The Centre for Internet and Society
https://cis-india.org
These are the search results for the query, showing results 61 to 75.
Netizen Report: The EU Wrestles With Facebook Over Privacy
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/global-voices-february-11-2016-netizen-report
<b>Global Voices Advocacy's Netizen Report offers an international snapshot of challenges, victories, and emerging trends in Internet rights around the world. </b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The blog post published in Global Voices on February 11, 2016 quotes Pranesh Prakash and Subhashish Panigrahi.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In the latest development in the negotiations between the United States and European Union over data transfer rules, Reuters reports France’s data protection authority gave Facebook<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-france-privacy-idUSKCN0VH1U1"><span> </span><span>three months to stop tracking</span></a> non-users’ Web activity without their consent, and ordered Facebook to cease some transfers of personal data to the United States or face fines. In response, Facebook asserted it does not use the now-defunct<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Safe_Harbor_Privacy_Principles"><span> </span><span>Safe Harbor</span></a> agreement to move data to the United States and instead has set up alternative legal structures to keep its data transfers in line with EU law. Despite this, Facebook was forced last year to<a href="http://venturebeat.com/2016/02/08/french-data-privacy-regulator-to-facebook-you-have-3-months-to-stop-tracking-non-users/"><span> </span><span>stop tracking Belgian non-users</span></a> after it was taken to court by the Belgian regulator. Last week, the United States and European Union agreed upon a new legal framework to replace Safe Harbor, but as it is not yet operational, several European data protection authorities are still deciding whether data transfers should be restricted.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Big Blow for Facebook’s Free Basics</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Indian regulators <a href="http://inbministry.blogspot.in/2016/02/telecom-regulatory-authority-of-india.html"><span>officially banned “differential pricing”</span></a>or discriminatory tariffs placed on data services depending on their content. This means that Internet users in India are guaranteed equal access to any website they want, regardless of how they connect to the Internet, <a href="https://advox.globalvoices.org/2016/02/09/a-good-day-for-the-internet-everywhere-india-bans-differential-data-pricing/"><span>ays Global Voices’ Subhashish Panigrahi</span></a>. The decision is a particular blow to Facebook’s Free Basics application, which uses differential pricing mechanisms to make accessing Facebook, WhatsApp and a limited number of other websites free to users who do not pay for mobile data plans. Though Facebook promotes the program as a means to increasing digital access, it has come under backlash in India and a number of other countries. Internet policy expert <a href="https://twitter.com/pranesh/status/696732814083907584?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"><span>Pranesh Prakash emphasized</span></a>that though the ruling is a win for open access in India, these efforts must continue until India is truly and equally connected.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Google’s new scheme to combat online extremism </strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In an effort to combat groups like ISIS that recruit online, Google has launched a<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/feb/02/google-pilot-extremist-anti-radicalisation-information"><span>pilot scheme</span></a>to point users who search for extremist terms toward anti-radicalization links. It announced the new effort on February 2 at a<a href="http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/home-affairs-committee/countering-extremism/oral/28376.html"><span> meeting</span></a> with the U.K. Home Affairs Select Committee on Countering Extremism. Representatives of Twitter and Facebook were also challenged by members of Parliament on their role in combatting the spread of terrorist material. Twitter<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/06/technology/twitter-account-suspensions-terrorism.html"><span> announced</span></a>that it had suspended 125,000 accounts associated with extremism since mid-2015 in response to pressure from the US government. However, as the New York Times’ Mike Isaac notes, “these companies must walk a fine line between bearing responsibility for their platforms and avoiding becoming the arbiter of what constitutes free speech.”</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; "><strong>What’s going to happen to Ukraine’s database of ‘explicit content’?</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Ukrainian censorship body, National Expert Commission for Protection of Public Morality, dissolved last year, but its<a href="https://globalvoices.org/2016/02/05/ukrainian-censors-explicit-content-database-is-up-for-grabs/"><span> legacy lives on</span></a> as a database of “explicit content” that no one in the government seems to know what to do with. The database includes a sizeable amount of content “containing elements of sexual nature and erotica,” but the commission was also well known for its <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/tv/ukraine-govt-wants-to-ban-spongebob-promotes-homosexuality/"><span>attempt to ban</span></a> Spongebob Squarepants, Shrek, and Teletubbies. Users have suggested the team responsible for dissolving the commission make the content more widely available, so they can see where taxpayers’ money went.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; "><strong>How to protect yourself from government hacking</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Hacking human rights workers, journalists, and NGOs has become <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2016/01/brief-history-of-government-hacking-human-rights-organizations/"><span>common practice </span></a>for governments around the world, according to Amnesty International’s Morgan Marquis-Boire and Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Eva Galperin. In a post for Amnesty International, the two provide a brief history of government hacking and give suggestions for NGOs and human rights organizations to protect themselves.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Taking on Russia’s invasive surveillance </strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Two Russian Internet service providers are taking the Federal Security Service to court to<a href="https://advox.globalvoices.org/2016/02/03/isps-take-kremlin-to-court-over-online-surveillance/"><span> challenge the surveillance system</span></a> employed by Russian federal police to spy on Internet use. ISPs play a critical role in making surveillance possible, by installing expensive equipment that provides police access—making this case a significant affront to Russia’s invasive surveillance apparatus.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Telegram in Iran</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Messaging app Telegram’s <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/08/telegram-the-instant-messaging-app-freeing-up-iranians-conversations?CMP=share_btn_tw"><span>growing influence</span></a> is being characterized as a major factor in the dissemination and spread of information leading up to Iran’s Feb. 26 parliamentary elections, but <a href="https://globalvoices.org/2015/08/28/is-telegrams-compliance-with-iran-compromising-the-digital-security-of-its-users/"><span> the platform</span></a>’s susceptibility to state manipulation is also becoming more apparent. After the arrest of former BBC journalist Bahman Doroshafaei, the government<a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/read/iran-telegram-account-bbc-journalist"><span> took over his Telegram account</span></a> and started to message his contacts. Some believe this was an effort to extract sensitive information or to distribute spyware. Fatemeh Shams, a friend of Doroshafaei, posted the following warning to her Facebook account:</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify; ">
<p>Someone has been talking to me for two hours from Bahman's hacked Telegram account and now is chatting with my friends with my account..If anyone messaged you on Telegram [from my account] please ignore it. I've lost access to my account.</p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><em><strong>Mahsa Alimardani, </strong><a href="https://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/author/ellery-roberts-biddle/"><strong><span>Ellery Roberts Biddle</span></strong></a><strong>, Hae-in Lim and</strong><a href="https://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/author/sarahbmyers/"><strong><span> Sarah Myers West</span></strong></a> <strong>contributed to this report.</strong></em></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/global-voices-february-11-2016-netizen-report'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/global-voices-february-11-2016-netizen-report</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaInternet GovernancePrivacy2016-02-27T07:39:01ZNews ItemCommunity Digest—Estonians working on a new feedback system for Wikipedia articles
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wikimedia-blog-subhashish-panigrahi-community-digest-estonians-working-on-new-feedback-system-for-wikipedia-articles
<b>Community digest is a weekly publication on Wikimedia Blog. This week, I have authored a section on the Kannada Wikipedia's 13th anniversary that is being celebrated today. It includes a small section from a longer interview with Kannada Wikipedian Vasanth S.N. The two blogs on creating Odia-language character encoding converters I had written before in the Huffington Post and the DNA are also featured in the digest.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Read the original published on Wikimedia Blog <a class="external-link" href="http://blog.wikimedia.org/2016/02/13/wikicomment-kannada-anniversary/">here</a>.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Sites that rely on the cooperation of people need to be able to easily exchange information. When there are some problems with an article, you could always add some templates to specific places or point to them on talk page—but that can sometimes be painful and time consuming.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The problem can grow even greater when articles are written inside a <a rel="mw:ExtLink" href="https://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Education"><span>Wikipedia Education Program</span></a>. You may need to follow up with hundreds of students and provide them feedback so that they can easily understand what should they fix. This can be a rather tricky job when dealing with people who have never before written to Wikipedia.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">For example, in Estonia we have a course called “Estonian Composition and Conversation” in the <a title="w:en:University of Tartu" rel="mw:ExtLink" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:University%20of%20Tartu"><span>University of Tartu</span></a>, where there are on average more than 200 students per year writing articles on Wikipedia. We are keenly interested in providing good quality feedback, but with that number of students and with the use of the usual wikisystem, that is hard to achieve.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">So we needed a solution.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">When using the usual method (the talk page), you need to point out where are all of the mistakes located and then express your concerns about them. With a lot of comments, that does get rather messy and it’s hard to understand where are those comments directed to; it’s not an ideal medium for feedback in massive scale and not that useful for neither the students nor the person giving feedback. So the goal was simple: to ease the process of giving feedback to students who write wikiarticles as their coursework.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">What we did was to create a system called <strong><a rel="mw:ExtLink" href="http://wikicomment.ut.ee/"><span>WikiComment</span></a></strong>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">What does it do? Well, at first it allows to add comments to exact letters/sentences/paragraphs to speed up the commenting process and make it easier to locate the issues. In addition to adding comments, it also provides various highlighting options and a possibility to strike through text. Secondly, it allows for better monitoring of the articles of interest. That means the wikiComment user has information about which pages have been modified and he or she can easily check if the changes have solved the marked questions.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">We hope that this will make it easier to focus on text and to the quality of writing.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Obviously WikiComment could be used outside the education initiative and in many other ways as well, but that is just how it all started. For example we’ll soon add support for sites like Meta-Wiki, Wikisource, Wikivoyage, Wikinews, and Wikiquote, among others. Having a discussion about some details in grant request or talking about local tourist sites may have just become easier. But to really optimize the system and to make it as good as possible we’ll need your feedback, so please go on and test that site—if you have any suggestions, just <a href="http://wikicomment.ut.ee/"><span>let us know</span></a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><i><a title="User:Kruusamägi" rel="mw:WikiLink" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Kruusam%C3%A4gi"><span>Ivo Kruusamägi</span></a>, Estonian Wikipedian</i></p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">In brief</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Kannada Wikipedia anniversary</strong>: The <a href="https://kn.wikipedia.org/" target="_blank"><span>Kannada Wikipedia</span></a> is all set to celebrate its 13th anniversary. The <a href="https://kn.wikipedia.org/wiki/?diff=1" target="_blank"><span>first ever edit</span></a> on Kannada Wikipedia was made on 12 June 2003 with a message “Kannada Vishwa Koshakke Suswaagatha!” (meaning welcome to the Kannada encyclopedia in Kannada). However, it took over a year—on July 12, 2004 the first article about a city <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimoga" target="_blank"><span>Shimoga</span></a> <a href="https://kn.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=%E0%B2%B6%E0%B2%BF%E0%B2%B5%E0%B2%AE%E0%B3%8A%E0%B2%97%E0%B3%8D%E0%B2%97&oldid=1463" target="_blank"><span>was created</span></a>. Over the last decade Kannada Wikipedia has been a great gamechanger for the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kannada" target="_blank"><span>Kannada language</span></a> where the Wikipedians have played a great role in making it a household name—there were about <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kannada_Wikipedia_stats_%28December_2015%29.png" target="_blank"><span>700,000 pageviews</span></a> in December 2015. The annual average of active editors for last year was 48, 91 (February) being the highest and 22 (May) the lowest and 80 being the count in last December. The peaks and valleys also signify that major outreach like <a href="https://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Education/Countries/India/Christ_University/CUWEP2015_NOVEMBER" target="_blank"><span>Wikipedia Education Program at Christ University Bengaluru</span></a> could have boosted the total number of editors during the months when the program was being rolled out. Since its inception, the project has gone through many ups and downs over time, the major one being a small community to edit and curate such a high level task of creating new articles in Kannada, editing and enriching them with more information and citations, and cleaning up many articles.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The biggest hurdle, as <a href="http://www.hpnadig.net/blog/2011/10/22/how-google-irreparably-wounded-kannada-wikipedia/755" target="_blank"><span>explained</span></a> by Wikimedian <a href="https://kn.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:HPNadig" target="_blank"><span>Hari Prasad Nadig</span></a>, has been cleaning up the articles created by paid translations of Google when Kannada Wikipedia along with many other Indian language Wikipedias were used as testing grounds for improving <a href="http://translate.google.com/" target="_blank"><span>Google Translate</span></a>, a multilingual machine translation tool. <a href="https://kn.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:VASANTH_S.N." target="_blank"><span>Vasanth S.N.</span></a>, a Kannada Wikipedian who has cleaned up over 60 such articles prefers to use an existing good quality encyclopedia like the 16 volume Kannada Vishwakosha, published by Mysore University and relicensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0 by the university, as a resource to create and improve articles. To celebrate the journey of the project and the community, Kannada Wikipedians are gathering at Saint Aloysius College Mangalore, Karnataka this 14th. The larger community, including long time Wikipedians and new members like the students faculty involved in Wikipedia Education Programs, will <a href="https://kn.wikipedia.org/s/1daf"><span>gather and participate</span></a> in a day-long edit-a-thon and chalk out plans for the future.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Innovation and revolution in the Odia language</strong>: Wikimedian Subhashish Panigrahi has <a class="text external" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.dnaindia.com/scitech/report-this-little-innovation-is-bringing-a-revolution-in-the-odia-language-2173325"><span>written</span></a> two pieces recently. In dnaindia.com, he described a Unicode converter that in revolutionizing Internet access in the Odia language; in the <i>Huffington Post</i>, he <a class="text external" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.in/subhashish-panigrahi-/when-wikipedia-is-turning_b_9025690.html"><span>wrote</span></a> about why contributing and adding to Wikipedias in Indian language is so important.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><strong>Coming together across the divide</strong>: <a title="Saanjh" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Saanjh"><span>Saanjh</span></a> (ਸਾਂਝ سانجھ), a Punjabi word which means collaboration, was an online edit-a-thon between the <a title="pa:ਮੁੱਖ ਸਫ਼ਾ" class="extiw" href="https://pa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A8%AE%E0%A9%81%E0%A9%B1%E0%A8%96_%E0%A8%B8%E0%A8%AB%E0%A8%BC%E0%A8%BE"><span>Gurmukhi Punjabi Wikipedia</span></a> and <a title="pnb:پہلا صفہ" class="extiw" href="https://pnb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%BE%DB%81%D9%84%D8%A7_%D8%B5%D9%81%DB%81"><span>Shahmukhi Punjabi Wikipedia</span></a> in January 2016. The plan came together after two editors, one from each side, met at Wikimania 2015. Organized by the <a title="m:Punjabi Wikimedians" class="extiw" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Punjabi_Wikimedians"><span>Punjabi Wikimedians User Group</span></a>, 23 editors participated; you can read more about their story <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Blog/Drafts/Saanjh_-_Step_towards_a_Global_Punjab"><span>on Meta</span></a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a title="User:Psubhashish" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Psubhashish"><span><i>Subhashish Panigrahi</i></span></a><i>, Wikimedian and Programme Officer, </i><a title="m:CIS-A2K" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CIS-A2K"><span><i>Access to Knowledge</i></span></a><i> (CIS-A2K), Centre for Internet and Society<br /></i><i><a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Ed_Erhart_%28WMF%29"><span>Ed Erhart</span></a></i><i>, Editorial Associate, Wikimedia Foundation</i></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wikimedia-blog-subhashish-panigrahi-community-digest-estonians-working-on-new-feedback-system-for-wikipedia-articles'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wikimedia-blog-subhashish-panigrahi-community-digest-estonians-working-on-new-feedback-system-for-wikipedia-articles</a>
</p>
No publishersubhaWikimediaCIS-A2KWikipediaAccess to Knowledge2016-02-27T06:30:41ZBlog Entryକମ୍ପ୍ୟୁଟର ଯୁଗରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷା
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/suryaprava-subhashish-panigrahi-february-22-2016-article
<b>In 2013, the Centre for Internet and Society commissioned a project to create a typeface and input methods for for Ol chiki script that is used to write in the Santali language. Santali is one of the many victims that has large number of native language speakers but really low activism to preserve the language though it is not yet among the 196 endangered languages as identified by UNESCO.</b>
<p>The article was published in Odia newspaper <a class="external-link" href="http://suryaprava.co.in/epaper/m/2543/56ca5368ec910">Suryaprava</a> on February 22, 2016.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify;">On the day of the International Mother Language Day, it is important to look outside and draw inspirations from several success stories of digital activism for languages. Hebrew, an ancient language that was almost dead for over 1500 years was revived from ashes like phoenix. Even after being honoured with the classical language status in the same category of Sanskrit and Tamil, Odia has not seen much progress in the digital sphere. It has not yet being used for governance and judiciary even though the Orissa Official Language Act exist officially since 1954. Almost all of the newspapers do not have their content available in the Unicode standard. Large amount of Odia-language content could otherwise have influenced Google to include Odia along with the other nine Indian languages in their home page. The writer was privileged to be asked for advising on enlisting the online resources available in Odia language for the first Unicode-based Odia portal by the government "<a href="http://odia.odisha.gov.in/">odia.odisha.gov.in</a>". There is a huge gap in the way knowledge is disseminated in Odia. Odia Wikisource and Odia Wikipedia are trying to fill this gap to some extent where the former project has over 290 volumes of digitized text and the latter has over 11000 encyclopedic entries in Odia. Odia Wikisource is creating the next level of the book scanning work done by Srujanika, a Bhubaneswar-based non-profit that has scanned over 150000 pages from many Odia books. Similarly, Odia Wikisource is aiming to be to what <em>Purnachandra Bhasakosha</em>, a lexicon published in 1930s with thousands of lexical and encyclopedic entries, meant to the contemporary Odia society. But all of these are not enough until there is much awareness in the government front that could lead more policy-level reforms and a better governance in the native language.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Full text in Odia</h3>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">୨୦୧୩ ମସିହାରେ ଭୁବନେଶ୍ୱରସ୍ଥିତ କିସର ମିଳିତ ସହଯୋଗରେ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆର ବୈଷୟିକ ସୁବିଧା ପରିଚାଳନା କରୁଥିବା ସଙ୍ଗଠନ ଉଇକିମିଡ଼ିଆ ଫାଉଣ୍ଡେସନରୁ କିଛି ପାଣ୍ଠି ଅନୁଦାନରେ ସାନ୍ତାଳୀ ଭାଷାର ଲିପି ଅଲ ଚିକିକୁ କମ୍ପୁଟର ଓ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ କରିବାର ଏକ ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପ ଆରମ୍ଭ ହେଲା । ବେଙ୍ଗାଳୁରୁ ସ୍ଥିତ ସେଣ୍ଟର ଫର ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ ଆଣ୍ଡ ସୋସାଇଟିରେ ଏହି ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପର ରୂପରେଖ ତିଆରି କରାଗଲା । ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପ ଆରମ୍ଭ ହେବାବେଳକୁ ଆମେ ବିଭିନ୍ନ ବ୍ୟକ୍ତିବିଶେଷ ଓ ସଙ୍ଗଠନମାନଙ୍କ ସଙ୍ଗେ ଯୋଗାଯୋଗ କରି ଜାଣିବାକୁ ପାଇଲୁ ଯେ ଚାରିଟି ଦେଶ ଓ କେବଳ ଭାରତର ସାତଟି ରାଜ୍ୟ ୬୩ ଲକ୍ଷରୁ ଅଧିକ ଲୋକଙ୍କ ଦ୍ୱାରା କଥିତ ସାନ୍ତାଳୀ ଭାଷା ପାଇଁ ଇଉନିକୋଡ଼ ଫଣ୍ଟ ଖଣ୍ଡିଏ ମଧ୍ୟ ନାହିଁ । ବହି ଛପା ପାଇଁ ଯାହା ବ୍ୟବହାର ହେଉଛି ତାହା ଆନ୍ତର୍ଜାତିକ ମାନକ ଇଉନିକୋଡ଼ରେ ହୋଇନଥିବାରୁ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ବ୍ୟବହାର କରିବା ଦୂରୁହ । ଏହାର କିଛି ସମୟ ପରେ ଗୁଗୁଲ ତିଆରି ନୋଟୋ ଫଣ୍ଟ ଆସିଲା ହେଲେ ସେଇଟି ତିଆରିରେ ନାଁ ସାନ୍ତାଳୀ କହୁଥିବା ଲୋକଙ୍କୁ ପଚରା ଉଚୁରା କରାଗଲା ନାଁ ତିଆରି ପରେ ତାଙ୍କ ସହ ଆଲୋଚନା କରି ଭୁଲ ସୁଧରାଗଲା । ଆଦରରେ ଗୁରୁ ଗୋମକେ ବା ରଘୁନାଥ ମୁର୍ମୁଙ୍କ ତିଆରି ଅଲ ଚିକି ଲିପିରେ ଲେଖିବା ପାଇଁ ଏବେ ନୂଆ ଫଣ୍ଟଟିଏ ସଜବାଜ ହେଉଛି ରତର ଦିନ ଧରି ସାନ୍ତାଳୀ ଭାଷାକୁ ଜାବୁଡ଼ି ଧରିଥିବା ଅଗଣିତ ଲୋକଙ୍କ ପାଇଁ । ଏଥିରେ ସାନ୍ତାଳୀ ଭାଷାରେ ବିଶାରଦ ଓ ସାହିତ୍ୟ ଏକାଡେମୀ ସଦସ୍ୟା ଡ. ଦମୟନ୍ତୀ ବେସ୍ରାଙ୍କଠାରୁ ସାନ୍ତାଳୀ ପତ୍ରିକା "ଫଗୁଣ"ର ଜନ୍ମଦାତା-ଜନ୍ମଦାତ୍ରୀଙ୍କ ମତାମତର ଫଳ । ଇଉନିକୋଡ଼ରେ ଫଣ୍ଟ ହେଲେ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଜ୍ଞାନ ବାଣ୍ଟିବା ଆଉ ଆହରଣ କରିବାର ବାଟ ଖୋଲିବ । ପର ସଂସ୍କରଣକୁ ଅପେକ୍ଷା ନ କରି ଆବଶ୍ୟକ ପଡ଼ିବା କ୍ଷଣି ନୂଆ ନୂଆ ବିଷୟ ଓ ଘଟଣା ବାବଦରେ ଜାଣିହେବ । ଏ ବିଷୟ ଅବତାରଣାର ଉଦ୍ଦେଶ୍ୟ ଏକ ଭାଷାରେ କେବଳ ସାହିତ୍ୟ ନୁହେଁ କି କଥନ ନୁହେଁ ବରଂ ସେ ଭାଷା କହୁଥିବା ଲୋକେ କିପରି ନିଜ ନିଜ ଭିତରେ ସୁବିଧାରେ ସହଜରେ ଭାବ ଦିଆନିଆ କରିପାରିବେ । ଯଦି ଭାଷାଟିଏ କେବଳ ସାହିତ୍ୟ ଚାଷର ମାଧ୍ୟମ ହୋଇ ଲେଖକ ଓ ପାଠକଙ୍କ ଭିତରେ ବାନ୍ଧି ହୋଇ ରହିଗଲା ତେବେ ସେ ଭାଷା ନୁହେଁ । ଆଉ ଭାଷାକୁ ଜ୍ଞାନର ଓ ଶାସନର ଭାଷା କରିବା ଲାଗି ଲୋଡ଼ା ଆଧୁନିକ ବୈଷୟିକ ଜ୍ଞାନକୌଶଳ । ତେବେ ପ୍ରତିଟି ଭାଷା ପାଇଁ ଆଜିର ଦିନ ହେଉଛି ଜ୍ଞାନକୌଶଳର ମାପକାଠିରେ ନିଜ ଭାଷାକୁ ମାପିବା ଓ ବାକି ଭାଷା ସଙ୍ଗେ ତଉଲିବାର ଦିନ ।</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ସାନ୍ତାଳୀର ସ୍ଥିତି ତ ଗୋଟେ ପ୍ରକାର । ହେଲେ ଏ ଦେଶରେ ଆହୁରି ୧୯୬ ଗୋଟି ଭାରତୀୟ ଭାଷା ମରଣମୁଖୀ । ଏ ଭାଷା କହୁଥିବା କିଛି ଲୋକ ରହିଛନ୍ତି ଆଉ ସେମାନେ ଦିହୁଡ଼ି ଆଗରେ ଦିକି ଦିକି ଜଳୁଥିବା ତାଙ୍କ ଭାଷାକୁ ଦେଖି ଭାବୁଥିବେ ଯେ ଆମେ ସେ ଦିହୁଡ଼ି ସଙ୍ଗେ ମିଶି ଗଲେ ବରଂ ଭଲ । ଉତ୍ତର ଭାରତରେ କିଛି କାଳ ରହଣି କାଳରେ କେବେ ଅଙ୍ଗିକା ତ କେବେ ଦେହାତି ପୁଣି କେବେ ଠେଟି ଆଦି ଭାଷା କହୁଥିବା ଅନେକ ଲୋକଙ୍କୁ ଭେଟିବାର ସୁଯୋଗ ମିଳିଥିବା । ତାଙ୍କୁ ବହରେଇ ଫୁସୁଲେଇ ପଚାରିଲେ ସେମାନେ ଲାଜେଇ କହନ୍ତି ନିଜ ଭାଷାର ନାଁ । ହେଲେ ପୁଣି ବୁଲିବାଲି କରି କହନ୍ତି, "ଆମ ଭାଷା ହିନ୍ଦୀ, ହେଲେ ଘରେ ଆମେ ଅମୁକ ଭାଷାରେ କହୁ" । ପୁରୁଣା ପିଢ଼ି ସରିସରି ଆସୁଛନ୍ତି । ଆଉ ନୂଆ ପିଢ଼ିଠାରୁ ଭାଷାର ବ୍ୟବହାର ବି ସରିସରି ଆସୁଛି । ଏମିତି ମରି ମରି ଆସୁଥିବା ଭାଷା କହୁଥିବା ଜଣେ ପାଠୋଈଙ୍କ ମତରେ ଯଦି ଜଣେ ନିଜ ଭାଷା ପାଇଁ ନିଜେ ଚିନ୍ତୁନି ତାହେଲେ ବାକିମାନେ ଚିନ୍ତି କରିବେ କଣ । ତାଙ୍କ କଥା ବି ସତ । ହେଲେ ପେଟର ଭୋକ ଆଗେ । ଭୋକ ମାରିବା ପାଇଁ ମଣିଷ ବାର ବେପାର ତେର ଧନ୍ଦା କରେ । ତେଣୁ ଭାଷାର ବିକାଶରେ ସାଧାରଣ ମଣିଷଟିଏର ଭୂମିକା କେତେ ଏକଥାଟି ଭାବିବା ନିହାତି ଜରୁରୀ । ମରୁ ମରୁ ବଞ୍ଚୁଥିବା ଏକ ଭାଷାର ଉଦାହରଣ ନିଆଯାଉ । ପୃଥିବୀର ଏକ ପୁରୁଣା ଭାଷା ଭିତରୁ ଗୋଟିଏ ଭାଷା ହେଲା ହିବ୍ରୁ । ହେଲେ ଏ ଭାଷାଟି ୧୫୦୦ ବର୍ଷରୁ ଅଧିକ କାଳ ଦରମଲା ରହି ଫିନିକ୍ସ ଚଢ଼େଇ ଭଳି ପାଉଁଶ ତଳୁ ଉଠିଲା । ଏବେ ଏ ଭାଷାଟି ପାଖାପାଖି ୯୦ ଲକ୍ଷ ଲୋକଙ୍କ ଦ୍ୱାରା କଥିତ କିନ୍ତୁ ଏ ଭାଷାରେ ଦେଶର ଶାସନ ଚଳେ ଆଉ କମ୍ପୁଟର ଅପରେଟିଂ ସିଷ୍ଟମ ଓ ମୋବାଇଲ ଇଣ୍ଟରଫେସରେ ଦିଶେ । ଏସବୁ ପଛରେ ରହିଛି ବିଜ୍ଞାନ ଓ କାରିଗରୀର କରାମତି । ଯଦି ଦେଶର ଶାସନ ନିଜ ଭାଷାରେ ହୁଏ ତେବେ ଶାସନ ପାଇଁ ଦରକାରୀ ସବୁ ଉପାଦାନ ନିଜ ଭାଷାରେ ତିଆରି ହୁଏ । ଆଉ ଏ ଉପାଦାନମାନ ତିଆରିବା ଲାଗି ଶିକ୍ଷା ବ୍ୟବସ୍ଥା ଗଢ଼ାହୁଏ । ପିଲେ ଚାକିରି କରନ୍ତି । ଆଉ ଭାଷା ଶାସନର ଭାଷା ହେଲେ ଶିକ୍ଷା ଓ ଜ୍ଞାନର ଭାଷା ହୋଇ ଭାଷା ଭାତ ଦିଏ । ନିଜ ନିଜ ସଙ୍ଗେ ଯୋଡ଼ା ଏ ରଥ ଚକର ଗୋଟେ ଅର ହୁଗୁଳା ହେଲେ ଆରଟି ଭୁଷୁଡ଼ି ପଡ଼ିବ । ଆଉ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ପାଇଁ ଏ ଅର ଭିତରୁ କେଉଁ ଅର କେମିତି ରହିଛି ଆଉ କଣ ମରାମତି ହେବ ଆମକୁ ବେଳ ହୁଁ ଭାବିବାକୁ ପଡ଼ିବ ।</p>
<div> </div>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ଅପ୍ରିୟ ସତ କଥା ହେଲା ଶାସ୍ତ୍ରୀୟ ମାନ୍ୟତା ମିଳିବାର ଦୁଇ ବର୍ଷ ବିତିଗଲା ପରେ ବି ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଏବେ ଯାଏ କୋର୍ଟ କଚେରିର ଭାଷା ହୋଇପାରିଲା ନାହିଁ । ସରକାରୀ ସ୍ତରରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆର ବ୍ୟାପକ ବ୍ୟାବହାର ବଦଳରେ ହିନ୍ଦୀରୁ ଉଧାରି ଆଣି ପାଳିତ ହେଉଛି "ରାହଗିରି ଦିବସ" । ସିନେମାରେ ବି ସେଇଆ । ଆଉ କାହା ସଙ୍ଗେ ମିତ ବସିବାରେ ଆପତ୍ତି ନାହିଁ ହେଲେ ନିଜ ପରିଚୟ ହାରି ସେ ମିତ ବସିବାରେ କି ସୁଖ । ସରକାରୀ ସ୍ତରରେ ବିଭିନ୍ନ ରାଜ୍ୟର ଯେଉଁଭଳି ତାଙ୍କ ୱେବସାଇଟସବୁ ତାଙ୍କ ରାଜ୍ୟ ଭାଷାରେ ତିଆରି ଆମର ସେମିତି ହୋଇନାହିଁ । ନିକଟରେ odia.odisha.gov.in ନାମରେ ସାଇଟଟିଏ ସରକାର ତିଆରି କଲାବେଳେ ଲେଖକକୁ ସେଥିରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷାର କମ୍ପୁଟର ଓ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଥିବା ବିଭିନ୍ନ ସାଜସରଞ୍ଜାମ ବାବଦରେ ପରାମର୍ଶ ଦେବାର ସୁଯୋଗ ମିଳିଥିଲା । ଏ ସଜସବୁ ଖୋଜିବା ବେଳେ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ ଥିବା ୱେବସାଇଟ ବାବଦରେ କିଛି ତଥ୍ୟ ଆଖି ସାମନାକୁ ଆସିଥିଲା । ଗୁଗୁଲ ସର୍ଚରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଆସୁନଥିବାର ମୁଖ୍ୟ କାରଣ ହେଲା ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଲେଖାର ଅଭାବ । ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ କେଇ ଶହ ଖବରକାଗଜ ଦୈନିକ ଛପାଯାଉଥିଲେ ହେଁ ମୁଖିଆ କାଗଜମାନନଙ୍କ ୱେବସାଇଟରେ ଇଉନିକୋଡ଼ ମାନକରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଲେଖା ନାହିଁ । ଲେଖାସବୁ ଅଣ-ମାନକ ଲିପି ଏନକୋଡ଼ିଂରେ ରହିଛି କିମ୍ବା ଛବି ଭାବେ ରହିଛି । ଫଳରେ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଖୋଜିଲେ ଲେଖାଯାକ ମିଳିବ ନାହିଁ । ସେମିତି bhulekh.ori.nic.in ଭଳି ଓଡ଼ିଶା ସରକାରଙ୍କ ସାଇଟଟିରେ ଅଣ-ମାନକ ଫଣ୍ଟରେ ତିଆରି ହୋଇଥିବାରୁ ସଧାରଣ ଲୋକେ ସରକାରୀ ନଥିପତର ଖୋଜି ପାଇପାରୁନାହାନ୍ତି । ଓଡ଼ିଆ ପାଇଁ ଯେତେକ ଆନ୍ଦୋଳନ ଏବେ ଚାଲିଛି ସବୁ କେବଳ ସାହିତ୍ୟ ଓ ଶାସନକୁ ନେଇ କିନ୍ତୁ କେଉଁ କେଉଁ ଉପାଦାନକୁ ନେଇ ବାକି ଜାଗତିକ ଭାଷାଏ ଆଗକୁ ବଢ଼ିଛନ୍ତି ଆଉ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ କି କି ଚିଜ ନିହାତି ଲୋଡ଼ା ତା' ଲାଗି ଆକଳନ ଲୋଡ଼ା । ଭାରତରେ ୧୯୫୫ ଆଗର ପ୍ରାୟ ବହି କପିରାଇଟ ବାହାରେ । ଏ ବର୍ଗରେ ଥିବା ଓଡ଼ିଆ ବହିସବୁ ଧୀରେ ଧୀରେ ଉଇଙ୍କ ଆହାର ହେବା ଉପରେ । ଭୁବନେଶ୍ୱରର ସୃଜନିକା ଅନୁଷ୍ଠାନ, ରାଉରକେଲା ଏନଆଇଟି ଓ ପ୍ରଗତି ଉତ୍କଳ ସଂଘ ଉଦ୍ୟମରେ ହୋଇଥିବା ଉଦ୍ୟମ ଫଳରେ ଦେଢ଼ ଲକ୍ଷରୁ ଅଧିକ ପୃଷ୍ଠା ସ୍କାନ କରାଯାଇଛି । ଏଥିରୁ କିଛି ଏବେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପାଠାଗାର ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପରେ or.wikisource.org ୱେବସାଇଟରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ । ଏଥିରେ ସ୍ୱେଚ୍ଛାରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ପାଠକମାନେ ନିଜ ପସନ୍ଦର ବହିସବୁକୁ ଡିଜିଟାଇଜ କରି ସ୍କାନ ଛବିରୁ ଲେଖାରେ ରୂପାନ୍ତର କାମ ଆରମ୍ଭ ହୋଇଛି । ଏଥିସହିତ ସମ୍ପୂର୍ଣ୍ଣ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଗବତ ଭଳି ଆମ ଭାଷାର ସମ୍ପତ୍ତି ଧୀରେ ଧୀରେ ଏଥିରେ ଆସିବାକୁ ଲାଗିଲାଣି । ଏଥି ସହିତ ଜଗତଯାକର ଜ୍ଞାନକୁ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଲେଖିବାର ଉଦ୍ୟମ କରିଥିବା ଗୋପାଳ ପ୍ରହରାଜଙ୍କ ଭାଷାକୋଷ ତିଆରି କାମକୁ ଏବେର ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ମାଧ୍ୟମରେ ଆଗକୁ ନେବାର ଉଦ୍ୟମ ହେଲାଣି । ଏଯାବତ ୧୧ ହଜାରରୁ ଅଧିକ ଲେଖା ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆରେ or.wikipedia.org ୱେବସାଇଟରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ । ସାମୁହିକ ଉଦ୍ୟମ ଛଡ଼ା କିଛି ବ୍ୟକ୍ତିବିଶେଷ ଓ ସଙ୍ଗଠନ ମଧ୍ୟ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ କିଛି ୱେବସାଇଟ ଆଗରୁ ବଖଣାଯାଇଥିବା ଫାଙ୍କା ଥାନ ପୂରଣ କରିବା କାମରେ ମଧ୍ୟ ଲାଗିଛନ୍ତି । ତେବେ ଆଉ ଭାଷା ସଙ୍ଗେ ଓଡ଼ିଆକୁ ସମକକ୍ଷ କରିବା ଲାଗି ଆହୁରି ଅନେକ ଉଦ୍ୟମ ଲୋଡ଼ା । ବିଶେଷ କରି ସରକାରଙ୍କ ପାଖେ ସଚେତନତା ଲୋଡ଼ା । କେବଳ କୋଟି କୋଟି ଟଙ୍କାର ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପ ନୁହେଁ ବରଂ ଘରର ମୂଳଦୁଆ ଗଢ଼ା କାମ ପାଇଁ ଅଧକ ଉଦ୍ୟମ ନିହାତି ଲୋଡ଼ାପଡ଼ିଛି ।</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/suryaprava-subhashish-panigrahi-february-22-2016-article'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/suryaprava-subhashish-panigrahi-february-22-2016-article</a>
</p>
No publishersubhaCIS-A2KOdia WikipediaAccess to Knowledge2016-03-14T07:27:05ZBlog EntryThe Intellects holds 2nd International Conclave of Odia Language
https://cis-india.org/a2k/news/odisha-news-february-22-2016-intellects-holds-second-international-conclave-of-odia-language
<b>The Intellects, a Delhi-based progressive forum of intellectuals, held the 2nd International Conclave of Odia Language at the India International Centre in New Delhi today.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Subhashish Panigrahi participated in the event and won an award. Look for the coverage by Odisha News <a class="external-link" href="http://www.odishanewsinsight.com/events/the-intellects-holds-2nd-international-conclave-of-odia-language/">here</a>.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The seminar had the title of ‘Aamari Bhasha Pathe’. The conclave was inaugurated by eminent Novelist and Writer Dr. Bibhuti Pattnaik and Rajya Sabha MP Baishnab Charan Parida among others. In the inaugural session, the speakers, including Shri Baishnab Parida, Dr. Natabar Satpathy, Dr. Amarendra Khatua, Poet Sankarshan Parida, Dr. Iti Samanta, Smt. Mamata Mohapatra, Mr. Subhasish Panigrahi stressed on the need of promotion of Odia language and its development on the global arena. They highlighted various angles of Odia language, its history and the challenges it faced apart from outlining the modalities to give it a big boost.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In the second leg, a Poets’ Conference was held. Dr. Jagannath Prasad Das, Dr. Amarendra Khatua, Poet Sankarshan Parida, Dr. Anita Panda, Poet Gajanan Mishra, Smt. Yashodhara Mishra, Poet Manas Ranjan Mohapatra and many other recited poems.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In the last leg, Kendra Sahitya Akademi President, Dr. Vishwanath Tiwari and Sir Mark Tully (former Bureau Chief of BBC, New Delhi), graced the occasion among others. Several eminent personalities were honoured and received the awards from The Intellects.</p>
<p><strong>Ama Gourav Samman</strong> – Shri Bibhuti Pattnaik</p>
<p><strong>Amari Bhasha Pathe Samman:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Shri Baishnab Parida</li>
<li>Dr. Amarendra Khatua</li>
<li>Smt. Kunu Dash</li>
<li>Dr. Iti Samanta</li>
<li>Dr. Natabar Satpathy</li>
<li>Shri Gajanan Mishra</li>
<li>Shri Sankarshan Parida</li>
<li>Smt. Mamata Mohapatra</li>
<li>Shri Kulamani Biswal</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Yuva Prerana Samman:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Shri Subhasish Panigrahi</li>
<li>Shri Manoranjan Mohanty</li>
<li>Shri Subhranshu Panda</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Swabhimani Odia Sanghthan Samman:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Biswajit Dash (IPROCH)</li>
<li>Sanjeev Mohanty (Odisha Forum)</li>
<li>Bijaya Kumar Dash (Sukha Dukha Prakashan)</li>
</ul>
<p>Shri Debendra Rout, Chairman of The Intellects and Parambrahma Tripathy, Secretary (Literature), The Intellects, organised the event successfully with all their hard efforts.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/news/odisha-news-february-22-2016-intellects-holds-second-international-conclave-of-odia-language'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/news/odisha-news-february-22-2016-intellects-holds-second-international-conclave-of-odia-language</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaCIS-A2KWikipediaAccess to Knowledge2016-02-27T05:35:17ZNews Item‘A Good Day for the Internet Everywhere': India Bans Differential Data Pricing
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/global-voices-subhashish-panigrahi-february-9-2016-a-good-day-for-the-internet-everywhere
<b>India distinguished itself as a global leader on network neutrality on February 8, when regulators officially banned “differential pricing”, a process through which telecommunications service providers could or charge discriminatory tariffs for data services offered based on content.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The article was published by <a class="external-link" href="https://globalvoices.org/2016/02/09/a-good-day-for-the-internet-everywhere-india-bans-differential-data-pricing/">Global Voices </a>on February 9, 2016</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In short, this means that Internet access in India will remain an open field, where users should be guaranteed equal access to any website they want to visit, regardless of how they connect to the Internet.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In their ruling, <a href="http://www.trai.gov.in/WriteReadData/WhatsNew/Documents/Regulation_Data_Service.pdf"><span>Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) commented:</span></a></p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify; ">
<p>In India, given that a majority of the population are yet to be connected to the internet, allowing service providers to define the nature of access would be equivalent of letting TSPs shape the users’ internet experience.</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" style="text-align: justify; ">
<p dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TRAIFreesInternet?src=hash"><span>#TRAIFreesInternet</span></a> | Key take aways from TRAI’s ruling on Net Neutrality <a href="https://t.co/xlFsLb3bZ6"><span>pic.twitter.com/xlFsLb3bZ6</span></a></p>
<p>— CNN-IBN News (@ibnlive) <a href="https://twitter.com/ibnlive/status/696746896556032000"><span>February 8, 2016</span></a></p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The decision of the Indian government has been welcomed largely in the country and outside. In support of the move, the World Wide Web Foundation's Renata Avila, also a Global Voices community member, <a href="http://webfoundation.org/2016/02/worlds-biggest-democracy-bans-zero-rating/?platform=hootsuite"><span>wrote:</span></a></p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify; ">
<p>As the country with the second largest number of Internet users worldwide, this decision will resonate around the world. It follows a precedent set by Chile, the United States, and others which have adopted similar net neutrality safeguards. The message is clear: We can’t create a two-tier Internet – one for the haves, and one for the have-nots. We must connect everyone to the full potential of the open Web.</p>
</blockquote>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">A blow for Facebook's “Free Basics”</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">While the new rules should long outlast this moment in India's Internet history, the ruling should immediately force Facebook to cancel the local deployment of “Free Basics”, a smart phone application that offers free access to Facebook, Facebook-owned products like WhatsApp, and a select suite of other websites for users who do not pay for mobile data plans.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Facebook's efforts to deploy and promote Free Basics as what they described as a remedy to India's lack of “digital equality” has encountered significant backlash. Last December, technology critic and Quartz writer<a href="http://qz.com/582587/mark-zuckerberg-cant-believe-india-isnt-grateful-for-facebooks-free-internet/"><span> Alice Truong reacted to Free Basics saying:</span></a></p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify; ">
<p>Zuckerberg almost portrays net neutrality as a first-world problem that doesn’t apply to India because having some service is better than no service.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">When TRAI solicited public comments on the matter of differential pricing, Facebook responded with an aggressive <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2015/12/17/save-free-basics/" target="_blank"><span>advertising campaign </span></a>on bill boards and in television commercials across the nation. It also embedded a campaign inside Facebook, asking users to write to TRAI in support of Free Basics.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">TRAI <a href="http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/facebooks-free-basics-campaign-slammed-by-indian-regulator-1539261" target="_blank"><span>criticized</span></a> Facebook for what it seemed to regard as manipulation of the public. Facebook was also heavily challenged by many policy and open Internet advocates including non-profits like the <a href="http://www.fsmi.in/" target="_blank"><span>Free Software Movement of India</span></a> and the <a href="http://www.savetheinternet.in/" target="_blank"><span>Savetheinternet.in</span></a> campaign. The latter two collectives strongly discouraged Free Basics by bringing public opinion where Savetheinternet.in alone facilitated a campaign in which citizens sent over <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech%20news/Net-neutrality-Trai-gets-24-lakh-comments-on-differential-data-pricing-paper/articleshow/50493525.cms" target="_blank"><span>2.4 million emails</span></a> to TRAI urging the agency to put a stop to differential pricing.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Alongside these efforts, <a href="http://blog.savetheinternet.in/startups-pm-letter/" target="_blank"><span>500 Indian startups</span></a> including major ones like Cleartrip, Zomato, Practo, Paytm and Cleartax also wrote to India's prime minister Narendra Modi requesting continued support for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_neutrality" target="_blank"><span>net neutrality</span></a>—on the Indian Republic Day January 26.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Stand-up comedians like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSxB1mD7SdE&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank"><span>Abish Mathew</span></a> and groups like <a href="https://youtu.be/AAQWsTFF0BM" target="_blank"><span>All India Bakchod</span></a> and <a href="https://youtu.be/UCwaKje44fQ" target="_blank"><span>East India Comedy</span></a> created humorous and informative videos explaining the regulatory debate and supporting net neutrality which went viral.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Had differential pricing been officially legalized, it would have adversely affected startups and content-based smaller companies, who most likely could never manage to pay higher prices to partner with service providers to make their service available for free. This would have paved the way for tech-giants like Facebook to capture the entire market. And this would be no small gain for a company like Facebook: India represents the world's largest market of Internet users after the US and China, where Facebook remains blocked.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">The Internet responds</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">There have been mixed responses on social media, both supporting and opposing. Among open Internet advocates both in India and the US, the response was celebratory:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" style="text-align: justify; ">
<p dir="ltr">This order shows the power of citizen involvement in policymaking. Policymakers are forced to listen if citizens engage. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NetNeutrality?src=hash"><span>#NetNeutrality</span></a></p>
<p>— Pranesh Prakash (@pranesh) <a href="https://twitter.com/pranesh/status/696720959974211586"><span>February 8, 2016</span></a></p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" style="text-align: justify; ">
<p>I think this is not just a good day for the Internet in India. It's a good day for the Internet everywhere <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TRAI?src=hash"><span>#TRAI</span></a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/savetheinternet?src=hash"><span>#savetheinternet</span></a></p>
<p>— Anja Kovacs (@anjakovacs) <a href="https://twitter.com/anjakovacs/status/696657952946565121"><span>February 8, 2016</span></a></p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" style="text-align: justify; ">
<p>India is now the global leader on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NetNeutrality?src=hash"><span>#NetNeutrality</span></a>. New rules are stronger than those in EU and US. <a href="https://t.co/D6g68k2xaI"><span>https://t.co/D6g68k2xaI</span></a></p>
<p>— Josh Levy (@levjoy) <a href="https://twitter.com/levjoy/status/696716845290655744"><span>February 8, 2016</span></a></p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">There are also those like <a href="https://www.facebook.com/rajkiran.panuganti/posts/10153961592211457"><span>Panuganti Rajkiran</span></a> who opposed the ruling:</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify; ">
<p>A terrible decision.. The worst part here is the haves deciding for the have nots what they can have and what they cannot.</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" style="text-align: justify; ">
<p>When you buy a car, it's fulfilment of aspiration. After that, the next guy who buys a car is just traffic. Let's regulate. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NetNeutrality?src=hash"><span>#NetNeutrality</span></a></p>
<p>— Ramesh Srivats (@rameshsrivats) <a href="https://twitter.com/rameshsrivats/status/696737409136926721"><span>February 8, 2016</span></a></p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://www.facebook.com/soumya.manikkath/posts/10153386837235920"><span>Soumya Manikkath</span></a> says:</p>
<blockquote style="text-align: justify; ">
<p>So all is not lost in the world, for the next two years at least. Do come back with a better plan, dear Facebook, and we'll rethink, of course.</p>
</blockquote>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The ruling leaves an open pathway for companies to offer consumers free access to the Internet, provided that this access is truly open and does not limit one's ability to browse any site of her choosing.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Bangalore-based Internet policy expert Pranesh Prakash noted that this work must continue until India is truly — and equally — connected:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" style="text-align: justify; ">
<p>The pro-<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NetNeutrality?src=hash"><span>#NetNeutrality</span></a> campaign shouldn't rest until every poor family in India has full and free access to the Internet. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ZeroRating?src=hash"><span>#ZeroRating</span></a></p>
<p>— Pranesh Prakash (@pranesh) <a href="https://twitter.com/pranesh/status/696732814083907584"><span>February 8, 2016</span></a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/global-voices-subhashish-panigrahi-february-9-2016-a-good-day-for-the-internet-everywhere'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/global-voices-subhashish-panigrahi-february-9-2016-a-good-day-for-the-internet-everywhere</a>
</p>
No publishersubhaNet NeutralityInternet Governance2016-02-25T01:21:27ZBlog EntryNet Neutrality Advocates Rejoice As TRAI Bans Differential Pricing
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/odisha-tv-february-9-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-net-neutrality-advocates-rejoice-as-trai-bans-differential-pricing
<b>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.</b>
<p>The article by Subhashish Panigrahi was <a class="external-link" href="http://odishatv.in/opinion/net-neutrality-advocates-rejoice-as-trai-bans-differential-pricing-125476/">published by Odisha TV </a>on February 9, 2016.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">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.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">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.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">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.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">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.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">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.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">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.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/odisha-tv-february-9-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-net-neutrality-advocates-rejoice-as-trai-bans-differential-pricing'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/odisha-tv-february-9-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-net-neutrality-advocates-rejoice-as-trai-bans-differential-pricing</a>
</p>
No publishersubhaSocial MediaFree BasicsNet NeutralityFreedom of Speech and ExpressionInternet Governance2016-02-23T02:10:42ZBlog EntryThere is No Such Thing as Free Basics
https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/bangalore-mirror-subhashish-panigrahi-february-9-2016-there-is-no-such-thing-as-free-basics
<b>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.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The article was published in <a class="external-link" href="http://www.bangaloremirror.com/news/india/There-is-No-such-thing-as-Free-basics/articleshow/50908289.cms">Bangalore Mirror</a> on February 9, 2016.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">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.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">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.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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."<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />The decision by the government has been welcomed largely in the country and outside.<br /><br />In support of the move, Web We Want programme manager at the World Wide Web Foundation, Renata Avila, has shared saying,<br /><br />"As the country with the second largest number of Internet users worldwide, this decision will resonate around the world.<br /><br />"It follows a precedent set by Chile, the United States, and others which have adopted similar net neutrality safeguards. The message is clear: We can't create a two-tier Internet — one for the haves, and one for the have-nots. We must connect everyone to the full potential of the open Web."</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/bangalore-mirror-subhashish-panigrahi-february-9-2016-there-is-no-such-thing-as-free-basics'>https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/bangalore-mirror-subhashish-panigrahi-february-9-2016-there-is-no-such-thing-as-free-basics</a>
</p>
No publishersubhaFree BasicsTRAIFacebookInternet Governance2016-02-14T11:37:50ZBlog EntryThis little innovation is bringing a revolution in the Odia language
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/dna-february-3-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-little-innovation-is-bringing-revolution-in-odia-language
<b>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.</b>
<p>The article was published by <a class="external-link" href="http://www.dnaindia.com/scitech/report-this-little-innovation-is-bringing-a-revolution-in-the-odia-language-2173325">DNA</a> on February 3, 2016.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">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<strong> <a rel="nofollow" href="https://bitbucket.org/rebati/rebati/downloads" target="_blank">two text encoding converters</a> </strong>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.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a rel="nofollow" href="http://unicode.org/standard/WhatIsUnicode.html" target="_blank"><strong>Unicode</strong></a> 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 <strong><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.asciitable.com/" target="_blank">American Standard Code for Information Interchange</a></strong> (ASCII) and <strong><a rel="nofollow" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Script_Code_for_Information_Interchange" target="_blank">Indian Script Code for Information Interchange</a></strong> (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.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">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.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">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.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">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.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">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 <strong><a rel="nofollow" href="http://odia.odisha.gov.in/it-tool-for-viewing-odia-in-browser.html" target="_blank">resources page</a></strong>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Recently, <strong><a rel="nofollow" href="https://or.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Jnanaranjan_sahu" target="_blank">Jnanaranjan Sahu</a></strong>, one of core contributors to the project combined all the converters into a standalone on-wiki converter that is available both on <strong><a rel="nofollow" href="https://or.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:Converter" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a></strong> and <strong><a rel="nofollow" href="https://or.wikisource.org/wiki/WS:Converter" target="_blank">Wikisource</a></strong>. Many of the larger Odia language community have contributed in finding errors which were fixed. Jyanaranjan has made available a free <strong><a rel="nofollow" href="http://gyan111.github.com/" target="_blank">online responsive converter</a></strong> 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 <strong><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150406/jsp/frontpage/story_12966.jsp#.Vq7OahjMNE4" target="_blank">bigger dream</a></strong> of an Odia version of Google is closer to becoming real.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/dna-february-3-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-little-innovation-is-bringing-revolution-in-odia-language'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/dna-february-3-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-little-innovation-is-bringing-revolution-in-odia-language</a>
</p>
No publishersubhaCIS-A2KOdia WikipediaAccess to Knowledge2016-02-27T07:33:06ZBlog EntryJanuary 2016 Bulletin
https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/january-2016-bulletin
<b>The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) is happy to share the January 2016 issue of its newsletter.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Previous issues of the newsletters can be accessed at <a href="http://cis-india.org/about/newsletters">http://cis-india.org/about/newsletters</a>.</p>
<table class="grid listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>Highlights</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li>CIS in collaboration with the Office of the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, Department of Disability Affairs, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India compiled the <a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/national-compendium-of-laws-policies-programmes-for-persons-with-disabilities"> National Compendium of Laws, Policies, Programmes for Persons with Disabilities</a>. Prasanna Kumar Pincha, Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities wrote the Foreword for the Compendium.</li>
<li>The Patent Office had put the Guidelines on Computer Related Inventions, 2015 in abeyance last month. This step was taken after several stakeholders including CIS made representations to the Office about serious substantive legal issues in the document. The Controller General of Patents Design Trademarks invited submissions from stakeholders on specific examples on exclusions from patentability under section 3(k) of the Patents Act, 1970, for possible incorporation in the Guidelines for Examination of Computer Related Inventions. <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/cis-submission-to-indian-patent-office-on-examples-of-excluded-patentable-subject-matter-under-section-3-k-for-incorporation-in-the-yet-to-be-released-guidelines-for-computer-related-inventions"> CIS made its submissions.</a></li>
<li>Rahmanuddin Shaik conducted an analysis of the growth of <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/the-sad-state-of-odia-wikipedia">Odia Wikipedia</a> and <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/konkani-wikipedia-progress-from-july-to-december-2015">Konkani Wikipedia</a> from a perspective based on Wikimedia statistics for the July to December 2015 period. The findings have been recorded in two separate blog entries.</li>
<li>Nehaa Chaudhari made a presentation during the Global IP Congress held last month on the <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/the-curious-case-of-the-cci-competition-law-and-sep-regulation-in-india">Curious Case of the CCI: Competition Law and SEP Regulation in India</a> which discussed mobile phone patent litigation in India with competition law issues.</li>
<li>Rohini Lakshané made a presentation on <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/patent-landscaping-in-the-sub-100-mobile-device-market-in-india">Patent landscaping in the sub-$100 mobile device market in India</a> at the Global IP Congress. </li>
<li>Anubha Sinha made a presentation on <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/ip-in-mobile-applications-development">IP in Mobile Applications Development in India</a> that discussed IP rights in mobile apps during the Global IP Congress.</li>
<li>The Ministry of Finance held pre-budget consultations with different stakeholder groups in connection with the Union Budget 2016-17. CIS was invited to take part in the consultation for the IT (hardware and software) group organised on January 07, 2016, and submit a suggestion note. <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/openness/pre-budget-consultation-2016-submission-to-the-ministry-of-finance">The submission</a> was prepared and presented by Sumandro Chattapadhyay with contributions from Rohini Lakshané, Anubha Sinha and other members of CIS. <a href="http://cis-india.org/openness/pre-budget-consultation-2016-submission-to-the-ministry-of-finance"></a></li>
<li>CIS <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/ciss-comments-on-the-ccwg-accountability-draft-proposal">gave its comments</a> on the failures of Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability (CCWG-Accountability) draft proposal as well as the processes that it has followed. </li>
<li> Tanvi Mani gave an analysis of <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/big-data-in-the-global-south-an-analysis">Big Data in the Global South</a>. She pointed out that appropriate analysis of the Big Data generated would provide a valuable insight into the key areas and inform policy makers with respect to important decisions. </li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/eight-key-privacy-events-in-india-in-the-year-2015">Eight key privacy events in India in the year 2015</a>: August 11, 2015 order on Aadhaar not being compulsory; No Right to Privacy - Attorney General to SC; Shreya Singhal judgment and Section 69A, IT Act; Circulation and recall of Draft Encryption Policy; Privacy concerns raised about Digital India; Issues with Human DNA Profiling Bill, 2015; Impact of the Schrems ruling on India; and The definition of "unfair trade practices" in the Consumer Protection Bill, 2015 has been summarized in a blog entry by Amber Sinha. </li>
<li>In an <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/deccan-herald-january-3-2016-sunil-abraham-free-basics-negating-net-parity"> article published in the Deccan Herald </a> on January 3, 2016, Sunil Abraham argued that "Internet" is not a human right in most jurisdictions in light of a survey conducted by Facebook which declared that Internet is a human right and Free Basics can help bring Internet to all of India. </li>
<li> The <a href="http://cis-india.org/raw/irc16-selected-sessions">first Internet Researchers' Conference</a> (IRC16), organised around the theme of 'studying internet in India,' will be held on February 26-28, 2016, at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi. CSCS Digital Innovation Fund (CDIF) is supporting the event. </li>
<li> A <a href="http://cis-india.org/raw/digital-futures-of-indian-languages-2015-consultation-notes"> consultation on 'digital futures of Indian languages' </a> was held at the CIS office in Bangalore on December 12, 2015, to generate ideas and structure the Indian languages focus area of CDIF. The programme was led by Dr. Tejaswini Niranjana and Tanveer Hasan. The participants shared their digital Indian language experience at the meeting. </li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">-------------------------------------- <br /> <b><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility">Accessibility & Inclusion</a></b> <br /> ------------------------------------- <br /> India has an estimated 70 million persons with disabilities who don't have access to read printed materials due to some form of physical, sensory, cognitive or other disability. As part of our endeavour to make available accessible content for persons with disabilities we are developing a text-to-speech software in 15 languages with support from the Hans Foundation. The progress made so far in the project can be accessed <a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/resources/nvda-text-to-speech-synthesizer">here</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►National Compendium</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Note: This project with the Hans Foundation got over last year. We published the Compendium recently.</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/national-compendium-of-laws-policies-programmes-for-persons-with-disabilities"> National Compendium of Laws, Policies, Programmes for Persons with Disabilities </a> (Office of the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, Department of Disability Affairs, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India and CIS; January 3, 2016). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Miscellaneous</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>News and Media Coverage</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/news/global-charter-promoting-global-digital-inclusion-through-ict-procurement-policies-accessibility-standards"><b> </b>Global Charter: Promoting Global Digital Inclusion through ICT Procurement Policies & Accessibility Standards </a> (G3ict; January 3, 2016). CIS was a signatory to this initiative. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>----------------------------------- <br /> <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k">Access to Knowledge</a> <br /> ----------------------------------- <br /> </b>As part of the Access to Knowledge programme we are doing two projects. The first one (Pervasive Technologies) under a grant from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is for research on the complex interplay between pervasive technologies and intellectual property to support intellectual property norms that encourage the proliferation and development of such technologies as a social good. The second one (Wikipedia) under a grant from the Wikimedia Foundation is for the growth of Indic language communities and projects by designing community collaborations and partnerships that recruit and cultivate new editors and explore innovative approaches to building projects.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Pervasive Technologies</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Event Organized</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The 4<sup>th</sup> Global Congress 2015 was held in New Delhi from December 15 to 17, 2015. Pervasive Technologies team from CIS made the following presentations during the event:</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> Nehaa Chaudhari: <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/the-curious-case-of-the-cci-competition-law-and-sep-regulation-in-india"> The Curious Case of the CCI: Competition Law and SEP Regulation in India </a> </li>
<li> Amba Uttara Kak and Maggie Huang: <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/rethinking-music-copyright-management-in-the-age-of-digital-distribution-business-models-licensing-practices-and-copyright-institutions-in-india"> Rethinking Music Copyright Management in the Age of Digital Distribution: Business Models, Licensing Practices and Copyright Institutions in India </a> </li>
<li> Rohini Lakshané: <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/patent-landscaping-in-the-sub-100-mobile-device-market-in-india"> Patent Landscaping in the sub-$100 Mobile Device Market in India </a> </li>
<li> Anubha Sinha: <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/ip-in-mobile-applications-development">IP in Mobile Applications Development in India</a> </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entries</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The following blog entries published last year and the year before were recently updated:</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/litigation-without-injunction-is-a-toothless-tiger-ericsson">Litigation without injunction is a toothless tiger: Ericsson</a> (Rohini Lakshané; January 15, 2016)</li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/joining-the-dots-in-indias-big-ticket-mobile-phone-patent-litigation">Joining the Dots in India's Big-Ticket Mobile Phone Patent Litigation </a> (Rohini Lakshané; May 31, 2015). Last updated on January 21, 2016. </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/literature-survey-patent-landscaping-in-the-indian-marketplace"> Literature Survey: Patent Landscaping in the Indian Marketplace </a> (Rohini Lakshané; December 31, 2014). Last updated on January 22, 2016. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Copyright and Patent</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Submission</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/cis-submission-to-indian-patent-office-on-examples-of-excluded-patentable-subject-matter-under-section-3-k-for-incorporation-in-the-yet-to-be-released-guidelines-for-computer-related-inventions"><b> </b>Examples of Excluded Patentable subject-matter under Section 3(k) for incorporation in the yet-to-be-released Guidelines for Computer Related Inventions </a> (Anubha Sinha; January 28, 2016). You may view the Guidelines <a href="http://www.ipindia.nic.in/iponew/CRI_Guidelines_21August2015.pdf">here</a>. To read the letter sent to the PMO, click <a href="http://sflc.in/joint-letter-to-the-pmo-expressing-concerns-over-the-guidelines-for-examination-of-computer-related-inventions-cris/">here</a>. To read CIS' analysis of the Guidelines, click <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/comments-on-the-guidelines-for-examination-of-computer-related-inventions-cris">here</a>. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entries</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Job Michael Mathew was an intern at CIS. He conducted a series of interviews as a lead up to the Global Congress. All these posts were published on Global Congress website and mirrored on CIS website recently. Mathew conducted interviews with<a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/leading-up-to-the-gcip-a-chat-with-michael-geist">Michael Geist</a>,<a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/leading-up-to-the-gcip-a-chat-with-zakir-thomas">Zakir Thomas</a>,<a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/leading-up-to-the-gcip-a-chat-with-susan-k-sell">Susan K. Sell</a>,<a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/leading-up-to-the-gcip-a-chat-with-shamnad-basheer">Shamnad Basheer</a>, and <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/leading-up-to-the-gcip-a-chat-with-jayashree-watal">Jayashree Watal</a>.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/intellectual-property-rights-trips-an-overview">Intellectual Property Rights & TRIPS: An Overview</a> (Job Michael Mathew; December 12, 2015). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Participation in Events</b></p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify; "><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/news/3rd-expert-committee-meeting-on-reference-of-secretary-mhrd-on-representation-of-internet-and-mobile-association-of-india">3rd Expert Committee Meeting on reference of secretary, MHRD on representation of Internet and Mobile Association of India</a> (Organized by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting; New Delhi; January 11, 2016). Anubha Sinha and Nehaa Chaudhari attended the meeting.</li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/news/guidelines-for-examination-of-computer-related-inventions-cris">Guidelines for Examination of Computer Related Inventions (CRIs)</a> (Organized by the Office of The Controller General, Patents, Designs & Trade Marks; Mumbai; January 12, 2016). Anubha Sinha attended the meeting.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Wikipedia</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As part of the <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/access-to-knowledge-program-plan">project grant from the Wikimedia Foundation</a> we have reached out to more than 3500 people across India by organizing more than 100 outreach events and catalysed the release of encyclopaedic and other content under the Creative Commons (CC-BY-3.0) license in four Indian languages (21 books in Telugu, 13 in Odia, 4 volumes of encyclopaedia in Konkani and 6 volumes in Kannada, and 1 book on Odia language history in English).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Articles</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/b15b47b24b47-b2eb3eb17b23b3e-b2bb4db30b3f-b2cb47b38b3fb15b4db38"><b> </b>କେତେ ମାଗଣା "ଫ୍ରି ବେସିକ୍ସ </a> (Subhashish Panigrahi; Samaja; January 4, 2016). Sunil Abraham and Pranesh Prakash gave inputs. </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/b2cb4db5fb2cb39b3eb30b40b19b4db15-b2ab3eb07b01-b28b3fb30b3eb2ab24b4db24b3e-b13-b17b2ab28b40b5fb24b3eb30-b15b15b41b06-b06b23b3fb2c-b2bb47b38b2cb41b15b30-b2bb4db30b3f-b2cb47b38b3fb15b4db38"> ବ୍ୟବହାରୀଙ୍କ ପାଇଁ ନିରାପତ୍ତା ଓ ଗୋପନୀୟତାର କୋକୁଆ ଆଣିବ ଫେସବୁକର ଫ୍ରି ବେସିକ୍ସ </a> (Subhashish Panigrahi; Your Story; January 5, 2016). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/b13b21b3cb3fb06-b09b07b15b3fb2ab3eb20b3eb17b3eb30-b13b21b3cb3fb06b30b47-b21b3fb1cb3fb1fb3eb32-b2ab3eb20b3eb17b3eb30-b06b28b4db26b33b28b30-b28b42b06-b2eb41b39b01"> ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପାଠାଗାର: ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଡିଜିଟାଲ ପାଠାଗାର ଆନ୍ଦୋଳନର ନୂଆ ମୁହଁ </a> (Subhashish Panigrahi; Your Story; January 12, 2016). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/b13b21b3cb3fb06-b2db3eb37b3e-b2ab3eb07b01-b15b3fb1bb3f-b05b28b4db24b30b4db1cb3eb24b40b5f-b07b23b4db1fb30b28b47b1f-b2ab4db30b15b33b4db2a"> ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷା ପାଇଁ କିଛି ଅନ୍ତର୍ଜାତୀୟ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ ପ୍ରକଳ୍ </a> ପ (Subhashish Panigrahi; Your Story; January 14, 2016). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/huffington-post-subhashish-panigrahi-january-25-2016-why-its-essential-to-grow-indian-language-wikipedias"> Why It's Essential To Grow Indian-Language Wikipedias </a> (Subhashish Panigrahi; Huffington Post; January 25, 2016). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/this-multilingual-edit-a-thon-wants-to-improve-indian-content-on-wikipedia"> This Multilingual Edit-a-thon wants to Improve Indian Content on Wikipedia </a> (Subhashish Panigrahi; DNA; January 26, 2016). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/b15b47b24b47-b2eb3eb17b23b3e-b2bb47b38b2cb41b15b30-b2bb4db30b3f-b2cb47b38b3fb15b4db38"> କେତେ ମାଗଣା ଫେସବୁକର ଫ୍ରି ବେସିକ୍ସ? </a> (Subhashish Panigrahi; Odisha.com; January 27, 2016). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entries</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/the-sad-state-of-odia-wikipedia">Odia Wikipedia progress from July to December, 2015</a> (Rahmanuddin Shaik; January 1, 2016).<br /><b> </b></li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/konkani-wikipedia-progress-from-july-to-december-2015">Report of Konkani Wikipedia's progress</a> (July - December 2015) (Rahmanuddin Shaik; January 1, 2016).</li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wikipediansspeak-odia-wikisourcer-shares-her-journey-and-goals">WikipediansSpeak: Odia Wikisourcer Shares her Journey and Goals </a> (Subhashish Panigrahi and Nasim Ali; January 30, 2016). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Events Organized</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://cis-india.org/openness/events/telugu-wikipedia-education-program-at-andhra-loyola-college-vijayawada"><b> </b>Telugu Wikipedia Education Program </a> (Co-organized by CIS-A2K and Andhra Loyola College; Vijaywada; January 12 - 13, 2016). CIS is opening up a Wikipedia Digital Centre in the college so that students and local Wikimedians could grow Wikipedia and other Wikimedia content in Telugu and other Indian languages. </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/events/geographical-indications-in-india-edit-a-thon">Geographical Indications in India Edit-a-thon</a> (Organized by CIS-A2K; India; January 25 - 31, 2016). The goal of this edit-a-thon was to create and improve Geographical Indications articles. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Participation in Events</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/news/editathon-at-mysore">Editathon at Mysore</a> (Organized by Kannada Wikipedia community; Centre for Proficiency Development and Placement Services (CPDPS), Manasa Gangotri, University of Mysore; January 11 - 13, 2016). Dr. U.B. Pavanaja was the key resource person. Prajavani published a report. </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/news/padartha-chintamani-pada-kammata-program">Padartha Chintamani - Pada Kammata Program</a> (Organized by Padartha Chintamani (ಪದಾರ್ಥ ಚಿಂತಾಮಣಿ); Indian Institute of World Culture, Bangalore; January 17, 2016). Dr. U.B. Pavanaja is one of the active members of this group. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Media Coverage</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS-A2K gave its inputs towards the following media coverage:</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/news/new-indian-express-january-9-2016-diana-sahu-books-at-a-click">Books at a Click</a> (New Indian Express; January 9, 2016). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/news/the-times-of-india-january-10-2016-sandhya-soman-read-bengali-malayalam-classics-online-as-free-wiki-libraries-grow"> Read Bengali, Malayalam classics online as free Wiki libraries grow </a> (Sandhya Soman; The Times of India; January 10, 2016). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/news/eenadu-telugu-wikipedia-january-14-2016-youth-responsible-for-protecting-telugu"> Youth is responsible for protecting Telugu </a> (Eenadu; January 14, 2016). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/news/the-hans-india-january-14-2016-wikipedia-digital-centre-now-at-andhra-loyola-college"> Wikipedia Digital Centre now at Andhra Loyola College </a> (Hans India; January 14, 2016). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/news/the-hindu-january-19-muralidhara-khajane-kannada-wikipedia-not-on-top-of-the-charts"> Kannada Wikipedia not on top of the charts </a> (Muralidhara Khajane; Hindu; January 19, 2016). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/news/the-hindu-s-anandan-january-26-2016-gi-tagged-products-to-get-wiki-pages"> GI-tagged products to get Wiki pages </a> (S. Anandan; Hindu; January 26, 2016). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/news/times-of-india-january-27-2016-wikipedia-initiative"> Wikipedia initiative - Celebrating legacy of Bangalore Blue grapes online </a> (The Times of India; January 27, 2016). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Openness</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Submission</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/openness/pre-budget-consultation-2016-submission-to-the-ministry-of-finance"> Pre-Budget Consultation 2016 - Submission to the IT Group of the Ministry of Finance </a> (Sumandro Chattapadhyay, with contributions from Rohini Lakshané, Anubha Sinha, and other members of CIS; January 12, 2016). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entries</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://cis-india.org/openness/approaching-open-research-via-open-data-2015"><b> </b>Approaching Open Research via Open Data - Presentation at TERI, December 22, 2015 </a> (Sumandro Chattapadhyay; January 12, 2016). Sumandro Chattapadhyay delivered a special address. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Upcoming Events</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://cis-india.org/raw/the-zen-of-padma"><b> </b>The Zen of Pad.ma: 10 Lessons Learned from Running Open Access Online Video Archives in India and beyond </a> (Organized by CIS; Bangalore; February 3, 2016). Sebastian Lütgert and Jan Gerber, the co-initiators of, and the artists/programmers behind the pad.ma (Public Access Digital Media Archive) project will deliver a lecture at CIS office in Bangalore. </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/openness/news/oer16-open-culture">OER16: Open Culture</a> (Organized by Association for Learning Technology; University of Edinburg; April 19 - 20, 2016). As a part of the programme committee, Subhashish Panigrahi is currently reviewing the submissions for the 7th Open Educational Resources Conference, "OER16: Open Culture". </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>----------------------------------- <br /></b> <b><a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance">Internet Governance</a> <br /> -----------------------------------</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As part of its research on privacy and free speech, CIS is engaged with two different projects. The first one (under a grant from Privacy International and International Development Research Centre (IDRC)) is on surveillance and freedom of expression (SAFEGUARDS). The second one (under a grant from MacArthur Foundation) is on studying the restrictions placed on freedom of expression online by the Indian government.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Freedom of Expression</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Articles</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/deccan-herald-january-3-2016-sunil-abraham-free-basics-negating-net-parity"><b> </b>Free Basics: Negating net parity </a> (Sunil Abraham; Deccan Herald; January 3, 2016). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/catchnews-january-6-2016-vidushi-marda-facebook-free-basics-gatekeeping-powers-extend-to-manipulating-public-discourse"> Facebook Free Basics: Gatekeeping Powers Extend to Manipulating Public Discourse </a> (Vidushi Marda; Catchnews; January 6, 2016). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/the-wire-jyoti-panday-january-29-2016-internet-has-a-new-standard-for-censorship"> The Internet Has a New Standard for Censorship </a> (Jyoti Panday; The Wire; January 29, 2016). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Submission</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/ciss-comments-on-the-ccwg-accountability-draft-proposal"><b> </b>Comments on the CCWG-Accountability Draft Proposal </a> (Pranesh Prakash; January 29, 2016). CIS gave its comments on the failures of the CCWG-Accountability draft proposal as well as the processes that it has followed. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Events Organized</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/network-neutrality-regulation-across-south-asia-a-roundtable-on-aspects-of-differential-pricing"><b> </b>Network Neutrality Regulation across South Asia: A Roundtable on Aspects of Differential Pricing </a> (The Energy Resources Institute; Bangalore; January 22, 2016). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/a-series-of-public-debates-on-differential-pricing-series-1"> Public Debate on 'Differential Pricing': Series 1 </a> (Organized by CIS; ICRIER and the Department of Civics and Politics, University of Mumbai; at CIS, Bangalore; February 1, 2016).</li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/public-debate-on-differential-pricing-series-2">Public Debate on 'Differential Pricing': Series 2 </a> (Organized by CIS; ICRIER and the Department of Civics and Politics, University of Mumbai; Pherozeshah Mehta Bhavan, Vidyanagari, Kalina, Mumbai; February 3, 2016).</li>
<li><a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/public-debate-on-differential-pricing-series-3">Public Debate on 'Differential Pricing': Series 3 </a> (Organized by CIS; ICRIER and the Department of Civics and Politics, University of Mumbai; (Maple Hall, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road near Air Force Bal Bharti School, New Delhi; February 5, 2016). </li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Participation in Events</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/mobile-india-2016">Mobile India 2016</a> (Organized by COMSNETS in association with Department of Electronics and Information Technology, Digital India, et.al.; Bangalore; January 5 - 9, 2016). Sunil Abraham participated as a speaker in Session 4: Law, Regulation and Policy of App Economy. </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/netneutrality-data-protection-laws-among-topics-at-itechlaw-conference"> #NetNeutrality and Data Protection Laws </a> (Organized by ITechLaw India International Conference; January 27 - 29, 2016). Pranesh Prakash was a panelist.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Privacy</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entries</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/reply-to-rti-application-under-rti-act-of-2005-from-vanya-rakesh"><b> </b>Reply to RTI Application under RTI Act of 2005 from Vanya Rakesh </a> (Vanya Rakesh; January 3, 2016). </li>
<li> <a href="http://www.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/eight-key-privacy-events-in-india-in-the-year-2015"> </a><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/eight-key-privacy-events-in-india-in-the-year-2015">Eight Key Privacy Events in India in the Year 2015</a> (Amber Sinha; January 3, 2016). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/human-rights-in-the-age-of-digital-technology-a-conference-to-discuss-the-evolution-of-privacy-and-surveillance"> Human Rights in the Age of Digital Technology: A Conference to Discuss the Evolution of Privacy and Surveillance </a> (Amber Sinha; January 11, 2016). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/a-critique-of-consent-in-information-privacy">A Critique of Consent in Information Privacy</a> (Amber Sinha and Scott Mason; January 11, 2016). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/nasscom-dsci-annual-information-security-summit-2015-notes"> NASSCOM-DSCI Annual Information Security Summit 2015 - Notes </a> (Sumandro Chattapadhyay; January 19, 2016). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/transparency-in-surveillance">Transparency in Surveillance</a> (Vipul Kharbanda; January 23, 2016). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Participation in Events</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/data-privacy-day-2016">Data Privacy Day 2016</a> (Organized by Data Security Council of India; January 28, 2016; Bangalore). Sunil Abraham was a panelist. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Big Data</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entries</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/nature-of-knowledge">Nature of Knowledge</a> (Scott Mason; January 11, 2016). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/big-data-in-the-global-south-an-analysis">Big Data in the Global South - An Analysis</a> (Tanvi Mani; January 15, 2016). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Event Organized</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/big-data-governance-india">Big Data and Governance in India</a> (CIS; Bangalore; January 23, 2016). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Miscellaneous</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entries</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/the-creation-of-a-network-for-the-global-south-a-literature-review"><b> </b>The Creation of a Network for the Global South - A Literature Review </a> (Tanvi Mani; January 13, 2016). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/summary-of-the-public-consultation-by-vigyan-foundation-oxfam-india-and-g-b-pant-institute-allahabad"> Summary of the Public Consultation by Vigyan Foundation, Oxfam India and G.B. Pant Institute, Allahabad </a> (Vipul Kharbanda; January 28, 2016). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>----------------------------------- <br /> <a href="http://cis-india.org/telecom">Telecom</a> <br /> ----------------------------------- </b><br /> CIS is involved in promoting access and accessibility to telecommunications services and resources and has provided inputs to ongoing policy discussions and consultation papers published by TRAI. It has prepared reports on unlicensed spectrum and accessibility of mobile phones for persons with disabilities and also works with the USOF to include funding projects for persons with disabilities in its mandate:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Participation in Event</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://cis-india.org/telecom/news/tv-white-space-trials-the-trai">TV White Space Trials & The TRAI</a> (Meeting convened by Chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India; November 26, 2015; New Delhi). Shyam Ponappa participated in the meeting. <i>This was published recently on CIS website</i>. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>----------------------------------- <br /> <a href="http://cis-india.org/raw">Researchers at Work</a> <br /> ----------------------------------- </b><br /> The Researchers at Work (RAW) programme is an interdisciplinary research initiative driven by contemporary concerns to understand the reconfigurations of social practices and structures through the Internet and digital media technologies, and vice versa. It is interested in producing local and contextual accounts of interactions, negotiations, and resolutions between the Internet, and socio-material and geo-political processes:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Upcoming Event</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://cis-india.org/raw/irc16-call">First Edition of Internet Researchers' Conference</a> (IRC) 2016 - Studying Internet in India: Call for Sessions (Organized by CIS; New Delhi; February 25 - 27, 2016). We have announced the <a href="http://cis-india.org/raw/irc16-selected-sessions">selected sessions</a> for the Conference. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Events Organized</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://cis-india.org/raw/raw-lectures-02-anil-menon"><b> </b>RAW Lectures #02: Anil Menon on 'Undermining the Tyrant's Protocols: Speculative Fiction and Freedom' </a> (CIS, Bangalore; January 13, 2016). Anil Menon gave a talk. </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/raw/ai-hype-cycles-and-artistic-subversions">A.I. Hype Cycles and Artistic Subversions</a> (CIS, Bangalore; January 22, 2016). Gene Kogan gave a talk. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entry</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://cis-india.org/raw/digital-futures-of-indian-languages-2015-consultation-notes"><b> </b>Digital Futures of Indian Languages - Notes from the Consultation </a> (Tejaswini Niranjana; January 12, 2016). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">----------------------------------- <br /> <a href="http://cis-india.org/news">News & Media Coverage</a> <br /> ----------------------------------- <br /> CIS gave its inputs to the following media coverage:</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/facebook2019s-free-basics-shuts-down-in-egypt-continuing-troubled-run"> Facebook's Free Basics Shuts Down In Egypt, Continuing Troubled Run </a> (TV Newsroom; January 1, 2016). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/ndtv-bhuma-shrivastava-january-4-2016-zuckerberg-india-backlash-imperils-free-global-web-vision"> Zuckerberg's India Backlash Imperils Free Global Web Vision </a> (Bhuma Shrivastava; NDTV; January 4, 2016). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/governance-now-pratap-vikram-singh-and-taru-bhatia-january-6-2015-will-india-win-net-neutrality-battle"> Will India win net neutrality battle? </a> (Pratap Vikram Singh and Taru Bhatia; Governance Now; January 5, 2016). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/asian-age-january-7-2016-shadma-shaikh-nasscom-wants-board-to-protect-net-neutrality-regulate-pricing"> Nasscom wants board to protect Net neutrality, regulate pricing </a> (Shadma Shaikh; Asian Age; January 7, 2016). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/the-conversation-january-11-2016-facebook-is-no-charity"> Facebook is no charity, and the 'free' in Free Basics comes at a price </a> (<a href="http://theconversation.com/facebook-is-no-charity-and-the-free-in-free-basics-comes-at-a-price-52839">The Conversation</a>; January 11, 2016 and <a href="http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/01/18/facebook_is_no_charity_and_the_free_in_free_basics_comes_at_a_price/">The Register</a>; January 18, 2016). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/global-post-nimisha-jaiswal-why-indians-are-turning-down-facebook-free-internet"> Why Indians are turning down Facebook's free internet </a> (Nimisha Jaiswal; Global Post; January 13, 2016). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/telecom/news/yourstory-sneha-maselkar-and-madanmohan-rao-january-14-2016-a-billion-mobile-users"> A billion mobile users: new startup profiles and innovation insights from Mobile India 2016 </a> (Sneha Maselkar and Madanmohan Rao; Your Story; January 14, 2016). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/bloomberg-businessweek-adi-narayan-bhuma-shrivastava">Facebook's Fight to Be Free</a> (Adi Narayan and Bhuma Shrivastava; January 15, 2016). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/telecom/news/trai-promises-final-call-on-differential-pricing-by-month-end-after-lively-open-house"> Trai promises final call on differential pricing by month-end after 'lively' open house </a> (Economic Times; January 22, 2016). </li>
<li><a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/washington-post-annie-gowen-january-28-2016-india-egypt-say-no-thanks-to-free-internet-from-facebook">India, Egypt say no thanks to free Internet from Facebook</a> (Annie Gowen with contributions from Farheen Fatima and Subuhi Parvez; Washington Post; January 28, 2016).</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>----------------------------------- <br /> <a href="http://cis-india.org/">About CIS</a> <br /> ----------------------------------- </b><br /> The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) is a non-profit organisation that undertakes interdisciplinary research on internet and digital technologies from policy and academic perspectives. The areas of focus include digital accessibility for persons with diverse abilities, access to knowledge, intellectual property rights, openness (including open data, free and open source software, open standards, open access, open educational resources, and open video), internet governance, telecommunication reform, digital privacy, and cyber-security. The academic research at CIS seeks to understand the reconfigurations of social and cultural processes and structures as mediated through the internet and digital media technologies.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">► Follow us elsewhere</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> Twitter:<a href="http://twitter.com/cis_india"> http://twitter.com/cis_india</a> </li>
<li> Twitter - Access to Knowledge:<a href="https://twitter.com/CISA2K"> https://twitter.com/CISA2K</a> </li>
<li> Facebook - Access to Knowledge:<a href="https://www.facebook.com/cisa2k"> https://www.facebook.com/cisa2k</a> </li>
<li> E-Mail - Access to Knowledge: <a href="mailto:a2k@cis-india.org">a2k@cis-india.org</a> </li>
<li> E-Mail - Researchers at Work: <a href="mailto:raw@cis-india.org">raw@cis-india.org</a> </li>
<li> List - Researchers at Work: <a href="https://lists.ghserv.net/mailman/listinfo/researchers">https://lists.ghserv.net/mailman/listinfo/researchers</a> </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">► Support Us</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Please help us defend consumer / citizen rights on the Internet! Write a cheque in favour of 'The Centre for Internet and Society' and mail it to us at No. 194, 2nd 'C' Cross, Domlur, 2nd Stage, Bengaluru - 5600 71.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">► Request for Collaboration</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">We invite researchers, practitioners, artists, and theoreticians, both organisationally and as individuals, to engage with us on topics related internet and society, and improve our collective understanding of this field. To discuss such possibilities, please write to Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, at sunil@cis-india.org (for policy research), or Sumandro Chattapadhyay, Research Director, at sumandro@cis-india.org (for academic research), with an indication of the form and the content of the collaboration you might be interested in. To discuss collaborations on Indic language Wikipedia projects, write to Tanveer Hasan, Programme Officer, at <a href="mailto:tanveer@cis-india.org">tanveer@cis-india.org</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS is grateful to its primary donor the Kusuma Trust founded by Anurag Dikshit and Soma Pujari, philanthropists of Indian origin for its core funding and support for most of its projects. CIS is also grateful to its other donors, Wikimedia Foundation, Ford Foundation, Privacy International, UK, Hans Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and IDRC for funding its various projects.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/january-2016-bulletin'>https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/january-2016-bulletin</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishna2016-02-05T14:47:28ZPageWikipediansSpeak: Odia Wikisourcer Shares her Journey and Goals
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wikipediansspeak-odia-wikisourcer-shares-her-journey-and-goals
<b>The most active editor on the Odia Wikisource is Pankajmala Sarangi, a native of Odisha who now lives in New Delhi, where she works at a non-profit. As a leader in a broad community that is dominated by males—indeed, she is the most active contributor to the Odia-language Wikisource—we asked her to share her journey and her goals to grow the project and community as part of the “WikipediansSpeWell, I think I would work on creating a database of all the Odia speakers living in New Delhi and the city organizations that work in propagating Odia language and culture, and plan Wikisource outreach programs for them.k” interview series.</b>
<p>Odia Wikisourcer Pankajmala Sarangi shares her experience and future plans to grow the community. Video by Pankajmala Sarangi (original video) and Subhashish Panigrahi (post production), freely licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 license. The video can be <a class="external-link" href="http://blog.wikimedia.org/2016/01/29/odia-wikisourcer-journey-goals/">viewed here</a>.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>What is the community like on the Odia Wikisource?</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Pankajmala feels that the community is like her home. “I can’t tell how happy I am after seeing that this one year-old project has already digitized over 200 books. With more and more youth coming on the internet, the internet won’t disappoint them when the type and search in Odia language.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>What are projects that you would like to start or get help from the existing community to grow?</strong></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li>Forming expert /resource groups to increase the thematic group structure in the community so that each group could work collaboratively for specific goals.</li>
<li>We can also create groups through the help of the resident welfare associations in Odisha cities where <a title="w:or:ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ:ଉଇକି ଟୁଙ୍ଗି" class="extiw" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/or:%E0%AC%89%E0%AC%87%E0%AC%95%E0%AC%BF%E0%AC%AA%E0%AC%BF%E0%AC%A1%E0%AC%BC%E0%AC%BF%E0%AC%86:%E0%AC%89%E0%AC%87%E0%AC%95%E0%AC%BF_%E0%AC%9F%E0%AD%81%E0%AC%99%E0%AD%8D%E0%AC%97%E0%AC%BF">Odia WikiTungis</a> (in Odia Wikimedia community city based informal groups have been started that actively organize outreach and engage with new Wikimedians) are already working. They can work hand-in-hand. This will help us expand this program to more new places.</li>
<li>We can tie up with basic computer training institutes where their students and new Wikimedians who do not have access to computer/internet could learn about Odia Wikipedia editing as a vocational training. These institutes remain idle during day time and get busy after 4 pm as schools and college students come to learn about computer basics after their class hours.</li>
<li>One idea could be involving veterans whose expertise could help improve the quality of the articles which is otherwise going in vain after retirement. Post retirement life is otherwise lonely and many feel worthless who could enjoy the company of many new friends. The senior citizens groups could train new Wikimedians using these institutional facilities.</li>
<li>Summer vacation Wikipedia outreach for school/college students:
<ul>
<li>It has became mandatory in all private schools and colleges to do voluntary work for a few hours every day for six months to finish up a program. We can ask these private institutions to include editing and contributing to Odia Wikipedia and other Odia Wikimedia projects in their syllabus. They would not only get Wikipedians as facilitators without spending any money but will become part of such a global and multilingual group. We can involve students for both editing Wikipedia articles, and digitizing and correcting typos and other mistakes on Odia Wikisource. If a manual with the above details is available then it would be better to refer it while working. When we are discussing something in our community then the users (who are eligible for giving suggestions) should automatically get a message saying your suggestion/input is required on this (with that link to the page).</li></ul>
<blockquote class="pullquote"><strong>According to a 2011 survey, Wikipedia editors are only about <a title="w:Gender bias on Wikipedia" class="extiw" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_bias_on_Wikipedia">nine percent female</a>. The Wikisource statistics is not yet known, but I would theorize that it is similar. How do you think we could bridge this gap in Odia?</strong></blockquote>
</li></ul>
<p style="text-align: justify;">We surely have less women. We could reorient our current work to bring in a few other aspects like more focused outreach in women’s college and schools, creating a network of women who are interested to contribute to Wikimedia projects, making Twitter lists and Facebook groups for women for more friendly conversation and support, inviting and involving more women participants in Wikimedia outreach. I also wonder how we can gift the top contributors some gifts as a token of appreciation. We could also organize field trips for them to a public library, museum or art gallery so that they get to see how Wikimedia projects could grow by imbibing available resources.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>What are your personal plans to build a community for Odia Wikisource in New Delhi?</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Well, I think I would work on creating a database of all the Odia speakers living in New Delhi and the city organizations that work in propagating Odia language and culture, and plan Wikisource outreach programs for them.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em>This post is part of the <a class="text external" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikipediansSpeak">WikipediansSpeak series</a>, which aims to chronicle the voices of the Wikipedia community. You can find more of these posts on the <a class="text external" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:WikipediansSpeak">Wikimedia Commons</a>.</em></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wikipediansspeak-odia-wikisourcer-shares-her-journey-and-goals'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wikipediansspeak-odia-wikisourcer-shares-her-journey-and-goals</a>
</p>
No publisherSubhashish Panigrahi and Nasim AliWikipediansSpeakCIS-A2KOdia WikipediaAccess to Knowledge2016-02-05T20:49:36ZBlog EntryOER16: Open Culture
https://cis-india.org/openness/news/oer16-open-culture
<b>The 7th Open Educational Resources Conference, OER16: Open Culture, will be held on April 19 and 20, 2016 at the University of Edinburgh. The event is organized by Association for Learning Technology.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As a part of the programme committee, Subhashish Panigrahi is currently reviewing the submissions for the 7th Open Educational Resources Conference, "OER16: Open Culture" that is being organised during April 19 and 20, 2016 at University of Edinburgh, UK. See the details of the Programme Committee <a class="external-link" href="https://oer16.oerconf.org/about/programme-committee/">here</a>. Download a PDF of the <a href="http://oer16.oerconf.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2015/11/OER16-Flyer-1.0-digital.pdf">flyer for OER16</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The vision for the conference is to focus on the value proposition of embedding open culture in the context of institutional strategies for learning, teaching and research. The conference will be chaired by Melissa Highton, Director of Learning, Teaching and Web Services at the University of Edinburgh, and Lorna Campbell, OER Liaison at the University of Edinburgh and EDINA Digital Education Manager.</p>
<p><span>OER16 will focus on:</span></p>
<ul>
<li><span> </span><span>The strategic advantage of open and creating a culture of openness.</span></li>
<li><span> </span><span>Converging and competing cultures of open knowledge, open source, open content, open practice, open data and open access.</span></li>
<li><span> </span><span>Hacking, making and sharing.</span></li>
<li><span> </span><span>The reputational challenges of openwashing.</span></li>
<li><span> </span><span>Openness and public engagement.</span></li>
<li><span> Innovative approaches to opening up cultural heritage collections for education.</span></li>
</ul>
<p><b>Follow #oer16 to keep up to date with all conference news. Register for the event <a class="external-link" href="http://go.alt.ac.uk/OER16-Registration">Now</a>.<br /></b></p>
<ul>
</ul>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/news/oer16-open-culture'>https://cis-india.org/openness/news/oer16-open-culture</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpen Educational ResourcesOpenness2016-01-30T06:53:26ZNews ItemWikipedia initiative - Celebrating legacy of Bangalore Blue grapes online
https://cis-india.org/a2k/news/times-of-india-january-27-2016-wikipedia-initiative
<b>Black is beautiful, and it can go places if it is well researched. When HL Omshivaprakash wrote a Wikipedia article about Karnataka's bidriware, the metal handicraft where gleaming black bowls and hookahs are dotted with delicate silver strips, he didn't expect it to be picked up by the French and Swedes.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Read the article <a class="external-link" href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/Wikipedia-initiative-Celebrating-legacy-of-Bangalore-Blue-grapes-online/articleshow/50739468.cms">published in the Times of India here</a>. Subhashish Panigrahi gave inputs.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">His article has now been translated into their languages. Though it might not lead to more money for the struggling artists of Bidar, they might get an edge while marketing their wares, says Omshivaprakash. This is the advantage that a week-long editathon hopes to achieve. Editors of the online encyclopaedia are celebrating Republic Day by encouraging people to upgrade and contribute articles on those arts, crafts and goods unique to various parts of India. "People are already working on 15 products from Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and West Bengal," says Subhashish Panigrahi, Wikipedian and language activist.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">India has 213 goods and crafts with geographical indication (GIs) tags. The GI mark is a kind of trademark, which indicates that a product's reputation is linked to its origins in a particular area. Of 213 GI tags, only 70 have English entries. So while intricacies of Muga silk-making in Assam and cultivating Bangalore Blue grapes are explained in detail in English, Alleppey coir has only a sketchy Malayalam entry.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">"People should know the history of each item. For example, they should know how Kondapalli toys from near Vijayawada are made,"says Nageswara Rao Gullapalli.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Omshivaprakash, who created a signboard outside Bidar Fort last year, with a QR code that allows users to read the relevant wiki entry on their mobile phones, says a change in design can make a difference."The QR code was etched in bidri to create a socio-economic link between readers and artisans. Though the art is expensive, the artists are not paid well,"he says.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">It is this desire to unearth new facts that will see Santosh Shinga, an IIT-B researcher, delving deep into Nagpur oranges, Nashik grapes and Mahabaleshwar strawberries. "I am from Nagpur and interested in fruits,"says Shinga, who knows a bit of orange farming.The only exception in his list is Puneri pagadi, the elaborate headgear recently spotted on actor Ranveer Singh in Bollywood movie 'Bajirao Mastani'.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Panigrahi hopes to finish the edits in English by January 30, right in time when the event wraps up by January 31. Karnataka, which tops the list with 30 GI goods, has only a handful of articles and images, says Panigrahi.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/news/times-of-india-january-27-2016-wikipedia-initiative'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/news/times-of-india-january-27-2016-wikipedia-initiative</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaWikimediaCIS-A2KWikipediaAccess to Knowledge2016-01-29T15:44:36ZNews Itemକେତେ ମାଗଣା ଫେସବୁକର ଫ୍ରି ବେସିକ୍ସ?
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/b15b47b24b47-b2eb3eb17b23b3e-b2bb47b38b2cb41b15b30-b2bb4db30b3f-b2cb47b38b3fb15b4db38
<b>This opinion piece in Odia on Facebook's Free Basics App was published in Odisha.com. The post highlights several user security and privacy that Free Basics is violating apart from violating net neutrality. It also brings the parallel of Airtel Zero and Free Basics with the Grameenphone project by Mozilla in Bangladesh and the worldwide Wikipedia Zero projects.</b>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Read the original article published in Odisha.com <a class="external-link" href="http://www.odisha.com/archives/23402">here</a>.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify;">ଗତ ଦୁଇ ସପ୍ତାହ ସାରା ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ନିଆଁ ଲାଗିଛି । ସାରା ଦେଶରୁ ଲୋକେ ନିଆଁରେ ପତଙ୍ଗ ଝାସ ଦେଲା ଭଳି ଫେସବୁକର ନୂଆ ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପ ଫ୍ରି ବେସିକ (Free Basics) ବିରୋଧରେ ଭିନ୍ନ ଭିନ୍ନ ଧରଣର ମତ ଦେଇଚାଲିଛନ୍ତି।</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ପ୍ରଧାନମନ୍ତ୍ରୀ ମୋଦିଙ୍କ ଆମେରିକା ଗସ୍ତ କାଳରେ ସେଠାରେ ଜୁକରବର୍ଗଙ୍କ ସାଙ୍ଗେ ଭେଟି ଫେସବୁକର ମିଳିତ ସହଯୋଗରେ ଭାରତରେ ସାଧାରଣ ଲୋକଙ୍କ ପାଇଁ ଜ୍ଞାନ ବିତରଣ ଓ ସୂଚନା ପହଞ୍ଚାଇବା ବାବଦରେ ଆଲୋଚନ କରିଥିଲେ।</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ଫେସବୁକ ଏହାକୁ ଭାରତରେ ନିଜର ଚେର ମୋଟା କରିବାର ଏକ ସୁଯୋଗ ଭାବେ ବ୍ୟବହାର କରିବାକୁ ଉଦ୍ୟମ କଲା । ଫେସବୁକର ପ୍ରତିଷ୍ଠାତା ମାର୍କ ଜୁକରବର୍ଗ ଏହି ଫ୍ରି ବେସିକ୍ସ ସମ୍ପର୍କରେ ଘୋଷଣା କରିବାର ଦୁଇ ସପ୍ତାହ ନ ପୁରୁଣୁ ଟେଲିକମ ରେଗୁଲେଟରି ଅଥରିଟି ଅଫ ଇଣ୍ଡିଆ (ଟ୍ରାଇ) ପାଖରେ ସାଢ଼େ ଚାରି ଲକ୍ଷ ପାଖାପାଖି ଇମେଲ ଏହାକୁ ରୋକିବା ଲାଗି ପହଞ୍ଚି ସାରିଲାଣି ।</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ଜନନେତା ଓ ଇନଫୋସିସର ସହ ପ୍ରତିଷ୍ଠାତା ନନ୍ଦନ ନୀଳକେଣିଙ୍କ ଠାରୁ ଆରମ୍ଭ କରି ମିଡ଼ିଆନାମାର ପ୍ରତିଷ୍ଠାତା ନିଖିଳ ପାଉଆ, ଭେଞ୍ଚର କ୍ୟାପିଟାଲିଷ୍ଟ ମହେଶ ମୂର୍ତ୍ତି, ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ ଆକ୍ଟିଭିଷ୍ଟ ସୁନୀଳ ଆବ୍ରାହାମ, ପ୍ରଣେଶ ପ୍ରକାଶଙ୍କ ଯାଏ ସଭିଏଁ ଏହା ପଛରେ ଫେସବୁକ ଲାଭକାରୀ ମନୋଭାବ ନିହିତ ଅଛି ବୋଲି ଦର୍ଶାଇ ଏହି ଉଦ୍ୟମକୁ କଡ଼ା ନିନ୍ଦା କରିଛନ୍ତି।</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ତେବେ କଣ ଏ ଫ୍ରି ବେସିକ୍ସ? କାହିଁକି ଏତେ ବିବାଦ ?</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ଫେସବୁକ ବ୍ୟବହାର କରୁଥିବା ଉଣାଅଧିକେ ସଭିଏଁ ଜାଣୁଥିବେ ସେ କେଡ଼େ ଅଠାକାଠି! ଫେସବୁକର ପ୍ରାୟ ବ୍ୟବହାକାରୀ ହେଲେ ଯୁବବର୍ଗର । ତେବେ ଅନ୍ୟ ବଯସର ଲୋକେ ମଧ୍ୟ ଫେସବୁକ ବ୍ୟବହାର କରିଥାନ୍ତି । ଖୁବ କମ ସମୟରେ ଅଧିକ ଲୋକଙ୍କ ସଙ୍ଗେ ମିଶିବା, ଗପିବା ଆଦି ସୁବିଧା ପାଇବା ଯୋଗୁଁ ଅନେକେ ଫେସବୁକ ପ୍ରେମରେ ପଡ଼ିଯାଆନ୍ତି ।</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ସରଳ ଭାଷାରେ କହିଲେ ଫେସବୁକ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ ଏକ ହାଟ ବଜାର । ଲୋକେ ସେଠି କିଛି ସମୟ କାଟିବା ପାଇଁ, ଚିହ୍ନା-ଅଚିହ୍ନା ଲୋକଙ୍କ ସହ ମିଶିବା ପାଇଁ, ଆଳାପ-ଆଲୋଚନା ପାଇଁ ଏକାଠି ହୁଅନ୍ତି । ଅଧିକାଂଶ ଆଲୋଚନା କେବଳ ମଜା ମଉଜ ପାଇଁ ହେଲା ବେଳେ କିଛି ଉପଯୋଗୀ ଆଲୋଚନା ମଧ୍ୟ ହୋଇଥାଏ ।</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ଫେସବୁକ ଏକ ବିଶାଳ ଲାଭକାରୀ କମ୍ପାନି । ଏହାର ଆଉ ଏକ ସହ ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପ ହେଲା ହୁଆଟ୍ସ ଅପ । ଏହା ଅନଲାଇନ ଚାଟିଂ ପାଇଁ ବ୍ୟବହାର କରାଯାଏ । ଫଟୋ ଭିଡ଼ିଓରୁ ଆରମ୍ଭ କରି ସାଧାରଣ ଚାଟିଂ ନିମନ୍ତେ ଏହା ଖୁବ ଜଣା । ନିକଟରେ ଫେସବୁକ internet.org ନାମକ ଏକ ସହ-ସଙ୍ଗଠନ ଆରମ୍ଭ କରିଛି ।</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ଫ୍ରି ବେସିକ୍ସ ହେଲା ଏ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ ଡଟ ଅର୍ଗ ଅଧୀନରେ ଏକ ଯୋଜନା । ତେବେ ଫେସବୁକ ଓ ଫେସବୁକର ସହ-ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପସବୁକୁ ଅଭାବୀ ଦେଶମାନଙ୍କରେ ଅଧିକ ଲୋକପ୍ରିୟ କରିବା ଲାଗି ସେସବୁକୁ ବିନାମୂଲ୍ୟରେ ପହଞ୍ଚାଇବା ପାଇଁ ଏ ଫ୍ରି ବେସିକ୍ସ । ଭାରତ ସମେତ ଜଗତର ୩୦ଟି ଦେଶରେ ଫ୍ରି ବେସିକ୍ସ ଜରିଆରେ ମାଗଣା ସୀମିତ ଫେସବୁକ ସୁବିଧା ଦେବା ଏହାର ଉଦ୍ଦେଶ୍ୟ ।</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ଫ୍ରି ବେସିକ୍ସ ଜରିଆରେ ଆଉ କିଛି ମାଗଣା ୱେବସାଇଟ ମଧ୍ୟ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ ହେବ । ତେବେ ଏଠାରେ ଅନେକ ପ୍ରଶ୍ନ ମନରେ ଉଙ୍କିମାରେ? ଏ ମାଗଣା ୱେବସାଇଟସବୁ ବ୍ୟବହାର ପାଇଁ ଲୋଡ଼ା କି ନାଁ ତା’ର ସିଦ୍ଧାନ୍ତ କିଏ ନେବ, ଫେସବୁକ ନାଁ ବ୍ୟବହାରକାରୀ ?</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ଫ୍ରି ବେସିକ୍ସ ଅଧୁନା କିଛି ଦେଶରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ ହୋଇଥିବା ବେଳେ ଫିଲିପାଇନ୍ସରେ ରହୁଥିବା ଜଣେ ଭାରତୀୟ ଜିତେଶ ଗୋସ୍ୱାମୀ ନିକଟରେ ନିଜେ ନିଜ ମୋବାଇଲରେ ସେଠାର ଫ୍ରି ବେସିକ୍ସ ଇନଷ୍ଟଲ କରି ଯାହା ମତ ଦେଇଛନ୍ତି ତା’ ଭାରୀ ଚିନ୍ତାର ବିଷୟ । ସାଧାରଣ ଫେସବୁକର ଅଧାରୁ ଅଧିକ ସୁବିଧା ଫ୍ରି ବେସିକ୍ସରେ ନାହିଁ ।</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ଏଥିରେ ଫେସବୁକ ବାହାରେ ଥିବା ଭିଡ଼ିଓ ମାଗଣାରେ ଦେଖିହେବନି କି ଖବର ଆଦି ସମ୍ପୂର୍ଣ୍ଣ ପଢ଼ିହେବନି । ପୁଣି ମାଗଣାରେ ମିଳିବାକୁ ଥିବା ବାକି ୱେବସାଇଟସବୁ ବାଛିବାରେ ଫେସବୁକର ଏକଚାଟିଆ ଅଧିକାର ରହିବ । ବ୍ୟବହାରକାରୀ କଣ ଚାହାନ୍ତି ନ ଚାହାନ୍ତି ତାହା ଫେସବୁକ ନିର୍ଣ୍ଣୟ କରିବ ।</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ଆଉ ଗରୀବ ମାଇପ ସବୁରି ଶାଳୀ ନ୍ୟାୟରେ ଗରୀବଙ୍କୁ ମାଗଣା ତିଅଣର ସୁଆଦ ଚଖାଇ ଫେସବୁକ ସେମାନଙ୍କୁ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ ଯୋଗାଇବା ଆଳରେ କେବଳ ଫେସବୁକର ପରିଧି ଭିତରେ ବାନ୍ଧି ରଖିବ ।</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ଫେସବୁକ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ Mozilla ଭଳି ଖୋଲା ସଫ୍ଟଓଏର ବ୍ୟବହାର କରେନାହିଁ କି ଲୋକଙ୍କ ଉଦ୍ୟମରେ ତିଆରି ନୁହେଁ । ଏହା ସମ୍ପୂର୍ଣ୍ଣ ଭାବେ ଏକ ଲାଭକାରୀ କମ୍ପାନି । ତେଣୁ ଫେସବୁକର ସବୁ କାମ ଲୋକଙ୍କ ସ୍ୱାର୍ଥ ନୁହେଁ ବରଂ ନିଜ ସ୍ୱାର୍ଥ ହାସଲ ପାଇଁ ।</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ଅଭାବୀ ଦେଶର ଲୋକଙ୍କ ମନ ଜିଣିବା ପାଇଁ ଓ ନିଜର ବ୍ୟବହାର କାରୀଙ୍କ ସଂଖ୍ୟା ବଢ଼ାଇବା ପାଇଁ ଏହା ଫେସବୁକର ଏକ ମସୁଧା ବୋଲି ଅନେକ ଚିନ୍ତାଶୀଳ ଲୋକେ ମତ ଦେଇଛନ୍ତି । ଫେସବୁକର ଏହି ଏକ ଚାଟିଆ କାମ ନେଟ ନିଉଟ୍ରାଲିଟି ବା ନେଟ ସମାନତାର ପକ୍ଷପାତୀ ।</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ପକ୍ଷପାତ ନ କରି ସବୁ ୱେବସାଇଟକୁ ସମାନ ଭାବେ ଗଣିବା ନେଟ ସମାନତା ନାମରେ ଜଣା । ଫ୍ରି ବେସିକ୍ସରେ ଥିବା ନାନାଦି ଭୁଲ ବିଷୟକୁ ଭଲ ଭାବେ ତନଖି କରିବା ପାଇଁ ନିକଟରେ ଟେଲିକମ ରେଗୁଲେଟରି ଅଥରିଟି ଅଫ ଇଣ୍ଡିଆ (ଟ୍ରାଇ) ଫ୍ରି ବେସିକ୍ସକୁ କିଛି ସମୟ ପାଇଁ ବାସନ୍ଦ କରିଛି ।</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ଚତୁର ଫେସବୁକ କେବେ ଚାଷୀମାନଙ୍କୁ ପାଣିପାଗ ଜାଣିବାରେ ଫ୍ରି ବେସିକ୍ସ ସାହାଯ୍ୟ କରିବ ତ କେବେ ଅଭାବୀ ଭାରତୀୟଙ୍କୁ ପରସ୍ପର ସହ ଯୋଡ଼ିବାରେ ସାହାଯ୍ୟ କରିବ ବୋଲି ଦେଶସାରା ସହର ବଜାର ସବୁଠି ଜୋରଦାର ପ୍ରଚାର ଚଳାଇଥିଲା ।</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ସବୁ ଖବରକାଗଜରେ ପୂରା ଫର୍ଦ ବିଜ୍ଞାପନ ଆଉ ସବୁ ବସ ରହିବା ସ୍ଥାନରେ ବଡ଼ ବଡ଼ ହୋର୍ଡ଼ିଂ । ଆଉ ଏଥିରେ ସଭିଙ୍କୁ ଅନୁରୋଧ ଥିଲା ଏକ ନମ୍ବରକୁ ମିସ କଲ ଦେଇ ଫ୍ରି ବେସିକ୍ସକୁ ସମର୍ଥନ କରିବା ପାଇଁ । ଏ ପ୍ରଚାର ପ୍ରସାରରେ ୧୦୦ କୋଟିରୁ ଅଧିକ ବୋଧେ ଖର୍ଚ୍ଚ ହୋଇଥିବ! କେଉଁଠୁ ଆଦାୟ ହେବ ଏ ପଇସା? ଫ୍ରି ବେସିକ୍ସର ମାଗଣା ଫେସବୁକ ଓ ବାକି ୱେବସାଇଟକୁ ସୁବିଧା ଦେବାର ଏ ଆଳ ବିରୋଧରେ ଝଡ଼ ଉଠିଛି ।</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Savetheinternet.in ନାମରେ ଏକ ୱେବସାଇଟ ତିଆରି କରି ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ସମାନତା ପାଇଁ ଲଢ଼ୁଥିବା କର୍ମୀଏ ଏକରକମ ଆନ୍ଦୋଳନ ଆରମ୍ଭ କରିଛନ୍ତି ।</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ଫେସବୁକର ମିସ କଲ ଅଭିଯାନର କଡ଼ା ଜବାବ ଦେବାପାଇଁ Savetheinternet.in ଓ fsmi.in ନାମକ ଦୁଇଟି ୱେବସାଇଟ ପକ୍ଷରୁ ଜନସାଧାରଣଙ୍କୁ ସଚେତନ କରାଯାଇ ଟ୍ରାଇ ପାଖକୁ ଇମେଲ ପଠାଇବା ଅନୁରୋଧ କରାଯାଇଥିଲା । ଫେସବୁକର କୋଟି କୋଟି ଟଙ୍କା ଖର୍ଚର ମିସ କଲ ଅଭିଯାନରୁ ୧୦ ଲକ୍ଷ ସମର୍ଥନ ମିଳିଥିବା ବେଳେ ବିନା ପଇସାରେ ସାଢ଼େ ଚାରି ଲକ୍ଷରୁ ଅଧିକ ଲୋକ ଇମେଲ ଜରିଆରେ ଫ୍ରି ବେସିକ୍ସକୁ ବିରୋଧ କରି ଟ୍ରାଇକୁ ଇମେଲ କରିଛନ୍ତି ।</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ତେବେ ଫେସବୁକର ଏହି ସମର୍ଥନ ସଂଗ୍ରହକୁ ଟ୍ରାଇର ସଭାପତି ଆରଏସ ଶର୍ମା ଘୋର ନିନ୍ଦା କରି କହିଛନ୍ତି ଏଯାବତ ଫେସବୁକ ଯେଉଁ ୧୪ ଲକ୍ଷ ଲୋକଙ୍କୁ ପ୍ରଭାବିତ କରି ସେମାନଙ୍କୁ ମିସ କଲ ଜରିଆରେ ସମର୍ଥନ ଆଣିଛି ତା’ ମୂଲ୍ୟହୀନ ।</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">୧୦୦ କୋଟି ଟଙ୍କାର କି ଅପଚୟ! ସେତିକି ପଇସାରେ ଶହେ ହଜାର ଲୋକଙ୍କ ମାଗଣାରେ କିଛି ଉପଯୋଗୀ ସାଇଟ ଦେଖିବା ସୁଯୋଗ ଦେଇଥିଲେ ଆହୁରି ଭଲ ହୋଇଥାନ୍ତା ।</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ଫ୍ରି ବେସିକ୍ସରେ ଲୁଚି ରହିଥିବା ସବୁଠୁ ବଡ଼ ବିପଦଟି ହେଲା ଫେସବୁକର ତଥ୍ୟ ସଂଗ୍ରହ କାରସାଦି । ବ୍ୟବହାର୍ରକାରୀ କି କି ସାଇଟ ଦେଖିଲେ, କାହା ସଙ୍ଗେ ଗପିଲେ ସେସବୁ ଏହା ତାଙ୍କ ଅଗୋଚରେ ଟିକିନିଖି କରି ହିସାବ ରଖିଥାଏ । ସଳଖେ କହିଲେ ଫେସବୁକରେ ବ୍ୟବହାର କାରୀ ବାପୁଡ଼ାର ବ୍ୟକ୍ତିଗତ ବୋଲି କିଛି ରହିବ ନାହିଁ ।</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ଫେସବୁକ ଆରମ୍ଭରୁ ଶବ୍ଦସମ୍ଭାରରେ ଭରା ଏକ ଲମ୍ବା ବିବରଣୀରେ ତଥ୍ୟ ସଂଗ୍ରହରେ ବ୍ୟବହାରକାରୀଙ୍କ କୌଣସି ଅଭିଯୋଗ ନାହିଁ ବୋଲି ଖୁବ ଚତୁର ଭାବେ ତାଙ୍କଠୁ ଅନୁମତି ନେଇଯାଏ । ଅନଭିଜ୍ଞ ବ୍ୟବହାରକାରୀ ପାଠ ଘର ଯାହା ସେଥିରେ ସେ ଏ ଫିକର ବୁଝିବ ବା କିପରି?</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ ଓକିଲ ଇବେନ ମଗଲେନ ଓ ମିସି ଚୌଧୁରୀ ଏକ ଲେଖାରେ ଦୁହେଁ ତନ୍ନ ତନ୍ନ କରି ବିଶ୍ଳେଷଣ କରିଛନ୍ତି ଏ କଥା । ପ୍ରଶ୍ନ ଉଠେ ଯେ ଫେସବୁକ ଧନୀ ଦେଶରେ ଏଭଳି ବେପରୁଆ ଅପସାହସ କରିବକି?</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ଏହି ଭଳି ଆଉ ଏକ କୁଟିଳ ବିଷୟ ଥିଲା ଏଆରଟେଲ ଜିରୋ । ଏଆରଟେଲ ଜିରୋ ଆଉ ଫ୍ରି ବେସିକ ଭିତରେ ବଡ଼ ସମାନତା ହେଉଛି ଉଭୟ କମ୍ପାନି କିଛି ୱେବସାଇଟଙ୍କଠାରୁ ବିପୁଳ ପରିମାଣରେ ପଇସା ନେଇ ସେ ୱେବସାଇଟସବୁକୁ ବ୍ୟବହାର କାରୀଙ୍କ ପାଇଁ ମାଗଣାରେ ଯୋଗାଇଥାନ୍ତି ।</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ଏଥିରେ ସେବା ଯୋଗାଣକାରୀ ଓ ମାଗଣାରେ ବ୍ୟବହାର କାରୀଙ୍କ ପାଖେ ପହଞ୍ଚୁଥିବା ୱେବସାଇଟସବୁଙ୍କ ସିଧାସଳଖ ସ୍ୱାର୍ଥ ନିହିତ ଥାଏ । ପାଠକଙ୍କୁ ଜ୍ଞାନ ବିତରଣ କରିବାର ତୁଚ୍ଛା ବିଜ୍ଞାପନ ତଳେ ଯେ ଏତେ ଫନ୍ଦି ରହିଛି ତାହା ପାଠକ ବାପୁଡ଼ା ବା ଜାଣିବ କେମନ୍ତେ? ଆଉ ଧନୀ ଦେଶରେ ଏଭଳି ଫିକର ସହଜେ ଧରାପଡ଼ିବ ବୋଲି ଫେସବୁକ ଭଳି କମ୍ପାନି ୩୦ଟି ଅଭାବୀ ଦେଶକୁ ଥୋପ କରିଛି ।</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ତେବେ ମାଗଣାରେ କିଛି ୱେବସାଇଟ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ କରାଇବା କିଛି ନୂଆ ନୁହେଁ । ଅତୀତରେ ବଙ୍ଗଳାଦେଶରେ Mozilla (ଫାୟାରଫକ୍ସ ଭଳି ନାନାଦି ଖୋଲା ସଫ୍ଟଓଏର ପରିଚାଳନା କରୁଥିବା ସଙ୍ଗଠନ) ଗ୍ରାମୀଣଫୋନ ନାମକ ଯୋଜନା ଜରିଆରେ ୫ ଲକ୍ଷରୁ ଅଧିକ ଲୋକଙ୍କୁ ଦିନକୁ ୨୦ MBର ଡାଟା ଦେବା ସାରା ଜଗତରେ ଆଲୋଚନା ବିଷୟ ହୋଇଥିଲା ।</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ମୋଜିଲା ଓ ମୋବାଇଲ ସେବା ଯୋଗାଣକାରୀ ଟେଲିନର ଏଥି ପାଇଁ ପ୍ରଶଂସାର ପାତ୍ର ହୋଇଥିଲେ । ଅନେକ ଦେଶରେ ସାଧାରଣ ଲୋକେ ବିଭିନ୍ନ ବିଷୟରେ ଜାଣିବାକୁ ପାଉନଥିବାରୁ ଏସଏସମେସ ଓ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ ଯୋଗେ ସାଧାରଣ ଲୋକଙ୍କ ଦ୍ୱାରା ସମ୍ପାଦିତ ଅନଲାଇନ ଜ୍ଞାନକୋଷ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ, ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ଜିରୋ ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପ ଜରିଆରେ ମାଗଣାରେ ଯୋଗାଇଦିଆଯାଉଛି ।</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ଭାରତରେ ମଧ୍ୟ ପରୀକ୍ଷାମୂଳକ ଭାବେ କିଛି ସ୍ଥାନରେ ଏହି ସୁବିଧା ଦିଆଯାଇଛି । ତେବେ ଜ୍ଞାନ ବିତରଣ ପାଇଁ ଏହି ଭଳି ଉଦ୍ୟମ ସବୁରି ଆଦର ପାଆନ୍ତି । କିନ୍ତୁ ନିଜ ସ୍ୱାର୍ଥ ହାସଲ ନିମନ୍ତେ ଜଗତର ହିତ ନାମରେ ଗରୀବଙ୍କ ଗରିବୀକୁ ଥୋପ କରି ଫେସବୁକର ଫ୍ରି ବେସିକ୍ସ କେବଳ ନିନ୍ଦା ପାଇଛି । ଲୋକଙ୍କ ସମର୍ଥନ ପାଇବାକୁ ହେଲେ କିଛି ପରିମାଣରେ ସଚ୍ଚା ହେବାକୁ ଯେ ପଡ଼ିବ ଏ କଥାଟି ଫେସବୁକ ଏବେଠୁ ହେଜିଲେ ଆଗକୁ ମଙ୍ଗଳ ହେବ ।</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ଲେଖକ ପରିଚୟ:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ଶୁଭାଶିଷ ପାଣିଗ୍ରାହୀ ବେଙ୍ଗାଳୁରର ସେଣ୍ଟର ଫର ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ ଆଣ୍ଡ ସୋସାଇଟିରେ ଭାରତୀୟ ଭାଷାରେ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ଓ ଉଇକିମିଡ଼ିଆ ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପ ତଥା ସ୍ୱେଚ୍ଛାସେବୀ ସମୂହର ବିକାଶ ନିମନ୍ତେ ବିଗତ କିଛି ବର୍ଷ ଧରି କାମ କରୁଛନ୍ତି ।</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ଆଗରୁ ଇଂରାଜୀ ସମେତ ବିଭିନ୍ନ ଦକ୍ଷିଣ ଏସୀୟ ଭାଷାରେ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆର ବିକାଶ ପାଇଁ ସେ ଉଇକିମିଡ଼ିଆ ଫାଉଣ୍ଡେସନରେ ସକ୍ରିୟ ଥିଲେ । ଉଇକିମାନିଆ ହଂକଂ, ଲଣ୍ଡନ ଓ ମେକ୍ସିକୋ ସିଟି, ଓପନ ନଲେଜ ଡେ ବର୍ଲିନ, ଗ୍ଲୋବାଲ ଭଏସେସ ସମିଟ ଫିଲିପାଇନ୍ସ ଆଦି ଦେଶବିଦେଶରେ ଭାଷାର କମ୍ପ୍ୟୁଟରୀକରଣ ଓ ଭାଷା ପାଇଁ ଟେକନୋଲୋଜି ବିକାଶ ସମ୍ବନ୍ଧରେ ସେ ବିଭିନ୍ନ ସମ୍ମିଳନୀରେ ନିଜର ବକ୍ତବ୍ୟ ପ୍ରଦାନ କରିଛନ୍ତି ।</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ଦୀର୍ଘ ଦିନ ଧରି ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ସହିତ ମୋଜିଲା, ଓପନ ଗ୍ଲାମ, ଗ୍ଲୋବାଲ ଭଏସେସ, ଓପନସୋର୍ସ ଡଟ କମ ଆଦି ବିଶ୍ୱସ୍ତରୀୟ ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପ ସହ ସକ୍ରିୟ ଭାବେ ଜଡ଼ିତ । ଜଣେ ନିୟମିତ ସ୍ତମ୍ଭକାର ଭାବେ ସେ ବିଭିନ୍ନ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଓ ଇଂରାଜୀ ଖବରକାଗଜ, ବ୍ଲଗ ଆଦିରେ ଓ ନିଜ ବ୍ଲଗ http://psubhashish.comରେ ନିଜର ନିବନ୍ଧ ଲେଖନ୍ତି ।ଟୁଇଟରରେ ଶୁଭାଶିଷଙ୍କ ସହ @subhapa ରେ ଯୋଗାଯୋଗ କରିହେବ ।</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">ସେଣ୍ଟର ଫର ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ ଆଣ୍ଡ ସୋସାଇଟି, ବେଙ୍ଗାଳୁର<br /> psubhashish@gmail.com</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/b15b47b24b47-b2eb3eb17b23b3e-b2bb47b38b2cb41b15b30-b2bb4db30b3f-b2cb47b38b3fb15b4db38'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/b15b47b24b47-b2eb3eb17b23b3e-b2bb47b38b2cb41b15b30-b2bb4db30b3f-b2cb47b38b3fb15b4db38</a>
</p>
No publishersubhaCIS-A2KOdia WikipediaAccess to Knowledge2016-01-28T07:23:37ZBlog EntryWhy It's Essential To Grow Indian-Language Wikipedias
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/huffington-post-subhashish-panigrahi-january-25-2016-why-its-essential-to-grow-indian-language-wikipedias
<b>On 15 January, Wikipedia, the free online encyclopaedia celebrated its 15th birthday, meeting this milestone with 36 million articles in more than 290 languages (the English-language Wikipedia alone has crossed the 5-million article mark). But here I want to address some major questions that we need to ask as Indians. </b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This was published by <a class="external-link" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.in/subhashish-panigrahi-/when-wikipedia-is-turning_b_9025690.html">Huffington Post</a> on January 25, 2016. Also mirrored on <a class="external-link" href="https://globalvoices.org/2016/02/26/why-its-essential-to-grow-indian-language-wikipedias/">Global Voices</a> on February 26, 2016. The post was translated <a class="external-link" href="https://el.globalvoices.org/2016/05/33834">into Greek</a> by Maria Souli. It was translated <a class="external-link" href="https://es.globalvoices.org/2016/03/26/la-importancia-de-cultivar-las-wikipedias-sobre-los-idiomas-de-la-india/">into Spanish</a> by Daniela Diaz and <a class="external-link" href="https://ru.globalvoices.org/2016/04/20/47945/">into Russian</a> by GV Russian</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">First, what is the state of Indian-language Wikipedia projects? What does India have to take from and give to Wikipedia?</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">With the growth of free and open source software in India, <a href="http://www.gndec.ac.in/%7Elibrarian/sveri/dbit2306009.pdf" target="_hplink">people are equipped with more freedom than ever.</a> Especially with the recent <a href="https://opensource.com/government/15/6/indian-government-includes-open-source-rfps" target="_hplink">federal policy-level changes</a>, the nation is enjoying better collaboration with people of different cultures speaking different languages.</p>
<p class="callout" style="text-align: justify; ">According to UNESCO, 197 of the total of 1652 Indian languages are dying despite having a long literary and linguistic heritage.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">However, there is a huge gap in the access to knowledge on the internet domain. Of a population of about 1.26 billion only about 15-18% people are connected online, largely from mobile devices. A tiny fraction of this population comprises the technical community. It would be useful to have a metric on the percentage of this community's contribution to grow the languages of this country and its cultural heritage.</p>
<h3>Wikipedia as a family</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Wikipedia is not just an encyclopaedia. It is also a "family" of several other Open Knowledge members. Wikipedia itself is available in over 290 languages, but it also has other multilingual sister projects such as Wikisource (an online library of many public domain and other important texts), Wikimedia Commons (the world's largest repository of media files and documents), Wikibooks (a free library of educational textbooks), Wikivoyage (a free and open travel guide) and Wiktionary (a database of various languages).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">These projects don't just house millions of images, videos, documents and texts, but allow anyone to contribute their knowledge to this ever deepening pool of information. Four Indian languages made an early entry to the Wiki-world back in 2002 -- <a href="http://as.wikipedia.org/" target="_hplink">Assamese</a>, <a href="http://ml.wikipedia.org/" target="_hplink">Malayalam</a>, <a href="http://or.wikipedia.org/" target="_hplink">Odia</a> and <a href="http://pa.wikipedia.org/" target="_hplink">Punjabi</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/UNESCO.png" alt="UNESCO" class="image-inline" title="UNESCO" /></p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Language neutrality</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">According to UNESCO, 197 of the total of 1652 Indian languages are dying despite having a long literary and linguistic heritage. It's quite shocking. In a blog post on content localisation, social entrepreneur Rajesh Ranjan asks if free and open source software can help save these dying languages. In the context of Wikipedia, there are already 23 South Asian-language projects. Out of these 20 are languages listed in the 8th schedule of the Constitution of India. Many might not have noticed that the "en" in the URL of Wikipedia that denotes the language code of English could be altered with "or" for Odia Wikipedia or "pa" for Punjabi Wikipedia.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Most Wikipedia projects in Indian language projects are relatively small compared to their counterparts. But the Wikimedia communities are thriving.</p>
<p class="callout" style="text-align: justify; ">There are a fairly large number of native speakers waiting out there to access knowledge in their own languages.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">When only parts of government websites are available in Hindi, the Hindi Wikipedia has crossed 10 million articles already. The Tamil and Malayalam Wikipedia communities have played a central part in implementing Wikipedia basics learning in the state-run school syllabus. Needless to say that these communities have played a significant role in implementing several free and open source software by pushing for policy-level change. Many Indian languages are in the pipeline to become active Wikipedia projects under the scope of the <a href="https://incubator.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Incubator:Test_wikis/code/valid" target="_hplink">Wikimedia Incubator</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://blog.wikimedia.org/2014/09/08/a-focused-approach-for-maithili-wikipedia/" target="_hplink">Maithili Wikipedia</a> and <a href="http://blog.wikimedia.org/2015/07/15/konkani-wikipedia-goes-live/" target="_hplink">Goan Konkani Wikipedia</a> are the two Indian-language Wikipedias that have gone live in recent years. The world has seen how digital activism has brought a new life to the Hebrew language. There are a fairly large number of native speakers waiting out there to access knowledge in their own languages. Wikipedia could be a great tool for digital activism with openness and sharing.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/WikipediaEditors.png" alt="Wikipedia Editors" class="image-inline" title="Wikipedia Editors" /></p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Addressing gender bias in Wikipedia: Implications for India</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">India <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/explained/gender-inequality-index-in-south-asia-india-leads-in-poor-condition-of-women/" target="_hplink">tops South Asia in the gender inequality index</a> in the entire South Asia. The <a href="http://www.unfpa.org/swp/2009/en/pdf/EN_SOWP09_ICPD.pdf" target="_hplink">female literacy rate is an alarmingly low 65.46%</a> as compared to 82.14% for men. This disparity is evident in many other sectors as well as in politics.</p>
<p class="callout" style="text-align: justify; ">Digital India aims at digital literacy and availability of digital resources/services in Indian languages. This is closely aligned with the Wikimedia movement's goal....</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">But gender bias is not just a problem in India. The global free and open source software (FOSS) community has always been worried about the <a href="https://books.google.co.in/books?id=AJpACwAAQBAJ&pg=PT49&lpg=PT49&dq=gender+bias+in+foss+community&source=bl&ots=HqLdhzKwcD&sig=bewvZdJG3wGtbqWXxSIS9qLIxSM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjkwfznvqTKAhVKH44KHZFVBMQQ6AEIJzAB#v=onepage&q=gender%20bias%20in%20foss%20community&f=false" target="_hplink">low presence of women</a> contributors -- in the <a href="https://people.cs.umass.edu/%7Ewallach/talks/2011-04-05_JHU.pdf" target="_hplink">range of 2-5% range.</a> Wikimedia Foundation's former executive director admitted that Wikipedia, like many other collaborative and open projects, does not have a conducive environment for women. But the Wikimedia community and Wikimedia Foundation are both working on improving this state of affairs. Indian-language Wikipedia projects are directly impacted by this global drive, be it the Women's History Month edit-a-thon where Wikipedia content largely related to women are improved every year or the <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Lilavati%27s_Daughters_Edit-a-thon" target="_hplink">Lilavati's Daughters project </a>where biographies of Indian women scientists were created and enriched in Wikipedia projects.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Complementing Digital India</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">With a population of over <a href="http://dazeinfo.com/2015/09/05/internet-users-in-india-number-mobile-iamai/" target="_hplink">354 million</a> netizens India still has a long way to go in <a href="http://tdil.mit.gov.in/wsi/papers/Issues_&_Challenges_for_Enabling_Mobile_web_in_Indian_Languages.pdf" target="_hplink">increasing Indian language content on the web</a>. The Government of India's new campaign <a href="http://www.digitalindia.gov.in/content/vision-and-vision-areas" target="_hplink">Digital India</a> aims at <a href="http://www.cmai.asia/digitalindia/" target="_hplink">digital literacy and availability of digital resources/services in Indian languages</a>. This is closely aligned with the Wikimedia movement's goal to provide free access to the sum of all human knowledge. In addition to Wikipedia, many other open educational resources and free knowledge projects that are not already a part of the Digital India campaign signal the need for the federal-run campaign to be more collaborative and open. Community-government collaborations like the <a href="https://blog.creativecommons.org/2013/08/14/india-launches-national-repository-of-open-educational-resources/" target="_hplink">NROER project</a> to make NCERT books under Creative Commons licenses and <a href="https://www.itschool.gov.in/glance.php" target="_hplink">IT@School project</a> in the state of Kerala to provide education using free and open tools have gained massive traction and helped more Indian language content come online.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/huffington-post-subhashish-panigrahi-january-25-2016-why-its-essential-to-grow-indian-language-wikipedias'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/huffington-post-subhashish-panigrahi-january-25-2016-why-its-essential-to-grow-indian-language-wikipedias</a>
</p>
No publishersubhaWikimediaCIS-A2KWikipediaAccess to Knowledge2016-05-28T06:52:53ZBlog EntryGeographical Indications in India Edit-a-thon
https://cis-india.org/a2k/events/geographical-indications-in-india-edit-a-thon
<b>Between 25 January and 31 January 2016, CIS-A2K is organizing an edit-a-thon to celebrate India's republic day. The goal of this edit-a-thon is to create and improve Geographical Indications articles.</b>
<h3>Expectations</h3>
<p>We expect that if you participate in this edit-a-thon, you'll create or expand at least 3 articles. However you may work on as many as articles you want.</p>
<h3>Rules</h3>
<p>For an article to be considered as part of this Geographical Indications in India Edit-a-thon, it must adhere to the following rules</p>
<ol>
<li>The new article must be created between 0:00 UTC on 25 January 2016 and 23:59 UTC on 31 January 2016.</li>
<li><b>Creation/Expansion rule</b>: <b>If you are creating a new article</b> the new article must have a size of at least 3,500 bytes and a minimum length of roughly 300 words (the word count excludes templates, infoboxes, references, etc.), <b>If you are expanding an existing article</b>, you need to expand this article by at least 3000 bytes, (the word count excludes templates, infoboxes, references, etc.)</li>
<li>The articles should not copyvio content and should follow verifiability and other important policies of Wikipedia.</li>
<li>The articles should have decent references;</li>
<li>The article must not be purely machine translated.</li>
<li>There should not be any maintenance tags in the articles</li>
<li>The article must have a direct relation to Geographical Indications in India (see <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CIS-A2K/Events/Geographical_Indications_in_India_Edit-a-thon#Articles">Proposed articles</a>).</li>
</ol>
<h3>Participants</h3>
<p>Please add your username below. If you can not find your community name, please add a section using level 3 header (eg. === Ukrainian Wikipedia ===). <b>We also encourage you to start an event page on your Wikipedia.</b></p>
<ol> </ol>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/events/geographical-indications-in-india-edit-a-thon'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/events/geographical-indications-in-india-edit-a-thon</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaCIS-A2KAccess to KnowledgeWikimediaWikipediaEdit-a-thonEvent2016-01-26T15:19:56ZEvent