This article on Wikimania was published in one of the national newspapers of India, "The Hindu".
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/indian-wikipedians-look-forward-to-hong-kong-meet/article4750808.ece It came on the rear cover page in many of the editions http://twitpic.com/ctib6k Regards Tinu Cherian On Sun, May 26, 2013 at 8:16 AM, Tinu Cherian (Wikimedia India) < [email protected]> wrote: > > *The Hindu :* *"Indian Wikipedians look forward to Hong Kong meet "* > > > http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/indian-wikipedians-look-forward-to-hong-kong-meet/article4750808.ece > > * It sounds like a motley group — a septuagenarian from Chennai, a > mother-daughter team from Salem, a computer engineer from Pune and a > medical student from Kozhikode. But the commonality these people share is > that they are among the 11 Indian Wikipedians — persons who contribute > articles to and/or edit for the online encyclopaedia — who will be > attending Wikimania, 2013. > > Wikimania is an annual conference centred on Wikipedia and similar > projects. It will be held in Hong Kong in August (9 to 11) this year. > > The website on the event (http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania) says > it “… features presentations on Wikimedia projects, other wikis, > open-source software, free knowledge and free content, and the social and > technical aspects which relate to these topics”. > > At Wikimania, 300 to 720 people from 50 countries — including writers, > editors, programmers, photographers and Wikimedia Foundation staff — meet. > It is “organised by local volunteer teams, with support from international > volunteers, and the Wikimedia Foundation and other sponsors.” > > Sengai Podhuvan, the 75-year-old Tamil Wikipedian, who earlier edited a > journal on sports in Tamil, told The Hindu he had submitted a paper, > ‘Improvements to Wiki editing process’, for Wikimania. > > Mr. Podhuvan has added as many as 2,350 articles on Tamil literature and > science to the Tamil Wikipedia. He has placed in a chronological order > 2,000 books from the 17th century and before. He has added information on > 200 rural games that were played in the last century till 1950 or 1960 from > various States. “My own experience, my service, my childhood, these are my > source,” he said. > > Mr. Podhuvan said: “My hands are shivering. I can’t hold a tumbler or make > a cup of tea without help from my wife. But I can type.” > > Netha Hussain, the MBBS student, is a “pilot volunteer” for Wiki Women’s > Collaborations, a worldwide women-driven initiative which concentrates on > creating women-relevant content online. Ms. Hussain, who attended the Wiki > Women’s Camp in Argentina last year, said: “Not more than 22 per cent of > the articles [on Wikipedia] are by women. Articles on women’s health are > neglected because of fewer number of women editors. We want more women.” > > She has made 10,000 “edits,” of which 3,500 are for the Malayalam > Wikipedia and 3,500 for the Wikipedia. Though she has written on topics > such as the medical uses of saffron, mostly, she said, “I translate > articles from English, which is easy. But it is tough to find the exact > words in Malayalam. The dictionaries are not updated. So we have to use > English, Tamil or Sanskrit words [in the Malayalam script].” > > Arnav Sonara, the student of computer engineering, is looking forward to > meeting new people — especially those with whom he has been working online > at Wikimania. He has made 5,000 edits, including 2,000 for the Gujarati > Wikipedia. He keeps adding articles as the Gujarati Wikipedia has “only > 22,500” entries and needs more content. He keeps a check on vandalism of > articles. “I do speedy deletions. If new articles not conforming to > Wikipedia norms appear, I mark them for deletions. I keep an eye on them.” > Parvathi, a teacher in the Government Middle School, Kandhampatti, Salem, > said she would like to discuss many subjects, in Tamil, at Wikimania. She > has added 10,500 edits to the Tamil Wikipedia since September 2011. The > additions are to Tamil literature, scientists and “Divya Desams” — the 108 > Vaishnava temples. She contributed 30 articles to the first page and 700 > photos in a Wiki Tamil Contest for which she got a “Continuous > Participation” award. Her daughter, who has been editing for the past one > month, will accompany her. > > Wikimanias have been held since 2005 in Germany, the United States, > Taiwan, Egypt, Argentina, Poland, Israel and last year in Washington, says > the website. * > > > Regards > Tinu Cherian > [email protected] > http://wiki.wikimedia.in/In_the_news > > Important Note : Non-commercial reproduction for informative purposes > only. The publisher (The Hindu ) of the above news article owns the > copyrights of the article / content. All copyrights are duly acknowledged. > > > >
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