World Hindi Day, also known as Vishwa Hindi Diwas, is annually observed across the globe on 10th January to promote the worldwide use of the Hindi language. The day also marks the anniversary of the World Hindi Conference, which was held on 10th January 1975.
First World Hindi Conference:
i.The first World Hindi Conference (in Hindi: Vishwa Hindi Sammelan) was held on 10th January 1975 in Nagpur, Maharashtra.
ii.The conference was inaugurated by the then Prime Minister(PM) Indira Gandhi.
Around 122 representatives from 30 countries participated in the conference.
Background:
i.During the meeting of the follow-up committee on the World Hindi Conference held on 8th June 2005, the 10th January of every year was proclaimed as World Hindi Day.
ii.The first ever World Hindi Day was observed on 10th January 2006.
iii.Starting from 2006, the Ministry of External Affairs(MEA) has been celebrating World Hindi Day in other nations to promote Hindi across the globe.
Note:
The day has been observed in India since 2003.
National Hindi Diwas:
Annually, India celebrates the National Hindi Diwas on September 14 to commemorate the declaration of Hindi as one of the official languages of the Government of India in 1950.
Significance of Hindi:
i.Hindi belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European family of languages.
ii.Hindi is the most commonly used official language in India, English and Hindi are the official languages of India.
iii.Hindi, one of the 22 Indian languages that have been recognised by the eighth schedule of the Indian constitution.
iv.Hindi is also the official language of various Indian states which includes Bihar, Delhi, Haryana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.
