Kolkata, Jan 8 (IANS) Contributors to the Bengali Wikipedia from India and Bangladesh will gather at a two-day conference here beginning Friday to exchange ideas and celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Bengali Wikimedia community.
The objective of the meet would be to spread the word so that more volunteers can be inducted to take the Bengali domain on a par with the English Wikipedia in terms of popularity and growth.
To that effect, over 200 delegates from the two countries will participate in workshops, discussions, essay writing, photography competitions and photo walks at Jadavpur University here Jan 9 and 10.
It has been organised by the Wikimedia India community and School of Language and Linguistics of the university.
"Though reasonably successful so far in its own right, it is dwarfed in growth and popularity by its English counterpart, mostly because of a lack of awareness about it among the general populace of the two Bengals," a release from the university said.
Highlights on the first day will be workshops for the differently abled and sessions on typing, editing and creating new articles for the Bengali Wikipedia.
Open to all, the event will also be a learning experience on ways to contribute to other projects like Wikisource and Wiktionary in Bengali, the release said.
A large-scale editing marathon - Bengali Wikipedia Ediathon - will give new users a golden opportunity to have their compositions edited and selected.
Wikipedia started 14 years ago and now has over 34 million articles spanning 287 language editions. A quick and handy source of information, its USP lies in the fact that anybody can write for it.
The Bengali domain (bn.wikipedia.org) began January, 2004. Ten volunteers from Bangladesh and West Bengal work as administrators for it.
It presently hosts over 33,000 articles, accessed by about 500 active users every month.
"Our main aim here is to change this situation by improving the quality and reach of its content and spreading the word, so that more and more volunteers come forward to help take this edition of the Wikipedia to a level of popularity comparable to the English Wikipedia," the release said.
At present, 20 editions of the Wikipedia are in Indian languages, while 20 more are awaiting approval.
However, Indians have so far contributed about 1.3 percent of the overall edits of Wikipedia and only four percent of Wikipedia users are from India, the release said.
Attack on Ukraine: India distances itself from both Ukraine and Russia in the UN, know seven reasons
After the attack on Ukraine, three resolutions came in different international forums condemning
A Delhi defeat will hit hard BJP, say Analysts
New Delhi, Feb 9 (IANS) A defeat in the Delhi assembly elections, as predicted by exit polls, i
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday addressed the IAS officers of the 2020 batch during the
Kejriwal Misleading People with False Promises: Maken
New Delhi, Jan 17 (IANS) The Congress Saturday accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind K
Corona Vaccination: Who will get 45 cross corona vaccine from March 1, know everything in detail
The central government has announced to start a campaign to apply corona vaccine to people above
Bengaluru, Tripura zoos to exchange animals
Agartala, Feb 18 (IANS) Bannerghatta Zoo and National ark in Bengaluru and Tripura's Sepahijala
Attempt to murder case: BJP MLA Nitesh Rane ordered to surrender, SC said - take regular bail
Union Minister Narayan Rane's son and BJP MLA Nitesh Rane, implicated in an attempt to murder cas
The auction for the 14th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be held in Chennai from 3
COVID-19: China's warning - Corona cases may increase again this month, claims in the report
Corona cases have been comparatively less in China since the New Year, but now the Chinese govern
'It's an honor for me,' Trump was thrilled after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize from Machado.
US President Donald Trump had expressed his desire to win the Nobel Prize on several occasions. T
