cross-posting pan India (apologies if you have got this through other mailing lists.)
Hi Folks
I wanted to share an update on the Wikipedia India Education Program. As of today, we have 15 teachers from 4 colleges participating. The most exciting part is that we have nearly 800 students (and counting) who are going to work on about 1200 articles in this semester. (Do note these numbers may fluctuate as the actual editing in classrooms starts - which is only to be expected.)
Please see the project page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:India_Education_Program - and do go through the sub-tabs for Ambassadors and courses.)
I think it will be a great idea if the Campus Ambassadors had a chance to introduce themselves to you and you had a chance to interact with them. Can we do it on the India Programs Monthly IRC this Thursday (July 28th) at ppm IST on #wikimedia-office. (I apologise that we are late on this month's IRC.)
You can also hear from them about their experiences. They've having 1-on-1 discussions with faculty members to identify potential articles to work on and conducting editing workshops for students in classrooms.
I look forward to as many of you attending as possible - and for a wonderful interaction with the Campus Ambassadors. They are great guys and have done amazing stuff so far. They're going to need your help and encouragement. Drop in and say hello, and a little more!
Warm Regards,
Hisham Mundol
Wikimedia India Programs
skype : hisham.wikimedia
gtalk : hmundol(a)wikimedia.org
twitter : @mundol
Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality!
Congratulate for the initiatives. I wish this project should extend in all
indian languages.
But I request the discussions about the project to be outside wikimedia
groups so that it could not confuse people to think it is supported by
wikimedia. (though you have stated in the website it is not)
On Sat, May 21, 2011 at 10:35 PM, Sohel Bohra <sohelbohra(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> [[This is a lengthy mail and is cross-posted on all mailing lists. Kindly
> bear]]
>
> Dear Wikimedians,
>
> We interact with the government on multiple occasions. The problems are all
> too familiar - complex systems, official apathy, corruption - just to name a
> few.
>
> Some trivia and stats to qualify these claims:
>
> * Entrepreneurs identified increasing the speed and ease of issuing
> permits; lowering taxes; and reducing the time it takes to start a business
> as key issues. (Note - All issues relate to government interactions; Source
> - Legatum Institute)
> * In Mumbai, there are 37 procedural hoops to jump through to gain approval
> to build a warehouse. (Source : World Bank)
> * On the Corruption Perception Index (2010), India ranks 87th of 178
> countries
> * Indians are highest ranked in volume of search for terms such as
> government rules, passport and registration (Source - Google Trends)
>
> Here's where WikifyIndia - a wiki of government procedures - kicks in.
> If Wikipedia is the Thinkers Encyclopedia, WikifyIndia is the Doer's
> Encyclopedia
>
> We (the founders) are ardent believers of the Wikipedia model and want to
> apply it to government procedures. Our belief is that ordinary citizens
> suffer for two reasons – the process is complex and accurate information is
> unavailable. WikifyIndia addresses the latter. Agents distort information to
> suit themselves. Officials are rarely friendly. The best solution has always
> been to ask someone who has ‘been through the grind’. WikifyIndia does it on
> a national level.
>
> The scope of the Project is wide ranging. From getting into the armed
> forces to filing a Right To Information request, from complaining about a
> broken traffic signal to opening a restaurant, from changing your name to
> adopting a child, from applying for euthanasia to marrying in court, from
> getting a gun permit to filing your taxes, from getting a permit to climb
> peaks to getting a gas connection, it will all be there.
>
> www.wikifyindia.com
>
> Every article is expected to have a short intro, requirements/eligibility,
> procedure, list of documents, timings, fees, application form, sample
> certificate among other details. Unlike Wikipedia, WikifyIndia is also a
> forum. There is merit in aggregating experiences (for ex. visa experiences
> can be quite varied).
>
> Current approaches on the internet are inadequate. Information is retrieved
> from Q&A forums, blog posts, agent or government sites. It is incomplete and
> outdated. Wikipedia has proved that a bottom approach is far more suitable
> in some areas than any top down approach (where a group is formally trying
> to organise information). Even if someone did a good job, they wouldn't be
> able to distribute it for free.
>
> WikifyIndia complements Wikipedia. The article on Civil Marriage in
> Wikipedia is written differently from the same article on WikifyIndia.
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_marriage
> http://www.wikifyindia.com/wiki/Civil_Marriage
>
> When WikifyIndia has adequate accurate content, it will reduce what
> economists call 'transaction costs'. Any tool to improve productivity of
> citizens, entrepreneurs and organisations will be directly contributing to
> the Indian economy. To the best of our knowledge, there is no other site
> with a similar approach in any other country. We urge you to jump in and
> make a difference.
>
> WikifyIndia is a non-profit initiative free of advertising and is being run
> by a small fund created by the Founders.
>
> We (the founders) have cribbed about a @#$% and rotten system for far too
> long. WikifyIndia is our way of doing something about it. We ask for your
> complete support in adding content, sharing experiences, creating templates
> and technical support. The goal is for every government procedure to be
> available in every Indian language with complete and accurate guidelines. If
> a farmer's wife in Manipur wants to get employed under Rural Employment
> Guarantee Scheme, she should have all the information and forms on the site
> in her language.
>
> Thank you for your time and patience,
>
> Anish and Sohel [User:Sbohra]
>
> _______________________________________________
> Wikimedia-in-chn mailing list
> Wikimedia-in-chn(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-in-chn
>
>
**Cross posted on various Indian Mailing Lists**
As per Community consensus, the annual national conference of Wikipedians in India will be titled WikiConference India.
We now need a special Logo for the event.
This logo will be used not only this year, but annually for the national conference. Community members are requested to come up with designs and post them on the talk page of the event on meta latest by 1PM, Monday 27 June 2011. Thereafter we will have a 48 hour window for the other community members to vote for the design they like.
**Kindly note, we expect the designers to assign unconditionally all rights to the logo design to Wikimedia Chapter (India) under whose jurisdiction this conference comes without any remuneration or other considerations. You will be recognised as the designer of the logo.**
Weblink for the Event Talk Page on Meta: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:WikiConference_India_2011#Logo
Looking forward to seeing some brilliant designs.
Kind Regards,
User:AroundTheGlobe
cross-posting pan India (apologies if you have got this through other mailing lists.)
Hisham Mundol
Wikimedia India Programs
skype : hisham.wikimedia
gtalk : hmundol(a)wikimedia.org
twitter : @mundol
Begin forwarded message:
> From: Hisham Mundol <hmundol(a)wikimedia.org>
> Date: June 21, 2011 5:00:50 PM GMT+05:30
> To: India Mailing list for Wikimedians in Pune <wikimedia-in-pun(a)lists.wikimedia.org>, Wikimedia India Community list <wikimediaindia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
> Cc: Wikipedia Ambassadors India <wikipedia-ambassadors-india(a)googlegroups.com>
> Subject: Update on Wikipedia India Education Program: Report & Project Page
>
> Hi Folks
>
> Here's a report on the Wikipedia India Education Program: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_-_India_Programs/India_…
>
> In (very) short summary, it's been an action packed 4-5 weeks, the team has done a huge amount of groundwork - and there appears to be significant potential. Do go through the report for further details.
>
> ...I've tried to make the report as interesting to read as possible - and focus on the learnings and implications for a national roll-out (instead of making it a random list summarising various activities.)
>
> Do let me have your views on the mailing lists or the Talk Page.
>
> (A project page has also been set up at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Pune but I hasten to add that it is in early stages of construction. ...but do keep visiting it. Finger crossed, it's going to get very busy, very soon!)
>
> I'd like to thank everyone from the community who have helped out so amazingly!
>
> Best
>
> Hisham Mundol
>
> Wikimedia India Programs
> skype : hisham.wikimedia
> gtalk : hmundol(a)wikimedia.org
> twitter : @mundol
>
The next Kolkata Wikipedia Meetup & Workshop is planned for Saturday 11 June
2011, from 1500 to 1830 hrs at
*Patanjali Chkitsalaya Building*
77, Satish Mukherjee Road,
Calcutaa 700026
India
Landmarks -
*Rashbihari Avenue Crossing* ( *Kalighat Metro Station*)
- Behind Patanjali Chkitsalaya Building
- Beside Deshbandhu College for Girls
In this meetup we are concentrating our Bengali Wikipedia.
Please sign up here :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/Kolkata/Kolkata5#Attendinghttp://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=150727971663456
This is a very interesting and important meet so be sure to be present to
push your ideas about what you would like to do!
With Warm Regards,
*Jayanta Nath*
Calcutta,West Bengal
<https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-in-wb>
I must congratulate you on this endeavor because I was recently thinking
about how to approach museums and archives and the amount of channels I
would have to pass in order to access their information. I hope you guys
come up with info on that too!
Cheers!
Noopur
On Sat, May 21, 2011 at 10:35 PM, Sohel Bohra <sohelbohra(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> [[This is a lengthy mail and is cross-posted on all mailing lists. Kindly
> bear]]
>
> Dear Wikimedians,
>
> We interact with the government on multiple occasions. The problems are all
> too familiar - complex systems, official apathy, corruption - just to name a
> few.
>
> Some trivia and stats to qualify these claims:
>
> * Entrepreneurs identified increasing the speed and ease of issuing
> permits; lowering taxes; and reducing the time it takes to start a business
> as key issues. (Note - All issues relate to government interactions; Source
> - Legatum Institute)
> * In Mumbai, there are 37 procedural hoops to jump through to gain approval
> to build a warehouse. (Source : World Bank)
> * On the Corruption Perception Index (2010), India ranks 87th of 178
> countries
> * Indians are highest ranked in volume of search for terms such as
> government rules, passport and registration (Source - Google Trends)
>
> Here's where WikifyIndia - a wiki of government procedures - kicks in.
> If Wikipedia is the Thinkers Encyclopedia, WikifyIndia is the Doer's
> Encyclopedia
>
> We (the founders) are ardent believers of the Wikipedia model and want to
> apply it to government procedures. Our belief is that ordinary citizens
> suffer for two reasons – the process is complex and accurate information is
> unavailable. WikifyIndia addresses the latter. Agents distort information to
> suit themselves. Officials are rarely friendly. The best solution has always
> been to ask someone who has ‘been through the grind’. WikifyIndia does it on
> a national level.
>
> The scope of the Project is wide ranging. From getting into the armed
> forces to filing a Right To Information request, from complaining about a
> broken traffic signal to opening a restaurant, from changing your name to
> adopting a child, from applying for euthanasia to marrying in court, from
> getting a gun permit to filing your taxes, from getting a permit to climb
> peaks to getting a gas connection, it will all be there.
>
> www.wikifyindia.com
>
> Every article is expected to have a short intro, requirements/eligibility,
> procedure, list of documents, timings, fees, application form, sample
> certificate among other details. Unlike Wikipedia, WikifyIndia is also a
> forum. There is merit in aggregating experiences (for ex. visa experiences
> can be quite varied).
>
> Current approaches on the internet are inadequate. Information is retrieved
> from Q&A forums, blog posts, agent or government sites. It is incomplete and
> outdated. Wikipedia has proved that a bottom approach is far more suitable
> in some areas than any top down approach (where a group is formally trying
> to organise information). Even if someone did a good job, they wouldn't be
> able to distribute it for free.
>
> WikifyIndia complements Wikipedia. The article on Civil Marriage in
> Wikipedia is written differently from the same article on WikifyIndia.
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_marriage
> http://www.wikifyindia.com/wiki/Civil_Marriage
>
> When WikifyIndia has adequate accurate content, it will reduce what
> economists call 'transaction costs'. Any tool to improve productivity of
> citizens, entrepreneurs and organisations will be directly contributing to
> the Indian economy. To the best of our knowledge, there is no other site
> with a similar approach in any other country. We urge you to jump in and
> make a difference.
>
> WikifyIndia is a non-profit initiative free of advertising and is being run
> by a small fund created by the Founders.
>
> We (the founders) have cribbed about a @#$% and rotten system for far too
> long. WikifyIndia is our way of doing something about it. We ask for your
> complete support in adding content, sharing experiences, creating templates
> and technical support. The goal is for every government procedure to be
> available in every Indian language with complete and accurate guidelines. If
> a farmer's wife in Manipur wants to get employed under Rural Employment
> Guarantee Scheme, she should have all the information and forms on the site
> in her language.
>
> Thank you for your time and patience,
>
> Anish and Sohel [User:Sbohra]
>
> _______________________________________________
> Wikimediaindia-l mailing list
> Wikimediaindia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
>
>
--
Noopur Raval
Student
Arts and Aesthetics
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Ph: 9650567690
Hello,
I am so glad to inform you that, today, Bengali Wikipedia [1] reached the
milestone of 1 million edits [2]. Bengali is the 3rd Indic language
Wikipedia (after Hindi and Malayalam) to reach this milestone. Currently it
has 22,224 articles and counting. Congratulations to all contributors of
Bengali Wikipedia!
Regards,
--
Tanvir Rahman
http://bit.ly/wikitanvir
[1] http://bn.wikipedia.org
[2] http://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Statistics?uselang=en
Dear All,
Wikimedia UK chapter is planning to arrange a monthly London meetup in
different places in London. According to
Wikipedia<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_Hamlets>,
30.5% people of Tower Hamlets are from Bangladesh. Probably Bangla Wikis has
some editors there. UK chapter also interested to arrange meetup at Tower
Hamlets. UK chapter seeking editors of Bangla Wikis who are from Tower
Hamlets and wants to join the London/Bangla meetup.
If you are leaving at Tower Hamlets or any where in London and wants to
participate at the meetup, please raise your voice and let us know.
Waiting for your response.
Cheers
Belayet
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: WereSpielChequers <werespielchequers(a)gmail.com>
Date: 19 May 2011 01:37
Subject: Re: Bangla Wikipedia and Wikimedia UK
To: Steven Walling <swalling(a)wikimedia.org>
Cc: bellayet(a)gmail.com
Thanks Steven,
Hi Bellayet,
Yes as Steven said I'm involved in the monthly London meetup and also
I'm in touch with some of the board members of our new UK chapter. We
are thinking of trying some different London venues for our monthly
London meetup, and it occurred to me that the Bangla wiki probably has
some editors in Tower Hamlets. Do you know any editors there who might
be interested in a joint London/Bangla meetup?
We can probably get the UK chapter to pay for room hire.
Regards
WereSpielChequers
On 18 May 2011 19:53, Steven Walling <swalling(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:
> Hi Belayet,
> Hope you're doing well! I was talking this morning with English Wikipedian
> User:WereSpielChequers who is involved in organizing London meetups and
work
> with the U.K. chapter.
> I'm not sure if you two have met before, but he mentioned an interest in
> helping introduce Bangla-speaking people in the London area to bn
Wikipedia.
> I thought you might be able to help him get to know the Bangla Wikipedia
> community. :)
> Best regards,
> --
> Steven Walling
> Fellow at Wikimedia Foundation
> wikimediafoundation.org
>
--
Belayet Hossain
http://www.facebook.com/bellayethttp://twitter.com/bellayethttp://bellayet.wordpress.com (Bangla)
Knowledge is universal
...so share it.
Hillel____
If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
If I am only for myself, what am I?
If not now, when?
Hi All
(cross-posting pan-india; apologies if you get this more than once.)
A few of you have reached out and suggested modifications / corrections in the postings. I've made these. Thank you for your inputs.
Please see the revised ones :
Wiki
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/RFP/Consultant,_Participation_-_India_P…http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/RFP/Consultant,_Indic_Initiatives_-_Ind…
LinkedIn
http://www.linkedin.com/jobs?viewJob=&jobId=1592308http://www.linkedin.com/jobs?viewJob=&jobId=1592351
Many thanks
Hisham Mundol
Wikimedia Foundation India Programs
skype: hisham.wikimedia
gtalk: hmundol(a)wikimedia.org
twitter: @mundol
On May 4, 2011, at 10:06 AM, Hisham Mundol wrote:
> Hi All
>
> I'm writing to inform you that the selection process for 2 of the 4 potential new team members of the India Programs team has started. These have been posted on Office as well as LinkedIn. They can be seen at the at the following locations:
>
> Wiki
> http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/RFP/Consultant,_Participation_-_India_P…
> http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/RFP/Consultant,_Indic_Initiatives_-_Ind…
>
> LinkedIn
> http://www.linkedin.com/jobs?viewJob=&jobId=1592308
> http://www.linkedin.com/jobs?viewJob=&jobId=1592351
>
> Can I request a few things.
>
> a) India Programs is extremely keen on having existing Wikimedians on board in the team. I therefore invite and urge anyone from the existing community to respond to either / both of these. As you will make out from the wordings, there is a clear preference for those who are already involved in the community.
> b) Please do forward this mail to anyone you know who you think might be interested. While they may not be from the existing community, you are best placed to know your who would fit into the movement and who might be interested.
> c) Please do broadcast these links on any other mailing lists, bulletin boards, various social networks (twitter, facebook, etc.), etc. so that we can reach more potential candidates / remind potential candidates.
>
> Please do not hesitate to contact me for any clarifications.
>
> Many thanks.
>
> Hisham Mundol
> Wikimedia Foundation India Programs
> skype: hisham.wikimedia
>
> gtalk: hmundol(a)wikimedia.org
> twitter: @mundol
>