Tag: All India Trinamool Congress

Bangla Govt planning to construct a skywalk at Kalighat

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The State Government is planning to construct a skywalk at Kalighat to decongest the temple area. The planning is on in full swing. The Kalighat skywalk, when complete, will facilitate the movement of devotees to the Kalighat Temple.

The project was announced by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee while inaugurating the Dakshineswar skywalk. A team of engineers from Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) recently visited the temple premises for the purpose.

The skywalk would be 450 metres long, and would connect Kalighat metro station on SP Mukherjee Road to the Kalighat Temple. There will be escalator facilities for climbing up to the skywalk.

The State Government will be allocating Rs 125 crore for the construction of the skywalk.

Thousands of devotees visit the temple on a daily basis. During Kali Puja and the Bengali New Year, the footfall increases threefold.

Source: Millennium Post

‘Ahare Bangla’ 2018 kicks off today

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Ahare Bangla, the annual food festival organised by Bangla Government, is going to be organised from November 20 to 25 at the Newtwn Mela Ground.

The ‘Bangiyo Khadya Utsav’, or ‘Bengali Food Festival’, as the official byline of the festival goes, becomes a magnet for gourmets form across Kolkata and its suburbs for these few days.

The week-long food extravaganza also has an Android app of its own.

Food will be served from 6 PM to 9 PM on November 20, and from 12 noon to 9 PM from November 21 to 25. Lunch will be from 12 noon to 3 PM, snacks from 3 PM to 6 PM and dinner from 6 PM to 9 PM.

Organised by the Bengal Government’s Animal Resources Development, Ahare Bangla has become immensely popular over the years. This year more people are expected, and so the festival is being organised in an area having a dining capacity of approximately 800 people at a time.

Another crucial fact about the festival is that the restaurateurs have to source their ingredients from government organisations (as selected by the festival authority). This is part of the State Government’s efforts to promote its various wings.

Newborn care – Bangla shows the way

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Newborn Care Week starts today in India. Since coming to power in 2011, the Trinamool Congress Government has started several schemes for the welfare of newborns and infants. Infant mortality rate has reduced considerably, institutional delivery has reached almost 100 percent.

Let us take a look at the achievements in the sphere of newborns and infant care:

Institutional delivery: Institutional delivery has increased from 65 per cent in financial year (FY) 2010-11 to 96 per cent in 2017-18.

100% vaccination: Vaccination coverage in 2017-18 has reached 94 per cent.

Maternal mortality rate (MMR): Maternal mortality rate down from 145 (for every 1 lakh of population) in 2007-08 to 112, when the national average is 167.

Infant mortality rate (IMR): infant mortality rate has come down from 32 in 2010 to 25, when the national average is 34.

Sick newborn stabilisation units (SNSU): From none in 2011, there are 307 at present.

Sick neonatal care units (SNCU): From six in 2011, there are 68 at present, with an additional 2,217 beds for providing specialised care to newborns. These have helped significantly to reduce neonatal and infant mortality. Two more SNCUs at Contai SDH and Srirampur SSH will be functional by the end of this year.

Among all the States, Bangla has the highest number of sick neonatal care units and beds.

Mother and Child Hubs: Out of 16 Mother & Child Hubs, 7 units with state-of-the-art facilities have become operational.

Comprehensive upgrade of delivery points: A comprehensive upgrade of infrastructure for maternal, newborn and paediatric services has been undertaken at a cost of Rs 132 crore, which includes labour rooms, labour OTs, maternity wards, neonatal wards, paediatric wards and other service support areas at all health facilities, from primary healthcare centres to subdivisional hospitals.

There are 302 labour rooms, 389 OTs, 1,075 toilet blocks and 975 drinking water facilities are being set up as part of this project. In addition, upgrading of 68 hospitals with delivery load of more than 3,000 per annum are being upgraded, out of which 38 have been upgraded and the rest are under progress.

Human Milk Bank: ‘Madhursneha’, the first human milk bank in eastern India has been set up at SSKM Hospital. In 2017, 1,554 newborns admitted in the SNCU/NICU received pasteurised milk from the milk bank.

Sishu Sathi: It provides provide free-of-cost surgery to children (upto the age of 18 years) for treatment of congenital cardiac diseases, cleft lip/palate and club foot. Since inception, more than 13,000 children have benefitted from this programme. As part of this programme, health camps are conducted at government schools.

Nutritional Rehabilitation Centre (NRC): To provide treatment to severely malnourished children and to educate families on nutrition, 51 NRCs have been established in different districts in last seven years.

Matri Yan: The existing Nischay Yan services for pregnant mothers and infants have been supplemented with a 24×7 emergency transportation service through toll-free centralised call centre, whose number is 102, to provide free transport from home to healthcare facility, referral to higher facility and drop back home for every pregnant mother and infant in the State.

It was launched by Chief Minister in December 2017 with the launch of around 1,000 ambulances having basic life support systems besides a driver and an attendant.

100 Days’ Work Scheme – Boon for women of Nandigram

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The 100 Days’ Work Scheme (formally, MGNREGS) has opened up new vistas in empowerment for the women of Nandigram. Now they are providing equally in running households.

This year, the number of women registered under MGNREGS in Nadigram-1 block is the highest of all years. Seventy-five per cent of the workforce now comprises of women.

This financial year, till now, per capita, the people of the block have managed to reach 40 per cent of the target for person days. Nearly 1400 people work under 100 Days’ Work scheme in Manuchowk Sangsad of Bhektuiya Panchayat, majority of whom are women. They are involved in construction of river embankments and ponds.

Women have been provided with saplings of trees; poultries have been set up for them to rear hens and ducks. These will open up new avenues of their income. Coupled with 100 Days’ work, these initiatives are helping in empowering women in rural Bangla.

National-level study lauds Kanyashree’s role in reducing domestic violence on women

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A recent national-level study conducted jointly by researchers from the Indian Institute of Management, Indore and Shiv Nadar University has appreciated the role played by the Bangla Government’s Kanyashree Scheme in reducing a young woman’s chances of being subjected to domestic violence.

The study delves into the causal link between early marriage and exposure to domestic violence, and underlines the importance of policies to tackle child marriage by incentivising families to continue girls’ education and delay their marriage.

In this respect, schemes like Kanyashree Prakalpa have been found to be highly effective. Kanyashree uses economic (conditional cash transfer), social and awareness-building methods to sensitise communities on the benefits of delayed marriage.

The effectiveness of Kanyashree, a brainchild of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has been endorsed time and again, at both the international and national levels. In 2017, the scheme has been awarded the United Nations Public Service Award in the category of ‘Reaching the Poorest and Most Vulnerable through Inclusive Services and Participation’.

It also won the following honours:

  • United Nations WSIS Award 2016 in the category of ‘E-Government’
  • SKOCH Award for Smart Governance and SKOCH Award of Merit for 2015
  • Women’s Empowerment Award from the Bengal Government for 2014
  • CSI Nihilent Award for E-Governance for 2014-15, and
  • Manthan Award for Digital Inclusion for Development (South Asia and Asia Pacific) for 2014-15
  • Currently, there are approximately 52.3 lakh recipients of the monetary benefits under Kanyashree (as on Nov 9, 2018).

The State Government celebrates Kanyashree Dibas on August 14, as a day dedicated to the empowerment of the girl child. No other government in Bangla has done so much work for the girl child as the Trinamool Congress Government.

KIFF 2018 to highlight 100 years of Bengali cinema

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The Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) is going to be inaugurated today. Like every year, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is scheduled to do the honours. The festival will continue till November 17.

This year will be the 24th year of the festival, which has grown hugely over the last few years of the Trinamool Congress Government. The chief minister takes a personal interest in this annual international programme.

The special attraction this year is 100 years of Bengali cinema. The theme country is Australia.

That the festival is gaining a name for itself in the world of international film festival is attested by the fact that increasingly prominent film personalities from around the world are attending the festival.

The highlight of 100 years of Bengali cinema would be films by legends like Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen. A special pavilion of film-related pictures and posters, highlighting the rich history of cinema in Bengal, would also be created.

This year, the famous Iranian director, Majid Majidi would be coming and would also be attending the inauguration programme. Australian film editor Jill Elizabeth Bilcock, of Romeo+Juliet and Moulin Rouge fame, would be present. Also attending the festival would be director Phillip Noyce, also from Australia.

Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan will grace the inauguration programme this year too, along with the State’s brand ambassador, Shah Rukh Khan, as well as Sanjay Dutt, Sharmila Tagore and Mahesh Bhatt.

According to a senior government official, this year more number of films would be screened.

Source: Bartaman

KIFF now a true mass festival

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There was a time when the Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) was known as an ‘intellectual’ event.

Mamata Banerjee changed things completely when she became chief minister. The mass leader that she was, she made KIFF an event for the masses but without compromising on quality. Varieties of films began to be shown – entertaining, middle-of-the-road, as well as of a higher order.

Mamata Banerjee brought the inauguration ceremony (which includes the inaugural film) to the Netaji Indoor Stadium – a 10,000-seater stadium.

Guests invited to the film festival acquired a much wider variety too. Popular film stars began to be invited, including to the inauguration and conclusion ceremonies. The participation of the local Tollywood film industry is now specially sought.

Another aspect of mass participation is ‘Parae Parae Cinema’ – wherein film shows are held on mobile vans in localities across Kolkata. It was introduced at the 2016 edition.

To increase and improve the quality of the participating films, a competition section was introduced. The Golden Royal Bengal Tiger Award was originally given to the best film by a woman director. From 2018, the competition section has been opened to all. To add to the interest this year, two Bengali films have been included to the competition section for the best international film.

This year, people of not just Kolkata but surrounding places too would be able to enjoy the best of international cinema, as PVR Avani (Riverside Mall) In Howrah and PVR Diamond City (Diamond City Mall) in Dum Dum have been added to the list of cinemas participating in the film festival. The number of show venues has also been increased to 16 this year.

The number of films is also increasing year by year. The 24th edition has 170 films from about 70 countries.

Last but not the least is the aspect of food. Kolkata is synonymous with love for good food. Now, the Nandan-Rabindra Sadan complex hosts several stalls set by well-known restaurants and food chains during the duration of the festival, and they are invariably chock-a-block.

Kolkata International Film Festival is now truly a mass event. Every year now, people wait eagerly for November 10 and bid a sad goodbye on November 17, looking forward to another beautiful bouquet of films the next year.

Here are 10 major points that Mamata Banerjee has made against demonetisation

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1. While we are strongly against black money and corruption, we are deeply concerned about the common people, the small traders. How will they buy essentials tomorrow? This is financial chaos, disaster let loose on the common people of India. He (the Prime Minister) could not get back the promised black money from abroad, hence so much drama.

2. We want to know from the Prime Minister how our poorest brothers and sisters, who’ve received their week’s hard-earned wages in one Rs 500 notes, will buy atta, rice, etc. tomorrow. This is a heartless and ill-conceived blow to the common people, middle class, agricultural cooperatives, tea garden workers, unorganised labour sector, shopkeepers, farmers and small businesses. All will suffer. There will be deaths due to starvation.

3. Trinamool means ‘grassroots’. Trinamool Congress is the voice of the people. More than 150 people have died. Lives have been ruined irrespective of caste, community and creed. This is not merely an inconvenience, this is the killing of the economy.

4. During a year, the three months from December to February are the most productive time for construction and development projects. Now everything is shut, progress is halted. The tea garden and jute mill workers are not receiving their salaries and are in distress. The transport sector has been hit.

5. The Centre has given exemption from demonetisation to all its sectors – railways, transport, petroleum – but the State Government-controlled agricultural cooperatives have not been permitted to exchange currency. This is not federalism; states have shut down.

6. Trinamool Congress raised the issue of black money in Parliament in 1998. Trinamool MPs staged a demonstration against black money both inside and outside Parliament in 2014. What is the Government doing about electoral reforms? We have been raising the issue of electoral reforms for two decades. Eighty per cent of donations received by parties are from ‘unknown sources’.

7. Demonetisation is a big black scandal. People are suffering. This is a grim situation. We have offered concrete suggestions. One of the suggestions offered is to allow old and new Rs 500 currency notes to function parallelly. If you had to keep demonetisation a secret, what prevented you from printing more Rs 100 notes and other smaller denominations?

8. Four out of five villages in India do not have a bank. We all want to have a cashless society. But 95 per cent of debit cards in India are not used to buy anything, only to withdraw cash. One minister may want to buy his vegetables and do his laundry with plastic, but not everybody can.

9. It is not that everyone who is opposing the government’s policy is supporting black money, is corrupt or anti-national. The Prime Minister thinks that he alone is the messiah and all of us are devils. We strongly oppose the Central Government because the poor are suffering and the economy is being killed off.

10. Try as you may, through your agencies, to hassle and harass us, it will embolden only our conviction to fight. You may even try to jail us, but that will only make our movement stronger because we are fighting for the people. This is not a political movement. This is a people’s movement.

 

Bangla Govt to develop fireworks manufacturing as a viable industry

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With a view to developing the manufacturing of fireworks as a major industry and control illegal manufacturing, the Bengal Government has decided set up fireworks manufacturing clusters across the State.

There are many villages where manufacturing firecrackers is the source of livelihood for many. The new policy would put a proper structure in place.

Manufacturing of fireworks is a recognised small-scale industry in the State, but it needs more organisation. Hence the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprise and Textiles Department is coming up with the policy of setting up manufacturing clusters.

The Government has roped in Fireworks Research and Development Centre (FRDC) to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) to set up a cluster of fireworks factories on 50 acres at Baruipur in South 24 Parganas.

Based on the DPR, manufacturing clusters will be set up in the districts of Hooghly, Howrah, Murshidabad and Purba Bardhaman.

The policy would ensure a single-window opportunity for acquiring license and environment certificate by interested manufacturers.

It would ensure that the families involved in the manufacturing of firecrackers get to work in a better, safe and hazard-free environment. The clusters will have facilities for testing of materials to ensure quality control. The processes for manufacturing would be standardised.

There will be separate entry and exit points at each of the units in a cluster and those will have proper working conditions like adequate light, air, safety measures, etc. Moreover, warehouses for storing highly inflammable materials will be properly planned.

Source: Sangbad Pratidin

State Govt’s special package for Kali Puja & Chhat

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Like last year, this year too the State Food and Supplies Department has introduced a special ration package on the occasion of Kali Puja and Chhat. Included in the list of products are edible oil, atta and sugar.

The package is available to people enlisted in the Antyodaya Anna Yojana and to those belonging to special categories, both under the National Food Security Act.

About 3 crore people will get the benefits. The same package was made available for Durga Puja too, which ran from October 9 to 23.

For the occasion of Kali Puja and Chhat, the package is being provided from October 30 to November 13.

A litre of mustard oil is available for Rs 101 and 500ml for Rs 52, while a litre of rice bran oil is available for 94 and 500ml for Rs 48.50. Five hundred gram each of sugar and atta is also available to the people, which could be bought twice during the 15-day period.