A letter to Kapil Sibal

Dear minister, You are in a unique position which, in some way or the other, is responsible for connecting almost the entire country through the information highway. You are working on how all the 245,500 panchayats could be connected through broadband in the next few years; being the minister for human resources development, you also…

eNGO Workshop in Karachi, Pakistan on 10th May 2012

In yet another successful venture of eNGO Program, Digital Empowerment Foundation with support from Public Interest Registry organized “eNGO Network of Pakistan” workshop in Karachi, Pakistan on 10th May 2012. The workshop was held in PILER (Pakistan Institute for Labour Education & Research) auditorium and hosted 23 delegates participating from 19 organisations in and around…

Active Citizens using Social Media to Push for Peace among Afghanistan, India and Pakistan

The Pul‐e‐Jawan program kick‐started at Kabul in September 2011 when fifteen citizen Journalists, five each from from Afghanistan, India and Pakistan met, debated and collaborated to create a common ground to bring peace in this region. The Kabul forum has led to Pul‐e‐Jawan forums within India and Pakistan to encourage more citizens to express themselves…

Multi-Stakeholder Consultation on ‘Internet Rights, Accessibility, Regulation & Ethics’

Right to Internet for Right to information “Internet can be instrumental to curb the media sensation” Stated by socio-political activist Aruna Roy in the half-day national consultation on ‘Internet Rights, Accessibility, Regulation & Ethics’ on May 3, 2012 at New Delhi. The consultation programme was organized by the Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) and Association for…

DEF’s frugal innovation on community radio

An example of a ‘barefoot innovator’ is Raghav Mahto from Vaishali district in Bihar. Only a second grade pass, Mahto was inspired by a cordless microphone to create an FM radio transmitter with which he transmitted for fi ve years from his electronics repair shop, pioneering the concept of community radio with cheap broadcast equipment,…