The 5-day long Lahore International Book Fair-2017 has started at the Expo Centre on Thursday. As much as 275 publishers, book sellers and government departments have put up their stalls in the book fair which would conclude on February, 6. The Lahore International Book Fair Trust has organised this event in collaboration with Pakistan Publishers and Booksellers Association.
Provincial Minister for Higher Education Syed Raza Ali Gillani inaugurated the book fair and visited different stalls. He appreciated the holding of book fair every year and said that such events play an important role in promoting the habit of books-reading in the public.
He commended the presence of youth, especially the students, at the venue of the book fair, and said that books help to broaden the intellectual ken of the budding minds by giving them new ideas and vision. In fact, books promote healthy social behaviour in the society by sensitising the readers about positive aspects of life, he added.
Later, while talking to the media persons, Gillani said that E-Youth Initiative of the Punjab Government has enabled the students to keep pace with their studies by staying abreast of latest developments in their studies. To a question, he replied that the Government is committed to streamline the working of higher education institutions in the province. Research-based activities were being fully encouraged in the universities. Replying to another question, he said that higher education institutions would be regulated according to their charter; and they would be monitored as well so that the students may not be fleeced.
He maintained that education is not a business but a sacred mission of promoting the light of knowledge in the youth, so that they could well-steer the country to progress and prosperity. The Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) has also been activated to help build a prosperous and skilled Punjab through providing quality higher education compatible with the imperatives of knowledge-economy, he added.
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