Original Title : Hela Pirulu
Media Format : Internet
Website : http://www.pirulu.com
Producer : Nimal Padmakumara
Language : Sinhala
Location : Colombo, SRI LANKA
Contact : srinim@sltnet.lk

This initiative aim to give an opportunity to the present generation of children of Sri Lanka, to familiarize themselves with beautiful tales that are moving away from them.

The Jury appreciated the uniqueness and novelty of this initiative as it appears that no web site has come out so far with a compilation of Sinhala proverbs and a corresponding audio track of this nature. Further it was observed that it is an individual’s effort to preserve the national cultural heritage and that way it is a commendable effort. It also appreciated that, to avoid deployment of a separate server for the voice-based data which would have been costly, instead all the voice tracks have been uploaded in You Tube. The Jury noted that the novelty of this project is the collection of all Sinhala proverbs on the YouTube platform.

Original Title : Click to Root / Grave Online – Digitisation of Burial Records and Online Search of Burial Records
Media Format : Internet/Web
Website : www.burialsinindia.net
Producer : Computax Consultants
Language : English
Location : West Bengal, INDIA
Contact : adm_rpt@yahoo.co.in

This is a project of digitisation and computerization of burial records of different cemeteries in West Bengal, India, dating back to the 1700s and encompasses data of historical and genealogical importance. A very useful purpose of this exercise is to enable users around the globe to search and find access of graves of their ancestors at the click of the mouse and enable them to locate the graves and offer tributes to their ancestors. One can search for graves through different options like first / last name, plot no, grave locations etc and also through grave numbers. This project is probably the first of its kind not only in India but in the entire world. The project also serves as a very useful medium of preservation of data from physical records into electronic form. This project is started by COMPUTAX CONSULTANTS to help Genealogists, researchers and common people searching for their ancestors buried in the city of Kolkata, former Colonial Capital of England. Also inheritors of ancestral people of historical importance and relevance are using the site. The commercial model of the project is the e commerce gateway being provided in the site and through which users will have to pay for getting the services and their utilities.

The Jury opined that apparently Kolkata may be the first city to have online access to burial records since the conceptualization of the project in Feb 2002. It was noted that the project has received wide coverage in almost all leading dailies, including Reuters, Tibetan news and Iran Daily News and also reported in leading magazines, Economic Times and the electronic media. It was further noted that the project has also found mention in the British publications of British Association of Cemeteries in South Asia (BACSA) and the family history journal. The Jury also noted in appreciation the opinion of Dr Jones of BACSA “the project is an extremely useful resource for family historians and genealogists all over the world.” The Jury inferred that this unique web-based project has a great cultural heritage value and stands distinguished.