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| India on the verge of M-Banking surge |
| With India continuing to be a hot market in mobile phone proliferation, mobile phones are being seen by the Banks as the latest gadget for extending banking services to the last mile person in the country. In this background, money transactions and other related financial activities over the mobile phones are set to see a boom in India with practically every bank in the process of offering such a service shortly including country's largest bans SBI.This fact is detailed in a news story published in The Economic Times (8th May '08 Edition)
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| Website in focus - www.kidsrgreen.org |
 Environmental website in news for kids. This website has made the final rounds of the prestigious Stockholm Challenge Award 2008 edition under its Environment category.
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| Indigenous people key to tackle climate change |
| In this age of rapid global climate change, United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, a UN body believes that indigenous people are perhaps the best suited to tackle the changed environs. Their traditional knowledge among other things is their big weapon against these changing times, according to a news story appeared on igovernment.in
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| Protect indigenous knowledge: Chief Justice of India |
| ''India does not even possess a complete catalogue or a full knowledge of the many different expressions of traditional knowledge it possess,'' Justice Balakrishnan noted at a seminar on Safeguarding Indian Traditional Knowledge. He suggested steps to prevent erosion of traditions, stimulate innovation and creativity based on such knowledge and protect traditional innovators' dignity and moral rights, according to a report published in Manorama Online
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| gLocalisation through Local Area Portals |
  During the visioning workshop of the ICTD Community of Solution Exchange, Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) through its Founder & Director Osama Manzar presented the concept of "gLocalisation through Local Area Portals" - (gLocalisation is a process of globalizing local knowledge). Here is a consolidated report
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| Promoting radio as a lifeline for communities |
 Kristine Pearson, chief executive of Freeplay Foundation, is the creator of the wind-up and solar-powered Lifeline radio, the first such initiative in the humanitarian sector. She emphasises the use of renewable and clean energy solutions to improve access to communication for the poor. In an interview published on digital opportunity Channel, Kristine reveals her plans on improvising and expanding the Lifeline radio to other countries like India and promoting the use renewable energy and the importance of power to the quality of life of the poor.
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| Technology is the next big equaliser after education |
| Today IT, more than anything else, is empowering the have-nots and is setting up the foundation on which a whole generation will empower themselves. Access to education and information, and distance learning are examples of how IT is benefiting society. Access to markets is transforming the lives of farmers and artisans. Adoption of IT will make society more inclusive. Technology is the next big equaliser in society, after education, says Chairman & CEO, HCL Infosystems, Ajai Chowdhary in an interview with The Hindu
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| DEF launches 'Gyan Vatika' |
 Digital Empowerment Foundation in association with Intel Foundation has launched a Community Information Resource Centre (CIRC) christened 'Gyan Vatika' (Knowledge Garden) in GinjoThakurGaon, Burmu Block, Ranchi, Jharkhand.
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| "Rice is one seed with high adaptation" |
 "There are no easy solutions. We need to first look at the soil. Our soil is hungry and thirsty. They have been cultivated for many thousand years. They lack nutrients now. There are 14 different nutrients required by them, but our policies have favoured only nitrogen. We need soil testing laboratories, including mobile ones that can go and give every farmer a soil health card. The only state that has done this is Gujarat. Besides this, we must focus on water, seed variety, bio-diversity and other supporting aspects, such as prices, marketing, post-harvest technology, threshing and harvesting." This just an extract from the interview of MS Swaminathan, Chairman MS Swaminathan Research Foundation published in a special issue in Businessworld
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| Manthan Awardee starts SMS based Blood Donation service |
 www.indianblooddonors.com, a Manthan Awardee in the e-Health category from 2005 edition has adopted to the changing times and started a SMS based blood donation service.
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| The ever changing world of ICTs |
 From deployment of telegraph in 1854 to the age of Internet, Blackberries, iPods or Personal Digital Assistants, information and communication technology has traversed a long path. Thomas B. Riley, Executive Director, Commonwealth Centre for e-Governance, discusses the evolution of ICTs and assesses the wider changes in society due to their emergence in an interview appeared in digital opportunity channel
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| Manthan Awardees among Stockholm Challenge finalists |
As many as 4 Manthan Awardees figure among the list of finalists in the
Stockholm Challenge Awards 2008 edition. The Manthan Awardees to make the final
cut include : Bhojpuria.com (http://www.bhojpuria.com/) (awarded in the e-Culture category in Manthan
Award 2006 edition),
e-Sagu (http://www.esagu.in;http://www.iiit.ac.in/~pkreddy)(awarded in the e-Enterprise & Livelihood
category in 2008 edition)
The National Portal of India
http://www.india.gov.in/) (awarded in
the e-Governance category in 2008 edition) &
RAGAS- an
ict tool to implement NREGS benefitting the bottom most layer of pyramid in
Andhra Pradesh (http://nrega.ap.gov.in/),
(awarded in the e-Governance category in 2008 edition) India
Altogther 145
finalists have been chosen in the six categories. Every awardee will
receive a trophy & a stipend of Euro 5,000 each. The prize distribution
ceremony will take place on May 22 '2008 at Stockholm, Sweden.
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| Girl as a change agent; lights up a community |
 Her's been a truly enlightening story so far. Congress Kanwar just 13 from Rajasthan has by her deeds not only averted being married at a tender age of 10 but her zeal & love for education has also propelled her in a league of its own trail blazers. She has been bestowed with National Bravery Awards among several others accolades and inspiring other girls & women to act as change agents in the society. Education can just be a tool besides bravery to stand up to your convictions amidst orthodox odds, reports One World South Asia
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| Tech to the rescue of disabled |
| Technology is coming to the aid of differentially abled in India finally, it seems. An estimated 60 mn people with various degrees of disability live in India. This is an emerging market for the ICT solution providers
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| Marathi Font Processor developed |
 In this background a Font Processor assumes great significance. One Ajay Garg identified this problem and developed his own font processor for Marathi language compatible with virtually every Marathi font being used. It has also got another important feature of being convertible to English fonts.
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| DEF unveils Neer Jaal (Water Web) |
 DEF unveils India's First Holistic Water Resource Management System - Neer Jaal. Neer Jaal is an Information Communication Technology enabled water resource management system for grassroots communities.
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| Manthan nominee recognized at Radio Duniya Awards ‘08 |
| Score Foundation’s radio programme ‘Eyeway, Yeh Hai Roshni Ka Karvan’ has been adjudged the best radio programme in the category “Best Social Responsibility Initiative” at the recently held (11-12 February ’08) inaugural Radio Duniya Award 2008
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| Manthan Awardee develops active web GIS |
 K. Srivathsan of Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management - Kerala (IIITM-K), a 2007 Manthan Awardee, has developed Kerala's first active web GIS in public domain.
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| DEF launches ''Towards Digital Panchayat'' |
 Maharashtra Leads the way -
February 16, 2008 may go in the history of "bottom up digital inclusion revolution" as Digital Empowerment Foundation starts its concept of "Local Area Portal" through spearheading Digital Panchayat project from Maharashtra, where 50 Panchayats
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| Launch of Manthan Award for South Asia |
 The Manthan Award 2008 for South Asian Countries : to recognize the best e-content for development is launched now. The Manthan Award, after its four years of interventions in India, has now decided to cover South Asian Countries, namely, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
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| Community Radio Workshop Conducted by DEF |
 DEF organised a workshop in association with SWRC, Media Lab Asia & SEWA entitled "Community Radio in the hands of Communities: Operations and Collaborations" and it was held during 2-4 February 2008 at Barefoot College, Tilonia, Ajmer
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| Manthan Awardee among Asia's Best Young Entrepreneurs |
 One of the Awardees of Manthan Award 2007, Ms. Saloni Malhotra, the young entrepreneur from DesiCrew Solutions, who is its founder & CEO, has been voted the second best entrepreneur in the age group 30 or under in the Asia-Pacific region by the prestigious Businessweek.com.
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| Manthan Awardee meets Nobel Laureate |
 A Manthan Awardee presents award winning concept to Mohammad Yunus. In his meeting with Dr. Yunus, Ravi Ghate explained his Manthan Award winning idea and its unique social service that it offers through short messaging servicing (SMS). Dr. Yunus liked the concept of “SMS for masses”
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| DEF - Activity Report (Updated) |
 Since its inception in 2002 Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) has engaged itself into number of activities while pursuing its mission and objectives of ICT delivery and promotion in India.
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| The flavour of e-content in India |
 There is no e-governance agenda that is distinct from the improved e-governance agenda. Information technology (IT) is merely a tool and it is a pretty powerful tool. Deprivation can be understood as resulting from asymmetric access to information,
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| Innovation as a way forward for India |
 “Agriculture in India has stagnated over the last twenty years. Once again, ICT can become an important tool to enable more intensive agriculture.But to make an impact in Indian agriculture is not simple. It would require large number of experiments and plenty of innovations.
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| Bridging the Content Gap Showcasing India's Best |
 “A little glimpse at the 2007 edition of the Manthan Award and the picture is an interesting revelation of quality and usable content. The selection of 39 best products across 15 categories is a tell-a-tale story of how ICT enabled content can be created, used and outreached for desirable impact and outcome” The document in your hand is unique in more than one sense and perspective.
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| e-Content Spirit is high but we have some tasks to do! |
 King of Gondal, Gujarat, had made the education of girl child compulsory way back in 1890s. He fined parents of those who did not send children to school, an anna a month. Where do we find such stories on the Internet ? Celebrating the creativity and innovation in e-Content contributes significantly to the bridging of Digital Divide
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| No ordinary Jury |
 "The Manthan jury is no ordinary jury, and the jurors are not adjudicating rights from wrongs. Rather they are creatively engaged in a very interesting dialogue. As one who is not trained to be a technocrat or an IT professional, it was a very enriching experience for me to see
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| World Summit Award - The Best in e-Content & Creativity |
 World Summit Award is the global e-Content felicitation forum. DEF's founder & director is also on the board of WSA Jurors. DEF's own Manthan Award is the India chapter of the WSA.
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