Month: October 2018

Babies born in three Government hospitals within the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation area will get a kit comprising a mosquito net, antiseptic lotion, baby powder, oil, soap and two towels. The mothers will get a health drink too.

This welcome kit for newborns has been arranged for by the authorities of the municipality. Directions for implementing the gift scheme have been issued to the Municipality Commissioner as well as its finance department.

Mayor-in-council (health) said the kit would not only be a welcome gift for the newborn but an effort to build health awareness among the families. Most of those admitted in the three hospitals for delivery were from economically weaker sections. The authorities hope that the kits will help parents give attention to the health of the newborns.

The ‘welcome kit’ scheme would be started very soon. This is in addition to the sapling already being presented to parents of newborns in Government hospitals.

In going with the State Government’s decision to have white uniforms for police personnel of all the commissionerates, in line with Kolkata Police, the Howrah Police Commissionerate became the first to adopt the measure.

The change of uniform colour from khaki to white happened on October 1. The other seven police commissionerates would change their uniforms on a phase-by-phase basis.

Including Kolkata, there are nine police commissionerates; the other eight are Howrah, Asansol-Durgapur, Bidhannagar, Barrackpore, Siliguri, Chandannagar, Haldia and Kharagpur.

All these commissionerates were set up by the Trinamool Congress Government to make administering easier.

Source: Millennium Post

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West Bengal Housing & Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) is exploring options for starting monorail services for easy and faster communication in areas of Salt lake and Newtown.

“We have already completed the feasibility study along with the cost evaluation for the project. We are now looking for investors,” HIDCO chairman said on the sidelines of Kolkata regional dialogue on ‘Preparing for the Future of Urban Mobility’ organised by the Bengal Chamber and The Energy and Resource Institute (TERI).

According to HIDCO sources, the alignment for the monorail that has been created will start from Ultadanga station and will run through Sector I and Sector III in Salt Lake and will reach New Town. The total project cost has been estimated at Rs 4,500 crore.

Ayodhya Pahar in Purulia has transformed from a den of terror and fear to a centre of attraction for its natural beauty. The hills and its forests, bordering Jharkhand, were at one time the hideouts of big Maoist outfits and their leaders, where training and terrorist raids used to be conducted. Today, tourists throng the hills, which provide abundant opportunity for excursions and adventure.

The hills from afar are covered with inviting greenery. And the attraction to spend a few days in the midst of forests and jungle streams during the Puja season has grown so much that tents have had to be set up near the hotels and lodges to accommodate the growing number of tourists. The publicity posters that at one time used to be put up during winter inviting people for bus journeys to places like Digha, Mukutmanipur and Ayodhya Hills were absent towards the end of the Left regime. But they are now back, and not only during winter but all year round. Most hotels and lodges at the hills are booked up to March!

Peace has been restored with the help of the administration. With peace comes development and progress. This has been proved at Ayodhya. At one time, the livelihood of the locals was based mainly on jungle produce, like wood and leaves. Now, with new lodges coming up and the repair of Government establishments, employment and opportunities have grown.

Shops and eateries that stay open through the year have come up, catering to the constant flow of tourists.The Government-operated Niharika Lodge had at one time become a desolate “haunted house”, thanks to the Maoist terror activities. Now, all the rooms are full, accommodating up to 150 tourists.

The villages in the hills, surrounded by jungles and forests, had at one time become the havens for Maoists. There were 76 villages that were remote and backward. Today, all these villages are accessible not only to tourists but progress and development as well.

Source: Bartaman

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The work started soon after the Bishorjon Carnival ended on the night of October 23. Around one-and-a-half hours after the festivities ended, workers of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and State Public Works Department (PWD) started the clean-up drive of Red Road.

The KMC had employed around 200 workers for the purpose, and oversaw the entire work. Kolkata Police provided adequate security to the workers.

Working in a systematic manner, the work was completed overnight. It was a spick-and-span Red Road that greeted people the next morning. All the garbage was disposed off in a proper manner. The huge stage and related paraphernalia were also removed and transported away atop lorries.

The government and the local administration have made a name for themselves in this respect. Be it the Brigade Parade Ground after the grand meetings that Trinamool organises every year or the Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirangan (Salt Lake Stadium) and its surroundings after every match of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup last year or the Kolkata Book Fair venues, people have been very impressed with the efficient manner in which places are cleaned up after large gatherings.

Source: Khabar 365 Din

The Mamata Banerjee led Bangla government has increased the limit of benefit under Swasthya Sathi scheme from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. This comes as a major initiative of the state government as it is going to benefit lakhs of people from different walks of life.

As per a notification issued by the state Finance Department on October 4, “…the basic health cover for secondary and tertiary care (including critical illness) shall be up to Rs 5 lakh per family per annum, for all cases under Swasthya Sathi”.

Swasthya Sathi, a comprehensive group health insurance scheme introduced by the state government on February 25 in 2016, is being implemented by the department of Health and Family Welfare. After evaluating the performance of the scheme, the matter of raising the financial limit for basic health cover for secondary and tertiary care from the existing limit of Rs 1.5 lakh per family per annum, has been under active consideration of the state government to further reduce the burden of the beneficiaries. As a result, steps were taken to increase the amount for the same to Rs 5 lakh.

It may be mentioned that the Mamata Banerjee government has brought retired sports personalities, one lakh cable TV operators, television artistes, civic volunteers and ICDS and ASHA workers under the scheme.

More than 95 per cent of the students studying in Class IX in State-run, aided and sponsored schools, have received cycles under the Sabuj Sathi Scheme. Under the scheme, a pet project of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, students of classes IX, X, XI and XII are provided cycles free of cost in order to continue their education.

As of March 2018, the total number of students given cycles is 70 lakh. Bangla happens to be the only State where so many cycles have been distributed among students free of cost to promote education.

The State Government has spent Rs 2,300 crore for the scheme so far, implemented by the Backward Classes Welfare Department. The department has also provided training and given repairing kits to unemployed youths belonging to SC and ST communities to look after the cycles. The maintenance of the cycles for one year will be done by the BCW. The cycles are fitted with reflectors for safe cycling at night.

The first batch of cycles was distributed by Mamata Banerjee on October 23, 2015, at a function in Gopiballavpur-II block, now part of Jhargram district.

A preliminary report on the survey of the project’s social impact has stated that it has helped build confidence among girls of rural areas and has been successful in bringing down the number of school dropouts. It has also stopped early marriage of girls.

Source: Millennium Post

At the recently-held business summit, Synergy Jangalmahal 2018, in Bankura, entrepreneurs have given proposal for a total investment of Rs 1,000 crore.

The summit was attended by about 500 entrepreneurs from the districts of Bankura, Purulia, Paschim Medinipur and Jhargram.

According to an official of the district industries centre of Bankura, proposals for investment came in the areas of rice mills, flour mills, poultry farms, engineering activities, cement, gas supply, etc.

The summit was organised by the State Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Department. It is the result of a proposal given by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the Synergy MSME summit in July, where she suggested holding zone-wise business summits for small-scale entrepreneurs.

Source: Aajkaal

As part of the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises and Textiles (MSME&T) Department’s programme of regular video conferences with entrepreneurs in various districts, the top brass of the department held such a meet with entrepreneurs and business houses in North 24-Parganas on October 1.

There are various issues that need to be taken care of while initiating startups, and these single-window video conferences provide a platform for finding solutions to any problem that entrepreneurs may face.

Similar video conferences have been held in some other districts as well. The MSME&T Department’s officials conduct the meetings from the State secretariat, Nabanna.

As many as 19 organisations of businessmen from North 24-Parganas have already been brought under the ambit of the district chamber of commerce. The members of the chamber have expressed their happiness after the video conference.

Source: Millennium Post