Kolkata, 1 September (H.S.): A three-day national workshop on “Creation of Uniform Scientific and Technical Terminology for Indian Languages: Challenges and Prospects” commenced on Monday at the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata. The event is being organized by ISI’s Linguistic Research Unit under the aegis of the Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology, Ministry of Education, Government of India. The workshop is being held at the Platinum Jubilee Auditorium of the institute from September 1 to 3.
The inaugural session was graced by Prof. L. Ramamoorthy, former head of the Central Institute of Indian Languages, Ministry of Education, as the chief guest. In his address, he emphasized that the National Education Policy highlights the importance of teaching in mother tongues and stressed the need for multilingual higher education to ensure global competitiveness. He also expressed special interest in exploring the roots of Sanskrit and Dravidian languages.
Delivering the presidential address, ISI Director Prof. Sanghamitra Bandyopadhyay underlined the institute’s interdisciplinary activities and the role of language technology in shaping future research. She also recalled the contributions of Prof. P.C. Mahalanobis across diverse branches of science. Prof. Biswabrata Pradhan, Dean of Studies at ISI, attended as the special guest, while Prof. S. Arulmozi, head of the Centre for Applied Linguistics and Translation Studies, University of Hyderabad, participated as the distinguished guest.
The welcome address was delivered by Prof. Niladri Sekhar Das, while the vote of thanks was presented by Dr. Mendem Bapuji.
The workshop aims to develop a national framework for creating uniform scientific and technical terminology across Indian languages. Discussions will focus on identifying pan-Indian terminology and developing multilingual dictionaries, glossaries, and encyclopedias covering natural sciences, social sciences, legal studies, engineering, and technology.
Key speakers include Prof. Ashwin Kumar (Chanakya University, Bengaluru), Prof. Urmishree Bedamatta (Ravenshaw University, Cuttack), Prof. Naresh Annem (University of Hyderabad), Dr. Namrata Singh (University of Delhi), and Prof. Sandip Mitra (Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata).
A major goal of the workshop is to refine existing terminologies, create new ones, and design strategies for their integration into national initiatives such as Bhashini, AI for Bharat, and the National Translation Mission.
Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh
