New Delhi, NOV: A new database on Traditional Sciences and Technologies of India has been incorporated in the database galore of the General Information Systems Terminal of the National Informatics Centre (GISTNIC). The database was formally inaugurated by Dr SZ Qasim, Member of Planning Commission, on November 11, 1993 at a function organized in the Scope Complex auditorium, New Delhi.
In his inaugural address, Dr Qasim congratulated NIC for the accomplishment. "This information will be crucial for Planners related to science and technology in various organizations in identifying the appropriate technologies for implementation in the rural areas," he said.
Dr P Rama Rao, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, spoke on the rich tradition of Indian science and technology, with special emphasis on metallurgy. Dr K Swaminathan, Member, Planning Commission, who was also present on the occasion, congratulated NIC for compilation of the database.
The distinguished guests and invitees were given a demonstration on how to access the database.
The GISTNIC database on Traditional Sciences and Technologies of India has been classified into 10 major subject areas and 100 minor subject areas. Each subject covers a large number of individual items. Each individual item is a well-defined concept the description of which is given as an abstract displayed on the computer terminal screen. About 2,500 of such individual areas are covered under the subjects.
The retrieval of information can be either menu driven or keyword based. When the User gives a keyword, the subjects and items matching the keyword are retrieved by string matching technique, and the text displayed on the terminal screen. The information is in English, with occasional Sanskrit quotations. Any User with authorized User-id, password and allotment number can log on to the NEC S1000 computer system at NIC Headquarters in New Delhi, from any NICNET node, and invoke the database with the command VIP4 at the SYSTEM! prompt.
The database is expected to cover about 5,000 items of interest in traditional sciences and technologies of India by 1995. National Informatics Centre is soon to develop a sub-database of the GISTNIC Traditional Sciences and Technologies database, with multimedia facilities.