abhishek[CPM] (Moderator):
Welcome the "Management of a Community Website in Hindi & Community Building through Indic Computing" Chat. The chat will begin at 5:00 PM.

BIChatModerator (Expert):

Dear BhashaIndia Chat participants, its my pleasure to welcome you all to the third edition of the Online Microsoft Bhashaindia Expert Chat with Mr Shubhranshu Choudhary

BIChatModerator (Expert):
A few rules:

BIChatModerator (Expert):
It's my privilege to introduce Mr Shubhranshu Choudhary , a media and information professional with a  difference.

Mr. Shubhranshu Choudhary has extensive experience in the field of journalism, having worked with some of the biggest names in media, such as the Guardian newspaper and the British Broadcasting Corporation. He has also been actively writing for a number of print and online publications.

In addition to this, Mr. Shubhranshu Choudhary is the founder of CGNet, a group of people who are working to build community participation in development in the Central Indian state of Chhattisgarh.

CGNet aims to achieve this goal through the empowerment of the community through information exchange. They currently run a website www.cgnet.in, which is a bilingual community portal for Chhattisgarh. The site is primarily in Hindi and Chhattisgarhi, which are the two most commonly spoken languages in the region. CGNet runs primarily as an online community through the website and the mailing list, with periodic meeting

BIChatModerator (Expert):
Dear BhashaIndia Chat participants, we request you to start submitting your questions now.

BIChatModerator (Expert):
The rules again:

BIChatModerator (Expert):
Please refrain from sending any private messages to the expert during the chat 

This chat will last for one hour. During this hour, our Experts will respond to as many questions as they can. Please understand that there may be some questions we cannot respond to due to lack of information or because the information is not yet public. We encourage you to submit questions for our Experts. 

We ask that you stay on topic for the duration of the chat. This helps the Guests and Experts follow the conversation more easily. We invite you to ask off topic questions after this chat is over.

Please use the radial button "submit a question " to ask any questions to the expert. The lower right corner, next to the chat input box, is a check box. Please use that for your questions to be logged as a question to the expert.

Thanks.

BIChatModerator (Expert):
Please use the radial button "submit a question " to ask any questions to the expert. The lower right corner, next to the chat input box, is a check box. Please use that for your questions to be logged as a question to the expert.

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: When did you start using Hindi on your website and what has been your experience with it?
A: we started around an year back. In CGnet we also meet face to face and we call it Dream CG meet. In the first dream CG meet we realized that if we shift to local language then only many will be able to join us.

BIChatModerator (Expert):
Dear BhashaIndia Chat participants, please allow the previous query to be answered before you proceed with yours.

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: How the idea to form cg net came into your mind.
A: We want to make it rooted to the place hence CGnet...we would like dulication of CGnet in all states like MPnet, UPnet, Orissnet

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: What's CGNet?
A: It is Peoples Website of Chhattisgarh. Pls go to www.cgnet.in for more

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: What issues did you face, using Hindi on your website?
A: many technical problems. Hindi has many fonts and they don't recognize each other unlike English which has Unicode. So we spent more time sorting technical issues

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: Hi. Do you think that the technological support/availability for indic language website is better now than when you started?
A: yes we have quite a few techies in Cgnet. they helped. Microsoft was very helpful. they gave us TBIL converter. which was very effective

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: Good afternoon everyone.. how do you see the the limited availability of hindi software affecting the popularity of sites like CGnet
A: Things are improving. But it will be better if Windows 98 is more Indic language friendly

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: What were the significant achievements of cgnet in last two years and where do you wish to take it from here?
A: Cgnet is a Citizen journalism platform...we are trying people to start talking as they did in their Panchayats before...it is an e Panchayat...the membership has grown from 0 to 500 +

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: What kind difficulties was faced by you while doing this CGnet
A: Font was the biggest problem Praveen and it still remains. many who are using Cyber Cafe can't see the site

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: why you like bbc font that is not in good in look as well as in script. Why not simple and popular fonts like shrilipi
A: Mangal is a Unicode font Pankaj. Unicode is the future

BIChatModerator (Expert):
Dear BhashaIndia Chat paricipants it would be simpler for Mr Shubhranshu Choudhary to answer your questions if we could have the questions a little more slowly.

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: How good is d community participation in CGNET ?
A: That has tremendously increased after we have included Hindi computing. We can also use Chhattisgarhi. Now we are trying to get illiterates with the help of audio and video training...

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: Is it possible for someone who does not know English to make effective use of cgnet online platform? Or do you think it will need still more efforts?
A: we are trying illiterate aliases to come online. we had a training session last month and would like to do many more. we call them barefoot journalists. we feel the last person should make use of technology to leapfrog

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: Hello sir, what exactly do you mean when you say that indic computing will accelerate community building?
A: majority do not english - so if we want to make use of technology for people to communicate - it will have to be in their own language

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: How will  illiterate people benefited by an online community?
A: I have answered this before- they can upload an audio file, sms and pictures which we are already doing. Apart from that we want the community radio stations when they are up and running to  download from CGnet. This will be an Online Alternative News platform and the last mile connectivity to the illiterate people will be done by radio

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: Did you face any issues related to fonts as you're targeting community who may have Win 98 with them? Do you use Unicode in CG NET?
A: yes when we get our inputs in non Unicode we convert it to Unicode with the help of TBIL converter. Out site is completely on Unicode

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: it is your future plan but what motivated you to form cg net. any political ambition in future?
A: When people talk that is politics. We feel politics can not be left to Politicians and so is journalism. So we want to use new technology to people to start talking and deciding about their future.

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
A: CGNet (http://www.cgnet.in) is intended to be a people’s website for the state of Chhattisgarh.

Chhattisgarh, like most of India has traditionally followed the concept of a gram sabha.

Our aim is to bring back the participation of the community in the democratic process through effective communication

The major languages spoken are Chhattisgarhi and Hindi, so the medium of communication should be in one of these two languages.

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: why there is no advertisements in website. Any pacific reason?
A: we have jsut started. We have a policy to take ads...

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: how much you have invested from your pocket for this great effort . Also how much time.
A: we have invested in time...we got support from people like One World

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: Sir, you have stated in your interview that you plan to use  CGNET as a base for newsgathering of an alternate nature within the members of the group. How will this start off and How will Indic computing come in useful here ?
A: We did a survey in CG and found mainstream media gives only 2% space to 10 people's issues we want to work on. hence came the need for an alternative platform. We neither want or can compete with mainstream media. We raise issues which mainstream media does not or can not raise

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: but to even use indic computing, they require a minimalist knowledge of using computers or any gadgets at that. Are the people willing to step out of their archaic living and experiment with these?
A: You are right. we are trying to teach tribal people in Chhattisgarh in very basic computing skill when they can go to nearby NIC center and upload their audio recording. Tribes have a strong oral tradition and new technology should help them

BIChatModerator (Expert):
Dear BhashaIndia Chat participants,  we request you to keep your queries contained to the topic under consideration, in the interest of maintaining the structure of the chat.

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: are you planning it for Halbi, Mudia ,Maria and other dialects?
A: ofcoure. we would like CGnet to be in all the languages of Chattisgarh

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: if asked to summaries 5 oh 10 okay 5 major achievements of CGnet , what would they be
A: the major achievements are

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
A: 1. People have started talking again

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
A: 2. There is platform which is not based on advertising...it is a space for community by community...like our old Panchayat ghar...where we can discuss and decide our own future

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: What help have you got from BhashaIndia in your community building effort?
A: BhashaIndia was great. we couldn't have done anything without TBIL converter which was kind of god's gift to us

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: what kind of software required to get this fonts and website
A: Pls look at BhashaIndia site(www.bhashaindia.com). they have lots of tutorials

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
A: coming back to you Nidheesh

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
A: CGnet is the only online community in India probably who also meets offline from time to time. we have groups working on 10 people's issues headed by one editor and few members. we would like them to work as Shadow cabinet for the state...

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
A: We see the reporting about chhattisgarh in national media and international media has gone upmany fold after Cnet

BIChatModerator (Expert):
Dear BhashaIndia Chat participants, we request you to refrain from asking the same question repeatedly. Please wait your turn while Mr Shubhranshu Choudhary finishes answering the query at hand.

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: Again the bottleneck is the internet connectivity (or the lack of it) in the tribal/rural areas. Do you think the state government need to invest more of its resources in that direction? Do you have plans to take cgnet beyond the online space?
A: we feel that last mile connectivity will be done only by radio. We can't expect a population where annual average income is less than 10,000 to have a computer. We feel that every district in the country should have a community radio of their own and the community radio stations should get the news from platforms like CGnet who will have the news from barefoot communicators from all over. State must work on more connectivity but that will not solve the problem. we will always have to mix with wireless and radio to reach the masses

BIChatModerator (Expert):
Dear BhashaIndia Chat participants, we request you to refrain from repeating the same questions

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: Could you give us a brief overview of Hindi computing usage at CGNet, in terms of content types and volume of data?
A: We would like to keep as much content in Hindi as possible. We have been quite successful in the fulfillment of this aim.

But in some districts of Chhattisgarh literacy rate for women is still 20%. Since the state of Chhattisgarh has traditionally had a strong oral culture, we are aiming at ultimately providing most of the content in audio format. We would like this website to be linked with Community Radio stations all over the state. But the government policy on radio limits us. So we rely on text and audio on the website as our primary medium.

We host content contributed by members living in Chhattisgarh or outside. Most of it is in Hindi.

To maximize access, we are using Microsoft’s Indic computing as a standard. The advent of UTF and the Mangal font, along with the tools that support content creation and management on this platform have proved to be very helpful.

Contributions are in different fonts and formats. We convert it to the UTF standard, and upload to the website as web pages.

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: Do u have any future plan for on-line sale of chhattisgarh speciality on CG net?
A: Yes. we plan to make a chhattisgah haat on CGnet. That may work as making CGnet an economic viable experiment. we need to train people on how to use technology. We think farmers and artisans sitting in remote areas can be helped to connect with people sitting in far off areas. For example there are places in Chhattisgrh which has never used chemical fertilizer -now this will be example purest form of organic - this can be promoted through CGnet

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: why there is no membership fees?
A: In the Dream CG meet that is face to face meetings of CGnet we do charge our members

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: What tools do you use most often?
A: We use a number of tools supported by the Indic framework. For example we use the TBIL font converter to convert between fonts. We have of late used WEFT (Web Embedding Fonts Tool) to embed the fonts that we have used into the page itself in EOT (Embedded Open Type) format to ensure that the end user does not have to download the font. The Hindi IME is available for download at BhashaIndia, which we use extensively now

BIChatModerator (Expert):
Dear BhashaIndia Chat participants, we are heading towards the end of this session. We request you to keep the queries as concise as possible, since time is running short

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: adding to what alok says, how do you plan to make it viable, free and impartial as a platform and also provide an impact worthy platform by influencing the influencers
A: Chhattisgarh is a Tribal dominated state, rather it was created for its tribal nature, but astonishingly we are yet to find tribal journalists in mainstream media. this probably tells a lot. we would like to train as many people as we can who have concern for the state and would like to work as a Citizen Journalist which we call rural barefoot communicators...we hope this way we can make a more democratic media platform and community Radio networks when they are legal and up and running will help us reach the last person.

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
A: So it is a platform by the last person which also reaches to the last person , with little help of technology and very very little money

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: While working with Hindi content, have you come across or developed any shortcuts or tricks to work more efficiently that you would like to share?
A: While working with any new tool for languages, it is very important to keep an open mind. One example that comes to mind:

Recently we were trying to convert the SV Surya font to Mangal, and direct conversion was not working. With hit and trial one of our members found that.

It is possible to convert SV Surya to another font called Kruti Dev and then convert from that to Mangal. These things can only be found out through regular use. But it is very important to stay perseverant and to not give up.

Experimentation is a must. These days there are communities like BhashaIndia online, working for Indic Computing, which are proving to be very helpful

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: How different is hosting language content online from static content in print ?
A: With online content, more emphasis can be laid on localization, both geographical as well as in terms of people.

Local content can be generated in a manner that is economically feasible. There is really no comparison because so far the commercial media i.e. print and television is driven by advertising and business and is therefore economically unfeasible for people with a small community and small budget. The internet provides a brilliant solution to the economics of spreading information. Also, it enables two way communications, which is more beneficial for community participation.

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: Are there any references, online or otherwise which you would like to recommend for people planning language computing?
A: Pls go to Bhashaindia site

BIChatModerator (Expert):
Dear BhashaIndia Chat participants, we are heading towards the end of this session. We request you to keep the queries as concise as possible, since time is running short

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: Any plan for Job search engine?
A: yes we have a jobs sectioning CGnet which is getting increasing popular. It is a big way to attract youth.

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: Did you happen to find any methods to ease the usage of Hindi on a portal during your building of CGnet ?
A: using Hindi is still not easy. lots and lots of work need to go into it. converters require lot of work too

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: i think it can / may start some online matrimony service for kurmis and chattisgarhi brahmins, who are bigtime mover and shakers of the community across the globe.. just a suggestion
A: we are not competing with mainstream . we want to do what mainstream does not or can not do

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: Thanks Shubhranshu ji for nice answers.
A: thanks pankaj

abhishek[CPM] (Moderator):
Dear Participants, Thank you for your active and enthusiastic participation. We will continue the series of interactions on the BhashaIndia Expert Chat Series with many more experts to come

We thank Mr. Shubhranshu Choudhary for being here with us and answering so many user questions in such a short time

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: How could it be made more feasible for developers to work on Indic Computing?
A: Many communities together could probably make the development of software feasible. It may be possible for many communities to combine and fund development on tools which could then be used by everyone. But this will require more participation from people in Indian language computing. We would like clones of CGNet to come up in other states and they can help each other. All the north Indian states including Maharashtra use the same Devanagari script.

ShubhranshuChoudhary (Expert):
Q: if its an e panchayat, why should this site evade the possibility of making itself viable by offering matrimony ( if not dating) services..
A: we want to concentrate on the subjects where mainstream media does not want to venture. but thanks for your suggestion

abhishek[CPM] (Moderator):
Q: i want to know best antivirus software
A: this chat is not focused on security issues. there are no BEST antivirus software. different people have implemented different solutions - Norton, McAfee, eTrust etc are most popular ones. AVG is the free antivirus available. "Malicious Software Removal tool" from MS is available for free and safeguards against major threats.

BIChatModerator (Expert):
Dear Participants, Thank you for your active and enthusiastic participation. We will continue the series of interactions on the BhashaIndia Expert Chat Series with many more experts to come