Date:10/02/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/02/10/stories/2008021055020400.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Esperanto Congress from Tuesday

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: Nearly 200 Esperanto-speaking delegates will congregate in Bangalore from February 12 to 15 on the occasion of the fifth Asian Congress of Esperanto – the universal link language. The four-day convention is being held at NIMHANS Convention Hall here.

On behalf of the organisers of the Asian Congress of Esperanto, Mayasandra Suresh told presspersons here on Friday that the Esperanto language, created by Ludwig Lazarus Zamenhof, an ophthalmologist of Poland, has a history of 100 years.

The language has spread to over 110 countries, and over 30 million people know the language.

The language enjoys the consultative status with Unesco.

The inauguration ceremony will be attended by Prabol Das Gupta, an Indian linguist who has been elected as president of the World Esperanto Organisation.An exhibition depicting the origin and development of the language will also be held.

The Indian Postal Department is releasing a special postal cover at the Bangalore General Post Office to mark this conference.