Ask the planet, Yahoo! tells you how

Yahoo! India Answers has started the 'Ask the Planet' series in India. This initiative will have luminaries ask questions on subjects ranging from the survival of the human race to eradication of poverty and the forum will be left open for answers from users.

For instance, the first question, "What should we do to free our planet from terrorism?" has been posed by Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. This will be followed by a series of questions by various other noted personalities. The best answers will be rewarded by Yahoo! for the coming six weeks.

"The idea is to create a rich knowledge repository and provide a platform to millions of Indians to answer questions that touch our lives today," said George Zacharias, MD, Yahoo! India.

Yahoo! India has introduced a school contact programme to ensure large-scale participation from Indian youth. Talking about the rationale behind the programme, Rishi Behal, director for search and strategic alliances at Yahoo! India, says, "Youth form a considerable part of the total Internet users in the country. Moreover, we want the students' opinion about the pressing issues that concern us today."

As a reward, select students will get the opportunity to meet the President of India and 10 winning students will get the opportunity to visit Silicon Valley. Yahoo! will include universities, too, in this programme. It is banking on word of mouth advertising to do the job rather than implement any marketing communication plan.

Though the rewards will be limited to six weeks, the 'Ask the Planet' series will continue, covering topics such as education, health, law and enforcement, games and recreation, and society and culture.

Yahoo! India started 'Answers', a knowledge sharing platform, in April 2006. Anyone can ask and answer questions on any topic through this medium.

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