The first day of the ongoing New Delhi World Book Fair 2021-Virtual Edition saw a unique and novel experience being afforded to visitors and book lovers. With more than 160+ publishers and exhibitors participating from India and 15+ foreign countries, the first ever book fair in a virtual mode was visited by up to 2000 unique visitors every hour.
The day began with the event ‘Joy of Reading: Focusing on Urdu Poetry of Freedom Movement & Literary Humour and Satire’ with Shri Abhinav Chaturvedi, Shri Sayeed Alam and Smt. Kousar Ismail as panelists. The program was moderated by Shri Danish Iqbal.
‘Bilingual Books for Children: Dynamics of Teaching Languages at Primary Stage — Indian and Global Perspectives’ the second event for the day truly embraced the theme of NDWBF 2021-Virtual Edition, the National Education Policy 2020. The program was chaired by Prof Govind Prasad SharmaChairman, NBT. Shri Yuvraj Malik, Smt. Neera Jain, Ms. Fatima Abbas and Mr Lawrence Schimel were part of the esteemed panel.
A Poetry Recitation, Song and Couplets session was held with panelists Ms Laxmi Shankar Baipai, Ms Mamta Kiran, Shri Mahendra Sharma and Shri Deepak Sarin.
The most awaited event at NDWBF for the stakeholders of the publishing industry, the CEOSpeak: a Publisher’s Forum organised by NBT and FICCI was also organized virtually, on the topic “Challenges and Opportunities for Publishers in the light of New Education Policy.” Prof. Govind Prasad Sharma in his keynote address said that books are necessary for education, communication and exchange of thoughts and ideas. That is why, in any situation, discourse and discussion on publication and distribution of books is an important activity. Shri Yuvraj Malik Director, NBT in his special address said that the USP of the event is that it is a classic example of collaboration and cooperation. He further added that publication is the backbone of the education system. All the people who are in the profession of publishing and content writing are the important stakeholders of this policy and they are actually the institutes of nation building.
Later in the day, Mr Yuvraj Malik, Director NBT also interacted with Shri Eric Falt, South Asia Head of UNESCO and talked about the New Education Policy and status of Education in South Asia. Shri Malik spoke about the NEP2020 and said that this contemporary policy will provide a roadmap for the next generations to come. Mr. Falt shared his opinions on the policy and called it a progressive, science and evidence based policy which is truly holistic. It is transformative and integrates the 21st century skills provision into the curriculum. The session was moderated by Shri Kumar Vikram Senior Editor, NBT.
The Himachal Academy of Arts Culture & Languages, Shimla also hosted an event on Contemporary Literature. The day ended with a session on ‘Understanding Science with Lessons from Nature’ wherein Dr. Gita Mathur, well-known science communicator & Retd. Associate Professor, talked in detail about simple phenomenon around us, and how there is science in every small thing, and how science can be made an interesting subject for students. She was in conversation with Ms Kanchan Wanchoo Sharma Editor, National Centre for Children’s Literature, NBT.
The NDWBF 2021-Virtual Edition is being organised by National Book Trust India from 06 to 09 March 2021 on an online mode. It can be visited at www.nbtindia.gov.in/ndwbf21
