Thiruvananthapuram Book Fair opens

THIRUVANATHAPURAM: West Bengal former Governor Gopalakrishna Gandhi said that there was a difference in the perspectives inculcated by internationalisation on the one hand and globalisation on the other.

While the accent is on the exchange of thoughts in the former, globalisation is more a barter of goods, he said.

He was speaking at the inauguration of the fourth Thiruvananthapuram Book Fair at Kanakakkunnu Palace Hall on Saturday. Gandhi recalled the rich genre of cartoon and caricature that Malayalam literature can boast of, referring to Abu Abraham, Sankarankutty and Shankar.

Education Minister M A Baby, who presided over the function, said that this Government had taken solid steps to cultivate a better reading culture among children.

"With programmes such as SSA (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan) and 'Sancharikkunna Library', the Education Ministry had ensured that books reach the children and not remain as display items in school libraries" he said.

Mayor K Chandrika, M P Achuthan MP, Grand Kerala Shopping Festival (GKSF) Director K N Sudheesh and V Sivakutty MLA, spoke on the occasion.

The Book Fair, accompanied by an array of cultural events, organised by the Institute for Children's Literature, will be held on the Kanakakkunnu Palace premises till December 26.