Bangla declared leading State in family planning

Bangla declared leading State in family planning

Posted on March 1, 2019 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Bangla has been declared as the leading state for adopting effective family planning methods at the 5th National Summit in Guwahati.

The infant mortality rate has dropped to 25 per 1,000 births while the institutional delivery rate has increased to 97 per cent due to a number of initiatives taken up by the Trinamool Congress Government.

As per an economic review published by the State Government’s Department of Planning and Statistics, in 2018-19, the state leads in postpartum intrauterine contraceptive device (PPIUCD) acceptance rate in the country, with an achievement of 40 per cent.

With continued emphasis on family planning, the couple protection rate (CPR) of Bangla has improved from 49.9 per cent to 57 per cent, one of the highest in the country.

The review also mentions that the teenage fertility rate has dropped from 25.3 per cent to 18 per cent and the occurrence of low birth weight has also declined from 22.9 per cent to 16.7 per cent.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has laid great emphasis on health infrastructure in the rural areas and on mother and child care. Various Waiting Huts or ‘pre-delivery huts’ have been constructed by the Health Department to provide free healthcare facilities to pregnant women in remote areas.

It may also be mentioned that the Bangla Government has achieved another significant milestone – immunisation of 99 per cent of its children.

Source: Millennium Post

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Bangla Govt to develop ‘theme cities’ under PPP model

Posted on March 1, 2019 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

Bangla is set to develop six ‘theme cities’, covering approximately 50 acres of land in total, on a public-private partnership (PPP) model. Bids from private investors are being seeked.

This was announced by the chairman of the development agency, Hidco (who is also the additional principal secretary to the Information Technology and Electronics Department) at a seminar organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Kolkata.

It may be mentioned that New Town near Kolkata, under the stewardship of Hidco, has been developed as the first smart city of the State, and is considered a model worth emulating in the country.

In addition to this, he also said that the construction of the hardware parks in Naihati, Falta and Sonarpur are going on in full swing, and on completion, these would add a new dimension to the IT infrastructure of the State.

Source: Ei Samay

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Equal respect to all languages by Bangla Govt

Posted on February 21, 2019 | by admin2 | Leave a Comment

The Trinamool Congress-led Bangla Government, as a policy, gives equal respect to all languages. The government has given several languages the status of official language to give them credibility and make people aware of them.

Last year, the West Bengal Official Language (Second Amendment) Bill, 2018 was passed to make Kamtapuri, Rajbongshi and Kurmali official State languages. Earlier, Kurukh had achieved the status through the West Bengal Official Language (Amendment) Bill, 2018.

The Ol-Chiki script is widely promoted by the government as the medium for writing the Santhali language. Santhali-speaking students can now write their State board secondary and higher secondary exams in the Ol-Chiki script.

Both Santhali and Urdu were introduced as subjects in the State Eligibility Test (SET) conducted by the WBCSC in 2015.

At the undergraduate level, Arabic is being taught in 42 colleges, Nepali in 10 colleges, Persian in three colleges (under the University of Calcutta), Tibetan in one college (Darjeeling Government College, under North Bengal University).

Hindi-medium general degree colleges have been set up in Banarhat (Jalpaiguri district), Asansol (Paschim Bardhaman) and Hatighisha (Darjeeling district).

At the postgraduate level, Arabic is being taught in 10 universities, Nepali at North Bengal University and Tamil at the University of Calcutta.

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Bangla Fasal Bima Yojana: State Govt to pay 100% of the premium

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

Starting from the next financial year, that is, 2019-20, the State Government has decided to pay the full amount of the premium to farmers for the crop insurance scheme, Bangla Fasal Bima Yojana (BFBY). The full premium includes the Centre’s share, the State’s share and the farmers’ share.

This was announced recently during the course of a press conference by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Till now, the Bangla Government used to pay 80 per cent of the premium, that is, the State Government’s share and the farmers’ share.

Now, the State Government has decided that it would no longer take the help of the Centre as, despite paying the lion’s share, the Centre used to take all the credit by making it mandatory for the prime minister’s picture to be there on all promotional and other materials for the scheme.

The State Agriculture has already completed the procedures required for the new structure of the scheme. The State Government has also brought in certain changes to the scheme to make it more attractive for farmers so that more and more of them opt for it.

Farmers would now be able to get their crops insured against less earnings due to loss in production as a result of unfavourable weather or damages due to heavy rain, fire, lightning, storms, cyclones, typhoons, tornadoes, hailstorms, floods, droughts, and damages by insects and organisms like fungi, bacteria, viruses, etc.

In recent years, among the help provided by the State Government to farmers include paying almost 30 lakh farmers about Rs 1,200 crore for damages to their crops due to floods and droughts, waiving off of the agricultural tax and mutation fee, and the latest, introduction of the Krishak Bandhu Scheme.

Source: Sangbad Pratidin

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.

Bangla Govt committed to the welfare of the youth

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

Swami Vivekananda always believed in the power of the youth. He laid a lot of stress on sports as an essential part of building character.

Today, January 12, marks the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. Let us take a look at the achievements of the Youth Wing of the State Youth Services & Sports (YSS) Department.

Youth Hostels: 18 youth hostels renovated, 8 youth hostels constructed (all 26 now operational), 17 youth hostels under construction

Grants to clubs: More than 18,000 clubs and other organisations given financial assistance for sports activities and development of sports infrastructure since 2014-15

Distribution of footballs: Keeping the FIFA-U17 World Cup in view, 1.25 lakh footballs distributed to schools, colleges, universities and clubs

Development of playgrounds: Financial assistance given to 373 schools, colleges, universities and clubs for the development of playgrounds

Setting up of multigyms: Financial assistance given to nearly 3,000 schools, colleges, universities and clubs for setting up of multi-gyms

Setting up of mini indoor games complexes: Financial assistance given to more than 635 schools, colleges, universities, clubs and organisations for setting up mini indoor games complexes

Youth Computer Training Centres: About 1,000 Youth Computer Training Centres run across the state in collaboration with various private agencies

Vocational training: Placement-linked skill development programme organised with the assistance of Technical Education, Training & Skill Development Department; more than 4,000 candidates given training till now

Bangla Yuba Kendra: Organisation formed to create a healthy socio-cultural ambience; volunteers at the block, municipality and district levels maintain coordination with YSS Department for development of students and youths

Financial assistance for ex-Olympians: Pension of Rs 12,000 per month being given to four ex-Olympians of the State

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