History

India’s Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is convening a three-day global brainstorming session this August to pool archaeologists, computer-scientists, linguists and even AI start-ups around one long-standing puzzle: the undeciphered Indus (Harappan) script. The gathering is simultaneously a research accelerator—pairing Indian field data with foreign labs—and a piece of soft-power diplomacy that showcases India’s stewardship of one of the world’s great heritage riddles. To see why UPSC treats this as a launch-pad for static questions, we can anchor the news event to three syllabus staples: (1) the Antiquities & Art Treasures Act 1972 (AATA), (2) the World Heritage Convention 1972, and (3) the key features of the Indus Valley Civilization (IVC). Each section below first ties the conclave to the topic and then unpacks the static core in plain language.

ASI’s Indus-Script Conclave: research plus reputation

• What the conclave is – ASI will host “the first international conclave on decoding the Indus script” in August 2025; the plan is to share 3-D scans of seal impressions, launch an open-data portal and invite cross-disciplinary code-breaking teams.

• Why now? – 2024–25 marks the centenary of John Marshall’s announcement of the civilization’s discovery; States such as Tamil Nadu have stoked fresh interest by offering a US $1 million prize for a successful decipherment.
• Soft-power angle – By leading collaborative science (instead of guarding data), India signals cultural confidence and wins goodwill—much as China does with the Silk-Road archaeology corridors or France with Lascaux cave replicas.

Antiquities & Art Treasures Act, 1972 (AATA)