Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] [Wikimedia-in-blr] [Press] : Prajavani : ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯ: ಬಹು ಭಾಷೆ- ಬಹುಜ್ಞಾನ :" Wikipedia : Multiple languages : Source of knowledge " ( Kannada)

It's not an accurate translation, but I think I've got most of it right. I apologize for any spelling mistakes that might have crept in :) Wikipedia recently celebrated its Ten Year Anniversary on Jan 15th. Wikipedia has shone the light of knowledge on the masses for a decade now. This online encyclopedia stands apart from the rest all over the world for several reasons. Wikipedia is the result of the combined efforts of a community. Everyone knows Wikipedia does not get revenue from Ads. This is a free online enclyclopedia. The user is the owner(?). He looks for information, adds information, corrects information and in the process enables the growth of the encyclopedia. Wikipedia was launched on Jan 15, 2001. Wikipedia was built using the 'wiki' technology by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger. Wikipedia is the perfect example which supports the saying " The first footsteps of any great revolution in the world is always small. But it grows exponentially(?) thereafter". Wikipedia has around 17 million articles, has 365 million readers and is available in 262 languages. There were more than 300 events all over the world to celebrate Wikipedia's 10th anniversary. It's indeed special that more than 60 of these events happened in India. India is the only place where Wikipedia has an office outside N. America. "India holds a special place for the Wikimedia foundation" says executive director, Sue Gardner. Wikipedia is at present available in 20 Indian languages. More than 20 other languages like Tulu, Konkani and Mizo are in the early stages of development. "As part of the 10th Anniversary celebrations, the Wikimedia India chapter has come up with many initiatives. One of the main initiatives is creating a database(?) of languages like Hindi and other regional languages. We are also trying to reach more people through many other activities" says Wikimedia India Chapter's Tinu Cherian. Wikimedia's 29th branch was launched in Bangalore during the 10th Anniversary celebrations. There are around 100 to 200 contributors for Indian languages. For English it has crossed 100. Wikipedia is looking to increase the quality of the articles and is also trying to increase women participation. "The usage of internet has increased dramatically in India, mostly through mobile phones. We're giving special attention towards the indian market for this reason ” says Gardner According to several internet analysts, the number of contributors has declined sharply over the years. The number has come down from 54000 in March, 2007 to 35000 in Sept, 2010. It is difficult to imagine a future without Wikipedia. In this digital age, even though you have information at your fingertips, one definitely needs Wikipedia to corroborate it. Regards, Sriram On Wed, Feb 2, 2011 at 11:27 AM, CherianTinu Abraham < tinucherian(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote: _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-in-blr mailing list Wikimedia-in-blr(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-in-blr