State tribal products glitter at Tribal Crafts Expo

New Delhi, February 02 2010: Colourful tribal arts and craft products from Manipur are being displayed at the 5th Fifth National Tribal Craft Expo 2010 here in the Capital beginning from January 29 till February 8 .

The fair 'TRIBAL INDIA' is organized by Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED), under Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

Around seven stalls from Manipur displayed products ranging from dry colourful flowers, pottery, textiles, cane and bamboo.

North Eastern state participants came under the banner of Assam, Guwahati being the regional centre.

The main objective of TRIFED is to provide marketing support and create opportunities for marketing of tribal products so that tribals are able to fetch a fair and remunerative price for their products.

Started with a single outlet in 1999 it has increased to 40 and spread over 24 cities of India.

During the years the sales have grown from Rs 356 lakhs in 2006 – 07 to Rs 589 lakhs in 2008 – 09 .

Till January 2010 the sales have a turnover of Rs 573 lakhs.

From February 5, tribal dance and music will be performed by troupes from different states.

A photo exhibition "Tribal Prortraits" will also be another addition in the expression of the country's tribal heritage in the 5th national tribal crafts expo.

Meanwhile, the 19th New Delhi World Book Fair began from January 30 in New Delhi.

Organized by the National Book Trust India on the occasion of hosting of the Commonwealth Games 2010, the theme of the book fair is ' reading for common wealth'.

The exhibition will continue till Febraury 7, 2010 .

Amidst a sea of books ranging from fiction to non-fiction, books on various subjects of science, society, economics, politics, childrens' books, electronic forms of information, few collections of Manipuri literature by L Birendra Kumar Singh and Bhanumati Devi and other translations of short stories and history were among the list at the display by the Sahitya Akademi.

Few other books on the North East culture and traditions were found at the exhibition stall of the publication division of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India.

According to the National Book Trust, India is the only country in the world which publishes books in 37 languages.

It ranks third in the publication of English books, immediately after the USA and the UK.

Nearly 1,00,000 new titles are published every year out of which approximately one-third are in the English language.

Besides copyright trade, book trade, other events include seminar, book release and discussion.

The 19th New Delhi World Book Fair has 2400 stalls, with a total of 1200 Indian and Foreign publishers and exhibitors.

Over 700 titles published by around 75 Indian publishers were exhibited.

The fair is drawing huge crowds of university/college students as well as academicians, research scholars and bibliophiles from different parts of the capital.

Usually, the book fair is a major academic event.