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The First World Konkani Convention was held in Mangalore, Karnataka, India, from 16 to 22 December 1995.
Konkani is an Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-European family of languages and is spoken by Konkani people along the western coast of India. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages mentioned in the 8th schedule of the Indian Constitution and the official language of the Indian state of Goa. The first Konkani inscription is dated 1187 A.D. It is a minority language in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Kerala, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Daman and Diu.
Mangalore, officially known as Mangaluru, is the chief port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located about 352 km (219 mi) west of the state capital, Bangalore, between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats mountain range. It is the second major city in Karnataka state in all aspects after the capital city Bangalore. It is the only city in Karnataka to have all modes of transport — Air, Road, Rail and Sea along with 5 other major cities in India. It is also known as the Gateway of Karnataka. It is the largest city in the Tulu Nadu region of Karnataka. Mangalore is the second best business destination in Karnataka after Bangalore & 13th best in India. The population of the urban agglomeration was 623,841, according to the provisional results of the 2011 national census of India.
Karnataka is a state in the south western region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as the State of Mysore, it was renamed Karnataka in 1973. The state corresponds to the Carnatic region. The capital and largest city is Bangalore (Bengaluru).
From 16 to 22 December 1995, the First World Konkani Convention was held in Mangalore under the auspices of Konkani Bhasha Mandal Karnatak, Konkani Activist and organiser Basti Vaman Shenoy was its chief convener. Margaret Alva, the then Central Minister was the Hon. Chairman, and K.K.Pai was the Chairman of the Organising Committee. 5000 Delegates from all over the world attended this Convention. The Convention bought together Konkani Speaking People from all regions, Religion, dialect and sub communities. The then Chief Minister of Karnataka H.D. Deve Gowda inaugurated the Convention. The seven days convention consisting of seminars, debates, cultural presentations, exhibition and food festival was a grand success. Basti Vaman Shenoy presented before the gathering of world representatives of Konkani People his dream to establish a permanent entity for the preservation and promotion of Konkani language, art and culture. The convention unanimously gave a mandate to establish World Konkani Centre in Mangalore wide a resolution in the valedictory function of the Convention.
Basti Vaman Madhav Shenoy is a noted Konkani activist popularly known as Vishwa Konkani Sardar and is the founder of World Konkani Centre in Shakthinagar, Mangalore.
Margaret Alva is an Indian politician who was the governor of the Indian state of Rajasthan until the end of her tenure in August 2014; she had previously been governor of Uttarakhand. She took over in Rajasthan from the Punjab governor, Shivraj Patil, who had been holding an additional charge of that state. Before being appointed governor, she was a senior figure in the Indian National Congress and was Joint Secretary of the All India Congress Committee.
