18th New Delhi World Book Fair 2008

A nine day long '18th New Delhi World Book Fair 2008' began in New Delhi on Saturday Feb 2. This is the second largest Book Fair in the world and attended by more than 1200 publishers from 23 countries.

The Fair sponsored by the National Book Trust is intended to help Indian authors place their works on the subject before a wider circle of Indian and international publishers, they said. The highlights of the book fair include an International Rights Exhibition on the works on and by Mahatma Gandhi. The Children's Pavilion has various activities to attract children to the book fair and, therefore, to books.

Russia is the 'Guest of Honour Country ' this year at the book fair. There is a special hall in which publishers from Russia are displaying their latest publications and organizing Drawing, Painting competitions for children. Performance by Russian national dance and music groups are some of the activities showcasing Russian arts, culture and tradition.

The Youth Pavilion has programmes on diverse subjects to attract the youth to the book fair and to bring them closer to books. National Book Trust will also organize a series of programs, workshops and lectures. In 1957, Government of India established National Book Trust to organize book fairs across the country in order to promote the habit of reading among the masses.