Digital Empowerment Foundation :: NEWSLETTER JULY 2013

Vol 2 Issue 7 | July 2013

mBillionth Award 2013 Edition

Registration Closing for 2013
Digital Empowerment Foundation and Vodafone present the 4th mBillionthAward South Asia 2013. mBillionth is the leading platform to Explore, recognize & honor the best practices in Mobile & Telecom Industry across 8 South Asian countries. The registration is closing on 17th July.
For details visit www.mbillionth.in

Osama's Column in Mint

Mobiles for social change : Not many of us are aware of the role that mobile phones can play to trigger social and behavioural... Read more

Uttarakhand crisis underlines community radio's importance : Information can make or break you. Information can enable... Read more

Broadband Internet's rural role : From time immemorial, humans have communicated orally and, more recently, through... Read more

Move to mobile governance : Panchayati Raj Institution must make strategic plans to move to mobile governance... Read more

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Gram Vaani Relief News lines

Gram Vaani Relief News lines: Dealing with Uttarakhand disaster : The role of community radio is tremendous in the natural calamities. The local-dialect community radio stations have been warning residents about cyclones and helping farmers cope with erratic weather patterns. People in the countryside, most of whom are illiterate, can easily understand weather bulletins and other instructions. Community Radio enhances the flood affected population’s access to vital information through the establishment... Read more

INDIA'S BEST DIGITAL FOOTPRINTS

meet the manthan winners

agropedia : Content availability and its intelligent organization continue to be a serious challengein Indian agriculture. This prevents providing meaningful, efficient advice and servicesto farmers and other stakeholders.Thus,Agropedia, launched in 2008... Read more

Amader Kishorgonj : The Human-Centered Design and Computing Group, C-DAC has designed and developed the “Interactive Museum”, as a touch screen applications for kiosks whereby the design of the interactive features of the application is based on a survey consisting of interviews and field observations of museum visitors. Read more

Recent activities

Internship Offer as DIGITAL AMBASSADOR in Maharashtra : Digital Empowerment Foundation is offering Internship programme as Digital Ambassador in Maharashtra. Digital Ambassadors will spread awareness about eNGO, ePanchayat & eMSME projects in his/her own town/tehsil. Read more

Networking Engineering Course started in Guna : Keeping in view, the importance of Networking Engineering Course, Digital Empowerment Foundation has started Networking Engineering Course in Guna. Initially, there are 10 students from Guna, Chanderi, Bhanwargarh (Rajasthan)... Read more

3rd ‘Mobile for Good’ Awards by Vodafone Foundation in association with Digital Empowerment Foundation : On the occasion of mbillionth Award Mobile and Telecom Summit, we welcome you to meet and interact with our 16 M4G finalist along with past two year 9 winners, for this is the first time they will be... Read more

Raising the roof: mBillionth Award 2013 : From re-watching big moments to interacting with experts on Mobile will become a huge part on the occasion of mBillionth Award 2013 on July 18th, 2013 at Eros Hotel, Nehru Place, New Delhi. The show will give out awards for the innovators... Read more

Sua Kalbelia Performing live in mBillionth Award 2013 : Sua Kalbelia will be performing in Delhi 18th of July at mBillionth Award 2013. This will be the biggest mobile show in South Asia for 2013. Be there. Sua Kalbeliya is among the best dancers in the Kalbelia troupe; a traditional dance... Read more

Capturing the promise of ICT in Muthyalammapalem village : India has become one of the most prominent mobile markets in the world. Perhaps the best tool for poverty alleviation on the continent is the mobile phone. Every now and then, India gets a stark reminder that the feel good factor created by high growth rates... Read more

Community radio: Riding airwaves for change : In a remote village of Kutch, elderly men listen to the radio with rapt attention as a play stresses horrors of domestic violence whereas in Sanand near Ahmedabad, a group of illiterate women dial... Read more

Osama's Column in Gaon Connection

मोबाइल के साथ गाँव चला शहर की चाल : देश के कोने-कोने में राशन उपलब्धता की सूचना हो या सरकारी स्कूलों के बच्चों की छात्रवृति की खबर, अब सभी तरह की खबरें चुटकियों में मिल जाते हैं। चाहे वो खेत में हलधर किसान हो या गांव में अपना परिवार छोड़ शहर के किसी कोने में मजदूरी करता नौवजान, सभी एक इलेक्ट्रॉनिक मशीन... Read more

‘काश! पहाड़ खोदने के बजाए ‘ग्राम आधारित विकास’ पर ध्यान दिया होता’ : उत्तराखंड में आसमान से बरसी आफत ने जबरदस्त तबाही मचाई है। खत्म होती जिंद‌गियां, उफनती नदियां और ताश के पत्ते की तरह बिखरते घर इसके गवाह हैं, जिसने आपदा प्रबंधन की तैयारियों की पोल खोल कर रख दी है।...Read more

टेलीग्राम को आखिरी सलाम : वैसे तो साल 2013 कई मायने में महत्वपूर्ण है, लेकिन खासकर सूचना तकनीक के क्षेत्र के लिए साल 2013 कुछ खास ही रहा है। इसी साल 1 जनवरी 2013 को इंटरनेट ने जहां अपने 30 साल पूरे कर लिए, वहीं परम्परागत कैमरे में इस्तेमाल होने वाली कोडैक्रोम फिल्मों से तस्वीरें विकसित ...Read more

एक ऐसा गांव जहां हर घर की खाट खड़ी नहीं, उल्टी मिलेगी…: इस बार मैं एक तस्वीर के सहारे आपको देश के कुछ इलाकों की सच्चाई से रूबरू कराउंगा। आंध्र प्रदेश के एक गांव की तस्वीर, जिसमें समुद्र के किनारे मछली पकड़ने की जाल लिए बैठा मछुआरा, उड़ीसा के मुस्लिम बहुल इलाके में लोगों के बीच बैठे मुल्ला जी और उत्तराखंड ...Read more

आपदा में सामुदायिक रेडियो की अहमियत : अगर आपके पास जानकारी है, तो आप सशक्त हैं और इनके बिना आप अवसरों, अधिकारों और अपनी आजादी से भी वंचित हो सकते हैं। उत्तराखंड त्रासदी में सूचना ही सबसे अधिक आहत हुई, मगर कैसे? हिमालय के ऊपरी इलाकों की सही स्थिति के बारे में हमारे पास लगभग...Read more

CMN: ALT Media Analysis

Ecological tragedy, Economic naiveté : Reservoir impoundment can flood extensive natural habitats, and can particularly impact on the extent of riverine forests and riparian ecosystems. Direct drowning of faunal species can occur during reservoir filling... Read more

New Mass Media: Community Radio : During natural disasters, and for some time afterwards, the people affected by them usually have millions of questions and are desperate for information. In many cases, they do not understand what has happened, what to do... Read more

Democracy is like a banyan tree : we should consider whether democracy itself is in danger of being discredited. Politicians might usefully disentangle themselves from their day-to-day power struggles long enough to take seriously their responsibility to a noble idea and the systems ..Read more

The Siege Within : The causal mechanisms that drive rich and poor states apart are therefore straightforward: a lack of infrastructural investment and poor fiscal management. These problems can be easily rectified by the Indian federal state. Sadly, the rise in inequality in India is not big enough news yet. But if the state does not act immediately to uplift the poor, increasing economic polarisation could spur social unrest. Read more

Revolution 2.0 : In a world of media where the former audience are now increasingly full participants. In that world, media is less and less often about crafting a single message to be consumed by individuals. It is more and more a way of creating an environment for convening and supporting groups. And the choice we face is anybody who has a message they want heard, anywhere in the world. Isn’t whether that’s the media environment we want to operate... Read more

Mobile phones and communications: then, now and in the future : The second dimension – and the one that concerns me more – is whether I will still be able to communicate as openly as I do today... Read more

Challenges of monetization : In predominantly rural, low-income, price-sensitive markets, across industry verticals, successful services delivery models have essentially relied on scale... Read more

Ten IT-enabled business trends for the decade ahead : Progress in information technology is transformative. Every year brings faster processing speeds, greater storage capacity,.. Read more

Umati Final Report Released : The occurrence of online hate speech cannot solely be relied on as a precursor to violence on the ground. Other factors might play a stronger role... Read more

How Community Radio Can Give North East India a Stronger Voice : Among those who know of it, very few would doubt the potential and viability of community radio as a means of enriching, fruitful ... Read more

Social media and the surveillance state in Brazil : As Brazilians use social media to plan protests and spread the word about what is going on in various parts of the country, the Agência Brasileira de Inteligência (Brazilian Intelligence Agency; ABIN)...Read more

Civil society calls for human rights to underpin surveillance at Freedom Online Coalition Conference : The Freedom Online Coalition convened in Tunis... Read more

Access delivers Remedy Plan for telcos to redress human rights harms : To help telcos address their human rights concerns, Access has developed guidance for telcos... Read more

New Regulations for Skype and Viber in Bahrain : “Security considerations” have been cited as a basis for regulations which could put an end to the use of popular services... Read more

New York City gets .nyc domain name : New York City is to get its own domain name, enabling local businesses and residents to starting using .nyc.... Read more

APC leaders inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame : APC Executive Director Anriette Esterhusyen and Finance Manager Karen Banks have been inducted by the Internet Society (ISOC) into the Internet Hall of Fame along with 30 others. Read more

Governments should take action to protect rights : This is a call to governments from APC and other civil society organisations. This call was presented during the closing ceremony of the Freedom Online Conference that took place in Tunis between June ... Read more

BytesForAll on the latest report on censorship in Pakistan : A new research report by Citizen Lab and Bytes for All (B4A), Pakistan reveals that Pakistani authorities have developed an Internet Firewall using technology procured from Canadian service provider,Last year, Pakistan's IT Ministry solicited proposals for its new draconian project focusing on mass URL filtration in Pakistani cyberspace. This was a shocking news for the civil society and human rights groups, as such a system could be predatory for Internet Rights and Freedom of Expression in the country. ... Read more

Red Rickshaw journey special

Meet RRR Inspiration

Jyotsna Sitling : Jyotsna Sitling belongs to the `Lepcha’ tribal community of Kalimpong, West Bengal. Growing up, she loved plants and chose to study botany at the Darjeeling Government College. With a strong passion for ecological conservation, Jyotsna decided that forestry was her vocation. Soon after, she became the first Indian woman forester to join the Indian ... Read more

Sua-Kalbelia : Sua Kalbeliya is among the best dancers in the Kalbelia troupe; a traditional dance form integral to the livelihood of the Kalbelia nomadic tribe of Rajasthan. In the olden days, the Kalbelia tribals shunned by mainstream society and deemed an untouchable caste, lived as snake catchers or ‘Saperas’ selling the poison to earn an income. This was until their unique dance form became popular as a source of entertainment and a regular... Read more

Priyanshi Somani : Age does not define the boundaries of excellence and Priyanshi Somani has proved just that. She is the first Indian to win the prestigious Mental Calculation World Cup in 2010, achieving this feat at a young age of 12 years! Participants at the Mental Calculation World Cup compete to solve a series of highly complex mathematical tasks in the shortest time possible. The challenge of facing experienced mathematical wizards from 16 different countries, the oldest being 61 years of age, did not deter Priyanshi from her goal. She... Read more

RRR Inspiration of the month

RRR Journey through the lens

Nokia Asha 501 launched in India for Rs. 5,199
The phone is available for purchase on Nokia India's official online store in Black, White, Cyan, Yellow and Red colour variants. Nokia had earlier started taking pre-orders on its website. ..Read more

The World's Most Active Twitter Country? (Hint: Its Citizens Can't Use Twitter)
So I was perusing useless online data recently (a favorite activity) when I came across something that seemed to me surprising and:...Read more

Vodafone offers Rs.4,000 crore to keep spectrum in three circles
New Delhi: Vodafone India Ltd has offered to pay Rs.4,000 crore to the department of telecommunications (DoT) to continue holding telecom spectrum in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. ...Read more

एसएमएस के जरिये ट्रेन टिकट बुकिंग आज से शुरू
भारतीय रेलवे की एसएमएस के जरिये रेलवे टिकट बुक कराने की नई सुविधा आज से शुरु हो रही है। इस सेवा के तहत कोई भी अपने मोबाइल फोन से एसएमएस करके रेल टिकट बुक करा सकता है।.. Read more

European internet 'running 25% slower than advertised' Customers across Europe are getting broadband speeds 25% slower on average than that advertised by their service providers, a European Commission report says... Read more

LTE-Advanced 4G network launches in South Korea
South Korea has started offering what are billed as the fastest ever 4G data speeds made available to consumers... Read more

Sony launches giant waterproof Xperia Z Ultra phone
The firm is pitching the Xperia Z Ultra as being the slimmest large-screened handset on the market. It can also accept sketches or notes written using a standard pencil or metal-tipped pen in addition to ... Read more

Firefox 22 launched, supports video and voice calls, P2P file sharing
Mumbai: Mozilla has updated Firefox to version 22, which brings a host of changes that will surely make using the browser a very interesting experience... Read more

Google may implement Internet-beaming balloons in India
Internet search giant Google may implement its prestigious 'Project Loon', which is a balloon-mounted Internet access service, in various countries including India. ....Read more

गूगल के गुब्बारे गाँवों तक पहुंचाएंगे इंटरनेट
क्लिक करें इंटरनेट जायंट क्लिक करें गूगल ने दुर्गम इलाकों को क्लिक करें इंटरनेट से जोड़ने के लिए एक नई तकनीक ईजाद की है. इसके तहत गूगल ने आकाश में ऐसे प्रायोगिक गुब्बारे छोड़े हैं जो अपने आसपास के इलाकों में इंटरनेट ... Read more

7 Insightful Social Media Analytics Tools
Nowadays, all businesses have to direct their attention to social media, because this is the best way to get knowledge of the opinion of people that are around your company or brand. Even if it’s a... Read more

Airtel announces free roaming packs across India
After introducing a specialised roaming rates for their Delhi customers, Airtel has now announced new roaming packs that would give free roaming to all their customers across India... Read more

MapmyIndia launches Locate app to stay connected with your family and friends in real-time
With the increasing security concerns in India, MapmyIndia has now launched a new app which would help track people in real-time using ... Read more

SMS-based rail ticket booking launched
New Delhi: Railways today launched SMS-based ticketing with two dedicated numbers - 139 and 5676714 - for the service... Read more

Nokia Asha 210 unveiled
The phone sports 2.4-inch QVGA (240x320) display, 32MB RAM, 64MB internal storage, expandable up to 32GB via microSD, 2 MP rear camera, Wi-Fi, bluetooth 2.1, EDR, USB, FM radio and 1200mAh battery. ...Read more

India is the third largest smartphone market in the world
It was predicted that India in 2017 would be the third largest smartphone market in the world, but the economic state of the country has managed to achieve the feat in 2013 itself...Read more

Facebook working on news reader app: Report
WASHINGTON: Social media giant Facebook is reportedly working on news service application that will collect all the news shared on the website and make it easier to.. Read more

Slashing 2G Data is A Useless Move by Incumbent Players
We all know that Indian telecom is dull these days, and out of sudden mobile operators start slashing 2G data tariff. If you check carefully this move comes from incumbent telcos – Airtel, Vodafone and Idea, ....Read more

Airtel mobile users can now access Gmail, Google+ at no data cost
NEW DELHI, JUNE 26: Airtel mobile customers will now be able access web search and feature-phone-friendly versions of Gmail and Google+ in India without paying for data services... Read more

Mukesh Ambani bets on 4G broadband in India, but risks abound
Indian tycoon Mukesh Ambani hopes his multi-billion dollar bet on cheap high-speed wireless broadband could change the way nearly a billion of his countrymen use mobile devices from the way they ... Read more

6 Reasons Instagram Video Beats Vine
Even before Instagram released its video feature Thursday, nervous 'grammers and Viners chewed their fingernails in anticipation. What features would Instagram video introduce that Vine refused?.. Read more

Social Networking Reaches Nearly One in Four Around the World
According to a new eMarketer report, “Worldwide Social Network Users: 2013 Forecast and Comparative Estimates,” nearly one in four people worldwide will use social networks in 2013. ....Read more

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