On International Mother Language Day, State Minister for Posts, Telecommunications, and Information Technology, Junaid Ahmed Palak, unveiled three innovative software applications centered around the Bengali language, integrating artificial intelligence. The trio of new applications includes ‘Uchcharan’ for Bengali text-to-speech conversion, ‘Katha’ for Bengali speech-to-text transcription, and ‘Varna,’ a Bengali OCR (Optical Character Recognition) tool. Alongside these applications, a novel Bengali font named ‘Purn’ was introduced.
The inauguration ceremony took place at the BCC Auditorium in Dhaka on February 21, where the state minister served as the chief guest. He emphasized the historic significance of integrating Bengali language into technology, highlighting its importance for the 35 crore Bengali-speaking population worldwide. The minister credited Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s leadership for adding a new dimension to the development of the Bengali language.
Junaid Ahmed Palak underscored the linguistic identity of Bengali as the foundation of its cultural identity. He expressed concern that neglecting the proper integration of the Bengali language in socio-economic life could lead to a gradual weakening of its influence.
The ‘Uchcharan’ software serves as a Text-to-Speech (TTS) application, converting written text into spoken words through machine-generated speech. ‘Katha’ is a Bengali voice typing application, enabling the conversion of spoken Bengali words into written text in clear and quiet environments. Meanwhile, ‘Varna’ operates as a Bengali OCR tool, facilitating the transformation of non-editable text in computer documents into editable text. The introduction of the ‘Purn’ font addresses specific issues related to Bengali Unicode, enhancing the clarity and usability of plain Bengali text.