India Languages

Sanskrit is a timeless source of knowledge: PM Modi on World Sanskrit Day

Every year, Sanskrit Day is celebrated on the full moon day of the Shravan month, which also marks Raksha Bandhan

Decision on 3-language formula only after talks with stakeholders: Fadnavis

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said a final decision on the three-language formula will be taken only after consultations with all stakeholders, including litterateurs, language experts and political leaders. Fadnavis chaired a meeting at his official residence in south Mumbai late Monday night to deliberate on the issue. Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, School Education Minister Dada Bhuse, Minister of State Dr Pankaj Bhoyar and senior officials from the education department were present. The state government last week issued an amended order, stating Hindi will generally be taught as the third language to students in Marathi and English medium schools from Classes 1 to 5. The government had maintained that Hindi would not be compulsory, but mandated consent of at least 20 students per grade in a school for studying any Indian language other than Hindi. During the meeting chaired by CM Fadnavis on Monday, detailed discussions were held on the implications of

Shah's remarks about English show restrictive political view: Kerala mins

Kerala Ministers R Bindu and V Sivankutty on Friday criticised Union Minister Amit Shah's recent reported remarks against the English language, claiming that they indicate a "restrictive and narrow-minded" political view and are "condemnable". Bindu, the State Higher Education Minister, said that English is the most widely used language across the world to communicate with each other and also on the internet. "The view that children should not learn English or that it will be embarrassing would only lead to their world becoming more restrictive. "Moreover, India is not an isolated island in the world. So, learning English is becoming a necessity," she said, answering reporters' queries regarding Shah's remarks. Union Home Minister Shah had reportedly said that soon those speaking English in India would feel ashamed. Speaking along similar lines as Bindu, State General Education Minister V Sivankutty termed Shah's remarks as "condemnable" and said that "no language was higher or lo

India cannot afford to be divided over languages, says VP Dhankhar

India, an aspirational nation in the world, cannot afford to be divided on the issue of languages, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar said on Tuesday and appealed to to the people to consider the future well-being of the country and "get over this storm." Also, he made a strong pitch for implementing the National Education Policy 2020 in letter and spirit, as it was a "game changer" in the education sector that could spur further development of the country. Speaking at the Pondicherry University here, Dhankhar who is the chancellor of the varsity, without naming anyone, lamented that there was opposition to languages. "India is the most aspirational nation in the world as a result of phenomenal development in the last decade," the Vice President said and asked "how can we be divided on languages?" No country in the world was so rich as India when it came to languages. Sanskrit has global importance and this language along with Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Odia, Marathi, Pali, ...

'Thank you for your support': Kamal Haasan to TN people amid language row

Kamal Haasan's statement comes amid a controversy stirred by his remark that Kannada was born out of Tamil language

FIR filed against IAF wing commander: What is the Bengaluru road rage case

IAF Wing Commander Shiladitya Bose claimed that a bike rider assaulted him, saying, 'This is Kannada land'

'Bengaluru closed for North India' post fuels Kannada language debate

A social media post stating that "Bengaluru is closed for North India" has gone viral, generating debate about the Kannada language row online. In a post on 'X', a social media user stated: "Bengaluru is closed for North India and neighbouring states who don't want to learn Kannada. They don't need Bengaluru if they can't respect the language and culture." The recent post by Babruvahana (@Paarmatma) has garnered significant attention, with over 115,000 views, 198 reposts, and 1,839 likes. (at the time this was written) Reacting to the post, a social media user who claimed to be a "migrant to Bengaluru" said the post might sound a bit harsh. "But whenever I see people in Bengaluru completely disregard Kannada as some sort of tribal language and even look down on those who speak Kannada as illiterates, even in corporate offices, I feel very pained. Kannada is a phenomenally rich language that has received the most literary awards, including Sahitya Akademi and Jnanpith awards (sic),"

India's internet users to exceed 900 mn in 2025, driven by Indic languages

The internet user base in India is set to cross 900 million this year, propelled by the growing use of Indic languages for digital content, according to a report by IAMAI and KANTAR. The 'Internet in India Report 2024,' reveals that the number of active internet users in India reached 886 million in 2024, a robust 8 per cent year-on-year growth. "The internet user base in India is set to surpass 900 million by 2025, driven by the growing use of Indic languages for digital content," according to the report. Rural India, with 488 million users, leads this growth and now accounts for 55 per cent of the total internet population. The report underpins the increasing role of Indic languages in shaping internet consumption patterns. Nearly all internet users (98 per cent) accessed content in Indic languages, with Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam emerging as the most popular due to their extensive availability. Over half (about 57 per cent) of urban internet users prefer consuming content in

Vishwa Hindi Diwas 2025: Top 50 best wishes, messages, and quotes to share

The world is celebrating Vishwa Hindi Diwas today, January 10, 2025. Here are the top 50 wishes, messages and quotes to share

Bhashini-enabled e-Shram portal now available in all 22 scheduled languages

Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday launched multilingual functionality on the e-Shram portal to provide seamless access to various government schemes for unorganised workers. In line with the vision of making eShram a 'One-Stop-Solution', this portal will now be available in all 22 Scheduled Languages, a labour ministry statement said. The event to launch multilingual functionality was attended by the Secretary, Ministry of Labour & Employment and several senior officials. It also marked the achievement of another milestone in the government's efforts to provide comprehensive social protection to unorganised workers in the country. Meity's Bhashini project has been leveraged to upgrade the eShram portal with 22 languages. The previous version was available only in English, Hindi, Kannada and Marathi. In his address, Minister of Labour & Employment Mandaviya highlighted the growing trust in the e-Shram platform, saying the portal records an average of over 30,000 ...

'Can't speak Kannada?' Cars24 CEO's Delhi-pitch rekindles language debate

Vikram Chopra addressed those who had not learned Kannada despite living in Bengaluru for years, adding that it was fine and invited them to move to Delhi

Pali's recognition by PM Modi will boost Ladakh's culture: Tarun Chugh

Highlighting the universal values of peace and non-violence promoted by Lord Buddha, Chugh applauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's unwavering commitment to spreading Buddhist philosophy

'You should learn Kannada': Sridhar Vembu to non-natives in Bengaluru

Zoho's Sridhar Vembu supports the call for non-natives in Bengaluru to learn Kannada, saying it is a sign of respect for local culture and community integration

'Compelled to reply in Malayalam': Kerala MP questions Hindi responses

Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas argues that responses to MPs from southern India should be provided in English as per established conventions

Recognition of Pali as classical language honours Buddha's heritage: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted on Thursday that the recognition of Pali as a classical language honours the great heritage of Lord Buddha, as he took swipe at past Congress governments for its neglect of India's cultural legacy after Independence. Speaking at a programme on the occasion of International Abhidhamma Divas, Modi said while every nation associates its heritage with its identity, India was left far behind. Invaders tried to erase India's identity before its Independence, and those suffering from "slave mindset" did so afterwards, he said, adding that an ecosystem captured the country which took it in an direction opposite to its its heritage. He said his government's policies and programmes have been guided by the teachings of Lord Buddha, reiterating that the world plagued by instability and insecurity can find solution to its problems in his teachings. World can find solution not in "yuddh" (war) but in Buddha, and it should learn from his teachings to pave the

Mahagathbandhan demands official language status for Bhojpuri in Bihar

The demand for grant of official language status to Bhojpuri, arguably the most widely spoken dialect in Bihar, has intensified with the opposition Mahagathbandhan strongly coming out in support of it in the state. Senior leaders of the RJD, Congress and CPI(ML) Liberation, constituents of the Mahagathbandhan, said they would raise the issue in Parliament. The old demand got a fresh impetus after the Union Cabinet's recent decision to accord classical language status to five more languages - Marathi, Bengali, Pali, Prakrit and Assamese. The number of such languages now is 11, since Tamil, Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Odia got the tag earlier. CPI(ML) Liberation's Lok Sabha MP Sudama Prasad said, The language is spoken widely in districts such as Bhojpur, Rohtas, Kaimur, Buxar, Saran, East Champaran, West Champaran, Gopalganj, Siwan and Jehanabad in Bihar, and several parts of Jharkhand. Why is the Centre silent on inclusion of Bhojpuri in the Eighth Schedule of the ...

Academics hail Centre for granting classical language status to Bengali

Academics and Bengali identity advocacy groups have hailed the decision of the Centre to accord classical language status to Bengali language expressing hope that it will facilitate in greater use of the language in official communication and examinations. Eminent indologist and linguist Nrisingo Prasad Bhaduri said he hoped that after the honour, at all India level, there will be greater use of the language in competitive examinations, more use of synonyms of familiar English terms in science and economics and present day students will feel encouraged to use these Bengali synonyms in their exams. Thanking West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Bhaduri said after he and other academics drew her attention to the fact that Bengali was not accorded classical language status despite having thousands of years of history from the day of its origin and evolution. "The state government submitted voluminous documents in this regard very promptly and the recognition came in 6-7 months ...

Buddhist leaders express gratitude to PM for granting classical tag to Pali

The Pali language is sacred language for Buddhists as it is the language of the Theravada Buddhist scriptures, known as the Pali Canon, which contains the core teachings of the Buddha

K'taka CM Siddaramaiah asks people to make Kannada their business language

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday gave a clarion call to the people of Karnataka to make Kannada their 'business language'. Speaking at an event to celebrate 50 years of naming the erstwhile Mysore state as Karnataka, the CM appealed to people to make Karnataka a Kannada state. "All the people living here are Kannadigas. No matter what your home language is, the business language' should be Kannada. Kannada should be the main and first language in the state," he said. "Learn every language, but Kannada should be the official language in the state," he added. Dwelling on the Gokak agitation, which was related to granting Kannada the first language status in the state, the chief minister said the 'Kannada Kavalu Samiti' was formed to create an atmosphere for Kannada to prosper in Karnataka. Later, the committee became the Kannada Development Authority, he explained. Siddaramaiah asked people to respect all languages, learn as many languages as possible but never be generous to

Centre approves 5 new classical languages: What is a classical language?

The Union Cabinet has declared 5 Indian languages-Marathi, Assamese, Pali, Prakrit and Bengali-as classical languages, aiming to preserve their rich heritage