The Centre for Internet and Society
https://cis-india.org
These are the search results for the query, showing results 51 to 65.
Thematic Edit-a-thon at Yashawantrao Chavan Institute of Science, Satara
https://cis-india.org/a2k/thematic-edit-a-thon-at-yashawantrao-chavan-institute-of-science-satara
<b></b>
<p align="center"><br /></p>
<p>A Marathi Wikipedia
edit-a-thon was held at Yashawantrao Chavan Institute of Science,
Satara. The aim of the workshop was to edit and improve articles on
Marathi Wikipedia under the theme "Environment and Local
Biodiveristy". Participants were given an orientation on how to
contribute to Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects. The
Yashawantrao Chavan Institute of Science is housed under the <a href="http://www.erayat.org/" target="_blank">Rayat
Shikshan Sanstha</a>, a century-old organization with the largest
network of schools and colleges across Maharashtra. The management
and local environmental group, Drongo, took the initiative to organize this thematic workshop in Satara, an area rich in terms of
biodiversity in the Western Ghats. Noted ecologist and scientist Prof. Madhavrao Gadgil addressed the workshop as a resource person along with Prof. V.Y. Deshpande of the Institute. A total of 23 members from various
like-minded organizations participated in the workshop.</p>
<p> </p>
<div align="center">
<ul><li><span id="docs-internal-guid-eefaaff2-30fd-2e1a-bf7c-56f91dcde4b8"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/Nv-B5Uxu4VSIKSzWhDMzqJfy-hp7UUIQ_1sLss5IzaE7EzMBbCYyrm1vrdqDb4bNT57TafnROLvtMhLT7ojevVOT2qJVcY9tEB8XCA8svORZQamsl1Bc5QQj-TmNiu12ilYYqsM" alt="YCIS4.jpg" height="401" width="602" /></span></li></ul>
</div>
<p> </p>
<p>Image by <a title="User:सुबोध कुलकर्णी" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%AC%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%A7_%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%B2%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A3%E0%A5%80">सुबोध कुलकर्णी</a>/ CC-BY-SA 4.0<br /><span id="docs-internal-guid-eefaaff2-30fd-2e1a-bf7c-56f91dcde4b8"></span></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/thematic-edit-a-thon-at-yashawantrao-chavan-institute-of-science-satara'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/thematic-edit-a-thon-at-yashawantrao-chavan-institute-of-science-satara</a>
</p>
No publisherSubodh KulkarniCIS-A2KAccess to KnowledgeWikimediaWikipediaMarathi WikipediaOpenness2017-07-11T09:35:13ZBlog EntryTallapaka Pada Sahityam is now on Wikisource
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/tallapaka-pada-sahityam-is-now-on-wikisource
<b></b>
<p><a name="cite_ref-Source_of_his_history_1-0"></a>
Tallapaka Pada Sahityam, a
compilation of over fourteen thousand Telugu compositions is now
available on Wikisource. Tallapaka Annamacharya was a 15th-century
Hindu saint and composer who was renowned for singing in praise of
Lord Venkateswara. The Tallapaka lineage began with him, giving rise
to many bards in the Telugu language from the family. The Tallapaka
Pada Sahityam is a compilation of three generations of Tallapaka
poets: Tallapaka Annamacharya,
Tallapaka Peda Tirumalacharya, and Tallapaka China
Tirumalacharya. This compilation, published by Annamayya Library,
Guntur has been uploaded by the library on Wikisource as part of
their efforts to digitize the library archives. These lyrical works,
dealing with a variety of themes, are of immense literary and
cultural significance to Telugu speakers the world over.</p>
<p>Owing to the large
size of the file donated by the library, the works need to be
separated into 29 volumes. These separated files would be uploaded
and indexed on Commons as well. A Unicode version of the work needs
to be published and proofread in addition to their print version.
Telugu Wikimedians are also exploring the possiblity of re-licensing
recitations of the poems by literary connoisseurs. On 9 June, an orientation of these activities was conducted for long time Telugu Wikipedia, <a title="te:user:శ్రీరామమూర్తి" class="extiw" href="https://te.wikipedia.org/wiki/user:%E0%B0%B6%E0%B1%8D%E0%B0%B0%E0%B1%80%E0%B0%B0%E0%B0%BE%E0%B0%AE%E0%B0%AE%E0%B1%82%E0%B0%B0%E0%B1%8D%E0%B0%A4%E0%B0%BF">te:user:శ్రీరామమూర్తి</a>, who has begun publishing Unicode text and proof-reading on Telugu Wikisource.</p>
<p>The link to the work
is here:</p>
<p><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Tallapaka_pada_sahityam.pdf">https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Tallapaka_pada_sahityam.pdf</a></p>
<p><br />
<br /></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/tallapaka-pada-sahityam-is-now-on-wikisource'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/tallapaka-pada-sahityam-is-now-on-wikisource</a>
</p>
No publisherPavan SanthoshTelugu WikisourceCIS-A2KAccess to KnowledgeWikimediaWikipediaTelugu WikipediaOpenness2017-07-10T13:44:41ZBlog EntryThematic Edit-a-thon at J.P.Naik Centre for Education & Development, Pune
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/thematic-edit-a-thon-at-j-p-naik-centre-for-education-development-pune
<b>A Marathi Wikipedia workshop was held at the J.P. Naik Centre for Education and Development in Pune recently. </b>
<div>A
Marathi Wikipedia workshop was conducted in conjunction with VIgyan
Ashram, a social work organization on 9 May, 2017. This was held at the
J.P. Naik Centre for Education and Development. <a class="external gmail-text" href="http://vigyanashram.com/InnerPages/RDES_IBT.aspx" rel="nofollow">Vigyan Ashram</a>
conducts courses on Introduction to Basic Technology (IBT) or Multi
Skill
Foundation Course in various schools for integrating socially
useful productive work with school curriculum. The goal of Wikipedia
edit-a-thon was to attempt to integrate these objectives with
Wikipedia Education Program and develop long term strategies. It also
aims to build resources in the field of appropriate rural technologies
on Marathi Wikipedia and equip its participants with the skills
necessary to contribute to Wikipedia.</div>
<p> </p>
A total of 23 IBT coordinators from 18 schools(of 9 districts) participated in the workshop.
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/thematic-edit-a-thon-at-j-p-naik-centre-for-education-development-pune'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/thematic-edit-a-thon-at-j-p-naik-centre-for-education-development-pune</a>
</p>
No publisherSubodh KulkarniCIS-A2KAccess to KnowledgeWikimediaWikipediaMarathi WikipediaOpenness2017-06-07T08:59:43ZBlog EntrySoI’s Open Series Maps Fails to Implement Public Sharing of Govt Data
https://cis-india.org/openness/survey-of-india-open-series-maps-fails-to-implement-public-sharing-of-govt-data
<b>Although it has made the topographic maps or the Open Series Maps available to general public, Survey of India’s (SoI) Nakshe portal will have to go through a variety of litmus test, as the initiative fails to implement the mandates of public sharing of government data using open standards and open license as put forward by the NMP 2005 and NDSAP 2012, says Sumandro Chattapadhyay, Research Director, The Centre for Internet and Society. This interview was published by Geospatial World on May 02, 2017.</b>
<p> </p>
<p>Cross-posted from <a href="https://www.geospatialworld.net/sois-open-series-maps-fails-implement-public-sharing-govt-data/">Geospatial World</a>.</p>
<hr />
<h4>What are your views on the Nakshe Portal initiative from Survey of India?</h4>
<p>It is a most welcome initiative by the Survey of India to realize the mandate of the National Map Policy (NMP) 2005 to publicly distribute “Open Series Maps of scales larger than 1:1 million”. The Survey of India has also drawn from and implemented the mandate of the National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy (NDSAP) 2012 to make available the shareable and non-sensitive Open Series Maps documents without any necessary fees to access and use them.</p>
<p>The initiative, however, fails to achieve the goal of of public sharing of government data using open standards and open license as put forward by the NMP 2005 and NDSAP 2012. This substantively raises the barrier to access the Open Series Maps data and reduces its possibilities of reuse, especially for commercial innovation, in a very serious way. This undermining of the open data agenda is not only a concern for the Nakshe portal in particular, but also sets a dangerous precedent for future open government data initiatives in India.</p>
<h4>What is your view on the data provided and its usability?</h4>
<p>The Nakshe portal has created several barriers to access and use of the Open Series Maps data, all of which are in violation of the NMP 2005 and NDSAP 2012:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>NDSAP 2012 mandates that shareable and non-sensitive government data (such as Open Series Maps) are made public through the data.gov.in portal created under the guidance of the NDSAP 2012. Survey of India may of course decide to publish the Open Series Maps data on the Nakshe portal along with on the data.gov.in portal. Publishing of the data only through the Nakshe portal not only violates the mandate of NDSAP 2012, they make such data much less discoverable.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>NDSAP 2012 allows for “registered access” to open government data. That is, it allows for data to be shared only with users who have registered with the data publishing portal. Making registration only possible via Aadhaar number, however, significantly limits the number of users who can access this data. For example, non-Indian researchers form an important potential sub-section of users of Open Series Maps but they will not be able to access the data. The website neither has a privacy policy that clarifies how these submitted Aadhaar numbers will be stored, protected, and shared (if at all) by the Survey of India.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>NMP 2005 instructs Survey of India to “allow a user to add value to the maps obtained (either in analogue or digital formats) and prepare his own value-added maps”. The Government Open Data License has been recently notified under NDSAP 2012 to guide permitted uses of open government data in India.</p>
<p>The very restricted approach to permitted end-uses of Open Series Maps by the Survey of India neither follow the NMP instruction, nor adopt the Government Open Data License. Data available from Nakshe portal cannot be exported (which is technically an absurd demand due to globally distributed nature of servers), commercialized, or altered. This creates a most serious barrier to using the Open Series Maps data available via the Nakshe portal.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>The Nakshe portal has published geospatial data in PDF format. This is a clear violation of open data practices globally and the NDSAP Implementation Guidelines more specifically, which states that open geospatial data standards, like GML and KML, should be used).</p>
</li></ul>
<h4>Does this fall in line with the larger government aim of having open and accessible data? If not why?</h4>
<p>In a nutshell, the Open Series Maps data being published on the Nakshe portal is neither open (as it does not use open standards to share the data and does not share the data under an open licenses) nor universally accessible (due to the requirement for registration via Aadhaar number).</p>
<h4>What improvements do you suggest in the approach of SoI about the portal?</h4>
<p>I have listed four major conflicts that the Nakshe portal has with the directives and guidelines offered by the NMP 2005 and NDSAP 2012. I sincerely hope that the Survey of India and the Department of Science and Technology will address them soon, as they significantly limit the ability of users to access and use the Open Series Maps data.</p>
<p>These changes will make the Open Series Maps data open, and ensure that the data can be accessed and innovated with by various stakeholders.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/survey-of-india-open-series-maps-fails-to-implement-public-sharing-of-govt-data'>https://cis-india.org/openness/survey-of-india-open-series-maps-fails-to-implement-public-sharing-of-govt-data</a>
</p>
No publishersumandroOpen DataOpen Government DataGeospatial DataOpenness2017-05-04T12:19:01ZBlog EntryComments on the Statistical Disclosure Control Report
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/comments-on-the-statistical-disclosure-control-report
<b>This submission presents comments by the Centre for Internet and Society, India (“CIS”) on the Statistical Disclosure Control Report published on March 30th by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
</b>
<p><strong id="docs-internal-guid-a12fe2b3-c746-4c1a-0287-1814414668af"><br /></strong></p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">1. PRELIMINARY</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">This submission presents comments by the Centre for Internet and Society, India (“CIS”) on the Statistical Disclosure Control Report published on March 30th by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">CIS is thankful for the opportunity to put forth its views.<br class="kix-line-break" />This submission is divided into three main parts. The first part, ‘Preliminary’, introduces the document; the second part, ‘About CIS’, is an overview of the organization; and, the third part contains the ‘Comments’.<br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" /></p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">2. ABOUT CIS</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">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, freedom of speech and expression, intermediary liability, digital privacy, and cybersecurity.<br class="kix-line-break" /><br /></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">CIS values the fundamental principles of justice, equality, freedom and economic development. This submission is consistent with CIS' commitment to these values, the safeguarding of general public interest and the protection of India's national interest at the international level. Accordingly, the comments in this submission aim to further these principles.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">3. Comments</h3>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">3.1 General Comments</h4>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">As a non-profit organisation we recognize the importance of the efforts by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) to make the data you collect available to the public in open formats with relevant information about reliability of statistical estimates.</p>
<p><span style="text-align: justify;">We at CIS have recently released a report titled “Information Security Practices of Aadhaar (or lack thereof): A documentation of public availability of Aadhaar Numbers with sensitive personal financial information”. We encountered several central and state government departments collecting socioeconomic data from citizens, linking it with Aadhaar and even publishing them in exportable data formats like EXCEL and MS ACCESS Databases. </span><span style="text-align: justify;">While we understand this issue primarily concerns to Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the lack of standards around information/statistical disclosure are a general threat to transparency in a democracy and privacy of individuals. </span><span style="text-align: justify;">Going through the report we understand the committee is unable to prescribe a standard for other ministries and departments until they try and pilot these standards within Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. This delay in prescribing the standards can be really dangerous in the current circumstances of massive data collection by government departments and linking all the databases with a unique identifier, Aadhaar Number. </span><span style="text-align: justify;">At the same time we understand the importance of data dissemination to be carried out and we recommend the following for improving the standards around data disclosure control.</span></p>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">3.2 Integrity of Information and Data</h4>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">We agree with the committee that the error rates need to be kept in mind while designing practices to convert raw data. But we request the process of changes being made be actively measured and documented. In case of errors being computed, guidelines can be made to decrease the possibilities of misinterpretation of errors causing loss of integrity of information. Statistics are important for decision making in governance, errors in computations can be biased towards millions of people. Statistical biases are important to be looked into while converting data from its raw format to make sure there are no damage caused by information.</p>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">3.3 Data Security</h4>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">One of the important issues around storage and publication of Aadhaar information is the lack of masking standards. With the availability of data from multiple departments, it is possible to reconstruct identification details by linking data from multiple databases. It is recommended to bring masking standards while personally identifiable micro data is being published. There is an urgent need for departments to also look at auditing access to information and tracking sharing of information. It is recommended the department digitally signs all the information and documents being published or shared by them to keep track of who had accessed the information and verifying the authenticity of information.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">We request the department to define what exactly is “usage for statistical purposes only” and recommend standards to control and restrict usage of information for this purpose. It is important they design frameworks or mechanisms to allow others to report violations around this. This process should be transparent and documented heavily.</p>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">3.4 Anonymization of microdata</h4>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">We recommend the data being collected be anonymized at source to evade the possibility of the accidental disclosure of personally identifiable information. While the current anonymization efforts have been helpful, with steady increase in data mining and classification algorithms and practices it is recommended to evolve the standards around this area.</p>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">3.5 Data Dissemination</h4>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">Data dissemination is an important aspect for district statistics officers, we recommend they actively communicate their work through monthly newsletters, quarterly workshops to help improve the conversations around statistics and at the same time engage with the users who would benefit from the data.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">We also recommend that data when being published includes metadata of collection, modification, storage and other important information. Also the information needs to be published in open formats which does not require proprietary software to be used to open them. At the same time data should be published in multiple formats like CSV, XLS, PDF,</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">The committee also recognizes the need for having data users part of discussions around important decisions and be part of committees. We would like the department to recognize our efforts and consider us for future committee representations.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr"> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">Thank you for this opportunity and we look forward to work with you in future.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/comments-on-the-statistical-disclosure-control-report'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/comments-on-the-statistical-disclosure-control-report</a>
</p>
No publisherSrinivs Kodali and Amber SinhaCall for CommentsDigital AccessOpen DataOpen Government DataData ProtectionData GovernanceAadhaarDigitisationInformation SecurityOpennessInternet GovernanceData Management2019-03-13T00:28:44ZBlog EntryWiki Loves Mayabazaar
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wiki-loves-mayabazaar
<b></b>
<div>
<div>On the 60th anniversary of the movie Mayabazar, Telugu Wikimedians celebrated <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wiki_Loves_Mayabazar">Wiki Loves Mayabazar</a>, an event to commemorate the cult Telugu film <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayabazar" target="_blank">Mayabazar.</a> As part of the celebrations, an edit-a-thon of the same name was held at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravindra_Bharathi" target="_blank">Ravindra Bharathi in Hyderabad. </a>Interestingly, the Cultural Department of Telangana Government sponsored the entire event. <br /><br />In
the Telugu speaking regions, there is a well-known appreciation of the
cinematic arts. Mayabazar, released in 1957 captured the imagination of
fans like no other film had before. Telugu Wikipedians decided to pay
tribute to the movie by improving articles and content related to it on
Telugu Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects.</div>
<br />The
edit-a-thon was held on 30 April, 2017 at the monthly Wikimitra Vedika
meetup of Telugu Wikipedians. A screening of the film took place
followed by discussions on references, citations, film studies and
articles related to the film. From 1 May 2017, the edit-a-thon took
place online. <br /><br />There were 15 participants of which only one member was female. Telugu Wikipedian, Kasyap hoped for more participation as this "is an interesting event."</div>
<p>However, the event was made popular by the wide ranging media coverage in print and electronic media.</p>
<div> </div>
<p>Media pieces on the event:</p>
<p> </p>
1. <span id="gmail-OBJ_PREFIX_DWT147_com_zimbra_date" class="gmail-Object"></span><span id="gmail-OBJ_PREFIX_DWT148_com_zimbra_url" class="gmail-Object"><a href="http://www.eenadu.net/andhra-pradesh-news-inner.aspx?category=home&item=%20ap-story6" target="_blank">‘మాయాబజార్’కు వినూత్న షష్టిపూర్తి</a></span>
<p> (Eenadu Newspaper; 1 May, 2017)</p>
2.‘మాయాబజార్’కు 60 ఏళ్లు.. వినూత్న షష్టిపూర్తి వేడుకకు సిద్ధమవుతున్న వికీపీడియన్లు! (Ap7am.com; 1 May 2017)Wiki Loves Mayabazaar
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wiki-loves-mayabazaar'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wiki-loves-mayabazaar</a>
</p>
No publisherPavan SanthoshCIS-A2KAccess to KnowledgeWikimediaWikipediaTelugu WikipediaOpenness2017-06-07T09:24:35ZBlog EntryMarathi Wikipedia Symposium at Gokhale Institute Of Politics & Economics
https://cis-india.org/a2k/marathi-wikipedia-symposium-at-gokhale-institute-of-politics-economics
<b>A strategic symposium on Marathi Wikipedia and its sister projects was conducted on 29 April, 2017</b>
<p>The Marathi Wikipedia community held a symposium at the Gokhale
Instititute of Politics and Economics on 29 April, 2017. This was an
attempt to bring together various stakeholders for developing a
strategic plan for Marathi language wiki projects such as Wikipedia, and
especially Marathi Wikisource and Wiktionary. Over 70 persons were
involved in the strategic planning efforts to take Wikisource and
Wiktionary to existing Marathi Wikipedians and the general public at
large. Eminent ecologist, Prof. Madhav Gadgil served as a resource
persons for this event. <br /><br /><a class="external gmail-text" href="http://www.gipe.ac.in/index.php" rel="nofollow">Gokhale Institute Of Politics & Economics</a> and <a class="external gmail-text" href="http://rawatacademy.in/" rel="nofollow">Rawat's Nature Academy</a>
took lead in organising this symposium. CIS-A2K facilitated the
process. A total of 50 eminent personalities from various fields such as
literature,
linguistics, journalism, science forums, publishers, librarians, State
Language & Culture Department honchos, active citizen forums working
on different issues etc. took active part in the proceedings. They aim
to act as anchors in future. According to the needs of Wikimedia
projects,
12 Action Groups have been formed. Planning further sessions for May and
June has begun
over a common email thread.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/marathi-wikipedia-symposium-at-gokhale-institute-of-politics-economics'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/marathi-wikipedia-symposium-at-gokhale-institute-of-politics-economics</a>
</p>
No publisherSubodh KulkarniCIS-A2KAccess to KnowledgeWikimediaWikipediaMarathi WikipediaOpennessMarathi Wikisource2017-06-07T08:45:18ZBlog EntryChemistry research in India 'still not in big league'
https://cis-india.org/openness/news/ians-april-24-2017-chemistry-research-in-india-still-not-in-big-league
<b>Despite an increase in research output and international collaboration, chemistry research, "the central science", in India is "still not in the big league", an analysis has revealed.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Originally published by <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ians.in/index.php?param=category/20/10004">IANS</a> on April 24, 2017, the news was carried on the <a class="external-link" href="http://news.indiaonline.in/Chemistry-research-in-India-still-not-in-big-league-1733663">India Online</a> news portal</p>
<hr style="text-align: justify; " />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Researchers Subbiah Arunachalam, Muthu Madhan and Subbiah Gunasekaran carried out a scientometric analysis of contributions from India in leading multidisciplinary chemistry journals over the 25-year period 1991-2015.<br /><br />The study of measuring and analysing science research is called scientometrics.<br /><br />"Chemistry is the 'central science'. Whether it is drugs and pharmaceuticals, materials, or several other areas, chemistry plays a key role. In times past, say till about four decades ago, there was a strong tradition of natural products chemistry in India, but later on the emphasis moved to other branches of chemistry," the authors told IANS when asked why is it important for India to take a lead in chemistry research.<br /><br />But, as modern chemical research depends more and more on information technology - computer-based data collection and processing - India has to "try hard to keep pace" with progress worldwide, they said.<br /><br />The study comes against the backdrop of comments on chemistry research in India made in three recent reports prepared by Nature Index, Elsevier and Thomson Reuters. <br /><br />According to the Nature Index report, chemistry is doing well in India and it is the top performer, while the Thomson Reuters report, prepared for the Department of Science and Technology, says research in the field is growing rapidly in the country.<br /><br />However, India, despite its huge share of the world's population (about 17 per cent), continues to be poorly represented in the top journals, the study revealed.<br /><br />The country's share of papers in the Journal of the American Chemical Society is 0.7 per cent compared to 58.4 per cent for US, 7.6 per cent for Germany and 5.1 per cent for China, and its share in Angewandte Chemie International Edition is 1.2 per cent, compared to 28 per cent for Germany, 25.3 per cent for US and 9.9 per cent for China.<br /><br />This could be due to the fact that till recently, Indian universities did not encourage mobility across disciplines.<br /><br />"That only a small number of Indian researchers and institutions publish in leading journals is also a matter for concern. India accounts for only a small number of papers in the top one percentile of the most highly cited chemistry papers, whereas China leads the world," the study pointed out.<br /><br />Chemistry research in India is still not in the big league, the authors said.<br /><br />"If we look at chemistry worldwide, what we do in India does not make big news among chemists and other scientists," they said.<br /><br />The researchers compared India's performance with that of China as a benchmark.<br /><br />"Overall, the number of chemistry papers from India increased steadily between 2007 and 2014. We have not compared India and China in this study but have merely highlighted a couple of points to emphasise how far we have to go," the authors clarified.<br /><br />China is way ahead not only in chemistry but in all sciences. In terms of number of papers and average citations, they have been ahead of India for several years, they said.<br /><br />To address the gaps, the authors suggest that researchers and funders need to identify important questions and areas of research and focus their attention on those areas.<br /><br />"At the practical level, we should have many summer schools and winter schools for young researchers, encourage collaboration, invite overseas researchers, and so on. Accountability and time-bound completion of projects are a must," the authors added.<br /><br />Of the study authors, Arunachalam and Madhan are in the DST Centre for Policy Research, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru while Arunachalam is also associated with the Centre for Internet and Society, Bengaluru. Gunasekaran is in the Knowledge Resources Centre, Central Electrochemical Research Institute, Karaikudi.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/news/ians-april-24-2017-chemistry-research-in-india-still-not-in-big-league'>https://cis-india.org/openness/news/ians-april-24-2017-chemistry-research-in-india-still-not-in-big-league</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpenness2017-04-28T02:03:26ZNews ItemComments on the Right to Information Rules, 2017
https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/comments-on-the-right-to-information-rules-2017
<b>On March 31st, 2017, the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Personnel and Training released a Circular framing rules under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (“RTI Rules”). The Ministry invited comments on on the RTI Rules. CIS submitted its comments on April 25, 2017.</b>
<h3 dir="ltr">1. Preliminary</h3>
<p dir="ltr">1.1 On March 31st, 2017, the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Personnel and Training released a Circular framing rules under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (“RTI Rules”). The Ministry invited comments on on the RTI Rules.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">2. The Centre for Internet and Society</h3>
<p dir="ltr">2.1. 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, and open access), internet governance, telecommunication reform, digital privacy, and cyber-security.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr">3. Comments</h3>
<p dir="ltr">3.1 General Comments</p>
<p dir="ltr">The new RTI Rules introduce various procedural hurdles and provides a great deal of discretionary power to the CIC in dealing with RTI applications and appeals. One of the provisions which has attracted attention in the past also is the abatement of appeals upon the death of the RTI applications. This provision, explored in more detail is especially objectionable in light of the threats that RTI activists face.</p>
<p><strong id="docs-internal-guid-f3638231-aeb5-9d2f-4329-a2fd7d07f81a"><br /></strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">3.2 Specific Comments</p>
<p dir="ltr">3.2.1 Rule 4 of the RTI Rules states that the fees for providing information under the RTI Act would be ‘as notified by Central Government from time to time’. While the RTI Rules also prescribe the fee for filing RTI applications, this phrase provides a window to increase the fees through subsequent notifications. We recommend that the phrase “or as notified by Central Government from time to time” be deleted in order prevent prohibitive increase in the fees in future.</p>
<p><strong><br /></strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">3.2.2 Rule 4 of the RTI Rules also specifies the fees for provision of information via floppies and diskettes. There is no plausible reason to engage in continued rulemaking applicable to outdated modes of data storage. It would be of much more help if the rules were to prescribe fees for CDs, DVDs and email. We also submit that no fees need be charged for information provided through emails, and this mode of communication must be adopted where possible.</p>
<p><strong><br /></strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">3.2.3 Rule 8 (1)(viii) states that every appellant must affirm that they have not filed an appeal pertaining to similar matters before the Commission or any court. However, the same matter can lead to multiple counts of causes of actions, and the principle of res judicata barring further action should not apply in these cases. Therefore, it is recommended that this requirement is deleted.</p>
<p><strong><br /></strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">3.2.4 Rule 12 permits the withdrawal of an appeal on the request of the appellant and the abatement of an appeal on the death of the appellant. This provisions needs to be evaluated in light of the increasing number of cases of threats received by RTI activists. There have been close to 400 documented cases of attacks on RTI applicants,[1] including cases of murder and physical assault. This provision will serve to enable withdrawal of RTI appeals through harassment and other means of coercion.</p>
<p><strong><br /></strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">Further, the abatement of an appeal upon death of an RTI appellant is a clause without any merit and could translate into murders of appellants to cause abatement of the appeal. Additionally, the Supreme Court’s judgment in the matter of Union of India v. Namit Sharma[2] must be kept in mind which clarified the position that RTI applications and appeals are not in the nature of lis and deal with the question of whether requested information ought to be disclosed. Therefore, there is no reason why appeals should abate upon the demise of the appellant.</p>
<p><strong><br /></strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">3.2.5 Rule 14 permits the CIC to return complaints due to non-compliance with the procedural rules in Rule 13. Such rules[3] have been used in the past to return complaints on unreasonable or artificial grounds. This is an example of additional procedural hurdles introduced by through the rulemaking process instead of making the process more citizen friendly.</p>
<p><strong><br /></strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">3.2.6 Rule 15 (iii) of the RTI Rules gives the CIC the discretion to close a case without even allowing hearing to the applicant. There is no requirement on the CIC to provide a detailed reasoning of its determination either. This rule is in violation of the right to be heard before adjudication under natural justice principles.</p>
<p> </p>
<p dir="ltr">3.7 The redressal mechanism under Rule 16 of the RTI Rules leaves a lot to be desired. Beginning with the use of the term ‘communication’ to refer to the complaint regarding a non-compliance of the CIC’s order, the rule takes a cavalier approach to addressing the significant number of cases of non-compliance with the CIC’s order. Further, there is no clear procedure spelt out with regard to how the CIC will deal with such matters and whether parties may be heard before making an adjudication. Further, there is an inconsistency in that a communication may be rejected if not submitted in the prescribed format, whereas in the case of appeals it clearly stated that they may not be returned/rejected only on the ground of non-compliance with the format.</p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr">[1] http://attacksonrtiusers.org</p>
<p dir="ltr">[2] https://indiankanoon.org/doc/47938967/</p>
<p dir="ltr">[3] Rule 9 of the RTI Rules, 2012.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/comments-on-the-right-to-information-rules-2017'>https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/comments-on-the-right-to-information-rules-2017</a>
</p>
No publisheramberOpennessRTICall for Comments2017-04-27T09:25:42ZBlog EntryEconomic, Social and Cultural Rights in India: Opportunities for Advocacy in Intellectual Property
https://cis-india.org/openness/apc-april-23-2017-sunil-abraham-and-vidushi-marda-economic-social-and-cultural-rights-in-india
<b>Centre for Internet & Society worked on a three part case study. The first case study on digital protection of traditional knowledge was published by GIS Watch in December 2016. The other two case studies along with the synthesis overview has also been published.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The rights established in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) are socioeconomic rights and are easily mapped onto rights to education, work, science and culture. These rights, however, are not as easily mapped onto intellectual property rights. This three-part case study contemplates the ICESCR through aspects of intellectual property in India, namely, mobile patents, free and open source software (FOSS), and India’s Traditional Knowledge Digital Library. Through these, it demonstrates the potential of these technologies in realising ESCRs.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">A distinguishing factor of the ICESCR is the emphasis on the progressive realisation of rights within the Covenant, which indicates the necessity of parties to take steps for the realisation of ESCRs to the best of their ability given the resources available, with a view to fully realising these rights in the long term. This is particularly relevant in India, where the large population and scarcity of resources require gradual realisation and sustained planning. This case study advocates for the progressive realisation of the rights outlined below, and sheds light on the current state of progress in India, as well as providing an overview of the framework within which these rights will be realised.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Although these three case studies focus on distinct areas – mobile patents, FOSS and open standards, and traditional knowledge – they can also be understood as tied together through the central theme of a mobile phone. The first case study on mobile patents deals with the hardware of the phone, the second deals with the software in discussing open software and standards, and the third case study on traditional knowledge focuses on the person holding the phone who consumes information-embedded products such as traditional foods and medicines.</p>
<hr />
<ul>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/openness/files/economic-social-and-cultural-rights-in-india">Synthesis Overview</a></li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/openness/files/economic-social-and-cultural-rights-in-india-opportunities-for-advocacy-in-intellectual-property-rights-access-to-mobile-technology">Access to Mobile Technology</a></li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/openness/files/economic-social-and-cultural-rights-in-india-opportunities-for-advocacy-in-intellectual-property-rights-the-traditional-knowledge-digital-library">Traditional Knowledge Digital Library</a><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/openness/files/economic-social-and-cultural-rights-in-india-foss/"><span class="external-link"></span></a></li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/openness/files/economic-social-and-cultural-rights-in-india-foss/">FOSS and Open Standards</a></li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><i><br />The report on digital protection of traditional knowledge was <a class="external-link" href="https://www.giswatch.org/sites/default/files/Giswatch2016_web.pdf">published by GIS Watch</a> earlier and the rest of the reports have been published by the <a class="external-link" href="https://www.apc.org/en/pubs/economic-social-and-cultural-rights-india-opportun">Association for Progressive Communications</a></i>.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/apc-april-23-2017-sunil-abraham-and-vidushi-marda-economic-social-and-cultural-rights-in-india'>https://cis-india.org/openness/apc-april-23-2017-sunil-abraham-and-vidushi-marda-economic-social-and-cultural-rights-in-india</a>
</p>
No publisherSunil Abraham and Vidushi MardaOpennessFeaturedFOSSHomepage2017-04-23T05:22:01ZBlog EntryNASA Space Apps Challenge 2017
https://cis-india.org/openness/events/nasa-space-apps-challenge-2017
<b>The NASA Space Data Challenge (Hillhacks Pre-event) will be hosted at the Centre for Internet & Society's Bengaluru office on Saturday, April 22, 2017 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.</b>
<p><img alt="Pre-event Banner" class="full-width richtext-image" height="331" src="https://sa-media-2017.s3.amazonaws.com/media/images/Pre-Event_Banner.width-800.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJQG3YOIUOOAQEQ4Q&Signature=ZJtdQM31dRzmEALLngJXVjH3p2U%3D&Expires=1492710139" width="664" /></p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Calling all hackers, designers, makers, the open source community, space enthusiasts and the ones who will join us for the main NASA Space Apps Challenge Hackathon.</p>
<p>We are thrilled to share with you that members of <a href="https://hillhacks.in">Hillhacks</a> would join us to talk about the amazing work they have done so far and about their upcoming hill hacks too.</p>
<p>Also joining would be OpenCube Labs to share their experience of their projects in previous editions of the NASA Space Apps Challenge.</p>
<p>This pre-event will be a great place for you to get your doubts out of the way about the main hackathon.</p>
<p>You possibly can meet potential team members who can give you additional dimensions for your project. You can learn how you can best leverage the data available from NASA and tackle the challenges by them.</p>
<p>See you there!</p>
<p>Participant registration is now open! <a href="https://2017.spaceappschallenge.org/locations/">Click here</a> to view Space Apps 2017 locations to find an event near you and sign up.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/events/nasa-space-apps-challenge-2017'>https://cis-india.org/openness/events/nasa-space-apps-challenge-2017</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaSpace AppsOpennessOpen ScienceEvent2017-04-20T16:53:35ZEventContinuing community engagement: Communities of interest and Quarrying
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/continuing-community-engagement-communities-of-interest-and-quarrying
<b>In telling the stories of Indian Wikipedians, we bring to you the story of Dr. Diptanshu Das, a doctor and avid Wikipedian, working with WikiProject Medicine who recently approached CIS-A2K with a technical request.</b>
<p> </p>
<p>CIS-A2K has always believed in continuing our engagement with the
communities and individuals we work with. This year in particular has
been special to us thanks to our Train The Trainer alumni steadily
achieving the goals they set out to achieve and continuing their Wiki
journeys with more vigour. It is especially significant to us when our
alumni come back to our resource and idea exchange platform to help develop their pet projects. For the first time, one such alumnus, <a class="external-link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Diptanshu_Das">Dr. Diptanshu
Das</a>, a doctor by profession and avid Wikipedian approached us in April
2017 with a request to our technical team. He wanted to know the number
of articles that were tagged in both <span id="gmail-m_-3073168216211386188gmail-OBJ_PREFIX_DWT541_com_zimbra_url" class="gmail-m_-3073168216211386188gmail-Object"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:WikiProject_Pharmacology_articles" target="_blank">Category:WikiProject Pharmacology</a> and</span><span id="gmail-m_-3073168216211386188gmail-OBJ_PREFIX_DWT542_com_zimbra_url" class="gmail-m_-3073168216211386188gmail-Object"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:All_WikiProject_Medicine_articles" target="_blank"> Category:All WikiProject Medicine. <br /></a></span></p>
<p><span id="gmail-m_-3073168216211386188gmail-OBJ_PREFIX_DWT542_com_zimbra_url" class="gmail-m_-3073168216211386188gmail-Object">To
provide some context, WikiProjects are generally article development
projects undertaken by groups of editors on Wikipedia whose aim it is to
achieve goals on specific topics and subjects on Wikipedia. For
example, WikiProject Medicine manages and helps curate medical articles
on Wikipedia. Similarly, WikiProject Pharmacology states that it "</span>coordinates the development of Wikipedia articles and lists relating to the <a title="Pharmacology" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharmacology">pharmacology</a> and science of <a title="Medication" class="gmail-mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medication">medications</a>
and other pharmacology-related topics." Working to define clearer
guidelines for WikiProject Medicine of which he is a member, Dr. Das
intended to find out how many articles were listed under WikiProject
Pharmacology that were also tagged under WikiProject Medicine. As these two are closely related topics, the former being a sub-specialty of the latter, he felt it could cause an
overlap which would mean that most of the sub-specialty articles would get lost in the "parent" category i.e. WikiProject Medicine.</p>
<p>CIS-A2K ran Dr. Das' request on <a class="external-link" href="https://quarry.wmflabs.org">Quarry</a>, a public querying interface that lets one raise queries regarding databases in addition to managing them as an SQL(Structured Query Language) software would. Dr. Das had begun <a class="external-link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Medicine/Assessment#Medications">discussions</a> with fellow Wikipedians to get their thoughts on the matter and wanted to provide data-specific points but was unable to gather consensus on developing a guideline. However, when CIS-A2K reported back to him, he realized that the overlap was not as significant as he had feared. WikiProject Medicine had 34,475 articles, WikiProject Pharmacology had 10,721 articles; only 2002 of these were tagged in both. Dr. Das, while relieved, believes that sub-specialty tagging would go a long way in helping improve articles such as those of WikiProject Pharmacology, many of which are still in <a class="external-link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Grading_scheme">Start and Stub classes</a>.</p>
<p>"While collaborating on wiki is always good, it is important that an organization like CIS contributes its expertize," he says. CIS-A2K's presence as an idea exchange platform hopes to generate debate and discussions in addition to the physical resources and support we provide to communities. Dr. Das is also of the opinion that domain knowledge experts could make a real difference to Wikipedia by engaging with or creating WikiProjects that are specific to their interests and collaborate with other free knowledge champions around the world. CIS-A2K has attempted to encourage such <a class="external-link" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CIS-A2K/Work_plan_July_2017_-_June_2018">communities of interest</a> in the past so as to find an easier way to engage members of the general public and educational institutions as they are more likely to edit Wikipedia articles based on their personal hobbies and interests. </p>
<p>If you have requests for us please post them <a class="external-link" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:CIS-A2K/Requests">here</a> or email Tito Dutta at tito@cis-india.org.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/continuing-community-engagement-communities-of-interest-and-quarrying'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/continuing-community-engagement-communities-of-interest-and-quarrying</a>
</p>
No publisherManasa RaoCIS-A2KAccess to KnowledgeWikimediaWikipediaOpenness2017-05-19T15:23:28ZBlog EntryMarathi Wikipedia Edit-a-thon at Savitribai Phule Mahila Ekatma Samaj Mandal, Aurangabad
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/marathi-wikipedia-edit-a-thon-at-savitribai-phule-mahila-ekatma-samaj-mandal-aurangabad
<b>A Marathi Wikipedia edit-a-thon was conducted at Savitribai Phule Mahila Ekatma Samaj Mandal in Aurangabad</b>
<p>Savitribai Phule Mahila Ekatma Samaj Mandal, a social work organisation working with underprivileged sections of society in Aurangabad partnered with CIS-A2K to conduct a Marathi Wikipedia edit-a-thon on 13 April, 2017. The aim of the workshop was to introduce Wikipedia to the participants and enable them to contribute to Wiki projects. The theme of the edit-a-thon was to build resources on topics related to rural development and women's empowerment. The four hour edit-a-thon was attended by 30 participants who made a total of 300 edits. 15 new articles were created and 60 images were uploaded to Commons. </p>
<p>The link to the event page on meta can be found <a class="external-link" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Thematic_Edit-a-thon_at_Savitribai_Phule_Mahila_Ekatma_Samaj_Mandal,_Aurangabad">here</a>.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/marathi-wikipedia-edit-a-thon-at-savitribai-phule-mahila-ekatma-samaj-mandal-aurangabad'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/marathi-wikipedia-edit-a-thon-at-savitribai-phule-mahila-ekatma-samaj-mandal-aurangabad</a>
</p>
No publisherSubodh KulkarniCIS-A2KAccess to KnowledgeWikimediaWikipediaMarathi WikipediaOpenness2017-04-19T11:44:41ZBlog EntryDigitisation, Wikimedia Commons and Wikisource Orientation Workshop at Vigyan Ashram, Pabal, Pune District
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/digitisation-wikimedia-commons-and-wikisource-orientation-workshop-at-vigyan-ashram-pabal-pune-district
<b>A digitization workshop was held at Vigyan Ashram, following the success of the introductory workshop in February.</b>
<div>On 5 February, an <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/marathi-wikipedia-edit-a-thon-february-5-2017-in-pune">introductory Wikipedia orientation program</a> was held in partnership with <a class="external-link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigyan_Ashram">Vigyan Ashram</a>, for 15 youths from Pabal and surrounding villages in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirur,_Maharashtra">Shirur</a>, Maharashtra. Given the keen interest and enthusiasm of the participants, a follow up workshop was held on 3 April, 2017. <br /><br />This
workshop was attended by 30 participants who were trained on Wikimedia
projects such as Wikimedia Commons and Wikisource. They were given an
orientation on digitization and OCR tools as well. The workshop aims to
enable the training of resource persons who can go onto be employed at
libraries and museums in order to help with their digitization efforts.
The scanning of old encyclopedias in Marathi has also been proposed for
the Wiktionary project.<br />
<div><br />Participants were taught how to
upload books from the Internet Archive to Wikimedia Commons.
Subsequently,there was also a demonstration of transferring books from
Commons to Wikisource. There are two ways of doing this: the page by
page OCR process or
converting a complete book through <a href="https://goinggnu.wordpress.com/2015/12/28/announcing-ocr4wikisource/">OCR4Wikisource</a>.
As OCRS4Wikisource program runs only on Linux, limitation of machines
at the event was a hurdle in providing all the participants a hands on
experience. Therefore, the scanning activity could not be completed.</div>
</div>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/digitisation-wikimedia-commons-and-wikisource-orientation-workshop-at-vigyan-ashram-pabal-pune-district'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/digitisation-wikimedia-commons-and-wikisource-orientation-workshop-at-vigyan-ashram-pabal-pune-district</a>
</p>
No publisherSubodh KulkarniCIS-A2KAccess to KnowledgeWikimediaWikipediaMarathi WikipediaOpennessMarathi Wikisource2017-06-07T08:37:48ZBlog EntryIndo - French Perspectives on Digital Studies
https://cis-india.org/openness/news/indo-french-perspectives-on-digital-studies
<b>Anubha Sinha was a speaker at the Indo-French workshop on Open Access at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi on March 15, 2017. The event was organized by the Digital Studies Group. </b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Anubha Sinha broadly spoke on the state of open access in India, the features of the DBT-DST policy, ICAR policy, how to shape the future of open access movement in India and what are the obstacles in the same.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/openness/files/talk-by-anubha-sinha-on-open-access-in-jnu">See the workshop schedule here</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/news/indo-french-perspectives-on-digital-studies'>https://cis-india.org/openness/news/indo-french-perspectives-on-digital-studies</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpennessOpen Access2017-03-29T05:17:33ZNews Item