Updated: There was a wrong link for "Digitize any Book in the Public Domain http://cis-india.org/openness/blog/opensource-march-27-2014-subhashish-panigrahi-digitize-any-book-in-public-domain ”. It is corrected now. Sorry for the mistake.

Dear all,

We from the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS-A2K) thank you all for your support and collaboration We bring you the details of our work for the month of March 2014:

Draft Work plan July 2014 - June 2015 https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge/Draft_Work_plan_July_2014_-_June_2015

The Access to Knowledge team from CIS (CIS-A2K) published a detailed draft work plan. These include 7 language area plans, 3 community strengthening initiatives, 8 stand-alone Wikimedia projects, creating movement resources, publicity, research and documentation, and general support and service to the movement. The work plans for Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Konkani, Marathi, Odia and Telugu languages can be accessed here https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge/Draft_Work_plan_July_2014_-_June_2015#Language_Area_Work_Plans .

Events Organised

1. First Urdu Wikipedia Workshop http://cis-india.org/openness/blog/first-urdu-wikipedia-workshop-hyderabad (Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad, March 4, 2014). Syed Muzamiluddin conducted the workshop. The event was covered by Taemeer News, Aalami Akhbar, and Firokhabar on March 5, 2014. A video of the event was published by Ruby News. 2. Telugu Wikipedia Women’s Day https://te.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B0%B5%E0%B0%BF%E0%B0%95%E0%B1%80%E0%B0%AA%E0%B1%80%E0%B0%A1%E0%B0%BF%E0%B0%AF%E0%B0%BE:%E0%B0%B8%E0%B0%AE%E0%B0%BE%E0%B0%B5%E0%B1%87%E0%B0%B6%E0%B0%82/%E0%B0%85%E0%B0%82%E0%B0%A4%E0%B0%B0%E0%B1%8D%E0%B0%9C%E0%B0%BE%E0%B0%A4%E0%B1%80%E0%B0%AF_%E0%B0%AE%E0%B0%B9%E0%B0%BF%E0%B0%B3%E0%B0%BE_%E0%B0%A6%E0%B0%BF%E0%B0%A8%E0%B1%8B%E0%B0%A4%E0%B1%8D%E0%B0%B8%E0%B0%B5%E0%B0%82,_%E0%B0%AD%E0%B0%BE%E0%B0%B0%E0%B0%A4%E0%B0%A6%E0%B1%87%E0%B0%B6%E0%B0%82/2014 (Hyderabad, March 8, 2014). T. Vishnu Vardhan participated in this event. The event was covered by Andhra Prabha http://www.andhraprabha.com/districts/hyderabad/telugu-wikipedia-womens-day-in-hyd/13521.html Telugu daily and Andhra Bhoomi http://www.andhrabhoomi.net/content/bjp-71 . 3. Wiki Women’s Day http://cis-india.org/events/international-womens-day-2014 (International Center Goa, March 9, 2014). Frederick Noronha conducted the workshop. The event was organized as part of the commemoration of the International Women's Day. 4. Wikipedia Editathon on India Women's History (Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology (CBIT), Hyderabad, March 8, 2014). The event was covered by Andhra Prabha http://www.andhraprabha.com/districts/hyderabad/telugu-wikipedia-womens-day-in-hyd/13521.html and Andhra Bhoomi http://www.andhrabhoomi.net/content/bjp-71 on March 8, 2014. T. Vishnu Vardhan spoke at this event and also gave a Wikipedia demonstration. Syed Muzamiluddin gave a brief Wikipedia demonstration. 5. Kannada Wikipedia Workshop http://cis-india.org/news/the-hindu-march-24-2014-wikipedia-taps-students-for-kannada-content (SDM College, Ujire, March 23, 2014). Dr. U.B.Pavanaja conducted a workshop. Renuka Phadnis wrote a report of the event in the Hindu on March 24, 2014. 6. Community Capacity Building Workshop http://cis-india.org/openness/events/community-capacity-building-workshop-at-kiit (KIIT University, March 30, 2014). Subhashish Panigrahi along with experienced Wikipedians mentored the Odia Wikipedia community about community building strategies and outreach.

Events Co-organised

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Release_of_DVD_containing_Odia_font,_open_source_tools_and_Offline_Odia_Wikipedia.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cb/Release_of_DVD_con...

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Release_of_DVD_containing_Odia_font,_open_source_tools_and_Offline_Odia_Wikipedia.jpg https://bits.wikimedia.org/static-1.23wmf21/skins/common/images/magnify-clip...

Release of DVD containing free licensed Odia font, open source tools and Offline Odia Wikipedia during Odisha Dibasa 2014 https://or.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:OD14 on March 29, 2014. Image: Ahemadullah Shaikh https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Ahemadullahsk

1. Kannada Wikipedia Workshop (organized by Kannada Times Sagara and co-sponsored by CIS-A2K, Sagara, March 1-2, 2014). Dr. U.B. Pavanaja conducted a Kannada Wikipedia workshop on March 1, followed a by edit-a-thon on Mar 2, 2014. The event was covered by Suvarna Prabha http://cis-india.org/news/kannada-wikipedia-workshop-coverage-suvarna-prabha-march-1-2014 (March 1, 2014), Vijaya Karnataka http://cis-india.org/news/vijay-karnataka-march-2-2014-wikipedia-workshop-coverage (March 2, 2014) and Vijaya Vani http://cis-india.org/news/vijayavani-kannada-wiki-workshop-march-3-2014 (March 3, 2014). 2. Odisha Day 2014 http://cis-india.org/openness/events/odisha-day-2014 (organized by CIS-A2K and Odia Wikipedia community, Jayadev Bhawan, Bhubaneswar, March 29, 2014). About 70 people participated in the event. The event was featured in the media about 14 times. 3. Telugu Wikipedia at JNTUACEP http://cis-india.org/openness/events/telugu-wiki-jntuacep (co-organized by CIS-A2K and the Department of Computer Science, JNTUACEP, Andhra Pradesh, March 28, 2014). Rahmanuddin Shaik was a speaker.

Articles / Blog Entries

1. Open Education Week: Interview with Subhashish Panigrahi http://cis-india.org/openness/blog/commons-machinery-march-14-2014-noopur-raval-open-education-week-interview-with-subhashish-panigrahi (by Noopur Raval, March 14, 2014). 2. Open Source Project Brings 11th Century Kannada Verses Online http://cis-india.org/openness/blog/foss-force-open-source-project-brings-11th-century-kannada-verses-online (by Pavithra Hanchagaiah, Omshivaprakash H L and Subhashish Panigrahi, March 19, 2014). 3. Vachana Sanchaya: 11th century Kannada literature to enrich Wikisource http://cis-india.org/openness/blog/vachana-sanchaya-11th-century-kannada-literature-to-enrich-wikisource (by by Pavithra Hanchagaiah, Omshivaprakash H L and Subhashish Panigrahi, March 20, 2014). 4. http://cis-india.org/openness/blog/wikipedia-odia-completes-10-years ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ: ତିନି ବର୍ଷର ସକ୍ରିୟ ଅବଦାନ ୧୦ ବର୍ଷର ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପକୁ ପୁନର୍ଜୀବନ ଦେଲା (by Subhashish Panigrahi, March 20, 2014). 5. Digitize any Book in the Public Domain http://cis-india.org/openness/blog/opensource-march-27-2014-subhashish-panigrahi-digitize-any-book-in-public-domain (by Subhashish Panigrahi, Opensource.com, March 27, 2014).

Participation in Events

1. Sessions on Kannada Wikipedia http://cis-india.org/news/sessions-on-kannada-wikipedia-tumkur-university (organized by Tumkur University, March 27, 2014). Dr. U.B.Pavanaja conducted a session on Kannada Wikipedia for students of M.Sc. Library and Information Sciences followed by an advanced Kannada Wikipedia session for students of M.A. Literature. 2. The Dynamics of Education to Employment Journey: Opportunities and Challenges http://cis-india.org/news/dynamics-of-education-to-employment-journey (organized by KIIT School of Management, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, February 21-22, 2014). T. Vishnu Vardhan and Subhashish Panigrahi gave talks.

Media Coverage

CIS gave its inputs for the following media coverage:

1. Integrating Urdu with Modern Technology the Need of Hour http://cis-india.org/news/daily-taskeen-march-6-2014-integrating-urdu-with-modern-technology-the-need-of-the-hour (Daily Taskeen, March 6, 2014). 2. http://cis-india.org/news/odishan-march-27-2014-odisha-day-2014 ଓଡ଼ିଶା ଦିବସ: ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷା ଭିତ୍ତିରେ ରାଜ୍ୟ ଗଠନର ୭୯ ବର୍ଷ (Odishan.com, March 27, 2014). 3. Odia Wikipedia http://cis-india.org/news/the-telegraph-march-29-2014-odia-wikipedia (The Telegraph, March 29, 2014). Subhashish Panigrahi spoke about Odia Wikipedia plan. 4. Odia Wikimedia community celebrated Odisha day, bringing 14 copyright free Odia books http://cis-india.org/news/orissa-diary-march-29-2014-odia-wikimedia-community-celebrated-odisha-day-bringing-14-copyright-free-odia-books (Odishadiary, March 29, 2014): <web-link>1lJJ4ur. 5. Odia Wikipedia Brings 14 Copyright Free Odia Books and a Free Odia Font http://cis-india.org/news/odishabarta-march-29-2014-odia-wikipedia-brings-14-copyright-free-odia-books-and-free-odia-font (Odishabarta, March 29, 2014). Subhashish Panigrahi shared the vision of the Wikimedia movement. 6. ‘Digitisation only way to preserve valuable literature for posterity’ http://cis-india.org/news/odishasuntimes-march-29-2014-digitisation-only-way-to-preserve-valuable-literature-for-posterity (Odisha Sun Times, March 29, 2014). 7. Odia Wikipedia to Digitise 14 Books http://cis-india.org/news/daily-pioneer-state-editions-bhubaneswar-odia-wikipedia-to-digitise-14-books (The Pioneer, March 30, 2014). 8. http://cis-india.org/news/odishan-march-30-2014-odisha-2014-coverage ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଉଇକିପିଡିଆ ଓ ଉଇକିପାଠାଗାର: ଓଡ଼ିଆ ପୁସ୍ତକ ଏଣିକି ମୁକ୍ତରେ ମିଳିବ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ (Odishan, March 30, 2014): link to the news http://odishan.com/?p=11797 . Subhashish Panigrahi read out the annual report. 9. Odisha Day 2014 http://cis-india.org/news/odishasamay-march-30-2014-odisha-2014-coverage (Odisha Samay, March 30, 2014). 10. Odisha Day 2014 http://cis-india.org/news/sambad-march-31-2014-odisha-day-2014 (Sambad, March 31, 2014): link http://sambadepaper.com/Details.aspx?id=84265&boxid=23226203 . 11. Emphasis on developing vernacular encyclopaedias http://cis-india.org/news/the-hindu-march-30-2014-emphasis-on-developing-vernacular-encyclopaedias (The Hindu, March 30, 2014).

Wikimedia Foundation has funded A2K to anchor the growth of Wikimedia movement in India. The A2K team consists of six members, four based in Bangalore: T. Vishnu Vardhan, Dr. U.B. Pavanaja, Subhashish Panigrahi and Rahmanuddin Shaikh. One team member Nitika Tandon is based in Delhi. We also have one Advisor Dr. Tejaswini Niranjana working with us. Archives of our newsletters can be accessed here http://cis-india.org/about/newsletters . Wikipedians from various communities can request for outreach programs, technical bugs, logistics-merchandize and media, public relations and communications here https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge/Requests .

About CIS

The Centre for Internet and Society is a non-profit research organization that works on policy issues relating to freedom of expression, privacy, accessibility for persons with disabilities, access to knowledge and IPR reform, and openness (including open government, FOSS, open standards, etc.), and engages in academic research on digital natives and digital humanities.

Follow us elsewhere

* Twitter: https://twitter.com/CISA2K * CIS group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/cis.india * Visit us at: https://cis-india.org

Request for Collaboration:

We invite researchers, practitioners, and theoreticians, both organisationally and as individuals, to collaboratively engage with Internet and society and improve our understanding of this new field. To discuss the research collaborations, write to Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, at sunil@cis-india.org or Nishant Shah, Director – Research, at nishant@cis-india.org. To discuss collaborations on Indic language wikipedia, write to T. Vishnu Vardhan, Programme Director, A2K, at vishnu@cis-india.org.

CIS is grateful to its donors, Wikimedia Foundation, Ford Foundation, Privacy International, UK, Hans Foundation and the Kusuma Trust which was founded by Anurag Dikshit and Soma Pujari, philanthropists of Indian origin, for its core funding and support for most of its projects.

Thanks and regards,

Pavanaja

U.B. Pavanaja, MSc, PhD

Programme Officer – Indian languages http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pavanaja ,

Access to Knowledge program

The Centre for Internet & Society