Centre for Internet and Society

NVDA and eSpeak (May 2014) Quarterly Report

praskrishna — 2014-06-24T11:24:24Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/nvda-e-speak-may-2014.pdf

NVDA & eSpeak Team Members

praskrishna — 2015-01-22T01:13:57Z

Listed below are profiles of the team members working on the NVDA and eSpeak project.

NVDA Team Members

Dipendra Manocha

Dipendra Manocha is working with the DAISY Consortium which is working in the area of providing publications in accessible formats to persons who cannot read normal print. He is the lead of training and technical support and coordinates DAISY Consortium’s projects in developing countries. He is member of the Executive Committee of the World Blind Union and is managing trustee of Saksham. He is the president of the DAISY Forum of India which is a network of 92 organisations in India serving the persons with blindness and low vision. .

Since 1993, he has been working for the mission of providing technology solutions to limit the limitations of persons with blindness. Key areas of his contribution include computer training to open new areas in education and employment, Indian Language braille translation and screen reading software, DAISY standards for production and distribution of digital talking, braille and e-text books in South Asian Countries.

Awards

National Award by Government of India
Lakshmipat Singhania National Leadership award by IIM Lucknow
IBN-7 Super Idal award
Sitaram Jindal Foundation award

Manish Aggarwal

Manish has over 14 years of extensive software industry experience successfully leading large teams to design and implement complex business-critical information technology solutions. In his last 12 years at Sapient, Manish has worked for various clients in the Automotive, Healthcare, finance and Insurance industries. Manish also works with CIS on the open source NVDA screen reader project. The purpose of this project is to improve the free NVDA screen reader considering the specific requirements of Indian users and Indian language speaking blind users.

Siddharth Gupta

Siddharth strives to make a difference to the lives of the Visually Impaired persons by making data and information accessible to them. In NVDA, he has made contribution towards Indian Language Phonetics , Unicode Symbols like Mathematical Symbols, Symbols used in Physics, Chemistry, Emoticons and other frequently used Symbols. He has also tried to improve the accessibility of MS Excel. Siddhartha hails from Uttarakhand. He is a graduate in Computer Science Engg. Currently, he is a Project Associate at IIT Delhi. Prior to this, he was SAP ABAP developer at Infosys.

Dinesh Kaushal

Dinesh is currently working for the development of NVDA, an open source screen reader. He has more than 10 year’s experience in assistive technology development and accessibility implementation. Dinesh pioneered development of Hindi screen reader in India allowing persons with blindness to read / write in Hindi independently. He also spearheaded Braille development for Mobile devices for Code Factory and helped many people with blindness all over the world to communicate with other people without significant barriers. Dinesh successfully lead more than 100 accessibility projects in Wipro and helped Wipro win many awards including National Award for the best accessible website.

Suman Dogra

Suman Dogra has experience in accessibility testing on various accessibility products such as screen reader, PACMate, Open Book, MAGic etc. She has involved in non-profit management working in teams to provide various facilities related to technologies and employment to the differently abled persons. In NVDA project, she is involved in testing, training and coordinating the language testing.

eSpeak Team Members

Mahesh Inder Singh Khosla

Mahesh is a resident of Punjab, heading the Digitizing Programme for the Reference Library with Punjab Government. His deep interest in language and technology made him study Masters in Punjabi and to understand the ancient language base he studied Religious scriptures and did his Masters in Religious Science too. Having lost his vision at an early age Mahesh had to struggle hard to learn computers. He has created Punjabi Unicode based Keyboard Layout for the benefit of his community. With all his acquired knowledge on languages and strong technical interest, he worked on Punjabi TTS and in the year 2013, joined as a developer in CIS to contribute in the development of other Indian languages. He is now working on Gujarati, Marathi, Kashmiri and Kannada. He is making the software named espeak for Indian languages for the whole team and its users. Apart from language development and building the programme, he is giving technical support to the language team and is also involved in managing the bug tracking system.

Mahesh is an active Social Worker. He is the Secretary of Navchetna Institute for the Blind which is working to support visually challenged children providing free boarding and lodging along with free education. He is also the Chief Organising Secretary of Welfare Association for the Visually Challenged Employees giving technical support for the benefit of the visually challenged employees so that they are able to perform well in their workplace. He has been honoured by a lot of local Societies for his contribution in different fields. (Lions Club, Dedicated Brothers, Rainbow Club, Triveni, Sahitya kalash, Bharat Netraheen Samaj, Welfare Association for the Visually Challenged Employees).

Prasenjit Sen

Prasenjit is associated with Mahiti. He has 20 years of experience. He manages many projects. Mahiti has worked with numerous organisations since 1998 making a social impact from local to global level. To support them, Mahiti has produced websites, web portals, mobile applications, management information systems, print and online communication material including appeals and short films. Mahiti.org is integrated with Mahiti Infotech that's known to provide end-to-end IT solutions to businesses around the world. Together Mahiti a group of 50+ technocrats and sociologists committed to support social change through imaginative use of technology and creative communication.

Mahiti is strong advocate of principles for free and open source and it actively contributes to the FOSS movement.

Dr. Homiyar Mobedji

Dr. Homiyar is the CEO of National Association for the Blind, New Delhi. He is the training coordinator for NVDA project. He has extensive experience in the non government social work sector. He has worked for Enable India Bangalore, Technical Training Institute of the Pune and Blind Men’s Association, Gujarat. He also worked for physiotherapy college for the blind, Mumbai.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/resources/nvda-e-speak-team-profiles

NVDA

praskrishna — 2013-05-23T04:45:15Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/nvda-e-speak.pdf

NVDA

praskrishna — 2013-09-23T07:27:24Z

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

Number of beds

praskrishna — 2014-02-24T11:33:20Z

Number of Beds

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/Numberofbeds.png

Nullcon Goa Feb 2014 — International Security Conference

praskrishna — 2013-12-13T06:42:48Z

Nullcon (http://nullcon.net) is celebrating its 5th Anniversary with efforts being made to bring key decision makers, thought leaders with an expectation of 500+ participants from the industry and government sector. Nullcon is scheduled from February 12 to 15, 2014 at Bogmallo Beach Resort, Goa, comprising of 2 days of technical trainings, followed by 2days of talks, workshops, exhibition, networking parties and CTFs.

The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) is one of the sponsors for this event.

The Conference

The nullcon conference is a unique platform for security companies/evangelists to showcase their research and technology. Nullcon hosts Prototype, Exhibition, Trainings, Free Workshops, null Job Fair at the conference. It is an integrated and structured platform which caters to the needs of IT Security industry at large in a comprehensive way.

About Nullcon

Nullcon was founded in 2010 with the idea of providing an integrated platform for exchanging information on the latest attack vectors, zero day vulnerabilities and unknown threats. Our motto - "The neXt security thing!" drives the objective of the conference i.e. to discuss and showcase the future of information security and the next-generation of offensive and defensive security technology. The idea started as a gathering for researchers and organizations to brain storm and demonstrate why the current technology is not sufficient and what should be the focus for the coming years pertaining to information security. In addition to security, one of the section of the conference called Desi Jugaad (Hindi for "Local Hack") is dedicated to hacking where we invite researchers who come up with innovative security/tech/non-tech solutions for solving real life challenges or taking up new initiatives.

Nullcon is managed and marketed by Payatu Technologies. The idea of nullcon emerged out of null - The open security community, a registered not-for-profit society and the largest active security community in India with over 8 chapters in major cities - Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad, Mysore, Trivandrum and Delhi. As a tribute to the community nullcon funds null to further null's cause and supports all of its initiatives. If you are interested in knowing how null can help your organization and would like to contribute to null, please get in touch with null team at info@null.co.in

Dates:
Training: February 12 - 13, 2014
Conference: February 14-15, 2014
Registation: http://nullcon.net/website/register.php
Keynotes:

Jeff Moss, VP & CSO - ICANN, Founder - Defcon/Blackhat
Dr. Kiran Bedi, Ex-IPS (Police)

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/events/nullcon-goa-2014-intl-security-conference

NUJS - RTI not entertained - 24.2.15.pdf

praskrishna — 2016-05-15T07:45:55Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/NUJS%20-%20RTI%20not%20entertained%20-%2024.2.15.pdf

NUJS - RTI application, DD to registrar, RTI not entertained.pdf

praskrishna — 2016-05-15T07:36:01Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/NUJS%20-%20RTI%20application-%20DD%20to%20registrar-%20RTI%20not%20entertained.pdf

NTP 2011

praskrishna — 2011-12-22T09:06:43Z

Responding to the call for comments on NTP 2011, 27 organisations sent a joint letter requesting that accessibility for persons with disabilities be included specifically within the goals and objectives of the policy. The submission is available here.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/accessibility-in-new-telecom.pdf

NSA leaks helping India become 'Big Brother' state?

praskrishna — 2013-11-19T09:45:13Z

While the US and Britain fend off accusations of Big Brother-style spying, other countries are learning lessons from fugitive ex-US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden's leaks and, critics say, developing the same kind of mass-surveillance.

This post was published in BBC on October 31, 2013. Sunil Abraham is quoted.

India is one of those in the frame.

Its authorities are bringing in new measures against foreign cyber-snooping, including a plan to move internet traffic inside its borders and banning officials from using Gmail and other external email services.

Simultaneously, campaigners say the Indian government is loosening controls on electronic snooping by its own spies.

It is also stepping up efforts to build its own mass-surveillance system, which critics have dubbed "India's PRISM" - a reference to one of the US spy programmes revealed by Mr Snowden.

This is the downside of Mr Snowden's leaks, says Sunil Abraham of the Centre for Internet and Society, an Indian advocacy group.

"Governments like India are now cherry-picking the worst practices, in a race for the bottom in terms of human rights".

Documents released by Mr Snowden to journalist Glenn Greenwald showed America's National Security Agency (NSA) was hoovering up billions of chunks of Indian data, making the country its fifth most important target worldwide.

'Not actually snooping'

But unlike other states that have discovered the US is siphoning off their secrets, India has conspicuously avoided joining the chorus of criticism. That may be because it doesn't want to draw attention to its own activities.

Its foreign minister Salman Khurshid even appeared to excuse American monitoring, saying it "was not actually snooping".

When the German chancellor Angela Merkel erupted over reports the NSA had been bugging her mobile phone, the Indian prime minister's office was untroubled by the possibility he too had been targeted.


Indian PM Manmohan Singh does not use a mobile phone or Gmail, his spokesman says

"There are no concerns", a spokesman for Manmohan Singh told the BBC, because "he does not use a mobile phone or Gmail".

Many Indian officials do. But from this December the government is planning to bar them from using their private email accounts for any official business - in direct response to evidence of US prying. Instead, they will have to use government email.

The latest reports of even deeper NSA penetration of Google is likely to further spur such moves.

It won't be an easy change to make though, judging from the BBC's own experiences dealing with Indian officials. Many prefer to use Gmail or Yahoo rather than their official accounts because the government email system so often crashes.

More ambitious still is a plan to bring all internal Indian internet traffic inside its borders. Currently, an email sent from say Delhi to Calcutta is more likely to travel via the US or Europe, partly because of the way the internet is designed but also because of a lack of Indian capacity.

But at a summer meeting to assess Mr Snowden's leaks, one of India's security chiefs called for "100%" of emails and files sent between Indians to stay in the country to limit snooping by "foreign elements".

As other governments take similar measures, these changes may not just mean a tougher job for spies but also a more fragmented internet under tighter state control.

Critics say India was already on the road to creating a Big Brother state, long before anyone had heard of Edward Snowden.

Their biggest concern is a secret mass-surveillance project the government has reportedly been building for the past few years. The Central Monitoring System (CMS) is supposed to give security agencies the ability to listen or record all communications nationwide and track individuals, in real time - like some of the US programmes that have been revealed.

If the few details that have emerged are correct, Indian cyber-spies would have even more freedom, bypassing internet and telecom companies and tapping straight into the cables and servers carrying the traffic.

Mirroring America's defence of its spying programmes, the government says the monitoring system is to protect against terrorists and other national security threats. But a lack of concrete information has only heightened fears about its intentions.

A draft privacy bill which was supposed to allay some concerns has been watered down in the light of Mr Snowden's revelations.

According to Sunil Abraham, "India's intelligence agencies argued: Look at what the US can do. Why curtail what we can do?"

In any case, India's spies are not troubled by any parliamentary or judicial oversight. In the world's largest democracy, the intelligence agencies still report straight to the prime minister and the home minister.

India needs to "protect its sovereign rights", says Pavan Duggal, a Supreme Court advocate and cyber-law specialist. But these are "unprecedented powers".

Right now, these are minority concerns in India, which is far more consumed with the early political sparring before next year's elections.

Meanwhile, the Indian government is learning many lessons from the NSA's troubles. But Mr Duggal says, "Sooner or later it will have to address the issue of greater accountability."

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/bbc-october-31-2013-nsa-leaks-helping-india-become-big-brother-state

Ns

praskrishna — 2011-09-28T06:55:34Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/Nishant.jpg

NRK May 2014 Report

praskrishna — 2014-06-24T11:32:52Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/resources/national-resource-kit-project-quarterly-programmatic-report-may-2014.pdf

NPAs

praskrishna — 2018-01-05T13:24:43Z

NPAs

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/copy_of_NPAs.png

NPAs

praskrishna — 2018-01-05T13:24:42Z

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/NPAs.png

Nowhere to hide: Govt making your personal details public

praskrishna — 2013-10-29T06:15:06Z

The worst fears are coming true. Your sensitive private data may be up online turning you into a potential target of frauds. What is all the more dangerous is that you may be not even aware of this.

The article by First Post editors was published on October 28, 2013. Sunil Abraham is quoted.

An investigation by the Business Standard has revealed that various state and central government departments have already started putting up citizen’s personal details such as bank accounts and income on websites. The rationale behind the move is bringing about transparency.

The report also provides details of two persons, which the reporters could access online – a 25-year-old from Haryana and another farmer from Uttar Pradesh.

In the first instance, the paper got the details from the state government website which has published all the details as the youth is a beneficiary of the NREGS.

The Haryana government made public the details of the NREGS beneficiaries in its bid to bring about transparency. In Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh’s words, the aim is to make available all these data for public scrutiny.

In the second instance, the paper has obtained the occupation and yearly income, ration card number, full address, age, father’s/husband’s name, category and poverty status of the farmer. These details are available online as the state government is computerising the public distribution system.

If you thought, not everybody’s data will be made public this way, you are wrong, because before long the details of all the beneficiaries of direct benefit transfer will also be published online.

Though the Information Technology Act does not permit publishing sensitive personal financial details online, there is an exception if such information is come under Right to Information Act.

At the face of it transparency is a lame excuse to publish such data. How can the government provide all the details, including the bank account details of its citizen, at a time when cyber crime has increased many-fold.

And nobody knows the gravity of the situation better than the government. Minister of State for Communications & IT Milind Deora recently told Lok Sabha that this year until June as many as 78 government websites were hacked.

Citing Indian Computer Response Team (CERT-In) data he said in 2011 as many as 308 government sites were hacked and in 2012 the figure was 371.

The number of security breach incidents in 2011 stood at 13,301 and in 2012 at 22,060. The corresponding figure for this year until June has already hit 16,035, he said. Security breach included incidents related to spam, malware infection and system break-in.

In such an environment, the governments’ transparency drive comes at the cost of personal security.

The problem with making public details such as date of birth and names of family members is that it helps the hackers crack passwords. Most of the people have such details as their passwords and pins, the BS report says.

Sunil Abraham of Centre for Internet and Society rightly says in the BS report, “If people start publishing information like these and the government doesn’t regulate it through a data protection law, criminal minds can harvest and combine all databases accurately.”

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/news/first-post-october-28-2013-nowhere-to-hide