Media quoted Ramesh Pokhriyal on Sanskrit out of context: MHRD

The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) on Sunday clarified that the media quoted Union Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank out of context with regard to his views on Sanskrit language.

"This is to clarify regarding press reports attributing certain statements to the Minister for Human Resource Development Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, while speaking at the IIT Bombay convocation on August 10. These reports have quoted the Minister out of context," the press release read.

Some media reports on Saturday had quoted Nishank allegedly saying that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) believed Sanskrit was the most scientific language for programming in his speech at IIT, Bombay.

The press release mentioned that Pokhriyal was referring to the works of a scientist employed at the NASA who had published an article on "Knowledge Representation in Sanskrit and Artificial Intelligence" in the Artificial Intelligence Magazine.

"In some media reports, it is mentioned that the Minister has credited NASA for using Sanskrit in making AI-based computers. It is pertinent to mention that Minister is making reference to the scientific work of NASA scientist Rick Briggs, who published an article in the American Society of AI journal."

"His statement purely quotes the scientific work done by a NASA scientist at NASA Ames Research Centre, California. The article can be accessed at Briggs, R (1985). Knowledge Representation in Sanskrit and Artificial Intelligence. AI Magazine," it added.

The press release ended with a request to the students and the scientific community to set the rumors at rest and contribute towards making India a US $ 5 trillion economy.

"The Ministry of HRD would request the student and scientific community to set at rest any controversy on this count and would urge them to participate in shaping up the education system of the country to build the USD 5 trillion economy that the country is looking forward to," it said.