Actor Soumitra Chatterjee will receive Legion of Honour award from French culture minister in Kolkata

NEW DELHI: Having honoured acclaimed actor Soumitra Chatterjee with the “Legion of Honour” which is the highest order of merit in France, the French government will confer the award to the legendary actor at the 42nd

Kolkata Book Fair

on January 30.

The award will be presented by French culture minister Francoise Nyssen, who would be accompanied by a delegation of 10 top writers and publishers from her country, as the theme country for the international book fair this year is France.

Interestingly, the French delegation will also launch the Hindi version of the famed Asterix comic books, French ambassador Alexandre Ziegler said here on Monday at a press conference to announce the Indo-French endeavour under the ongoing BonjourIndia programme that ends in March this year after completing its joirney through 300 events in 33 cities across the country. The much popular Asterix comics have so far been read only by those who read English in India, apart from a few who can read in the original French language.

While most countries around the world including neighbours in the subcontinent will participate in the International Kolkata Book Fair 2018, the largest book fair in the world in terms of the number people attending it, Pakistan will not be present this year as they did not even apply for the event, said Book Fair general secretary, Tridib Chatterjee.

Pakistani publishers were refused visa by the Indian government so they could not come for last year’s fair. With India-Pakistan diplomatic relations at a low over the last couple of years, participation of the neighbours in cultural events have also suffered.