Full coverage: South Asia

31.08.2004 Government funds to install computers will change the way about 0.7 million
children study in Delhi. The Rs 10-million project will have each of the 710
schools getting 10 personal computers along with teachers and hardware.

27.08.2004 A workshop on the World Summit for Information Society (WSIS) being held in Colombo in September 2004 has invited research papers. CTO Forum 2004 will discuss regulatory models, connectivity and ICT applications.

27.08.2004 The Indian government may de-licence Wi-Fi services as part of its broadband policy, allowing people to use the Internet on laptops outside offices and homes without connecting to a phone.

27.08.2004 The Indian capital approves Rs 100 crore plan to develop computer education facilities in all state run schools.

26.08.2004 India’s communications regulator, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, has
brought out a consultation paper to explore policy issues on community radio. Stakeholders are invited to send their comments on the paper by September 15, 2004.

26.08.2004 The human rights commission of Rajasthan, India, recommends to the government to train 200,000 weavers in technology-aided design to help them improve the sales of their products and come out of misery.

25.08.2004 Participants at a Unesco workshop have supported the need for more community multimedia centres in South Asia. The four-day workshop held in Bangalore and Budhikote, India, focused on local content, people’s participation and sustainability of community media projects.

25.08.2004 A study by the Agricultural Research and Extension Network, United Kingdom, has evaluated the use of ICTs in three agricultural projects in India. It has suggested that planners assess the information needs of the farmer before launching a project.

24.08.2004 An Indian NGO is conducting audience research as the first step towards launching a community radio project in the country’s Jharkhand state. The World Bank-funded initiative will give rural communities a chance to raise issues that concern them through programmes broadcast from the government-run radio station.

24.08.2004 India’s Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited is expanding its Internet and broadband business to more than 100 cities at tariffs comparable to dial-up accounts. The company also plans to strengthen its cybercafes and launch Wi-Fi enabled services.

23.08.2004 India and Japan discuss bilateral cooperation in the infotech sector to create greater market opportunities in a recently-concluded ministerial meeting in Indian capital New Delhi.

20.08.2004 With the implementation of the Rs. 100-crore plan for computerisation of schools, New Delhi will become the first state in the country to impart computer education in all government and aided schools across the capital.

19.08.2004 India’s telecommunications department has invited bids to set up public phones in nearly 0.1 million villages that do not have telecommunication facilities. The cost of the project will come from the Universal Obligation Fund to which all telecom service providers contribute five per cent of their annual revenue.

19.08.2004 Eleven Afghan journalists learnt to make radio programmes more listener-friendly at a month-long course in Kabul. The “My Life is Afghanistan” programme was meant to arm the journalists with radio skills by which they could highlight the lives and experiences of ordinary Afghans.

19.08.2004 The country’s National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has launched a compact disc comprising information on 30 viable projects on agriculture and related activities to help banks, farmers and government agencies in designing agricultural projects.

19.08.2004 Vying for the status of a major technology hub in the country, the south Indian state of Kerala is planning to set up a new software park to attract domestic and overseas software firms to the state.

18.08.2004 An international media watchdog has condemned efforts by the Maldives government to combat political dissidence by cutting off the south Asian nation's Internet links last week -- the latest in a series of measures to block freedom of information on the island.

17.08.2004 India's space research agency is open to running a manned space mission if there is a consensus on its need. The chairperson of Indian Space Research Organisation has said that technologies are being identified for the mission that may take seven to eight years to build.

17.08.2004 The south Indian state of Kerala is preparing to launch e-literacy and e-governance projects to not only bridge the digital divide but also to help people’s access a range of services from distant locations.

17.08.2004 An international media watchdog has condemned efforts by the Maldives government to combat political dissidence by cutting off the south Asian nation's Internet links last week -- the latest in a series of measures to block freedom of information on the island.