Weekly news roundup - Asia

Created By: vignesh on 24-Aug-2007 12:00 AM

Free Internet access to visually impaired

Nethrodaya, Chennai, a non-governmental organisation, located in the southern India is providing free Internet access to visually challenged persons without any technological hassles. Govind Krishnan, who is partially blind, established the organisation five years ago. Sify, a major technology provider in the country is providing free unlimited Internet connectivity to the centre. According to Krishnan “This is the only such centre in the country where visually challenged can walk-in and browse for free of charge”. The centre has JAWS (Job access with speech), an audio-based software that reads everything on the screen, including web pages for the visually challenged. The software was created with the joint efforts of the Bill Gates Foundation and Freedom Scientific and the state has given the NGO free land about two kilometres from the current location.

Rural graduates to be trained for ITES jobs

JSW Foundation, a corporate social responsibility of JSW group, will now train rural graduates for business process outsourcing (BPO) skills in Bellary, located in the eastern part of Karnataka, India. The rural candidates shortlisted will be given six months training with stipend at the Bellary centre. Jsoft Solutions Ltd., a newly formed independent software arm of the JSW GROUP, will look after the centre. Initially the centre will provide non-voice services and will be upgraded into a full-fledged BPO unit including voice services. According to Sajjan Jindal, Managing Director, JSW Steels Ltd., “Instead of students going in search of jobs in major cities, we thought of bringing the jobs to their doorstep. Preference will be given to women graduates at the centre”. Earlier, JSW Foundation imparted BPO trainings to rural girls who had passed the SSLC examination.

'Happy Village Centre' scheme launched in Andhra Pradesh, India

Happy Village Centre, a unique rural empowerment and employment scheme launched in Pochampally village, Andhra Pradesh, loacted in southern India. The scheme is a joint venture between Bodhtree Consulting and Andhra Pradesh Technology Services (APTS). The project is aimed to provide employment opportunities for the youth in their villages which involves setting up of a facility with essential IT infrastructure besides providing coaching and training for the youth to handle data management projects by Bodhtree consulting. “This initiative will not only help penetration of IT in rural villages and create employment opportunities for the rural youth, who has little access to formal education but also to the enterprise as it lowers employee attrition and reduces cost of operations”, said Sanjeev Gupta, CEO, Bodhtree Consulting. According to Praveen Kumar, Managing Director, APTS, “As part of our expansion plan APTS is gearing up for a statewide roll out of Happy Village project in three phases. The first phase would cover 306 talukas. The second phase is expected to cover 1,123 mandals and the third phase would encompass 25,000 villages.’’

Intel Foundation, DEF partners to educate and empower rural women

Intel Foundation partnered with Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), New Delhi, a non-governmental organisation to setup three community information resource centres near Dhanaulti (Uttarkhand), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Kuppam (Andhra Pradesh). The centres will facilitate women's education and empowerment and will focus on developing skills and learning abilities among women and children by training them in English language, computer literacy and subject-based learning with digital tools. Osama Manzar, Founder Director, Digital Empowerment Foundation, said the project would address the high "information poverty" that ailed India. "It is not enough if we give computers to villagers. We need to see what impact information, communication and technology have in terms of job creation for rural youth, eradication of poverty and promotion of entrepreneurship." According to Frank Jones, President, Intel India "By focusing on the woman of a house, we are equipping an entire family, more over computer-awareness at the grass roots, would reflect in the overall development|. Intel Foundation had donated UD Dollars 60,000, which will be used over two years towards the execution of the project.

Myanmar government plans to implement cyber village project

Myanmar government is planning to implement a cyber village project to enable every village in the country to have access to Internet link like what is provided in urban cities. The government will install a cyber village project in cooperation with the Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) with installation of IP Star phone. The government has invited investments from the private sectors for the establishment of public access centres in villages. The government will use battery or solar energy for the power supply to operate the Internet in remote villages. According to the MPT, the number of Internet users in Myanmar has reached nearly 300,000, up from merely 12 four years ago. The authorities have expected to introduce 400 public Internet service centres in 324 townships in the country to facilitate communication links. Myanmar has launched the Master Plan under the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI).

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