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The Akshaya project in the rural Malappuram district of Kerala, India is home to the first and largest district-wide e-literacy project in India, and one of the largest known Internet Protocol-based networks. Through a network of 600 kiosks, the project has been designed to reach computer literacy into over 600,000 households, and bring 3.6 million residents of the district into regular affordable access to computer use. This study uses a regional analysis of Malappuram, and its parent state, to understand the context within which the project is situated and consider questions of generalizability from inferences drawn here. Second, the authors examine the technical network itself and read logs of how residents of the district are actually using the kiosks to discuss the case for content tailored to low-income users, and the larger case of state-underwritten shared-access computer centers. (Contains 21 notes, 13 tables, and 13 figures.)

This article presents a series of preliminary, quantitative results on rural PC kiosks in India. An analysis of the data confirms many expected trends and correlations and shows that kiosks still face the challenge of sustainability as a business. This study is based on questionnaires presented to kiosk operators and customers of kiosks operated or franchised by Drishtee and n-Logue, two for-profit rural kiosk companies that operate in various geographies throughout India. Recurring surveys are being run with three questionnaires concerning the daily operation and demographic context of the kiosks. The recurring questionnaires will be repeated once a quarter for three years; the results for this article are from the first two sets only. (Contains 2 notes.)

Our analysis of tweets from @narendramodi demonstrates how the Indian prime minister used political irony, enacted through sarcasm and wordplay, to refashion his political style and practice into a more broadly appealing populist ethic. We deconstruct confrontational Twitter messages laced with innuendo to explore the use of language as a means of political self-representation. Modi's use of irony provides a form of political spectacle and demonstrably resonates on social media, as quantified by the high retweeting of his sarcastically worded messages. We identify three rhetorical strategies in these tweets: (1) appeals to the base through the use of popular idiom, (2) creation of a shared cognitive environment to allow followers in on inside jokes and a means of affiliating with the leader, and (3) the performance of righteousness in underlining the leader's use of wit and restraint. We argue that the use of political irony in these tweets must be seen as part of a longer-term performative effort to recast Modi's political image from a regional strongman into a sophisticated communicator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To explore ways in which social and economic interactions are changed by access to mobile telephony. Method: This is a mixed-methods study of mobile phone use among 52 urban professionals with vision impairments in Bangalore, India. Results: Interviews and survey results indicated that mobile devices, specifically those with adaptive technology software, play a vital role as multi-purpose devices that enable people with disabilities to navigate economically and socially in an environment where accessibility remains a significant challenge. Conclusions: We found that mobile devices play a central role in enabling and sustaining weak ties, but also that these weak ties have important gender-specific implications. We found that women have less access to weak ties than men, which impacts women's access to assistive technology (AT). This has potential implications for women's sense of safety and independence, both of which are strongly related to AT access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Narendra Modi’s social media presence is among the most extensive for any politician in the world, including on Twitter where he currently stands second in following only to Barack Obama. With a mix of “feel good” messages, shout-outs to other celebrities, and well-timed ritualized responses, as well as a careful strategy of “followbacks” for a small selection of his most active followers, Modi has been able to grow his following dramatically especially since 2013. Twitter helps Modi directly reach a significant constituency of listeners, and use it as a channel to talk to the main stream media. In addition, the very appearance of his using social media effectively is in itself valuable in reshaping his public image as a technology-savvy leader, aligned with the aspirations of a new Indian modernity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]