A Project on

Electronic Dictionary

By MFM Group

Shrikant banikol 03 Shailesh Sawant 40 Santosh Ubhare 46

Rishikesh Thakur 42 Parvindar Singh 20 Nikhil Kadam 17

INDEX

Sr. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Contents Introduction of Digital Dictionary Economic environment Political and legal environment Competitive environment threats and opportunities Ecological issues and social responsibility Project Design and Plan of Operation Promotion and distribution strategies

Page No.

Introduction of the Product - Digital Dictionary

The world is truly becoming smaller with the help of technology. Technology like the Internet and mobile phones bring people closer together. One can be sure to pick up the phone anytime and anywhere because it's so handy and portable. One of the other gagets that brings the world closer together is the digital dictionary. Language is still a barrier that we have to get through in many cases; and armed with a dictionary translator, which is one of the features of a digital dictionary, it gets easier to communicate in another language as the days pass. Imagine that you have to carry around with you a big bulky bilingual dictionary. A paperback dictionary is hard to bring around since it can be a pretty thick book to have with you.

With digital dictionary we are armed with the perfect English words with the comprehensive knowledge of the contents of the Webster English dictionary that it has. Even if you're not learning a new language, there are still so many words in the English language alone that we don't really know about.. You can teach yourself to be proficient in the English language or any other language and even know exactly how a variety of words should be pronounced. A digital dictionary fosters learning with use since it is so compact in size that you can bring it around wherever you go. With it fitting in your backpack, purse or briefcase, you can

quickly cross reference between various dictionaries and even other languages with just the click of a button. Just type in the word and it will define it for you, and there are also sample sentences provided for better understanding. When you click on the megaphone icon on the screen of these gadgets, it will pronounce the word for you so you can be sure you're pronouncing it correctly. With time and guidance, you can learn any language with ease.
Source: http://www.digitaldictionary.org/

Need for the project:

Considering the Indian population and potential size of the market the need for dictionaries is high. This will facilitate the quick reference for everyone like students, office goers, and businessmen, corporate and to common people. Beyond the primary audiences other important bodies of readers will also be served School teachers; Governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs); Businesses; and News reporters and others in the media. This project aims to develop a greater awareness of the language and different ways it can be used. Build in vocabulary offer several alternate words of the same meaning to choose from, giving more flexibility when writing. A digital dictionary will save enormous amounts of time, especially for those you write a lot. The applications would have automated text processing tools, usually for things like spelling and grammar. Some of them even include a thesaurus, crossword solvers or games. Electronic dictionary can be used to refer to any reference material stored in electronic form that gives information about spelling, meaning, or use of words. Thus a spell-

checker in a word-processing program, a device that scans and translates printed words.

Economic environment
The Indian economic environment largely affects the consumer purchasing power and spending patterns. Economic factors include business cycles, inflation, unemployment, interest rates, and income. Here, the changes in major economic variables have a significant impact on the marketplace. For example, income affects consumer spending which affects sales for organizations. Large portion of the population falls under the middle class category. Hence the electronic dictionary has to be affordable to the large portion of population and to common man. People spend, save, invest and try to create personal wealth with differing amounts of money. Trends in the economic environment show an emphasis on global income distribution issues, changing consumer-expenditure patterns. If you consider access to telephones, clothes washers, dryers, microwaves, etc., there is little visible difference between the poor and non poor. Indeed, recent figures indicate that the affluent are shopping at discount stores, having adopted some of the shopping habits of those with less income. Indias economic growth averaged at 6.3 per year and the stability of Indias improved exchange rate management has restored the confidence of foreign investors, which in turn has led to improved financing of the current account deficit and higher levels of foreign exchange reserves.

However, even though India has made substantial economic progress in recent years, it still has several areas in need of major market-based reforms.5 Below, we identify three examples from Indias economy that reveal a restriction of the pursuit of individual self-interest and a diversion of resources away from their most efficient use. The first example concerns the obstacle still presented by the Indian tax system, the second highlights the inefficiencies of the Indian civil service, and the third describes the need for further land reform in India. In this economic situation the product has the wide market opportunities to sustain and grow.

Source: http://knol.google.com &

Asia-Pacific Development Journal vol 12

Political and legal environment

Indian society is highly plural. It is the biggest democracy in the world with multi party political system. In population, India is second to China, with nearly 1200 million people. This is the most important consumer market in the world. It is a fast developing world. India is the third largest economy in the world and second fast growing economy in Asia. It has the tremendous potential of development with huge intellectual human force. With all these advantages and the huge market potential our product can be at advantageous position to do the business in such an environment. As in any part of the world, political influence is highly essential to start a business in India. Especially if you are planning to start a multi billion business, some sort of political patronage is an absolute necessity. Not only for safeguarding the interest of the company but even to begin the process of getting the required sanctions, one requires hold in the high echelons of politics and administrative circles. Starting a business in India takes an average of 35 days, compared to the world average of 48 days. Obtaining a business license and closing a business can be very difficult. All businesses must contend with extensive federal and state regulation as well as an infamously slow bureaucracy. The overall freedom to start, operate, and close a business is significantly restricted by the national regulatory environment. Total government expenditures in India, including consumption and transfer payments, are low. In the most recent year, government spending equaled 16.3 percent of GDP, and the government received 14.3 percent of its total revenues from state-owned enterprises and government ownership of property-an extraordinarily high percentage

relative to other countries. Inflation in India is moderate, averaging 4.1 percent between 2003 and 2005. Relatively unstable prices explain most of the monetary freedom score. The government subsidizes agricultural, gas, and kerosene production and (under the Essential Commodities Act of 1955) applies price controls at three levels (factory, wholesale, and retail) on "essential" commodities, electricity, some petroleum products and certain types of coal, and pharmaceuticals. India will soon join an elite group of countries where starting a business will take less than a day. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has simplified the procedures for incorporation to enable promoters to get their companies incorporated within 24 hours.

Source : http://www.oppapers.com

Competitive environment Threats and Opportunities

In the increasingly competitive environment in India, the development and launch of new products have become an important competitive tool. In a crowded marketplace, there is greater need for differentiation; in markets that tend to be stagnant there is pressure to create excitement. The development and launch of new products helps in both situations. This paper is prompted by our belief that there are unique problems faced by Indian companies in rapidly developing a new product development capability. With this context our product aims to receive considerable attention in years to come. In a generic sense, the challenges faced by Indian companies in new product development are the same as those faced by companies the world over. Indian companies seek to get to market early (or reduce product development cycle times), develop products with integrity (Clark and Fujimoto, 1990) that achieve strategic objectives, make optimum use of development and other resources, and to develop not one, but a stream of new products over time. To meet these challenges, contemporary management thinking would advise Indian companies to get it right the first time, pay adequate attention to the front end of the product development process. Notwithstanding the somewhat pessimistic picture presented of the problems faced by Indian companies in new product development, it is important to realize that there are also tremendous opportunities for these companies. Products designed by MNCs are not always appropriate for Indian consumers and there are many opportunities for

Indian companies to use their superior understanding of Indian tastes, preferences and habits to design products to meet Indian needs.

Source: Economic & Political Weekly, 31 July 1999, pp. M114-M120

Ecological issues and social responsibility

The electronic industry is the worlds largest and fastest growing manufacturing industry. During the last decade, it has assumed the role of providing a forceful leverage to the socio - economic and technological growth of a developing society. The consequence of its consumer oriented growth combined with rapid product obsolescence and technological advances are a new environmental challenge - the growing menace of Electronics Waste or e waste that consists of obsolete electronic devices. It is an emerging problem as well as a business opportunity of increasing significance, given the volumes of e-waste being generated and the content of both toxic and valuable materials in them. Solid waste management, which is already a mammoth task in India, is becoming more complicated by the invasion of e-waste, particularly computer waste. E-waste from developed countries find an easy way into developing countries in the name of free trade) is further complicating the problems associated with waste management. The paper highlights the associated issues and strategies to address this emerging problem, in the light of initiatives in India. As there is no separate collection of e-waste in India, there is no clear data on the quantity generated and disposed of each year and the resulting extent of environmental risk. The preferred practice to get rid of obsolete electronic items in India is to get them in exchange from retailers when purchasing a new item

Electronic wastes can cause widespread environmental damage due to the use of toxic materials in the manufacture of electronic goods (Mehra, 2004). Hazardous materials such as lead, mercury and hexavalent chromium in one form or the other are present in such wastes. As the collection and re-cycling of electronic wastes is being done by the informal sector in the country at present, the Government has taken the sufficient steps to enhance awareness about environmentally sound management of electronic waste our key role would be to initiate the program providing incentives for producers to design products that are less wasteful, contain fewer toxic components, and are easier to disassemble, reuse, and recycle may help in reducing the wastes. It should set targets for collection and reuse/recycling, impose reporting requirements and include enforcement mechanisms and deposit/refund schemes to encourage consumers to return electronic devices for collection and reuse/recycling. End-of life management should be made a priority in the design of new electronic products.

Project Design and Plan of Operation

The plan of operation has several component elements. In chronological order they include: a) Selection The Digital Dictionaries of South Asia project is designed to select dictionaries most needed by potential consumers. Our panel will ensure that the project receives input from a broad range of users and that the dictionaries selected for conversion and dissemination are those most important for the intended audiences. Further, we will include e-mail response forms on Web pages encouraging readers to recommend other Recommendations for the project. . b) Data entry We will contract for conversion of the selected dictionaries into digital form. The most widely practiced technique for data entry with high accuracy is double keying. This approach involves typists keying in the same text twice. Computer programs determine where the two resulting files are not identical and human editors make corrections as required. Nine dictionaries out of a project total of at least thirty-two will be converted during the first year. This slightly slower pace at the beginning will allow us to test our approach before moving into a higher volume of data entry during the second and third years. c) Verification

It is important to verify that the data delivered by the data entry contractor is as accurate as the contract requires. This data verification will take place within two months of the original data entry. Where accuracy falls below the contractually specified levels, the data entry contractor will be instructed to repair the errors.

Promotion and distribution strategies

The project will be more significant because of the effective promotion and distribution strategies of the resulting digital dictionaries. The free project Web site and inexpensive compact discs will allow readers around the world easy access to the on-line lexical reference resources created under this project. This use of the World Wide Web is one of the most effective way of providing equal access to readers. The Co-Directors will notify scholarly organizations, libraries, and the general public of progress during the course of this project by means of news notes and articles in relevant scholarly publications, Promotion through academic news publications and national news media will be made. We will send information about this in Libraries. In our efforts to select and make accessible the best dictionaries, we will adhere to copyright laws in India. This project will organize summer seminars in various places of India and also for high school teachers will focus on use of digital dictionaries created under this project along with other language pedagogy resources.

e) Evaluation The last element in the plan of operation is thorough evaluation of the dictionaries and the extent to which they meet the needs of readers.

Source: A project by U.S Dept on Digital Dictionaries of South Asia