Be a part of Google Student Ambassadors (GSA) Program 2013

The magic of success is a perfect blend of education, passion, hard and smart work. In today’s fast changing technology landscape, programs that bridge the gap between what is taught in the college and what is sought by the industry are important. Google facilitates one such partnership through its Google Student Ambassador (GSA) program – where we partner with academia to promote the use of technology in everyday lives. The Google Student Ambassador is a liaison between Google and the students’ college or university. The Ambassadors work directly with Google to conduct activities within their campuses during the academic year, - introducing fellow students to new Google products and features, and acting as campus contacts connecting Google with partnering institutions.

Following an overwhelming response to the program last year, we are working with over 500 colleges and universities in India, this year, to identify and recruit Student Ambassadors for the upcoming academic year. After a pre-defined series of evaluations and interviews, 300 GSA’s will be selected to represent their educational institutions this year. We are currently in the process of identifying faculty members who would act as the single point of contact to support the program in each of the shortlisted educational institutions. This year we are accepting applications only from the students who are referred by the identified faculty members.

Who are we looking for?

We are looking for students who are:

• Studying in one of the identified institutions – listed HERE.

• Going to be enrolled in the pre-final year of their Under Graduate or Graduate studies in the 2013-2014 academic year.
• Referred by the identified point of contact from one of the shortlisted institutions – mentioned HERE.
• Passionate about technology, learning and sharing.
• Able to work with students and college authorities to drive various programs and initiatives.

The point of contact for each institution is updated on a daily basis. Please keep checking the list to see if the contact for your college or university has been identified. If you satisfy the above mentioned criteria, and have a passion to learn and share information about cutting-edge technology, then this is your opportunity to make a difference.

GET IN TOUCH with the identified faculty contact from your institution, REQUEST him/her to refer your name for the program, we will get in touch with you and get to know you better and select the most deserving candidate from your institution.

Come, be a part of a Technology Revolution!

Posted by Sunil Rao, Country Head of Outreach Programs

More than 70 of the world’s languages in the blink of an eye

[Cross posted from the Official Google Blog]

If you took a quick snapshot of content available on the web, you might think that everyone around the world spoke English, Chinese, French or Spanish. But in fact, millions of people around the world speak an incredible array of languages that currently have a small presence across the web.

Google Translate helps bridge the divide between the content available online and people’s ability to access that information. Starting today, you can translate another five languages using Google, which combined are spoken by more than 183 million people around the globe:

• Bosnian is an official language in Bosnia and Herzegovina that’s also spoken in regions of neighboring countries and by diaspora communities around the world.
• Cebuano is one of the languages spoken in the Philippines, predominantly in the middle (Visayas) and southern (Mindanao) regions of the nation.
• You can hear the Hmong language spoken in many countries across the world, including China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and throughout the United States.
• Javanese is the second most-spoken language in Indonesia (behind Indonesian), with 83 million native speakers.
• Marathi is spoken in India and has 73 million native speakers. Google Translate already supports several other Indian languages: Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.

With the exception of Bosnian, these new languages are “alpha,” meaning while the quality isn’t perfect, we will continue to test and improve them over time.

You can access Translate via the web at https://translate.google.com, on your Android or iOS device, or via Chrome and in Gmail. We're excited to reach the 70+ language milestone, and we look forward to continuing to add more languages.

Bosnian: Google Prevodilac sada podržava više od 70 jezika!

Cebuano: Google sa Translate misuporta na karon sa kapin sa 70 ka mga!

Hmong: Google Translate nim no txhawb nqa tshaj li 70 hom lus!

Javanese: Google Translate saiki ndhukung luwih saka 70 basa!

Marathi: Google भाषांतर आता 70 पेक्षा जास्त भाषांचे समर्थन करते!

Posted by Sveta Kelman, Program Manager, Google Translate

Join Dr. Shashi Tharoor on Google+ to discuss the future of higher education in India

Higher education is one of the principal drivers of the economic growth of a country. Minister of state for HRD, Dr. Shashi Tharoor will take questions from citizens on the future of higher education in the country. On May 9th, 2013 at 7 pm (IST)  he will be joined by people from across the globe on a Google+ Hangout.

Dr Tharoor is one of the early adopters of social media in India and a true believer in the power of the Internet. His Google+ Hangout will be moderated by senior journalist Sonia Singh. Dr Tharoor will be addressing questions on challenges in higher education like faculty shortage, low number of accredited institutions and more.

Google+ is all about creating a better experience across Google, and provides a powerful communications platform for users. Since its launch in July 2011, the Google+ community has grown rapidly with more than 500 million users worldwide. Google+ Hangouts allow up to 10 people participating at a point of time to join the hangout. You can later share the hangout on YouTube or live stream it using Hangouts on Air.

Watch out for the Google+ Hangout live with Dr Shashi Tharoor on the Google India +Page at google.com/+GoogleIndia or subscribe to the InConversation YouTube channel. You can participate in this hangout by posting your questions for Dr Tharoor on this link.

Posted by Naman Pugalia, Public Policy & Government Affairs Analyst

The MIT-AITI Mobile/Internet Technology & Startup Accelerator workshops

As part of Google's commitment to building a healthy and sustainable innovation ecosystem, we are partnering with Accelerating Information Technology Innovation (AITI) - a multidisciplinary group of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that promotes development in emerging regions by cultivating young technology entrepreneurs.

Under the MIT-AITI umbrella, Google is sponsoring two workshops in India this summer. These are intensive six-week long part-time workshops where students will learn entrepreneurship skills and software development skills for mobile and web platforms. The workshops will be held from June 17 to July 26, 2013 at IIT Bombay, Mumbai and BMS College of Engineering, Bangalore and are open to 3rd and 4th year Engineering students and 1st year MBA students. Interested students can visit the program pages for IIT Bombay or BMS College to apply.

The workshops will be conducted by alumni and current students from MIT's Engineering and Business Schools. Apart from attending classes, students will develop a mobile/web business, service, or platform, idea and accompanying software throughout the 6 weeks. The workshops will also have a Startup Showcase for teams to demonstrate working prototypes and business plans of their ventures, and compete for the opportunity to receive seed capital, incubation opportunities, and mentorship from leading investors, angels, and entrepreneurs.

Posted by: Ashwani Sharma, University Programs Lead for Engineering

Join Google Business Group (GBG) to Connect, Inform, Inspire your community!

India has a large number of SMEs but only a small percentage of them are online and have the advantage of access to a global marketplace and benefits of enhanced productivity and efficiency. We’ve heard a lot of business owners say they’d like to learn about what they should be doing online. Sometimes the most useful thing is to hear it from someone that’s doing it right!

We are excited to announce Google Business Groups (GBGs) in India. So, if you run an enterprise, are a business professional, or just plain interested in Google products, here is your chance to become a GBG Manager and organize your own business gathering.

We are currently looking for new community organizers (aka GBG Managers) to start 30 chapters in the following cities in India: Hyderabad, Cochin, Chandigarh, Delhi, Mysore, Hubli and Dharwad, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Madhurai, Coimbatore, Agra, Mangalore, Patna, Kochi, Ludhiana, Surat, Bhopal, Kanpur, Nagpur, Pune, Jaipur, Indore, Nashik, Vadodara, Bhubhaneshwar, Vishakapatnam.

With GBG you have the freedom to create your own opportunities whether you choose to be a member, manager or speaker (or all three). These are the three driving principles of GBGs. You will meet interesting people in your community, learn together how to use web technologies for your business and unleash new ideas through inspiring speakers and conversations.

Google Business Group(GBG) is a community led program represented by local groups (GBG chapters) which organize social gatherings, workshops, online hangouts, larger events and other activities where like-minded business professionals can connect, learn and get inspired on how Google products and web technologies can improve efficiency, productivity and impact overall success of their business.

You can find more information about the program, testimonials from current GBG Managers around the world, the scope of activities as well as what you could expect from Google on the GBG website.

Each group is organized by a local volunteer (GBG Manager) and is entirely independent from Google, the corporation. You can also refer any of your friends, family or colleagues for the post of a GBG manager. Just ask them to complete this short application form. and we will schedule an online meeting with one of our Google representatives who will explain more about the opportunity.

Posted By: Sunil Rao, Country Head -Outreach Programs

Indic Languages in Gmail on your feature phone

Indian culture is diverse, with more than 100 languages and thousands of alphabets used every day. Depending on where you are, you might hear anything from Gujarati to Bengali and Tamil to Urdu. If you're a speaker of these languages and use a feature phone, communicating is about to get a little easier.

Starting today, we are rolling out support for 6 Indic languages in Gmail on the feature phone browser: Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu. Simply go to settings in Gmail and choose your language.

Some 500 million new users from around the world will join the Internet between now and 2015. Since most will experience the web for the first time on a mobile device, it’s important that people everywhere can communicate in the language they know best.

Posted by Ian Hill, Project Manager, Google Localization

Big Tent Activate Summit New Delhi 2013

What happens when a billion Indians come online?

The Internet has already changed India. But we’re only at the beginning of a significant transformation as we move from just over 150 million to more than a billion Indians online in the near future.

At this Big Tent Activate Summit in New Delhi on 21 March, we're bringing together leading Indian and international experts to discuss the changes we’re already seeing and to forecast those to come. Some of the questions we’ll aim to address include:

• Can India gain a global competitive edge by enabling the full economic potential of the Internet?

• Will the Internet dilute Indian culture, or can it help preserve and share it locally and globally?

• How is the Internet already changing the democratic process, and what will happen as many more constituents come online?

There will be addresses by Eric Schmidt and other leading Indian and international public figures.

Time	Session
9:00 - 10:00	Registration
10:00 - 10:10	Welcome Rajan Anandan, Managing Director, Google India
10:10 - 10:25	Keynote Address Kapil Sibal, Cabinet Minister for Communications and IT
10:25 - 11:35	Panel: Enabling the Economic Impact of the Internet in India Moderator: Vikram Chandra, CEO, NDTV Group Sam Pitroda, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Public Infrastructure, Information and Innovations Elizabeth Bramson-Boudreau, Director, Economist Intelligence Unit Anu Madgavkar, Senior Fellow, McKinsey Global Institute Deep Kalra, Founder & CEO, MakeMyTrip.com
11:35 - 12:15	Lightning Talks: The impact of the Internet on Indian society Neil D'Souza, Founder, ZAYA.org Umar Saif, Associate Professor, LUMS School of Science and Engineering Saroo Brierley
12:15 - 13:30	Lunch
13:30 - 14:15	Conversation: The role of the Internet in Indian Politics Moderator: Barkha Dutt, Group Editor, NDTV Stephanie Cutter, Political Consultant Omar Abdullah, Chief Minister, Jammu and Kashmir Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for HRD Smriti Irani, Member of Parliament
14:15 - 14:30	Google+ Hangout on Technology in Politics Narendra Modi, Chief Minister, Gujarat
14:30 - 15:15	Fireside chat with Eric Schmidt and Alan Rusbridger Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman, Google Alan Rusbridger, Editor, The Guardian
15:15 - 16:05	Debate: Is the Internet killing the media industry? Jeff Jarvis, Professor, CUNY Graduate School of Journalism Raghav Bahl, Managing Director, Network18 Siddharth Varadarajan, Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu Sanjay Salil, Managing Director, MediaGuru
16:05 - 17:10	Lightning Talks: The Impact of the Internet on Indian Culture Amit Sood, Director, Google Cultural Institute Shekhar Kapur, Film Maker Shantanu Moitra, Music Director
17:10 - 19:00	Cocktails

Venue

The Big Tent will take place at the Taj Palace Hotel, which is located just a few minutes drive from both the airport and the city center.

• Address: Taj Palace Hotel, Sardar Patel Marg, Diplomatic Enclave, New Delhi - 110 021

• Phone: +91 112 6110202

Transportation

Arriving by car from the airport:

• From Indira Gandhi International Airport, the Taj Palace Hotel is a 15 km drive along Gurgaon Express Highway (NH8). The journey should take approximately than 30 minutes. Landmark: Dhaula Kuan Road next to ITC Maurya Sheraton.

Arriving by car from New Delhi:

• From Connaught Place in Central New Delhi, the Taj Palace is a 7-8 kms drive towards Dhaula Kuan road. The journey should take approximately 15-20 mins.

This event is invite-only, but there will be a livestream on ndtv.com/bigtent