Wednesday, July 28, 2010

More items to find way into digital library to check biopiracy

India has begun work to include 220 additional Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha text in its Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL), which will help check rampant biopiracy of the country’s ancient wisdom by developed countries.

The digital library is a joint effort of CSIR and the ministry of Ayush (Ayurvedic, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathic) against biopiracy or attempts by individuals or institutions in the developed countries to patent traditional knowledge passed down from generation to generation in India.

“The TKDL is being enhanced for 220 additional texts in Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha. The current coverage is 148 texts,” said VK Gupta, director, TKDL, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). The government also wants to go beyond the known text to include it in the database information on traditional medicine that may be stored in other forms such as hand-written manuscripts on palm leaves, paper, cloth or inscribed on metal, a senior official has said.

Full report here Economic Times 

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