It has been confirmed that the verdict will be handed down on the 30th of September, as I previously speculated the dating of the texting ban extension indicated.

‘Indian court to rule on Ayodhya mosque row on Thursday‘, Reuters.com (28/9/10)

The Indian government has banned bulk texting for three days until the publication by the High Court as to whether the Babri mosque is on Muslim or Hindu land. The poor Jains don’t even get a look-in.

Built in the 16th century on land that Hindus believe to be the birthplace of Rama, antipathy about the mosque came to a head in 1992 when it was demolished by a Hindu mob, leading to tit-for-tat attacks around the country.

Presumably the government is worried, given that the Bombay riots were fuelled by simple media reports, that bulk texting could result in much better organised rioting. I suppose the flash mobs of the Cronulla riot stand testament to that. I wonder if they’re going to ban talk-back radio for the next 3 days as well, although the Editors’ Guild of India has recommended that media outlets should avoid being inflammatory

Reuters ‘India bans bulk text messages before Ayodhya mosque verdict‘, Reuters.com (23/9/10)

Also, I wrote a fiddly post about the following story that got destroyed by WordPress (grr…). I was too annoyed to start from scratch so here’s a link:

Press Trust of India ‘On Facebook, young Muslims turn away from Islam‘, NDTV.com (7/9/10)

UPDATE: The Supreme Court (superior, as in America, to the previously mentioned High Court) has delayed Friday’s verdict in a bid to settle out of court. This seems unlikely, as both sides remain adamant. The government has not yet issued a repeal of their bulk texting ban.

Reuters ‘Supreme Court orders Ayodhya mosque verdict postponed‘, Reuters.com (23/9/10)

UPDATE 2: The ban on bulk texting has been extended until the end of September. It’s possible that gives some kind of indication on the date of a verdict.

I wonder if marketing companies or something are affected?

UPDATE 3: Google is my friend. American ad rag Advertising Age has a story on how the ban affects marketing companies in India.The Economic Times of India report one telco exec estimating an industry loss of 30 million rupees (under US$1 million), although that was based on the 3 rather than 7 day ban. They noted “Most cellphone operators and industry lobbies had no comment on the ban”, which struck me as strange.

Apparently the government may be further authorised to ban all SMS services in “sensitive” areas when the verdict comes down.

Kunur Patel ‘India SMS Ban Handicaps Massive Social Net‘, Advertising Age (24/9/10)

The Institute of Jainology has launched their Jainpedia project: an online depository of digitised Jain texts from collections around the world. Helmed mainly by British Jains, the project aims to incorporate the numerous manuscripts held in British institutions, as well as those remaining in India.

Primarily targeted at academics, Jainpedia also hopes to make itself available to “millions”. In order to make texts in Sanskrit and Prakrit more accessible the texts will be ‘amplified’ with translations, commentary and audio-visual supplements. Ratilal Chandaria, Chairman of the Institute, explains

The resource will continue to develop by allowing users to blog their Jain experiences online and therefore weave their everyday practices into the richness of the UK Jain tapestry.

Jainpedia plans to launch to the public in late 2012 and I can only assume that all the talk of public availability means it will be free to access. Funding for the project included equal contributions from the Institute and the Heritage Lottery Grant.

Mansi Choksi ‘Religion reloaded‘, Times of India (25/10/09)