By Ashok Upadhyay & Shivaji
Port Louis, Aug 18 (UNI) The three-day 11th World Hindi Conference (WHC) began at the Swami Vivekananda International Convention Centre at Pailles in Mauritius on Saturday.
The conference, which will conclude on Monday, is being organised by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India in association with the Government of Mauritius.
The decision to organise the 11th edition of the Conference in Mauritius was taken at the 10th World Hindi Conference held in Bhopal, India in September 2015.
The first World Hindi Conference was held in 1975 in Nagpur, India. Since then, ten such Conferences have been held in different parts of the world.
Details of the previous ten Conferences held so far are as follows: First World Hindi Conference Nagpur, India 10-12 January, 1975; second World Hindi Conference Port Louis, Mauritius 28-30 August, 1976; third World Hindi Conference New Delhi, India 28-30 October, 1983; fourth World Hindi Conference Port Louis, Mauritius 02-04 December, 1993; fifth World Hindi Conference Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago 04-08 April, 1996; sixth World Hindi Conference London, UK 14-18 September,1999; seventh World Hindi Conference Paramaribo, Suriname 06-09 June, 2003; eighth World Hindi Conference New York, America 13-15 July, 2007; ninth World Hindi Conference Johannesburg, South Africa 22-24 September, 2012; and, tenth World Hindi Conference Bhopal, India 10-12 September, 2015.
Ministry of External Affairs is the nodal Ministry for the 11th World Hindi Conference. For a smooth and orderly organisation of the conference, various committees have been constituted.
The main theme of the Conference is "Hindi Vishwa Aur Bharatiya Sanskriti".
A number of exhibitions focusing on the developments of Hindi language will be organised at the conference venue. During the conference, evening cultural programmes and a Kavi Sammelan will be organised by the Indian Council of Cultural Relations, New Delhi.
A daily news letter (Sammelan Samachar), a Sammelan Smarika and a Conference Report on discussions/deliberations held during the academic sessions and their recommendations would also be published.
World Hindi Secretariat will play an important role on preparation and publication of conference material. The Indian Council of Cultural Relations would bring out a special issue of "Gagananchal” dedicated to the Conference.
In keeping with the past practice, Hindi scholars from India and other countries would be honoured with ‘’Vishwa Hindi Samman’’ for their distinguished services in the field of Hindi.
To select a suitable logo for the 11th World Hindi Conference, a logo design competition was organised by the Ministry of External Affairs, which carried a prize money of Rs 60,000. With the help of a Logo Selection Committee, a suitable logo for the conference was selected.
An official website has been developed for the conference, which can be visited atvishwahindisammelan for all relevant information.
The website and the "Logo” of the 11th World Hindi Conference was jointly launched by MEA Minister Sushma Swaraj and Mrs Leela Devi Dookun-Luchoomun, Minister of Education and Human Resources, Tertiary Education and Scientific Research, Republic of Mauritius, on 10th April, 2018 at Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan, Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi.
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