World Hindi Conference begins today

All for language

The 9th World Hindi Conference will begin here on Saturday, seeking to promote and widen the reach of Hindi, the world’s second most spoken language.

The three-day event will be held at the Sandton Convention Centre. In view of Mahatma Gandhi’s historic association with South Africa, the main venue has been named as ‘Gandhigram’ for the event.

The conference will see the participation of about 700 non-native Hindi speaking scholars and delegates. The event will be inaugurated by Indian Minister of State of External Affairs Preneet Kaur and a South African minister. The theme of the conference this year will be “Identity of Language and Globalisation of Hindi”.

The conference would also have nine academic sessions on subjects such as Mahatma Gandhi's linguistic vision; Hindi and modern technology; role of Indian epics in propagation of Hindi; contribution of foreign scholars in dissemination of Hindi; Mass media and Hindi, etc. Twenty people from India and twenty others from abroad will be honoured for their contributions towards propagation and popularisation of Hindi.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that, tradition of World Hindi Conference has received a global identity and encouragement, and the event has always attracted Hindi scholars and supporters which is proof of Hindi's rising popularity across the world.” Singh hoped that the event would provide an important global platform for scholars.