Ottawa: Indo-Canadians celebrated World Hindi Day and praised role played by Bollywood, the Mumbai-based film industry, in promoting, popularising and projecting the language globally.

The Indo-Canadians said that Bollywood was playing a vital role in the growth of Hindi among the people of Indian origin, particularly among the younger generation and in maintaining and strengthening Indian heritage.

In his opening speech yesterday, R L Narayan, the High Commissioner for India in Canada said that India was committed that Hindi should be made an official language of the United Nations and get its due place in the international community.

Narayan read out the message of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the World Hindi Diwas and said that these days over one and a half billion people across the world speak in Hindi.

He said the Indian government takes measures to popularise the language which is among the three most widely spoken languages of the world.
Narayan said that the government has taken a number of steps for development of Hindi as a medium of expression and its use in the areas of science and technology, communications and IT.

Source : PTI