(13 January 2007 5:25 pm)

MUMBAI: Yahoo! India has unveiled a new series titled 'Ask the Planet' on its existing knowledge sharing platform Yahoo! India Answers, which acts as a forum and social community for its users.

The internet giant has zeroed in on India and following the launch of what they call the 'social media search,' with the 'Ask the Planet' campaign, Yahoo! has outlined a regionalization plan to be implemented within the first and second quarter of 2007. Similar to the localization of their messenger service 'Indichat' into eight languages, the company is also looking at expanding the 'Ask the Planet' series into several local languages.

The latest series has roped in Indian luminaries from myriad backgrounds to pose questions pertaining to education, health, law and enforcement, games and recreation, society and culture. This series will continue for a period of six weeks, allowing users to answer string of questions posed by these achievers. On the opening day, the first question was posted by the president of India, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam who asked, "What should we do to free our planet from terrorism?"

Taking the campaign forward, the company will conduct an All India School outreach program visiting 25 cities and urging kids to respond to the president's question. Finally, president Kalam will select 10 lucky winners who will get the opportunity to go on an educational trip to the Silicon Valley. Additionally, the top 50 respondents will also get to interact with the president on a trip to Delhi. The winners will be announced at the end of February.

Speaking at the launch Yahoo! India MD George Zacharias said, "We are delighted to bring 'Ask the Planet' Series to India. In line with the objective of Yahoo! Answers in creating a rich knowledge repository, the ATP Series will provide an innovative platform for the millions of Indians based on their real life experiences, to answer some of the biggest questions that touch our lives today."

Yahoo! India Answers was initiated by Yahoo! in April 2006. Starting June 2006, Yahoo! began a series called 'Ask the Planet' on Answers where luminaries such as Dr. Stephen Hawking, former US vice president Al Gore, U2s Bono to name a few have asked questions on subjects ranging from survival of human race to eradication of poverty. The service currently exists in 16 languages across the world.