Bangla Govt ensuring farmers’ welfare with old-age pension

Bangla Govt ensuring farmers’ welfare with old-age pension

Posted on February 2, 2019 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Besides the recent announcements of the Krishak Bandhu Scheme and the full payment of subsidies for crop insurance by the State Government, and the earlier announcements of the waiving off duties on mutation and of agricultural tax, another announcement has been made – pension for farmers.

The pension amount would be Rs 1,000 per farmer.

Listed below are the rules for the pension, as recently published in a government advertisement:

Minimum age should be 60 years, and for differently-abled farmers, 55 years
Must be a resident of Bangla for the preceding 10 years
To be a farmer, must own a maximum of 1 acre, and to be a bargadar, must own a maximum of 2 acres, or can be a landless labourer
Should not have any other source of income or not have anyone to take care of
Should not be drawing any emoluments or pension through any other scheme of either the State or the Central Government

Seven books penned by Mamata Banerjee released at 43rd Kolkata International Book Fair

Posted on January 31, 2019 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Seven books penned by Mamata Banerjee released at Kolkata International Book Fair today. The book fair has entered its 43rd year this year.

One of the seven books written by her contains shayaris written in Urdu. Among the others, two books contain essays and two are books on poetry.

Her books have been bestsellers in previous years, and this year too it is hoped that her books will become bestsellers.

Source: Millennium Post

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Bangla CM inaugurates 43rd International Kolkata Book Fair today

Posted on January 31, 2019 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurates the 43rd International Kolkata Book Fair (IKBF) today at Central Park, Salt Lake. This year the Book Fair is being held from January 31 to February 11.

Among other distinguished guests at the inauguration was Euda Morales, an eminent author from Guatemala, as the Central American nation is the theme country this year. There will be books in 24 local languages of Guatemala.

The sixth edition of the Kolkata Literature Festival is also going to be held for a few days of the fair at the same venue. Distinguished writers, poets, directors, historians and other personalities from various fields will grace the occasion.

The focus tribe this year is Lepcha, and February 2 will be celebrated as Lepcha Day. From this year, the organisers of the IKBF have decided to showcase the literature and culture of one scheduled tribe every year.

There will be more than 600 book stalls and about 200 little magazine stalls.

Highlights of Chief Minister’s speech:

The book fair is very close to our heart. It is a lifeline for those who love books a lot.

This is the age of social media. There’s internet, Facebook, Twitter and other mediums where people write poetry or other essays.

Books are irreplaceable. Books are our stepping stone to learning and discovering new literature.

It would not be an exaggeration if I say Kolkata Book Fair is the best book fair in the world. This is nothing short of a festival.

Last year 2.2 million people visited the book fair. I hope the book fair becomes bigger and bigger in future.

Bangla celebrates all festivals with equal fervour. Durga Puja is celebrated in a grand manner. Christmas is celebrated across the world, but the celebrations in Bangla are on a different level.

This year, seven of my books have been published. One of them is political, titled ‘Biponno Bharat’. Other books are for children and poetry. Till date 87 of my books have been published. By next year, I will try to complete a century.

We have lost several icons this year. I remember sharing the stage with Nirendranath Chakraborty the year before last. Dwijen Da is also no more.

Do not allow any ‘dushtu’ people to spoil the magic of and charm of the ‘mishti’ book fair.

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Transport Dept to run special package tour centred on the Kolkata Book Fair

Posted on January 31, 2019 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

This year, the State Transport Department has taken a novel approach towards the International Kolkata Book Fair – organising a Book Fair-centred package tour.

The South Bengal State Transport Corporation (SBSTC) is responsible for the project. This project was taken up following the success of the Durga Puja package tours, which start right from the day of Mahalaya.

This year the Book Fair is being held from January 31 to February 11. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will be inaugurating the fair today. A literary festival, the Kolkata Literature Festival, is also going to be held for a few days of the fair at the same venue.

Like every year, this year too the Transport Department is organising special buses for the hundreds of thousands of people who will be visiting the fair in Salt Lake, among whom are foreign tourists too.

Last year, 120 buses had been arranged. This year that number has gone up to 190. There are both non-AC and AC buses, and government as well as private buses.

Buses will be running between Salt Lake and Dharmatala, Howrah, Sealdah, Santragachi, Bali Rajchandrapur, Thakurpukur, Parnashree, Garia, Kamalgazi, Baruipur, Barasat, Dum Dum and a few other places.

Source: Ei Samay

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Headless agency has now become spineless BJP: Mamata Banerjee on CBI

Posted on January 25, 2019 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

Describing the CBI as one of the “allies” of the BJP-led Central Government, Bangla Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Friday alleged that the Centre was using the agency to harass the opposition parties across the country.

She called the CBI, which was yet to get a new director, “headless” and said it has now become a “spineless BJP”.

“So political vendetta continues. BJP & its ‘allies’ comprising multiple govt agencies harassing all allies of Oppn from Kol to Delhi & beyond,” Ms Banerjee tweeted.

She also doubted whether the BJP was “scared” and using the agencies in a “desperate” move.

“From Akhilesh Yadav to Behen Mayawati Ji, nobody is spared. From north to south. From east to west. Political vendetta by BJP. Are they scared? Are they desperate? One headless agency has now become spineless BJP,” she added.

Honouring the legacy of Swami Vivekananda

Posted on January 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 schemes and places after the great son of Bangla.

Here is a list of the works of the Bangla Government in preserving the legacy of Swami Vivekananda:

Giving autonomy and special status to Ramakrishna and Sarada Mission educational institutions, which are associated with Swami Vivekananda’s ideology to impart education and foster character-building
Naming the Centre for Human Excellence and Social Sciences being built by the Ramakrishna Mission as ‘Vivek Tirtha’ by Mamata Banerjee
Acquiring and handing over premises adjoining Swamiji’s ancestral house to Ramakrishna Mission
Renovating ‘Mayer Bari’ in Baghbazar, Kolkata at a cost of Rs 30 crore
Acquiring Sister Nivedita’s house at 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 is named Dakshineswar Rani Rashmoni Skywalk
Renaming Yuva Bharati Krirangan after Swami Vivekananda, as Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan
Naming the Self-Help and Self-Employment Department-run self-employment scheme as Swami Vivekananda Swanirbhar Karmasansthan Prakalpa
Naming the scholarship for economically disadvantaged families as Swami Vivekananda Merit-cum-Means Scholarship
Organising Vivek Chetana Utsav from January 10 to 12, for commemorating the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, across the State

Vivek Chetana Utsav to pay homage to Swami Vivekananda being observed across Bangla

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

The Bangla Government is celebrating the 156th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda in association with the Ramakrishna Math and Mission through the three-day long Vivek Chetana Utsav, from January 10-12.

All the 341 blocks, 117 municipalities, six municipal corporations of the State, the 144 wards of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, the Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA) and all the district headquarters are celebrating Vivek Chetana Utsav through processions, exhibitions, symposiums and quiz competitions on the life of Swami Vivekananda, and debates, exhibition football matches and other cultural programmes.

The State Youth Welfare Department is organising the festival. It may be noted that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had declared January 12 as a State holiday from 2012.

Vivek Tirtha – A tribute to the great saint

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

Vivek Tirtha, named after Swami Vivekananda, has been planned to be one of the premier institutes of the country, comprising of a centre for value education, a school of languages, a computer institute, a digital library and more. It is being set up in New Town. The formal name of the place is Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Centre for Human Excellence and Social Sciences.

This top-class centre of education is being set up on land given by the Trinamool Congress Government. In fact, it was Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who had laid the foundation stone of the institute, on November 11, 2014, and had also named it ‘Vivek Tirtha’.

The project will cost about Rs 172 crore. Five acres has been allotted beside Eco Park.

The centre will have a 10-storey building to house the administrative office, seminar halls and an auditorium, with a capacity of 1,400. The main building will be designed after the Chicago Art Institute, where Swami Vivekananda had delivered his famous speech on September 11, 1893.

There will be four other buildings, to be named after four famous foreign disciples of Swami Vivekananda – Sister Nivedita, JJ Goodwin, Ole Sara Bull and Josephine McLeod.

An important feature of the programmes proposed to be offered by the Centre of Human Excellence include a retreat for professionals and people from all walks of life like sweepers, rickshaw pullers, labourers and shopkeepers. There will also be a course on citizenship training and value education for government and corporate employees. There will be courses on how to overcome fear and failure.

Deaths due to road accidents – Kolkata the safest metro city

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

The latest data shows that Kolkata is the safest metro city in terms of occurrence of deaths due to road accidents. Kolkata Police officials say that the ‘Safe Drive Save Life’ (SDSL) campaign is primarily responsible for the success. This campaign is a brainchild of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

In 2017, 318 fatal road accidents (that is, where there was loss of life) occurred in Kolkata, which caused the deaths of 329 people.

For Delhi the numbers for fatal road accidents and deaths were 1,565 and 1,584, respectively. For Mumbai, they were 467 and 490 respectively. For Chennai, 1,312 and 1,347, respectively, and for Bengaluru, 609 and 642, respectively.

Even in a small metro city like Pune, 360 fatal road accidents took place in 2017, which caused the deaths of 373 people.

Hence, Kolkata is head and shoulders above the rest of the cities, and SDSL campaign has had a major role to play in making roads safer and driving home awareness among the people.

Source: Bartaman

State Govt’s earnest efforts result in spur in organ transplants

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

Thanks to the constant awareness campaigns being run by the State Health Department, Bangla has seen an unprecedented spur in organ transplants. The campaigns are run at both the government-run and private.

According to a senior official of the department, as many as 14 different cases of organ transplants have taken place in the State since July 2018. The transplants have taken place at both State-run and private institutions.

Organ transplants that have occurred here are essentially cadaver transplants. Organs were retrieved from patients who were declared brain dead by the competent authorities, transported to other hospitals and then transplanted on to patients in need.

The whole process is done through a register maintained by the Regional Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (ROTTO), which holds names of potential receivers who urgently require organs.

It may be mentioned that transplant of an organ is heavily dependent on the initiative of the individuals rather than a comprehensive system. Hence, the campaigns of the Health Department are crucial.

Department officials are hopeful that the number of transplants in the State will go up in the future. The awareness campaigns have been intensified and a concrete roadmap is being created. The department will also tie up with non-governmental organisations (NGO) to carry out the campaign in a more effective manner.

Source: Millennium Post