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India, offered both text and graphic connectivity to the Internet. Even in the privatized environment, VSNL is
a virtual monopoly with extensive concession from DoT. However, recent telecom legislation, Supreme Court
rulings, and pressure from the business community will almost certainly alter VSNL's privileged position.
Access to electronic information over the Internet in India is limited by the degree of penetration of phone lines
in the country, a little over 1% (around 10 million lines), with a goal of expanding the penetration to 3% by the
year 2000. Demand far outstrips supply. The waiting list for new connections in 1993 was 2.8 million and
waiting periods of months, even years, have been the norm. India's goal is to provide phone installation on
demand by 1997. However, India's attempts to attract foreign investors to create a needed upgrade in the
nation's telecommunications infrastructure have been stymied, to some degree, by the country's licensing
regulations. The installed base of computers is another limiting factor for India. Currently India has about
650,000 computers, less than the installed computer base in San Francisco. Social resistance to
computerization by business and labor groups, fueled by fear of losing control of traditional markets or fear of
losing jobs has been a heavy drag on efforts to computerize and modernize operations, the banking industry
being a striking example. But attitudes are changing rapidly.
One hopeful sign is that India is concentrating on leap-frogging out-dated technology steps as it establishes its
new infrastructure, concentrating on fiber and satellite connections. The launching of India's INSAT2C
telecommunications satellite is a major step forward for Internet infrastructure. It is fitted with three Ku-band
transponders for fixed satellite service, which covers all major cities of India. The signal is so powerful that it
can be received by a 1.5 ft diameter rooftop dish, which opens a whole range of possible uses by the public and
private sector. An S-band will make possible wide-range transmission of radio and television signals, not only
in India but also in the Middle-East and South-East Asia. Besides the three Ku-bands, two C-Band channels
provide extended coverage. This means live Internet connection for major cities and store and forward email
for more remote rural areas. I told one software developer about the new telecommunications satellite and
email for the villages and he replied "Email? The villages don't need email; the villages need water." Of
course, this is true, but in a global society where information is becoming the most important commodity, the
boost to rural development through advanced information delivery systems is incalculable. .
Web Sites about India General Sites
Web pages on India that include general, comprehensive lists linking to other web pages offer an excellent
overview of what's available. The most comprehensive list of web resources for India is the World Wide Web
Virtual Library: India (http://webhead.com/WWWVL/India/) maintained by the Australian National
University. The page, which is updated frequently, is divided into subject categories including: Art and culture,
History, Internet in India, Language, Literature, Maps, Music, organizations, People, religion, Sports, and
States. A periodic check of WWWVL:India will keep you up-to-date on most of what's new and interesting on
the web for India. Yahoo (http://akebono.stanford.edu/yahoo/Regional_Information/Countries/India/) also
provides links to a wide variety of resources on India.. Search tools like Alta Vista
(http://altavista.digital.com/), Inktomi (http://inktomi.berkeley.edu/), and Excite (http://www.excite.com/) are
constantly being improved and turn up an abundance of material through keyword searching.
Online periodicals
Electronic publishing has begun to blur traditional print-based definitions of format and it is not easy to
describe the qualities of an online periodical. In this section I have included web pages that identify themselves
as electronic periodicals. A few Indian periodicals and newspapers that publish in print also publish an
electronic version. The Hindu, a leading national newspaper, puts up its weekly edition
(http://www.webpage.com:80/hindu/), as well as an edition of Business Line, a weekly business news magazine
(http://www.indiaserver.com/news/bline/bline.html), up on the web. Electronic Darpan
(http://www.sponsor.net/~pmishra/darpan/) is the online version of Darpan, a literary magazine, published by
students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, that explores the rich Indian and Indian-American
experience with featured prose, poetry, and graphics. Publishers from the Indian-American ethnic press are
also putting up web versions of their magazines. for instance, India Currents (http://www.rahul.net/indiacur/).
Some periodicals are offered only online. IndiaWorld (http://www.indiaworld.com/), a general magazine