Bangla-UK pact to improve air quality

Bangla-UK pact to improve air quality

Posted on February 14, 2019 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

In a significant step towards reducing carbon emissions to tackle the air quality issue in Kolkata, the State Environment Department has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the UK’s University of Strathclyde Institute for Future Cities (USIFC).

The MoU was signed at the just-concluded Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS) where over 4,000 delegates from India and 35 other countries attended. One of the biggest delegations came from the UK.

The UFISC has worked in Glasgow and numerous other European cities to tackle pollution problems. This will be the first time they will be working in India, and it will begin with a five-year plan for Kolkata.

As per the director of UFISC, the main objective of the MoU is to identify appropriate and affordable solutions for enhanced monitoring of Kolkata’s air quality and developing strategies for improving standards via clean and green alternatives.

A team from UFISC will be visiting Kolkata to map out the issues. The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) and the Calcutta University will be acting as partners in the initiative.

Source: Millennium Post

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Bangla Govt signs pact with TERI for ensuring energy security

Posted on February 14, 2019 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The State Power and Non-Conventional Energy Sources Department has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) to ensure energy security of the State through reforming the power sector.

The agreement was signed at the Bengal Global Business Summit 2019. The stress of the agreement is on developing non-conventional energy like solar energy and related aspects like grids, batteries for storage, etc.

Zones of collaboration would include renewable energy planning, technical studies including grid integration studies, energy storage, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, distribution-side reforms and demand-side management (DSM), energy efficiency, integrated energy demand and supply projections, and working on innovative solutions (smart grids, agro-voltaics, floating solar PV, etc.).

The partnership will provide technical support and assistance to Bangla by engaging with the West Bengal State Electricity Board (WBSEB) and other bodies under the Power Department via grid integration studies.

The results of studies and planned activities will aid in the facilitation of smooth uptake of cleaner and greener power in the State’s electricity grid and rising integration of renewable energy and electric vehicles.

Source: Millennium Post

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Polish tech support for huge Deocha Pachami coal block

Posted on February 14, 2019 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The Deocha Pachami coal block in Birbhum district, the largest in Asia, is set to get technical support from mining experts in Poland.

The State Power Minister recently said that Polish experts have assured to remove all operational hurdles that might come in the way of mining the black gold.

He said that Polish experts would study the coal blocks’ overburden, or the outer surface covering the coal seams, which is 500 metres on an average in the case of Deocha Pachami. This needs to be drilled through to get at the coal, which is not an easy task.

The meeting between the State Government and the high-level Polish delegation took place at the recently-held Bengal Global Business Summit, which saw a record Rs 2.84 lakh crore in investment proposals.

Bangla is the sole allottee of Deocha Pachami, which has an estimated reserve of 2.1 billion tones.

Source: Millennium Post

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PepsiCo plans new snacks line in Bangla

Posted on February 14, 2019 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

PepsiCo India is planning to expand its operations in Bangla by setting up a new production line at its state-of-the-art snacks manufacturing facility. This is among the several investment proposals that were announced at the Bengal Global Business Summit 2019.

This plan has the potential to generate over 300 additional employment opportunities in Bangla. The company has also said through a press release on Thursday, February 7 that it plans to increase the sourcing of potatoes from Bangla by 50 per cent.

Moreover, a delegate representing Coca-Cola announced that the multinational plans to invest Rs 500 crore in Siliguri, which will further rejuvenate the industry scenario in north Bengal.

Source: Millennium Post

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Keventer Group signs MoU with State Govt

Posted on February 14, 2019 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The Bangla-based Keventer Group, one of the biggest food companies in the country, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the State Food Processing Industries and Horticulture Department, with regard to cultivation of organic banana in the districts of Nadia and Murshidabad.

Through the MoU, employment opportunities will open up for 6,000 farmers directly and indirectly for 40,000 people.

The project is worth about Rs 23.5 crore in total. The State Government will invest about Rs 9.5 crore, the Keventer Group will invest Rs 4.58 crore and Rs 9.33 crore will be invested by the 6,000 farmers to be directly linked to the project.

Keventer will provide adequate training to the farmers on growing the crop, and also the saplings and machinery for cultivation and other infrastructure. The government will provide subsidy to the farmers. It will also ensure that the proper methods are being followed for the growing of organic banana.

All of the banana cultivated would be bought by Keventer, hence there is no possibility of any loss for the farmers. Keventer will also process the bananas for making them market-ready, which will include adopting proper preservation techniques.

Source: Khabar 365 Din

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Ready to lay down my life for the country: Mamata Banerjee

Posted on February 13, 2019 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Bangla Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today addressed the ‘Tanashahi Hatao, Desh Bachao’ Satyagraha at Jantar Mantar, organised by the Aam Aadmi Party.

In her speech she called Narendra Modi and Amit Shah “two Gabbars” and said she was not afraid of their intimidation tactics. She also said that she was ready to lay down her life to save the country.

Earlier in the day, Mamata Banerjee had visited the Parliament. There she prayed in front of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi to save the Indian Constitution and Indian Democracy.

Highlights of the Chief Minister’s speech:

We will organise a bigger meeting at Ramlila Maidan after Modi is defeated.

Several leaders have already spoken. I will not repeat what they said.

Today was the last day of Parliament. In a few days elections will be declared and model code of conduct will come into effect. Their expiry date is over. Then he will not be able to do what he pleases.

They can scare us, beat us up, burn our houses, cause riots, sell the country only for 20 days. Jo darte hain, woh marte hain. Jo ladte hain, woh jeet te hain. Hum ladna jante hain.

What will you do? Send me to jail? Murder me? Send agencies? How many jails do you have?

I want to quote Subramanian Swamy. He tweeted that two media channels are in BJP’s pockets. I am not saying this. A BJP MP is saying this.

From RBI to CBI, all the institutions have been destroyed. They are arm-twisting the media into silence. Even your money is not safe in banks.

Everyone is under surveillance. Opposition leaders, even officials and their own party leaders are under surveillance.

A police officer was murdered in Uttar Pradesh. What happened to the investing officer in the Ishrat case?

They are threatening to take away the medals of our police officers. Departmental inquiry… How many medals have you given? All officers will return their medals if even one of the officiers is touched.

They had the audacity to send the CBI to Kolkata police commissioner’s home. I have not seen a government which has stooped so low. Modi is like an eclipse for the nation.

What does he think? He is the only saint and rest of us are thieves?

They prevented Akhilesh from going to a meeting. They sent the agencies after Akhilesh and Mayawati announced an alliance.

Whichever party is strong, should contest against the BJP in their respective States. In Bengal, we are strong, in Andhra, Chandrababu Naidu is strong. In Delhi, Aam Aadmi Party is strong. In Uttar Pradesh, SP-BSP and RLD are strong.

I support Farooq Abdullah when he says that sometimes we need to make some sacrifices for a greater cause.

Let Congress fight the BJP in Rajasthan, MP or Chhattisgarh. We are habituated in fighting against the BJP, Congress and CPI(M). They fight unitedly against us. Even if we go for an understanding, they won’t transfer votes. It doesn’t matter. We will win 42/42 seats.

BJP has a lot of money power. How much money do they spend on a single meeting of Narendra Modi? They lure people with freebies like bikes and mobile phones.

They have built a party headquarter which resembles a shopping mall. And they will lecture us on democracy? We have tolerated enough.

From the media to the youth, industrialists to the farmers – everyone is being terrorised.

Narendra Modi and Amit Shah are two Gabbars. They have blood on their hands. They are ruling the country. What a travesty.

Coffin waits for me, I don’t wait for coffin. CBI can come to my house. Let me know, I will have a meal waiting for you.

For the interest of the nation, I am ready to sacrifice my life. We are not afraid. We will fight. Let us make a united India

Democracy has become NaMocracy now. He will not give a penny to States but is sending letters claiming credit for schemes.

They are altering history, changing names. This is worse than emergency.

Even Gujarat will reject Modi in the future. Mahatma Gandhi is also from Gujarat. He was a true leader. Modi is neither leader nor ladder. Even Ravana had 56 inch chest.

Modi hatao, Desh Bachao. BJP hatao, Desh bachao.

Ekta bachao, BJP hatao. Naujawan bachao, BJP hatao. Kisan bachao, Modi hatao.

Mamata Banerjee lays the foundation stone for Gorkha Welfare Centre in New Delhi

Posted on February 13, 2019 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurated the Gorkha Welfare Centre in New Delhi today.

Highlights of her speech:

I am very happy today because a Gorkha Welfare Centre is being set up in the national capital for all my Gorkha brothers and sisters from the Hills. On this occasion I would like to congratulate the GTA, all residents of Darjeeling as well as all my Gorkha brothers and sisters across the globe.

This is the first time a Welfare Centre is being built for the Gorkhas in the national capital. All my brothers and sisters from the hills are educated and talented; while they live in different parts of the country to earn a living, this Centre will provide a place for their residence outside the state. Those who come to Delhi for education or for medical treatment or for work, can stay at this Centre. This is the first time that they are getting their own ‘Bhavan’.

85 per cent of this Centre will be used for residential purpose while the remaining 15 per cent will be used for institutional purpose.

A few days back we inaugurated a similar Centre in Siliguri’s Matigara, which the people of Hills can use as residence during matters of urgency or for work purposes in the plains. Kolkata too has a similar Gorkha Bhavan.

I would like to congratulate the GTA because the Centre is the result of their continuous pursuance. In the future, this Centre will prove to be highly useful.

The Centre will contain 32 rooms and will come up at a cost of Rs 20 crore. Moreover, the Centre will also house a conference hall, a library, a help desk and reception. Anyone coming to Delhi can avail any assistance at this Centre.

My best wishes to all of you on this historic day.

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Sudip Bandyopadhyay’s concluding speech in 16th Lok Sabha on behalf of All India Trinamool Congress

Posted on February 13, 2019 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Madam, on behalf of my party, All India Trinamool Congress Parliamentary Party, I rise to speak to express our hearty gratitude to you from the core of our hearts. The 16th Lok Sabha was full of excitement, tensions, anxieties, agitations, few good quality speeches, few unwanted, untimely un-expected economic decisions and many other activities brought life to the house.

Madam, sometimes you were successful to bring the situation under control and sometimes you could not, but your patience is remarkable and heartily praiseworthy.

In parliamentary democracy I always express my view – when you convene the meetings of all-party leaders – that the House belongs to the Opposition. But in this House we couldn’t feel this vibe because government of the ruling party with their majority, their brute majority actually, tried to gag the voice of the Opposition many times. But you stood up and you gave the opportunity in many occasions that Opposition had to be taken care of.

So we express our gratitude, Madam. I’m personally grateful to you. When I was sent to jail during the 2016 Winter Session in Parliament, during the demonetisation period when I took a major lead and Parliament could not be held for a day. You were the only person who talked with my wife. I have no other family; we are a two-member family. And you enquired about my health condition which was very badly affected. God has saved me from a serious and dangerous condition.

So, Madam I wholeheartedly feel that I don’t know what will happen after the election, whether they will come to this side or we will go to that side – we have an expectation that we will go that side. So, naturally we will miss you that time. I will also be interested to know from you personally that whether you will be contesting again in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

I always want that you stay with good health. Long live Sumitra Mahajan – this is my prayer to God that our personal attachment, which we set up, I am of the opinion that it will hopefully continue. Thank you.

Sugata Bose speaks on The Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial (Amendment) Bill, 2018

Posted on February 13, 2019 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Deputy Speaker Sir, I rise today to speak as a historian, a humble ordinary citizen of India. We have to rise above party in order to honour the martyrs of Jallianwala Bagh, the innocent men, women and children who were gunned down in Amritsar nearly a hundred years ago, on April 13, 1919.

Of course, General Reginald Dyer’s order, which was obeyed by the soldiers who had their fingers on the triggers, but there was also a British governor, Michael O’Dwyer, who was holding festivities in Lahore in preparation for his departure from India. Curfew was imposed, crawling orders were given; there was a place in Gujranwala that was strafed from the air. What we did to remember today is that the blood of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs mingled in the earth of Jallianwala Bagh and that is the unity of all religious communities that we must strive for today.

Who were the leaders of Punjab who were leading the movement, the ‘satyagraha’, in 1919? On the one hand, there was Dr Satyapal, on the other hand, there was Dr Saifuddin Kitchlew, and the committee that had been established by the Indian National Congress was chaired by none other than Madan Mohan Malviya, and it included Motilal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi.

And we know that our great poet, Rabindranath Tagore renounced his knighthood when he heard of this awful tragedy. He did not choose to wear any badge of honour given by the satanic government, the British Government of 1919. The ‘satyagraha’ that was being conducted was a campaign against the lawless law, the Rowlatt Act, which would have enabled the British to hold Indians imprisoned without charge, without trial in peacetime. They were trying to have wartime ordinances turned into a peacetime legislation. The people of India resisted, and the Amritsar massacre marked the final psychological alienation between the British colonisers and the Indian people who had been colonised.

I would also like to add that there was an aftermath of the great Amritsar tragedy; our revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh and Udham Singh were products of the tragedy that took place on the April 13, 1919. Ten years after 1919, Bhagat Singh and his comrades were in Lahore Jail and there was a hunger strike by political prisoners and the British tried in the central legislative assembly here to pass this law, they tried to say that these prisoners would be tried in absentia because they could not be brought to court.

Our great nationalist leaders of the time opposed that move resolutely. As someone from Bengal I would like to mention that of the hunger striking prisoners Jatin Das died after two months – 64 days as Saugata Babu has been saying – of being on fast. When now when the body of Jatin Das was brought from Lahore to Kolkata, it was none other than Subhas Chandra Bose who presided over the funeral and he came back to his home with the asthi of Jatin Das and asked his sister in law Bibhabati to preserve these immortal remains of our great revolutionary with care.

Finally Deputy Speaker Sir, I would also like to mention another historical fact. In 1943, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose travelled in a submarine from Europe to Asia. He started his journey on the February 8/9, 1943 and since he would be on the submarine for nearly three months, he had left a recorded broadcast that went on air April 13, 1943 in order to pay tribute to the martyrs of the Amritsar massacre.

So, I would appeal to this Government that please do not bring a divisive Bill on this particular issue. Let us all join together and unitedly honour the memory of those who fell a hundred years ago on April 13, 1919. Let us leave all parliamentary bickering behind us and let us all together say that we will strive for the unity of all of the religious communities of India and let is bow our heads in memory of the martyrs of the Amritsar tragedy. Jai Hind.

Sudip Bandyopadhyay speaks on The Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill, 2018

Posted on February 13, 2019 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

FULL TRANSCRIPT

Madam, we already supported the Bill. We had some observation regarding the Bill, which we have already shared. The question is, few such funds by names Sahara and PCPL are not being duly investigated. This must be taken care of.

Secondly, Madam, the West Bengal Government led by Mamata Banerjee had already passed a stronger Bill than this one, and that has been forwarded here. I hope that Bill, passed by Mamata Banerjee, will be taken for consideration also.

Madam, I want to propose to the Government, why is the term ‘chit fund’ being used? Why allow the word itself? Why should any fund be recognised as a chit fund? Why should the government not declare that the name ‘chit fund’ itself is banned? These funds do not say they are chit funds; they come as regular businesses, nobody can detect that they have chit fund business.

Chit funds should be nipped in the bud; they must be removed from the base. The name should be abolished and they should not be allowed to conduct business.