New Delhi, Jan 5 (TIWN) The 28th edition of the nine-day New Delhi World Book Fair (NDWBF) opened at Pragati Maidan here on Saturday, and saw Lt. Governor of Puducherry Kiran Bedi launch a book written on her.

Registering a sizeable footfall on the first day, the fair saw the launch of ''Where Kindness Spoke'', a book on Bedi''s work in Puducherry and her leadership style, written by author Shivani Arora.  Answering a question on the North-South linguistic divide in India, she said a way to national integration is through teaching one region''s languages in the other, till the primary school level.  "You can opt for German, French, Spanish, why not Telugu?" she said at the event.  The 2020 Fair was inaugurated by HRD Minister Ramesh Pokkhriyal ''Nishank'', who said it will soon be the world''s biggest book fair. 

"We are in the midst of ocean of books," he said, adding that this ''Mahakumbh'' of books is filled with thoughts, the thoughts which give power to humanity.  This year, the book fair is themed Gandhi: Writer''s Writer.  "We are celebrating 150 years of Mahatma Gandhi, in times when we need him the most. The world today is facing several challenges including terrorism.