Bengal CM writes to Centre, saying it’s extremely wrong to sell off Bengal Chemicals

Bengal CM writes to Centre, saying it’s extremely wrong to sell off Bengal Chemicals

Posted on June 17, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has written a strong letter to the Union Commerce & Industry Ministry regarding the Central Government’s decision to sell off Bengal Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd., a company with a long and illustrious history.

Though it was not doing well for some time, in the last few years it has turned around quite a bit. The company earned profits during the 2016-17 fiscal, which almost doubled during the 2017-18 fiscal (an increase of 97.5 per cent). In this state of things, what is needed is more help from the Centre rather than selling it off.

Hence, the Chief Minister has written in the letter that the decision to sell it off should be immediately taken back. She has also written that the Bengal Government would provide all manner of help to build Bengal Chemicals up into a Maharatna company.

The company also has units in Mumbai and Kanpur. The Centre had previously too tried to sell the company. It was mainly Mamata Banerjee’s efforts which prevented that from happening.

Another point raised by the Chief Minister in her letter is the fact that the Kolkata High Court is yet to decide on the case filed by the workers and unions of the company against the Centre’s decision to sell it off.

Then, the company is engaged in manufacturing fair-priced essential goods for the common people. Hence, it can never be termed a ‘low-priority enterprise’, as the Centre has signified it.

Mamata Banerjee in her letter has also written about the illustrious history of the company and its crucial role in the movement for Indian-made goods during the colonial period.

All in all, the Chief Minister, through coherent arguments, has clearly indicated in the letter that it is an absolutely wrong decision to sell off Bengal Chemicals, as it is a profitable company now.

Paternity leave – Bengal shows the way

Posted on June 17, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

Children have been an area of special focus for the Trinamool Congress Government. Under Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Bengal has been among the best performers in terms of infant mortality rate, and under-5 mortality rate, and in institutional delivery too.

The State Government has a comprehensive maternal leave structure. However, the importance of fathers during the phase of the birth of a child and during the period following that has been recognised too by the Government.

Following the initiative of Mamata Banerjee, the Bengal Government has shown the way to other States by instituting paternity-cum-child care leave in 2016. A cumulative period of 30 days is granted for the purpose for all State Government employees, Panchayat & other Local Bodies, Boards, sponsored/non-Govt aided Schools and Colleges, State-aided Universities & Companies, Corporations, Undertakings, etc.

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Mamata Banerjee conveys message of love and peace from Red Road

Posted on June 16, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

Today is Eid. The festival of happiness is being celebrated across the nation, and of course in Kolkata.

In Kolkata as well as in many other places in Bengal people are offering namaz. From the morning, the traditional mass namaz is being offered at Red Road with much fanfare. Live every year, this year too Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was present during the offering of namaz.

From the stage, she once again gave out a strong message of love and peace. She commiserated with the people for standing in this heat, after the fasting during the month of Ramzan.

She said that she goes to every place of worship, be it temple, mosque, church or gurdwara. She further said that her parents had taught her to always respect all religions. She went on to say that India is for everyone, be they Hindu or Muslim or anyone.

On the occasion of Eid, festivities would be spread out through the whole day in Kolkata. At 3 pm, a peace procession would commence from Park Circus. Another one will wind through Park Street, Mallikbazar, AJC Bose Road, Beckbagan, Exide Crossing and JL Nehru Road, to end at Mayo Road.

Blood donation – Efforts and infrastructure in Bengal

Posted on June 14, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

The Trinamool Congress Government has always stressed on the need for voluntary donation of blood. Through the year the party conducts, through its various frontal organisations and wings, blood donation camps across all the districts, including in Kolkata.

The State Government also encourages various clubs, NGOs and even corporate to organise and participate in blood donation efforts.

At certain times of the year, like during the hot summer months, there is an extra need for blood. Hence during this time more camps are organised.

During the sixth anniversary celebrations of the Trinamool Congress Government last year, a blood donation camp was organised at the state secretariat, Nabanna on May 27. Similar camps were organised in all the districts, down to the panchayat level, and also at police stations. Various clubs had also participated.

The State Government has also been steadily improving the infrastructure of blood banks. Last October, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had inaugurated three more blood banks – two in south Bengal and one in the north. The blood banks were set up in Panskura in Purba Medinipur district, Gopiballavpur in Paschim Medinipur district and Chanchal in Malda district. All the three are located inside multi super-speciality hospitals, a brainchild of the Chief Minister.

With the completion of these three, the number of State Government-run blood banks has risen to 70. Combined with private blood banks, the total number is 131.

To cater to the increasing demand for blood components, like plasma, platelets, etc., the Government set up four more platelet separation units last year – at Nadia and Asansol District Hospitals, Cooch Behar MGN Hospital and Murshidabad Medical College Hospital – bringing the total number of component separation units in State Government hospitals to 17.

Then, information about supplies of blood in the blood banks of Bengal, be they Government or private – how many units of which blood group are available – can now be had online. This service, called e-raktkosh, [may hyperlink http://www.eraktkosh.in/BLDAHIMS/bloodbank/nearbyBBRed.cnt] facilitated by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, was also inaugurated last year.

Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has also set up its first blood bank – at 242, Kalighat Road. This step is meant to help not only the city residents but people from all over the State, especially the poor, who cannot afford high prices.

Café Ekante to host special programmes to celebrate World Cup Football

Posted on June 14, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

Café Ekante, the popular restaurant at Eco Park in New Town, will organise a host of programmes to celebrate World Cup football in a befitting manner. The programmes will be inaugurated today, when the World Cup begins in Russia.

The restaurant, named by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has been decorated with flags of the participating countries, lights and jerseys to create an apt ambience. There will be a mini goalpost and the guests who can score two goals will get discount on food.

The guests will have mouth-watering dishes that are specialties of the countries that are participating on that day. For example, on the day when England will face its opponent, there will be fish and chips. Similarly, there will be special dishes from Brazil, Argentina, France and Germany.

The guests will be given coupons where they can write the name of the team that they think will lift the World Cup. If their prediction comes true, they will get a 20 per cent discount on their bill, within one month from the day of the final.

A giant screen will be put up at Café Ekante during the semi-finals and final. Another giant screen will be put up at New Town Business Club during those days, to help the members enjoy football. The Business Club too, like the restaurant, will be decorated with jerseys, lights and photos of the heroes of the World Cup.

Café Ekante has become a very popular restaurant in a very short time for its quality and variety of food, and ambience. And Kolkata has always been the ‘Football Capital of India’. The passion for the game in the city is well-known, both in India and in many places outside. These two aspects combined is expected to make the festivities at Café Ekante a big hit.

Source: Millennium Post

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KMC to start hearse service

Posted on June 14, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has decided to start a hearse service. It already has an ambulance service, which is quite popular.

The rate for the vehicles has been decided at Rs 150 for every two hours, which is much less than that of private services providers. After two hours, it will be charged at Rs 50 per hour.

The service will start with three vehicles. More will be added later. There will be a dedicated helpline number for accessing the service.

Source: Ei Samay

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Bengal Govt to train 2.5 lakh rural youths

Posted on June 13, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

The Bengal Government is planning to impart skill training to 2.5 lakh unemployed rural youths in the state to enable them earn livelihood without migrating to cities, the Self-Help Group and Self-Employment Minister has said.

He said the training programme by the concerned department would be conducted with an integrated approach, combining with various State welfare schemes to skill the youths across 10,000 villages.

At the end of the training, the department will provide them assistance in the form of resources like building hatcheries and goat farms, greenhouses (where they can start horticulture or cultivation of herbs), etc.

The department has identified 10,000 villages from 1,030 gram panchayats across the State. Initially, 25 youths from each of these villages will be given training. So, a total of 2.5 lakh youths will be skilled.

Source: Business Standard

Bengal Govt introduces e-pension system for teachers, Panchayat employees

Posted on June 13, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

The State Finance Department’s e-pension system, a revolutionary project which has also been nominated for the Skoch Award, has so far ensured initiation of pension of more than 6,000 retired employees, without delay of a single day after retirement.

Now even school teachers, employees of panchayat and civic bodies will be a part of this system too. With this initiative, an employee now receives his or her Pension Payment Order (PPO) through email, 15 days ahead of retirement.

With the introduction of the e-pension system, an employee just needs to scan all documents and upload it through a portal, the link of which is available on the website of the Finance Department . An application number gets generated as soon as the employee uploads the same. Using the application number, the employee can even track which particular stage his or her application is passing through.

The concerned officials take minimum time in clearing the files and at least 15 days before retirement, the employee gets an email with directions to go to the concerned treasury to provide details of the pension account where it will get deposited.

Source: Millennium Post

Bengal Govt employing GPS & GIS to create a comprehensive map of the Sundarbans

Posted on June 13, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

The Bengal Government has started using GPS and GIS to create real-time interactive maps of the Sundarbans region. These technologies would help keep a ‘smart’ eye on the entire biosphere – forest cover, land use, illegal activities, etc.

Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based radio navigation system that provides geolocation and time information to a GPS receiver while geographic information system (GIS) is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyse, manage and present spatial or geographic data. GIS accuracy depends upon source data, and it is here that the accuracy of GPS comes into use.

The surveillance system implemented by the Forest Department uses GPS to capture the data and GIS tools (softwares) to analyse that data. The information being collected, which will be on a continuous basis, is helping the Government to keep track of detailed data on forest cover (number and types of trees, their exact locations, even information on trees cut down) and human habitation, nature of an area, locations of coves and bays, etc. Importantly too, all data would be updated on a real-time basis.

The Forest Department officials are using these data along with the existing ground maps to create a comprehensive database of the region. This method of data compilation would eventually be used to cover the whole of Bengal.

The Sundarbans forest in Bengal comprises of the Matla, Raidighi, Ramganga, Namkhana, Bakkhali and Bhagabatpur forest ranges. The mangrove cover comprises of 77,243 hectares and the wildlife sanctuary, 60,000 hectares. Eco-tourism is permitted on an area comprising of a little more than 27,000 hectares.

The data is also being made available for use by other departments. According to the Chief Conservator of Forests, Bengal, who is overseeing the whole project, the data would be a big help for departments like Tourism and Land and Land Reforms.

A new university coming up in Purba Medinipur district

Posted on June 13, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

The Bengal Government is setting up a university in the district of Purba Medinipur, which would be the first university in the district.

The land for setting up the university has already been designated – a plot of 20 acres in Kapaseria mouza in Mahishadal block, part of Haldia subdivision, and located on national highway 41 (NH-41).

It would be named after Mahatma Gandhi and might be inaugurated by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on October 2, the birth anniversary of the ‘Father of the Nation’.

The setting up of the university would be a big boon to the students from the district as they would now be able to pursue post-graduate and doctoral studies nearer home. Students from the district have always fare very well in secondary and higher secondary exams and now, a university is being built for them.

Classes would begin from July, and would, for the time being, be held at Mahishadal Raj College.

Source: bengali.news18.com