Honouring the legacy of Swami Vivekananda

Honouring the legacy of Swami Vivekananda

Posted on September 11, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

The great follower of the philosophy of Swami Vivekananda that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is, she has named various schemes and places after this great son of Bangla. She has also ensured the renovation of buildings that have a historic connection to the great sage.

Here is a list of works of the Bangla Government done to preserve the legacy of Swami Vivekananda:

* Making Swami Vivekananda’s famous Chicago address part of the syllabus for schools under the Madhyamik Board

* Giving autonomy and special status to educational institutions run by Ramakrishna Sarada Mission

* Allotting 5 acres and allocating Rs 10 crore for the Centre for Human Excellence and Social Sciences being built by the Ramakrishna Mission in New Town, as a replica of the Art Institute of Chicago, where Vivekananda delivered his famous speeches in 1893; it has been named ‘Vivek Tirtha’ by Mamata Banerjee

* Acquiring and handing over of the premises adjoining Vivekananda’s ancestral house to Ramakrishna Mission

* Renovating ‘Mayer Bari’ in Baghbazar, Kolkata, where Maa Sarada, the wife of Sri Ramakrishna lived, at a cost of Rs 30 crore

* Acquiring Sister Nivedita’s house in Baghbazar and handing it over to Ramakrishna Sarada Mission, and giving it heritage status

* Allocating Rs 2 crore for the renovation of Roy Villa in Darjeeling, associated with Sister Nivedita, and handing it over to Ramakrishna Mission

* Building a skywalk connecting Dakshineswar railway station to the famous temple there; it was named Dakshineswar Rani Rashmoni Skywalk by Mamata Banerjee

* Renaming Yuba Bharati Krirangan after Swami Vivekananda, as Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan

* Naming the self-employment scheme run by the Self-Help and Self-Employment Department as Swami Vivekananda Swanirbhar Karmasansthan Prakalpa

* Naming the scholarship for students from economically disadvantaged families as Swami Vivekananda Merit-cum-Means Scholarship

* Organising Vivek Chetana Utsav from January 10 to 12 every year to commemorate the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda across the State (January 12 is celebrated as National Youth Day, being the birthday of Swami Vivekananda)

* State Assembly passing Bills for the setting up of two private universities – Sister Nivedita University (Bill passed in 2017) and Swami Vivekananda University (Bill passed in 2019)

Green City Mission: Smart LED street lamps being installed in municipalities

Posted on September 10, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

The State Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Department has started installing power-saving LED streetlights in municipalities across the State as part of the Government’s Green City Mission. The Department has tied up with a reputed private company to instal the streetlights.

As a first step, the Minister in charge recently announced that around one lakh LED streetlights will be installed in the areas under Kolkata Municipal Corporation and Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation. He said that this was another milestone towards achieving an energy-efficient State.

Approximately 60,000 LED lights are being installed in Bankura, Beldanga, Budge Budge, Khardah and Durgapur.

The lights will reduce carbon emissions by 8,500 metric tonnes and will save 12.2 million units of electricity annually. Citizens will also get better service as the maintenance will be through centralised control and monitoring system (CCMS) technology, which will be provided by the private vendor.

Source: Millennium Post

Sundarini Naturals’ organic sweets to become widely available through franchises

Posted on September 10, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

For the last few months, the State Government’s brand, Sundarini Naturals, has been selling organic sweets in Kolkata. The sweets have started earning a name for themselves for their taste and quality.

Being organic, that is, free from chemicals, the cost of manufacturing and consequently, the prices of the sweets are a little more but they are definitely worth the while.

To make these sweets widely available, the Government has decided to adopt the franchise model. Advertisements have been placed in newspapers, asking interested parties to become franchisees.

The franchisee model would also open up an avenue for people to set up their own businesses, selling first-rate products. Initially, permission for five more stores in Kolkata would be given – at Haltu, Diamond Park, Muchipara, Lake Market and Santoshpur.

The brand is owned by Sundarban Cooperative Milk and Livestock Producers’ Limited (SCMLPL), which is an initiative of State Animal Resources Development Department.

A speciality of the cooperative society is that it is run by women, and all of them are poor villagers from the Sundarbans region. The setting up of the brand, a brainchild of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has enabled them to become self-sufficient. Packaged milk, ghee, honey, rice, sona moong dal, eggs, paneer and several other products are sold under the brand name.

It is worthwhile to mention that on June 1, 2018, on the occasion of World Milk Day, Sundarini Naturals was awarded by the National Dairy Development Board for its superior quality of dairy products.

Source: Ei Samay

Bangla CM to give away Tele Academy Awards today

Posted on September 6, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will be giving away the Tele Academy Awards today. The prize distribution will be followed by a colourful cultural programme with performances by television artistes.

Actors and technicians working in the television industry will be awarded for their outstanding performances throughout their career as well as over the last year. A Hall of Fame recognition has also been instituted since 2015.

The West Bengal Tele Academy Awards cover the entire array of television productions, rewarding excellence in production, programming, photography and technology, among others.

Special cell and helplines for backward communities launched by State Govt

Posted on September 5, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

The State Backward Classes Welfare (BCW) Department recently launched several initiatives for the redressal of grievances of the people belonging to the backward communities of the State.

A special cell was launched, along with two helplines – a toll-free number and a number for WhatsApp and text messaging. The toll-free number is 1800 5727 730, while the number for text messaging and WhatsApp is 85829 56555.

This measure was adopted in light of the directives provided to the department by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to ensure that the SC, ST, tribal and other backward class communities do not encounter any harassment in attaining their caste certificates.

At a meeting on July 2, 2019 with the Chief Minister and all 84 SC and ST MLAs, irrespective of their political affiliation, the State Assembly had instructed the concerned officials to expedite the process of disbursement of SC/ST certificates, since backward class communities require them for admission into schools and universities as well as for jobs in reserved posts in both the State and Central Government.

The BCW Department has delivered more than 90,000 caste certificates to beneficiaries in recent weeks, via camps across districts. Another 40,000 would be given away soon. The BCW Department has formed a committee comprising 23 senior officials to expedite clearance of the applications.

Bangla the best in financing SHGs

Posted on September 5, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

Bangla is number one in the country in financing self-help groups (SHGs) in the cooperative sector, said the State Cooperation Minister recently at the first conference of the West Bengal Co-operative Bank Employees’ Sangha in Kolkata.

The minister said that the Government’s intention was to enable and empower the rural populace, especially women (since they make up the composition of most of the SHGs) across the State.

He said that in financial year 2018-19, the State provided credit to 97,000 SHGs, far ahead of the number two State. Currently, there are 2.2 lakh SHGs which are beneficiaries of loans provided by cooperative banks.

At a Government function in August, the minister had said that the State Government would be distributing a total loan amount of Rs 180 crore to about one lakh women from rural self-help groups so that they can rear goats, cows and hens for poultry products.

Sources: The Statesman, Bartaman

New fleets of electric, CNG buses flagged off

Posted on September 3, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

Twenty electric buses and 20 CNG buses were flagged off recently by the State Transport Minister from Paribahan Bhawan in Kolkata.

Both electric and CNG buses are environment-friendly and hence are being introduced by the government to curb the level of pollution in the State. Several such buses are already running in the State. In February, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had inaugurated 20 electric buses.

While the electric buses will be run by West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC), the CNG buses will be run by South Bengal State Transport Corporation (SBSTC).

Each of the electric buses is 12 metres in length. They are more spacious and have more number of seats. While the electric buses will run in and around Kolkata, the CNG buses will be plying in and around the Durgapur-Asansol zone.

It may be mentioned that the State Transport Department has planned to operate CNG buses all over the State, which will be done in phases.

During the inauguration programme, the Transport Minister said that the State Government will be purchasing 150 more electric buses. Of the 150 e-buses, 25 each will be rolled out in Asansol and Siliguri and 50 each will be rolled out in Haldia and the New Town-Rajarhat zone.

Sources: Millennium Post, The Statesman

State Govt educating farmers on indiscriminate use of fertilisers

Posted on August 30, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

The Agriculture Department has taken up a State-wide scheme to spread awareness among the farmers about the ill-effects of environmental hazards caused due to indiscriminate and non-judicious application of chemical pesticides, and exhorting farmers to turn to bio-fertilisers instead.

To ensure the quality of pesticides, measures are being taken for examining pesticide samples. Analysis of the quality of pesticide samples are done in various government-run laboratories.

The plant protection wing has been implementing Bio Village Demonstration Programme, a seed treatment campaign to overcome various environmental hazards.

It is also taking necessary steps to combat threats to different crops due to environmental hazards and bad weather.

Set up task force to detect & take action against tax evasion: Dr Amit Mitra to Union Fin MIn

Posted on August 29, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

Flagging concerns regarding many instances of frauds under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, Bangla Finance Minister Dr Amit Mitra has written a letter to the Union Finance Minister asking for the setting up of task force having both State and Central officers to detect all cases of tax evasion and take action against racketeers for recovery of evaded tax.

The letter, dated Tuesday, says that Union Government data presented in the Rajya Sabha last month showed that 9,385 cases of tax fraud involving an amount of Rs 45,682.83 crore has been detected by authorities under the GST regime since its rollout on July 1, 2017.

Even this amount, stated Dr Mitra, is “understated” since it does not include complete data of frauds under SGST, which, if compiled for all States, may show tax evasion of over Rs 1 lakh crore.

In view of this huge loss of tax revenue, the State Finance Minister has requested for the topic of GST fraud and its impact on overall GST collections to be discussed in-depth in the upcoming GST Council meeting.

Dr Mitra has also asked for the compilation of a list of all cancelled GSTINs with PAN, email addresses and other details, to be shared with all officers so that the same fraud is not investigated by multiple agencies.

Another aspect of GST mentioned in the letter is that the new return system with invoice matching needed to be put in place in October (for large taxpayers) and in January (for all taxpayers) “without fail”.

It needs to be mentioned here that the issue of tax evasion had also been broached by Dr Mitra in his letter to the Union Finance Minister on July 1. Among other issues, he had stated that “for want of inbuilt system-based matching, hawala billing and fake trade has grown in leaps and bounds and the realization of tax has suffered.”

Source: The India Express

Bengalathon 2019: Focus on senior citizen support

Posted on August 16, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

The third edition of the highly popular annual hackathon organised by the State Information Technology and Electronics (IT&E) Department, Bengalathon, was launched yesterday, that is, August 15.

The focus this year is on harnessing technology for elderly care, said a senior official of the IT&E Department.

Innovative ideas are also being invited in the areas of face recognition, solid waste management, road safety, health, citizen feedback, water quality monitoring, smart water metering, soil productivity, quick accident response and open data platform.

An example of elderly care using technology is the app-based digital visitor control system that HIDCO is setting up at Snehodiya, the senior citizen’s home in New Town. This will enable security guards at the gate to monitor the entry and exit of all visitors electronically and notify the facility manager or resident by SMS.

Bengalathon is an India-wide competition meant to recognise and promote innovative ideas on tech-based interventions for a better life. Through this competition, the State Government is trying to position Bangla as the best in using emerging technologies to provide solutions for real-life challenges.

TiE, a non-profit organisation, helps in linking the winners to global enterprises, for funding and further technical support.

Source: Millennium Post