February 5, 2002

FIVE AWARDS FOR PUBLICATIONS DIVISION

       Publications Division, under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, has bagged five awards for excellence in book production for the year 2002. Instituted by the Federation of Indian Publishers, these awards are given annually to books and journals, which have been outstanding in terms of production.

        Two of the Division’s journals Kurukshetra (Hindi) and Ajkal (Urdu) have been awarded the second prize in the Hindi journals and regional language journals categories respectively. In the children’s category the Tamil book "Festivals of India" has also been adjudged second. Two other books "50 Years of Indian Republic" and "Marine Archaeology in India" have been awarded Certificate of Merit in the General Books and Reference Books categories in English respectively.

        The awards were given away at a function at the World Book Fair at Pragati Maidan yesterday. Presenting the awards Shri K. S. Sharma, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India pointed out that in today’s world books are facing a lot of competition from the innumerable TV channels, hence there is need for producing more and more quality books on various subjects.

        Books and journals of Publications Division have regularly been receiving these awards in the past. The Division publishes well-researched, balanced, authentic and low-priced books on subjects of national importance in Hindi, English and major regional languages. These include books on History, Art and Culture, Gandhian literature, land and people, science and technology, biographies, children’s literature, speeches of Prime Ministers and Presidents and reference books like India and Bharat. The Division also brings out 21 journals – Employment News/Rojgar Samachar in English, Hindi and Urdu, Yojana in 13 languages, Kurukshetra in Hindi and English, Ajkal in Hindi and Urdu and Bal Bharati in Hindi.