Karan Singh to attend 8th WHC as PM's special envoy

New Delhi, July 11 (UNI) President of Indian Concil of Cultural Relations (ICCR) Karan Singh will attend the three-day 8th World Hindi Conference (WHC) beginning July 13 at New York as Special Envoy of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

According to a release issued here today, during his visit Dr Singh will deliver the valedictory address and present awards to eminent Hindi scholars from India and abroad.

Dr Singh had earlier led the Indian delegation to the Second World Hindi conference in Mauritius in 1976.

The central theme of the conference is ''Hindi at the world stage''.

Hindi is on its way to become an international language and like Chinese, is among the most spoken languages in the world.

The conference would deliberate upon issues relating to the growth and presence of the language in the globe, including teaching of Hindi in foreign countries, use of Information Technology and necessary measures to increase its popularity.

The conference is being organised by the Indian governemnt with active cooperation from the Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan and other US-based Hindi organisations.

The inaugural ceremony of the conference will take place at the UN headquarters followed by an acedemic session on ''Hindi in the UN'', the release added.

UNI