NEWS

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Gyan Bharatam International Conference in New Delhi.
• Emphasised digitising India’s manuscripts to curb intellectual piracy and preserve civilisational treasures.

HIGHLIGHTS

Gyan Bharatam International Conference

• Organised by Ministry of Culture.
• Attended by 1,100 participants including historians, scholars, and manuscript custodians.
• First-ever international conference on manuscript heritage: “Reclaiming India’s Knowledge Legacy”.
• Coincided with 132nd anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s 1893 Chicago Address.

Gyan Bharatam Mission — Key Features

• Announced in Union Budget 2025-26.
• Rs 400-crore project under Ministry of Culture.
• Headquarters in New Delhi with regional centres across states.
• Replaces the National Manuscripts Mission (2003).
• Modeled on ASI for manuscript preservation.

Objectives of Mission

• Identification & Documentation: Nationwide Manuscript Resource Centres (MRCs).
• Conservation: Strengthened Manuscript Conservation Centres (MCCs).
• Digitisation: AI-assisted text recognition, microfilming, cloud-based metadata.
• Research & Translation: Critical editions, facsimiles, multilingual access.
• Capacity Building: Training in palaeography, conservation, transcription.
• Technology Development: Mobile apps, secure digital repositories, global accessibility.

Gyan-Setu Initiative

• AI Innovation Challenge under Gyan Bharatam Mission.
• Empowers students, researchers, start-ups to apply AI in heritage preservation.
• Aim: Make India’s 1 crore+ manuscripts more accessible globally.