The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) marked its 85th Foundation Day with the launch of five new popular science magazines in regional Indian languages. Dr Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State for Science & Technology, launched the publications which include বিজ্ঞান লহৰ (Bigyan Lahar) in Assamese, বিজ্ঞান বৃত্তান্ত (Bigyan Brittanto) in Bengali, विज्ञान क्षितिज (Vidnyan Kshitij) in Marathi, அறிவியல் அறிக்கையாளர் (Ariviyal Arikkaiyalar) in Tamil, and విజ్ఞాన్ వెలుగు (Vigyan Velugu) in Telugu.
The magazines are published by CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Policy Research (CSIR-NIScPR) and represent an expansion of their science communication portfolio, which already includes flagship magazines Science Reporter (English), Vigyan Pragati (Hindi) and Science ki Duniya (Urdu). The initiative utilizes cutting-edge technologies including Artificial Intelligence to facilitate translation of selected content from existing magazines, with AI-assisted translations being reviewed, proofread, fact-checked and editorially refined by human experts to ensure scientific accuracy and linguistic quality.
Alongside translated content, the magazines also carry original articles written in the respective Indian languages, aiming to encourage and strengthen science writing in these languages while highlighting scientific achievements and innovations from the respective regions. The publication effort was coordinated by Shri Mukesh Ambadas Pund and Dr Meher Wan, with contributions from editorial teams including Dr Paramananda Barman and Dr Bornali Sharma (Assamese), Dr Uttam Kumar Jana (Bengali), Shri Mukesh Ambadas Pund (Marathi), Dr S. Bhuvanesh and Dr L. Sandhiya (Tamil), and Dr N. K. Prasanna (Telugu).
The launch ceremony was attended by Dr N. Kalaiselvi, Director General of CSIR & Secretary of DSIR, and Dr Geetha Vani Rayasam, Director of CSIR-NIScPR. This initiative represents CSIR-NIScPR's effort to make credible scientific knowledge accessible to wider sections of society and supports the vision of an inclusive, multilingual and scientifically informed India.