Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has inaugurated the month-long Amar Ekushey book fair 2015 on the Bangla Academy premises and at Suhrawardy Udyan in the capital city of Dhaka.
She also opened Second International Literary Conference-2015 as the chief guest on the academy premises at 3pm on Sunday, reports BSS.
Poets and litterateurs from 11 foreign countries, including the US, France, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Malaysia and India will join the conference.
Around 300 organisations are participating in the fair this year. Among these, 230 are mainstream publishing houses while 26 children's book publication houses and 18 are government organisations.
The stalls for the mainstream publishing houses have been placed inside the Suhrawardy Udyan while stalls of children's book publishing houses, little magazine corners, government organisations and the Bangla Academy would be inside the Bangla Academy compound.
There would be seminars, discussions and cultural events on the main stage on the Bangla Academy premises alongside the book fair.
The whole fair premises would be under the watch of RAB, police and Ansar. There will be 75 clause-circuit cameras in the fair.
Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor was present as the special guest while cultural affairs secretary Dr Ranjit Kumer Biswas, Director General of Bangla Academy Shamsuzzaman Khan also spoke with President of the Academy Professor Emeritus Anisuzzaman in the chair.