Book lovers throng at Delhi Book Fair

One of the most important book fairs for Delhi/NCR is the Delhi Book Fair, which is a hub for book lovers. Book launches, events, seminars and a display of books from over 215 exhibitors were enough reasons for book lovers to visit the show. The 21st edition of the Delhi Book Fair was successfully held at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi from August 29 to September 6, 2015. Organised by India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) and Federation of Indian Publishers (FIP), it was concurrently held with the 17th Stationery & Office Automation Fair and Corporate Gifts Fair.

The inauguration…

The fair was inaugurated by Dr Jitendra Kumar, hon’ble minister of state for north eastern region, minister of state for prime minister office personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space.

Theme of the fair…

Featuring the ‘Skill India’ campaign, launched by the hon’ble prime minister of India, Narendra Modi, the Delhi Book Fair focused on the books and publications on the theme of fair, ‘Skill Development’. A section of the theme was devoted to former president Dr APJ Kalam’s books.

Display profile…

Over 215 participants took part in this exhibition. The display profile covered books of all kinds including text books for schools and colleges, electronics, children’s literature, fiction and non-fiction books, all types of office, computer stationery, digital writing instruments, labels, printers, labelling machines, money checkers, material for seminars, conferences, office automation and corporate gifts, etc.

Events at the show…

Besides, a number of related conferences and seminars, book discussions, meet-theauthor and other literary activities for children were also organised during the fair. These included : Literary programme by Bhartiya Jnanpith; Workshop on Library Science by Rangnathan Research Centre Circle; the Laws of Invisible Leadership by IRH Press; Author Talk – Marcus du Sautoy by LIS British Council; How to Crack Aptitude/GD&PI and Learning 360: Bridging the Gap between the Tutor and Students by Disha Publications; Health Awareness through Acupressure by International Institute of Alternative Sciences and Nukkad Natak on Child Abuse/ Drugs and Narcotics. Amity University hosted a story-telling session for primary and middle school children. It was attended by over ten schools of Delhi NCR. Around 200 students accompanied by their teachers were present at the event.

New books released…

Many new books were also released during the show, some of which included LiFi Publication’s new titles from budding authors. Diamond Pocket Books hosted a book release function K Pankaj’s new book Samarth Bharat, which was attended by Ranjan Mukherjee, additional director and general of Doordarshan. Times Group Books launched three books RK Laxman- An Uncommon Man; Revenue Stamp- An Autobiography of Amrita Pritam; and Ajay Chaturvedi- Lost Wisdom of the Swastika. These were just a few of the books released at the show, there were many.

Drawing competition…

FIP organised a drawing competition for two age groups- Group I (Age 5-10) and Group II (Age 11-16). The winners of the competition received books, medals, cups and other goodies from FIP. Navya Sahani from Hans Raj Public School stood first from Group I and Abhishek Kumar from Uttarakhand Public School topped Group II. The chief guest Dr Ashok Gupta, president of FIP and director of the Delhi Book Fair awarded the children for their talent and participation and said, “Children are more creative and talented with every passing year. We organise this competition annually and are astonished to see that the result keeps getting better each time.”

Next edition…

ITPO announced that the next editions of Delhi Book Fair, 18th Stationery, Office Automation Fair and Corporate Gift Fair will be held from August 27 to September 04, 2016.

Awards for excellence in book production The Federation of Indian Publishers awarded publishers for excellence in book production.

The Federation of Indian Publishers hosted an award ceremony to honour the publishers of the Delhi Book Fair for their excellence and hard work in the book production sector. Baldeo Bhai Sharma, chairman of The National Book Trust (NBT) was the chief guest at the event.

The award ceremony consisted of nine categories, namely hardbound books, black & white and multicoloured paperbacks, academic books, art books and books on science and technology.

The sections for these awards were divided into Hindi, English and regional languages like Telugu, Punjabi, Malayalam, Gujarati, Bengali, etc.

Few of the winners of these awards included Om International Books, Harper Collins Publishers India Ltd, Rupa Publications India Pvt Ltd, Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, Macmillan Publishers, Bloomsbury Publishing, Puffin Books, LiFi Publications, Niyogi Books, Star Publications, Dreamland Publications, Sterling Publishers, Vishv Books, Kitabghar Prakashan, Three Leaves Books International and Sahitya Akademi.

Publishers from all around India came forth to attend this ceremony. The awards were jointly presented by Ashok Gupta, president, Federation of Indian Publishers (FIP) and Jayanta Das, general manager, ITPO to the winners for excellence in display in different categories.