Annual Report 2019-2020
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ANNUAL REPORT 2019-20 2020 (Saka 1942) Published by the Director, National Book Trust, India Nehru Bhawan, 5 Institutional Area, Phase-II, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi-110070 Lasertypeset and Printed at : Royal Offset Printers, New Delhi C O N T E N T S 1. Introduction 1 2. Publishing 10 3. New Delhi World Book Fair 2020 20 4. National and Regional Book Fairs 33 5. Promotion of Indian Books Abroad 39 6. India-Guest of Honour Presentations 47 7. Literary Activities 58 8. India China Translation Programme 69 9. 62nd Foundation Day Celebrations 71 10. Activities in the North East 74 11. Activities in Jammu & Kashmir 79 12. Activities by National Centre for Children's Literature 80 13. Participation of the Trust in Various Book Fairs/Exhibitions 84 14. Sales & Marketing 89 15. Promotion and Sale of Books through Mobile Exhibition Vans 99 16. NBT FAP 100 17. Training Course in Book Publishing 102 18. Assistance for Publication of Books 105 19. Grant-in-Aid 106 20. Officers of the Trust 108 21. Members of the Board of Trustees 110 22. Members of the Finance Committee 112 23. Members of the Executive Committee 113 24. List of Titles Published 114 25. Audited Annual Accounts 197 INTRODUCTION The National Book Trust, India is an autonomous organisation established by the Government of India in the year 1957 for the promotion of books and developing the habit of reading in the country. Publishing Publishing forms a major activity of the Trust. It publishes a wide variety of quality books on affordable prices, ranging from works of fiction to books on Annual Report 2019-20 Medical Sciences and cutting edge technology for all segments of the society and for all age groups, including a wide variety of illustrated books for children. Over the years, the Trust’s determined efforts in developing a strong and inclusive policy towards publishing is also apparent in the variety of books published for the neo-literates and visually impaired. The Trust publishes books in all major Indian languages, which includes Asamiya, Bangla, Bodo, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Manipuri, Maithili, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. In addition to this, the Trust has also published books in Ao Naga, Bhojpuri, Bhili, Bhatri, Halbi, Himachali, Kokborok, Konkani, Khasi, Garo, Lepcha, Bhutia, Mising, Limboo, Mizo, Newari, Maghi, Tibetan, among others. The Trust has expanded its publishing programme in many minor languages. During the year, several books for children were published in Asuri, Biho, Birajia, Bhumij, Ho, Khadiya, Kudukh and Mato. During the period under review, 2013 titles were published by the Trust. These included 74 originals, 199 translations, 1729 reprints and 11 revised editions. The Trust publishes a bimonthly Literary Magazine in Hindi titled Pustak Sanskriti, which carries articles on various interesting topics related to books and contemporary issues of the society. In addition, a monthly NBT Newsletter in English is brought out, which provides complete information regarding the various literary, children’s and other activities organised by the Trust. 550th Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev To commemorate the 550th Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, National Book Trust, India brought out four Punjabi titles – Guru Nanak Bani, Nanak Bani, Baramaha and Sakhian: Guru Nanak Dev – to spread the message of Guru Nanak Dev’s writings and his teachings. Guru Nanak Bani has also been published in Urdu, Odia, Marathi, Hindi and Gujarati languages. Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’, Hon’ble Union Minister of Human Resource Development and Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Hon’ble Union Minister of Food Processing Industries 2 Annual Report 2019-20 released the books at a function held at Shri Guru Teg Bahadur Khalsa College, University of Delhi on 7 November 2019. Braille Books National Book Trust, India in collaboration with All India Confederation of the Blind (AICB) has published a set of books in Braille for visually impaired readers. More than 300 books have been published in Hindi, English, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi and Tamil languages. These books have been taken from various series under which NBT publishes books like Aadan Pradan, Classics, Creative Learning Series, National Biography, Nehru Bal Pustakalaya, India-The Land and the People, Young India Library, Popular Science, Popular Social Science, among others. During the New Delhi World Book Fair 2020, a special exhibit of Braille books published by NBT was put up and a catalogue of these books was also released at the inauguration of the Fair. E-books On the digital format, the Trust has made available many of its popular titles as e-books. Around 120 titles have been published in Bangla, English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu languages. Book Promotion Activities The Trust regularly organises Book Fairs/ Exhibitions throughout the country. The NBT also hosts the prestigious annual New Delhi World Book Fair. NBT has so far organised 28 New Delhi World Book Fairs, 41 National Book Fairs and more than 252 Regional Books Fairs. Book Fairs in India During the period from April 2019 to March 2020, the Trust organised seven Book Fairs across the country including Ajmer Book Fair (13 – 21 April 2019), Dharamshala Book Fair (27 April – 5 May 2019), Ujjain Book Fair (31 August – 8 September 2019), Thoothukudi Book Fair (5 – 13 October 2019), Udaipur 3 Annual Report 2019-20 Book Fair (12 – 20 October 2019), Bilaspur Book Fair (5 – 13 November 2019) and Chandigarh Book Fair (1 – 9 February 2020). The Trust also stepped-up its book promotional activities in the North-east through a number of Book Fairs, literary activities and special sales drive. During the year under review, the Trust organised Bodo Translation Workshop, Nepali Translation Workshop, Manipuri Translation Workshop, four orientation programmes of Reader’s Club Movement, book release function and a Training Course in Book Publishing. The Trust has also broadened its activities in Jammu & Kashmir to create book mindedness and make NBT books available to the people in the valley. During the year under review, the Trust exhibited its publications at 23rd All India Urdu Book Fair held at Kashmir University, Srinagar from 15 to 23 June 2019. International Book Fairs In order to promote Indian publishing abroad, the Trust participates in various International Book Fairs by displaying a cross section of representative Indian publications brought out by various Indian publishers. Since 1970, the Trust has participated in more than 399 International Book Fairs. During the period under review, the Trust participated in nine such International Book Fairs, including Tehran International Book Fair (24 April–4 May 2019), Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (24–30 April 2020), Warsaw Book Fair (23–26 May 2019), Beijing International Book Fair (21–25 August 2019), Baku International Book Fair (27–29 September 2019), Frankfurt Book Fair (16–20 October 2019), Sharjah International Book Fair (30 October– 9 November 2019), Guadalajara International Book Fair (30 November – 8 December 2019), and Cairo International Book Fair (22 January– 4 February 2020). The Trust was to participate in London Book Fair (10 –12 March 2020) as well as organise Guest of Honour Presentation at Paris Book Fair (20–23 March 2020). However, due to coronavirus pandemic, both the Fairs were cancelled. Guest of Honour Presentations This year, India was the Guest of Honour country at two major international 4 Annual Report 2019-20 book fairs including Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (UAE) and Guadalajara International Book Fair (Mexico). The Trust organised the Guest of Honour Presentations at these Fairs. At Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, a delegation comprising of authors, children writers, science communicators, artists, CMDs, Directors, senior publishing professionals of 21 publishing houses led by Prof. Govind Prasad Sharma, Chairman, National Book Trust, India participated on behalf of India at the Fair. India celebrated 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi at the Fair. The specially designed India Pavilion comprised of Illustrator’s and Author’s Corner, Children’s activity area, Literary programmes and Cultural events stage, Mahatma Gandhi installation, Indian Books Rights’ Exchange Corner and Reading spaces display, Indian Banyan Tree installation highlighting the plurality and diversity of Indian languages. Besides, a number of literary and cultural events were also organised by the Trust. At Guadalajara International Book Fair, the Trust celebrated 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The Trust had put up a specially designed India Pavilion, which integrated the representation of Indian scripts; books from India in English, Hindi and Sanskrit as well as those in Spanish languages; a huge Bookstore; Business Tables for Indian publishers; Rights exchange areas; Author’s Corner for literary events and other activities; Digital exhibitions; Gandhi installation, among others. In addition, a large number of academic, literary and cultural activities showcasing the rich culture and literary heritage of India were organised at the Pavilion. Samagra Shiksha Initiative The Samagra Shiksha Initiative is a flagship programme of the Government of India, for the promotion of reading habit among school children through the libraries of their respective schools. Under the programme, books in many languages have been published for the school children by NBT. The books are selected by a panel of experts of the respective