ISLAMABAD: Writers, editors and publishers present on the second day of the National ‘Adabi’ Conference held on Saturday at Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), underlined the need of promoting book reading culture for reconstruction of the society in positive directions. Altogether, there were 11 working sessions of the conference during the day, that were participated in by eminent writers, columnists and publishers from all over the country. They deliberated upon the role of literature in reconstruction of the society. The first-working session during the day was devoted to the issues relating to publication of literature, difficulties in its way and future challenges. The session was presided over by the National Books Foundation Managing Director Dr Inamul Haq Javed, who gave an optimistic picture of book reading habit, stating that the foundation published books worth Rs 3,350 million in a period of about one year. This, he said was reflective of a growing trend of book reading habit in the country, that needed to be supported at all levels. AIOU Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Shahid Siddiqui spoke about the academic efforts of AIOU in promoting book reading habit among the youth. Dr Inamul Haq Javed and other speakers including Farrukh Sohail Goindi, Afzal Ahmed and Gagan Shahid called for strengthening publisher/writer relationship to get better results in the book publication sector. They also underlined the need of promoting professional calibre of book manuscript reading, editing and correction. They praised the efforts of AIOU VC and his team promoting book reading culture among the students, through academic pursuits and literary activities. The follow-up event during the day was a seminar on book translation and editing that was presided over by Sheraz Dasti. The speakers at the seminar included Yasmeen Hameed, Dr Ghulam Ali and Asim Bukhshi. There were also panel-discussions relating to thoughts and poetic work of saint poet Mian Muhammad Baksh, Sheikh Ayaz and Zaitoon Bano, a strong Pakhtun voice. The Adabi conference was the second literature festival arranged by AIOU to develop the university as a hub of academic, social and literary activities. It was formally inaugurated by renowned writers Dr Attaul Haq Qasmi and Professor Fateh Muhammad Malik. They called for adhering to the thoughts of Muslim philosopher Dr Muhammad Iqbal and other spiritual poets to achieve the desired results for reformation of the society on positive lines. There was also a separate session of conference that deliberated upon the topic of literature, journalism and politics. It was addressed by prominent columnists Hamid Mir, Rauf Klasra, Wajahat Masood and Wajahat Mansoor. In his welcome address, Dr Shahid Siddiqui highlighted the objective of literature carnival, stating it was an attempt to encourage young scholars/writers to share their literary efforts with the students and amateur writers to enhance their creative capabilities. AIOI Social Sciences Dean Dr Samina Awan thanked the participants for their active participation in the event that she hoped will contribute to the development of a knowledge-based healthy society. Published in Daily Times, April 15th 2018.