The world's largest free encyclopaedia turns 11 on Sunday. To mark the occasion, the Wikipedia community will host events in seven cities across the country. The community is also celebrating the first anniversary of the Wikimedia India chapter.
On this occasion, the India chapter will launch a new portal (www.wikimedia.in ) for easy access to Wikimedia sites in the Indian languages. Wikipedia is currently available in 21 Indian languages.
The India chapter is focussed on creating greater awareness of Wikipedia in Indian languages and to increase the volunteer editor base and Indian content through its initiatives. “The portal will make it easier to locate Indian language Wikipedias and other projects,” said Arun Ram, executive committee member of Wikimedia India.
The Bangalore event, open to all Wikipedia users, contributors and enthusiasts, is being held at the Centre for Internet and Society at Domlur (Bangalore).
Besides Bangalore, events are being held in Ahmedabad, Cuttack, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune, all centres where Wikipedia editors or contributors are present in sizeable numbers.