On December 1, 2019 the Minister of State(MoS) for Human Resource and Development(HRD) Shri Sanjay Dhotre inaugurated the India Pavilion at the 33rd International Book Fair 2019 in Guadalajara, Mexico. India is the “guest of honour” for the 2019 book fair and is also the first Asia country to have received this honour. In Mexico, this book fair called “Feria Internacional del Libro de Guadalajara” in Spanish is the biggest book fair in the Spanish-speaking world and will be held till December 8, 2019.
Theme of India Pavilion at the fair: Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy “Let Our Lives Be Open Books” was the theme of the India pavilion in the fair.
Key Points:
i.Indian Nodal agency: The National Book Trust (NBT), which is an autonomous body under MHRD participated as the nodal agency of India in the book fair.
ii.This book fair was seen as a platform for an accelerated literary, academic and cultural exchange between the two countries.
iii.In his key address, Shri Sanjay Dhotre, discussed about India and Mexico relation, where the legendary Mexican poet Nobel Laureate Octavio Paz’s first visit to India in 1952 was discussed. Paz wrote poems on Vrindavan, Shiva-Parvati, and on Amir Khusro highlighting the Indian culture.
iv.The world book fair for the year 2020 will be held in New Delhi in January.
About National Book Trust(NBT):
Founded- 1 August 1957.
Headquarters- New Delhi.
Director- Neera Jain.
Chairman- Govind Prasad Sharma.
Parent organisation- Ministry of Human Resource Development(MHRD).
About Mexico:
Capital- Mexico City.
Currency- Mexican peso.
President- Andrés Manuel López Obrador
