MoUs signed to translate 365 books into Indian, foreign languages

CHENNAI: The 3-day Chennai International Book Fair (CIBF) held in Nandanam came to an end on Wednesday with MoUs signed for translating 365 books into various Indian and foreign languages.

According to the press note, 90 Tamil books will be translated to foreign languages, 60 books from Tamil to other Indian languages, 170 Tamil books to both Indian and other foreign languages and besides Tamil, 45 Indian languages books are to be translated to foreign languages. Overall, the MoUs were signed for translation works of 365 books.

The MoUs were also signed to translate science books to stimulate interest among students. The Tamil Development Department has signed an MoU to translate Tamil texts into foreign languages.

As the first phase of its efforts to take Tamil literature to the world, the State government has announced that it’d provide financial support to foreign publishers who want to translate fiction and non-fiction books into their native language. In the last 100 years, only over a 100-120 Tamil books have been translated into foreign languages. Hence the government is working on translating more books in the near future.

“The CIBF has enabled the rich literature and books of the Tamil language to be taken to the global platform. The translation works signed so far is no doubt a notable move,” said Chief Minister MK Stalin at the event.

In the event held by Directorate of Public Libraries, TN Textbook and Educational Services Corporation under the Department of School Education as a co-event of the CIBF, over 30 countries such as Canada, France, Singapore, Germany, Japan, Kenya, Spain among others took part.