Internet domain names in regional languages by next year

.in may be replaced with .bharat

PTI | April 28, 2010



The government is working on developing internet domain names in seven regional languages which would see the present country code '.in' being replaced with '.bharat'.

"We are hoping that internet domain name in seven regional languages will be implemented next year," Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Department of IT, Senior Director Govind told reporters here today on the sidelines of a national workshop on Internationalised Domain Names (IDN).

The government has sought the approval of the US-based ICAAN, a body for assigning web addresses, for using domain names in regional languages, including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi, Bangla, Urdu and Gujarati, he said.

"We have submitted our proposals with ICAAN for using top-level country code domain names in seven regional languages and hope we will be able to get approval by the end of this year," he said adding," thereafter we will have domain names in all 22 languages."

Once the approval is given for using domain names in regional languages, internet users across the country will be able to access internet in these languages which is at present limited to Latin characters.

Domain names are basically entered in address bar of browser to access a particular website.

"Moreover, it will also allow replacing '.in' (top-level country code domain name allotted to India) with '.bharat' in regional languages," he said.

Over the past three years, the Centre for Advanced Computing (C- DAC) Pune in close association with the Department of IT and C-DAC Kolkata, Thiruvananthapuram has been working on this project with the support of ICAAN as part of the Centre's initiative to proliferate internet use in the country.

At present, the country has a total internet users base of 80 million, including 8.1 million broadband connections, he said while asserting that the use of internet would spread in the country with the use of domain names in Indian languages.

Given the complexity of Indian writing systems, safeguards would be of primary importance to ensure that the common man is secured from pharming and spoofing attacks, he said, adding that work is also on to remove several challenges, including standardization of characters (of regional languages, typing of characters.

"The main aim of these workshops is to provide a platform to all major players in this initiative to be aware of problems and perspectives of IDN and to provide useful feedback for finalizing the policy which will then be implemented," he said.

 

Comments

 

Other News

Gandhian movement after Gandhi failed: Ram Guha

The Gandhian movement in India, after Gandhi’s death, failed, says Ramachandra Guha, and blames Vinoba Bhave for it. But the movement found new, fertile grounds around the world and succeeded in bringing about a change in South Africa, the US and elsewhere. It is high time it returned home. Of cour

When religion, politics and Bollywood come together

Tavleen Singh, noted journalist and political commentator, has turned to fiction, with her debut novel ‘The Actor’ (HaperCollins India). Set in the near future, it has a superstar, Amit Singh, turning to politics, when the political landscape is dominated by prime minister Guru Gaynendraj

Cabinet approves setting up of Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority

The union cabinet, chaired by prime minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday approved the setting up of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), called Integrated Transport & Logistics Authority (ITLA), to strengthen research, planning, appraisal, monitoring and impact assessment within the broad domains of Transp

Why foundational literacy and numeracy is key to school education

Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) are often described as the building blocks of education. Yet, their significance goes well beyond a child’s ability to read a sentence, write a response or solve a basic mathematical problem. These foundational skills shape how children understand the world,

When police data becomes the algorithm

For decades, policing has followed a familiar sequence: a crime occurs, the police respond, an investigation produces records and those records become part of the institutional memory of the criminal justice system. Artificial intelligence is beginning to alter that sequence. Instead of merely recording

Before India voted, the framers worried about the referee

“We are making a Constitution forever and not only for today.” Shibban Lal Saksena said this in the Constituent Assembly on June 15, 1949. He was warning that a ruling party might one day choose a loyalist to run India’s elections. Seventy-seven years later, the Supreme Court is wrestli

Upcoming Conferences



-->

Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter