The 8th World Hindi Conference (WHC) was held from 13-15 July 2007 in New York (USA).  The theme of the Conference was 'Vishwa Manch Par Hindi'. 

Organisers of the Conference

The conference was organized by Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India.  Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, New York was the associate organization who assisted in making arrangements for the conference in New York.

Participation

Over 850 delegates attended the 3-day conference including delegates from USA and a number of other countries.  An official delegation comprising senior Hindi scholars, writers, journalists, etc. also attended the conference.  Minister of State for External Affairs, Shri Anand Sharma was the leader of the official delegation. (List of official delegation is enclosed).

 Broadly the break up of the number of participants who attended the conference is as follows:

Official delegation         - 116

Scholars honoured         - 29 (40 scholars were to be honoured, of whom 11 scholars could not attend)       

Participants from India  - 400 approx.

Participants from USA and other countries- 325 approx.

Total number of participants- 866

Dr. Karan Singh was the special envoy of the Prime Minister to the Conference.

Venue

Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), New York was the venue of the conference where two halls were hired for parallel academic sessions and another hall was taken for putting up exhibitions. 

Inauguration

The inaugural session and the first academic session on 'Hindi in the UN' were held on 13th July 2007 at UN Headquarter.  Secretary General of the UN Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, Minister of Education and Human Resource, Mr. D. Gokhool from Mauritius and Minister of Commerce, Trade and Supplies, Mr. Rajendra Mahato from Nepal were among the distinguished invitees at the Inaugural Session.  MOS(AS) addressed the gathering.  A video recording of the message from Hon'ble Prime Minister was played on the occasion.  Over 800 delegates including dignitaries, Permanent Representatives from some other member nations of the UN attended the Inaugural Ceremony.

Academic Sessions

9 academic sessions on different aspects of Hindi language and literature were held.  The first academic session on Hindi in the UN was chaired by Dr. Girija Vyas.  Details of the academic sessions indicating the names of the chairpersons, keynote speakers, main-speakers, moderator, panel of speakers and reporters of each academic session is enclosed.

Exhibitions

Three exhibitions were held.  These included a book exhibition (Coordinated by NBT and Kendriya Hindi Sansthan), an exhibition on Hindi and IT which showcased latest Hindi softwares and other products (Coordinated by Sh. Balendu Sharma Dadhich), and an exhibition on ancient manuscripts and development of Hindi by National Archives, Deptt. of Culture. The exhibition was inaugurated by MOS (AS) on 13th July 2007.

Book Release

More than 20 Hindi books and magazines published abroad were released by MOS(AS) on 13th July 2007 and a similar number of books and magazines published in India were released by Dr. Girija Vyas on 14th July 2007.

Hindi Scholars honoured at the Conference

40 Hindi scholars were honoured at the conference for their distinguished service in the field of Hindi.  These included 20 foreign Hindi scholars and 20 scholars from India.  However, only 29 scholars could make it to the conference to receive the honour in person.

Closing ceremony

The closing ceremony was held on 15th July 2007.  Foreign and Indian Hindi scholars were honoured during this ceremony.  Dr. Karan Singh, Dr. Madhukar Rao Chowdhury, Minister of Education and Human Resource from Mauritius, Minister of Commerce, Trade and Supplies from Nepal presented a memento, a shawl and a citation each to the scholars.  Dr.  Madhukar Rao Chowdhury, Chairman, Rashtra Bhasha Prachar Samiti, Wardha and Smt. Vinod Bala Arun, Secretary General, World Hindi Secretariat spoke on the occasion.    A brief conference report was presented by Dr. P. Jayaraman of Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan, New York.  The Conference Declaration was drafted by a sub-committee under the chairmanship of MOS(AS). 

The declaration was presented at the closing ceremony by Smt. Mrinal Pandey, Chief Editor, Hindustan and Member of the Steering Committee of World Hindi Conference.   Dr. Karan Singh delivered the valedictory address.

Other highlights

Mauritius offered to host the 9th WHC. Nepal also expressed interest in hosting a World Hindi Conference in future.  Shri Mohan Kant Gautam from Netherlands repeated his offer to organize the next World Hindi Conference in Holland.  At the 7th World Hindi Conference held in Suriname in 2003 he had proposed Holland as the venue of the 8th WHC. However, Mauritius expressed their keen interest in hosting the next conference.

An all India Hindi Essay Competition was held for the youth of the country on in the run-up to the conference.  Two winners – one Hindi speaking and one non-Hindi speaking – sponsored by GOI attended the 3-day conference in New York.