New Delhi, 26 September: Readers of Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Bengali and Assamese now have popular science magazines in their own languages, after Union minister Jitendra Singh launched five new titles published by the CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Policy Research (CSIR-NIScPR).
The launch marked the 85th Foundation Day of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Singh is Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology.
The five new popular science magazines
The new titles are Bigyan Lahar in Assamese, Bigyan Brittanto in Bengali, Vidnyan Kshitij in Marathi, Ariviyal Arikkaiyalar in Tamil and Vigyan Velugu in Telugu.
They join the institute’s long-running magazines Science Reporter in English, Vigyan Pragati in Hindi and Science ki Duniya in Urdu. CSIR-NIScPR said the aim is to give readers credible and engaging science in their own language, and to cover scientific achievements, innovations and developments from their regions.
AI-assisted translation, checked by editors
The magazines use technologies including artificial intelligence to translate selected content from Vigyan Pragati, Science Reporter and Science ki Duniya. Human experts then review, proofread, fact-check and edit the translations for scientific accuracy, language quality and readability.
Each magazine also carries original articles written in its own language. According to the institute, this is meant to encourage science writing in these languages and give space to scientific work from each region.
Who is behind the magazines
Dr N. Kalaiselvi, Director General of CSIR and Secretary of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), and Dr Geetha Vani Rayasam, Director of CSIR-NIScPR, attended the launch.
Publication of the five magazines was coordinated by Mukesh Ambadas Pund and Dr Meher Wan. The editors present were Dr Paramananda Barman (Editor) and Dr Bornali Sharma (Associate Editor) of Bigyan Lahar; Dr Uttam Kumar Jana, Editor of Bigyan Brittanto; Pund, Editor of Vidnyan Kshitij; Dr S. Bhuvanesh (Editor) and Dr L. Sandhiya (Associate Editor) of Ariviyal Arikkaiyalar; and Dr N. K. Prasanna, Editor of Vigyan Velugu.
CSIR’s 85th Foundation Day marks 84 years of the organisation’s work in science, technology and national development.
Earlier this week, Singh launched PLA bioplastics under the BioE3 programme.