The Ministry of Science & Technology, Govt. of India (Department of Science & Technology, Department of Biotechnology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) and Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt. of India provides a number of science & technology news stories and features from the institutions and labs named Vigyan Samachar.
Vigyan Samachar is one of the unique platforms for bringing bunch of good things are happening in India’s science & technology, which needs to be properly distributed among the common people through various news media.
Vigyan Samachar—India’s first Science & Technology news agency
Vigyan Prasar (VP) organized the inaugural workshop of the first science and technology news agency. While addressing the workshop, Professor Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, said that this is the time to share the innovations in science & technology and the science communication among all stakeholders.
As the first news agency in a scenario where science and knowledge of its achievements and activities are mostly confined to a limited number of people, VP is converting these to science news. Each day, the news developed is reaching the desk of several English and Vernacular online, print and electronic media in a format that can either to used directly or can be customized to their needs.
Highlights of Vigyan Samachar
- Vigyan Samachar takes up large-scale science popularization tasks/activities.
- Vigyan Samachar delivered knowledge products in different regional languages; including publications, news features, films, radio programmes, compendia, portals and a variety of new media, exhibitions and kits.
- Vigyan Samachar builds capacities to communicate; film making and ham radio are specific examples.
- Vigyan Samachar services dissemination needs of institutions.
- Vigyan Samachar networks with institutions, experts and knowledge platforms.
- Vigyan Samachar develops strategies for bilateral and multilateral initiatives.
- Vigyan Samachar assists national missions to strengthen outreach / engagement interventions.
- It is an autonomous organization of DST.
Why it required?
- It has been entrusted to coordinate news stories received from Department of Science and Technology (DST), Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) for all four media sources – print, electronic, digital, and social.
- Most of the scientific developments go unpublished in various media. This limits the knowledge of scientific achievements and activities to limited people.
- Difference in the language of the scientists and social scientists and therefore science communication could help bridge the gap between the two.
- Recent studies indicate that science gets very little space both in English as well as vernacular media.
Rise in number of science and engineering publications from India from past few years make India number 3 & Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advance Scientific Research (JNCASR) in Bangalore has scored the 7th position in the quality of research by Nature Index in the recent National Science Foundation (USA) Report.