A Chinese professor is among over 30 international and Indian scholars honoured by President Pranab Mukherjee for their effort in promoting Hindi language.
- The President presented the ‘Hindi Sevi Samman awards‘ for the years 2012, 2013 and 2014 at a function at Rashtrapati Bhavan in presence of Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani and other dignitaries.
- Those honoured included Ge Fuping, who was given George Grierson prize for his remarkable works done for the propagation of Hindi in foreign.
- Ge has made commendable efforts for the promotion of Hindi language abroad.
- Besides him, Alka Dunputh (from Mauritius) and Shichiro Soma (from Japan) were also given the George Grierson award by the President.
- These awards were instituted by Central Hindi Institute, Agra in 1989. 14 scholars receive this award in seven different categories every year for their contribution in the field of Hindi language and literature.
Sir George Abraham Grierson was an Irish linguistic scholar and civil servant who conducted the Linguistic Survey of India (1898–1928), obtaining information on 364 languages and dialects.
Did You Know?
- Hindi got its name from the Persian word Hind, meaning ‘land of the Indus River’. Persian speaking Turks who invaded Punjab and Gangetic plains in the early 11th century named the language of the regionHindi, ‘language of the land of the Indus River’.
- Prem Sagar (meaning Ocean of Love) by Lallu Lal, published in 1805, is considered to be the first book to be published in Khari Boli, the dialect of Hindi which is the basis for the standard Hindi used today.
- Hindi, along with English, is the official language of government of India. The Constitution of India provides for the use of Hindi written in the Devanagari script and as the official language of the Union.
