Culture minister visits Delhi Book Fair, launches book

Pic Courtesy: PTI

New Delhi: The ongoing 23rd Delhi Book Fair at Pragati Maidan, turned host for a number of events on Friday, including Culture and Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma visiting it fair to unveil a book titled "Ru NUTS" by author Shubha Singh.

The event was further followed by an award ceremony for the best two books for the year 2016-17 was given away. "Indica - A Deep Natural History of the Indian Subcontinent" published by Penguin Random House India bagged the first prize while the second prize went to Om Book International`s "Asha Parekh - The Hit Girl: An Autobiography". "Captain Amarinder Singh - The People`s Maharaja" from Hay House Publishers was honoured with a certificate.

On the 7th day, the fair also saw the bibliophiles of the national capital turning up for the event despite sudden showers. Sanjeev Sharma, a Hindi professor from Rohini, said that rain cannot diminish his love for books and hence he came over to the book fair. 

"I have a fascination for classic Hindi books like those written by Munshi Prem Chand, Maithili Sharan Gupta and others. And these books can be found mostly in fairs and not shops," he said.

Kaushik Gupta, a lawyer at Calcuta High Court who got various fancy stationaries and the Harry Potter series for his daughter, said: "Book fairs help to inculcate reading habits among youths. It is also responsibility of parents to bring their children to book fairs."

The Delhi Book Fair will conclude on September 3.