Mysuru emerges as knowledge and research hub: VC

Mysuru: Mysuru, the cultural capital of Karnataka, has emerged as the knowledge and research hub of the country besides attracting delegates from India and abroad because of the presence of premier educational and research institutions, opined Prof. G. Hemantha Kumar, Vice-Chancellor, University of Mysore (UoM).

He was speaking after inaugurating the three-day 40th International Conference of the Linguistic Society of India (ICOLSI-40) organised by Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL), Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and Department of Higher Education, Government of India, at CIIL this morning. The conference will conclude on Dec 7. He said that the Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL), Central Food and Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Central Sericultural Research & Training Institute (CSR&TI) including CIIL, Regional Institute of Education (RIE), University of Mysore and other State and Central-run private and public institutions have been contributing in its own way for the benefit of mankind.

Stating that the advancement in technology and communication had made the documentation, digitisation and recording easy for protection of any languages of the world nowadays, Prof. Hemantha Kumar appreciated the works of CIIL in conservation of Indian languages.

Protecting the language is equal to conserving the culture, tradition and custom of the land, he added.

Prof. Panchanan Mohanty, President of Linguistic Society of India (LSI), in his address, called upon the linguists, experts and delegates to come out with solutions to protect the Indian and indigenous languages facing extinction.

As many as 200 delegates from India and abroad will present 165 papers on various ttopics relevantto theoretical and applied linguistics as well as allied disciplines during this conference, he said.

The vernacular languages got top priority in all its administrative, implementation and protective aspects after the Union Government introduced the Three-Language Policy. The LSI has been given utmost attention for research and protection of indigenous languages as United Nations Organisation (UNO) has declared the year 2019 as International Year of Indigenous Languages, Mohanty said.

Delivering the keynote address, CIIL Director Prof. D.G. Rao said the Central Institute had released more than 50 publications in the past two years to commemorate the 50th year of the establishment of CIIL.

Stating that Kerala Government came forward to help CIIL to take up Malayalam classical research-related activity, he said CIIL has developed corpus in Bodo, Dogri, Maithili and Santhali languages on its own after the Union Government included them in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.

The translated version of the book Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule by M.K. Gandhi was released on the occasion.

Prof. K.A. Jayaseelan of English and Foreign Language (EFL), University of Hyderabad, Dr. Tariq Khan, Conference Coordinator, Prof. Shailendra Mohan, LSI Secretary and others were  present.