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Visitors, in their hundreds, thronged Ekushey book fair on the Bangla Academy premises on Tuesday, a day before Shaheed Dibas and International Mother Language Day to be observed today.
   Most visitors bought the titles as per their choice. Apart from the popular titles, their selection varied from children’s rhymes to informative articles on different subjects on the day.
   Among the popular writers, Humayun Ahmed still topped the chart followed by his younger brother Muhammad Zafar Iqbal, Imdadul Huq Milan and Anisul Huq.
   In addition to those of popular writers, a number of titles had been attracted by the visitors. The books of Humayun Azad were selling better and also the reprints by Ahmad Sharif.
   A publication of little known Sati Swatantara, edited by Shahin Akhtar, drew the attention of curious buyers. The volume comprises major write-ups by Bengali women writers since the 15th century.
   Volumes of poems were also on the visitors’ demand. Poet Al Mahmud’s collection of poems, Tumi Trishna, Tumi Pipasar Jal, was brought by Oitijjhya on the day.
   Books on politics and complete works of the nation’s classic writers also sold well, said the publishers who mostly tried to bring out their better productions on the day with the hope for better sales on the Ekushey February.
   The fair information centre reported arrival of 71 titles on Tuesday. Eighteen of them were volumes of poems and 11 were collection of stories.
   The Bangla Academy officials said around 1,290 titles came to the fair till Tuesday and it was 1,442 for the same time in the past year.
   More books are expected to reach the fair by Tuesday night to gain the scope for Ekushey February crowd. The Sahitya Prakash published autobiography of Ramendu Majumder, Pratham Tirish.
   The Bangla Academy formed an inquiry committee to investigate the allegation of forgery in construction of the statue of the language martyrs, Moder Garab. The academy director general in-charge, Moyeenul Hasan, said the committee began gathering information on the issue.
   The Bangla Academy held a discussion on ‘form and content of Ahsan Habib’s poems’ in the afternoon. Ahmad Kabir, Nasir Ahmed and Soubhik Reza took part in the discussion chaired by Alauddin Al Azad. Tushar Dash presented a keynote paper.

Urban development experts, academicians, environmentalists and Rajuk officials at a discussion on Tuesday underscored the need of immediate demarcation of Begunbari canal and Hatirjheel to save the water bodies from encroachments.
   Addressing the discussion on ‘Hatirjheel and its surrounding area’s development plan prepared by the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology’ organised by Rajuk in Rajuk seminar room, they urged authorities concerned to take immediate steps to demolish illegal structures including the BGMEA Bhaban, and to excavate the encroached lands from the water bodies.
   Rajuk chairman KAM Harun who chaired the discussion meeting sought suggestions from the experts, to take action against the developers and encroachers who are feeling up the water bodies gradually.
   Dr Mujibur Rahman of BUET who conducted a feasibility study earlier on Hatirjheel said there is no scope of filling up the Hatirjheel and implementation of the Hatirjheel wetland protection act is enough to save the marshland.
   He suggested to demarcate areas from Shonargaon to Rampura bridge and not to construct any structure behind Hotel Shonargaon instead of keeping the place as wetland.
   Describing the importance of the Begunbari and Hatirjheel canal he said water of a vast areas goes from Begunbari canal to Hatirjheel and falls into the river Balu through some other canals.
   He also suggested demolition of all illegal structures within the vicinity of wetland and noticed that a foundation stone of BKMEA Bhaban, signboard of Hilton hotel, many other structures are occupying the canal.
   Due to building of BGMEA Bhaban, one of the channels of Begunbari canal has been blocked, Mujibur said.
   In his presentation he said an elevated roadway from Panthapath to Pragati Sharani via Gulshan Avenue could be constructed as it would not hamper the water carriers.
   Iqbal Habib, an executive member of BAPA said Rajuk can only acquire the wetlands to build walk way and road in the greater interest of preservation only after demarcating them properly.
   He said the total Hatirjheel and Begunbari canal area has to be gazzetted after the demarcation.
   Syeda Rizwana Hasan, director (programme) of BELA said the canals have to be preserved properly and it could not be used as merely waste disposal drains.
   Rajuk chief engineer, Emdadul Islam, informed that the project proposal of ‘Hatirjheel development project’ on the water bodies from Tangi diversion road to Pragati Sarani has been waiting for ECNEC approval since long.
   Among others, president of Bangladesh Institute of Planners Toufiq M Seraj, Professor Shahidul Amin of BUET, Assistant Professor of BUET Ishrat Islam and Rajuk director (town planning) Jahurul Haque addressed the meeting.

A mobile court on Tuesday sentenced six fish traders to different terms of imprisonment for using formalin in fish and selling ‘jatka’ fish in city’s Roy Shaheb Bazar in Old Town.
   Of them, four fish traders, including Jamal Uddin and Jahangir Alam, were sentenced to five months’ rigorous imprisonment and fined Tk 10,000 each for using formalin while other two, including Sanjoy Debnath, were awarded one month rigorous imprisonment and fined Tk 5,000 each for selling jatka, an undersized hilsha fish. The other traders, however, managed to flee the spot during the drive.
   The court, led by magistrate Rokon Ud-Doula, also sentenced a vegetable trader Shohag to one month imprisonment for selling produce with cheating in weight.
   Moreover, it realised Tk 1,000 in fines from 11 vegetables traders for using lubricant to make tomato attractive and seized a number of scales, weights and oil cans.
   The court filed 31 cases –– four under Pure Food Act, 13 under Weight and Measurement Ordinance, 12 under Dhaka City Corporation Ordinance and two for selling jatka fish.
   Another mobile court, led by ABM Abdul Fattah, found fake bottled water companies at the Purana Paltan area selling bottled water without licence from the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution.
   The court raided Rahman Enterprise and SS Arbina and filed three cases against the companies for violating BSTI and Pure Food Act. It realised Tk 40,000 from Fazle Khuda, the owner of Rahman Enterprise, and issued an arrest warrant against the owner of SS Arbina, Md Selim.
   Also, the court raided Mahin Food Products Private Ltd and found it selling foods without BSTI licence apart from some date-expired food items. The court realised Tk 1 lakh in fines.
   Although the mobile court magistrate visited One Diagnostic Centre and Royal Diagnostic Centre at Naya Paltan, he did not find any irregularity in the clinics, said the magistrate.
   Another mobile court, led by Magistrate Nani Gopal Biswas, realised Tk 1.90 lakh and filed seven cases under the Pure Food Act. The court found that eight bakeries and a restaurant at the city’s Katasur area were selling date-expired food items.
   It realised Tk 15,000 from Rubi Bread, Tk 50,000 from Khwaja Food and Bread, Tk 20,000 from Awlad Bread, Tk 25,000 from Uttara Bread and Confectionary, Tk 20,000 from Makka Bread, Tk 10,000 from Madhumita Bread, Tk 10,000 from Rekha Bread and Biscuit and Tk 40,000 from Xeniel Chinese Restaurant.

The Government of Japan on Tuesday provided Tk 60 lakh as grant to Bangladesh for the reconstruction of a library of talking books for visually disabled people in Dhaka.
   The Japanese ambassador Masayuki Inoue and Blind Education and Rehabilitation Development Organisation executive director Md Saidul Huq signed the grant contract in Dhaka on Tuesday, said a press release issued by the Japanese embassy.
   Since its inception in 1991, BERDO has been working with disabled community. In Bangladesh, the Japanese scheme, constituting a total number of 126 projects and covering 105 NGOs, has already provided grant approximately Tk 61.9 crore, the release added.

The admission test results of Ga unit (faculty of business studies) for the 2006-2007 session of the Dhaka University, was published on Tuesday. The result is available on the faculty notice board and the university website.
   Viva-voce of the candidates up to 800 on the merit list will be held on February 26, 27, said a DU press release. The successful applicants of all faculties who attended the 1st year admission tests for the session 2006-2007 of the university can apply for the freedom fighter, indigenous and blind quota from February 24 to March 3.
   The eligible candidates have been asked to collect application forms for quotas from the registrar building.

Weather is likely to remain mainly dry with temporary partly cloudy sky all over Bangladesh till 6:00pm today, said the Met Office in a forecast on Tuesday.
   Night temperature may remain nearly unchanged. The highest temperature on Tuesday, 28.6 degrees Celsius, was recorded in Chittagong and the lowest, 6:27 degrees Celsius, at Srimangal. The sun sets in the capital city today at 5:57pm and rises on Thursday at 6:27am.

The International Finance Corporation’s South Asia Development Facility and the BGMEA Institute of Fashion & Technology launched a masters’ progrmme in apparel merchandising management to create mid-level management staff in garments factories.
   The programme, launched in Dhaka on Tuesday, hopes to produce graduates equipped with the knowledge and tools necessary to deal effectively with the global apparel trade.
   The ready-made garments industry in Bangladesh contributes to 75 per cent of export earnings and employs over 2.2 million workers, making it a critical component of the country’s economy.
   ‘We hope to create a supply of locally trained managers whom the factories can employ in place of their more expensive foreign counterparts,’ said SM Fazlul Hoque, president of the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters’ Association.
   The factories are under pressure to increase efficiency and competitiveness to remain competitive in the global market, he said, adding that the lack of qualified, technically skilled persons at the management level presents a constant challenge to factory owners that made them increasingly dependent on the skills of foreign professionals, said a release.

Four people were killed and two others injured critically in a road accident in the Sadar area under Sitakunda upazila on Tuesday.
   The deceased were identified as Nur Uddin, 20, Fazlul Hoque, 60, Shahajahan Bhuiyan, 48, and Fasiul Alam, 58, and the injured were Shahidul Islam, 22, and Mohammed Jahangir, 28.
   The police and locals said a Chittagong-bound truck collided head-on with a CNG-run auto-rickshaw coming from opposite direction at the entry point of the bypass road at around 8:30am.
   The accident left four of the auto-rickshaw passengers dead on the spot, the police said, adding that they had recovered the bodies of the deceased soon after the incident and sent them to Chittagong Medical College and Hospital morgue for autopsy.
   The injured two were rushed to the CMCH and the doctors stated their condition to be critical. A case was filed with the Sitakunda police in this connection.

Four Swedish
poets in city
Four Swedish poets were moved with the love of Bangladeshi people for poetry. Poet Arne Johnsson, Nikolash Soderberg, Henriik C Enbohm and Clara Diesen — now visiting Bangladesh on an invitation of Bangladeshi expatriate in Sweden Liakat Hossain — expressed their feeling at a meet the press at the Dhaka Reporters’ Unity. They had visited Jatiya Kabita Utsab on the Dhaka University campus, Ekushey Grantha Mela. They met Bangladeshi poets and exchanged views on literature. The Media Professional Group managing director, Samar Roy, conducted the programme.
— New Age

Free blood grouping
at TSC today
A popular Bangladeshi entertainment website, HomeViewBangladesh.com, will organise a programme of free blood group testing in the Dhaka University TSC area today on the occasion of Amar Ekushey. The programme will start at 8:00am and continue till 3:00pm on the day, said a press release. The organisation will conduct blood group testing and collect names of potential blood donors. Names and addresses of the blood donors will be put into its website so that anyone can find out the names of donors during the time of emergency.
— UNB