A veritable feast awaits bibliophiles at the 15th edition of “Delhi Book Fair” that opens at Pragati Maidan here this coming Saturday.
To be inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Corporate Affairs and Minority Affairs Salman Khurshid in Hall No. 8 of the exhibition ground, the nine-day fair has attracted over 230 participants from India and abroad including the United States, China, Pakistan, Iran and Abu Dhabi. The theme this year is “Literature from the North-East” and books from the Seven Sisters would be displayed.
Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, India Trade Promotion Organisation Chairman and Managing Director Dr. Subas Pani said the fair will not only promote literacy and the book reading habit among children but also offer a vast scope for business transaction, co-publishing agreements, translation copyrights and reprinting arrangements.
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“We at ITPO are not involved in the business of publishing books but we are lending support to the Federation of Indian Publishers in organising the fair. As in previous fairs, the display profile will cover fiction, non-fiction, academic books besides children’s literature, classics and other categories of publications of participants from India and overseas.”
A panel discussion against the ban of the book “Jinnah: India-Partition Independence” will be held at Hall No.8 of the exhibition ground. “Expelled BJP leader Jaswant Singh will also be present to answer queries regarding the book. Without going into the content of this book, we feel that in a democratic set-up everybody has a right to express his or her views on any historical personality. We express concern over the ban imposed by the Gujarat Government and consider the action as an encroachment on the Fundamental Right,” said Federation of Indian Publishers president R. C. Govil.