<span style="color: #222222;">Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Amar Ekushey book fair in Dhaka on Thursday.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Participating in the inaugural event through video conferencing Prime Minister Hasina urged upon all to develop the habit of book reading.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Prime Minister Hasina also released the book 'New China 1952' which is the English translation of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib's book 'Amar Dekha Naya Chin'.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">She also distributed prizes among the winners of the Bangla Academy Literary Award 2020.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The theme of this year's book fair is the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and golden jubilee of independence.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The book fair has been dedicated to the martyrs of the liberation war of 1971.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The book fair is spread over more than 15 lakh square ft area on the premises of Bangla Academy and Shaheed Suhrawardy Udyan.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Security and health related arrangements have been made at the book fair ground in view of the continuing Corona pandemic.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Usually the month long book fair starts on 21 February commemorating the sacrifices of the martyrs of the language movement who laid down their lives on 21 February 1952 demanding Bangla as their mother tongue from Pakistani rulers.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">However, this year, the inauguration was delayed due to COVID 19 pandemic.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The Bangla Academy has been organizing the book fair since 1978, though informally it had started in 1972.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The book fair will conclude on April 14.</span><br />''