$100 laptop for Nepali students soon Kantipur Report KATHMANDU, Jan 11 - Primary school students may no longer have to carry heavy backpacks while attending school in the near future. If things go as foreseen, the familiar schoolbag filled with text books and copies will be replaced by a tiffin-box-sized laptop, weighing less than one kilogram. The laptop, which comprises an electronic version of all text books, a word processor, e-toys, drawing tools, camera, and inbuilt audio and video applications, will cost US$ 100 (approximately Rs 7,000). Originally developed by One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) trade association - a US based non-profit organization formed by faculty of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - the notebook is currently being modified by Shankar Pokharel and Ankur Sharma, both 22-year old graduates of Nepal Engineering College. “We are currently developing operating software and applications in Nepali language, so that children residing in rural areas are able to use it easily,” Pokharel said. “We will also store the contents of primary level text books in the computer so that students do not have to carry books to school,” he added. As soon as the process of localization and curriculum development complete is completed, the Pokharel and Sharma duo are planning to hand over the laptop to the government. “We have set a tentative date of mid-2007 to finish the project,” they said adding, “Once our part of the work is complete, it will then be the responsibility of the state to distribute it among various schools, especially those located in remote areas of the country.” Designed in the US and manufactured by a Taiwanese company, the laptop operates on Fedora Core operating system developed by Linux, and comes with a 366Mhz processor, 128MB RAM and 512MB flash memory (for storage). The notebook, which has a life expectancy of around 10-12 years and consumes 10 times less energy than other computers, also comprises a USB port, an extra slot to insert additional flash memory cards and in-built multimedia tools such as stereo speakers and microphones. Another special feature of the notebook is that every time it is turned on it is automatically plugged to a wireless mesh network, which will facilitate students using similar computers to share packets of data even if they are in remote places from the school, Sharma said.