GENERAL INFORMATION Publishing scenario in contemporary India is a conceptually exciting, linguistically rich and quantitatively diverse phenomena. India is perhaps the only country in the world which publishes books in 24 languages. It ranks third in the publication of English books immediately after the USA and the UK. More than 70,000 new titles are published every year out of which 20,000 are in the English language. Indian books have earned worldwide respect and commercial acceptability both for their contents and quality of production. Their price, too, is reader friendly. Many Indian books are especially designed to meet the educational requirements of the Afro-Asian and SAARC countries. It is in recognition of its expanding role in the field of publishing that UNESCO has declared Delhi as the World Book Capital for the year 2003-2004. The Government of India has designated the National Book Trust as the nodal agency for the implementation of the programmes envisaged under the declaration. Year-long activities have been planned to celebrate this declaration. These include a series of book fairs and exhibitions in India and overseas. There cannot be a more befitting finale to the World Book Capital celebrations than the organisation of the New Delhi World Book Fair, a mega event in Indian publishing. The New Delhi World Book Fair is the largest book event in the Afro-Asian region organised biennially by the National Book Trust, India. Apart from offering a glimpse of the multilingual publishing industry in India—which has developed substantially in recent years—the New Delhi World Book Fair serves to establish fruitful communication between publishers, booksellers, book distributors and librarians on the one hand and professionals, intellectuals and academicians on the other. Unlike many international book fairs, the New Delhi World Book Fair permits the sale of books directly to hundreds of thousands of book lovers who throng the Fair every day. The Fair also offers an opportunity for the exchange of translation/co-publishing/reprint rights. The 15th New Delhi World Book Fair, organised by the NBT from 28 January to 4 February 2002, had 1065 participants from 23 countries, including India, spread over 1645 stalls and stands. An estimated 6.5 lakh book lovers visited the World Book Fair 2002. The National Book Trust, India is pleased to announce that the 16th New Delhi World Book Fair will be held from 14 to 22 February 2004 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. The Fair will not only be a window to the world of books, it will also focus on India’s contribution to the rich heritage of humankind and to the world civilization. The theme of the 16th New Delhi World Book Fair accordingly is India’s Contribution to World Civilization in the Field of Science and Technology.