*CIOL : "Mumbai to host national WikiConference"* http://www.ciol.com/Developer/Developer/News-Reports/Mumbai-to-host-nationa… *Jimmy Wales to deliver the Keynote on November 18 at University Convocation Hall* * * *The Mumbai Wikipedia Community and the Wikimedia Chapter, India are hosting the first ever WikiConference in Mumbai, India!* * * *The conference will be graced by the founder, open-source evangelist and chairman emeritus of Wikimedia foundation, Jimmy Wales, said a press release.* * * *According to the release, the Conference will have a distinct Indian flavour and deal primarily with issues relating to India on Wikipedia, English and Indic language Wikipedia projects in the country, possible partnerships and collaborations and the WikiCommunity editing on these issues, whether in India or abroad.* * * *The three day event will be held from 18-20 November, 2011 at Convocation Hall, University of Mumbai, Fort Campus.* * * *Arjuna Rao Chavala, president, Wikimedia chapter said, "We look forward to organising the conference on an annual basis to bring together Indian Wikipedians from 20+ Indian language projects to share learnings and best practices. The event will help catalyze contributors in building Knowledge Society through free and open education projects."* * * *Speaking on the occasion, Pranav Curumsey, Chairperson, Organizing Committee, WikiConference India said, "The conference aims to promote the vision of the founder Mr. Wales, 'Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge.'”* * * *He added, “It is very encouraging to see ad-free participation showing a keen interest in attending this conference confirming our belief that India is free knowledge ready.”* * * *The release further added that, the event will see thousands of Wikipedians from all over the country pouring in for sessions covering on different topics.* * * *Moksh Juneja, secretary, Organising Committee, WikiConference India added, "The conference aims to serve as an annual platform for all Indian Wikipedians to meet and share their views, discuss challenges and exchange useful tips and best practices.”* * * *“We have been overwhelmed with the ad-free participation across India where we received 7000 plus entries for scholarships and 550 plus papers were submitted to be presented at the WikiConference India," concluded Juneja.* Regards Tinu Cherian press(a)wikimedia.in http://wiki.wikimedia.in/In_the_news