Indi Samarajiva, Author at LIRNEasia — Page 5 of 7


India

Posted on February 4, 2005  /  3 Comments

Mass computing’s next big thing runs into an archaic law that bans outdoor use of Wi-Fi Thakkar RESHMA PATIL & PRAGYA SINGH Posted online: Sunday, February 06, 2005 at 0154 hours IST Indian Express MUMBAI, NEW DELHI, FEB 5: When tech entrepreneur Jayesh Thakkar geared to connect computers—without wires—20 km away in two Vadodara offices, his corporate client first applied for a licence. They have been waiting for a year. At Mumbai, a construction giant is waiting since nine months for permission to wirelessly connect offices in two suburbs. […] ‘‘Most big corporates stay away from outdoor WiFi use because licences are cumbersome and bureaucratic,’’ says Thakkar, director, JayRaj Exim, a company WiFi-enabling offices in Mumbai. ‘‘By the time a licence arrives, what if the technology is outdated?

India

Posted on  /  3 Comments

Mass computing’s next big thing runs into an archaic law that bans outdoor use of Wi-Fi Thakkar RESHMA PATIL & PRAGYA SINGH Posted online: Sunday, February 06, 2005 at 0154 hours IST Indian Express MUMBAI, NEW DELHI, FEB 5: When tech entrepreneur Jayesh Thakkar geared to connect computers—without wires—20 km away in two Vadodara offices, his corporate client first applied for a licence. They have been waiting for a year. At Mumbai, a construction giant is waiting since nine months for permission to wirelessly connect offices in two suburbs. […] ‘‘Most big corporates stay away from outdoor WiFi use because licences are cumbersome and bureaucratic,’’ says Thakkar, director, JayRaj Exim, a company WiFi-enabling offices in Mumbai. ‘‘By the time a licence arrives, what if the technology is outdated?

The Permanent Disaster

Posted on January 30, 2005  /  4 Comments

Here is an interesting article recommended by Nalaka Gunawardene: Four years ago, this magazine’s editor, environmentalist Anil Agarwal, wrote a scathing comment after the Bhuj earthquake: “Disasters come and go but our government has become a permanent disaster”. While we are vulnerable to natural disasters — cyclones, earthquakes, floods or droughts, and now the tsunami — these temporary and preventable disasters turn into massive calamities because of the “perpetual disaster that this country’s governance system has come to represent”. Why? Because earthquakes do not kill, the buildings do. Anil put the question: why, then, do we not build, in areas identified as seismic, earthquake-resistant structures?

Warning System Expert Consultation

Posted on January 24, 2005  /  0 Comments

Published in The Sunday Times “Vanguard Foundation and LIRNEasia will conduct an expert consultation as a part of the process of developing a concept paper and specifications for a Disaster Warning System with adequate regional and global linkages. We earnestly request those who have expertise in the areas of Disaster Management to take part in this exercise.”

Tsunami response 30th Dec

Posted on December 30, 2004  /  0 Comments

The body count is way over what everyone thought. The volunteers are working like crazy. The flaws in the government’s relief efforts are beginning to show. The LIRNEasia response is given in the attachment. Also attached is a scanned copy of Rohan’s interview with the leading Sinhala daily on disaster preparation.

Luxman’s Birthday at Wadiya

Posted on November 23, 2004  /  0 Comments

Full Gallery The staff and families had a birthday lunch (Luxman’s treat) at the Beach Wadiya. The photo gallery is above. Would have been posted earlier but I fell asleep after lunch.

Happy Birthday Luxman!

Posted on November 22, 2004  /  5 Comments

Today Luxman Siriwardena has reached the stage of life where he will renounce his possessions and live in the forest. He is travelling to the Weliara jungle with only his loincloth. Please leave comments in lieu of alms.
This is an article from www.lirne.net: LIRNE.NET’s Asian affiliate, LIRNEasia is quickly making its way into the South Asian policy making process. As a part of its nascent Rapid Response Program, LIRNEasia has submitted comments on a public consultation paper issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), on rural telecommunications growth in India.

VoIP Growth (11% of international)

Posted on November 15, 2004  /  1 Comments

I was looking at maps on the TeleGeography site and I ended up on their mailing list. This is something they sent me about International voice-over-IP traffic. I was surprised that it now accounts for 11% of international calls – and more in India/Pakistan/Bangladesh. I know of services like www.skype.

Projects

Posted on November 5, 2004  /  0 Comments

* Eastern Nepal and Sri Lanka least-cost subsidy auctions* Innovating at the markets (Indonesian WiFi)* India’s universal service fund* Replicating Grameen Bangladesh* Demand-Side subsidies* Microeconomic assesments, etc* Focus on lack of backbone* Annual Sector and Regulatory Performance Indicators* Ongoing training programs* Web

Document Manager

Posted on November 4, 2004  /  0 Comments

A document manager is up. You can download and upload. Plus, any attachments sent to lirne@indi.ca should appear here. This is under construction.

News Feeds

Posted on October 29, 2004  /  3 Comments

People seem to be biting the New York Times pretty hard this week, so I’ve added a direct feed to Circuits in the sidebar, and one to WiFi News for good measure. These are just temporary since people seem to be talking about these topics. We can get feeds to most big news sources (Harsha). If you can find a RSS or XML button on any sites you like they can be syndicated. This, for example, is a Gizmodo Wireless feed below.

LIRNEasia Running Dogs on Rupavahini TV

Posted on October 21, 2004  /  5 Comments

Today there was an odd ‘story’ on Sri Lankan television involving a few LIRNEasia staff. The segment opened with, inexplicably, a shot of a topless Ranil Wickremasinghe and 10 barechested men walking down a hall. It then cut to shots of him wearing (thankfully) suits, and getting out of limousines. The segment then listed millions of dollars spent on advisers and foreign consultants including: Rohan Samarajiva Lakshman Siriwardene Harsha de Silva I say ‘story’ in quotes because the piece concluded by saying this was in contrast to the ‘people friendly’ policies of the aptly named People’s Alliance – which sounds like a Sinclair Broadcasting version of news. It also makes no mention of the huge spending naturally inherent in a socialist leaning government, and the rising cost of living under the PA.

Email Posting Enabled

Posted on October 20, 2004  /  0 Comments

The most widely used ap on the Net is email, so rather than have people learn a new skill I’ve hooked this site up to email. The site only accepts emails from people it knows, so you have to Register (sorry to people who have to do it again, last time I promise!). Then just send a normal email. If you’re using Outlook please send the email as plain text.
DHAKA, Oct. 10 (Xinhuanet) — The global cell phone giants are eyeing Bangladesh as the potential market in Asia and planned for huge investment to capture it, operators said. Aminur Rahman, head of corporate affairs department of AkTel, aventure of Malaysian giant TM International Limited, told Xinhua Sunday that AKTel, which is already in the market but going slow, “has started the battle of wining the market.” “Our company wants to give a boost in the market share,” he added. Rahman said AKTel has launched a 30-day pre-paid card as a first step in it’s bid for clients hunt.

Rural Mobile Use in Sri Lanka

Posted on October 4, 2004  /  5 Comments

This serves, perhaps, as a response to the most recent comment: Almost all the efforts of elites like Prof Samarajeewa has been a farce. The rural -urban gap has widened as clearly indicative of offerings made in wireless Chamintha Thilakarathna (Reuters) Colombo, October 1 After 25 years selling fruit and vegetables at a market in downtown Colombo, Sri Lankan trader MW Ranjith made an investment that to his amazement transformed his life and his business — he bought a mobile phone. For years Ranjith, and thousands of traders and farmers like him, went without phones, discouraged by high land line charges and lengthy installation delays. But now a boom in the mobile telecoms market is pulling the informal sector into the economy and even influencing food prices. “Before I got the phone, if I ran out of vegetables I had no way of getting in touch with farmers,” said the 50-year-old trader, sitting with his phone in one hand and calculating his profits for the day with the other.