Centre for Internet and Society

Odia Wikimedia community celebrated Odisha day, bringing 14 copyright free Odia books

praskrishna — 2014-04-04T12:25:46Z

Odia Wikimedia community has celebrated “Odisha day” today at Jayadev Bhawan. Inaugurating this event eminent linguist Padmashree Dr. Debiprasanna Pattanayak said, 'Collaborative effort and open access to knowledge repositories will enrich our language an culture'.

This was published in Odishadiary on March 29, 2014.

Odia Wikipedia has been trying to popularize use of Odia language in the Internet since 2002.

To enrich the online encyclopedia and getting more books digitized Wikipedians are organizing a two day event. Along with Dr. Debiprasanna Pattanayak, Professor Udayanath Sahu, The Odisha Review's editor Dr. Lenin Mohanty, Odisha Bhaskar's editor Pradosh Pattnaik, language researcher Subrat Prusty, Kalinga Institute of Social Science (KISS)'s principal Dr. Madan Mohan Sahu, Manik-Biswanath Smrutinyasa's chairman Allhadmohini Mohanty along with the trust's secretary Brajamohan Patnaik and senior members Sarojkanta Choudhury and Shisira Ranjan Dash.

11 volumes of eminent Odia writer Dr. Jagannath Mohanty were released in free Creative Commons licenses. KISS will be digitizing these books by training their students. Allhadmohini Mohanty formally gave written permission to Odia Wikimedia community for releasing and digitizing these books. Guests released a DVD containing a new Odia Unicode free font designed by OdiaLanguage.com, a new Odia input tool, free softwares and offline Wikipedia.

It was declared that the Odia WikiSource project will be active soon. Odia Wikipedia admin Mrutyunjaya Kar gave the inaugural speech. Subhashish Panigrahi from the Centre for Internet and Society read the annual report and vision of Odia Wikipedia. Chief guest Dr. Debiprasanna Pattanayak discussed about the efforts being laid for bringing Odia language as the sixth Indian classical language. Majority of the Odia publications are not available on the internet and readers are devoid of easily accessible. He discussed about the process of digitization for preserving valuable books that are out of print and the old palm lead manuscripts.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/orissa-diary-march-29-2014-odia-wikimedia-community-celebrated-odisha-day-bringing-14-copyright-free-odia-books

Odia Wikipedia Brings 14 Copyright Free Odia Books and a Free Odia Font

praskrishna — 2014-04-06T06:18:22Z

Odia Wikimedia community has celebrated "Odisha Day" today at Jayadev Bhawan.

Subhashish Panigrahi from the Centre for Internet and Society read the annual report and shared the vision of the Wikimedia movement.

Read the complete story published by Odishabarta on March 29, 2014 here.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/odishabarta-march-29-2014-odia-wikipedia-brings-14-copyright-free-odia-books-and-free-odia-font

‘Digitisation only way to preserve valuable literature for posterity’

praskrishna — 2014-04-04T12:40:33Z

Digitization is the only way to ensure preservation of valuable Odia books and old palm-leaf manuscripts for posterity, said eminent linguist Padmashri Dr Debiprasanna Pattanayak while inaugurating the two-day Odisha Day celebration organized by the Odia Wikimedia Community at Jayadev Bhawan here today.

The article was published in Odisha Sun Times on March 29, 2014. Subhashish Panigrahi is quoted.

“Collaborative effort and open access to knowledge repositories can help enrich our language and culture”, Dr. Pattanayak said while taking part in the deliberations. He lamented the fact that the majority of current Odia publications are not available on the net.

Among others, Prof Udayanath Sahu, the editor of Odisha Review Lenin Mohanty, editor, Odisha Bhaskar, Pradosh Pattnaik, language researcher, Subrat Prusty from Kalinga Institute of Social Science (KISS) and principal Dr Madan Mohan Sahu, Allhadmohini Mohanty, chairman, Manik-Biswanath Smrutinyasa along with the Trust’s secretary Brajamohan Patnaik, senior members Sarojkanta Choudhury and Shisira Ranjan Dash took part in the deliberations.

11 volumes of eminent Odia writer Dr Jagannath Mohanty were released in free Creative Commons licenses. Besides, a DVD containing a new Odia Unicode free font designed by www.OdiaLanguage.com a new Odia input tool, free software and offline Wikipedia were also released on the occasion.

KISS will digitize these books by training its students, the organisers said.

Odia Wikipedia admin Mrutyunjaya Kar gave the inaugural speech while Subhashish Panigrahi from the Centre for Internet and Society read out the annual report and the vision of Odia Wikipedia.

It was announced that the Odia WikiSource project will be activated soon.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/odishasuntimes-march-29-2014-digitisation-only-way-to-preserve-valuable-literature-for-posterity

Telugu Wikipedia at JNTUACEP

praskrishna — 2014-04-15T11:13:00Z

CIS along with the Department of Computer Science, JNTUACEP invite you to a Telugu Wikipedia workshop on March 28, 2014.

Rahmanuddin Shaik, Program Officer from CIS-A2K participates in the event as a speaker.

10.00 10.30	సుస్వాగతం మరియు పరిచయం
10.30 15.00	వికీపీడియా ఒక అవగాహన, వికీపీడియా ఎలాపనిచేస్తుంది ?
15.00 15.30	వికీపీడియా ప్రదర్శన+ వికీలో రాయడం (hands on activity)
15.30 15.45	తేనీటి విరామం
15.45 18.15	Basics of Wikipedia Editing (Hands on activity) – LAB SESSION- వికీలో రాయడం ఎలా మొదలుపెట్టాలి, వనరుల ఉపయోగం
18.15 18.30	Feedback and Closing Session

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/events/telugu-wiki-jntuacep

Governance issues for private data stores

praskrishna — 2014-04-04T10:30:23Z

Malavika Jayaram is a speaker at this event co-hosted by Harvard Faculty Club and Web Science Trust at 20 Quincy Street, Cambridge on March 28, 2014.

Agenda

8.30: Introductory remarks - Meeting in the shadow of the Presidents 90 day plan for Big Data and Privacy: are we right to have a hopeful expectation that algorithms can resolve questions that algorithms pose?

Prof. Jim Waldo, CTO, Harvard University, Sun Distinguished Engineer

Prof. Andreas Weigend, Stanford University (past Chief Scientist Amazon)

8.45 - 10.00: The network is always on: and you are always on the network.

The worker and the workplace - Anna Burger (past Secretary Treasurer, SEIU)/Carol Rose, Director Ma., ACLU
Personalised messages - targeted advertising - George Pappachen (WPP) /Mike Smith (Hearst Corpn.)
Sensor sensibility:Smart metering/Transport/Home - Yves Alexandre de Montjoye, MIT /John Taysom
Personal medicine - John Wilbanks, Chief Commons Officer, Sage Bionetworks, Senior Fellow, Ewing
Marion Kaufman Foundation
Education - Prof. Jim Waldo, CTO Harvard
National Security - Dr. Malavika Jayaram, Berkman Centre, Harvard, The Indian national id system.

10.00-10.15: Coffee

10.15 - 11.30: The dual nature of the web - publisher and data gatherer

Is the problem a web protocol problem? Is there a protocol solution?
Brendan Eich, CEO Mozilla
Steve MacBeath Product Lead, Microsoft Personal Cloud
John Taysom, Can we build a DMZ for individual id information?

11.30 - 12.30: Governance systems for private data stores - what wont work, and what might?

An example of multi-generational national asset management : Sir Henry Studholme, Chair, UK Forestry Commission.
Mozilla.com and Mozilla.org - Denelle Dixon-Thayer, GC Mozilla
DigiTrust - Jordan Mitchell

12.30: working lunch: Privacy as a competitive advantage

The Microsoft view - Steve MacBeath
The Mozilla view - Brendan Eich
The SalesForce view - JPRangaswami, Chief Scientist, Salesforce.com

1.30 - 2.15: Essential additional policy considerations

Is “privacy” anyway the wrong target - did we really mean “intimacy”? Dorothy Zinberg, Harvard/ How would we police privacy policies anyway? Adam Towvim, TrustLayers
AOB from the floor

2.15 - 2.30: Interim Conclusions - John Taysom

2.30 - 3.00: Discussion and critique of interim conclusions - Prof. Nico Mele, Harvard/ Prof. Dame Wendy Hall, WST

3.00- 3.30: Conclusions and proposed draft recommendations - J Taysom

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/governance-issues-for-private-data-stores

Enabling Elections

praskrishna — 2014-03-28T08:39:56Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/enabling-elections.pdf

Odisha Day 2014

praskrishna — 2014-04-08T04:39:56Z

CIS-A2K in collaboration with the Odia Wikipedia community is organizing this event on March 29, 2014 at Jayadev Bhawan, Bhubaneswar.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/events/odisha-day-2014

Cyber Dialogue Conference 2014

praskrishna — 2014-04-08T05:09:54Z

The Cyber Dialogue conference, presented by the Canada Centre for Global Security Studies at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto, will convene an influential mix of global leaders from government, civil society, academia and private enterprise to participate in a series of facilitated public plenary conversations and working groups around cyberspace security and governance.

Malavika Jayaram is participating in this event being held on March 30 and 31, 2014. Full event details here.

After Snowden, Whither Internet Freedom?

A recent stream of documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden has shed light on an otherwise highly secretive world of cyber surveillance. Among the revelations — which include details on mass domestic intercepts and covert efforts to shape and weaken global encryption standards — perhaps the most important for the future of global cyberspace are those concerning the way the U.S. government compelled the secret cooperation of American telecommunications, Internet, and social media companies with signals intelligence programs.

For American citizens, the NSA story has touched off soul-searching discussions about the legality of mass surveillance programs, whether they violate the Fourth and Fifth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, and whether proper oversight and accountability exist to protect American citizens' rights. But for the rest of the world, they lay bare an enormous “homefield advantage” enjoyed by the United States — a function of the fact that AT&T, Verizon, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo!, and many other brand name giants are headquartered in the United States.

Prior to the Snowden revelations, global governance of cyberspace was already at a breaking point. The vast majority of Internet users — now and into the future — are coming from the world’s global South, from regions like Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Of the six billion mobile phones on the planet, four billion of them are already located in the developing world. Notably, many of the fastest rates of connectivity to cyberspace are among the world’s most fragile states and/or autocratic regimes, or in countries where religion plays a major role in public life. Meanwhile, countries like Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, India, and others have been pushing for greater sovereign controls in cyberspace. While a US-led alliance of countries, known as the Freedom Online Coalition, was able to resist these pressures at the Dubai ITU summit and other forums like it, the Snowden revelations will certainly call into question the sincerity of this coalition. Already some world leaders, such as Brazil’s President Rousseff, have argued for a reordering of governance of global cyberspace away from U.S. controls.

For the fourth annual Cyber Dialogue, we are inviting a selected group of participants to address the question, “After Snowden, Whither Internet Freedom?” What are the likely reactions to the Snowden revelations going to be among countries of the global South? How will the Freedom Online Coalition respond? What is the future of the “multi-stakeholder” model of Internet governance? Does the “Internet Freedom” agenda still carry any legitimacy? What do we know about “other NSA’s” out there? What are the likely implications for rights, security, and openness in cyberspace of post-Snowden nationalization efforts, like those of Brazil’s?

As in previous Cyber Dialogues, participants will be drawn from a cross-section of government (including law enforcement, defence, and intelligence), the private sector, and civil society. In order to canvass worldwide reaction to the Snowden revelations, this year’s Cyber Dialogue will include an emphasis on thought leaders from the global South, including Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/cyber-dialogue-conference-2014

Sessions on Kannada Wikipedia at Tumkur University

praskrishna — 2014-04-06T04:50:42Z

Dr. U.B. Pavanaja conducted a session on Kannada Wikipedia for students of M.Sc. Library and Information Sciences followed by an advanced Kannada Wikipedia session for students of M.A. Literature on March 27, 2014. The event was organized by Tumkur University.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/sessions-on-kannada-wikipedia-tumkur-university

Odia Wikipedia to digitize 14 books

praskrishna — 2014-04-04T10:40:56Z

On the occasion of the 79th Odisha Day, the Odia Wikipedia has decided to take up a new project for the digitization of 11 books of the eminent Odia author Dr Jagannath Mohanty.

The article was published in the Odisha Sun Times Bureau on March 27, 2014. Subhashish Panigrahi is quoted.

On the occasion of the 79th Odisha Day, the Odia Wikipedia has decided to take up a new project for the digitization of 11 books of the eminent Odia author Dr Jagannath Mohanty.

In a release, programme officer (Access to Knowledge) of Centre for Internet and Society, Bengaluru Subhashish Panigrahi said the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) would take up the digitization project where KISS students would type them on WikiSource, a sister project of Wikipedia.

These books include children’s literature, travelogues and biographical essays penned by Dr Mohanty.

Digitization of three more books: two in Odia-”Jati, Jagruti O Pragati” (book on people and culture of Odisha), “Bhasa O Jatiyata in Odia” ( a book based on research on Odia language) and an English book on the literary heritage of Odia, “Classical Odia” will be also be inaugurated on this day.

All these digitised books will be made available on the Internet with open access through free licenses. More than 5000 pages will be digitized in these two projects, Panigrahi said.

He said several public and private organizations have started taking the effort seriously after Odia got classical status recently.

Stating that the Odia language is lagging behind since it is not being accessed and used by the people due to the relatively inadequate and low content, Panigrahi said there is a great need for making content available in regional languages for a better sharing of knowledge with the new generations.

With a view to discussing the need for many new tools and technological advancement, a seminar would be held at Jayadev Bhawan in the city here on March 29.

Prof Udayanath Sahu, writer Asit Mohanty, litterateur Dr Lenin Mohanty would participate and discuss about spell check for Odia, use of Odia language in the media and tools for typing in Odia.

It may be mentioned that the Odia Wikipedia has become a useful tool to access vast amount of knowledge in Odia.

Available for free at https://or.wikipedia.org , it is an online encyclopedia that has about 5000 articles. Unlike conventional encyclopedias anyone can create and edit Wikipedia articles by abiding few basic guidelines.

About 20 Wikipedians are contributing articles on diverse topics. Wikipedia has a self correcting mechanism of experienced editors guiding new ones to proofread and correct language and add citations.

So far, about 25 outreach programs have been organized in over 10 educational and community organizations to educate people \with two Wikipedia education programmes running for 3-4 months.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/odisha-sun-times-odia-wikipedia-digitize-14-books

ଓଡ଼ିଶା ଦିବସ: ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷା ଭିତ୍ତିରେ ରାଜ୍ୟ ଗଠନର ୭୯ ବର୍ଷ

praskrishna — 2014-04-08T08:30:47Z

ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆର ସମ୍ପାଦକମାନଙ୍କ ତରଫରୁ ଭୁବନେଶ୍ୱରଠାରେ ଏହି ୨୯ ତାରିଖରେ “ଓଡ଼ିଶା ଦିବସ ୨୦୧୪” ପାଳନ କରାଯାଉଛି ।

Click to read the original published in Odishan.com on March 27, 2014.

ଏହି ଦିନ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଶିଶୁ ସାହିତ୍ୟିକ ଡଃ ଜଗନ୍ନାଥ ମହାନ୍ତିଙ୍କ ୧୧ ଖଣ୍ଡ ପୁସ୍ତକର ଡିଜିଟାଲ ରୂପ ପ୍ରସ୍ତୁତ କରିବା ନିମନ୍ତେ ଏକ ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପର ଆରମ୍ଭ କରାଯିବ । ପାଖାପାଖି ୩୦୦୦ ପୃଷ୍ଠା ଡିଜିଟାଇଜ ହେବାକୁ ଥିବା ଏହି ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପଟି କଳିଙ୍ଗ ଇନଷ୍ଟିଚ୍ୟୁଟ ଅଫ ସୋସିଆଲ ସାଇନ୍ସେସ (କିସ) ତରଫରୁ ସ୍କୁଲ ପିଲାଙ୍କ ଦ୍ୱାରା ଛାତ୍ରଛାତ୍ରୀମାନଙ୍କ ଦ୍ୱାରା ଆଗାମୀ କିଛି ମାସ ଭିତରେ ଆରମ୍ଭ କରାଯିବ । ଏହି ବ‌ହିଗୁଡ଼ିକ ମଧ୍ୟରେ ରହିଛି କିଛି ଶିଶୁସାହିତ୍ୟ ବହି, ଡଃ ମହାନ୍ତିଙ୍କ ଆମୋଦଦାୟକ ଅନେକ ଭ୍ରମଣ କାହାଣୀ ଓ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଶିଶୁସାହିତ୍ୟର ଇତିହାସ । ଏହି ଦିନ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଅଧ୍ୟୟନ ଓ ଗବେଷଣା ସଂସ୍ଥା ଦ୍ୱାରା ପ୍ରକାଶିତ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷା ଓ ଜନଜୀବନର ସମ୍ପୂର୍ଣ୍ଣ ଇତିହାସ ସଂକଳିତ ତିନୋଟି ବହି-”ଜାତି, ଜାଗୃତି ଓ ପ୍ରଗତି”, “ଭାଷା ଓ ଜାତୀୟତା” ଓ ଏକ ଇଂରାଜୀ ବହି “Classical Odia”କୁ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ କରାଇବା ନିମନ୍ତେ ଆଉ ଏକ ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପର ଶୁଭାରମ୍ଭ କରାଯିବ । ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷାର ଅନେକ ପୁସ୍ତକ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ ନ ଥିବା ପାଠକମାନଙ୍କ ପାଇଁ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ତଥ୍ୟ ଖୋଜିବା ଓ ଜ୍ଞାନ ଆହରଣ ପାଇଁ ଏକ ବିଶାଳ ପ୍ରତିବନ୍ଧକ ବୋଲି ବିଶିଷ୍ଠ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷାବିଦ ପଦ୍ମଶ୍ରୀ ଡଃ ଦେବୀପ୍ରସାଦ ପଟ୍ଟନାୟକ କହିଛନ୍ତି । ଆଗରୁ ସୃଜନିକା ଅନୁଷ୍ଠାନ ତରଫରୁ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷାର ପାଖାପାଖି ୭୪୦ ଖଣ୍ଡ ପୁରାତନ ପୁସ୍ତକର ଡିଜିଟାଲ ସଂସ୍କରଣ ପ୍ରସ୍ତୁତ କରାଯାଇଥିଲେ ମଧ୍ୟ କେବଳ ସ୍କାନ କରାଯାଇଥିବା ଏହି ସମସ୍ତ ପୁସ୍ତକର ଲେଖାସବୁ ଖୋଜିବା ସମ୍ଭବ ନୁହେଁ । ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ତରଫରୁ ବିଭିନ୍ନ ଶିକ୍ଷାନୁଷ୍ଠାନର ଛାତ୍ରଛାତ୍ରୀମାନଙ୍କୁ ନେଇ କର୍ମଶାଳା ମାଧ୍ୟମରେ ଏହି ଉପାଦେୟ ବହିକୁ ପୁନଃ-ଟାଇପ କରି ମାଗଣାରେ ବିନା କପିରାଇଟରେ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ପାଠକମାନଙ୍କ ପାଇଁ ରଖାଯିବ । ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଏଥିନିମନ୍ତେ ଉଇକି-ପାଠାଗାର ନାମକ ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପ ବ୍ୟବହାର କରାଯିବ ।

ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଶାସ୍ତ୍ରୀୟ ଭାଷାର ମାନ୍ୟତା ପାଇବା ପରେ ସରକାର ଓ ଅନେକ ସଙ୍ଗଠନମାନଙ୍କ ତରଫରୁ ଭାଷାର ବିକାଶ ନିମନ୍ତେ ଅନେକ ନୂଆ ନୂଆ ଯୋଜନା ଆରମ୍ଭ ହୋଇଛି । ତେବେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷାର ଲେଖାମାନ ଏବେ ମଧ୍ୟ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଅନେକ ପରିମାଣରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ ଯାହା ବିଶ୍ୱଦରବାରରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆର ସ୍ଥିତିକୁ ଯଥେଷ୍ଟ ଦୁର୍ବଳ କରିରଖିଛି । ବର୍ତ୍ତମାନର ଅନେକ ଶିଶୁ କମ୍ପ୍ୟୁଟରରୁ ଶିଖିବା ପସନ୍ଦ କଲେଣି ଯାହା ଭାଷା ଶିକ୍ଷଣର ମାଧ୍ୟମରେ ବିରାଟ ପରିବର୍ତ୍ତନର ଆବଶ୍ୟକତାକୁ ଦୃଢ଼ୀଭୂତ କରିଛି । ଏହି ସମସ୍ତ ବିଷୟକୁ ଆଖିରେ ରଖି ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ କମ୍ପ୍ୟୁଟରରେ ବନାନ ସୁଧାରିବା, ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଗଣମାଧ୍ୟମରେ ଓ ଅନ୍ୟନ୍ୟ ମାଧ୍ୟମ ଭାଷାର ବିକାଶରେ କି କି ପଦଃକ୍ଷେପ ନେଇପାରିବେ ସେ ବାବଦରେ ପ୍ରଫେସର ଉଦୟନାଥ ସାହୁ, ବରିଷ୍ଠ ସାମ୍ବାଦିକ ସମ୍ପଦ ମହାପାତ୍ର, ଓଡ଼ିଶା ରିଭିଉ ପତ୍ରିକାର ସମ୍ପାଦକ ଓ ସାହିତ୍ୟିକ ଡଃ ଲେନିନ ମହାନ୍ତି ପ୍ରମୁଖ ଆଲୋଚନା କରିବେ ।

ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ or.wikipedia.org ଠାରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ ଏକ ଅନଲାଇନ ଜ୍ଞାନକୋଷ । ଏଥିରେ ଅନ୍ୟ ଜ୍ଞାନକୋଷ ଭଳି କିଛି ହାତଗଣତି ସମ୍ପାଦକ ନଥାଏ ଏଥିରେ ସମସ୍ତଙ୍କୁ ସମ୍ପାଦନାର ସୁବିଧା ଦିଆଯାଇଥାଏ । ତେବେ କେତେକ ନୀତିନିୟମ ଦ୍ୱାରା ଏଥିରେ ଅଦରକାରୀ ଲେଖା ସବୁକୁ ଅଭିଜ୍ଞ ସମ୍ପାଦକମାନେ ସୁଧାରିଥାନ୍ତି । ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଅଧୁନା ୨୦ ଜଣ ସମ୍ପାଦକ ସକ୍ରିୟ ଭାବେ ଓଡ଼ିଶାର ଭାଷା, କଳା, ଲୋକସଂସ୍କୃତି ଓ ଜଗତର ବାକି ଅନେକ ବିଷୟରେ ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗମାନ ସ୍ୱେଚ୍ଛାରେ ସମ୍ପାଦନା କରୁଛନ୍ତି । ୫୦୦୦ ଗୋଟି ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗରେ ସମୃଦ୍ଧ ପ୍ରଥମ ଭାରତୀୟ ଭାଷାର ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପ ଭାବେ ବାକି ତିନୋଟି ଭାଷା-ଅସମୀୟା, ପଞ୍ଜାବୀ ଓ ମାଲାୟାଲାମ ସହ ୨୦୦୨ରେ ଆରମ୍ଭ ହୋଇଥିଲା । ତେବେ ୯ରୁ ଅଧିକ ବର୍ଷ ଧରି ଏହା ସମ୍ପାଦକଙ୍କ ଅଭାବରୁ ସ୍ଥାଣୂ ହୋଇ ରହିଥିଲା । ୨୦୧୧ରେ କିଛି ଯୁବା ଏହାକୁ ଆଉଥରେ ସକ୍ରିୟ କରିଥିଲେ । ତା’ପରଠାରୁ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ୧୦ରୁ ଅଧିକ ଶିକ୍ଷାନୁଷ୍ଠାନ ଓ ବିଭିନ୍ନ ସହରରେ ୨୦ରୁ ଅଧିକ କର୍ମଶାଳାମାନ କରିସାରିଛି । ଏହି କାର୍ଯ୍ୟକ୍ରମର ଦ୍ୱିତୀୟ ଅଧିବେଶନରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ସମ୍ପାଦନା କରିବାକୁ ଆଗ୍ରହୀ ବ୍ୟକ୍ତିମାନଙ୍କ ନିମନ୍ତେ ଏକ କର୍ମଶାଳାର ଆୟୋଜନ ମଧ୍ୟ କରାଯାଇଛି ।

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/odishan-march-27-2014-odisha-day-2014

Panel Discussion – Intermediary Liability & Freedom of Expression in India

praskrishna — 2014-04-04T10:10:32Z

Bhairav Acharya will participate in a panel discussion on ‘Intermediary Liability & Freedom of Expression’ on Wednesday evening (26th March 2014) from 6:00 pm onwards at the India International Centre Annex. The event is organized by the Centre for Communication Governance at NLU Delhi in association with the Global Network Initiative, Washington D.C.

The panel comprises of three eminent personalities: Shyam Divan, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India; Siddharth Varadarajan, Journalist and Senior Fellow, Centre for Public Affairs and Critical Theory, New Delhi and; Jermyn Brooks, Independent Chair, Global Network Initiative, Washington D.C.

The objective of the panel was to focus on the Indian legal framework governing Internet platforms and explore questions related to Internet intermediaries and the balance that should be involved in regulations affecting user-generated content, in the context of the civil liberties that are key to democracy, in particular free expression and privacy. The discussion was aimed at drawing connections between this ostensibly Internet-related issue and the traditional media, to highlight recurring issues and useful perspectives.

For more details, click here.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/panel-discussion-intermediary-liability-and-freedom-of-expression-in-india

ICT Opportunity for a Disability-inclusive Development Framework

praskrishna — 2014-03-25T10:22:06Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/ict-opportunity-report.pdf

Wikipedia taps students for Kannada content

praskrishna — 2014-04-03T10:01:27Z

Conducts workshops in Ujire, Moodbidri for training in vernacular editing.

The article by Renuka Phadnis was published in the Hindu on March 24, 2014. Dr. U.B.Pavanaja is quoted.

Wikipedia is tapping college students in tier II and III cities in India to increase vernacular content on the web-based encyclopaedia.

U.B. Pavanaja, Programme Officer – Indian Language, Access to Knowledge, Centre for Internet Studies (CIS), Bangalore, says there is adequate content on Kannada, Kannadiga, Karnataka on Kannada Wikipedia but on science and technology, the content is a little less.

To fill this gap, he is conducting workshops to teach students to turn volunteers for Wikipedia in far-flung places like Ujire and Moodbidri.

On Sunday, 47 students attended a workshop at Shri Dharmasthala Manunatheshwara (SDM) College in Ujire. And most of them immediately donned the volunteer’s cap. “More people who write Kannada should contribute to Wikipedia in Kannada,” says Shalini, a student of M.A. in Mass Communication and Journalism (MCJ) at SDM College, after the workshop.

Murali Krishna, also a journalism student of SDM College, says typing in the language was “a bit difficult” but some practice will make it simpler. “I had no idea about (editing) Kannada Wikipedia,” he says.

On Saturday Mr. Pavanaja — who has been editing the Kannada Wikipedia for the past 10 years — conducted a similar workshop for 30 students at Alva’s College, Moodbidri.

Mr. Pavanaja says contributions peaked in between 2006 and 2008, then declined “due to many reasons” and “picked up last year”. There was a significant increase in the number of editors after 500 students of Christ University, Bangalore, were trained in editing at a workshop held in January this year.

He says Kannada Wikipedia has very few women editors. Of the 557 editors of Kannada Wikipedia, who have contributed 16,670 articles till now, 226 are active editors and, of them, five men and three women editors are “very active”.

Bhaskar Hegde, Head of the Department, MCJ, SDM College, said he got the workshops organised at the college after hearing about them from friend Niranjan Vanalli (Chairman, Department of MCJ, Mysore University). He said, “This is the second workshop here. The students are enthusiastic and it sharpens their writing skills.”

Mangalore will host a workshop to get people to contribute to Tulu Wikipedia. U.B. Pavanaja, Programme Officer – Indian Language, Access to Knowledge, Centre for Internet Studies (CIS), Bangalore, said a workshop will be held in Theosophical College, Balmatta, on April 6.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/the-hindu-march-24-2014-wikipedia-taps-students-for-kannada-content

Accessibility of Political Parties Websites in India

praskrishna — 2014-03-24T10:21:06Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/accessibility-of-political-parties-websites.docx