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Bytes For All

An excellent newsletter for issues related to technology and development. I pass it on occasionally, but if you would like to receive it regularly subscription information is below-- Mark

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_/ B y t e s F o r A l l --- http://www.bytesforall.org
_/ Making Computing Relevant to the People of South Asia
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FEBRUARY 12, 2001 ISSUE * FOCUS: DEVELOPMENTS IN SOUTH ASIA
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SPECIAL NEWS: T H E S I M P U T E R I S U P !
Department of Computer Science associate professor Swami Manohar reports from the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, that a plan to make a low-cost sub-$200 computing device (a 'Simple Computer' or Simputer) is making steady progress.

Says Manohar: "We have some good news to share. Over the Republic Day (end-Jan) weekend we got the first simputer working inside its box with its own battery pack. Linux and X, as well as the audio part are now in good shape. Pending items are: smartcard driver, higher-speed modem (currently 2400 baud is up), A few glitches in IR reception, USB slave driver, and power management.

Check out http://www.simputer.org for the details and some pictures. Contact Prof Manohar: Tel +91 80 309 2368 x204 Email: manohar@csa.iisc.ernet.in To join a mailing list discussing the issue: simputer-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

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RESPONDING TO THE TRAGIC earthquake in Gujarat, India that shook the region on January 26, BytesForAll volunteers -- specially Archana in Goa-India, Partha from Dhaka-Bangladesh and Zunaira from Karachi-Pakistan -- have put together a compilation of web-based initiatives to cope with the situation. Please check http://www.bytesforall.org/gujarat_appeal.html

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INTERNET HELPS GLOBAL INDIANS RALLY FOR QUAKE AID, REPORTS REUTERS.
Panjokutch (Our Kutch) (http://www.panjokutch.com) was quickly transformed from a community Web site that helped arranged marriages, carried travel ads and posted job information. Now it serves as an information hub for quake relief. Its tasks range from online registration of aid donors to locating lost relatives. Pankaj K. Shah, managing trustee of the non-profit S.K. Shah Charitable Trust, which runs Panjokutch.com, said the site's main aim now was to inform anxious relatives of victims.

There are a host of other sites such as http://www.kutchinfo.com which details specific needs for quake-hit villages. Gujarati magazines like Chitralekha (http://www.chitralekha.com) are also part of the effort. And Bombay's Grain, Rice and Oilseed Merchants Association (http://www.groma.org) has a victim relief site. AlertNet (http://www.alertnet.org), run by the Reuters Foundation of global news and information group Reuters Group Plc, is another site helping disaster relief communication.

Pankaj K. Shah, managing trustee of the non-profit S.K. Shah Charitable Trust, which runs Panjokutch.com, said the site's main aim now was to inform anxious relatives of victims.

Details of relief needs sought over the web are meticulous, with goods needed ranging from biscuits and milk powder to cotton rolls and analgesics. http://www0.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/internet/docs/801468l.htm

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DIGITAL IMAGE E-MAILS IN AID OF QUAKE VICTIMS (Thanks to Irfan Khan, s-asia-it) SUKHPUR (India), Feb 8: Japanese Red Cross doctors helping victims of the Indian earthquake are using satellite phones and digital photos e- mailed to Japan to seek second opinions before beginning surgery on patients. The doctors work out of a field hospital in Sukhpur, one of the villages flattened by the devastating earthquake of Jan 26 which measured 7.9 on the Richter scale and claimed an estimated 30,000 lives. A few metres from the operating table, the picture of an entire leg cut open filled a PC screen while a digital camcorder kept records of the three operations performed on the day. Outside the tent mounted on inflatable material amid the rubble of houses in a semi-desert countryside, an antenna is locked into a satellite, the whole system powered by a series of generators. "The doctors are more and more specialized," said Dr Nobuyuki Sagehashi, a plastic surgeon clad in the standard operating theatre-issue blue overalls. "And we must select several options." Advice from an expert conversant with a given clinical case is considered valuable. The doctors in Sukhpur therefore e-mail a picture of a wound or fracture to Japan, seeking pointers on how to proceed. http://www.dawn.com/2001/02/09/int6.htm

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INDLINUX, A MAILING LIST for making Linux even more relevant to India: The goal of the IndLinux mailing list is to make the benefits of the digital revolution available to the Indian masses. The Free/Open Source movement is one of the best vehicles for making this possible. Members of the list are those who are interested in the Indianisation of Linux project Further details Indlinux Moderator <indlinux-owner@yahoogroups.com>

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SUNIL KHAIRNAR <delhiagriwatch@vsnl.com> writes: We run the largest Indian centric agribusiness portal http://www.agriwatch.com We publish the only daily agricultural newspaper in India in both Hindi and English from Delhi and Bhopal.

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ICICIcommunites is a Social Development Portal, a purely non-commercial venture of ICICI's Social Initiative Group. The portal aims to create a platform, which will enable NGOs, development professionals and concerned citizens to contribute to the development initiatives in India. It not only gives donors the convenience to contribute to social causes but also provides a platform to NGOs to dialogue and gain from the resources and the services provided in the Portal.

The portal, which is under construction, at present features an online charity site, called GiveOnline, which allows a donor to donate to a select cause or an NGO, a shopping mall for providing opportunities to rural artisans to market their products across the world, a news and analysis section and Resource Centres on Infant mortality and Primary Education. The centres will carry information, toolkits and research papers on the relevant subjects and will act as discussion centres. These resource centres will be extended to cover technology and micro finance in the future.

In the coming months another feature, Careers and volunteers will be added. This application will provide space for NGOs to advertise for jobs and for candidates to post their Resumes.

FURTHER DETAILS: Rahul Barkataky, 4th Floor Shangrila Garden, A wing, Bund Garden Road Pune 411 001 India
Tel: 0091-20-6128221-5 (extn.413)
Fax:91-20-6128226 Email: <BARKATAKYR@icici.com>
http://www.icicicommunities.org

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EXPLORE THE VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTAL REALITY ON UNE-DOT-NET: Patricia.Jacobs@unep.org reports from Nairobi on the launch by UNEP of a new interactive environmental Web site (http://www.unep.net) known as UNEP dot net. It” will provide an expanded series of environmental management solutions. The network portal will offer a forum for scientific, technical peer review; provision of insights on environmental issues to the global community; and exchange of ideas, information and data.

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'TECHNOLOGY FOR PEOPLE'/ INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION -- India is one of the countries listed, according to Irfan Khan.

New products are often developed solely on the basis of technological feasibility. Far too often, the user is ignored and it is not until the technology has been fully developed that we begin to consider the user's situation and needs. How can we encourage greater attention to human interests during the development process? How do we encourage developments within information technology, which are more in tune with human interests and needs?

The Danish telecommunications company SONOFON has thrown down the gauntlet to students, researchers, engineers, etc. - inviting them to enter an international competition that tries to answer some of these questions. The "Technology for People" competition is part of SONOFON's efforts to promote technological developments which are more in tune with the interests and needs of the users. Information technology must be developed for people. It must be easy to use and access has to be for all.

The winners will be selected by an international panel of judges. First, second and third prizes of $15,000, $10,000 and $5,000 will be awarded. http://www.sonofonkampagne.dk/technology_for_people/

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>From DrAniruddha Malpani <malpani@vsnl.com> has published an article in HouseCalls magazine, which explains "why every doctor should have his own website".

Some tips: Putting up a website has become very easy, and your first website can be hosted free at http://www.goodhealthnyou.com -- you just need to fill up the form online at the website.

He notes: "Remember that Indian patients want information about diseases common in India so they want information on malaria rather than cystic fibrosis. By providing this information, you establish yourself as a credible expert."

Dr Malpani's first website, http://www.healthlibrary.com is a purely educational site. And by putting up over 20 full-text books on ayurveda and yoga online in our reading room, he says they are helping to promote Indian healing systems internationally.

Says he: "The future of medical care is e-healthcare, with the promise of online medical records, online pharmacies, telemedicine, patient education, and an ever-expanding list of exciting opportunities. The opportunity to help our patients navigate the wealth of information on the World Wide Web and better educate themselves is now in our hands. We owe it to ourselves and our patients to meet the challenge that lies before us all!" http://www.drmalpani.com

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INTERNET CONTENT over the telephone may soon be a reality... with benefits for many, including the blind. The new buzzword in technology circles is VoiceXML. It is being promoted by the VoiceXML Forum founded by AT&T, IBM, Lucent and Motorola. The idea is to make Internet content available over the telephone. You do that, and the number of potential Internet users will go up from three or four million to over 20 million (in India) in one step, writes Dr S. Ramani, who until recently was director of the National Centre for Software Technology, Juhu-Mumbai. Contact: ramanisl@vsnl.com

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PROF ASHOK JHUNJHUNWALA'S EXPERIMENTS WITH TAKING TELEPHONES TO THE COMMONMAN: Newspaper reports say that this year 24 Indian cities will deploy CorDECT

If the Fortune magazine calls him one of the top men to shape the future of the world, the telecom industry revers him. But Ashok Jhunjhunwala, the father of CorDECT Wirelss in Local Loop (WLL), is a professor through and through ...

What is the difference between CorDECT WLL and the CDMA WLL? CorDECT WLL provides high-quality telephone and Internet access at a cost lower than conventional technologies, in both dense urban and sparse rural. While CorDECT WLL can provide data transmission rate of 70 kbps for Internet access, WLL based on CDMA or GSM can not go beyond 9.6 kbps. Also, while the CDMA WLL and GSM can be used to provide mobility, CorDECT is more suited for the needs of faster connectivity to the Indian villages, since it is cheaper and can provide high quality Internet access, even if it can't provide mobility. Moreover, in CorDECT, the same line can be used simultaneously to access the Internet and to provide voice.

BYTESFORALL wishes all luck to Prof Jhunjhunwala.
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe/daily/20010205/efe05007.html

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BANG!inux -- India's premier and exclusive open-source conference and exhibition, according to its organisers. March 5-7, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Three days of open-source code, information and knowledge from programmer to programmer. 32 sessions covered by international speakers. Over 40 exhibitors showcasing the hottest Linux products and developments.
Details from: http://www.banglinux.com

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COULD THE INTERNET help improved rice farmers fetch a better price?
http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,21402,00.html

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FROM BANGLADESH, Walther Warnaar <warnaar@compuserve.com> recently commented in a discussion on the s-asia-it@apnic.net mailing list: "Here in Bangladesh, many people working in IT have a degree in other subjects, such as statistics or applied physics. That will not hamper development; the analytical skills needed for software development are the same as the skills needed for these other subjects. The real problem in education might be that, traditionally, education here is more aimed at knowledge than at skills and real understanding. And, indeed, knowledge becomes outdated very fast.

"If Bangladesh succeeds in setting up an export-oriented software industry, it will be due to the many young entrepreneurs who are now starting IT companies. The competition between them will automatically lead to improved quality. Especially when they'll work for foreign customers who will demand higher quality and business standards.

"By the same token, I'm much more optimistic that out of the large number of IT training institutes we have in Dhaka, some real good ones will evolve, than about the possibility that the government can set up many new universities."

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NEW IICD WEBSITE ON ICTs FOR DEVELOPMENT: International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD) officially launches its new website (http://www.iicd.org/). It provides valuable information on all its activities in the area of ICT for development purposes.

The International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD) assists developing countries to utilise the opportunities offered by information and communication technologies (ICTs) to realise sustainable development. It focuses on good governance, environment, health care, education and socio-economic opportunities, such as e-commerce. IICD's role is to act as a facilitator and an independent broker in knowledge, partnering and funding. Focus countries are to date Burkina Faso, Ghana, Tanzania, Zambia, Mali, Uganda, Jamaica and Bolivia.

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2001 INDIAN/SOUTH ASIAN WEBSITES: BytesForAll update of Indian/South Asian websites is now available online at http://www.bytesforall.org/i2001.html If you'd like a copy of the HTML file via email (300K) please write to fred@bytesforall.org with REQUEST i2001 as your subjectline. This is a GNU/CopyLeft compiliation.

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bYtES For aLL is a voluntary, unfunded venture that seeks the involvement and support of all who agree with its goals.
Contact us at bytes-admin@goacom.com
* Compiled in public interest * CopyLeft/GPL.
May be freely distributed provided whole message (including credits) are kept intact.
bYtES For aLL ezine volunteers team includes: Frederick in Goa, Partha in Dhaka, Zubair in Islamabad, Archana in Goa, Arun-Kumar in Dortmund, Zunaira in Karachi, Shivkumar in Mumbai, Gihan in Colombo, Daryl in Chicago and Sangeeta in Kathmandu. Partha Sarkar is webmaster of <sic>
TO UN / S U B S C R I B E to this mailing-list simply send a message to fred@bytesforall.org
with U N S U BSCRIBE B4A or S U B SCRIBE B4A as the subject line.
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Last updated: February 15, 2001 in Hot Metal Pro 6.0