NBT completes 50 years

New Delhi, Aug 1 (UNI) The National Book Trust, the pioneering institution of publication and promotion of books in the country, completed 50 years of its existence today.

''Our Golden Jubilee Year has started from August one, 2006, with the launching of a special logo,'' NBT Director Nuzhat Hassan said in a statement.

The NBT, an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Human Resource Development, was founded by late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in August 1957.

It was asked to disseminate knowledge and foster book culture, to make books available at affordable price to readers at large, especially children, and to highlight the country's intrinsic unity and the multilingual and pluralistic society.

''The NBT has come a long way in its multifaceted activities.

This year India has been chosen as the guest country at the Frankfurt Book Fair to be held in October for which the NBT is working as the nodal agency'' Hassan said.

A special logo had been prepared and various events -- including book fairs, seminars, exhibitions besides readings by Indian authors at the Frankfurt Book Fair -- are planned for the Jubilee year, she informed.

The NBT would also bring out anthologies of post-Independence poetry and short story in all major languages, including tribal and sub-languages, as well as an illustrated history of the NBT since its inception this year, she added.

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