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NEW DELHI GETS WORLD BOOK CAPITAL STATUS

UNESCO, the International Publisher Association and a number of other book-related international agencies have declared New Delhi as the World Book Capital for the year 2003. The National Book Trust (NBT) will be made the nodal agency for the activities planned to celebrate this honour. New Delhi has been selected from amongst many cities competing for this honour and is the third one so chosen after Madrid and Alexandria.

ASIA'S BIGGEST AIRCRAFT REPAIR CENTRE

China has established Asia's biggest aircraft repair centre in Xiamen, a port city in east China's Fujian province. WIth the opening of the third hangar, the repair centre is now capable of repairing about 60 aircraft annually, which includes Boeing 737s, 757s, 747s.

SPOKEN ENGLISH ALSO PART OF TOEFL

Indians and other foreign students planning to pursue studies in the US will henceforth be tested for spoken English as part of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOFEL). The Educational testing Board (ETB) has overhauled the standard 39 years old test in response to complaints that despite high TOEFL scores, many foreign students were unable to communicate effectively once they arrived in Amrican schools and Universities. The Test will be conducted over telephone. The purpose of the TOEFL Academic Speakign Test (TAST) is to evluate the English speaking proficiency of students who intend to pursue studies in a college or universities where English is spoken.