Centre for Internet and Society

Social media may influence 160 LS seats in 2014

praskrishna — 2013-04-15T07:13:52Z

Social media is likely to influence politics and elections in 160 of India’s 543 Parliament constituencies, making Facebook and Twitter users the nation’s newest voting bloc, a new study suggests.

This article by Zia Haq was published in the Hindustan Times on April 12, 2013. Sunil Abraham is quoted.

In these mostly urbanizing constituencies, social-media usage is now “sufficiently widespread” to influence the outcome of a general election slated for 2014, the study by IRIS Knowledge Foundation and supported by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), indicates.

On April 4, Congress scion Rahul Gandhi’s high-profile address to the Confederation of Indian Industry, a leading business forum, was trending topmost on Twitter in India that day, some posts by rivals mocking him.

A series of lectures by Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, a presumptive PM, this week too garnered strong social-media attention, with his and Gandhi’s supporters competing online to run the other down.

A deeply polarizing figure still, Modi is often accused of watching over a carnage that killed nearly 2000 people in 2002, mostly Muslims. Yet, he has pulled off a stunning online strategy to showcase Gujarat as India’s Guandong, a south China province with top GDP rankings and investment.

Research shows that social media is more persuasive than television ads. Nearly 100 million Indians, or more than Germany’s population, use the Internet each day. Of this, 40 million have assured broadband, the ones most likely to have at least one social media account.

“Unlike Obama, who used social media directly for votes, Indian politicians have tended to use it more to mould public discourse,” says Sunil Abraham, the CEO of The Centre for Internet and Society.

That is likely to change in 2014. Not surprisingly, Modi became the third politician globally, a fter Obama and Australian PM Julia Gillard, to host a political conference on Google+ hangout.

Chief ministers in states are also leveraging social media. Bihar has unveiled a re-branded campaign called, “Bihar ka haq” or Bihar’s Rightful Cause, on Facebook.

Social-media-impacted constituencies, according to the study, are those where Facebook users are more than the victory margin of the winner in the last Lok Sabha election, or where such users account for over 10% of the voting population.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/hindustan-times-zia-haq-april-12-2013-social-media-may-influence-160-lok-sabha-seats-in-2014

India takes its first serious step toward privacy regulation – but it may be misguided

praskrishna — 2013-04-15T06:39:05Z

The world’s second-most populous nation may be on the cusp of embracing privacy legislation. After several false starts the Indian government appears ready to accept the need for some form of regulation.

This blog post by Simon Davies was published in the Privacy Surgeon on April 9, 2013. The Centre for Internet and Society recently published a draft Citizens privacy bill which is mentioned in this post.

Well, maybe this is a slightly optimistic view. A more accurate portrayal might be “the Indian government appears ready to accept the principle of some form of regulation”.

There is actually no agreed policy position across government on the question of privacy and data protection, but the Planning Commission last year established an Expert Group under the chairmanship of the former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court, A.P.Shah. Justice Shah’s subsequent report is being considered and a draft Bill has been created.

Shah’s report provided a convincing body of evidence – both at the domestic and the international level – for the creation of national regulation.

It called for the formation of a regulatory framework and set out nine principles that could form a foundation for the next stage. These principles – reflecting the basis of law in other countries – have been generally accepted by Indian stakeholders as a sound frame of reference for progress.

However although the nine principles are supported, the precise nature of any possible regulation is still very much in flux.

There’s a long way to go before consensus is established on a overall type of regulatory framework. Having said that, India is closer than ever to seeing real legislation – and the international community needs to put its weight behind the activity.

Debate over the merits of data protection and privacy law stretch back beyond a decade but reform was constantly hampered by perceptions that regulation would stifle economic growth.

Some industry lobbies have been as keen as government to ensure that privacy proposals are stillborn.

Even with the nine principles as a bedrock the path to privacy law must overcome two extremely difficult hurdles.

The first of these is that a substantial number of Indian opinion leaders continue to express an instinctive view that there is no cultural history for respect of privacy in India. That is, people don’t want or expect privacy protection and Western notions of privacy are alien to Indian society.

In support of this assertion these critics often cite an analogy about conversation on Indian trains. It is well known that many Indians will disclose their life story to strangers on the Indian rail network, discussing their personal affairs with people they have never before met. This trait is construed as evidence that Indians do not value their privacy.

I spoke last week at an important meeting in New Delhi where this exact point was repeatedly made. The meeting, organised by the Data Security Council of India and ICOMP India was well attended by industry, government, academics and NGOs. Speakers made constant reference to the matter of public disclosure of personal information.

In response, noted commentator Vickram Crishna expressed the view that the train anecdote had no relevance and was a convenient ruse for people who for their own self interest opposed privacy regulation.

“In reality this circumstance is like Vegas”, he said. “What happens on Indian trains, stays on Indian trains. People will talk about their lives because they will never see these passengers again and there is no record of the disclosures.”

“What we are dealing with in the online world is a completely different matter. There is no correlation between the two environments”.

A substantial opinion poll published earlier this year also debunked the myth that Indians don’t care about privacy. Levels of concern expressed by respondents was roughly the same as the level of concern identified in other parts of the world.

A second hurdle facing privacy legislation is the perception - particularly prevalent in the United States – that legislation will be a burden on industry and people do not want yet another cumbersome and costly government structure.

There are perhaps some grounds for considering this perspective, given the vast scale and complexity of India’s economy.

Government intervention does not enjoy a history of consistent success in the marketplace, though in many instances intervention has been the only means to bring industry into compliance with basic safeguards.

I made the point at the meeting that support for a purist model of industry self regulation was simplistic and misguided. Most systems of a similar nature fail unless someone is mandated to ensure compliance, transparency, enforceability and consistency. It’s a question of finding a way to embed accountability in industry self regulation – and this is where legislation and government could help.

Justice Shah’s report reflected this widespread concern by recommending a co-regulatory framework in which a privacy commissioner would oversee industry self regulation. However – as last week’s meeting exemplified – even this compromise solution is not acceptable to many industry players. They oppose the idea of an appointed commissioner and believe that industry self regulation alone will be sufficient.

This is an influential view that cannot be brushed aside. However in a special programme aired on19th April on India’s main parliamentary television network – RSTV – I repeatedly make the point that such a view, if successful, would put Indian industry in danger of winning the battle but losing the war. Europe is unlikely to accept a model of sole industry regulation, and the crucial flow of data between the two regions could be imperiled.

Conscious of all these challenges the influential NGO Centre for Internet and Society has published a draft Citizens privacy bill and has commenced a series of consultation meetings across the country. These initiatives will provide important input for the emerging legislation.

This is an important moment for privacy in India, and one that will require careful thought and sensitive implementation. However no-one in India should be in any doubt that the current unregulated situation is unsustainable in a global environment where nations are expected to protect both their citizens and the safety of data on their systems.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/privacy-surgeon-simon-davies-april-9-2013-india-takes-its-first-serious-step-toward-privacy-regulation

Report of Wiki Workshop in Mangalore

praskrishna — 2013-04-16T06:14:42Z

A wikipedia workshop was organized in Sahyadri College of Engineering and Management, Mangalore on April 9, 2013. Dr. U.B. Pavanaja participated in the workshop. Prajavani's Mangalore edition published a report about the felicitation to K.P. Rao and about the wikipedia workshop.

Below is the report published in Prajavani on April 10, 2013.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/prajavani-mangalore-edition-april-10-2013-report-of-wikipedia-workshop

Need to develop vernacular languages stressed

praskrishna — 2013-04-15T08:47:29Z

University of Hyderabad (UoH) Vice-Chancellor Prof. Ramakrishna Rama Swamy said on Wednesday that everyone has a duty to contribute to the development of vernacular languages.

The article was published in Hans India on April 11, 2013.

He presided over the Telegu Wikipedia Mahotsavam 2013 being celebrated at the Golden Threshold in Abids. The two-day programme-cum-workshop is being organised in collaboration of the UoH, Theatre Outreach Unit (TOU), Indian wing of Wikipedia and the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS). While extending support to the Telegu Wikipedia (TW), the Vice-Chancellor said that he had been encouraging the university students to contribute to the site. He advised the organisers to explore opportunities to expose youth to TW.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/the-hans-india-april-11-2014-need-to-develop-vernacular-languages-stressed

Telugu Wiki Mahotsavam 2013

praskrishna — 2013-04-08T04:43:00Z

The Telugu Wikipedia Community is organizing the Telegu Wiki Mahotsavam from April 9 to 11, 2013 in Hyderabad. The Access to Knowledge team at the Centre for Internet and Society is supporting and co-organizing the event.

A public event will be held on April 11 from 5.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m. at Golden Threshold (Sarojini Naidu's house) in Hyderabad. The main event page, which is in Telugu, is here.

The following activities are scheduled:

April 9, 2013: Wikipedia Academy at Centre for Good Governance, Hyderabad (Vishnu Vardhan will be one of the trainers.
April 10, 2013: Wikimedia Meeting with Media Heads. (In one of the sessions Vishnu Vardhan will talk about CIS-A2K work).
April 11, 2013: Telugu Wikipedia General body meeting (Vishnu Vardhan has been asked by Telugu SIG to speak about A2K's plans for the growth of Telugu Wikipedia during 2013-14), Telugu Wikipedia Academy (Vishnu Vardhan will be one of the Trainers), and Wiki Chaitanya Vedika ((A public event), Vishnu has been asked by the Telugu Wiki Community to talk about 'Access to Knowledge' in the digital era).

వికీపీడియా:సమావేశం/తెలుగు వికీపీడియా మహోత్సవం 2013

మన తెలుగు వికీపీడియా గురించి మన తెలుగు వాళ్ళకి తెలుసా? ఎంతమందికి తెలుసు....?

తెలుగు వికీపీడియా

ఈ ప్రశ్నకి ‘చాలా తక్కువ మందికి’ అన్న జవాబు వెంటనే వస్తుంది. వికీపీడియా తెలుగులో ఒకటి ఉందన్న విషయమే తెలియనప్పుడు కొత్తవాళ్ళు ఎలా వస్తారు...? తెలుగు వికీపీడియా అభివృద్ధి ఎలా సాధ్యమవుతుంది...? ఈ సమస్యను అధిగమించాలంటే – ఒక మంచి కార్యక్రమము నిర్వహించడంతోబాటు... దినపత్రిక, ఎలక్ట్రానిక్ మీడియాల లో ప్రముఖంగా ప్రచారం పొందగలిగి నప్పుడు మాత్రమే తెవికీ గురించి కొన్ని వేల మందికి ఏకకాలంలో తెలుస్తుంది. తద్వారా – మన రాష్ట్రంలో, మన దేశంలో, ఇతర దేశాలలో ఉన్న తెలుగు ప్రజలకు చేరువ కాగలుగుతాం...! ఇదే ‘తెలుగు వికీపీడియా సర్వ సభ్య సమావేశం’ ముఖ్య ఉద్దేశ్యం...!

ఈ ఉగాది 'తెలుగు వికీ ఉగాది'
తెలుగు వికీపీడియా అభివృద్ధికి మనం అందరం కృషి చేస్తూనే ఉన్నాం. రేపటి తరానికి ఖచ్చితమైన సమాచారాన్ని అందివ్వాలన్న సదుద్దేశ్యంతో నిస్వార్ధంగా కృషి చేస్తున్న మనం అందరం ఒకసారి కలిస్తే ఎంత బాగుంటుందో కదా...! అదీ, తెలుగు ఉగాదినాడు కలిస్తే చెప్పలేనంత సంతోషంగా ఉంటుంది. అందుకే - ఈ ఉగాదిని 'తెలుగు వికీ ఉగాది'గా జరుపుకుందాం.

ఇది సర్వసభ్యసమావేశం, శిక్షణ కార్యక్రమము మరింకా..
వికీని తెలుగు ప్రజలకు పరిచయం చేయడం, తెవికీ విస్తృత అభివృద్ధికి కృషి చెయ్యడం - ఈ ' సర్వ సభ్య సమావేశం ’ ప్రధాన లక్ష్యం. అందరం కలిస్తే లక్ష్య సాధన మరింత సులభమవుతుంది. తెవికీ అక్షర సుసంపన్నమవుతుంది. దీనిలో భాగంగా వికీఅకాడమీ ద్వారా శిక్షణ చైతన్యవేదిక ద్వారా మరింతమందికి తెవికీ పరిచయం చేయటం జరుగుతుంది

33 సంవత్సరాలు జర్నలిస్టుగా అనుభవం ఉన్న మల్లాది కామేశ్వరరావు గారు ప్రతిపాదించగా ఇతర సభ్యులు మద్దతునివ్వగా ఈ ప్రతిపాదన రూపుదిద్దుకుంటున్నది.

ఈ సమావేశం ఉగాది రోజున మన రాజధాని నగరంలో జరపాలని భావిస్తున్నాం . ఈ సమావేశం తెలుగు వికీపీడియాకు ప్రత్యేక గుర్తింపు కలిగిస్తుందని పలువురు సభ్యులు భావిస్తున్నారు. తెవికీ సభ్యులలో సరి కొత్త ఉత్సాహం కలిగించి ఒక అభివృద్ధికి దోహదం ఔతుంది. సమావేశంలో పాల్గొనడానికి సభ్యులు తమ అంగీకారం క్రింది విభాగాలలో తెలియచేయాలని కోరడమైనది.

విజయ నామ ఉగాది 'తెలుగు వికీపీడియా మహోత్సవం' ఆహ్వాన కమిటీ

తెలుగు వికీపీడియా మహోత్సవం 2013

థియేటర్ ఔట్రీచ్ యూనిట్ లోగో

అధ్యక్షులు : రహ్మానుద్దీన్
కార్యదర్శి : Malladi kameswara rao
కోశాధికారి : Rajasekhar1961

సిద్ధతా కార్యక్రమ వివరాలు

వికీపీడియా ముందస్తు సమావేశాలు – 2013 కార్యక్రమ రూపం:

మార్చి 17 : మొదటగా హైదరాబాద్ వికీపీడియా సంపాదకుల కార్యవర్గ సమావేశం
మార్చి 24 : హైదరాబాద్ వికీపీడియా నిర్వాహకుల సమావేశం
మార్చి 31 : కార్యనిర్వహణ పురోగతి గురించి పరిశీలించడం.
ఏప్రిల్ 7 : కార్యనిర్వహణ పురోగతి మరియు బాధ్యతల సమీక్ష

మహోత్సవం కార్యక్రమ ప్రణాళిక

వికీపీడియా తెలుగు మహోత్సవం, మహోత్సవ ముందస్తు వికీఅకాడెమీ

తేదీ ఏప్రిల్ 9
సమయం : మ. 2 గం॥ నుండి సాయంత్రం 5:30 గం॥ వరకు
వేదిక : సీజీజీ శిక్షణా నిలయం, జూబిలీ హిల్స్

వికీపీడియా - ప్రసార మాధ్యమాల(మీడియా) సదస్సు

తేది:ఏప్రిల్ 10
సమయం : 10 am to 1:00 pm
ప్రదేశం : :::గోల్డెన్ త్రెషోల్డ్, అబిడ్స్, హైదరాబాదు

గోల్డెన్ త్రెషోల్డ్, మహోత్సవానికి వేదిక

వికీ పరిచయం

కార్యక్రమ అంశాలు

ఉ. 10.00 - 10.30 --- మీడియా ప్రముఖులతో పరిచయాలు

ఉ. 10.30 - 11.30 --- వికీపీడియా పరిచయం

కార్యక్రమ నిర్వాహకులు : అభిజిత్, పెద్ది రామారావు

మల్లాది కామేశ్వర రావు : ముందుమాట ( సమావేశానికి ఆహ్వానం)
విష్ణువర్ధన్, ప్రాజెక్ట్ డైరెక్టర్ cis A2K: అంతర్జాలంలో సమాచార విప్లవం - వికీపీడియా పాత్ర
అర్జునరావు,వికీమీడియా ఇండియా చాప్టర్ మాజీ అద్యక్షులు : భారతదేశంలో వికీపీడియా అభివృద్ధి
చంద్రకాంతరావు, వికీపీడియా నిర్వాహకులు : తెలుగు వికీపీడియా ప్రస్థానం .........(నిర్ధారణ కావలసి ఉంది)
సుజాత,వికీపీడియా నిర్వాహకులు : వికీపీడియా - మహిళల పాత్ర
రహ్మానుద్దీన్, వికీమీడియా ఇండియా చాప్టర్ తెలుగుశాఖ అద్యక్షులు : వికీపీడియా - ఉన్నత సాంకేతికత
రామకృష్ణ రామస్వామి, హైదరాబాద్ విశ్వవిద్యాలయం వైస్ ఛాన్సిలర్ : వికీపీడియా ఆవశ్యకత .......... (నిర్ధారణ కావలసి ఉంది)
-----వీడియో ప్రదర్శన
-----వెన్న నాగార్జున సందేశం ..............(నిర్ధారణ కావలసి ఉంది)

ఉ. 11.30 - 11.45 టీ విరామం
వికీ -మీడియా చర్చాగోష్ఠి: ఉ. 11.30 - 1.00

చర్చాంశం : జ్ఞానసమాజఅభివృద్ధిలో మీడియా, వికీపీడియా పరస్పర సహకారం

సమన్వయకర్త : బండారు శ్రీనివాసరావు, పాత్రికేయులు, విమర్శకులు
సహకారం : పెద్ది రామారావు
వికీపీడియా నుంచి చర్చలో పాల్గొనేవారు

విష్ణువర్ధన్, ప్రాజెక్ట్ డైరెక్టర్ cis A2K
అర్జునరావు,వికీమీడియా ఇండియా చాప్టర్ మాజీ అద్యక్షులు
చంద్రకాంతరావు, వికీపీడియా నిర్వాహకులు (నిర్ధారణ కావలసి ఉంది)
సుజాత, వికీపీడియా నిర్వాహకులు
రహ్మానుద్దీన్, వికీమీడియా ఇండియా చాప్టర్ తెలుగుశాఖ అద్యక్షులు

మీడియా నుంచి చర్చలో పాల్గొనేవారు : మీడియా ప్రముఖులు
......(నిర్ధారించాలి)

వందన సమర్పణ : డా. రాజశేఖర్, వికీపీడియా నిర్వాహకులు
మీడియా సమావేశ విషయ సేకరణ, సమాచార నమోదు - గుళ్ళపల్లి నాగేశ్వరరావు

మ. 1.00 - 2:00 --- భోజనం

వికీపీడియన్ల క్షేత్ర దర్శనం

తేది:ఏప్రిల్ 10

మ. 3-00 -సా 6:00: ఒక ప్రింటు మీడియా (విశాలాంధ్ర దినపత్రిక) మరియు ఎలక్ట్రానిక్ మీడియా (హెచ్.ఎం.టీ.వి.) కార్యాలయం సందర్శన

వికీపీడియన్ల ఇష్టా గోష్టి

తేది:ఏప్రిల్ 10

సమయం : రాత్రి : 7-00 గంటల నుంచి 8-30

ప్రదేశం : :::గోల్డెన్ త్రెషోల్డ్, అబిడ్స్, హైదరాబాదు

కార్యక్రమ అంశాలు

తెలుగు వికీపీడియా చేపట్టే కొత్త ప్రాజెక్టులపై వికీ అధికారుల, నిర్వాహకుల చర్చ - ఇష్టా గోష్టి

కార్యక్రమ సమన్వయ కర్తలుగా చంద్రకాంతరావు, సుజాత గార్లు వ్యవహరించాలని సమావేశం ప్రతిపాదిస్తున్నది. ( నిర్ధారించవలసిందిగా విన్నపం.)

వికీపీడియన్ల సర్వ సభ్య సమావేశం

తేది:ఏప్రిల్ 11

సమయం : ఉదయం : 9-00 గంటల నుంచి మధ్యాహ్నం 02:00 వరకు

ప్రదేశం : :::గోల్డెన్ త్రెషోల్డ్, అబిడ్స్, హైదరాబాదు

సభనిర్వహణ:చావా కిరణ్, వీవెన్ ( నిర్ధారించవలసివుంది)

కార్యక్రమ అంశాలు

ఉ. 9.00 - 10.00 --- తెవికీ సభ్యుల పరిచయాలు, అల్పాహారం

ఉ. 10.00 - 10.15 --- సౌమ్యన్, వికీమీడియా భారతదేశం చాప్టర్ ఎగ్జిక్యూటివ్ మేనేజర్ : వికీమీడియా భారతదేశం కార్యకలాపాలు

ఉ. 10.15-10.30 --సిఐఎస్ ఎ2కె కార్యకలాపాలు. విష్ణు, ఎ2కె ప్రోగ్రామ్ డైరెక్టరు

ఉ. 10.30-11.00 --మహోత్సవ సందేశాలు

ఉ. 11.00-11.15 -- భారత ప్రగతి ద్వారం నిర్వహణ అనుభవాలు. కథిరేశన్, నార్నె శ్రీనివాసరావు, India Development Gateway

ఉ. 11.15-11.30 --టీ విరామం

ఉ 11.30-11.45 -- ఆర్కీవ్.ఆర్గ్ వికీపీడియా సహకారం... ఆనంద్ చిట్టిపోతు, ఆర్కీవ్.అర్గ్ ఉద్యోగి (స్కైప్ ద్వారా)

ఉ 11.45-12.15 వికీపీడియా అభివృద్ధికి ఎ2కె ప్రణాళిక

ఉ 12.15-12.30 స్పందనలు,ప్రాధాన్యతల నిర్ణయం, సభ్యులు

ఉ 12.30 -13.00 మహోత్సవం సిఫారసులు

మ. 1.00 - 2.00 --- భోజనం

ప్రాథమిక వికీ అకాడమీ|ఉన్నత వికీ అకాడమీ

కార్యక్రమ అంశాలు

మ. 2.00 - 3.00 --- ఉన్నత వికీసంపాదకత్వ విషయాలు.

హాట్కేట్, ట్వింకిల్ ఉపకరణాలు, 10ని..... అర్జున
పై వికీపీడియాబాటు తో పని, 20ని ... రహ్మనుద్దీన్
<<అనువైనవి చేర్చండి>>

మ. 3.00-4:00 --సమిష్ఠికృషి

హాట్కేట్ తో వర్గీకరణ,... 20ని, సమన్వయకర్త ....
ఇంగ్లీషు అంతరవికీలింకులు చేర్చుట..20ని సమన్వయకర్త ...
<<అనువైనవి చేర్చండి>>
అనుభవాలు పంచుకొనుట.. 5 ని

ప్రాథమిక వికీపీడియా:తెవికీ అకాడమీ సమావేశ అధ్యక్షుడు:<చొరవ తీసుకొనే సభ్యుని పేరు చేర్చండి> సమావేశ ఉపాధ్యక్షుడు: <చొరవ తీసుకొనే సభ్యుని పేరు చేర్చండి>	ఉన్నత వికీ అకాడమీ సమావేశ అధ్యక్షుడు:<చొరవ తీసుకొనే సభ్యుని పేరు చేర్చండి> సమావేశ ఉపాధ్యక్షుడు: <చొరవ తీసుకొనే సభ్యుని పేరు చేర్చండి>
తేది:ఏప్రిల్ 11 సమయం : మధ్యాహ్నం : 1-30 గంటల నుంచి సాయంత్రం 04:00 వరకు
ప్రదేశం : ....గది,గోల్డెన్ త్రెషోల్డ్, అబిడ్స్, హైదరాబాదు	ప్రదేశం:....గది, గోల్డెన్ త్రెషోల్డ్, అబిడ్స్, హైదరాబాదు
కార్యక్రమ అంశాలు మ 1:30 -2:00 నమోదు మ. 2.00 - 4.00 పాఠం: 1గం॥ వికీపీడియా చరిత్ర మరియు సింహావలోకనం.10ని.. < వక్త పేరు> కంప్యూటర్ లో తెలుగు కీబోర్డులు ..15ని..< వక్త పేరు> వికీపీడియా విధానాలు-మార్గదర్శకాలు...30ని.. <వక్తపేరు> వికీపీడియా ప్రయోగశాల: 1గం॥ వికీపీడియా లో వెతుకుట వికీపీడియా దిద్దుబాటు వికీపీడియా ప్రయోగశాల (ఇసుకపెట్టె) ను ఉపయోగించడం కరపత్రాలు(నెట్ లో) Welcome to Wikipedia (వికీపీడియాకు స్వాగతం), Wikipedia Article quality (వికీపీడియా వ్యాస-నాణ్యత)

వికీ చైతన్య వేదిక

తేది:ఏప్రిల్ 11

సమయం : సాయంత్రం: 04-30 గంటల నుంచి రాత్రి 08:00 వరకు

ప్రదేశం : :::గోల్డెన్ త్రెషోల్డ్, అబిడ్స్, హైదరాబాదు

పాల్గొనే వారు:వికీపై ఆసక్తి గలవారందరు

కార్యక్రమ అంశాలు

సా. 04:30-05:00 పాల్గొనేవారి నమోదు

సా. 5.00 - 8.00 --కార్యక్రమం

మల్లాది కామేశ్వర రావు : స్వాగతం: సమావేశం నేపథ్యం
ముఖ్య అతిధి

మంగళగిరి ఆదిత్య ప్రసాద్, ఆకాశవాణి హైదరాబాద్ స్టేషన్ డైరెక్టర్ : అంతరించి పోతున్న తెలుగు అక్షరం

జ్యోతి ప్రజ్వలన ................. అతిధులు

అమరనాథ్ రెడ్డి, CEO, IEG- Govt of AP : (నిర్ధారణ కావలసి ఉంది)
పెద్ది రామారావు, ప్రాజెక్ట్ కో ఆర్డినేటర్, ధియేటర్ ఔట్రిచ్ యూనిట్ : వికీపీడియా - నాటకకళ
బండారు శ్రీనివాసరావు, పాత్రికేయులు, విమర్శకులు : అక్షరాన్ని కాపాడుకుందాం

వక్తలు

సౌమ్యన్, కార్యనిర్వాహక మేనేజర్ వికీమీడియా భారతదేశం, వికీమీడియా భారతదేశం అవలోకనం, (నిర్థారించాలి)
రహ్మానుద్దీన్, వికీమీడియా ఇండియా చాప్టర్ తెలుగు విశేష అభిరుచి జట్టు అధ్యక్షులు : తెలుగు వికీపీడియా పరిచయం.
చంద్రకాంతరావు, వికీపీడియా నిర్వాహకులు : దిద్దుబాట్లు, సూచనలు - (నిర్ధారణ కావలసి ఉంది)
సుజాత, వికీపీడియా నిర్వాహకులు : వికీపీడియా - దిద్దుబాట్లు ఎలా చేయాలి
వీవెన్, వికీపీడియా నిర్వాహకులు : అంతర్జాలంలో తెలుగు
జె.వి.ఆర్.కె.ప్రసాద్, వికీపీడియా నిర్వాహకులు : విక్షనరీ
పాలగిరి రామకృష్ణా రెడ్డి, వికీపీడియా సభ్యులు : వికీపీడియాలో సైన్స్ ప్రాముఖ్యత
విశ్వనాధ్ బి.కె, వికీపీడియా నిర్వాహకులు : భారతీయ సంస్కృతి , పుణ్యక్షేత్రాలు
డా. రాజశేఖర్, వికీపీడియా నిర్వాహకులు : వికీపీడియా - నిన్న, నేడు, రేపు ... వైద్యం
విష్ణువర్ధన్, ప్రాజెక్ట్ డైరెక్టర్ cis A2K : విజ్ఞాన విషయాలను పంచుకుందాం.
అనంతరం ఆహ్వానితులకు మరియు వికీపీడియన్లకు ప్రశంసా పత్రాల, మెమెంటోల ప్రదానం
జాతీయ గీతంతో వందన సమర్పణ

దారిఖర్చులు మరియు విడిది

హైదరాబాదుకు బయటనుండి వచ్చు వికీపీడియన్లకు ప్రయాణ మరియు వసతి సౌకర్యం:

హైదరాబాదుకు బయటనుండి సమావేశానికి హాజరుకావాలనుకొంటున్న వికీపీడియా సభ్యులకు ప్రయాణ మరియు వసతి సౌకర్యము (ఇద్దరు లేక ఎక్కువ మంది రూము పంచుకొనే ప్రాతిపదికన) కల్పించటానికి (రైలు ఎసి టు టైర్ చార్జీలకు లోబడి అయిన ఖర్చులకు) Access to Knowledge-CIS, బెంగుళూరు వారు పరిమిత నిధులు కేటాయించారు. డిసెంబరు 31, 2012 నాటికి తెలుగు వికీప్రాజెక్టులు అన్నిటిలో కలిపి కనీసం 50 (ఏభై) మార్పులు చేసినవారు దీనికి అర్హులు. ఈ సౌకర్యం "మొదలు వచ్చినవారికి ముందు" ప్రాతిపదికన ఇవ్వబడుతుంది. ఆసక్తిగల సభ్యులు త్వరగా ఈ పేజీలోని ' తప్పక హాజరవుతున్న సభ్యుల ' విభాగంలో మీ పేరు(వికీ సంతకం ద్వారా) మరియు ఊరు నమోదు చేసుకొనమని కోరడమైనది. వికీ "సభ్యులు టికెట్టు మూలప్రతి (original) ఇస్తూ ఖర్చుధృవపత్రం (voucher) పై సంతకం చేయవలసి వుంటుంది. ఇది CIS-A2K ఆడిటర్ వారి నిభంధన కావున సభ్యులు మన్నించాలని అభ్యర్దన.

సమావేశం నిర్వాహకులు

Malladi kameswara rao (చర్చ) 06:49, 14 మార్చి 2013 (UTC)
Bhaskaranaidu (చర్చ) 10:42, 14 మార్చి 2013 (UTC)]]
జె.వి.ఆర్.కె.ప్రసాద్ (చర్చ) 10:58, 14 మార్చి 2013 (UTC) (కొంతవరకు చేయగలను/కొన్ని పనులకు వాడుకొనగలరు)
Rajasekhar1961 (చర్చ) 05:21, 15 మార్చి 2013 (UTC)
రహ్మానుద్దీన్ (చర్చ) 21:00, 16 మార్చి 2013 (UTC)
<<పైన మీసంతకం చేర్చండి>>

సహాయం

వికీమీడియా భారతదేశం
సి.ఐఎస్. ఎ2కె
థియేటర్ ఔట్రీచ్ యూనిట్

సమావేశంలో పాల్గొనే సభ్యులు

సమావేశంలో పాల్గొనడానికి ఆసక్తి ఉన్న సభ్యులు ఈ జాబితాలో మీ పేరును(వికీసంతకంద్వారా), (ఊరునుహైద్రాబాదు బయటనుండి వస్తున్నట్లయితే) చేర్చండి.

తప్పక పాల్గొనేవారు

t.sujatha (చర్చ) 05:06, 13 మార్చి 2013 (UTC), చెన్నై
Rajasekhar1961 (చర్చ) 06:11, 13 మార్చి 2013 (UTC)
జె.వి.ఆర్.కె.ప్రసాద్, విజయవాడ. (చర్చ) 06:11, 13 మార్చి 2013 (UTC)(అననుకూల స్థితి, పరిస్థితులలో తప్ప, హాజరులో మార్పు ఉండదు.)
Malladi kameswara rao (చర్చ) 06:49, 14 మార్చి 2013 (UTC)
Bhaskaranaidu (చర్చ) 10:39, 14 మార్చి 2013 (UTC)
విశ్వనాధ్ (చర్చ) 07:35, 14 మార్చి 2013 (UTC)
kbssarma
విష్ణు (చర్చ)04:15, 15 మార్చి 2013 (UTC)
రహ్మానుద్దీన్ (చర్చ) 21:00, 16 మార్చి 2013 (UTC)
సుమంత్
Pranayraj1985 (చర్చ)
పవి (చర్చ) 04:49, 25 మార్చి 2013 (UTC)
అర్జున (చర్చ) 23:19, 27 మార్చి 2013 (UTC), బెంగుళూరు
rajachandra(చర్చ) 10:19, 30 మార్చి 2013 (UTC), చెన్నై
బండి. శ్రీనివాస్
పాలగిరి (చర్చ) 04:04, 1 ఏప్రిల్ 2013 (UTC)
విజయ్
cbrao (చర్చ) 06:55, 2 ఏప్రిల్ 2013 (UTC)]]
Maheshbandaru (చర్చ) 10:52, 2 ఏప్రిల్ 2013 (UTC)
YVSREDDY (చర్చ) 16:02, 5 ఏప్రిల్ 2013 (UTC)
Malkum (చర్చ) 20:06, 5 ఏప్రిల్ 2013 (UTC)
S.K.Pasalapudi,Rajahmundry,(తప్పక హాజరు)
ప్రసాదు (చర్చ) 15:13, 6 ఏప్రిల్ 2013 (UTC)

బహుశా పాల్గొనేవారు

పోటుగాడు అదేరోజు వేరొక ముఖ్యమైన పని ఉన్నది. వీలును బట్టి పాల్గొంటాను.
కూచిమంచిప్రసాద్ పాల్గొనడానికి ప్రయత్నిస్తానుకూచిమంచిప్రసాద్ (చర్చ) 17:38, 14 మార్చి 2013 (UTC)
Mylaptops (నేను బంజారా హిల్స్ రోడ్డు నెం 1 లో, సాక్షి ఆఫీసు వెనుక ఉంటున్నాను. వాహన సౌకర్యం లేదు. అయినా ఆదివారం పాల్గొనటానికి ప్రయత్నిస్తాను.(భూపతిరాజు రమేష్ రాజు) (Mylaptops (చర్చ) 07:31, 15 మార్చి 2013 (UTC))
రాధాక్రిష్ణ (చర్చ) 14:17, 25 మార్చి 2013 (UTC)
వాడుకరి:డా.రామక పాండురంగశర్మ(తప్పక పాల్గొనే ప్రయత్నం చేస్తాను)

పాల్గొనటానికి వీలుకానివారు: గమనిక: సమావేశానికి వీలుకాని సభ్యులు/నిర్వాహకులు/అధికారులు తమ సందేశాన్ని వీడియో/ఆడియో/టెక్స్టు ఈ వికీపీడియా:సమావేశం/2013 తెవికీసమావేశం/సభ్యుల అభినందనలు ఇంకా సూచనలు విభాగంలో చేర్చండి. వాటిని సమావేశం సమయంలో అందరికీ తెలియజేస్తాము.

ఖాదర్ - హైదరాబాదు వెలుపల ఉండటం వలన హాజరుకాలేక పోతున్నాను.
శశి (చర్చ) 20:53, 15 మార్చి 2013 (UTC)బెంగుళూరు లో ఉండటం వలన, ఉగాదికి సెలవు లేకపోవటం వలన హాజరు కాలేను.
కె. వి. రమణ. చర్చ 13:58, 16 మార్చి 2013 (UTC) (వ్యక్తిగత పనుల వల్ల హాజరు కాలేను)
వైజాసత్య (చర్చ) 21:40, 16 మార్చి 2013 (UTC) (నేను ఆంధ్రదేశంలో లేకపోవటం వలన)
Nrahamthulla (చర్చ) 07:12, 17 మార్చి 2013 (UTC)(వ్యక్తిగత పనుల వల్ల హాజరు కాలేను)
Tsnpadma (చర్చ) 11:19, 23 మార్చి 2013 (UTC) (వ్యక్తిగత పనుల వల్ల హాజరు కాలేను)
<<పైన మీసంతకం చేర్చండి>>

వర్గాలు: వికీపీడియా	వికీపీడియా సమావేశాలు

ఈ పేజీకి 03:58, 8 ఏప్రిల్ 2013న చివరి మార్పు జరిగినది.
పాఠ్యం క్రియేటివ్ కామన్స్ అట్రిబ్యూషన్/షేర్-అలైక్ లైసెన్సు క్రింద లభ్యం; అదనపు షరతులు వర్తించవచ్చు. మరిన్ని వివరాలకు వాడుక నియమాలను చూడండి.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/events/telegu-wiki-mahotsavam-2013

The Fifth Elephant 2013

praskrishna — 2013-04-08T04:11:25Z

HasGeek is organizing the Fifth Elephant from July 11 to 13, 2013 at the NIMHANS Convention Centre, Bangalore. Workshops on open source technologies and enterprise solutions will be held on July 11, 2013. You can participate in workshops only, conference only or both.

Data is most sought after. Yet, much remains unknown, especially about how to extract intelligence from data, how to build products from data, and which are the latest fast, secure, efficient and inexpensive technologies available for storing data.

If these questions interest you, come to the The Fifth Elephant – an annual big data, cloud computing and analytics conference. The Fifth Elephant 2013 will feature engineering and business talks on storage, databases, processing, metrics, statistical modelling, mathematical analysis, visualization and cloud computing. We will host panel discussions and open houses to understand how to use and apply data in different domains – e-commerce, journalism and business processes.

For more details, visit fifthelephant.in/2013, funnel.hasgeek.com/fifthel2013, and hasgeek.tv/fifthelephant, or contact info@hasgeek.com, 080-67684422

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/fifth-elephant-2013

Uttar Pradesh Chapter

praskrishna — 2013-04-03T10:25:55Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/uttar-pradesh-chapter.pdf

Review of Guidelines for Indian Government Websites-meeting notice

praskrishna — 2013-04-28T03:39:18Z

The Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension has called for a meeting for review of guidelines for Indian Government websites. The meeting will be held under the chairmanship of Shri Anoop Kumar Srivastava, Addl. Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

Click to download the notice.

The competent authority constituted a committee to review Guidelines for Indian Government Websites. Sunil Abraham is a committee member, and will participate in this meeting. The meeting will be held in the Committee Room, Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances, 5th Floor, Sardar Patel Bhawan, Parliament Street, New Delhi on April 5, 2013.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/ministry-of-personnel-public-grievances-and-pension-notice-review-of-guidelines-for-indian-government-websites

A Privacy Round Table in Bangalore

praskrishna — 2013-04-17T06:55:52Z

The Centre for Internet and Society, Data Security Council of India and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry cordially invite you to a "Privacy Round Table" at Jayamahal Palace in Jayamahal Road, Bangalore on Saturday, April 20, 2013, 10.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m.

To discuss, in furtherance of Internet Governance Initiatives and Dialogue in 2013, the "Report of the Group of Experts on Privacy" by the Justice AP Shah Committee, the text of the Citizens' Privacy (Protection) Bill 2013, drafted by the Centre for Internet and Society, and the paper "Strengthening Privacy Protection through Co-Regulation" by DSCI.

The discussions and recommendations from the meeting will be published into a compilation, and presented at the Internet Governance meeting planned for October 2013.

Time	Detail
10.30	Overview, explanation, and discussion: The Report of the Group of Experts on Privacy
11.30	Overview, explanation, and discussion: Strengthening Privacy Protection through Co-regulation
12.15	Tea
12.30	Overview, explanation, and discussion: The Citizens (Protection) Bill 2013
13.15	Lunch
14.15	In depth discussions: The Citizens’ Privacy (Protection) Bill 2013
16.15	Tea

Confirmations and RSVP

Please send your email confirmations for attending the Bangalore Privacy Roundtable on April 20, 2013, to Snehashish Ghosh at snehashish@cis-india.org, mobile no. +91- 9902763325,latest by end-of-business 5:30 p.m. on Monday April 15, 2013. As the conference is a roundtable dialogue, we request that attendees submit a brief introduction about themselves and their interest in the topic.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/privacy-round-table-in-bangalore

Privacy Round Table Bangalore

praskrishna — 2013-04-15T09:25:34Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/privacy-roundtable-bangalore

Iraqi Public Data Presentation Slides

praskrishna — 2013-04-02T04:53:25Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/iraqi-public-data.zip

Clarify and define terms in IT rules, panel tells govt.

praskrishna — 2013-04-03T10:02:33Z

In the wake of concerns that the government is increasingly using ambiguously-phrased terms in legal codes to crack down on online speech, the Parliament’s Committee on Subordinate Legislation has asked for greater clarity and definition on terms which can serve as grounds for restrictions.

The article by Prashant Jha was published in the Hindu on April 1, 2013. Pranesh Prakash is quoted.

In 2011, the government issued Intermediary Guidelines under Section 79 of the Information Technology (IT) Act. Rule 3 requires intermediaries – including Internet Service Providers (ISPs), web hosts, cyber cafes, blogging platforms, search engines and others – to inform users not to ‘host, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit or share information’ that is ‘grossly harmful, harassing, blasphemous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, paedophilic, libellous, invasive of another’s privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically objectionable, disparaging, or otherwise unlawful in any manner whatsoever.’ Any person aggrieved by the content can ask intermediaries to take it down, and if they do not do so within 36 hours, they can be legally liable.

‘Remove ambiguities’

The committee has heeded the views of NGOs that these terms have not been defined either in the IT Act or the rules. In a report submitted on March 21, it has drawn the attention of the Ministry of Communication and IT to the ‘reported misuse’ of Section 66A of the IT Act in the absence of precise definitions, and said it was important to remove ‘ambiguities/misgivings in the minds of people.’

In its report, the committee, chaired by MP P. Karunakaran, suggested that the definition of those terms in other laws be incorporated in one place for the ‘convenience of reference’ of intermediaries and general public. It has added that those terms not mentioned in other laws be defined in a way that ‘no new category of crimes or offences is created in the process of delegated legislation.’ The committee said it expected the Ministry to have a fresh look at the guidelines and ‘make amendments to ensure there is no ambiguity.’

Highlighting the significance of the committee’s directive not to create new offences, Pranesh Prakash of the Centre for Internet and Society said that this was recognition that ‘many categories of speech prohibited by the Intermediary Guidelines Rules are not prohibited by the statute, and hence cannot be prohibited by the government through these rules.’

‘Conflicting picture’

The committee has also pointed out that there was a ‘conflicting picture’ regarding the ‘legal enforceability’ of these guidelines. In its response, the Ministry told the committee that these are of ‘advisory’ nature; it is not ‘mandatory’ for the intermediary to disable information and this does not amount to ‘censorship.’ But the rules state the intermediary ‘shall act’ within 36 hours of complaint.

The committee said there was a need for ‘clarity on the aforesaid contradictions,’ particularly on the process of ‘take down of content,’ and install ‘safeguards to protect against any abuse during such process.’

Mr. Prakash of CIS said that this had exposed the ‘government’s Janus-faced stance on the issue of mandatory nature of these rules.’

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/the-hindu-april-1-2013-prashant-jha-clarify-and-define-terms-in-it-rules-panel-tells-govt

2nd Odia Wikipedia Edit-a-thon

praskrishna — 2013-04-01T10:17:22Z

The event is being organized today, April 1, 2013 online by the Odia Wikipedia Community, from 10.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m. The Centre for Internet and Society is supporting this event.

Click to read about the event on Facebook

"ଓଡ଼ିଶା ଦିବସ - ୨୦୧୩" ଉପଲକ୍ଷେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆରେ ମିଳିତ ଗଣ-ସମ୍ପାଦନା ତଥା ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ସହ "ଅନଲାଇନ ଓଡ଼ିଶା ଦିବସ ପାଳନ" . ଏହି ଦିନ ଆମେ କଣ କରିବୁ: ସକାଳ ୧୦ ଘଟିକାରୁ ନେଇ ସନ୍ଧ୍ୟା ୭ ଘଟିକା ଭିତରେ ଆମେମାନେ ନିଜ ନିଜର ଗାଁ, ପଞ୍ଚାୟତ, ସ‌ହର ଉପରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆରେ ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗମାନ ତିଆରି କରିବୁ । କେମିତି ତିଆରିକରିବେ ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗ:

୧. http://or.wikipedia.org/s/ 8b -> ଏହି ଲିଙ୍କଙ୍କୁ ଯାଇ ଉପରେ ଥିବେ "Type in Odia" କୁ ଯାଇ "Enable (Ctrl-M)" ରେ କ୍ଲିକ କରନ୍ତୁ । ଖୋଜିବା ପାଇଁ ଥିବା ଘରେ ନିଜ ଗାଁର ନାମ ଟାଇପ କରନ୍ତୂ ।

This ia a mass article writing event or Edit-a-thon on the occasion of "Odisha Dibasa -2013". We are inviting you to join and take part in creating articles about your villages, Grama Pachayata, Block on Odia Wikipedia.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/odia-wikipedia-editathon

Access to Knowledge Bulletin — March 2013

praskrishna — 2013-04-15T16:47:20Z

In the third issue of our newsletter for 2013, we are pleased to bring you updates from the Indic Wikipedia Visualisation project, reports of events organised in Goa, and press coverage of the Kannada Wikipedia Workshop held in Mysore.

The A2K team consists of four members based in Delhi: T. Vishnu Vardhan, Nitika Tandon, Subhashish Panigrahi and Noopur Raval, and one member Dr. U.B. Pavanaja who is working from Bangalore office.

Wikipedians from various communities can request for outreach programs, technical bugs, logistics-merchandize and media, public relations and communications at http://bit.ly/TOcXId.

Indic Wikipedia Visualisation Project

Visualising Basic Parameters (by Sajjad Anwar and Sumandro Chattapadhyay, March 26, 2013): Sajjad and Sumandro bring you a visualisation of the growth of Indic Wikipedia in this first post on Indic Wikipedia Visualisation project.

Events Organised

Introductory Wikipedia session at BITS Goa (organised by CIS, Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani, Goa, March 7, 2013). The Access to Knowledge team was invited by Nikhil Dixit from BITS to organise a Wikipedia editing session. Nitika Tandon led the editing session.
Kannada Wikipedia Workshop (organised by CIS, Institution of Engineers, JLB Road, Mysore, March 24, 2013). Dr. U.B. Pavanaja led the event.

Events Co-organised

Wiki Women's Day in Goa (organised by the Wikimedia India Chapter and CIS, Nirmala Institute of Education, Panaji, Goa, March 8, 2013). Nitika Tandon participated in this workshop held on International Working Women's Day, and shares the developments in this report.
Wikipedia Workshop for Kannada Science Writers (organised by Wikimedia Chapter India, Karnataka Rajya Vijnana Parishath and CIS, Karnataka Rajya Vijnana Parishath Conference Hall, Banashankari 2nd Stage, Bangalore, March 17, 2013). Dr. U.B. Pavanaja participated in the event.

Upcoming Event (Co-organised)

Telugu Wiki Mahotsavam 2013 (co-organised with the Telegu Wikipedia community, Hyderabad, April 9 to 11, 2013). Vishnu Vardhan is participating in this event as a speaker. A public event will be held on April 11 from 5.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m. at Golden Threshold (Sarojini Naidu's house) in Hyderabad.

Events Participated In

Wikipedia Women's Workshop Bangalore 2013 (organised by Wikimedia India, Servelots Infotech, Jayanagar, Bangalore, March 8, 2013). The event was covered by Kannada Prabha on March 9, 2013. Dr. U.B. Pavanaja participated in the event.
Wikipedia at Avenir (organised by the Wikipedia community, Netaji Subhash Engineering College, Kolkata, West Bengal, March 11, 2013). CIS supported the event.

Event Report from Other Organisations

Wikipedia Community members helped the Higher Education Innovation and Research Applications Programme (HEIRA) of CSCS Bangalore organize a day-long workshop on ‘Digital Literacy’ at Ahmednagar College, Ahmednagar, Maharasthra on January 17, 2013. Tanveer Hasan of HEIRA shares with us the developments in this report.

Media Coverage

Kannada Wikipedia Workshop, Mysore (Prajavani, March 25, 2013).

About CIS

CIS was registered as a society in Bangalore in 2008. As an independent, non-profit research organisation, it runs different policy research programmes such as Accessibility, Access to Knowledge, Openness, Internet Governance, and Telecom. The policy research programmes have resulted in outputs such as the e-Accessibility Policy Handbook for Persons with Disabilities with ITU and G3ict, and Digital Alternatives with a Cause?, Thinkathon Position Papers and the Digital Natives with a Cause? Report with Hivos, etc. We have conducted policy research for the Ministry of Communications & Information Technology, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, etc., on WIPO Treaties, Copyright Bill, NIA Bill, etc.

CIS is accredited as an observer at WIPO. CIS staff participates in the Standing Committee for Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) meetings regularly held in Geneva, and participate in the discussions and comments on them from a public interest perspective. Our Policy Director, Nirmita Narasimhan won the National Award for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities from the Government of India and also received the NIVH Excellence Award.

Follow us elsewhere

Get short, timely messages from us on Twitter
Join the CIS group on Facebook
Visit us at http://cis-india.org

Support Us

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.

Request for Collaboration

We invite researchers, practitioners, and theoreticians, both organisationally and as individuals, to collaboratively engage with Internet and society and improve our understanding of this new field. To discuss the research collaborations, write to Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, at sunil@cis-india.org or Nishant Shah, Director – Research, at nishant@cis-india.org

CIS is grateful to its donors, Wikimedia Foundation, Ford Foundation, Privacy International, UK, Hans Foundation and the Kusuma Trust which was founded by Anurag Dikshit and Soma Pujari, philanthropists of Indian origin, for its core funding and support for most of its projects.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/access-to-knowledge-bulletin-march-2013

March 2013 Bulletin

praskrishna — 2013-04-14T11:45:29Z

The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) welcomes you to the third issue of its newsletter for the year 2013. In this issue we bring you an overview of our research programs, updates of events organised by us, events we participated in, news and media coverage, and videos of some of our recent events.

Jobs
CIS invites applications for the posts of Developer (NVDA Screen Reader Project), Programme Officer (Access to Knowledge and Openness), and Programme Officer (Internet Governance). To apply send your resume to sunil@cis-india.org and pranesh@cis-india.org.

Accessibility

CIS is doing two projects in partnership with the Hans Foundation. One of this is to create a national resource kit of state-wise laws, policies and programmes on issues relating to persons with disabilities in India and another is for developing a screen reader and text-to- speech synthesizer for Indian languages. CIS is also working with the World Blind Union and many other organisations to develop a Treaty for the Visually Impaired helped by the WIPO:

National Resource Kit for Persons with Disabilities
Anandhi Viswanathan from CIS and Manojna Yeluri from the Centre for Law and Policy Research are working in this project. Draft chapters have been published. Feedback and comments are invited from readers for the chapters on Lakshadweep, Meghalaya and Uttar Pradesh:

The Lakshadweep Chapter (by Anandhi Viswanathan, March 25, 2013): The union territory of Lakshadweep has not passed any legislation for persons with disabilities, but implements the provisions under the central laws. The benefits currently available to persons with disabilities in Lakshadweep include disability pension, unemployment allowance and grant for setting up kiosks.
The Meghalaya Chapter (by Manojna Yeluri, March 25, 2013): Meghalaya is one of the few north-eastern states, which has appointed a Commissioner for Disabilities. Most of the schemes and benefits given to persons with disabilities in Meghalaya are under centrally sponsored schemes. Very few schemes are initiated by the state government.
The Uttar Pradesh Chapter (by Manojna Yeluri, March 31, 2013): The Government of Uttar Pradesh has established shelter homes and vocational training centres in several parts of the states — most recently in Meerut, Bareilly and Gorakhpur. It has also undertaken to finance nearly 4340 corrective surgeries for polio across nine cities of Uttar Pradesh. It also intends to start several projects in 2013. These include the establishment of a Braille Press in order to produce Braille books, magazines and other study material.

Resources
We now have a new section on our website which contains all government notifications, RTI applications, and accessibility related resources: cases, statutes, etc. The following were published earlier this month:

Information about Schemes for Disabled Persons in Haryana We received this notification on schemes and policies for persons with disabilities from the Government of Haryana.
Haryana Government Notification (Hindi version): The notification that we received from the state government was in Hindi. We will put up the English translation soon.
West Bengal (Govt) Notifications: We received a series of notifications from the West Bengal Government from its various departments such as finance, higher education, transport, health and family welfare, labour, land and land reforms, panchayats and rural development, etc. OCR versions of the same have been published.
Lakshadweep (Govt) Notifications: Notifications received from the Lakshadweep Government including guidelines for functioning of KIOSKS, grant of unemployment allowance and special jobs to persons with disabilities, issuing identity card to persons with disabilities for availing government benefits, etc., are published. OCR versions have also been put up.

Event Participated In

A Discussion on Intercept between UNCRPD & CEDAW (organized by the Shanta Memorial Institute of Rehabilitation – Odisha, CBR Network and Mitra Jyoti, Bangalore, Karnataka, February 4, 2013): Anandhi Viswanathan participated in this event.

Access to Knowledge and Openness

The Wikimedia Foundation awarded CIS a two year grant of INR 26,000,000 to support and develop the growth of Indic language communities and projects by community collaborations and partnerships. This is being carried out by the Access to Knowledge team based in Delhi. CIS is also doing a project (Pervasive Technologies) on examining the relationship between production of pervasive technologies and intellectual property. CIS also promotes openness including open government data, open standards, open access, and free/libre/open source software through its Openness programme.

Wikipedia

Beginning from September 1, 2012, Wikimedia Foundation awarded CIS a two-year grant of INR 26,000,000 to support and develop free knowledge in India. The A2K team consists of four members based in Delhi: T. Vishnu Vardhan, Nitika Tandon, Subhashish Panigrahi and Noopur Raval, and one team member Dr. U.B. Pavanaja who is working from Bangalore office.

Indic Wikipedia Visualisation Project

Visualising Basic Parameters (by Sajjad Anwar and Sumandro Chattapadhyay, March 26, 2013): Sajjad and Sumandro bring you a visualisation of the growth of Indic Wikipedia in this first post on Indic Wikipedia Visualisation project. They look into the different aspects of the past and present activities of Indic Wikipedias, and divide the visualisation into three different focus areas: (1) basic parameters, (2) geographic patterns of edits, and (3) exploring the topics that receives the greatest number of edits.

Events Organised

Introductory Wikipedia session at BITS Goa (organised by CIS, Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani, Goa, March 7, 2013). The Access to Knowledge team was invited by Nikhil Dixit from BITS to organise a Wikipedia editing session. Nitika Tandon led the session on IP editing.
Kannada Wikipedia Workshop (organised by CIS, Institution of Engineers, JLB Road, Mysore, March 24, 2013). Dr. U.B. Pavanaja led this workshop.

Events Co-organised

Wiki Women's Day in Goa (organised by the Wikimedia India Chapter and CIS, Nirmala Institute of Education, Panaji, Goa, March 8, 2013). Nitika Tandon participated in this workshop held on International Working Women's Day, and shares the developments in this report.
Wikipedia Workshop for Kannada Science Writers (organised by Wikimedia India Chapter, Karnataka Rajya Vijnana Parishath and CIS, Karnataka Rajya Vijnana Parishath Conference Hall, Banashankari 2nd Stage, Bangalore, March 17, 2013). Dr. U.B. Pavanaja participated in the event.

Upcoming Event

Telugu Wiki Mahotsavam 2013 (co-organised with the Telegu Wikipedia community, Hyderabad, April 9 to 11, 2013). Vishnu Vardhan is participating in this event as a speaker. A public event will be held on April 11 from 5.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m. at Golden Threshold (Sarojini Naidu's house) in Hyderabad.

Events Participated

Wikipedia Women's Workshop Bangalore 2013 (organised by Wikimedia India, Servelots Infotech, Jayanagar, Bangalore, March 8, 2013). The event was covered by Kannada Prabha on March 9, 2013. Dr. U.B. Pavanaja participated in the event.
Wikipedia at Avenir (organised by the Wikipedia community, Netaji Subhash Engineering College, Kolkata, West Bengal, March 11, 2013). CIS supported this event.

Event Report from Other Organisations
Wikipedia Community members helped the Higher Education Innovation and Research Applications Programme (HEIRA) of CSCS Bangalore to organize a day-long workshop on ‘Digital Literacy’ at Ahmednagar College, Ahmednagar, Maharasthra on January 17, 2013. Tanveer Hasan of HEIRA shares with us the developments in this report.

Other Openness Updates

Event Report

Iraqi Public Data Scenario Workshop: A Summary (by Sumandro Chattapadhyay, March 26, 2013): A workshop on public data was conducted by Sunil Abraham and Sumandro Chattapadhyay for the officials of the Government of Iraq. It was organized by UNDP Iraq in Amman, Jordan from October 18 to 23, 2012. Sumandro Chattapadhyay shares with us the developments from the workshop held over five days.

Event Participated

Open DataCamp - 2013 (organized by Open Data Camp, Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram (inside Christ University Campus), Dairy Circle, Bangalore, March 2 and 3, 2013): Sunil Abraham was a panelist.

HasGeek
HasGeek creates discussion spaces for geeks and has organised conferences like the Fifth Elephant, Droidcon India 2011, Android Camp, etc. HasGeek is supported by CIS and works from the CIS office in Bengaluru.

Upcoming Events

Pig Workshop (organized by HasGeek, Alchemy Solutions, Domlur, Bangalore, 9.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m.): A workshop on how to use Pig for mining useful information from data. It is open to programmers who have a background in Java programming, some familiarity with Hadoop and MapReduce algorithms, and have worked with large chunks of data.
The Fifth Elephant 2013 (organized by HasGeek, July 11 to 13, 2013, NIMHANS Convention Centre, Bangalore).

Internet Governance

The Internet Governance programme conducts research around the various social, technical, and political underpinnings of global and national Internet governance, and includes online privacy, freedom of speech, and Internet governance mechanisms and processes. Currently, CIS is doing a project with Privacy International, London to facilitate research and events around surveillance, and freedom of speech and expression.

Privacy

Policy

Draft Human DNA Profiling Bill (April 2012): High Level Concerns (by Elonnai Hickok, March 12, 2013). The post examines the high level concerns that CIS has with the April 2012 draft of the Bill.
Human DNA Profiling Bill 2012 Analysis (by Jeremy Gruber, Council for Responsible Genetics, US, March 19, 2013). Jeremy provides an analysis of the Human DNA Profiling Bill, 2012. He says that India’s updated 2012 Human DNA Profiling Bill offers largely superficial changes from its predecessor, the Draft DNA Profiling Bill, 2007.

The Privacy (Protection) Bill 2013: A Citizen's Draft (by Bhairav Acharya, March 26, 2013). Bhairav Acharya has drafted the Privacy (Protection) Bill 2013. It contains provisions that speak to data protection, interception, and surveillance and also establishes the powers and functions of the Privacy Commissioner, and lays out offenses and penalties for contravention of the Bill. The Bill represents a citizen's version of possible privacy legislation for India, and will be shared with key stakeholders including civil society, industry, and government.

Upcoming Events

A Privacy Round Table in Delhi (organized by CIS and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, FICCI Federation House, Tansen Marg, New Delhi, April 3, 2013).
A Privacy Round Table in Bangalore (organized by CIS and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Jayamahal Palace, Jayamahal Road, Bangalore, April 20, 2013).

Event Organized

Analyzing the Draft Human DNA Profiling Bill 2012 (organized by the Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore, March 1, 2013): Maria Xynou shares a summary of the workshop in this report.

Events Participated In

Global Partners Meeting @ London (organized by Privacy International, London School of Economics and Political Science, March 22 – 25, 2013). Sunil Abraham and Malavika Jayaram participated in the event.
India’s Civil Liberties Crisis: Of Bans, Blocks, Bullying and Biometrics (organized by the Center for Global Communication Studies, Annenberg School of Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, March 28, 2013). Malavika Jayaram participated as a speaker.
Future of Privacy in India (organized by DSCI and ICOMP, Oberoi Hotel, New Delhi, April 5, 2013). Sunil Abraham is a speaker at this event.

Blog Posts

Hacking without borders: The future of artificial intelligence and surveillance (by Maria Xynou, March 15, 2013). In this post, Maria looks at some of DARPA´s artificial intelligence surveillance technologies in regards to the right to privacy and their potential future use in India.
Driving in the Surveillance Society: Cameras, RFID tags and Black Boxes... (by Maria Xynou, March 26, 2013). Maria examines red light cameras, RFID tags and black boxes used to monitor vehicles in India.
Microsoft Releases its First Report on Data Requests by Law Enforcement Agencies around the World (by Maria Xynou, March 27, 2013). CIS presents Microsoft´s report on law enforcement requests, with a focus on data requested by Indian law enforcement agencies.
The Criminal Law Amendment Bill 2013 — Penalising 'Peeping Toms' and Other Privacy Issues (by Divij Joshi, March 31, 2013). The pending amendments to the Indian Penal Code, if passed in their current format, would be a huge boost for individual physical privacy by criminalising stalking and sexually-tinted voyeurism and removing the ambiguities in Indian law which threaten the privacy and dignity of individuals.

IT Act

Featured Blog Post

CIS Welcomes Standing Committee Report on IT Rules (by Pranesh Prakash, March 27, 2013). CIS welcomes the report by the Standing Committee on Subordinate Legislation, in which it has lambasted the government and has recommended that the government amend the Rules it passed in April 2011 under section 79 of the Information Technology Act. The post was quoted in: The Times of India (March 28, 2013), The Statesman (March 28, 2013), Economic Times (March 28, 2013), Data Quest (March 28, 2013), and The Hindu (April 1, 2013).

Submissions
Bhairav Acharya, on behalf of CIS submitted comments to the Committee on Subordinate Legislation of the 15^th Lok Sabha for the following rules:

Comments on the Information Technology (Electronic Service Delivery) Rules, 2011. The Rules were notified by the Central Government in the Gazette of India vide Notification GSR 316(E) on April 11, 2011.
Comments on the Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information) Rules, 2011. The Rules were notified by the Central Government in the Gazette of India vide Notification GSR 313(E) on April 11, 2011.
Comments on the Information Technology (Guidelines for Cyber Cafe) Rules, 2011. The Rules were notified by the Central Government in the Gazette of India vide Notification GSR 315(E) on April 11, 2011.

Note: The above rules were submitted earlier but published on our website only recently.

Unique ID Project

Event Organized

Unique Identity Number (UID), National Population Register (NPR), and Governance (organized by CIS and Say No to UID Campaign, TERI, Bangalore, March 2, 2013): CIS interviewed Usha Ramanathan and Anant Maringanti. Watch the videos uploaded in this blog post by Maria Xynou. This was covered in newzfirst on March 3, 2013 and in the Hindu on March 3, 2013.

Interview

Unique Identification Scheme (UID) & National Population Register (NPR), and Governance (by Elonnai Hickok, March 14, 2013). The post examines the UID, NPR and Governance as it exists in India. A video on the UID interview Questions and Answers is published.

News and Media

Indian ID crisis unveils Aadhaar doubts (ZDNet, March 14, 2013). Sunil Abraham is quoted.
New $1 Billion RIC Project Casts Doubts on Aadhaar (AEG India, March 16, 2013). Sunil Abraham is quoted.

Blog Entry

India's Biometric Identification Programs and Privacy Concerns (by Divij Joshi, March 31, 2013).

Free Speech and Expression

News and Media

Foreign Funding of NGOs (by Prashant Reddy, Open Magazine, March 2, 2013).
Iceland’s proposed porn ban ‘like repression in Iran, N. Korea’ – activists (RT, March 1, 2013). Sunil Abraham is quoted.
Chidambaram to Talk Budget on Google+ Hangout (by Dhanya Ann Thoppil, Wall Street Journal, March 4, 2013). Sunil Abraham is quoted.
Responding to govt requests is a challenge for online firms: Colin Maclay (LiveMint, March 13, 2013). Colin M. Maclay, managing director of Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard mentioned CIS.
Indian police set up lab to monitor social media (originally published by AFP, March 18, 2013, and also carried in Global Post on the same day). Sunil Abraham is quoted.
Namaste, Mr. Eric Schmidt (by R. Jai Krishna, Wall Street Journal, March 20, 2013). Sunil Abraham is quoted.
Parliament panel blasts govt over ambiguous internet laws (by Ishan Srivastava, The Times of India, March 28, 2013). Pranesh Prakash is quoted.
What if the Net shut down for a few days (by Atul Sethi, The Times of India, March 30, 2013). Sunil Abraham is quoted.
Press controls ‘send wrong message to rest of world’ (by Jerome Starkey from Johannesburg, Francis Elliott from Delhi and David Brown, The Times, UK).

Event Organized

Freedom Song: Film Screening and Discussion (IIHS Bangalore City Campus, March 21, 2013). Freedom Song, a documentary film produced by the Public Service Broadcasting Trust and directed by Paranjoy Guha Thakurta and Subi Chaturvedi was screened.

Events Participated In

Is Social Media Incredible? (organized by Indian Institute of Journalism & New Media, Bangalore, March 2, 2013). Snehashish Ghosh participated in a panel discussion. The New Indian Express published a post-event report.
Rethinking the Internet: The Way Forward (organized by Telecom Italia and Financial iTimes, Telecom Italia Future Centre, Italy, March 21 – 22, 2013). Pranesh Prakash participated in this event.

Others

Events Organised

DML 2013: Fourth Annual Conference (co-organised by CIS and Digital Media & Learning Research Hub Central, Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers - Chicago, Illinois, March 14 – 16, 2013). We had a special track that ran through the conference on "Whose Change Is It Anyway? Futures, Youth, Technology And Citizen Action In The Global South (And The Rest Of The World)". Noopur Raval was one of the 16 presenters that we had selected on the tracks. Nishant Shah was one of the members in the Conference Committee.

Blog Posts

WGIG+8: Stock-Taking, Mapping, and Going Forward (Fontenoy Building, conference room # 7, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, February 27, 2013). Pranesh Prakash was the moderator for the session. A summary of the discussion has been published.
What’s In a Name? — DNS Singularity of ICANN and the Gold Rush (by Sharath Chandra Ram, March 31, 2013). March 2013 being the 28th birthday of the first ever registered Internet domain as well as the exigent launch of the Trademark Clearing House disguised as a milestone in rights protection by ICANN for its new gTLD program, Sharath Chandra Ram, dissects the transitory role of ICANN from being a technical outfit to the Boardroom Big Brother of Internet Governance.
An Introduction to Bitfilm & Bitcoin in Bangalore, India (by Benson Samuel, March 12, 2013). Video of the event organized by CIS on January 23, 2013 is published in this blog post.

Knowledge Repository on Internet Access

CIS in partnership with the Ford Foundation is executing a project on Internet Access. It covers the history of the internet, technologies involved, principle and values of internet access, broadband market and universal access and will touch upon various polices and regulations which has an impact on internet access and bodies and mechanism which are responsible for formulation policies related to internet access. The blog posts and modules will be published in a new website: www.internet-institute.in.

Upcoming Event
We are hosting an “Institute on Internet and Society” in collaboration with the Ford Foundation India, which is to be held from June 8, 2013 to June 14, 2013. Call for registration and relevant details will be announced soon on our website.

The following units have been published:

Internet Protocols (by Srividya Vaidyanathan, March 18, 2013).
How email works, how do you get your email? Email Protocols (SMTP, POP, IMAP), SPAM/Phishing (by Srividya Vaidyanathan, March 19, 2013).
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (by Snehashish Ghosh, March 19, 2013).
ITU sectors — ITU-R, ITU-T, ITU-D, etc. (by Snehashish Ghosh, March 27, 2013).
World Conference on International Telecommunications 2012 (by Snehashish Ghosh, March 29, 2013).

Telecom

CIS is involved in promoting access and accessibility of 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:

Newspaper Column

Are India's Glory Days Over? (by Shyam Ponappa, Organizing India Blogspot, March 8, 2013, originally published in the Business Standard, March 6, 2013).

Digital Natives

Digital Natives with a Cause? examines the changing landscape of social change and political participation in light of the role that young people play through digital and Internet technologies, in emerging information societies. Consolidating knowledge from Asia, Africa and Latin America, it builds a global network of knowledge partners who critically engage with discourse on youth, technology and social change, and look at alternative practices and ideas in the Global South:

Events Participated In

Video Vortex # 9 Re:assemblies of Video (organized by the Institute of Network Cultures, Post Media Lab, Moving Image Lab, Leuphana, et.al, February 28 – March 2, 2013). Nishant Shah gave the key note. Videos of the event are published.

Digital Humanities

From 2012 to 2015, the Researchers @ Work series is focusing on building research clusters in the field of Digital Humanities. We organised the first Habits of Living workshops in Bangalore last year. The next workshop is being held in Brown University

Event Co-organised

Habits of Living: Networked Affects, Glocal Effects (co-organised with Brown University, March 21 – 23, 2013, Brown University, Rhode Island). Nishant Shah was a speaker at this event. He made a presentation on network ontologies.

Event Participated

Korean Trans Cine-Media in Global Contexts: Asia and the World (organized by Trans-Asia Screen Culture Institute, Cinema Studies, Korean National University of Arts, Korean Film Archive and Tsubouchi Memorial Theatre Museum, Waseda University, Seoul, March 27 – 29, 2013). Nishant Shah was a speaker at this event. He spoke on "The Asian Intercourse: Reimagining the Inter-Asia moment through ‘net-porn’ in networks".

About CIS

The Centre for Internet and Society is a non-profit research organization that works on policy issues relating to freedom of expression, privacy, accessibility for persons with disabilities, access to knowledge and IPR reform, and openness (including open government, FOSS, open standards, etc.), and engages in academic research on digital natives and digital humanities.

Follow us elsewhere

Get short, timely messages from us on Twitter
Join the CIS group on Facebook
Visit us at http://cis-india.org

Support Us

Request for Collaboration

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/march-2013-bulletin