A note prepared by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) proposes backing for the popular view on a multi-stakeholder approach to Internet Governance. This is a departure from the earlier stand where India had argued that only governments, working through international organisations like the United Nations and International Telecommunications Union, have the legitimacy…
In a passionate letter explaining his government’s failure to coordinate relief efforts in Jammu and Kashmir, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah stated that a breakdown in connectivity due to unprecedented flooding caused a ‘missing government’ in a time of crisis. Recounting the chain of events in a newspaper, he wrote: ‘Initially I was relieved to find that…
A final draft resolution at the United Nations, passed in July 2014, has focused on the UN General Assembly’s review process of World Summit on the Information Society outcomes implementation. India has been lauded for its leadership in producing this document which calls information and communication technologies (ICTs) ‘enablers and drivers for the achievement of…
Would it confuse you to go on a website called www.young.indians only to find out it belonged to the Reliance group and was not a Government of India website? Would it offend you if a website ending in the suffix .ram talked about a product and not the deity? Would new forms of web addresses serve to confuse…
About 100 people across the world representing different culture, traditions, and talking about their issues and challenges at the same platform provided by Association for Progressive Communications (APC)[1] from 1-9 June 2014 at Barcelona, Spain. Hosted by APC member Pangea at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (BarcelonaTech UPC), it was 12th face-to-face APC member meeting,…
Almost 73% of potential online shoppers want to check out available information in their own language. Yet, 57% of all content on the Internet is in English. Photo: Bloomberg Connecting, informing and empowering, the Internet holds the promise to be the Great Leveller of our times. However, the way it is evolving around us, it…
Project Name: Bell Bajao Initiated by: Breakthrough Bell Bajao is an online campaign programme initiated by Breakthrough, a non-profit organization, in August 2008 that urges local residents to take a stand against physical violence. Breakthrough is an India and U.S.-based international human rights organization that mainstreams discussions about violence against women and girls, and its relationship to HIV/AIDS, by…
Project Name: ICTs Help Battered Dowry Victims Rebuilt their Lives Initiated by: Nari Raksha Samiti Nari Raksha Samiti (NRS), an Indian social welfare organization devoted to improving the lives of poor and destitute women. Founded 50 years ago, the organization specifically helps women who have been victims of dowry and end up losing even shelter of themselves. Knowing the…
Project Name: Bhoomi Initiated by: Karnataka State Govt. Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) movement in rural villages of Rajasthan inspired the Karnataka State Government to launch a project called Bhoomi in mid-1999, which aimed to digitise land and revenue records. The Department of Revenue in Karnataka State has digitized 20 million rural land records of 6.7 million landowners…
Project Name: Jankari Initiated by: Govt. of Bihar JAANKARI is a unique initiative by the Government of Bihar to expand the base of right to information (RTI) access by citizens. The centre has been innovatively and effectively employed in making RTI Act ore broad based and accessible to the common man by bridging the literacy and digital…