Centre for Internet and Society

ಕನ್ನಡದ ಆನ್‌ಲೈನ್ ವಿಶ್ವಕೋಶ ದುರ್ಬಲ

praskrishna — 2013-11-20T07:30:24Z

An article about the tenth Kannada Wikipedia published in Vijaya Karnataka on November 19.

Read the article published in Vijaya Karnataka on November 19, 2013.

-ಕನ್ನಡ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯಕ್ಕೆ ಹತ್ತು, ಸೋದರ ಭಾಷೆಗಳ ಮುಂದೆ ಕನ್ನಡ ಹಿಂದೆ-

* ಎಸ್. ಕುಮಾರ್, ಬೆಂಗಳೂರು
ಹತ್ತು ವರ್ಷಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಬರಿ 14,202 ಲೇಖನಗಳು! ಇದು ಕನ್ನಡ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯದ ಸಾಧನೆ. ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಮಾಹಿತಿಯನ್ನು ಕಲೆಹಾಕುವ ಹುರುಪಿನೊಂದಿಗೆ ಆರಂಭವಾದ ಕನ್ನಡ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯಾ ಈಗ ದಕ್ಷಿಣ ಭಾರತದಲ್ಲಿ ಕೊನೆಯ ನಾಲ್ಕನೇ ಸ್ಥಾನದಲ್ಲಿದೆ.

ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷಿನ ಅತಿದೊಡ್ಡ ಆನ್‌ಲೈನ್ ವಿಶ್ವಕೋಶವಾಗಿ ಜನಪ್ರಿಯವಾದ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯಾ ಹತ್ತು ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಹಿಂದೆ ಭಾರತೀಯ ಭಾಷೆಗಳಲ್ಲೂ ವಿಶ್ವಕೋಶ ಆರಂಭಿಸಿತು. ಆದರೆ ಕನ್ನಡ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯಾ ದಕ್ಷಿಣ ಭಾರತದ ಇತರೆ ಭಾಷೆಗಳಿಗೆ ಹೋಲಿಸಿದರೆ ಇದು ಅತ್ಯಂತ ಬಡವಾಗಿರುವ ವಿಶ್ವಕೋಶವಾಗಿಯೇ ಉಳಿದಿದೆ. ತಮಿಳಿನ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯ 56 ಸಾವಿರ ಲೇಖನಗಳನ್ನು ಹೊಂದಿದ್ದರೆ, ತೆಲುಗು 53 ಸಾವಿರ ಲೇಖನಗಳನ್ನು ಹೊಂದಿದೆ. ಮಲಯಾಳಂ, ಮರಾಠಿ ಭಾಷೆಗಳು ಕನ್ನಡ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯಾಕ್ಕಿಂತ ಹೆಚ್ಚಿನ ಅಂದರೆ 40 ಸಾರ ಲೇಖನಗಳನ್ನು ಒಳಗೊಂಡಿವೆ. ಭಾರತೀಯ ಭಾಷೆಗಳ ಪೈಕಿ ಅತಿಹೆಚ್ಚು ಲೇಖನಗಳನ್ನು ಹೊಂದಿರುವು ಹಿಂದಿ ಭಾಷೆಯ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯ. ಸುಮಾರು ಒಂದು ಲಕ್ಷ ಲೇಖನಗಳನ್ನು ಹೊಂದಿದ್ದು, ಅತ್ಯಂತ ಕ್ರಿಯಾಶೀಲವಾಗಿ ಸಂಪಾದನೆಗೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತದೆ.

ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕರೇ ಇದಕ್ಕೆ ಮಾಹಿತಿಗಳನ್ನು ಅಪ್‌ಲೋಡ್ ಮಾಡಬಹುದು ಹಾಗೂ ಸಂಪಾದಿಸಬಹುದು. ಕೆಲವು ಆಸಕ್ತರು ಜತೆಗೂಡಿ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯಾಗಳನ್ನು ಕಲೆಹಾಕುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಸದ್ಯ ಕನ್ನಡ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯಾಕ್ಕೆ 400 ಒಟ್ಟು ಸಂಪಾದಕರಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಈ ಪೈಕಿ 41 ಮಂದಿ ಮಾತ್ರ ಸಕ್ರಿಯರು. ತಿಂಗಳಿಗೆ 2000 ಸಾರ ಲೇಖನಗಳು ಸಂಪಾದನೆಯಾಗುತ್ತವೆ. ಆದರೆ ಸೇರ್ಪಡೆಯ ಪ್ರಮಾಣ ಕಡಿಮೆ. ಇಷ್ಟಾಗಿಯೂ ಕನ್ನಡ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯಾಕ್ಕೆ ತಿಂಗಳಿಗೆ 14 ಲಕ್ಷ ಭೇಟಿಗಳಿವೆ.

ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿ ತಂಡದಿಂದ ವಿಶ್ವಕೋಶವನ್ನು ಲೇಖನಗಳಿಂದ ಸಮೃದ್ಧಗೊಳಿಸುವ ನಡೆದಿದೆ. ಆದರೆ ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಸಿಕ್ಕಪ್ರತಿಕ್ರಿಯೆ ನಿರಾಶೆ ಹುಟ್ಟಿಸುವಂಥದ್ದು. ಕಳೆದ ಮಾರ್ಚ್ ನಿಂದ ಮತ್ತೆ ಅಭಿಯಾನ ಆರಂಭವಾಗಿದ್ದು ಆಸಕ್ತರನ್ನು ಸಂಪಾದಕರನ್ನಾಗಿ ಮಾಡುವ ಪ್ರೇರೇಪಿಸುವ ಕೆಲಸವನ್ನು ತಂಡ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದೆ.

ಸಾಫ್ಟ್‌ವೇರ್ ವಲಯದ ಮಂದಿ ಒಂದಿಷ್ಟು ಸಮಯವನ್ನು ಇದಕ್ಕೆ ನೀಡುತ್ತಾರೆ ಹೊರತು, ಸಾಹಿತಿಗಳು, ಉಪನ್ಯಾಸಕರು, ವಿವಿಧ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರಗಳ ತಜ್ಞರು ಆಸಕ್ತಿ ತೋರುವುದಿಲ್ಲ ಎನ್ನುತ್ತದೆ ಕನ್ನಡ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯ ತಂಡ. ಕನ್ನಡ ಬ್ಲಾಗ್ ಬರಹಗಾರರು ಒಂದಿಷ್ಟು ಆಸಕ್ತಿ ತೋರಿದರೂ ಲೇಖನಗಳ ಸಂಖ್ಯೆ ಗಣನೀಯವಾಗಿ ಹೆಚ್ಚುತ್ತದೆ. ಪ್ರಕಟಿತ ಲೇಖನಗಳನ್ನು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಕಟಿಸಬಹುದು.ಅದಕ್ಕೂ ಆಸಕ್ತಿ ತೋರುವುದಿಲ್ಲ ಎನ್ನುತ್ತದೆ ತಂಡ.

ಕನ್ನಡಿಗರ ನಿರಾಸಕ್ತಿ
ಕನ್ನಡ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯದ ಹಿರಿಯ ಸಂಪಾದಕರಲ್ಲಿ ಒಬ್ಬರಾದ ಯು ಬಿ ಪವನಜ ಅವರು ''ಕನ್ನಡಿಗರಿಗೆ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ನಿರಾಸಕ್ತಿ ಇದೆ ಎನ್ನುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಕನ್ನಡ ಸಾಹಿತಿಗಳಾದರೂ ಅಷ್ಟೆ. ಕನ್ನಡ ಭಾಷೆಯ ಬೆಳವಣಿಗೆ ಅಂದರೆ ಬರೀ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಮಾತಾನಾಡುವುದು ಎನ್ನುವ ಭಾವನೆ ಬೆಳೆಸಿಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಅದರಾಚೆಗೂ ಕನ್ನಡ ಬೆಳೆಯಬೇಕಿದೆ. ಆಗ ಮಾತ್ರ ಭಾಷೆ ಜೀವಂತವಾಗುತ್ತದೆ,'' ಎನ್ನುತ್ತಾರೆ.

''ಆರಂಭ ಹಂತದಲ್ಲಿ ತಂಡದಲ್ಲಿದ್ದ ಗುಂಪುಗಾರಿಕೆ ಮತ್ತು ಹೆಚ್ಚುಗಾರಿಕೆಯೇ ಕನ್ನಡ ವಿಶ್ವಕೋಶ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯ ಬಡವಾಗಲೂ ಕಾರಣ,'' ಎಂದು ತಂಡದ ಸದಸ್ಯರೊಬ್ಬರು ಹೇಳುತ್ತಾರೆ.

ನಮಗೆ ಗೊತ್ತಿರುವುದನ್ನು ಬರೆಯುತ್ತೇವೆ ಎಂಬ ಭಾವನೆಯಿಂದ ಕೂಡಿದ್ದ ತಂಡ ಇನ್ನೊಬ್ಬರನ್ನು ವಿಶ್ವಾಸಕ್ಕೆ ತೆಗೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳದೇ ಇದ್ದದ್ದು ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯಕ್ಕೆ ಹರಿದು ಬರಬಹುದಿದ್ದ ಲೇಖನಗಳ ಪ್ರಮಾಣವನ್ನು ತಗ್ಗಿಸಿತೇನೊ ಎಂದು ಅವರು ಅನುಮಾನ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಪಡಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ.

ಅತಿ ಹಿರಿಯ ಸಂಪಾದಕರು
ಎಚ್ ಆರ್ ಲಕ್ಷ್ಮಿ ವೆಂಕಟೇಶ್, ಮುಂಬಯಿ
ಬಿ ಎಸ್ ಚಂದ್ರಶೇಖರ್, ಸಾಗರ

ಅತಿ ಕಿರಿಯ ಸಂಪಾದಕ
ಯಜ್ಞೇಶ್, 9ನೇ ವಿದ್ಯಾರ್ಥಿ, ಮೈಸೂರು
-----

ಕನ್ನಡ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಸಮಗ್ರವಾಗಿರುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಇರುವ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಕೂಡ ತಪ್ಪಿನಿಂದ ಕೂಡಿದೆ. ವಾಕ್ಯರಚನೆ ಸರಿ ಇಲ್ಲ. ಕನ್ನಡ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯಾ ಇದ್ದೂ ಇಲ್ಲದಂತೆ.
* ಎಚ್ ಎಂ ನಿರಂಜನ, ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್ ಉಪನ್ಯಾಸಕರು, ಹೊಸಪೇಟೆ

ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಅನೇಕರಿಗೆ ಗೊತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ. ಬರಹಗಾರರಿಗೆ ಈ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ತಾಂತ್ರಿಕ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಇಲ್ಲ. ಹೀಗಾಗಿ ಸಮೃದ್ಧವಾಗಿ ಬೆಳೆಯಬಹುದಾಗಿದ್ದ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯ ಸೊರಗಿದೆ. ಈಗ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ನೀಡುವ ಪ್ರಯತ್ನ ನಡೆಯುತ್ತಿದೆ.
* ಟಿ. ಜಿ. ಶ್ರೀನಿಧಿ, ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯ ಸಂಪಾದಕ

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/vijaya-karnataka-kannada-wikipedia-november-19-2013

YouTube is the answer to what has changed in India

praskrishna — 2013-11-20T07:00:48Z

Alternative Law Forum’s Lawrence Liang on relaunching Creative Commons, and how it changes the legal landscape of copyright issues.

The article by Moulishree Srivastava was published in Livemint on November 20, 2013. Lawrence Liang was quoted.

Creative Commons (CC), a non-profit organization headquartered in Mountain View, California, US, which enables Internet users to share and use the creativity and knowledge of others, on Tuesday relaunched its India chapter after six years. CC provides free copyright licences that give creators a way to share their creative work, on conditions of their choice.

In India, for instance, Pratham Books, a not-for-profit publisher, licenses its content under a CC licence that allows others to use the content (on certain conditions). And the National Council of Educational Research and Training has created a portal where digital versions of its course material have been uploaded under a CC licence.

In an interview, Lawrence Liang , co-founder of Alternative Law Forum and chairman of the board at the Bangalore-based Centre for Internet and Society, which is one of the CC affiliates in India, spoke about the re-launch, what went wrong the last time, what it means for the country and how it changes the legal landscape of copyright issues. Edited excerpts:

People all over the world are already using CC licences. What does this relaunch mean for India?

There are two things. One is the legal component. The licences have been tailor-made for Indian law. Tomorrow, if someone were to use CC licence and there were violations and it came up in court, this (the CC licence) would be in compliance with the Indian Copyright Act. The other is, we have a very large number of young people who are entering the space of making creative works. The CC means for them to be aware that there are options they have apart from traditional copyright licensing.

How does it impact the legal landscape of copyright issues?

In the US, you have something called derivative rights, which is conversion of one medium into another medium. In India, you don’t have that idea; you have the right of adaptation, which is a much more narrowly defined idea. It has the specific definition of what the adaptation is. There is the right to adaptation of a work from, say, literary into dramatic, but it doesn’t mean conversion of a work into any form.

The second is in terms of presumption of how you gain ownership over copyright, which is slightly different in India than it is in the US.

In India—section 17 (of the Constitution) lays out different classes of work—there are different presumptions of who the owner of copyright is, which becomes very important. For example, if a film-maker wants to license his work, now it has to be clear that he is the owner of the copyright in the first place, because the presumption in India would be that the producer is the owner of the work, whereas in Europe the producer is the first owner of the work. These are some of the small differences that CC attempts to clarify.

What went wrong the last time?

When it was first launched (in India) in 2007, perhaps there wasn’t the momentum. Last time CC was launched as a licence in India, but not as a community, which was the key issue. Second, it was institutionally housed in IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) Bombay and it needed being pluralized. You can’t depend on CC being housed in one single institution. It should be in as many institutions as possible, which is what has happened this time. The crucial thing here is that we will be developing a community. A lot more people know about CC now than they did back in 2007.

Why do you think it will succeed?

One is the overall awareness about open source and alternatives. The other one, which is more crucial, is, when CC was launched in the US, it was in response to a very clear crisis. The crisis was that a large number of users were being prevented from using existing works. Lawrence Lessig (one of the co-founders of CC) felt that there was a need to create a legal alternative. There was already, in a way, a certain kind of environment which allowed CC to automatically speak to a number of people’s concerns. In India, we didn’t have that. Copyright was anyway not being enforced. That’s happening now. So once people could use YouTube, could create remixes, then they suddenly realized that they have used a film song and other copyrighted content. Then they suddenly realize a need of legal content as alternative. YouTube is the answer to what has changed.

What does it mean for the media?

It depends on whether you are looking at it from the perspective of a media producer or a user. From the perspective of a media producer, one of the big things that people assume is that everything is copyrighted until stated otherwise and that you can’t use it. There are a number of people who will be very happy to use it, but they may not want to use it commercially. With a CC licence, the boundaries are clear. What you are allowed to do and what you are not allowed to do is extremely clear. One of the biggest problems in the digital landscape at the moment is opacity. You are not sure. There is an image on a website, which seems to be used in many places. Am I allowed to reproduce it? What is the extent to which I can use the content? A lot of these will be rendered clear for media practitioners.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/livemint-november-12-2013-moulishree-srivastava-you-tube-is-answer-to-what-changed-in-india

Consilience 2013 Report

praskrishna — 2013-11-20T06:14:01Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/consilience-2013.pdf

Conference e-Governance

praskrishna — 2013-11-20T06:08:05Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/conference-e-governance-india.pdf

CV Booklet

praskrishna — 2013-11-20T04:34:46Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/cv-booklet.pdf

Programme Booklet

praskrishna — 2013-11-20T04:30:25Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/programme-booklet.pdf

Expert Committee meeting on 25th November, 2013

praskrishna — 2013-11-19T10:41:27Z

A meeting of the Expert Committee has been scheduled for 25th November, 2013 at 11.00 a.m. in R.No. 714 (7th Floor), Group Meeting Room, DBT, New Delhi to discuss the draft 'Human DNA Profiling Bill 2012' under the Chairmanship of Dr. T. S. Rao, Sr. Adviser, DBT.

This was communicated by Dr. Alka Sharma, Director/Scientist, Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India to the following individuals:

Raghbir
RK Gupta
Murali Krishna Kumar
Sunil Abraham
Amar Jesani
Usha Ramanathan
Kamal Kumar
Dr. N. Madhusudan Reddy

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/expert-committee-meeting-november-25-2013

Spy agencies, IB and RAW, put spanner in proposed privacy law

praskrishna — 2013-11-19T09:50:05Z

The country’s intelligence agencies are out to scuttle a law that’s being drafted to protect your privacy.

The article by Nagender Sharma and Aloke Tikku was published in the Hindustan Times on November 2, 2013. Sunil Abraham is quoted.

The Intelligence Bureau and the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) have told the government to water down the proposed law that makes it a crime to leak sensitive personal information collected by government departments and the private sector.

The agencies conveyed their views to national security adviser Shivshankar Menon at a recent meeting at the prime minister’s office. With home secretary Anil Goswami backing the spooks, even arguing that “the very need for such a bill” should be reviewed, Menon has called for revisiting the provisions the agencies have objected to.

The Right to Privacy Bill 2013 lays down privacy principles and standards, and stipulates jail terms and fines for leak of sensitive personal data.

“If such a bill was to be considered, intelligence agencies should be exempted from its purview,” Goswami argued at the meeting.

The intelligence agencies also spoke about how the bill would “adversely affect or compromise” the functioning of many agencies and projects, such as the Central Monitoring System that is used to intercept phone calls and internet communication, and the National Intelligence Grid that would give law enforcement agencies access to information combat terror threats.

The proposed privacy law was initially conceptualised to address data privacy, particularly in the context of data handled by the Indian IT industry for foreign clients.

But the Department of Personnel and Training – that drew up the bill – expanded its scope to cover information collected by the government and interception by intelligence agencies.

Sunil Abraham of the Centre for Internet and Society, a Bangalore-headquartered advocacy group, said the security establishment’s attempts to scuttle the privacy law were a step back.

“Civil society isn’t against surveillance by security agencies. All that we ask for is due process and oversight,” Abraham said.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/hindustan-times-november-2-2013-nagender-sharma-alok-tikku-spy-agencies-ib-and-raw-put-spanner-in-proposed-privacy-law

ಅಂತರ್ಜಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ನೆಟ್ಟ ಸಸಿಗೆ ಈಗ ಹತ್ತು ವರ್ಷ

praskrishna — 2013-11-19T09:20:27Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/kannad-wikipedia-10-years.pdf

India must support UN's e-snooping move: Human rights activists

praskrishna — 2013-11-19T09:10:02Z

India is facing pressure from internet and human rights activists to support a United Nations resolution that calls for an end to electronic spying after revelations of mass illegal surveillance by the United States.

The article by Indu Nandakumar was published in the Economic Times on November 11, 2013. Sunil Abraham is quoted.

The resolution, jointly submitted by Brazil and Germany - vocal opponents of US cyber spying - urged UN member states to act against excessive surveillance. Records leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden had exposed US eavesdropping on Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Internet activists and experts said the world's largest democracy must join the resolution as a reaction to unfair surveillance by the US. Confidential documents from Snowden, a former US National Security Agency contractor showed India was one of the victims of US snooping.

"Decision-makers in India haven't made a principled stand on the issue. They are still debating and deliberating," said Oleg Demidov, program director for international information security and global internet governance at the Russian Center for Policy Studies.

Demidov said India was unlikely to join the resolution as it has strong language and measures that need to be implemented immediately. "Joining this would mean a big political step." The resolution, while not legally binding, can still be a formal vote against US spying. A senior government official in New Delhi said Brazil and Germany on Friday held consultations with all UN member states including India on the draft resolution.

India will take 'detailed' look

He said India will take a "detailed look" at the resolution over the coming days before deciding whether it wants to be part of it. Revelations about US government snooping on communication between governments and individuals has caused global outrage over the past few months.

Popular email and internet service providers locating their servers in the US makes tapping into communication lines easier for that country. Brazil is considering legislation that would require internet companies to store data locally.

Latest documents revealed by Snowden showed that NSA had been monitoring data that travels between servers of Yahoo and Google, thus accessing personal data of millions of internet users across the world, including Indian users. It had prompted strong reaction from Google, whose executive chairman Eric Schimdt called such snooping "outrageous."

A representative for the German federal foreign office said the resolution was submitted to "protect human rights in the digital age more effectively" and that all member states are invited to co-sponsor the resolution.

"Indians should press their own government to forcefully object to the United States' surveillance policies and demand that those policies be brought into conformity with international law," said Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, an influential civil rights union based in New York. Jaffer said while no one questions the US government's right to engage judicially supervised surveillance, "dragnet surveillance of entire populations is a severe and unnecessary infringement on the privacy of millions."

He said that reforming the policies of NSA would require pressure from outside the US, especially foreign governments.

The pushback against mass surveillance is taking place in the backdrop of India and US looking to strengthen their economic relationship. Issues such as the US immigration reform bill which is seen as detrimental by India's $75 billion softw are export industry, and India's nuclear liability law, which US companies find unreasonable, have been irritants in bilateral relations.

Another senior government official said India's stance on US surveillance has been soft as any discussion on the subject would bring India's Central Monitoring System into the spotlight. The system, similar to the US government's PRISM project, gives the government access to phone calls, text messages and even social media conversations of individuals.

Sunil Abraham, executive director of Bangalore based think-tank Centre for Internet and Society, said India must be a part of the efforts by Brazil and Germany.

"Surveillance needs to be addressed both at technological as well as policy levels." Former diplomat and foreign affairs expert G Parthasarathy acknowledged the need for international consensus to protect individual privacy but doubted whether snooping by governments will ever end.

"Yes, the Americans are over-doing it, but India cannot condemn it because we have been doing the same thing. India monitored conversations between (Pakistan army chief) Pervez Musharraf and his chief of general staff (Mohammed Aziz) during the Kargil conflict. The point is everyone does it, but Americans got caught."

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/economic-times-november-11-2013-indu-nandakumar-india-must-support-un-e-snooping-move

Institute on Internet and Society

praskrishna — 2014-02-16T03:00:17Z

The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), Bangalore is pleased to announce the second "Institute on Internet and Society" to be held in Yashada, Pune from February 11 to 17, 2014.

With financial support from the Ford Foundation, this initiative represents an important opportunity to bring together various stakeholders in a neutral forum and share ideas.

This is a week-long residential institute which will cover topics surrounding and exploring the gamut of internet and society. Various topics that explore the ambit and the intersection between Internet and Society will be explored with guest speakers and experts in these fields anchoring the sessions. The lectures will be insightful and few, with interesting case studies and interactive modes of teaching. There will be breakout sessions where participants will get the chance to partake in interactive technology sessions and instructive demonstrations.

There will be off-site experiences where the participants can go on field trips and view the actual spaces that will be discussed.

The institute will feature:

Guest lectures by experts and CIS staff.
Interactive panel discussions.
Case studies.
Breakout sessions.
Interactive demonstrations.
Networking opportunities, field trips/off-site experience and much more...

At the end of the course, attendees will have:

Acquisition of knowledge on internet in the Indian society.
Appreciation of the role of community and other stakeholders in issues surrounding the internet.
Creation of a starting point for improved communication of research findings, innovations, information and new technologies in internet to evolve a community comprising academicians and policy makers.
Appreciation of the need to bridge the gap between policy and implementation.

Who can apply?

Any members from the civil society (students, research scholars, academicians, scientists, legal professionals, etc.) who engage in issues concerning Internet and Society.

How to apply?

The application form available at http://internet-institute.in/form needs to completed in all respects and uploaded along with a brief bio and a 250-300 word abstract on why the applicant feels he/she must attend the Institute on Internet and Society.

Selection criteria

Originality of application.
Evidence of interest and/or prior engagement in Internet and Society related research and policies.
Gender, regional and stakeholder representation.

Twenty participants shall be chosen to attend the Institute on a first come, first served basis. Please ensure that your applications are submitted to CIS well before the closing date.

Attendance

Attendance for the full duration of the Institute (February 11 to February 17, 2014) is mandatory. Please provide assurance that you will be able to commit to the full duration of the institute.

What costs will be covered?

CIS has a number of scholarships that will cover the course fees, travel, accommodation and food. Please note that scholarships will be given on a first come first serve basis to deserving applicants and is available for persons based within India.

Important Dates

Registrations Open: November 15, 2013

Registrations Close: December 15, 2013

Draft Agenda

Time	Detail
Day 1 (February 11, 2014)
09.30 09.40	Introduction: Sunil Abraham, Executive Director Centre for Internet and Society / Ravina Aggarwal, Program Officer, Ford Foundation
09.30 09.40	Introduction of Participants
10.00 12.00	Internet Governance and Privacy: Sunil Abraham
12.00 12.30	Tea-break
12.30 13.00	Keynote: Bishakha Datta, Filmmaker and Activist, and Board Member, Wikimedia Foundation
13.00 14.00	Lunch
14.00 16.00	Pecha Kucha sessions
16.00 17.30	Histories, Bodies and Debates around the Internet: Nishant Shah, Director-Research, Centre for Internet and Society and International Tandem Partner at the Centre for Digital Cultures, Leuphana University, Germany
Day 2 (February 12, 2014)
Time	Detail
09.30 11.00	Wireless Technology: Ravikiran Annaswamy, CEO and Co-founder at Teritree Technologies
11.00 11.30	Tea-break
11.30 13.00	Wired Technology: Ravikiran Annaswamy
13.00 14.00	Lunch
14.00 15.00	Network, Threats and Securing Yourself: Kingsley John, Independent Consultant
15.00 15.15	Break
15.15 16.15	Practical Lab: Kingsley John
16.15 16.30	Tea-break
16.30 17.00	Wrap-up Session: Sunil Abraham
Day 3 (February 13, 2014)
Time	Detail
09.30 11.00	Free Software: Prof. G. Nagarjuna, Chairperson, Free Software Foundation
11.00 11.30	Tea-break
11.30 13.00	Open Data: Nisha Thompson, Independent Consultant
13.00 14.00	Lunch
14.00 16.00	Freedom of Expression: Bhairav Acharya, Advocate and Adviser, Centre for Internet and Society
16.00 16.30	Tea-break
16.30 17.30	Copyright: Nehaa Chaudhari, Program Officer, Centre for Internet and Society
Day 4 (February 14, 2014)
Time	Detail
09.30 11.00	E-Accessibility and Inclusion: Prashant Naik, Union Bank
11.00 11.30	Tea-break
11.30 13.00	Patents: Nehaa Chaudhari
13.00 14.00	Lunch
14.00 17.00	Field Trip
Day 5 (February 15, 2014)
Time	Detail
09.30 11.00	E-Governance: Manu Srivastav, Vice President, eGovernments Foundation
11.00 11.30	Tea-break
11.30 13.00	Market Concerns: Payal Malik, Economic Adviser, Competition Commission of India
13.00 14.00	Lunch
14.00 15.30	Domestic and International Bodies: Chinmayi Arun, Research Director, Centre for Communication Governance, National Law University, Delhi and Fellow, Centre for Internet and Society
15.30 16.00	Tea-break
16.00 17.30	Digital Natives: Nishant Shah
Day 6 (February 16, 2014)
Time	Detail
09.30 11.00	Wikipedia: Dr. Abhijeet Safai
11.00 11.30	Tea-break
11.30 13.00	Open Access: Muthu Madhan
13.00 14.00	Lunch
14.00 15.00	Activity / Mock Conference
15.00 15.30	Tea-break
15.30 17.30	Activity / Mock Conference
Day 7 (February 17, 2014)
Time	Detail
09.30 11.00	Internet Activism: Laura Stein, Associate Professor, University of Texas and Fulbright Fellow, Centre for Culture, Media & Governance, Jamia Millia Islamia
11.00 11.30	Tea-break
11.30 13.00	Digital Humanities: Nishant Shah
13.00 14.00	Lunch
14.00 15.00	Participant Presentations
15.00 15.30	Tea-break
15.30 16.30	Final Exercise: Mapping Learning Feedback

Speakers Profiles

Bishakha Datta
Bishakha is an Indian film maker and activist. She is a former journalist who also serves on the board of nonprofit organizations, such as Point of View, Creating Resources for Empowerment in Action, and (as of 2013) the Wikimedia Foundation. In 1998, Datta edited And Who Will Make the Chapatis?, an overview of the all-women political panchayats formed in Maharashtra, India. In 2003, her documentary In the Flesh: three lives in prostitution was released.

Nishant Shah
Nishant is the founder and Director of Research for the Bangalore-based Centre for Internet and Society. His doctoral work at the Centre for the Study of Culture and Society, examines the production of a Technosocial Subject at the intersections of law, Internet technologies and everyday cultural practices in India. As an Asia Scholarship Fellow (2008-2009), he also initiated a study that looks at what goes into the making of an IT City in India and China. He is the series editor for a three year collaborative project on “Histories of the Internet(s) in India” that maps nine alternative histories that promote new ways of understanding the technological revolution in the country.

Prof. G. Nagarjuna
Prof. Nagarjuna is the chairperson of the Free Software Foundation. He has been an activist for free knowledge and free softwares and has more than 20 publications on related issues. He is interested in understanding the structure and dynamics of knowledge (epistemology, knowledge organization, knowledge representation, biological roots of cognition, and education), nature of life and evolution. This interest is executed in the respective domains: Information Technology, History and Philosophy of Science, and Biology Education. The social, economic and political aspects of information technology also engages his serious attention.http://www.hbcse.tifr.res.in/people/academic/nagarjuna-g.

Sunil Abraham
Sunil is the Executive Director of Bangalore based research organisation, the Centre for Internet and Society. He founded Mahiti in 1998, a company committed to creating high impact technology and communications solutions. Sunil was elected an Ashoka fellow in 1999 to 'explore the democratic potential of the Internet' and was also granted a Sarai FLOSS fellowship in 2003. Between June 2004 and June 2007, Sunil also managed the International Open Source Network, a project of United Nations Development Programme's Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme serving 42 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

Nisha Thompson
Nisha Thompson: Nisha Thompson has a background in online community organisation. She has worked for the Sunlight Foundation in Washington DC, with online communities to use US government data to hold elected officials accountable. She moved to Bangalore, Karnataka in October 2010. She worked on an Open Government Data report for the Centre for Internet and Society and now works full-time with the Portal, on the Data Project. The Data Project aims to collect and open up water and related data, so that citizens and practitioners can use it to improve and keep track of projects and progress in the water sector.

Payal Malik
Payal Malik: Payal Malik is currently advisor to the Competition Commission of India. She had also done considerable research in the ICT sector. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2013727. In addition to teaching Microeconomics Theory at the University of Delhi she has several years of research experience in the areas of economic policy, competition and regulation in network/infrastructure industries and has been actively engaged in competition policy research. Her research and professional collaborations have been with National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER), New Delhi, Indicus Analytics, New Delhi, LIRNEasia, Sri Lanka, OECD, Orbicom, IDEI, University of Toulouse, University Of Québec at Montreal, CEPR, JRC, European Commission, IPTS Seville, ICEGEC, Hungary, Department of Information Technology, TRAI, Ministry of Power, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Planning Commission of India, Competition Commission of India, CSO, India, WSP-SA, World Bank and AFD, Paris.

Chinmayi Arun
Chinmayi Arun is the Research Director of the Centre for Communication Governance at National Law University, Delhi. She is also an Assistant Professor of law at the university and teaches specialised courses on Internet Governance, privacy and media policy. She is the research coordinator of the Oxford India Media Law Research Project, a member of the Multi-stakeholder Advisory Group formed by the Government of India for the India Internet Governance Forum, and one of the academic experts for the Internet & Jurisdiction Project's Observatory. She works with media regulation and internet governance, particularly in the context of the rights to free speech and privacy. Chinmayi interacts with industry bodies and government officials and envisages the Centre for Communication Governance as a key contributor to policy in the years to come.

Laura Stein
Laura is an assistant Professor at the University of Texas in the College of Communication. Her research focuses upon alternative and public media and she has a course on communication technology and society. She is currently working on an edited collection, titled "Making Our Media: Global Initiatives Toward a Democratic Public Sphere," about grassroots attempts to transform the policy and practice of information and communication media around the world.

Prashant Naik
Prashant is working as an Assistant Manager with the Union Bank of India, one of the largest public sector banks in India. He is placed in the Alternate Channels and New Initiative Department. In his role with Union Bank of India, he has made a major contribution in developing a Truly Accessible Talking ATM, ‘First’ of its kind in India which has set a benchmark on accessible ATM for the blind. Since 2002 he is contributing on a large scale in the area of technology access for the visually impaired persons with his inputs in accessible content creation, access technologies training, accessibility and advocacy. Through his work with NGOs he undertook many accessibility testing and development projects. He received National Award as ROLE MODEL from Honorable President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee on 6th February 2013. He holds a degree in computer applications and he is a Microsoft Certified Technical Specialist. He has low vision since birth due to albinism condition.

Ravikiran Annaswamy
Ravikiran is the Co-founder and CEO of Teritree Technologies - a Social commerce technology venture. He also dedicates his time to startup ecosystem as Advisor, Mentor and Angel investor. He has over 17 years of business experience at Nokia Siemens Networks and Siemens AG. He was Business Head for Indian market, led Global Product Management and was General Manager for Asia Pacific Solutions. He championed Intrapreneurship by working as Innovation head for Bangalore site of over 1000 employees. He has vast experience of making successful Technology solutions for global markets, mainly in the area of Social commerce, Online Billing and Charging, Innovative 3G/4G applications, Multimedia and Security Solutions. He is an engaged Professional volunteer, currently the Vice Chairman for IEEE Bangalore section. He was the previous Chairman for IEEE Communication Society of Karnataka.

Manu Srivastava
Manu is a Vice President at the eGovernments Foundation. He brings 14 years of experience in web native product development and database applications. He worked at Oracle and GlobeTrades Inc on various internet based products before joining eGov. He has architected, developed and rolled out many of the eGov products which are running successfully in cities such as Chennai, Bangalore and Delhi.

Muthu Madhan
Muthu Madhan is a practicing librarian in India for about 15 years and is currently the Manager for ICRISAT Library and Information Services. Before joining ICRISAT in 2010, he worked for M S Swaminathan Research Foundation and the National Institute of Technology Rourkela. Since 2004, he has been an advocate for open access movement in India. Apart from open access, his other interests are open data, open education, and open source software.

Dr. Abhijeet Safai
Dr. Abhijeet is Medical Officer–Clinical Research at Symbiosis Centre of Health Care in Pune. He has been editing Wikipedia for more than 3 years, has edited more than 3700 articles and has created 30 new articles. He is interested in editing articles related to medicine and inspiring personalities. He was a speaker at IT expo in Pune in 2012 and has conducted workshops on Wikipedia Editing in GNUnify in 2013 and 2014 at Symbiosis Institute of Computer Science and Research, Pune. He likes to edit Wikipedia because of passion, for gaining the knowledge and as a social contribution. His user profile on Wikipedia can be accessed at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Abhijeet_Safai http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Abhijeet_Safai

About CIS India and Ford Foundation

CIS critically engages with concerns of digital pluralism, public accountability and pedagogic practices, in the field of Internet and Society, with particular emphasis on South-South dialogues and exchange.

Through multidisciplinary research, intervention, and collaboration, we seek to explore, understand, and affect the shape and form of the internet, and its relationship with the political, cultural, and social milieu of our times.

The Ford Foundation supports visionary leaders and organizations on the frontlines of social change worldwide. Their goals for more than half a century have been to:

Strengthen democratic values
Reduce poverty and injustice
Promote international cooperation
Advance human achievement

The Ford Foundation believes all people should have the opportunity to reach their full potential, contribute to society, and have voice in the decisions that affect them.

Contact

Dr. Nirmita Narasimhan, Policy Director (nirmita@cis-india.org)

Ajoy Kumar, Administrator (ajoy@cis-india.org)

Anirudh Sridhar, Consultant (anirudh@cis-india.org)

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/events/institute-on-internet-and-society-2

Panaji: DKA organizes two day Konkani Wikipedia workshop

praskrishna — 2013-11-18T08:33:09Z

In order to showcase Romi Konknni on a global platform, Dalgado Konknni Akademi (DKA) organized a two day Konkani Wikipedia workshop November 16 and November 17 for Romi Konknni writers in collaboration with Centre for Internet and Society’s Access to Knowledge Programme, Bangalore.

This was published in Daijiworld.com on November 18, 2013.

The workshop which was held at Krishnadas Shama Central Library was attended by 30 Romi Konknni writers including editors of Romi Konknni periodicals.

The workshop was conducted by enthusiastic Nitika Tandon, Goa incharge and Programme Manager of Centre for Internet and Society’s Access to Knowledge Programme.

Among those who attended the Romi Konknni Wikipedia Workshop were young writers Nevena Furtado, Frank Fernandes, Venisha Fernandes, Anselmo Fernandes, tiatrist Mario Menezes, Konkani scholar and researcher Fr Pratap Naik, besides editor of ‘Gulab’ and ‘The Goan Review’ Fausto V da Costa, newly appointed editor of ‘Vavraddeancho Ixtt’ Fr Eusebio Gomes and editor of ‘Amcho Avaz’ weekly Tomazinho Cardozo.

DKA President Premanand A Lotlikar while welcoming the participants explained the importance of building up Romi Konknni Wikipedia. Treasurer Walter Menezes proposed the vote of thanks, and secretary Jose Salvador Fernandes co-ordinated the two days workshop.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/daijiworld-november-18-2013-dka-organizes-two-day-konkani-wikipedia-workshop

National Conference on: Harnessing technology for the empowerment for the persons with visual impairments

praskrishna — 2014-02-03T10:38:53Z

Dr. Nirmita Narasimhan participates as a speaker at this event. The event is organized by NIVH.

Click to read the complete agenda published by NAB Centre for Blind Women & Disability Studies

Background Note

As we all are aware, Assistive Technolgy has played an unprecedented role in equalizing opportunities and in improving the quality of life of people with disabilities in last few years, with solutions helping in the elimination of barriers in all kinds of environments.

However, inspite of the advanced development, the Assistive technology for the VI has been confined to special devices leading mostly to disparate solutions. These devices also are most often rendered incompatible with the quickly changing technological landscape interfacing with all sectors of development, making it unaffordable or obsolete for people with disabilities to communicate with the highly digital and networked society in the contemporary world. This disparity further isolates the disabled population calling out for a more holistic approach to make the mainstream technology accessible from the designing stage.

Moreover, increasingly all services in every sphere of life, be it employment, education, communication, entertainment, civic participation, or government functions are moving either primarily or exclusively online worldwide.

While for PWDs, the Internet has a great potential to enhance their freedom to access goods, services and information independently through online services; a sizeable population of people especially with visual impairment are increasingly finding it difficult to access online services and information due to design barriers. This is becoming an alarmingly serious issue in the near future, considering the engagement of vital sectors like banking and publications with technology.

We already face a rate of unemployment that is more than 3 times as high as the rest of the population and experience similar gaps in educational achievement. High levels of inaccessibility on the Web and Internet-enabled mobile technologies are threatening to exclude people with visual impairment even further, who experience disability from the information society.

The potential of an accessible Internet is immense which could not only increase the inclusion of people with disabilities and facilitate online education, telework, participation in e-government, but also would enable social relationships that overcome barriers and challenges presented by the physical world.

We are, therefore, in a situation of necessity, to harness the enormous prospects of technology to create an empowering, economically progressive and inclusive society, with a new approach to implement the public policy to eliminate the virtual barriers that are in place, ensuring that people with disabilities are not marginalized.

The need of the hour is to develop an accessible technology plan to

Define the accessible technology strategy,
Identify requirements,
Design, develop, and purchase technology,
Implement and Train in a timely manner

The national conference on ` Harnessing technology for the empowerment for the persons with visual impairments’ being organised by the NIVH, a premier Institute of Government of India in the field of visual disability functioning under the administrative control of Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment to be held on 19th Nov 2013 aims to create opportunities of exploring the potential of inclusive solutions which are designed to serve all people regardless of their physical abilities.

The conference would bring together best practices models from India and abroad. It would facilitate interaction between the inclusive design experts for online services & accessible information and the officials from all levels of government and PSUs. The conference will in particular address the problems and potential solutions with reference to access to banking services, web and online services, access to documents and publications in digital, Braille and audio formats, and access to Digital Television
On the sidelines of the conference, a small exhibition will display a range of products hardware and software rendering possible solutions.

It is understood that all the participants invited to this conference have a critical role in the implementation of legal commitments and policy decisions for creating an accessible, enabling and empowering environment in which people can access all the services and information intended to benefit all citizens of the country.

Draft agenda

9:00 – 9:30 a.m.: Registration
9:30 a.m.- 10:20 a.m.: Inaugural Session
9:30 a.m.: Felicitations
9:36 a.m.: Lighting of Lamp followed by a devotional song
9:40 a.m.: Welcome address by J.S. DDA and objectives of the Conference
9:45 a.m.: Address by Secy. DDA
9:55 a.m.: Key Note address
10:15 a.m.: Vote of Thanks by Director NIVH
10:20-10:40 a.m.: Tea Break
10.40 a.m.: Plenary Session 1
11.40 a.m.: Plenary Session 2
2.15 p.m.: Plenary Session 3
4.00 p.m.: Plenary Session 4

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/nabcentreforwomen-november-19-2013-national-conference-on-harnessing-technology-for-the-empowerment-for-the-persons-with-visual-impairments

ಕನ್ನಡ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯಕ್ಕೆ ಈಗ ದಶಮಾನೋತ್ಸವ. ಅದರ ಪ್ರಯುಕ್ತ ಒಂದು ಆಚರಣೆ

praskrishna — 2013-11-20T08:58:30Z

Coverage of the ten years of celebrations in Kannada Wikipedia on Avadhi website.

ಸ್ಥಳ: ಎಚ್.ಎನ್. ಮಲ್ಟಿಮೀಡಿಯ ಹಾಲ್, ನ್ಯಾಶನಲ್ ಕಾಲೇಜು, ಬಸವನಗುಡಿ

ದಿನಾಂಕ: ನವಂಬರ್ ೧೭, ೨೦೧೩

ಸಮಯ: ೦೯:೩೦ ರಿಂದ ೧೩:೦೦

ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮ ವಿವರ :

೯:೩೦-೧೦:೦೦ ನೋಂದಣಿ

೧೦:೦೦ ರಿಂದ ೧೧:೦೦ ಸಭಾ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮ

ಸ್ವಾಗತ ಗೀತೆ – ಲಕ್ಷ್ಮಿ ಚೈತನ್ಯ

ಸ್ವಾಗತ ಮತ್ತು ನಿರ್ವಹಣೆ – ಡಾ. ಎ. ಸತ್ಯನಾರಾಯಣ

ಪ್ರಸ್ತಾವನೆ – ಡಾ. ಯು. ಬಿ. ಪವನಜ

ಮುಖ್ಯ ಅತಿಥಿಗಳ ಮಾತು

ಡಾ. ಯು. ಆರ್. ಅನಂತಮೂರ್ತಿ

ನಾಡೋಜ ಪ್ರೊ.ಜಿ. ವೆಂಕಟಸುಬ್ಬಯ್ಯ

ರವಿ ಹೆಗಡೆ, ಸಮೂಹ ಸಂಪಾದಕ, ಉದಯವಾಣಿ

ಹತ್ತು ವರ್ಷದಲ್ಲಿ ಉತ್ತಮ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡಿದ ಪ್ರಮುಖ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯನ್ನರುಗಳಿಗೆ ಮತ್ತು

ನಿರ್ವಾಹಕರುಗಳಿಗೆ ಸ್ಮರಣಿಕೆ ನೀಡಿಕೆ

ಧನ್ಯವಾದ ಸಮರ್ಪಣೆ

೧೧:೦೦ – ೧೧:೧೫ – ಚಹಾ

೧೧:೧೫-೧೨:೦೦

ಕನ್ನಡ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯ ಪ್ರಾತ್ಯಕ್ಷಿಕೆ – ಓಂಶಿವಪ್ರಕಾಶ

ಕ್ರಿಯೇಟಿವ್ ಕಾಮನ್ಸ್ – ಕಿರಣ್ ರವಿಕುಮಾರ

ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯನ್ನರುಗಳ ಮಾತು

೧೨:೦೦-೧೩:೦೦ – ಕನ್ನಡ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯ ಸಂಪಾದನೋತ್ಸವ (edit-a-thon)

ಲೇಖನಗಳನ್ನು ಸಿದ್ಧ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಂಡು ಬಂದು ಲೇಖನ ಸೇರಿಸುವುದು.

ಎಲ್ಲರೂ ಬರುತ್ತೀರಿ ತಾನೆ? ಹಾಗೆಯೇ ಸಾಧ್ಯವಿದ್ದವರು ಲ್ಯಾಪ್‌ಟಾಪ್, ಇಂಟರ್‌ನೆಟ್

ಡಾಂಗಲ್ ಮತ್ತು ಒಂದು ಸಿದ್ಧಪಡಿಸಿದ ಲೇಖನ ತಂದು ಕೊನೆಯ ಸಂಪಾದನೋತ್ಸವದಲ್ಲಿ

ಪಾಲ್ಗೊಳ್ಳಬೇಕಾಗಿ ವಿನಂತಿ.

ಬರುವವರು ದಯವಿಟ್ಟು ಈ ಪುಟದಲ್ಲಿ ನೋಂದಾಯಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಿ -

https://kn.wikipedia.org/wiki/ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯ:ಸಮ್ಮಿಲನ/ದಶಮಾನೋತ್ಸವ

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/avadhi-website-november-16-2013-kannada-wikipedia-10-years-celebration

10th anniversary of Kannada wikipedia

praskrishna — 2013-11-20T09:03:30Z

Kannada wikipedia is celebrating its 10th anniversary on November 17.

The article by ND Shiva Kumar was published in the Times of India on November 15, 2013. Dr. U.B. Pavanaja is quoted.

Kannada wikipedia has 15,369 articles (as of September 2013) and attracts 14 lakh visitors a month. It undergoes 2,000 edits a month.

The wikipedia boom among the Indian languages started in 2003. Initially, the growth was very slow and it reached 1,000 articles only by 2006. Even today, the situation isn't great.

Among the Indian languages, Hindi tops the list with one lakh articles, Tamil has 56,000, Telugu 53,000 and Marathi 40,000. Kannada is ahead of only Oriya and Punjabi.

Kannada has a total of 400 editors, of which 41 are active and 7 very active. The two highest contributors are non-techies and they are around 80 years - H R Lakshmivenkatesh from Mumbai and B S Chandrashekar from Sagar.

Wikipedian U B Pavanaja says it has gained momentum recently and the future looks bright.

The 10th anniversary programme on November 17 will be held from 9.30 am to 1.30 pm at H N Multimedia Hall, National College, Basavanagudi, Bangalore. Guests of honour will be Dr U R Ananthamurthy and Prof G Venkatasubbaiah.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/the-times-of-india-november-15-2013-nd-shiva-kumar-tenth-anniversary-of-kannada-wikipedia