(The Gist of PIB) CSIR celebrates 20 years of India’s Traditional Knowledge Digital Library

(THE GIST OF PIB) CSIR celebrates 20 years of India’s Traditional Knowledge Digital Library

Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) is an Indian digital knowledge repository of traditional knowledge (TK), especially about medicinal plants and formulations used in Indian systems of medicine.

About:

TK is knowledge, know-how, skills and practices that are developed, sustained and passed on from generation to generation within a community, often forming part of its cultural or spiritual identity.
TKDL was initiated in 2001, as a collaboration between the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Ministry of Science and Technology, and Department AYUSH, Ministry of Health.
TKDL database contains more than 3.9 lakh formulations/ practices from the Indian systems of medicine (Ayurveda, Yoga, Siddha, Unani and Sowa Rigpa) in digitized format in five languages: English, German, French, Japanese and Spanish.
It seeks to prevent misappropriation of the country’s traditional medicinal knowledge at International Patent Offices by preventing the granting of patents for products developed utilizing Indian TK.
Also, non-patent database serves to foster modern research based on traditional knowledge, by simplifying access to vast knowledge of practices.
The database is available to only patent examiners through TKDL Access (Non-disclosure) Agreement.