Mobile handsets in India will now have to support typing in English, Hindi and at least one additional Indian official language, as well reading in all 22 official Indian languages, the Bureau of Indian Standards has said, reports Livemint, quoting a statement. MediaNama wasn't able to independently verify this development: there is no statement on BIS' website. MediaNama's take 1. The right move: At the Internet Governance Forum in Hyderabad in 2009, Rediff founder Ajit Balakrishnan had said that there is no evidence from the ten years before that date that users want Indian languages. Sometimes, you shouldn't make decisions purely on the basis of evidence. While we're usually in favor of the market taking its own course, when it comes to Indic languages, there hasn't been sufficient action from either the handset or the OS ecosystem, and the government needs to step in. We've been expecting mandating Indic languages for handsets for two years now, but this is better late than never. It's essential for the growth of access to the Internet for handsets, which are their primary source of access to knowledge, to be available in their own language. While mandating Hindi and one regional language is a start, this guidelines should be revised regularly to ensure that all official Indian languages are supported for typing. You won't want part of the population of India to be left out merely because they can't read or write one English, Hindi or a chosen language. 2. Historical Challenges: The important…
