Local language domains will soon be made available for India – in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, reports ET. Although no longer in regular use, Sanskrit is also in the list. The trademark owners will be able to register domains starting January 2008, and individual users will be allowed to register domains March onwards. National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) additional CEO Rajesh Aggarwal says that they’ll offer Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) in 5-6 languages initially, and guidelines for the rollout are currently being prepared. NIXI had earlier launched the .in domain, which has so far crossed 300,000 registrations.
I think local language domain names are essential for local language portals. Additionally, these will have to be supported by local language keyboards. Sure there are software that allow typing in local languages using an English keyboard, but that limits its usage to those comfortable with both languages. I remember seeing an English keyboard with stickers of Marathi characters posted on the keys, at a Government office in Mumbai.
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