THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Media Academy is organising a Self-Publishing Summit to discuss the possibilities of free software in the Malayalam newspaper and book publishing industry. It also plans to develop a programme to make publishing cheaper and easier. The summit will be held on Thursday and Friday at Mascot Hotel.
Fahad Al Zaidi, an expert from Oman who spearheaded the development of the free design software Scribus for use in Arabic and Indian languages, will inaugurate the summit on Thursday at 10 am. Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac will inaugurate the academy’s free software initiatives while Port-Archives and Museum Minister Ramachandran Kadannappalli will inaugurate the concluding event.
In the technical sessions, experts will talk about the potential of free software in the publishing industry and also introduce the software. “The Kerala Media Academy is taking the initiative for collective beneficiaries of the sector,” R S Babu, chairman of the academy, said.
Kerala Media Academy had also launched Radio Kerala, an internet radio station to unite Malayalees globally. The chairman said that the online radio had reached Malayalees in more than 110 countries in its trial run. It aims to be a complete Malayalam radio that combines news and events.
Meanwhile, the academy will implement ‘Shabdamaram’ project educational institutions. Radio Kerala will broadcast a programme for students during their lunch break. Radio Kerala will be formally inaugurated in December. The academy has also launched www.newspages.in, an online portal to present students’ creative writing to the public.