text: :: DEF : Newsletter March 2012 ::
  Vol 1 Issue 3 | March 2012
  Wireless for Communities workshops
  The W4C workshop provides comprehensive, community-empowered approach to connect rural communities to the Internet.
  1st week of March in Tilonia, Rajasthan
  2nd Week of March in Baran, Rajasthan
  Contact person: Shahid Ahmad (shahid@defindia.net)
  http://wforc.in
  Workshop on Internet Rights
  24 April, 2012 at New Delhi
  Contact person: Ritu Srivastava (ritu@defindia.net)
  The eNGO workshop provides a web platform in local/ English languages to empower grassroot organisations with useful ICT tools.
  4th March 2012 - Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
  14th March 2012 - Shillong, Meghalaya
  19th March 2012 - Nainital, Uttrakhand
  Contact Person: Devendra Singh Bhadauria (dev@defindia.net)
  http://pirengo.org
  The mobile governance policy framework (MGPF) aims for "providing public services to all the residents in the country, especially in the rural areas, by utilizing the reach of mobile phones and the innovative potential of mobile applications, and making India a world leader in harnessing the potential of mobile governance for inclusive development". Read more
  Quest for Innovations in March
  mBillionth Award South Asia is a distinct platform initiated by Digital Empowerment Foundation and well supported by Vodafone. It aims to recognise and honor innovations in Telecom and Mobile Content/Applications for Masses across 8 South Asian Countries under 11 broad categories. Nomination Process is open for the 3rd mBillionth Award South Asia 2012. Last Date to apply Online is 3oth March 2012.
  Vodafone Mobiles for Good 2012
  The 'Vodafone Mobiles for Good', an initiative of Vodafone India Foundation in association with Digital Empowerment Foundation, honors and recognizes mobile based solutions provided by NGOs / NFPs (Not-For-Profit organisations), to facilitate mobile for community empowerment and inclusive growth for development. The four winning solutions will qualify for a funding grant of INR 40,00,000 to further scale and develop their solution to serve and benefit large user community in India. Nominations will open from March 9, 2012.
  Invitation for mPower Forum Open Competition
  Ek Soch Foundation in association with Digital Empowerment Foundation has launched mPower Forum Competition. mPower Forum invites Mobile Innovators to share their ideas and if selected, they will get a chance to join Incubatee Group to scale up and develop their idea with financial & mentorship support.
  Three different eNGO workshops were conducted in the month of February. Udaipur, Patna and Bodhgaya successfully hosted the workshops with the support from their regional partners. It saw an active participation of over 100 grassroot organisations with an online presence. The next eNGO workshop has been scheduled on 14th March 2012 in Shillong, Meghalaya and 19th March 2012 in Nainital, Uttrakhand.
  Digital Knowledge Center (DKC) is an initiative of Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), India and National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) to function as an 'Online Repository' of best Digital contents for development in various regions of South Asia, Europe & Canada. The projects are provided proper global exposure and are made available to all through audio-video conversion through an online platform.
  Community Radio practitioners across India shared their experience & success stories with the team of Digital Knowledge Centre, an initiative of Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF). Digital Empowerment Foundation participated in CEMCA CR Sammelan 2012 as a CR facilitator.
  Empowerment of 25,000 rural women through mobile phones and Tilonia Community Radio
  Barefoot College initiated this project to literate 25, 000 poor, and widows and physically challenged rural women in Ajmer. Tilonia Community Radio educates the rural women in rural handicraft, healthcare, education, computerization, communication networking, solar lighting, etc. for better livelihood opportunities. It claimed a winning spot in Women and Innovation for Mobile Award 2011.
  Glimpses | Know more
  Hello Sakhi: Helpline that addresses security issues for women Organisation
  Kutch Mahila Vikash Sangathan in collaboration with Kutch Police Department initiated "Hello Sakhi, a dedicated helpline for instant support to the women through counseling, lodging complaints, etc. The project was one of the winners in Women and Innovation for Mobile Award 2011.
  Maternal Health Services on mobile (SmS toolkit)-MHSM Organisation
  MHSM SMS toolkit, initiated by Datamation Foundation Charitable Trust, bagged the Women and Innovation for Mobile (WIN) Award 2011.The project since 2009 circulates Reproductive and Child Health related information services directly to the pregnant and lactating women through mobile phones.
  The Electronic Money Transfer Service (EMTS) is a project implemented by the Postal Department in Bangladesh for mobile and web based remittance service. It was recognised as the Most Innovative project during the mBillionth Award 2011.
  Most of the mobile operators including Bharti Airtel have already raised user charges by about 20 per cent in the wake of rising cost of operation and cut-throat competition. Mittal said while the industry is for providing affordable service, its own interest must also be safeguarded. "We will favour affordable service which should be viable for industry... Who will gain if our business is shut down? This has to be balanced," he said. Read more
  Tata Docomo Bloodline Club Goes Global
  Tata Docomo Bloodline Club will now be available across the global , the idea of people coming together to save lives regardless of religion, nationality or geographical location is the best part about the Bloodline Club Read more
  Rural India to drive mobile phone market growth: Report
  "The next wave of growth in subscriptions will come from semi—urban and rural areas. Today, the penetration of mobile phones in urban areas is already 100 per cent while in rural areas it is only 23 per cent," it said. The rural segment services includes selling and procurement information and support for farm commodities, educating farming community on best practices, delivery of healthcare and education to remote village via the mobile broad band network. Read more
  Airtel mobile customers can self register for airtel money Express Account by dialling *400# from their mobile phones or sign up for the service by walking into any of the 15,000 plus airtel money outlets across the top 300 cities of India and submitting the required KYC documents. Read more
  Particularly in the media and related industries, knowing how to use Twitter, updating your timeline on Facebook, pinning on Pinterest, checking in on Foursquare and uploading images on Instagram are among the digital skills that some employers expect people to have to land a job or to flourish in a current role. Read more
  In Rajasthan, the first state, where this national partnership has been implemented, over 2,200 retailers across 320 villages and 54 towns are already operational in opening HDFC Bank MobileBank Accounts with Vodafone m-paisa. Transactions include cash deposit, cash withdrawal, money transfer and balance enquiry. Read more
  POV: Should user-generated content be monitored?
  After being in the dock for carrying 'objectionable' content, Google and Facebook, along with15 other websites, are fighting for what they call internet freedom. Wikipedia went dark to protest the Web Piracy Bill being introduced in the US. Afaqs! speaks to industry experts to find out if a move to monitor content can backfire. Read more