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If you have any questions or problems, no matter what they are, leave me a message on my talk page. Or, please come to the New contributors' help page, where experienced Wikipedians can answer any queries you have! Or, you can just type {{helpme}} on your user page, and someone will show up shortly to answer your questions.

We're so glad you're here! -- Lost(talk) 07:31, 7 September 2006 (UTC)Reply

Welcome!

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Welcome!
 

Hi, and welcome to the Biography WikiProject! We're a group of editors working to improve Wikipedia's coverage of biographies.

A few features that you might find helpful:

There are a variety of interesting things to do within the project; you're free to participate however much—or little—you like:

  • Starting some new articles? Our article structure tips outlines some things to include.
  • Want to know how good our articles are? The assessment department is working on rating the quality of every biography article in Wikipedia.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask another fellow member, and we'll be happy to help you. Again, welcome! We look forward to seeing you around! plange 01:07, 29 October 2006 (UTC)Reply

Olay

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Helpful copy edits on this page. Great work.Obina 23:28, 6 November 2006 (UTC)Reply

Thanks - glad to be of help! -- TinaSparkle 09:33, 7 November 2006 (UTC)Reply

Cosmetics

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I liked what you did and what you're proposing for cosmetics. The big problem I have is that much of the information about cosmetics and the cosmetic industry either isn't published anywhere, is proprietary information, is in sales literature from cosmetic ingredient suppliers, or is published only in specialized trade journals, most of which aren't on the web. I've been a cosmetic chemist for many years, but I can't just write down what I know and load it onto Wikipedia - I don't have sources for half of it outside of personal experience, and the other half is proprietary and/or copyrighted. See http://www.ctfa-buyersguide.org/ and try to look up an ingredient (water?) for an understanding of what I mean.

I'd like to help, though. If you can think of a way, or of a specific topic, let me know. Bobzchemist 19:57, 13 November 2006 (UTC)Reply

Thank you very much for your thoughts, and for your offer of help - I'd be delighted if you could, in any way you like. Sounds like you have a perfect background for doing so!
The issue of proprietory/copyright information is presumably quite a serious one for Wikipedia, and I'm really glad you've raised it. In terms of cosmetics, I realise it may not be possible to do things like listing the ingredients in specific products. I was inspired by the piecemeal but interesting section on the article Cosmetics: I'm thinking of pages that might list or identify the sort of ingredients that create pearlescence, for instance, or specific pigments. What I'd really like to see are articles that blend the scientific facts with history and culture - the composition of Elizabethan white lead face-paint, for instance, or Ayurvedic recipes for kohl. I think it might be useful to link cosmetic products (current and past) with information on allergens, animal products, the geographical origins of various ingredients, etc.
As for what I suppose must be patented things such as Retin-A or Boswellox: I realise this could be legally complicated. But there must be at least some information in the public domain. -- TinaSparkle 20:19, 13 November 2006 (UTC)Reply


  • In recent years there has been a growing number of books on chemistry in everyday life - aiming at a greater public, but probably read by students or teachers of chemistry only. Food and cosmetics are the topics mainly dealt with. That information on pearlescence looks like it is from one of those books, I'm not sure but I might have come across it there. Then there is the occasional bit of information in modern chemistry textbooks like the excellent "Organic Chemistry" by Clayden/Warren.
  • I don't see problems with patented compounds or systems. A patent IS a publication, as simple as that. At university we access that kind of information all the time. The problem is that it is difficult or costly for lay people to do so, and to work up the raw information into something useful is incredibly labor-intensive and difficult, even for chemists (It might even amount to original research, not sure...). But it needs not to be done, because that's basically what authors of the above books did already, plus adding whatever they happen to know from insiders like Bob, thus making it published information that can be quoted.
  • I like your project and will see how I can help as an organic chemist interested in history of science and chemistry (and reader of some of those "popular chemistry" books). What do you have in mind? Expanding the "incredients" section and split it from the original article? Or giving the "history of cosmetics" article a chemical focus?
Ahem, the reason I actually ended up on your userpage: Thank you very much for your great copyediting of the Elizabeth Báthory article! I've since added some more portions of text, with the occasional clumsy phrasing, probably. Maybe you could spare some minutes to see what it has become?--Sam195 10:01, 24 November 2006 (UTC)Reply
Many thanks for your comments, Sam195! I'd be delighted if you could help with the Cosmetics project. I've been to the Báthory page and copyedited it again; I think the additions you have made are fantastic. -- TinaSparkle 15:31, 24 November 2006 (UTC)Reply
Thank you very much for your effort there! Well, here is an article I think needs to be written (What you wrote about listing incrediences reminded me of something I've seen in the text book mentioned): Actually incrediences are listed on each cosmetic product, but in a jargon that makes sense only to the initiate. Clayden and Warren translated this mumbo jumbo for a handful of substances, this should be done for all of them.
I think of purely table form, alphabetic order. One column could be "chemical meaning", another one "purpose".
Examples (taken from Clayden/Warren):
aqua - water - solvent
PEG-150 distearate - polyoxyethylene glycol diester - surfactant.
This could even work as a kind of translation request: anybody can enter in the first column whatever he/she finds on a product, a short web search will in most cases yield the chemical meaning, and somebody in the know can add the purpose. Of course we would link to that list from the general cosmetics articles, but we could also consider using that list as a central piece from where to link to more specific articles. I will collect a few items, so there is enough to start that article. --Sam195 08:36, 27 November 2006 (UTC)Reply
P.S.: The article on INCI gives a rough idea, and shows the problem: there are lists available online, but mostly limited to the products of a single brand, and not really systematic in some cases, and having such a list with an extra column for "purpose" would be really novel and highly useful. And I was glad to see that for quite a few compounds there are already useful wiki articles I can link to. So I should be able to start that article soon, though the "purpose" column still has a lot of blanks. I think I will replace the the list on the INCI article by a link to that new article. Any idea how to call it? --Sam195 08:17, 30 November 2006 (UTC)Reply
Sorry not to have replied earlier, by the way. My feeling is that this is a great idea, especially on the basis of the article on INCI, though I can't pretend to have the technical knowledge to help much. I think the 'purpose' column would be really useful, though might it be controversial in some cases? Probably not if a reference was provided to whatever claim was being made. I'm thinking of companies that add, say, emerald dust (I think it's in Creme de la Mer lip balm), which I expect has the purpose of 'making the product more expensive so that silly people will buy it'. But, as I say, I'm not an expert. Maybe emerald dust is the secret of eternal youth.
So, yes, I reckon that a new article to incorporate the INCI information would be ideal: the present items on that list could be footnoted to INCI via the CTFA website referenced on the article now. The new page should probably just be called 'Cosmetic ingredients'. That fits with the INCI style, and is also the term that readers are most likely to search for.
One other point. It seems to me that the table of cosmetic ingredients is likely to get very long very quickly. Should it be subdivided into sections, and, if so, how? My first thought is something like 'solvents', 'emollients', 'surfactants', 'other' etc, but I see that this will mean ascertaining the purpose for most things before you start, which could be awkward. Maybe there's a better way? -- TinaSparkle 09:42, 30 November 2006 (UTC)Reply

Those are difficult questions. Let's first answer to your last paragraph. I think there will be 300+ items in the list, maybe many more (so far I've found search engines, but not complete lists... not a good sign). Some compounds will have more than one purpose, like surfactants that are acids. I'm afraid anything but alphabetic wont work.

'Purpose' will be a short characterization of why things are added, describing the nature of the compound and it's role in a mixture. By sticking to technical/chemical discriptions, I think it should be possible to keep that information non-controversial. INCI seems not to list useless or fantasy compounds but chemicals that are added usually and for a reason (I hope I am not wrong on that...).

Verifiability could become difficult, because the discription is very brief and basic. When I see 'sodium hydroxide' in the list, I just add 'base', like any chemist would, and on some I don't know yet were to get the information from at all... I will look around, there MUST be at least some books dealing with cosmetic industrial chemistry, to obtain most of the information from one source. Information in chemical text books is awfully scattered.

Then I think there should be two articles (which could both be described 'Cosmetic ingredients'...). One is the list I am working at, with the very chemical/INCI focus. Although I know some people (chemists...) who would read it for fun, one would typically use that list only for looking up what is in one's body lotion. Second would be an article in prose, giving a general idea how cosmetics are made, from what kind of substances, from which resources - a bit like the existing 'incredients' section in 'cosmetics', only better and verified. The natural division of such an article would of course be by categories, just as you proposed. Maybe using a disambiguation page?

I'm glad those questions can be discussed before any of the articles exists, that makes things much easier.--Sam195 14:49, 30 November 2006 (UTC)Reply

P.S. A disambiguation page for those two artcles, I mean. And did I write 'some books'? There are hundreds - so no problem there. --Sam195 12:00, 1 December 2006 (UTC)Reply

Good to know. References from real books are always a great thing. :)
Definitely in agreement about needing two articles. Is it worth doing 'Cosmetic ingredients' as a prose piece, and 'List of cosmetic ingredients' as something like the INCI article? I think they should probably have a disambiguation page, as you suggest. Also, have you considered doing the non-prose piece as a standard Wikipedia list (like List of biomolecules), or would this prohibit the inclusion of chemical meaning & purpose? I haven't done a list before, so this is all new to me.
Sounds very much like you're right about the list needing to be alphabetical, though. As for references for stuff like "sodium hydroxide = base", I think if that would just be incredibly obvious to any chemist it doesn't necessarily need a reference. We don't have to have references for things like people's dates of birth on Wikipedia, for instance, unless they're disputed. If it's completely accepted fact I don't think you need to worry about it too much. -- TinaSparkle 13:09, 1 December 2006 (UTC)Reply
I thought of a table, looks like they offer a lot of flexibility (and are fun to make). Those wiki lists seem to bundle existing articles. For some of the incredients there are articles, some of them really good (though not necessarily focused on application in cosmetics), but most will be chemical stubs. And some compounds are probably too unimportant for ever getting an article of their own. I will of course link to all the articles I can find, so the first or second column will very much look like a wiki list. --Sam195 15:35, 1 December 2006 (UTC)Reply
ok, done! List of cosmetic ingredients exists. --Sam195 18:19, 7 December 2006 (UTC)Reply

I have already executed a stub-class article on a late-1980's celebrity scent; since perfumes and fragrances are associated with cosmetics manufacturers, I consider perfume listings such as Electric Youth (fragrance) a potential include for WikiProject Cosmetics. Is this reasonable, or would you suggest a separate WikiProject on fragrances? - B.C.Schmerker 05:48, 30 April 2007 (UTC)Reply

Unfortunately, WikiProject Cosmetics never really got off the ground. I'd love to see a WikiProject Fragrances (though I think it should be broadened to WikiProject Perfumery); it's a topic very underrepresented on Wikipedia, and as you can see from my user contribs I've been adding articles about perfumers recently. I'd definitely join such a project or help administer it, but I don't really have time right now to run it myself. -- TinaSparkle 08:49, 30 April 2007 (UTC)Reply
Understood. I've re-prepped Electric Youth (fragrance) for the proposed WikiProject Perfumery; it is still a Stub-class, as I have little info on this product, other than what Revlon Consumer Products Corp. released back in the day. - B.C.Schmerker 03:57, 1 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

Wiki Project Pakistan

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The project Page for Pakistan has been started Wikipedia:WikiProject Pakistan plese join it so that we all could benifit from your input thankyou Hussain 08:55, 19 November 2006 (UTC)Reply

Welcome to WP:India

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Welcome!
 

Hi, and welcome to the India WikiProject! We're a group of editors working to improve Wikipedia's coverage of India.

A few features that you might find helpful:

There are a variety of interesting things to do within the project; you're free to participate however much—or little—you like:

  • Want to know how good our articles are? The assessment department is working on rating the quality of every India article in Wikipedia.
  • Can you code? The automation department uses automated and semi-automated methods to perform batch tasks that would be tedious to do manually.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask another fellow member, and we'll be happy to help you. Again, welcome! We look forward to seeing you around! ­ Kris (☎ talk | contribs) 05:57, 24 November 2006 (UTC)Reply

On Akram Khan

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Thanks for your edit in Suhrawardy's article. But Categorizing Maulana Akram Khan to only Akram Khan is misleading as it refers either to the cricketer of BD or the Dancer from India, So..... I have reverted it again to Maulana Akram Khan( the famous politician and Editor of Daily Azad of Calcutta/Dhaka)asdone before by Al-minar.

Thank you once again!

Hossain Akhtar Chowdhury 06:21, 11 January 2007 (UTC)Reply

I understand your position and sincerely thank you for creating a page for Maulana Akram Khan.

Regards,

Hossain Akhtar Chowdhury 04:51, 13 January 2007 (UTC)Reply

[[1]]

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I agree entirely with your comments about the merger. Might a politely suggest they may be more credible if you correct the apparent slip refering to her as Gerard's wife - she is in fact his sister.  :-)Winstonwolfe 00:34, 1 December 2006 (UTC)Reply

Whoops! Many thanks for the tip-off. I stand corrected (as does the page). -- TinaSparkle 09:44, 1 December 2006 (UTC)Reply

WikiProject India Newsletter: Volume I, Issue 3 - December 2006

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Project News
  • Name change of cities in Karnataka: A straw poll was conducted on the proposal to change the name of cities in Karnataka, per the Nov 1, 2006 decision by the Karnataka government to rename them from the current anglicised forms. The result of the poll was to change the names. As controversial as the decision may be in the real world, the article Bangalore in Wikipedia still reflects the old name. You may be interested in knowing why. Dig the archives.
  • New Project Noticeboard (Shortcut:WP:INB): WikiProject India now sports a new colourful centralised noticeboard. An effort to make the noticeboard current and dynamic was mooted a few days back, and Ganeshk came up with the new format. The new noticeboard will strive to be the one-stop shop for all project related information. The shortcut is WP:INB.
  • Members List: The old members list is being phased out to give way for the new members list. New members are requested to add their names to the new members list. As the newsletter grows, further issues of the Project Newsletter will be delivered to those enlisted in the new list. So dash down now, to check if ur name is in there.
What's New?


Congratulations to all contributors
who helped to develop the above
content to represent the best of Wikipedia!
Need some help?

Are you stuck at a point where admin help is needed? There are 22 Indian Administrators in Wikipedia at the last count. If you need some help with anything related to WikiProject India, they are just a couple of clicks away!

Note from Editor's Desk
  • Welcome to the December 2006 edition of our newsletter. Time flies past like matter into the black hole. It is interesting to notice that we are already into the last month for the year of 2006. 2006 saw discussions and development beyond realisation. In the world of Wikipedia where quality counts than quantity, we have come a long way. We've made better than 'nothing', to say the least, and even that is an achievement. I take this opportunity to thank everyone including those who have dotted the i's and crossed the t's.
  • As before, we'd like to stress, this is your newsletter, and we want you to be part of it as well. Provide us with news tips. It can be anything related to the project, from discussions to calls for help, and other interesting stuff within our community. If you have received or given any barnstars recently, do let us know. Sponsored content for recruitments within your WikiProject sub-groups are also welcome. We'll be very happy to include them here.
  • Before we sign off, Advance New Year Wishes, everyone.
This edition special
  • How to?: The "how to" part of assessment is very simple. Just head on to the talk page of any India related page and you'll find the {{WP India}} template. Simply classify the article based on the content and the criteria mentioned here. You can find the detailed instructions here. If you think it may qualify for GA/FA status, first consider submitting the article for peer review.
Signed...

Edited by Chez and distributed by Lostintherush

You are receiving this newsletter because you part of Wikiproject India. If you'd like to change your subscription options, please say so at the Outreach Department.

If you run a covert newsroom operation, provide us with ur news tips here. Letters to the Editor are welcome as well.


WikiProject India Newsletter: Volume II, Issue 1 - January 2007

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Project News
  • Project tagging:After a brief edit war over the addition of {{WP India}} to ancient archaeological sites now located in Pakistan, a "pre" parameter was introduced to remove the ROI flag from the template for pre-1947 articles, following discussion. After another large discussion on ANI alleging that the automated tagging by Ganeshbot and LostBot was "nationalistic", Ganeshbot was briefly blocked. Currently, the bots are again in action.
  • Swastika on Hinduism templates:Recently, an extremely large and at times emotional debate broke out regarding the use of the swastika on Hinduism templates, given its association with Nazism. As a result, {{Hindu Links}} now contains an educational message about the use of the swastika, as discussion on a more permanent resolution continues.
What's New?
Congratulations to all contributors
who helped to develop the above
content to represent the best of Wikipedia!
Need some help?

Are you stuck at a point where admin help is needed? There are 21 Indian Administrators in Wikipedia at the last count. If you need some help with anything related to WikiProject India, they are just a couple of clicks away!

Note from Editor's Desk
  • Weekly Collaboration (Shortcut:WP:INCOTW): Collaboration of the Week has fallen from its once high feats. Please drop by and help rejuvenate it.
  • As before, we'd like to stress, this is your newsletter, and we want you to be part of it as well. Provide us with news tips. It can be anything related to the project, from discussions to calls for help, and other interesting stuff within our community. Sponsored content for recruitments within your WikiProject sub-groups are also welcome, including requests for copyediting, photographic work, peer review, etc. We'll be very happy to include them here.
  • Before we sign off, Happy New Year, everyone.
This edition special
  • Translation Department: Can you read and write any languages of India? Do you know multiple languages and are looking to keep your skills at a high level or improve them? If so, the Translation Depeartment may be for you!

The translation department of the India WikiProject aims to utilize high-quality non-English material related to India for the goals of the project. This includes both translating articles from and to other-language Wikipedias as well as assisting contributors with non-English sources. The department aims to provide services in transliteration, formulating scripts for various languages, as well as translating articles from one language to another and validating sources in other languages to that of the encyclopedia article. If you are looking for a friendly translator here is your go-to point. Currently, we are still seeking representation for Kashmiri, Nepali, Oriya, Sindhi and Tulu, as well as reinforcements in all other languages.

Signed...

Edited by YellowMonkey and distributed by Lostintherush

You are receiving this newsletter because you are part of Wikiproject India. If you'd like to change your subscription options, please say so at the Outreach Dept.

If you run a covert newsroom operation, provide us with ur news tips here.


Chaanakya

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Hi, hope I am writing this message in the appropriate place. Why this inconsistency in the spelling of this name? Why are we using Caanakya except for places where its the name of a book or so? Thanks ... Vineethtm 19:48, 23 January 2007 (UTC)Reply

Hi Vineethtm. I'm sorry, I've just realised I undid an edit you made on the spelling of Chanakya. I had intended just to undo the edit in which you put an example picture on the end of the article. I agree with you that it should be consistent. I have no expertise in Sanskrit transliteration, but I do feel that most readers will recognise the spelling 'Chanakya', which is used in most English-language books and, of course, in Chanakyapuri. -- TinaSparkle 10:04, 24 January 2007 (UTC)Reply

Hi Tina, thanks for the reply. Sorry, I had not noticed the change about the picture you mentioned. Will be careful now. Thanks ... Vineethtm 14:34, 25 January 2007 (UTC)Reply

Peter Singer

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Hi Tina, just to give you the heads-up for future reference, animalrights.net isn't an animal rights site. [2] It opposes animal rights. SlimVirgin (talk) 18:38, 29 January 2007 (UTC)Reply

Thanks for your tip-off - much appreciated. Either way, though, the site wasn't what the link implied it to be. -- TinaSparkle 18:52, 29 January 2007 (UTC)Reply

Maharaja Gulab Singh

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Hi

Can you rename the Gulab Singh of Kashmir page to "Gulab Singh of Jammu and Kashmir", since that was the complete name of his kingdom?

See Jammu and Kashmir See http://www.indianembassy.org/new/Kargil/JSingh_BBC_July_19_1999.html

Maharaja Gulab Singh is considered a hero for the Rajputs and other people of Jammu and implying that he was a Kashmiri would be considered insulting. As it is many Pakistanis and their friends try to dilute the identity of Jammu and Ladakh by describing them as parts of "Kashmir", which is certainly not the case.

Thanks and regards, Jagat Singh Sambyal of Jammu. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 61.2.21.184 (talk) 00:10, 14 February 2007 (UTC).Reply

Sorry it took me a while to get round to this, Jagat Singh Sambyal. I agree with your point about the name of the state and have moved the page. -- TinaSparkle 14:28, 20 February 2007 (UTC)Reply

AfD Islamic socialism

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You have edited the article Islamic socialism. This article is currently being considered for deletion under the wp:afd process. You may contribute to this discussion by commenting here. Thank you. Edivorce 01:38, 14 February 2007 (UTC)Reply

Thank you for experimenting with the page Elizabeth Báthory on Wikipedia. Your test worked, and it has been reverted or removed. Please use the sandbox for any other tests you may want to do. Take a look at the welcome page to learn more about contributing to our encyclopedia. Chris Griswold () 09:05, 20 February 2007 (UTC)Reply


Helping out with the Unassessed Wikipedia Biographies

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Seeing that you are an active member of the WikiBiography Project, I was wondering if you would help lend a hand in helping us clear out the amount of [unassessed articles] tagged with {{WPBiography}}. Many of them are of stub and start class, but a few are of B or A caliber. Getting a simple assessment rating can help us start moving many of these biographies to a higher quality article. Thank you! --Ozgod 22:58, 23 February 2007 (UTC)Reply

Happily. I'll get on to it ASAP. -- TinaSparkle 23:04, 24 February 2007 (UTC)Reply

Wikiproject Biography March 2007 Newsletter

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The March 2007 issue of the Biography WikiProject newsletter has been published. You may read the newsletter, change the format in which future issues will be delivered to you, or unsubscribe from this notification by following the link. Thank you. Mocko13 22:10, 28 February 2007 (UTC)Reply

Allama Mashriqi

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Hi, having seen your name at Wikipedia:WikiProject Pakistan/Members, I was wondering if you could help in copyediting this biographic article. cheers--IslesCapeTalk 22:42, 2 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

I've copyedited the article thoroughly and also edited for NPOV. I've also left a few further suggestions on the talk page. Hope this helps. -- TinaSparkle 16:43, 3 March 2007 (UTC)Reply
Really appreciate it. Will try to fill-in the missing bits. --IslesCapeTalk 01:13, 4 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

WikiProject India Newsletter: Volume II, Issue 2 - March 2007

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Project News
  • Jimbo's visit to India and the WikiCamp in Chennai: Jimbo recently visited India in late February and early March on wiki work. This included a trip to a WikiCamp in Chennai. The one day conference attracted 300 participants from across India and beyond dealt with issues facing wikis ([3]). It was widely covered by the press, eg The Hindu( [4]), which cited the efforts of Bhadani (edit count), Sundar (leadership on Tamil Wikipedia) and Ganeshk (Creation of Ganeshbot to create articles on Indian towns from census figures). Ganeshk himself travelled from California to attend the conference.
  • Wikipedia Weekly 15: Wikipedia Weekly, a informal Wikipedians' program that purports to give "A weekly audio roundup of Wikipedia happenings with news, interviews and roundtable discussions" recently interviewed two prominent editors Rama's Arrow and Ragib(listen). The entire 34 minute interview was entirely about the world of Indian subcontinent wiki-happenings, and was the first episode which was not entirely dominated by discussion of wiki-politics and wiki-bureaucracy, with the host Witty lama praising the efficiency of the project and its proliferation of featured content. Rama's Arrow cited the team spirit, friendship and respect among project members in discussing its success and FA productivity, as well as discussing subcontinental wiki-conflict. Ragib talked also of his public campaign to raise awareness of the Bengali Wikipedia in his native Bangladesh, which has seen a 30-fold increase in article count over the past year.
What's New?
Congratulations to all contributors who helped to develop the above content to represent the best of Wikipedia!
Need some help?

Are you stuck at a point where admin help is needed? There are 21 Indian Administrators in Wikipedia at the last count. If you need some help with anything related to WikiProject India, they are just a couple of clicks away!

Note from Editor's Desk
  • Welcome to the March 2007 edition of our newsletter.
  • Congratulations to one of our most respected writers, bureaucrats and administrators, Nichalp, who is now entrusted with the oversight permission. In addition Riana has joined the administrative ranks after a successful RfA.
  • On a sad note, Nobleeagle, who was responsible for the creation of the Punjab WikiProject, and was largely responsible for Indian cricket team, Bhagat Singh and Lage Raho Munna Bhai becoming GAs, as well as working heavily in Indian religious and cricket work, has left the project after having his identity revealed.
  • More generally, certain Indian users have recently been subject to real life harassment by banned users, etc. If this is affecting you in real life, please do not hesitate to contact Wikimedia board members for assistance, or ask a senior Wikipedian to solicit help on your behalf if required.
  • Nishkid64, a prolific contributor and administrator, is currently undergoing surgery to fix a congenital heart defect. You can wish him well here.
  • Weekly Collaboration (Shortcut:WP:INCOTW): Collaboration of the Week has fallen from its once high feats. Please drop by and help rejuvenate it.
  • As before, we'd like to stress, this is your newsletter, and we want you to be part of it as well. Provide us with news tips. It can be anything related to the project, from discussions to calls for help, and other interesting stuff within our community. Sponsored content for recruitments within your WikiProject sub-groups are also welcome, including requests for copyediting, photographic work, peer review, etc. We'll be very happy to include them here.
This edition special
  • Translation Department: Can you read and write any languages of India? Do you know multiple languages and are looking to keep your skills at a high level or improve them? If so, the Translation Depeartment may be for you!

The translation department of the India WikiProject aims to utilize high-quality non-English material related to India for the goals of the project. This includes both translating articles from and to other-language Wikipedias as well as assisting contributors with non-English sources. The department aims to provide services in transliteration, formulating scripts for various languages, as well as translating articles from one language to another and validating sources in other languages to that of the encyclopedia article. If you are looking for a friendly translator here is your go-to point. Currently, we are still seeking representation for Kashmiri, Nepali, Oriya, Sindhi and Tulu, as well as reinforcements in all other languages.

Signed...

Edited by YellowMonkey and distributed by Lostintherush

You are receiving this newsletter because you are part of Wikiproject India. If you'd like to change your subscription options, please say so at the Outreach Dept.

If you run a covert newsroom operation, provide us with ur news tips here.


Indian collaboration of the week news

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As mentioned in Wikiproject India newsletter of March 2007, the weekly collaboration of the Indian wikiproject has fallen from its once high feats. This message is to request the users to visit the collaboration page and help rejuvenate it.

The present collaboration of the week is Religion in India. Please go through the talk page of the article to see the proposed changes in the article. Regards.--Dwaipayan (talk) 05:11, 18 April 2007 (UTC)Reply

The WikiProject Biography Newsletter: Issue II - April 2007

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The April 2007 issue of the WikiProject Biography newsletter has been published.You may read the newsletter, change the format in which future issues will be delivered to you, or unsubscribe from this notification by following the link. BetacommandBot 20:28, 24 April 2007 (UTC)Reply

WikiProject France

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Hello! We are a group of editors working to improve the quality of France related articles. You look like someone who might be interested in joining us in the France WikiProject and so I thought I'd drop you a line and invite you! We'd love to have you in our project :-) STTW (talk) 20:09, 26 April 2007 (UTC)Reply

Merci bien de votre invitation! :) -- TinaSparkle 09:46, 2 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

Liaquat Ali Khan ga stus

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is this article ga class?User talk:Yousaf465

It still seems to be rated as B-class, though it is listed as a good article. I'll have another look at it when I next get a chance. -- TinaSparkle 08:01, 7 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

Jawaharlal Nehru

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Hello Tina, I am RS. I am an atheist with a Hindu background. I am not an Indian. Was Jawaharlal Nehru, the first PM of India, an atheist? Do you have any reliable source that identifies Jawaharlal Nehru as an atheist? If yes, then, please add his name in the List of atheists. Thank You. RS

Hi RS! Nehru repeatedly declared in his 1936 autobiography that he did not believe in any form of god, and testified to the same in his will, so I think that's evidence enough. I'll add his name as requested. -- TinaSparkle 09:43, 26 June 2007 (UTC)Reply
Hello. Thank you for adding Jawaharlal Nehru to List of atheists. Some fairly strict criteria for inclusion on that list have been developed, due to competing definitions and the potentially pejorative use of the word. Only persons who are specifically identified as "atheists" in reliable sources, or those who hold the position universally acknowledged as atheistic (denial of the existence of deities) are included there. A person who simply does not believe in any form of god--and this is what I gather about Nehru from your description of his views above--is a better addition to List of nontheists for the time being. I will move Nehru to that list until a more definitive identification of him as an atheist can be found (I have looked, but haven't found a reliable and impartial source for that so far).
Also, since you have access to the sources you cited, I wonder if you could find brief quotes from each in which Nehru affirms that he does not believe in a god of any sort and add them to the entry. That helps make these identifications much more authoritative, and is a valuable resource for those using Wikipedia for research. Thank you. Nick Graves 20:08, 26 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

Elizabeth Báthory

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Hi. You posted some comments on Talk:Elizabeth Báthory and seem to be interested in keeping the article encyclopedic. Recently there's been a very aggressive anonymous IP address user editing the article to remove NPOV wording to outright try to make the article state that Bathory did, in fact, take baths in blood, did write a diary confessing to murders and witchcraft, and all sorts of other highly biased comments. I would appreciate it if you would add it to your watch list if it isn't already and take steps to prevent such blatant unscholarly personal opinions from remaining in the article. Thanks. DreamGuy 20:45, 27 June 2007 (UTC)Reply

Well done!

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Hello Tina! Thank you for finding the source where Nehru is identified as a nonbeliever. However, to identify someone as an “atheist”, we need an impartial source where the person is identified as an “atheist”, or he/she should clearly say, “I don’t believe in the existence of God”.

The rules of the Wikipedia are strict. And, you know, we are serious atheists. Can you find a source where Nehru is identified as an “atheist”? Or, can you find a quote of Nehru where he affirms that he does not believe in the existence of God? If you can find those sources, then we can add his name in the List of atheists. Thank you.

RS

Let me just correct one thing RS said. A direct statement from someone to the effect of "I don't believe in the existence of God" may or may not indicate atheism. A statement such as "God does not exist" definitely indicates atheism. In any case, a couple quotes from those sources you cited (thanks for finding those, by the way) would be a most welcome addition to the entry for Nehru at List of nontheists, if you have the time to find them and add them. Thank you. Nick Graves 14:42, 28 June 2007 (UTC)Reply
I will do my best - I do have a job to attend to as well! ;)
Incidentally, I understand that there may have been a strenuous debate on this on the List of atheists page, but since when did someone actively have to say "God does not exist", rather than "I do not believe in the existence of God", to indicate atheism? In the 1930s, when Nehru was writing, no distinction was drawn between these positions. To impose such distinctions now is completely inappropriate. I have not a second of doubt that Nehru considered himself to be an atheist, and nor could anyone who has read his writings. But under this constraining and thoroughly anachronistic definition, I suspect he will come out as a nontheist. Whatever one of those is. It's not a term he would have recognised, nor one that he would have identified with. Personally I think this sort of subsequent re-categorisation of religious feelings that people expressed quite clearly within the dialectic of their time is silly and offensive. -- TinaSparkle 23:30, 28 June 2007 (UTC)Reply
Well, Tina, you have a job and I don’t want to disturb you. I also have a job. And, yes, I disagree with Nick. The statement “I don’t believe in the existence of God” indicates atheism. However, the statement “I don’t believe in God” may not indicate atheism. You can see the discussion on Talk:List of nontheists.
And, your name ‘Tina’ is a Hindu name. And, your surname ‘Sparkle’ sounds western. Tina, are you a Hindu? Tell me something about you. RS
I'm afraid my Wikipedia name is taken from a minor character in Strictly Ballroom, and has nothing to do with me personally! There's more information about me on my user page. -- TinaSparkle 17:36, 4 July 2007 (UTC)Reply

Elizabeth Báthory and Hostel 2

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Hi, I hope this is the correct place to contact you. I made an addition to Bathory, re Hostel 2. Sorry this was unrequired but I genuinely felt I was making a positive contribution. This way anyone wanting to understand some of this history might want to watch that scene in Hostel 2 to illustrate the sadistic brutality of this torturer. Regards, Phil -- (Unsigned comment by 86.6.225.185)

Phil, there is an article called Elizabeth Báthory in popular culture which was created precisely for this kind of reference, as it was felt that EB's appearances as a fictionalised character in music, film, games, TV etc were clogging up the main article and had no bearing on the historical Elizabeth Báthory herself. I'm sorry if my edit seemed a little abrupt, but I'm afraid those of us who've been working on the article for some time remove dozens of similar references every month, and there are warnings all over the article asking editors not to add them!
Personally I have not seen Hostel 2, but what I've read about it does not imply that it is a historical documentary about Elizabeth Báthory. I fear that any scene in that film that features her as a character is more likely to illustrate the sadistic brutality of Eli Roth than give any insight into her real life story. If you want to add the reference to the popular culture article I'm sure it will be entirely appropriate there. -- TinaSparkle 19:56, 4 July 2007 (UTC)Reply

WikiProject Biography Newsletter 5

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To receive this newsletter in the future, please list yourself in the appropriate section here. This newsletter was delivered by the automated R Delivery Bot 16:04, 7 October 2007 (UTC) .Reply

WikiProject Newsletter n°1

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Bonjour and welcome to the first WikiProject France newsletter!! It should become a monthly special of our project, but until the next issue, here are some points to consider for the month:

It doesn't seem like a lot, so I hope we will still have enough problems for nexts months issue. Salut till the next issue, ChrisDHDR (17:21, 10 November 2007 (UTC)).Reply

On Suhrawardy

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You have edited Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy once. Seeing your interest in biographies, I would request you to convey me more references(books, articles, periodicals) on him if possible.Al-minar (talk) 12:38, 6 December 2007 (UTC)Reply

I've replied on the Suhrawardy talk page. Thanks! -- TinaSparkle (talk) 14:38, 6 December 2007 (UTC)Reply
Thank you once again!Al-minar (talk) 06:30, 8 December 2007 (UTC)Reply

WikiProject Newsletter n°2

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It's been one high aiming month! The French WikiProject and related pages have been aiming high for Christmas - and have received an equal number of presents in return!

Well, that's this issue. Au revoir et à bientôt till the next time, ChrisDHDR (18:44, 9 December 2007 (UTC)).Reply

Copyedit needed

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Hi. Could you have a look at Akhtar Hameed Khan, which has just been relegated from GA.--IslesCapeTalk 20:51, 14 March 2008 (UTC)Reply

Okay, we got the GA. But it would be good if you could check it for copy and style, while I put it for FAC.--IslesCapeTalk 13:29, 25 April 2008 (UTC)Reply
Done. Good luck, Islescape! -- TinaSparkle (talk) 21:03, 27 April 2008 (UTC)Reply
Thanks. You can also post you support or concern at Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Akhtar Hameed Khan --IslesCapeTalk 14:01, 28 April 2008 (UTC)Reply

Copyedit for GANs

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Hi Tina. Could you pls help improve Sheesh Mahal and Salimuzzaman Siddiqui, which are up on GAN?. Cheers. --IslesCapeTalk 15:57, 30 May 2008 (UTC)Reply

I will try to get on to these as soon as possible. However, I have a very busy couple of weeks ahead and am unlikely to be able to contribute straight away. Thanks for the alert, though. I hope to be able to help soon. -- TinaSparkle (talk) 06:42, 2 June 2008 (UTC)Reply
Sorry to have you disrupted. Since these articles are already in GA process, time is of essence. So, I have also listed them at LOCE. Meanwhile, it would still be great if you could find time to copyedit them, especially Sheesh Mahal. In that case I will remove them from the list. --IslesCapeTalk 15:40, 2 June 2008 (UTC)Reply
Although I have just obseved that response rate at LOCE is very low and there are articles lying there unanswered for months!. --IslesCapeTalk 18:00, 3 June 2008 (UTC)Reply


WikiProject India Newsletter Volume III, Issue no. 001 - June 2008

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Project News
  • Tag & Assess 2008, an assessment drive initiated by the assessment department began on June 7, 2008 and will be running until July 2008. Many Wikipedians have started contributing to this mammoth task. This housekeeping activity will help manage articles in better way. You can also get involved!
  • Bot Assisted Assessment was successfully done using Bot0612 in May 2008. 1744 articles (18.5%) of all India unassessed articles were marked if they had been assessed by some other project.
  • What's Featured and Good?
  • IPL was hot on Wikipedia too!!! During the tournament, the article was among the most frequently edited articles. It is currently the only Indian article in top 100, occupying 58th spot.
  • Do you know of an article that is currently underrated? If so, please nominate the article at the Assessment Department's request for assessment. This will allow our project to get a better idea of the quality of our articles.
Article statistics and to-do lists
Current proposals and discussions
From the Editors
  • If you've just joined, add your name to the Members section of Wikipedia:WikiProject India and also may choose to get this newsletter get it delivered as desired.
  • This is your newsletter and you can be involved in the creation of the next issue (Issue 2 – July 2008). Any and all contributions are welcome. Simply let yourself be known to any of the undersigned, or just start editing!
  • The last newsletter was more than a year ago and after feeling the pinch, we got together in working towards in renewing this feature for our members. Fresh pair of legs we are, and hence can greatly improve with your suggestions and ideas. Please feel free to let us know of your thoughts. We hope to release the newsletter on a monthly/bi-monthly basis as per our initial thoughts.
Contributors to this Issue
Did You Know?

To stop receiving this newsletter, or to receive it in a different format, please list yourself in the appropriate section here.

This newsletter is automatically delivered by TinucherianBot (talk) 07:06, 16 June 2008 (UTC) Reply

i-post

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Email to Postal Mail

A convenient free postal mail service which can deliver email messages all over Pakistan. Peoples can now use their email to send letters giving you another route to communicate with others who are not connected to the Internet in Pakistan.

In recent past Internet and e-mail have revolutionized the world of communications. But those who do not have easy access to Internet and e-mail facilities could not get benefits of this facility. In its endeavour to make the benefits of e-mail available to a common man, Al Tayyeb Group has introduced i-post service. By i-post all those who do not have computer or do not have access to Internet can send e-mail by Post Office or receive e-mail through a postman. Those who have access to Internet can also send i-post to those who do not have access to Internet.

Wikipedia should have an article on this social service & must be a part of WikiProject Pakistan.Please comments. --SaqibChaudhry (talk) 09:23, 15 July 2008 (UTC)Reply

Akhtar Hameed Khan

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Hi Tina, Just to let you know that Akhtar Hameed Khan is appearing on the Mainpage on 9th October. Thanks for your help in copyediting it to the FA quality. --IslesCapeTalk 10:20, 7 October 2008 (UTC)Reply

Hi, TinaSparkle!! I saw on this page that you were one of the members of the WikiProject Royalty. The project is very underrepresented among featured lists. I have thus submitted the List of monarchs of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty, on which I worked on, as a featured list candidate. If you would be kind enough to take some of your time and review the list here, I would be extremely grateful. Regards. BomBom (talk) 23:30, 24 December 2008 (UTC)Reply

WikiProject India Newsletter, Volume IV, Issue 1 – June 2009

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To stop receiving this newsletter, or to receive it in a different format, please list yourself in the appropriate section here. This newsletter is automatically delivered by -- Tinu Cherian BOT - 11:48, 12 June 2009 (UTC) Reply

WikiProject India Newsletter, Volume IV, Issue 2 – July 2009

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To stop receiving this newsletter, or to receive it in a different format, please list yourself in the appropriate section here. Delivered automatically by -- Tinu Cherian BOT - 15:39, 18 July 2009 (UTC)Reply

Articles for deletion nomination of Wafa el-Mullah al-Howeish

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I have nominated Wafa el-Mullah al-Howeish, an article that you created, for deletion. I do not think that this article satisfies Wikipedia's criteria for inclusion, and have explained why at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Wafa el-Mullah al-Howeish (2nd nomination). Your opinions on the matter are welcome at that same discussion page; also, you are welcome to edit the article to address these concerns. Thank you for your time.

Please contact me if you're unsure why you received this message. Scott Mac (Doc) 17:38, 7 December 2009 (UTC)Reply

Unreferenced BLPs

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  Hello TinaSparkle! Thank you for your contributions. I am a bot alerting you that 2 of the articles that you created are tagged as Unreferenced Biographies of Living Persons. The biographies of living persons policy requires that all personal or potentially controversial information be sourced. In addition, to ensure verifiability, all biographies should be based on reliable sources. If you were to bring these articles up to standards, it would greatly help us with the current 173 article backlog. Once the articles are adequately referenced, please remove the {{unreferencedBLP}} tag. Here is the list:

  1. Sergio Giral - Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs· FENS · JSTOR · TWL
  2. Jeanine Lobell - Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs· FENS · JSTOR · TWL

Thanks!--DASHBot (talk) 22:15, 16 January 2010 (UTC)Reply

Dom Pedro II, Emperor of Brazil

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Hello! I have been working for quite some time by now in Pedro II of Brazil article. I've divided it in several articles (I've just finished Early life of Pedro II of Brazil) that goes from his birth to the the period beyond his death. The problem is that I am only one and can't do everything by myself. I've been trying to write on articles related to the Empire of Brazil (Honório Carneiro Leão, Marquis of Paraná, Afonso, Prince Imperial of Brazil, Platine War, etc...) but I could use some help. There is no need at all to know anything about Brazilian history. Do you know could I get some? Thank you very much, --Lecen (talk) 13:47, 2 February 2010 (UTC)Reply

Hi Lecen, and thanks for your message on my talk page about Dom Pedro II of Brazil. Unfortunately I'm very tied up with real life at the moment and therefore technically on a Wikipedia break, so I can't really help with the piece myself. But I suggest you request help on the Wikipedia portal for Brazil, or look for a specific royal history task group. I'm sure you'll find some interested people. Good luck and best wishes, and sorry I can't be more help right now. -- TinaSparkle (talk) 23:30, 2 February 2010 (UTC)Reply



WikiProject India Newsletter Volume V, Issue no. 1 - (June 2010)

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Project News

WP:IND Newsletter is back! It's been nearly a year since the last edition, but we hope to bring out issues on a more regular basis now. The India Wikiproject was set up to increasing coverage of India-related topics on Wikipedia, and over the past few months the focus has been on improving article quality. A number of the project's featured articles underwent featured article reviews over the past year. Of these, Darjeeling and Flag of India survived the review process, while the rest were demoted. During the same period, Gangtok, Harbhajan Singh, Darjeeling and Mysore were featured on the main page respectively on August 20, September 17, November 6 and December 29, 2009. Meanwhile, articles on topics as diverse as Political history of Mysore and Coorg (1565–1760), Marwari horse and Iravan were promoted as featured articles, and respectively appeared on the main page on March 25, May 17 and May 28, 2010. Consequently, the number of FA-class articles under the project's scope dropped from 67 in August 2009 to 63 in June 2010. The number of good articles, however, saw a more than 40% increase, from 91 to 130 during the same period, while the number of featured lists saw a 33% increase from 12 to 16.

Due to the recent policy changes regarding unreferenced Biographies of Living People (BLPs), an effort was started in January 2010 to source all unreferenced BLPs coming under Wikiproject India. 1200 such articles were identified initially and more were added to the list later. Due to the sourcing effort, the number of Indian unreferenced BLPs is down to 565 currently. During February-April 2010, There was a large scale disruption of Kerala related articles by a Thrissur based IP vandal. Editing from a dynamic IP BSNL connection, the vandal changed dates of birth, death and ages of a number of Malayalam and Tamil film actors. Later he added a few international biographies to his list. He also marked some living people like Arvind Swamy as dead. A month long range block was imposed on his IP range two times and each time he came back to vandalise dates once the block expired. Currently the range has been blocked for three months till September 11, 2010.

What's New?
Current proposals and discussions
  • A discussion is underway here to reach a consensus regarding the use of Indian number names (lakh, crore etc.) in Wikipedia articles. Please participate and add your comments.
  • A discussion is in progress here in order to determine whether non-Western (including Indian) forms of classical music should be referred to by the nomenclature of art music instead of classical music. Please participate and add your comments.
  • Watchlist the Articles for Deletions page for India related discussions. Opinions from more Indian Wikipedians are required in many of the discussions.

If you've just joined, add your name to the Members section of WikiProject India. You'll get a mention in the next issue of the Newsletter and get it delivered as desired. Also, please include your own promotions and awards in future issues. Don't be shy!

Lastly, this is your newsletter and you can be involved in the creation of the next issue (Issue 2 – (July 2010)). Any and all contributions are welcome. Simply let yourself be known to any of the undersigned, or just start editing!

Looking forward toward more contributions from you!
Complete To Do List
Signed...
Although having the newsletter appear on everyone's userpage is desired, this may not be ideal for everyone. If, in the future, you wish to receive a link to the newsletter, rather than the newsletter itself, you may mention it at WikiProject India Outreach Department

This newsletter is automatically delivered by -- Tinu Cherian BOT - 02:59, 1 July 2010 (UTC)Reply


Articles for deletion nomination of Barikad Crew

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I have nominated Barikad Crew, an article that you created, for deletion. I do not think that this article satisfies Wikipedia's criteria for inclusion, and have explained why at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Barikad Crew. Your opinions on the matter are welcome at that same discussion page; also, you are welcome to edit the article to address these concerns. Thank you for your time.

Please contact me if you're unsure why you received this message. Dawnseeker2000 01:17, 9 August 2010 (UTC)Reply


WikiProject India Newsletter Volume V, Issue no. 2 - November 2010

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English WikiProject News

After a missed issue, the WP:IND newsletter is back on track to being a regular bimonthly feature. The Indian WikiProject has seen plenty of online and off-line action, both in English as well as other Indian languages, and we now have a bigger, better format that intends to feature content and news from the English as well as other Indian language Wikipedias.

Reaching out to Indians has been the theme of the Indian Wikiproject over the past couple of months, aiming to involve a greater number of Indians in editing both the English and Indian language Wikipedias. To this end, efforts to set up the Indian chapter of Wikimedia have moved into their final stages, and registration of the society is currently pending. An effort is underway to push for "WikiMarathons" at meetups, where attendees will be encouraged to edit the English and/or Indian language Wikipedias. This is intended to popularise Wikipedia editing among the general public. In addition, a bot to post DYK's from the Indian Wikiproject to Twitter was created and launched by User:Logicwiki.


What's New?

Regrettably, the number of Featured Articles has dropped from 63 in June to 58 at the end of October 2010. Several FAs came up for review and were delisted, while Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles and Fundamental Duties of India was saved. Meanwhile, Chalukya Dynasty appeared on the main page on July 9, 2010. Hearteningly, the number of Good Articles increased from 130 to 136 during the same period, while the number of Featured Lists remained constant at 16.

The source code for the Article Alert Bot is now available and the bot itself is expected to be up and running very shortly. This means that article alerts for the Indian Wikiproject will again be available, enabling editors to easily keep track of developments in respect of reviews, nominations, deletions etc.

The date change vandal mentioned briefly in the previous issue made a reappearance when the range block on his IP range expired in September. Consequently the block was extended till September 2011.

In October there was a heated discussion in the India project noticeboard regarding the copyright status of the Indian party symbols. The discussion was triggered by the deletion of Wiki San Roze's party symbol images by Hammersoft as copyright violations. No resolution was reached, partly because of our inability to explain to Hammersoft how election symbols in India differ from party logos. Comments are requested from anyone with a background in Indian copyright law to clarify this issue.

Complete To Do List
News from Indian-language Wikipedias
  • The Bengali Wikisource, which contains the literary works of many prominent writers of Bengali language including Rabindranath Tagore, has crossed the 5,000 pages milestone. According to List of Wikisource page, Bengali Wikisource is now at rank 21 among 56 Wikisource based on number of content pages.
 
The Tamil Wikipedia stall at the World Classical Tamil Conference 2010 in Coimbatore in June 2010.
 
Jimmy Wales introduces the Malayalam Wikipedia CD of 500 selected articles during his key note address at Wikimania 2010 at Gdansk.
  • The Hindi Wikipedia and its sister wiki projects migrated to the new vector interface on September 1, 2010. In addition, Hindi is the first (and so far the only) Indian language to be incorporated into the WikiBhasha translation and contribution toolkit developed by Microsoft Research.


Community news
 
The first meetup in Delhi on 22 September 2010.

Mumbai and Delhi held their first meetups in September, where Wikimedia Board members Barry Newstead and Bishakha Datta met up with Wikipedians and other interested members of the public in these cities. A month later, Hyderabad also held its first meetup.

 
Arun Ram, Shiju Alex and Barry Newstead releasing the Wikimedia India community newsletter at the nineteenth Bangalore meetup on 24 September 2010.

Wikipedians in Bangalore continued their tradition of meeting up regularly at the Centre for Internet and Society, with the nineteenth meetup in September featuring Barry and Bishaka as attendees, and marking the release of the community newsletter. Along with Delhi and Mumbai, Bangalore is reported to be one of the three cities in contention for the Indian office of the Wikipedia Foundation.

Jimmy Wales speech at the Mumbai Wikipedia Meetup #3 on 31 October 2010. Intro by User:Bishdatta & User:Arunram. (Recorded by User:AshLin.)

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales had an interaction with Wikipedians followed by a presentation to members of the public at the third Wikipedia meetup in Mumbai on October 31, 2010.

The first Wikimarathon, where Wikipedians and members of the public were encouraged to contribute to Wikimedia projects onsite, was held simultaneously at the meetups in Bangalore and Chennai on November 14, 2010. Wikipedians in Delhi also held a meetup the same day.

The Malayalam Wikipedia held several academies in different parts of Kerala over the past few months.

Wikimedia Foundation board member Bishakha Datta and Indian Wikipedian Srinivas Gunta co-authored a panel presentation at Wikimania 2010 on the Wikimedia Asia Project.

Current proposals and discussions
  • This interesting discussion on the quality of editing in India-related articles has been underway for on the noticeboard a few days. Feel free to join in and express your opinion.

If you've just joined, add your name to the Members section of Wikipedia:WikiProject India. You'll get a mention in the next issue of the Newsletter and get it delivered as desired. Also, please include your own promotions and awards in future issues. Don't be shy!

Lastly, this is your newsletter and you can be involved in the creation of the next issue. Any and all contributions are welcome. Simply let yourself be known to any of the undersigned, or just start editing!

Signed...

SBC-YPR, Sodabottle (Editors)

Tinucherian (Distributor)


This newsletter incorporates content from the WikiMedia India Community Newsletter, September 2010.

Looking forward to more contributions from you!
Although having the newsletter appear on everyone's userpage is desired, this may not be ideal for everyone. If, in the future, you wish to receive a link to the newsletter, rather than the newsletter itself, you may mention it at WikiProject India Outreach Department

This newsletter is automatically delivered by User:Od Mishehu AWB, operated by עוד מישהו Od Mishehu 10:35, 24 November 2010 (UTC)Reply

Invite to WikiConference India 2011

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Hi TinaSparkle,

The First WikiConference India is being organized in Mumbai and will take place on 18-20 November 2011.
You can see our Official website, the Facebook event and our Scholarship form.

But the activities start now with the 100 day long WikiOutreach.

As you are part of WikiProject India community we invite you to be there for conference and share your experience. Thank you for your contributions.

We look forward to see you at Mumbai on 18-20 November 2011

WikiProject India Tag & Assess 2012 Contest

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Hello friends, we are a number of editors from WikiProject India have got together to assess the many thousands of articles under the stewardship of the project, and we'd love to have you, a fellow member, join us. These articles require assessment, that is, the addition of a WikiProject template to the talk page of an article, assessing it for quality and importance and adding a few extra parameters to it.

As of March 11, 2012, 07:00 UTC, WikiProject India has 95,998 articles under its stewardship. Of these 13,980 articles are completely unassessed (both for class and importance) and another 42,415 articles are unassessed for importance only. Accordingly, a Tag & Assess 2012 drive-cum-contest has begun from March 01, 2012 to last till May 31, 2012.

If you are new to assessment, you can learn the minimum about how to evaluate from Part One of the Assessment Guide. Part Two of the Guide will help you learn to employ the full functionality of the talk page template, should you choose to do so.

You can sign up on the Tag & Assess page. There are a number of awards to be given in recognition of your efforts. Come & join us to take part in this exciting new venture. You'll learn more about India in this way.

ssriram_mt (talk) & AshLin (talk) (Drive coordinators)

Delivered per request on Wikipedia:Bot requests. The Helpful Bot 01:42, 12 March 2012 (UTC) Reply

R&N Userbox

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Hello, TinaSparkle! You can add the new userbox for the Royalty & Nobility taskforce, {{User WikiProject Royalty and Nobility}}, to your userpage! - Presidentman talk · contribs Random Picture of the Day (Talkback) 11:56, 4 June 2012 (UTC)Reply

Proposed deletion of Anita Bose Pfaff

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The article Anita Bose Pfaff has been proposed for deletion because of the following concern:

This person does not appear to have any independent notability. The only reliable source is an interview of her, but it's entirely about her father (who is notable). Notability is not inherited, so this article should be deleted. I'm not even sure a redirect is needed, but perhaps one could be left to her father's article.

While all contributions to Wikipedia are appreciated, content or articles may be deleted for any of several reasons.

You may prevent the proposed deletion by removing the {{proposed deletion/dated}} notice, but please explain why in your edit summary or on the article's talk page.

Please consider improving the article to address the issues raised. Removing {{proposed deletion/dated}} will stop the proposed deletion process, but other deletion processes exist. In particular, the speedy deletion process can result in deletion without discussion, and articles for deletion allows discussion to reach consensus for deletion. Qwyrxian (talk) 10:06, 16 September 2012 (UTC)Reply

Invitation to WLM!

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Wiki Loves Monuments - Pakistan
Wiki Loves Monuments comes to Pakistan!
Hi TinaSparkle! WLM is the largest international photographic competition in the world and we are looking forward to expanding it to Pakistan this year. We have been planning to make this national competition really take off; but to do so, we need your help!
Sign up at Wiki Loves Monuments 2013 in Pakistan and our mailing list if you are interested in being part of the organising team or can help spread the word. We look forward to hearing from you!

Official website of WLM Pakistan

You are receiving this message because you are a member of Wikipedia:WikiProject Pakistan. This message was delivered by EdwardsBot (talk) 14:28, 30 May 2013 (UTC)Reply

Proposed deletion of Anita Bose Pfaff

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The article Anita Bose Pfaff has been proposed for deletion because of the following concern:

No claim to notability.

While all constructive contributions to Wikipedia are appreciated, content or articles may be deleted for any of several reasons.

You may prevent the proposed deletion by removing the {{proposed deletion/dated}} notice, but please explain why in your edit summary or on the article's talk page.

Please consider improving the article to address the issues raised. Removing {{proposed deletion/dated}} will stop the proposed deletion process, but other deletion processes exist. In particular, the speedy deletion process can result in deletion without discussion, and articles for deletion allows discussion to reach consensus for deletion. Garamond Lethet
c
20:12, 27 October 2013 (UTC) Garamond LethetReply
c
20:12, 27 October 2013 (UTC)Reply

Pakistan User Group

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Wikimedia Community User Group Pakistan
Hi TinaSparkle!

We are currently in the process of establishing a User Group for Pakistani Wikimedians with the following objectives;

  • act as a hub for Pakistani editors working across the Wikimedia projects,
  • act as a voice and representative for the Pakistani Wikimedian community,
  • organize meet-ups,
  • establish a Wikimedia Pakistan Chapter,
  • acquire funding for various on-wiki and off-wiki activities including photo competitions, workshops and other public outreach events, and
  • collaborate with the wider Wikimedia community.

As an approved User Group, we will be recognised by the Wikimedia Foundation and officially supported by the Wikimedia movement.

If you reside in Pakistan or actively work on Pakistan-related topics and can help in functional activities of the Pakistani User Group, please join the official planning group mailing list. For more details about the proposed user group, please visit the official page at http://pk.wikimedia.org.

Together we can promote free knowledge in Pakistan!

You are receiving this message because you are a member of Wikipedia:WikiProject Pakistan. This message was delivered by EdwardsBot (talk) 17:19, 8 November 2013 (UTC)Reply

Wiki Loves Monuments - Pakistan

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Hi TinaSparkle!

Wiki Loves Monuments, the world's largest photography competition, will be taking place in Pakistan this September. The competition is all about capturing the cultural monuments and heritage sites of Pakistan and uploading these images on Commons to create an online repository which will be freely available to all.

Start taking photos of the sites enlisted here and upload them in September to be eligible for national and international prizes.

Email: contact@wikilovesmonuments.pk
Official website: wikilovesmonuments.pk
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WikiLovesMonumentsPK

Posted by MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 17:07, 8 June 2014 (UTC) on behalf of WikiProject PakistanReply

Pakistani Cultural Heritage - Edit Drive

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Hi TinaSparkle!

Wikimedia Community User Group Pakistan is organizing an edit drive for Pakistani Wikipedians on Pakistani Cultural Heritage throughout the month of July.
Top three contributors will be given a gift pack containing Wikipedia merchandise.

You can read the event details here. MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 11:14, 1 July 2014 (UTC)Reply
You are receiving this message as a member of WikiProject Pakistan

Proposed deletion of Dr. Hauschka

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The article Dr. Hauschka has been proposed for deletion because of the following concern:

not sufficiently notable

While all constructive contributions to Wikipedia are appreciated, content or articles may be deleted for any of several reasons.

You may prevent the proposed deletion by removing the {{proposed deletion/dated}} notice, but please explain why in your edit summary or on the article's talk page.

Please consider improving the article to address the issues raised. Removing {{proposed deletion/dated}} will stop the proposed deletion process, but other deletion processes exist. In particular, the speedy deletion process can result in deletion without discussion, and articles for deletion allows discussion to reach consensus for deletion. Alexbrn talk|contribs|COI 16:51, 13 March 2015 (UTC)Reply

ArbCom elections are now open!

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Hi,
You appear to be eligible to vote in the current Arbitration Committee election. The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to enact binding solutions for disputes between editors, primarily related to serious behavioural issues that the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the ability to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail. If you wish to participate, you are welcome to review the candidates' statements and submit your choices on the voting page. For the Election committee, MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 16:08, 23 November 2015 (UTC)Reply

Nomination of Barikad Crew for deletion

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A discussion is taking place as to whether the article Barikad Crew is suitable for inclusion in Wikipedia according to Wikipedia's policies and guidelines or whether it should be deleted.

The article will be discussed at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Barikad Crew (2nd nomination) until a consensus is reached, and anyone is welcome to contribute to the discussion. The nomination will explain the policies and guidelines which are of concern. The discussion focuses on high-quality evidence and our policies and guidelines.

Users may edit the article during the discussion, including to improve the article to address concerns raised in the discussion. However, do not remove the article-for-deletion notice from the top of the article. North America1000 06:14, 30 August 2016 (UTC)Reply

Asian 10,000 Challenge invite

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Hi. The Wikipedia:WikiProject Asia/The 10,000 Challenge has recently started, based on the UK/Ireland Wikipedia:The 10,000 Challenge and Wikipedia:WikiProject Africa/The 10,000 Challenge. The idea is not to record every minor edit, but to create a momentum to motivate editors to produce good content improvements and creations and inspire people to work on more countries than they might otherwise work on. There's also the possibility of establishing smaller country or regional challenges for places like South East Asia, Japan/China or India etc, much like Wikipedia:The 1000 Challenge (Nordic). For this to really work we need diversity and exciting content and editors from a broad range of countries regularly contributing. At some stage we hope to run some contests to benefit Asian content, a destubathon perhaps, aimed at reducing the stub count would be a good place to start, based on the current Wikipedia:WikiProject Africa/The Africa Destubathon which has produced near 200 articles in just three days. If you would like to see this happening for Asia, and see potential in this attracting more interest and editors for the country/countries you work on please sign up and being contributing to the challenge! This is a way we can target every country of Asia, and steadily vastly improve the encyclopedia. We need numbers to make this work so consider signing up as a participant! Thank you. --Ser Amantio di NicolaoChe dicono a Signa?Lo dicono a Signa. 04:46, 21 October 2016 (UTC)Reply

Europe 10,000 Challenge invite

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Hi. The Wikipedia:WikiProject Europe/The 10,000 Challenge has recently started, based on the UK/Ireland Wikipedia:The 10,000 Challenge. The idea is not to record every minor edit, but to create a momentum to motivate editors to produce good content improvements and creations and inspire people to work on more countries than they might otherwise work on. There's also the possibility of establishing smaller country or regional challenges for places like Germany, Italy, the Benelux countries, Iberian Peninsula, Romania, Slovenia etc, much like Wikipedia:The 1000 Challenge (Nordic). For this to really work we need diversity and exciting content and editors from a broad range of countries regularly contributing. If you would like to see masses of articles being improved for Europe and your specialist country like Wikipedia:WikiProject Africa/The Africa Destubathon, sign up today and once the challenge starts a contest can be organized. This is a way we can target every country of Europe, and steadily vastly improve the encyclopedia. We need numbers to make this work so consider signing up as a participant and also sign under any country sub challenge on the page that you might contribute to! Thank you. --MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 21:09, 7 November 2016 (UTC)Reply

Hi. We're into the last five days of the Women in Red World Contest. There's a new bonus prize of $200 worth of books of your choice to win for creating the most new women biographies between 0:00 on the 26th and 23:59 on 30th November. If you've been contributing to the contest, thank you for your support, we've produced over 2000 articles. If you haven't contributed yet, we would appreciate you taking the time to add entries to our articles achievements list by the end of the month. Thank you, and if participating, good luck with the finale!