From fred at bytesforall.org Tue Jun 4 09:09:02 2002 From: fred at bytesforall.org (Frederick Noronha) Date: Tue, 4 Jun 2002 12:39:02 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Bytesforall] NEWSLETTER: BytesForAll, June 2002 Message-ID: ____ _ _____ _ _ _ | __ ) _ _ | |_ ___ ___ | ___| ___ _ __ / \ | | | | | _ \ | | | | | __| / _ \ / __| | |_ / _ \ | '__| / _ \ | | | | | |_) | | |_| | | |_ | __/ \__ \ | _| | (_) | | | / ___ \ | | | | |____/ \__, | \__| \___| |___/ |_| \___/ |_| /_/ \_\ |_| |_| |___/ ---------------------------------------------------------------- MAKING COMPUTING RELEVANT TO THE COMMON(WO)MAN * JUNE 2002 ISSUE http://www.bytesforall.org * http://www.indialists.org ---------------------------------------------------------------- FREE FONT FOR MALAYALAM Efforts are on to spread the use of ICT among the speakers of the Malayalam language of South India, with support from the Free Software Movement. This initiative has just got support from APDIP, the Asia Pacific Development Information Programme, linked to the UNDP. Some basic software are today available in free downloadable forms over the Internet. But these software do not cater to the fonts in Malayalam, which is the language of 30 million in the southern Indian state of Kerala and at least 10 million outside. Not just that. This project aims to create Free Font for Malayalam, create toolkit (toolkits are basic building blocks in creating Graphical User Interface based applications) with Malayalam support, and create a localised desktop and office productivity applications and documentation in Malayalam. As of now, Malayalam enabled software is scarce. Those available are for Word Processing alone. Malayalam usage in computers is limited to using the computer as an electronic typewriter and for publishing. The major reason for this is the lack of Operating Systems supporting Malayalam. To add to this, the Malayalam font system for the global standard -- the Unicode -- has not been built. As a result, it is not possible to have an ICT infrastructure with Malayalam support. Another issue is the very high cost of proprietary software. This project is to be implemented by the Kerala Bureau of Industrial Promotion (K-BIP), partnering with the Free Software Foundation, the world-renowned organisation founded by Richard M. Stallman in the USA in 1984. FSF argues that all software should be free, as software is information and the withholding of information is wrong and a denial of a human right. The first FSF Chapter in India was incidentally started in India in Trivandrum, Kerala. http://www.apdip.net/news/malayalam/index.htm Contact: Ajay Kumar, Secretary to the Government of Kerala Industries Department Email: kumarajay1111 at yahoo.com Tel: 91-471- 333028 Fax: 91-471- 311883 ***************************************************** ICT SOLUTION FOR FISHERMEN The Financial Express reports from Hyderabad that the Indian National Centre of Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) has signed an agreement with the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to develop an online solution aimed at offering Web-based services for fishermen. "This five-year partnership covers the development of a Web-based multilingual online solution that will allow the user community to visualise and download a variety of ocean information and advisory services. Information kiosks will be set up along the coastlines to help about 6 million fishermen in the country. TCS will be hosting the solution in the next 12 months," Dr K Radhakrishnan, director, INCOIS was quoted as saying http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=8404 ***************************************************** WANTED: JAVA VOLUNTEERS Says the TEN Newsletter, of an Indian project: "If You Know Java - Tarahaat Needs Your Help for Their Multilingual Software Project". Tarahaat is trying to build stronger and more independent communities in India through its marketplace technology. For a project like this, an Indian language interface is essential. However, licensing costs for proprietary software and language technologies are too high for local entrepreneurs. The obvious solution is to use Open Source software, but support for Indian languages on Linux (*UNIX) platform is poor. That's where TEN and YOU come in. The two main objectives of this exercise are: (1) To build an open source (GPL), Java applet to serve as a multi-platform, multilingual input/ output interface for web applications in Indian languages. This applet must provide a method to translate between Font-code and Unicode (2) To build a WYSIWYG HTML editor using the above applet to support data entry via touch screen, keyboard, phonetic script and ISCII (Indian Script Code for Information Interchange). If you can help provide any of the programming, analysis and development skills to support Tarahaat's existing team and see this project to completion, contact TEN Director Ulla Skiden now. More Details of the exciting partners in this project on the TEN site. ***************************************************** TONGUE TO TALK: MALAYALAM Want to learn Malayalam? This CD promises to do just that, without tears! Vidyarambham Malayalam Tutor CD is priced at Rs 900 (US$22.50). Check it out at www.vidhyarambham.com/ordernow.asp Details from: Allen Park Infotech http://www.allenparkinfotech.com Email allenparkinfotech at asianetonline.net ***************************************************** VOGRAM -- MESSAGES FOR RURAL INDIA VoGram is something of new technology, that promises to have some utility in a country like India. In summary, the system concept is that anyone can go to an STD kiosk and make a phone call to a VoGram centre. At the VoGram center an operator will take the call, and take information as to the way the recepient will be intimated about the VoGram: by phone (if the recepient has a phone), or by a printed notice (which will need to be delivered by hand). Then the operator leaves the call, and the caller is prompted by the VoGram server to say the message. The message (upto 60sec) is digitised, compressed and sent off as an email attachment over the Internet to the VoGram center nearest to the recepient. This VoGram centre will then inform the recepient by automatically placing a phone call or sending over a printed notice. This process will convey to the recepient a password. The recepient can then call the VoGRam centre and listen to his message after keying in his password. Meanwhile the sending party can call his sending VoGram centre and learn about the status of delivery of the message, since the VoGram system keeps updating the sending VoGram centre, explains Anurag Kumar, Professor and Associate Chairman of the Department of Electrical Communication Engineering of the IISc, Bangalore http://ece.iisc.ernet.in/vogram/ ***************************************************** TECHNOLOGY TO FIGHT LEARNING-BARRIERS KnowNet-Grin (Knowledge Network for Augmenting Grassroots Innovations) is an effort at reducing barriers to learning. It is an initiative involving the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) and SRISTI (Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions, www.sristi.org). The inspiration came from Prof. Anil K Gupta from IIMA. "While working on the project we had experimented on several aspect in which we could apply technology for reducing the barrier of learning viz language, literacy and localism. At the same time we experimented with various models in which we could expand the electronic network. Some of the models as we discussed were cost effective such as the ham radio but other very expensive such as the VSAT", explains Vijay Pratap Singh , one of the bright and determined young men working on this project. http://www.sristi.org/knownetgrin.html ***************************************************** PROJECT CLEARINGHOUSE --------------------- The World Resources Institute, a think tank in Washington D.C., has developed a Web site dedicated to exploring creative business approaches, public-private partnerships, and other sustainable ways to bridge the global digital divide and create lasting economic, social, and environmental benefits. Central to the project is the Digital Dividend Project Clearinghouse. Located at http://wriws1.digitaldividend.org/wri/app/index.jsp, the Clearinghouse serves as a fully-searchable repository for information and shared experience on digitally-enabled projects providing services to underserved populations in developing countries. Several of the projects listed below are included in the Clearinghouse, each with full contact information. This is what's on offer: If you or your organization has an applicable project, do submit it online. Or, if you prefer, this centre can create a project capsule for you. Just send in your information including a brief project description, start date, full contact information and URL, affiliated organizations, and any related documents you'd like to have linked to your project capsule. http://www.digitaldividend.org Email: DIVIDENDS at wri.org ***************************************************** DRUG DESIGN Rajkumar Buyya one of the young Indian expats who volunteers without expectations on the BytesForAll team, recently developed a system that support service-orieneted world-wide computing. It allows the creation of online computing marketplace. The system has been used for running applications such as drug design. More details at http://www.trnmag.com/Stories/2001/091201/Tools_automate_computer_sharing_091201.html ***************************************************** SOFTWARE FOR THE TEMPLE ----------------------- The Times of India recently reported on 'Ganati' -- a temple management software. It is aimed at bringing "efficiency and transparency" in various temple functions. Ganati will specifically address billing and accounting procedures, documentation of hundi collections, inventory management of utility articles to valuable ornaments, as well as stores maintenance to purchases, HR functions and trust affairs as part of the everyday temple procedures. The software has already been implemented at the Sri Raghavendra Swamy Mutt at Sanjaynagar. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_id=6096747 ***************************************************** CYBERCAFE ON WHEELS ------------------- This comes from the gkd at mail.edc.org mailing list (the Global Knowledge for Development network): Scientists at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Kanpur, India are working on what they describe as "info-thela", or cyber cafe on wheels -- an IT-based innovation that is expected to revolutionise the rural economy and boost output. The idea is to provide battery-operated IT services on tricycles which can reach even the remotest of areas. The mobile cyber cafe will enable villagers to get information about weather forecasts, market rates of agricultural products and inputs and even entertainment, all at one place and just by one click of the mouse. ***************************************************** IT FOR EYE-BANKS ---------------- Percy Ghaswala of the Mumbai-based Ghaswala Vision Foundation, in the process of being registered, has plans for e-enabled eye banking. Initially, this hopes to work at a single eye-bank, and then network others. Ghaswala is volunteer and faculty at the SEWA Roshni Eye Bank of Lilavati Hospital & Research Center in Mumbai. IT brings about transparency, and this could help. Specially as in some parts of India, eye banking is controlled by politics and eye banks are run by architects, lawyers, chartered accountants, ophthalmic surgeons with vested interest and anyone except professional eye bankers trained for the purpose. May this vision grow. ***************************************************** SIMPUTER... IN LINE FOR TAKING ORDERS ------------------------------------- After some despondency, now it's time for optimism once again. Sandi Morgan recently announced via the Simputer mailing list that the is a plan to accept orders for smaller quantities of the Simputer, the low-cost computing device that India design skills is promising the world. Wrote Sandi: "We are accepting orders for smaller quantities. Interested parties may inquire. I'm working on a large order for a US corporation and will be happy to accept smaller quantity orders for September/October delivery." Earlier, other firms in India said they were concentrating on larger orders -- of at least 200 Simputer units -- since they lacked the huge infrastructure needed for marketing small orders. PicoPeta Simputers Pvt. Ltd. (http://www.picopeta.com) is one of the firms working on the product within India. ***************************************************** 'LITTLE' BOOST ------------ Three cheers for IT for helping struggling ventures to get a wider audience worldwide. One of the recent attempts to find a wider voice on the web came from 'The Little Magazine', or TLM for short. Published from Delhi, this claims to be South Asia's "only professionally produced print magazine devoted to essays, fiction, poetry, art and criticism". It also terms itself as the only publication to publish complete film and theatre scripts, and with a special interest in translation. IT and the Internet would hopefully give this venture a chance to reach out to wider audiences. Check out the site at http://www.littlemag.com. Access to back issues is at www.littlemag.com/archive.html -- as reported by Little Magazine's Pratik Kanjilal to The Asian Studies WWW Monitor put out, again via cyberspace, by Dr T. Matthew Ciolek. (See http://coombs.anu.edu.au/asia-www-monitor.html) ***************************************************** LANGUAGE RESOURCES FOR MACHING TRANSLATION ------------------------------------------ Language Technologies Research Centre recently announced LRMT-2002, a workshop for developing language resources for machine translation. It will be held from June 17 to July 6, 2002 at the IIIT, Hyderabad. Say the organisers: "For information revolution to take place information must become available to common people in their languages". Machine translation (MT) systems need to be developed so that information in one language becomes available in another language. There is a large amount of electronic text in English pertaining to various branches of knowledge. There is a great need to develop systems which can translate from English to Indian languages. These systems have the potential to make texts in English, accessible to people who know Indian languages. For building machine translation systems, appropriate language resources need to be developed. The focus of this workshop would be on building such languages resources, specifically, on development and use of word sense disambiguation, transfer lexicon and grammar, and aligned and tagged parallel corpora. Primarily, the workshop is designed for linguists, language scholars and Sanskrit scholars interested in developing computational language resources for use in MT systems. Some selected computer scientists and statistics researchers will also be admitted. ***************************************************** E-Desh, Bangladesh ------------------ Something from beyond India's borders, but very much within the South Asian neighbourhood. It promises to be a "place where Bangladeshi people all around the world read Bangladeshi news, currents events in Dhaka and other cities, Bangla literature, etc. It also includes other Bangladeshi web resource addresses and Bangla scholars." Once again, this came in via the Asian Studies WWW Monitor. http://www.e-desh.com 0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 bYtES For aLL is a voluntary, unfunded venture. CopyLeft, 2002. bYtES For aLL e-zine volunteers team includes: Frederick Noronha in Goa, Partha Sarkar in Dhaka, Zunaira Durrani in Karachi, Zubair Abbasi in Islamabad, Archana Nagvenkar in Goa, Arun-Kumar Tripathi in Darmstatd, Shivkumar in Mumbai, Sangeeta Pandey in Nepal, Daryl Martyis in Chicago, Gihan Fernando in Sri Lanka, Rajkumar Buyya in Melbourne, Mahrukh Mohiuddin in Dhaka, Deepa Rai in Kathmandu and Ashish Kotamkar in Pune. To contact them mail bytes-admin at goacom.com BytesForAll completes three years of fruitful existance in July 2002. Three years on, BytesForAll thanks all those who have volunteered their time, energy and motivation in taking this experiment forward, since its launch in July 1999. If you'd like to volunteer too, contact the above address. BytesForAll's website www.bytesforall.org is maintained by Partha Sarkar, with inputs from other members of the volunteers' team and supporters. To join or leave this mailing-list simply send a message to fred at bytesforall.org with SUB B4ALL or UNSUB B4ALL as the subject. 0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 From fred at bytesforall.org Mon Jun 10 07:40:27 2002 From: fred at bytesforall.org (Frederick Noronha) Date: Mon, 10 Jun 2002 11:10:27 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Bytesforall] FEATURE: WB's Infodev looks to India software skills to fight poverty Message-ID: World Bank's InfoDev looks to India software skills to fight poverty By Frederick Noronha BARAMATI, June 10: India may have huge problems in battling poverty, but growing IT skills here are spilling over to also finding relevant solutions, as the World Bank's program's to promote information and communication technologies (ICTs) globally is finding. "A lot seems to be happening (in this country). Certainly, in terms of capabilities India stands a better chance," the Washington-based World Bank InfoDev's program administrator Vivek S. Chaudhry told this correspondent during the recent ICT-for-development major meet here. Over the past two years, the small town of Baramati -- home to a new ambitious engineering college -- has become host for an annual event focussing on the use of ICTs (information and communication technologies) for development. Called the 'Annual Baramati Initiative on ICT and Development', this year's meet focussed on 'creating the infrastructure for the future. It was held from May 31-June 3, 2002 at the Vidya Pratishthan's Institute of Information Technology, and was co-organised by the US-based expat Indian fuelled 'Digital Partners', the Mumbai-based Media Lab Asia and the VIIT itself As the organisers put it: "The enormous potential for digital technologies and the Digital Economy to help poor communities leapfrog out of poverty is no longer questioned. Poverty-alleviation organizations, social entrepreneurs, government institutions, corporate enterprises and even uneducated, village entrepreneurs are continuously developing technological solutions to serve the often-overlooked customers at the bottom of the economic pyramid." These solutions, some say, could bring the benefits of the 'digital age' -- increased access to markets, education, environmental information, and government services -- to bear on issues related to poverty. "In so doing, they are helping to build the business, economic, and social cases for investing in the systems and infrastructures needed to serve even the poorest of the poor," said the organisers of this year's meet. InfoDev is the World Bank's information-for-development programme. It promisesto promote information and communication technology for socio and economic development, though some of its initiatives have earned criticism for the large sums of money spent. In a recent competition for grants, several project proposals -- around 10 to 15 from a total of 225 -- came in from India. "India had the largest number of proposals (among any country). Others also came in from the Philippines, from Thailand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, a lot from Russia, Eastern Europe too," said he. After coming in for criticism for its role globally, the World Bank is now showing more concern for issues of poverty and development, and the Bank now argues that any 'knowledge economy' needs strong, widespread and efficient IT networks. World Bank argues that an information infrastructure "contributes to poverty reducation by increasing productivity" and providing new opportunities. It is also seen as a vehicle for "efficienty delivery" of public administration and public services. Besides, it could play a role in ensuring transparency and good governance. Recently, InfoDev has also offered project support and grants for an 'e-readyness' study in India. Besides, it is also in the process of supporting a plan for an India-gateway for developmental information. "Both are being implemented through the (Union government's) Ministry of Information Technology," said Chaudhry. Besides InfoDev also has three to four ongoing grants, including one for the HoneyBee network (promoting traditional wisdom in Gujarat and elsewhere), a plan to use handheld computing devices for health-care in Andhra, and the recently-completed Project SITA in Delhi meant for training women in the field of ICTs (information and communication technologies). "We are in the process of finalising a grant for developing a research network for the expansion of computers to primary schools," said Chaudhry. 'Country gateways' for InfoDev -- one of which is planned to be set up in India too -- will to nodal points that will try be independently owned and operated, but would get a start-up grant. "Those running it would depend on their priorities. It would be like a Yahoo (a mega-search information and one-stop shop) for development information," said Chaudhry. His job is to administer the grants, (oversee) the evaluation process and administer that. "We then enter into joint agreements, and appoint task-managers (to see that projects are successfully carried through)," said Chaudhry. "Of course, many proposals received are fine. But the question is whether (in reality) they would have an impact, and whether (those behind them) would be able to deliver," said he. (Ends) From fred at bytesforall.org Sun Jun 16 20:08:48 2002 From: fred at bytesforall.org (Frederick Noronha) Date: Sun, 16 Jun 2002 23:38:48 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Bytesforall] LinuxInIndia * Newsletter June 2002 issue Message-ID: _ _ _____ _____ _ | | (_) |_ _| |_ _| | _ | | _ _ __ _ ___ __ | | _ __ | | _ __ __| (_) ___ | | | | '_ \| | | \ \/ / | | | '_ \ | | | '_ \ / _` | |/ _ \ | |____| | | | | |_| |> < _| |_| | | |_| |_| | | | (_| | | (_) | |______|_|_| |_|\__,_/_/\_\_____|_| |_|_____|_| |_|\__,_|_|\__,_| INAUGURAL ISSUE NO 01 * JUNE 2002 * MAY BE FREELY CIRCULATED ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ WHAT'S HAPPENING on the GNU/Linux front in India? Freelance journalist Frederick Noronha takes a look. Thanks to www.sarai.net for a print-media fellowship that supports this work. Please feel free to pass around this information. If you have other updates that could be included in future newsletter, please send it across. Have fun! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ FOCUS OF THIS ISSUE: GNU/LINUX IN INDIAN EDUCATION ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Raju Mathur reports on what's happening at a venture to take GNU/Linux to schools in and around Delhi: The archives for the Linux for Schools (LEAP) project mailing list (mailto:school at linux-delhi.org) are now available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/school%40linux-delhi.org/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SOME NAMES THAT COME UP: Girish has some suggestions for names for the LinuxInSchools project. How about, he asks, shiksha-Linux or gurukuLinux or Linux-school..and combinations thereof? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ GNU/LINUX IN GOA SCHOOLS: Ashley Delaney reports from Goa that the Goa Schools Computers Project (GSCP) is going about implementing LTSP in schools. Some 21 schools were selected on basis of space, necessity and support to be equipped and networked by the gscp," he writes. Goa was one of the early experiments trying to implement GNU/Linux in schools, after getting support, some amount of free training for teachers, and a free software offer from Red Hat. Check http://groups.yahoo.com/group/gscp ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ GNU/Linux UTILITIES FOR EDUCATION, THE GLUE OF IT ALL: B.P Ajith Kumar in Delhi has put together the GLUE-CD. It's a "small collection of GNU/Linux based software on a CD". GLUE comes from GNU/Linux Utilities for Education. For details, contact Ajith Kumar. If you're around Delhi Tel/Fax 011 689 3666, Tel/Home 011 689 7867 and Tel/Work 011 689 3955. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ THE PENGUIN AS ENGINEER: Want to contribute to an effort to package useful GNU/Linux engineering tools (for students) on a CD? To check out more about this group, visit: http://mm.ilug-bom.org.in/mailman/search/college-distro/ Check the archives to see what the idea is all about. Put briefly, the idea is simply to compile a whole range of useful and 'free' software that engineering students from this 'talent-rich, resource-poor' country of a thousand million-plus can effectively use in their studies and work. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ LIFE, LINUX IN EDUCATION: First to initiate the above project was Nagarjuna G, a scientist and keen Free Software proponent at the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education. Working out of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in the Indian commercial capital of Mumbai (formerly Bombay), Nagarjuna incidentally is also the founder of the Linux-in-Education (LIFE) mailing list. See details at http://mm.hbcse.tifr.res.in/mailman/listinfo/life ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ CAN FREE SOFTWARE HELP POOR KIDS? David Babington-Smith, the project manager of Wire the World is on the search for "a portfolio of practical, vocational training courses for poor kids which can be taught in an open source environment". Says he: "I am working on a project called 'Wire the World' (www.wiretheworld.org). We aggregrate vocationally-based IT courses to retrain poor kids and school drop outs around the world, for the workplace. There are pilot projects in Bombay and Bangalore currently using MS software and offering MS and programming courses. We are investigating the feasibility of a new pilot in a school in a Bombay slum but using open source s/w. The school would teach its own students during the day, and make the premises available to the street kids / school drop-outs in the evening. The obvious advantage of using open source s/w is it strips down the school's running costs. I am trying to identify a suitable portfolio of vocational training courses for poor kids, which could be taught on in open source environment. The idea is to teach courses that could get the kids into work fairly quickly, though it may be micro-enterprise type jobs such as computer maintanance, data entry, database design, web design etc. The profile of students is likely to be 15-25 year old, semi-literate, possibly non-English medium." More details from: Wire The World Oasis Trust 115 Southwark Bridge Rd London SE1 OAX, UK Direct Line - +44 (0)20 7450 9045 Switchboard - +44 (0)20 7450 9000 Mobile: + 44 (0)7789873540 Fax: +44(0)20 7450 9001 www.wiretheworld.org ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ FEATURING ASIAN GNU/LINUX COMPANIES: Martin Seto of Linux Journal says the mag is planning to feature Asian companies and needs "your help". Comments Seto: "I am contacting all LUG's in Asia that have supported our efforts in promoting Linux worldwide. And I am asking for some help in our search for Linux based product and services from your country. In our efforts to promote Asian companies, we invite you to help spread the world amongst your colleagues and fellow Linux freaks." Any company can put a free listing in the guide for a whole year. Great products will be showcased in the 'product of the day' program. See http://www.linuxjournal.com/bg to learn more about the Buyers Guide. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ LINUX AID SERVER: This is not *from* India, but could be of interest to GNU/Linux enthusiasts in India. Matthew Grant writes in to say that The Linux Aid Server Mailing list is "now running, after hours of work that also involved a server OS upgrade, and lots of work reconfiguring the WWW server". You can subscribe to the mailing list by going to: http://lists.anathoth.gen.nz/aid-server The preliminary file serving and printer side of the Aid server is almost complete, and work this week wiill be concentraing on e-mail setup and virus scanning, as well as smoothing the WWW admin interface. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ QMAILTHEEASYWAY.COM ... FROM MUMBAI: Trevor Warren points to www.qmailtheeasyway.com, the project he's running for the past one year. It is a "complete mail server based on qmail for ISP's, dialup users and service providers". Mumbai-based Warren reminds us that he is ranked within the first 200 on Freshmeat.net. Says he, with understandable pride: "(I) aint boasted to ny 1 yet but yeh it is in the top 200 of the worlds largets free software repository...:)" He promises "lot more firewall, IDs and security projects" coming up. You can contact him via mobile 9820349221 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ LOOKING BEYOND INDIA, AND INTO SOUTH ASIA, Ovais Khan informs us about the recent June 8 advert on 'The Dawn' about the creation of Task Forces in Pakistan for Linux, secure networks, e-commerce. See details at www.tremu.gov.pk Couldn't read the advert, but a friend from across the border had intimated of plans to advertise plans to set up a Task Force for Linux on the following lines: "The Government of Pakistan is committing itself to the reduction of Piracy and the protection of Intellectual Property. In this one element is the development of open source technologies and LINUX is going to be the corner stone of this initiative. This Task Force is expected to pull together committed professionals (e.g. PLUC), Academicians, practicing software people to set up future directions for Pakistan. This TF will have meetings, seminars and conferences to propagate and educate the user community at large. They will also come out with R&D programs for creating projects to be funded by the Government for the creation of user friendly Client/ Server software, training strategies, usage in the development of applications including local language software development, proposal for induction into the syllabus, etc., as well as focused training programs. If you are interested n participating please do fill out the requisite forms on our TReMU website. You can also contact us on: linux at tremu.gov.pk, however the submission of forms via the website is mandatory." Keeping conflict aside for a change, let's admit this is interesting... ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ CDs... AT A (NOT-SO-UNAFFORDABLE) PRICE: G.T.Enterprises from Bangalore is doing an interesting job at spreading affordable GNU/Linux CDs across India K.M. Chidananda writes in to offer their services as a "one stop shop for Linux/BSD/Solaris". This time's "headlines" are: * Pre Order Red Hat Linux 7.3 & Get Open Office Suite CD. * Mandrake 8.2 Available now - Order Now & Get StarOffice 6.0! * StarOffice 6.0 - Available Soon. Pre Order Now & Save!! * Sharp SL 5500 Zaurus Linux PDA Free with every Lineo SDK bought in June. * Sun Chillisoft ASP 3.6 - Available Now. * Vmware 3.1 - Order Now & Save. * Order Open RT Linux, A Hard Realtime Linux Only for Rs. 3500. * Latest VariCAD 8.2 has been released. * Linux CAD Release 4.3 released with many new Features. * Coming Soon : OpenBSD 3.1, Free BSD 4.6, Win4Lin 4.0.. * New on Cheap CDs - Demo Linux, Scyld Bewoulf Cluster CD, LTSP CD... * Linux Journal will feature a Spl section on Embedded LinuxTechnologies. * Free Software Magazine : A periodical to the global free s/w community. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DOWN FROM THE DEEP SOUTH, TAMIL AND GNU/LINUX: J. Patricia Annie JebaMalar updates us on some interesting GNU/Linux experiments happening down south, in the Tamil heartland. And elsewhere. Perhaps to call these "experiments" would be unfair... some have already attained a surprising stage of functionality: * http://www.chennaikavigal.com * http://www.indlinux.org * http://www.tamillinux.org * http://rohini.ncst.ernet.in/indix/ * http://lli.linux-bangalore.org ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ LINKS FROM AROUND KARNATAKA? Graham Seaman is keen to find out more details or links about this story, which mentions Karnataka in India: http://newsforge.com/newsforge/02/05/22/143245.shtml?tid=11 Says he: "Tried googling and couldn't find anything, and the NIC pages only refer to Microsoft, as far as I can see..." Please help out if you can. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ IMB'S OFFER FOR DEVELOPERS IN INDIA AND ELSEWHERE: IBM offers Third World developers a chance to get access to software tools as part of their "Speed-start your Linux app" program. It offers, on free CD to developers, some versions of WebSphere, DB2 and/or Lotus Domino (licences apply in some cases). You can get the free 2CD set. "developerWorks is IBM's resource for developers, providing tools, code, and education for open standards-based development. developerWorks offers resources related to Linux, Web services, XML, Java technologies, Wireless, and emerging technologies, as well as technical information about IBM software like WebSphere and DB2(R). Developer resources and IBM products are also available on CDs through the developerWorks Toolbox subscription." ibm.com/developerWorks/linux ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ [FOOTNOTE: We request readers to verify claims made by individuals about their product or services before going in for the same.] -- Frederick Noronha * Freelance Journalist * Goa * India 832.409490 / 409783 BYTESFORALL www.bytesforall.org * GNU-LINUX http://linuxinindia.pitas.com Writing with a difference... on what makes *the* difference From fred at bytesforall.org Wed Jun 19 07:28:55 2002 From: fred at bytesforall.org (Frederick Noronha) Date: Wed, 19 Jun 2002 10:58:55 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Bytesforall] FEATURE: India tackles the digital divide Message-ID: source: http://www.developmentgateway.org/content/item-detail?item_id=225227&version_id=127680 >From khania at super.net.pk Sat May 18 14:40:06 2002 Thanks to Irfan Khan's s-asia-it at apnic.net mailing list India tackles the digital divide ITworld.com 5/14/02 John Ribeiro, IDG News Service, Bangalore Bureau India is emerging as a laboratory for testing out new technologies and business models for narrowing the digital divide between urban and rural people in a developing economy. Inadequate Internet and telephone connectivity to India's rural areas, where more than 70 percent of India's population lives, is a key challenge for a number of government agencies, NGOs (nongovernment organizations), and multilateral aid agencies. The corporate sector too is discovering that bridging this digital divide could translate into new market opportunities. For example, HP Labs India, which was set up in Bangalore earlier this year by Palo Alto, California, Hewlett-Packard Co., is developing products appropriate for India's rural markets. "Our technological focus has been on three areas -- making information technology available to those who use Indian languages, improving the connectivity options for those outside the big cities who do not currently have satisfactory access to the Internet, and affordable devices," said Srinivasan Ramani, director of HP Labs India. "For instance, we are working to create Indian language support for an experimental PC that can be used by four users simultaneously," Ramani said. HP Labs India is also examining ways in which digital photography can add a second revenue stream to village kiosks that provide access to computer facilities and the Internet, and is also experimenting with techniques developed by its parent lab in Palo Alto to provide low- bandwidth multimedia communication. "Teachers and students can create their own stories and presentations using such a system," Ramani said. Private sector involvement in projects to build the digital divide in India is likely to increase, according to Ved Prakash Sharma, head of information technology (IT), and computers and communications specialist in the National Agricultural Technology Project of the National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management in Hyderabad. "Each one of the facilitators has seen a business opportunity in these initiatives, and rightly so," added Sharma. "The growth of the Indian rural economy will provide a large number of customers for technology companies." Public sector projects are also looking at creative ways of building up the communications infrastructure. Media Lab Asia (MLA), based in Mumbai, is setting up a wireless, 802.11 standard-compliant network to take Internet and voice connectivity to India's rural masses. Set up by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)'s Media Laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in tandem with the Indian government, MLA is focused on developing and deploying technology solutions appropriate to bridging the digital divide in developing economies. The project to evaluate 802.11 for rural connectivity is anchored by MLA's research hub at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Kanpur. Starting with four villages near Kanpur, the project plans to create an "information corridor" between Kanpur and Lucknow cities in North India, covering about 25 villages along the route. MLA plans to deploy 802.11, which has so far not been used in rural connectivity in India, because of its lower cost, according to Dheeraj Sanghi, MLA scientist at the IIT Kanpur research hub. While it is premature to evaluate the impact of the recent MLA and HP initiatives, earlier projects for providing solutions for bridging the digital divide report considerable success. The Telecommunications and Computer Networks (TeNeT) Group in the Chennai- based Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, has used its in-house developed corDECT Wireless Local Loop (WLL) technology to provide Internet and voice connectivity to 250 community kiosks that offer these services to over 700,000 people in rural India, according to Ashok Jhunjhunwala, professor of the electrical engineering department at IIT Madras, and head of TeNeT. The WLL is based on the micro-cellular, DECT (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications) standard proposed by ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute). "The people in rural India are overwhelmed by this kind of service," Jhunjhunwala said. "There are certain things which they can get done online like getting government application forms, market information, etc., without actually physically going to the government departments." Support for Indian languages and the availability of applications appropriate to the rural masses may decide whether information technology will be viewed by the villagers as an urban intrusion or as tool relevant to their needs. "Only about 5 percent of those who buy newspapers seem to buy English language newspapers," said Ramani. HP and other companies and agencies working on bridging the rural divide are hence focusing on developing technologies that will enable India's masses to interact with computers and the Internet using their native language, usually the spoken language because of the low levels of literacy in India. HP Labs India, for example, has developed a prototype for a system that allows users to phone in and query a server, using voice commands, for news from its database. The relevant news is then played back to the user. The system, which uses technologies such as automatic speech recognition, VoiceXML (Voice Extensible Markup Language) to specify the dialogues, a text-to-speech engine for playback of typed in content, and multimedia, has been configured to support spoken Hindi and Telugu, two key languages in India. Inadequate funding could derail some of the projects that aim to narrow the digital divide, however. PicoPeta Simputers Pvt. Ltd in Bangalore was set up by four designers of the Simputer -- essentially a handheld Internet access device -- who took "entrepreneurial leave" from their jobs as professors at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore to make the Simputer technology commercially viable. Although the Simputer prototype was ready in April last year, to date only 150 Simputers have reached the target users. At these volumes, the contract manufacturer, Bangalore-based Bharat Electronics Ltd. cannot deliver the products at the about $200 price point that the designers had targeted. The current price is closer to $300. Although a large number of agencies including the Indian government showed interest in the Simputer both as a design achievement, and for its potential role in bridging the digital divide, there has been a delay in getting funds, according to Vijay Chandru, co-founder and director of PicoPeta Simputers. "We have a fair idea of the applications that will work and the business model, but to fine tune these on the field we have to seed at least 10,000 of these devices into users' hands, and for that you need deep pockets," Chandru added. Things are looking up for PicoPeta, however, as it has managed to get a $100,000 grant from Nice-based South Asia Foundation for the deployment of Simputers in a village education pilot program. PicoPeta is also working with a NGO on a micro-banking pilot project, and Chinese and Malaysian companies have shown interest in the technology. The Simputer Trust is meanwhile adding new functionality to the product this year, including a CompactFlash expansion slot for wireless options such as GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) and 802.11 based connectivity. The target of 100,000 Simputers in the field by the end of next year may still be achieved, according to Chandru. The focus of most of the projects that aim to bridge the digital divide in India is on building sustainable business models for village entrepreneurs. Although subsidies and grants are expected to give the pilot projects the necessary seed funding, the long-term objective is to evolve self-sustaining business models for rural access to information technology. "Subsidies and grants are not parts of our model at all," said Ramani. "We will pay our part of the costs of pilot efforts, but even here, the focus on sustainability will ensure that we will not try to prop up that which cannot stand on its own legs." Surprisingly India's government bureaucracy, usually maligned for dragging its feet on development issues, is seen as supportive of the digital divide projects. "The bureaucracy is very supportive on these initiatives," said Sharma. "In fact the most successful projects are those which have direct support from bureaucracy. Today's bureaucrats are more development oriented than one would normally imagine." There is clearly a great deal of seriousness on all fronts in India about taking information technology and communications to rural India, and the villagers are also receptive. "Our visits to villages have shown that there are enthusiastic and innovative users (of information technology) in areas outside the big cities," Ramani said. It usually takes about six months for villagers to start viewing technology as a tool, according to Sharma. "In the first few months, they view it more as an object of curiosity or as a machine for the educated and urban people," Sharma added. John Ribeiro is an IDG News Service correspondent. From fred at bytesforall.org Sun Jun 23 08:05:55 2002 From: fred at bytesforall.org (Frederick Noronha) Date: Sun, 23 Jun 2002 11:35:55 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Bytesforall] NEWS: Simputer gets its final touches at the factory Message-ID: IT'S SIMPLE, THE SIMPUTER GETS ITS FINAL TOUCHES AT THE FACTORY By Frederick Noronha QUITE SOME TIME after it first attracted global attention for the boldness of its goals, the Simputer is slowly marching past finishing line. Some look at it with skeptism; others with hope. It's reputation has spread far and wide, and many are looking out for it to actually hit the markets. The Simputer promises low-cost and sharable computing through a small hand-held device that is capable of undertaking an amazing range of tasks. It could cost as little as US$200 in its low-end versions, while a Simputer Junior is being thought of which could cost even less than that price. This device is aimed at making computing affordable in the Third World's rural areas, which have been largely overlooked by multinationals who complain of a glut in global computing markets even as they make over-powered and over-costly computers that increasingly thousands of millions can't afford. Could this simple computing device -- at least in some small way -- challenge the logic of the market, and underline the need of IT reaching out to the poor? If US-returned Indian scientists can dare to dream to boldly -- despite the many difficulties en route -- could IT really reach out to meet the needs of the commonman, instead of simply mimicking Western trends and rushing where profit margins are maximum? "The poor are a largely neglected market, but they too have a huge commercial potential," argues Vinay L Deshpande, the chairman and CEO of the Bangalore-based Encore Software. Deshpande, till a few weeks back, was also the the president of the New Delhi-based MAIT, the association of IT manufacturers. Besides being involved in the design of the Simputer, Deshpande has now gone on to found one of the firms producing this piece of hardware that technology-watchers in India have been playing close attention to. "But for IT to be meaningful to the hundreds of millions of poor across India, it needs certain attributes. It should be low-cost, simple to use, and technology should also be 'de-mystified'," argues Deshpande. Besides, he argues, hardware in an Indian context need to run "independent" of the often-unreliable mains-power. It should be rugged and dust-resistant to cope with the heat and dust of this tropical country. Above all, it should be sharable -- just like other costlier gadgets (ranging from refrigerators to a jeep doing a distant trek) are shared in rural areas. "In India, technological devices are not owned but shared. If your neighbour does not have a fridge, it automatically means he has the right to keep the milk in your fridge. Same is the case with TVs," says Deshpande. Using a smart-card, the Simputer hopes to be sharable. "Even if a Simputer costing Rs 10,000 is too costly for a rural dweller, ten villagers could come together to own that," says he, optimistically. To make the Simputer easier to use, it incorporates icons, graphics and multi-lingual abilities. It also seeks to offer image/sound output and a touch-based input with voice feedback. "We hope to use it as a means to address all the population of India, not just literates," argues Deshpande. Proponents of the Simputer like Deshpande believe that this tiny piece of equipment could also help rural Indians find ways of earning a better living. "We hope that, in time, a villager could connect a Simputer at a pay-phone booth (which are common across India), dial up to a website, fetch the information about the best price payable for his potatoes using a very simple interface. This would be converted into speech and played back," says he. It could make life simpler too. Even a village postman could take across this small device, and make payments of 'money orders' -- the instrument which have been a popular way of transmitting money across rural India for decades. Using the smart cards, this delivery could be made simpler and far quicker too, argues Deshpande. Likewise, he says, the Simputer would have applications for education and literacy. Given its fairly high resolution 240 x 360 pixels screen, for its small size, it could be used for local language applications. One new application currently being worked on is using Simputers to check the health of mothers and foetus. It is hoped that portable ultrasound sensors could be suitably adapted to connect with Simputers, says Deshpande. Other applications for the Simputer are being worked out in the field of health and telemedicine; micro-banking; police work (information-retrieval, filing of first-information reports); land-records; meter reading; e-governance; and ticket-collection. "We've been getting a tremendous response from all over the world," says he. Some unexpected interest has also resulted in the Simputer project going further than initially planned. From fred at bytesforall.org Fri Jun 28 08:29:48 2002 From: fred at bytesforall.org (Frederick Noronha) Date: Fri, 28 Jun 2002 11:59:48 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Bytesforall] BytesForAll: July 2002 ezine (3rd anniversary issue) Message-ID: ____ _ _____ _ _ _ | __ ) _ _ | |_ ___ ___ | ___| ___ _ __ / \ | | | | | _ \ | | | | | __| / _ \ / __| | |_ / _ \ | '__| / _ \ | | | | | |_) | | |_| | | |_ | __/ \__ \ | _| | (_) | | | / ___ \ | | | | |____/ \__, | \__| \___| |___/ |_| \___/ |_| /_/ \_\ |_| |_| |___/ ---------------------------------------------------------------- MAKING COMPUTING RELEVANT TO THE COMMON(WO)MAN * JULY 2002 ISSUE http://www.bytesforall.org * http://www.indialists.org ---------------------------------------------------------------- July 2002 marks the third anniversary of the launch of BytesForAll. At its launch, we didn't expect this small seed to last so long... or grow so wide. We thank everyone who has made the experiment-in-optimism possible. Our readers who have encouraged and egged us on. The men and women in the field doing excellent work and keeping us in the business of reporting on them. Those who inspired us (from Linus Torvalds, Richard M Stallman) by showing that volunteering can go a great distance in the IT field. Above all, the small but dedicated team of enthusiasts who have shouldered responsibilities to take BytesForAll forward, on an altruistic and volunteer basis. Thanks to everyone for sharing the dream. -Frederick Noronha (co-founder, with Partha Sarkar). Digital Opportunity ------------------- Web portal www.digitalopportunity.org, launched in New Delhi recently, seeks to fight the digital divide. "We want to create a little pond on the Net where people can throw in their pebbles. That's the only way we can bridge the digital divide - by creating ripples of unexpected consequences," said Britain-based Anuradha Vittachi of the digital opportunity channel. Sri Lankan-born Vittachi is the director of OneWorld, an online network reporting on sustainable development and human rights, that has promoted the new channel in association with the Benton Foundation, a Washington-based not-for-profit organisation. "Information about how the digital divide is being addressed in Europe and in the U.S. is widely available. However, till now, there has been no place to gain a global picture and explore the viewpoints, challenges and successes of grassroots communities in and around the world. We aim to plug that gap," Benton Foundation's Andy Carvin told the media. This channel leverages the experience of Benton Foundation's Digital Divide Network in building a community of practitioners, academics, policy leaders and people from ICT industries. "Developing countries have largely been marginalized in the global dialogue on the benefits and negative impacts of digital technologies," said channel editor Kanti Kumar. This digital opportunity channel will feature news from around the globe, campaign actions, success stories, opinion pieces by leading commentators, in-depth analysis and research, funding information, e-mail digests and a search engine on ICT for development, according to its promoters. Agri sites ---------- Some sites related to the world of agriculture, specially from India. Agri Watch http://www.agriwatch.com Fertilizer Association of India http://www.fertindia.com Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) http://www.nic.in/icar Jute Manufacturers Development Corporation http://www.jmdcindia.com Tea Net Com (tenders/auctions) http://www.teanetcom.com Agricultural and Processed Food Products Exports Development Authority http://apedaweb.delhi.nic.in Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) http://www.cftri.org Central Silk Board http://www.silkboard.com National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) http://www.nbri.org National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) http://nbpgr.delhi.nic.in National Fertilizers Limited http://nationalfertilizers.com National Research Centre for Oil Palm (NRCOP) http://www.ap.nic.in (pls search for this link) National Research Centre on Cashew (NRCC) http://kar.nic.in (please search for the NRCC link) Tobacco Board http://www.indiantobacco.com Department of Agriculture and Co-operation http://www.nic.in Department of Agriculture Research and Education http://www.nic.in Department of Biotechnology http://www.nic.in/dbt Department of Food Processing http://www.nic.in (please search for this link on nic.in site) Department of Fertilizers http://fert.nic.in Ministry of Environment and Forests http://www.envfor.nic.in Ministry of Water Resources http://www.nic.in/mowr Coconut Development Board, Kerala http://coconutboard.nic.in Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Co Limited http://www.mahyco.com Pondicherry Agro Service and Industries Corporation (PASIC) http://www.pasic-naturalmineralwater.com Punjab State Agricultural Marketing Board http://mandiboard.nic.in Tea Board India, West Bengal http://tea.nic.in Herbal-Anil Ayurpharma http://www.anilayurpharma.com Maharishi Ayurveda (Herbal Products) http://www.all-veda.com [Most of these links are from Mashbra's Directory of Use Websites, 2001. More details from www.mashbra.com or mashbra at vsnl.com ISBN 81-87427-46-3 priced at Rs 100.] Crafts online ------------- Check this which project supports four women's crafts cooperatives in Himachal Pradesh in northwest India in marketing their handloomed silk and woolen shawls via an Internet website. This information comes via www.developmentgateway.org. Conducted by the Communication, Culture & Technology Program of Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., this website offers four Masters theses exploring the project with academic rigor.URL: http://www.k2crafts.com/ ComputersforIndia ----------------- If interested in getting earlier generatin Pentium PCs imported for schools, check out the site that gives the information on how to do it. Visit www.digitalequalizer.org and follow the link to 'computersforindia'. This site has relevant info of how the Computers Schools Project has been conducted in some parts of India, copies of relevant documents required for import duty waiver, and related information. http://www.digitalequalizer.org/index2.htm Virtual teaching in Pak ----------------------- Teaching goes virtual in Pakistan. India's neighbour is investing in expanding net access, reports the BBC. Thousands of Pakistanis are being offered the chance to learn the skills they need to thrive in the computer age thanks to a new virtual university. The US$40m project is providing distance learning over the television and Internet so that anyone can take part in the classes, regardless of where they live in Pakistan. "The aim is to create a generation of software programmers and computer engineers who can rival the best in countries like the US. Pakistan is eager to develop an information technology industry, much like India has done. Experts estimate the country needs at least 60,000 computer science graduates to achieve this aim," reports the BBC. Onward online learning ---------------------- National Centre for Software Technology (NCST) is an autonomous organisation, involved in research and development. It is organising an International Conference on Online Learning called "VIDYAKASH-2002" from 15th-17th December 2002 at Mumbai. http://www.ncst.ernet.in/vidyakash2002/ for more details. E-mail: vidyakash2002 at ncst.ernet.in ICTs guide ---------- Aditya Dev Sood in Bangalore informs that a new version of the 'Guide to ICTs for Development' -- printed across 88 pages, and covering some statistical analysis on the sector -- is available from Bangalore at Rs 100. Sood runs the Centre for Knowledge Studies that featured earlier in these columns. Mobile for rural India ---------------------- What's the market for mobile computing services in rural India? This is an analysis conducted by the Media Lab Asia/Global Entrepreneurship Lab in January 2002. The study (a pdf document) helps to understand how mobile computing services will complement services offered by village kiosks. http://web.media.mit.edu/~nathan/research/mla/Final_MLA_report.pdf HP Labs initiatives -------------------- IDG News Service correspondent John Ribeiro reports that HP Labs India, which was set up in Bangalore earlier this year by Palo Alto, California, Hewlett-Packard Co., is developing products appropriate for India's rural markets. Indian language support for an experimental PC (which can be used by four users simultaneously, taking digital photography to village kiosks (as a second revenue stream), are among the things being talked about. source: http://www.developmentgateway.org/content/item-detail?item_id=225227&version_id=127680 Eight-O-two-dot-eleven ---------------------- Venkatesh "Venky: Hariharan of Media Lab Asia (www.medialabasia.org) says the MLA is exploring the use of 802.11 technology for rural networks. Says he: "I look forward to hearing from other members on this list on this subject. I am particularly interested in hearing if others on this list have tried to apply 802.11 technology for rural connectivity and their experiences so far," Hariharan recently wrote to the GKD (Global Knowledge for Development) mailing list. Partners from India? -------------------- Jean-Claude Dauphin of Unesco informs that this UN body has recently developed a Free Software Portal at http://www.unesco.org/webworld/portal_freesoft. Currently, UNESCO is looking out for contributors with a good knowledge of the Free Software movement in relation with UNESCO fields of competence (education, science and culture) and coming from the countries of the South who could make propositions for revising, updating and extending the UNESCO Free Software Portal as well as for including new basic documents. "This work could be done using a fee or consultant contract and the fee can be discussed depending on the amount of work described in the contract. We would be very grateful if you could help us to find somebody interested by this proposal in India," says Dauphin. See http://www.unesco.org/webworld/portal_freesoft http://www.unesco.org/idams http://www.unesco.org/inftools.html Linux-in-Education, LIFE ------------------------ Check out the Linux-in-Educatin (LIFE) mailing list, being run out of Mumbai itself by Nagarjuna G, a scientist and keen Free Software proponent at the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education. http://mm.hbcse.tifr.res.in/mailman/listinfo/life Incidentally, Prof Nagarjuna is also planning to put together an interesting college of Free Software tools for engineering college students in India. See http://mm.ilug-bom.org.in/mailman/search/college-distro/ n-Logue, n-rural ---------------- n-Logue Communications CEO P.G.Ponnapa recently wrote in to point out that n-Logue is a rural focused operating company and works accordingly with the objective of ensuring quality service in rural and semi urban areas. Besides work at Dehra Dun, they've been involved at Melur in Madurai district too. Says Ponnapa: "What is important is how are local applications taken and made contextual in this scenario for the rural populace." "There have been many people who have visited our projects in Tamil Nadu and have seen what exactly is happening. The Tamil Nadu government has seen this and has asked us in their Policy document to replicate this in 10 districts," he informs. Politico-computing ------------------ Media reports recently said legislators in Uttar Pradesh have once again revived their demand for laptop computers that they say will enhance their capability to "serve" their constituents. In the previous assembly, all the parties had unanimously approved a plan to equip all legislators with a laptop, but then chief minister Rajnath Singh had shot it down citing lack of funds. Dr Ashok Jhunjhunwala of IIT-Madras, the infectiously optimistic guru of how ICTs can help the poor, had this to comment: "It is good that our legislatures want to use tools -- there are two concerns. "Firstly, Vendors dump expensive equipments -- I have seen lead vendors of large multi-nationals trying to get the MPs and government officials (or even faculty at institute) to buy expensive stuff. A simple low lost laptop/ computer would do quite OK. When expensive stuff is sold, the budget gets inflated and sooner or later it backfires on general computerisation. It hurts the country. I do not know a simple way out. "Secondly, we would like laptop to be used creatively. Some NGOs should design a course... Also, their must be obligation for MPs to respond to mails." Indic computing --------------- Check this! There is an Indic group http://indic-computing.sourceforge.net/ discussing support for some not so recognized scripts. You may want to contact them. Here is the mailing list archive at slashdot: http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=38057 0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 bYtES For aLL is a voluntary, unfunded venture. CopyLeft, 2002. bYtES For aLL e-zine volunteers team includes: Frederick Noronha in Goa, Partha Sarkar in Dhaka, Zunaira Durrani in Karachi, Zubair Abbasi in Islamabad, Archana Nagvenkar in Goa, Arun-Kumar Tripathi in Darmstatd, Shivkumar in Mumbai, Sangeeta Pandey in Nepal, Daryl Martyis in Chicago, Gihan Fernando in Sri Lanka, Rajkumar Buyya in Melbourne, Mahrukh Mohiuddin in Dhaka, Deepa Rai in Kathmandu and Ashish Kotamkar in Pune. To contact them mail bytes-admin at goacom.com BytesForAll completes three years of fruitful existance in July 2002. Three years on, BytesForAll thanks all those who have volunteered their time, energy and motivation in taking this experiment forward, since its launch in July 1999. If you'd like to volunteer too, contact the above address. BytesForAll's website www.bytesforall.org is maintained by Partha Sarkar, with inputs from other members of the volunteers' team and supporters. To join or leave this mailing-list simply send a message to fred at bytesforall.org with SUB B4ALL or UNSUB B4ALL as the subject. 0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 From fred at bytesforall.org Sat Jun 29 11:08:01 2002 From: fred at bytesforall.org (Frederick Noronha) Date: Sat, 29 Jun 2002 14:38:01 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Bytesforall] FEATURE: Microfinance to get the IT edge... Message-ID: MIRROR, MIRROR... WHAT'S THE SUM I OWE YOU TODAY? By Frederick Noronha He's a young researcher still in his twenties of Indian origin. Parikh has been spending time in India even as we start seeing signs of a reverse brain-drain with skills and talent showing up from among expatriates keen not just to understand their roots, and work to improve things here. Micro-finance, one attempt to get the poor to help themselves by collecting small sums of money and loaning it between themselves, is to get a leg-up from IT if Parikh and his team have their way. Their new software is getting finalised to make it easy for simple villagers to undertake more complex financial transactions. It's called Hisaab (meaning, 'accounts'). Interestingly, what it does is not just to make the account-keeping process simpler, but also to make sure that people with low-literacy skills can use this new package. "This software has a different kind of user-interface. It has been designed with low-literacy groups in mind," explains Parikh. Instead of names and text, it has more numbers involved. It's obvious, but we often forget that it's easier for the poor to read numbers. "Users could replace someone's name with a code-number. Numbers are also easier to remember," says Parikh. It's easier to type in a number too. Behind micro-credit, the idea is to ensure that money goes round the village, and that it gets productively used. This simple idea could help the poor, if given that vital IT-edge, feels Parikh. How the software works seems simple enough, at least in theory: Each month, the group of women meets and puts together Rs 50, 70 or 100 or some other predetermined figure. Over time, this generates into a collection of money that can be used for income generation, tackling sickness, or the loss of a job. Because the group works collectively in saving and loaning out their resources, repayments tend to be high due to peer pressure against defaulting. "Money is put back, and over time, it grows. This allows larger loans to be taken. The core-goal is to rotate money as much as possible, so it supports productive activity. So, a one rupee (a little over two cents, but not pittance in a rural Indian setting) put in gets used not two or three times in a year, but revolves around 10-11 times if possible," says Parikh. He says such groups expect to link up with banks, NGOs who are working on micro-finance, and NABARD (the Indian bank for agriculture and rural development) also offers loans to such self-help groups. "Due to their collective liability, they have shown better repayment rates. Because if one person doesn't pay, everyone would be less likely to get a loan. Peer pressure being high, repayment rates are as high as 90-95% while individual repayments elsewhere could be 40%," argues Parikh. "This is not just theory. It works in practise too. It depends on how strong the groups are, and how well managed. You need to build capacity in accounting, management and discipline," says he. To make the software user-friendly to the poor, it's being built up textually-light, with a greater number of images and graphics. Currently, it is being built up by teams of the Media Lab Asia and the Human Factors International. HFI is a Fairfield-Iowa headquartered group which says "we make software usable". It has its India office in Andheri in the Indian commercial capital of Mumbai. Recently, the team putting together this software went and gave a demo to potential users in Tamil Nadu. Feedback was positive. Its demo version has been done in Flash, while actual development would be done in Java -- meaning that the software could be run on either the popular Windows platform, or the stable GNU/Linux operating system. "We want this to be an empowering tool (for the villager and micro-credit groups). By being able to manage their own finances in a more sophisticated way, they will now be able to undertake more complex transactions," says Parikh. For instance, withdrawals and deposits could be more 'arbitrary' and need-based than would otherwise be possible in a more traditional form of account-keeping. You don't have to save fixed sums of money just because it makes account-keeping easier. "More complex financial transactions are possible without accounting hassles," says Parikh. "We want it to become part of a very local system: locally managed, locally mobilised and locally distributed. We want to minimise external interventions, and plan to have a lot of partnerships with NGOs," says Parikh. Bangladesh's Grameen Bank is about the best known model of micro-finance in the Third World. That has come in for some criticism though. "Perhaps over time it has got centralised and institutionalised. But we want to ensure that contact remains with the local people, and to focus on minimum external intervention," says Parikh. This demo interface design is primarily the work of Kaushik Ghosh, an Interface Designer from the prestigious National Institute of Design, who works at Media Lab Asia. "We are still working on some of the research issues in the UI design, which are developing quite nicely. But are still at an early stage," cautions Parikh. In Madurai, the team met with CCD (Covenant Centre for Development), which is led by N. Muthu Velayutham. "We intend CCD to be our primary NGO partners for the project, as we share a common goal of building self-sufficient and empowered local institutions and economic systems. It is really their project and vision of ten years, we are only the facilitators and tool-builders," says Parikh. Parikh (27) says his parents migrated from Baroda in 1972, and he was born in Queens, NY, and grew up "around New York City". After gradating in Molecular Modelling, he got his Masters' in Computer Science and is currently a student in the PhD programme at the University of Washington. Since early 2000 he has been on leave. Incidentally, Media Lab Asia (MLA) is a network of R&D institutions. Its goal is to bring the "benefits of new technologies to everyone, with a special focus on meeting the challenges in learning, health and economic development". To do this, it is trying to build partnerships with research institutions, industry and NGOs. Media Lab Asia has been set up as a not-for-profit company with seed-funding from the Government of India. It has been appointed by the United Nations as its academic and industrial body for the region in the newly created UN ICT Task Force. Headquartered in Mumbai (see www.medialabasia.org), it has research laboratories created on the campuses of the IITs (Indian Institutes of Technologies, a string of prestigious institutions set up across India) of Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Kanpur and Kharagpur. Those on the team which have been working on this project are Kaushik Ghosh and Tapan Parikh of Media Lab Asia; and Puneet Syal, Sarit Arora, Abhijeet Thosar and Apala Chavan of Human Factors International, Mumbai. Tapan Parikh can be contacted at tapan at media.mit.edu Check out more details of Hisaab at http://hisaab.sourceforge.net. (ENDS) From fred at bytesforall.org Sat Jun 29 19:10:53 2002 From: fred at bytesforall.org (Frederick Noronha) Date: Sat, 29 Jun 2002 22:40:53 +0530 (IST) Subject: [Bytesforall] LinuxInIndia * July2002 Message-ID: _ _ _____ _____ _ | | (_) |_ _| |_ _| | |_ | | _ _ __ _ ___ __ | | _ __ | | _ __ __| (_) ___ | | | | '_ \| | | \ \/ / | | | '_ \ | | | '_ \ / _` | |/ _ \ | |____| | | | | |_| |> < _| |_| | | |_| |_| | | | (_| | | (_) | |______|_|_| |_|\__,_/_/\_\_____|_| |_|_____|_| |_|\__,_|_|\__,_| CopyLeft2002 * ISSUE02 * JULY 2002 * CIRCULATE FREELY UNDER GNU/GPL LICENCE ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Co-edited by Frederick Noronha and Parag Mehta ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ In this issue * Technical updates from India * GNU/Linux in schools * Local language solutions * Linking up with the outside world * Focus on Indian LUGs * People in/behind the news ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ******************TECHNICAL UPDATES FROM INDIA**************************** ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Sayamindu Dasgupta recently (May 22, 2002) announced the launch of the unofficial PCTel softmodem-Linux Compatibility Database. It's aimed at all owners of PCTel-chipset based modems. http://pctelcompdb.sourceforge.net/ Audience: All owners of PCTel chipset based modems. Dasgupta explains: "The PCTel Modem-Linux Compatibilty Database is an effort to collect and categorise information regarding PCTel softmodems' compatibility in Linux. PCTel provides (unofficially) proprietary Linux drivers for their modems. However, some of the PCTel softmodems still refuse to work with Linux, and moreover, to use the drivers, one has to know the chipset present in one's modem. "The project is designed in such a manner that users will be able to add their modem information (chipset, working status, distributions tested, drivers tested, etc) in a database, which, in turn can be viewed and searched by users whose modems are still not functioning." All owners of PCTel modems are requested to visit the project site at http://pctelcompdb.sourceforge.net/index.php and submit their modem information. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Shiv Nair announces the launch of a new version (1.14) of the Intellisys Project Management Software. Says he: "Intellisys Project Desktop is designed for those who want an un-complicated and effective project management tool. The goal of Intellisys is to provide this project management software as an affordable and viable solution which meets the needs of users, across platforms. It runs on Unix and Linux too (besides Windows and Mac). For more information: http://www.webintellisys.com/project/desktop.html ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 'Penguin, Baby' is being our promised as a reliable, feature-rich, fast, scalable and low-cost Linux communication server, for the small and medium enterprises (SME). It was built keeping in mind the specific requirements of the SME segment (under 25 PCs). It consists of two important components for a company's electronic commerce needs -- a mail server (to send, receive, manage you at your_company.com e-mail ids) and a proxy server (to allow one Internet connection to be shared by all the office PCs). Other solutions available. Contact 50, Hira Mahal, 250 Kalbadevi Rd , Mumbai 400 002. India. http://www.ramshyam.com Phone +91.22. 207 8946, 209 5986 Email: business at ramshyam.com ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Says Sunil Abraham: "Mithi is a (Pune-based) commercial organization but they have told me that they are keen on building IL tools for Linux. They are supporting us in building a Python based XML RPC bridge to Zope application server. This bridge will be open source so that other Python developers can use Mithi's products if they wish. On a separate note we are part of the GNU indic-computing project on source-forge.net were are specifically looking at create a cross platform solution. We will be starting with java.awt.im input method framework and the Ekit applet [www.hexidec.com/ekit.php]. But nothing to report so far. We are getting some volunteers on this via TechEmpower.net." Thanks for keeping us informed, Sunil! Sunil Abraham of the Bangalore NGO MAHITI (not to be confused with the Karnataka government's policy also carrying the same name) is working out of 314/1, 7th Cross, Domlur Bangalore - 560 071 Karnataka, INDIA Ph/Fax: +91 80 5352003. Pager: 9624 279519 sunil at mahiti.org http://www.mahiti.org ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ dhvani - TTS system for indian languages by Ozakil Azim dhvani - A Text-to-Speech System for Indian Languages developed by the Simputer Trust developers and others.Current - C/Linux implementation, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil Support. Soon - better phonetic engine, Java port, language independent framework... http://sourceforge.net/projects/dhvani/ oazim at users.sourceforge.net ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ linc is not cyberoam by MRNk: linc is a free multiplatform client for Cyberoam and 24online. Cyberoam is an employee Internet management system used by corporate networks. 24online is a subscriber management system for broadband ISPs. http://linc.sf.net mayur at freeshell.org ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ G. Dijendranath wrote in sometime in May 2002 to say that they represent Turbolinux in India and are planning to launch this versions of GNU/Linux "in a big way". **++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Kaash by Tarjei Mikkelsen A data collection package for health care-workers in rural India. A version of this software is currently being used in a Media Lab Asia pilot study outside Delhi. http://sourceforge.net/projects/kaash/ tarjeim at users.sourceforge.net ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ******************GNU/LINUX IN SCHOOLS IN INDIA*************************** ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Raju Mathur of http://kandalaya.org/ recently announced about work to take GNU/Linux to schools around Delhi. Some points discussed at a meeting held on May 25, 2002 at Sarai included: * Marketing Strategy * Schools to be targeted * Action Points * Packages to be put on installation CD Post Installation * Support Cost You can get in touch with some of the key members of this network (and those who have been around at the early meetings) via leo at indialink.org (Leo Fernandez) raju at linux-delhi.org (Raj Mathur) tripta at sarai.net (Tripta) supreet at linux-delhi.net (Supreet) gami at linux-delhi.net (Dhruv Gami) khanna_s at vsnl.com (Prateek Khanna) ashkaul77 at yahoo.com (Ashwani Kaul) anurag_varma at indiatimes.com (Anurag Varma) aey2bee at yahoo.co.in (Anjali Bashista) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ******************LOCAL LANGUAGE SOLUTIONS FOR INDIA********************** ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++