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Festivity marked the Amar Ekushey Book Fair on Wednesday on the occasion of Pahela Phalgun with a huge crowd particularly young girls and boys in colourful traditional dresses visiting the fair.
   Girls in yellow saris and boys in punjabis in large number gathered the Bangla Academy premises to welcome Phalgun as well as to browse books at the fair.
   Ninety-seven titles hit the fair on the 13th day of the month-long event with collections of poems dominating the list.
   The day’s arrivals included 30 collections of poems, 14 collections of stories, 20 novels and 8 collections of essays. A number of books were also launched at the Writers’ Corner.
   Freedom fighter Taramon Bibi Bir Pratik launched a book on her ‘Taramon’ by AEM Golam Rabbani. Polol Prakashoni has published the 52-page book priced at Tk 75.
   Taromon said, ‘This is my first day of my life in the Ekushey book fair. I don’t know how to read, but a book has been written on me. I hope all children of the country will be educated. Our expectations from independent Bangladesh have not yet been fulfilled. Many freedom fighters live on pulling rickshaws.’
   She also urged the government to increase the honourium of freedom fighters to at Tk 6,000 each from Tk 600.
   Visitors were found searching collections of poems and novels written by popular writers and poets. Readers mostly browsed the books of Syed Shamsul Haq, Mahadev Saha, Rafiq Azad, Nirmalendu Goon, Al Mahmud, Humayun Ahmed, Ahsan Habib, Selina Hossain, Imdadul Huq Milon, Anisul Haque and Mohit Kamal on the day.
   Nur-e-Zannat Jui, a college student, who was at the fair in yellow sari, said, ‘Like nature, we the young girls like to say good bye to the old by wearing colourful dresses.’
   Poet Al Mahmud said, ‘From the ancient time Bengalee poets are celebrating the change of seasons notably the Phalgun in their poetry. I enjoy this change in nature. This is a good sign that a large number of young girls in yellow sari visited the fair on Pahela Phalgun this year.’
   Ananya Prokashoni has published Mahmud’s new collection of poems ‘Selai Kora Mukh.’
   The cultural affairs adviser, Rasheda K Chowdhury, who visited the fair, said, ‘Pahela Phalgun is our national event. We like to celebrate the day to uphold our own culture.’
   The Bangla Academy, as part of its regular programmes, held a discussion on ‘the achievements in arts and literature in 36 years: essay (1972-2007)’.
   Mahbubul Hoque read out the keynote paper at the discussion chaired by Abul Kasem Fazlul Hoque. Azhar Islam, Laila Zaman and Swarochish Sarker took part in the discussion, which was followed by a cultural function.
   A discussion on ‘the achievements in arts and literature in 36 years: research (1972-2007)’ will be held at 4:00pm today with Abul Ahsan Chowdhury in the chair. Sirajul Islam will read out a paper at the discussion to be addressed, among others, by Bhuyan Iqbal, Siddika Mahmuda and Tasiqul Islam Raza.

Jagannath University students in Old Town of Dhaka on Wednesday called off their movements as the vice-chancellor assured them of meeting their 10-point demands for better education and residential facilities by April.
   The leaders of the Students Movement Committee, the platform of the students rallying for their demands for about a week, after a meeting with the university authorities at about 1:15pm, decided to suspend their movements till March 31.
   The committee convener, Srabon Sarkar, said, ‘We have agreed to the proposal the vice-chancellor made. He promised to meet our demands by April.’
   Political science student Imran Hossain, a leader of the committee, said, ‘We have decided to suspend our movement till March 31 as the authorities have assured us of meeting our demands by April.’
   The vice chancellor, Sirazul Islam Khan, told New Age, ‘We agree to the demands of the students. Most of them are reasonable.’
   ‘As the students have decided to give us time to meet their demands, the authorities decided to meet all their demands by April,’ he said.
   Warning the authorities, the convenor said they would initiate a tougher movement if any of their demands remains unmet by April.
   On Tuesday, several hundred students of the university went out on demonstrations and formed an examination prevention committee to push for ther demands.
   According to programmes announced the previous day, students boycotted classes and went out on demonstrations at 10.00am; but the authority conducted examinations of some departments with police security.
   The demands include appointment of teachers, better transport facilities, freeing halls from occupation, and the establishment of a medical centre, a gymnasium, a central library and a centre for teachers and students with a cafeteria.

A mobile court of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority on Wednesday filed 18 cases against different mode of motorised vehicles and realised Tk 31,400 in fines for not having necessary documents.
   The court, led by BRTA executive magistrate (deputy secretary) Abdur Rashid, conducted a drive at Dholaikhal in Old Town of Dhaka and filed the cases against CNG-run auto-rickshaws, taxicabs, human haulers, buses and other mode of transports.
   The cases were filed under the Motor Vehicle Ordinance 1983 against the drivers and vehicles for not having valid papers that include driving licenses, updated route permits, registrations, fitness certificates and tax tokens, said Rashid.
   BRTA runs court in different busy roads and areas including the Manik Mia Avenue, Dar-us-Salam Road of Mirpur, Rampura and Khilgaon.

Owners of many buildings in the port city are renting out or using their houses for commercial purposes turning the residential areas into commercial zones and depriving the government of huge revenue.
   The owners are renting out residential buildings for commercial purposes as they are getting high rents and hefty sums in advance from the business people, different sources said, adding that the tenants are also enjoying utility service bills at rates fixed for residential complexes, depriving the government of huge revenue.
   Shah Mohammed Akter Uddin, chairman of the Chittagong Development Authority, said he had directed the estate department to take necessary actions against the owners who were using residential buildings for commercial purposes.
   ‘We should launch a drive to check commercial use of the buildings in different residential areas very soon,’ he said, adding that they were failing to conduct regular surveillance due to shortage of manpower.
   These areas should no longer be called residential areas as commercial establishments, including private schools, colleges and universities, clinics, offices, different sorts of shops, beauty parlours and drug addict rehabilitation centres on these areas are growing fast in number, said Dwellers at Chandgaon, Agrabad CDA, Nasirabad and Sugandha residential areas and Halishahar Housing Estate.
   Sarwar Alam, a banker residing at Chandgaon Residential Area, said movements of vehicles carrying the officials and employees of different commercial establishments were causing noise even at midnight.
   ‘Addicts at the rehabilitation centres are singing songs or playing music with high volume throughout the day,’ he said, adding that students of different educational institutions were also causing public nuisance in the area.
   Life has become unbearable in the area due to the commercial use of residential buildings, he said, while the dwellers in other residential areas also reported the same experience.

The Dhaka City Corporation on Wednesday started hanging banners at different kitchen markets in the city as part of its initiatives to raise bird flu awareness among the city dwellers.
   The banners inscribed with ‘Do not get panicked, be aware of bird flu; cooked chicken and boiled egg is totally safe’ are hung mainly at the place of selling chickens to dispel people’s fear for bird flu, corporation sources said.
   ‘We are hanging the banners as part of our initiative to raise people’s awareness of bird flu and to motivate them not to stop eating chickens and eggs,’ said a corporation official.
   The central monitoring committee and zonal committees on Wednesday visited kitchen markets at Motijheel, Shantinagar and Fakirerpool to see the bio-security at the markets.
   The committee found many businessmen and their assistants selling chickens and eggs in the markets without wearing masks, apron and globes, said the official. Some of the businessmen said they had failed to buy bird flu preventive masks due to its unavailability.
   ‘We are campaigning for raising awareness among them so that they take safety measures, and also trying to make available the safety tools, including masks and gloves, for them through privately-owned companies,’ said a member of the central monitoring committee.
   The corporation earlier on Saturday distributed 50 special containers to 50 kitchen markets in the capital for keeping the dead fowls, if any, and slaughtered fowl wastes to ensure bio-security at the kitchen markets.
   A special place to bury the waste was also selected to bury it every day at corporation’s dumping ground at Matuail and the wastes, he said.
   The corporation on Friday also set up a control room at the Nagar Bhaban. DCC chief veterinary officer Md Azmat Ali was made the in-charge of the control room.

A two-day programme to celebrate the 50th founding anniversary of Nakhalpara Hossain Ali High School begins in Dhaka today.
   Different programmes, including a cultural function and a discussion, will be held to mark the golden jubilee of the school.
   Former chief election commissioner Abdur Rouf will inaugurate the programmes. An alumni reunion of the school will also be held on Friday on the occasion.
   Former Bangla Academy director general Professor Abul Kalam Monjur Morshed will inaugurate the reunion.
   The school set up by local elite Moron Ali started its journey in 1957 as Nakhalpara Hossain Ali Primary School. Moron Ali named the school named the school after his father.
   It was upgraded to a junior-secondary school in 1961 and started its journey as a full-fledged secondary high school in 1969.
   The school has 2,400 students and about 73 teachers.
   Situated at Tejgaon in the capital, the school now has three buildings — one with three storeys and two others each with two storeys. It has a vast play ground.

Weather will remain mainly dry with temporary partly cloudy sky over the country during the 24-hour period till 6:00pm today.
   Mild cold wave is sweeping the Rajshahi division and the regions of Faridpur, Comilla, Srimangal, Jessore and Tangail and it may continue, the Met Office predicted.
   Light to moderate fog may occur over the river basins of the country during early morning.
   The night temperature may remain nearly unchanged over the country.
   The country’s highest temperature on Wednesday, 27.5 degrees Celsius, was recorded at Teknaf and the lowest, 7.2 degrees Celsius, at Srimangal.
   The sun sets in the capital today at 5:52pm and rises tomorrow at 6:32am.

The interim administration on Wednesday changed six joint secretaries and withdrew four deputy commissioners, according to the gazette notifications published by the establishment ministry.
   Peus Costa, joint secretary to the land ministry, has been transferred to the food directorate as additional director general to replace Abdul Bari, who has been made an officer on special duty and Humayun Kabir, joint secretary to the liberation war affairs ministry, has been sent to the home affairs ministry as joint secretary.
   Safiur Rahman, joint secretary attached to the establishment ministry, has been transferred to the Board of Investment as member, and officer on special duty (joint secretary)
   Md Ershad Hossain has been sent to the tea board as member to replace ATM Mortuza Reza Choudhury, who has been made member of the Power Development Board.
   Faizul Kabir, Narayanganj deputy commissioner, has been sent to the religious affairs ministry as deputy secretary, Kazi Md Anwarul Hakim, Gaibandha deputy commissioner, has been transferred to the labour ministry as deputy secretary, Khalilur Rahman, Rajshahi deputy commissioner, has been made chief estate officer of the Dhaka City Corporation and AM
   Saiful Hasan, Dinajpur deputy commissioner, has been sent to the NGO Affairs Bureau as director.

The assistant commissioner of police and two constables, arrested early Monday on charge of robbery at the house of a businessman in the city, were sent to jail Wednesday on completion of their two-day police remand.
   The police said they produced assistant police commissioner of Panchlaish zone Abu Saleh Mofazzal Huq, his bodyguard Ehsanul Islam and driver Abdur Rouf before the court of judicial magistrate Kazi Abdul Hasib Mohammad Sayed at around 12:00 noon. The court rejected the bail prayer and sent them to jail.
   Chittagong Metropolitan Police commissioner M Akbar Ali said the robbery, committed by the arrested police personnel, was pre-planned. A three-member committee, headed by a deputy commissioner, had found that the allegation brought against them was true.
   The arrested had also confessed to the robbery, he added, saying that they had suspended them from the job. The three were arrested on charge of looting Tk 5,50,000 in cash and gold ornaments from the house of businessman Faruque Ahmed at Mehedibagh in the name of conducting a search to seize illegal VoIP equipment at around 2:00am on Sunday.

The 2nd anniversary of death of Professor Ahmadul Haque Khan, former English teacher of Rajshahi University, was observed on Wednesday.
   A Qur’an khwani and a special prayer session were held at his village home at Sundarpur in Moheshpur upazila of Jhenidah to mark the day. Professor Khan died of old-age complications on this day in 2006 at the age of 80.

RU journalists form new forum
A group of journalists of Rajshahi University on Wednesday formed a new forum, Young Journalists’ Forum for Investigative Reporting’ on Wednesday. Jahair-Ibn-Kolim of Jugantor has been made the president of the 11-member committee of the forum while Anisuzzaman Uzzal made the general secretary of Amar Desh. A 10-member advisory committee has also been formed with the young journalists of the region. Professor Dulal Chandra Bishwas of mass communication and journalism department is the facilitator of the forum.
— New Age

CUP for slum dwellers’ rehab before eviction
Coalition for the Urban Poor has urged the government not to evict slum dwellers before their rehabilitation. The organisation made the request after the authorities through PA system had asked about 550 families of Duwaripara slum at Pallabi Wednesday evening to shift their houses, said a press release of CUP. The organization urged the National Hourisng authority to conduct the drive after rehabilitating the slum dwellers.
— New Age