TFIR comes out with multi-lingual info materiaL on coronavirus

The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research has come out with a multi-lingual communication material coronavirus to discard misinformation and provide basic scientific understanding to fight the spread of the infection.

The communication material is based on original simulations published by Harry Stevens in the Washington Post.

We have come out with the material in nine languages -- English, Hindi, Bengali, Konkani, Marathi, Malayalam, Odia, Tamil and Telugu -- through volunteering efforts of faculties, families and students, said Prof Arnab Bhattacharya, a scientist with TIFR, a research institution under the Department of Atomic Energy.

The material would soon be be released in Gujarati, Punjabi, Haryanvi and Assamese also, he said.

The idea behind the initiative is to help disseminate information and debunk various myths that are going around, the scientist said.

The disease emerged abroad, but we have to explain it to our population according to local needs for which this vernacular content is important. We hope that the use of this material can prove effective in spreading awareness among the people, said Bhattacharya.

In the next step, the team is trying to make masks by some indigenous material.

For this, posters and videos would be released soon, he said.