The Consulate General of India in association with Hindi SangamFoundation organized the Third Hindi Conference 2016 in New India House during April 29 - May 01, 2016 with a theme Hindi Language: A Democratic Voice of Complex Issues in Education, Literature, Arts and Media.Several language experts, scholars, poets from U.S, Europe and India participated in the conference.

The event was inaugurated by Consul General Ambassador Riva Ganguly Das on Friday, April 29, 2016. Speaking on the occasion Ambassador Das emphasized the need of continuing efforts for promoting Hindi. She applauded the efforts undertaken by Ministry of External Affairs to promote Hindi by creating an independent Hindi section which aims at training diplomats in the use of Hindi. She complimented Hindi Sangam Foundation and the coordinator of the conference for their hard work and assured them the Consulate's cooperationin promoting of Hindi Language.

Dr. Heinz W. Wessler, Institute for Linguistics and Philosophy, Uppsala, Sweden delivered the keynote address. Dr. Wessler emphasized the need of making Hindi compatible with the online communication system. He presented a number of websites where Hindi content from the language and culture can be easily downloaded and viewed. A poetry and essay competition was also part of the conference for students of Middle and High schools. Consul L. T. Ngaihte presented awards to the winners of the competition. The second day of the Conference ended with a KaviSammelan in which poets from the US, Europe and India participated.

A number of proposals - setting up of a Hindi Center in the US, holding the Conference annually, making resources for learning/teaching Hindi available online, collaborating with the Resource Centers in India were discussed. The experts and participants wholeheartedly supported these proposals.

In the Closing Session of the Conference on the afternoon of May 01 2016, Padma Bhushan Dr. LP Yarlagadda spoke on the Role of Hindi professionals from non-Hindi speaking regions. In his closing address, Deputy Consul General Dr. Manoj Kumar Mohapatra congratulates the Hindi Sangam Foundation on the successful conclusion of the Conference and expressed the hope that similar Conference would be organized regularly in future. He presented Plaques and Certificates of Recognition to all the experts who had made presentations during the Conference. The Conference concluded with a short Hindi play performed by Mandi Theater Group, Chicago and Vote of Thanks from the Chief Coordinator of the Conference, Mr Ashok Ojha of Hindi Sangam Foundation.

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