Dear all,

Greetings from Wikimedia India !!!

The Wikimedia Chapter (India) celebrated its first anniversary on 3rd January 2012.

Organisational Updates

Formation of Task Forces:
The formation of the different task forces are still in progress. The various task forces are a) Fundraising, b) Special Projects, c) Administration, d) City and Language Special Interest Groups, and e) Communications, PR & Media Relations.

We are seeking more volunteers for the task forces. If you are interested, please feel free to contact the respective task force stewards or find more information here [1]

Membership:
The Chapter membership stands at 196 members as of 31 January 2012. Six new members were added to the chapter membership in this month. We extend a very warm welcome to the family.

Donations:
Total donations received in Jan 2012 - INR 10700
Average donations in Jan 2012 - INR 3566

FCRA:
Our application for prior permission under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act FCRA 2010, with the Government of India is under process. As the stated time for response is over recently, chapter will be following up with the authorities. [ As we write this report, our application was approved by the Government of India]

Internet Relay Chat(IRCs):
From time to time, Wikimedia India conduct planned online IRC chat sessions. The IRC on Jan 05, 2011 was anchored by Sudhanwa Jogalekar with the focus on Chapter Specia Interest Groups (SIG) co-ordination [2]. The IRC on Jan 07, 2010, anchored by Arun Ramarathnam discussed on the Jan 15th Celebration plans, SIGs and GLAM projects. [3]

Board Meetings:
The Wikimedia Chapter Executive Committee had two tele-conference EC meetings (dated 04 Jan and 18 Jan, 2012) in the month of January.The Wikimedia India chapter and Wikimedia Foundation had one joint co-ordination call on 25 Jan 2012, which was attended by Arjuna Rao Chavala, Naveen Francis, Tinu Cherian and Hisham Mundol. The main agenda of the call was on Chapter - Foundation India programs Collaboration Framework .

WikiConference 2011
The Chapter and Mumbai Conference organisers are working closely for the closure and audit of accounts related to WikiConference Mumbai 2011.

Community & Special Interest Groups.

SOPA and Wikipedia Blackout:

The global community of volunteers who edit the English Wikipedia had decided to support the protest against the introduction of the “Stop Online Piracy Act” (SOPA) in the US House of Representatives and the “Protect IP Act” in the US Senate. To that end, the English Wikipedia was blacked out globally for a period of 24 hours on 18 January 2012. The black out in India commenced at 10.30am IST on 18 January 2012.

The Press release and Communication to the members related to Wikipedia Blackout can found here [4],[5].

Wikipedia eleventh anniversary :

Wikipedia turned eleven on the 15th of January 2012. The eleventh anniversary of Wikipedia was celebrated in different parts of the country [6]. More than 8 Indian cities and towns and over 200 Wikimedians & Wiki enthusiasts celebrated this occasion of Wikipedia anniversary, around the nation.

Some of the meetups had a Wikipedia anniversary cake to celebrate the occasion. Google Hangout was also conducted between different cities celebrating at the same time.

The New Wikimedia India portal ( wikimedia.in ) was launched on this day. It is designed to provide quick and rapid access to Indic wikimedia projects - Wikipedia, Wiktionary, Wikisource, Wikibooks, Wikinews, Wikiquote and Commons.

A full collection of images related to the celebrations, around the nation, can be found here [7].

Events:
A round-up of Wikimedia events, academies and initiatives around the nation is as follows.

Wikipedia Takes Ahmedabad (3 Jan 2012): Wikipedia Takes Ahmedabad [8] is a scavenger hunt for free content photography in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, organised by Noopur Raval , Anirudh Bhati and Srikeit Tadepalli. The aim of this exercise is to encourage participants to compete to take photographs of as many local sights and city specific objects of cultural heritage as possible for Wikipedia articles. Over 75 participants attended and around 815 images were uploaded to the Wikimedia Commons as a part of this initiative [9].
Wikipedia Takes Mumbai II ( 28 Jan 2012) : This is the second photography drive in Mumbai. [10] The event was led by Nikita Belavate, Anshuman Fotedar and Karthik Nadar and other members of the Mumbai Community. Over 625 images were uploaded to the Wikimedia Commons as a part of this initiative [11]
Wiki Academies/Workshops : Several Wiki Academies were held in different parts of the nation , organised and conducted by the Chapter, its members ,WMF India Programs and the Wikimedia community in India. .
a) Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi , Kerala (05-Jan) [12]
b) Workshop at Text100, Mumbai (webcast to Text100 Delhi and Bangalore) (06-Jan) [13]
c) SSN College of Engineering, Chennai (11-Jan ) [14]
d) P S R Rengasamy college of engineering for women, Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu. (20-Jan) [15]
e) Netaji Subhash Engineering College, Kolkata, West Bengal (25-Jan) [16]
f) Jadavpur University, Kolkata, West Bengal (25-Jan) [17]
g) Amrita School of Communication, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu (28-Jan) (18)
h) Jamia Millia Islamia, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Delhi (30-Jan) [19]
i) Kerala Sahitya Academy, Trissur, Kerala (8-Jan) [20]
j) Jnana Prabodhini - Wikiacademy, Pune (15-Jan) [21]

A session on Commons was conducted for photography group called ‘Tassavurrati’. [22] They have successfully started uploading pictures of their trips (most recent: Surajkund Mela) to the Wkimedia Commons.

Other News:

Telugu SIG celebrated the Wikipedia day on 29 Jan 2012 at Hyderabad. Top 10 contributors in the articles category and non article category were recognised at the function. [23]
Sanskrit Wikipedia saw an excellent editor growth (50%) compared to last month, and a 234% increase in the number of edits.
The 1st Delhi Odia Wikimeetup and Academy was conducted on 29 Jan 2012 by Odia SIG Chair and WMF India Programs Consultant , Subhashish Panigraphi. [24]
One of the first Assamese Wikipedia community meetup and Wikipedia Workshop was held on Jan 29 at Guwahati University, Guwahati, Assam [25]

Milestones & Anniversaries

January 2012
24

The Sanskrit Wiktionary has reached 200 entries with the addition of over a dozen entries all apparently meaning "sun".

The Divehi Wikipedia has reached 100,000 page edits.
The Assamese Wikipedia has reached 500 uploaded files.

The Bengali Wikipedia has reached 1,000 uploaded files.
The Oriya Wikipedia has reached 2,000 articles.

The Bengali Wikipedia has reached 1,000 uploaded files.
The Urdu Wiktionary has reached 10,000 entries.

Wikimedia Commons has reached 12,000,000 files.
The Tamil Wikibooks has reached 10,000 page edits.

The English Wikibooks has reached 40,000 book modules.

The Marathi Wikipedia has reached 100,000 total pages.
The Assamese Wikipedia has reached 1,000 articles.