From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Tue Feb 1 04:33:33 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id EAA95492; Tue, 1 Feb 2000 04:33:33 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id EAA95478 for ; Tue, 1 Feb 2000 04:33:26 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-037.super.net.pk [203.130.5.176]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id XAA00967 for ; Mon, 31 Jan 2000 23:33:01 -0500 Message-Id: <200002010433.XAA00967@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2000 23:33:46 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: Dubai International Award for Best Practices X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk ------- Forwarded message follows ------- From: "BLP" Date sent: Mon, 31 Jan 2000 15:46:04 +0300 Dear Sir/Madam, Greetings from UNCHS(Habitat) I am writing to kindIy request you help us disseminate our call for best practices within your networks. We are particularly interested in seeing examples of actions and initiatives in use of information for policy-making in least developed countries which have resulted in the tangible improvement of people's livelihoods. ============================================== 2000 Dubai Award: Call for Best Practices ============================================== The Dubai International Award for Best Practices in Improving the Living Environment (DIABP) recognizes initiatives which have made outstanding contributions to improving the quality of life in cities, communities, eco-systems and eco-regions around the world. Each of the ten Awards consists of a US$30,000 cash prize, a trophy and certificate. The Award is open to all organizations from the public, private and civil society sectors. The deadline for submissions is 31 March 2000. Resources willing, we will provide substantive feed back to submissions received before the deadline. For the complete submission guide in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese or Spanish, please visit: or contact: ============================= Best regards, ************************************************************** Bill Kagai, Consultant Best Practices & Local Leadership Programme UNCHS (Habitat), P.O. Box 30030, Nairobi, Kenya Tel: 254 2 623456, Fax: 254 2 623080 E-Mail: bestpractices@unchs.org ************************************************************** Visit our Internet sites: http://www.bestpractices.org http://www.sustainabledevelopment.org/blp ************************************************************** ------- End of forwarded message ------- From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Tue Feb 1 07:09:04 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id HAA120456; Tue, 1 Feb 2000 07:09:03 +1000 (EST) Received: from goa1.dot.net.in (goa1.dot.net.in [202.54.17.30]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id HAA120435 for ; Tue, 1 Feb 2000 07:08:57 +1000 (EST) Received: from goanews ([202.54.17.104]) by goa1.dot.net.in (8.9.2/8.9.2) with SMTP id CAA28248; Tue, 1 Feb 2000 02:40:17 +0530 (GMT) Message-Id: <3.0.6.32.20000201023017.007c9690@202.54.17.30> X-Sender: fred@202.54.17.30 (Unverified) X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.6 (32) Date: Tue, 01 Feb 2000 02:30:17 +0500 To: s-asia-it@apnic.net From: Frederick Noronha Subject: BytesForAll FEB 2000 Issue # 6 Cc: venky@iiitb.ac.in Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk 10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010 01010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101 10101 bYtES For aLL * bYtES For aLL * bYtES For aLL 10101010 01010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101 n e w t e c h n o l o g i e s w i l l m e a n h a v i n g m o r e i n t h e h a v e-n o t c a m p i f w e a r e n o t c a r e f u l 01010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101 10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010 1010101 1010101010 1010101 Issue No 6 * Feb 2000 1010101010 0101010 AN OCCASIONAL NEWSLETTER TO MAKE 0101010101 1010101 COMPUTING AND TECHNOLOGY 1010101010 0101010 FRIENDLY TO THE NEEDS OF THE MILLIONS 0101010101 0101010 Editor: Frederick Noronha fred@vsnl.com 0101010101 1010101 alongwith Partha Sarker partha@drik.net 1010101010 01010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101 10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010 CYBERTIPS FOR FARMING IN A NEW MILLENNIUM ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Info courtesy: The Week http://www.the-week.com SENIOR AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION scientist Dr Sandhya Shenoy of the National Academy of Agricultural Research Management in Hyderabad-India has created 'A Gateway to Indian Agriculture' website with technical support from Dr John Schmitz, of the Agricultural Instructional Media (AIM) Laboratory at Illinois University. This site gives information on animal sciences, crop sciences, agribusiness, fisheries, home science, horticulture, natural resources, and sustainable agriculture. Links to agriculture- related organisations worldwide, programmes, publications and libraries, and pages on weather, agricultural issues and policies, gender issues, infotech and human resources enrich the site. It also has a good map of India with hyperlinks. It is accessible at http://web.aces.uiuc.edu/aim/diglib/india/ PAKISTAN GROUP LAUNCHES ONLINE INTERNET SERVICE ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Info courtesy: Zubair Faisal Abbasi The Sustainable Development Networking Programme (SDNP) -- a global programme of UNDP being managed by IUCN in Pakistan -- having pioneered email and offline Internet in the country, has launched its online Internet services from January 17, 2000. SDNP aims to promote electronic networking and bridge the information gap for sustainable development. The new value addition in its services would facilitate the development sector in realizing the potential of Information and Communication Technologies for Sustainable Human Development. These online services will initially be available from Islamabad but would soon be extended to other SDNP centers: Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta. Using the latest Internetworking technologies on Linux based servers, SDNP would provide free web hosting space and concessional rates for internet access to the development sector organizations in Pakistan. The existing email accounts will remain operational along with online services. They will now be provided at drastically reduced rates. With the launch of new services, not only meant for the development sector, SDNP looks ahead to serve its clients even better with increased and more meaningful access to the Information Superhighway. http://www.sdnp.org.pk MAURITIUS EXPERIMENT LINKS COMPUTERS, POTATOES ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Info courtesy: Krishan J Bheenick The Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Mauritius has set up a prototype Agricultural Information System for use by the rural community in Mauritius. Our innovation, and the main issue we are testing, is the use of audio files in two local spoken languages on a website that offers advice on potato growing, as a means of overcoming the illiteracy barrier and adding user-friendliness for a rural community. The big question we are asking ourselves is: "How can the non-computer-literate farmer benefit from the empowering tool that the Internet is through access to information?" Information, which is usually available in print form or in technical reports have been placed onto a website with additional graphics to facilitate communication. One of the first interesting challenges has been to develop icons representing cultural practices in potato production. A series of icons were drawn and have been tested with the agricultural community, as we expect them to be able to navigate through the use of graphics rather than clicking on text hyperlinks and through accompanying audio files that will tell them what clicking on the icons will do. The results of the assessment of the appropriateness of the icons are reasonable but we would like to suggest further investigation of global icons through the creation of such a clip-art collection, targeting the agricultural community, world-wide if possible (there must be more creative and better graphic artists than us around!) Krishan J Bheenick is a Lecturer in Agricultural Systems at the University of Mauritius' faculty of agriculture. University Website: http://www.uom.ac.mu/ WEBSITE ON MALARIA LAUNCHED IN SOUTH ASIA ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Info courtesy: Deccan Herald, Bangalore A WEBSITE ON malaria has been launched by IPCA Laboratories Limited of India. Besides general information on malaria worldwide and types of malaria, the website also provides detailed information on clinical presentations, care of malaria patients and the required drug treatment. http:///www.malaria-ipca.com FIGHTING MALARIA IN URBAN INDIA ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Info courtesy: Development Research Insights http://www.id21.org MANY DISEASES THAT MOST endanger public health are now being dealt with by private sector providers rather than public sector or not-for-profit agencies. This shift is specially marked in South and Southeast Asia where even the poor usually choose private services. Policymakers can no longer afford to ignore parivate healthcare's potential for achieving -- or undermining -- public health goals. Studies in Surat, India by researchers from the Government Medical College of Surat and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine have forged new cross-sector linkages for better malaria control. Details from Anthony Zwi or Ruairi Brugha or Daniel Chandramohan of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, or Vikas Desai of GMC-Surat INTERACTIVE WEBSITE ON SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGY ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Info courtesy: Developments http://www.developments.org.uk STEP, Intermediate Technology's award-winning Sustainable Technology Education Project, has launched an interactive website. The website will illustrate sustainable technology in action and will provide high-quality case study materials for teachers and pupils ranging from rickshaws in Oxford to honey- making in Zimbabwe. Visit Intermediate Technology through http://www.oneworld.org/itdg SOUTH ASIAN-ORIENTED MAGAZINE HIMAL IS AVAILABLE ONLINE ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Info courtesy: FN HIMAL, the magazine with a South Asian perspective, is now available on the Internet at http://www.himalmag.com For circulation details write to circulation@himalmag.com SPECIAL ISSUE ON 'INTERNET IN SOUTH ASIA' ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Info courtesy: EPW ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY's special issue on the 'Internet in South Asia' dated November 20, 1999 is available for sale to those interested. Articles contained include: * Promoting the Internet in South Asia by Arun Mehta and Shahid Akhtar * Telecommunications Infrastructure: A Long Way to Go by Vickram Crishna, Noor-ud-Din Baqai, Bhoop Raj Pandey and Fazlur Rahman * Struggling with the Digital Divide: Internet Infrastructure, Policies and Regulations by Madanmohan Rao, Sanjib Raj Bhandari, S M Iqbal, Anjali Sinha and Wahaj us Siraj. * Online Content in South Asia: Opportunities and Realities by Madanmohan Rao, Imran Rashid, Hasan Rizvi and Rajib Subha. For copies write to the Circulation Manager, Economic and Political Weekly, Hitkari House, 284 Shahid Bhagatsingh Road, Mumbai 400001 India. Email epw@vsnl.com E-MAIL, A TOOL FOR NON-PROFIT ORGANISATIONS IN THE THIRD WORLD +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Info courtesy: FN We take it so much for granted. It's hardly as glamourous as the World Wide Web. In fact, e-mail is widely seen as the poor cousin on the Internet. Yet, next to the telephone and the fax machine, electronic mail is the most popular of today's communication tools. 'From Workplace to Workspace -- Using Email to Work Together' is the title of a new book showing how to use e-mail lists to work together. Published by Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Bellanet International Secretariat, this slim volume aims to build skills among the non-profit sector of the Third World. Visit IDRC's catalogue of books online at http://www.idrc.ca/index_e.html Further details can be had from Steve Song of IDRC ssong@idrc.ca WEB SITE FOR SCHOOL-FINISHING EXAMINEES ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Info courtesy: WebVisition wvision@bom3.vsnl.net.in IN A MOVE TO enhance the reach of secondary school education in India, the Bombay(Mumbai)-based image Macintosh Computer Academy is in the process of developing and hosting the country's first secondary educational portal. This portal is designed keeping in mind the tenth standard (school-leaving) student and will offer both standard and value added services. Visit http://www.sscindia.com Aspiring Indian students wanting to prepare for the prestigious IIT engineering degree courses can meanwhile visit the site below that gives information on all aspects of the IIT-JEE joint entrance exam. Visit http://www.itt-jee.8m.com CLEARING HOUSE WITH DATABASES ON EXPERTISE, TECHNOLOGIES ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Info courtesy: Development Alternatives, New Delhi tara@sdalt.ernet.in DEVELOPMENT ALTERNATIVES, a Delhi-based group, has a Facilitation Centre that functions as a 'clearing house'. It offers its database on expertise, database on technologies, and services the information needs of both host country parties and investing country parties. Contact the organisation at tara@sdalt.ernet.in POLICE IN PUNE, INDIA USE COMPUTERS TO DIGITALLY MAP CITY ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Info courtesy: Maharashtra Herald, India POLICE IN PUNE (formerly Pune) have undertaken the task of digitally mapping the city. Rotarians agreed to sponsor the biggest software project ever undertaken for the police. As it turned out, a button click could open up vistas of information whether it is for tackling a kidnaping or nipping the growing crime rate. GRAMNET, TOOL FOR RESOURCE NETWORK MODELLING ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Info courtesy: CSIR News,newsletter of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. Email: niscom@sirnetd.ernet.in GRAMNET is a compact tool for resource network modelling, viz. routing, location and allocation of facilities. GRAMNET has wide applications in facility location, emergency planning, public works, route planning, infrastructure management and traffic engineering. Currently, it has been installed at a few centres of the Indian Natural Resource Data Management System. CD-ROM ON FOOD PROCESSING MACHINERY ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Info courtesy: CSIR News A CD-ROM that provides information on food processing machinery manufacturers in India has been compiled by the Indian Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI). Information compiled covers over 750 manufacturers and 70 categories of machinery. Details from The Head, Food Engineering Centre, CFTRI, Mysore 570013 India. email: eng@cscftri.ren.nic.in GIS TECHNOLOGY: ADDING NEW DIMENSIONS TO POLICY-MAKING ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Info courtesy: Terivision, http://www.teriin.org Geographical Information System (GIS) is today offering India solutions to issues as complex as monitoring and management of sustainable development and utilization of natural resources, and has brought about a new perspective to managing information. It is more than just creating maps, and has the capacity to affect policies and decisions regarding the environment. It also makes a difference to social scientists, marketing professionals and the municipalities. TERI, the Tata Energy Research Institute, has used the GIS application with "great success" in the mining areas of Goa, the Yamuna sub-basin and the Shivaliks to access the changing environmental scenario. The GIS activity in TERI took birth about three years back, with the establishment of a GIS laboratory. Slowly the group geared up in using the GIS technology integrating satellite imageries for resource mapping and monitoring. Currently, the GIS group in TERI is actively involved in projects ranging from wind energy to forestry and biodiversity related issues, covering most of the research areas of the institution. Information from http://www.teriin.org VIRTUAL VARSITY PLANNED FOR MEDICOS ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Info courtesy: The Hindustan Times, New Delhi MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS who are interested in continuing their studies but do not have the time to go back to school now have another option. If they cannot go to the classroom, the classroom is coming to them. A virtual university is being launched on the Internet in association with the Christian Medical College, Ludhiana (North India). TOOLKIT FOR DEVELOPING INDIAN-LANGUAGE WINDOWS APPLICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Info courtesy: Modular Systems, Pune SHREE-LIPI SAMHITA is a toolkit for application developers who want to develop applications in Indian languages on the Windows platform. Shree-Lipi Samhita can be integrated with applications developed in VC++, Delphi, Power Builder, Visual Basic, Visual FoxPro, etc. It supports about 70 API calls to seamlessly integrate Indian languages with your applications. These calls enable typing Indian languages in any Windows based applications, sorting data on Indian language strings, transliterating names from English to Indian languages and vice versa. Thus, developers can very easily develop applications to give good Indian language interface to users who are more comfortable with their mother tongue than English. Modular Systems, Pune http://www.modular-systems.com INEQUALITY, BLOCKAGES, COPYRIGHT LAWS ACERBATE DIGITAL DIVIDE ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Info courtesy: Sources, Journal of the UNESCO THERE ARE ABOUT 120 million people throughout the world using the Internet. Experts estimate that five million more come online every month. You can bet that most of these are in industrialized countries. Rich countries have more resources to invest in the equipment necessary for access to the Internet. But the information rich-information poor divide is not based on economic differences only. Repressive regimes -- even in relatively rich countries -- often want to restrict the availability of information to their citizens. Asian countries in particular view the Internet as a threat to their national security because it has served to organise protest movements by linking dissidents at home and abroad. Inequalities may also result from differences in languages. Copyright laws, and laws relating to the protection of databases, computer software and trade marks, all limit information availability. The ever-expanding scope of proprietary rights in information does not make it easier to ensure that the information society remains genuinely available to all. People may end up paying for information from library archives that once were open to all. -- Comments by Professor Suman Naresh of the Tulane University School of Law, Louisiana (USA) in an article titled 'Ethics and the Digital Divide'. SITE FOR DEVELOPMENT MANAGERS ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Info courtesy: Maharashtra Herald, Pune-India SO, YOU THOUGH THAT THE Internet was an elitist phenomenon catering only to the interests of the Netizens and the cyber- savvy? That this medium was going the television way with games and pornographic sites ruling the roost and entertainment dominating information by far? Well, think again and log in to the site http://www.indev.org the next time you're surfing the Net. Indev is a project initiated by the British Council in India to address the problems faced by development managers in accessing development-related information in the country. This Development Information Network is also meant for the benefit of academics, researchers, think-tanks and anyone interested in India's development. http://www.indev.org or http://www.indev.nic.in DELHI CENTRE TO BE REPOSITORY FOR CDs LINKED TO INDIA ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Info courtesy: The Indian Express INDIA'S FEDERAL MINISTRY OF Science and Technology has picked the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) of Delhi as the National Collection Centre for CD-ROMs, published in India and on India, to act as a single window information service centre for India-related CDs. CD-ROMs on cricket, the Mahabharata, fine arts, patent applications, health and everything under the Indian sun will be available under one roof at the IIT in New Delhi. All one has to do is to walk into the IIT campus and head for its Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT) unit to use any CD-ROM you choose, at no extra cost. WLL-TECHNOLOGY COULD POSSIBLY SOLVE INDIA'S TELECOM WOES ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Info courtesy: Kobita Desai For the Indian telecom to rapidly extend its network and reach, the implementation of the Wireless in local loop (WLL) technology will be the most cost-effective solution. But there are various hurdles -- financial, technological, and political -- faced by private and public sector telecom companies in doing this. Wireless in local loop, also known as fixed wireless access, replaces all or part of the traditional hard-wired segment of the telecom network between the local exchange and the subscriber premises with connections based on radio or microwave technology. Wireless communication plays a pivotal role in the blueprint of India's telecom strategy. The country has been testing WLL- based systems over the last three to four years. Qualcomm had conducted field trials for a 1000 lines capacity system in Delhi. Introduction of WLL in India in the 800 MHz band was delayed for over two years due to the frequency issue. The Indian military has since vacated the 800 MHz range, paving the way for Indian telecom operators to offer WLL services in that frequency band. The remaining bottlenecks to larger WLL deployments in India are to do with the procurement processes adopted by DoT/MTNL (government telecom companies), and limited financial ability by the private telcos. The six private telcos have grandios ambitions to introduce up to 150,000 WLL lines each, but the scarcity of their financing is delaying equipment investment. (The author is a consultant and director for telecom programs at AMC, a leading Indian analysis, measurement and consulting organisation.) THE INTERNET IN AFRICA: ANOTHER ANALYSIS ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Info courtesy: Developments http://www.developments.org.uk THE IMPACT OF THE INTERNET on Africa is the subject of continual debate. Now a new report has been written which seeks to throw more light on the subject. 'The Internet in Africa -- A New Assessment' has been produced by Article 19, the International Centre Against Censorship. Article 19 Director Andrew Puddephatt said: "The Internet offers Africans a new possibility to participate fully in the democratization process... However there is the danger that it could also widen the gap between those with access to technology and information and those, for example, who continue to rely on state-run radio." The report is available from Article 19. INFORMATION REVOLUTION SWEEPING THROUGH RURAL CENTRAL INDIA ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Info courtesy: India Abroad News Service An information revolution is sweeping through the backwaters of Madhya Pradesh, in central India, spearheaded by what the villagers simply refer to as the "magic box". This "magic box" tells them what the price of potatoes is in the "big town" nearby and even provides them with copies of their land records, revenue maps and other documents they may require to get bank loans for the new harvest season. Dehrisaria is just one of 600 villages in Dhar district that is now wired to a computer network. The network, which went on a trial run on new year's day, has 21 computer centres manned by local youngsters trained to work as operators. The centres, funded by local village councils, are expected to eventually subsist on user charges. Villagers have to pay a small fee of Rs 5 (about 12 US cents) for daily market rates of locally produced foodgrains and vegetable crops available at the nearby wholesale markets as well as markets in big cities like Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai and Hyderabad. The computer centres also provide villagers with important documents for Rs 15 (approx Us 36 cents). Banks in the region have agreed to accept the documents issued though these centres which are now even authorised to notarise them if required. Local officials say the computer network, inspired by an experiment carried out successfully in the neighbouring state of Maharashtra a year ago, will ensure that the hapless villagers will not have to run around local government offices needlessly, like they have in the past. "They can now send applications for income, caste and domicile certificates as well as requests for land demarcation and landholders's loan passbooks on-line. These will be prepared within 10 days and the applicants informed online," the top official in Dhar district, Rajesh Rajoria, told The Indian Express. Villager Shankar Lal, who has used the new system successfully, declares happily that it works. Lal had applied for a certificate stating his backward status and received a reply on-line within three days, asking him to collect it. "I spent only Rs 10 and three days to get what would have cost me weeks of running around," says Lal who still finds it hard to believe that the whole process was so easy. The network has also connected a hospital in the city of Indore, 60 kms away, with the Dhar district hospital and three primary health centres to make specialist medical advice and referral services available to villagers. A dozen patients in remote areas were referred to Indore in the first fortnight of the network's trial run itself. The computer centres also act as communication links between the government and the villagers, allowing complaints about non-delivery of services under government schemes, absent teachers, non-functioning pump sets, among other things. NEW ITrain INTERNET TRAINING MODULES FOR FREE IN CYBERSPACE ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Info courtesy: Katherine Morrow Three new ITrain Internet training modules are now available for free on the web. ITrain is a collection of Internet training materials for instructors and students. The materials offer an interactive approach, engaging students in the learning process and supporting instructors in the customization and planning of the courses. New courses are offered in (i) website construction (ii) effective internet searching and (iii) list facilitation. The documents can be downloaded in either PDF or Word formats. Feedback to Steve Song ssong@bellanet.org http://www.bellanet.org For the three new ITrain course modules, visit http://unganisha.idrc.ca/itrain/new_material.html :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::CRITICAL VOICES::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: bYtES For aLL attempts to create space for alternative views that run counter to the tide: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Jagdish Parikh comments: Today I had some brain storming session with a friend. I shared my hypothesis. Would love to read your first reaction. My hypothesis is NOT based on well researched documents or direct participation in GK dialogues. So you may find it full of potential pitfalls. Yet I would love to pursue if it is worth following. My hypothesis: The World Bank and all other major players fail to include major debate on issues surrounding Open Source and Free Source based IT development. One of the key reasons for it is potential for these debates to raise some fundamental issues like Intellectual property rights, challenging potential market-driven by needs to expand and sale at any cost - for commercial products. Though agencies like UNDP and few other partners of this initiative did show some concrete commitment to Open Source products (like Linux and other freeware like Pegasus mail etc...) on the whole debate surrounding these issues and its potential implications for govt's investment policies in IT and related social policies seem missing. What do you think? PHIL GRAHAM of the Faculty of Business, Economics, and Law at the University of Queensland writes in response to the earlier article titled 'Slum-Kids Speedily Take to Computers': Thanks for your mail. No need to apologise for your delay. We are all busy these days. I am subscribed to BytesForAll. I'm a bit short of time at the moment, so excuse my hasty reply. You say that "If people of different backgrounds get access to computers, and can work on them, there's a greater chance for them to gain access to the benefits of infotech". But that is just a tautology: "if people can use computers, they can enjoy the benefits that they bring". But what are these benefits? More information? Also, infotech abilities vary as much as any literacy, if I can use the increasingly perverted term. Wertheim's post from The Age is utterly nonsensical but provokes an interesting insight: she is saying that poverty stops people from enjoying infotech (which is an inversion of the relation she is trying to express). What a surprise! The inverse is exactly what I'm saying: Until everyone is fed and comfortable, information technology is useless, at best a distraction; at worst, a waste of precious resources. You can't eat information, otherwise books would be the most nourishing food of all (also adds fibre to your diet). I have yet to imagine anything other than, say, wartime propaganda that has had such a profound effect on the popular consciousness as that generated by the techno-utopianists. I am not criticising your intentions, Frederick, and I also respect and admire your hopeful point of view. But I think that utopian perspectives on the ability of people to use the internet is merely evidence of the successful effects of a global propaganda that has, unfortunately, taken people's eyes "off the ball", so to speak. And, if you think I am speaking from a comfort zone, you are right. But I have starved, and I know what it feels like to have my teeth falling out of my mouth because of malnutrition, and to be too weak to walk. ICTs cannot help people in this state. I'm sorry, but it's true. I am fortunate enough to have a forgiving family and to live in a country that hasn't been raped and pillaged to the extent that mother India has. 0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 bYtES For aLL * Compiled jointly by Frederick Noronha, Journalist 403511 Goa India fred@vsnl.com and Partha Pratim Sarker, Drik Multimedia, Dhaka 1209 partha@drik.net Compiled in public interest * CopyLeft May be freely circulated provided entire message is left intact. Please draw our attention to any incorrect links noticed above. Updates, earlier issues and more at http://www.bytesforall.org 0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0 From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Tue Feb 1 19:07:33 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id TAA83383; Tue, 1 Feb 2000 19:07:33 +1000 (EST) Received: from sdnhq.undp.org (sdnhq.undp.org [192.124.42.79]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id TAA83366 for ; Tue, 1 Feb 2000 19:07:28 +1000 (EST) Received: (from uucp@localhost) by sdnhq.undp.org (8.9.3/8.9.3) with UUCP id EAA09437; Tue, 1 Feb 2000 04:01:27 -0500 Received: from localhost by sdnpk.undp.org (8.6.12/8.6.12) with SMTP id NAA02525; Tue, 1 Feb 2000 13:05:07 +0500 Date: Tue, 1 Feb 2000 13:05:07 +0500 (GMT+0500) From: "Hasan A. Rizvi" Reply-To: "Hasan A. Rizvi" To: "Undisclosed.recipients":; Subject: Pakistan@GlobalKnowledge (Website launched) Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk A separate website for the event has now been launched: http://pgk.sdnpk.org Apart from publishing the proceedings of the seminars (with presentations available for download) and the communique that feeds into GKII, the site will provide forums to carry forward the discussions on issues raised during the conference. FORUM 1 - ACCESS Pakistan@GlobalKnowledge aims to support all activities in Pakistan to promote access to knowledge using the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). This theme will be directed towards bringing out the common strands (issues and problems) in all such initiatives that can hopefully be fed into a supportive policy framework. Even otherwise, the sharing of knowledge and experiences should benefit the activists/practitioners in this field. FORUM 2 - CONTENT The content theme is central to the success of building strong Knowledge Networks in Pakistan. It needs to be appropriate as well as dynamic to answer the diverse needs of communities, both rural and urban. Discussion of this theme would therefore cover a wide spectrum ranging from the creation of the right conditions to facilitate appropriate content development (e.g. hardware, software, connectivity and skills) to identification of users' needs and capacity building. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pakistan@GlobalKnowledge 2 February 2000 Aga Khan University, Karachi 10 February 2000 Saudi-Pak Towers, Islamabad Pakistan@GlobalKnowledge is about sharing information and knowledge. It comprises two one-day seminars. It is being jointly organized by the Sustainable Development Networking Programme (SDNP) and the British Council. And hosted by Agha Khan University and UNDP at Karachi and Islamabad respectively. Pakistan@GlobalKnowledge builds on the impetus created by the recent Towards A South Asia Knowledge NETwork (TASKNET) conference, held in New Delhi on 23 - 24 November 1999. Then, over 250 participants active in developing knowledge networking in South Asia explored the challenges facing countries in the region and formulated recommendations to the forthcoming Global Knowledge II Conference as to how these can be best tackled. Pakistan@GlobalKnowledge seeks to: - facilitate building of partnerships and ensure that access to knowledge becomes wider and enriched in Pakistan - build networks to promote the great body of already-existing authentic knowledge in Pakistan, and to enable information about Pakistan to reach a global audience - address initiatives to tackle constraints to developing knowledge networking in Pakistan - feed into on-going South Asia regional knowledge initiatives, and the up-coming Global Knowledge II Conference, to be held in Kuala Lumpur in March 2000. Aiming for the broadest possible national representation, invitees will include: - representatives from the development sector - key government personnel with responsibilities for telecommunications, and the regulatory and policy environment - key representatives in the private sector and knowledge industries the print and electronic media, key ISPs and companies with extensive involvement and business interests in Information and Communications Technologies Pakistan@GlobalKnowledge will comprise introductory sessions, which will brief participants on the global and regional developments in knowledge networking. It will also feature in-depth sessions on Access and Content. Each session will comprise keynote presentations, followed by moderated panel discussions. The accent would be on building partnerships to address the needs in these areas. The concluding plenary session aims to pull together key themes and present these in a communique. This will then be made available for further feedback before submission to the Global Knowledge II Conference. For further information, please contact Karachi ------- zubair.ahmed@bc-karachi.sprint.com. or sabahat@khi.sdnpk.org Islamabad --------- salim-m.khan@bc-islamabad.bcouncil.org zubair@sdnpk.undp.org Watch this space for updates. http://www.britishcouncil.org.pk/infoexch/pakpgk.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Thu Feb 3 19:31:09 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id TAA130582; Thu, 3 Feb 2000 19:30:58 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id TAA130009 for ; Thu, 3 Feb 2000 19:30:08 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-089.super.net.pk [203.130.5.228]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id OAA18296 for ; Thu, 3 Feb 2000 14:30:06 -0500 Message-Id: <200002031930.OAA18296@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 14:30:55 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: US easing controls on computers export to Pakistan, India X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk US easing controls on computers export to Pakistan WASHINGTON (February 3) : United States has announced that it is easing controls on the export of certain computers to Pakistan, India and some other countries taking into account the drastic increases in the capabilities of micro-processors. An executive order signed by US President Bill Clinton ahead of his visit to South Asia, will affect shipments to India, Pakistan, South and Central America, most of Africa, South Korea, China, Vietnam, the Middle East, the former Soviet Union, Central Europe among other areas, said a White House statement on Tuesday.-PPI http://www.brecorder.com/story/S0011/S1103/S1103108.htm From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Thu Feb 3 19:31:23 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id TAA130583; Thu, 3 Feb 2000 19:30:59 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id TAA130016 for ; Thu, 3 Feb 2000 19:30:08 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-089.super.net.pk [203.130.5.228]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id OAA18314 for ; Thu, 3 Feb 2000 14:30:24 -0500 Message-Id: <200002031930.OAA18314@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 14:30:56 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: [India] Forty Percent of Homes in India Will be Net-enabled X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk Forty Percent of Homes in India Will be Net-enabled By Uday Lal Pai India Correspondent, asia.internet.com [February 2, 2000--MUMBAI] According to a very recent study by the Indian Market Research Bureau (IMRB), about 40 per cent of the projected 750,000 personal computers (PC) households in the country would have Internet access by the end of March 2000. At present, only 25 percent of the households have Net connections. The study, Internet.in.India, said that about 4.3 million households have had a fist-hand experience of the Internet. These households represent three-fourth of the 5.7 million households in the A and B classes in the top 16 cities in India. Of these, 1.2 million have used the Net in the last three months, i.e. regular users of the Net, and 126,000 have a connection at home, which is nearly one-fourth of the base of PC owning households in India. According to the study Internet penetration in the country was very low in the home segment owning to high prices of PCs, single telephone connection for voice and data applications, high telephone charges, low speed and connectivity problems. Pointing out that there is a great scope for TV and cable as alternate solutions for adoption of Internet, the study says in the relevant target audience, PC penetration is only 8 percent and telephones penetration in 49 percent. "Cable in a short span, has achieved 77 percent penetration across the relevant audience and even among lower socio-economic groups. TV penetration among the relevant audience is close to 100 per cent," the study revealed. Demand forecasts made by IMRB based on various price points for access of Internet over cable, and the resultant investment in cable modem and set-top boxes, point towards nearly doubling of the potential offered through the conventional telephone-PC access. "An internet connection is way down in the priority list of the home segment, figuring even below car air conditioners. Currently, only 19 percent of PCs have been bought for Internet primarily," Bhupendra Mathur, VP and country manager, IMRB said. According to the IMRB report, a multi-pronged approach was required from hardware vendors, content creators and ISPs to increase net penetration in Indian households. (End) "About 80 percent users viewed Intenret for information and communication, 60 percent for entertainment, while 40 per cent for e- commerce potential." Mathur said. http://asia.internet.com/cyberatlas/000202india.html From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Thu Feb 3 19:31:08 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id TAA130564; Thu, 3 Feb 2000 19:30:56 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id TAA130056 for ; Thu, 3 Feb 2000 19:30:11 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-089.super.net.pk [203.130.5.228]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id OAA18330 for ; Thu, 3 Feb 2000 14:30:26 -0500 Message-Id: <200002031930.OAA18330@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 14:30:56 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: Developing Training Materials for Telecenter Staff X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk ------- Forwarded message follows ------- Date sent: Tue, 1 Feb 2000 08:43:12 -0500 From: Raul Roman To: gkd@phoenix.edc.org Dear GKD members, We would like to tell you a bit about an exciting project we are conducting to develop some guidelines for telecentre personnel. Best regards, Royal D. Colle Raul Roman *************************** TRAINING FOR TELECENTRE MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS: A Research and Development Program Royal D. Colle & Raul Roman Cornell University 1. Communication centers Community telecentres (CTC) have become important priorities for international and national organizations in their efforts to support development in Africa, Asia and Latin America. This movement has grown out of the belief that information and communication technologies (ICT) are an important resource for communities, but that these ICTs are often not conveniently available or affordable for many people. While some telecenters are straight-forward business ventures, others are committed to community empowerment through access to information and dialogue. CTCs are particularly important in providing urban, peri-urban, and rural people with access to telecommunications networks (Internet), computers, and audio, video, and print media on a shared basis. Hundreds of telecentres are emerging in both the public and private sectors in developing nations. Their relevance to the community and their sustainability depend on a variety of factors, one of the most important of which is the amount and quality of training provided for the staffs of CTCs. The published literature and the content of Internet-mediated discussions suggests that little systematic effort has gone into designing, testing and evaluating training for telecentre management and operations. Telecentre sustainability is also closely related to the orientation and training of the host communities. 2. Objective Our multi-phased project focused initially on developing "guideline modules" for training telecenter personnel. The modules will include rationale, annotated topical outlines, and resources which can be used by telecenters for sharpening the management and community outreach skills of their key personnel. While the modules will be designed for a "generic" telecenter similar to those supported by the International Telecommunications Union, the International Development Research Centre, and the U.S. Agency for International Development, they will be adaptable to various telecenter configurations. This results of this project provide the foundation for two additional phases in telecenter management training: (1) the design and production of training materials and (2) compilation of a self-training handbook and reference manual for telecenter managers that will incorporate some of these materials. Access to systematic training without the necessity of distant travel and costs will be especially valuable for the hundreds of limited service telecenters that can be expanded to multi-purpose telecenters along the ITU and IDRC models. 3. Outcome In this project data on training needs were collected from 45 international telecenter specialists using the Internet. Additional information was gathered from a non-random sample of telecenter managers and others closely associated with telecenter operations. This included field work in South Africa where the Government has been aggressive in establishing centers. These combined data sources provided a preliminary list of topics for developing a strategy for telecenter personnel training. Topics ranged from technical aspects of computers to business management. These results were circulated to the 45 international specialists for further comment and discussion - by way of an Internet "thinktank." This sets the stage next for development of materials and a handbook. Royal D Colle (rdc4@cornell.edu) Raul Roman (rr66@cornell.edu) ------- End of forwarded message ------- From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Thu Feb 3 20:16:41 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id TAA74855; Thu, 3 Feb 2000 19:46:57 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id TAA130177 for ; Thu, 3 Feb 2000 19:30:23 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-089.super.net.pk [203.130.5.228]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id OAA18346 for ; Thu, 3 Feb 2000 14:30:40 -0500 Message-Id: <200002031930.OAA18346@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 14:30:55 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: [India] Software exports set to grow 60% X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk Software exports set to grow 60% MUMBAI, FEB 1: Software exports from the country, which achieved over 50 per cent of growth over the last few years, are expected to show a 60 per cent rise next year. According to Dewang Mehta, President, National Association of Software Companies (Nasscom), software exports are expected to touch Rs 27,500 crore ($ 6.2 billion) in 2000-01 as against Rs 17,000 crore ($ 3.9 billion) projected for the current year, posting about 62 per cent growth. Indian IT industry, including exports, would grow by about 55 per cent to Rs 38,500 crore ($ 8.85 billion next year with domestic market expected to grow by 40.55 per cent to Rs 11,000 crore ($ 2.53 billion) during the year, Mehta told newsmen on the eve of the 'Nasscom 2000@India' expo starting on Wednesday. This growth trend in exports and domestic markets have belied the fears that the Indian IT industry, particularly software sector, was mainly dependent on Y2K related projects, Mehta added, stating that the future holds good for the growth of domestic ITindustry, he said that it was expected to be of the size of Rs 1,61,000 crore ($ 37 billion) by 2008 by when software exports are expected to cross the $ 50 billion (Rs 217,500 crore) mark. The international expo and conference 'Nasscom 2000@India' was aimed at providing impetus to India's efforts in moving up the value chain in IT services and in creation of technologyin high growth areas such as e-commerce and IT enabled services, he added. The event has three components - international conference, expo and e-summit (on DOT.coms), he said. http://www.expressindia.com/ie/daily/20000202/ibu02063.html From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Thu Feb 3 22:46:55 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id TAA130661; Thu, 3 Feb 2000 19:31:07 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id TAA130008 for ; Thu, 3 Feb 2000 19:30:07 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-089.super.net.pk [203.130.5.228]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id OAA18302 for ; Thu, 3 Feb 2000 14:30:21 -0500 Message-Id: <200002031930.OAA18302@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 14:30:55 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: Microsoft Unveils Asian Portals X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk Microsoft Unveils Asian Portals By asia.internet.com Staff [January 31, 2000--HONG KONG] Microsoft Corporation last week revealed its Asian portal yesterday which will target six countries in the region which include Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and India. Localized MSN sites that are currently available include MSN.COM.TW (Taiwan), MSN.COM.SQ (Singapore), MSN.COM.HK (Hong Kong), MSN.CO.KR (Korea), MSN.COM.MY (Malaysia) and MSN.COM.IN (India). http://asia.internet.com/2000/1/3105-msft.html From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Thu Feb 3 22:48:28 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id TAA72315; Thu, 3 Feb 2000 19:43:09 +1000 (EST) Received: from guardian.apnic.net (guardian.apnic.net [203.37.255.100]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id TAA71943 for ; Thu, 3 Feb 2000 19:42:38 +1000 (EST) Received: (from mail@localhost) by guardian.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id TAA02565 for ; Thu, 3 Feb 2000 19:30:24 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk(203.130.2.9) by int-gw.staff.apnic.net via smap (V2.1) id xma002561; Thu, 3 Feb 00 19:30:16 +1000 X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-089.super.net.pk [203.130.5.228]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id OAA18306 for ; Thu, 3 Feb 2000 14:30:22 -0500 Message-Id: <200002031930.OAA18306@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 14:30:56 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: [India] NIIT launches programme for Andhra Pradesh schools X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk NIIT launches programme for AP schools Our Hyderabad Bureau 2 FEBRUARY NIIT, the software and training major, has launched NIIT@School, a programme for complete integration of information technology (IT) in schools. The programme will have two components of computer education and general education through computers. Announcing the launch of the programme, Mr S Abhirama Krishna, deputy general manager and head, Andhra Pradesh operations, NIIT, said that the model is developed for students of classes 1 to 12 in schools all over the country. is expecting to rope in 2,500 schools under this programme in the first year. "We got a feasibility study done for us by ORG-MARG on this programme and spent over Rs 30 crore on content creation alone. We are offering this programme on a turnkey basis. "Schools can avail different packages ranging from three to five years depending on the number of students and subjects. "The schools do not need to invest anything initially," he said. NIIT provides unlimited user licence for over 150 hours of interactive multimedia software to each school, together with specially created course material for all students, trained faculty and state-of-the-art hardware. NIIT also undertakes to train the existing teachers in the school. Students participating in this programme will get a certificate from NIIT. http://www.economictimes.com/today/03tech06.htm From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Sun Feb 6 01:50:39 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id BAA129971; Sun, 6 Feb 2000 01:50:39 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk ([203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id BAA129949 for ; Sun, 6 Feb 2000 01:50:30 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-049.super.net.pk [203.130.5.188]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id UAA16170 for ; Sat, 5 Feb 2000 20:50:26 -0500 Message-Id: <200002060150.UAA16170@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Sat, 5 Feb 2000 20:51:18 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: [India] IT Ministry plans 8-year strategy X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk IT Ministry plans 8-year strategy The ministry of information technology plans to formulate an eight- year strategy that will lay down the steps to be taken annually to reach the 50 billion dollar software export target by 2008. The eight-year plan will set a road map to achieve 40 per cent cumulative annual growth rate for information technology sector to enable the country achieve 87 billion dollars software revenues by 2008, Pramod Mahajan, the information technology minister, said on Monday. Indian software industry is expected to garner four billion dollars in export revenues in 1999-2000. The McKinsey-NASSCOM report had also stated that India can achieve a total of about 90 billion dollars revenues from software, including 50 billion dollars from exports. Inaugurating the Electronics and Information Technology Exposition (Elitex 2000), organised by the ministry in New Delhi, Mahajan said at the end of every year, the government would assess the progress of the software and hardware industries in achieving the targets. "We will not leave it to the markets to set targets," he said. Mahajan said India needs to emphasise on speedy decision-making, and enabling infrastructure and IT education to meet the intended revenue targets. IT Secretary P V Jayakrishnan said the plan would also consider increasing computer penetration to 20 per 1000 in eight years from the current three per 1000, and television penetration to 225/1000 from 75/1000 now. It would call for an investment of 160 billion dollars and create 4.8 million jobs by 2008, he said. Jayakrishnan urged the Indian IT industry to step up research and development since, at 0.5 per cent of turnover, it is much lower than the eight per cent of the turnover expended by US and Taiwanese companies. Prinicipal Scientific Advisor A P J Abdul Kalam said India should leverage its core competency of software design and development to emerge as a leading player in the hardware sector as well. Besides having a Silicon Valley type culture, India should have the proper physical infrastructure and entrepreneur-friendly environment to use information technology in a wide range of sectors, he said. "Literacy for all using IT can be the real mission for India.... Unless we develop full software products, we will be improving the US economy at India's cost," he said. Kalam called for a national debate on issues relating to security of information, cryptography standards and cyber laws. UNI http://www.rediff.com/computer/2000/jan/31it.htm From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Sun Feb 6 15:22:59 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id PAA78283; Sun, 6 Feb 2000 15:22:59 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk ([203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id PAA78258 for ; Sun, 6 Feb 2000 15:22:49 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-056.super.net.pk [203.130.5.195]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id KAA29999 for ; Sun, 6 Feb 2000 10:22:35 -0500 Message-Id: <200002061522.KAA29999@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2000 10:23:27 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: [India] News from the Indev Development News (31 Jan 2000) X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk [News from the Indev Development News (31 Jan 2000)] ------------------------------------------------------------ Children of lesser god gets opportunity to surf on internet ------------------------------------------------------------ Schlumberger, a Multinational Corporate house joined hands with Deepalaya to provide opportunities to the children from slums to participate in the Global Community through internet. The programme which is named 'Seed Connection Programme' [http://www.deepalaya.org/newsletter/wnews.html] aims at reaching the latest communication technology to foster closer bond among world wide community from diverse social and cultural backgrounds. The programme in it's first phase will cater to 150 enrolled children in std. VIth to VIIIth. As part of the programme, Schlumberger has provided Deepalaya with 9 PCs, Server and 500 hrs. ISDN Internet Connection. A total of 19 computers are attached through LAN so that at any given point of time 19 school children can surf the net. ------------------------------------------------------------ >From blackboard to keyboard: Indian initiative in education ------------------------------------------------------------ Can the keyboard supplement the blackboard? Or, in an illiteracy- dominated subcontinent, is it too ambitious to even dream of implementing a mode of education where the computer plays a key role [http://www.indev.nic.in/articles/jiva_education.htm] in learning among school students? New Delhi, for long struggling to cope with its educational problems, is now trying to see if it can leap-frog over traditional stumbling blocks. The magic wand hopefully: the computer. ------------------------------------------------------------ http://www.indev.nic.in/news/news.html From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Mon Feb 7 02:59:12 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id CAA69411; Mon, 7 Feb 2000 02:59:11 +1000 (EST) Received: from qasid.akunet.org (qasid.akunet.org [208.244.71.2]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id CAA69392 for ; Mon, 7 Feb 2000 02:59:03 +1000 (EST) Received: from akunet.org (akuisp.aku.edu [10.1.8.103]) by qasid.akunet.org (8.9.3+Sun/8.9.3) with ESMTP id VAA13001 for ; Sun, 6 Feb 2000 21:58:02 -0500 (GMT) Message-ID: <389DA89A.5DF2A9C6@akunet.org> Date: Sun, 06 Feb 2000 22:00:10 +0500 From: Ahmed Omair X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.7 [en] (Win98; I) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: "s-asia-it@apnic.net" Subject: Egypt: ISP supports a program to bring more people online Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk LINK Egypt Backs 'Internet Baladna' initiative Egypt's biggest Internet service provider supports program to bring more Egyptian users online CAIRO: February 3, 2000 Egypt's biggest Internet service provider, LINK Egypt, has announced its backing for the Internet Baladna program designed to help Egyptians access the Internet at affordable monthly installments and purchase a new PC. Participants in this program also include Citibank, Compaq, Goldi, MasterCard and Microsoft. "The Internet has become an integral part of daily life for millions of users and companies all over the world, connecting people to information and each other while providing a window to the world through a PC," said Khaled Bichara, CEO of LINK Egypt. "Internet Baladna is aimed at providing Egyptians with an easier, more affordable way of accessing the Internet and encouraging them to use the Internet for work, education, entertainment and communication." The program bundles a new Compaq or a Goldi PC with Microsoft's Windows operating system, and Internet access from LINK Egypt in an affordable monthly package financed by Citibank. Users can pay for the purchase over a three year period while enjoying Internet access from LINK Egypt. "By providing the bundle in easy-to-pay four monthly installments, Egyptians can enjoy a high-quality PC with original Windows operating system and access to the Internet. This initiative will help bring the Internet into the home and offices of users who could not afford to go online previously," Bichara explained. From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Wed Feb 9 12:15:44 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id MAA104469; Wed, 9 Feb 2000 12:15:44 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9] (may be forged)) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id MAA104455 for ; Wed, 9 Feb 2000 12:15:38 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-088.super.net.pk [203.130.5.227]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id HAA26066 for ; Wed, 9 Feb 2000 07:10:00 -0500 Message-Id: <200002091210.HAA26066@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2000 07:10:47 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: Electronic Media in Rural Development [First Monday February 2000] X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk ------- Forwarded message follows ------- The February 2000 issue of First Monday (volume 5, number 2) is now available at http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue5_2/ ------------------------------------------ Providing Content and Facilitating Social Change: Electronic Media in Rural Development Based on Case Material from Peru by Robin van Koert In his famous book Understanding media, Marshall McLuhan discusses the impact he expects (networked) electronic media to have on the world. Since then the emergence of a 'global village' has become a universally accepted idea. McLuhan is perhaps more to the point when he observes that "The organic everywhere supplants the mechanical. Dialogue supersedes the lecture" (McLuhan, 1964; pp. 255-256). This paper takes a cue from McLuhan and discusses the way different types of information flows reveal the underlying power structures related to the provision and exchange of information. In line with McLuhan it is argued that 'dialogue', or information exchange, through networked media will have to play a role of increasing importance in development, whereby dialogues will have 'horizontal' and 'vertical' dimensions. Networked media are in that way to facilitate rural networking and social change. In its essence information provision, or 'lecture' is claimed to strengthen existing power structures, to create dependencies and to lead to a mismatch between information demand and supply. Despite the fact that networked electronic media are favored for rural development, they obviously do not have the same reach and levels of access and accessability as the traditional electronic media do. Another distinction between media is the type of information and content they are able to convey in a message, whereby significant differences between traditional and networked electronic media can be distinguished. Based on the two above mentioned distinctions between electronic media combinations of electronic media are suggested for use in rural development, both to improve the quality of the information provided and to change existing information and communication related power structures. http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue5_2/vankoert/ ------- End of forwarded message ------- From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Wed Feb 9 19:22:13 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id TAA76099; Wed, 9 Feb 2000 19:22:12 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id TAA76091 for ; Wed, 9 Feb 2000 19:22:05 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-046.super.net.pk [203.130.5.185]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id OAA08267 for ; Wed, 9 Feb 2000 14:22:09 -0500 Message-Id: <200002091922.OAA08267@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2000 14:23:05 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: Proceedings: Pakistan@GlobalKnowledge (2 Feb 2000) X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk The proceedings of the seminar "Pakistan@GlobalKnowledge" held in Karachi on 2 February 2000 have been taken from the "Pakistan@GlobalKnowledge" wesbite [http://pgk.sdnpk.org]. The website also features powerpoint presentations, and profiles of authors. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mr. Tariq Mustafa (ISPAK) Title: Information Access-National Challenges and Opportunities Synopsis: Discusses national challenges in the field of Access technologies & factor that affects information dissemination to the masses & suggest possible means to overcome these challenges. - ISPAK - Infrastructure & the lack of it. - Policy issues - Radio Communications - Technology shifts & threats - Local connectivity among ISPs - issue - Electronic formats - Pakistani perspective ------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Zubair A. Shaikh (Karachi Institute of Information Technology) Title: Web Driven Business Management Synopsis: Accessing a vast information growing at just a predicted rate poses various challenges for end users to retrieve the right information from authenticated sources at the right time. the talk discusses various cooperate models, Inherent Web problems and the issues towards the Web driven Corporate Management form the perspective of an end user. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mr. Ahmed Fraz (Wavetech) Title: Converging Technologies for Emerging Markets Synopsis: The presenter will talk about how television, primarily an entertainment media and Computer, an information system, are coming together. He will also present case studies of two systems developed and implemented by his organization, Wavetech, where television meets information technologies associated with computers. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mr. Arif Hisam (Pakistan Data Management Services) Title: Creating Web Content in Urdu Language Synopsis: In our country where less than 5% of the population speaks English, language is the biggest barrier to computer literacy. In real terms it means that out of 140 million Pakistanis, 133 millions Pakistanis are totally denied access to computers mainly, because they do not speak and read English. The time has come to let people know about the possibilities that exist in opening up computers to a massive audience, or localizing information technology. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mr. Wasif Rizvi (ALIF/Pakistan Educational Network) Title: Education in Pakistan- Content and Context -Challenges of Global Knowledge Synopsis: Education in Pakistan- Content & Context Challenges of Global Knowledge - Challenges of Content - Our context- Pakistan - Suggested Approaches - Knowledge Networks & Pakistan ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mr. Junaid Marvi (The Nexus Group) Title: Pakistani Content on the Internet- Experience of PakSearch Synopsis: PakSearch is a pioneer in providing on-line information within Pakistan. The paper will discuss the milestones we have achieved, the direction in which we intend to proceed and the obstacles we face. I will discuss cultural, legal, and technical obstacles that need to be overcome before Internet content companies can flourish in Pakistan including suggestions. Finally I will touch upon models for cooperation between development sector and businesses. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Amir Matin (UNDP) Title: People talking to people: Lessons from the frontline Synopsis: In today's networked environment, with email connectivity the norm in most organisations, it is but natural to expect that this will also result in enhanced productivity at work. Since 1996, the Sub Regional Resource Facility of the United Nations Development Programme has been attempting to raise the effectiveness and efficacy of the various offices of UNDP in the sub region by making use of organisational learning principles, which in turn are facilitated by the emerging Information and Communication Technologies. The "experiment" has been successful to the extent that such facilities have now been institutionalised within the global UNDP network of offices covering over 160 countries of the world. The "lessons learnt" and the experiences so gained will be presented and discussed in order to benefit other organisations that are following this path. ------------------------------------------------------------------- http://pgk.sdnpk.org/007.htm From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Wed Feb 9 23:53:18 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id XAA132518; Wed, 9 Feb 2000 23:53:17 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id XAA93449 for ; Wed, 9 Feb 2000 23:53:09 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-096.super.net.pk [203.130.5.235]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id SAA20202 for ; Wed, 9 Feb 2000 18:53:16 -0500 Message-Id: <200002092353.SAA20202@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2000 18:54:00 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: [India] The Mirzapur Model City Programme X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk ------- Forwarded message follows ------- Date sent: Mon, 7 Feb 2000 08:35:12 +0530 From: gibbons@boone.net To: gkd@phoenix.edc.org Mirzapur, North India Dear Colleagues, I have the profound pleasure and satisfaction to deliver good news from an institutional development project. The success that has been achieved in our small city augers well for many other cities and institutions in India and other parts of the world. Municipal institutions are ultimately responsible for urban public services. Unless they are able to undertake critical basic responsibilities it will be almost impossible to successfully implement or sustain a major urban development project. Urban services need urgent improvement, but administrative capacity is inadequate. This presents a challenge: how can administration and basic service provision be restored or upgraded at the same time? This combination has been achieved in the small North Indian city of Mirzapur, located on the banks of the River Ganges. Should you care? That depends on whether project success or sustainability is important to you and how it is measured. If you agree that there is weakness in the current project approach to institutions you may be interested in the Mirzapur experience. A detailed study of the various elements of the Mirzapur Model is available at the website: . A summary of the key achievements is given here for your consideration: * First municipal Geographic Information System (GIS) in India * 44 percent increase in properties listed for municipal tax * First systematic property valuation in over 35 years * 10 times increase in property assessment * Tax bills issued and corrected after a 17 year break * Tax collection almost tripled in 4 years * Between 1995 and 2000 tax collection has nearly tripled * All municipal tax records computerized * All property and infrastructure maps prepared and computerized * Garbage piles removed and replaced with landscaping * Secondary solid waste collection eliminated for entire city * All water connection records computerised and linked to GIS * Water bills issued for first time in memory * Development of 3-year programme to achieve financial solvency (balanced current accounts and reduction of arrears) * Successful implementation of 20-30 percent community financial contribution for small infrastructure improvement with over 10 percent of city population These are only the most quantifiable achievements. The real success of the project is in changing the direction of the overall civic culture where the municipality had almost stopped functioning. How bad were the conditions and how difficult the problems in Mirzapur at the start of the project? By 1995 increased establishment costs and broken infrastructure forced the municipality to consider ways to increase revenues dramatically. However, records were inaccurate, out of date, difficult to manage and often not even available. Once property tax records were computerised it became clear that stock solutions to inadequate revenues such as collection drives were not realistic. Computerised billing has nearly tripled tax collection in 4 years, but since the base was 35 years old revenues were still far too low. Correcting and updating the property valuations were unavoidable in order to increase municipal revenues to a level equal with basic expenses. This was achieved under the existing administrative procedures through a complete property survey and valuation analysis. This also produced the first ever property tax maps for the entire city. The proposed property tax increase of about 10 times would only be adequate to restore basic services over a number of years. After many months the city council members have come to realize this. Investment in new and costly infrastructure instead of basic repair and rehabilitation would quickly exhaust the limited municipal funds and not achieve any significant system service improvement. As a result, it was necessary to determine the costs of the most basic repairs through pilot investments. Then maps and infrastructure inventories were developed to identify and implement the most critical repairs in an urban services restoration program. The first municipal GIS in India made it possible to prepare a citywide investment programme. Project funds were only sufficient to complete part of this long-term effort, the most visible of which are the street drain repair programme and the city wide solid waste collection programme. As the various activities were successfully implemented in Mirzapur a step-by-step programme of additional efforts followed. As basic records and services were corrected and properly maintained many new activities and improvements have come about naturally, limited only by the slow development of interest and will from municipal officers and the public. The principles and approach of the Mirzapur Model are strongly oriented to an environment of scarce resources, but ultimately that is the case everywhere. Efficiency is required to deliver maximum benefits from minimum resources. In Mirzapur the first and most important step was to prove that public work could be done. The best way to achieve this was through a broad programme of asset management and development of basic resources. Asset management included elected representatives, the public, civil servants, the physical infrastructure and knowledge bases. The Mirzapur Model employs a universal approach and principles, which can be called complete asset management. Are the results achieved in Mirzapur similar to the objectives of your project? You might wonder what can be replicated in your project? The basic objectives are to restore adequate administration and basic services. The key ingredients are: * Accept the facts as the base condition * Accept that something is wrong and some external intervention is required * Maps, basic urban infrastructure and property data are indispensable for effective urban planning and management * Investments in urban services should focus on repair and rehabilitation of existing facilities, and on the most cost-effective improvements * Basic system operation can be restored through technical innovations, external guidance, rebuilding public confidence and winning administration and elected leaders to support and implement the programme * It is the management and restoration of the existing system that is the most difficult task * Improvements are not desired at first since poor performance and low productivity are everywhere, but change is inevitable in the long run * Gradual delivery of benefits in basic sectors will achieve support * Identification and agreement of goals and objectives can be greatly assisted by technology, which is easy to adopt * The long-term presence of a management team plays a major role in project success * The ultimate goal should be sustainability, replicability and extension * Community support is required to identify, finance and monitor urban service provision There are no easy ways to achieve success in institutional and community development. However, there are approaches and techniques that can achieve positive results. Some of these have been gathered together in the Mirzapur Model. Best Regards, Scott Gibbons Team Leader/Urban Management Advisor Ganga ICDP/Community Centre Lal Diggi Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh 231 001, India +91 (5442) 62-061, 63-986 gibbons@boone.net, gibbons@vsnl.com http://users.boone.net/gibbons ------- End of forwarded message ------- From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Wed Feb 9 23:53:22 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id XAA93482; Wed, 9 Feb 2000 23:53:21 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id XAA93457 for ; Wed, 9 Feb 2000 23:53:13 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-096.super.net.pk [203.130.5.235]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id SAA20209 for ; Wed, 9 Feb 2000 18:53:25 -0500 Message-Id: <200002092353.SAA20209@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2000 18:54:00 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: Knowledge-Based Networking in India X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk ------- Forwarded message follows ------- Date sent: Tue, 08 Feb 2000 13:08:24 +0500 To: gkd@phoenix.edc.org From: SDNP-India Dear GKD Members, Greetings from India! I am sure this would be of interest to all GKD participants on how our programme is aiming to achieve its objective of Knowledge-Based Networking in India through extensive use of Information and Communication Technologies. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada in collaboration of Ministry of Environment and Forests (India) has launched the portal site of Sustainable Development Networking Programme, India (SDNP-India) at http://sdnp.delhi.nic.in mirrored at http://members.tripod.com/sdnp_india. The website has got over 35,000 hits since May 1999 which is very encouraging. SDNP India aims to facilitate the process of sustainable development, promote good practices and strengthen the democratic processes through a mechanism of information exchange between the government and research organisations, NGOs, business establishments and the civil society over the electronic and hybrid media. The website provides access to a host of online databases, environmental legislation, case studies, publications, news clippings and electronic discussion groups on these issues. A database of international organisations working on sustainable development issues is being maintained on the website and has been indexed subject area wise. The links section of the website provides gateway to over 1500 other websites concerning environment and sustainable development. We have started to host information on Environment and Sutainable Development in local Indian languages too, so as to enhance the reach of the programme. The website also provides a platform to initiate debates and discussions, highlight developmental issues and initiate environmental actions at all levels through a host of services such as Building Bridges, Query Desk, Dev-Online, Event Reporting service and training on Information and Communication Technologies. More information about these services is available at the SDNP website or by sending an email at sdnp@envfor.delhi.nic.in I take this opportunity to welcome you to the SDNP-India website and assist us in making it a comprehensive source of information on sustainable development. We look forward to your suggestions, criticisms and contributions towards both the site and how we can further promote knowledge based networking in India. Regards Vikas Nath Programme Officer Sustainable Development Networking Programme (India) Sustainable Development Networking Programme (India) Room 1023 Paryavaran Bhawan CGO Complex, Lodhi Road New Delhi 110003 India Phone + 91 11 436 2140 Fax + 91 11 436 1147 Email : sdnp@envfor.delhi.nic.in URL : http://sdnp.delhi.nic.in ------- End of forwarded message ------- From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Wed Feb 9 23:53:33 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id XAA93508; Wed, 9 Feb 2000 23:53:32 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id XAA93494 for ; Wed, 9 Feb 2000 23:53:23 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-096.super.net.pk [203.130.5.235]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id SAA20218 for ; Wed, 9 Feb 2000 18:53:36 -0500 Message-Id: <200002092353.SAA20218@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2000 18:54:01 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: INTERNET BOOM COULD WIDEN GAP FOR POOR, DAVOS CONCLUDES X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk INTERNET BOOM COULD WIDEN GAP FOR POOR, DAVOS CONCLUDES. The world's poor will miss out on the benefits of the telecommunications revolution and the gap between rich and poor will continue to rise, AFP reports business leaders and statesmen warned in Davos on the last day of the World Economic Forum annual meeting. While Internet start-ups and mobile telecoms create overnight fortunes for the entrepreneurs in the industrialized world, some warn that people in countries without telephones or even electricity will remain second class citizens. According to a study by consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, half the bosses of big firms believe the Internet will increase the gap between rich and poor. Their warning was backed up by South African President Thabo Mbeki, who called for an international initiative to prevent his continent being left behind. "You will not have...participation by African countries in the involvement in this technological revolution (when) we don't even have the electricity infrastructure which make possible the access to this technology," he said. Those who argued that technological progress would arrive due to market forces were wrong, Mbeki said. "The market will not correct this," he said. He said the continent was too busy coping with more basic problems such as poverty, malnutrition, and AIDS to put resources into developing Internet access. In Sub-Saharan African there are only 1.7 million Internet users, of whom 1.6 million are in South Africa, Mbeki explained. For the past two years, the World Bank has been piloting a program, InfoDev, to bring the Internet and e-mail to Sub-Saharan Africa, the story notes. It hopes the electronic transfer of information will lead to technological leaps in the region. And further in the future, telecommunications could see employment and investment heading south from rich countries. The spread of the Internet has reached unexpected proportions, reports Le Figaro (France, p.XI), noting that at the WEF meeting in Davos, World Bank President James Wolfensohn spoke of his astonishment on a visit to an Ethiopian village, where a farmer told him he sold his goats via the Internet to taxi drivers in New York. Globalization does not only serve the rich, the story suggests. [from the World Bank Development News (February 2, 2000)] From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Wed Feb 9 23:53:37 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id XAA93514; Wed, 9 Feb 2000 23:53:37 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id XAA93503 for ; Wed, 9 Feb 2000 23:53:30 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-096.super.net.pk [203.130.5.235]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id SAA20225 for ; Wed, 9 Feb 2000 18:53:40 -0500 Message-Id: <200002092353.SAA20225@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2000 18:54:01 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: [Pakistan] Website on uplift information being launched X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk ------- Forwarded message follows ------- Date sent: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 14:21:57 +0500 Website on uplift information being launched By Our Staff Reporter KARACHI, Jan 30: The Sustain-able Development Networking Programme (SDNP), a global initiative of the United Nations Development Programme, will shortly launch a website which will enable users to obtain development information related to Pakistan. The SDNP plans to launch the Pakistan Development Portal in mid- March, to enable web searchers to type in the key words concerning 22 development themes, namely poverty alleviation, child labour, women's rights etc, in order to obtain the latest information on the subject. According to SDNP official, the "technically complex" metasite which has been developed with the help of local computer experts is being launched as a national service to assist the development sector, including non-governmental organizations, students, academicians and the media. In view of the non-availability of computers in the rural areas, the SDNP is considering a "pilot information activity," of printing the current information from the portals for distribution through news letters, news bulletins on radio and as tele text for television. Presently, the SDNP has developed websites relating to information put out in Karachi by the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Corporation (SUPARCO), the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), the Centre of Excellence for Women Studies and the Care-n-Cure - School Health Care, and in Islamabad by the National Book Foundation. Having launched its internet services in Islamabad on Jan 17, the SDNP proposes to start internet in Karachi from April this year. Its information manager said the SDNP would subsidize NGOs accessing the web. http://www.dawn.com/2000/01/31/top13.htm ------- End of forwarded message ------- From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Sat Feb 12 04:51:37 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id EAA99627; Sat, 12 Feb 2000 04:51:37 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id EAA145543 for ; Sat, 12 Feb 2000 04:51:30 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-120.super.net.pk [203.130.5.120]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id XAA21440 for ; Fri, 11 Feb 2000 23:51:38 -0500 Message-Id: <200002120451.XAA21440@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 23:52:33 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: Internet Honeymoon could be over for India X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk [Source: Nua Internet Surveys: February 7th, 2000] Reuters: Internet Honeymoon could be over for India The Internet boom in India is set to slow down, according to speakers at a domestic industry conference. PC penetration in India is low and only 3 million people, or less than 0.5 percent of the country's population, have access to the Internet. The user base is also experiencing very slow growth. Industry experts, speaking at the National Association of Software and Services Companies conference, also cited the difficulty of keeping up with new technologies and the lack of site traffic auditing mechanisms as serious problems. Indian portal sites, in particular, are expected to suffer as the market cannot sustain the number of portals. At least 12 new portals are launched every month in India. Consumer ecommerce is not particularly popular as offline shopping is not seen as a chore in India. Not all the conference attendees were pessimistic, however. Ajit Balakrishnan, chairman of leading portal Rediff, said he expected free access and exclusively Indian content to come online soon and to boost user numbers to at least 30 million in the next few years. From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Sat Feb 12 04:51:42 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id EAA145560; Sat, 12 Feb 2000 04:51:41 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id EAA145545 for ; Sat, 12 Feb 2000 04:51:32 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-120.super.net.pk [203.130.5.120]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id XAA21448 for ; Fri, 11 Feb 2000 23:51:45 -0500 Message-Id: <200002120451.XAA21448@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 23:52:33 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: [India] Assam Goes Online X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk Assam Goes Online By Hari Menon India Correspondent, asia.internet.com [February 10, 2000-MUMBAI] The southern Indian states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh were among the first to leapfrog Net-clogging bureaucracy and red tape, thanks to their cyber-savvy Chief Ministers -- now the northeastern state of Assam has followed suit. Assam's cash-strapped government hopes that its Information Technology Policy for 2000 will attract investors and transform the state's economic landscape. Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta said the policy aims at promoting domestic and export-oriented IT units in the state, besides making the region an attractive investment center for investors. As a direct side effect, it is hoped that an estimated 10,000 additional jobs will be generated over the next year. To make the policy reality, the government has announced a comprehensive incentive package for prospective investors. According to State Minister for Industries Gunin Hazarika, "Any entrepreneurs or industrialists willing to invest in the IT sector in Assam would be eligible for sales tax exemptions, subsidies on generating sets, hotlines and leased line connectivity, manpower development, and on quality certification." The state government has also announced other major concessions to investors in the IT sector, including implementation of the Minimum Wages Act, the Factories Act and the Workmen's Compensation Act. By 2004, the government hopes to connect every part of the state over the Internet, linking up schools, colleges and universities, apart from government offices and private and public sector enterprises. The state's efforts got a major boost in January this year, when Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee announced a grant of 1 billion rupees (US$23.25 million) for boosting the northeastern region's IT sector by setting up a total of 486 computer information centers. The IT Policy has evoked positive responses from prospective investors in India and around the world, who feel that the concessions given by the government would go a long way in attracting investors to Assam. http://asia.internet.com/2000/2/1004-hari.html From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Sat Feb 12 04:51:43 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id EAA99645; Sat, 12 Feb 2000 04:51:41 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id EAA145544 for ; Sat, 12 Feb 2000 04:51:32 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-120.super.net.pk [203.130.5.120]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id XAA21443 for ; Fri, 11 Feb 2000 23:51:43 -0500 Message-Id: <200002120451.XAA21443@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 23:52:33 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: [Pakistan] Government to subsidise internet service X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk Government to subsidise internet service RECORDER REPORT ISLAMABAD (February 11) : The government will subsidise the provision of internet service through the universal obligation fund which is in offing, Chairman Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA) Mian Muhammad Jawed said on Thursday. Chairing a session in seminar of sharing information and knowledge co-hosted by British Council UNDP and ICUN, he said, the proposal has been submitted to the government for its final approval. According to the proposal a fund called universal obligation fund would be created at the federal level out of which the modern information services would be provided to the remote communities at subsidised rates purely for developmental considerations. The cost of the fund would equally be born by all partners including private industry and the government, he said. Jawed said, the government was looking at different issues regarding the information and communication industry. He said modernisation is being carried on in telecommunication industry so that the country should keep its pace with the international market. Earlier, many speakers from private industry also spoke on the topic. Seminar was a sequence of seminars held earlier at Karachi and New Delhi. http://www.brecorder.com/story/S0010/S1002/S1002104.htm From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Sat Feb 12 16:22:06 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id QAA72764; Sat, 12 Feb 2000 16:22:05 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id QAA149230 for ; Sat, 12 Feb 2000 16:21:52 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-095.super.net.pk [203.130.5.234]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id LAA00712 for ; Sat, 12 Feb 2000 11:22:00 -0500 Message-Id: <200002121622.LAA00712@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Sat, 12 Feb 2000 11:22:49 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Subject: From farms to firms, the Net casts its Web on India X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-MIME-Autoconverted: from Quoted-printable to 8bit by whois.apnic.net id QAA149233 Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk >From farms to firms, the Net casts its Web on India New Delhi's decision this week to allow private e-mail carriers is another a step in the 'internetization' of India. Robert Marquand Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor BENARES, INDIA The walk to the Ganges River in Benares is the oldest in India - a crisscross over cracked tiles, past dusty sweetmeat shops, flower stalls, monkeys, shrouded women, ancient temples and mosques, and hawkers selling yoga lessons cheap. Yet as pilgrims near this most sacred Hindu river, a banner across a narrow alley confronts them: "Data Byte Computers - Internet lessons." India's many cultures and castes are entering the cyber age with an evangelical fervor. No part of the billion-member nation - family, jobs, education, marriage, politics, the stock market - is untouched by the dotcom zeal. Delhi bureaucrats complain the country's civil structures are in a shambles. Lawyers say the criminal and legal system isn't delivering. But everyone agrees the cyber age approacheth. Every day, it seems, another breakthrough, another way the average Indian can access the cyber world is announced. This week, for example, the Indian Postal Service offered free e-mail accounts to anyone who wants one. And this week again, India took another cyber leap as well: The government has decided to finally allow Net access and e-mail through private carriers, in addition to the state-run "gateway." Until now, all Net traffic in India passed through a single Bombay cable; e-mail has been slow and unsteady. On Monday, a federal license to Dishnet of Madras became the first to allow servers to use private satellite uplinks with greatly enhanced capacity. Seven other licenses are pending. "We are moving from an information super-footpath to a superhighway," says Dewang Mehta, head of the National Association of Software and Computer Companies in Delhi. Consider as well: Farmers are learning to use "the magic box" to check the market prices of vegetables in cities to avoid being cheated. Chat rooms are a rage among young Indians. Grandparents are learning to keep in touch with family - often living abroad - via the Net. On Valentines Day, Feb. 14, a Delhi couple will conduct the first cyber wedding in India - an arranged "I do" virtually witnessed by cousins in Pittsburgh and Toronto. Last week, the Bombay stock exchange announced that customers could begin trading online. "The Net has opened everything up - not in my imagination, but really," says Amrit, a student from Chandigargh in the northwest state of Punjab. Amrit hired a US placement agency to find him a visa- bearing job in the US. "I have a friend in New York and one in Chicago who got six-month visas. You pay the agent half a month's salary. If you work hard and behave yourself, you get a five-year visa." Renuka DeSilva of New Delhi, met her non-Indian fiancé from Canada over the Internet. "We talked for four months every day, and finally he came here and proposed," Ms. DeSilva says. "My family was pretty nervous, but he fit right in. We'll have a wedding here and one in Canada this summer." Trying to tap the massive talent pool, the consultancy firm of McKinsey and Co. started an "entrepreneurial ideas" contest that is taking place entirely on the net. As of Jan. 15, any Indian with a bright and marketable idea can submit to a McKinsey Web site. The winning 500 ideas will be provided with venture capital, legal advice, and some marketing strategy. The push to more broadly "connect" ordinary people is still emerging in the West. Ford Motor Co. last week, for example, agreed to spend $300 million to equip each of its employees with a personal computer and $5 a month internet access. The move, part of a push by Ford to familiarize its 350,000 employees with "e-commerce," came through an unusual union bargain struck last year. By comparison, a developing nation like India is still far behind. Despite its cyber-promise, and a population that has a demonstrated talent for software development, India still has only 500,000 internet server connections. When the new satellite uplinks go into effect, that number is expected to double. India has the potential to make $1 trillion every year from information-technology services, said Michael Dertuzos, director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Lab for Computer Science at a New Delhi seminar on Wednesday. Most of the early computer innovation is in the south - in India's version of the Silicon Valley - the cities of Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Madras. Yet rural villages are a new frontier. Milkmaids in Rajasthan, for example, women who singlehandedly brought a "white revolution" of high-quality milk in that state, have formed a successful cooperative whose output has increased from several thousand quarts a day in the early '90s, to 300,000 today. The women, some with only two years of school, are being trained on computers that test milk fat levels, and run comparative data. "Not only can I run the machines, I can also feed the data into the computer machine," says Premlate Gupta, secretary of the Vinobapuri cooperative near Jaipur. Farmers and traders use the Web for finding buyers, and for staying abreast of trends. Dinesh, a jeweler in Ahmedabad, sells white gold to a New Zealand buyer he met on the Internet. At a recent expo in New Delhi, farmers from north India showed that by surfing agricultural Web sites they found new types of high-end products to cultivate for sale abroad. Some are raising Japanese quails, along with chickens - and new strains of asparagus and broccoli, along with the staple onion. Misgivings about the cyber phenomena abound in India - worries about its effects on culture and tradition. Yet at least one leading Bombay columnist points out that Indian computer whiz-kids offer the youth a better kind of role model of success - the hardworking and modest innovator. Amritah Shah notes that in the past, Indians have been wowed by movie and sports heroes. But the successful laptop and software whiz-kids are earning new respect, she points out: "As role models, these are very different from the pretty boys and girls of the past ... and their presence might lead to ... a reendorsement of some of the old values we shed in the last decade." http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2000/02/11/fp7s1-csm.shtml From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Sat Feb 12 16:22:12 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id QAA149250; Sat, 12 Feb 2000 16:22:11 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id QAA149232 for ; Sat, 12 Feb 2000 16:21:59 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-095.super.net.pk [203.130.5.234]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id LAA00730 for ; Sat, 12 Feb 2000 11:22:12 -0500 Message-Id: <200002121622.LAA00730@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Sat, 12 Feb 2000 11:22:49 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: [India] Centre for Education & Documentation X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk ------- Forwarded message follows ------- Date sent: Wed, 9 Feb 2000 00:44:04 +0500 From: Frederick Noronha To: CYBERCOM@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU What's a 'documentation' centre? It's an alternate information centre that keeps newspaper clippings on issues related to various subjects of interest to social activists and campaign groups, journalists and others. For an example of the resources available at one such centre, please visit the web-site of the Centre for Education & Documentation (located behind Regal Cinema, Colaba in Mumbai). CED now has a website: http://www.doc-centre.org Through the website, you can Check CED's Master Catalogue. Subscribe to services like DOCALERT, DOCPOST Access some latest documents, CED Bulletin board Check out publications for sale at CED More details from: john@ilbom.ernet.in ------- End of forwarded message ------- From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Sun Feb 13 16:24:14 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id QAA156208; Sun, 13 Feb 2000 16:24:12 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk ([203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id QAA156205 for ; Sun, 13 Feb 2000 16:24:03 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 ([203.130.7.169]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id LAA03960 for ; Sun, 13 Feb 2000 11:24:02 -0500 Message-Id: <200002131624.LAA03960@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2000 11:24:50 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: Invitation to subscribe environmental journalists-egroup X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk [from the MediaMentor mailing list] ------- Forwarded message follows ------- Date sent: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 23:47:20 +0600 From: sobacine@sri.lanka.net Hi, You are cordially invited to join the world largest environmental journalists egroup. Environmental-journalists egroup promoting education, understanding and awareness of the environment through the honest and accurate reporting of local, regional and international environmental and development issues. Its Administered by Asia Pacific Forum Of Environmental Journalists (APFEJ) based in Sri Lanka. Over 7000 Members From 67 Countries including journalists working for newspapers, magazines, radio, broadcasters, NGOs, environmental groups,UN, government departments,agencies and freelancers. This egroup massages are been distributed to over 5000 print and electronic media officers/journalists and to nearly 120 countries in the world.This is not a discussion group and no attachments will be mailed. If you wish to obtain free subscription please send a blank email to the following address. environmentaljournalists-subscribe@egroups.com Cheers, egroup moderator ************************* SUBSCRIPTION Any user can subscribe to this group by sending mail to: environmentaljournalists-subscribe@egroups.com POSTING MESSAGES Send mail to: environmentaljournalists@egroups.com CONTACTING THE GROUP MODERATOR Send mail to: environmentaljournalists-owner@egroups.com ************************** ---------------------------------------------------------------------- eGroups.com home: http://www.egroups.com/group/mediamentor ------- End of forwarded message ------- From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Mon Feb 14 06:19:26 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id GAA160144; Mon, 14 Feb 2000 06:19:25 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id GAA160141 for ; Mon, 14 Feb 2000 06:19:18 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-076.super.net.pk [203.130.5.215]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id BAA32175 for ; Mon, 14 Feb 2000 01:19:05 -0500 Message-Id: <200002140619.BAA32175@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2000 01:15:01 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: Twin woes stifle India's infotech plans X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk Twin woes stifle India's infotech plans Poor infrastructure, govt interference are blocking way, say industry players INDIA'S ambitions to become an information technology superpower could come unstuck before the twin challenges of poor infrastructure and government interference, industry insiders say. "India has a third rate telecommunications system which is almost useless," said venture capitalist Kanwal Rekhi, who attended the recent National Association of Software Companies (Nasscom) annual meeting in Bombay. "The bandwidth is poor, connectivity is poor, phone density is very, very low." While New Delhi makes all the right noises about turning India into an IT superpower and opening up to private entrepreneurs, Mr Rekhi said actual government policy was sending the opposite message. "The prime minister makes wonderful statements, but the actions do not match. The actions are really stupid. There is a whole bunch of hurdles in the way." Government interference was the biggest hurdle to budding IT ventures in India, he said. "The government still decides a whole lot of issues. Indian laws are very hostile to venture capital, so the only way people can do things is to open companies in places like Mauritius and invest here. The whole official approach is ridiculous. "The official mindset has to change from one of control and prevention to one of growth. Otherwise I do not see how India can reach any targets being set for the IT industry." Nevertheless, Mr Rekhi said he was heartened by the "fervour" he saw among entrepreneurs to set up e-commerce ventures. "But I fear only about 5 per cent of these companies will be successful, as competition is very, very tough and the hurdles are too many," he said. Harish Mehta, chairman of the Indo-US joint venture company Onward Novell, agreed that poor Internet connectivity, low personal computer penetration and government controls were proving to be daunting obstacles. "But e-commerce is the future. Many more people will get on to it as e-commerce brings down transaction costs and thereby also cuts the costs of products," Mr Mehta said. "The market is huge and growing phenomenally. Last week alone four dot-com companies were registered in Bombay," he added. Dewang Mehta, president of Nasscom, agreed that Indian e-commerce entrepreneurs were forging ahead, despite the barriers. "Last year alone some 2,000 dot-com companies were registered. This year we should see some 5,000 such companies being registered. What is needed is a very friendly environment for venture capital," he said. He added that venture capital inflows into India in 1999 had more than doubled to around US$320 million (S$543 million) from the year before and were expected to exceed US$750 million this year. "Nasscom would like to see from the government concrete steps such as the creation of funds similar to that of Israel's Yozma, a regulatory framework that will stimulate competition and protect entrepreneurs from the inevitable risks associated with IT start-up companies." -- AFP http://business-times.asia1.com.sg/4/news/nssia01.html From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Mon Feb 14 06:24:14 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id GAA74087; Mon, 14 Feb 2000 06:24:13 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id GAA160174 for ; Mon, 14 Feb 2000 06:24:06 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-076.super.net.pk [203.130.5.215]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id BAA32270 for ; Mon, 14 Feb 2000 01:23:47 -0500 Message-Id: <200002140623.BAA32270@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2000 01:15:02 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: Proceedings: Pakistan@GlobalKnowledge (Islamabad, 10 Feb 2000) X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk The proceedings of the seminar "Pakistan@GlobalKnowledge" held in Karachi were earlier posted on this forum. On 10 February 2000, Pakistan@GlobalKnowledge seminar was held in Islamabad. Given below are the proceedings from the website [http://pgk.sdnpk.org]. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mr. Salman Ansari Saif International Combine (Pvt) Ltd. Title:Bridging the Divide: Internet Access Mechanisms Synopsis: Currently the access to Internet in Pakistan is highly skewed: it is mainly confined to big cities, among the English- literate and relatively well off segments of population. Seemingly there is no major change in this trend and unless we deliberately work to reverse it, the 'digital divide' is going to be further reinforced with disastrous consequences for the nation. The situation is further exacerbated by poor literacy rates with low teledensity to boot. How can we provide wider access to Internet in Pakistan? What are the most practicable and cost effective access mechanisms? What kind of enabling laws are required? and how can we set this process in motion? We try to answer these questions after covering some background about the development of Internet and how it works. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mr. Shahid Mahmud Interactive Communications (Pvt) Ltd. Title: Convergence - The Way Forward Synopsis: Bits carrying data, voice and video have introduced to the global telecommunications field the term 'convergence'. What were historically two independent segments of the industry, namely, telephony and broadcasting are today fast merging as one. Convergence is creating new challenges and opportunities. To maximize its benefits for the nation, our telecommunications regulatory Authority, the PTA needs to study this evolution and ensure that correct legislation is in place to encash on this new industry. This paper is an attempt to highlight some overriding issues that will confront the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and our national telecommunications policymakers. It is imperative that we understand these issues and accordingly introduce new legislations. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mr. Wahaj-us-Siraj Comsats Title: Internet Access - Remote Communities' Window to the World Synopsis: There is no denying the fact that Internet has had a dominant effect in terms of communication technologies in the past decade. Internet has changed the way we live, work, conduct business and involve ourselves in entertainment activities. Experts say that this is just the tip of the iceberg and the earthshaking revolution is still to come which will make our lives Internet- centric and the signs are beginning to show in developed countries. The other end of the horizon are remote communities lacking basic infrastructure facilities, are economically deprived and lack substantially on social fronts. Interestingly enough, Internet is fast changing the lives of people even in such isolated communities and has started to play the role of economic catalyst to enable those communities become economically and socially stable and get woven into the national mainstream. Not only does it provide a window to those communities to look at the WORLD, it also provides the rest of the world to appreciate the problems of these remote areas and their inhabitants. A project of such nature was undertaken to introduce on-line Internet connectivity in Gilgit - one of the remotest areas of Pakistan. This facility was meant to put Gilgit on the Internet worldmap and to run a pilot project to see the impact of improved Internet based communications on businesses, NGOs, institutions, students and general public and to improve their contact with the rest of the world. Four months into the launch, and unique & encouraging results have already started to pour in.... The same would be highlighted in the course of presentation ------------------------------------------------------------------- Brig. (retd) Mohammad Yasin SDPI Title: Development of Information and Communications in Pakistan: Study Group on Information and Communications Synopsis: Comprising of consultants, scientists, engineers, educationists, economists and other stakeholders; and meeting three to four times a year, the Sustainable Development Policy Institute's (SDPI's) Study Group on Information and Communications has made valuable contributions in the development and modernization of Information Technology and Communications infrastructure and services in Pakistan. The group has created awareness amongst both public and private sectors of the importance of exploiting useful information resources, address existing difficulties in this respect and prepare policy and planning recommendations. The group has successfully advocated deregulation, liberalization and privatization of IT and telecommunication infrastructure and services. The presentation will highlight the contributions of the Study Group in the above field. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr. M. Afzal KRL Title: Web Content Development in Urdu: Need, Status, Problems and Required Infrastructure Synopsis: Internet is an immense knowledge resource, cheap and fast information transaction medium which is being used extensively. In a span of few years it has encompassed the whole globe. It is arguably affordable but for the moment useable only by a small fortunate class who knows its language i.e. English. Support for local languages on Internet would not only bridge the gap between 'Info-rich' and 'Info- poor' classes but would also enable the latter to benefit, participate and contribute towards its further development and expansion. Urdu is Pakistan's national language, is the third most spoken language on the globe and the second language after Arabic in which most of the Islamic research has been transcribed. It is present on the Internet, but its content is marginally small as compared to its potential and literate populace. The main reasons for absence of Urdu from Web are: non-realization of its need, lack of know-how, late start, non-availability of web content authoring tools/technologies, non-existence of standards to support content portability and inherent character of 'wait-n-see' of its beneficiaries. The steps to alleviate above problems can still harmonize Urdu with other languages on the web and can enable the Urdu literate class to reap the benefits of the Internet/web boon. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Aamir Matin UNDP Title: People talking to people: lessons from the front line Synopsis: In today's networked environment, with email connectivity the norm in most organisations, it is but natural to expect that this will also result in enhanced productivity at work. Since 1996, the Sub Regional Resource Facility of the United Nations Development Programme has been attempting to raise the effectiveness and efficacy of the various offices of UNDP in the sub region by making use of organisational learning principles, which in turn are facilitated by the emerging Information and Communication Technologies. The "experiment" has been successful to the extent that such facilities have now been institutionalised within the global UNDP network of offices covering over 160 countries of the world. The "lessons learnt" and the experiences so gained will be presented and discussed in order to benefit other organisations that are following this path. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Mr. Nadeem Omer Tarar NCA, Lahore Title: Contesting cyber space: A view from below. Synopsis: The debate on Internet connectivity and content in Pakistan is couched in a certain vocabulary of development and globalisation that doesn't permit a critical analysis of content of knowledge from local cultural perspectives. It is 'common sense' to argue that 'sustainable development' should not be at loggerheads with culture. However, it requires a 'political sense' to imagine a future that can eliminate inequalities in the content of cyber-life. The voice of local narratives can be heard by drawing on the oral histories of the people. Virtual institutions providing a contested space to local cultural narratives needs to be established. The myths, tales, stories of struggling through lives in the region, if voiced and heard, can create a development 'spirit' which is true to its own cultural ideals of responsible individual and just society. ------------------------------------------------------------------- http://pgk.sdnpk.org/008.htm From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Mon Feb 14 06:30:03 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id GAA74249; Mon, 14 Feb 2000 06:30:03 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id GAA160209 for ; Mon, 14 Feb 2000 06:29:55 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-076.super.net.pk [203.130.5.215]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id BAA32393 for ; Mon, 14 Feb 2000 01:29:51 -0500 Message-Id: <200002140629.BAA32393@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2000 01:15:01 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: [India] Centre unveils drive to make public schools tech-savvy X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk Centre unveils drive to make public schools tech-savvy Nazneen Sharif New Delhi 10 February INDIAN villages could soon become the nerve centre of IT talent. The government has initiated steps to make select district blocks 100 per cent computer literate. Under the initiative, 100 per cent literate district blocks will be given funding support by the Centre, state and local institutions to spread computer literacy. As a first step towards making this tech-savvy vision a reality, the minister of information technology, Pramod Mahajan, has called a meeting of the state information technology (IT) ministers on February 26. The ministers will be asked to identify one block in each district which is completely literate. The Central government will then provide central budget allocations for funding computer literacy programmes, with additional funding support from the states and the local institutions. Funds will be allocated for buying of computers, training of staff and other related infrastructure. "A pilot project shall be launched in some lead districts which have already achieved universal literacy. The aim is to achieve universal computer literacy in all secondary schools in these districts," said a government official. A pilot project has already been launched in Udipi district in Karnataka on a self-financing basis. The initiative is part of a larger plan to improve computer literacy in schools. The government also plans to launch the concept of SMART schools where the emphasis is on spreading information technology. Under the programme, all government schools would be provided computer connectivity in a phased manner, enabling them to interact with students globally, besides giving them access to the internet. Union IT minister Pramod Mahajan will soon meet human resource development minister to finalise the funding pattern of the SMART initiative, government sources said. The ultimate goal is to take internet to educational institutions and public hospitals by 03. The IT ministry has already signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the a Canadian university for content development. "The emphasis is to log on the younger generation to the IT boom," said a government official. http://www.economictimes.com/today/11tech01.htm From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Mon Feb 14 08:51:34 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id IAA160981; Mon, 14 Feb 2000 08:51:33 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id IAA160977 for ; Mon, 14 Feb 2000 08:51:27 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-097.super.net.pk [203.130.5.236]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id DAA01471 for ; Mon, 14 Feb 2000 03:51:26 -0500 Message-Id: <200002140851.DAA01471@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2000 03:52:19 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: [Article] Electronic information: promise or peril X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk In his short article "Electronic information: promise or peril" [Development in Practice (Oxfam/Carfax), November 1999 (volume 9, number 5)] Michael L Tan, an anthropologist in Philippines, presents an interesting personal perspective on the globalisation and IT, and its problems. Excerpts: - "... IT is only part of a continuum of globalisation, with many earlier players, ranging from Hollywood to CNN." - Quoting Paul T Zeleza on information highway: "a dangerous place for those on foot or riding rickety bicycles". - In a Southeast Asian electronic consultation through a mailing list (in 1997), "most of those who sent in their comments were male expatriates rather than asians". ik. From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Tue Feb 15 15:47:49 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id PAA129545; Tue, 15 Feb 2000 15:47:49 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id PAA129524 for ; Tue, 15 Feb 2000 15:47:32 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-022.super.net.pk [203.130.5.161]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id KAA23442 for ; Tue, 15 Feb 2000 10:47:24 -0500 Message-Id: <200002151547.KAA23442@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 10:46:50 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: WOLFENSOHN SEEKS NARROWER 'DIGITAL GAP' WITH IFC-SOFTBANK DEAL. X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk [source: World Bank Development News 14 February 2000] WOLFENSOHN SEEKS NARROWER 'DIGITAL GAP' WITH IFC-SOFTBANK DEAL. World Bank President James Wolfensohn said Monday that an Internet joint venture project between World Bank affiliate IFC and Japan's Softbank is aimed at minimizing "the digital divide" between developed and developing countries, Jiji Press (Japan) reports. Expanding on Saturday's announcement that IFC and Softbank-Japan's leading Internet investor-would join forces to help create Internet enterprises in about 100 developing countries, Wolfensohn said the project would "bring to developing countries as quickly as feasible the advantages of commercial applications of the Internet technology in sound ventures-ventures which are not charity." The fund, to be based in Silicon Valley, will be capitalized at $200 million, with Softbank owning 75 percent and the IFC holding the remaining 25 percent, notes Reuters. IFC will also join an investment fund Softbank has set up to help start-up Internet ventures in Latin America and China, thus bringing the total to the $520 million mark. The project will be joined by not only leading Internet-related companies, including computer makers and Internet contents providers, but also local partners and governments of developing countries concerned, Jiji Press says Wolfensohn and Softbank President Masayoshi Son noted. Local partners and governments "can have the opportunity to build capacity and financial strength," Wolfensohn said. From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Tue Feb 15 17:07:29 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id RAA71030; Tue, 15 Feb 2000 17:07:28 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id RAA71022 for ; Tue, 15 Feb 2000 17:07:22 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-022.super.net.pk [203.130.5.161]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id MAA27267 for ; Tue, 15 Feb 2000 12:06:58 -0500 Message-Id: <200002151706.MAA27267@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 12:07:54 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: Free "Unimobile" Access to All Mobiles in The World X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk [unimobile's website: http://www.unimobile.com/] Free "Unimobile" Access to All Mobiles in The World An Indian Software company has launched the beta version of a free integrated, instant messaging, email management and Internet service, tool that can talk to nearly any mobile gadget, -- text -enabled cell phone, pager, PDA, email, and another Unimobile- anywhere in the world. Unimobile- as the device is known as- is a tool that looks like a mobile phone and resides on the desktop. Unimobile is a 3-MB software and runs only on Windows. Once downloaded and registered, a free email address is provided by the software. Any Unimobile user, or indeed anyone with Internet access, can send messages at the Unimobile address and the message is received in seconds on whatever device a person has configured at the moment. Gray Cell, the company behind this device will offer a growing roster of services to the mobile community and draw revenue from sponsorships and other non-intrusive forms of partnership. http://www.infozech.com/articles/feb500.shtml From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Wed Feb 16 14:02:46 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id OAA92546; Wed, 16 Feb 2000 14:02:44 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id OAA92530 for ; Wed, 16 Feb 2000 14:02:38 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-028.super.net.pk [203.130.5.167]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id JAA05240 for ; Wed, 16 Feb 2000 09:02:43 -0500 Message-Id: <200002161402.JAA05240@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 09:03:31 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Subject: (Fwd) From farms to firms, the Net casts its Web on India X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-MIME-Autoconverted: from Quoted-printable to 8bit by whois.apnic.net id OAA92542 Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk ------- Forwarded message follows ------- From: Irfan Khan To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date sent: Fri, 11 Feb 2000 23:56:20 +0500 >From farms to firms, the Net casts its Web on India New Delhi's decision this week to allow private e-mail carriers is another a step in the 'internetization' of India. Robert Marquand Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor BENARES, INDIA The walk to the Ganges River in Benares is the oldest in India - a crisscross over cracked tiles, past dusty sweetmeat shops, flower stalls, monkeys, shrouded women, ancient temples and mosques, and hawkers selling yoga lessons cheap. Yet as pilgrims near this most sacred Hindu river, a banner across a narrow alley confronts them: "Data Byte Computers - Internet lessons." India's many cultures and castes are entering the cyber age with an evangelical fervor. No part of the billion-member nation - family, jobs, education, marriage, politics, the stock market - is untouched by the dotcom zeal. Delhi bureaucrats complain the country's civil structures are in a shambles. Lawyers say the criminal and legal system isn't delivering. But everyone agrees the cyber age approacheth. Every day, it seems, another breakthrough, another way the average Indian can access the cyber world is announced. This week, for example, the Indian Postal Service offered free e-mail accounts to anyone who wants one. And this week again, India took another cyber leap as well: The government has decided to finally allow Net access and e-mail through private carriers, in addition to the state-run "gateway." Until now, all Net traffic in India passed through a single Bombay cable; e-mail has been slow and unsteady. On Monday, a federal license to Dishnet of Madras became the first to allow servers to use private satellite uplinks with greatly enhanced capacity. Seven other licenses are pending. "We are moving from an information super-footpath to a superhighway," says Dewang Mehta, head of the National Association of Software and Computer Companies in Delhi. Consider as well: Farmers are learning to use "the magic box" to check the market prices of vegetables in cities to avoid being cheated. Chat rooms are a rage among young Indians. Grandparents are learning to keep in touch with family - often living abroad - via the Net. On Valentines Day, Feb. 14, a Delhi couple will conduct the first cyber wedding in India - an arranged "I do" virtually witnessed by cousins in Pittsburgh and Toronto. Last week, the Bombay stock exchange announced that customers could begin trading online. "The Net has opened everything up - not in my imagination, but really," says Amrit, a student from Chandigargh in the northwest state of Punjab. Amrit hired a US placement agency to find him a visa- bearing job in the US. "I have a friend in New York and one in Chicago who got six-month visas. You pay the agent half a month's salary. If you work hard and behave yourself, you get a five-year visa." Renuka DeSilva of New Delhi, met her non-Indian fiancé from Canada over the Internet. "We talked for four months every day, and finally he came here and proposed," Ms. DeSilva says. "My family was pretty nervous, but he fit right in. We'll have a wedding here and one in Canada this summer." Trying to tap the massive talent pool, the consultancy firm of McKinsey and Co. started an "entrepreneurial ideas" contest that is taking place entirely on the net. As of Jan. 15, any Indian with a bright and marketable idea can submit to a McKinsey Web site. The winning 500 ideas will be provided with venture capital, legal advice, and some marketing strategy. The push to more broadly "connect" ordinary people is still emerging in the West. Ford Motor Co. last week, for example, agreed to spend $300 million to equip each of its employees with a personal computer and $5 a month internet access. The move, part of a push by Ford to familiarize its 350,000 employees with "e-commerce," came through an unusual union bargain struck last year. By comparison, a developing nation like India is still far behind. Despite its cyber-promise, and a population that has a demonstrated talent for software development, India still has only 500,000 internet server connections. When the new satellite uplinks go into effect, that number is expected to double. India has the potential to make $1 trillion every year from information-technology services, said Michael Dertuzos, director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Lab for Computer Science at a New Delhi seminar on Wednesday. Most of the early computer innovation is in the south - in India's version of the Silicon Valley - the cities of Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Madras. Yet rural villages are a new frontier. Milkmaids in Rajasthan, for example, women who singlehandedly brought a "white revolution" of high-quality milk in that state, have formed a successful cooperative whose output has increased from several thousand quarts a day in the early '90s, to 300,000 today. The women, some with only two years of school, are being trained on computers that test milk fat levels, and run comparative data. "Not only can I run the machines, I can also feed the data into the computer machine," says Premlate Gupta, secretary of the Vinobapuri cooperative near Jaipur. Farmers and traders use the Web for finding buyers, and for staying abreast of trends. Dinesh, a jeweler in Ahmedabad, sells white gold to a New Zealand buyer he met on the Internet. At a recent expo in New Delhi, farmers from north India showed that by surfing agricultural Web sites they found new types of high-end products to cultivate for sale abroad. Some are raising Japanese quails, along with chickens - and new strains of asparagus and broccoli, along with the staple onion. Misgivings about the cyber phenomena abound in India - worries about its effects on culture and tradition. Yet at least one leading Bombay columnist points out that Indian computer whiz-kids offer the youth a better kind of role model of success - the hardworking and modest innovator. Amritah Shah notes that in the past, Indians have been wowed by movie and sports heroes. But the successful laptop and software whiz-kids are earning new respect, she points out: "As role models, these are very different from the pretty boys and girls of the past ... and their presence might lead to ... a reendorsement of some of the old values we shed in the last decade." http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2000/02/11/fp7s1-csm.shtml ------- End of forwarded message ------- From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Wed Feb 16 14:02:47 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id OAA173680; Wed, 16 Feb 2000 14:02:45 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id OAA92532 for ; Wed, 16 Feb 2000 14:02:39 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-028.super.net.pk [203.130.5.167]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id JAA05246 for ; Wed, 16 Feb 2000 09:02:49 -0500 Message-Id: <200002161402.JAA05246@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 09:03:31 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: A Gateway to Indian Agriculture X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk A Gateway to Indian Agriculture The National Academy of Agricultural Research Management in Hyderabad has created 'A Gateway to Indian Agriculture' website with technical support from Dr John Schmitz, of the Agricultural Instructional Media (AIM) Laboratory at Illinois University. This site gives information on animal sciences, crop sciences, agribusiness, fisheries, home science, horticulture, natural resources, and sustainable agriculture. Links to agriculture- related organisations worldwide, programmes, publications and libraries, and pages on weather, agricultural issues and policies, gender issues, infotech and human resources enrich the site. It also has a good map of India with hyperlinks. It is accessible at http://web.aces.uiuc.edu/aim/diglib/india/ [Source: indev E-mail Digest (15 Feb 2000); http://www.indev.nic.in ] From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Wed Feb 16 14:02:50 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id OAA173692; Wed, 16 Feb 2000 14:02:49 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id OAA92541 for ; Wed, 16 Feb 2000 14:02:42 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-028.super.net.pk [203.130.5.167]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id JAA05252 for ; Wed, 16 Feb 2000 09:02:53 -0500 Message-Id: <200002161402.JAA05252@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 09:03:31 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: [Sri Lanka] Villages get wired on air X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk Villages get wired on air By Kalinga Seneviratne KOTMALE, Sri Lanka - Villagers in this picturesque mountain region of Sri Lanka, 150 kilometers from Colombo, are logging onto the Internet via their local community radio station. The Kotmale Community Radio (KCR) project may well revolutionize rural communications in South Asia, by showing just how information technology can become accessible to rural folks. "We have opened the doors to knowledge, understanding and entertainment through radio," says Sunil Wijesinghe, controller of KCR. "This has motivated the community to participate and express themselves freely and receive information without censorship." KCR, established in 1989 by the government-run Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) as a low-powered community-based radio service carrying development messages to the rural people, is now run by the community. The staff and volunteers are the well-educated sons and daughters of plantation workers and farmers from the surrounding areas, where literacy rates are over 90 percent. They take information off the Internet to produce programs for broadcast. Madhushini Nilmabandara does a weekly program on human rights using the Internet. Her program is funded by the University of Colombo's Human Rights Center. "People were not aware of their human rights. So we give them information . . . how to take action to protect it. Now we have set up human rights clubs in schools and do programs with them (on radio)," she said. Kotmale has become part of the world wide web under a pilot project funded by Unesco, which ended last October. A $50,000 grant in 1998 helped establish an Internet hub here, which includes a local server and five computer terminals. Local volunteers have been trained to log on and some have even learnt to put up websites. They have also recently started a web page on the community using information provided by listeners. Since April last year, KCR has been broadcasting a one hour program at night, five days a week, to introduce the Internet and the information therein to listeners. "We wanted to be the first to open a gateway for rural Sri Lanka to the emerging information society. I'm glad to say this is happening," observes mass communication expert Michael David of the University of Colombo who is the KCR project coordinator. Both he and Wijesinghe admit that the domination of the Web by the English-language is a barrier to access, but at KRC they have enlisted the help of bilingual speakers from the community to help program producers. "We have in this area well-educated people like doctors, lawyers, teachers. We get them involved in the program. They extract information from the Internet and interpret it for our listeners," Wijesinghe said. During the program itself, listeners are encouraged to contact the station if they need more information on the subject. For instance, "school children ring us up or send letters asking for specific information. We go to the Internet, find the information and tell it on air in summary form. We send them a print-out of the information as well," he explained. Listeners are also encouraged to drop in at the radio station to explore the Web. This has proved so popular that KCR now regulates the use of computers, and Wijesinghe said they may soon have to take older volunteers off to make way for new people. KCR is also setting up computer terminals in three public libraries, including in Gampola, to widen community interaction with the Internet. At Gampola, 20 kilometers from the station, the librarian has been trained to teach people how to surf the Net. "The Internet is a very useful tool for my education," says Nayanasiri Dissanayake, a Grade 11 student, who was trained at KCR. "I have been able to get a lot of information from the Internet, especially for science projects." With Unesco-funding stopping last October, KRC has had to find alternative sources of money. Coordinator David says they are working closely with hotels in the nearby hill town of Nuwaraeliya to attract foreign tourists to the region. In addition the telecommunication authorities are waiving their telephone bills and the Kotmale webserver could become the Internet service provider for the region. Confident project officials are also considering other ideas like setting up a computer training center for rural people and a web- design center for rural businesses which could use the Internet to promote their products within and outside Sri Lanka. During a recent meeting with staff and volunteers here, Unesco consultant Wijayananda Jayaweera, a former SLBC broadcaster, advised them to turn KRC into "an advertising agency to create income for the project and yourself". Kotmale resident Mahendra Wegodapola has done just that. He used the Internet to start an NGO, the Green Lanka Nature Conservancy Association, and "now we use the Internet to communicate with donors and international NGO forums." (Inter Press Service) http://atimes.com/media/BB16Ce02.html From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Thu Feb 17 04:41:41 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id EAA132175; Thu, 17 Feb 2000 04:41:41 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id EAA77427 for ; Thu, 17 Feb 2000 04:41:32 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-089.super.net.pk [203.130.5.228]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id XAA10434 for ; Wed, 16 Feb 2000 23:41:14 -0500 Message-Id: <200002170441.XAA10434@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 23:42:01 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: [India] Govt. Body for Tech Convergence X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk Govt. Body for Tech Convergence By Hari Menon India Correspondent, asia.internet.com [February 14, 2000--MUMBAI] Convergence is the buzzword, and the Indian government hopes to achieve a seamless merging of broadcasting, telecommunications and information technology by setting up a common regulatory authority to police this fast-growing area. Minister for Information and Broadcasting Arun Jaitly announced on Friday that plans were underway to set up a telecom court that would deal with issues and disputes related to telecommunications, information technology and broadcasting. The idea is that a single authority with clearly delineated powers would be more effective than different agencies. It has also begun to sink in that the 113-year-old Indian Telegraph Act is in need of drastic review. Jaitly, a member of the task force formulating the guidelines for service providers using the convergence of telecommunication, information technology and broadcasting, said that bandwidth allocation and spectrum management are emerging as the most important issues among users. Secretary of the Department of Telecom (DoT) [http://www.dotindia.com/] Shyamal Ghosh said the government may reject the recommendation on long-distance telephony made by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) [http://www.trai.gov.in/]because they do not meet the needs of a sector where technological developments are rapid. TRAI has been embroiled in other problems as well. Last week, the Delhi High Court took strong exception to a TRAI ordinance taking away the power of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) [http://www.cag.nic.in/] to audit the regulator's accounts. "How can the audit power of CAG in any financial matter be taken away?" queried the court, directing the respondents to file replies by March 6, the next date of hearing. Yoshio Utsumi, secretary-general of the international telecommunications union (ITU), lauded the efforts being taken by India in speeding up reforms in the telecom sector and spreading the benefits of information technology to this part of the world. http://asia.internet.com/2000/2/1406-hari.html From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Thu Feb 17 04:41:43 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id EAA132176; Thu, 17 Feb 2000 04:41:42 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id EAA77428 for ; Thu, 17 Feb 2000 04:41:34 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-089.super.net.pk [203.130.5.228]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id XAA10458 for ; Wed, 16 Feb 2000 23:41:44 -0500 Message-Id: <200002170441.XAA10458@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 23:42:01 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: [India] Comp. pave the way for sustainable agricultural and rural development X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk Computers pave the way for sustainable agricultural and rural development in five Pondicherry villages The three important areas where advances are noticed the world over are biotechnology, energy and information technology (IT). When the rural people can use one component of IT, which is television, why not the other? The benefit of it is immense to poor, rural families. To find out the extent of the benefit people can derive from IT, M S Swaminathan Research Foundation has launched the Knowledge System for Sustainable Food Security programme in a few villages near Pondicherry. The objective of the project is to access the impact of information and communication technologies in fostering a transition to sustainable agricultural and rural development and to document their role in promoting the process of "knowledge empowerment" of rural folks. [Source: indev E-mail Digest (15 Feb 2000); http://www.indev.nic.in ] From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Thu Feb 17 04:41:53 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id EAA132178; Thu, 17 Feb 2000 04:41:53 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id EAA77467 for ; Thu, 17 Feb 2000 04:41:43 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-089.super.net.pk [203.130.5.228]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id XAA10473 for ; Wed, 16 Feb 2000 23:41:50 -0500 Message-Id: <200002170441.XAA10473@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 23:42:01 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: digital divide down under X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk [this is about digital divide that the new ICTs are creating in Australia (which is, of course, not a south asian country). although the situation is quite specific to the geography and population density of Australia, yet the factors that are *reinforcing* the divide are the same as ours: rich-poor, urban-rural, educated- illiterate, male-female, ... and the list goes on. comments are welcome. ik] Introducing the great digital divide By STEVE BURRELL SYDNEY Wednesday 16 February 2000 It's a society where the best jobs and the best education are the preserve of a privileged few. Where access to the wellsprings of economic and political power is reserved for the urban elite and denied to the backblocks battlers. Where those who are rich enough are offered the lowest prices for the best products while the rest peer through the store window, excluded. It's not Soviet Russia's privileged nomenklatura, some Third World oligarchy or Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. It could already be on its way, right here, right now, courtesy of the Internet. A digital divide is emerging in Australia, splitting the nation into technological haves and have-nots. The fault lines are defined by how much people earn, whether they live in the big cities or the country, their education, how old they are, their family structure and whether they have a job. And while the number of Australians connected to the Internet expands rapidly every year and access prices fall, the gap between the information-rich and information-poor is getting ever bigger. Those on higher incomes are leaving the poor behind. And in an increasingly wired world, where information is power, this inequality of access can mean dramatic inequality of opportunity. Those on the wrong side of this digital divide face being marginalised as the Net becomes an increasingly dominant feature of economic and personal life. An Age analysis of unpublished Australian Bureau of Statistics figures on home access to the Internet illustrates starkly the depth of Australia's digital divide. Households on $150,000 a year or more are almost 11 times more likely to be connected to the Net than those on less than $20,000. By last August, the latest available figures, 66.4per cent of those in the highest income bracket had home Internet access, compared with only 5.7per cent for the lowest. Access to the Internet through work or other sites, such as universities or Internet cafes, helps narrow the divide, but only slightly. In the year to November 1998, almost 59per cent of adults on more than $46,000 accessed the Net from any site, compared with only 18.8per cent for those on less than $12,000 a year. A similar digital divide exists between city and country. In August last year, 25.7per cent of homes in capital cities had Internet access compared with 17per cent in the rest of the country. In the previous year, 44per cent of adults in the capital cities had accessed the Net from home, work or other sites, compared to 35per cent in other areas. However, the figures also show that, unlike the digital divide between rich and poor, the access gap between the city and the bush is gradually narrowing. The National Farmers Federation's executive director, Dr Wendy Craik, says city people have almost unlimited access to information. "They have the capacity to be truly 'plugged in' to the global economy," she says. "Country people, on the other hand, suffer enormously from the tyranny of distance, with poor telecommunications, which deny them access to the Internet and a decent mobile-phone service. "The impact of such poor access to technology means that, even though everyone tells them globalisation is a good thing and part of today's world, they don't have access to the information which backs up the theory." The advantage of living in the biggest cities is also evident in the difference in access levels between the capitals and between different states. For example, figures for 1998, the latest available, showed 23per cent of homes in Sydney had Internet access compared with just 14 per cent in Adelaide and Hobart. And there were similar disparities between the states. Education is another key fault line in the information economy. The ABS figures show that more than 34per cent of people with a university degree or other tertiary qualification can access the Internet from home, compared with just over 12 per cent for those with secondary school or a trade as their highest educational qualification. A digital divide has also emerged between the young and older Australians, many of whom are intimidated by the new technology. By August last year, 31per cent of 18-24 year olds had home access to the Internet, compared with just 6.7per cent for those over 55. Family structure can also count. Single parent households are less than half as likely to have home Internet access as two parent families. Only 16per cent of single parents with dependent children has access compared to more than 36per cent of couples with children. Access to the Net from work, school or other sites can make up for some but not all of the disadvantages of not being connected at home. But whether you have a job is a big determinant of whether you are one of the Connected or the Unconnected. Only 15.6 per cent of those not in the workforce and 38.7 per cent of the unemployed accessed the Net from any site in the year to August last year, compared to 57 per cent of those in full-time jobs. These differences in access are creating new inequalities and a widening divergence of opportunity in society. It has the potential to become a hot political issue as the Net becomes more and more woven into the fabric of daily life. The Unconnected are already cut off from a powerful tool for plugging into the world, providing a vast range of news, information, services and social interaction. As more and more companies, Government services and community groups move their operations on to the Web, and traditional ways of delivering these services are superceded, these disadvantages will intensify. Increasingly, the best prices for goods and services, and the most convenient way of shopping for them or paying bills, are also being found on the Net. As electronic commerce continues to expand, lack of access will become a hot issue. Similarly, in vital areas such as education and training, lack of access to computing power and the Internet is becoming a big disadvantage. This is adding to existing opportunity gaps between public school systems and the private schools, where computer resources are greater. In the job market, too, the best opportunities can increasingly be found on the Web rather than via traditional sources such as newspaper classified advertising. The primary factor behind the digital divide appears to be cost. Business, unions, lobby groups and politicians are already waking up to the problem and the need to improve access and increase "bandwidth" (the capacity of the electronic "pipe" down which Internet services flow). For business, it is emerging as a crucial issue, particularly those involved in e-commerce. The more people online, the bigger their market. http://www.theage.com.au/bus/20000216/A20778-2000Feb15.html From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Thu Feb 17 04:42:01 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id EAA132180; Thu, 17 Feb 2000 04:42:01 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id EAA77476 for ; Thu, 17 Feb 2000 04:41:53 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-089.super.net.pk [203.130.5.228]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id XAA10489 for ; Wed, 16 Feb 2000 23:42:04 -0500 Message-Id: <200002170442.XAA10489@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 23:42:00 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: (Fwd) [India] Centre for Education & Documentation X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk ------- Forwarded message follows ------- From: Irfan Khan To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date sent: Sat, 12 Feb 2000 00:00:57 +0500 ------- Forwarded message follows ------- Date sent: Wed, 9 Feb 2000 00:44:04 +0500 From: Frederick Noronha To: CYBERCOM@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU What's a 'documentation' centre? It's an alternate information centre that keeps newspaper clippings on issues related to various subjects of interest to social activists and campaign groups, journalists and others. For an example of the resources available at one such centre, please visit the web-site of the Centre for Education & Documentation (located behind Regal Cinema, Colaba in Mumbai). CED now has a website: http://www.doc-centre.org Through the website, you can Check CED's Master Catalogue. Subscribe to services like DOCALERT, DOCPOST Access some latest documents, CED Bulletin board Check out publications for sale at CED More details from: john@ilbom.ernet.in ------- End of forwarded message ------- ------- End of forwarded message ------- From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Thu Feb 17 07:20:23 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id HAA86075; Thu, 17 Feb 2000 07:20:22 +1000 (EST) Received: from goa1.dot.net.in (goa1.dot.net.in [202.54.17.30]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id HAA86064 for ; Thu, 17 Feb 2000 07:20:17 +1000 (EST) Received: from goanews ([202.54.17.106]) by goa1.dot.net.in (8.9.2/8.9.2) with SMTP id CAA09156 for ; Thu, 17 Feb 2000 02:51:29 +0530 (GMT) Message-Id: <3.0.6.32.20000217022927.007e4080@202.54.17.30> X-Sender: fred@202.54.17.30 X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.6 (32) Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 02:29:27 +0500 To: s-asia-it@apnic.net From: Frederick Noronha Subject: BytesForAll: EDUCATION SPECIAL Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk PLEASE VISIT THE BYTESFORALL WEBSITE AT http://www.bytesforall.org 01010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010 10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101 01010101 bYtES For aLL * bYtES For aLL * bYtES For aLL 10101010 10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101 n e w t e c h n o l o g i e s w i l l m e a n h a v i n g m o r e i n t h e h a v e-n o t c a m p i f w e a r e n o t c a r e f u l 10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101 01010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010 1010101010 AN OCCASIONAL NEWSLETTER TO MAKE 0101010101 0101010101 COMPUTING AND TECHNOLOGY 1010101010 1010101010 FRIENDLY TO NEEDS OF THE MILLIONS 0101010101 1010101010 Compiler: Frederick Noronha fred@vsnl.com 0101010101 10101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101 01010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010101010 SPECIAL ISSUE ON EDUCATION * RELEASED IN FEBRUARY 2000, GOA INDIA ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY IN MADHYA PRADESH The Madhya Pradesh Bhoj Open University (MPBOU) signed an MoU with IBM, the global leaders in Information Technology to set up a virtual university in the State. This is the first time in India that an Information Technology (IT) major is associating with an academic institution to set up a virtual university. IBM will facilitate the development of the curriculum and provide training to the faculty. http://www.mpchronicle.com/daily/19990506/0605001.html ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ IGNOU PLAN FOR RURAL AREAS Indira Gandhi National Open University is considering the use of satellite-based multimedia technology to reach the large number of people residing in the rural areas of India. In collaboration with UN-ESCAP, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ MULTIMEDIA FOR VILLAGERS Under the aegis of Project Vidya, Intel India, in association with the National Science Centre, has launched the first mobile computer awareness programme, 'Computers for you', for rural India. Under this programme, a van equipped with multimedia computers, software and a trainer will cover 60 villages in the next 12 months, reaching out to over 4,000 children per village. Bhimtal, Uttar Pradesh, will be the first halt for the van. Intel has already set up 'Cyberskools' at the National Science Centres in Bombay and New Delhi. Over 50,000 children and 5,000 teachers are given exposure to computers annually through the Cyberskools. The Cyberskool also organises a weekend parent training programme where children teach their parents how to use computers and share knowledge of multimedia and Internet. http://www.rediff.com/computer/1999/jun/08intel.htm ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Open software wins in Mexican schools By Leander Kahney SAN FRANCISCO (Wired) - In another coup for the open-source software movement, the Mexican government said that it plans to install the free Linux operating system in 140,000 elementary- and middle-school computer labs around the country. Over the next five years, the government's Scholar Net program will furnish Mexican students with access to the Web and email, as well as word processors and spreadsheets, said Arturo Espinosa Aldama, the project's leader. "We decided to go with Linux because of the cost of using proprietary software," said Espinosa, who is based at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City. "Otherwise, it would have been too expensive for all the software licenses." Open-source software is developed and improved collaboratively by thousands of volunteer hackers around the world. Unlike a proprietary operating system such as Windows, Linux developers and users have access to the system's underlying software code and can modify that code under certain conditions. Linux has grown increasingly popular among server administrators as an inexpensive and flexible alternative to Windows NT. Partly because of limited software availability, however, the OS hasn't yet taken off in educational or business networks. Internal Microsoft memos were published on the Net this week that reveal how seriously company officials view open-source software as a threat to Windows. Indeed, without Linux and other open-source software packages, such as Netscape's Mozilla browser, Espinosa said the Scholar Net project would likely be more restricted. He figured that it would have cost the equivalent of at least $885 to install Windows 98, Microsoft Office and a server running Windows NT in each school computer lab, he said. Multiplying that cost over 140,000 labs, the price tag for software alone on the project would have been about $124 million. So Espinosa turned to Red Hat Software, which distributes Linux at a cost of $50 for a pair of installation CDs and a manual. Red Hat's version of Linux can be copied as many times as necessary at no extra charge. It is also available as a free download off the Net. Cost factors aside, Espinosa said Linux is more reliable, adaptable, and efficient than commercial operating system software. These qualities will allow him to use older, less expensive equipment. "We don't have a huge budget. We are depending a lot on the equipment already in schools, so we need to be kind of flexible. We don't want to upgrade a lot of hardware," he said. "I think it was a shrewd choice on all levels," said Eric Raymond, an open-source evangelist and author of the influential article "The Cathedral and the Bazaar". The essay is said to have inspired Netscape execs to release the source code for the company's Communicator Web browser last March. "It was probably the only thing they could have done, but there are situations where poverty will force some good choices.... I expect this will happen wherever the school system is poor.'' He added, "There's nothing special about Mexico." Scholar Net plans to have labs installed at a rate of 20,000 to 35,000 thousand per year for the next five years. The program already has 2,000 labs set up using Windows software, but Espinosa said those schools will soon switch to Linux. The project is not without its share of challenges. Although the Linux interface resembles a commercial operating system, it may be challenging for school students to use. The project also faces a shortage of applications and difficulties translating the programs into Spanish. But he's confident he'll get help. "When you ask how many people are working on Scholar Net, well, it's the whole Linux community," Espinosa said. In the United States, Oregon's Multnomah County will next month install 30 Linux servers in high schools-the most ambitious Linux project in American schools to date, according to Paul Nelson, technology coordinator at the Riverdale School District in Portland. Nelson is one of the leads of the Linux in Schools Project. Like Espinosa, Nelson said he would love to see Linux desktop machines but doesn't think there is enough software available for the platform just yet. "It's made huge inroads in the server market," Nelson said, and "the desktop is next". Espinosa said there was little resistance to Linux from the Mexican educational establishment, thanks to the attention the system has attracted among the media. He predicted Mexican schools will become hotbeds of Linux programmers. "It will let a lot of kids discover computers," he said. "Some may become little hackers." (Reuters/Wired) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SCHOOL PROJECT IN NAMIBIA FOR BIODIVERSITY AWARENESS A school internet development project has been recently launched in Namibia. *Insect@thon* is a new annual school contest created by the National Museum of Namibia. Its purpose is to inventory national biodiversity information (this year, the insects of Namibia), and promote the Internet at schools in Namibia (less than 30% of schools in Namibia presently have telephones!). This is an interactive, participatory event intended to encourage students to take advantage of the Internet as a vast, and constantly growing, source of information. The target of the Insect@thon is to inventory *70,000* hand- written insect records (comprising 11 data-fields) in *two* days (14-15 August), employing 15 school teams of 4 - 6 students each. The Insect@thon event is entirely sponsored by the local corporate community. Subsequent school involvment by way of the Internet, i.e., adding more biodiversity records to our webtop databases, will be rewarded with credit points. These will allow the students at these schools to obtain additional equipment, software, Internet subscriptions, payment of telephone bills,etc. http://www.natmus.cul.na/insectathon.html Details: Joris Komen, Curator/IT Manager, National Museum of Namibia ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR DISTANCE LEARNING (ICDL) is an international centre for research, teaching, consultancy, information and publishing activities. ICDL distance education databases contain information on over 31,000 distance learning programmes and courses mostly in the Commonwealth countries, over 1,000 institutions teaching at a distance worldwide, and over 11,000 abstracts of books, journal articles, research reports, conference papers, dissertations and other types of literature relating to all aspects of the theory and practice of distance education http://www-icdl.open.ac.uk/>http://www-icdl.open.ac.uk/ SOURCE: George Lessard ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PORTAL ON EDUCATION FACILITIES IN INDIA: Offers comprehensive information on educational facilities and opportunities available in the country. Web based post-graduate engineering courses will also be available on the ETH portal in collaboration with Anna University, Tamil Nadu. The portal provides model question papers of standards 10 and 12 along with answers. There are also practical tips on how to look out for jobs and prepare a bio- data. http://education.eth.net SOURCE: Rediff On the Net ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ONLINE EDUCATION CATCHING ON IN INDIA: Online training fever grips India. While major software training institute NIIT has already commenced online courses, Aptech is launching its online training soon. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bangalore is starting virtual classes. Global majors also join the fray. Lotus Development Corporation announced its plan to set up centres for training via the Net. Sun/Netscape is scouting for alliance to impart training online to its corporate customers in India. While a normal MCSD (Microsoft Certified Solution Developer) course would need around $712 (Rs 30,000), the online version of the same course is available at a price tag of $302 (Rs 12,800) at NIIT's `niitnetuniversity.com.' Other courses like MCSE (Microsoft Certified System Engineering), and 40 other skillets like Java Programming, HTML Programming, Advanced Browsing is available on the Net, writes Uday Lal Pai, India correspondent of asia.internet.com http://asia.internet.com/1999/9/2104-india.html ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ VIRTUAL EDUCATION: The Commonwealth of Learning commissioned an international group of experts to look at this phenomenon and provide a snapshot report. The entire study is available on-line [in pdf format] from http://www.col.org/virtualed/index.htm Contents include 'Virtual Institutions in the Indian Subcontinent by Dr. Sugata Mitra'. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ INT'L WOMEN'S UNIV TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE: From July 15th to October 15th 2000, on the occasion of the world exposition in Hanover (EXPO 2000), Germany, the International Women's University will offer 900 female students from all over the world the opportunity to participate in a postgraduate program in English which will be centered in Hanover. Subjects include Body, City, Information, Migration, Water, Work. In order to become an ifu scholar, you are expected to commit yourself to one of the project areas, and your academic specialization should be from a related field. Please note that ifu particularly looks forward to receiving applications from women artists as well as political activists working in NGOs. Apply before Oct 15, 1999. Details: http://www.int-frauenuni.de ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ NEW JOURNAL ON IS IN DEV. COUNTRIES: The Electronic Journal for Information Systems In Developing Countries (EJISDC) strives to become the foremost international forum for practitioners, teachers, researchers and policy makers to share their knowledge and experience in the design, development, implementation, management and evaluation of information systems and technologies in developing countries. EJISDC targets the digital divide. Our aim is to situate contemporary trends in ICTs within a fully global context that moves away from the currently skewed perspective of developed countries. EJISDC intends to reach its audience in a manner that is consistent with its mission. It will be published electronically. There will be no subscription fees. Editor-in-Chief, Roger Harris, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, roger@mailhost.fit.unimas.my Visit the journal's website for further information http://www.unimas.my/fit/roger/EJISDC/EJISDC.htm ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ FREE COMPUTER COURSE FOR TEACHERS: India's leading IT training institution, NIIT, has offered a free computer literacy program, SWIFT Start, to school teachers at all NIIT Centres around the country beginning from Indian Teachers' Day, September 5. NIIT will be offering the eight-hour SWIFT Start Program that will expose teachers to the fundamentals of computers like, how to word-process a document, how to create a spreadsheet, how to surf on the Internet and use an email. Teachers could enrol for this program at any nearest NIIT education centre between September 6 and 11. http://www.rediff.com/computer/1999/sep/04niit.htm ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ TechKnowLogia, INT'L ONLINE Journal of Technologies for the advancement of knowledge and learning. Subscription is free. http://www.TechKnowLogia.org SOURCE: Richard Labelle, Information Technology and Management Practices for Development. email: rlab@sympatico.ca ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ MEDIA VIDEO PLANS LOW-COST PCs FOR INDIAN EDUCATION SECTOR Courtesy: Irfan Khan s-asia-it@apnic.net By T S Vishwanath NEW DELHI A little-known computer software company, Media Video Limited, is now entering the world of computers with a pricing strategy that will give it a large slice of the low-end market. "We are entering the educational computers arena with computers priced between Rs 1,250 and Rs 2,750 (US$ 30 to 65) for the semi-urban and rural market," company managing director Prem Adip Rishi said. "The idea is to import the low-end, 8-bit computers from south- east Asian countries and sell them in the local market. The price of eight-bit chips has fallen drastically in the international market and we hope to capitalise on that. The import duty on this is also very low," Mr Rishi said. The company is, in fact, importing all the hardware at around 40 per cent duty. The kit will have to be attached to the television and used as a computer, Mr Rishi said. The company hopes to sell over half-a-million of these computers in the country through its retail network of over 1,500 distributors, Mr Rishi said. Research has proved that there is a good demand for such educational computers in the country especially in the semi-urban and rural markets where the high priced computers have not been able to make much headway, he said. Industry insiders, however, feel that the market for this product is not as large as the company thinks. However, the novelty element may play a major role in making these systems popular. The sources said it depends on Media Video handles the markets. What the industry sources, however, find as the company's strength will be the pricing strategy. With television having penetrated the rural markets they may be ready to invest an additional couple of thousands on a computer even if it is the low-end, sources said. Industry sources expect the computer prices to come down once the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) comes into force. With ITA in place products can be imported at zero duty and that would bring down prices, sources said. India had, in March last year, joined the ITA-I -- signed by about 27 countries. ITA-I covers computers (including printers, scanners, monitors, hard-disk drives and power suppliers), telecom products (including fax machines, modems and pagers), semi-conductor manufacturing equipment, software products (like diskettes and CD-Roms) and scientific instruments. http://www.economictimes.com/today/01tech02.htm ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ AFRICAN DIGITAL LIBRARY ON-LINE / CENTRE FOR LIFELONG LEARNING Info: John Walker gkd@phoenix.edc.org A digital library for the benefit of users throughout Africa, went on-line on 3 November 1999. In response to the need for library books in Africa, Technikon SA (TSA) has provided an initial sponsorship of R1m to set up the African Digital Library. It will provide Internet access to African users throughout the continent to a library of full-text books at no cost to the user. Over 60 publishers will provide full-text books. Encryption will ensure that only one user will access a book at any one time, and loan periods will be a few hours as users work with the books. Persons in any Africa country with a server having an African domain, will be able to access the library via http://www.AfricaEducation.org/adl/. Servers such as those with a .com suffix which cannot be identified as African should provide the Director of the Centre for Lifelong Learning with their IP address range so that the service can become accessible free of charge to their subscribers also. Users will then be able to open an account with the library free of charge. "At this point the library contains 3000 books, and the collection will be built as fast as funds permit," said Paul West. "The African Digital Library is yet another venture initiated by TSA's Centre for Lifelong Learning to bring learner support to learners in Africa." More information from Paul West, Director CLL at Technikon SA at LibraryAdmin@AfricaEducation.org http://www.africanews.org/science/stories/19991108_feat7.html ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ INDIAN SOUTHERN STATE INTRODUCES COMPUTER EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS Info courtesy: Irfan Khan s-asia-it@apnic.net India's southern state of Tamil Nadu has kept aside Rs 1.12 billion to impart computer education to higher secondary students. Computer science will be introduced as an optional subject in the 11th and 12th standards in all government higher secondary schools. The state thus expects 30,000 computer- literate students to pass out from various government schools of the state in 2001. Till now computer science was a luxury reserved for those in the urban areas alone. http://www.rediff.com/computer/1999/nov/22tn.htm ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ VIRTUAL CAMPUS INITIATIVE IN INDIA Source: News reports Indira Gandhi National Open University, India's main open university at the national level, is moving towards a "more significant web presence" and to deliver IT courses entirely over the Internet. It is seeking expertise in developing and maintenance of the web, part-time and on-line content experts, and admin and management personnel comfortable with on-line working. Before responding, please visit http://www.ignou.org Details on participating in the Virtual Campus Initiative can also be got form ignouvcipartner@hotmail.com ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY SOFTWARE Source: News reports Educomp Datamatics, a developer of educational technology software and products, is working to make education delivery via the Internet and make web-based learning a practical reality. "Our campus management system eCampus 4.0 is the world's first enterprise management system for educational institutions, which can manage both online learning and instructor-lead administration," says Educomp Datamatics. http://www.edumatics.com Email: info@edumatics.com ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ THE BLIND CAN ALSO LEARN COMPUTERS Source: News reports Efforts towards this end are being made by the Indian Association for the Visually Handicapped. Contact their Mumbai office at iavh@hotmail.com ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SOME INTERESTING SITES FROM PAKISTAN Info courtesy: SPIDER, Pakistan's Internet magazine http://www.spider.tm Links to edn sites ... http://www.khs.edu.pk Tech Inst (for women).. http://www.tipd.org Asian Mgt Institute ... http://www.ami.edu.pk ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ IT NEPAL AND UNIV. DEGREE PROGRAMME AT KATHMANDU Info courtesy: Padam Sharma The Kathmandu Campus of Purbanchal University is planning to start a three-year degree program in Computer Applications and they are looking for an IT buff, preferably, with an academic- administration background. The job is worthy of challenge to advance the cause of IT in Nepal. IT Nepal is a mailing-list to discuss information technology issues in Nepal. To subscribe, write to it_nepal-subscribe@listbot.com http://www.caninfo.org/itnepal.htm ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 'HEALTH TRAINING' NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE Info courtesy: Thomas Schwarz MedicusMundi The new "Health Training" website is an internet-based inventory providing comprehensive information on postgraduate training and further education opportunities in the field of International Health. International Health focuses on poverty-related health problems in low and middle income countries. It includes the promotion of health, prevention and treatment of diseases, palliative care and rehabilitation. http://www.healthtraining.org ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ GIVING SCHOOLS EFFECTIVE ACCESS TO INTERNET RESOURCES Schools Online recently released a new version of their web site. It helps to ensure that all schools have effective access to the communication and information resources of the Internet. As part of the Alliance for Global Learning, WorLD and Schools Online are working together to bring the Internet and computer technology to schools in nine countries. http://www.schoolsonline.org ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ GLOBALED, EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS "GlobalEd", a great educational resource for students and teachers sponsored by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), features information about various Global Issues such as Health, or the Environment, as well as many country profiles. http://globaled.ausaid.gov.au/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ NEW SITE THAT EXPLORES THE USE OF I.T. IN EDUCATION Info courtesy: The Commonwealth of Learning http://www.col.org TechKnowLogis is a new on-line resource for exploring the use of information technology in education. Free subscriptions available on the web-site. http://www.techknowlogia.org ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ WEB SITE FOR SCHOOL-FINISHING EXAMINEES Info courtesy: WebVisition wvision@bom3.vsnl.net.in IN A MOVE TO enhance the reach of secondary school education in India, the Bombay(Mumbai)-based image Macintosh Computer Academy is in the process of developing and hosting the country's first secondary educational portal. This portal is designed keeping in mind the tenth standard (school-leaving) student and will offer both standard and value added services. Visit http://www.sscindia.com Aspiring Indian students wanting to prepare for the prestigious IIT engineering degree courses can meanwhile visit the site below that gives information on all aspects of the IIT-JEE joint entrance exam. Visit http://www.itt-jee.8m.com ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ VIRTUAL VARSITY PLANNED FOR MEDICOS Info courtesy: The Hindustan Times, New Delhi MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS who are interested in continuing their studies but do not have the time to go back to school now have another option. If they cannot go to the classroom, the classroom is coming to them. A virtual university is being launched on the Internet in association with the Christian Medical College, Ludhiana (North India). ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DELHI CENTRE TO BE REPOSITORY FOR CDs LINKED TO INDIA Info courtesy: The Indian Express INDIA'S FEDERAL MINISTRY OF Science and Technology has picked the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) of Delhi as the National Collection Centre for CD-ROMs, published in India and on India, to act as a single window information service centre for India-related CDs. CD-ROMs on cricket, the Mahabharata, fine arts, patent applications, health and everything under the Indian sun will be available under one roof at the IIT in New Delhi. All one has to do is to walk into the IIT campus and head for its Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT) unit to use any CD-ROM you choose, at no extra cost. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ NEW ITrain INTERNET TRAINING MODULES FOR FREE IN CYBERSPACE Info courtesy: Katherine Morrow Three new ITrain Internet training modules are now available for free on the web. ITrain is a collection of Internet training materials for instructors and students. The materials offer an interactive approach, engaging students in the learning process and supporting instructors in the customization and planning of the courses. New courses are offered in (i) website construction (ii) effective internet searching and (iii) list facilitation. The documents can be downloaded in either PDF or Word formats. Feedback to Steve Song ssong@bellanet.org http://www.bellanet.org For the three new ITrain course modules, visit http://unganisha.idrc.ca/itrain/new_material.html ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ BASIC-NEEDS LIBRARY ON A CD http://www.oneworld.org/globalprojects/humcdrom offers a "basic needs library" with 1,240 publications, free online. The best description of the Humanity Libraries Project is: a low cost vaccination campaign against lack of knowledge similar to a universal polio vaccination. The Humanity Libraries Project offers a model for an information resource developed at low cost and made available to all for free or very low cost. This model is important because a huge "base" of essential knowledge has already been gathered and produced by the UN and World Bank, and other publicly funded agencies at very high subsidized cost by the international taxpayers, yet this knowledge is not being disseminated and combined as it should be. Individuals in Third World countries might also get a copy of the same on CD. Contact Dr Michael Loots ********************************************************** Frederick Noronha fred@vsnl.com Ph 27 14 90 or 27 86 83 From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Thu Feb 17 07:20:26 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id HAA86090; Thu, 17 Feb 2000 07:20:25 +1000 (EST) Received: from goa1.dot.net.in (goa1.dot.net.in [202.54.17.30]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id HAA86070 for ; Thu, 17 Feb 2000 07:20:19 +1000 (EST) Received: from goanews ([202.54.17.106]) by goa1.dot.net.in (8.9.2/8.9.2) with SMTP id CAA09163; Thu, 17 Feb 2000 02:51:39 +0530 (GMT) Message-Id: <3.0.6.32.20000217023012.007e4080@202.54.17.30> X-Sender: fred@202.54.17.30 X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.6 (32) Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 02:30:12 +0500 To: s-asia-it@apnic.net From: Frederick Noronha Subject: COMMSPHERE: Info about a meeting in India Cc: partha@drik.net Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk An interesting meeting in India. -FN "COMMSPHERE 2000" International Millennium Conference on "AFFORDABLE TELECOM AND IT SOLUTIONS FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES" February 28 - March 2, 2000 Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai 600 036, India. e-mail : commsphere@tenet.res.in http://www.tenet.res.in/commsphere/commsphere.html OBJECTIVE Accessibility to telecom and Internet network is fast becoming a major factor determining the competitiveness of an individual, group or society. Telecom and IT systems and solutions prevalent in the developed countries are not necessarily the best options for developing countries for making the network affordable and available to large sections of their people. The conference will focus on the needs of, and affordable solutions for, developing countries. Access to Internet is creating a new differentiator in society. Those who have access to the Internet have access to all kinds of information. It puts them in an advantageous position in society vis-a-vis others who do not have such access. Internet Access is built upon the basic telecom network. While the telecom infrastructure in advanced countries is well developed (with teledensity well above 50 per hundred population), allowing them to move rapidly towards universal telecom and Internet access, the infrastructure in most developing countries is totally inadequate. With the teledensity in most of these countries well below 10 per hundred population and many times even below 2 per 100 population, large-scale telecom and Internet access is possible only with large-scale expansion of telecom infrastructure. The problem is that the cost of building this infrastructure hovers around $1000 per line. Considering the high cost of finance (often touching 15%) in developing countries, and taking into account the cost of operation, maintenance and obsolescence, revenue of the order of US $300 per year will be required from each telephone line to break even. In most developing countries, US $300 per year for a telephone is affordable to less than 5% of the population. How then can one hope for the development of telecom infrastructure and look for even some semblance of universal Internet Access? What is required is lower cost infrastructure. Fortunately, over the last decade, optical fibre technology has already brought down the cost of the telecom backbone to a very modest level. With the separation of Access Nodes from the main exchange, the cost of the main exchange also amounts to a relatively small fraction of the total cost. It is, therefore, the access which dominates the cost today. The cost of the copper local loop, used over the last hundred years, is rising continuously. But even in the copper loop there have been a number of technological advancements. While technologies like HDSL, ADSL and VDSL push the data rate higher and higher on copper, it is now possible to share the copper loop between a large number of users, thereby reducing the costs. The Fibre Access network is another way by which cost of the local loop is being slashed. Further, the Wireless Local Loop is not only proving to be very cost effective, but also promises very rapid expansion, especially in small towns and rural areas. While there have been very significant advances in telecom-related science in recent decades, most of these in advanced countries have focussed on providing better services and greater bandwidth to the user. The requirement in developing countries is significantly different: to provide lower-cost basic access with a reasonable basket of important services such as Internet and voice communication. All the known techniques need to be harnessed to reduce the cost of telecom infrastructure to, say, $300 per line. Such an endeavour alone can make telecom and Internet services widely affordable in the developing countries. This conference will focus on technologies and innovations which could make this possible in a not too distant time-frame. The interconnection of computers spread over wide areas is the key to the growth of Information Technology. Low-cost innovative IT solutions are a must if IT is to make a mark beyond the top few percent of the population of developing countries. Hence non- conventional telecom, computer networking and IT solutions, that promise value-added services at significantly lower cost, will be explored at this conference. The conference will begin by examining the hierarchy of telecom needs of different developing countries and regions. It will then look at technological innovations required to fulfill these needs at an affordable price. In addition to examining the systems that would make telephone and Internet services widely available, the conference will examine ways of creating a multi-service network catering to education, health and various commercial needs of society. In this context, one would deliberate on a variety of access terminals required for different purposes. The conference will also dwell on manpower training in different countries to create, manage and maintain such a network. And finally, the conference will examine telecom regulation and policy issues that will make such low-cost telecom and IT solutions and wide accessibility possible. CALL FOR PAPERS The Steering Committee invites both original and review papers on areas given below: CONFERENCE SESSIONS 1. Hierarchy of Telecom & IT needs in different developing countries and regions 2. Recent Innovations in technologies and systems 3. Affordable Telecom and IT network 4. Multi-service networks - education, health 5. Innovations in access terminals and Software Components 6. Manpower needs for creating and operating networks in developing countries 7. Regulatory and policy issues. Manuscript for review should be submitted in four (4) A4 size sheets, typed in double space (1200 words), so as to reach at the earliest. TUTORIALS A number of Pre-conference tutorials, each for 4 hours, are planned to be held on Feb 28, 2000. The topics include: 1. Wireless Access 2. Fiber Access 3. xDSL Access 4. Access on Cable 5. Internet Networking 6. Network Operation and Management and 7. Communication Terminals VENDOR PRESENTATIONS Vendors who wish to present their products should send a short summary (limited to a maximum of 4 A4 Pages) for review. Reviewed and accepted products can be displayed at the conference venue in stalls of minimum size 10' x 10' made available by the organizers on payment basis. TIME FRAME FOR VARIOUS SCHEDULES Submission of camera-ready paper : January 1, 2000 Last date of pre-registration : January 1,2000 REGISTRATION FEE: * (for participants from India) ------------------------------------------------------ Programme General Academia Rs. Rs. ------------------------------------------------------ One Tutorial 1,500 750 session only Two Tutorial 3,000 1,500 sessions only Conference only 5,000 2,500 One Tutorial 6,000 3,000 session + Conference only Two Tutorial 7,000 3,500 sessions + Conference ------------------------------------------------------ * A limited number of partial fee waivers are available. Please indicate on the registration form if you wish to be considered for a waiver. REGISTRATION FORM Please write in block letters or type Name : E-mail : Address : I plan to attend : a) one tutorial session only b) two tutorial sessions only c) the conference only d) one tutorial session + conference only e) two tutorial sessions + conference (all four days) I am enclosing a Bank Draft for Rs. ........... drawn in favour of "Commsphere 2000 IITM 600 036" and payable at Chennai. I need accommodation at Hotel ..................................... I need accommodation at city Guest House : Yes/No I am accompanied by my spouse : Yes/No Signature Enclose an application for fee waiver, if needed, giving reasons. Strike out whichever is not applicable. **************************************************************** Please mail the registration form to: Prof. Ashok Jhunjhunwala COMMSPHERE 2000 Department of Electrical Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Chennai 600 036, INDIA. **************************************************************** ACCOMODATION Chennai (formerly Madras), the venue of the conference, has a large number of hotels of varying tariffs. In addition, discounts have been sought at select hotels to facilitate the delegates' stay. Accommodation can be arranged on specific request at the following hotels : ----------------------------------------------------------- Hotel Discounted Special Tariff / night ----------------------------------------------------------- Single A/C Double A/C Trident US $ 160 US $ 170 GRT Grand Days Rs.3040 Rs.3500 Savera Rs.2200 Rs.2750 President Rs.1500 Rs.1700 Shelter Rs.1450 Rs.1850 ----------------------------------------------------------- 1 US $ is approximately Rs.43/-. Accommodation can also be arranged at Guest Houses in the city where limited accommodation is available on first come first served basis. ********************************************************** Further Information on Commsphere2000 is available on the Website http://www.tenet.res.in/commsphere/commsphere.html ********************************************************** INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE Sam Pitroda, WorldTel UK (Co-Chair) Govind Swarup, TIFR, India (Co-Chair) W.A.Baan, NFRA, The Netherlands Bixio Rimoldi, Swiss FIT., Switzerland K.B.Chandrasekhar, Exodus Comm., USA T.Itoh, UCLA,USA Joe Shapira, Celletra Ltd., Israel Kenneth Keniston, MIT, USA H. Matsumoto, RASC, Japan M.G.K. Menon, IT Task Force, India A. Paulraj, Stanford University, USA Ramjee Prasad, Center For PersonKommunikation, Denmark Ray Stata, Analog Devices, USA Ryszard Struzak, Spectrum Management and Wireless Telecommunications URSI Working Group, Switzerland Sandeep Channakeshu, Ericsson, USA T.B.A. Senior, Univ. of Michigan, USA N.K. Sinha, Telecom Commission, India B.S.Sonde, University of Goa, Goa Tasmima Hossain, MP, Bangladesh Yash Pal, National Professor, India NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE Amitabh Kumar, VSNL, Mumbai Anurag Kumar, IISc, Bangalore Arun Jain, Polaris Software, Chennai S.C.Bhatnagar, IIM, Ahmedabad A. K. Chakravarti, DOE, New Delhi T.H.Chowdary, CTMS, Hyderabad Gautam Barua, IIT, Gawhati K.Gnanadesikan,ELCOT, Chennai K.N.Gupta, C-DoT, New Delhi P.V. Indiresan, INAE, New Delhi B.K.Jhawar, Usha Commns., Calcutta V.K. Koshy, BEL, Bangalore Lakshmi G.Menon, HTL, Chennai Mahendra Nahata, HFCL, New Delhi S.L. Maskara, IIT, Kharagpur Mohan Tambe, Innomedia Tech., Bangalore S.S.Motial, ITI, Bangalore C.R. Muthukrishnan, IIT, Chennai R. Narasimha, NIAS, Bangalore R. Natarajan, IIT, Chennai Nirmal Jain, Tata Infotech, Mumbai K.K.Nohria, Crompton Greaves, Mumbai M.V. Pitke, Axes Tech., Mumbai Rajiv Mehrotra, Shyam Telecom, New Delhi Rajiv C.Mody, Silicon Automation, Bangalore S. Ramani, NCST, Mumbai P. Rama Rao, ARM, Hyderabad V.H.Ron, ECIL, Hyderabad S.C.Sahashrabudhey, IIT, Mumbai Shamin Ahmad, CEERI, Pilani R.S.Sirohi, IIT, Chennai Surendra Prasad, IIT, New Delhi B.K. Syngal, Reliance, Mumbai Venkatrama Raja, RAMCO, Chennai Vishwanath Sinha, IIT, Kanpur N. Vittal, CVC, New Delhi Vijay P.Bhatkar, C-DAC, Pune Vinay Deshpande, NCORE, Bangalore B. Yegnanarayana, IIT, Chennai STEERING COMMITTEE Joe Shapira, Celletra Ltd., Israel (Co-Chair) Ashok Jhunjhunwala, IITM, India.(Co-Chair) G. O. Ajayi, O.A. Univ., Nigeria Arun Mehta, Indata Communications, India W.A.Baan, NFRA, The Netherlands Bijoy Chatterjee, Nat.Semicond., USA U.B. Desai, IITB, India Edmund Lien, BIE Co., China Govind Swarup, TIFR, India I.Kimura, Osaka Inst. Tech., Japan Kumar N.Sivarajan, IISc. India Mike Haidar, Analog Devices, USA S.M.Radicella, ICTP,Italy Rajiv Ramaswamy, Tellabs, USA N.Ravi, WorldTel, UK V.U. Reddy, IISc, India Samir Kallel, Omniacom, Tunisia Sangal Rajeev ,IIIT, India Sriram Jaisimha, Signion Sys., India All correspondence may be addressed to: Prof. Ashok Jhunjhunwala, Convener, COMMSPHERE 2000, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai - 600 036, INDIA email:commsphere@tenet.res.in Telefax: +91-44 235-2120 Ph : +91-44 235-2120/445 8414/ 445 8366/4909048. --- Original author of this message: Frederick Noronha Visit our GK2 Program Worksite at: http://gk2.globalknowledge.org/ # *********************************************************** # frederick noronha, freelance journalist, fred@goa1.dot.net.in # near convent, saligao 403511 goa india ph 0091.832.271490 or 278683 # *********************************************************** # BytesForAll http://www.bytesforall.org # News from Goa http://www.goacom.com/news/ # Photos from Goa http://www.goa-world.net/fotofolio/ # GoaResearchNet http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/1503 # *********************************************************** From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Thu Feb 17 16:52:59 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id QAA126343; Thu, 17 Feb 2000 16:52:58 +1000 (EST) Received: from fh105.infi.net (fh105.infi.net [209.97.16.35]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id QAA126336 for ; Thu, 17 Feb 2000 16:52:54 +1000 (EST) Received: from akron.infi.net (AKRNB102-29.splitrock.net [209.156.82.29]) by fh105.infi.net (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id BAA11808; Thu, 17 Feb 2000 01:50:59 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <38AB9A58.128A1FC5@akron.infi.net> Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 01:51:05 -0500 From: Bob Pyke Jr X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.04 [en] (Win95; U) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: BCS-Devel CC: "cii.webmaster" , Irfan , Jim , Press Room , Ramesh , senator_dewine , senatorlott , Sugata , South Asia List , Wadi , waoe-views , Tireless Tripathi Subject: [Fwd: Profiting in quality, not quantity - Red Herring Red Eye, 2/17/2000] Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="------------7DDB8F423936C4E284E898E0" Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --------------7DDB8F423936C4E284E898E0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Fyi, Bob Pyke Jr --------------7DDB8F423936C4E284E898E0 Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Return-Path: Received: from nigiri.redherring.com (firewall-user@nigiri.redherring.com [209.117.122.46]) by fh105.infi.net (8.8.8/8.8.8) with SMTP id XAA30574 for ; Wed, 16 Feb 2000 23:39:40 -0500 (EST) Received: (qmail 7617 invoked by uid 100); 17 Feb 2000 04:36:36 -0000 Date: 17 Feb 2000 04:36:36 -0000 Message-ID: <20000217043636.7616.qmail@nigiri.redherring.com> To: "Bob Pyke Jr" From: The Red Eye Subject: Profiting in quality, not quantity - Red Herring Red Eye, 2/17/2000 Reply-To: mlm-redeye@nigiri.redherring.com Precedence: bulk X-Addr: repyke@akron.infi.net This Red Eye lives at http://www.redherring.com/insider/2000/0217/tech-redeye021700.html ------------------------------------------------------------ A D V E R T I S E M E N T AUCTIONS AND EXCHANGES FOR B2B ECOMMERCE Learn more about the largest growth area for eCommerce. Discover how easy it is to create and deploy online auctions, reverse auctions and bid/ask exchanges using the Ariba Market Suite. Get a free white paper at: http://www.ariba.com/corp/rh/0126 A D V E R T I S E M E N T ------------------------------------------------------------ PROFITING IN QUALITY, NOT QUANTITY This week, the Red Eye met with the CEO of an exciting nonprofit company, OpNet. With the intent of bridging the digital divide, CEO Dan Geiger and Netnoir CEO E. David Ellington founded OpNet in 1997 to help low-income young adults break into the high-tech world. Since then, the company has created a superior training program that provides people between the ages of 18 and 25 with the necessary design, programming, and multimedia skills to work in the new economy. OpNet has since trained 115 students, provided them with paid internships, and placed over 50 percent in jobs after completion of the internship. Please read on to learn more about the amazing things OpNet is doing and how you can help. I look forward to your feedback. -- Tony Perkins PREVIOUS RED EYE * Davos dispatch No. 5 http://www.redherring.com/insider/2000/0214/tech-redeye021400.html ------------------------------------------------------------ A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH In a not-so-impressive building on a not-so-impressive block of Mission Street in San Francisco, 15 students of differing races and ages are engaged in some pretty impressive things. These students not only have been chosen from a group of 50 to participate in an intensive five-week Web design and job readiness workshop that has the potential to change their lives, but they also have overcome many things just to get to the classroom. Whether it's a 22-year-old single mother of three or a 19-year-old boy who carries the financial burden for his mother, his brother, and his sister, these students have the motivation and drive to succeed in a program that doesn't take excuses. Dan Geiger, CEO of OpNet, started the company in 1997 along with chairman E. David Ellington with the mission of creating skilled new-media employees out of individuals who continuously have been left out of the talent pool. Mr. Geiger and company have recruited low-income young adults by using a variety of resources, including community organizations, local radio advertising, and student referrals, and some they have taken directly from the streets. The latter was the case with Adam Turner, a 23- year-old that was working as a shoe shiner on the streets of San Francisco. After completing his OpNet training program, Mr. Turner is interning part-time for local restaurant Plumpjack, building their intranet, as well as teaching part-time for OpNet. He just received a call for a second interview from San Francisco-based Quokka Sports, and he is hoping for a programming job with the firm. "If it wasn't for OpNet, I'd still be shining shoes," says Mr. Turner. "Computers are the future, if you don't know how to use them, you are not going anywhere." But OpNet is ensuring that their students do go somewhere. Beyond teaching HTML, CGI, Photoshop, and other multimedia programs and languages, OpNet also spends a significant amount of time on teamwork and conflict resolution as well as interviewing, resume-writing, and other so-called "soft skills." "Ask anyone, and they will tell you that knowing HTML is about 25 percent of the equation," says Mr. Geiger. "It's your attitude and ability to cope in a team environment which is most important. What you find are a lot of life crises that disrupt people's lives -- from childcare, potential eviction, or not having a place to live. We provide direct financial subsidies for people to help them with these emergency situations." ------------------------------------------------------------ A D V E R T I S E M E N T HELP DESIGN NEW ECOMMERCE MARKET INTELLIGENCE PRODUCTS! Our client is developing innovative products that give new insight into online shopping behavior across the Web. Provide us your input via the 3 minute survey URL below and we will send you a $10 gift certificate to Greatfood.com! http://www.inquisiteonline.com/2TP0Y9/ A D V E R T I S E M E N T ------------------------------------------------------------ OpNet's philosophy is to invest in these people, show them they can "do it," and help them succeed. The program has been tremendously successful, with company requests for internships far outweighing the supply of students. Additionally, OpNet has established a college scholarship fund and is looking to expand the program to other parts of the San Francisco Bay Area and throughout the country. And much to Mr. Geiger's surprise, the desire to be a part of this innovative program has become contagious. OpNet is considering setting up a consulting division, as they have received many requests from the technology industry to set up similar programs within companies that will help bridge the digital divide. However, they are far from achieving all the goals they have set out to accomplish. OpNet still needs financial support if they are to build up their scholarship program and expand their operations. As well, volunteers are needed within the industry to help tutor, mentor or provide guest presentations. The digital divide is only going to cause bigger social and economic issues within our economy. The quality of public education is not improving the situation, either. Although most of the students at OpNet have their high-school diploma, most are still deficient in reading, writing, and math. "One of the biggest problems we see is the low level of education skills people come here with. It's very discouraging," says Mr. Geiger. Until we can overhaul the entire education system, at least OpNet is here to train the motivated in how to succeed in this new, exciting economy. If you are interested in more information from OpNet, please see their Web site at www.opnetwork.org. ------------------------------------------------------------ Discuss today's column in the Red Eye column discussion in our Think Tank forum at: http://boards.redherring.com/WebX?13@^16282@.ee6c50c. Or visit the forums home page at: http://www.redherring.com/boards/. ------------------------------------------------------------ Mark your calendars for Red Herring events! Venture Market South - February 29-March 1, 2000 Atlanta GA Venture 2000 - May 1-3, 2000 - Lake Tahoe CA Venture Market Europe - May 31-June 1, 2000 - London, UK Herring on Hollywood - August 1-2, 2000 - Los Angeles CA Venture Market East - September 26-27, 2000 - Cambridge MA NDA 2000 - October 29-31, 2000 - Carlsbad CA http://www.redherring.com/events/ ------------------------------------------------------------ The Internet Bubble: Inside the overvalued world of high-tech stocks and what you need to know to avoid the coming shakeout. This insider book by Anthony B. Perkins & Michael C. Perkins and published by Harperbusiness is on bookshelves now. Red Eye readers may order The Internet Bubble at a 30 percent discount through Barnesandnoble.com: http://shop.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?mscssid=FA7PG5G68VS12JM60017QJ1W7MR97NR7&sourceid=00003726640210192565&bfdate=07%2D28%2D1999+18%3A24%3A55&pcount=0&srefer=&isbn=0066640008 The book is also available at a 30 percent discount through Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0066640008/qid=933014298/sr=1-2/002-8041654-2311246 ------------------------------------------------------------ Get a FREE issue of RED HERRING magazine! Try a RISK-FREE issue and stay on the cutting edge of technology. If you decide to subscribe, you'll pay only $29 for a total of 12 issues and SAVE 52 percent off the cover price! New subscribers only, please. https://www.redherring.com/service/circ/subs_WB.html ------------------------------------------------------------ COMMENTS? Please send your comments to Nicole Sperling, a regular contributor to the Red Eye, at nsperling@redherring.com. ------------------------------------------------------------ To unsubscribe or change the way you receive The Red Eye, go to: http://www.redherring.com/mail You may also unsubscribe by replying to this email with the word "unsubscribe" in the SUBJECT field of your reply. ------------------------------------------------------------ (c) Red Herring Communications ------------------------------------------------------------ This copy delivered to (repyke@akron.infi.net). --------------7DDB8F423936C4E284E898E0-- From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Fri Feb 18 02:50:27 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id CAA105428; Fri, 18 Feb 2000 02:50:26 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id CAA105413 for ; Fri, 18 Feb 2000 02:50:20 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 ([203.130.7.202]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id VAA23768 for ; Thu, 17 Feb 2000 21:50:17 -0500 Message-Id: <200002180250.VAA23768@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 21:51:08 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: [India] Satyam to Install Net Kiosks at Gas Stations X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk Satyam to Install Net Kiosks at Gas Stations [February 17--MUMBAI] Satyam Infoway, India's largest private ISP (Nasdaq: SIFY), is planning to set up cyber kiosks in gas stations across the country. Full Story>> http://asia.internet.com/2000/2/1704-satyam.html From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Fri Feb 18 02:50:29 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id CAA105432; Fri, 18 Feb 2000 02:50:28 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id CAA105414 for ; Fri, 18 Feb 2000 02:50:20 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 ([203.130.7.202]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id VAA23761 for ; Thu, 17 Feb 2000 21:50:13 -0500 Message-Id: <200002180250.VAA23761@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 21:51:08 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: [India] IT schools 2000 Project X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk IT schools 2000 Project-A Joint Initiative by the Ministry of Human Resources and Development, Government of India and UNESCO With the arrival of the new millennium, India is currently at a crossroads vis-a-vis the use of technology in Education. There exist myriad opinions about which are the next steps to take, and it is incumbent upon the government to perform a survey, and examine the work done by various state governments and other bodies in the process of formulating a codified policy on the treatment of IT in education. The IT Schools 2000 Project is a path-breaking initiative, the chief purpose of which is to encourage a transparent, direct, and an exhaustive exchange of ideas between different sections of the education fraternity, the government and the general community regarding the future role of information technology and communications in schools in India. The Project envisages the convening of a series of workshops on Information and Communications Technology in Schools in selected locations all over India. [Source: indev E-mail Digest (15 Feb 2000); http://www.indev.nic.in ] From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Sat Feb 19 18:37:54 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id SAA135277; Sat, 19 Feb 2000 18:37:53 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk ([203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id SAA68291 for ; Sat, 19 Feb 2000 18:37:48 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-035.super.net.pk [203.130.5.174]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id NAA07939 for ; Sat, 19 Feb 2000 13:46:31 -0500 Message-Id: <200002191846.NAA07939@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 13:38:48 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: Universal Networking Language Programme (UNLP) X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk [the following is from the UNLP's website. the list of languages covered include hindi and english, two languages that are widely spoken/understood in south asia. the project's imapct will be, no doubt, far reaching. ik] Universal Networking Language Programme (UNLP) The aim of the UNL programme is to provide an infrastructure for communication with the Universal Networking Language (UNL). The UNL is an electronic language for the Internet, which enables people from around the world to communicate in their native languages. It is a software system that will reside on the Internet, and will be compatible with standard network browsers. Once the system is fully developed, any person with access to the Internet will be able to "enconvert" text from a range of native languages into UNL. Conversely, any UNL text can be "deconverted" into native languages. The UNL would bring potential benefits to citizens, scholars, business, media, government and non-governmental organizations across linguistic barriers and in a variety of situations. In particular, it can be very useful tool for interpreters and translators. The initial stage of UNL involves the development of modules for 15 languages: the six official languages of the United Nations, Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. The other ten are: German, Hindi, Italian, Indonesian, Japanese, Latvian, Mongol, Portuguese and Thai. In 2000, public services for these languages are planned to start. By 2002, UNL services will be extended to all the languages of EU member states, and by 2006, to all the languages of the whole 185 member states of the UN. The UNL is being developed by Institute of Advanced Studies of UNU (UNU/IAS) in cooperation with research groups from around the world. http://www.unl.ias.unu.edu/ From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Sat Feb 19 18:37:56 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id SAA135278; Sat, 19 Feb 2000 18:37:55 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id SAA68286 for ; Sat, 19 Feb 2000 18:37:42 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-035.super.net.pk [203.130.5.174]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id NAA07942 for ; Sat, 19 Feb 2000 13:46:35 -0500 Message-Id: <200002191846.NAA07942@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 13:38:48 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: [Pakistan] Export Board working on software national policy framework X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk Export Board working on software national policy framework ISLAMABAD (February 18) : Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) is working to develop and implement a national policy framework for software and related services industry, promote software exports, and make a match between local and foreign software companies. The board is also developing technical assistance programmes with the World Bank, IFC, GTZ, Protrade, CBI and other foreign donor agencies to develop Pakistani software industry. The major functions of PSEB are: To act as one-stop shop to cater to all needs of a software house or software company for setting up or facilitating its business. To plan, develop and execute a technical assistance programme for computer training institutions as part of its institutional strengthening exercise. To plan, develop and execute Software Technology Parks (STP) scheme and provide office space, international data communication links as well as uninterrupted electric power to software houses and companies set up in these parks. PSEB is facilitating development of a computer training institute with the Export Promotion Bureau's export development fund that will induct graduate engineers and train them as software engineers in a short span of time. The functions also include developing and executing a marketing plan to help local software houses and companies reach out to potential clients abroad, to attract and facilitate foreign software firms to establish their software development facilities in Pakistan. In addition, the board is entrusted with the responsibility to facilitate projects between Pakistani educational institutions and the computer industry to bridge the gap between academia and the industry.--PPI http://www.brecorder.com/story/S0011/S1102/S1102101.htm From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Sat Feb 19 18:37:58 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id SAA68328; Sat, 19 Feb 2000 18:37:57 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id SAA68288 for ; Sat, 19 Feb 2000 18:37:43 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-035.super.net.pk [203.130.5.174]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id NAA07945 for ; Sat, 19 Feb 2000 13:46:37 -0500 Message-Id: <200002191846.NAA07945@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 13:38:48 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: [India] Nascent net service sector wants infrastructure status X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk Nascent net service sector wants infrastructure status Harshad Oke MUMBAI 17 FEBRUARY IT IS an industry which is just 13 months old, but is already clamouring to be recognised as a key infrastructure industry. The internet industry in India, currently made up of 175 licensed internet service providers (ISPs), may still be in its diapers, but wants to be taken much more seriously. Consider this: Between August '95 and December '98, VSNL, the only ISP, had signed up 2.5 lakh subscribers. This number is now expected to touch 6.5 lakh by the end of the current financial year and nearly 50 ISPs are offering connectivity to Cyberia. Cause for cheer? Some, but a lot more needs to be done. The growth may seem explosive, but for a country with an installed PC base of nearly 4m, the figures are pretty low. Also, for internet to be a truly national phenomenon, there is a need for some policy rationalisation. For instance, out of the 175 licensed ISPs, nearly 60 per cent are "Category C" ISPs who offer connectivity in a single location, while another 25 per cent are regional ISPs and only 15 per cent hope to have a national presence. The smaller ISPs are somewhat hampered in their growth ambitions because of a duty structure which appears to be somewhat lopsided. For instance, VSAT, radio trunking and basic and cellular telecom operators pay a basic customs duty rate of 5 per cent and an effective duty rate of 21.8 per cent on hardware imports. On the other hand, ISPs have to pay a basic rate of 35 per cent and an effective customs duty rate of nearly 61 per cent to import equipment like routers, ATM switches, frame relay switches, high speed modems and cable modems. Says Amitabh Kumar, director (operations) VSNL, "The country can do well if the budget gives an exemption in customs duty on hardware use in the field of IT communications and media. This will bring down the high cost of high-end servers, routers and production equipment for animation and media to global levels. Today, these rates are around 150 per cent of those prevailing in some of the other Asian countries which are competing with companies in India." The genesis for this argument is to be found in the revenue models for ISPs globally. In the US and some other parts of the world, subscribers pay nothing or a very small fee to access the net. The ISPs subsidise the cost of offering connectivity through advertising and e-commerce revenues which are still sorely lacking in India. Though internet access rates are falling, they still hover around the Rs 5,000 mark for a 500-hour account. Add to it the local telephony charge (which works out close to Rs 28 an hour in Mumbai and Delhi), and the cost becomes prohibitive. What compounds the matter further is the low bandwidth and lower quality levels. Consider: India has a total of 165 mbps of bandwidth which is expected to rise to 300 mbps in the next 12 months, which compares poorly with Malaysia which alone can pump 5.5 gbps of data. In terms of revenue, it has been accepted globally that advertising alone is not enough to cover costs and an ISP needs stable e-commerce billings to make profits. For that to happen, there is an urgent need for the internet to penetrate homes either through a PC or through other devices such as televisions. Said Mr Kumar, "One reason for the growth and proliferation of TVs in India - around 55m - is the significantly lower cost compared to a PC. It would be desirable to drop duties on components and hardware used for manufacturing PCs, modems and other access devices for the industry to grow." Though some argue that there is a need to restrict duty cuts to just PCs as a means of internet access device, the greater need is to slash duties on cable modems which are currently charged an effective rate of nearly 61 per cent. Currently, a cable modem costs around Rs 15,000, which puts it beyond the reach of many. It's not as if the potential for e-commerce is bleak. According to a survey done by Nasscom (National Association of Software and Service Companies), e- commerce revenues for the current financial year are pegged at Rs 300 crore. But by '04, Nasscom expects this figure to rise to a phenomenal Rs 10,000 crore. For that to happen, most ISPs need to invest heavily in setting up and expanding their networks which might prove difficult for small ISPs. Though Satyam Infoway, the first private sector ISP to launch its services and list on the Nasdaq, may be a shining star on the ISP horizon, smaller ISPs are restricted in funding options. As a result, the ISP Association of India is making a strong case to allow ISPs to issue tax-free bonds, under Section 10(23)G of the Income Tax Act, to raise long-term finance. The association is also making representations for the industry to be considered as an infrastructure sector and be treated at par with telecom services. http://www.economictimes.com/today/18indu04.htm From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Sun Feb 20 16:39:38 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id QAA138897; Sun, 20 Feb 2000 16:39:36 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (post.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id QAA138893 for ; Sun, 20 Feb 2000 16:39:29 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-095.super.net.pk [203.130.5.234]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id LAA06065 for ; Sun, 20 Feb 2000 11:48:13 -0500 Message-Id: <200002201648.LAA06065@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 03:04:51 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: [India] Nasscom Ponders Cyber Cop Force X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk Nasscom Ponders Cyber Cop Force By Hari Menon India Correspondent, asia.internet.com [February 18, 2000--MUMBAI] Recent hacker attacks on popular Web sites such as Yahoo, Amazon and eBay have prompted India's National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) to consider setting up a national 'Cyber Cop' organization to help protect Indian government agencies and companies against the menace. NASSCOM, India's largest body of IT companies whose 570 members account for nearly 95 percent of the revenues of the Indian software industry, has decided to work towards bringing together Indian software companies in an attempt to thwart hackers. Anti-hacking services may be offered to international companies as well. "We think there's business worth US$500 million out there," admitted NASSCOM president Dewang Mehta with candor. "India has the skills to counter this kind of hacking but the people are isolated and spread out," said Mehta. "What we aim to do is to create a single resource," he explained, emphasizing that outsourcing cyber security is not very different from outsourcing real-world security. "Indian companies can easily maintain cyber vigilance over Web sites," Mehta said, commenting that the attack on Yahoo could have been checked if there was a cyber cop posted on the site. The beauty of the Internet is such that such services can be done from a remote location, he added. Mehta said that it was imperative to strengthen cyber security in India, referring to last year's instance when a group calling itself 'milw0rm' hacked into the Web site of the Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC) in Mumbai. India's national cyber cop committee will draw experts from the IT industry, as well as representatives from agencies such as the police. The first meeting is expected to be held on March 1, and recommendatory guidelines would follow soon. A recent survey by NASSCOM had shown that even IT-intensive Indian companies spend less than 0.1 percent of their revenue in addressing security issues, in contrast to countries like the US, where this figure is around 5 percent. The U.S. government is expected to set aside around US$2 billion for Internet security in the new budget, though this may be directed largely towards protecting government security and defense agencies. http://asia.internet.com/2000/2/1803-nasscom.html From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Tue Feb 22 12:40:36 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id MAA153996; Tue, 22 Feb 2000 12:40:35 +1000 (EST) Received: from guardian.apnic.net (guardian.apnic.net [203.37.255.100]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id MAA153988 for ; Tue, 22 Feb 2000 12:40:33 +1000 (EST) Received: (from mail@localhost) by guardian.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id MAA09846 for ; Tue, 22 Feb 2000 12:40:16 +1000 (EST) Received: from hadrian.staff.apnic.net(192.168.1.1) by int-gw.staff.apnic.net via smap (V2.1) id xma009839; Tue, 22 Feb 00 12:40:14 +1000 Received: from wilson (wrk-8.staff.apnic.net [192.168.1.71]) by hadrian.staff.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with SMTP id MAA25956 for ; Tue, 22 Feb 2000 12:40:10 +1000 (EST) From: "Paul Wilson" To: Subject: FW: NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS UNTIL MARCH 31, 2000 Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 12:40:10 +1000 Message-ID: <009101bf7cde$231f21d0$4701a8c0@wilson.staff.apnic.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook 8.5, Build 4.71.2173.0 Importance: Normal X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3 Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk -----Original Message----- From: Maria Lee-Hoon NG [mailto:MNG@idrc.org.sg] Sent: Tuesday, 22 February 2000 12:00 To: PANALL-cl@pan.idrc.org.sg Subject: NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS UNTIL MARCH 31, 2000 PAN ASIA NETWORKING R&D GRANTS PROGRAMME NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS UNTIL MARCH 31, 2000 The PROGRAMME The Pan Asia R&D Grants Programme has the objective of building research capacity in the developing countries of Asia in the area of Internet networking. It is directed at encouraging original and innovative networking solutions to development problems in Asia. Grants for research and development projects are available to Asia-based organizations on a competitive basis. Preference is given to projects that focus on practical solutions to real problems in Internet technology applications and policies. FUNDING The Pan Asia R&D Grants Programme is for project funding only, and may not be accessed to cover core or recurrent funding needs. Two types of grants are available: project grants for a maximum of $75,000 CAD and small grants for a maximum of $15,000 CAD . Funds are provided by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada. The Programme is overseen by a Committee established by IDRC and administered by the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) on behalf of IDRC. HOW TO APPLY FOR GRANTS For further details and information on proposal submissions and grant applications, please visit the Pan Asia R&D Grants Programme Web site: http://www.panasia.org.sg/ From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Tue Feb 22 15:53:17 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id PAA155632; Tue, 22 Feb 2000 15:53:16 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (smtp-khi1.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id PAA155626 for ; Tue, 22 Feb 2000 15:53:00 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-136.super.net.pk [203.130.5.71]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id LAA22648 for ; Tue, 22 Feb 2000 11:01:39 -0500 Message-Id: <200002221601.LAA22648@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 10:53:53 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: FW: information on community projects in India X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk ------- Forwarded message follows ------- From: "Arun Mehta" To: "india-gii" , "s-asia-it" Subject: FW: information on community projects in India Date: Sun, 20 Feb 2000 10:15:49 +0530 Could someone help? Arun Mehta, B-69, Lajpat Nagar-I, New Delhi-110024. Phone 6841172, 6849103 http://www.cerfnet.com/~amehta -----Original Message----- From: spartan@slt.lk [mailto:spartan@slt.lk] Sent: 19 February 2000 13:45 To: amehta@cerfnet.com Subject: information on community projects in India Dear Sir, We are students from the University of Colombo,Sri Lanka.We are doing a project on "taking IT and internet to the rural areas".While surfing through the WEB we came across some article on internet projects in India.In Sri Lanka there is a similar project at Kirana.We would like to know about some Indian projects which are in existence in rural areas which provide IT and internet services to the community. We would be obliged if you could give some information on these project or direct us to a few web sites hosted by the people responsible for such projects.We need information on the following:- *whether these project involves taking internet to the community *The advantages of these project *the costs involved in setting up such a project *the problem encountered while setting up such a project *whether the community was interested or whether they were indifferent to the project.whether the people make use of the talk-back facilities. *how does these project survive-are there any income generating strategies available?Or do they totally rely on the Govt? *what kind of technologies are used in these project-such as satellite links,Radio links,dial-up etc. *costs encountered in setting up satellite link and stations *any future plans of expansion I would appreciate it if you could give information on the above queries. Thanking you, Your's sincerely, Sudharshana ------- End of forwarded message ------- From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Tue Feb 22 17:19:02 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id RAA156348; Tue, 22 Feb 2000 17:19:01 +1000 (EST) Received: from goa1.dot.net.in (goa1.dot.net.in [202.54.17.30]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id RAA156344 for ; Tue, 22 Feb 2000 17:18:43 +1000 (EST) Received: from goanews ([202.54.17.101]) by goa1.dot.net.in (8.9.2/8.9.2) with SMTP id MAA29406 for ; Tue, 22 Feb 2000 12:49:57 +0530 (GMT) Message-Id: <3.0.6.32.20000222104212.007d7d80@202.54.17.30> X-Sender: fred@202.54.17.30 (Unverified) X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.6 (32) Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 10:42:12 +0500 To: s-asia-it@apnic.net From: Frederick Noronha Subject: LINKS: Some intereting law sites... Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk Some law-related sites, courtesy The Times of India (Feb 20, 2000) http://www.lexsite.com http://www.nic.in/lawmin http://www.lawinc.com http://www.orbitinfo.com http://www.law.indiainfo.com http://www.indiaip.com http://www.indiaconnect.com/lawdate http://www.allindia.com/gov/ministry/law http://www.supremecourtonline.com http://www.supremecourtofindia.com http://www.indiainfoline.com http://www.yoursfriendly.com http://www.findlaw.com From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Wed Feb 23 00:01:24 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id AAA158782; Wed, 23 Feb 2000 00:01:23 +1000 (EST) Received: from mx.super.net.pk (smtp-khi1.super.net.pk [203.130.2.10]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id AAA158779 for ; Wed, 23 Feb 2000 00:01:16 +1000 (EST) Received: from excel586 (khi-line-125.super.net.pk [203.130.5.125]) by mx.super.net.pk (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id TAA03553 for ; Tue, 22 Feb 2000 19:01:24 +0500 (GMT+0500) Message-Id: <200002221401.TAA03553@mx.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 19:02:06 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: (Fwd) ThinkQuest Pakistan X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk ------- Forwarded message follows ------- From: ThinkQuest Pakistan Subject: ThinkQuest Pakistan We are all trying to make Internet a healthy learning experience for our children. For this purpose, we have a collective responsibility towards giving a direction to the young people of Pakistan. Towards this end, we would like to bring your attention to ThinkQuest international competition. This is a terrific Web design competition (with no strings attached!) for young people between the ages of 12 to 19. The prizes totaled over US$ 1 Million paid out to the students as scholarships as well as to the coaches, schools, etc. This is not merely a Web designing competition but a learning experience, as the subjects range widely and so do the interests and background of the participants. The Web pages put up by students from over 70 countries are really wonderful and are sometimes better than what professional make. Last year, there were over 3465 participants but only 5 from Pakistan! The target is to have at least 50 teams and 300 participants this year - let us really put Pakistan on the Internet map! We have already started the process of reaching out to schools and children. Some Internet and computer magazines are also giving space and coverage (i.e. Spider and NetXpress and more are coming on line!) to have a maximum outreach. If you are interested in taking part in the competition or volunteering to become a coach for the participants, please visit our website www.thinkquest.org.pk or mail us at info@thinkquest.org.pk Regards ThinkQuest Pakistan ------- End of forwarded message ------- From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Wed Feb 23 03:32:55 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id DAA160112; Wed, 23 Feb 2000 03:32:54 +1000 (EST) Received: from mx.super.net.pk (smtp-khi1.super.net.pk [203.130.2.10]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id DAA160109 for ; Wed, 23 Feb 2000 03:32:46 +1000 (EST) Received: from excel586 (khi-line-042.super.net.pk [203.130.5.181]) by mx.super.net.pk (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id WAA10596 for ; Tue, 22 Feb 2000 22:32:01 +0500 (GMT+0500) Message-Id: <200002221732.WAA10596@mx.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 22:32:19 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: [India] We must seize opportunities of knowledge revolution: PM X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk We must seize opportunities of knowledge revolution: PM New Delhi 21 FEBRUARY PRIME minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today said the country needs to generate globally marketable knowledge assets by internationalising the "Made in India" brand for opportunities provided by the "knowledge revolution." Cautioning scientists that the country should not miss it, he said knowledge-based industries could hasten India's transformation into a developed nation. "We need to make certain that the `knowledge revolution' does not bypass us as the industrial revolution did," the prime minister said after presenting the 1998 amd 1999 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar awards, the nation's highest award in science, to 21 scientists. Knowledge-based industries, which are linked to advanced technology and research and development, constitute the single most important factor which can hasten India's progress into the group of developed countries, the prime minister said. He said he hoped the task force on pharmaceuticals and knowledge-based industries under the chairmanship of science minister Murli Manohar Joshi would provide a blueprint for India's transformation into a "knowledge power." - Agencies http://www.economictimes.com/today/22tech01.htm From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Wed Feb 23 03:33:06 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id DAA160129; Wed, 23 Feb 2000 03:33:05 +1000 (EST) Received: from mx.super.net.pk (smtp-khi1.super.net.pk [203.130.2.10]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id DAA160125 for ; Wed, 23 Feb 2000 03:32:58 +1000 (EST) Received: from excel586 (khi-line-042.super.net.pk [203.130.5.181]) by mx.super.net.pk (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id WAA15883; Tue, 22 Feb 2000 22:33:08 +0500 (GMT+0500) Message-Id: <200002221733.WAA15883@mx.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 22:32:20 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: Gordimer on literature and the internet CC: AFRIK-IT@listserv.heanet.ie X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk [from an interview with Nobel Prize-winning author Nadine Gordimer that appeared in The Atlantic, and Atlantic Unbound. full text at http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/interviews/ba2000-02-09.htm ] What sort of future do you see for literature on the Internet? Only two percent of the people on the whole continent of Africa have computers. So if the future of literature is going to be on the Internet, it doesn't look too good, does it? Obviously one can't turn one's back on the development of communications -- for many purposes it's very important. But how can there be talk of globalization in a cultural sense, when on an entire continent only two percent of the population have computers (and, I might add, that two percent is mainly in my own country, because it happens to be the most highly developed)? So I think the battle of the word against the image needs to continue being waged. Of course there are words on the Internet and on TV, but I mean the word in the sense of the written word on the page that you can take anywhere and ponder over -- turn the page back, look again. This is what books can give people that no other medium can. Books are there to be held in the hand and taken and read anywhere. You don't need an expensive machine to access them. You don't need electricity. You just need a library, yes, to go and take the book out of, and then you can go and sit somewhere on the grass, you can take it to bed. The book is the most portable, accessible, and intimate form of culture, information, and illumination -- illumination being the most important of all. ------------------------------------------------------------------ From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Wed Feb 23 03:36:46 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id DAA100774; Wed, 23 Feb 2000 03:36:45 +1000 (EST) Received: from mx.super.net.pk (smtp-khi1.super.net.pk [203.130.2.10]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id DAA160143 for ; Wed, 23 Feb 2000 03:33:42 +1000 (EST) Received: from excel586 (khi-line-042.super.net.pk [203.130.5.181]) by mx.super.net.pk (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id WAA24270 for ; Tue, 22 Feb 2000 22:31:41 +0500 (GMT+0500) Message-Id: <200002221731.WAA24270@mx.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 22:32:19 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: Lotus plans to launch Hindi version of Smart Suite X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk Lotus plans to launch Hindi version of Smart Suite Sharad Goel NEW DELHI 21 FEBRUARY ALL the leading IT companies of the world are involved in an intense race to provide Hindi-enabled software. After Microsoft, it is now Lotus Development Corporation, the software subsidiary of the $88bn IBM, that has decided to launch its products - Smart Suite, Lotus Domino and Lotus Notes - with local language compatibility features, starting with Hindi. Lotus Smart Suite, competing in the office productivity space with Microsoft's `Office 2000' and Sun's `Star Office' - is not yet Indian local language-enabled but the company has tied up with a few Indian software developers to develop the Hindi-enabled version of this software. Microsoft launched its local language-enabled operating system - Windows 2000 - recently and has plans to ship its Hindi- enabled office productivity tool - MS Word in MS Office 2000 - in March this year. Smart Suite, that is bundled with IBM's via-voice, the voice recognition software, enjoys a 33 per cent market share in the Indian market and the company hopes to increase its market share with its Hindi version that is scheduled to be launched this year. Peter Goh, managing director, Lotus Development Corporation (Asean and India) said the company has decided to make all its software products Hindi-enabled and is presently at the beta testing stage for its softwares. "Local language compatibility has become an important element in our software products and we have decided to introduce this - starting with Hindi - in our products. These products will be available by the end of this year," said Mr Goh. Local language compatibility of Lotus Domino and Lotus Notes, the collaborative application and integrated messaging and web application software platform, would enable users to implement workflow, intranet, and email in local languages. "Companies would be able to develop intranet applications like leave and travel requisitions, CRM applications, help desk applications etc in their local language. "We feel this compatibility with local languages would further improve the acceptability and usability of the product in the Asian market. We would be keen to tie up with other companies that can bundle computer-based training material with our products," said Mr Goh. http://www.economictimes.com/today/22tech06.htm From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Wed Feb 23 03:40:22 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id DAA100989; Wed, 23 Feb 2000 03:40:21 +1000 (EST) Received: from mx.super.net.pk (smtp-khi1.super.net.pk [203.130.2.10]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id DAA160197 for ; Wed, 23 Feb 2000 03:39:51 +1000 (EST) Received: from excel586 (khi-line-042.super.net.pk [203.130.5.181]) by mx.super.net.pk (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id WAA02325 for ; Tue, 22 Feb 2000 22:32:19 +0500 (GMT+0500) Message-Id: <200002221732.WAA02325@mx.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 22:32:20 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: Crypto Law Survey: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk [the following has been taken from the "Crypto Law Survey" webpage which is maintained by Bert-Jaap Koops. the survey tries to cover i) Export/ import controls, ii) Domestic laws and regulations, and iii) Developments to restrict cryptography. note that neither all south asian countries have been covered, nor all questions have been answered. Koops has plans to update the page by May 2000; those having information may contact him. i will also post similar info from EPIC's Cryptographic Policy survey. irfan] This is a survey of existing and proposed laws and regulations on cryptography - systems used for protecting information against unauthorized access. Governments have long restricted export of cryptography for fear that their intelligence activities are hampered by the crypto use of foreign states and scoundrels. Since the rise of crypto use over the past decades, governments increasingly worry about criminals using cryptography to thwart law enforcement. Thus, many countries are considering laws focusing on maintaining law- enforcement and national-security capabilities through regulation of cryptography. Bangladesh ---------- 2. Domestic laws and regulations There seems to be no law restricting cryptography. India ----- 1. Export/ import controls India requires an import license for encryptors. Import of crypto software is not restricted. 3. Developments to restrict cryptography The draft Information Technology Act of 1998 would require the sender of encrypted messages to decrypt for national security reasons, according to an article in Indian Express of 14 December 1998. The draft bill was finalized by the Department of Electronics in December 1998 and sent to the Law Ministry for clearance. Afterwards, it was to be forwarded to the Cabinet for approval. Pakistan -------- 2. Domestic laws and regulations The Pakistan Telecommunication (Reorganization) Act empowers the government to regulate cryptography. The sale and use of encryption hardware and software require approval by the PTA (Pakistan Telecommunications Authority?). Source: Crypto Law Survey Version 17.0, February 2000 (c) Bert-Jaap Koops http://cwis.kub.nl/~frw/people/koops/cls2.htm From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Wed Feb 23 06:21:38 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id GAA161142; Wed, 23 Feb 2000 06:21:37 +1000 (EST) Received: from goa1.dot.net.in (goa1.dot.net.in [202.54.17.30]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id GAA161139 for ; Wed, 23 Feb 2000 06:21:31 +1000 (EST) Received: from goanews ([202.54.17.102]) by goa1.dot.net.in (8.9.2/8.9.2) with SMTP id BAA21760; Wed, 23 Feb 2000 01:52:20 +0530 (GMT) Message-Id: <3.0.6.32.20000223003957.00860450@202.54.17.30> X-Sender: fred@202.54.17.30 X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.6 (32) Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 00:39:57 +0500 To: "Irfan Khan" , s-asia-it@apnic.net From: Frederick Noronha Subject: Re: FW: information on community projects in India In-Reply-To: <200002221601.LAA22648@post.super.net.pk> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk For information on the above subject, please visit http://www.bytesforall.org Frederick Noronha PS: I am involved with the site... # *********************************************************** # frederick noronha, freelance journalist, fred@goa1.dot.net.in # near convent, saligao 403511 goa india ph 0091.832.271490 or 278683 # *********************************************************** # BytesForAll http://www.bytesforall.org # News from Goa http://www.goacom.com/news/ # Photos from Goa http://www.goa-world.net/fotofolio/ # GoaResearchNet http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/1503 # *********************************************************** From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Wed Feb 23 07:07:07 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id HAA161386; Wed, 23 Feb 2000 07:07:06 +1000 (EST) Received: from mx.super.net.pk (smtp-khi1.super.net.pk [203.130.2.10]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id HAA161382 for ; Wed, 23 Feb 2000 07:06:58 +1000 (EST) Received: from excel586 (khi-line-024.super.net.pk [203.130.5.163]) by mx.super.net.pk (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id CAA11998 for ; Wed, 23 Feb 2000 02:07:09 +0500 (GMT+0500) Message-Id: <200002222107.CAA11998@mx.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 02:07:12 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Subject: Conference - France - Worldwide Forum on E-Democracy - Mar 16 X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-MIME-Autoconverted: from Quoted-printable to 8bit by whois.apnic.net id HAA161383 Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk ------- Forwarded message follows ------- Date sent: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 14:25:54 -0600 From: Steven Clift To: do-wire@tc.umn.edu *** Democracies Online Newswire - http://www.e-democracy.org/do *** Worldwide Forum on Electronic Democracy Thursday, March 16 Issy, France See: http://www.issy.com/e-democracy/ Worldwide Forum on Electronic Democracy Under the high patronage of Jacques CHIRAC, President of France ith the support of the European Commission and nder the patronage of the European Parliament The dramatic developments in communications technology in recent years have ushered in the prospect of a revolution in political life and in the functioning of democratic societies and institutions. The Internet is transforming communications among citizens and between elected officials and the electorate. We are witnessing new methods of outreach to citizens by government and the organization of political activity and lobbying on issues. We can begin to imagine even the possibility of widespread electronic voting. Yet fundamental issues as to implications of new technologies remain : will the information technologies give a unique opportunity to enhance our democracies or do they pose a danger to privacy and to democracy. Europe and the United States have to think carefully about the consequences of the emerging information society on politics and the future of democracy. This Forum on electronic democracy will seek to address this issue. More specifically, the Forum will ask : How can information technologies help citizens and their elected officials to improve the quality of political dialogue and guarantee citizen rights ? How can information technologies facilitate more active and constructive citizenship? How should political parties and issue groups organize themselves in the information society? What kind of technologies are being applied, or could be applied, to answer those needs? Are there examples of successful applications where information technologies have enhanced the quality of citizen participation in political life? Contacts Telephone +33 (0) 1.40.95.65.67 Fax +33 (0) 1.40.95.65.32 Adress Forum Espace Niedermeyer - Mail Raymond Menand - 92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux E-Mail Information : Issy-les-Moulineaux City - gale@ville-issy.fr Registration : Agora Europe - mscoomans@agoraeurope.com Organization Partner : Items International - stoporkoff@atelier.fr Details: Registration Fee: 650 French Francs / 100 Euros by cheque to AGORA Europe or by fund transfer Deadline : monday, 6 March 2000 Cancellation : any cancellation requested shall be made in writing to Agora Europe two weeks at the latest before the Forum Simultaneous translation : english and french From: http://www.issy.com/e-democracy/sessions.htm 8.30 - WELCOME at the “Niedermayer Centre” of Issy-les-Moulineaux 9.00 – Welcoming Address André SANTINI 9.10 - Information Society, Internet & Democracy - The impact of Information Technologies on democracy. - Recent applications of the Internet to the democratic process - New actors in political life President André SANTINI Moderator Brian MOĎR Speakers Paulo Cesar BHERING CAMARăO Carl CEDERSCHIÖLD John DUNNE Phil NOBLE Elly PLOOIJ-VAN GORSEL Giovanni SALIZZONI 11.00 – Information Society : a threat for democracy ? - New tool for politics - Direct and/or Representative Democracy - Cyber war, terrorism ? President Patrick BLOCHE Moderator Joël de ROSNAY Speakers Ellwood KERKESLAGER Andrew LIPMAN Erika MANN Guy de PANAFIEU Philippe QUEAU Marcel VIGOUROUX 12.00 - Keynoote speech Nicole FONTAINE 12.30 Morning Closing Session pm 2.15 Keynoote Speech Dr. Garret FITZGERALD pm 2.30 - Towards a global democracy ? - Can the Internet become universal? - Regulatory and Legal Requirements President Pierre LAFFITTE Moderator Sergio ANTOCICCO Speakers Larbi AJJOUL Ian ANGELL Yann BREBAN Roger CHINAUD Gérard MOINE Giuseppe RAO Gil REMILLARD Olin WETHINGTON pm 3.45 Keynoote Speech Robert VERRUE pm 4.00 – A new social compact for the Information Society -Will the information society foster new forms of democracy ? -What will be the consequences on political parties ? -Is the Technological revolution a political revolution ? President Patrice MARTIN-LALANDE Moderator André DANZIN Speakers Marceau FELDEN Mark FLEISHER Michel GENTOT Régis JAMIN Didier MAUS Shigehiko NAOE Philippe-Olivier ROUSSEAU ^ ^ ^ ^ Steven L. Clift - W: http://www.publicus.net Minneapolis - - - E: clift@publicus.net Minnesota - - - - - T: +1.612.822.8667 USA - - - - - - - ICQ: 13789183 ------- End of forwarded message ------- From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Wed Feb 23 17:46:49 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id RAA90841; Wed, 23 Feb 2000 17:46:48 +1000 (EST) Received: from sdnhq.undp.org (sdnhq.undp.org [192.124.42.79]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id RAA165979 for ; Wed, 23 Feb 2000 17:46:43 +1000 (EST) Received: (from uucp@localhost) by sdnhq.undp.org (8.9.3/8.9.3) with UUCP id CAA16747; Wed, 23 Feb 2000 02:39:21 -0500 Received: from localhost by sdnpk.undp.org (8.6.12/8.6.12) with SMTP id MAA05414; Wed, 23 Feb 2000 12:37:40 +0500 Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 12:37:40 +0500 (GMT+0500) From: "Hasan A. Rizvi" To: "Undisclosed.recipients":; Subject: PAN ASIA NETWORKING R&D GRANTS PROGRAMME (fwd) Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 12:37:07 +1000 From: Paul Wilson To: asialink-announce@jca.apc.org Subject: [asialink-announce 82] FW: NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS UNTIL MARCH 31, 2000 -----Original Message----- From: Maria Lee-Hoon NG [mailto:MNG@idrc.org.sg] Sent: Tuesday, 22 February 2000 12:00 To: PANALL-cl@pan.idrc.org.sg Subject: NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS UNTIL MARCH 31, 2000 PAN ASIA NETWORKING R&D GRANTS PROGRAMME NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS UNTIL MARCH 31, 2000 The PROGRAMME The Pan Asia R&D Grants Programme has the objective of building research capacity in the developing countries of Asia in the area of Internet networking. It is directed at encouraging original and innovative networking solutions to development problems in Asia. Grants for research and development projects are available to Asia-based organizations on a competitive basis. Preference is given to projects that focus on practical solutions to real problems in Internet technology applications and policies. FUNDING The Pan Asia R&D Grants Programme is for project funding only, and may not be accessed to cover core or recurrent funding needs. Two types of grants are available: project grants for a maximum of $75,000 CAD and small grants for a maximum of $15,000 CAD . Funds are provided by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) of Canada. The Programme is overseen by a Committee established by IDRC and administered by the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) on behalf of IDRC. HOW TO APPLY FOR GRANTS For further details and information on proposal submissions and grant applications, please visit the Pan Asia R&D Grants Programme Web site: http://www.panasia.org.sg/ From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Thu Feb 24 16:50:37 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id QAA112551; Thu, 24 Feb 2000 16:50:36 +1000 (EST) Received: from mx.super.net.pk (smtp-khi1.super.net.pk [203.130.2.10]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id QAA173919 for ; Thu, 24 Feb 2000 16:50:30 +1000 (EST) Received: from excel586 (khi-line-080.super.net.pk [203.130.5.219]) by mx.super.net.pk (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id LAA23615 for ; Thu, 24 Feb 2000 11:50:41 +0500 (GMT+0500) Message-Id: <200002240650.LAA23615@mx.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2000 11:51:31 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: BACKGROUND: Community radio in South Asia X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk Frederick Noronha has written an excellent article "SHOUTING WITH A GAGGED MOUTH: INDIA'S RELUCTANT MARCH TOWARDS DEMOCRATISING ITS AIR- WAVES" (size: aprox. 48K). It has been posted to the DevMedia, and Creative Radio mailing lists. While I failed to locate it on the DevMedia website [http://www.devmedia.org/], a copy is available on the Creative Radio archive at http://www.egroups.com/group/creative-radio/749.html? Excerpt: -------- Broadcasting in India is speedily shifting its profile. Indian radio is changing from being a government monopoly to highly- commercialized broadcasting. But the media needs to be democratized too. Privatization and total deregulation will hardly help, if the media becomes irrelevant to the vast majority of Indians. India has so far given step-motherly treatment to public service, community, educational and development broadcast networks. From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Thu Feb 24 16:50:41 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id QAA173941; Thu, 24 Feb 2000 16:50:40 +1000 (EST) Received: from mx.super.net.pk ([203.130.2.10]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id QAA173923 for ; Thu, 24 Feb 2000 16:50:34 +1000 (EST) Received: from excel586 (khi-line-080.super.net.pk [203.130.5.219]) by mx.super.net.pk (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id LAA01079 for ; Thu, 24 Feb 2000 11:50:28 +0500 (GMT+0500) Message-Id: <200002240650.LAA01079@mx.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2000 11:51:31 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: [Bangladesh] Paper on Grameen Phone X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk By any measure, Grameen Bank is a success story. What worked? See "Grameen Phone: Empowering the Poor through Connectivity" by L Jean Camp and Brian L Anderson in the "iMP: The Magazine on Information Impacts" (December 1999) [http://www.cisp.org/imp/december_99/12_99camp.htm] ik. From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Fri Feb 25 03:41:36 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id DAA177704; Fri, 25 Feb 2000 03:41:35 +1000 (EST) Received: from f1node03.rhrz.uni-bonn.de (node03.rhrz.uni-bonn.de [131.220.18.133]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id DAA177700 for ; Fri, 25 Feb 2000 03:41:31 +1000 (EST) Received: from uni-bonn.de ([131.220.109.61]) by f1node03.rhrz.uni-bonn.de (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id SAA58888; Thu, 24 Feb 2000 18:40:35 +0100 Message-ID: <38B56D40.32262D65@uni-bonn.de> Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2000 18:41:20 +0100 From: Dietrich Mueller-Falcke Organization: Zentrum =?iso-8859-1?Q?f=FCr?= Entwicklungsforschung X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.7 [de] (Win95; I) X-Accept-Language: de MIME-Version: 1.0 To: s-asia-it@apnic.net CC: Irfan Khan Subject: Re: [Bangladesh] Paper on Grameen Phone References: <200002240650.LAA01079@mx.super.net.pk> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk Our institute did a in depth study on the Grameen Phone project. A. Bayes, J. von Braun, R. Akhter: Village Pay Phones and Poverty Reduction: Insights from a Grameen Bank Initiative in Bangladesh, ZEF-Discussion Papers on Development Policy No. 8, Center for Development Research (ZEF), Bonn, May 1999, pp. 47 It can be down loaded at: http://www.zef.de/download/zef_dp/zef_dp8-99.pdf Abstract: The intent of the present paper is to evaluate the role of tele-communication in the context of rural development in general and poverty reduction in particular. Bangladesh has been selected as a case study due to the uniqueness it displayed in an innovative program for expanded telecom infrastructure in which: Grameen Bank (GB) of Bangladesh, the village based micro-finance organization, leased cellular mobile phones to successful members. GB calls these phones Village Pay Phones (VPP). The effects of VPPs are assessed from two angles: sellers of services (telephone lessees/ owners) and buyers of services (villagers). The findings of the present study lead to two basic conclusions: first, pursuance of pragmatic policies can turn telephones into production goods especially through lowering transaction costs, and second the services originating from telephones in villages are likely to deliver (even) more benefits to the poor than to the non-poor. VPPs also seems to inject perceptible and positive impacts on empowerment and social status of the phone owning women and their households. For villagers in general, the phones offer additional non-economic benefits such as improved law enforcement, more rapid and effective communications during disasters, Stronger kinship bonding GB's style of management of communication can help significantly to expand access to this vital information for all sigments of the population, reduce inequality and enhance the broad-based, poor-poor orientation of rural development activities. Regards Dietrich ____________________________________________ Dietrich Mueller-Falcke ZEF - Zentrum fuer Entwicklungsforschung Center for Development Research Walter-Flex-Str. 3, D-53113 Bonn, Germany Phone: +49 (0)228 73-1842 Fax: +49 (0)228 73-1869 E-mail: d.mueller-falcke@uni-bonn.de WWW: http://www.zef.de/ From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Sat Feb 26 12:28:41 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id MAA187771; Sat, 26 Feb 2000 12:28:40 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk ([203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id MAA187767 for ; Sat, 26 Feb 2000 12:28:34 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-044.super.net.pk [203.130.5.183]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id HAA00821 for ; Sat, 26 Feb 2000 07:37:05 -0500 Message-Id: <200002261237.HAA00821@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 05:37:09 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: [Pakistan] IT Institutes to be set up in Karachi X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk [Plans to set two IT institutes in Karachi.] ------------------ COMSTECH & COMSATS ------------------ ISLAMABAD (February 24) : An information technology institute will be set up at Karachi at a cost of Rs 10 million, said sources at Comsats here on Wednesday. A joint ventures by OIC Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (Comstech) and Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in South (Comsats) and Jamia Millia, Karachi, the institution will cover wide range of courses related to computer, information technology. "Jamia Millia has provided land for the project as its share under an agreement with its partners that will be valid up to 33 years," Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in South executive director told APP. The cost of construction and installations, estimated at Rs 10 million, will be borne by Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation and Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in South. <...> http://www.brecorder.com/story/S0011/S1103/S1103102.htm ------------------ Karachi University ------------------ RECORDER REPORT KARACHI (February 25) : Dr Zafar H Zaidi, Vice Chancellor of Karachi University, said that the university is planning to establish an Information Technology Department at a cost of Rs 26.4 million. Speaking at a meeting of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Thursday, he said that the university had got no development grant since the last 15 years and added that this project will be completed with the help and assistance of philanthropists. He informed the meeting that so far philanthropists had committed to provide Rs 10 million and hoped that rest of the amount would be arranged soon. The Information Technology Department will initially have 400 latest computers with internet connection so that the student, of this university should benefit from this facility. He recalled that the Karachi University was established in 1951 with four department and now it has 52 different departments and 13,000 enrolled students in morning shift and 3000 in evening shift. He said so far almost seven million students have completed their studies from this institution and added that if all these alumnis contributed only one rupee per day in the development fund of the university it would need no other grant to run its affairs. The Vice Chancellor said that the university would welcome research projects for industrial benefits on their funding. The university has well qualified staff and infrastructure to handle such projects. <...> http://www.brecorder.com/story/S0011/S1103/S1103105.htm From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Sat Feb 26 12:28:46 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id MAA187786; Sat, 26 Feb 2000 12:28:45 +1000 (EST) Received: from post.super.net.pk (smtp-khi1.super.net.pk [203.130.2.9]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id MAA187770 for ; Sat, 26 Feb 2000 12:28:39 +1000 (EST) X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-044.super.net.pk [203.130.5.183]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id HAA00828 for ; Sat, 26 Feb 2000 07:37:20 -0500 Message-Id: <200002261237.HAA00828@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 05:37:09 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: Developing world leapfrogging the digital divide X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk Developing world leapfrogging the digital divide By Gumisai Mutume MEXICO CITY - Little by little, the developing world is narrowing the "digital divide" that keeps billions of people in poorer nations out of the loop of the world's evolving information society. Using electronic journals, free training programs and investments in new start-ups, some developing countries are finding creative ways to jump the technology gap that sets them apart from the industrialized world. In one of the latest projects, universities in Malaysia, China and Hong Kong have banded together to create an international forum for the development of information systems in developing countries. The universities will jointly publish the "Electronic Journal on Information Systems in Developing Countries" (EJISDC), which can be accessed free-of-charge by individuals, teachers, researchers and policy makers. According to EJISDC editor Roger Harris of the University of Malaysia, the publication will allow developing countries to share knowledge and experience in the design, development and management of information systems. It is specifically aimed at bridging the digital divide, and will address issues such as integrating traditional knowledge and Western science, gender and computer literacy, and the social implications of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in developing countries. "Contemporary ICTs are a curse and at the same time a blessing to developing countries," notes Harris. "In 1997, something like 84 percent of global expenditure on ICTs took place in North America, Western Europe and Japan." Such comparative superiority threatens to perpetuate the imbalances that characterize the relationship between developed and developing economies. Harris says there is a clear association between national prosperity and expenditure on ICTs. "However, this fact has not gone unnoticed within developing countries, so that conversely, the same technologies that endanger efforts at leveling the international economic playing field now offer real opportunities to developing nations to catch up - and at a fraction of the cost which the developed nations have invested over many years of ICT evolution," Harris said. The word that experts use to describe this process is "leapfrogging" - developing countries adopt technologies that have been designed and tested in industrialized countries without bearing the costs of development. Developing countries are struggling to come to grips with technological advances in their own way - especially since investments in information technology compete with the provision of basic necessities. The UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (Unesco) says one solution is assisting poorer countries to develop their own institutions through technology transfers. Unesco has just set up a "Chair in Communication" program at Konstanz University in Germany, joining 380 similar programs in Australia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Cote d'Ivoire, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Morocco, Philippines, Russian Federation, Spain, Ukraine, United Kingdom and Uruguay. The program will develop an international electronic forum, set up expert databases, develop multilingual dictionaries and translation aids, and coordinate activities in the various global academic departments. Free training is also a growing trend, with Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC)-run I-train and South Africa's Sangonet, among a number of Internet sites offering free courses. IDRC runs a number of projects involving technology leapfrogging. In war-torn Sierra Leone, Sierranet was founded by students to support research. Even though most users have fled the war-torn country, IDRC hopes e-mail and the World Wide Web will play a role in its reconstruction. In nearby Ghana, IDRC is involved in the Navrongo Health Research Centre's (NHRC) "Healthnet". It makes use of low-earth-orbit satellites and telephone-based computer networks to exchange health- related information in the developing world. It is considered a forerunner in adopting ICTs for development, notes a research paper by the University of Hong Kong and the University of Malaysia titled "Technology Leapfrogging in Developing Countries - An Inevitable Luxury?" NHRC also trains researchers from Asian and African countries and is attracting expatriate Ghanaian scientists back to Ghana, reversing the brain-drain, a worrying trend throughout Africa. In Asia, the Pan Asian Network (PAN), which was responsible for linking Laos to the Internet, has a series of programs to wire Asia. It is currently working with Bangladesh's famous grassroots Grameen Bank to make technology accessible to poor women - who constitute 95 percent of Grameen's clients. And the momentum to wire the developing world is growing. This week saw the announcement of a program to benefit Internet companies in developing countries through a $200 million investment fund created by a Japanese technology conglomerate Softbank and the World Bank's International Finance Corporation. Building on existing Latin American and China-focused funds totaling $500 million, the Softbank fund will provide initial capital and expertise to Internet start-ups in more than 100 countries. World Bank president James Wolfensohn says providing access to the Internet in developing countries is as important as securing housing and clean water. (Inter Press Service) http://atimes.com/media/BB23Ce02.html From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Sat Feb 26 12:31:49 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id MAA94719; Sat, 26 Feb 2000 12:31:48 +1000 (EST) Received: from guardian.apnic.net (guardian.apnic.net [203.37.255.100]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id MAA187808 for ; Sat, 26 Feb 2000 12:31:46 +1000 (EST) Received: (from mail@localhost) by guardian.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id MAA12773 for ; Sat, 26 Feb 2000 12:31:44 +1000 (EST) Received: from unknown(203.130.2.9) by int-gw.staff.apnic.net via smap (V2.1) id xma012728; Sat, 26 Feb 00 12:31:12 +1000 X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-044.super.net.pk [203.130.5.183]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id HAA00845 for ; Sat, 26 Feb 2000 07:37:36 -0500 Message-Id: <200002261237.HAA00845@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 05:37:09 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: [India] Bharti group will initiate free net access in country X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk Bharti group will initiate free net access in country Our New Delhi Bureau 25 FEBRUARY IN A move that could set off a trend in the country, the Bharti group today announced free internet services for its basic phone customers in Madhya Pradesh. Rajan Mittal, joint managing director, Bharti Enterprises said that Airtel, the private basic telecom service provider in Madhya Pradesh, would offer free access to its subscribers in the state, through its ISP Mantra Online. The offer of free internet is however subject to the approval of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Mr Mittal said, adding that Airtel had applied for its approval yesterday. Under the free internet service called `Mantrafreenet', subscribers would be able to surf the net for unlimited hours at the rate of a local call. <...> http://www.economictimes.com/today/26tech02.htm From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Sun Feb 27 14:31:58 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id OAA192589; Sun, 27 Feb 2000 14:31:58 +1000 (EST) Received: from mx.super.net.pk (smtp-khi1.super.net.pk [203.130.2.10]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id OAA192585 for ; Sun, 27 Feb 2000 14:31:45 +1000 (EST) Received: from excel586 (khi-line-056.super.net.pk [203.130.5.195]) by mx.super.net.pk (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id JAA01651 for ; Sun, 27 Feb 2000 09:31:38 +0500 (GMT+0500) Message-Id: <200002270431.JAA01651@mx.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2000 09:32:45 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: (Fwd) Right to Know Debate X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk ------- Forwarded message follows ------- 23 February 2000 'Right to Know' debate now online at www.commonwealthvoices.org Following the successful ARTICLE 19-British Council seminar on 'The Right to Know', the final public debate hosted by ARTICLE 19 on the British Council's Commonwealth Voices website will address the many issues generated under the banner of freedom of information. These include: a. Freedom of information legislation b. Truth, justice and reconciliation - accounting for past human rights violations c. Internet regulation and freedom of information Papers from the conference and other resources related to freedom of information can be accessed via the conference papers sections of www.article19.org. ENDS Reply to: Ilana Cravitz Communications Officer ilana@article19.org ARTICLE 19, The International Centre Against Censorship 33 Islington High St. London N1 9LH UK Website: www.article19.org Direct line: +44 20 7278 1355 Switchboard: +44 20 7278 9292 Fax: +44 20 7713 1356 General enquiries: info@article19.org ------- End of forwarded message ------- From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Sun Feb 27 14:32:00 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id OAA124441; Sun, 27 Feb 2000 14:31:59 +1000 (EST) Received: from mx.super.net.pk (smtp-khi1.super.net.pk [203.130.2.10]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id OAA192586 for ; Sun, 27 Feb 2000 14:31:48 +1000 (EST) Received: from excel586 (khi-line-056.super.net.pk [203.130.5.195]) by mx.super.net.pk (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id JAA26813 for ; Sun, 27 Feb 2000 09:31:46 +0500 (GMT+0500) Message-Id: <200002270431.JAA26813@mx.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2000 09:32:46 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: India May Threaten China for King of Netizens X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk India May Threaten China for King of Netizens India could be second only to China in terms of Internet usage by 2004, according to a report by Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia. This explosive growth would be dependent on the availability of cheaper PCs and Net access through cable television, but the number of Internet users in India could increase as much as 11-fold to 30 million in four years time. Broadband access via cable is important to Internet growth in India because there are more televisions and cable connections in India than there are PCs and telephone lines. Other estimates on the number of Internet users in India come from IDC, which predicts 17 million Internet users in India in the next five years, and NASSCOM, the industry association for the Internet in India, which says there are currently 2.6 million Indians with Internet access. February 24, 2000 http://cyberatlas.internet.com/big_picture/geographics/article/0,1323, 5911_309751,00.html From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Mon Feb 28 02:01:15 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id CAA195791; Mon, 28 Feb 2000 02:01:13 +1000 (EST) Received: from mx.super.net.pk (smtp-khi1.super.net.pk [203.130.2.10]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id CAA195783 for ; Mon, 28 Feb 2000 02:01:00 +1000 (EST) Received: from excel586 (khi-line-131.super.net.pk [203.130.5.66]) by mx.super.net.pk (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id VAA26339 for ; Sun, 27 Feb 2000 21:00:56 +0500 (GMT+0500) Message-Id: <200002271600.VAA26339@mx.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2000 21:02:02 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: [Pakistan] Internet can help alleviate poverty X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk Internet can help alleviate poverty ISLAMABAD, Feb 26: Internet can only become a tool for social development if it is applied to meet complex challenges of improving the lives of the least privileged and most needy in Pakistan, said experts at a United Nations briefing on Friday. The briefing on Sustainable Development Networking Programme, a global initiative of the United Nations Development Programme, focused on using Internet in the developing countries for poverty alleviation, improved access to health care, education and a more sustainable use and equitable resources, environment protection, and strengthened participation in decision-making processes. Experts also called for access to information for NGOs, academia and national businesses, who can play a key role in development issues. They said that if the Internet was to be truly multicultural medium, it would be important to encourage people in the Third World to actively use it and to express themselves not only in their own language, but also in their own frame of reference. Only an estimated 5-10 per cent of the content on the Internet is of Asian origin, while the Asian population represents almost half of the world's population indicates how far the Internet is from true cultural diversity. UNDP's governance unit chief Naseer Ahmed advocated access to information, saying it would help in transparency in government affairs and accountability. He said that there is an urgent need to plug the gap of access to information in the developed and developing countries. UNDP's deputy project manager Ahmed Qadeer said the Internet has in practice brought knowledge access closer to the ideal of a global public good. "The communication revolution has made great strides in facilitating communication within countries and has also enhanced the ability of developing and transitional countries to tap into the global pool of codified knowledge. The Internet should prove to be a tool of immense power in sharing knowledge." He said developing countries generally face two problems about the information superhighway. "First, their access to information is limited, constrained by inadequate hardware, infrastructure, and regulatory restrictions. In most countries, telecommunications infrastructure has rarely been an overcharching matter of concern, with other development issues receiving higher priority." He said information within a country is also limited. "Many key decision-makers in government cannot obtain the current information they need to implement key policies. Little information that exists is either on private hands or it does not flow out of government institutions." Qadeer said the rapid development of information technologies and computer-mediated communications has changed the availability of information. "For the first time in the history the democratization and availability of information seems possible at relatively moderate costs for all sectors of civil society the world war." On SDNP, he said it was developed in 1988 when the key problem was to provide timely access to adequate information sources for policy and decision makers in developing countries with the aim of helping them make informed decisions. At present, he said the SDPN is working on a two-pronged strategy. "To encourage full Internet connectively for the widest range of users." He said that SDNP has shown how mere dial-up connectivity can provide useful information nationally and internationally. "SDNP is developing its meta-website that will act as a repository of development related information culled from global sources. The site is intended to be an information-rich resource on all aspects of sustainable human development information, be it health, education, governance. He said that according to tele-density figures, the average number of telephone lines per 100 inhabitants is a mere 1.5 in the world's poorest countries, as opposed to 52 in the richest one. "Many developing countries also lack sufficient electricity supplies, especially in rural and remote areas. Unless these problems of basic infrastructure can be imaginatively solved, and in a sustainable way, there is little point in maintaining any illusion about the widespread application of the Internet in developing countries." -NNI http://www.dawn.com/2000/02/27/nat3.htm From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Tue Feb 29 03:52:33 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id DAA92066; Tue, 29 Feb 2000 03:52:32 +1000 (EST) Received: from guardian.apnic.net (guardian.apnic.net [203.37.255.100]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id DAA92063 for ; Tue, 29 Feb 2000 03:52:30 +1000 (EST) Received: (from mail@localhost) by guardian.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id MAA12763 for ; Sat, 26 Feb 2000 12:31:14 +1000 (EST) Received: from unknown(203.130.2.9) by int-gw.staff.apnic.net via smap (V2.1) id xma012727; Sat, 26 Feb 00 12:31:03 +1000 X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-044.super.net.pk [203.130.5.183]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id HAA00834 for ; Sat, 26 Feb 2000 07:37:26 -0500 Message-Id: <200002261237.HAA00834@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 05:37:10 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: (Fwd) [GKD] GKP Seeks Input Regarding GKII Conf. X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk ------- Forwarded message follows ------- Date sent: Fri, Feb 25, 2000 1:36 PM -0500 From: "Global Knowledge Dev. Moderator" Dear GKD Members, As you know the GKII Conference runs 7-10 March. Background documents have been prepared for the Conference, which draw on input from GKD discussions and other forums. It is important to note that these are "living" documents, which will be considered and modified at the Conference, and will continue to undergo examination and change after the Conference. We will post the papers after the Conference and seek GKD members' input and suggestions. At this time, we would appreciate your input regarding the papers, and will integrate comments received by 4 March, into the papers presented at the Conference. The papers are available on the GKP Website, cited below. It would be particularly valuable to receive your input regarding the following questions: 1. How do the issues presented in the papers relate to development in your country/region? Are these high priorities? Are there key priorities that are missing? 2. Are you currently conducting activities related to the issues presented in the papers? Please describe them. 3. What lessons have you learned from activities you conducted in areas related to the issues? Please be specific about the activities and the "lessons learned." Please find: * The Working Group Reports on each of the three themes, Access, Governance, Empowerment at: * The Background Document for the GKII Action Summit at: * In addition, the Action Summit Agenda can be found at: Our deep thanks for the extraordinarily valuable contributions you have already made. We are eager to continue to learn from your experiences and insights. With warm regards, GKD Moderators for the Global Knowledge Partnership ------- End of forwarded message ------- From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Tue Feb 29 03:54:50 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id DAA92231; Tue, 29 Feb 2000 03:54:50 +1000 (EST) Received: from mx.super.net.pk (smtp-khi1.super.net.pk [203.130.2.10]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id DAA92200 for ; Tue, 29 Feb 2000 03:54:17 +1000 (EST) Received: from excel586 (khi-line-127.super.net.pk [203.130.5.127]) by mx.super.net.pk (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id WAA30673 for ; Mon, 28 Feb 2000 22:53:52 +0500 (GMT+0500) Message-Id: <200002281753.WAA30673@mx.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2000 22:55:01 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: [India] Why the poor villager too must not be deprived of phones, internet X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk ------- Forwarded message follows ------- Date sent: Sun, 27 Feb 2000 15:00:48 +0500 From: Frederick Noronha To: CYBERCOM@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU WHY THE POOR VILLAGER TOO MUST NOT BE DEPRIVED OF PHONES, INTERNET By Frederick Noronha fred@vsnl.com Is the handset and the keyboard only for the affluent? Or, can telephones and software serve the poor too? Prominent experts working on the technologies which may not rake in the millions. But their work could help in the fight against poverty. And to build links, a large number doing work in this field are meeting at an international programme in South India in early-March. Put briefly, this meet will focus on the needs of, and affordable solutions for, the Third World. This meet is being held at the IIT-Chennai, in the city formerly known as Madras. Says organiser Prof Ashok Jhunjhunwala: "Accessibility to telecom and Internet network is fast becoming a major factor determining the competitiveness of an individual, group or society. Telecom and IT systems and solutions prevalent in the developed countries are not necessarily the best options for developing countries for making the network affordable and available to large sections of their people." It is increasingly being felt that access to the Internet is creating a new differentiator in society. Those who have access to the Internet have access to all kinds of information. It puts them in an advantageous position in society vis-a-vis others who do not have such access. Called Commsphere, this meet has a simple rationale. Internet Access is built upon the basic telecom network. While the telecom infrastructure in advanced countries is well developed (with teledensity well above 50 per hundred population), allowing them to move rapidly towards universal telecom and Internet access, the infrastructure in most developing countries is totally inadequate. In the Third World, the teledensity in often well below 10 per hundred population and many times even below 2 per 100 population. Large-scale telecom and Internet access is possible only with large-scale expansion of telecom infrastructure. The problem is that the cost of building this infrastructure hovers around $1000 per line. Considering the high cost of finance (often touching 15%) in the Third World, and after including costs of operation, maintenance and obsolescence, revenue of some US $300 per year will be required from each telephone line to break even. In the Third World, US $300 per year for a telephone is affordable to less than 5% of the population. How then, ask the Commsphere organisers, can one hope for the development of telecom infrastructure and look for even some semblance of universal Internet Access? What is needed is lower cost infrastructure. Fortunately, over the last decade, optical fibre technology has already brought down the cost of the telecom backbone to a very modest level. The cost of the copper local loop, used over the last hundred years, is rising continuously. But even in the copper loop there have been a number of technological advancements. While technologies like HDSL, ADSL and VDSL push the data rate higher and higher on copper, it is now possible to share the copper loop between a large number of users, thereby reducing the costs. The Fibre Access network is another way by which cost of the local loop is being slashed. Further, the Wireless Local Loop is not only proving to be very cost effective, but also promises very rapid expansion, especially in small towns and rural areas. Unfortunately research in the First World has focussed on providing better services and greater bandwidth to the user. The requirement in the Third World is starkly different: to provide lower-cost basic access with a reasonable basket of important services such as Internet and voice communication. Says Prof Jhunjhunwala: "All the known techniques need to be harnessed to reduce the cost of telecom infrastructure to, say, $300 per line. Such an endeavour alone can make telecom and Internet services widely affordable in the developing countries." What now needs to be looked at are technologies and innovations which could make this possible in a not too distant time-frame. This meet will look at the telecom and IT needs of different Third World countries, recent innovations in technologies and systems, affordable networks, networks that can be used for education and health purposes, innovations in access terminals, manpower needed and regulatory issues. Some of the big names and foreign experts taking part in this meet include Brazilian Secretary for IT Policy Vanda Scartezeni, Samir Kallel of Omniacom-Tunisia, Lucent Technologies (US) vice president Mukesh Chatter, and representatives of big players of the Indian telecom sector, including telephone manufacturers ITI Bangalore, besides foreign or private-sector firms like British Telecom's New Delhi office, Shyam Telecom, and HFCL. Some of the issues this meet will look at include bottlenecks and solutions for telecom and Internet in the Third World, the impact of the Internet on these regions, and challenges of rural telecommunications in various parts of the globe. Further details are available from the web site http://www.tenet.res.in/commsphere/commsphere.html. You can contact the organisers via email at commsphere@tenet.res.in -(ENDS)- ------- End of forwarded message ------- From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Tue Feb 29 04:10:55 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id EAA132966; Tue, 29 Feb 2000 04:10:54 +1000 (EST) Received: from mx.super.net.pk (smtp-khi1.super.net.pk [203.130.2.10]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id EAA93667 for ; Tue, 29 Feb 2000 04:10:47 +1000 (EST) Received: from excel586 (khi-line-127.super.net.pk [203.130.5.127]) by mx.super.net.pk (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id XAA15678 for ; Mon, 28 Feb 2000 23:10:58 +0500 (GMT+0500) Message-Id: <200002281810.XAA15678@mx.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2000 23:12:07 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: selections from indev e-mail digest 28 Feb 2000 X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk The complete issue of this e-mail digest can be found on the Web at http://www.indev.nic.in or http://www.indev.org. The Web version includes hot links to the complete text of cited articles, a fully searchable archive and easy access to recent issues. Please access recent issues at http://www.indev.nic.in/news/archives.html Bareilly on internet -------------------- Interesting and authentic information about all the four districts of the Bareilly division will be put on the Internet. Besides, the administration was also going to publish a book in paperback which would contain interesting facts with colour pictures about various aspects of the four districts-Shahjahanpur, Bareilly, Pilibhit and Badaun. Farmers, too, reap the rewards of e-comm ---------------------------------------- If you thought cyberspace could only be accessed by netizens in the metros, try visiting towns like Warana and Baramati in rural Maharashtra. For networking, e-commerce are buzz words in these dusty villages too. A silent revolution in information technology is rapidly sweeping across the agro rich areas of Maharashtra. In Warana, in Kolhapur district, some 70 villages have been wired, not just to each other, but to the entire world. Due to this, co-operative dairies in these areas have already started selling their products on-line. Several milk collection centres have been converted into cyber-cafes. Farmers don't go to sugar factories anymore and the Warana Group has already opened an office in Europe for direct marketing of Warana products. Pune tops in per capita Internet accessibility ---------------------------------------------- The hype surrounding Bangalore and Hyderabad notwithstanding, the city that has become the cynosure of all infotechies in India is Pune. According to data available from Internet sources, the city is being ranked number one in terms of absolute per capita Internet accessibility and is also the highest in terms of computer penetration. Of every 1,000 individuals residing in Pune, as many six have Internet accessibility, while computer penetration (persons who own a computer) is placed at 30 per 1,000 by informal surveys conducted by computer and Internet professionals from the industry. -------------------------------------------------------------------- From owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Tue Feb 29 04:18:58 2000 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id EAA132974; Tue, 29 Feb 2000 04:18:58 +1000 (EST) Received: from guardian.apnic.net (guardian.apnic.net [203.37.255.100]) by whois.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id EAA94320 for ; Tue, 29 Feb 2000 04:18:57 +1000 (EST) Received: (from mail@localhost) by guardian.apnic.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) id MAA12765 for ; Sat, 26 Feb 2000 12:31:14 +1000 (EST) Received: from unknown(203.130.2.9) by int-gw.staff.apnic.net via smap (V2.1) id xma012726; Sat, 26 Feb 00 12:31:01 +1000 X-Greetings: Happy 2000 from Tee Emm Received: from excel586 (khi-line-044.super.net.pk [203.130.5.183]) by post.super.net.pk (8.9.1/8.9.3) with ESMTP id HAA00831 for ; Sat, 26 Feb 2000 07:37:24 -0500 Message-Id: <200002261237.HAA00831@post.super.net.pk> From: "Irfan Khan" To: s-asia-it@apnic.net Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 05:37:10 +0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: The UNDP/TCDC WIDE Initiative launches today X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v3.12b) Sender: owner-s-asia-it@lists.apnic.net Precedence: bulk [from the Bellanet Information Dissemination List] ------- Forwarded message follows ------- From: "Katherine Morrow" Date sent: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 18:13:01 -0500 UNDP SU/TCDC PRESS RELEASE February 23, 2000 The United Nations Development Programs Special Unit for Technical Cooperation Among Developing Countries (SU/TCDC) is pleased to announce the launch of the WIDE Initiative (Web of Information for Development). Details can be found at http://www.undp.org/tcdc/wide SU/TCDC, established within UNDP by the United Nations General Assembly in 1974, is launching the WIDE Initiative in support of, and to further, technical cooperation among developing countries (TCDC). The WIDE Initiative introduces a new array of internet-based services and efforts to give more visibility to developing country expertise, foster communications and promote more effective technical cooperation among developing countries. The first of these services, WIDE Online, is a public access database for collecting and accessing (i) experts bio-data (expertise, location, contacts, publications, etc.) and (ii) information on institutions, products, services and best practices. WIDE Online started life in 1977 as INRES, a paper-based Information Referral Service system. Today, in partnership with CESAR (Recife, Brazil), WIDE Online transforms INRES into a modern global information service. To raise the visibility of developing country expertise and knowledge TCDC is also undertaking WIDE InterLink, a program of strategic partnerships with TCDC stakeholder organizations. The InterLink program is designed to (i) promote stakeholder participation in the WIDE Initiative by using WIDE Online, or its offline version, to raise the profile of developing country expertise and knowledge and (ii) assist stakeholders in strengthening their capacity for sharing expertise and promoting technical cooperation among developing countries. The Initiative also includes TCDC/WIDE Innovative Experiences. A database of experiences and projects demonstrating innovative development activities or cooperation carried out by institutions and professionals in developing countries. These valuable experiences are to be shared for use in other developing countries. They are also available in book format. The WIDE Initiative, in cooperation with Bellanet (Ottawa, Canada) includes two online WIDE Discussion Forums, accessible by email and web browser. WIDEFORUM-L is the WIDE Initiative discussion area, and a forum for policy dialogue and knowledge networking for strengthening the WIDE Initiative and technical cooperation among developing countries. GOODWIDE-L collects and critiques innovative experiences in technical cooperation among developing countries. TCDC/WIDE is also providing an internet broadcasting News Service, in cooperation with Comcast Inc. (Republic of Korea). SU/TCDC and Comcast are collaborating to deliver this state of the art news service for news related to development and to South-South cooperation. The WIDE Initiative launches today with partnerships across three continents, and plans to expand both its partnerships and its services. * WIDE Initiative Web Pages and Innovative Experiences are hosted by SU/TCDC in New York (USA). * WIDE Online is hosted by CESAR (Centro de Estudos e Sistemas Avancados de Recife) in Recife (Brazil) * The WIDE News Service is hosted by COMCAST Co.,Ltd. in Seoul (Rep. of Korea) * WIDEFORUM-L and GOODWIDE-L are hosted by Bellanet in Ottawa (Canada) Experts in and from the South, and institutions, are invited to register in the WIDE database and to participate in the WIDE Initiative discussion forums. Everybody is invited to subscribe to the WIDE Discussion Forums in order to receive announcements of new services, and to participate in the implementation of the WIDE Initiative. All WIDE services can be accessed through http://www.undp.org/tcdc/wide . Please contact SU/TCDC for information on partnerships, the InterLink strategy, or for offline ways to register in the WIDE Online database: The Special Unit for TCDC United Nations Development Programme One UN Plaza, ff-1208 New York, NY 10017 United States of America Tel: (212) 906 5732 Fax: (212) 906 6352 Email: atsede.worede-kal@undp.org URL: http://www.undp.org/tcdc/wide . ------- End of forwarded message -------