[Indic-computing-users] NEWS-LINK: Bengali Windows version by Oct 2003

[Sandip B. <sa...@li...>]

Real scary news on how Microsoft is planning to "help" out the state
everywhere. - Sandip

P.S. My apologies for  including the whole article, soemthing I
normally refrain from. But this scared me a LOT.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?artid=31482910

Bengali Windows version by Oct 2003

 KOLKATA: A Bengali version of Windows and MS Office is likely to be
 available by October 2003 enabling connectivity in rural West Bengal
 and cross-border e-access with Bangladesh, West Bengal IT Minister
 Manab Mukherjee said on Monday.

"Microsoft CEO Bill Gates has approved a proposal to enable the use of
Bengali in Windows and MS Office and it is likely to be available by
October 2003," Mukherjee told newspersons after revalidating an August
2001 MoU with Microsoft, represented by its India President Rajiv
Nair.

Mukherjee said Microsoft had sought the advice of the state government
on issues of accuracy of Bengali language.

Besides the proposed version, Microsoft has Tamil and Hindi versions.

The minister said Microsoft was also considering Kolkata as one of the
destinations for setting up IT training academies in the country.

On collaboration projects, he said Microsoft had completed work on IT
roadmaps for six government departments -- transport, agriculture
marketing, health, panchayat and land reforms -- and also prepared a
blueprint for creation of a citizen database.

Mukherjee said the citizen database and citizen interface projects,
intended to provide more security, better planning and identification
of Below Poverty Line (BPL) population, was awaiting the nod from the
Centre.

The TCS/WEBEL G2C portal project was executed on Microsoft technology,
Mukherjee added.

On e-governance initiatives, Mukherjee said Microsoft had developed
products for land record management, application for registration
offices, a soon to be launched West Bengal government portal, mail
messaging system of the WBSWAN and local area network at the state
secretariat. "Kolkata Police is in the process of using applications
developed by the National Crime Records Bureau in association with NIC
and Microsoft for linking of 45 police stations," he said.

The minister said under the IT training initiatives, around 150
personal assistants to secretaries of the government were trained by
Microsoft along with personnel Webel, state government's executing
agency.

Microsoft had also offered to set up a trainer's training facility at
a leading technical institution, which would be selected soon,
Mukherjee said.


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Sandip Bhattacharya
sandipb <@> bigfoot.com
http://www.sandipb.net             GPG/PGP: 0x08EB637C
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