Int’l book fest to begin today

Kochi: The 25th edition of the Kochi International Book Festival will begin on Saturday. Renowned Hindi writer Govind Mishra will inaugurate the fest at a function to be held at Ernakulathappan Ground on Durbar Hall Road at 4pm. Writer M K Sanoo will preside over the function.Former Indian diplomat T P Sreenivasan, former chief justice Thottathil B Radhakrishnan, MLA M K Muneer, MP Hibi Eden MP and Mayor M Anil Kumar would speak at the function. An interactive session with chief secretary V P Joy would be held after the inaugural function.T P Sreenivasan, former IPS officer Hormis Tharakan and chairman of Centre for Public Policy Research D Dhanuraj will attend a debate session on the topic ‘Indian Foreign Service-Charms and Challenges’ at 5.30pm on the day.A cultural programme by students of Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Vaduthala would be an attraction of the first day of the 10-day-long book fest. tnn