a href="http://cis-india.org/raw"><strong>Researchers at Work</strong></a><strong> <br /> ----------------------------------- <br /></strong> The Researchers at Work (RAW) programme is an interdisciplinary research initiative driven by contemporary concerns to understand the reconfigurations of social practices and structures through the Internet and digital media technologies, and vice versa. It is interested in producing local and contextual accounts of interactions, negotiations, and resolutions between the Internet, and socio-material and geo-political processes:</div>
<div><strong>Article</strong></div>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/raw/aakash-tablet-and-technological-imaginaries-of-education-in-india-excerpt">The Aakash Tablet and Technological Imaginaries of Mass Education in Contemporary India</a> (Jahnavi Phalkey and Sumandro Chattapadhyay; February 14, 2016).</li>
</ul>
<div><strong>Video</strong></div>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/raw/raw-lectures-02-anil-menon-video">RAW Lectures #02: Anil Menon on 'Speculative Fiction and Freedom' - Video</a> (CIS, Bangalore; January 13, 2016). The video was uploaded on February 9, 2016.</li>
</ul>
<div><strong>Events Organized</strong></div>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/raw/irc16">Internet Researchers' Conference 2016</a> (Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi; February 26 - 28, 2016).</li>
</ul>
<div>----------------------------------- <br /><a href="http://cis-india.org/news">News & Media Coverage</a> <br /> -----------------------------------</div>
<div>CIS gave inputs to the following media coverage:</div>
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/washington-post-annie-gowen-february-8-2016-india-bans-facebooks-free-internet-for-the-poor">India bans Facebook’s ‘free’ Internet for the poor</a> (Annie Gowen; Washington Post; February 8, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/bloomberg-adi-narayan-bhuma-srivastava-february-8-2016-zuckerberg-plan-spurned-as-india-backs-full-net-neutrality">Zuckerberg's Plan Spurned as India Backs Full Net Neutrality</a> (Adi Narayan and Bhuma Srivastava; Bloomberg; February 8, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/outlook-february-8-2016-arindam-mukherjee-a-megacorps-basic-instinct">A Megacorp’s Basic Instinct</a> (Arindam Mukherjee; Outlook; February 8, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/financial-times-february-8-2016-james-crabtree-facebooks-free-basics-hits-snag-in-india">Facebook’s Free Basics hits snag in India</a> (James Crabtree with additional reporting by Tim Bradshaw; Financial Times; February 8, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/livemint-february-9-2016-shauvik-ghosh-moulishree-srivastava-trai-upholds-net-neutrality-in-setback-to-facebooks-free-basics">Trai upholds Net Neutrality in setback to Facebook’s Free Basics</a> (Moulishree Srivastava and Shauvik Ghosh; Livemint; February 9, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/voice-of-america-anjana-pasricha-february-9-2016-india-sets-strict-new-net-neutrality-rules">India Sets Strict New Net Neutrality Rules </a>(Anjana Pasricha; Voice of America; February 9, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/business-standard-february-9-2016-alnoor-peermohamed-net-neutrality-advocates-hail-trai-verdict">Net neutrality advocates hail Trai verdict</a> (Alnoor Peermohamed; Business Standard; February 9, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/global-voices-february-11-2016-netizen-report">Netizen Report: The EU Wrestles With Facebook Over Privacy</a> (Global Voices; February 11, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/deccan-chronicle-february-14-2016-linking-facebook-use-to-free-top-up-data">Linking Facebook use to free top-up data</a> (Deccan Chronicle; February 14, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/telecom/news/the-register-february-15-2016-india-facebook-ruling-is-another-nail-in-coffin-of-mno-model">India's ‘Facebook ruling’ is another nail in the coffin of the MNO model</a> (The Register; February 15, 2016). </li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-telegraph-february-18-2016-violence-call-key-to-sedition">Violence call key to 'sedition'</a> (The Telegraph; February 18, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/ozy-february-19-2016-sanjena-sathian-why-internet-is-making-india-furious">Why the Internet is Making India Furious</a> (Sanjana Sathian; Ozy; February 19, 2016).</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/why-india-snubbed-facebooks-free-internet-offer">Why India snubbed Facebook's free Internet offer </a>(Daniel Van Boom; Cnet; February 26, 2016).</li>
</ul>
<div><strong>----------------------------------- <br /><a href="http://cis-india.org/">About CIS</a> <br /> ----------------------------------- </strong><br /> The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) is a non-profit organisation that undertakes interdisciplinary research on internet and digital technologies from policy and academic perspectives. The areas of focus include digital accessibility for persons with diverse abilities, access to knowledge, intellectual property rights, openness (including open data, free and open source software, open standards, open access, open educational resources, and open video), internet governance, telecommunication reform, digital privacy, and cyber-security. The academic research at CIS seeks to understand the reconfigurations of social and cultural processes and structures as mediated through the internet and digital media technologies.</div>
<div>► Follow us elsewhere</div>
<ul>
<li> Twitter:<a href="http://twitter.com/cis_india"> http://twitter.com/cis_india</a> </li>
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<li> E-Mail - Access to Knowledge: <a>a2k@cis-india.org</a> </li>
<li> E-Mail - Researchers at Work: <a>raw@cis-india.org</a> </li>
<li> List - Researchers at Work: <a href="https://lists.ghserv.net/mailman/listinfo/researchers">https://lists.ghserv.net/mailman/listinfo/researchers</a> </li>
</ul>
<div>► Support Us</div>
<div>Please help us defend consumer / citizen rights on the Internet! Write a cheque in favour of 'The Centre for Internet and Society' and mail it to us at No. 194, 2nd 'C' Cross, Domlur, 2nd Stage, Bengaluru - 5600 71.</div>
<div>► Request for Collaboration</div>
<div>We invite researchers, practitioners, artists, and theoreticians, both organisationally and as individuals, to engage with us on topics related internet and society, and improve our collective understanding of this field. To discuss such possibilities, please write to Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, at sunil@cis-india.org (for policy research), or Sumandro Chattapadhyay, Research Director, at sumandro@cis-india.org (for academic research), with an indication of the form and the content of the collaboration you might be interested in. To discuss collaborations on Indic language Wikipedia projects, write to Tanveer Hasan, Programme Officer, at <a>tanveer@cis-india.org</a>.</div>
<div></div>
<div><em>CIS is grateful to its primary donor the Kusuma Trust founded by Anurag Dikshit and Soma Pujari, philanthropists of Indian origin for its core funding and support for most of its projects. CIS is also grateful to its other donors, Wikimedia Foundation, Ford Foundation, Privacy International, UK, Hans Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and IDRC for funding its various projects</em>.<strong><br /></strong></div>
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For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/february-2016-bulletin'>https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/february-2016-bulletin</a>
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No publisherpraskrishna2016-03-20T05:13:30ZPageCan Wikipedia revive dying Indian languages?
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/the-hoot-feburay-19-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-can-wikipedia-revive-dying-indian-languages
<b>Yes, by encouraging content and involvement, Wikipedia language communities keep languages relevant. </b>
<p>The article originally published in the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.thehoot.org/media-watch/digital-media/can-wikipedia-revive-dying-indian-languages-9186">Hoot</a> on February 19, 2016 was also mirrored by <a class="external-link" href="http://blog.prathambooks.org/2016/02/can-wikipedia-revive-dying-indian.html">Pratham Books</a> on February 22, 2016</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify; ">As the world gets ready to celebrate <a href="http://www.un.org/en/events/motherlanguageday/" target="_blank"><span>International Mother Language Day</span></a> on Feb 21, it is important ask whether Wikipedia, the free, multi-lingual online encyclopaedia that turned 15 last month, can play a role in helping not just to save some Indian languages from irrelevance but to inject new energy into them.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Indian languages that made an early entry to the Wiki-world back in 2002 - <a href="https://as.wikipedia.org/" target="_blank"><span>Assamese</span></a>, <a href="https://ml.wikipedia.org/" target="_blank"><span>Malayalam</span></a>, <a href="https://or.wikipedia.org/" target="_blank"><span>Odia</span></a> and <a href="https://pa.wikipedia.org/" target="_blank"><span>Punjabi</span></a> - are helping scale up the representation of Indian languages on the Internet. More languages started being added after these initial ones. Today, there are 23 South Asian language Wikipedia projects including the 20 languages listed in the 8<sup>th</sup> schedule of the Constitution of India.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Many might not have noticed that the “en” in Wikipedia's URL en.wikipedia.org denotes that the language code of English can be replaced with “or” to visit Odia Wikipedia or “kn” for <a href="https://kn.wikipedia.org/" target="_blank"><span>Kannada Wikipedia</span></a>.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">But the Indian language Wikipedias have a long way to go as compared to many other world languages. There lies a huge gap in the access to knowledge on the Internet. Of 1.26 billion people, only about 15-18% are connected online and that too largely from mobile devices.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Most Wikipedia projects in Indian languages are fairly small but are active and playing an important role. For example, the Tamil and Malayalam Wikipedia communities have played a central part in implementing Wikipedia basics learning in the state-run school syllabus along with many other free software and free knowledge projects to help students learn.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Many Indian languages are in the pipeline to become active Wikipedia projects under the scope of Incubator Wikipedia. <a href="http://blog.wikimedia.org/2014/09/08/a-focused-approach-for-maithili-wikipedia/" target="_blank"><span>Maithili Wikipedia</span></a> and <a href="http://blog.wikimedia.org/2015/07/15/konkani-wikipedia-goes-live/" target="_blank"><span>Goan Konkani Wikipedia</span></a> are two that have gone live in recent years. There are many more to come and it is certain they will help to ensure that languages do not fade or become irrelevant.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; "><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/SearchTools.jpg" alt="Search Tools" class="image-inline" title="Search Tools" /></p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; "><i>Dying Indian languages mapped over map. Source: </i><em><a href="http://h/" target="_blank"><span>UNESCO Interactive Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger</span></a></em></p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">According to UNESCO, 197 of a total of 1652 Indian languages are dying. Given that there is more and more encyclopedic content in Indian languages, Wikipedia will definitely save some from extinction by bringing more content in varied subject areas, bringing readers to Wikipedia, and attracting more contributors to bring information online in the respective language.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Two other ways that it help keep them alive is, first, the fact that the media uses freely-licensed content from Wikipedia and refers to citations on Wikipedia and secondly, the fact that more Wikipedia content also means more digital activism. Often languages become extinct because of verbal-only usage. That’s where language digital activism can help to keep going. Hebrew, for instance, has risen like a phoenix for this reason.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Apart from Wikipedia, there are many other sister projects (also known as Wikimedia projects) such as <a href="https://www.wiktionary.org/" target="_blank"><span>Wiktionary</span></a>, a multilingual dictionary, <a href="https://wikisource.org/" target="_blank"><span>Wikisource</span></a>, a free library, <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/" target="_blank"><span>Wikimedia Commons</span></a>, the world’s largest media repository of freely-licensed multimedia files, and <a href="https://www.wikidata.org/" target="_blank"><span>Wikidata</span></a>, a big data project that connects all the Wikimedia projects.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">The English Wikipedia has crossed the <a href="http://blog.wikimedia.org/2015/11/01/english-wikipedia-surpasses-five-million-articles/" target="_blank"><span>5 million article</span></a> mark. With a population of over<a href="http://dazeinfo.com/2015/09/05/internet-users-in-india-number-mobile-iamai/" target="_blank"><span> </span></a><a href="http://dazeinfo.com/2015/09/05/internet-users-in-india-number-mobile-iamai/" target="_blank"><span>354 million</span></a> online users, India still has a long way to go in<a href="http://tdil.mit.gov.in/wsi/papers/Issues_&_Challenges_for_Enabling_Mobile_web_in_Indian_Languages.pdf" target="_blank"><span> </span></a><a href="http://tdil.mit.gov.in/wsi/papers/Issues_&_Challenges_for_Enabling_Mobile_web_in_Indian_Languages.pdf" target="_blank"><span>increasing Indian language content on the web</span></a>. The Government of India's new campaign<a href="http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/content/vision-and-vision-areas" target="_blank"><span> </span></a><a href="http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/content/vision-and-vision-areas" target="_blank"><span>Digital India</span></a> aims at<a href="http://www.cmai.asia/digitalindia/" target="_blank"><span> </span></a><a href="http://www.cmai.asia/digitalindia/" target="_blank"><span>digital literacy and the availability of digital resources/services in Indian languages</span></a>. This is closely aligned with the Wikimedia movement's goal to provide free access to the sum of all human knowledge.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">In addition to Wikipedia, many other open educational resources and free knowledge projects that are not already a part of the Digital India campaign signal the need for the government campaign to be more collaborative and open.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Community-government collaborations like the<a href="https://blog.creativecommons.org/2013/08/14/india-launches-national-repository-of-open-educational-resources/" target="_blank"><span> </span></a><a href="https://blog.creativecommons.org/2013/08/14/india-launches-national-repository-of-open-educational-resources/" target="_blank"><span>NROER project</span></a> to make NCERT books under Creative Commons licences and the<a href="https://www.itschool.gov.in/glance.php" target="_blank"><span> </span></a><a href="https://www.itschool.gov.in/glance.php" target="_blank"><span>IT@School project</span></a> in Kerala to provide education using free and open tools, have gained massive traction and helped more Indian language content come online.</p>
<p class="normal" style="text-align: justify; ">Many of the Malayalam Wikipedia editors in Kerala have worked with the IT@School project to help school children edit and enhance Wikipedia articles and digitise old public domain text. The Wikipedia Education Programme, a global pedagogic programme running in over 87 countries to use Wikipedia as a tool for academic assignment and assessment, has been able to bring a paradigm shift in several languages such as Arabic and Spanish.</p>
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For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/the-hoot-feburay-19-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-can-wikipedia-revive-dying-indian-languages'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/the-hoot-feburay-19-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-can-wikipedia-revive-dying-indian-languages</a>
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No publishersubhaCIS-A2KWikipediaAccess to Knowledge2016-02-29T14:54:10ZBlog EntryLooking ahead to the future of the Kannada Wikipedia: Vasanth S.N.
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wikimedia-blog-february-28-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-looking-ahead-to-future-of-kannada-wikipedia
<b>Vasanth S.N. has edited the Kannada-langauge Wikipedia since 2006. As part of the WikipediansSpeak series, I caught up with Vasanth to learn about his contributions to the Kannada Wikipedia, which just celebrated its 13th anniversary. In the discussion Vasanth shares his long time involvement in the Wikimedia movement, and what drives him every day to edit Wikipedia and helping other fellow Wikimedians.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Subhashish Panigrahi (SP)</strong>: Hi Vasanth, thanks for agreeing to share about yourself. Can you tell me little about yourself and how you started contributing to Kannada Wikipedia?</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Vasanth S.N. (VSN)</strong>: I grew up in a small town in the Indian state of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karnataka"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Karnataka</span></a>. After completing my PG Diploma in Human Resources studies from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indira_Gandhi_National_Open_University"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Indira Gandhi National Open University</span></a> (IGNOU) I started working at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharmasthala_Temple"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Dharmasthala temple</span></a> in Karnataka where I have been working over last 35 years. As a student, I was voracious reader of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kannada"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Kannada-language</span></a> books. Science, art and culture were my favorite subjects back then. I started contributing to Kannada Wikipedia back in 2006. Shushrutha, a scientist based outside India helped me with several technical needs like creating templates in Kannada Wikipedia. With his help, I contributed to articles related <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_element"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">chemical elements</span></a>. He helped a lot in importing templates then. These days another Wikipedia editor Omshivaprakash is helping in importing templates and several other technical needs I have, thanks to Pavanaja who is also helping and encouraging me regularly.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>SP</strong>: What are you currently working on?</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>VSN</strong>: After the 14 volume Kannada encyclopedia “<a href="http://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/university-of-mysore-releases-kannada-vishwakosha-under-cc-license"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Kannada Vishwakosha</span></a>” got <a href="http://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/university-of-mysore-releases-kannada-vishwakosha-under-cc-license"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">relicensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0</span></a> license by Mysore University, we have started digitizing it on <a href="http://kn.wikisource.org/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Kannada Wikisource</span></a>. I am taking the digitized articles from here to Kannada Wikisource. I first check for the English Wikipedia article, use some of the updated content from there with citations, and wikify the Kannada Vishwakosha articles to create articles on Kannada Wikipedia.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>SP</strong>: What are the kind of challenges you generally face?</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>VSN</strong>: Something that really bothers me is the low participation of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kannada_people"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Kannadiga</span></a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kannada_people"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">s</span></a> in contributing to Kannada Wikipedia. I wish there could be more discussions in the village pump and collaborations between fellow editors. Many of the long time Wikimedians like <a href="https://kn.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Radhatanaya"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Radhatanaya</span></a>, who is probably over 70 years old, need more support with complex Wikipedia policies, and more appreciation. And so are B.S. Chandra from Sagara, Karnataka and many other editors so that every single editor feels to be an important aspect of the community. We also have to bring back editors like <a href="https://kn.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Teju2friends"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Tejas Jain</span></a> who were active some time back but have slowed down over time. I feel bad that we are lagging behind our neighboring Wikimedia communities like Tamil and Malayalam. When we cannot scale up too fast, a valuable resource like Kannada Vishwakosha that I mentioned before would be really useful in populating Kannada Wikipedia with good quality article. The Vishwakosha is not just compiled by subject experts but has been updated over time. I am more than happy if more editors are willing to join use this encyclopedia as a resource and I am sure we could create over 14,000 articles that a handful of editors like me will take over years to complete otherwise. However the community is skeptical about just one citation but i think we could always rely on English Wikipedia and search for more resources for additional citations.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>SP</strong>: What do you suggest we—all the Wikimedians, the Wikimedia India chapter, and us (CIS-A2K)—should work on?</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>VSN</strong>: I feel that we are focusing so much only on cities and there might be potential editors in rural areas. But may be reaching out to people who have access to computer and internet is a low hanging fruit as compared to outreach in rural Karnataka. There are over <a href="http://www.schooleducation.kar.nic.in/schooladoption.htm"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">46,000 state-run schools</span></a> and many have computers. Taking Kannada Wikipedia to select schools with the facilities needed might result in bringing in flesh blood to the community. I also think that the veteran professors and educators could help grow Wikipedia by correcting articles and wikifying if not writing articles. There might be collectives of such people that I do not know of but in my opinion, it is worth trying. I tried to request some professors in Ujjire, Karnataka to help with correcting over 60 articles related to plant varieties of Karnataka but could not get much help. But that is just one failure and should not stop reaching out to more professors. And if a collective of professors does not exist we could find a common area of interest and create a group.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><em><a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Psubhashish"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Subhashish Panigrahi</span></a>, Wikimedian and Programme Officer, Access to Knowledge (CIS-A2K), Centre for Internet and Society</em></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><em>This post is part of the <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikipediansSpeak"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">WikipediansSpeak series</span></a>, which aims to chronicle the voices of the Wikipedia community. You can find more of these posts on the <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:WikipediansSpeak"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Wikimedia Commons</span></a>. <i>The views expressed are not necessarily those of the Wikimedia Foundation or Wikipedia; responses and critical commentary are invited in the comments section below.</i></em></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Read the original published on <a class="external-link" href="https://blog.wikimedia.org/2016/02/28/kannada-wikipedia-vasanth-sn/">Wikimedia Blog</a><i></i></p>
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For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wikimedia-blog-february-28-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-looking-ahead-to-future-of-kannada-wikipedia'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wikimedia-blog-february-28-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-looking-ahead-to-future-of-kannada-wikipedia</a>
</p>
No publishersubhaCIS-A2KKannada WikipediaAccess to Knowledge2016-02-29T14:15:41ZBlog EntryNetizen Report: The EU Wrestles With Facebook Over Privacy
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/global-voices-february-11-2016-netizen-report
<b>Global Voices Advocacy's Netizen Report offers an international snapshot of challenges, victories, and emerging trends in Internet rights around the world. </b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The blog post published in Global Voices on February 11, 2016 quotes Pranesh Prakash and Subhashish Panigrahi.</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify; ">In the latest development in the negotiations between the United States and European Union over data transfer rules, Reuters reports France’s data protection authority gave Facebook<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-france-privacy-idUSKCN0VH1U1"><span> </span><span>three months to stop tracking</span></a> non-users’ Web activity without their consent, and ordered Facebook to cease some transfers of personal data to the United States or face fines. In response, Facebook asserted it does not use the now-defunct<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Safe_Harbor_Privacy_Principles"><span> </span><span>Safe Harbor</span></a> agreement to move data to the United States and instead has set up alternative legal structures to keep its data transfers in line with EU law. Despite this, Facebook was forced last year to<a href="http://venturebeat.com/2016/02/08/french-data-privacy-regulator-to-facebook-you-have-3-months-to-stop-tracking-non-users/"><span> </span><span>stop tracking Belgian non-users</span></a> after it was taken to court by the Belgian regulator. Last week, the United States and European Union agreed upon a new legal framework to replace Safe Harbor, but as it is not yet operational, several European data protection authorities are still deciding whether data transfers should be restricted.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Big Blow for Facebook’s Free Basics</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Indian regulators <a href="http://inbministry.blogspot.in/2016/02/telecom-regulatory-authority-of-india.html"><span>officially banned “differential pricing”</span></a>or discriminatory tariffs placed on data services depending on their content. This means that Internet users in India are guaranteed equal access to any website they want, regardless of how they connect to the Internet, <a href="https://advox.globalvoices.org/2016/02/09/a-good-day-for-the-internet-everywhere-india-bans-differential-data-pricing/"><span>ays Global Voices’ Subhashish Panigrahi</span></a>. The decision is a particular blow to Facebook’s Free Basics application, which uses differential pricing mechanisms to make accessing Facebook, WhatsApp and a limited number of other websites free to users who do not pay for mobile data plans. Though Facebook promotes the program as a means to increasing digital access, it has come under backlash in India and a number of other countries. Internet policy expert <a href="https://twitter.com/pranesh/status/696732814083907584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"><span>Pranesh Prakash emphasized</span></a>that though the ruling is a win for open access in India, these efforts must continue until India is truly and equally connected.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Google’s new scheme to combat online extremism </strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In an effort to combat groups like ISIS that recruit online, Google has launched a<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/feb/02/google-pilot-extremist-anti-radicalisation-information"><span>pilot scheme</span></a>to point users who search for extremist terms toward anti-radicalization links. It announced the new effort on February 2 at a<a href="http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/home-affairs-committee/countering-extremism/oral/28376.html"><span> meeting</span></a> with the U.K. Home Affairs Select Committee on Countering Extremism. Representatives of Twitter and Facebook were also challenged by members of Parliament on their role in combatting the spread of terrorist material. Twitter<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/06/technology/twitter-account-suspensions-terrorism.html"><span> announced</span></a>that it had suspended 125,000 accounts associated with extremism since mid-2015 in response to pressure from the US government. However, as the New York Times’ Mike Isaac notes, “these companies must walk a fine line between bearing responsibility for their platforms and avoiding becoming the arbiter of what constitutes free speech.”</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; "><strong>What’s going to happen to Ukraine’s database of ‘explicit content’?</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Ukrainian censorship body, National Expert Commission for Protection of Public Morality, dissolved last year, but its<a href="https://globalvoices.org/2016/02/05/ukrainian-censors-explicit-content-database-is-up-for-grabs/"><span> legacy lives on</span></a> as a database of “explicit content” that no one in the government seems to know what to do with. The database includes a sizeable amount of content “containing elements of sexual nature and erotica,” but the commission was also well known for its <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/tv/ukraine-govt-wants-to-ban-spongebob-promotes-homosexuality/"><span>attempt to ban</span></a> Spongebob Squarepants, Shrek, and Teletubbies. Users have suggested the team responsible for dissolving the commission make the content more widely available, so they can see where taxpayers’ money went.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; "><strong>How to protect yourself from government hacking</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Hacking human rights workers, journalists, and NGOs has become <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2016/01/brief-history-of-government-hacking-human-rights-organizations/"><span>common practice </span></a>for governments around the world, according to Amnesty International’s Morgan Marquis-Boire and Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Eva Galperin. In a post for Amnesty International, the two provide a brief history of government hacking and give suggestions for NGOs and human rights organizations to protect themselves.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Taking on Russia’s invasive surveillance </strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Two Russian Internet service providers are taking the Federal Security Service to court to<a href="https://advox.globalvoices.org/2016/02/03/isps-take-kremlin-to-court-over-online-surveillance/"><span> challenge the surveillance system</span></a> employed by Russian federal police to spy on Internet use. ISPs play a critical role in making surveillance possible, by installing expensive equipment that provides police access—making this case a significant affront to Russia’s invasive surveillance apparatus.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Telegram in Iran</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Messaging app Telegram’s <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/08/telegram-the-instant-messaging-app-freeing-up-iranians-conversations?CMP=share_btn_tw"><span>growing influence</span></a> is being characterized as a major factor in the dissemination and spread of information leading up to Iran’s Feb. 26 parliamentary elections, but <a href="https://globalvoices.org/2015/08/28/is-telegrams-compliance-with-iran-compromising-the-digital-security-of-its-users/"><span> the platform</span></a>’s susceptibility to state manipulation is also becoming more apparent. After the arrest of former BBC journalist Bahman Doroshafaei, the government<a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/read/iran-telegram-account-bbc-journalist"><span> took over his Telegram account</span></a> and started to message his contacts. Some believe this was an effort to extract sensitive information or to distribute spyware. Fatemeh Shams, a friend of Doroshafaei, posted the following warning to her Facebook account:</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify; ">
<p>Someone has been talking to me for two hours from Bahman's hacked Telegram account and now is chatting with my friends with my account..If anyone messaged you on Telegram [from my account] please ignore it. I've lost access to my account.</p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><em><strong>Mahsa Alimardani, </strong><a href="https://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/author/ellery-roberts-biddle/"><strong><span>Ellery Roberts Biddle</span></strong></a><strong>, Hae-in Lim and</strong><a href="https://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/author/sarahbmyers/"><strong><span> Sarah Myers West</span></strong></a> <strong>contributed to this report.</strong></em></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/global-voices-february-11-2016-netizen-report'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/global-voices-february-11-2016-netizen-report</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaInternet GovernancePrivacy2016-02-27T07:39:01ZNews ItemCommunity Digest—Estonians working on a new feedback system for Wikipedia articles
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wikimedia-blog-subhashish-panigrahi-community-digest-estonians-working-on-new-feedback-system-for-wikipedia-articles
<b>Community digest is a weekly publication on Wikimedia Blog. This week, I have authored a section on the Kannada Wikipedia's 13th anniversary that is being celebrated today. It includes a small section from a longer interview with Kannada Wikipedian Vasanth S.N. The two blogs on creating Odia-language character encoding converters I had written before in the Huffington Post and the DNA are also featured in the digest.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Read the original published on Wikimedia Blog <a class="external-link" href="http://blog.wikimedia.org/2016/02/13/wikicomment-kannada-anniversary/">here</a>.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Sites that rely on the cooperation of people need to be able to easily exchange information. When there are some problems with an article, you could always add some templates to specific places or point to them on talk page—but that can sometimes be painful and time consuming.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The problem can grow even greater when articles are written inside a <a rel="mw:ExtLink" href="https://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Education"><span>Wikipedia Education Program</span></a>. You may need to follow up with hundreds of students and provide them feedback so that they can easily understand what should they fix. This can be a rather tricky job when dealing with people who have never before written to Wikipedia.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">For example, in Estonia we have a course called “Estonian Composition and Conversation” in the <a title="w:en:University of Tartu" rel="mw:ExtLink" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:University%20of%20Tartu"><span>University of Tartu</span></a>, where there are on average more than 200 students per year writing articles on Wikipedia. We are keenly interested in providing good quality feedback, but with that number of students and with the use of the usual wikisystem, that is hard to achieve.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">So we needed a solution.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">When using the usual method (the talk page), you need to point out where are all of the mistakes located and then express your concerns about them. With a lot of comments, that does get rather messy and it’s hard to understand where are those comments directed to; it’s not an ideal medium for feedback in massive scale and not that useful for neither the students nor the person giving feedback. So the goal was simple: to ease the process of giving feedback to students who write wikiarticles as their coursework.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">What we did was to create a system called <strong><a rel="mw:ExtLink" href="http://wikicomment.ut.ee/"><span>WikiComment</span></a></strong>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">What does it do? Well, at first it allows to add comments to exact letters/sentences/paragraphs to speed up the commenting process and make it easier to locate the issues. In addition to adding comments, it also provides various highlighting options and a possibility to strike through text. Secondly, it allows for better monitoring of the articles of interest. That means the wikiComment user has information about which pages have been modified and he or she can easily check if the changes have solved the marked questions.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">We hope that this will make it easier to focus on text and to the quality of writing.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Obviously WikiComment could be used outside the education initiative and in many other ways as well, but that is just how it all started. For example we’ll soon add support for sites like Meta-Wiki, Wikisource, Wikivoyage, Wikinews, and Wikiquote, among others. Having a discussion about some details in grant request or talking about local tourist sites may have just become easier. But to really optimize the system and to make it as good as possible we’ll need your feedback, so please go on and test that site—if you have any suggestions, just <a href="http://wikicomment.ut.ee/"><span>let us know</span></a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><i><a title="User:Kruusamägi" rel="mw:WikiLink" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Kruusam%C3%A4gi"><span>Ivo Kruusamägi</span></a>, Estonian Wikipedian</i></p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">In brief</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Kannada Wikipedia anniversary</strong>: The <a href="https://kn.wikipedia.org/" target="_blank"><span>Kannada Wikipedia</span></a> is all set to celebrate its 13th anniversary. The <a href="https://kn.wikipedia.org/wiki/?diff=1" target="_blank"><span>first ever edit</span></a> on Kannada Wikipedia was made on 12 June 2003 with a message “Kannada Vishwa Koshakke Suswaagatha!” (meaning welcome to the Kannada encyclopedia in Kannada). However, it took over a year—on July 12, 2004 the first article about a city <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimoga" target="_blank"><span>Shimoga</span></a> <a href="https://kn.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=%E0%B2%B6%E0%B2%BF%E0%B2%B5%E0%B2%AE%E0%B3%8A%E0%B2%97%E0%B3%8D%E0%B2%97&oldid=1463" target="_blank"><span>was created</span></a>. Over the last decade Kannada Wikipedia has been a great gamechanger for the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kannada" target="_blank"><span>Kannada language</span></a> where the Wikipedians have played a great role in making it a household name—there were about <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kannada_Wikipedia_stats_%28December_2015%29.png" target="_blank"><span>700,000 pageviews</span></a> in December 2015. The annual average of active editors for last year was 48, 91 (February) being the highest and 22 (May) the lowest and 80 being the count in last December. The peaks and valleys also signify that major outreach like <a href="https://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Education/Countries/India/Christ_University/CUWEP2015_NOVEMBER" target="_blank"><span>Wikipedia Education Program at Christ University Bengaluru</span></a> could have boosted the total number of editors during the months when the program was being rolled out. Since its inception, the project has gone through many ups and downs over time, the major one being a small community to edit and curate such a high level task of creating new articles in Kannada, editing and enriching them with more information and citations, and cleaning up many articles.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The biggest hurdle, as <a href="http://www.hpnadig.net/blog/2011/10/22/how-google-irreparably-wounded-kannada-wikipedia/755" target="_blank"><span>explained</span></a> by Wikimedian <a href="https://kn.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:HPNadig" target="_blank"><span>Hari Prasad Nadig</span></a>, has been cleaning up the articles created by paid translations of Google when Kannada Wikipedia along with many other Indian language Wikipedias were used as testing grounds for improving <a href="http://translate.google.com/" target="_blank"><span>Google Translate</span></a>, a multilingual machine translation tool. <a href="https://kn.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:VASANTH_S.N." target="_blank"><span>Vasanth S.N.</span></a>, a Kannada Wikipedian who has cleaned up over 60 such articles prefers to use an existing good quality encyclopedia like the 16 volume Kannada Vishwakosha, published by Mysore University and relicensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0 by the university, as a resource to create and improve articles. To celebrate the journey of the project and the community, Kannada Wikipedians are gathering at Saint Aloysius College Mangalore, Karnataka this 14th. The larger community, including long time Wikipedians and new members like the students faculty involved in Wikipedia Education Programs, will <a href="https://kn.wikipedia.org/s/1daf"><span>gather and participate</span></a> in a day-long edit-a-thon and chalk out plans for the future.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Innovation and revolution in the Odia language</strong>: Wikimedian Subhashish Panigrahi has <a class="text external" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.dnaindia.com/scitech/report-this-little-innovation-is-bringing-a-revolution-in-the-odia-language-2173325"><span>written</span></a> two pieces recently. In dnaindia.com, he described a Unicode converter that in revolutionizing Internet access in the Odia language; in the <i>Huffington Post</i>, he <a class="text external" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.in/subhashish-panigrahi-/when-wikipedia-is-turning_b_9025690.html"><span>wrote</span></a> about why contributing and adding to Wikipedias in Indian language is so important.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Coming together across the divide</strong>: <a title="Saanjh" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Saanjh"><span>Saanjh</span></a> (ਸਾਂਝ سانجھ), a Punjabi word which means collaboration, was an online edit-a-thon between the <a title="pa:ਮੁੱਖ ਸਫ਼ਾ" class="extiw" href="https://pa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A8%AE%E0%A9%81%E0%A9%B1%E0%A8%96_%E0%A8%B8%E0%A8%AB%E0%A8%BC%E0%A8%BE"><span>Gurmukhi Punjabi Wikipedia</span></a> and <a title="pnb:پہلا صفہ" class="extiw" href="https://pnb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%BE%DB%81%D9%84%D8%A7_%D8%B5%D9%81%DB%81"><span>Shahmukhi Punjabi Wikipedia</span></a> in January 2016. The plan came together after two editors, one from each side, met at Wikimania 2015. Organized by the <a title="m:Punjabi Wikimedians" class="extiw" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Punjabi_Wikimedians"><span>Punjabi Wikimedians User Group</span></a>, 23 editors participated; you can read more about their story <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Blog/Drafts/Saanjh_-_Step_towards_a_Global_Punjab"><span>on Meta</span></a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a title="User:Psubhashish" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Psubhashish"><span><i>Subhashish Panigrahi</i></span></a><i>, Wikimedian and Programme Officer, </i><a title="m:CIS-A2K" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CIS-A2K"><span><i>Access to Knowledge</i></span></a><i> (CIS-A2K), Centre for Internet and Society<br /></i><i><a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Ed_Erhart_%28WMF%29"><span>Ed Erhart</span></a></i><i>, Editorial Associate, Wikimedia Foundation</i></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wikimedia-blog-subhashish-panigrahi-community-digest-estonians-working-on-new-feedback-system-for-wikipedia-articles'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wikimedia-blog-subhashish-panigrahi-community-digest-estonians-working-on-new-feedback-system-for-wikipedia-articles</a>
</p>
No publishersubhaWikimediaCIS-A2KWikipediaAccess to Knowledge2016-02-27T06:30:41ZBlog Entryକମ୍ପ୍ୟୁଟର ଯୁଗରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷା
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/suryaprava-subhashish-panigrahi-february-22-2016-article
<b>In 2013, the Centre for Internet and Society commissioned a project to create a typeface and input methods for for Ol chiki script that is used to write in the Santali language. Santali is one of the many victims that has large number of native language speakers but really low activism to preserve the language though it is not yet among the 196 endangered languages as identified by UNESCO.</b>
<p>The article was published in Odia newspaper <a class="external-link" href="http://suryaprava.co.in/epaper/m/2543/56ca5368ec910">Suryaprava</a> on February 22, 2016.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify;">On the day of the International Mother Language Day, it is important to look outside and draw inspirations from several success stories of digital activism for languages. Hebrew, an ancient language that was almost dead for over 1500 years was revived from ashes like phoenix. Even after being honoured with the classical language status in the same category of Sanskrit and Tamil, Odia has not seen much progress in the digital sphere. It has not yet being used for governance and judiciary even though the Orissa Official Language Act exist officially since 1954. Almost all of the newspapers do not have their content available in the Unicode standard. Large amount of Odia-language content could otherwise have influenced Google to include Odia along with the other nine Indian languages in their home page. The writer was privileged to be asked for advising on enlisting the online resources available in Odia language for the first Unicode-based Odia portal by the government "<a href="http://odia.odisha.gov.in/">odia.odisha.gov.in</a>". There is a huge gap in the way knowledge is disseminated in Odia. Odia Wikisource and Odia Wikipedia are trying to fill this gap to some extent where the former project has over 290 volumes of digitized text and the latter has over 11000 encyclopedic entries in Odia. Odia Wikisource is creating the next level of the book scanning work done by Srujanika, a Bhubaneswar-based non-profit that has scanned over 150000 pages from many Odia books. Similarly, Odia Wikisource is aiming to be to what <em>Purnachandra Bhasakosha</em>, a lexicon published in 1930s with thousands of lexical and encyclopedic entries, meant to the contemporary Odia society. But all of these are not enough until there is much awareness in the government front that could lead more policy-level reforms and a better governance in the native language.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Full text in Odia</h3>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">୨୦୧୩ ମସିହାରେ ଭୁବନେଶ୍ୱରସ୍ଥିତ କିସର ମିଳିତ ସହଯୋଗରେ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆର ବୈଷୟିକ ସୁବିଧା ପରିଚାଳନା କରୁଥିବା ସଙ୍ଗଠନ ଉଇକିମିଡ଼ିଆ ଫାଉଣ୍ଡେସନରୁ କିଛି ପାଣ୍ଠି ଅନୁଦାନରେ ସାନ୍ତାଳୀ ଭାଷାର ଲିପି ଅଲ ଚିକିକୁ କମ୍ପୁଟର ଓ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ କରିବାର ଏକ ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପ ଆରମ୍ଭ ହେଲା । ବେଙ୍ଗାଳୁରୁ ସ୍ଥିତ ସେଣ୍ଟର ଫର ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ ଆଣ୍ଡ ସୋସାଇଟିରେ ଏହି ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପର ରୂପରେଖ ତିଆରି କରାଗଲା । ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପ ଆରମ୍ଭ ହେବାବେଳକୁ ଆମେ ବିଭିନ୍ନ ବ୍ୟକ୍ତିବିଶେଷ ଓ ସଙ୍ଗଠନମାନଙ୍କ ସଙ୍ଗେ ଯୋଗାଯୋଗ କରି ଜାଣିବାକୁ ପାଇଲୁ ଯେ ଚାରିଟି ଦେଶ ଓ କେବଳ ଭାରତର ସାତଟି ରାଜ୍ୟ ୬୩ ଲକ୍ଷରୁ ଅଧିକ ଲୋକଙ୍କ ଦ୍ୱାରା କଥିତ ସାନ୍ତାଳୀ ଭାଷା ପାଇଁ ଇଉନିକୋଡ଼ ଫଣ୍ଟ ଖଣ୍ଡିଏ ମଧ୍ୟ ନାହିଁ । ବହି ଛପା ପାଇଁ ଯାହା ବ୍ୟବହାର ହେଉଛି ତାହା ଆନ୍ତର୍ଜାତିକ ମାନକ ଇଉନିକୋଡ଼ରେ ହୋଇନଥିବାରୁ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ବ୍ୟବହାର କରିବା ଦୂରୁହ । ଏହାର କିଛି ସମୟ ପରେ ଗୁଗୁଲ ତିଆରି ନୋଟୋ ଫଣ୍ଟ ଆସିଲା ହେଲେ ସେଇଟି ତିଆରିରେ ନାଁ ସାନ୍ତାଳୀ କହୁଥିବା ଲୋକଙ୍କୁ ପଚରା ଉଚୁରା କରାଗଲା ନାଁ ତିଆରି ପରେ ତାଙ୍କ ସହ ଆଲୋଚନା କରି ଭୁଲ ସୁଧରାଗଲା । ଆଦରରେ ଗୁରୁ ଗୋମକେ ବା ରଘୁନାଥ ମୁର୍ମୁଙ୍କ ତିଆରି ଅଲ ଚିକି ଲିପିରେ ଲେଖିବା ପାଇଁ ଏବେ ନୂଆ ଫଣ୍ଟଟିଏ ସଜବାଜ ହେଉଛି ରତର ଦିନ ଧରି ସାନ୍ତାଳୀ ଭାଷାକୁ ଜାବୁଡ଼ି ଧରିଥିବା ଅଗଣିତ ଲୋକଙ୍କ ପାଇଁ । ଏଥିରେ ସାନ୍ତାଳୀ ଭାଷାରେ ବିଶାରଦ ଓ ସାହିତ୍ୟ ଏକାଡେମୀ ସଦସ୍ୟା ଡ. ଦମୟନ୍ତୀ ବେସ୍ରାଙ୍କଠାରୁ ସାନ୍ତାଳୀ ପତ୍ରିକା "ଫଗୁଣ"ର ଜନ୍ମଦାତା-ଜନ୍ମଦାତ୍ରୀଙ୍କ ମତାମତର ଫଳ । ଇଉନିକୋଡ଼ରେ ଫଣ୍ଟ ହେଲେ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଜ୍ଞାନ ବାଣ୍ଟିବା ଆଉ ଆହରଣ କରିବାର ବାଟ ଖୋଲିବ । ପର ସଂସ୍କରଣକୁ ଅପେକ୍ଷା ନ କରି ଆବଶ୍ୟକ ପଡ଼ିବା କ୍ଷଣି ନୂଆ ନୂଆ ବିଷୟ ଓ ଘଟଣା ବାବଦରେ ଜାଣିହେବ । ଏ ବିଷୟ ଅବତାରଣାର ଉଦ୍ଦେଶ୍ୟ ଏକ ଭାଷାରେ କେବଳ ସାହିତ୍ୟ ନୁହେଁ କି କଥନ ନୁହେଁ ବରଂ ସେ ଭାଷା କହୁଥିବା ଲୋକେ କିପରି ନିଜ ନିଜ ଭିତରେ ସୁବିଧାରେ ସହଜରେ ଭାବ ଦିଆନିଆ କରିପାରିବେ । ଯଦି ଭାଷାଟିଏ କେବଳ ସାହିତ୍ୟ ଚାଷର ମାଧ୍ୟମ ହୋଇ ଲେଖକ ଓ ପାଠକଙ୍କ ଭିତରେ ବାନ୍ଧି ହୋଇ ରହିଗଲା ତେବେ ସେ ଭାଷା ନୁହେଁ । ଆଉ ଭାଷାକୁ ଜ୍ଞାନର ଓ ଶାସନର ଭାଷା କରିବା ଲାଗି ଲୋଡ଼ା ଆଧୁନିକ ବୈଷୟିକ ଜ୍ଞାନକୌଶଳ । ତେବେ ପ୍ରତିଟି ଭାଷା ପାଇଁ ଆଜିର ଦିନ ହେଉଛି ଜ୍ଞାନକୌଶଳର ମାପକାଠିରେ ନିଜ ଭାଷାକୁ ମାପିବା ଓ ବାକି ଭାଷା ସଙ୍ଗେ ତଉଲିବାର ଦିନ ।</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ସାନ୍ତାଳୀର ସ୍ଥିତି ତ ଗୋଟେ ପ୍ରକାର । ହେଲେ ଏ ଦେଶରେ ଆହୁରି ୧୯୬ ଗୋଟି ଭାରତୀୟ ଭାଷା ମରଣମୁଖୀ । ଏ ଭାଷା କହୁଥିବା କିଛି ଲୋକ ରହିଛନ୍ତି ଆଉ ସେମାନେ ଦିହୁଡ଼ି ଆଗରେ ଦିକି ଦିକି ଜଳୁଥିବା ତାଙ୍କ ଭାଷାକୁ ଦେଖି ଭାବୁଥିବେ ଯେ ଆମେ ସେ ଦିହୁଡ଼ି ସଙ୍ଗେ ମିଶି ଗଲେ ବରଂ ଭଲ । ଉତ୍ତର ଭାରତରେ କିଛି କାଳ ରହଣି କାଳରେ କେବେ ଅଙ୍ଗିକା ତ କେବେ ଦେହାତି ପୁଣି କେବେ ଠେଟି ଆଦି ଭାଷା କହୁଥିବା ଅନେକ ଲୋକଙ୍କୁ ଭେଟିବାର ସୁଯୋଗ ମିଳିଥିବା । ତାଙ୍କୁ ବହରେଇ ଫୁସୁଲେଇ ପଚାରିଲେ ସେମାନେ ଲାଜେଇ କହନ୍ତି ନିଜ ଭାଷାର ନାଁ । ହେଲେ ପୁଣି ବୁଲିବାଲି କରି କହନ୍ତି, "ଆମ ଭାଷା ହିନ୍ଦୀ, ହେଲେ ଘରେ ଆମେ ଅମୁକ ଭାଷାରେ କହୁ" । ପୁରୁଣା ପିଢ଼ି ସରିସରି ଆସୁଛନ୍ତି । ଆଉ ନୂଆ ପିଢ଼ିଠାରୁ ଭାଷାର ବ୍ୟବହାର ବି ସରିସରି ଆସୁଛି । ଏମିତି ମରି ମରି ଆସୁଥିବା ଭାଷା କହୁଥିବା ଜଣେ ପାଠୋଈଙ୍କ ମତରେ ଯଦି ଜଣେ ନିଜ ଭାଷା ପାଇଁ ନିଜେ ଚିନ୍ତୁନି ତାହେଲେ ବାକିମାନେ ଚିନ୍ତି କରିବେ କଣ । ତାଙ୍କ କଥା ବି ସତ । ହେଲେ ପେଟର ଭୋକ ଆଗେ । ଭୋକ ମାରିବା ପାଇଁ ମଣିଷ ବାର ବେପାର ତେର ଧନ୍ଦା କରେ । ତେଣୁ ଭାଷାର ବିକାଶରେ ସାଧାରଣ ମଣିଷଟିଏର ଭୂମିକା କେତେ ଏକଥାଟି ଭାବିବା ନିହାତି ଜରୁରୀ । ମରୁ ମରୁ ବଞ୍ଚୁଥିବା ଏକ ଭାଷାର ଉଦାହରଣ ନିଆଯାଉ । ପୃଥିବୀର ଏକ ପୁରୁଣା ଭାଷା ଭିତରୁ ଗୋଟିଏ ଭାଷା ହେଲା ହିବ୍ରୁ । ହେଲେ ଏ ଭାଷାଟି ୧୫୦୦ ବର୍ଷରୁ ଅଧିକ କାଳ ଦରମଲା ରହି ଫିନିକ୍ସ ଚଢ଼େଇ ଭଳି ପାଉଁଶ ତଳୁ ଉଠିଲା । ଏବେ ଏ ଭାଷାଟି ପାଖାପାଖି ୯୦ ଲକ୍ଷ ଲୋକଙ୍କ ଦ୍ୱାରା କଥିତ କିନ୍ତୁ ଏ ଭାଷାରେ ଦେଶର ଶାସନ ଚଳେ ଆଉ କମ୍ପୁଟର ଅପରେଟିଂ ସିଷ୍ଟମ ଓ ମୋବାଇଲ ଇଣ୍ଟରଫେସରେ ଦିଶେ । ଏସବୁ ପଛରେ ରହିଛି ବିଜ୍ଞାନ ଓ କାରିଗରୀର କରାମତି । ଯଦି ଦେଶର ଶାସନ ନିଜ ଭାଷାରେ ହୁଏ ତେବେ ଶାସନ ପାଇଁ ଦରକାରୀ ସବୁ ଉପାଦାନ ନିଜ ଭାଷାରେ ତିଆରି ହୁଏ । ଆଉ ଏ ଉପାଦାନମାନ ତିଆରିବା ଲାଗି ଶିକ୍ଷା ବ୍ୟବସ୍ଥା ଗଢ଼ାହୁଏ । ପିଲେ ଚାକିରି କରନ୍ତି । ଆଉ ଭାଷା ଶାସନର ଭାଷା ହେଲେ ଶିକ୍ଷା ଓ ଜ୍ଞାନର ଭାଷା ହୋଇ ଭାଷା ଭାତ ଦିଏ । ନିଜ ନିଜ ସଙ୍ଗେ ଯୋଡ଼ା ଏ ରଥ ଚକର ଗୋଟେ ଅର ହୁଗୁଳା ହେଲେ ଆରଟି ଭୁଷୁଡ଼ି ପଡ଼ିବ । ଆଉ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ପାଇଁ ଏ ଅର ଭିତରୁ କେଉଁ ଅର କେମିତି ରହିଛି ଆଉ କଣ ମରାମତି ହେବ ଆମକୁ ବେଳ ହୁଁ ଭାବିବାକୁ ପଡ଼ିବ ।</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">ଅପ୍ରିୟ ସତ କଥା ହେଲା ଶାସ୍ତ୍ରୀୟ ମାନ୍ୟତା ମିଳିବାର ଦୁଇ ବର୍ଷ ବିତିଗଲା ପରେ ବି ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଏବେ ଯାଏ କୋର୍ଟ କଚେରିର ଭାଷା ହୋଇପାରିଲା ନାହିଁ । ସରକାରୀ ସ୍ତରରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆର ବ୍ୟାପକ ବ୍ୟାବହାର ବଦଳରେ ହିନ୍ଦୀରୁ ଉଧାରି ଆଣି ପାଳିତ ହେଉଛି "ରାହଗିରି ଦିବସ" । ସିନେମାରେ ବି ସେଇଆ । ଆଉ କାହା ସଙ୍ଗେ ମିତ ବସିବାରେ ଆପତ୍ତି ନାହିଁ ହେଲେ ନିଜ ପରିଚୟ ହାରି ସେ ମିତ ବସିବାରେ କି ସୁଖ । ସରକାରୀ ସ୍ତରରେ ବିଭିନ୍ନ ରାଜ୍ୟର ଯେଉଁଭଳି ତାଙ୍କ ୱେବସାଇଟସବୁ ତାଙ୍କ ରାଜ୍ୟ ଭାଷାରେ ତିଆରି ଆମର ସେମିତି ହୋଇନାହିଁ । ନିକଟରେ odia.odisha.gov.in ନାମରେ ସାଇଟଟିଏ ସରକାର ତିଆରି କଲାବେଳେ ଲେଖକକୁ ସେଥିରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷାର କମ୍ପୁଟର ଓ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଥିବା ବିଭିନ୍ନ ସାଜସରଞ୍ଜାମ ବାବଦରେ ପରାମର୍ଶ ଦେବାର ସୁଯୋଗ ମିଳିଥିଲା । ଏ ସଜସବୁ ଖୋଜିବା ବେଳେ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ ଥିବା ୱେବସାଇଟ ବାବଦରେ କିଛି ତଥ୍ୟ ଆଖି ସାମନାକୁ ଆସିଥିଲା । ଗୁଗୁଲ ସର୍ଚରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଆସୁନଥିବାର ମୁଖ୍ୟ କାରଣ ହେଲା ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଲେଖାର ଅଭାବ । ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ କେଇ ଶହ ଖବରକାଗଜ ଦୈନିକ ଛପାଯାଉଥିଲେ ହେଁ ମୁଖିଆ କାଗଜମାନନଙ୍କ ୱେବସାଇଟରେ ଇଉନିକୋଡ଼ ମାନକରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଲେଖା ନାହିଁ । ଲେଖାସବୁ ଅଣ-ମାନକ ଲିପି ଏନକୋଡ଼ିଂରେ ରହିଛି କିମ୍ବା ଛବି ଭାବେ ରହିଛି । ଫଳରେ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଖୋଜିଲେ ଲେଖାଯାକ ମିଳିବ ନାହିଁ । ସେମିତି bhulekh.ori.nic.in ଭଳି ଓଡ଼ିଶା ସରକାରଙ୍କ ସାଇଟଟିରେ ଅଣ-ମାନକ ଫଣ୍ଟରେ ତିଆରି ହୋଇଥିବାରୁ ସଧାରଣ ଲୋକେ ସରକାରୀ ନଥିପତର ଖୋଜି ପାଇପାରୁନାହାନ୍ତି । ଓଡ଼ିଆ ପାଇଁ ଯେତେକ ଆନ୍ଦୋଳନ ଏବେ ଚାଲିଛି ସବୁ କେବଳ ସାହିତ୍ୟ ଓ ଶାସନକୁ ନେଇ କିନ୍ତୁ କେଉଁ କେଉଁ ଉପାଦାନକୁ ନେଇ ବାକି ଜାଗତିକ ଭାଷାଏ ଆଗକୁ ବଢ଼ିଛନ୍ତି ଆଉ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ କି କି ଚିଜ ନିହାତି ଲୋଡ଼ା ତା' ଲାଗି ଆକଳନ ଲୋଡ଼ା । ଭାରତରେ ୧୯୫୫ ଆଗର ପ୍ରାୟ ବହି କପିରାଇଟ ବାହାରେ । ଏ ବର୍ଗରେ ଥିବା ଓଡ଼ିଆ ବହିସବୁ ଧୀରେ ଧୀରେ ଉଇଙ୍କ ଆହାର ହେବା ଉପରେ । ଭୁବନେଶ୍ୱରର ସୃଜନିକା ଅନୁଷ୍ଠାନ, ରାଉରକେଲା ଏନଆଇଟି ଓ ପ୍ରଗତି ଉତ୍କଳ ସଂଘ ଉଦ୍ୟମରେ ହୋଇଥିବା ଉଦ୍ୟମ ଫଳରେ ଦେଢ଼ ଲକ୍ଷରୁ ଅଧିକ ପୃଷ୍ଠା ସ୍କାନ କରାଯାଇଛି । ଏଥିରୁ କିଛି ଏବେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପାଠାଗାର ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପରେ or.wikisource.org ୱେବସାଇଟରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ । ଏଥିରେ ସ୍ୱେଚ୍ଛାରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ପାଠକମାନେ ନିଜ ପସନ୍ଦର ବହିସବୁକୁ ଡିଜିଟାଇଜ କରି ସ୍କାନ ଛବିରୁ ଲେଖାରେ ରୂପାନ୍ତର କାମ ଆରମ୍ଭ ହୋଇଛି । ଏଥିସହିତ ସମ୍ପୂର୍ଣ୍ଣ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଗବତ ଭଳି ଆମ ଭାଷାର ସମ୍ପତ୍ତି ଧୀରେ ଧୀରେ ଏଥିରେ ଆସିବାକୁ ଲାଗିଲାଣି । ଏଥି ସହିତ ଜଗତଯାକର ଜ୍ଞାନକୁ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଲେଖିବାର ଉଦ୍ୟମ କରିଥିବା ଗୋପାଳ ପ୍ରହରାଜଙ୍କ ଭାଷାକୋଷ ତିଆରି କାମକୁ ଏବେର ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ମାଧ୍ୟମରେ ଆଗକୁ ନେବାର ଉଦ୍ୟମ ହେଲାଣି । ଏଯାବତ ୧୧ ହଜାରରୁ ଅଧିକ ଲେଖା ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆରେ or.wikipedia.org ୱେବସାଇଟରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ । ସାମୁହିକ ଉଦ୍ୟମ ଛଡ଼ା କିଛି ବ୍ୟକ୍ତିବିଶେଷ ଓ ସଙ୍ଗଠନ ମଧ୍ୟ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ କିଛି ୱେବସାଇଟ ଆଗରୁ ବଖଣାଯାଇଥିବା ଫାଙ୍କା ଥାନ ପୂରଣ କରିବା କାମରେ ମଧ୍ୟ ଲାଗିଛନ୍ତି । ତେବେ ଆଉ ଭାଷା ସଙ୍ଗେ ଓଡ଼ିଆକୁ ସମକକ୍ଷ କରିବା ଲାଗି ଆହୁରି ଅନେକ ଉଦ୍ୟମ ଲୋଡ଼ା । ବିଶେଷ କରି ସରକାରଙ୍କ ପାଖେ ସଚେତନତା ଲୋଡ଼ା । କେବଳ କୋଟି କୋଟି ଟଙ୍କାର ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପ ନୁହେଁ ବରଂ ଘରର ମୂଳଦୁଆ ଗଢ଼ା କାମ ପାଇଁ ଅଧକ ଉଦ୍ୟମ ନିହାତି ଲୋଡ଼ାପଡ଼ିଛି ।</p>
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For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/suryaprava-subhashish-panigrahi-february-22-2016-article'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/suryaprava-subhashish-panigrahi-february-22-2016-article</a>
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No publishersubhaCIS-A2KOdia WikipediaAccess to Knowledge2016-03-14T07:27:05ZBlog EntryThe Intellects holds 2nd International Conclave of Odia Language
https://cis-india.org/a2k/news/odisha-news-february-22-2016-intellects-holds-second-international-conclave-of-odia-language
<b>The Intellects, a Delhi-based progressive forum of intellectuals, held the 2nd International Conclave of Odia Language at the India International Centre in New Delhi today.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Subhashish Panigrahi participated in the event and won an award. Look for the coverage by Odisha News <a class="external-link" href="http://www.odishanewsinsight.com/events/the-intellects-holds-2nd-international-conclave-of-odia-language/">here</a>.</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify; ">The seminar had the title of ‘Aamari Bhasha Pathe’. The conclave was inaugurated by eminent Novelist and Writer Dr. Bibhuti Pattnaik and Rajya Sabha MP Baishnab Charan Parida among others. In the inaugural session, the speakers, including Shri Baishnab Parida, Dr. Natabar Satpathy, Dr. Amarendra Khatua, Poet Sankarshan Parida, Dr. Iti Samanta, Smt. Mamata Mohapatra, Mr. Subhasish Panigrahi stressed on the need of promotion of Odia language and its development on the global arena. They highlighted various angles of Odia language, its history and the challenges it faced apart from outlining the modalities to give it a big boost.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In the second leg, a Poets’ Conference was held. Dr. Jagannath Prasad Das, Dr. Amarendra Khatua, Poet Sankarshan Parida, Dr. Anita Panda, Poet Gajanan Mishra, Smt. Yashodhara Mishra, Poet Manas Ranjan Mohapatra and many other recited poems.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In the last leg, Kendra Sahitya Akademi President, Dr. Vishwanath Tiwari and Sir Mark Tully (former Bureau Chief of BBC, New Delhi), graced the occasion among others. Several eminent personalities were honoured and received the awards from The Intellects.</p>
<p><strong>Ama Gourav Samman</strong> – Shri Bibhuti Pattnaik</p>
<p><strong>Amari Bhasha Pathe Samman:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Shri Baishnab Parida</li>
<li>Dr. Amarendra Khatua</li>
<li>Smt. Kunu Dash</li>
<li>Dr. Iti Samanta</li>
<li>Dr. Natabar Satpathy</li>
<li>Shri Gajanan Mishra</li>
<li>Shri Sankarshan Parida</li>
<li>Smt. Mamata Mohapatra</li>
<li>Shri Kulamani Biswal</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Yuva Prerana Samman:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Shri Subhasish Panigrahi</li>
<li>Shri Manoranjan Mohanty</li>
<li>Shri Subhranshu Panda</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Swabhimani Odia Sanghthan Samman:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Biswajit Dash (IPROCH)</li>
<li>Sanjeev Mohanty (Odisha Forum)</li>
<li>Bijaya Kumar Dash (Sukha Dukha Prakashan)</li>
</ul>
<p>Shri Debendra Rout, Chairman of The Intellects and Parambrahma Tripathy, Secretary (Literature), The Intellects, organised the event successfully with all their hard efforts.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/news/odisha-news-february-22-2016-intellects-holds-second-international-conclave-of-odia-language'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/news/odisha-news-february-22-2016-intellects-holds-second-international-conclave-of-odia-language</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaCIS-A2KWikipediaAccess to Knowledge2016-02-27T05:35:17ZNews Item‘A Good Day for the Internet Everywhere': India Bans Differential Data Pricing
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/global-voices-subhashish-panigrahi-february-9-2016-a-good-day-for-the-internet-everywhere
<b>India distinguished itself as a global leader on network neutrality on February 8, when regulators officially banned “differential pricing”, a process through which telecommunications service providers could or charge discriminatory tariffs for data services offered based on content.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The article was published by <a class="external-link" href="https://globalvoices.org/2016/02/09/a-good-day-for-the-internet-everywhere-india-bans-differential-data-pricing/">Global Voices </a>on February 9, 2016</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In short, this means that Internet access in India will remain an open field, where users should be guaranteed equal access to any website they want to visit, regardless of how they connect to the Internet.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In their ruling, <a href="http://www.trai.gov.in/WriteReadData/WhatsNew/Documents/Regulation_Data_Service.pdf"><span>Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) commented:</span></a></p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify; ">
<p>In India, given that a majority of the population are yet to be connected to the internet, allowing service providers to define the nature of access would be equivalent of letting TSPs shape the users’ internet experience.</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" style="text-align: justify; ">
<p dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TRAIFreesInternet?src=hash"><span>#TRAIFreesInternet</span></a> | Key take aways from TRAI’s ruling on Net Neutrality <a href="https://t.co/xlFsLb3bZ6"><span>pic.twitter.com/xlFsLb3bZ6</span></a></p>
<p>— CNN-IBN News (@ibnlive) <a href="https://twitter.com/ibnlive/status/696746896556032000"><span>February 8, 2016</span></a></p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The decision of the Indian government has been welcomed largely in the country and outside. In support of the move, the World Wide Web Foundation's Renata Avila, also a Global Voices community member, <a href="http://webfoundation.org/2016/02/worlds-biggest-democracy-bans-zero-rating/?platform=hootsuite"><span>wrote:</span></a></p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify; ">
<p>As the country with the second largest number of Internet users worldwide, this decision will resonate around the world. It follows a precedent set by Chile, the United States, and others which have adopted similar net neutrality safeguards. The message is clear: We can’t create a two-tier Internet – one for the haves, and one for the have-nots. We must connect everyone to the full potential of the open Web.</p>
</blockquote>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">A blow for Facebook's “Free Basics”</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">While the new rules should long outlast this moment in India's Internet history, the ruling should immediately force Facebook to cancel the local deployment of “Free Basics”, a smart phone application that offers free access to Facebook, Facebook-owned products like WhatsApp, and a select suite of other websites for users who do not pay for mobile data plans.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Facebook's efforts to deploy and promote Free Basics as what they described as a remedy to India's lack of “digital equality” has encountered significant backlash. Last December, technology critic and Quartz writer<a href="http://qz.com/582587/mark-zuckerberg-cant-believe-india-isnt-grateful-for-facebooks-free-internet/"><span> Alice Truong reacted to Free Basics saying:</span></a></p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify; ">
<p>Zuckerberg almost portrays net neutrality as a first-world problem that doesn’t apply to India because having some service is better than no service.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">When TRAI solicited public comments on the matter of differential pricing, Facebook responded with an aggressive <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2015/12/17/save-free-basics/" target="_blank"><span>advertising campaign </span></a>on bill boards and in television commercials across the nation. It also embedded a campaign inside Facebook, asking users to write to TRAI in support of Free Basics.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">TRAI <a href="http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/facebooks-free-basics-campaign-slammed-by-indian-regulator-1539261" target="_blank"><span>criticized</span></a> Facebook for what it seemed to regard as manipulation of the public. Facebook was also heavily challenged by many policy and open Internet advocates including non-profits like the <a href="http://www.fsmi.in/" target="_blank"><span>Free Software Movement of India</span></a> and the <a href="http://www.savetheinternet.in/" target="_blank"><span>Savetheinternet.in</span></a> campaign. The latter two collectives strongly discouraged Free Basics by bringing public opinion where Savetheinternet.in alone facilitated a campaign in which citizens sent over <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech%20news/Net-neutrality-Trai-gets-24-lakh-comments-on-differential-data-pricing-paper/articleshow/50493525.cms" target="_blank"><span>2.4 million emails</span></a> to TRAI urging the agency to put a stop to differential pricing.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Alongside these efforts, <a href="http://blog.savetheinternet.in/startups-pm-letter/" target="_blank"><span>500 Indian startups</span></a> including major ones like Cleartrip, Zomato, Practo, Paytm and Cleartax also wrote to India's prime minister Narendra Modi requesting continued support for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_neutrality" target="_blank"><span>net neutrality</span></a>—on the Indian Republic Day January 26.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Stand-up comedians like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSxB1mD7SdE&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank"><span>Abish Mathew</span></a> and groups like <a href="https://youtu.be/AAQWsTFF0BM" target="_blank"><span>All India Bakchod</span></a> and <a href="https://youtu.be/UCwaKje44fQ" target="_blank"><span>East India Comedy</span></a> created humorous and informative videos explaining the regulatory debate and supporting net neutrality which went viral.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Had differential pricing been officially legalized, it would have adversely affected startups and content-based smaller companies, who most likely could never manage to pay higher prices to partner with service providers to make their service available for free. This would have paved the way for tech-giants like Facebook to capture the entire market. And this would be no small gain for a company like Facebook: India represents the world's largest market of Internet users after the US and China, where Facebook remains blocked.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">The Internet responds</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">There have been mixed responses on social media, both supporting and opposing. Among open Internet advocates both in India and the US, the response was celebratory:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" style="text-align: justify; ">
<p dir="ltr">This order shows the power of citizen involvement in policymaking. Policymakers are forced to listen if citizens engage. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NetNeutrality?src=hash"><span>#NetNeutrality</span></a></p>
<p>— Pranesh Prakash (@pranesh) <a href="https://twitter.com/pranesh/status/696720959974211586"><span>February 8, 2016</span></a></p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" style="text-align: justify; ">
<p>I think this is not just a good day for the Internet in India. It's a good day for the Internet everywhere <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TRAI?src=hash"><span>#TRAI</span></a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/savetheinternet?src=hash"><span>#savetheinternet</span></a></p>
<p>— Anja Kovacs (@anjakovacs) <a href="https://twitter.com/anjakovacs/status/696657952946565121"><span>February 8, 2016</span></a></p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" style="text-align: justify; ">
<p>India is now the global leader on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NetNeutrality?src=hash"><span>#NetNeutrality</span></a>. New rules are stronger than those in EU and US. <a href="https://t.co/D6g68k2xaI"><span>https://t.co/D6g68k2xaI</span></a></p>
<p>— Josh Levy (@levjoy) <a href="https://twitter.com/levjoy/status/696716845290655744"><span>February 8, 2016</span></a></p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">There are also those like <a href="https://www.facebook.com/rajkiran.panuganti/posts/10153961592211457"><span>Panuganti Rajkiran</span></a> who opposed the ruling:</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify; ">
<p>A terrible decision.. The worst part here is the haves deciding for the have nots what they can have and what they cannot.</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" style="text-align: justify; ">
<p>When you buy a car, it's fulfilment of aspiration. After that, the next guy who buys a car is just traffic. Let's regulate. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NetNeutrality?src=hash"><span>#NetNeutrality</span></a></p>
<p>— Ramesh Srivats (@rameshsrivats) <a href="https://twitter.com/rameshsrivats/status/696737409136926721"><span>February 8, 2016</span></a></p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://www.facebook.com/soumya.manikkath/posts/10153386837235920"><span>Soumya Manikkath</span></a> says:</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify; ">
<p>So all is not lost in the world, for the next two years at least. Do come back with a better plan, dear Facebook, and we'll rethink, of course.</p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The ruling leaves an open pathway for companies to offer consumers free access to the Internet, provided that this access is truly open and does not limit one's ability to browse any site of her choosing.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Bangalore-based Internet policy expert Pranesh Prakash noted that this work must continue until India is truly — and equally — connected:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" style="text-align: justify; ">
<p>The pro-<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NetNeutrality?src=hash"><span>#NetNeutrality</span></a> campaign shouldn't rest until every poor family in India has full and free access to the Internet. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ZeroRating?src=hash"><span>#ZeroRating</span></a></p>
<p>— Pranesh Prakash (@pranesh) <a href="https://twitter.com/pranesh/status/696732814083907584"><span>February 8, 2016</span></a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/global-voices-subhashish-panigrahi-february-9-2016-a-good-day-for-the-internet-everywhere'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/global-voices-subhashish-panigrahi-february-9-2016-a-good-day-for-the-internet-everywhere</a>
</p>
No publishersubhaNet NeutralityInternet Governance2016-02-25T01:21:27ZBlog Entry