September 30: International Translation Day

September 30, 2020

Every year the International Translation Day is celebrated by the United Nations on September 30. The day is celebrated to pay tribute to the works of language professionals who have played an important role in bringing nations together, understand and cooperate, contribute to the development and strengthening of world peace and security.

Why September 30?

September 30 has been selected to celebrate the day as the day celebrates the feast of St Jerome. St Jerome was a priest from Italy who translated Bible from Greek to Latin manuscripts. He also translated the Hebrew Gospel into Greek. His mother tongue was Illyrian dialect. He learned Latin in school and was fluent in Hebrew and Greek.

International Translation Day

The UN passed a resolution in 2017 to celebrate September 30 as the International Translation Day. 2019 was celebrated as International Year of Indigenous Languages.

Languages in India

Hindi and English are the official languages in India.
There is no national language in India.
The Eighth Schedule of the constitution lists the official languages of India. Currently, it consists of 22 languages
Six languages in India enjoy the status of Classical Language in India. They are Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Sanskrit, Odia and Malayalam.
Article 351 says that it is the duty of the Union Government to promote the spread of Hindi Language in te country
Article 29 of the constitution says that every citizen has a right to conserve his language, script and culture
A special officer for linguistic minority shall be appointed to safeguard the interests of language spoken by minority groups according to Article 350B
When a language is included in Eighth Schedule, it will enjoy the following advantages
- MP and MLA could speak in the language in State Assemblies and Parliament
- Recognition from Sahitya Akademi.
- Special funds from Central Government
- Use the language to teach at primary school levels.