PROeEEDINGS OF GO1/ERS{MET{T OF KARNATAKA

Sub: Development of Kannada Software- notifying Unicode asStandard for Kannlda coding - reg.

Read: 1) Ministry of Communications and InformationTechnologr, Govt. of {ndia Notification dated:27 .Lr.2AO9

2) Notification No KCIT 131 Kasani 2008(p),dated 01.12.2OA8

3) Report of Expert Committee dated 15.04.20iO4) Proceedings of the rneeting dated 09.A4.2O12 held

under the Chairmanship of the Chief Secretary toGovt.

5) tnternationai Institute of Information Technolog,',Bangalore, Letter No.IIITB/ Unicode/ 2AI2,dated Ll .O4.2OI2.

Preamble:

Department of Information Technologr, Govt. of India notified

Unicode 5.1.O and its future versions as the Standard for e-Governance

applications fe1:-prciiir6ting- 11-t":rrsage of Open Standards to avoid any

technologr lock-ins vide notification read at (1) above

on the occasion of Kannada Rajyotsava held on 01.11.2008,

Hon'ble Chief Minister has announced that the State Govt. wor-rid provide

a special grant of Rs.2S.OO Crores for all-round development of Kannada.

In view of this, an Expert committee for the Kannada software

Development -has

been constituted to consider itre suUlect matter in

depth undpr the Chairmanship of Sri K.Chidananda Gowda, retired Vice

Chancellor vide notification read at {2} above.

The Expert Committee after detailed deliberations submitted the

final repo5t to Govt. read at (3) above and has made the following

recommendations in connection with Kannada Software :-

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{. Kannada Software based on ASCIIn Kannada Software based on Unicode* Kannada Software based on Linux* Kannada Software based on Mobile phone* Kannada virtual University* Kannada Wikipedia (Kannada Encyclopedia in internet).* Kannada desktop publication* Software related to e-Commerce, e-Mail, e-Governancei. Kannada Braille Software* Converterst O.C.R (Akshara Jana)* Kannada Speach processing* Kannada Learning software* Standardisation* Dict ionaries in internet* Kannada technical glossary* Multimedia applications e* Publication of best Kannada literary works* Developing software which is essential for public d.ornain b.y..

identifying it* Kannada Tech I Latex software* Kannada Software Development Fund

In the meeting held on 09.04.2012 under the Chairmanship of the

Chief Secretary to Govt. it was resolved to obtain a technical report from

International Institute of Information Technologr, Bangalore regarding

usage of Unicode and after considering the report to place the -matter

before the Cabinet for approval.

The ITITB has submitted its report to Govt. read at (5) above stating

that, Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent

encoding represen-tation and handling of text expressed in most of the

world,s writing systems. Unicode is an evolving Internationa'l effort at

standardtzing (1 to 4 bytes p.er character). Unicode provides neat

separatiol between encoding scripts an$ re4dering. Fonts (a collection of

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Glyphs, dingbats) render unicode characters appropriately on many

deviccs. Due to iack of extensive participation from Indian scholars,

Unicode code assignment to various special characters required for Ind.ic

scripts has suffered. Unicode preserves correct "representation" and can

be rendered across hardware (Phone, PC, projector, video) and used in

rnany software {os, DBMS). Indirectly provides "sort" order - though

artificial for Indian scripts once correctly done, everyone benefits" Font

developmg4! ca1 happen independently and all fonts can benefit.

iIiTB has further stated about the limitations of Non Unicode

encoding schemes viz, {t) Encoding & rendering are tightly coupled {2)Cannot render consistently across platforms (3) Files and Documents

cannot be shared easily.

IIITB has recomrnended to notify tt e Unicode as the encoding

standard for Kannada, stati-ng that all earlier content nsed to .be

converted. Converters can take care of the earlier key encoding systems

used in software like Nudi and Baraha so that all current content can be

converted and preserved. Future content creation can benefit from

consistency across platforms.

After careful consideration of the proposal, the following order is

issued

Government Order IYo.KCIT 79 KASANI 2O1OBangalore. dated 24. 1 1.2O12

In the circumstances explained in the preamble, The Government

of Karnataka hereby notifies Unicode 6.0.0 and its future verSions as the

Standard for Kannada for e-Governance applications, data basg

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comespondences, Internet, Mobile,

applications for KIOSK, ATM etc. of ali

with immediate effect.

Laptop, Tablet applications,

levels of information technologr

The Government Departments shail take immediate steps tomigrate all digital documents in legacy encodings to Unicode and qhallalso take steps to provide conversion tools for formats such as plain text,i'ich text. desktop office applications and other formats as necessar-v inall popular Operating Systems.

This order issued with the concurrence of DPAR(E-Govenance) vide

U.O Note No: ,$egCoq 11 qeJE 2c12, dated: 2I.OT.2Ol2. and, Finance Dept.

Vide U.O.Note No: FD 732 EXP-T 12012, dated : IS.A9.2AL2.

_ - By order and in the name of theGovernor of Karnataka

{G.B Hemanna}Under Secreta4r to Govt.

Kannada, Culture and Inforamtion Dept.pffidalita Kannacla)

To:The compiler, Karnataka Gazette, Kengeri, Bangalore for pubiicationin the next issue of the Gazetteer.

Copv to:-

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2 .The Accountant General(A&E), Karnataka, Bangalore.The Joint Director, Ministry of communicationJ and InformationTechnologr, Department of Information Technologr,Government of India, Electronics Niketan 6, cco complex, NewDe1hi 110 O03.The chief secretar5r to Government, vidhana soudha.The Additional Chief Secretar5r to Government.The Principal Secret4ry to Govt, DpAR(E-Governance),M.S.Building, Bangalore. i

All Principal Secretaries/ Secretaries.Secretary to Honble Governor, Rajabhavan, Bangalore.Registrar General, Karnataka High Court, Bangalore.

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4 .5 .

6 .7 .8 .

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9. Registrar, KarnatakaLokayukta, Bangaiore.iO. Registrar, Karnataka Administrative Tribunal, Bangalore.1 1. Secretar5r, Karnataka Public Service commission, Bangalore.L2- Principai Secretary/Secretary, Karnataka Assembly/Council,

Vidhana Soudha, Bangalore.i3. __$ecretary to Chief Minister, Vidhana Soudha, Bangalore.

-W All Regional Commissioners.' 15. Commissioner, Kannada and Culture Dept., Kannada Bhavana,

Bangalore.16. Ali Departmental Heads.17. A11 District CoilectorslChief Executive Of{icers of Ztlla

panchayats.. The Director, Government Press, Vikasa Soudha, Bangalore (Topublish in the weekly Gazette.)The Director, Karnataka State Archives Department. VikasaSoudha, Bangalore

20. The Registrar, International Institute of Information Technologr,26/C, Electronic City, Hosur road, Bangalore.

21. All Additional/Joint/Deputy/under Secretaries of Government.22. The Under Secretar5r to Govt, Finance Dept (Exp-7), Vidhana

Soudha, Bangalore23. P.S to Chief Secretary (Cabinet Section), -Vidhana Soudha,

Bangalore.{With reference to Case no: C:6OZ l2ol2l24- The PS to Honble Minister, Minor irrigation and Kannada and

Culture, Vidhana Soudha, BangaloreSecretary to Chief Minister, Vidhana Soudha,All Section Officers of Secretariat.

Bangalore.

PS to Secretary to GovernrRent, Kannada, Culture andInformation Department, Vikasa Soudha, Bangaiore.

28. PA to Deputy Secretary, Kannada, Culture and lnformationDepartment, Vikasa Soudha, Bangalore-

29. Co-ordinatioan Section/Section Guard File/Spare copies.

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