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It's all for the joy of reading...

FOR THE LOVE OF BOOKS: A Press conference announcing the beginning of the 12th Delhi Book Fair 2006 in New Delhi on Thursday.

It is one fair that is keenly awaited by all book lovers every year. The 12th edition of the Delhi Book Fair that begins at Pragati Maidan this weekend assumes added significance this year as India has been accorded the coveted "guest country'' status at Frankfurt Book Fair 2006 and "guest of honour'' at Salan Du Fiare in Paris in March 2007.

A wide assortment of books in English, Hindi as well as in regional languages like Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Gujarati and Marathi will be up for grabs at the fair.

Spread over a sprawling 15,800 square metre area of the exhibition ground, the fair -- organised jointly by the Federation of Indian Publishers (FIP) and the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) with financial assistance from the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development -- will see the participation of over 300 publishers.

"Today we have a growing set of readers who want to read and learn more. The bookcap market that seemed to be dying down a few years ago has been revived by us and will grow rapidly over the next ten years. As in previous years, the upcoming fair is expected to register a footfall of around 10 lakhs. We will also see the participation of renowned Indian and international publishers and distributors, book sellers, critics, researchers and academicians," said FIP president Shakti Malik on Thursday. According to Mr. Malik, all the exhibitors will give a 10 per cent discount on every book. A special attraction of the fair will be the participation of giant online books marketplace like A1 Books.com and Google.com from the United States. Besides the participation of publishers and distributors from the US, China and Iran, a 20-member Pakistani delegation has booked three stalls at the fair. Several buyers from Britain, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mauritius and Uganda are expected to visit the fair that ends on September 24. — Madhur Tankha

— Madhur Tankha

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