18TH World Book Fair Focus On Gandhi

New Delhi, Jan 28 (UNI) Hundreds of titles on Mahatma Gandhi will be a point of focus at the 18th New Delhi World Book Fair opening on February 2, organisers said today.

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 nine-day event to be opened by Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh will be attended by more than 1200 publishers from 23 countries, NBT and other officials said.

The Fair will have books display spread over eleven acres, a highlight being an International Rights Exhibition on the works on and by Mahatma Gandhi.

It will be a platform for Indian and global players to talk shop-- trade copyrights, translations, co-publication arrangements, cultural exchanges, presentations and promotions.

Among special efforts this year is an annotated rights catalogue listing nearly 700 Gandhi-related titles and copyright status and contact details for rights and licenses.

Asked if the list included books evaluating independent India's choices of direction from Gandhian perspective, Trust Chairman Bipin Chandra said there were a number of such titles.

The Fair will also have streetcorner plays and other attractions for kids and youth.

The Guest of Honour, Russia, is expected to be represented by some 80 Russian publishers.

In keeping with the motto of promoting the written word, the Trust will produce daily bulletins on the Fair activities.

On the cards is a global meet on Professional Publishing in Asia to be orgnised by the Frankfurt Book Fair in collaboration with the Trust.

UNI MJ SK RN2145