International Mother Language Award: Dr. Mahendra Kumar Mishra, an Indian educator and social worker for the growth of indigenous languages in Odisha, was presented with the International Mother Language Prize in Dhaka, Bangladesh, by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Dr. Mishra has spent three decades working on the language, culture, and education of Odisha’s marginalised languages. Inaugurating a 4 day programme of the International Mother Language Institute and conferring the award, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina emphasised the importance of’research to maintain, revive, and develop the world’s mother languages, as many are being lost.
February 2023 Current Affairs Quiz
In Dhaka, four recipients received the two national prizes and the two international awards from Prime Minister Hasina. Habibur Rahman and Ranjit Singha of Bangladesh got national honours, while Mahendra Kumar Mishra and Mother Language Lovers of Global Society, Vancouver received honourable mentions. The prize was established by UNESCO in 2021 and is granted to those who have made exceptional contributions to the development, rehabilitation, and preservation of mother tongues.
History of the Day:
The United Nations recognised February 21st to be International Mother Language Day in 2000. According to UNESCO, the purpose of this day is to celebrate the various ways of expressing the world, to pledge to the preservation of language diversity as a common heritage, and to work for quality education in mother tongues for everyone. Bangladesh proposed and received approval for International Mother Language Day at the 1999 UNESCO General Conference.