Prime Minister to inaugurate Book Fair today
Dhaka: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate Amar Ekushey Book Fair on Tuesday. The 38th book fair will run till February 28. The main theme of this year's book fair is 'Birth Centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Golden Jubilee of Independence'.
Although the book fair is scheduled to start from February 1, due to the coronavirus situation, the coveted Amar Ekushey Book Fair is starting in the middle of the month. The book fair will be open daily from 2pm to 9pm except holidays. No one will be able to enter the fair again after 8 pm. The book fair will be held on holidays from 11 am to 9 pm. Besides, on great Ekushey February fair will start from 8 am and will continue till 9 pm.
State Minister for Culture KM Khalid told a press conference at the Abdul Karim Sahitya Bisharad Auditorium of Bangla Academy on Monday that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to inaugurate the book fair by joining virtually from Ganobhaban at 3 pm on Tuesday. In addition to the inauguration, the Prime Minister will present the Bangla Academy Literary Award-2021.
Secretary of the Ministry Md. Abul Mansur at a press conference and Academy Secretary AHM Lokman Hossain were present. Poet Muhammad Nurul Huda, Director General of the Academy presided over the function.
State Minister for Culture KM Khalid will be present as the special guest at the inaugural function presided over by Selina Hossain, President of Bangla Academy, Cultural affairs Secretary Md. Abul Mansur will give a speech. Poet Muhammad Nurul Huda, Director General of Bangla Academy will deliver the welcome speech.
The book fair will be held on the premises of Bangla Academy and the historic Suhrawardy Udyan in an area of about 7 lakh square feet. The fair has a total of 35 pavilions with 142 units for 102 institutions in the academy premises and 634 units for 432 institutions in the Suhrawardy Udyan section; A total of 776 units have been allotted to 534 institutions.
To ensure flawless security at the entrance and exit of the book fair, there will be more than three hundred close circuit cameras in the fair area. Adequate number of archways has been provided for entry and exit. Police, RAB, Ansar, BGB and Intelligence agencies will be responsible for the overall security of the fair.
There will be 4 entrances and 3 exits in the Suhrawardy Udyan section of the book fair for public entry and exit. On special days, special arrangements will be made for writers, journalists, publishers, Bangla Academy Fellows and state honored citizens.
As always, 3 pavilions of Bangla Academy, 1 stall for books suitable for children and 1 stall for literary monthly heritage have been allotted. This time the children's court will be in the Suhrawardy Udyan part. However, due to the Covid-19 situation, there is no 'child watch' at first.
Little Magazine, on the other hand, has been moved to the main fairgrounds east of the park's amphitheater. A total of 126 Little Mags have been allotted stalls. Bangla Academy and other institutions participating in the fair will sell books at 25 percent.
There will be a book unveiling ceremony at Suhrawardy Udyan to make the book fair more lively to encourage the writers. The academy will have one information center at the west altar of Burdwan Bhaban and two at Suhrawardy Udyan for the Amar Ekushey Book Fair-2022. There will be a media center at the north side of the information center in the book fair to facilitate free exchange of information of media personnel.
As part of the current government's concept of 'Digital Bangladesh', the A2I authorities of the Prime Minister's Office will arrange for their regular activities at the book fair as well as book unveiling, latest news from the information center and promotion of seminars on the main stage of the fair. There is also a full-time Wi-Fi facility.
The inaugural program of the book fair will be telecast live on Bangladesh Television and Bangladesh Betar. In addition, various private television channels will telecast the information of the fair daily from the fair premises. Information about the fair will be broadcast on FM radios. Several bulletins will be published daily on the news of the book fair. Various media outlets will disseminate information about the fair every day through the website.
This time Amar Ekushey Book Fair has a special significance in determining the theme. This is seventy years of language movement. At the same time this year is also the fiftieth year of the constitution of Bangladesh. It is important for us to organize a book fair to awaken the spirit of Bangalism in this special time of language movement, Bangabandhu, independence and attainment of constitution. Bangabandhu's hand written manuscripts have been used in various places to pay homage to Bangabandhu and convey the message of independence to all. As a result, the installations have been beautified. By reading these manuscripts, the youth will get acquainted with the handwriting of Bangabandhu. At the same time he will be able to rescue the underlying meaning of his thoughts and philosophy. The good news for us this time is that the implementation committee of Bangabandhu's birth centenary has taken a pavilion. This pavilion is already uniquely decorated.