Advertisment

Coming soon, a Kannada Wikipedia

author-image
CIOL Bureau
New Update

BANGALORE, INDIA: The Karnataka Knowledge Commission has commenced work on an easy-to-comprehend Kannada portal on the lines of Wikipedia in association with IIIT-Bangalore, the Department of Kannada and Culture, the Kannada Sahitya Parishat, and various other institutions and individuals.

Advertisment

The Commission held a consultative meeting with a group of experts and a rough plan has been chalked out as to how to go about the project. Four committees - advisory, technical, information collection and editorial - will shortly be set up and be given the task of roping in experts in the field.

Though the portal is yet to be named, the participants in the meeting suggested some names like Kannada Gnanabandara, Kannada Mahitebandara, Kannada Khajane, Jnana Setuve etc. Reports say this online encyclopedia in Kannada is expected for public use by November, to coincide with Kannada Rajyotsava.

The State government has already set aside Rs 2 crore for the project in its 2009-10 fiscal. “Information Technology experts from top companies include Infosys, IBM and Microsoft have expressed their desire to contribute to the project, which is perhaps first of its kind in the country,” Prof Sadagopan, director, IIIT-B said.

“Initially, priority will be given to subjects related to Kannada and Karnataka on the portal. The IIIT-B is giving technical support to the ambitious project,” said Member-Secretary of the Commission M K Sridhar.

According to Kannada Development Authority Chairman Mukhyamantri Chandru, a separate Kannada font and a keyboard are being planned to be developed for the portal. The aim of the project is to make information easily available to common man in Kannada.

tech-news