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The State Government has made plans to help farmers in taking up cultivation of pulses, oilseeds and mustard in 196 mouzas of Bankura district, where paddy cultivation has suffered due to inadequate rainfall.

Officials of the State Agriculture Department and district officials have identified areas located close to waterbodies for smooth cultivation of the crops.

The farmers are also being encouraged to cultivate different varieties of leaf vegetables (shak) like palang and others, which can be grown using less water and also at a rapid pace, and varieties of shak are very much in demand during winter.

The government is distributing seeds among the affected farmers and also providing necessary advice for cultivation. Fertilisers are also being made available.

Necessary instructions have been given to the concerned officers at the district level to arrange for power connections for submersible and mini-pumps that will be used to channel water from the waterbodies into the agricultural fields.

Source: Millennium Post

The police in Bangla have had steady success in fighting cybercrime. This year too, the prestigious DSCI Excellence Award for Cyber Security Education, popularly known as the India Cybercop Award, has been won by officers and organisations from the State. The awards were presented at a ceremony on December 5.

A cybercrime investigator from the Cybercrime Police Station of Kolkata Police (KP) has won the award for individual excellence, the ‘India Cyber Cop of the Year’ award. Another police officer from Bangla, from the detective department of Barrackpore Police Commissionerate, was one of the three finalists.

For the ‘Excellence in Capacity Building of Law Enforcement Agencies’ award, Kolkata Police was one of the three finalists.

There is extremely tough competition for these awards, as police officers and organisations from across the country, including from the CBI and NIA, take part. The juries comprise of some of the best police officers and advocates from the country.

A range of factors are considered for giving the awards, including what impact a particular crime has had on society and the importance of the investigation for the security of the country. Also considered are whether the perpetrators have been awarded and whether the case has gone to court.

Bangla has had a good history at the DSCI Excellence Award. For the India Cyber Cop of the Year award, a KP officer was the winner in 2014 and officers from the CID (West Bengal Police) and KP were finalists in 2017 and 2013, respectively. In the category of best law enforcement agency, Kolkata Police was a finalist in 2017 and 2015. The awards were instituted in 2011.

Webel, the government agency responsible for technology development in the State, has been given the responsibility of setting up an institute on 3D printing on behalf of the State Information Technology & Electronics (IT&E) Department. Webel already has a state-of-the-art animation academy.

This was announced by the additional chief secretary of the IT&E Department of the on the sidelines of Edtech 2018 summit in Kolkata recently. He said that this is in pursuance of the State Government’s aim to make Bengal a centre for animation, 3D printing and emerging technologies like blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), embedded technology, cyber security, etc.

The proposed 3D printing academy will not only train people but also provide assistance in taking up business ventures on this, said a senior official of the IT&E Department.

The IT&E Department will soon hold a meeting with the State School Education Department and place a proposal to encourage students to learn programming from the school level.

Source: Millennium Post

About 4 lakh people in Bengal are associated with fishery for their livelihoods. The State Government has decided to introduce life-support boats for the benefit of coastal fishermen, for rescuing them during storms, accidents or any other incidents.

This was recently announced by the State Fisheries Minister. He also said that a new set of rules would be brought into force to enable the setting up of the system.

Along with buying the specialised boats, space would be made at various ports to store them. These boats are built in a way to quickly reach people stuck at sea.

Source: Ei Samay

The State Government has decided to introduce rock climbing training as a part of extra-curricular activities for students from class V to VIII.

There are many boys and girls who are adventure-loving but lack the facilities and/or time for proper training. They are often inspired by seeing such activities on television or on internet.

Including rock climbing in the syllabus would make it much easier for such students to acquire the required training.

Rock climbing is, in fact, a life skill. It has the capacity to give people confidence and courage, and keep them physically active. The course to be introduced would also give students the training to rescue people.

Other courses to be introduced as extra-curricular subjects at the school level are script-writing for plays, acting, news editing, etc.

Source: Bartaman

The State is going about at a rapid pace with the development of government libraries. This was apparent from the detailed reply given by the Library Services Minister to a question asked in the Assembly on November 22.

He said that the government has allotted Rs 6 crore in financial year (FY) 2018-19 for the infrastructural and book-related development of 2,000 rural libraries. This is double the amount allotted in FY 2017-18, which was Rs 3.2 crore, for 1,455 rural libraries.

As many as 34,000 rare books have been digitised. The work of digitisation of books at the district level is also getting executed with equal responsibility.

In the current financial year, he said, books worth Rs 11.43 lakh were bought for different libraries. At the same time, steps have been taken to fill up the vacant posts of librarians.

It may be mentioned that the condition of libraries in the State has improved a lot in the past seven years, when the Trinamool Congress has been in power. The minister informed the Assembly that the budget of the Library Department has gone up from Rs 14.88 crore in 2010-11 to Rs 50 crore in 2018-19.

Source: Millennium Post

Bangla Government has allocated Rs 3,000 crore to the Nijashree Scheme. Under this scheme, State Government-constructed residential units will be provided to low and middle-income groups.

There are two types of flats as part of the scheme – 1 BHK and 2 BHK. The price, area and application fee are Rs 7.2 lakh, 378 square ft (sq ft) and Rs 2,500, respectively for the former and Rs 9.28 lakh, 559 sq ft and Rs 5,000, respectively for the latter.

To apply for a 1 BHK flat, the maximum monthly family income should be Rs 15,000 and for a 2 BHK flat, Rs 30,000. The flats would be allotted through a lottery system. The application fee for the former is Rs 2,500 and for the latter, Rs 5,000.

The Housing Department would be constructing the flats, in places across the State. The initial allotment of Rs 3,000 crore is being provided by Asian Development Bank.

Besides Nijashree, the Bengal Government also runs other housing schemes, among them Gitanjai (for rural residents) and Banglar Bari (constructed by municipal bodies for the homeless).

After the State Police Services, the Fire and Emergency Services Department employees are also getting a welfare board of their own.

The State Government has decided to set up West Bengal Fire and Emergency Services Welfare Board. This was announced by the State Fire Minister after the cabinet meeting at Nabanna on November 30.

The board will be recommending work that needs to be carried out to put forth better facilities for the employees of the department.

The minister said that firefighters work day and night and most importantly they risk their lives to save others; hence, the government has decided to set up of the welfare board.

Besides the central-level welfare board, there will be separate boards for the districts. The director general of Fire Services will be the chairman of the board, with maintenance superintendents, station officers, chief mobilisation officers, fire operators and drivers of fire tenders as members.

The Bangla Government has decided to take up a scheme of specially distributing nutritious food to the Sabar and Lodha communities through the public distribution system (PDS), that is, ration stores.

Besides rice and wheat at Rs 2 per kg each, they will also be able to buy pulses and soybean at reduced prices. The Food and Supplies Department will also ensure that the quality of the food distributed through the PDS remains high.

According to senior officials at Nabanna, teams will very soon start visiting areas populated by the two communities to take stock of their situation in all respects. Depending on their reports, the government will take up programmes to raise the standard of their lives.

It has also been decided to open special health camps.

Source: Ei Samay

In a move aimed at bringing huge relief to the farmers of Bengal, the State Government has decided to make available to farmers machines for setting up micro-irrigation facilities (that is, sprinkler machines) by just paying the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

The sprinkler machines being distributed, called rainguns, cost Rs 31,000 each, and carry a GST of Rs 4,050.

With the State Government bearing 55 per cent of its cost under the Bangla Krishi Sech Yojana and the remaining 45 per cent being given through other agriculture schemes, farmers need to pay nothing to buy the machines apart from the GST.

A raingun ensures better irrigation across 100 bighas of land, compared to 40 bighas by a submersible pump.

Besides ensuring a proper mechanism for systematic micro-irrigation, the State Agriculture Minister will also be visiting the districts that recorded unusual rainfall, from December 8 to 28.

Source: Millennium Post