Centre for Internet and Society

କେତେ ମାଗଣା "ଫ୍ରି ବେସିକ୍ସ

subha — 2016-01-30T11:05:02Z

This op-ed was published in Odia newspaper "The Samaja" on January 4, 2016. Sunil Abraham and Pranesh Prakash were quoted.

Facebook has set its foot in 30 developing countries with its app Free Basics to provide free access to Facebook, Facebook’s products like WhatsApp and a few websites Facebook has partnered with. This has raised eyebrows all over India as Free Basics compromises with user security and privacy and it violates Net Neutrality. This piece quotes from Eben Moglen and Mishi Choudhury’s post where they detail about the security concerns with the app. This piece also tells why projects like Mozilla’s GrameenPhone project in Bangladesh and Wikipedia Zero across many nations got wider acceptance and support for their noble humanitarian effort where Facebook is getting severe heat across all the 30 nations. Could Facebook dare to launch such a project in rich nations or it is easy to make poor nations easy targets with poor services?

Read the original here.

A scanned version of the original article is below:

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/b15b47b24b47-b2eb3eb17b23b3e-b2bb4db30b3f-b2cb47b38b3fb15b4db38

There is No Such Thing as Free Basics

subha — 2016-02-14T11:37:50Z

India would not see the rain of Free Basics advertisements on billboards with images of farmers and common people explaining how much they could benefit from this Firefox project. Because the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has taken a historical step by banning the differential pricing without discriminating services.

The article was published in Bangalore Mirror on February 9, 2016.

In their notes, TRAI has explained, "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." Not just that, violation of this ban would cost Rs 50,000 every day.

Facebook's earlier plan was to launch Free Basics in India by making a few websites—that are mostly partners with Facebook—available for free. The company not just advertised heavily on billboards and commercials across the nation, it also embedded a campaign inside Facebook asking users to vote in support of Free Basics.

TRAI criticised Facebook's attempt for such a manipulative public provocation. However, Facebook was heavily criticised by many policy and Internet advocates, including non-profits groups like Free Software Movement of India and Savetheinternet.in campaign.

The latter two collectives were strongly discouraging Free Basics by bringing public opinion wherein Savetheinternet.org was used to send over 10 lakh emails to TRAI to disallow Free Basics.

Furthermore 500 start ups including major ones like Cleartrip, Zomato, Practo, Paytm and Cleartax also wrote to prime minister Narendra Modi requesting continued support for Net Neutrality — a concept that advocates equal treating of websites — on the Republic Day.

Stand-up comedy groups like AIB and East India Comedy had created humorous but informative videos explaining the regulatory debate and supporting net neutrality which went viral.

Technology critic and Quartz writer Alice Truong reacted saying: "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."

In the light of differential pricing, news portal Medianama's founder Nikhil Pawa, in his opinion piece in Times of India, emphasised the way Aircel in India, Grameenphone in Bangladesh and Orange in Africa were providing free access to Internet with a sole motif of access to Internet, and criticised the walled Internet of Facebook that confines users inside Facebook only.

Had the differential pricing been allowed, it would have affected start ups and content-based smaller companies adversely, as they could never have managed to pay the high price to a partner service provider to make their service available for free.

On the other hand, tech-giants like Facebook could have easily managed to capture the entire market. Since the inception of the Facebook-run non-profit Internet.org has run into a lot of controversies because of the hidden motive behind the claimed support for social cause.

The decision by the government has been welcomed largely in the country and outside.

In support of the move, Web We Want programme manager at the World Wide Web Foundation, Renata Avila, has shared saying,

"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."

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/bangalore-mirror-subhashish-panigrahi-february-9-2016-there-is-no-such-thing-as-free-basics

Cultural institution AKA GLAM for more OER

subha — 2016-02-27T06:00:20Z

My submission titled "Cultural institution AKA GLAM for more OER" 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.

GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums) is a global initiative for making cultural data open targeting galleries, libraries, archives and museums in particular. GLAM projects are run in collaboration with these cultural institutions where the artifacts and other institutional collections get all sorts of digital treatment, from digitizing manuscripts and books to creating meta data and developing tools to automate and ease the life of contributors, building and 3D models of artifacts and creating multilingual virtual museum experience by using Wikipedia.

These institutions historically being the reservoir of knowledge need more attention with more digital innovation coming in day by day. There being a synergy between the fundamental focus of OER and GLAM initiative, it leaves scholars and GLAM and/or OER practitioners to explore this area that is currently not widely covered. GLAM projects are centered around data mining, digitizing and publishing the work in both machine and human readable forms. The output of all the GLAM projects could directly contribute to creating OERs classifying and customizing the OERs for different age groups and people with accessibility needs. This, in return will also benefit the GLAM projects and institutions for both expanding their reach and replicating these initiatives. The presentation will be around the best practices of several GLAM initiatives and how these projects could lead to create useful OERs. I will also shed some light on the methodology of creating OERs during the development of a GLAM project.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/cultural-institution-aka-glam-for-more-oer

This little innovation is bringing a revolution in the Odia language

subha — 2016-02-27T07:33:06Z

Depicting human language within computing environments has always been a challenge: a given language's script and alphabet needs to be mapped to a coding system that a computer can process digitally. This is done by way of an encoding system that basically maps each character to a unique numeric code.

The article was published by DNA on February 3, 2016.

This was a standard approach for dealing with languages in the computing context. However, over time, many such encoding systems mushroomed. In 2012, Odisha-based non-profit Srujanika, with help from colleagues, created two text encoding converters that could convert two different legacy non-Unicode based script encoding systems to the universally accepted Unicode. I personally tested and found a lot of typos. It seemed to me that one would take more time to convert and proofread than just typing the text.

Unicode is a computing industry standard that provides a unique number for every character of the alphabet irrespective of the platform, program or script. Before the onset of Unicode there existed several other standards—such as American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) and Indian Script Code for Information Interchange (ISCII)—that defined the manner in which letters of a particular language were depicted on a computer. The text encoding converters generally are used to convert them from one encoding systems to another.

However, as proprietary and legacy encoding systems were so popular among the desktop publishing (DTP) operators, most Indian language media houses remained tied to their existing encoding systems even after Unicode was introduced. This led to editors, journalists, writers and many native language users having to reliable and intuitive way to input in their own language. For example, Unicode Odia resulted in a huge gap of Odia-language content online with users that depended on earlier, disjointed standards.

The converters I explained before could solve this problem partially as they could convert only two encoding systems with about 80% linguistic accuracy. While seeking help to enhance and scale up these existing converters, three Wikimedian-developers came forward to work on the available converters and create more foolproof ones. We worked together for hours spanning over a few months to make the converters better. When I asked my writer and journalist friends to test it, the result literally thrilled me as they all had started writing in Odia on Facebook the very next day.

More blogs started coming in Odia and more social media interaction in Odia. Interestingly, popular newspaper Sarbasadharana.com and an online portal Odisha.com used it. Many even started contributing to blogs and online portals. It became much easier for Wikimedians to use existing resources from portals, newspapers and magazines to enrich Wikipedia. Some of the available soft copies of public domain books acquired and books that were relicensed to CC licenses could easily be used on Wikisource.

Though it is difficult to measure the exact percentage of growth for online Odia-language content on the Internet, a significant change is seen today as compared to the state of the Odia language on the internet six months ago. Almost all the federal entities that were stuck with two non-Unicode encoding systems finally moved to Unicode, with official portal odia.odisha.gov.in including adoption of Unicode in their core policy. As a gesture of support to the development, the federal department has included Odia Wikipedia on the top of their resources page.

Recently, Jnanaranjan Sahu, one of core contributors to the project combined all the converters into a standalone on-wiki converter that is available both on Wikipedia and Wikisource. Many of the larger Odia language community have contributed in finding errors which were fixed. Jyanaranjan has made available a free online responsive converter that not just works from a computer but also seamlessly work from any smartphone. The converter has indeed helped to widely use Odia on the Internet. The bigger dream of an Odia version of Google is closer to becoming real.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/dna-february-3-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-little-innovation-is-bringing-revolution-in-odia-language

4 tips for DIY makers

subha — 2016-11-22T02:36:39Z

I started learning stencil printing and hand lettering this year, and became quite enthralled with it. These age old techniques really add something special to postcards, which I usually send to myself, my wife, and my friends while traveling.

The article was published in Opensource.com on November 18, 2016

Of course, I started considering how I could make the artwork from these postcards open to others.

First, I take a picture of the postcard and upload it to Wikimedia Commons under a free license, usually Creative Commons Share-Alike 4.0 or CC BY-SA 4.0 International. These two licenses allow anyone to use the image of my artwork for both non-commercial and commercial purposes, modify and remix them. And uploading to Wikimedia Commons puts my artwork in a place where many people will see it.

Sometimes, I capture the postcard-making process as well, and upload those images to Wikimedia Commons.

If you're considering making your DIY project open, here are four main considerations:

1. To share or not to share?

Deciding whether to share your craft project or image might be an easy "sure, why not?" but you may be wondering "but, is it useful to others?"

My opinion is that yes, everything you make could be interesting to others, so why not make it open? There is certainly something in every maker activity that is worth sharing publicly. When I was making a stamp that was quite special and personal, and I did not want the whole world to see it because it was personal, but I did capture the stamp carving process for others to see. You might want to ask around friends and other people in any maker community you are part of. Also, try asking yourself what really would matter to other people so that you can share only useful outcomes and tips rather than sharing everything.

2. Choosing a license

I wrote about three tips for sharing your work online. And there are many other resources out there, including Creative Commons and GitHub.

A simple rule of thumb is: Except content that clearly indicates the work is released under a free license, or that the copyright has lapsed and the work is in the Public Domain, you can assume content is not freely/liberally licensed.

3. Where to share

There is almost a platform to share anything these days. Most popular multimedia platforms support Creative Commons-licensed works, like YouTube and Vimeo for video, Flickr for images, Medium for writing, Jamendo for music, and many more. Wikimedia Commons, mentioned above, is a sister project of Wikipedia and the world's largest multimedia repository; it allows original works to be uploaded and shared by Copyright holders and others of works like images (.jpg, .png, .gif), presentations (.pdf), videos (.webm and .ogv), and audio files (.ogg).

Know of more places to share works? Let us know in the comments.

4. Meet birds of feather and exchange ideas

There are tons of global and local events that bring people of all maker interests under a single roof.

An event that I love is Mozilla's Maker Party. I have been to one in my city of Bengaluru, India and can guarantee it is lots of fun!

Events like this help connect you with other makers who live nearby.

Tell us about your experience

I hope these tips have helped. Do you have other tips to share? Leave us a comment.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/opensource-november-18-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-4-tips-for-diy-makers

ମାତୃଭାଷା ଦିବସ: ଆଜିର ସମସ୍ୟା ଓ ଆହ୍ୱାନ

subha — 2016-02-26T16:52:36Z

The article was published in the editorial section of Odia newspaper the Sambad on February 21, 2016. This piece explains about the challenges of expanding a knowledge base in Odia language and helping it grow beyond just the literature and to a language of knowledge.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/b2eb3eb24b43b2db3eb37b3e-b26b3fb2cb38-b06b1cb3fb30-b38b2eb38b4db5fb3e-b13-b06b39b4db71b3eb28

ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷା ପାଇଁ ଏକ ଅନୁଶୀଳନ

subha — 2016-02-27T04:28:20Z

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 "odia.odisha.gov.in". 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 Purnachandra Bhasakosha, 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.

The article was published in in Odia newspaper the Samaja on February 21, 2016. Full text in Odia below:

ପୃଥିବୀର ଏକ ପୁରୁଣା ଭାଷା ଭିତରୁ ଗୋଟିଏ ଭାଷା ହେଲା ହିବ୍ରୁ । ଏ ଭାଷାଟି ୧୫୦୦ ବର୍ଷରୁ ଅଧିକ କାଳ ଦରମଲା ରହି ଫିନିକ୍ସ ଚଢେ଼ଇ ଭଳି ପାଉଁଶ ତଳୁ ଉଠିଲା । ଏବେ ଏ ଭାଷାଟି ପାଖାପାଖି ୯୦ ଲକ୍ଷ ଲୋକଙ୍କ କଥିତ; ପୁଣି ଏ ଭାଷାରେ ଦେଶର ଶାସନ ଚଳେ ଆଉ କମ୍ପୁ୍ଟର ଅପରେଟିଂ ସିଷ୍ଟମ ଓ ମୋବାଇଲ ଇଣ୍ଟରଫେସରେ ଦିଶେ । ଏସବୁ ପଛରେ ରହିଛି ବିଜ୍ଞାନ ଓ କାରିଗରୀର କରାମତି । ଯଦି ଦେଶର ଶାସନ ନିଜ ଭାଷାରେ ହୁଏ ତେବେ ଶାସନ ପାଇଁ ଦରକାରୀ ଉପାଦାନସବୁ ନିଜ ଭାଷାରେ ତିଆରି ହୁଏ । ଆଉ ଏ ଉପାଦାନମାନ ତିଆରିବା ଲାଗି ଶିକ୍ଷା ବ୍ୟବସ୍ଥା ଗଢ଼ାହୁଏ । ପିଲେ ଚାକିରି କରନ୍ତି । ଭାଷା ଶାସନର ଭାଷା ହେଲେ ଶିକ୍ଷା ଓ ଜ୍ଞାନର ଭାଷା ହୋଇ ଭାତ ଦିଏ । ନିଜ

ସଙ୍ଗେ ଯୋଡ଼ା ଏ ରଥଚକର ଗୋଟେ ଅର ହୁଗୁଳା ହେଲେ ଆରଟି ଭୁଷୁଡ଼ି ପଡ଼ିବ । ଆଉ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ପାଇଁ ଏ ଅର ଭିତରୁ କେଉଁ ଅର କେମିତି ରହିଛି ଆଉ କ’ଣ ମରାମତି ହେବ ଆମକୁ ବେଳ ହୁଁ ଭାବିବାକୁ ପଡ଼ିବ । ଅପ୍ରିୟ ସତ କଥା ହେଲା ଶାସ୍ତ୍ରୀୟ ମାନ୍ୟତା ମିଳିବାର ଦୁଇ ବର୍ଷ ବିତିଗଲା ପରେ ବି ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଏବେ ଯାଏ କୋର୍ଟ କଚେରିର ଭାଷା ହୋଇପାରିଲା ନାହିଁ । ସରକାରୀସ୍ତରରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆର ବ୍ୟାପକ ବ୍ୟବହାର ବଦଳରେ ହିନ୍ଦୀରୁ ଉଧାରି ଆଣି ପାଳିତ ହେଉଛି ‘ରାହଗିରି ଦିବସ’ । ଚଳଚ୍ଚିତ୍ରରେ ବି ସେଇଆ । ଆଉ କାହା ସଙ୍ଗେ ମିତ ବସିବାରେ ଆପତ୍ତି ନାହିଁ ହେଲେ ନିଜ ପରିଚୟ ହାରି ସେ ମିତ ବସିବାରେ କି ସୁଖ! ସରକାରୀସ୍ତରରେ ବିଭିନ୍ନ ରାଜ୍ୟର ଯେଉଁ ଭଳି ତାଙ୍କ ୱେବସାଇଟସବୁ ତାଙ୍କ ରାଜ୍ୟ ଭାଷାରେ ତିଆରି ହୋଇଛି ଆମର ସେମିତି ହୋଇ ନାହିଁ । ନିକଟରେ odia.odisha.gov.in ନାମରେ ସାଇଟଟିଏ ସରକାର ତିଆରି କଲାବେଳେ ଏହି ଲେଖକକୁ ସେଥିରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷାର କମ୍ପୁ୍ଟର ଓ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଥିବା ବିଭିନ୍ନ ସାଜସରଞ୍ଜାମ ବାବଦରେ ପରାମର୍ଶ ଦେବାର ସୁଯୋଗ ମିଳିଥିଲା । ଏ ସାଜସବୁ ଖୋଜିବା ବେଳେ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ ଥିବା ୱେବସାଇଟ ବାବଦରେ କିଛି ତଥ୍ୟ ଆଖି ସାମନାକୁ ଆସିଥିଲା । ଗୁଗୁଲ ସର୍ଚରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଆସୁ ନଥିବାର ମୁଖ୍ୟ କାରଣ ହେଲା ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଲେଖାର ଅଭାବ । ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ କେଇ ଶହ ଖବରକାଗଜ ଦୈନିକ ଛପାଯାଉଥିଲେ ହେଁ ମୁଖ୍ୟ ଖବରକାଗଜର ୱେବସାଇଟରେ ଉଇନିକୋଡ ମାନକରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଲେଖା ନାହିଁ । ଲେଖାସବୁ ଅଣ-ମାନକ ଲିପି ଏନକୋଡିଂରେ 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 ସାଧାରଣ ଲୋକେ ସରକାରୀ ନଥିପତ୍ର 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 ଧୀରେଧୀରେ ଉଇଙ୍କ ଆହାର ହେବା ଉପରେ । ଭୁବନେଶ୍ୱର ସୃଜନିକା ଅନୁଷ୍ଠାନ, ରାଉରକେଲା ଏନଆଇଟି ଓ ପ୍ରଗତି ଉତ୍କଳ ସଂଘ ଉଦ୍ୟମରେ ହୋଇଥିବା ଉଦ୍ୟମ ଫଳରେ ଦେଢ଼ ଲକ୍ଷରୁ ଅଧିକ ପୃଷ୍ଠା ସ୍କାନ କରାଯାଇଛି । ଏଥିରୁ କିଛି ଏବେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପାଠାଗାର ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପର or.wikisource.org ୱେବ୍‍ସାଇଟରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ । ସ୍ୱେଚ୍ଛାରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ପାଠକମାନେ ନିଜ ପସନ୍ଦର ବହିସବୁକୁ ଡିଜିଟାଇଜ କରି ସ୍କାନ ଛବିରୁ ଲେଖାର ରୂପାନ୍ତର କାମ କରିପାରୁଛନ୍ତି । ଏଥି ସହିତ ସମ୍ପୂର୍ଣ୍ଣ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଗବତ ଭଳି ଆମ ଭାଷାର ସମ୍ପତ୍ତି ଧୀରେଧୀରେ ଏଥିରେ ଆସିବାକୁ ଲାଗିଲାଣି । ଏଥି ସହିତ ଗୋପାଳ ପ୍ରହରାଜଙ୍କ ଭାଷାକୋଷ ତିଆରି କାମକୁ ଏବର ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ମାଧ୍ୟମରେ ଆଗକୁ ନେବାର ଉଦ୍ୟମ ହେଲାଣି । ଏ ଯାବତ ୧୧ ହଜାରରୁ ଅଧିକ ଲେଖା ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିିଡିଆରେ or.wikipedia.org ୱେବ୍‍ସାଇଟରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ । ସାମୂହିକ ଉଦ୍ୟମ ଛଡ଼ା କିଛି ବ୍ୟକ୍ତି ବିଶେଷ ଓ ସଙ୍ଗଠନ ମଧ୍ୟ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ କିଛି ୱେବ୍‍ସାଇଟ ଆଗରୁ ବଖଣାଯାଇଥିବା ଫାଙ୍କା ଥାନ ପୂରଣ କରିବା କାମରେ ମଧ୍ୟ ଲାଗିଛନ୍ତି । ତେବେ ଆଉ ଭାଷା ସଙ୍ଗେ ଓଡ଼ିଆକୁ ସମକକ୍ଷ କରିବା ଲାଗି ଆହୁରି ଅନେକ ଉଦ୍ୟମ ଆବଶ୍ୟକ । ବିଶେଷକରି ସରକାରଙ୍କ ପାଖେ ସଚେତନତା ଲୋଡ଼ା । କେବଳ କୋଟିକୋଟି ଟଙ୍କାର ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପ ନୁହେଁ ବରଂ ଘରର ମୂଳଦୁଆ ଗଢ଼ା କାମ ପାଇଁ ଅଧିକ ଉଦ୍ୟମ ନିହାତି ଲୋଡ଼ାପଡ଼ିଛି ।

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କମ୍ପ୍ୟୁଟର ଯୁଗରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷା

subha — 2016-03-14T07:27:05Z

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.

The article was published in Odia newspaper Suryaprava on February 22, 2016.

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 "odia.odisha.gov.in". 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 Purnachandra Bhasakosha, 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.

Full text in Odia

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 ।

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 ।

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 ।

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/suryaprava-subhashish-panigrahi-february-22-2016-article

Community Digest—Estonians working on a new feedback system for Wikipedia articles

subha — 2016-02-27T06:30:41Z

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.

Read the original published on Wikimedia Blog here.

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.

The problem can grow even greater when articles are written inside a Wikipedia Education Program. 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.

For example, in Estonia we have a course called “Estonian Composition and Conversation” in the University of Tartu, 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.

So we needed a solution.

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.

What we did was to create a system called WikiComment.

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.

We hope that this will make it easier to focus on text and to the quality of writing.

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 let us know.

Ivo Kruusamägi, Estonian Wikipedian

In brief

Kannada Wikipedia anniversary: The Kannada Wikipedia is all set to celebrate its 13th anniversary. The first ever edit 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 Shimoga was created. Over the last decade Kannada Wikipedia has been a great gamechanger for the Kannada language where the Wikipedians have played a great role in making it a household name—there were about 700,000 pageviews 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 Wikipedia Education Program at Christ University Bengaluru 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.

The biggest hurdle, as explained by Wikimedian Hari Prasad Nadig, 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 Google Translate, a multilingual machine translation tool. Vasanth S.N., 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 gather and participate in a day-long edit-a-thon and chalk out plans for the future.

Innovation and revolution in the Odia language: Wikimedian Subhashish Panigrahi has written two pieces recently. In dnaindia.com, he described a Unicode converter that in revolutionizing Internet access in the Odia language; in the Huffington Post, he wrote about why contributing and adding to Wikipedias in Indian language is so important.

Coming together across the divide: Saanjh (ਸਾਂਝ سانجھ), a Punjabi word which means collaboration, was an online edit-a-thon between the Gurmukhi Punjabi Wikipedia and Shahmukhi Punjabi Wikipedia in January 2016. The plan came together after two editors, one from each side, met at Wikimania 2015. Organized by the Punjabi Wikimedians User Group, 23 editors participated; you can read more about their story on Meta.

Subhashish Panigrahi, Wikimedian and Programme Officer, Access to Knowledge (CIS-A2K), Centre for Internet and Society
Ed Erhart, Editorial Associate, Wikimedia Foundation

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wikimedia-blog-subhashish-panigrahi-community-digest-estonians-working-on-new-feedback-system-for-wikipedia-articles

Looking ahead to the future of the Kannada Wikipedia: Vasanth S.N.

subha — 2016-02-29T14:15:41Z

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.

Subhashish Panigrahi (SP): Hi Vasanth, thanks for agreeing to share about yourself. Can you tell me little about yourself and how you started contributing to Kannada Wikipedia?

Vasanth S.N. (VSN): I grew up in a small town in the Indian state of Karnataka. After completing my PG Diploma in Human Resources studies from Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) I started working at Dharmasthala temple in Karnataka where I have been working over last 35 years. As a student, I was voracious reader of Kannada-language 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 chemical elements. 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.

SP: What are you currently working on?

VSN: After the 14 volume Kannada encyclopedia “Kannada Vishwakosha” got relicensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0 license by Mysore University, we have started digitizing it on Kannada Wikisource. 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.

SP: What are the kind of challenges you generally face?

VSN: Something that really bothers me is the low participation of Kannadiga s 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 Radhatanaya, 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 Tejas Jain 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.

SP: What do you suggest we—all the Wikimedians, the Wikimedia India chapter, and us (CIS-A2K)—should work on?

VSN: 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 46,000 state-run schools 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.

Subhashish Panigrahi, Wikimedian and Programme Officer, Access to Knowledge (CIS-A2K), Centre for Internet and Society

This post is part of the WikipediansSpeak series, which aims to chronicle the voices of the Wikipedia community. You can find more of these posts on the Wikimedia Commons. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the Wikimedia Foundation or Wikipedia; responses and critical commentary are invited in the comments section below.

Read the original published on Wikimedia Blog

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wikimedia-blog-february-28-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-looking-ahead-to-future-of-kannada-wikipedia

WikipediansSpeak: Telugu Language Library Catalog Project Helps Wikipedia Grow

subha — 2015-12-15T08:06:52Z

In 2013, the interview project “WikipediansSpeak” was launched in response to observations that many noteworthy Wikimedians were being underrepresented both locally and globally. Not just them personally—their work, and the communities they represent, were also unknown to the Wikimedia community and the outside world.

This was published on Wikimedia blog in two languages English and Ukranian.

Wikimedia Foundation’s fundraising campaigns were the biggest inspiration for the project. From video-only interviews, this is an attempt at different ways of interviews, and is the first interview showcasing a Telugu Wikimedian: Viswanadh B.K., who was an Individual Engagement (IEG) Grantee last year and has continued to be active in outreach.

Recently, you attended a Telugu Wikipedia workshop for the Botany-major undergraduate students at Andhra Loyola College, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. Would you like to talk a little bit about your participation, how the program was designed, the activities there and the output? How are you planning to mentor the students in the future?

The staff and students are quite enthusiastic, and the students are dedicating considerable time to learning, and reflecting their learning, while editing the Telugu Wikipedia. However, they need more training on basics of Wikipedia, as well as on policies and guidelines. Without that, they might end up creating low quality articles that the community will face problems cleaning up. Centre for Internet and Society’s Access To Knowledge program (CIS-A2K), that has been organizing these sessions in the college, should seek out more support from the Telugu Wikimedia community so that the experienced editors could mentor these students. I feel it would be a good idea to award the students and faculty with certificates. These small little things often motivate many.

What part should the community and CIS-A2K be playing in the Wikimedia movement? What could and should we do for the Telugu community?

Many in our community do not know how programs like CIS-A2K work. Maybe there is a need to provide some kind of orientation for them which will help them to understand how they could approach CIS asking for support. This process could also help the community understand CIS’s activities and its programmatic implementation. More collaboration, and understanding of the program among the community, will improve involvement in CIS’s activities as well as CIS’s understanding of the community.

You were the second Telugu Wikipedian to be awarded with an Individual Engagement Grant (IEG). How did it go, and what did you achieve? Based on your own experience, how are you planning to groom this year’s applicants from Telugu and other Indian language Wikimedia communities?

This IEG was my dream come true! Back in 2009, I blogged about the potential of opening up library catalogs on the Internet for people to search for books. It took shape with my grant project: “Digitization of Important Libraries Book Catalog in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana”. I worked on an extensive project, digitizing the catalogs of five libraries—a total of 300,000 books—in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. I learned a lot, and documented part of my learning, which talks about the ways one should go about partnering with Indian institutions. I believe, my interaction with fellow Wikimedians must have helped them to better their grants applications this year. And I am hoping that I will continue to support more friend from my community and country in the future.

What drove you, over the years, to work on a project like this digitizing library catalogs? Were there any additional learning and benefits from this project?

In this digital age, people searching for books on the Internet might have developed the notion that if a book is not available online, it doesn’t exist. I have been experiencing this very issue while looking for evidence notability and citations on the Telugu Wikipedia. Many Wikipedia editors argue for citing at least the name of the book when the book is not available online. This pushed me to create a central catalog that will benefit Wikipedians, researchers, and readers. In the process of creating the catalog, I also managed to develop strong relations with several cultural organizations. These include Kathanilayam, a dedicated organization collecting every Telugu story; the Annamayya Library, which developed into a great cultural center in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh; and the Suryaraya Vidyananda Library, whose collection is enriched with rare manuscripts and important books. I touch based with them then, and they are slowly becoming household names for other Wikimedians for their library-related needs. We can see the potential of strong partnerships and synergy with these libraries.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wikimedia-blog-october-9-2015-subhashish-panigrahi-telugu-library-catalog-project-wikipedians-speak

Eight Challenges Indian-Language Wikipedias Need to Overcome

subha — 2016-06-18T17:09:38Z

Even after a decade of existence, Indian language Wikipedias are not yet known to many Indian language speakers. Wikipedia, the largest available encyclopedia made in the human history, is what it is today because of the hundreds and thousands of volunteer editors.

The article was published in Global Voices on April 27, 2016. A version of this post was previously published on The Wire.

But while native-language Wikipedias are becoming game-changers in other corners of the world, the scenario in India is skewed. Here, from my point of view, are some of the challenges that Indian-language Wikipedias are currently facing.

1. Language communities

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 language typed in their script. Some of these communities even believe that because Google’s home page does not display their script, their language does not exist on the Internet. Google, which starting with five Indian languages as options in its interface, now has has nine Indian languages. But this does not stop a Santali or Manipuri user from searching in Unicode Ol chiki (the script for Santali) or in Unicode Meithei (the script for Manipuri). Google, or any search engine, for that matter, will display anything available in any script on the Internet. But the perceived lack of this very function is keeping many people from connecting to the Internet, and to Wikipedia in particular.

2. Wikipedia’s editor community

Wikipedia is written by people like you and me. And everything, from writing to editing, is done by volunteers. And anybody can correct the mistakes and inaccuracies that exist in many Wikipedia articles. While several Indian languages are spoken by millions of people, the Wikipedia editor communities for these languages are very small, with only a handful editors contributing to editing those language versions of Wikipedia. In January this year, Hindi Wikipedia, for instance, had only 89 editors, while the total number of Hindi speakers is over 550 million.

3. Language input on computers

A vast majority of people in India do not know how to type in their own language. There is also little documentation instructing users about language input. Even though many government-run schools in India are seeing a proliferation in computer use and Internet access, native language input and other essential training of basic computing are not widely taught in schools in all states. This is unfortunate, as there is a wide variety of free software for native-language input, and the challenges of typing in Indian languages that existed a few years back are now almost non-existent.

4. Language input on mobile devices

With over 1 billion mobile phone users, India's 15% internet penetration rate will soon start growing at a faster pace. This in turn—along with the tough competition that will compel TSPs to lower data charges—will help many Indians get access to the Internet. If these people are not educated about native language input they will be victims of the English-centric Internet and fail to enjoy the virtues of the former. Many Indians who have smartphones need full Indian language support, and especially built-in input methods, to be able to contribute to Wikipedia in their own languages.

5. Scarcity of Indian-language content on the Internet

The relative lack of native language content on the Internet is another major factor in the low adoption of Indian language Wikpedias. According to an Internet and Mobile Association of India survey conducted in 2012, over 6% of the population is left behind with regard to joining the online sphere simply because of a scarcity of content in their languages. Take my home state of Odisha, for instance: while the Kerala state government’s official tourism portal is available in Odia and other Indian languages, at the time of writing the Odisha government’s tourism portal had no information in Odia. It is unfortunate that our languages are neglected largely within our own states.

6. Incompatibility between new and traditional media standards

Instead of adopting the Unicode standard, many traditional media outlets continue to use non-standard variants of the ASCII/ISCII script encoding systems Unicode, a global standard, has been available for Indian languages for almost 25 years now, but most of India's vernacular print media has failed to adopt it. As a result, many popular Indian-language newspapers are unavailable in Unicode on the open Internet.

7. Lack of Open Access

The majority of the information published on the Internet, and by the Indian government, in particular, is copyrighted. This paywalled garden of copyright restrictions restricts access of this information and prevents people from sharing and learning more. Wikipedia, on the other hand, is distributed under a Creative Commons Share-Alike license that allows anyone to make use of the content, and even distribute it commercially. Opening up information for the masses under free license regime could make it easily accessible to millions of people.

8. Failure to cater for people with disabilities

Many people in India cannot read, speak or write, and the country has over 60 million people with some form of hearing impairment. There is a desperate need for a high-quality text-to-speech and speech-to-text engines for people with physical disabilities. These products also be freely available so that those who cannot afford to buy expensive proprietary software like JAWS can contribute to Wikipedia in their languages. Many of the text-to-speech engines available today for Indian languages sound so mechanical that it is difficult for the average speaker to use them.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/global-voices-april-27-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-eight-challenges-indian-language-wikipedias-need-to-overcome

Talk on bringing 1000 books about the culture of Maharashtra on Marathi Wikipedia

subha — 2020-05-02T16:39:00Z

Maharashtra Granthottejak Sanstha, a Pune based non-profit that was founded in Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade and colleagues in 1894, has recently announced to digitise their 1000 volumes of books centred around Peshwa culture. A discussion about digitising these books and making them available online on Marathi Wikisource is being organised on December 1 at the Energy Resources Institute(TERI), Bengaluru. Avinash Chaphekar, Joint Secretary of MGS will be addressing this talk.

Books published by Maharashtra Granthottejak Sanstha (MGS) vastly cover the Peshwa culture of Maharashtra apart from many other significant aspects of the history of Maharashtra. The books will be digitised on the Marathi-language Wikisource (mr.wikisource.org) by the Marathi Wikimedia community. Marathi Wikisource is a sister project of Marathi Wikipedia and is a free online Marathi-language library. Started in 2012, it currently houses about 800 volumes of Marathi books.

MGS was founded in Pune by Justice M. G. Ranade, Dr. Ramkrishna Bhandarkar and Lokamanya Tilak in 1894. Earlier known Deccan Vernacular Translation Society, it was renamed as Maharashtra Granthottejak Sanstha in 1948. The Society has a collection of invaluable literary treasure like 100 yrs old rare literary work and manuscripts, Peshwa diaries and records, Justice Ranade's correspondence, 30 thesis on various subjects and many different domains. These collections make the institution a great place for study and research. Maharashtra Granthottejak Sanstha (MGS) celebrated its 121st anniversary recently at Pune, MGS donated 1000 books for Marathi Wikisource so that the books could be digitised and be made available for millions of Marathi readers. Avinash Chaphekar, Joint Secretary of the organisation who will be addressing the talk that is being organised by the Centre for Internet and Society, Bengaluru.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/discussion-on-bringing-peshwa-culture-on-marathi-wikipedia

Net Neutrality Advocates Rejoice As TRAI Bans Differential Pricing

subha — 2016-02-23T02:10:42Z

India would not see any more Free Basics advertisements on billboards with images of farmers and common people explaining how much they benefited from this Facebook project.

The article by Subhashish Panigrahi was published by Odisha TV on February 9, 2016.

Because the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has taken a historical step by banning differential pricing without discriminating services. In their notes TRAI has explained, “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.” Not just that, violation of this ban would cost Rs. 50,000 every day.

Facebook planned to launch Free Basics in India by making a few websites – mostly partners with Facebook—available for free. The company not just advertised aggressively on bill boards and commercials across the nation, it also embedded a campaign inside Facebook asking users to vote in support of Free Basics. TRAI criticized Facebook’s attempt to manipulate public opinion. Facebook was also heavily challenged by many policy and internet advocates including non-profits like Free Software Movement of India and Savetheinternet.in campaign. The two collectives strongly discouraged Free Basics by moulding public opinion against it with Savetheinternet.in alone used to send over 2.4 million emails to TRAI to disallow Free Basics. Furthermore, 500 Indian start-ups, including major names like Cleartrip, Zomato, Practo, Paytm and Cleartax, also wrote to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting continued support for Net Neutrality – a concept that advocates equal treatment of websites – on Republic Day. Stand-up comedians like Abish Mathew and groups like All India Bakchod and East India Comedy created humorous but informative videos explaining the regulatory debate and supporting net neutrality. Both went viral.

Technology critic and Quartz writer Alice Truong reacted to Free Basics saying; “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.”

The decision of the Indian government has been largely welcomed in the country and outside. In support of the move, Web We Want programme manager at the World Wide Web Foundation Renata Avila has said; “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.”

There are mixed responses on the social media, both in support and in opposition to the TRAI decision. Josh Levy, Advocacy Director at Accessnow, has appreciated saying, “India is now the global leader on #NetNeutrality. New rules are stronger than those in EU and US.”

Had differential pricing been allowed, it would have affected start-ups and content-based smaller companies adversely as they could never have managed to pay the high price to a partner service provider to make their service available for free. On the other hand, tech-giants like Facebook could have easily managed to capture the entire market. Since the inception, the Facebook-run non-profit Internet.org has run into a lot of controversies because of the hidden motive behind the claimed support for social cause.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/odisha-tv-february-9-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-net-neutrality-advocates-rejoice-as-trai-bans-differential-pricing

‘A Good Day for the Internet Everywhere': India Bans Differential Data Pricing

subha — 2016-02-25T01:21:27Z

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.

The article was published by Global Voices on February 9, 2016

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.

In their ruling, Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) commented:

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.

#TRAIFreesInternet | Key take aways from TRAI’s ruling on Net Neutrality pic.twitter.com/xlFsLb3bZ6

— CNN-IBN News (@ibnlive) February 8, 2016

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, wrote:

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.

A blow for Facebook's “Free Basics”

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.

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 Alice Truong reacted to Free Basics saying:

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.”

When TRAI solicited public comments on the matter of differential pricing, Facebook responded with an aggressive advertising campaign 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.

TRAI criticized 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 Free Software Movement of India and the Savetheinternet.in 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 2.4 million emails to TRAI urging the agency to put a stop to differential pricing.

Alongside these efforts, 500 Indian startups including major ones like Cleartrip, Zomato, Practo, Paytm and Cleartax also wrote to India's prime minister Narendra Modi requesting continued support for net neutrality—on the Indian Republic Day January 26.

Stand-up comedians like Abish Mathew and groups like All India Bakchod and East India Comedy created humorous and informative videos explaining the regulatory debate and supporting net neutrality which went viral.

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.

The Internet responds

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:

This order shows the power of citizen involvement in policymaking. Policymakers are forced to listen if citizens engage. #NetNeutrality

— Pranesh Prakash (@pranesh) February 8, 2016

I think this is not just a good day for the Internet in India. It's a good day for the Internet everywhere #TRAI #savetheinternet

— Anja Kovacs (@anjakovacs) February 8, 2016

India is now the global leader on #NetNeutrality. New rules are stronger than those in EU and US. https://t.co/D6g68k2xaI

— Josh Levy (@levjoy) February 8, 2016

There are also those like Panuganti Rajkiran who opposed the ruling:

A terrible decision.. The worst part here is the haves deciding for the have nots what they can have and what they cannot.

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. #NetNeutrality

— Ramesh Srivats (@rameshsrivats) February 8, 2016

Soumya Manikkath says:

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.

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.

Bangalore-based Internet policy expert Pranesh Prakash noted that this work must continue until India is truly — and equally — connected:

The pro-#NetNeutrality campaign shouldn't rest until every poor family in India has full and free access to the Internet. #ZeroRating

— Pranesh Prakash (@pranesh) February 8, 2016

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/global-voices-subhashish-panigrahi-february-9-2016-a-good-day-for-the-internet-everywhere