Tribute to Tagore: Mongpu to be developed as global tourist spot & education hub

Tribute to Tagore: Mongpu to be developed as global tourist spot & education hub

Posted on August 22, 2018 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Walking in the footsteps of the bard, Mongpu, the picturesque hamlet in Darjeeling, is all set to usher in development. The State Government and the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration will be working together to promote Tagore’s favourite destination in the Hills as a global tourist spot and an education hub.

“Mongpu is like a pilgrimage for many, owing to its connection with Tagore and his multiple visits there. The State Government working together with the GTA and the West Bengal Heritage Commission will promote Mongpu as a heritage destination. We will also seek help of experts, working in the heritage sector for this,” said Tourism. The State Government has already started a project of renovation and construction of Rabindra Bhawan, Mongpu at a cost of Rs 3.54 crore.

The existing Rabindra Smriti Sramik Kalyan Kendra, where the Rabindra Bhawan is being constructed, was built in 1963. A guest house is also being constructed by the State government at a stone throws distance from Rabindra Museum. Mongpu, 32 km from Darjeeling, was the Bard’s favourite haunt. Tagore had visited Mongpu in 1938 on May 21 and stayed till June 9. In 1939, he stayed there from May 14 till June 17 to return again on the September 12 till the first week of November.

In 1940, he arrived at Mongpu again on April 21 and his birthday was also celebrated there that year. This was his last visit as he fell ill and had to return to Kolkata. He had completed many memorable works during his stay at Mongpu, including Chelebela, Nobojatok, Sesh Kotha, Bangla Bhashar Porichoy, Mongpu, Giribas, Sanai, Akash Prodip and Jonmodin.

At Mongpu, Tagore used to stay in the house of Manmohan Sen (Husband of Maitreyi Devi), who was the chief chemist of the Cinchona plantation. In 1944, this house was converted into “Rabindra Smrity-Bhavan.” Later in 2009, the building was renovated and converted into “Rabindra Museum.”

The museum was under renovation by the West Bengal State Heritage Commission. The tourism department had allotted Rs 3 crore for the renovation. It opened for the public on May 7, 2018. The museum is open throughout the week from 8 am to 4 pm (with an hour recess from 12 noon) except on Thursdays.

The Cinchona Directorate has already approached the West Bengal Heritage Commission to declare the Surel Kothi as a heritage site following renovations. The Surel bungalow was the guest house of the cinchona plantation. Tagore on his first visit had stayed there from May 21 to June 4, 1938. It is located in one of the oldest cinchona bungalows in the Labdah division of Mongpu.

Bird museum coming up in Purbasthali

Posted on August 22, 2018 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The village of Purbasthali in the district of Purba Bardhaman is famous for migratory birds. For this reason, every year, the area located on the agriculturally rich alluvial plains between the Bhagirathi, Ajay and Damodar rivers become a magnet for tourists and picnickers.

Taking advantage of this, the State Government has decided to build a bird museum there at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore. Construction will start immediately after the monsoon ends.

The museum will contain details about the migratory birds, including many beautiful pictures and models.

The museum will contain other exhibits too. Purbasthali is the birthplace of eminent people like the essayist Akshay Dutta, poet Satyendranath Dutta and the discoverer of the medicine for kala-azar, Upendranath Brahmachari. Hence the museum will also contain many details about their lives.

A conference room will also be part of the museum complex.

Bangla Govt to set up mills for rice and pulses, to be sold from Sufal Bangla stalls

Posted on August 22, 2018 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Riding on the success of the Sufal Bangla project, the State Agricultural Marketing Department has decided to set up rice and pulse mills. The products from the mills would be available at the Sufal Bangla stalls.

Rs 7 crore has been allotted for the purpose. The first phase would be completed before the Pujas, whence two rice and pulse mills each would be opened at Hemtabad in Uttar Dinajpur and at Ranaghat in Nadia district.

The mills would help preserve the quality of the famous aromatic rice varieties of Bengal, like adanshilpa, tulaipanji, gobindobhog, randhuni pagal, radhatilak, etc. and pulses. The tie-up with Sufal Bangla would enable the State Government to directly sell to the people some of these rare varieties of folk rice, making them widely available and at the right price too (no middlemen involved).

The production of pulses is also rapidly increasing in the State, especially moong, musoor, Bengal gram and khesari. These would be milled at the mill in Ranaghat.

Bengal Govt to set up tourist hub at Tiger Hill

Posted on August 6, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

The State Government is setting up a tourist hub at the ever-popular destination of Tiger Hill in Darjeeling.

Viewing sunrise from Tiger Hill is a very popular activity among all tourists to Darjeeling. Now the Tourism Department is making full-fledged staying arrangements – so that one can view the sunrise from the comfort of the balcony, sipping a hot Darjeeling brew.

Ten cottages would be constructed. The Forest Department would be planting grass and trees around the cottages. After the project comes up, considering the popularity of Tiger Hill, the area would see major socio-economic development.

Source: Sangbad Pratidin

Bengal CM’s brainchild, Rupashree, highly successful in a short time

Posted on July 25, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

The Bengal Government is seeing a huge response to its scheme, Rupashree, rolled out across the State as recently as April 1 this year. The Government has received nearly 70,000 applications, of which it has accepted more than 47,233, sanctioning a total amount of more than Rs 118 crore.

The data is was provided by the Women and Child Development & Social Welfare Department, which is implementing the project.

The scheme, a brainchild of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, provides a one-time financial assistance of Rs 25,000 to the family of a girl at the time of her marriage, if her family income is less than Rs 1.5 lakh per year.

Murshidabad tops in all the categories – number of applications received, disbursed (or, accepted) and the amount sanctioned. Till July 9, the numbers were 9237, 5288 and Rs 13.22 crore, respectively.

Purulia, South 24 Parganas and Paschim Medinipur are at numbers two, three and four, respectively. The numbers for Purulia are 5870, 5183 and Rs 12,95,75,000, for South 24 Parganas are 5460, 4640 and Rs 11.6 crore, and for Paschim Medinipur are 5274, 4026 and Rs 1 crore.

The State Government has allotted Rs 1,500 crore for the scheme and around 6 lakh families in all are expected be benefitted. More than 2,000 applications on an average are being received every day.

Source: Millennium Post

Bengal Govt to set up eco-tourism hub in the Sundarbans

Posted on July 18, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

With the aim of promoting the Sundarbans as one of the most attractive tourist destinations in the country, the State Government has taken up an initiative to set up an eco-tourism hub there. It will come up in Jharkhali.

Various Government departments like Tourism, Sundarbans Affairs, etc. are working in coordination to provide world-class facilities, which would attract foreign tourists too.

The hub would have both five-star resorts and budget hotels, cottages, swimming pools, a lake, club house and other facilities. It would be constructed on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis. To augment the infrastructure, the Government is allotting around Rs 90 crore to build roads and bridges in Jharkhali.

As a part of the overall development of the area, all the islands in the Sundarbans would soon be inter-connected – a project for which the State Government would spend around Rs 400 crore.

The State Government has already taken up various schemes to improve the socio-economic condition of the people in the Sundarbans. A comprehensive skill development programme is being conducted among the youth. Hospitality management courses have been started so that the educated but unemployed youth can be trained. Various courses on plumbing and electrical repairs are being conducted in various blocks.

Source: Millennium Post

Fisheries sector infrastructure improves under Trinamool

Posted on July 10, 2018 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The State Fisheries Department has endeavoured to give every manner of infrastructural help to fishermen, including fish research facilities to increase yield and to experiment on newer and more profitable species.

Storage infrastructure: As part of the ‘cold chain scheme’, the department has been sanctioned money for the construction of cold storages and, through the distribution of bicycles with insulated boxes, the development of transit and terminal markets, including retail outlets. Eight cold storages and six ice plants have been constructed.

Khuti societies: The State Government provides financial aid for the development of khuti societies, that is, fish drying centres. A total of 53 khuti societies in Contai and Diamond Harbour benefit from this aid. Considering essential aspects, the aid includes money for the operation and maintenance of the khutis or fish drying centres, including wages for khuti attendants and sweepers, development of khuti infrastructure like link roads, submersible pumps, solar lights, fish-drying platforms and bamboo structures, supply of hygienic materials and small equipments, and the repair of tube-wells.

Fishing harbours and fish landing centres: Under the department, there are seven minor fishing harbours and 13 fish landing centres. The entry channel at Kakdwip Harbour has been completed. Benfish has constructed modernised fish markets in Kalyani (Nadia district), Bolpur (Birbhum district), Uluberia (Howrah district) and Gangarampur (Dakshin Dinajpur district). Five fish landing centres have been recently constructed benefiting 8,700 fishermen in Indrapur, Satyadaspur, Kantamari, Raidighi/Domkal, Kheyaghat and Namkhana in South 24 Parganas.

Hatchery accreditation: Nineteen hatcheries have been constructed to ensure production of quality fish seed, and 231 hatcheries have been accredited.

Fish markets: Ten fish markets have been constructed – fish seed markets in Sinhati (Bankura district) and Rajendrapur (North 24 Parganas), wholesale and retail fish markets in Haldibari (Cooch Behar), Bolpur (Birbhum), Kalyani (Nadia), Fuleshwar (Howrah) and Udayrampur (South 24 Parganas), Nalban International Ornamental Fish Market, Kantamari (South 24 Parganas) and Jharkhali (South 24 Parganas) markets. Besides these, the upgrading of the wholesale fish market in Howrah is in progress.

Fish research centres: The department is setting up block-level laboratory-cum-training centres for testing water and soil of water bodies to determine suitability for pisciculture. So far 308 have been built; another 25 have been sanctioned. Research on fish and fisheries is being conducted at Pailan Research Centre in South 24 Parganas. At the Fresh Water Research Centre in Kulia near Kalyani in Nadia district, research is being carried out on production of seeds of freshwater fish, including endangered species, ornamental or aquarium fish, etc. The latter has a high export value. Rural women are being trained on ornamental fishery.

Hilsa production & research: To combat the issue of the decline in the catch of hilsa over the past decade, a dedicated Hilsa Conservation and Research Centre (HCRC) has been established at Sultanpur, Diamond Harbour, in collaboration with the Norwegian research institute, Norwegian Institute of Food Fisheries and Aquaculture Research (NOFIMA).

Brackish water fishery: The Government provides substantial aid for increasing the production of fish in regions of brackish water, mainly found in the Sundarbans delta.

The above facts prove that the Trinamool Congress Government is committed to the all-round development of the fisheries sector.

Fisheries sector policies of the Bengal Govt benefiting fishermen

Posted on July 10, 2018 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The State Government has created several policies for the development of the fisheries sector. The important ones are given below.

West Bengal Fisheries Investment Policy 2015:For attracting substantial investments in the fisheries sector, the Government has promulgated the West Bengal Fisheries Investment Policy 2015. From FY 2015-17 till now, 30 projects have been initiated at an investment (by both private and Government players) of Rs 339.35 crore. During the Bengal Global Business Summit 2018, 19 memorandums of understanding (MoU) worth Rs 760.3 crore were signed.

Amendment of method of settlement of Government waterbodies:The chapter dedicated to Government water bodies in the West Bengal Land & Land Reforms Manual was amended by the State Government with the intention of infusing better competitiveness and adoption of scientific methods of pisciculture and thereby increasing the production of fish. This step has boosted rural employment generation and optimum use of Government fisheries as a resource by giving priority in the tendering process to functional fishermen’s cooperative societies, fish production groups and self-help groups (SHG).

Training and extension:The number of fishermen who have received training has gone up from 6,170 in 2010-11 to 16,394 in 2017-18. Awareness camps in the form of Krishi Mela, Wetland Day, Fish Farmers’ Day, etc., are being regularly organised.

Bengal Govt organises workshop for women engaged in fishing sector

Posted on July 9, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

The State Fisheries Department recently organised a workshop, at its office in Haldia block of Purba Medinipur district, to train women engaged in the fishing sector to make and repair fishing nets. This would add another dimension to their livelihoods.

The weekly workshop (since the women had to make time out of their work) was run for one-and-a-half months. Making a cast net takes around 15 days and it costs Rs 500 to 550. These are usually sold for around Rs 3,000. Hence, the women can earn a decent income.

There are different types of cast nets. Not just from those who catch fish, different types of nets are in big demand from hatcheries too. The State Government is constantly setting up, or helping in the setting up of hatcheries across the State, more so in the southern coastal districts. Various types of fish are cultivated both for domestic consumption and export to other countries and other States of India.

Source: Khabar 365 Din

Now report taxi refusals via WhatsApp

Posted on June 23, 2018 | by aitc | Leave a Comment

The State Government has set up helplines to address any grievance that a commuter or traveller might have regarding taxis.

This is in response to complaints by ordinary citizens about taxi drivers unwilling to take people unless they pay an amount higher than normal or misbehaving with passengers regarding the issue of fares. These complaints started coming even though the State Government recently notified higher fares in line with higher fuel prices.

There are three ways to lodge a complaint – call up a toll-free number (between 11am and 5pm), send the complaint through WhatsApp or mail the complaint.

· Toll-free number: 18003455192
· WhatsApp number: 8902017191
· Email: pvdkolkata20@gmail.com

The complaints would be attended to on a first-come-first-served basis. The complainants would be called for a hearing, following which the driving license of the accused could be suspended for three months. All complaints would be addressed within 15 days.