World Hindi Day or Vishwa Hindi Diwas is annually observed across the globe on 10th January to celebrate and promote the rich cultural and linguistic heritage of the Hindi language and its speakers across the globe.
Significance of January 10:
i.The day, January 10 marks the anniversary of the first time that Hindi was spoken in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 1949.
ii.The day also marks the anniversary of the 1st World Hindi Conference held from 10th to 12th January 1975 in Nagpur, Maharashtra.
- The conference was inaugurated by then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi.
Background:
i.During the meeting of the follow-up committee on the World Hindi Conference held on 8th June 2005, the 10th of January of every year was proclaimed as World Hindi Day.
- The decision was announced by then Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh.
ii.The first-ever World Hindi Day was celebrated on 10th January 2006.
iii.Since 2006, the Ministry of External Affairs(MEA) funds and organises World Hindi Day to promote Hindi across the world.
12th World Hindi Conference – 2023:
i.The 12th World Hindi Conference(2023) will be held in the Republic of Fiji from 15th to 17th February 2023.
ii.The conference is organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of India in collaboration with the Government of Fiji.
- The main theme of the World Hindi Conference 2023 is “Hindi – Traditional Knowledge to Artificial Intelligence”.
Note: The venue of the 12th World Hindi Conference was decided during the 11th World Hindi conference held in Mauritius in 2022.
Key Points:Â
i.The MEA is the nodal ministry for the 12th World Hindi Conference.
ii.Various committees have been constituted for organizing the conference in a systematic and smooth manner.
iii.Several exhibitions related to the development of the Hindi language will be organized at the conference venue.
Logo and website:Â
In October 2022, the Official logo and website of the 12th World Hindi conference were launched by S. Jaishankar, Minister of External affairs.
Hindi Diwas (National observance):
India annually celebrates the 14th of September as the Hindi Diwas to mark the day on which the Constituent Assembly of India decided Hindi as the official language of India.
About Hindi:
i.Hindi belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European family of languages.
ii.Hindi is one of the 22 Indian languages that have been recognised by the eighth schedule of the Indian constitution.
iii.Hindi is also the official language of various Indian states which includes Bihar, Delhi, Haryana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.
About Ministry of External Affairs(MEA):
Union Minister– S Jaishankar (Rajya Sabha- Gujarat)
Minister of State– V Muraleedharan; Meenakashi Lekhi; Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh
