IndiBlogger – Development blog

After completing the successful upgrade to IndiVine, we got down to the next task in our list – the big IndiRank updgrade. Apart from several small bug fixes and performance tweaks, all bloggers who have an IndiRank can now view detailed stats about their blogs under their account.

The new dashboard will tell you:

• If we were able to crawl your feed properly
• Your IndiRank history
• Your Pagerank performance and history
• Your Alexa performance and history
• How often you blog
• Tips on how you can improve your IndiRank

Of course, this dashboard is still pretty basic, and will be updated based on community feedback. Hope you all find it useful!

One major bug that some of you wrote to us about has been squished; the bug where a newly approved IndiBlogger doesn’t find his/her blog in the directory until the IndiRank crawler hits their blog. Now bloggers will find themselves on our homepage the second that they are approved – just like old times.

As bloggers, we find ourselves in a unique position as influencers of change. As the first of a new series “IndiCause”, we would like to inform you about a contest where your ideas play a role in India’s future!

The contest is run by Unnati Features and Women’s Feature Service and is supported by the UN Millennium Campaign.

Details of the contest:

Mera India, Bridge The Gap

By 2015, India has pledged to achieve the following eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs):

• Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
• Achieve universal primary education
• Promote gender equality and women’s empowerment by eliminating gender disparity in schools
• Reduce the child mortality rate
• Reduce the maternal mortality rate
• Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
• Ensure environment sustainability
• Develop global partnership for development

As an Indian, your role would be to assess the shortcomings and challenges that lie before us, and tell us how our country can achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

How to Enter

• You should be an Indian citizen between the ages of 18 to 35 years.
• The first step is to register with us at indiabridgethegap@gmail.com with your name and email id. We will then be in touch with you.
• You must acquaint yourself with the Millennium Development Goals.
• Then rank the following 10 constituents on a scale of 10 to 1, in their order of importance for the achievement of the MDGs. The category you feel is more important figures higher on the scale.

1. Celebrities
2. Corporate leaders
3. Educationists
4. Elected representatives
5. Government officials
6. Health personnel
7. NGOs
8. The Judiciary
9. The Media
10. The Youth

• Tell us what you think are the most important things to be done towards achieving the MDGs.You may choose from the following formats to express yourself:
  • A 1000-word essay
  • Or a pictorial strip
  • Or a film not longer than five minutes using a mobile phone or digital camera.
• Every contestant must enclose a birth certificate and a statement certifying that the work submitted is original.
• Each contestant can send in only one entry. Entries from teams comprising not more than three persons would also be considered, provided that the oldest member in the team is not more than 35 years.
• Entries should be sent in an envelope marked ‘Mera India, Bridge the Gap’ to Women’s Feature Service, G-69 Second Floor, Nizamuddin West, New Delhi –110013.
• Entries can also be emailed to: indiabridgethegap@gmail.com, along with a scanned birth certificate and statement certifying that the work is original.

The Prizes

1st prize – Rs. 75,000
2nd prize – Rs. 50,000
3rd prize – Rs. 25,000
Many other prizes too!

Each entry would be judged on its content, its innovative nature and the practicability of the ideas suggested. The jury will be a panel of independent persons well known in their respective fields. Prize winners will be invited to a special awards function in New Delhi and your ideas will be shared with policy makers, civil society leaders and people in various fields who can make a difference.

Last Date for receiving entries: October 5th, 2009

For more information on the cause and the contest, go to:

http://meraindiamdgsbridgethegap.blogspot.com/

Good luck – we hope you’re the one to come up with the winning solution! Please do your bit and help spread the word so your readers may take part as well.