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Sales reached a satisfactory level at the Ekushey Boi Mela on the fifth day, said publishers and academy sources on Tuesday.
   Pathsutra’s chief executive Rajib Noor said the sales reached a satisfactory level after five days. ‘The visitors are browsing through the titles and buying.’ Rajib expects sales to increase gradually.
   Bangla Academy’s director-general, at his regular press briefing, said the sale of books at the academy’s stall in the fair was the highest, compared to all other years in the past.
   He informed the press that sales on the fourth day were Tk 83,305, Tk 1,30,997 and Tk 1,75,991 in 2006, 2007 and 2008 respectively.
   ‘The food stalls and book stalls at the Usmany Udyan can start their sales on Thursday,’ said the DG.
   ‘On Friday the academy will declare two days as Children’s Day, the days before and after the 21 February,’ he said. ‘Only children below the age of 13 will be allowed along with one guardian on the days.’
   Eighty-three titles hit the fair on the day, with novels dominating the list. The new titles included 23 novels, eight collections of short stories, 17 collections of essays and 16 collections of poems.
   The publishers said although the production cost increased because of the increase in the price of paper, it had little effect on sales.
   The publishers said the number of titles would increase next week.
   The crowd was large throughout yesterday till 8:00pm.
   Poet Asad Chowdhury unfolded the cover of the UK-based Bengali scientist at Cranfield University S Rafi Ahmed’s first literary book ‘Rolf’, published by Utso Prokashoni in the Writers’ Corner.
   ‘The book is a presentation of tales focusing on facts in the life of a person familiar to me,’ said Rafi. ‘I have written a number of books on science, but this is my first literary effort.’
   Veteran poet Al Mahmud visited the fair for the first time this year yesterday. ‘If the fair is taken to any place away from the academy’s premises, it will lose its spirit,’ he said. ‘Literature is always biased toward youthfulness, but the youths should learn from the experiences of the veterans.’
   Professor Syed Manzoorul Islam, teacher of English at Dhaka University and eminent writer, also visited the fair for the first time. He said, ‘I am happy at all arrangements this year.’ Anyaprokash will bring out his novel today (Wednesday).
   The Bangla Academy, as part of its regular programmes, held a discussion on ‘The achievements in arts and literature in 36 years: Fine Arts (1972-2007).’
   Art critic Zahid Mustafa read out the keynote paper. Syed Azizul Haque, Mainuddin Khaled and Nisar Hossain took part in the discussion which was chaired by eminent painter Hashem Khan.
   A discussion on ‘The achievements in arts and literature in 36 years: little magazines, periodicals and literary supplements in newspapers (1972-2007)’ will be held at 4:00pm today. Essayist Siraj Salekin will present the keynote paper. Writer Kazi Madina, Poets Sajjad Qadir and Sarkar Amin will speak on the occasion. Writer Selina Hosain will preside over the discussion.

Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha has extended the deadline for submitting final draft of the Detailed Area Plan of Dhaka, which was scheduled to be submitted by December 2007, by three more months.
   The final draft will now be submitted by March and all procedures relating to the area plan will be completed by June, said Bangladesh Institute of Planners president Toufiq M Seraj.
   It will take three months to print the drawings of the maps of DAP after submission of the final draft, Seraj, also the managing director of Sheltech, one of four firms preparing the draft, said, adding ‘The final draft could not be completed within the stipulated time as it is a new work and taking time more than expectation.’
   Apart from Sheltech, Rajuk assigned DDC, EPC and Gani to prepare the DAP dividing the city into five divisions. The firms submitted the draft report in August 2007.
   Rajuk is preparing the DAP to implement the 20-year Dhaka Metropolitan Development Plan taken in 1995.
   The DAP was scheduled to be completed within one year of the formulation of the DMDP, but the city development agency failed to complete it even after 12 years.
   The DAP is important for urban planning and to ensure proper use of land of the 1530-square kilometre of the capital, experts and sources in Rajuk said, adding non-completion of the DAP has been delaying implementation of the DMDP resulting in the filling up of vast low-lying areas exposing the city to flood.
   It is also causing unplanned urbanisation, they added.
   Drafted in 1995, the 20-year DMPD was approved by the government in 1997 with retrospective effect, but it could not be materialised in absence of the DAP.
   The DAP should be completed as soon as possible paving way for implementation of the DMDP, otherwise, unplanned urbanisation will go on unabated, said an official of Rajuk.
   The DAP and the building construction rules are the two most important things for the implementation of the DMDP, he said.
   The government has already introduced new building construction rules, but failed to prepare the area plan, which is very important to stop unplanned urbanisation, he said.
   Another Rajuk official said the government should extend the timeframe of the development plan for another 20 to 25 years as 12 years of the 20-year plan had already elapsed.

The foreign adviser, Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, has said a high-level delegation from Bangladesh would visit Saudi Arabia shortly to examine reports that have appeared in a section of the media about the predicaments of some Bangladeshis there.
   Speaking to the media at his office on Tuesday, Iftekhar, also in-charge of the expatiate welfare and overseas employment ministry, said, ‘I’ve asked the secretary concerned to lead the delegation and report to me with regard to the situation with recommendations.’
   He added: ‘I’ve also discussed the matter on telephone with our ambassador who has been contacting Saudi authorities so that Bangladeshis are not unnecessarily harassed.’
   The foreign adviser said, ‘We see Saudi Arabia as one of our closest friends. King Abdullah has donated huge amounts to post-flood and Sidr relief and rehabilitation. The Saudis have great affection for Bangladeshis. I am sure if there are any problems, these can be amicably resolved.’

A mobile court of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority on Tuesday realised Tk 27,500 in fines filing 18 cases against a number of drivers of vehicles in the Dhaka city.
   The court, led by the BRTA executive magistrate (deputy secretary) Abdur Rashid, conducted the drive against buses, minibuses CNG-run auto-rickshaws, human haulers and taxicabs in Jatrabari area.
   The court filed the cases against and realised fines from vehicles for not having valid documents, including driving licence, route permit, registration and fitness certificate, the magistrate said.
   Action was also taken against some drivers for not having valid driving license. The court will resume the drive today.
   In the wake of allegations of harassment of passengers by the CNG-run auto-rickshaw drivers, the BRTA launched mobile court in April 2007 to curb the whims of the CNG auto-rickshaw drivers.

The Sylhet Osmani Medical College unit of Sandhani observed the 31st founding anniversary of the organisation on Tuesday with a call for making voluntary blood donation into a social movement.
   Voluntary blood donation should be the moral responsibility of all as it can save the lives of many people, they told a news conference organised at the Sylhet Press Club as part of the founding anniversary programmes of Sandhani, an organisation of medical and dental students.
   The unit president, Syed Ahmed Refae, read out a statement in the conference attended, among others, by unit advisers Dr Iftekhar Uddin Sagor and Dr Shariful Islam and press and publication secretary of the unit Raqib Ahmed.
   Syed Ahmed said transfusion of blood collected from professional donors posed threat to the life of patients instead of helping them to recuperate.
   About 60 per cent of the total required blood in hospitals is supplied by the professional donors posing threat to the life of many patients, he said, adding ‘We should come forward to donate blood
   voluntarily and encourage our colleagues and neighbours to do so.’
   He said the unit had provided 2,498 bags of blood to the Sylhet Osmani Medical College Hospital in the year 2006-2007 against the hospital’s demand of about 8,000 bags.
   The unit leaders said apart from supplying free blood to patients, Sandhani was also running other healthcare programmes like vaccination against hepatitis A and B, free blood grouping programme in educational institutions and social functions in the region.

Bangla Mountaineering and Trekking Club paid tributes to Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to conquer the Mount Everest of Himalayas, at a discussion meeting at the NSC conference room in Dhaka on Tuesday.
   Edmund Hillary, who along with Tenzing of Tibet set their feet first on the summit of Mount Everest on May 19, 1953, died at his home town in New Zealand on January 11. Freedom fighter and sports personality Major General (Retd) Amin Ahmed Chowdhury was the chief guest at the discussion meeting chaired by the club president and UNB chief editor, Enayetullah Khan.

The Rapid Action Battalion arrested six suspected drug peddlers, one of them son of a former lawmaker, and seized 382 bottles of Phensidyl at a house in the capital Monday night.
   A RAB-3 team raided the house at Malibagh Chowdhurypara at about 10:30pm and arrested Mirza Mohammad Khalid Apu, son of former MP from Chuadanga Mirza Sultan Raza, along with his five accomplices, RAB said. They seized the Phensidyl from a room in the house.
   The arrested had long been engaged in selling Phensidyl in Khilgaon, Malibagh and Basabo areas, RAB said.

Weather is likely to remain mainly dry with partly cloudy sky over the country during the 24-hour period till 6:00pm today.
   The Met Office predicted chances of light rain or drizzle at one or two places over Khulna, Rajshahi and Dhaka divisions during the period.
   Light to moderate fog may occur over the river basins of the country during early morning, it said.
   The night temperature may rise slightly over the country.
   The country’s highest temperature on Tuesday, 30.6 degrees Celsius, was recorded at Cox’s Bazar and the lowest, 8.2 degrees Celsius, at Srimangal. The sun sets in the capital today at 5:48pm and rises tomorrow at 6:37am.
   The Met Office predicted light rain or drizzle in the outlook for subsequent two days and a little change in the extended outlook for another five days.

Police arrest 34 in Rajshahi
The police rounded up 34 persons, including two alleged drug-peddlers, on various charges from different parts of the city and elsewhere of the district over the last 24 hours till Tuesday evening. Of them, the police said, 15 persons were picked up from the metropolis while 19 from nine upazilas of the district during the period. The police also seized 46 bottles of Phensidyl and 12 litres of liquor during their raids.
— BSS

Woman found
dead in Sylhet
The police recovered the body of a woman in the Sylhet city on Monday. The local people found the body of the woman, aged about 22, with her throat slit beside a road in Shibbari area in the morning. Informed, the Kotwali police recovered the body and sent it to the Sylhet Osmani Medical College Hospital morgue for a post-mortem examination. The police suspected that miscreants had killed the women after rape. A case was filed in this connection.
— New Age